2016 -- The Year of Only One Country

Seattle from Kerry Park

Does Wanderlust End When You Come Home?

Nancy says: Oh dear friends, we are back in Seattle. We arrived March 20, after a winter's worth of ambling across the South, Southwest, and West Coast.

Juliannee says: OK, maybe ambivalent about being back. Dreary weather. Different city now. Will our friends remember us? Besides, I could have kept traveling.

Nancy continues: Blog posts already made (see list in sidebar) tell about some of the places we went December-March. We saw New Orleans (link to our post is here), Houston for the Menil Collection, west, west across Texas and New Mexico (Las Cruces, where I lived two years in my 20's, now completely different).

Three weeks in Tubac, AZ, a charming historical village and arts center south of Tuscon, with Julianne's sister Kitty and some of her friends from Alaska. (link to post on birds here)

Tubac is in the Sonoran Desert. Some desert plant life:

Julianne says: We liked it so much that later Kitty and I bought a house there.

Nancy carries on: On to Jerome, AZ (visited Novie Trump), Grand Canyon, Las Vegas (visited Eva Peterson), Death Valley filled with flowers, around the southern tip of the Sierra Nevada, across central California to Hwy 1, up the coast. Bay Area (visited Rita Dolfing, Jessie Ortiz, Teddie Hathaway, Jen Rose, Cara and Luke Davis). North through redwoods and along Oregon beaches to Tillamook. East to Portland (visited Mary Mullen and Lily), and a last push to Seattle.

Nancy thinks it's lovely to be home! Our condo with its view west to the mountains....oh wait, those are construction cranes and new buildings in the vigorous Seattle economic boom. Goodbye mountains, hello urban vistas.

I had put my stored stuff in the condo when I visited in August 2015, so a basic livable place was waiting. Our friends came, much visiting. We drove around the "new" Seattle reminding ourselves of our city and our former lives here.

We've had a good time this year re-acquainting with our friends. The Monday Night Potluck group continues central to our week and friendships. We see a lot of Cynthia and Jean, and our friends Lyn and Charles moved to Tacoma from DC in December. With Carol Hannum's daughter Teo hosting, we had a marvellous caroling party just before Christmas, with me playing piano like years ago. Reminded me how much I miss having a piano!

Year of the U-Haul, or, Do We Need This Stuff?

The condo had a nice open feel. One armchair, a table and 4 chairs, one mattress, almost nothing in the kitchen. Lots of art supplies. Maybe a bit awkward...we rented another bed and chair and went to Value Village and Goodwill. Kitty visited, friends came over.

In June, Julianne flew to DC. She and our dear friend Olivia drove a U-Haul across the country with all the possessions we had stored in 2014. They had a wonderful time, and arrived June 26, just as the elevator broke in our building. Son Tim managed the helpers and saved our bacon, and suddenly our apartment was stuffed to the gills!

Who knew we had so much stuff? We've been lightening up ever since. A major emptying is about to happen, as we U-Haul stuff down to Arizona at New Year's.

How Many Houses?

Julianne says: Three. 1 Seattle condo, 1 DC row house, 1 snowbird home in Tubac, AZ.

Nancy says: Julianne and her sister Kitty are close. Kitty lives in Alaska, where she has a home and business, love and friends, a life. But the sun goes away in winter, and Kitty longs for sunlight. Julianne's like that too, though Seattle isn't as dark as Anchorage so the effect is less.

Happens there are houses for sale in Tubac, AZ, snowbird retreat of many from Alaska. There's one - oops, not that one. Here's another - oops, sold. Ah, it's on the market again. Snap it up!

And so, a house for Kitty and Julianne where the cactus blooms and snowbirds congregate. Spend the dark time in the Southwest, where skies are clear and sun stays longer. Not abandoning the North, but taking a break. Recouperating. The sun as medicine.

We're going there for January (me) and Jan/Feb (Julianne), taking a U-Haul with furniture and homey things. And of course, art supplies.

Julianne adds: DC house on Mass Ave SE remains in our lives but with renters, not us, living there.  Opportunity for visits to fix things and putz around our old neignborhood, enjoying our old life as a vacation.

Can Art Still Happen?

Yes, it seems renting a studio in a building full of artists is possible. Twenty years of journals, photos, glass, paintings and drawings, sketch books and materials all in one place and accessible. No deep storage here. Had an open studio in September, and a Christmas open studio in December. Both well attended, and made enough sales to cover the rent, so that was good.

Nearly paralyzed with the possibilities. My history in art is, going off in all directions, loving every kind of artmaking. Focus! I don't do everything well. And it seems I have to avoid heavy lifting (a problem with cast glass) and health threats (problematic: oils and acrylics).

I can draw, that's a start. A class in botanical illustration, complicated but rewarding. First place, Still Life, Gage Academy, June 2016. Took another class, taking a third in 2017. A good skill set, I hope. Here's a casual sketch shortly after surgery:

In 2017, I look forward to a mash-up of printmaking, exacting drawing, and splashing around in watercolor. If it's not fun, I don't finish things. So, I'm looking to have a good time.

Does Time's Arrow Point Only One Way?

Not exactly. Case in point, my new knee, solid steel, August 2. The old knee gave me a world of trouble for a long time. Lots of pain pills. In Rome 2014 I bought a cane. Walked less, saw less, did less. This is the definition of decline.

Twisted my knee in Belfast. Doctor in Dublin, no help. Back to Seattle for a while in August 2015, joined Virginia Mason Medical Center. Cortisone shot into the knee, helped for a while. Another in April 2016. Face facts: this knee is not going to get better. Get a new one.

I couldn't have faced it without Julianne. What a saint! Five months later, the new knee works pretty well, though it has a click and occasionally the tendons around it ache. Muscles getting stronger. Physical therapy, exercise class. I can mainly handle stairs now. We've started contra dancing once a week. What fun!

Birds, Birds, Birds

Julianne says: Louisiana--Ahinga, Red Hawk, Crested Caracara. Way fun to be in a place where many birds are new to me. West Texas and New Mexico--first taste of the SW after years. Arizona--birding heartland from deep deserts to Sky Islands. And years to explore more. Well, we were in Condor territory in the Grand Canyon and Big Sur. Maybe next year we'll see them. Then, Point Reyes and on up the coast.

Now back to my birdy home in the Pacific NW. A life goal--get out in a boat off the Olympic Peninsula. Got there in April. Ancient murrelets, marbled murrelets, yellow-billed loons. We were there for the raptor migration when the raptors (really all migrants) gather up near Neah Bay until the winds are right to cross to Vancouver Island and points north. In this picture of sea ducks, there's a marbled murrelet in the foreground.

Our totally urban condo has a hidden green garden, which had surprisingly many migrants and nesters. Our hummingbird feeder supported a nesting family of Annas hummers. Some are still here in late December.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in October.

Puget Sound winter--snow geese, trumpeter swans, long-tail ducks, harlequin ducks. It feels like home.

I guess we really are home, and happy to receive visitors. We'll put on the coffee.

By Nancy and Julianne, photos by both

Remains of the Chinese town of Locke, California

Chinese Medicine Store in Locke, CA

We drove up the levee along the Sacramento River, not realizing until later that it had been built by Chinese laborers around the turn of the 20th century. Why didn't we know? We were going to a Chinese-built hamlet, Locke, a near-ghost town on the National Register of Historic Places. There's a pretty good article about Locke in Wikipedia, here.

I knew about Locke not from its history, but because my friend Jessie Ortiz took me there about 20 years ago on a sightseeing trip. Little did I know that such a story of migration and suffering and persistence surrounded the town.

Chinese laborers came mainly from southern China around Canton and were looked down upon by nearly everyone in their new country, taken advantage of and given the physically hardest tasks. Building levees, laying railroad track, digging tunnels - hard work!

A tiny part of  the Sacramento River levee -
think of moving so much dirt and muck by shovel!
Credit: Google Commons

Meanwhile, they couldn't build solid lives in their new country, because they couldn't buy property, couldn't become citizens, and couldn't bring single, marriageable women from China. They were stuck.

I have the idea from other reading that most of the first generation of Chinese in America grew old and died without ever having families. But some few more successful or diligent managed to marry in China and bring women already their wives to this country, so some families appeared. They gradually became farmers and fishermen, and in the next generation, or the next, changes in immigration law encouraged their children to get education and move on into mainstream America. Locke emptied out.

The hamlet, once a home for laborers, stands now as a tourist town, perfect for a day trip from San Francisco and the Bay Area. Here are some pictures of the old details, and a few newer details, too.

There are only 3 streets in Locke, but they are curious

Along the boardwalk

Alley steps leading to a higher street

There have been efforts to retain the significance of the past lives of Locke residents -- a memorial park, and continuing maintenance of the Chinese school, and a book. But there are fears it will be changed beyond recognition, or vanish. One element preserving it is a clouded title to the land, preventing development for the time being. Chinese couldn't own property in those days, so the land belonged to the town's namesake, a Mr. Locke. How that property came down, is surely a story in itself.

Bronze panel in historical park

At the Chinese School

A book about Locke, but the shop was closed

There are some galleries too among the more old-fashioned shops.

Gallery called The Shack

Street view

We had lunch at the Locke Garden Cafe. 

In the Locke Garden Cafe

Another shot in the Locke Cafe

So, Locke. What a nice afternoon, as we brought home our lemon chicken and beef chow fun leftovers. Not life-changing, but evocative of the past, a reminder that our current world was made by the work and hopes and achievements and sufferings of many people. Ghosts, now, but worth remembering.

by Nancy

Death Valley Wildflowers: Superbloom

What a glorious year to visit Death Valley. This photo is of Desert Gold carpeting the gravely ground in the lowest elevation of the valley near Badwater.

Superbloom
This is the beginning of a Superbloom, something that happens every 10 years or so.  As we visit, the blooms are just starting and are carpeting the valley floor at the lowest elevations. Probably the blooming season will continue to later April at different elevations and with different species emerging.

A Superbloom occurs when the rainfall comes at just the right time and right amount.  Flowering plants in the harsh environment of Death Valley bloom and set seed only rarely; it is one of their adaptations to the sparse and sporadic water.  Seeds may lie dormant for many years under the soil with hard coverings preventing the seeds from sprouting when the plant will likely not survive to create the next set of seeds.

What is needed?  A heavy, gushing rain in the fall which washes off the hard coating.  Last October was such a flood year, washing out roads, some of which are still closed.  But that is not enough. There has to be enough rain in the early spring (Dec to Feb) to moisten the soil and allow the seeds to sprout. This year, big storms swept across the southwest in later December and again in early February.  One more storm would be good the rangers tell us. But the rain in October released the hard casings; the ones in Dec and Feb are enough for the flowers.  Hooray!

February 15 is usually the beginning of a wildflower season if there will be any.  It has been on  my bucket list to be here for a Superbloom.  I have made it.  What a lovely few days.  My eyes are filled with beauty.

Desert Gold
This species, Desert Gold, is the one blooming profusely just now.  It covers the ground as shown in the top photo. The flowers are about 2" across and stand 1 or 2 feet tall. It is one of the largest flowers displaying just now; the others are small to tiny.

 Brown-eyed Primrose
These white flowers are growing at various elevations. The larger one in this set is the Brown-eyed Primrose.  It is flowering abundantly just now and grows at lower elevation but is not confined to below sea-level. It is mixed in with Desert Gold and other flowers as we show here. The tiny one beside the primrose is Scented Crypthantha.  I could not get a scent but maybe because we were there during the day. Crypthantha is just beginning.  We saw many plants with buds not yet open.

These are small.  The primrose is about 1/2" across; crypthantha, maybe 1/4" if so much. They reminded me of some of the tiny flowers at the Burren in Ireland.

Most of the white flowers, including these flourish at night since they are pollinated at night. We were dismayed, at first, to realize that there were no insects.  How horrible for the plants to get the right rainfall, sprout but to be ready before the insects arrived.  But fret not!  There are several insects that work at night--a specialized bee and a fairly large moth.  Apparently that is one reason that many flowers are white, so that the insects can find them in the dark.

Gravel Ghost
Another plant just beginning is a rare one, the Gravel Ghost.  The first photo below shows one near some primroses. Much taller and larger flower--about 8-15" tall, single flower on a stalk, flower about 1.5" across.  Many will be emerging soon as we saw buds and only a few flowers.  But these only grow below sea-level and are sparsely scattered.

Desert Star
Another white flower is just emerging at low elevations. You can see how many buds are not yet flowered out.  More beauty to come.  The flower is about 1/2" across and forms mats on top of the gravel.

Pebble Pincushion
This was quite rare for us.  We found it only at the lowest elevation (-250 and below).  It might bloom elsewhere later.  Its leaves and stems are so spare we may have not recognized it without the flowers. The flower is rounded, about 1/2"across. This, too, is said to have a scent but I guess at night.

Desert Five-Spot
This is another fairly rare flower, also found at very low elevations.  We saw few plants but those we saw had many unopened buds.  The flower is about 1" across and really stands out against the gravel and white flowers.

Notch-leaf Phacelia
This was found at lower and mid elevations mixed in among other flowers.  As a cluster of purple, the flowers stand out. Each bloom is about 1/2" but the clusters can be 3-4" across.

Golden Evening-Primrose
This was the first flower we saw as we entered the valley from the east near Beatty, NV.  It was blooming from about 1000' down to almost sea-level on the east side.  We found it on the west as we left the valley later.  But it was absent at the lowest elevations unless it has bloomed and died back.  It is about 1' tall with showy yellow clusters.  It is shown above with the Phacelia and below for closer up. Many unopened buds!

Brittlebush
As we drove up the west-side highway, we found Brittlebush at mid elevations in the mountains. It is another with many buds so should be putting on a good show over the next few weeks. The bushes are about 15" tall and the flowers stand up above the bushes.  Each flower is about 1" across.

Joshua Tree
These are not blooming now and may not be blooming this year at all.  They do not live in the depth of Death Valley but are the signature plant of the Mojave Desert, of which Death Valley is part. Joshua Trees are a variety of yucca which can grow up to 15 feet tall with many branches.  They are not part of the flowering-plant cycle affected by the rains as are the other plants in this post. They flower every several years--not this year apparently.

As we climbed thousands of feet on the west-side highway, we began to see Joshua Trees in the sunset. We had seen many earlier in Nevada and will likely see more as we go south along the eastern Sierra. But it was our good-bye to the specialized eco-system that is Death Valley.

Text and photos by Julianne.
EXCEPT the great cover photo showing the carpet of gold with desert rocks in the background. Naturally, that is by Nancy.