Winter and a Warm Fire

Last Days of Fall

10 Years as a NPS Volunteer

I've been an National Park Service volunteer at Cheeseboro Canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains Recreational Area for over 10 years.

This is how I spend my Saturday mornings.

The morning starts at 6:30am (6:00 during the summer).

I take a short hike and return to the MIT or Mobile Information Trailer. Sounds important but it is just an old beat up "non mobile" hunk of a rusting steel. But it's home for 6 hours on Saturday mornings.

 Open for business...here's a map...the toilets are over there...sorry, no vending machines...a rattle snake will not jump out at you...a coyote will not attack you (only your dog off it's leash numb nuts)...

It's 9:00am and the parking lot is full. I don't go hiking on weekends. To many people!

Special Visitors

My son Danny and my granddaughter Alyssa.

I don't know this guys name but he's always digging first thing in the morning.

The great employees and volunteers of the National Park Service make this gig very rewarding.

Leili's 1st rehearsal for YAGP 2011

Autumn Day with Byron

Today Byron and I took a ride on the Ojai Valley Trail.

It was a perfect cool autumn day.

See my Cycling Blog

http://bentupcyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2010/11/ojai-valley-trail.html

Rainy Day

What to do on a rainy day?

A. Sit by the fire.

B. Eat breakfast with the family and talk about life and get Leili to smile.

C. Watch the cistern fill up with water for irrigating the fruit trees next year.

D. Do a little gambling with the kids.

or

E. All of the above.

CORRECT ANSWER:     E. All of the above

Train Update

Byron and I are Making Progress

Four seperate tracks.

Cisterns

I replaced my two 50 gallon rain barrels with three 650 gallon cisterns.

Why three smaller cisterns instead of one? I needed narrow cisterns that I could, with the help of my sons, move to the back of my home. They were also better looking.

Why put in cisterns? Because I pay attention to the present and the future is not to hard to predict.

View from our patio.

Another view.

And yet another view.

THE DETAILS

First flush deverter going down the wall. The pipe to the right goes to the cisterns. ( Those are not my palm trees. I would dig them out if they were.)

Pipe with rain water passing over the overhang that I built and it dumps into the cisterns on the right.

 Connecting the three cisterns to each other. The pipe configuration allows for flexibilty in the hookup for when we have an earthquake.

THE OLD BARRELS

I put the old rain barrels on the side of the house to store non-potable water water for stuff like flushing grandmas toilet when the water company srews up again.

Final note: I got through a Southern California summer using only 17 units of irrigation water.

Fall is Not Far Off

First cool morning of the season and it's only early September

Time to order fire wood

Carrie and Lani

Train Time

I bought Byron a small N scale starter train kit and then Carrie found a whole bunch of cool used train stuff for sale. Trains, track, models and ...

Look at it now!!

Initial layout

Table full of train stuff

MORE STUFF!

Last Days of Summer Vacation

Avila Beach, California

Leili at Dance

Leili's Summer Vacation...Dancing of Course

We Be Sailing

I grew up sailing boats and racing. That was 35 years ago. Thought that it was about time to take Byron and Leili out for a sail.

Byron and Leili

ahhhhh....aren't they cute?

The Old Man (me on the left) and the Sea

Byron Takes Over

"push the stick right to go left"

After the Hike

I got home after taking my hike and the sun burned off the morning haze. It feels like a cool fall morning with the breeze and clear air. I made a cup tea and went outside with Betzi. Beautiful weather! Things are all screwed up. It's summer and we've had a very few hot days on the west coast while the rest of the country sets records for heat.

Me and Betzi   (photo by Leili"bug")

How would Limbaugh and Hanity spin the crazy weather? Or maybe they've already made up some of their own facts and I've been to busy paying attention to the real news and I haven't bothered to insult my ears with the hate and garbage they spew.

Sometimes I feel guilty enjoying the day while there are so many problems around our planet that are the result of humans. I'll check in with the real world soon enough. I will not turn my back on the problems we face as so many Americans do. Everyone knows about the i Phone fix and Lohan going to jail but who knows about the status of the two wars we're fighting or Lt. Dan Choi or the latest banking reform  or China's major oil leak?

I have yet to find one person who can name all nine supreme court justices (most people don't even know how many justices sit on arguably the most  powerful institution in our land). It's rare to find a person who can name just one judge. Try asking a young person how many stars and stripes there are on the flag of the United States or how many branches of Federal Government there are, you'll be surprised.

Americans are so distracted with useless information and toys that they become easy targets of manipulation by the powerful. Tea party anyone?

I don't consider myself an activist but I feel that I have set a friend or two on a quest to live more meaningfully and with less impact on our planet.  Over six billion people on our planet is unsustainable. There is no question about it, we need to start living with greater awareness and purpose.

The three poisons that inhibit human compassion and willingness to be one......hate, jealousy and greed.

Nice Day for a Hike

It may be summer but this morning is cool with a marine layer hiding the sun. So I went for a hike.

Love them up hill hikes. Keeps my old bones in good shade.

What a tough looking guy. Oh...that's me!

Yep, started using trekking poles this year. Takes pressure off the back and gives my arms a little... much needed... exercise.

Nice smile too.

Leili and Betzi 4th of July

4th of July in the Parking Lot

While Carrie went off to garage sales the kids and I took Betzi to the school parking lot to goof off.

Everybody goes to the park for the 4th so we went to a parking lot.

Byron is setting up his remote control car on top of Betzi's trailer..

Leili having fun riding Carrie's trike.

Trip up the California Central Coast

Picking blueberries on the way to Cambria

(on hwy 101,  30 minutes north of Santa Barbara)

Eating blueberries in Cambria

Beach at San Simeon

(great drift wood and rocks to collect)

Moonstone Beach tide pools at Cambria

Sea Otter looking for dinner

(we watched this little guy break open shells on his stomach while lying on his back)

Walking the Estero Bluffs State Park

just north of Cayucos

(355 acres of grasslands and beach to ourselves)

Finding a way down to the beach at Estero Bluffs

Beach at Estero Bluffs

Byron hanging onto a rock at the

beach at Estero Bluffs

The pier at Avila

(we like to get up early before the crowds show up)