When the Almond Tree Blooms

Note: I haven't published anything on this blog for years, but I decided to revive it, mostly to share the experience of relocating from California to Olympia, Washington.  This past Saturday, I decided to take advantage of beautiful fall weather and go on an adventure on the Olympic Peninsula. I headed west from Olympia, stopping for a delicious breakfast in Elma, then continued along country roads that wound through the emerald pastures and timberlands of rural Grays Harbor County. Eventually we arrived at our destination: the Quinault Rainforest. I had wanted to explore the Quinault Rainforest, which receives 12 feet of rain a year, and thought it would be a good place to see fall colors. I decided to try the Fletcher Canyon trail, a four mile round trip hike that begins near the Quinault river. The trail climbs along the slope of the canyon through a sea of ferns, past giant mossy trees. The first mile or the trail is fairly manageable, but conditions deteriorated after th...

On the last day of 2011, three brave souls--Katy, Evan and Rawley--came with me for a farm tour at Pleasant Grove Farm.  Here's a little of what we saw: Grain Bins, Christmas Tree, Fuel Tanks Katy, Evan and Rawley do their thing on the catwalk Seed Cleaner Inside the seed cleaning mill Rawley on an old land grader Old electric well motors--may be where R2D2 is from Parts from cultivating implements The old parts (not junk!) yard John Deere CTS Rice Combine Tractors enjoying their 2 week farm vacation Rawley getting ready to harvest some rice...it's gonna be a long wait Corn Harvester This machine spends 3 months harvesting and 9 months as a very expensive cat perch Tractors and combines The Pleasant Grove Farm Machine Shop The Sutter Buttes to the north Harvesting the last bits of rice ' 'Winter' Wheat We celebrated the New Year together at Katy and Evan's farm in Esparto, eating tamales, black eyed...

It's been nearly three weeks here in California, with many adventures taking place. I have a lot on my mind as I try and figure out work, life and all the rest, but I'd rather just share some pictures I've taken so far. Check them out on my picasa site: The first set (some repeats from previous post): https://picasaweb.google.com/rfadam/CaliforniaEnRouteSantaCruz# More recent ones from Davis, Capay Valley: https://picasaweb.google.com/rfadam/BackInCalifornia# That's it for now.

Happy 2011 readers! I've been in California for the past week or so, I have a lot to write about but instead am just going to share some photos from my time so far. On Wednesday, December 29, my Dad and I set off for California. We left on a dark evening after dinner, with clear skies over Seattle. Around Kent (15 miles south of Seattle) we ran into a snowstorm, complete with lightening. The snow turned to hail in Tacoma, after that it was clear sailing all the way to Longview. The next day we continued our journey, enjoying a savory breakfast at a Denny's outside Portland, pie and coffee at Peggy's in Rice Hill, Oregon and this beautiful evening light on Mt. Shasta after crossing the Siskiyou Mountains: More Mt. Shasta We stayed in a Travelodge in Red Bluff and continued south the next day. A chilly morning at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, near Willows, CA Snow geese at the Sacramento NWR I celebrated the new year in good company, in a karaoke boo...

Finally, some photos for those of you who´ve been following my blog... (they´re backwards, but who really cares...) Las Brisas Waterfall The Mural at the Lagartillo school finished The Mural in progress Monchito and Roniel at the Las Lajas Waterfall This Sunday finds me again in Esteli, I came to buy coffee to take back to the states, to use the net and eat a quesillo (like a quesadilla but not only with cheese, but also cream and spicy onions...mmm). I had originally planned to leave Lagartillo for good this weekend, but I am returning to the community tomorrow for the rest of the week. My plan was to travel and see other places in Nicaragua, but there´s so much to do in Lagartillo (not to mention so many wonderful people to hang out with), that I don´t really feel like leaving. So I changed my plans and will probably stay there until next Saturday. What are plans for besides to change them anyways. If I had known how bad the bus ride today was going to be, I might not ha...

Clothes on the line, my backyward The plum tree Plums! In my earlier post, I was lamenting the fact that I was in Oakland instead of out on a wilderness trail. Now, a few weeks later, I am still sitting here in Oakland, this time listening to the various firecrackers and other incendiary devices the neighbors are igniting in preparation for July 4th. I am getting ready to leave on a camping trip tomorrow morning. I am excited to get out of town, but overall, have been very content to be in the Bay Area during what amounts to a five week pseudo-vacation from the elementary children. In the past few weeks, I've been working at the Park Elementary garden in Hayward two to three times a week, usually for four to six hours. I've also helped out with the high school program as well at Tennyson in Hayward. On my sometimes lengthy lunch breaks, I've been savoring the tastes of Hayward: Mexican hoagies, and burritos and aguas frescas from Chavez Market. On my other days,...