BEYOND HUMAN SCALE

AWESOME

              The Sierra is a profound face of this planet.

     An October system brews over Tioga Pass.

    The range creates or builds a unique whether and climate. It breeds a bio/botanical environment in a rugged and wild beauty.

 Morning sun lights up a mountain wall in the June Lake region.

     Nature is a bold and massive exclamation, offering views that reboot the mind.

   

 Alpine lakes tuck between peaks at 7,500-10,500 altitude.

     These mountains can be spiritual and soul stirring. More exquisite than imagination while defining a perspective. The frailty of human strength goes up as an ablution.   

Mount Tallac 9,735 ft Near Richardson Camp

   They celebrate a purity as they rise toward the heavens. Ponder the imagination that went into creating these scenes.

Shadows, morning sun and moonlight.

     Mountains have a power on me. As kids we made trips to Colorado to spend time with my father's cousin who was homesteading above Boulder.  The Rockies took hold of something in my heart.  Dad took us to or through the Great Smokies a few times and again the mountains were magnetic. 

         We count as a blessing that we live so near the Sierra

and close to California Mountain Ranges.
      Looking at these mountains dwarf all the hype, hub-bub and hoopla of our human drama of the campaign. Those granite spires were here long before us and they will remain.
      See you down the trail.

CURRENTS OF THOUGHT

OPEN QUESTIONS

     ARE THE DEBATES WRONG?

     These may not be original musings, but they are relevant.  Anything that gets the candidates thinking and talking in front of a live format is revealing and a lot better than packaged and paid advertising.  But--  I wonder if we didn't cross a Rubicon when JFK and Dick Nixon opened the era of television campaigning and debates.  Charisma became a factor in Presidential Campaigns. Looks, style, manner and "appeal" became "values" by which Americans rate and choose their chief executive. Though it is more sinister than that.

     I know 2 or 3 men, who have played on the national and international stage and who were involved in the presidential sweepstakes who could have made good presidents, but they lacked something- media gloss and sizzle. Probably brighter and deeper thinkers than most of their peers, their intellect and experience got trumped by media appeal.

    Jim Lehrer tried to open a format to allow Obama and Romney to present and counter with some depth, but still the rigidity of debate forces the contestants, and we viewers, into an artificial frame of scoring points by attack,  defense, or presenting a zinger. The goal is to beat the opponent, as if that determines how a man or woman would serve.

     Perhaps the evaluation and revelatory outcome helps us to better understand and to decide, but it all seems like it is spawned from the same mind set of a Super Bowl, or World Series-winner take all.

     The Presidency demands more than presentation or debate skills.  Perhaps helpful in some way, it is still an example of the disconnect between the business, and now industry, of elections and the real job of governance.

    We can count on the media yak hacks to be pumped up

on scoring the next rounds, as though it means something.

     THE SEASON HAS OPENED

   Today delivers the first measurable rain of Central California's "rain season." 

    After an extraordinary year in 2010-2011, last year was under average, so we celebrate each drop.  Though, this is a dicey time of year.  Grape growers and vintners are someplace along in harvest and too much rain at the wrong time is bad news.  Stay tuned for an update from Wine Country where

EVERY DAY IS NOT ROMANTIC

     We may romanticize the life of a winemaker, but do so

at the cost of overlooking how hard is the work.  Case in 

point-during harvest there is an endless list of things to do.

One item is just keeping the equipment clean.  Here we see

premier wine maker John Munch and a colleague doing just that. 

A PARTING THOUGHT

    I had a relative who used the old bromide "There's a place in hell for people like that!"  I don't want to open a theological debate or a discussion about judgement, BUT as I read about the Taliban attack on a teen female who had been an advocate for full educational rights for girls, that old saw came back to mind.  Along with words like, idiots, cowards, ignorant, stone age ass holes and evil.

    Truth is, full equality for women in Islamic nations could do more to remove those evil mullahs and imams and their influence of ignorant fundamentalism than anything else.  Oh, a lake of burning sulfur comes to mind as well!

     Really hard to bring yourself to forgive someone like that isn't it? A struggle!

    See you down the trail.

NOW WE'VE SEEN IT

FINDING TRUCKEE

     What I knew about Truckee was that it was at or near the Donner Pass. And that is snowed a lot. We had also heard that modern Truckee is a fun and charming mountain town above Lake Tahoe.

      The Truckee River runs from Lake Tahoe into Nevada. A beautiful bike and hiking path follows the sparkling river through the canyons to Historic Truckee.

    Truckee is pleasing to the eyes and breathes with history.

     The Odd Fellows building, still in use, was built in 1871. Odd Fellows were a strong lodge in California's gold country and mountains.

     On the way from Lake Tahoe to Reno, the Truckee River passes a lot of back doors and porches.
      In the autumn it certainly is a charming spot.  Now when winter starts to bring the hundreds of inches of snow to the Sierra, things no doubt change a bit.  But snow boarders and skiers have different appreciations. I don't know that I will see Truckee in the snow, but we enjoyed
it as it looks above.

     See you down the trail.

COLOR IN THE SIERRA

NATURE'S PALETTE 

    It was a default autumn behavior in Indiana to look for spectacular fall color. It's probably that upbringing and conditioning then that sent us on our search in the high Sierra.

     Each of these frames represent a special moment of light
in one of the earth's most beautiful places, the eastern slope and in the June Lake Loop and Virginia Lake areas.

It was with joy and gratitude that we could pursue

these scenes to share with you.

See you down the trail.

THE WEEKENDER-A JUMBLE

WHAT WE SEE
Our first WEEKENDER offering came to my
attention thanks to tennis pal, Art.
This is a stunning visual.  If you can, watch it
in HD mode.

IT'S ALL IN THE VIEW

     Luke had a frustrating day.  Stuck inside, watching life unfold out there.

     Brother Hemingway on the other hand, with a great view.

   Check up and vaccination day meant he missed his morning romp outside, consigned to fresh air only through the screen. 

    While little brother finds an endless world of fascination

       as does little sis Joy.  

   Oh, just to be able to hit those open space, and work that gopher hole again. But, time for another cat nap....

SLEEPING TIGHT

The box was intended for the kitten, Joy, but Luke never passes a chance to nap in box, no matter the size.

RUMINATIONS FROM THE ROAD

A few fleeting thoughts from my just completed 

1000 mile plus trip up to the Sierra Nevada.

--California is a state of extraordinary grandeur and beauty

--DNR, National Park Service, and State Park information centers are treasures

--Bad news from elsewhere-

The story of the hanging "no-bama" chairs is troubling.

Regardless of your politics that kind of racism, throwback to the age of lynching and lack of respect is repulsive and obscene. There should be no place in America for that kind of action. Perpetrators must be the spawn of pond scum.

See you down the trail. 

EMERALD BAY

PICTURE PERFECT

      Friends advised that we go up to the Emerald Bay overlook when they learned of our first trip to Lake Tahoe.

   The magnificent scene was created by glacial melt, leaving Tahoe's only island, Fannette where the Vikingsholm Tea house perches.  The Vikingsholm Castle, built in 1929, nestles on the facing shore, wrapped and hidden by towering pines.

   The owners hired a retired British Royal Navy sailor as a caretaker during the hard winters.  Tough old salt that he was, he would take a dinghy several miles to Tahoe city for supplies and a stop in the tavern.  Once a storm tossed him and he bound himself to his small boat and rode out the winter blast, later amputating a couple of his own fingers.
After another round in the tavern a winter storm dumped him and his body was never recovered.

    Thanks to our pals for the great tip.  Emerald Bay is an extraordinary scene.

     See you down the trail.