Green Way

Vacation Travels

I just returned from a camping trip to the Pacific Ocean.  My brothers, Paul and Phil, and I, stayed at Will Harris State Beach near Brookings, Oregon.  We also camped at Patrick's Point State Park near Trinidad, California. 

We had a delightful time walking in the forests, speed boating up the Rogue River, climbing in the Oregon Caves, huddling around a campfire in the cool evenings, reading, sitting at dramatic viewpoints, talking and sharing. 

Patrick's Point State Park is 190 miles from my home in Red Bluff.  It was my favorite.  It is a hemlock, alder, spuce forest with a very thick under story.  The ferns were up to six feet tall.  The trails in this park are superb.  There are many cliff side rim views of a long sandy beach (Agate Beach), Big Lagoon, sea stacks, tide pools, and rocky cliff shorelines.   Numerous streams crisscross the 645 acre Park.  The Park is also relatively close to the small town of Trinidad with market, stores, and restaurants.  There is an interesting oceanic research center with exhibits in Trinidad.

I would like to return to visit at Patrick's Point during the whale watching season, in December, during the Winter/Christmas holiday at work.  During the period of November to January, the grey whales are migrating south, close to the shoreline, from Alaska to the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.  Reasonable motel accommodations are available in Arcata at the Highway 101 and Highway 299 intersection.   It rains about 60 inches a year at Patrick's Point. 

We also walked in redwood groves in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park near Orick, and Jediah Smith Redwood State Park near Crescent City.  Both redwood parks are within 50 miles north of Patrick's Point State Park. 

Karen and I enjoyed a week with our children and their families in Portland.  Among other activities, we celebrated our grand daughter's second birthday (7/11) and baby sitted with the two grand children, Katelyn and Makenna, for three days. 

My daughter, Alicia, and two grand daughter's, Katelyn and Makenna, are now staying with us for a week in Red Bluff.  My two brothers have returned to Southern California. 

Observing a Spear of Summer Grass

"I celebrate myself, and what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease... observing a spear of summer grass."
- Walt Whitman

Green Way Wisdom - July

Summer Light

“That beautiful season - the Summer!
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light;
and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Inebriate of Air - am I -
And Debauchee of Dew -
Reeling through endless summer days -
From inns of Molten Blue.”
- Emily Dickinson, No. 214, St. 2, 1860

Green Way Wisdom - July

Hide in the Shade

“There is nothing more agreeable in a garden than good shade,
and without it, a garden is nothing. ”
- Betty Langley

“When the sun hat fits, it’s ugly.
The sun does not shine equally on all yards.
Plants favor sunshine, we thrive in the shade.
Leaves are sunlight, bound by water, shaped by invisible rules.
Ripening grapes in the summer sun - reason enough to plod ahead.”
- Michael P. Garofalo, Pulling Onions

Green Way Widsom - Sunshine

The weather forecast is for 100 to 110 degrees F daytime high temperatures for the next week.  Nightime  low temperatures will range from 70 to 74 degrees.  The air quality is poor due to the many fires in the foothills and mountains.  All in all, weather suitable for summer vegetables and hiding in the shade.

Laying Down PVC Pipelines

Busy with laying down PVC pipe in the trenches I dug on Wednesday.  I'm using 3/4" PVC pipe.  

The solar pump I will be using in the new well delivers only a 1.5 gallon to 2 gallon flow per minute, so I don't need a 1" pipe from the well to the two ponds.

It was cool and breezy this morning.  The smoke from the fires has diminished the past two days as the fires are brought under control by firefighters.  We have seen fire trucks and firefighters from cities and counties all over the state in Red Bluff lately.  We could actually seen the souther Cascade mountains this morning for the first time in weeks.

Being a native born Californian, a United States citizen, a veteran of the United States Air Force, and a retired employee of Los Angeles County ... I'm proud of being an American.  I believe we have worked hard to create a productive, peaceful, free, and just society in California.  Happy Fourth of July to everyone. 

Trenching Completed

Today, I manhandled a 30" trencher.  I rented it for $175 for a day from Home Depot.  I cut over 500 feet of trenches for the pipe from the new well and for other watering lines from pumps in the middle pond. 

Sitting on the Back Porch

“To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure
is the most perfect refreshment.
- Jane Austen”

Green Way Wisdom - Sitting

Karen and I enjoy sitting in our back porch every morning,
sipping coffee, and chatting about our interests and lives.

“Morning is the best of all times in the garden. The sun is not yet hot.
Sweet vapors rise from the earth. Night dew clings to the soil
and makes plants glisten. Birds call to one another.
Bees are already at work.”
- William Longgood

Water Well Casing Head

I spent a couple of hours leveling the ground around the new well, and filling up the deep holes and deep tire tracks.  It was still a muddy mess in the area. 

The static water level of this well is 46 feet below the surface of the earth. 

Drilling a Water Well

Three men and three large and specialized trucks from Grade Drilling in Cottonwood worked today at our home.  They dug a 126' water well.  They arrived at 6 am and left at 2 pm.  I watched the entire process.  Fascinating!! 

Ripening Figs

We have 7 fig trees in our garden that produce a very good crop of figs each June, and 10 other smaller fig trees.  We enjoy eating Mission, Brown  Turkey, Kadota, Lattarula (Italian Honey), and Calimyrna figs.

Photo by Karen Garofalo.