Herrick Building

Volunteering for a local group who are trying to restore the historic Herrick building in Placerville… also known as the Hangman’s Tree site.  Here are some photos of yesterdays tour with several restoration contractors.  It would be great to save it. The California Preservation Foundation, the owner of the building,  and other local citizens  have brought in experts to begin a Scope Of Work needed to restore it.

Note: First black and white photo shows the Herrick building in late 1800′s (aprox). It’s the building on left side of pic.  The photo is from an unknown source. It was emailed to me from someone who did not know where it came from.  Perhaps El Dorado County Historical Museum   UPDATE... Thanks Doug Noble for tracking down the old photo.  Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Lawrence and Houseworth Collection, [reproduction number, e.g., LC-USZ62-123456]

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Guardian Art

Found an old story I did with Roseville, CA granite sculptor artist Gene Chapman.  Quite a visionary… you’ll see his granite artwork around Roseville and Rocklin California.

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Eyes On The Sierra

Well, it’s done.  Handing it off to the Sierra Community Access TV2 folks on Wednesday.

Join Videojournalist Kathleen Newell as she takes you on a narrative and visual tour of California’s beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills. Emphasis is on touring the unique areas near Placerville, California. This episode features The El Dorado Trail, Wrights Lake, Mormon Emigrant Trail, Carson Pass, Caples Lake, Coloma, and Placerville, California.
More Info:

http://eldoradotrail.com

http://eldoradowestern.blogspot.com

http://www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content/wrights-lake/sieEA68F4D216CFDCBFD

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/recreation/fishing/caples/

http://www.coloma.com

http://ci.placerville.ca.us

In Search Of The Harvest Moon

Spent the day up in the Sierra waiting for the moon to rise.  Mother Nature had other plans.  Instead of a giant harvest moon, I got lightning bolts and splatty rain, and the smell of summer dust pasted to the granite rocks.  I can lose myself in those things.

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Earlier in the day, I fished for some trout, but no luck there.  My fishing spot was so perfect, I didn’t care… watched a mom and daughter canoe across the lake and listened to the thunder.  Shared the road on and off all day with the Kacie’s Ride For Hope bikes.  Tough folks taking on Carson Pass during  pelting rain with lightning bolts everywhere.  Gonna go back up again tomorrow, on 9/11.  Can’t think of a better way to spend a day in memory of those who perished that awful day– I’ll be celebrating freedom.  It’s a wonderful thing… get up and head out the door without any cares or second thought.  Hope that one day the whole world will know the feeling.

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Eyes On The Sierra

Helping with some positive community videos for Placerville’s Sierra Community Access TV2. Gonna be a whole bunch of these little segments. Just using stuff I’ve got in files… I hope to have the first episode of Eyes On The Sierra done in a couple weeks.

Mornings

I have a “green” alarm clock.  Actually I have several.  Just before the sun reveals itself,  I am visited by the Call of The Wild.  I sleep with my window open, so there’s no escaping the zoo that is going on outside.  It starts with a few songbirds doing their happy sound thing, and a couple  bullfrogs booming away in the distance. Then the hawks start screeching, more songbirds joining in, but these don’t sound so happy, and finally, just as the sun rays hit the treetops,  a flock of geese fly low and loud right over my house.  Our roof is some kind of beacon for them as they land on the lake.  Some folks might not like it… it’s VERY noisy.  I cherish it, and always move the curtain back to watch them go by. I want to soak it all up and appreciate the fact that I can hear their wings as they go over.

After the geese are gone, it gets quiet again.  I hear the commute traffic from a couple miles away, and I roll out of bed and head up the hill to grab the morning paper and greet the first rays of light– today, with my camera slung over my arm.

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Exploring

Broke every rule in the book today and headed out on a trail– alone… that I had no idea about.  Did make a couple sketchy cell calls to my brother and sis in-law about location… and when I thought I’d found it, I just hit the trail.

Where was I heading? Bassi Falls.  I trusted that it would be a short hike.. and it was, but my right knee was telling me not to put too much pressure on it for some reason and so it was slow going all the way.  Not a lot of wildflowers about… the granite rock fried them all. Found a few lingering among the puddles and shade. Nothing really amazing… except to survive at all at in this extreme terrain is worth noting.  Anyhow, saw several big trees along the trail and wondered why they hadn’t be cut by logging… BIG trees. Nature did cut a few of them… wind, heavy snow load— saw a few remnant snaps…  Fun day, gonna return and find out what’s at the top of the falls as soon as I can.

Anisoptera

My little golden hunter visited again.  Of course my camera was inside the house, but he/she waited for me to fetch it. Want to know everything about them? Bug Guide

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Stalking Ramblings

I’ve been stalking my “surprise” garden for the last 24 hours in hopes of getting a photo of the wondrous golden dragonfly I saw yesterday.  It’s an amazing creature… let me stroke its wing before it took flight.  No luck today, only purple and red ones flying about.  Feeling sad that I may not get to snap a pic of it.

Started heading back in, but then I saw the ordinary… a little image in the corner of my eye.  Not a golden anything, but still something noteworthy… and something I didn’t think would happen.  When I bought these beans– Labeled “RATTLESNAKE,” I just thought they had a cool namesake.  I live in rattlesnake country, and was amused by the packaging.  Didn’t see them growing until today… they are huge.  Not sure what to do with them… probably feed the birds with them when the pods are mature.

Which brings me back to my “surprise” garden.  When I planted, I never thought any of it would  grow.  Past attempts have been disappointing.  This year, it’s exploding with life.  YAY.  And I’ve got Indian corn stalks growing too.  Go figure.  Me and the corn are stalking the yard.  Hope to keep the deer out and harvest in a few weeks.  Until then, enjoy the pics of my bounty.

Photo Op

Wow– I woke up to some really crazy foggy weather this morning.  It was like I’d moved to the Pacific Northwest… well, it made for a great photo op.  Never pass up an opportunity from Mother Nature to get some unique photos.  The mist provided some nice defused lighting.  I was intrigued by the fog, but then our grape vines stole the show.  Details… there’s always some fun stuff going on in the details.