Every wave has a new idea*
Frati Portico
Most Sunday mornings I cut wood with my friends Richard and Pierre on Richard’s homestead outside of Occidental. I call it chainsaw yoga and it is perhaps the only thing I do with such regularity. The routine is triply rewarding- we manage Richard’s woodlot by removing dead oak, supply ourselves with fuel to fire our wood stoves, and we get a good workout. It’s a great way to spend time together and I value our working rapport- Richard fells the trees, Pierre drags them to a clearing with the tractor where I limb the trees and buck them up for firewood.
I arrived early last week and spent some time admiring Richard’s strikingly simple barn entry. Richard is an inspired designer/builder and I always learn something new from his buildings. He has an unbiased mind and a deep feel for practical comfort. I especially love the outhouse/entryway to his barn/painting studio (pictured above), made of bent PVC and off-the-shelf steel framing and corrugated panels. The idea was so successful he incorporated it into his family’s house on the property, swapping out the corrugated material for thick, milky visqueen.
Stellate Geometries
The more time I spend away from the urban grid, the more I fall under the spell of non-rectilinear geometries. Straight lines and right angles are on the wane in my imagination, replaced by radial, spiral and stellate forms wherever I roam. I have a new appreciation for domes and geodesic thinking, and increasingly want to reflect this way of experiencing nature in the things I make. I’m beginning to experiment with a structure that features a stellate geometry, using traditional materials and techniques associated with chair bodgering. Whenever I design a structure I begin by meditating on the system of joinery (both metaphorically and practically), and how to optimize the interplay of strength, economy and durability. I’d like to reduce this structure (a chair, hopefully) to just one repeated structural component, and comissioned the blacksmith Jason Takuchi-Krist to fabricate a batch of sixty degree angle irons (below) with which I can test some ideas.
Windsor Longboard Roadtest
Aili took her Windsor Longboard for a test spin and loved how it handled- it carves with ease and feels rock steady going fast. The camber is just right, with just enough flex to ease road vibration and pump on a quick turn.
I’m now taking advance orders for the deck on my GOODS page while I tool up for production and procure materials. I’ll be making a limited run, collector’s edition longboard with my remaining material inventory, and am excited to offer it for sale to skaters who value true craftsmanship, old school performance and innovative eco-design.
The Week in Bloom
Superstition is the consequence of the repeated confluence of seemingly unrelated phenomena, not unlike coincidence, but with a belief system attached. For the superstitious, the minutiae of daily life appears to reflect the orbit of planetary bodies, luck and ill omen seemingly spinning in sync with the vacillating tides. The Romans called this day the Ides of Mars, all the more conspicuous just after a full moon. Over the weekend I saw these newly blooming plants by the shore:
California Lilac (Ceanothus Concha/Yankee Point/Maritimus/Thrysiflorus Repens)
Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa)
Roman Calendar
Bouillabaisse
the marinated fish is ready to add to the boiling broth
Bouillabaisse is a fish stew whose origins date to the ancient sea routes of the Mediterranean. Though strongly associated with coastal Provence, the stew has roots in Greece and Italy, where for centuries fish has been cooked in rapidly boiling broth combining strong wine, herbs and olive oil. More than fish, the broth itself is truly the essence of bouillabaisse, with its delicate balance of fennel, saffron and orange zest. The word ‘bouillabaise’ derives from ‘bouillon abaissé’ -to reduce by evaporation. I think of this dish as the mother of fish stews, and the most poetic fusion of the fruits of the land with the fruits of the sea. Living close to the shore in a climate resembling the Mediterranean, we have access to fresh seafood year round, and I’m beginning to experiment with adapting recipes for bouillabaisse to the wild Sonoma Coast. Ideally, we would grow the ingredients composing the broth, beginning with the variety of crocus that produces saffron. Ene has already ordered the bulbs.
I made a large batch of Bouillabaisse in stages over the past few days when Allison Smith and I hosted a dinner in honor of our mutual friend, the artist J. Morgan Puett, who was in town giving a lecture at the California College of the Arts. I thought the dish appropriate to the season and the occasion (Morgan’s birthday as well), to the number of people expected and to the auspicious date of Friday the Thirteenth. Going through the steps of planning and preparing the bouillabaisse helped me to tap the spirit of the dish and begin to experiment with developing my own version. I relied heavily on the advice of our good friend and neighbor, Pierre Bernier, who has cooked many versions in his native France, but also peeked at several recipes online.
Bouillabaisse for 30:
Prepare a fish stock, beginning by cooking about 3 large onions, sliced, in about 6 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add freshly cleaned and rinsed fish bones/carcasses (I used the remains of 2 large-ish halibut), about 3 quarts of water, one bottle of white wine, a teaspoon of whole peppercorns and a bouquet garni of fresh parsley, thyme and 2-3 bay leaves. Bring to a slow boil for about 2-3 hours. Strain the broth and set aside.
Gather about 20 pounds local fresh fish, consisting of fillets of firm white fish, oily fish, shrimp, squid, crab, scallops, mussels and clams. For the fish, I used sturgeon, striped bass, tuna and sea perch. Marinate the fillets in about 1.5 cups olive oil infused with chopped garlic and a pinch of Saffron. Refrigerate, but bring to room temperature before cooking.
In a huge pot, heat up about 3 cups olive oil. Saute sliced onions, shallots, garlic, fennel, and leeks until soft. Add about 5-6 pounds juicy fresh tomatoes, chopped, about 2-3 tablespoons fennel seed and about a teaspoon saffron, infused in warm wine. Add dried peel of one blood orange. Add the strained fish stock, a new bouquet garni and bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer for at least one hour, but for longer if you prefer. Salt and pepper to taste. When the fish is ready to cook, bring the broth to a rapid boil and add the fish in order of what requires the most time to cook, without loosing the boil. Remove the fish when cooked and arrange on a large platter. Strain the broth through a sieve and whisk in tomato paste infused with anise seed or pernot. Serve the broth in bowls with toasted baguette and sauce rouille, a garlic mayonnaise with saffron and hot chili pepper. Serve the fish separately, sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley. We offered a side dish of boiled potatoes, thinly sliced and buttered.
Oakland Estuary Project
Lake Merritt, downtown Oakland
Ene and I are honored to be among the finalists under consideration to design a system of watershed markers for the City of Oakland, CA. We spent the morning meeting with stakeholders at the head of Lake Merritt, where several creeks converge and drain into the natural lake/estuary.
The group studied maps of the watershed, focusing on creeks that are now covered by roads and flow through culverts, draining rain water through storm grates on major thoroughfares. The goal of the project is to draw attention to these vital waterways in a way that is accessible but unimposing to pedestrian traffic, with a long range view towards increasing awareness by making a visual icon that is at once replicable and lasting.
This is potentially a dream project for us and a great opportunity to distill some precepts we’ve developed regarding what defines a bio-region, whose scale is determined by the confluence of the natural and cultural activities defining/defined by the watershed. We are excited to prepare for our interview with the selection panel next week!