Camping on the Smith

Last Thursday morning we headed north for a three-day camping trip on the Smith River.



The Smith is a pristine, undammed river. The water is crystal clear. We camped at Grassy Flat. which is near where this photo was taken.



We brought our bicycles – my vintage Schwinn newspaper bike and Kim's Trek Navigator. The Schwinn has the mother-of-all baskets on the front, and was handy for hauling essential supplies like food, wine coolers and lawn chairs down to the river.



In the evening we played Canasta, cooked over the campfire and stargazed.



The Goddess worked her magic.



We enjoyed our own kind of fireworks.







The next morning we went on a hike and visited a serpentine bog with a rare plant called a Darlingtonia, aka a Cobra Lily.



Because there are few nutrients in a serpentine bog, these plants eat meat. Flies and other bugs are lured into the large bulb with a nectar. They're then slowly sucked down into the plant and consumed. This raises an interesting question: Assuming such a plant were edible, would it be kosher for a vegetarian to consume it?



Nearby we inspected a "mine test hole," probably dug in the 1930s.

There were many other interesting photo ops, but I was relaxed and lazy most of the time and didn't bother. I soaked up a lot of sun and read an adventure involving Navajo officer Joe Leaphorn, a double homicide, a heist, a stolen helicopter, a woman corrupting a priest, a militant American Indian outfit and a cave wired with dynamite and full of scouts. Damn, that's a lot of plot twists to pack into a little paperback!

Keep on rollin'

Took a ride on the fixed gear down the peninsula this morning.



While cleaning out my old garage, I found my favorite rear-view mirror, which clips onto my glasses. Like most bike-related items I purchased between 1983 and 1986, it's perfect.



I'm a much faster rider on the fixed gear.

Summer flowers

Hang on...

I just need to clean out a house and garage, and put the property on the market. Then I can resume blogging. Meanwhile, check this out:

My charade is over

Thanks to an anonymous commenter in the previous posting. my little charade is over. I am not Jack, Jack Durham or Rambling Jack.

My true identity is "Mr. Carson."

It was only a matter of time before the truth was revealed.

I just hope nobody finds out about my freelance job working as an exotic dancer.

Excellent videos!

Oh, I miss the Earth so much.




What's not to like about Orson?

Introducing the Kona Dew

Last Tuesday afternoon my cell phone rang. Thinking it was a call from The Goddess, I immediately picked it up and said “Hey good looking!”

Then I heard a stranger’s voice. She said she was from the North Coast Co-op and started asking me questions to make sure she had the right number.

The momentary awkwardness quickly faded when it became clear she was informing me that I had won something in a free drawing I entered many weeks ago.



My prize is a spanking-new Kona Dew commuter bike, pictured here at an undisclosed location. The bicycle came complete with fenders, a rack and a bicycle bell. Pretty sweet!

The free drawing was part of Bicycle Month in May.

I’ll put it to good use and log many miles on the Dew. Thank you, North Coast Co-op.