We launched our boats in a lingering morning fog. Some days just call for a picnic, and some picnics call for adventure. So went my thinking when I invited my friend Cal to join me on my favorite six mile paddle down Estero Americano to a remote beach on an unseasonably warm day in late […]
Category Archives: bioregion/vernacular
Reviving the Garden (+ a recipe)
Ene builds towers for her peas to climb. With help from friends we’ve been reviving our vegetable garden over the past few weeks. It’s been about 5 years since we built the raised beds, and with the demands of projects and travel over the past couple of years, the garden has been sorely neglected. The […]
Destination: Boredom
Sure enough, I saw a few egret and chased a flock of bufflehead six miles to the coast when I paddled the navigable length of Estero Americano the other day, but saw no sign of coot, loon, mergenser, pelican, scaup, hawk, heron or grebe. The fact is mid-February is a relatively dormant time along the […]
Foam Studies 6
Sand Patterns 6
Picnic at Willow Creek
Simple ingredients that pack easily and combine well make for an ideal picnic. As much as I love to cook, some of my favorite meals are simple assemblages, preferably packed as a picnic for a day of hiking or paddling. Nothing tastes better than a few simple ingredients carefully chosen to complement the season and […]
Calistoga
portion of a diorama of 19th century Calistoga, at Calistoga’s Sharpsteen Museum California place names often have colorful origins and Calistoga is no exception. Founded as a spa resort in the late 19th century by the visionary San Francisco millionaire Samuel Brannan, the name of the town comes from his famous drunken mis-fire, “I’m going […]