2012 hello

Sort of forgot this blog existed, and I was using another word press one for awhile that I got rid of...but I just didn't quite have the heart to delete all the entries on here so I'll keep it going sporadically at best....This is a sunset view from literally the backyard these days...

for a week at least
full of lazy days
what to do? when there's actually too much.
where to start?
I just love being home, and i've been home so little this year.
I end up just sitting here and not knowing where to begin.
Some gardening, some hiking, some playing my cello,
maybe a friend stops by and we BBQ...
I wake up to Mt. Tom and the enormous Eastside skyline
everyday reaffirmed on this life.
it is a good life.
for that I am thankful.

Late Spring / Summer

It took a long time for summer to arrive. But good things come to those who wait, and it's definitely good now that it's here. A garden of vegetables is flourishing in the yard, even here at 8,000 feet. The mornings are warm enough to enjoy coffee and breakfast outside. Windows are left open all night.


Plenty of things have happened since April. All of them good I'd say. A few more prints have sold, been playing lots of music, performing a few times a month, with a variety of bands...from Old Coyote Moon to the Ragged Spurs, to just me and sharon, otherwise calling ourselves The Littlest Birds....there's talk of a fall tour even, with sharon, around the west...i'll keep you posted.



Old Coyote Moon will be playing at Millpond Music Festival outside of Bishop, CA, Sept 17-19. We're on at 11 am, Sunday the 19th. so BE THERE OR BE SQUARE.


There was a trip to Pt. Reyes a while back that finished up in kirkwood with a recording and hang out session with friends, which we now call The Ragged Spurs. An old time group without bass or guitar. There was a 12 day ski tour into the middle of the High Sierra with a few friends....we got great snow and skied some awesome stuff....hopefully an article will come out of that trip and those pictures...There was a quick trip to Ojai for my brother's performance at the festival and an afternoon of wine tasting at their wine festival. There's been the usual landscaping work outside in the hot 'n dry high altitude sunshine....and there's been lots of dreaming.
Got some good one's cookin' for the coming years I think.







Basically life is as good as it gets these days. My toes are about to be in the sun, the coffee is not yet done, and another day is unfolding. unraveling perhaps. Where will it lead? so many good things, different things, all coming together....i'm about to make another payment on a beautiful piece of land in baja mexico...working towards that dream still....gardening and dreaming about farming and playing music, and who knows where that will go...just throw the instruments in the car babe and lets hit the road....see where we end up...

it's all very exciting. Check out the photography section for new prints now available, and I hope to continue to keep adding them as well as take on a website remodel, and add additional products for purchase....it's all a matter of time.
And fortunately, time is something I've got.

that's it for now....

Desert Life

Well, the skiing has been great this spring, but I personally always have to give it up for a bit to slip away to the desert before things heat up too much. Spring is a great time (tho the winds can blow), with flowers and greenery in abundance. Here are some images from last week's six day adventure through northern Death Valley National Park....








I was traveling with my friend Sharon, who's never seen these particular parts of the desert before, never rambled in the shadows of the Inyo Mountains, or the washes of the Saline Range, and so it was extra special to be sharing a place that I hold so dear with someone seeing it for the first time....










Something about the open road, warmth, and empty spaces of the desert just draw me in, hold me down, and peel back the layers of bullshit piled on by even the most blissed "regular life" ... the moment gains its proper priority ...



history of people and mountains, lost times and forgotten "ways", trails fading into steep ridges and another day passing by into long shadows...

home time

a variety of good things lately: good music and performances, selling photos, big backcountry travels on skis, powder, great spring corn, even a taste of bouldering....classic home life, absolutely classic...
so here's a few random shots to celebrate such good times (it makes ya feel guilty livin' 'em they're so good)...





"music" often means good food cooked at home, beers and wine, hours of playing...




which is usually followed every few days by some sort of adventure like this: 4000 feet of perfect corn! (see video too)...






...a fine evening rolled out in the sagebrush and budding flowers of the Owens Valley writing a new song on the banjo...

Good Skiing

It's been a great, and exhausting few days climbing big mountains and finding fun snow.
Here's some images from the good times.