Sierra Snow !!

Time can cause one to fee like a sloth. At least I believe that. I've lived up here three and a half years, yet today is the first time I've been in real snow. Just in time to leave California for a less likely snow environs: Florida...

Yeah, Florida. There goes my hard-won status as a hill-climber in the cycling club. Just when I've acclimated to dry-heat and brown-tinted summers here, the ever-present panic of wildfire in summer and the bott-grabbing mud of winter slop in the pastures, we're moving.

But we'll look at it as an adventure. Gators, and maybe some surfing, since we'll be on the coast. And Amy's already calling me her fiancee. (She HAS to, to give me official status!)

So as a gesture to the California we'll be missing, I went with Ian's family to see snow and slide around in saucers and pelt snowballs at his innocent -- or not so innocent -- kids... and while I was up there. I wandered off to snap some pictures, though all I brought was my cell phone.

The Sierras are so beautiful!

Time Warp in Minneapolis !!

Lana and I shivered through a cold pre-Christmas in Chattanooga, some record-breaking chills including the evening I arrived and drove through a spontaneous ice storm. Ice coated the entire car, including the windshield wipers, which sounded like "swish-thud!, swish-thud!"

That night, after a long transit across country for me and some exhausting anticipation on Lana's part, we were deep in slumber and woken suddenly at 3 am by: A FIRE ALARM! We had to evacuate the hotel in the bitter cold. Luickily, Lana had new warm pjs!

We took it slow, and even walked the next day instead of drove to our usual muffin spot, where we invented several card games... a good start to the day!

I had shiped ahead of time a number of presents, so Lana was able to pick a few each morning, and even a few at night, making the most of a Christmas tradition away from home. In the evenings we had popcorn and watched movies like "School of Rock," and "Huckleberry Finn."

When I left we both cried a little, but we remember an excellent visit. I told her Amy and I are moving to Florida, so I'l be able to see her more often, (becauseI can drive.) She smiled and said that sounded really good to her!

So the long trip back to California began by driving to Nashville airport (2.5 hours), where the outbound plane was delayed 1.5 hours. So I got a beer. When we landed in Minneapolis, it was a whiteout, and incoming planes were delayed in holding patterns. A 9:40 departure time drifted to 10:10, then 10:30. then 10:55, then 11:30. When the pilots finally landed, we cheered, but quieted when we learned the stewerdesses had been diverted to Omaha, due to weather. Departure moved to 12:25. Finally some tired-looking stewardesses were lured to do double-duty and walked by our area to cheers, though they didn't smile.

I took some snapshots of the heavy snowfall as they got the plane ready. At about 12:45 we boarded, then sat still in a weird car-wash of de-icing fluids. I've never witnessed that before. This took almost 45 minutes. Meanwhile, the winds were blowing and the snow continued to fall at an increasing rate. I thought i saw ice re-form on thewings. But we launched, successfully, right into the snow soup, and I thought I felt the plane struggle, but kept my thoughts positive.

We vertically cleared the snowstorm, and flew into the jetstream, landing in Sacramento at about 250 am, a plane of survivors with universally dry, red-rimmed eyes, with no coffee in sight...

Trucksicle !

You'll never believe this is the warm sunny South!

With this "trucksicle" in the background, it certainly is hard to believe...

Not exactly the warm welcome I expected, says Brian;

Lana says it is unusual, too. And her zipper was stuck open!

At least we had a warm hotel to go to...

it must be warm if there's a fire,

which, apparently there was at 2:30 in the AM because

a whoopin' and a screetchin' came upon us,

and while Lana was sure it was just a dream, or Brian's alarm clock too early,

it was an emergency.

So out in the street we were, in pajamas, on ice,

some people were even barefoot. Luckily, Lana stayed warm in new owl pajamas.

The firemen had cool knee patches, but not as nice as Lana's pajamas.

So we made up for the night alarm by sleeping til 10:30 this morning!

BBBRRRRR!

This morning I crossed the threshhold into insanity. In case, there was any lingering doubt, this morning erased that. I got up at 6:30 to ride with the Sierra Foothills club. We met above snow level and rode beginning -- and ending -- in 34 degrees. Because the storm ended24 hours ago, we avoided Colfax. Icy roads and all.

But it was cold enough this morning, I foolishly showed up with half-finger gloves, but luckily Larry lent me full finger gloves. My old frostbite reanimated in fingers and toes, as expected. But I didn't realize that my cheeks felt like they would just peel off. Beginning our ride with a downhill at a safe 25-30 miles an hour, the wind chill broughgt the temps down close to zero. And in the shade.

With each turn, though, the environs revealed more sunshine, crisp clean air and sedate farmsteads. These, scattered along the hillsides, is what the Foothillsare all about. What a glorous way to begin the day, even if it involved a little pain!

The ride wasn't terribly long, but we climbed, descended, spun, cornered and did all the fun stuff one can look forward to on a bikeride. Thanks, SFCYCLISTS !

Yo-Sem-It-E

We did it! Took the time, made the big drive. And had loads of fun! We found a great little B and B near Mariposa, drove each morning along the torrent that is the Merced River, and entered the tourist-filled park. Besides the people, the park was, uh, respendent. (I'll look at that spelling later...)

And Lana proved herself a formidable photographer!

The valley floor was lush, and the greens were very saturated. The sky was crystal blue. Like a picture book. We even saw some nice deer, although too close to the road for comfort.

On our one full day we hiked to not one, but TWO waterfalls. And they were gushing, not just flowing. Lana slept well -- ah, "rested her eyes" -- in the car on the way back to Mariposa!

After puff-pancake breakfast and fruit platters the next morning, we went back into the park. One last look around and dipping our feet in the river.... and WHOOSH! Lana slipped and fell in the icy water and let out a scream that rebounded off the trees in the pine forest around us. We hustled her to the car and held up a towel as a changing room. We soon had a story we could laugh about.

INTERMISSION....

Just returned from Yosemite, where the water was still running strong. Very nice, except for all the people and litterbugs and animal feeders.

That adventure follows very soon, but in the meantime, here are some swimming pics since the summer havs been relieved with water-playing-around-time.

Summer Goes On....

The goats moan and complain, the cats prance and wail, the horses voice their annoyance with the heat... and the sleeping ends at 5:30 am. We're in the middle of a long string of summer mornings. Everyone is up, except Lana! She gets to rest up (not as though she needs a beauty sleep) until nine, ten, even eleven in the morning. Just in time for my lunch!

She's a demon with a camera, a card shark, a swimclass graduate, and a crack-up with her sense of humor. She memorizes movies, books, and, to my dismay, some of my weakest bedtime stories. Fortunately she also can recite some of my good ones!

The game of the week last week was "Pirates" and, AARUGGHH matey, she's mighty good at that game.

more soon....

Solstice

Summer marches forward, and we are doing cool things!
After a spiffy haircut, Lana is ready for a California summer...

Which means... Having an i-phone camera competition with cousin Justin, walking the gangplank bridge to the Point Bonita Lighthouse, having a birthdayat Grandmom's.....

AND working the Marin Art Festival with all the white tents....

SOON: Right after the Solstice, temps shot up to the TRIPLE digits (eg, 100 degrees, actually 108 that first day.) And she walked the farm, played pirates and read comics and journaled in the hammock. And driving back down to see Susan's author talk at Book Passage.

LANA IS HERE!!

The big first week of Lana in California goes well. We're non-ostop "hangin' out" which means we garden, watch movies, make snacks, play soccer, read, get sleepy and jump about. All in no particular sequence. Giving her an advantage because of her age.

I've put off my writing group for the week, but for next week, we'll each bring a story. In the meantime, we're feeding the goats, making art, doing all from the above paragraph, and working on a SECRET project for Amy.

Ice cream, spinach pizza, yummy new cheeses, artichokes in the garden, planting new seeds, cinnamon and toast, Special-K with strawberries, blueberries and blackberries, nectarines, strawberry lemonade, and her first pistacio are the ongoing world-o-food that we are here in California. Persimmons next on the list....

Next week we go to work on the Marin Art Festival, and see her cousins, (Nicolas and Justin) and Grandma.

cRAZZY wEAtHer

Okay, so this is a crazy-weather Spring going into Summer. Really, truly "crazzy" as Lana would write. Perhaps theis is the pretty side of climate change; perhaps I'm more attuned to the skies thatn I was last year. Tumultuous clouds, brooding horizons, even humidity from all the precipitation. The other day in the feed store, a metal-shelled warehouse, the shell suddenly rattled with a bolt of thunder. A brief silence followed as people stopped talking, and rain like a thousand hammers pounded the roof. Very unusual.

The horses get wet and cold, and the next day flies cover their faces. The goats complain, complain. They don't have shelter and they don't know where to stand and they are confounded about shedding out their winter coats. And the chickens are just plain talky.

Fun news - cousin DARCY came to town on tour, and I saw her last night... in her last performance ever with that band (Straightjacket Striptease.) And I got to meet her fiance to boot.

AND MORE fun news - I go pick up Lana on Wednesday, and she'll come back to California ALL SUMMER LONG! We've got swimming lessons lined up, beading with Amy, talking to Jackson-the-Goat and visiting with Grandmom and cousins. Plenty to do, including volunteering at the lilbrary in the huge kids' section... So you all can BET this will be a site on which to follow Lana.

May Showers Bring Late Flowers...

It's a heck-of-a-Spring here, with cool temps (Hooleys, it's safe to come back) and rainy forecasts, though not much actual water falling from the sky. The extra-long Springtime (eg "normal") has been a nice start for the garden: roots can get established before they blister in the heat. Unfortunately, the pastures are a mess -- the grass is dominant and its roots have really dug in, but they are protecting the weed roots.

Another positive effect of the rainy Spring is the redworms. I've come across "nests" of them digging in the new vineyard area. Of course, snails are out in record numbers as well. Fortunately, they are not a big threat since they are easy to remove.

Between what's growing and what's planted, we now have:
1- artichokes
2- lettuces and sorrell
3- dill, basil, other herbs
4- chard and collards and broccoli (ok, just a few)
5- sunflowers
6- watermelon
7- corn
8- eggplant
9- okra
10- golden raspberries

and all the fruit trees.... The nectarine, in only its second year, has DOZENS of stone fruit already! And the pomegranite has put out twenty or more blossoms. The figs have had fruit for a month now, about the same time the almonds put out their first nuts.

The horses are a bit confused with the weather. One day they have flies over thier mouths and nostrils and eyes; the next day they can be soaking wet and cold. The weather is confusing for all of us -- the dogs inside or outside; the goats miserable or content to roam; do we cover or uncover the hay?

More to come soon. Lana will be here this summer and I have a feeling she'll want to contribute a blog or two!

An "Inconvenient Spring," with deference to Al Gore.

Soggy clay. Earthworm colonies. Exploding rosebushes, heirloom corn seedlings just waiting to be transplanted.

A dozen grapevine clippings have taken root. New fig trees, from clipped branches, are expanding as I type this. Nectarines are on a two-year-old tree. The almond trees are taking off, thanks to the goat droppings that roll down from the goat pasture. Our new goat stands on a large doghouse, balancing as she reaches for the lowest oak leaves. She's also learning to walk on two legs (see photo.)

Wildflowers and pollen waft across the valley, and the bees have been busy for several weeks already. Plenty of bees here.

Another week or so and the green (see photo) will turn to brown, and the reptilian residents will take over the landscape.

Ring Around the Buttes

This weekend we rode our bikes around the Sutter Buttes, The Smallest Mountain Range in the World. Weather was nice, partly clear, partly cloudy; cool and scenic. The side began on the eastern side of the Buttes, so all 17 peaks were sunlit. I snapped some photos from my phone while riding; but I did stop twice for better composition.

We were part of 1200 - 1400 riders, and it was a good Saturday morning thing to do, especially if you feel like being a couch potato the rest of the day.

We saw kids, older people, cruiser bikes, a unicycle and plenty of colored lycra, with the names of sponsors who've never heard of these riders! Amy's Super-Grover shirt was unique.

Rest stops were a great help - bananas, kiwi and water. Some had danish and roasted potatoes.
The next day, Sunday, we had to go to a class at the gym at 9am. Oh - did I mention Amy played polo as well?

Spring weather still here - nice transition this year. More on that this week....

Everything's Bloomin' Green

Welcome to this first posting of Kilaga-Blogger.

It's difficult to believe this is the same place that is a furnace seven months of the year. Right now, the grass is lush and tall and wild; the soil is pliable (as opposed to its uncooperative ceramic summer condition); and just about every perennial is budding or blooming.

Birds bicker and nest and go worming in the day. At night frogs celebrate the moist environment by singing all night long. In another month or so, they'll be quiet becasue they'll need to conserve their energy, and they won't want to give away the location of their coveted puddles of water.

In these first post, I'll try to set up a "wall" of photos to paint the scene. As the scene changes, I'll update the blog and the photos.

Enjoy, and send your feedback so I can incorporate it as the blog grows and - I hope - improves. Happy Spring to you all.

B+A