MAKING PLANNING DIFFICULT & LOOKING FOR BLUE

A SEASON OF CHANGE

California Spring 2011 has been dramatic. Vivid greens and color and ample moisture.
NO SNOW PLEASE

Courtesy National Parks Service

I've been trying to plan an outing to Lassen Volcanic National Park, but it keeps snowing.

The ranger I spoke with said there is 13 feet of snow on the ground now and it has begun to snow again.  They got 7 inches the day before and as we chatted she said another heavy snow was falling.  

Courtesy National Parks Service

They've started clearing and enjoyed last weeks 60 degree weather, but another batch of winter has returned and  delayed an already behind schedule.

The ranger said they hoped to have the main road open and cleared by the 4th of July.

We've decided to put off a June trip and will wait until deep summer.

HISTORIC SNOW REMOVAL RECORD AT LASSEN

Spring Road Opening Dates - 1980 to present

Year	Date Plowing Began From Southwest	Date Road Opened	Date Road Closed	Comments
1980	April 20	May 29	November 21
1981	April 20	May 21	November 3
1982	April 19	June 18	October 25
1983	April 18	July 2	November 10
1984	April 23	June 4	October 28
1985	April 14	May 18	October 21
1986	April 7	June 7	November 24
1987	April 20	May 15	November 13
1988	April 2	May 20	November 7
1989	April 3	June 6	October 23
1990	April 1	April 28	November 14
1991	April 7	May 24	October 22
1992	April 6	May 14	October 29
1993	April 12	June 28	November 10
1994	April 3	May 20	November 7
1995	March 19	July 21	November 21
1996	April 1	June 12	October 18
1997	April 7	June 5	November 14
1998	April 5	July 12	November 10
1999	April 12	June 11	November 19
2000	April 3	June 2	November 17
2001	April 2	May 10	November 15
2002	April 1	May 22	November 13
2003	March 26	May 23	November 7
2004	March 11	May 27	October 28
2005	April 4	June 2	November 8
2006	April 3	July 6	November 11
2007	April 2	May 18	December 6
2008	March 31	May 18	December 12
2009	April 13	June 4	November 18
2010	April 19	July 8	October 23	Late season snows and cold temps through May.

LOOKING FOR BLUE

The last couple of days we've been looking for patches of blue. Last night produced another .3 of an inch of rain.

This time of year morning fog or clouds burn by mid day and forecasters say after the chance of a little more rain today, we get back to our normal pattern.

People here expect to see blue sky.  We count on it.

See you down the trail.

SORTNG LIFE AND CREATIVITY-DUELING GAUGES & A NOTE FROM BOB

A PENSIVE WORK

          Terrence Malick's new film THE TREE OF LIFE is a large presence at the Cannes Film Festival. A few people booed, more applauded at the first screening and there is a buzz about the long awaited film.  

          Full disclosure here,  I'm a fan of Malick's work and think he is one of the great artists of cinema, much more than merely a great film maker.  He won me as fan with his film BADLANDS, which also featured incredible performances by Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Malick's use of setting, nature, light and the mood they evoke in combination is an essential of his art.

          His other films are DAYS OF HEAVEN, THE THIN RED LINE and THE NEW WORLD.

          Here's the trailer for TREE OF LIFE that opens May 27.

          Malick studied philosophy at Harvard and Oxford and later taught it at MIT.  He has has worked as journalist and writer.

A FIND THAT ENCOURAGES
EVEN IF FANTASY

      A common thought must run through the minds of most creative sorts, writers, painters, musicians and poets.  What may, someday, become of an uncelebrated, unpublished, unpurchased piece of work? What might become of that rejected book, screenplay, unsold painting or unrecorded song?  Maybe there have been successes and that old piece becomes an orphan, shoved away in a desk draw or hidden in a garage or lost in a box or storage. It may have companions as well.  What happens, eventually?  When you are gone and your possessions become the ward of others, do you ever wonder what might happen to that piece or those works?

           LINK HERE FOR A STORY THAT COULD FAN THE SPARK OF A FANCIFUL IF NOT FANTASY THOUGHT.  HERE REJECTION  MAY ITSELF BE REJECTED FOR NEW MARKETS. READERS MARVEL AT THE FIND.

READYING FOR THE TRANSPLANT

AN UPDATE FROM BOB

Friends,

We have more benchmarks on our time line towards the BMT. I will undergo 
pre-transplant evaluation June 16-24 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. It 
is an extremely thorough combination of medical exams, testing and 
consultations. Once I pass that milestone, the insurance company will be 
in position to rule on final approval of coverage. An insurance approval 
is anticipated, but always something to pray for. After insurance 
approval, the donor will then begin pre-transplant evaluation and 
injections to boost her production of stem cells. The Mayo transplant 
coordinator advised me to be prepared to enter Rochester Methodist 
Hospital on July 1st.

In the meantime, Diane and I are getting logistics covered. We are on 
the list for accommodations at the Gift of Life Transplant House in 
Rochester. Diane will say there while I am hospitalized. I will join her 
there upon my discharge. We will live in Rochester for approximately 3 
months. Since I cannot be left alone at the transplant house, we will 
need help from friends and her family living in NE Iowa to give her a 
bit of respite. I'll be pretty weak. Adult visitors are allowed at the 
Transplant House, with some minor rules. Children 17 and under are not 
allowed as visitors.

As Dr. Laura used to say about commitment, "You're not engaged unless 
you have a ring and a date." We are getting close to total commitment.

Foster

This is the most recent of a continuing series of reports and observations from a long time friend and former colleague as he continues to live with Leukemia.

MORE THAN  MAY GRAY

Those heavy skies of evening produced another round of May rain.

An extraordinary season continues as the morning tally reveals.

One at a half an inch and the other at .7.  I'll log in .6.
That is 36.2 for the season.
See you down the trail.

CARING ABOUT WATER & A LATE RAIN

EXPO IN THE GREEN SPACE

       (CAMBRIA) Water conservation was the center piece of an Expo

in the East Village, on the banks the Santa Rosa Creek.

       The GreenSpace Creekside preserve, near the red Temple provided a lovely setting

for discussion and presentation.

 An overview of the Santa Rosa Creek watershed provides a graphic

portrayal of our interdependence.

 Cambrians bring curiosity, concern and caring. The source and use of water 
is always news here.

       Those who filtered through found information relevant to conservation and water quality.  Presentations provided understanding of individual home owner and personal applications including water re-use. 

 There was interest across several demographic groups.

 Gray water filtration system.

 For five hours people came, heard, learned and moved more knowledge into the 

already informed Cambria constituency.  A major take away of the Expo was the undeniable value of a more efficient use of rainwater harvesting and a more

diligent push for individual use of gray water applications for irrigation.

Retrofits are relatively simple and inexpensive for laundry to landscape irrigation.

Gray water use for toilets makes enormous sense.  Those retrofits are slightly more involved, but are easier to accomplish when part of the original building design.

This is true no matter where on this planet you live.

 The path along the creek is an appropriate place to meditate on the value

of a more intelligent and conscientious approach to water use and conservation.

Conservation and wise use is more natural and less expensive than other

alternatives.

Thanks to Katherine and Rick for their concern and for the platform to learn.

RAIN IN MAY?

As one of the meteorologists said, a significant rain, this late in the season is unusual.

This pushes our yearly total on the ridge to 35.6 in a La Nina year. It is an unexpected and surprising total.  Not everyone is pleased.

Nesta and Ziggy don't like damp paws.

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER :) GOOD TECH

CREATIVE THOUGHTS

       In keeping with our Weekender :) devotion to fun and imagination, here are a couple of items that celebrate creative technology.

          First is a rocking view of a unique ride.

FROM THE ECONOMIST, A FASCINATING PIECE ON A NEW WAY TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY FROM SOLAR POWER. A BRIGHT NEW IDEA. LINK HERE.

Watch, read, be stimulated and enjoy.

See you down the trail.

AFTER THE CRASH

FRIENDS, TRUST, FUTURE

"To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved."

George MacDonald

Scottish Pastor, Poet, Novelist

       A misfortune in the blogosphere took down this blog and all of the others in the Blogger world yesterday.  

       We all take these things differently.  It disrupted a flow of thought I was to offer on friendship. It forced upon me a feeling of helplessness.  Here again we count on systems to link us and when they fail, we feel a disconnect and frustration.

"Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present:

fear, avarice, lust and ambition look ahead."

CS Lewis 

English Novelist, Literary Scholar, Theological Writer

       A recent reunion of friends, and the struggle of other friends with health and medical problems has prompted a recent field of emotion. 

       MacDonald, quoted above, was the creative godfather of Lewis.  MacDonald, Lewis said, "baptized his imagination."

I would enjoin his thought by adding that friends provide both love and trust.  

     Grateful we are for friends, old and new. In that we cover the past and present.  And for some we worry, even fear, the battles they fight.

"The love of our neighbour (friend*) is the only door out of the dungeon of self where we mope...."  *interpretation mine

MacDonald

     Mindful of my teacher of writing Harriet Mcguire, I will try to bring this "full circle." 

     Connectivity to this world of the blog, to you as readers,

is modern friendship. There is a trust. There is gratitude and even expectation. A broken system disrupts and causes worry.

     Long time friends bring joy, comfort and a peace. A threat to them disrupts and causes worry.

"In a world we find terrifying, we ratify that which doesn't threaten us."

David Mamet 

US Dramatist, Screenwriter and Director

     A couple of new friends of friends were introduced to the Friday lunch flash mob on the Sebastians' deck below the castle today.  They are in transition, their lives are changing and they now step into the stream of friendship of others who have done like wise previously. It is a kind of ritual.  

     By sharing accounts of distant friends, a new circle of friends widens even more.  Private concerns of an old friend in a distant place are shared and woven into the fabric of the social group. This is repeated and the widening continues and the interconnectedness builds. 

    Though the values differ immensely, there is a similarity of pattern.  A diagnosis from a distance, a disruption in harmony, a break down in technology, a disconnection all encroach upon and remind us of the  "life web" that links us.

    We respond differently.  Some of us need to brood, or be pensive as we seek understanding, if not a place of trust.

"The absence of the urge to create is decadence."

David Mamet

      So in the very least, we seek to create moments of 

friendship, reasons for gratitude.

      Friends, trust, a sense of future, it is a continuum.

      See you down the trail.