MIA

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, or into the inky depths of The Devil's Urn. I've just been busy.
After the craft show at Homestead Hollow this weekend things should settle down a bit.
I was quite a bit more cranky than usual around tax time. On one particular no good, horrible, really bad day, I felt an overpowering urge to punch something. (I did in fact actually kick something, which is not really my usual style.)
But I stopped at the mailbox on my way into town, and my bad mood fizzled away.

Because I got a present.

Ah... Better than a Margarita. Perfect timing.
Thanks Tom! (That's a link to his blog The Art and Farm Report, which he doesn't update a lot, so you'll probably have to depend on El of Fast Grow the Weeds for the actual Farm Report part.) Click here for pictures of Tom's art at the Foley Gallery.

Foothill Gold

Foothill Gold, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Poppies on the Hite Cove Trail near Briceburg, California.
For some reason, the poppies in the Yosemite foothills seemed to have smaller flowers than those in the Bay Area. Perhaps it's the soil or the colder winters, but these poppies are definitely distinct from their Bay Area counterparts.

Road Trip!

We're using the Sonoma County Farm trails map to help us find some places we want to visit and I'm here to tell you all about it. Since I live in a county that touches both Sonoma and Napa counties, there's lots to see (and sample heheh) as we travel through some pretty countryside. Let's go!

After about half an hour, we are already in vineyard country. These vines run along the Dry Creek AVA (American Viticultural Area), where we hung out, tasted and ate, and later, we drove on down to the Russian River AVA. (Mom and Dad don't really know a lot about enology and all that, but they apparently know what they like.)
Some grapes have been left on the vines; most grapes have been picked - these must be for a late harvest wine. The day was spectacular and I could have done with more off-leash action, but I had to contend with Mom and Dad's schedule. The views are very pretty and made me want to get out all the more.
Our first stop was at a farm called Preston of Dry Creek, after the folks grabbed some coffee and whatnots at the Dry Creek General Store (1881) - you can see a shot of it in the collage above. Then we followed some twisty, windy roads to a dirt road, which we took for a couple of miles til we finally got to the farm. Uh oh - lots of cats greeted us on the store porch, all sleeping in comfy-looking wicker chairs.

Nummy looking veggies! Can you see another kitty in that chair?
And speaking of chairs, look at this one! I bet these taste like chicken, but they wouldn't let me sample these.
This place is very visually appealing and I really wanted to sample all the goodies there. On this entire road trip, mom and dad were extremely worried and vigilant about my snarfing down any of those purple or green little ballie things that the wine is made from. But I got plenty of other stuff like some carrots and pieces of apple!
Mom and Dad got a couple of bottles of olive oil, cause these folks supposedly make the best. Here are a few of their olive trees and some grapes too.
And finally, we left and I got to frolic amongst some (totally picked and picked-over) vineyards. I was so ready to run and smelled all kinds of weird animal scents. Wonder who's been here?
Running here makes me ve-ry happy!
First Mama hid, then Dad went around that row - oh I got so confused, but my snooter picked up on them pretty fast heheh!
There was lots of space for us to play in, so we stayed for quite a while. But soon, we moved on to a hard-to-find, but not remote winery called Michel-Schlumberger. It is absolutely bootiful, according to mom.

Built in the style of early California missions, this place has been around for a while. Once inside the lovely courtyard with plantings of fruits, vines, lavender, roses and other unidentifiable greenery, you could almost believe you'd see monks entering from a secret side door and greeting you.

Instead, there were several pumpkins to greet me. And Lucky.
Is the courtyard, below, to die for?

Of course, I wanted to jump right in, but it wasn't allowed. Bummer. I kept wondering to what other use it could possibly serve. This pool was made for me and Lucky! Outrageous.
So while a bunch of grownups drank white and purple stuff around tables, I laid on the floor (which is just like my own kitchen floor heheh!) and got lots of belly rubs from tourists who came from all over the world and missed their pups! Then why do they leave them? I asked myself.
After bidding adieu to the pumpkins, we went roadtripping down Dry Creek Road towards somewhere called Lambert Bridge Winery. Their tasting room is cool and beautiful and we didn't stay, but just stopped to say hi to their winery dogs - the St. Bernard and the yellow Lab. Nice pups and really cool yard that has a gazebo. I'm allowed offleash here.
A few miles further and we reach a crossroads: West Dry Creek becomes Westside Road. Here sits a magnificent Inn that mom used to take her parents for dinner years ago, when it was more rundown and seemed like it was very remote. Not anymore. Look at this place!
A new "guesthouse."
I hope some of these collages biggify. I always find that sometimes they do and sometimes not. I wish I knew why, and how to fix this problem. Aren't the gardens and manse amazing? After walking around for about 10 minutes, a man told us that I wasn't allowed and would I take myself to my vehicle and leave? How rude. But it was getting later and we still had a few stops left.
Last views of Mount Saint Helena (not to be confused with Mt. Saint Helens) near Calistoga. This mountain overlooks the entire Napa Valley. Climb to the top for magnificent views. But we're having some good ones ourselves as we approach the Russian River appellation.
These folks apparently make some terrific reds. Look 'em up. To get their best wines, dad and mom have to get on a list that takes furever to make. Snobs!
The nice young folks with three kids at Gabriel Farm are definitely not, however! (snobs...) In a tiny room where lavender permeates my scenticles, a panoply of goodies are for sale. They have a great orchard out back! I get to go for a walk in it! There are no apples or pears or berries left though. Drat!
It is almost five in the afternoon, and the navigators are having a fit, cause they can't find "Peter's Chocolates!" (ANOTHER goodie I can't have!) Finally they found a small house across from the Sebastopol High School, knocked on the door, and were greeted by a nice man who was... PETER, himself! He invited us into his very home, where he gave mom and dad samples of what he makes: Turtles and Truffles! These yummies smelled so good - oooooh, wish I could have had some. But I was finally herded into the car and off we went, heading for home and also my SUPPER, which was full of kibble mixed with veggies. It was a long, but fruitful day (hahahahaha!). Hope you had a good weekend! As always, my secretary (aka Ma) needs to catch up - hope you enjoyed the road trip.
ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sky Watchers (Auroras and Perseids and Milky Way, Oh My!)

Just got in from watching and shooting the Milky Way, Northern Lights and Perseid meteor shower from the top of Mt. Maude. What an amazing night! The northern lights were very low along the horizon, but they were dancing and putting on a decent show. Yet again, I am amazed by the wonders of the night sky! This photo shows my friends Jake and April enjoying the amazing sky.

Solar Shock Wave

There were AWESOME northern lights last night! It was an unexpected (for me, anyway) occurrence as Earth passed through a region of south-pointing magnetism in the solar wind. I didn't know there was even a chance of northern lights until I looked at the Aurora Soft Serve News website late in the afternoon and saw that the aurora was "Active". I kept checking the site throughout the evening and the kp index kept creeping up until eventually it was at "Storm" level! We had quite a few clouds at sunset which had me discouraged but not long after the sun went down the sky cleared and stayed that way the entire night. I left the house at 11:00 PM and returned about 4:00 AM. This photo is my favorite out of the 300+ images that I shot last night. I was even lucky enough to capture a shooting star in the top left of the photo! The feeling that you get as these waves of aurora wash through the sky is indescribable. Let's just say you feel very humbled and fortunate to be able to witness such an awe-inspiring phenomenon!

Purisima Creek Redwoods

I hope you guys don't mind another redwood shot...
This was at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve near Half Moon Bay, California. Just 30 minutes before taking this shot, I had been at the site of some of the largest waves in the world, the Mavericks.
A short drive up the road led to this park. I never cease to be amazed at the sheer diversity of environs in California.

Sex and the single paddler

OK, the title of this post is a little misleading. We just wanted to see how it would affect our analytics. But this is a post about sex -- the female sex -- and the issue of all-women's classes and symposia.

Ladies of the Lake, the spirited midwestern all-women's symposium, begins shortly.

Over the years, Sharon and Hannah have taught a number of classes that are specifically billed as women-only. We've written about this before in greater depth, but in our experience, women-only classes offer opportunities to address:

• woman-specific paddling issues, such as having less upper-body strength and more upper-body bulk than most male paddlers (not to mention how to pee while on the water);


• woman-specific insecurities, such as dealing with a male paddling partner who is faster/stronger/bossier or has a different set of expectations for a day on the water;


• woman-specific strengths, including our ability to encourage one another while we overcome our fears and learn new skills.

Some symposia have a women's track or some women-only classes. But the upcoming Ladies of the Lake (now in its seventh year), sponsored by Downwind Sports, is a women-only symposium.

Just because this is a women's symposium doesn't mean it isn't every bit as exciting and challenging as a mixed-gender symposium. We work on strokes, rolling, braces, navigation and incident-management, and if the surf's up, we go out and catch the waves. And just because it's a women's symposium doesn't mean we think we can only have this kind of fun with women. In fact, many of us instructors love paddling with men, learning from men, teaching men and even competing with men. We're sure the same is true of many of our students.

But there is something very powerful about gender camaraderie, especially for a gender that has historically been discouraged from pursuing physically challenging activities. And if registration numbers for this year's Ladies of the Lake symposium are any indication, the appeal of women-specific kayak classes is still strong.