Mt. Konocti`

Last week was Thanksgiving break from school.  I had the good fortune to have two sets of visitors!  And the weather was just perfect for it.  The lake was putting on quite a show, from the fingers of fog in the morning to the brilliant stars reflected at night. The birds are migrating, and one morning I looked out on the dark water--it was before the sun came up--and saw the white tail-ends of about 30 geese, quietly bobbing.  They had arrived at some time in the night, and they left by mid morning.

Dad on the Lake.

 
On Thursday morning, my friends Davena, Will, Ewan, and Monty (adorable dog). stopped over on their way to dinner.  I toddler-proofed my living room so Ewan would have a place to play.  Being an accomplished runner now, he loved being able to run and fall without worry.  The whole room is carpeted, and then all my rugs scattered everywhere made double cushioning. One funny moment was when he caught site of my drawing of bananas. Apparently they are quite life-like because he was reaching for them and calling out "Nanas!  Nanas!"   :)   Not sure how I managed to not get any pictures of their visit!  So sad. Luckily the memories are indelible in my mind. 
  

Great Blue Heron caught in mid-flight, headed to chase off the egret.

We went to a park so Monty and Ewan could play. There was a pond there, with a large log in the pond. When I first walked down the trail to the pond, when I came around a bend and into view of the pond, I startled about 12 turtles sunning on the log. They all plopped into the water and Davena thought I'd perhaps fallen into the pond!   We had a fabulous dinner at one of my coworker's.  Turns out her sister-in-law works with Davena and Will.  Small world, indeed.   That night, Monty was my guest while Will, Ewan, and Davena were doing a trial run of sleeping in their new van, out in the cold. But Monty and I were cozy under our respective blankets!! I had forgotten how much more of a home a home is when a pet is there.

My Dad, amidst rosy light on the lake.

After the Bagnall family left Friday morning, Dad and Connie arrived in mid afternoon. I enjoyed sharing my new home and view with them.  On Saturday, my dad and I went on a docent led hike up Mt. Konocti.  My pedometer said we walked about 7 miles. Half of that was uphill, and half of that was downhill. I thought I'd be very sore the next day, but other than a slight knot in one calf, I was fine.   It was probably the electrolytes I chugged.  Emergen-C makes an electrolyte mix that has no added sugars, just all the minerals your body craves.   And I have these capsules that are filled with electrolytes, too.  Those, combined with lots of water seems to have done the trick. 

The Cal Fire Tower on Wright's Peak.

At the top of the mountain there was a fire tower, now abandoned, that we climbed to get clear 360 view of the surrounding area. We could even see Mt. Lassen!  Just a perfect day for viewing everything.  We also went through the first homestead on the mountain, and found "Lake County Diamonds."   I have a teeny tiny one that I brought home.

Tiny Lake County Diamonds, in the round rock I was sitting on in the next picture.

On a very round rock, in a spot of sun, on the way back down from the mountain.

Dad and Connie left Sunday morning.   It was such a treat to have them around, cooking and eating good food and talking.  I was working on the book manuscript, fixing references/citations and correcting a few writing habits that Bob and I had which the editor (who's name happens to be Ed!  How cool is that?) wanted changed.   While I got caught up in my work, Connie explored my educational library (she's a teacher, too), and got immersed in reading, while my dad was doing his own reading and bird watching. Sunday morning, my dad is patiently waiting while Connie finished reading and taking notes from the one book that I couldn't loan to her.  :)

Lovely to have people around. My life now is either extremely full of people (work) or completely devoid of people (non-work).  It is odd.  I know someday I will have the presence of people in my home life again.  Right now I'm enjoying the alone time, or rather my down time from the intensity of this job that I love and am so grateful for.   But the Bagnalls and my family reminded me how much I treasure the company of people (and pets!).

I hope you are all well and enjoying the presence of people and animals and nature in your life.  :)

A great and gnarly old maul oak. Named because they made splitting mauls from them, that's how hard they are!

Emily at the top.

 

Dad at the Sign Post on top. 

Mary Downen's cabin, built in 1903.

Mary Downen's orchard. Beautiful light.

Looking north, across the narrows of Clearlake.

Looking east towards Lower Lake and my school.

 

Sutter Buttes, to the north-east. An uplift if ever there was one!

Looking south toward Cobb Mt. and Mt. St. Helena.

Looking west/southwest. The red circle is where Ber and Gio are living. The white structure is the indoor arena.

Arrow shows where we were on Mt. Konocti, looking from where Ber and Gio live.

 

Looking north-west toward Lakeport, with  a view of the pear and grape orchards showing color.

Looking west downhill through the walnut orchard to the pear orchards on the valley floor.

Looking north to Buckingham Peak.   If you could look through the mountain you would see my house, sitting right on the lake.  When I look up to Mt. Konocti from my house, I see the cell tower on top of Buckingham.

Looking north to Mt. Lassen.

Close-up of Mt. Lassen.

Wow, Mt. Lassen is over twice the height of Mt Konocti.  :)

Purple circles denote where my house is (the X in Soda Bay) and where the fire tower is.

Topographical map of Mt. Konocti.

Bird Watching

Egret on the left, Heron flying in from the right.

I've been home during the day, with vacation. Good bird watching weather.  My resident Great Blue Heron is very crabby and territorial.  Typical heron.  He or she chases off the resident Great White Egret regularly.  I watched this morning as the heron hunted amongst the reeds.   The egret flew in, I think not realizing the heron was hidden from view. As soon as the egret landed, the heron stood tall, puffed up, croacked a craggy squawk, and walked purposefully through the shallows, giving a triumphant stab of its beak in the direction of the retreating egret. 

Heron triumphant after chasing Egret away.

With the rain and winds, we now have waves (wavelets?) on the lake. Not boat wake waves, but real waves.  Fun to watch the birds bobbing.

Waves!

The coots have moved in en-masse. I call them the flotilla of coots.  There's often a lone coot hanging out in the water.  I haven't seen the ducks all week, so I think they've moved on. 

Flotilla of Coots

School has been so much fun lately. I've been doing a lot of what I love doing--making connections with kids and adults. Building community.  This week I've been painting a giant leopard (school mascot) to hang in the cafeteria, along with messages the leopard says, like "You are a Lower Lake Leopard" and "You are Capable".  Also working on our first whole-school graph that will hang in the cafeteria.  I want to do a monthly graph.  Each grade level has a different color, so we can see the overall data, as well as grade level data.  Real-world math, all the way!!

Lone Coot braving the elements.

I have learned that my horse Ber is an equine Curious George.  I have a new perspective on him, and how he approaches the world.  I set up situations for him to explore, instead of trying to get him to STOP exploring.  He loves it. And when I want him to focus on something I'm doing, he's more willing and he has a more positive attitude.   Ber and Gio both seem happy and secure.  

Coots don't fly much. They run on the water with the help of wings....

On Saturday I am looking forward to hiking up Mt. Konnocti. There is a docent led trip, starting at 8:30, weather permitting.  When I found out about it, I called to reserve a spot, and got the last two slots.   Very cool, because my dad will be in town, and he loves to hike, too.  But first, my friends Davena & Will & Ewan are stopping by to visit on their way to visit family for TG.  A lot to look forward to this week!

The North side of Mt. Konocti, from my house.

I am grateful for my view.  Grateful for the students and teachers I am getting to know and work with every day.  My heart is full.   I hope you have a good Thanksgiving day/weekend, whenever and however you celebrate the season.  
:) Emily

Quick Trip to Humboldt

I needed to take care of some business in Humboldt, so I made the 3.5-ish hour drive up on Saturday morning. I'll warn you in advance, there are no pictures today.  I had my camera, but I just was so busy I forgot to take pictures!  I'll try to make pictures with words.   The chock-ful visit started at 10 am with coffee/visit at Ramone's with Dana, who worked at Blue Heron. It's always enjoyable to "talk shop" on education, as well as catch up on Green Party happenings.   I discovered that I was one of 183 people in Lake County who voted for Jill Stein.   And that Humboldt County had the highest percentage of Green Party voters in the entire nation (3.9%). Go Humboldt!

After that, I had a phone chat with my friend Jen,, who lives in Seattle. We visit every Saturday, but this week I was sitting in my car looking out over the Arcata Bottoms, with blue sky and phenomenal fluffy white clouds.

Then I checked in at my rental to take care of some business, and enjoyed picking up some Gala apples.  I was impressed with the size and number of apples on the tree this year!   Also snacked on a few raspberries. Yes, raspberries in November.  When I have a house where I can have a garden, I'm taking some starts of those raspberries.  Heavenly.

Stopped to see my friends Sharon and Sam at the pasture, and picked up a huge hornets/wasps nest they had found while building fence.  Going to take it back to school for some hands-on science.  It is very old, and empty, so no worries. Just in case I've put it in a plastic bag, sealed, to see if anything comes out in the next day or so.   It's pretty amazing because it has blackberry brambles that have grown through it, like arrows piercing a heart.

Next stop was my old house to see my friends Dena and Gary and Kiah (the dog).  I bestowed Gloria's purple rain coat on Kiah, who looked smashing. Her collar matches, so it was meant to be.  :) Ended up going for a good hike at Trinidad Beach with Dena and Kiah.   Kiah is an Australian Shepherd, and she met many fans of Aussies at the beach that day. She loves being an ambassador for the breed!  The beach was having one of those near perfect days:  low tide, blue sky, aqua-green waves turning over in glistening, near-translucent pikes. 

Leaving Dena and Kiah in Westhaven, I stopped off in McKinleyville to say hello to Davena and her family (Will and the ever adorable Ewan).  Had a good visit, picked up a book to share with students at school with word play and alteration. I have an idea about having upper grade students make stories along the same line to share with lower grade students...  Ewan shared a book, Moo, Baa, La-la-la.  My favorite moment was when he was carrying his blanket around, running, and he made this exaggerated prat fall, slow motion to his knees and hands, finally laying flat. Then he looks up to see who was watching.  Hilarious!   Also made tentative plans for a visit during TG break, on their way to family!  Very cool.  It motivated me when I got home to figure out the heating in my house.  :)

Next (yes, this is still Saturday) I went to Eureka to pick up a few things for my winter wardrobe. Lake County is getting pretty chilly.  I still have a few warm tops from Idaho, but I "under-grew" most everything, else. My friend Sharon came in to help with colors (thank you!).    I'm really pleased with what I found, and I look forward to being a lot warmer!    After shopping for clothes, Sharon and I ate dinner at Pachanga, which is my favorite Mexican restaurant in Humboldt County.

I went "home" to my old house and slept in my old room (Thank you Dena!).   At one point, I woke up to the sound of my clock ticking. I listened to it, and smiled, feeling so at home. Then I realized that I did not have my clock here anymore!  The sound promptly disappeared.   At another point in the night, I woke up to the sound of the heater kicking on, and I was startled, because I do not have a heater going at my house on the lake yet.  So I got up, and tried to navigate through my new home to the heater panel. That sent me into a wall, because the hall I was going down does not exist in my old house.  LOL. 

Sunday morning I got up, ate some potato-cauliflower soup Dena left for me (Thank you!) and enjoyed the morning. Gary came by and helped me change the battery in my car.   I owe him a debt of gratitude, because there is no way I could have done it myself, after seeing what it entailed. Nothing is easy on the Jetta, except driving it!  When we hauled the battery out, I confirmed my suspicions:  it was the original battery, with an installation date of Dec 2002.  A ten year old battery!  Needless to say, Jetta is quite peppy now, and I will need to watch my gas foot until I get used to it again. 

On my way out of town I stopped at my old pasture to give wormer to the pony, who was due, and visit with Katrin and Erika.  It was good to catch up and I enjoyed hearing Erika's stories about school, and learning that 5 + 1 is 6, and 7-1 is 6.  :)  Then I stopped to say goodbye to Sharon and Sam, and pick up my other key for Jetta so I can hopefully avoid another call to a locksmith here in Lake County (that was last weekend...).

Last but not least, I swung my my friend Kathy's house (she visited me last weekend) to buy my annual quart of Dick's honey and visit for a few minutes. I learned from Kathy and Dick that the birds I labeled "Pie-Billed Grebes" are actually American Coots!  Kathy bestowed me with a package of soft wool socks for cold Lake County mornings (thank you!!).

I hit the road and made it home in time to give my horses their evening grain and a hug.  Phew!  A good trip, chock full of good people and scenery.     I love Humboldt County for its beauty, but especially for all my friends who live there.   When I woke up this morning and looked out on my lake, I smiled, thinking about how much I am growing to love Lake County for all its beauty, and for all my new friends who live here, many who I have yet to meet!

As I mentioned earlier, this morning I found out how the heat works (forced air, throughout the whole house) because it has gotten so cold here. It seems to work well, and I closed all the vents in the other rooms so its just heating the kitchen and living room.   Now I can have visitors without worrying that they are going to lose fingers and toes to the cold.  :)

Today is Veteran's Day.   I extend my appreciation and gratitude to all my family and friends who have served in the military. 

Friend from Humboldt

Morning on the Lake

 
This weekend I had  a visitor!  My friend Kathy from Humboldt was headed home from a recorder workshop in Carmel, and she stopped over for a night.   I've known Kathy since my first year of teaching.  :)  Was great to spend time hanging out.     We watched birds this morning, and discussed various birds' habits.   

The water is really shallow!

In researching the hummingbirds, we determined mine are Anna's Hummingbirds. They are the only hummingbird that does not migrate, so I may have hummers all winter! 

"Grebe-lets"

These fat gray birds with black heads and white beaks... I nicknamed them "grebe-lets" because they hang out with the Clark's grebes and the ducks.  Research determined they are grebes: Pie-billed Grebes to be exact.  They are cute, and they prefer swimming and diving to flying. 

One Lone Pie-Billed Grebe

While bird watching, the resident great blue heron flew up to the top of a boat shed, chased off the white egret that was resting there, and proceeded to squat there looking rather irritated for the next hour.  I saw it later, tall and slender, standing on one of the islands. 

heron on the roof

Kathy helped me place my colored pencil drawings that I worked on framing this weekend. I drew these in the mid-late 90's.  Nice to finally get them up on the wall! 

From left to right, squash, pea pods, lemons & lime, green beans, and carrots.

A neighborhood gray cat that has no home cruises through my yard regularly.  I am now feeding it, in the hopes it can be tamed.  Looks like I have my work cut out for me. But it sure liked the tuna. All I had was albacore...

Kathy at ClearlakePark

I took Kathy on the Dorn Nature Trail at Clearlake Park.  Had some stunning views of the lake. Came around the corner on top of the little mountain there, and had a clear view of the stables where Ber and Gio were staying.  Looking at it from up high, I can see how small their pens, and how close-in everything feels with the trees and buildings surrounding them. They couldn't see anything.

Ber and Gio were in the fourth building down.

I leave you with the rest of today's pictures.   I have my clocks turned back, and am going to turn in early tonight so I can wake up!   I hope you have a great week.

A Buck-eye "fruit" or "nut." 

An owl pellet!  I'm taking it to school to find some kids who want to see what's inside!

Tree Sky.

View of Lakeport from top of Clearlake Park.

View of Clearlake Park (Kathy and I were by that tree on the ridge) from my house.

Island beauty.