IN THE SIERRA

UPPING THE ALTITUDE

     Tall pines and towering peaks create a jagged and spired frame. The night is deep, a sky rich with stars.  Wind rakes through trees and the night hums with a Sierra wind as pines whisper sing and aspen rattle. The air is crisp, intoxicating with energy and mountain scent. A meteor rips the star field, and leaves a shinning trail. My legs quake as though the mountain electrifies.
      This part of the range is between 9 and 12 thousand feet. Rock and granite peaks that nestle high meadows and alpine lakes. 

    Three hours of climbing put us a little shy of 11 thousand.  Both of us felt the altitude.  The payoff though was majestic scene after scene and moments for precious meditation.

MOUNTAIN ENERGY

      Evening clouds in the eastern Sierra, south of Yosemite
near June Lake. 

     Wake up sunshine.

A CLASSIC

       A recent moment in the Carson Peak Steakhouse, a mountain staple.  For more than 50 years diners have enjoyed  steak and trout in this eastern slope hide away, in the  forest outside the mountain village. 

GOOD ENERGY

      At a lodge a waiter from Hawaii who came here in a snow storm many years ago, says this part of the Sierra is a kind of energy vortex.  He seems to be a mellow and happy man.
     There are more happy notes, coming.

      See you down the trail.     

    

THE WEEKENDER-CAPTURING THE MOOD

UNDER THE STARS

    As the sun dropped from the painted sky it pulled in thousands of stars on jet blackness over Harmony California.

    Jim Conroy and the Mystery Brothers sweetened the air, a further desert at the Harmony Cafe, alfresco.

     It was a CD release party and the California Irishman logged in stories behind the songs he wrote-Gypsies by the Sea, Celtic Cactus, Walking Down the High Road, Universal Prayer, Mystery of Life and more including the haunting Volcano Lullaby. 

     Conroy's music is accomplished, deep, rich in texture, mood and life.  And like his stories, his creations evoke images.  He finished telling of driving hours in the Baja desert, crossing a ridge with a volcano to the right when suddenly the peaceful blue bay comes into view, as though singing to the smoking volcano.  

     A September night on the California coast, minstrels casting a spell as the quiet Santa Lucia Mountains slumber in the moon light and the Pacific roars its own lullaby.

Harmony indeed.

     See you down the trail.

INSTEAD OF THE POLITICIANS OR STARS AND LOOKING UP

CELEBRATE THE GENIUS

     In a "better" world, our media would find better fodder, especially in the personalities we see, read and hear about.

     Maybe instead of rum-dum politicians, show business luminaries and rich athletes we could read about geniuses.

    Today, that "better" scenario exists-the Geniuses are here, celebrated and even compensated. Here is your link to real greatness-THIS YEARS MacARTHUR FOUNDATION FELLOWS. 

      Usually the Fellows are surprised or stunned by the award and this year is no different.

       This Washington Post piece captures that element.

     This LA Times story profiles a Cal Tech brain researcher

breaking new ground.

       This years class of fellows will each receive $650 thousand for their contributions to life on this planet. In their own field and in their own way they are heroes and the best of us.

LOOKING UP

    For some curious reason, curious because I'm not sure what is the motivation, I've been looking for shots that require a quick look up. Thus....

     See you down the trail.

THE PIER and THE BRUSH

THE BRUSH
Meditations on living with a finite resource

    The bath brush is getting "more playing time," as they say in the game.  

     Serious attempts at water conservation have given me the opportunity to notice how the time with the shower off increases, proportionately, the time when the brush gets to work.  No doubt this is something like the principle of Inverse Void Action-the emptiness of something, in this case water, is filled with the presence of something else, the use of the brush.

      The soak, lather and scrub practice, done between quick douses from the shower, is a pleasant way to conserve by shortening showers. And as you might expect, it also enhances the pleasure of the water spray when it is on.

THE PIER

    The Pier and cove at San Simeon are a jewel of the Central Coast. Human intrusion is at a minimum. 

     See you down the trail. 

THE WEEKENDER-AWESOME-PEACEFUL-AND THE DOG GOLDBERG

THE ELDERS OF THE PLANET

      As the news of floods, drought, wildfire and tropical storms fill the airwaves and internet I've been thinking about some of my favorite living things-the giant Sequoia trees only some 4 hours from here.
    From 1,200 to 1,800 years old I try to imagine the kind of changes that have swept over this planet since they first emerged as saplings.  I am filled with awe and reverence whenever I am in their presence, or in the presence of their cousins, the coast Redwoods.  That is why Big Sur and the
Sequoia national parks are so special to me.

TIME TO CHILL

   No matter where your journey has taken you this week, here are a couple of frames to help you find a road to peaceful relaxation.

THE WEEKENDER VIDEO

it may have you howling

   Find something to enjoy this weekend.  See you down the trail.

BUT THE MEMORIES SURVIVE AND A REQUIEM FOR OLD TREES

THEY CAN'T TEAR DOWN THE MEMORIES

Photo courtesy and copyright Rob Goebel-The Indianapolis Star

   It was jarring to see what is left of the administration building of the old Weir Cook, later Indianapolis International Airport, a place I spent a lot of time as a reporter. 

    It was there I met Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek,  had my first meeting with Fred Friendly of CBS News/Ed Murrow fame, caught my first glimpse of Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and many other luminaries.

    The conference room was an easy spot for news crews to assemble and catch the famous he or she before they headed off. It was also the place I watched as directors began the process of dreaming the new ultra modern airport that doomed that very building.  

     The old giving way to the new, it is a cadence of life. 

        

REQUIEM

    Wilderness areas of the central California Coast are rich with ancient trees.

      Some are massive. As they come to the end of their sentry era, they sill afford visual power.

   As our pines reach the end, they go out with a last hurrah, creating a bonanza of cones.

    And in life or demise some of these giants play to the imagination.

  I wonder; as the old ad building held memories, do these old giants hold memories of the Salinan, Chinese or ancient explorers of this coast? 

  See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-FAR OUT-FREAK OUT & OCEAN PEAKS

THE PLANET'S BEST TRAVELER
or
A COSMIC ROLL ON

    This is a snap shot of our first child to leave home, really leave home.  Voyager 1, launched 36 years ago and powered by plutonium has traveled 11 billion miles and has now entered interstellar space.  

    Voyager has traveled further into the cosmos than any object from our little blue planet.  Voyager carries with it a gold plated 1970's era phonograph record with Chuck Berry, Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Louis Armstrong. That is an invitation for some kind of galactic jam session.  Incredible as it may be, Voyager continues to send radio data back to mother earth, over a 17 hour delay. Happy trails.

SHADES OF ALAN FUNT

your weekender video

What would you have done?
OCEAN PEAKS

  Enjoy your weekend.  See you down the trail.

9/11-A GOOD RESPONSE

NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE

     30 Million Americans are expected to provide some form of service this week, many of them today, as we observe another anniversary of 9/11.

     In our coastal village on the Pacific, far away from New York City, it is a blood drive.  Volunteering to do something good, helpful and constructive has, since 2009, been the official way to recall that September in 2001.

     I was in both New York, near the Trade Center and Washington, near the Pentagon on September 10th.  Because of a missed meeting we had debated staying over until the 11th.  I am forever grateful we decided to return to Indianapolis.  

WHERE WERE YOU?

See you down the trail.

THE SYRIAN SOLUTION AND THE HALL

HANDLING THE SYRIAN MATTER

     There is a time tested way to respond to Syria's unforgivable and barbaric use of sarin gas that avoids the pitfalls and absurdity of American political theater.

     Assad, his high command and his field officers who planned, approved, executed and evaluated the use of the gas should be indicted and charged as international war criminals. This would signify to the world  they acted outside the bounds of the civilized world and international law.

     There is an International Criminal Court and there is certainly a history of pursuing, trying and convicting war criminals.  The Nuremberg Trial and the successful prosecution of Nazis at the end of World War II is the most notable but there have been similar prosecutions since.

    It would require time to arrest and try those responsible but in the interim they will be known and vilified and will live with both ignominy and the lurking fear of when the hand of justice will reach them.  In that sense they will be pariahs in the civilized world and marked with their alleged crimes, not forgotten and pursued until prosecuted.
    Nations do not commit war crimes, people do. A lesson of  the Nuremberg prosecutions is that ultimately individuals are held accountable for their actions, even if they are ordered to do so under a military command. This places the responsibility squarely where it belongs, the conscience and judgement of individual human beings.

     To pursue Assad and his minions through a court of law allows the world to revile them and expresses contempt while bringing justice. And importantly it frees the US, or any nation, the need to unilaterally engage in questionable, risky and even philosophically controversial actions. 

     Two quick points here; the US likes the sovereignty of being able to act unilaterally, though we do not favor such an option to any other nation. Maybe you can understand that bias, but it is a flawed philosophical/moral concept. The other point-you cannot engage in a limited action, bombing or other wise, without changing the dynamic of the conflict. Any tinkering in the complexity of a civil war threatens to draw us in more deeply. Look at history, it shouts loudly about this.  

      Furthermore I do not trust the wisdom of this President nor his advisers, nor do I have faith in the judgement and requisite reasoning of our current legislative branch of government. The senior chamber possesses a modicum of wisdom. The House however might be the assemblage of the least qualified, least intelligent and most dysfunctional buffoons, idiots, grafters, poltroons and clowns in the history of Congress!
      Finally following this course of action is the use of diplomacy and reason above the use of lethal force and power. That should always be our first and best option.  

THE HALL

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-PRETTY AS....

WHAT IS NOT TO LIKE?

   The Italian street painters are back in San Luis Obispo. Pros, amateurs, hobbyists and students fill the Mission Plaza with energy and art under the brilliant, if not hot, California sun. This year we take a peek at works in progress.

    We arrived in San Luis Obispo late one Sunday evening, flying back from a trip, but made a midnight swing through the Plaza to behold the art that disappears rapidly.  

YOUR TICKET TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE

   During a particular six year period I went to Cannes France twice a year to attend the Television and Documentary Market and festival.  As you might expect I loved the time in Provence and this little video prompted memories.  It's a unique look at Cannes.  Enjoy.

See you down the trail.