end of summer

We had rain in the San Gabriel Valley yesterday! And right before the Labor Day Weekend, what timing. I have been feeling rather quiet these days...feels like I don't have much to say. Preoccupation with work and basking in my days off/looking for more work, personal projects and putzing around helping others with projects is what I mostly find myself doing. I've really gone into hermit mode otherwise - evaluating what's important to me, people to make an effort with and who to just let go, treating people things everything right, enriching my mind and body and just keeping clear of poison. Three old friends I have recently been in contact with all asked me a question along the lines of "So what are your goals/what do you want/where are you headed?" I mostly know what I want, am half-certain of the means of getting there, but am cognizant that I can't be in complete control of everything. So I guess I am saying for myself, make sure you put in a hell of a lot of effort in everything you do, but let yourself breathe a little, roll with the tide.

unintentional collections

I heard once that it's not a collection until you have three of a certain item, so the fact that these photos display four feathers total I believe then entails a collection. Two owl feathers and two parrot feathers. I haven't really done the research but they might be from a barn owl and the red-crowned parrot (not two from the same bird because they were all found on different days). The funny thing about finding feathers for me is that I never find them when actively searching for them, but encounter many when I'm barely paying attention. That's like a lot of things in life I think. There's a heat wave in L.A., kind of the last farewell to summer and it's really hot and dry and stifling in the valley. But at least there is no hurricane to face... I was worried for my friends on the east coast but they're tough cookies/badasses and they don't seem too worried. The last few days for me have been very hedonistic - full of shopping and lazing about and swimming in the pool. The coyotes are out in the neighborhood, need to keep a watchful eye on the poopies and kitties.


Edit: I forgot all about this scrub jay feather I picked up after perilously scrambling along the side of a steep mountain slope covered in crumbly, unstable soil a week ago. I remember I kind of threw myself down, grabbed hold of a tree root and started talking out loud to myself while trying to get some solid footing. Getting totally dramatic here I felt like Atreyu in the Neverending Story, out on a quest and getting my ass kicked by the natural elements. I didn't make it out to the crest like my cohort did due to his discovery of a homeless camp up there, but I was happy to turn back and find the feather, like a little badge for my hilariously city mouse in the mountains moment.

back from Spokane

I have to get ready for class tomorrow! Then perhaps a few more updates later, while I have a few hours left in the day, because this is pretty much the last day of summer for me.

last day

Goodbye Mammoth, I had a great time this summer with you. See you next year!

fishing, day 2

This little trout head turned out to be a solid choice (note the pinched-down barbs); After I caught this rainbow, my pop unhooked it for me since he had waders, and I got a chance to snap some quick shots. I don't like to prolong the amount of time a fish is out of water for the sake of a picture because staying that much longer out of the water could ultimately kill it, but if the opportunity is there and it's a short window of time (i.e. a few seconds, as it is being released) I have no qualms.

I caught a bunch of fish today (!), but owing to the fact that I caught them using the spinning rod instead of the fly rod makes me feel a little like I cheated. Only because the spinners are so much easier than the fly rods. Oh well, practice makes perfect, and today I wasn't going for perfection - just a good old afternoon of reading the river and getting that adrenaline rush from first bite to catch & release. My pop made the last cast of the day and caught a big native rainbow trout and as he released it he said, smiling, "That one last cast!"

fishing, day 1

I hung out in a patch of bright yellow flowers and watched pop tie on a lure/cast while admiring the surrounding foliage. I wish I had brought my Wildlife of North America book with me to figure out what was what! Anyway, I chilled with a fuzzy blue butterfly that was smaller than the lure I used today, then settled into a patch of young willows (probably not willows, but I was hoping they were) and observed the fisherman again. After looking closely into some blue eyed grass to admire the tiny flowers I looked out toward the marshier grass and, spotting something red and black, found a lost lure - a hand tied 'woolly worm' which pop is stoked to try out sometime.

My pop and I set out to fish around 2 this afternoon, and as he geared up I spent about 15 minutes working on my casting technique with the fly rod. It is an amazingly elegant and precise set of movements, deceptively simple, and for every nine or so 'meh' casts I feel like I only got one awesome cast. Ouch! I felt like I was ten years old again, just getting a feel for the spinner rods and casting my roostertails straight into the plants on the other side of the bank. Quite a humbling experience, and after only about an hour going up and down the bank, I tired and switched the fly rod for the camera and watched my pop, who is a master of reading the water and hooking fish. But he never toots his own horn and almost dismissively says "Well, for having fished here for 30 years you'd think I'd know something by now!"

(not quite) into the wild

I'm currently in Mammoth Lakes at a condo where my family and I have been staying at every summer for about ten years now. We go on this trip to fish for trout on the Owens River and this year I'm finally going to learn how to fly fish!

The Red Cliffs Preserve sign is significant because I took a photo of it on the way up our first year, and now I take its picture every time for tradition/posterity. What's great and crazy about it is this one shown is a brand new replacement, as the old one had gotten weathered, dingy and riddled with bullet holes by mischievous troublemakers over the years. Sorry that's probably not very interesting but I obsess over signage/infrastructure, the older the better. I'm trying to convince my pop to take us to explore Red Rock Canyon (the mini Grand Canyon of the West!) on the trip home, and/or go see the museum that's hidden on the vicinity, so we'll see if that happens.

Why am I sitting on my computer when I could be enjoying the cool mountain breeze outside, or exploring the neighborhood/what have you? Well, because I've gotten pretty familiar with the place, had my fill of being technology-free during vacation, and I know when I'm out on the Owens that will be plenty enough of a getaway. And why all the rationalizing? It's something I always think about when I'm out traveling or having a good time; am I ruining the experience, the atmosphere by checking my email and/or writing here? No, absolutely not. It's just how I fill my downtime and I'm constantly reflecting on situations; it's just what I do! And now, I am going to go work on my quilt which I did bring up, and get ready for (my first) Discovery Channel's Shark Week!

wanting...

This looks and feels like summer and I want some! Must-have: barbecues & bike rides, general frolicking and adventures. Freedom, knowledge & awakening, and a readiness for anything.

missing Mammoth...

Around this time of year my family and I go up to Mammoth Lakes for our annual summer fishing trip. The past few years it's just been me and my stepdad fishing, and last year was the first time my sister didn't come up with us (more on that later). I did talk to my stepdad on the phone earlier today though... and I think he might make a second Mammoth trip for us when I return from Malaysia! fingers crossed.