Wildflowers

These incredible lupines were down on Division creek south of Big Pine, CA.

If it wasn't for a neighbor I would never have found this glorious spot. We drove down the other day and went west on Black Rock Springs road and then turned onto a dirt road heading up Division creek past an old hydro-electric plant built in 1908. The lupines follow a dry creek bed up the mountain forming a ribbon of blue and purple. Beautiful banks of lupine

undulating in the wind (which got to be quite strong that day) the fragrance intoxicating! Interspersed between white granite boulders and other flowering bushes there were bright red splashes of color from Indian Paintbrush, large pink thistles with multiple flowers on large 3' stems, and any number of other wildflowers that I do not know. On the hillsides above there were wide bands of pink bushes, carpets of yellow and in one instance a lone pine tree surrounded by a large carpet of lupine. It was a dramatic picture.

Near the top I looked out on the valley far below...tiny cars and trucks heading north and south on 395. As the drivers speed by do they even notice the colors, the clouds, the birds flying over head? Oh what they are missing. I felt blessed to have found this beautiful spot.

Beauty is everywhere if you take the time to look and it is so nurturing and nourishing to your soul. No matter where you are you can find a special place. I guarantee you will feel recharged and renewed...I did. Stop to smell the flowers.

Alabama Hills

We decided to drive down to Lone Pine the other day to see the wildflowers. I had never stopped to see the Alabama Hills either so we spent the whole afternoon exploring and it was awesome with these awesome rock formations.

Apparently miners back in the 1860's named their claims in honor of the CSS Alabama, a Confederate warship, and eventually the area became known as the Alabama Hills. Then in the 1920's Hollywood came to town and all sorts of movies were shot out here. As you drive around there are markers telling you what movies were shot in the particular areas. There is "Movie" Road and the Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy and various other Westerns were shot out there. If you stop at the visitor center in Lone Pine you can get a map but I found it to be rather confusing. Never-the-less it was fun to try and find all the rock formations with names like the BullFrog, The Spooks and the Baboon. There are a few arches too. What is nice is that the whole area is really accessible either by car, on foot or bike. The rock formations are incredible; more rounded and flowing in contrast to the rigid, sharp rocks of the Sierra above. There is an arch with a heart shaped hole in the center

We decided to keep climbing and and drove up to Mt Whitney portal. What a view and the summit of Mt Whitney is 10,000' above your head!

On the trip down too there were acres of Desert Gold wildflowers that were in bloom as well as a lot of other flowers that I am still researching but they were beautiful and just added to the day. It was a great day.

Route 6

Sometimes there is history right under your nose and you don't realize it...Route 6 was one of these recent discoveries. On my way North out of Bishop on the way to Big Trees Nursery in Chalfant, about 12 miles, I pass this sign,"Provincetown, MA 3205 Miles . I have passed this sign for years and it always brings to mind the many summers spent driving up Route 6 through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts on family summer vacations. I'll never forget my Dad cursing the engineers who built the highway, especially through Rhode Island and it got to the point that he would rather drive 100 miles out of his way just to bypass the road as it went through Providence! I remember going in circles on Route 6 in Providence and announcing from the back seat that I believed we already passed this or that which just added to the stress my father was already under! Rhode Island is notorious for its signage problems.

Every year we went to Cape Cod on vacation. We'd stay at a hotel in Hyannis and then drive up and down the Cape going to different towns and beaches every day. Eventually we would drive all the way up to Provincetown for the day. I remember the sand dunes, the wide beaches, collecting grasses and shells, lobster and clam chowder. They were great days.

What I never knew was that Route 6 is the longest U.S. Transcontinental Highway. It is also known as the "Grand Army of the Republic Highway," and passes through 14 states. The first part of the highway was built in 1925 and extended from Provincetown, MA to Brewster, NY. Then they extended it to Erie, PA and by 1931 it went to Greeley, CO. In 1937 it passed through Bishop, CA and came to an end in Longbeach. In 1965 the Longbeach to Bishop segment was decommissioned.

To get a state by state look at Highway 6 go to a great site, "Route 6:The Longest Transcontinental Highway." They have alot of pictures and history. http://www.augustana.edu/.

Over the course of my life I have traveled on both ends of this grand highway. It makes me feel rather philosophical...am I at a crossroads in my life now? What is around the next bend? The past and present; what's up ahead and what is now behind and out of sight. Our family has always had a bit of the wanderlust so I guess it is just in my blood. As they say it is not about the destination but rather the journey.

Signs of Spring

Glorious Daffodils! Is there any other symbol of Spring that is as beautiful and happy than a daffodil? Their little trumpets raised towards the sun announcing that warmer weather and longer days are not so far away. The daffodils in the picture welcomed you to the Antique Hotel store in Big Pine, CA on highway 395. I found a sweet Ross Originals pottery vase of a bird perched on top of a branch. Just large enough for a bloom or two and the perfect find on a Spring themed jaunt.

The Sierra Nevada mountains are all covered in white but the lower foothills all have a tint of green. Tufts of grass are coming up by the side of the road. We decided to get out of town and headed south early. The Eastern California Museum in Independence is just setting up for the Inyo County Pioneering Women:Faces Through History, exhibit. It officially starts at the museum on March 27th and goes through September 6th. These amazing, strong women helped to carve out a life for themselves and their families in the Sierra. There will be lectures and exhibits celebrating women throughout the Sierra from Ridgecrest to Lee Vining, Mammoth Lakes to Shoshone (a place I admit I have yet to visit). The stories and lives of these women are inspirational. The program is being organized by the Eastern Sierra Cultural Heritage Alliance. Bravo!

We love exploring as most of you know and that is part of our "Blooming Where You are Planted" philosophy. Get out there and learn about the history of the place you call home. See who came before and blazed the path. Spring symbolizes new beginnings and hope, creating and newness!

See your environment through new eyes no matter how long you have lived there. Look for signs of Life!

Seed Catalogs and Planting New Ideas

I love this time of year...still in the grips of winter but the seed catalogs have arrived. I can sit with a cup of tea and start dreaming and planning for the new year. Seed catalogs are inspiring and I always get carried away. Last year I think I planted 13 varieties of tomatoes (multiples of each) and honestly it was too ambitious. After living at 8,000' for 9 years I was so ready to have a real garden again that I over did it. Not being used to the new environment challenges of living on a Mesa didn't help.

I started off great though. Seedlings all lined up in the windows of the house all being lovingly cared for and nurtured. They started off so well. Heirloom tomatoes, peppers, beans, lettuces, and herbs. Every thing transplanted well and plants flourished, fruit set and then... nothing. Nothing would ripen. The weather was hot, cold, hot, cold, blistering hot. Then the baby tomatoes started disappearing; chipmunks were having a smorgasbord. They were small enough to squeeze themselves under the chicken wire. My tomatillos were lush. Huge plants loaded with flowers and nothing but flowers for most of the summer. Where were the bees? Then all of a sudden they were heavily laden with fruit and then I thought I'd have them coming out of my ears. Then we had an early frost and they were gone... all gone. It was so sad. I think we ate three! Oh the woes and joys of gardening.

However along with the seed catalogs comes the renewed sense of hope for the future. You learn from your mistakes, you get a bit more realistic, you rearrange, regroup and set your dreams higher.In that sense gardening is a reflection of life. You don't necessarily get rewarded for all your hard work but in the end you know you tried and the journey is more important then the end results anyway. You have a sense of accomplishment for all of your efforts and when you are rewarded the taste is sweet. There is nothing like a home grown tomato, warm from the sun, eaten right on the spot.

Some of my favorite seed catalogs are Bountiful Gardens out of Willits, CA. which is a project of Ecology Action. All of their seeds are open-pollinated and untreated and never genetically modified.

Another favorite is Gourmet Seed International & Italian Seed in Tatum, New Mexico. What a variety! If you can dream it they probably have it.

The picture above I believe was a Russian heirloom variety Anna with oxheart shaped tomatoes.

Plant the seed of inspirition today!

Beauty is in the Details

There can be beauty in the details that go unnoticed if one does not look closely enough, like in the picture of yellow leaves on a stone walkway after a rain. The pattern and color contrast was so beautiful and so simple that it caught my eye. It was actually taken in a sculpture garden in Houston, Tx. which in of itself was a wonderful place. It didn't matter that it was raining off and on. The rain added to the beauty that day. The air was soft and fresh and the sculpture was wet and glistening. Angles of green lawn crossed by dark walls, plantings of trees that offset the sculptures and framed them. A meandering path that led to new "discoveries". Some of the art wasn't the art at all but the natural beauty that surrounded the space.

When I walk out on the Mesa I look for interesting rocks, animal tracks in the dirt, color changes of the plants in the different seasons. We had some snow not long ago and the tracks of birds and small animals made interesting patterns in the snow. Ice formations that form on the banks of a mountain creek in the winter, rock formations, clouds in the sky...all add layers of beauty to our day if we take note.

This morning I went out in the backyard and the telephone line and trees were full of birds all singing merrily. I filled the bird feeders with seed and the bird bath with water and went in and within a few moments they descended to have breakfast. Even though the sky was gray and overcast there was an uplifting feeling to the morning. I felt energized today and I was up early.
In town I noticed the first patch of daffodils in bloom that I had seen this year. Spring is nearly upon us... or at least teasing us. I had to bring flowers home and picked up a couple of bunches of alstromeria, Peruvian lily. They are beautiful and long lasting and fairly inexpensive.

With the hope of Spring around the corner comes feelings of renewed hope for the coming year. A time to think about what you want to accomplish, your dreams and aspirations for the new year. Make one of those goals to notice and appreciate the small things that add beauty to your daily life...the details.

Wind

I have memories of wind. Last night as a weather front moved over the valley I laid in bed listening and remembering. I left the window open just enough so I could hear the wind raging as it battered against the house and sent the tree branches outside my window thrashing wildly. Added to the roaring was a cacophony of tones from the wind chimes around the yard. The temperature dropped considerably and the house got cold. I snuggled with the cat under the covers, an extra quilt pulled up for weight. It reminded me of my early childhood when my brother and I would get under the thick, old quilts with Mom and tell stories as the wind whistled on a winters night. Big, thick quilts hand tied and sewn by my paternal great Aunt's in bright colors and fan designs. Ghost and adventure stories told in the dark curled up on Mom's arm. Certain types of wind are comforting.

Mono Lake to the North is one of my most favorite places in the Eastern Sierra. On this particular Fall day a couple of years ago I remember walking out to the shore on the boardwalk in the old Marina area. The wind, really a full gale that day, was wild and cold but I was determined. At times the gusts were so strong I felt as if I was pushing against a wall, walking at an angle against its strength. At the edge of the water I stood into the wind, leaning against it, feeling its full force. I closed my eyes and imagined myself soaring. I could feel spray from the Lake against my face. I don't know how long I stood there but eventually some German tourists made their way out to try and take pictures. It was too much for them and they quickly left probably thinking how strange this American woman was who was standing out here!

I got up in the middle of the night and went and sat on the window seat in the living room. The Moon was bright and lit up the Mesa and the surrounding mountains. I don't know what time it was but the Moon was making its way over the mountains to the South West. A bright star was to her right. Rows of clouds were making their way over Mt. Tom and I sat for a while. I thought of walking on the wide beaches of Cape Cod in the Fall when we were kids, pockets full of seashells, Mom with a big bouquet of reeds and grasses she had picked. The sound of the surf and wind. I thought about the wild storms of Texas; trees bent in half by the wind, hale pelting down, rain water running down the streets in great currents. I remember Mom getting Grandmother into the walk-in closet because she was sure we were having a tornado. I remembered a particular moving day back in Connecticut when I was a teenager. We were being transferred back to the West coast and a hurricane was moving in. We lived in a house that was built in the 1800's. As the rain and wind grew in intensity the front wall of the house seemed to bow inward. I've never seen movers move so fast! Just as the truck pulled out of the drive three old willow trees went down one after the other. Another memory of the house deep in the woods by the creek in Mammoth; wind roaring in the towering pine trees, blowing and piling great drifts of snow against the house and in the morning icicles in twisted designs shaped by the intense winds.

Yesterday afternoon I prepared for the change of weather. I harvested herbs and hung them to dry, potted plants were moved into the sun room and with the rumor of a considerable drop in temperature and knowing the winds out here, I wrapped the tomatoes, peppers, and tomatillos in flannel sheets pinned together with clothes pins and weighted down with rocks. It's been an odd summer with the plants taking their time to fruit. Now that Fall is here the vines are loaded and I don't want to lose it all now. We didn't get a frost but it was 39 degrees around 6:00 a.m. and I felt better knowing they were all tucked in snugly. The wind is still blowing but more gently. A quail is sitting in the tree looking down at me. The sky is blue and cloudless.

When we moved here to the Mesa there was a hummingbird nest in the tree next to the walkway. That mother bird sat on her two tiny eggs as the wind thrashed that branch around. She was steadfast as she sat through the wild ride and that is the lesson isn't it?