Fillmore, CA - Friday 10/12/2007

Sunrise over the Starbucks parking lot in Fillmore. On Thursday night we joined friends to camp out and make music all weekend. Crept into town early in the morning for coffee and chai tea latte and reading, and watching the locals come and go. Perfect.



Another ice house! I'm pretty sure.


A little girl's sandal in the street in front of the ice house.

Becky - Wednesday 10/10/2007

Stopped by to sit with Becky the Cat for about 20 minutes. When I brushed her, she got up and arched into it, and flipped her tail back and forth.

Her owner, Gia, had to leave quickly. She'd received the news that her mother was passing away and called to let me know before she flew north to be with her. (Her mother has had Alzheimer's for years.)

Sad times.

Bobless - Tuesday 10/9/2007

Big Boy was closed for their monthly deep clean. Sigh.

It was kind of nice to hang out and have a good cup of coffee with a shot of espresso. Mmmm.

Fear and Perception - Monday 10/8/2007

The illustration above clarified my thinking about the gall bladder: it's green, it lurks, and you have to go in X-Files style and route it out. Afterwards--or maybe even during the surgery itself--you will be able to eat a cracker with a big lump of cheese on it.

All right!

For those of you outside the range of my whimper, this will be news.

I'm going to have my gall bladder removed on October 22nd. I have a 2 cm+ gall stone that periodically causes me pain and discomfort. I've been convinced, as the surgeon said last night in the pre-op consultation, that "The risks of not having this surgery are greater than the risks of having it."

Plus, I don't trust the state of health insurance in America. If I should leave or lose my job, this would be a pre-existing (read that: non-covered) procedure. As it is, it's a common and low-risk surgery.

Still, I'll be taking off work for the two weeks the surgeon recommends. My mom's coming out, so we can talk a lot and she can make sure I keep walking more every day, etc.

I feel a lot more confident about this after having the consult last night (with Hydra there for extra questions.) They also ran tests, most of which I have the results of already (kudos to the Internet and Kaiser's use of it), which identify me as in good health going into this. Better than in a crisis, which a gallstone can create.



Seriously, if you'd asked me yesterday morning, I would have described Dr. Z (the surgeon) as looking kind of like this guy from Buffy the Vampire Slayer's ultra-creepy episode, "Hush," but with wispy hair and a fillet knife behind his back.



After seeing him last night, I realize that I would actually cast James Olson--remember him as the single guy with the key from Andromeda Strain (1971)?--as Dr. Z.

Much nicer.

Cool Thing: On a side note we watched a PBS show about California during World War II last night and I learned that Kaiser Permanente really started the concept of HMOs with the Kaiser Shipyards. When I looked up their history, I see that it's earliest incarnation was in Mojave, CA and that it treated workers on the Los Angeles Aquaduct that brings water from my beloved Owens Valley to L.A.

I've Had It - Sunday 10/7/2007

With this bag. It's too big, too unstructured, and the strap is too long.

What was I thinking when I bought it?

Probably only that I wanted a black bag big enough for my camera and my notebook. Sigh.

But here's a Cool Thing! It's a post called "How to Hide an Airplane Factory." You will like it if you a) have any interest in World War II or b) Are familiar with Burbank, CA or c) simply enjoy learning cool things you might not have known before.

Saturday with Braveheart - 10/6/2007

I stayed over after the service and reception. So much nicer than driving home very late. In the morning, Braveheart offers yellow tomatoes.


Figs hanging in the kitchen. It's easy to find interesting photographs in Braveheart's home.


This slightly threatening outer space flower lurks in the shadows of the back yard.


The Raven, a place for massage. We met Tomasina and Maya for lunch in Silverlake, next door to this massage place. Just the way the light streamed through the incense smoke from the skylights inside made me happy.


Saturday snoozapalooza.

Their mom came around to see what they looked like, since I'd asked to take their photo. Sweeties.

Memorial - Friday 10/5/2007

Remember I went to a memorial two weeks ago? That was for Tomasina's father. Today we all gathered again for the funeral of her mother. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must be to lose both parents so close together.

This is the lovely portrait of Tomasina's mother that stood in the chapel where the service took place. She was expecting Tomasina when the portrait was painted.



At the graveside, we were each given balloons to release. Just as Tomasina's partner was explaining what we would do, a rush of wind rose from the ocean, visible from the cemetery. People laughed that it was her mother, impatient to be off.


They scrambled up the hilliside and away.


View of the Laguna coast from the back seat of Braveheart's car. Gorgeous.


We gathered at Tomasina's mother's house overlooking the sea. Tomasina gave away some of her things. Aren't these rabbit head canes beautiful?

And yes, we went in for a swim again. Tomasina, Marian (the 80-year-old who was with us last time!), Braveheart and I. It was cold and very rough, but there was less seaweed in the water. We walked past the privileged teens and Braveheart and I whooped and yelled as we went in.

Later, after a hot shower and a change into a comfy track suit (I learned my lesson last time), Marian and I shared a smile over our pair of swims.

"Last time I felt--" she said, and paused, looking for the word.

"A sense of joi d' vivre?" I filled in.

She grinned. "I was going to say, 'kelp in my suit.'"

Oh yeah. That too!

Portos Revisted - Thursday 10/4/2007

Emily, the waitress at Big Boy, was telling me how to avoid the always troublesome transition from the North 170 to the North 5. I recognized the route as the one I take if I'm picking up from Porto's on the way home (which is rare.)

She said, "I love those guava and cheese strudels! They're so good!"

Oh, they are. Later that morning I got to thinking about those and the Pan con Lechon (fabulous pork sandwhich), so I went around the office taking orders. Ah, the flutters! The cries of guava strudel! potato ball! Cubano! butter cookie!

They're so good on the same day they're made. I stopped by Big Boy in the middle of the lunch rush.

"Emily!" I said, finding her next to an empty table, "I went to Porto's!" I handed her the small waxed white paper bag.

"Oh, I love you honey!" she laughed, taking it, "See you tomorrow!"

As I made my way back to the front, the waiter D tapped on his watch and shook his head.

Hee hee! Fun.

Saying Goodbye - Wednesday 10/3/2007

Adios, amigo. Yeah, I sort of fried my computer at work by trying to double the RAM on the old beast. (The guy at Fry's said it would either work or not work, but never said it might make the computer go boom!)

Hey, I earn my keep around here computer-wise in spite of this, because I can install programs and hook up to network computers instead of calling in the tech, who charges much more an hour than I make. Some of you probably know that these are not advanced skills, but it's more than everyone but OneL and I are willing to chance.

It was slowing down, grinding to a halt, having a hard time getting started in the mornings. Really, this was mercifuPublish Postl for both of us.

Now I have a shiny new Dell with 2 gigs of RAM. (512K in the old one.)

Yes, baby, come to mama!

How Many Photos Can You Take? - Tuesday 10/2/2007

My fascination with the Big Boy holds after all these months. Well, yes, there was a 7-month itch along the way, I guess.

But it's coming up on a year since I started driving in early and writing at Bob's, and I'm more and more comfortable. I finally got UT to stop bringing me oatmeal without asking first. A lot of mornings I don't have anything to eat there, just tea. I'm pretty easy and I tip pretty well for the amount of service I require.

The sign is almost always impressive to walk beneath. There are probably a hundred more ways to photograph it.

Yeah, brace yourselves.

Bob Bob Bobbing Along - Monday 10/1/2007

Fooling with the camera settings a little. This is part of the sign in front of Bob's. The woody actually drives forward across the bottom of the sign.

Good morning. Writing is moving too.

Big Bad Bottle - Sunday 9/30/2007

This may actually be more of an emotional map than a photograph.

Though Dodger's eyesight is probably keener than ours, he might have this feeling about the squirt bottle. We give him a little squirt if he's being really mischievous or putting himself in physical danger.

Well, actually, we don't even have to squirt him any more. We just say "Squirt!" or "Where's that Squirt Bottle? I'm gonna have to Squirt you!"

And he gets off Hydra's towel and back onto the top of the shower stall, or stops trying to explore under the kitchen sink (where all the toxics are stored), or stops chewing on any number of things.

When he gets the chance, though, Dodger will make a big watery sound and head butt the bottle off whatever surface it's on.

Once, when he was younger, he actually disarmed a squirt bottle. Yup, we picked it up, depressed the trigger and "thunk."

Nothing.

He'd removed the spring.

First Leaf - Saturday 9/29/2007

On Friday night as we left the house to meet friends at a Mexican restaurant, the setting sun caught this lone turned leaf on the apricot tree. I stopped and thought I should probably go back in and get my camera and get the shot. Green leaves around it. Blue sky behind it.

But no. I went on toward my own personal satisfaction, ignoring your needs.

In a pathetic attempt to recreate the moment, I went to the back yard on Saturday evening around the same time. The leaf was gone.

No! No it wasn't!

It had only turned its back on me.

So I picked up a big stick and tried to turn the leaf around. (Is anyone else hearing "Love to hear percussion" in their heads, or have I been listening to too much XM 70s radio on AOL?)

The leaf dropped to the lawn. Face down.

I turned it over.

And took this perfectly candid shot.

Driving on Glass - Friday 9/28/2007

I'm not sure if you can see it, but the intersection by which I park my car is littered with glass. Some one had a very bad day the day before. I'm posting this almost a week later and most of the glass is out of the intersection.

How does that happen? Does someone actually clean it up, or does it just get picked up in tires and scattered around? The latter seems to be the case because there's still quite a bit of glass, but now it has migrated over to the curb where I park.

If I had a broom, I'd get out there and risk my life to clean it up. Guess I could pack one. Cheaper than buying new tires!

Ice House, Newhall, CA - Thursday 9/27/2007

I went to the admittedly very sparse Newhall Farmer's Market on Thursday afternoon, for the first time. There were only about five booths. Two of them had produce. The others sold tamales, nuts and dried fruit, and toys.

But the two produce booths were great and I filled up my TJ's bag with goodies like fresh herbs, squash, leeks, white peaches, Asian pears, etc.

On my way out I passed this ice house, which I've been meaning to photograph for a long time. I see it out the window when I take the train.

I had to stop and do it right then because it's under construction...or hopefully repair and conversion. I hope they have the good sense to maintain the character.

There was an ice house outside the country store in Big Lake, Indiana when I was a kid and we went swimming there. I think you'd see a couple of old timers sitting outside smoking. And that it was still being used to house bags of ice.

There was also the old ice house, down by the lake shore, that wasn't in use anymore. I remember stories about people going out and cutting blocks of ice from the lake in the winter, dragging them behind horses on sledges and storing them in the old ice house for summer use.

There's a great story on NPR about the ice houses of Texas which is really interesting if you have the time...

Stupid Plaster Owl - Wednesday 9/26/2007

We went out to see the beautiful sunset from the background and there's the Stupid Plaster Owl that the Stupid Neighbor erected in his back yard. He thinks that birds wouldn't eat the fruit from his (stupidly un-pruned) fruit tree if we weren't feeding them seeds just a few feet away in our yard.

This is the guy who planted two trees right in front of our living room window, completely obliterating the view that was one of the reasons we bought the house. This is the guy who leaves his front porch light on all night in a neighborhood we moved to in order to get away from city lights. (We let a shrub grow high so it doesn't invade through our living room window.)

I honestly do not care if we're drawing birds to his fruit trees, though I don't think they need a feeder to make them notice the fruit. Birds, unlike some neighbors, are not Stupid.

When we asked him not to plant the tree, he just shrugged and did it anyway. When he complained to Hydra about the birds eating his fruit, Hydra offered to help him put a bird net over the tree. It works for us.

And anyway, when the birds start to eat it, you know it's ripe and you should pick it. We usually leave some fruit for the birds anyway.

Meanwhile, we actually get along with the Stupid Neighbor pretty well. We all smile and say hello, and I don't know if that's hypocrisy or emotional survival. I just can't be angry with him all the time. And he's mostly a pretty nice guy, who offered to loan us his little open trailer if we ever need it. We'd do him a favor too, if he asked.

Like I said, I don't want to be upset with him all the time. But I have to admit that I do let it creep in from time to time.

Okay, enough.

Wrist Strong, Nation! - Tuesday 9/25/2007

My Wrist Strong bracelet arrived last night! Raising awareness of wrist injuries across this great nation.

Yeah, it's a Stephen Colbert thing. My friend the American in Toronto asked me to order one for her, too, so it's traveling to her through one of the interoffice packages from Burbank to our Northern Neighbor.

It's up to me to keep her on the patriotic straight and narrow, now that she has defected.

You can get your own Wrist Strong bracelet at the Colbert Nation store, and support The Yellow Ribbon Fund, which supports injured U.S. service members and their families while they recuperate at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

For those of you out of this particular loop, Colbert recently auctioned off his wrist cast (signed by Tony Snow, Katie Couric, Tim Russert and others) on E-Bay for just under $17,000, to benefit The Yellow Ribbon Fund.

Back to Work Monday - 9/24/2007

Wow. I guess DermaDream is having their suite painted.

Who knew she could fit all this stuff in those little rooms?

Amazingly, it was all back in there, across the hall from where I work, by the next morning.

And they ask me, "Sundry? Why do you drive all that way to sleep in a tin can and wake up in a valley two hundred miles from your place of business?"

I can't even begin.

Heading Home - Sunday 9/23/2007

Alas, the sun rises on Sunday morning and it's the day of our departure. The first night with no rain and look what the clouds left behind!




We went to the Totem Cafe in Lone Pine for breakfast with our friends. Lookit! Gary Cooper signed their Famous Wall!

We packed up and headed out a little before noon, a little before B&G. We had to drive a bit cautiously with the trailer because you just do, and because there was some gusty wind knocking us around a little. B&G passed us just beyond Pearsonville.



Guess what? B&G blew out a front left tire about a mile and a half from Red Rock Canyon. You don't even want to know. This was the third tire that blew out on this trip! They've now had to replace 4 of the 8 tires that were on this rig when they bought it three years ago.

Somebody at All Valley RV is going to get a talking to, you bet.



Telephoto lens catches Hydra and G walking north along the 14, trying to find the spot where B had cell phone connection right before the blow out. They got a connection, but it was the auto line rather than the RV line, and then it mysteriously dropped service. Aaaah. After about 20 minutes, they decided to catch a ride with us to Red Rock where B used the rangers' satellite phone to call AAA.

G moved the crippled RV by the time we got back to them, and was on a very difficult curve, stopped by the guard rail from going the last quarter mile to RRC. B was steamed. The place they'd originally stopped would have been decent to change a tire.

"I love him, but I'm going to kill him," she said as she got out of the Tahoe.

We went on, figuring we couldn't help any more and that they'd just feel bad about holding us up. I called their son and let him know they were okay when we got back in cell range. He'd been talking to B when the tire blew and coffee flew.

We were very very pleased with our decision to have replaced our cracked trailer tires the weekend before the trip.



Broken RV Vista Point.

Manzanar Revisited - Saturday 9/22/2007

We went out to Manzanar National Historic Site (World War II internment camp) late Saturday, after the interpretive center had closed. If you've followed the blog, you know we've been here before.

I don't know why we're so drawn to it. Maybe it's just the idea that 10,000 people lived here in barracks like these for a couple of years while their businesses languished and their former communities moved on without them.

Maybe it's also partly that when we first visited about 10 years ago, there was just a little sheet of paper noting various landmarks you could pick out, but which weren't very well marked. Now there's a wonderful interpretive center, a reconstructed guard tower (important, because there was actually a book available at the Lone Pine Drug Store that denied that anyone was kept here against their will or that there were even guard towers,) and signs that they are working to restore some of the water gardens created by the people who lived here.



We've been visiting this spot for years. Last year there was no sidewalk and some of the deepest pool was filled with dirt. I climbed all around it, because I suspect that by next time this will be fenced off. It looks like they're going to move the barracks over here, too, because there were unearthed (or recreated?) blocks of foundation concrete on either side.



Looking south past monument at the graveyard. Most of the bodies were moved to other locations when the camp was closed.


One of the interesting tributes left on the monument.



The grave marker of Baby Jerry Ogata.

Here's a link to the photos Ansel Adams took there, courtesy of the Library of Congress.

The Alabama Hills - Saturday 9/22/2007

I would count this photo as a complete success if it were an attempt to give our SUV a big rock tail.

Since I was really trying to show the extreme angle of our downward progress, I don't think it's really very good. From inside the cab of the Tahoe we couldn't see the road below us at all. This is where faith in physics supersedes everything your senses are telling you and you move forward.

That's Gene Autry Rock looming phalically above us, by the way.


Could we have asked for a more beautiful day?

I think not.

The Eastern Sierras as seen from the Alabama Hills. I've probably told you before that the rocks in the foreground are the same composition as those in the background, they've just been subjected to different extremes of the elements.


A really sweet dog we met while hiking. She was with another dog and two women.


We took the long way home, around the backside of the Alabama Hills, coming out about halfway to Independence on Moffat Ranch Road.



Hydra risks his life to entertain you.

We had fun running around the rocks with our friends G & B. They hadn't been there before. He's very into westerns and collects toy guns. G posed for a shot in the same position as Hopalong Cassidy did in front of Hoppy Rock!

Later That Same Day - Thursday 9/20/2007

Pavement ends? You don't say. (Taken at Pearsonville, CA.)


The cinder cone in the middle of the road. When we go around this, I feel that we are really in the Owens Valley. (If you Google "Owens Valley" you'll get lots of hits about geology and history, etc.)


Pretty new sign painted on the old water tank. You can get tee shirts with this design on them.


The view from our campground, about two miles south of Lone Pine, CA. Not from our campsite, exactly, but from the road behind our campsite.

Wouldn't want to be climbing in those mountains today!