Almost Home

Coming back from our visit to Peter was a difficult one this time and we wished we had visited an additional day. Peter is a kind and loving son and as interesting a person as I ever knew. He is always thinking of how he can be supportive and retain his independence of spirit.

So here we are on the road after visiting one son and our son calls from Belgium "Hey sweetheart" I hear Sharyn say. We are in the mountains and so I stop at a rest area to be sure we don't lose the connection. Sharyn is talking to Matt and waves at me pointing at a tree.


It's a Pacific Madrone but it isn't the usual orange-red it appears to be more of an Oxblood blue-red. On close inspection it looks like it was burned in a fire.


Even burned and blistered it was an intriguing view of how life and go on after tragedy.


We arrived in Canyonville and were lucky enough to get our favorite space in the Seven Feathers Resort. We like it for many reasons and one reason is the color of the Rhododendron blooms on this side of the park.


The color is a creamy yellow-pinkish as gentle a color as fresh soft butter with hints of red.


As you can see here the unopened buds are red but as they open they lighten to almost a white.


They are magnificent plants and we are happy to be here to see them bloom.


Most of the other Rhododendron's in the park are a bright Red like this one I found and this park takes on the look of the Masters Golf Tournament in the spring.


Another reason we like this space is Cow Creek that runs behind the RV space we are in and this time of year the rushing creek is wonderful to see and hear.


I like that the landscapers have kept the natural look with fallen trees and natural stone.


This tree in particular has almost lost it's footing and juts from the creek bank like the horn on a Rhinoceros's head.


I was headed back to the Musemobile when I spotted these berries (Not edible) and liking the color stopped for a picture or two.



I next focused at a distance through the berries and like the results of the red out of focus berries in the foreground and the green bank, trees and view to the distance.


I did go back to get a better of a small fall in the creek and like how it turned out. Little falls only prove it's not the fall but the moving forward that is important in our lives. It must be a perspective thing.

Scrabble Score -

Speaking of little falls Scrabble Queen triumphed after falling behind tonight winning on her last play.

Quote of the Day -

"Since the legal restoration of our sovereignty in 1982, the Cow Creek Tribe has created a Tribal economy from scratch. We have been fortunate enough to translate the combination of Tribal sovereignty, Tribal membership support and the good will of our neighbors into our present position as the second largest employer in our area, providing over 750 jobs (primarily for non-members, many of whom have never before had steady employment) in our timber depressed region. We are proud to provide Tribal employees fully paid health insurance (as well as heavily subsidized dependent coverage), to pay over fourteen million dollars ($14,000,000) annually in wages, benefits and payroll taxes into our community and that Tribal jobs have allowed many families to wean themselves from reliance on state and federal welfare programs. ~ Sue Shaffer in Senate Testimony Before the United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs - April 7, 1998. Sue Shaffer was the Chairman of the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribe of Indians

This RV Resort, Seven Feathers, is rated one of the top RV destinations in the country and the Casino across the freeway are both run by the Cow Creek Band. I should add they also own and manage other businesses in the area including Rio Net the Internet Service Provider I'm using to transmit this blog.

Thank you Cow Creek Band for your excellence of purpose and all the donations to local charities.

California Sunshine

It's almost Pete's Birthday (April 29) and that's the reason for the trip down to California.

We saw Peter in the morning and headed back home. Along Jackson Road there is a produce stand we always like to hit while in the area so we stopped and while Sharyn bought some oranges and tangerines I took some pictures of old farm implements they lined along under the trees on the property like this old plow,

Now I'm no farmer so I have no clue as to what these things are so I'll give my uninformed descriptions. This tool looks like something I've seen used for picking up gold balls on a driving range maybe it's for picking up fruits or veggies on the ground. Nope I'm not farmer Brown.


This one I know its a plow mmmm or is it a tiller for turning over soil?


This is a view of the fruit stand and it's very large with lots of fresh produce.


I liked the solid wheels on this one whatever it is.


I'm guessing again but maybe the containers on this tool are for planting seeds - just a guess.


Well I know this farm tool it's a porta-potty or as they say in Oregon a "Buck House"


I do like the geometry and curves in this shot.


These implements are more complicated they one might assume when you see the gears that are built in to perform actions as the implement is pulled.


Finally a good look through the wheels of this one and on we go to Redding and Mountain Gate RV Park.


At Mountain Gate RV I didn't get a lot of pictures but it's typical California with the wild poppy blooms. This is an unusual poppy with a pink bloom rather than the normal yellow or orange.


Her is a stand of the more typical orange poppy blooms.


Then there is the yellow with a touch of gold.


Not sure what these are but they are a delicate and beautiful blue flower.


Just beautiful and very abundant here in California.


And this is the Musemobile resting in the shade and waiting to roll.

Scrabble Score ~ The queen is back on her throne after beating me badly.

Quote of the Day

"That we find a crystal or a poppy beautiful means that we are less alone, that we are more deeply inserted into existence than the course of a single life would lead us to believe." ~ John Berger

John Peter Berger (born November 5, 1926) is an English art critic, novelist, painter and author. The best-known among his many works include the novel "G"., winner of the 1972 Booker Prize, and the introductory essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a significant BBC series of the same name, and often used as a college text.

Down the Road

Off we go from the cold rainy Oregon spring to the California sunshine.

We got as far as Medford and with the mountains ahead remembered that we needed to change the oil. We pulled into Witham Truck stop and after a short wait pulled into the bay. We were sitting there when a really cool truck pulled in. It was a beautiful truck and said scarlettvisionmedia,com on the side. I got this picture of the lube hoses hanging down.

Then I took another picture.

Sharyn got out and talked to the two young guys driving the truck and found out they were transporting motocross bikes.

With the new oil we got over the passes and into California and stopped at the vista point to get another shot of Mount Shasta (I take one every trip south) on a hazy but okay day.


It's been awhile so I got a shot of the Musemobile - ooops I forgot the lights.


The hill to the west of the vista point was pretty cool and a little like the painted desert with scrub brush and a few trees.

I didn't take many pictures so far but maybe tomorrow.

Scrabble Score ~ Scrabble Queen lost by more than 5 points....

Quote of the Day

"I'm not afraid of dieing, I'm afraid of not living" ~ unattributed Motocross quote.

Lane Community College Art Show

Lane Community College (LCC) is having a student art show and loving art I decided to go and get some pictures.



My friend Renee Manford had this award winning image called "The Range of Light" and I think it's one of her best pieces. I especially liked the range of colors and it was a little like looking at a rainbow that was rearranged to show nature at it's best.


One of the pieces was this cabinet with each drawer containing it's own piece of art.


This is a look into the middle drawer open in the above picture


This wonderfully understated triptych.

"The triptych form arises from early Christian art, and was the standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards. Its geographical range was from the eastern Byzantine churches throughout to the English Celtic church in the west. Renaissance painters and sculptors such as Hans Memling and Hieronymus Bosch used the form." source Wikipedia

I really liked the upper triptych and got to meet the artist Mathieu Poe in the art lab earlier.


This was really an interesting piece with overlays of figures and was very impressive up close.


Micah Weber did this one it's titled "Self Portrait in the mode of Anselm Keifer. " It's a little hard to tell but it's a very large painting.


This creation was by Daniel B Spitzer and was a Paint, Ink and Photo transfer.


Nicole Fraley did "Mother-Bird-Man a Mixed media including some nails.


Great mask a great eye catcher and wonderfully presented.


The large painting of the black woman won the top award but it had to be a very difficult choice in all the wonderful art on display.


The large colorful and haunting image was done by an artist named Shelly that I met on a prior visit to the Art Lab when I did a blog on the making of a monotype print.

I really loved this vertical triptych of eyes...

They were very simple and yet the expressions ...

Were full of depth.


This was a very nice piece that made me want to know more about the subject.


One of my shots of Shelly's painting was way over exposed and then I tried to "bring it out" this was the result.


I have to say these may be students but in every sense of the word they are also wonderful artists to an equal degree.

Scrabble Score - The queen is back Scrabble Queen beat me by 16 tonight even though I had two bingos.

Quote of the Day

"We turned at a dozen paces, for love is a duel, and looked at each other for the last time." ~ Jack Kerouac, On the Road,