A New Home for Live Oak

live oak nation in a new neighborhood

    The 31st Live Oak Music Festival opens a new chapter in a new home, El Chorro Regional Park in San Luis Obispo after almost 30 years at Lake Cachuma in the mountains outside of Santa Barbara.

     We've been "Oakies" for a mere12 years but veterans of many more also like the new venue and its proximity.

 Live Oak is a benefit for public radio KCBX serving the central coast from Ventura to Salinas and centered in San Luis Obispo. The new venue is closer for the audience of SLO, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Cayucos, Atascadero, Cambria, Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Avila and environs.

   There are generations of Oakies and it is increasingly a family event. We pitched "camp" under the great new sun shade and adjacent to the playground.

  Three days and nights of music with options to day camp or come to stay. The festival has a history of providing great acts and discovering new talent.

    Phil Salazar and the Kin Folk are beloved old pros.

   A new act the Shook Twins from Portland were a hit. Katelyn performs some vocals with a repurposed telephone microphone along with guitar, mandolin, banjo and glockenspiel. Laurie on the left uses beatboxing and looping playing banjo, guitar, bass, djembe, ocarina flute. Nico Slice on mandolin guitar and bass, drummer Barra Brown.

stage too

  Away from the Main Stage is Stage Too where True Zion a roots based reggae band was on when we were there.

    The Hot Licks stage for late night or early morning picking.

     The Beer Garden stage features acts like the Something Ridiculous Jugglers. 

      Live Oak is full of visuals.

   The new home features an excellent Children's area with a game zone for teens and learning stations, games and craft workshops for the little acorns. 

the vibe is like a sunny day in the park

  The new neighborhood is thoughtfully planned, provides camping options, is cooler and less dry than the old campground and there are plenty of convenient facilities.
   From the Main Stage area you see a decorated wall...

        ...and behind that wall...

         From most vantage points, one can look out and see some of the 7 Sister peaks that line the central coast.

     El Chorro has an infrastructure for RV or tent camping and the areas are neatly laid out.

   Musician Joe Craven, far left, is back as the congenial, poetic host and MC for the three days and nights, and, as always, constantly in a new costume.

  I also notice a tucked away work space that was the control room for the energy supply and network, solar powered!

   

  Long live LIVE OAK NATION!  Peace, Love and Dirt!

   See you down the trail.

A Letter...& Light in the Shadows

morning breaks over the santa lucia mountains 

and fog filled valleys

bending time

     It's nice to suspend in mid-time. Good to tinker with the tick tock pulse that steals our days. A letter follows that weaves and folds time, if you allow it to.

light in the shadows

    It was the magical time those of us in television and production call the "golden hour."  The evening light transforms the world with a glow and the setting of our friend Marcos took center screen.

     Shadows come alive with intricate detail.

    Light and shadows play with a special warmth.

a letter for the future 

and to the past

      Dear Addie and Henry

      and little Donnie Trump,

      Addie and Henry I hope you are both well and happy and that your mommies are in good health and still being the creative and loving women I remember. As I write this now I can't not be sure of where I will be as you read this, but of this you can be sure, your Poppy will always love you and you will both be in my heart as sources of great joy and pride.

      I hope the world has improved and that people have learned to treat each other with more respect and love.  As you know, we are all related, children of the stars and made of the same stuff as everything else in the web of life.

      I hope the planet has become more of the beautiful garden it was intended to be. But your Poppy was always truthful with you and as you know people can get things confused and make mistakes.

      Way back when I wrote this there was man who I respected, Jon Stewart who liked to make people laugh and think. Just a few days ago he went to Congress where he had to get angry and plead with men and women to take care of sick fire fighters and police officers and emergency workers. Those sick men and women had rushed to a terrible disaster to save lives and rescue people, but there was poison in the air and it made them sick. And then years later when they really needed help, the people in the government turned their backs on them and said they had to send the money elsewhere. It makes Poppy sad to think the same thing is happening in many other cities, where firefighters, who risked their lives, are denied insurance and medical care.

      What's insurance? Well, that's complicated but it is supposed to help people when they need money for medicine or doctors. But when money gets involved it can change people, it can make them act in ways that are not so nice. Remember how we used to talk about sharing and how it was better to give than to receive. You know I always thought that healing and health care and medicine should be a right for all people and not a profit making venture. Like I said Jon got me to thinking about the balance of things in this life and where and how we put our values.

      Right now kids, I want to talk to a little boy who lived a long time ago. He was a kid who grew up in a family where money was more important than love. Little Donnie it is so sad what life will do to you. Sad that your dad didn't hold you enough, or play with you, or teach you the golden rule. Sad that he taught you to lie, cheat and bully people. Maybe you could have been a good guy, a creative person, someone who was fun to be around. It's too bad that you couldn't have figured a way to save forests, or clean lakes and rivers and the ocean, or to help the unfortunate to find safe places to live, or work to improve schools and education or even help sick New York Firefighters get medical treatment. You always had so much money.

      It wasn't your fault you were a problem child, no that is  because your dad seemed to pay more attention to your brother. You were a poor learner and they sent you off to a military school for troubled kids and even there people knew there was something wrong with you. Too bad a school counselor couldn't have gotten you help when you began to lie and brag. Too bad you had no real friends until you spent money on them. That's what you learned and it became the damnation of your life, even when people tried to reason with you. Maybe you would not have grown up thinking you were the most important person in the world if you had gotten the help you needed, or maybe if someone would just have loved you. So sorry. So sad.

       Addie and Henry, remember that everyone has a story and there is a reason why people act they way they do. I hope as you are growing up you will see this world as a place to make things better, for everyone. Maybe you can contribute to finding a way to stop spending so much money on weapons and instead spend more on medical research, or feeding the hungry and caring for the planet. Maybe you will be able to help people know that knowledge and learning are valuable and way more important than games or gossip. Maybe your generation will make sure everyone knows that we are on this planet together, breathing the same air, drinking the same water, living under the same sun and that  we share the same destiny. 

       Sorry we didn't do a better job of leaving you a cleaner, safer, healthier planet where people treat each other nicely. And little Donnie, too bad that you never learned the golden rule, and that gold does not rule. 

      So you see, no matter what someone may think, we are all in this together, good and bad, mean and kind, selfish and  self sacrificing. If you do good, there will be more good. If you help the hurting, there will be less pain. If you live and work for peace, there will be less war. If you think, you will learn. If you learn you will be more useful. If you are more useful your life will be more valuable. 

       And little Donnie, maybe in some future scenario there will be a way to time travel and some good soul might travel back to your childhood and show you real love and real manly behavior and save you from yourself. And save us from who you are now. In the meantime we'll have to wait for the old fashion solution, the ballot box and criminal indictments. 

       Addie and Henry, remember in good times or bad, peace or war, we are a people of laws. We are at our best when serve and love. We are most useful when we seek a better way.

      

      See you down the trail.

       

      

Nice and the power of...

 It's been warmer than it should be so cool pool shots are nice

a time of blooms and roses

the beautiful stand of fox gloves are in the garden of our friend Julia

 Lana's succulents seem happy

 as a three year old said the tree looks like it has whipped cream on top

 the unseasonable warmth sent us to the shore

that provided some a good ride

and now a message from the land of nice
(a message for my granddaughter and grandson)

    How would we feel if the trolls suddenly stopped? How might it be if everyone, especially the politicians, told the truth? What if truth became the norm again-the way it used to be? 

    Don't we have it in our power to expect, even demand truth? 

    I guess we could also troll shame. Isn't it time to crawl out of this dumpster era, time to tame the bullies and quiet the haters? Simple as a thought, or word, no harder than being nice. We can also just ignore them or at least laugh at them.

   The time to depose the tyrant is coming, in the meantime, we can disinfect, sanitize, and clean up the leeching poison. That is done with attitude. My mom used to say "You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar." Our coaches posted in the locker room "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." Old sayings, but they've survived because they are true. 

    Until the rogue administration is tossed out, probably by voters, folks can do their mental health a lot of good by remembering there is nothing normal about it. The Republic will not deflate by speaking the truth. In fact truth in the face of this administration may be like sunlight was to vampires or water was to the wicked witch of the west. What may even be a stake in the heart of this gang is to do good. If you want something stronger than fairy tales, get tough. Charitable work, public service, and mission outreach are helpful, necessary in some cases and in all instances, a powerful form of resistance. Again this summer we are going to feed kids who lost meals when Trump cut the summer lunch program.

     So boys and girls, it's like we learned a long time ago, tell the truth and be nice. That's something they can't handle.

      And we need to be more intentional about laughing at them. Laughter is good for you. In this case it also marginalizes the fools, casts them in the light where they belong. You'll feel better, and that too will destroy them too. 

     See you down the trail. 

Looking at it... A Letter to the Queen...Remember

evening flight out of Cambria

 invoking memories of that other beach of june

     94% of the some 308 million US citizens and residents were not alive 75 years ago when young men shrugged off their fear and summoned courage to experience one of this world's hellish days. 

     At great cost, D-Day altered the course of WWII and in turn influenced human history.  The 6% of those alive on that June 6 remember of course. Like the brave men, their numbers are thinning. It is crucial the rest of us pay respect and remember. We are forever in their debt.

regional architecture

 glimpses of the court house

Santa Barbara

an old favorite is healing

 good to see the Montecito Inn recovered

from the disastrous floods and mud flow

 the place chaplin built is back to its classic self

we're sorry

     Dear Queen and the people of England,

          We're sorry, very, very sorry. Thank you for your civility, though most of us wish you would have listened to the mayor of London and simply locked the door and refused to  let the undeserving sully your most excellent castle. America is so embarrassed. 

           As you know the man is a bit of lout who most of us detest. We, the majority did not vote for him. His biggest fan is his Russian sugar daddy and some off us are not sure he didn't somehow vote for him. I hope you can understand most Americans don't think he should be let out of the house, let alone visit royalty in your dignified realm.

          We're sorry he shot off his mouth about your domestic politics. Please recall that no other American President has  done that.  Please know he's not really a President; he doesn't behave like one, or work like one. In fact he doesn't work much at all. He watches TV and uses his phone.
          Most of us were sad he even disparaged some of our own people while he was in your land. We don't approve of that. Real Presidents don't do that sort of thing.

          We hope you check the rooms he might have wondered into, make sure everything is still there, especially anything that is gold. Look for chicken bones too. Some may be stashed around.

         Your majesty, we think what you said about the old alliances was spot on. Of course the fool was probably looking at his reflection in something and missed your salient point. He doesn't read, you may have heard. And he doesn't listen to his advisors. He's impulsive and he's really rather stupid. You probably knew that the moment you saw how that tuxedo fit him. Don't you think a guy who pretends to be rich could afford a better fit? Maybe he can't help it that he's a slob. 
          What did you think about that crown he wears? What do you think it is? 

        We hope he didn't suggest that you put your name on the castle. Wouldn't surprise us though. It would have been tacky if he asked you if he could his name on it. He might of told you that's what he does. Did he tell you that his home has more gold than yours? We call his style of decorating 
"Bordello Deluxe."

       It really hurt a lot of us to see this tax criminal and mob boss getting to meet you and your family and to be amongst the most refined. Did he grab any of the women? We're sorry if he did. He's got a habit of that sort of thing, but so many people here who should do something about his ways, are just sycophants. I guess they are afraid of him or maybe it's his followers. 
       Maybe you've seen him and his people on television. They stand behind him and shout and yell while he acts like a dictator. We think that's really what he wants to be. He doesn't have the manners to be a King. But you may have noticed how much his mannerisms are like Mussolini. If you haven't noticed that, look at some old film.
      We are always afraid when he tries to act like he knows something about world affairs. He's got a crush on Putin-he idolizes him. You've probably heard him say he trusts Vlad more than he trusts his own national security staff. Yea, I know, most of us can't believe it either! Did he tell you how much he loves Kim. 
       Well, in all honesty there are a minority of US citizens who like him. Maybe you've seen those people who stand behind him at the rallies, they don't seem to care how offensive or unhinged he looks and sounds. They don't seem like very nice people. They seem to be like those people who went to lynchings. They don't even care how many thousands of documented times he lies. That's scary isn't it. Maybe they are just paid actors. Or maybe they think he's smart. That probably tells you how poorly we Americans have taught history and civics. We're sorry about that too. We think that needs to change. He is probably the best example of why.

       Oh, how we wish you would have refused to see him, or maybe invited just his wife to tea and sent him to the tower. 

       Don't hold him against us. At least not all of us. Over here a lot of folks are easily fooled, or they don't know much, or they do a good job of justifying things, or maybe they are just stupid. I know that isn't politically correct, but in all honestly there's a lot of  stupid going around now.

       Well, thanks for being nice to such a lout. He really is a poor soul. And he's not well. We don't know if he lies so much because of his mental illness, or because he's been a cheat and liar his whole life, something he learned from his father who was also a racist. We don't dislike him because of his illness, we just dislike haters, criminals, racists, sexual predators, bullies, liars, braggers, bluffers and rotten people.     
       So maybe your being so hospitable will lodge somewhere in that oversized and unfit body and start something that will turn him into a decent human being, who pays attention to his job, and listens to experts and cares about people and stops being a bully and a fool.

        Well, your majesty, we can hope and pray. We Americans do that a lot and as you know it has helped us through tough times before. But please don't invite him over again. There are so many other Americans, who know so much more, and are more refined, and better read, who are more kind and who can find clothes that fit.

Sincerely,
Embarrassed in California

      See you down the trail.