St. John's Wort Relative?

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

This flower is blooming in a gas station planter next to the sidewalk we use to get into town. The plant is a low growing perennial shrub which appears to me to be some sort of commercial hybrid related to St. John's Wort.

The light was just perfect last Friday morning when I saw this beauty just begging to be photographed. I added watercolor brush effects in Photoshop.

A Mother With Her Nine Ducklings At Sunrise

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

Last Friday, shortly after sunrise, Peggy, Dallas, and I came across this family of Mallard Ducks gliding along beside the footbridge at Stanfield Marsh.

The dim early morning light required me to use a fast & rather grainy ISO setting of 400 to capture this moment which I later softened with a light touch of watercolor effects in Photoshop.

The results are beautiful to my eye, portraying the scene with an artful interpretation beyond what the photograph captured.

Yesterday's Iris Revisited

~Wild Blue Iris~

Click on image to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

To fully appreciate the detail plus size the enlarged image

In yesterday's post I implied that I could've happily spent more time with this lovely flower, so I spent another hour or so caught in its beauty this morning as I created this digitally painted graphic image from my photograph.

This new image has a taste of Georgia O'Keefe inspired eroticism, dramatic light & saturated color reminiscent of Maxfield Parrish, and elements of my own surrealistic leanings in the texturing of the flower and the suspending of it in blackness.

An artsy-fartsy hodgepodge, but it works for me...

Created with a Canon S10IS camera and Photoshop CS3

Wild Blue Iris

Iris missouriensis

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

A Wild Blue Iris (Iris missouriensis) blooms near the shore of the Stanfield Marsh this morning.

I sometimes find myself blushing in the presence of such sensual beauty, so feminine in its expression.

I spent half an hour with this Iris today and that wasn't near long enough.

I laid down close to it, touched its soft tender petals, took in its delicate scent, and painted its graceful beauty into my memory. And then I photographed it to share with you.

Georgia O'Keefe was inspired by flowers like this to create some of her most passionate and controversial work.

I share Georgia's love for the passion and sensuality in nature, it's what drives evolution and the perpetuation of life.

~Long Live Sensuality, Passion, And Life~

The Court Jester...

...overstepping the bounds

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2010 jim otterstrom

"His characteristic idiom suggests he is a 'natural' fool, not an artificial one, though his perceptiveness and wit show that he is far from being an idiot, however 'touched' he might be.

His folly could be regarded as the raving of a madman but was often deemed to be divinely inspired.

He holds up a mirror to make us aware of our times, mocking politicians and public figures of power and authority.

He served not simply to amuse but to criticize his masters, or mistresses, and their guests.

Jesters could also give bad news to the King that no one else would dare deliver."*

*(excerpted, edited, and out of context - from Wikipedia)

Perhaps this is my calling, Court Jester to the Evil Empire, but then again, there are so many of us...

...so many fools dancing to the tune of our masters while cautiously poking fun, as best we can, without provoking any fatal consequences.

Keep 'em laughing, keep 'em amused, but whatever you do, don't overstep the bounds...

Alas, when I get too near the edge, I can always change hats and revert to my cover as an artsy-craftsy garden gnome.

But not just yet, these are the cold dark days of winter and I'm still feeling a tad bit cranky...

;~o

(Stay tuned for 'Looking Back From The Future', Part 3)

A Drizzly Fall Morning...

...brings beauty to the eyes of beholders

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Our morning trek began later than usual today because we needed to go to the bank and Post Office after they opened at 9 A.M. It rained lightly yesterday afternoon, and all through the night, letting up this morning as we made our way into town under a sky of broken clouds and rainbows.

As we walked along the sidewalk, approaching the signal light at the entrance to the Interlaken Shopping Center, where the bank, the Post Office, and Von's Supermarket are located, I happened to notice this leaf lying on the concrete.

Yes, it's just one fallen leaf clothed in raindrops, but it's the one, of thousands, that caught my eye and the diffused light made for a very nice image.

Shot with our Canon S10IS in Manual/SuperMacro mode, ISO 80, f 8, at 125th second. As recorded by the camera - not cropped.

Whimsical Nostalgia Junk Chimes...

...rust never sleeps Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Tinkering around in my nearly completed junk-shop I was inspired to put together these wind chimes from more of my junk collection.

While removing an old hole saw from my electric drill recently I bumped the edge of the blade into something noticing that it rang out with a beautiful clear tone.

I have dozens of these old saws, of various sizes, rusting away in a box, so I had a great time digging them out and clanging 'em all together to hear their various tones, thus the idea for this wind chime was born.

For the following week or so Peggy and I were picking up every picturesque tin-can & lid we saw lying by the roadside and she also found the lovely bit of barbed wire & the old spring hanging there.

I went through our collection of beach glass from a vacation with the kids in Fort Bragg over two decades ago, finding the shell, a bottle neck, and some old ceramic pieces from electrical devices.

I strung a bunch of old dog tags, from our dear-departed pets of the past, together on a chain, an old metal California license plate tag from the year of Peggy's birth, and old brass Post Office registry cage chit, with the number 14 on it, the day of the month on which I was born.

There's an old pocket watch cover with my initials, a gift from Peg on our 10th Anniversary, which I used daily until the cover broke off (we're celebrating our 30th in 10 days).

Add some glass beads, a few old reflectors, some spinners from the tackle box, and some rusty old bailing wire, and there you have it.

I did buy some thin steel cable to suspend the whole mess from the beaded rack of manzanita wood at the top (see picture below).

I looped the cables through a pair of holes in each saw, fastening them together with aluminum cable ferrules. Suspending the hole saws in that manner allows them to ring without the tone being deadened.

The wind chimes now hang over the table on our beer garden patio, gently swaying in the breeze to play their soft clear song.

Rust never does sleep, especially around our place.

~Entire Wind Chime~ Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Tool-Shed/Workshop/Studio/Beer-Garden Nearing Completion

Front Entrance & West Facing Beer Garden Patio

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

All summer long we've been enjoying our meals out here on this cozy little patio decorated with the recycled artifacts of the lost (Mid-Twentieth Century) civilization I grew up in.

South Facing Wall With Big WindowClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

I just finished siding the north and south walls of the shed, the day before yesterday, then painted the recycled window olive drab.

The siding on these walls all comes from four 10 foot long sections of weathered picket fence we salvaged from a neighbor several years ago when he replaced it with chain link. I still have three more 10 foot sections for some future project.

This beautiful wood was either going to be kindling for a fireplace or would've ended up at the county landfill.

The big window came from an old lodge up here that was being remodeled some decades ago and fitted with new windows. I got several of them free of charge, just for hauling 'em away, and they've been used here over the years as tomato hot-houses and even a temporary home for baby chicks once. I have at least two more of these I'm saving for a garden potting-shed.

North Facing WallClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

On this wall I staggered the old fence pickets randomly, using as many of the original nail holes as possible and then drilling new holes where they were needed.

The very old marble-reflector porcelain-on-steel DETOUR sign was given to me by a friend & neighbor some years ago.

Workbench Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

As you might guess, I spend a lot of time out here now tinkering around with my various hobbies & crafts. Again, most everything here was built from scrap, salvaged wood, or recycled junk. The 'carvings' at each side of the window are from an old piece of junk furniture we dismantled (I have 3 more of them too).

The workbench and ceiling are from salvaged wood, and the wall around the window is covered with empty seed packets used in our vegetable garden, which I adhered to the wall then tinted with amber shellac. The trim by the ceiling is recycled wiggle-board.

The small stained-glass windows hanging there were the first two windows I made, for a stained-glass class I took way back in the early 1970s. The tulip design was made from a very simple beginner's pattern.

Beer Wall Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

As some of you may be aware, we have several friends who get together now and then to enjoy the many delicious craft beers being brewed these days, so, just for fun, I decorated the back wall of the shed with nearly 100 different beer carton graphics, giving them the same amber shellacked finish as the seed packets.

These are the actual cardboard six-pack (or four-pack) cartons which I cut out and pieced together one by one. They were mostly donated to me by my beer drinking buddies, Bill and Denny (thanks guys), but I've had just about every one of these beers over the years. Ohhhh, and so many more!

They make an appropriate addition to the workshop considering that the adjoining patio is the beer garden which will be served by the tap in the front wall, starting on September 27th, when we will be christening the joint with keg of good beer and a shrimp-kabob barbecue.

Jim In His Workshop/Studio This MorningClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 peggy otterstrom

Peggy took this shot of me in the studio about 8:45 this morning, a quite common sight around here now.

I have a just little more work to do inside, finishing up trim on the interior west wall.

Click here, here, & here, to see older posts of the beginning and evolution of the project...

To Santa Barbara & Back, By Train, Bicycle & Bus

Monday, June 22nd, 5:44 A.M.

Big Bear Lake

~Leaving Home~ Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Peggy and I took a 4-day trip to Santa Barbara last month to visit our friends, Alver & Judyl, and I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how we manage to get around without a car.

In the photo above, we are on one of the footbridges along the Stanfield Marsh Wildlife Preserve, about halfway between our house and the MARTA (Mountain Area Rapid Transit Authority) bus stop, where we will catch the 6:30 A.M. shuttle down the mountain to the Metrolink train depot in San Bernardino. It's about 1 3/4 miles from our house to the designated Off The Mountain (OTM) bus stop, about a 15 minute ride. We left early to go the local donut shop for a cup of coffee.

The shuttle runs down & up the mountain 3 times a day during the week and twice a day on Saturdays. There is no service on Sunday so we have to plan our trips around that. The fare for the forty-some mile trip is $7.00, each way. MARTA considers anyone 62 or older as a Senior Citizen so my fare was only $3.50. Peggy has several years before she qualifies as a senior so it cost us $10.50 to get down the mountain.

6:16 A.M. ~ At The Wrong Bus StopClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

A week or so before our trip I discovered that several of our bus-stops had been relocated to avoid traffic congestion in the shopping center parking lots and assumed that the OTM stop was also moved to the newer location in the Von's lot. I was wrong!

Fortunately, I noticed people hanging around the old bus-stop in front of Rite-Aid, and, sure enough, there are now two bus stops in the same shopping center, one for the local MARTA buses, and another for the OTM shuttles. Go figure?

Each MARTA bus and shuttle has a rack on the front which holds 2 bikes (no extra charge), but we were a little concerned that we might have to come back for the noon shuttle if there was another bicycle rider here before us. We had alternate train schedules figured out if that happened to be the case but we were the only bicyclists there.

6:39 A.M.

On The Shuttle With AngelClick on photo to enlarge -© 2009 jim otterstrom

When the shuttle arrived promplty at 6:30, we were happy to see that our old friend, Angel, would be driving us down the mountain. Angel's been driving MARTA buses for many years and, when you live in a small town, the people you encounter so regularly become like extended family.


Strapping The Bikes Into A Metrolink Rail Car

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Purchasing tickets from the Metrolink ticket machines is always a bit confusing if you haven't used them for awhile, but there always seems to be some well-experienced Metrolinker there to help as the train rolls into the station and the neophytes (or under-experienced) start pounding buttons in hurried frustration.

Unlike MARTA, Metrolink won't consider me a senior until I'm 65, sixteen months from now, so Peg and I paid the full one-way fare of $10.25 each, for the ride from San Bernardino to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

Each Metrolink car has tie-downs for two bicycles, and a conductor informed me that, during rush hours, some bicyclists bring along bungee cords, enabling them to tie their bike to another.

Metrolink cars are light and cheery, ride very smoothly, and some seats face each other with tables in between for socializing or catching up on office work I suppose. But these are strictly commuter trains and have no food service or snack bar.

Preparing for the trip, I researched the various transit systems we'd be using, for fares, schedules, and bicycle accommodations (again, no extra charge), and our entire experience was extremely relaxing and enjoyable. Trains can be subject to delays though, so it's always advisable to not be on a tight schedule, and to have alternate plans if you miss one of your connections.

Our biggest delay would've been if there wasn't room for our bikes on the MARTA OTM bus, which would've set us back 6 hours, or until the next day. The Metrolink trains leave San Bernardino beginning at 4:18 A.M., until 7:15 P.M., running every half-hour to hour, depending on the time of day, while the AMTRAK Pacific Surfliner we rode from L. A. to Santa Barbara departs approximately every hour from 6 A.M. to 10 P.M.

In The Garden At Union Station DepotClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 peg otterstrom

I love going through L.A.'s Union Station these days to find the grand old building bustling with thousands of travelers at all hours of the day. Most of the time I was growing up, and even after Peg & I moved to Big Bear, Union Station was more like a ghost town, sparsely populated a few times a day by die-hard train enthusiasts who still traveled by their preferred method, or those who couldn't afford, or were fearful of air travel. But, in the 1980s things began to look up for Union Station. Los Angeles re-introduced light rail and, even a subway, to the city which once proudly touted their Pacific Electric Red Cars (my dad was one of their operators and I rode them many times), back when L.A. had the most extensive public rail system in the world. And, thankfully, they made the beautifully designed & crafted Union Station the central hub for the various lines, bringing life and vitality back to the area.


Olvera Street ~ La Noche Buena

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Every time I find myself at Union Station I also visit my very favorite little Mexican Cafe , La Noche Buena, number E 8, Olvera Street in the historic El Pueblo de Los Angeles.

The friendly staff seems to be family, always the same guys there, and somehow they remember me on my infrequent trips through town. A busy fast-paced place overflowing with locals and regulars who are there for deliciously authentic, affordable Mexican food. I can still taste those great chicken tacos!

Historic Glendale DepotClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

At 12:45 P.M., about 15 minutes after after leaving Union Station, northbound on AMTRAK's Pacific Surfliner, we passed another historic and lovingly restored train depot. The onetime Southern Pacific depot serving Glendale, California was opened in 1923, and is now known as the Glendale AMTRAK/Metrolink Station.

Pacific Surfliner cars have space for three bicycles in each car, but unlike Metrolink, AMTRAK has racks installed where you hang the bikes vertically on the wall near the entrance. It was the first time I'd used these, and, during the task of figuring out how they worked, I forgot to take a picture of them.

The Pacific Surfliner is what I call a fun ride though! There's a Coach Cafe Car with large windows and tables downstairs, and coach seating upstairs. The food is nothing fancier than what you might find on a catering truck, and rather expensive, but they do serve beer and wine, including some very good beers from Stone Brewing Company in San Diego. Be prepared to pay for it though, running a railroad isn't cheap...

We opted for two small bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, at $7.50 each, to enjoy during our afternoon ride, as Peggy and I nostalgically rolled through our old hometowns of the West San Fernando Valley, and chugged northward through Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo and Oxnard, toward Ventura, and the coastline of the Pacific Ocean.

Our one-way fare between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara on the Pacific Surfliner was $25 apiece, with mine being discounted to $21.50, because AMTRAK also classifies Seniors as those 62 or over. We packed our own healthful snacks to eat along the way so the cost of the wine didn't deter us as we meant to thoroughly enjoy ourselves and the casual ambiance of the Pacific Surfliner.

Cruising Along The Blue PacificClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Once you depart the Ventura Depot you're only a couple of minutes from the most scenic part of the trip, where you travel right along the coast, with waves crashing just outside your window, if you happened to pick a seat on the west-facing side of the car. Our wine and snacks finished, we're now just enjoying the scenery and looking forward to visiting our friends in Santa Barbara.

~SIMPLE PLEASURES~

3:48 P.M.
~Santa Barbara, California~Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Santa Barbara is a gorgeous, artsy, people-friendly, bicycle friendly city, with stunning architecture that reflects the natural beauty of the Southern California coast. As far as I'm concerned, cities don't get much better than this!

I was taken by the walkway to the front entrance of the circa 1902 Santa Barbara Train Depot, which is simply a gravel path leading from a residential neighborhood of modest size homes situated between the tracks and the Pacific Ocean. How Old California is that?

Our friends, Alver & Judyl, live about 15 minutes from here, by bicycle, and we had just called to let them know our train had arrived and we'd be at their place soon.

But first we wanted to stop by and say hello to another old friend of mine, Janet, who lives on a tiny houseboat in the Santa Barbara Marina just a couple of blocks from here.

~Small Is Beautiful~

Janet's Lovely Little BoatClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Janet has classes during the day and is somewhat difficult to get in touch with by phone at any given moment in time (kind of like me), so we just followed her directions to the location of her boat, and how to gain access to the dock. Once there, of course, Janet wasn't home, but the boat was open and an ice-cold Pilsner Urquell awaited me in the fridge.

~Waiting For Janet~
Or... How You Know You're On Vacation!Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 peg otterstrom

We waited around for about half-an-hour, enjoying the light & airy feel of this pretty & well-organized little boat, but no Janet, so we decided to try again another day and headed off to Alver & Judyl's place.

Did I Mention That Alver Is An Artist?Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

I've known Alver for forty-some years, since the good old days of Topanga Canyon, and visited him a couple of times shortly after he moved to Santa Barbara around 1970, before losing track of him. About a decade ago I ran across a mutual friend who had Alver's current contact info and it's great to be back in touch with him.

On a previous trip to Santa Barbara, for a family wedding two years ago, we had the chance to visit with Alver for just a few minutes on our way home (the first time in almost 40 years), and met Judyl, his significant other, for the first time.

Peggy and I felt so much at home in the presence of both Alver & Judyl that we really wanted to get back up there and spend some time with them, so, over two years later, we finally made it.

In the picture above, Alver is demonstrating how the spinner in the center of his somewhat prophetic 1981 assemblage piece, 'Suckabuck', works.


JudylClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

And this is Judyl, one of the strongest, most creative, and interesting women I've ever met, possessed of a deep-rooted beauty which shines from within her like a beacon of honesty radiating from some special place where we all wish we had spent a lot more time.

Among other things, Judyl is a poet, a former publisher of poetry books, a gardener, an excellent cook, and, a gifted weaver, of enormous talent in so many ways.

But, most of all, she's simply inspirational to be around!


Two Old Coots In Judyl's GardenClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Alver and I in Judyl's garden Monday evening, shortly after Peg and I rode in from the train station. It seems that a large number of my old buddies, oddly enough, are afflicted with HFS (Hairy Face Syndrome).

Judyl & Peg On The Porch

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Peggy & Judyl share a chuckle on the front porch Wednesday morning, at my expense I believe. Something about, "does he ever put that camera down?".

Judyl's GardenClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Peggy spent a lot of time here during our visit, doing good-work in Judyl's garden, and what better hours might anyone ask for than those spent in the bountiful garden of a dear friend?

Judyl With Her LoomClick on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

This photo was taken in what I'll call Judyl's weaving studio back in 2007, during our previous and very short visit. I believe she had recently finished the shawl she is wearing.

I was, and still am, completely taken with the beauty and quality of her weaving, and in a subsequent post will be sharing more of that here, but you can see already why Judyl is such an inspiration to Peggy and I.

Alver In His StudioClick on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

One of my reasons for making this visit was to convince a somewhat reluctant Alver to allow me to photograph some of his work for him, much of which hasn't been documented.

During our four days at their place I managed to photograph over 50 of his assemblage pieces, many of which were large works that had to removed from walls, and all of which, had to be moved outside to a makeshift photo studio. Time was short, my equipment is not what one could call professional, and we had to make do with less than ideal conditions, so Alver was, I think, justifiably skeptical that the results would be worth the effort. But, little by little, I've been sending him some of those results, which I'm quite happy with, and I believe Alver is pleasantly surprised as well.

Alver honored my efforts by generously sending me one of my favorite pieces, 'Spin, Twist, Traverse', constructed in 2004, which you will also see in a future post.

All of my time wasn't spent taking photos though!

I too worked in the garden a bit and we had some really delicious meals together. We visited the Santa Barbara Community College Adult Education Floor Loom Class Judyl is involved with (an amazing 35 floor looms all in one big room). We went to Alver's favorite thrift store, in Goleta, where Peg & I made some cool finds, on the cheap!

Peggy and I went for early morning bike rides, discovering little hole-in-the-wall joints with great breakfasts. We rode miles of bike paths along wide-open ocean front parks. We rode out on Stearns Wharf and did a little shopping. We had delicious omelettes at The Breakwater Restaurant, overlooking Janet's houseboat in The Marina (while we were keeping the boat under surveillance after our third unsuccessful attempt to visit her). We took a short boat excursion out to Stearns Wharf again, aboard The Little Toot, with one of Janet's friends who works on the boat. We rode our bikes to the Tri-County Wholesale Produce Market and bought bunches of goodies for dinner.

Judyl and Peg chatted away, getting to know each other while Alver and I reminisced with stories of old friends, and the good time was obviously shared by all.

Yep, this all happened in four very short and relaxing days.

But it was time to go home...

Click on photo to enlarge - © 2007 jim otterstrom

This is Alver & Judyl saying goodbye to us from their front porch back in 2007.

It is the photo I kept referring to in reminding myself that we needed to go back and spend some time with these two people.

And now we have scads of new pictures, and fond memories too, which will bring us back together, sooner, rather than later.

Thank You Judyl & Alver!

~But Alas, We Have A Train To Catch~


Santa Barbara Depot
6:22 A.M. Friday, June 26th
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

We left Alver & Judyl's place about 5:30 A.M., riding southward down Milpas Street until we found an open place to get coffee, then continued on to the beachfront bicycle path and headed north toward State Street and the train station. Another coffee stop on State and it was time to wait for our train. But we had an unexpected surprise in store.


JANET!!!
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

During our last visit, on Thursday, to Janet's unoccupied boat, I wrote her a note on a napkin and left it sitting on her bedside table. I said I was sorry that we had missed her and that we were leaving on the 6:30 A.M. train the next morning.

Well, I'll be damned if some character in her dream didn't keep telling her that she'd better wake up and get over to the train station, so she jumped out of bed, got herself a cup of coffee somewhere, and came running up the platform yelling, "I'm here, I'm here!".

What a wonderful surprise, and the perfect ending to our Santa Barbara visit. I hadn't seen Janet in over 20 years either, although we keep in touch by phone, letters, and e-mail.

We got to hang out for fifteen minutes or so until it was time to board and we were saying that we were looking forward to breakfast at Olvera Street again when she told us she was recently there and had absolutely great molé at La Golondrina Restaurant.

We all hugged, and Peggy & I climbed aboard our train, racked our bikes, and took our seats. We waved goodbye as our train rolled away, southward again, with Janet running alongside blowing kisses like some scene from a Humphrey Bogart/Lauren Bacall film.



~La Golondrina Restaurant~
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

During our train ride south, Peg asked me if I remembered the name of the Mexican Restaurant Janet told us about, to which I replied, "Of course I remember the name, I used to live in a house on the corner of Canoga Avenue and Golondrina Street in Woodland Hills". With that question, I knew she really wanted to taste that molé and we got to Olvera Street just as La Golondrina was opening up, so we each ordered our particular style of Margarita before we studied the menu.

A Toast To Olvera Street, To Janet, And To Us...
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

When the waiter brought us our drinks, and some paper napkins, I remembered something else about the word Golondrina. La Golondrina was printed on the napkin in Janet's boat, on which I left her the note about the train station, obviously a napkin she saved from her recent trip here.

She awoke from her dream, rushed to the old Santa Barbara Depot, and now we are here at La Golondrina. What a strange and magical world it is...

~Molé With Music~
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Peggy got the molé, which she loved, and I ordered an unbelievably delicious crab-stuffed chile relleno that just melted in my mouth. The best chile relleno I've ever had and I consider myself a bit of a chile relleno connoiseur!

This was the only time on the trip that we really splurged. The meals were out of our budget range, but the food & service was excellent!

Besides, it was providence that brought us here and who's to complain about being guided to a divine meal, accompanied by mariachi music, before embarking on the last leg of a perfect mini-vacation.

Don't mess with the Gods of Muse!
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom


Back At The San Bernardino Metrolink Station
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

By 1 P.M. we were back at the San Bernardino Metrolink Station where we met up with two Big bear friends while waiting for the shuttle up the mountain.

Eric (red-shirt), who works at a local firewood yard two-blocks from our house, was on his way home from visiting family and entering his pride & joy, a custom all-chrome low-rider bicycle, in a big low-rider bike competition, and Roger (hand-up behind the arch), an old friend from my Post Office days when I'd see him during my frequent lunches at the Teddy Bear Restaurant.

We're feeling close to home now...


HOME, SWEET HOME!
Click on photo to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

An hour and a half later our shuttle was rounding the meadow by Juniper Point just a couple of miles from our house and we were happy to be home again after a wonderful trip.

Sometime soon I hope to be sharing some more photos of Alver & Judyl, of their home, their art, and their life together.

~PEACE & LOVE~

A Nice Drizzly Day At Earth Home Garden...

Click on photo to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

We're enjoying intermittent showers, hail, wind gusts, and thunder here in Big Bear today so I thought I'd come indoors for a spell and share some photos I took between the raindrops.

Dallas is sporting his summer cut in front of the nearly completed workshop/studio/beer garden, and you can see the recently added 'Earthquake Memorial' rock garden in the background, with the pond-pump solar panel now mounted there.

Inside the workshop/studio I have built a sturdy workbench, a toolbox bench, and re-painted & installed steel shelving (salvaged somewhere-in-time from an old auto parts store). This week I'm staining, painting, and getting ready to do an artsy-fartsy collage on the interior back & side walls (pictures to come).

The beer tap equipment isn't completely installed yet so the christening of the beer gardens is a ways off yet, but early this summer for sure!

The rock garden was built of recycled junk and masonry debris from our highly destructive '92 Big Bear quake. There's a dump-site closeby where mountains of old broken chimneys are still piled-up, so a friend, with a truck, and I, dragged a bunch of the stuff home for garden art.

Three sides of the rock garden were built-up with broken concrete from a neighbors old driveway which was then filled with dirt from another neighbors foundation excavation. Remember my Close Encounters/Matterhorn posts? This is where the dirt went, wheelbarrow by wheelbarrow. The face of the rock garden was terraced, as I filled it, using chimney pieces, old wood, and even a staircase from the dumpsite. An old twisted wall-heater vent from a demolished house became the garden mascot when I gooped a leering plaster skull to it.

Reclining Skeleton - The Rock Garden Mascot

Click on image to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

A close-up (Photoshopped) of the ruins rock garden featuring our cheery Lost Civilization mascot.

Big Bear native plants now established on the rock garden include Firecracker Penstemon (Penstemon eatonii), Prickly Poppy (Argemone munita), Bumble-Bee Penstemon (Penstemon grinnellii), Narrow-Leaf Milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis), California Fuschia (Zauschneria californica mexicana), Sulfur Buckwheat (Eriogonum umbellatum), Wright's Buckwheat (Eriogonum wrightii), California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Showy Penstemon (Penstemon Spectabilis), Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus triglochidiatus), Beaver-Tail Cactus (Opuntia basilaris), Prickly-Pear Cactus (Opuntia phaeacantha), California Evening Primrose (Oenothera californica).

California natives include Banana Yucca (Yucca baccata), Soapweed Yucca (Yucca glauca) and Sky-Blue Penstemon (Penstemon azureus).

~The Greenhouse Today~

Click on photo to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

We're growing potted vegetables in the greenhouse this year because of a gopher problem which we're, hopefully, going to solve in the fall by digging out a couple of feet of dirt and lining the bottom of the greenhouse with wire mesh, to keep the critters out, before we replace the soil.

The plants in here now include tomatoes, japanese eggplant, yellow crookneck squash, and basil.

The plants are starters from the nursery except for most of the tomatoes which were started by Peggy from a variety of seeds.

~The Raised-Bed Garden Today~

Click on photo to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

The wintered-over greens we planted last October are almost gone now (you can see spinach in the background which is beginning to bolt). The lettuce mix in the foreground was planted in early spring and is in dire need of thinning. there are young green onion seedlings behind that, and some chives in flower on the left. We have pea and snow pea seedlings which are going in the empty or declining boxes here in the next few days. We also have raised boxes with beets (for greens) and swiss chard.


Salad Hill!

Click on photo to enlarge - ©2009 jim otterstrom

We tried an experiment this year which has greatly exceeded our expectations.

While going through our seeds in early spring we discovered that we had partial packets of what we assumed where mostly expired seeds dating back to 1997. Instead of throwing them away, I suggested that maybe we should mix up one of our compost piles with the soil beneath it and cast all the seeds randomly there to see what might germinate.

This salad garden was planted when night-time temperatures were still in the teens and low twenties so we kept the hill covered with clear plastic for a few weeks, removing it only to water about once a week.

To our surprise it appears that most of the seeds were still viable and we now have a very productive salad garden right outside the back door. Growing here are an assortment of lettuces, spinach, chard, kale, radishes, carrots, cilantro, green onions, basil, mustard greens, rocket, and several other salad vegetables & herbs.

So far, the gophers and squirrels are leaving Salad Hill alone! It's already so productive that we're having a hard time keeping up with it so we invited our next door neighbors to consider it their own kitchen garden as well, and help themselves to salad stuff whenever they want.

The large-leafed plants around the perimeter are previously established Hollyhocks.

See, we have been busy!

Red-Shafted Flicker

Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

Red-Shafted Flickers are the most common woodpecker in our area, and, to me, one of the most gracefully formed & beautifully marked birds of all. They are year 'round residents here.

I took the photo this image is made from back in mid-December, re-discovering it last night while Peggy and I were going through some photo files.

I played with it in Photoshop a bit to come up with this etching-like image.

This male Flicker is on a branch in a small Jeffrey Pine just above the naturally formed bird-bath in our giant boulder.

Dodge Sculpture

Click on image to enlarge - © 2009 jim otterstrom

A derelict Dodge becomes an object of art after its useful days are over.

I just had a delightful vision of old beasts like this being placed alongside a national network of bicycle corridors as public art installations.

;~)

Everything Under The Sun...

Unfinished Drawing - Early 1970s

Click on drawing to enlarge - ©1974-2009 jim otterstrom

I've been spending the first week of 2009 trying to organize and de-clutter my life, starting with what I'll call the library, where the computer, my desk, our books, and the music collection reside.

There's a steel flat-file cabinet (post office surplus) in the room, where I keep a lifetime of paraphernalia, including old documents, photos, and other memorabilia associated with my odd plethora of interests (or obsessions maybe). Sixteen drawers of crap, each one 18 inches wide by 24 inches deep, and ranging in height from 2 inches to 1 foot.

There was a time, long, long ago, when these files were neatly organized and I could easily find whatever I might be looking for. As the years passed by though, and drawers began to overflow, stuff started getting filed randomly, wherever it would fit, until it became nearly impossible to find anything.

Among these treasures are more than 30 years of newspaper articles on the environment; on pollution and climate change, energy, transportation, population, organic and sustainable farming, native species, diversity and habitat loss, natural and man-made disasters, indigenous peoples and their fates, on urban renewal and habitat restoration, endangered species & recovery efforts, and countless other topics that I have felt the need to research.

Articles that led me to hundreds of books where I could delve deeper into what's good, or bad, or simply interesting about our culture, and about the problems we face, as I strive to understand how we got here, where we might be going, and what solutions we could pursue.

There are also articles about issues and causes I've been closely involved with, such as the Ward Valley Nuclear Waste Dump, and the Headwaters Forest Campaign, among many others, distant, and local.

I've always had a desire to write, and all this input has been fuel for my fire, but I must admit, I haven't honed my writing skills enough to meet my own expectations. My writing is still pretty clunky.

I'm only halfway through cleaning out the file cabinet but I've already found well over 100 letters I've personally written to presidents, vice-presidents, senators, congresspersons, and even The World Bank, on a huge variety of issues, from the GATT & NAFTA treaties, to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, nuclear arms reductions, renewable energy subsidies, the mountaintop mining of coal, and so much more.

This doesn't include another 100+ letters generated, in my name, by our long distance phone company, Working Assets, now CREDO.

And, of course, it also doesn't include the hundreds of online petitions and letters I've submitted in the past ten or so years

I'm exhausted just thinking about all the effort I've put into dialogue substantially ignored by my elected representatives, especially my eternal congressman, the honorable Republican, Jerry Lewis, who thanks me for my letters and then tells me why he voted in opposition to my wishes.

Still, as long as there is a centralized government, I would encourage that government to be---of the people, by the people, and for the people---so, I participate in this so-called democracy, exercising my freedom of speech, and I'll never stop speaking my mind, even if mine is not the majority opinion.

Now, to get back to the organizational task at hand, there's also drawers full of artwork by family and friends; drawings, paintings and photos, geneology documents and historical family pictures, old magazines with articles about the hot-rods & race cars my stepfather built, articles about music and musicians, magazine & newspaper articles about my family and I, collections of stamps from my decades at the post office, old posters, signs, & stickers that I've found artistically or socially relevant to my unconventional vision, and just all kinds of other garbage utterly meaningless to anyone but myself.

Yes, this stuff is clutter, but it feeds my imagination and my creativity, so it looks like I'll only be able to part with maybe 25% of it, if I'm lucky. Not very Zen of me!

I'm having fun going through it all though, reminiscing about past efforts, accomplishments, and failures, and trying to organize it all in some rational meaningful way.

The most fun in all this is rediscovering something long forgotten, some relic from the distant past, like the above drawing, started in my 20s, but never finished.

I wonder what it would've looked like completed, but then again, is anything ever done?

I've decided I rather enjoy my drawing, and my life, in their unfinished states...