Fantasy Land

Coincidentally combining elements from the previous two posts, the westernmost end of the J.D. Redhouse building mural casts the Mendocino coast into a planet of fantasy, with a moon in a pink sky as the viewer looks north. The camouflage tarp reveals the contrast between fantasy forest green paint and more realistic hues. I'm not a fan of the color "teal", but I actually like this mural. I suspect the black trailer is there if needed for deliveries of hay bales to area farms.

FantasyMuralCamoTr Jigsaw Puzzle

Groovy Moss

These pavement grooves signal a change in the sidewalk's surface angle, as it slopes down to meet the street for crossing by wheelchairs or the visually impaired. They seem to provide secure footing for some moss as well, but the bits of lichen sprinkled about blew down from the trees in the rain and wind, and won't be sticking around.

MossySidewalkGroov Jigsaw Puzzle

Bright Eyes

Willits is blessed with an abundance of railroads. While much of the derelict equipment was removed a few months ago, some railcars have been consolidated together on a couple of tracks of the NWP, and fenced in to help prevent additional vandalism. The headlamps of this locomotive reminded me of the eyes of a spider.

CCTLocoHeadlamps Jigsaw Puzzle

Steampunks

I've mentioned the group Roots of Motive Power before, and how they were steampunks long before today's young steampunks named themselves steampunks. I clearly love the word "steampunk". These guys here in Willits love to make big rail engines work, usually involving steam, and all the rail cars that go with them. They had their Christmas season steam-up on Sunday, featuring free rides around the loop track in a caboose or on a speeder (I did both!). I got so many photos, I couldn't make up my mind which one to lead with today, so I'll put a few more on my Overflow blog.

BaldwinEmblemSteam Jigsaw Puzzle

Election Day

Today, American citizens fulfill their duty to vote for their choice of candidates for President of the United States. This time, it seems, the whole world is holding its breath.

Vote Jigsaw Puzzle

Forever Lost

With daylight shrinking here in the northern hemisphere, I have little time after work to catch outdoor scenes. I ventured up the Highway 20 vale to find some autumn color, but didn't manage to get the kind of light I wanted. However, in one roadside turn-out, someone had placed this bleached old jaw bone on top of a low fencepost. It's about six inches long, and looks like it was a dog, from the shape of the front and side teeth.

Mendocino county is small enough that the community radio station, KZYX & KZYZ, includes lost pet announcements during much of its broadcast cycle. Sometimes pets just go for a wander, and sometimes they try to follow their owners' cars and trucks into town, but can't keep up. Unimagined hazards lurk for even the hardiest ranch dogs in unfamiliar territory.

Jawbone Jigsaw Puzzle

Red Vines

It rained! By the time you read this, it may still be raining. Autumn is here at last.

RedVines Jigsaw Puzzle

Graffiti Fight

I found evidence of paint-roller activity under the rail viaduct at the southernmost end of Walker Road, in Little Lake Valley, as graffiti and gang tagging are kept at bay. The moss is certainly the worse for wear. I love moss almost as much as I love lichen, so you can understand my sadness.

GraffitiFight Jigsaw Puzzle

Peppers, Tomatoes, Basil

I needed to pause for some refreshment at the farmer's market after all that driving around on the Miracle Mile. My point and shoot camera does different things with the light there, depending on how I tilt it, or where I center it. I like what it did to these late summer vegetables.

PeppersTomatoesBasil Jigsaw Puzzle

Valley Oak Branches in Summer

I showed some lichen earlier in the year, and here you can see it steadily holding on even after months and months without rainfall. It is harmless to this magnificent Valley Oak (Qurecus lobata), which was an important source of acorns for the Pomo people. The dark green moss on its bark gives added contrast in the range of textures and colors.

ValleyOakBranches Jigsaw Puzzle

Red and Re-Read

This flashy display expressed the red-hot July we have had with our fires and often soaring temperatures. The Book Juggler sells used books, sheet music, DVDs, and guitar strings in addition to three rooms packed with tomes needing a new home.

I found a book in the back room written by a professor I much admired, Walter Capps, called "The Unfinished War: Vietnam and the American Conscience". I took his class, bearing approximately the same title, in about 1982 at UCSB, which was later featured in a 60 Minutes (news magazine TV show) segment by Ed Bradley. Capps was a religious studies professor, and it shaped his approach to current affairs. It was the only college class I had that could move me to tears. He was later elected to Congress, but sadly died of a heart attack in his first term. He was very wise, and attuned to the experiences and needs of our veterans. We sure could use him now.

RedBooks Jigsaw Puzzle

Beware of Bull

Seen on the road to the sewage treatment plant, another example of animals used as sentries. But I never did see the bull here.

BewareOfBull Jigsaw Puzzle

Another Abandoned Railcar

This one says it's a Seaboard System car, among other things.
SeaBoardSystemCar Jigsaw Puzzle

Bigfoot

Like hoaxes around the world - bug-eyed aliens in Area 51, crop circles in England, a monster in Loch Ness - Bigfoot was once a something of a folk legend in the redwood forest region. These ideas have been useful for marketing and tourism in their various locales, and some people have sadly taken them all too seriously. Thirty or forty years ago, there was a counterculture/back-to-the-land/new settler/hippie collective/commune over near the coast called "Bigfoot," but with a wink I'm sure. However, you don't hear about this old myth very often any more. Unless you happen to pass closely by the empty market building behind the Hotel Van, you probably wouldn't give him a second thought. The vivid teal green and yellow are actually a reference to the local high school colors.
BigfootMural Jigsaw Puzzle

Broken and Torn

This seems to have been an office room on the side of a commercial garage. The curtain is a faded print of an old patchwork quilt design.

BrokenAndTorn Jigsaw Puzzle

Shedding Petals

It's not only the orange or yellow (or both) of the petals, and the pink disk at the flower base, but the blue-green gray of the foliage as its foil, that captivates me. This is one of the plants comprising "medicine chest" gardens currently being promoted by herbalists here in Willits, as another component of localizing an array of resources for self/community sufficiency. While related to the opium poppy, the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) does not alter awareness or have similar narcotic effects, according to herbal references. But it is reputed to be a mild sedative and topical painkiller.

ClosedPoppyBunch Jigsaw Puzzle

This Week's Bounty

As I posted last Wednesday, I am a shareholder in the Live Power Farm harvest season - and yes! this is my second year! This time you can see my kitchen counter loaded with an array of greens, including spinach, bibb lettuce, romaine lettuce, rainbow chard, bok choy, radishes, amaranth, and a mix of tender leaves I don't recognize but eat all the same. Look here for additional images of the delivery. Did I choose the right photo for the blog?
May20Bounty Jigsaw Puzzle

Book Juggler Back Door

There's something pleasing to me about a healthy-looking wall, unblemished by gang tagging, in good repair, and neatly painted. Willits is not untouched by the plague of vandalism and gang activity. Every time the skate park is hit with graffiti, the city closes it. I just read it's happened twice in the last two weeks. I wonder who pays for the clean-up.

This wall is on Wood Street, near the corner of Main. When I looked at this on my computer, I felt like I had posted it before, then remembered the Windsor Mill post. Some similarities anyway.
BookJugglerBackDoo Jigsaw Puzzle

Do Poppies Dream of Blue Skies?

The state flower of California finds a foothold in the crevice between the Willits Rexall Drugstore back wall and the alley pavement.
BackAlleyPoppies Jigsaw Puzzle

Heaven on a Platter

While Ardella's is famous for their soups (as I mentioned last month), they make equally prized breakfasts. Omlettes, blueberry pancakes, even biscuits and gravy. A specialty only available on the weekends is eggs benedict, using a spectacular Hollandaise made "lovingly" in-house. Variations include florentine, portobello mushroom, or, as you see here, smoked salmon. I asked for fruit instead of potatoes, and negotiated for extra sauce. Mmmm-mm-mm.
SmokedSalmonBenedi Jigsaw Puzzle