Yreka, Cal

It's official.  I'm a snowbird.  I'm presently in Yreka where I'm renting a cute little house from my friend David.  It had been unloved and empty for years.  Ceiling tiles falling down, cats had used the place as their personal litter box.  After much work David restored the house, alone, in his spare time.  I talked with Dan, my landlord in Tucson, and he says I got out just in time as the heat has been over 110 recently.  

David found this new looking Craftsman style solid wood furniture on Craigslist.  

I took it as a sign from God when I realized that the YMCA was across the street .  I took the photo. below, from the front yard.  I signed up my first week.  They have several yoga classes every week and I go there every day to get my internet fix.  

I was originally going to stay with my sister, Janice, in Hermosa Beach, but my friend Fran asked me to stay with her for a few days and repaint the table and chairs I'd painted for her years ago.  The half that was not in the sun was okay, the other half had to be sanded down and repainted.  The first photo is before and below is after (but before Fran painted a protective something over it.)

Patti collecting herbs and vegetables from their garden.  She made these wonderful gourmet meals with simple things from the garden. 

Fran, below, in her kitchen.  

The white ball was a turnip which was very good.  

Fran's garden is full of her and Patti's sculptures wherever you look. 

Everything was so green and lush I kept photographing it.

Tomatoes, strawberries, artichokes all ripening in May.

Fran just got a new box of bees delivered.

Fran made this pencil puzzle.

I'm glad I stayed for the spring in the Sonoran desert.  All the cacti sprout pink and/or yellow flowers.

Below, a fuzzy picture through my dirty windscreen of the weird black mountains.  Usually they're the same dull brown as the mountains behind them.  This road had many dips, some of roller coaster deepness.  It's fun to drive.

Below is a new friend, Mark Seagram, who is helping me with a song I wrote.  Mark worked for 11 years in Los Angeles in the post movie audio business.  He has a nice collection of sound boards and synthesizers and sound equipment.  The video below is of him working one of his synthesizers.

Below, is Kanzeon, the Japanese name for Quan Yin, the goddess of mercy.  I carved this statue for the Los Angeles Zen Center years ago and recently they commissioned an artist to create the reed piece behind her.  These photos showed up in Tricycle, a Buddhist magazine.

http://www.tricycle.com/blog/cradle-bodhisattva

My favorite thing about living in the desert outside Tucson is the continuous wildlife strolling by my glass door.  I got to know the javelina family that walked by my door several times a week and many of the birds.