Musafir's Musings

Passages: December 2011

2011-12-18T13:36:00.000-08:00

Sleepless In San Mateo * Last Days of Autumn* Wild Mushrooms

There are many people who, for some reason or other, lie awake at night -- unable to go to sleep at all or cannot go back to sleep after waking up in the middle of the night.

The nights can be long and depressing, especially for those who live alone. Chronic insomnia requires professional help. This is about people who periodically suffer from it as I do. There are times when the 'cause' can be identified -- health-related issues, anxiety, depression -- it does not take much to trigger bad nights. The holiday season could induce it in some. The cold weather; dark, sunless sky, rains; they can all exacerbate the problem.

Cannot say that I cope with it well. Have tried turning the light on to read. Does not do any good. If the book is interesting I can keep on reading through the night without feeling drowsy. And, in my case, the day's routine -- exercise, food, wine at dinner -- has no bearing at all; my routine rarely varies. While strenuous exercise during the day does not help me to sleep at night, it certainly helps to avoid the feeling of being in a deep, dark hole.

The only sure relief is from pills (sleep aid). Half a tablet of an OTC product usually ensures

a decent night. Does not leave me feeling groggy the next morning. But even then I don't make a habit of it. I have an aversion about taking pills.

Winter Solstice

"On a withered bough

a crow has stopped to perch

and autumn darkens."

--- Basho

A look at the calendar tells me that in four more days autumn will end. The winter solstice is on December 22nd. Piles of fallen leaves under the trees getting smaller. Some trees still display colorful autumn leaves, but not for long.

Birch Tree

Have not had much rain. But the rains might arrive with a vengeance and make us pine for sunny sky. The seasons have their place. There was a time when I found rainy days depressing. Perhaps it is the wisdom that comes from age, but they have ceased to affect me.

This season, foraging for wild mushrooms has not been very rewarding. Found some oyster mushrooms, few puffballs and butter boletes. The rains might make the chanterelles emerge. A cluster of lion's mane was past its prime.

Warning: Do not use these pictures as guide to pick mushrooms for consumption. Wild mushrooms require thorough investigation.

Butter Boletes ( Boletus appendiculatus)

© Musafir - Canon S710

Lion's Mane - Past its prime

© Musafir - Canon S710

Puffball Mushroom

Sulphur Shelf ( Laetiporus sulphureus)

Cluster of Oyster Mushrooms

*****

San Mateo Insomnia Autumn Winter Solstice Wild Mushrooms

Thanksgiving Day 2011

2011-11-24T10:49:00.000-08:00

And Images From Thanksgiving Past * Fall Colors in San Mateo, California

Excerpt below is from Jon Carroll's column in The San Francisco Chronicle. Every year, I look forward to reading it and he never disappoints.

I'm going to think about how each of the people at the table came into my life, and what I remember about that moment, and how we decided to become friends instead of simply people who met each other once a long time ago. And I'm going to remember the kindness that each person has shown me, and I'm also going to remember my kindnesses, because I'm grateful for the times I behaved well.

And because not all the people I'm grateful for are in the room today, I'm going to think about them, and send them good thoughts across the miles. I don't believe in the transmission of thoughts, but I believe in trying. It's like a flashy vehicle for mindfulness, and mindfulness is hard when the talk is loud and the carbohydrates are disappearing at alarming rates.

And as I walk across the floor from one room to the other, I'm going to notice how solid the floor feels beneath my feet today. I know how fragile it is, but it doesn't matter. Today, right now, this Thanksgiving, it feels like the oldest rock in the world, and I stand on it and rejoice.

Maybe at the end of the evening, when the dirty dishes are piled high in the sink and the air is heavy with rich smells, take a moment to thank someone for something.

If today you are gratitude impaired (been there), here are a few new ways of looking at things.

May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true, may you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong; may you stay forever jcarroll@sfchronicle.com

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/11/23/DDPR1LTVNJ.DTL#ixzz1ednU56Ad

For me, the venue has changed. After celebrating Thanksgiving at a friend's house in Palo Alto for the past 19 years, the gathering will take Place at Menlo Park.

Palo Alto, CA. 2010

III

VII

VIII

Fall Colors, San Mateo, CA.

Not New England, but the colors are gorgeous.

Sunrise through my window, Nov 22, 2011

Harvard Drive I

Harvard Drive II

Parrott Drive I

Parrott Drive II

Tournament Drive I

Tournament Drive II

*******

Thanksgiving 2011 Palo Alto Menlo Park San Mateo Fall Colors

Another Summer Rushing Past

2011-08-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

*
Naked Ladies aka Belladonna Lady (Amaryllis belladonna)

If Clarkias are called 'Farewell to Spring' then Naked Ladies deserve to be described as 'Farewell to Summer'. Here in the San Francisco Bay area they begin to be noticeable in August and are gone in September. For a brief period the tall, slender stalks with lovely pink blooms catch our eyes and make us think. Of what? Well, that depends on who you are. For me, the thoughts are about summers past; walks on the beach at Pajaro Dunes; graduation parties; hikes on trails in the foothills and in the Sierras; alfresco lunches under Oak trees; dry, brown landscape and autumn rains soon to follow. Bitter-sweet.

Naked Ladies I, Parrott Drive, San Mateo, CA

Naked Ladies II, Parrott Drive, San Mateo, CA.

Naked Ladies III, Parrott Drive, San Mateo, CA.

During recent walks on Parrott Drive, San Mateo, saw Naked Ladies in a number of front yards. It is hard to appreciate them driving past in cars. A clear sign that another summer will soon be behind us; the Autumn equinox is less than a month away, on September 23rd. Schools are open; Labor Day weekend is around the corner. After the picnics and barbecues are over, the 'end of summer' feeling will sink in if it has not already done so.

Here is the late Philip Hamburger's superb description of end of summer which appeared in The New Yorker some years back.

A piercing blue sky, gentle ocean breeze, low humidity, clean air. But what Seamus Heaney has called "the ache of summer" is increasingly palpable. Darkness will clamp down earlier and more suddenly this evening--one moment a rich, haunting Maxfield Parrish blue, the next pitch-black and night. Hard to face, but wouldn't you know, summer is ending and it is time for memories...Night is falling. There is a chill in the air. Winter will come. And go.

Philip Hamburger © The New Yorker

*****

Naked Ladies Amaryllis Belladonna Summer 2011 Autumn Equinox Philip Hamburger

Canyon Creek In The Trinity Alps

2011-08-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

Backpack Trip up Canyon Creek Trail

The trail head to Canyon Creek, about 14 miles from Junction City, is a long drive from the Bay area. Recently, SG and I made the trip. Ripstein Campground, where we spent the first night, was just over 350 miles It was worth it.

Trinity Alps look different than the Sierras....more green. And the trail to the lakes never far from the stream. Wild flowers were abundant.

Refer to "Hiking California's Trinity Alps Wilderness" by Dennis Lewon

We left on August 4th; stopped at Weaverville Ranger Station for Wilderness and Fire Permits. Drop Box outside the Ranger Station can be used at all times for permit applications. Then continued on Hwy 299 to Junction City and drove for about 14 miles on Canyon Creek Road to Ripstein Campground. The campground is undeveloped, with vault toilet, no running water, but free, scenic, and only a mile from the trail head parking lot.

Began our walk up the trail on the morning of August 5th. Our plan was to go to Upper Lake but we changed our minds and decided to set up camp near the Middle Canyon Creek Falls, just under 6 miles from the trail head,with a view of the water roaring down. The unusually high snow pack has resulted in rarely seen force of the water falls and streams.

Our pace was slow and we made frequent stops. Took us more than six hours to reach the Middle Canyon Creek Falls. There were many backpackers, including women of all ages. And dogs, with their own packs. Many were repeat visitors from Shasta/Redding areas. We talked to backpackers who had come from Oregon. There was a couple from Salem, OR, who had come to celebrate their weddding anniversary after being there 40 years ago.

Trail markers were notably absent. Not a major problem. Our timing was just right. The weather was surprisingly mild. Day-time temp not not much different than the South Bay; the nights were not uncomfortably cold, in the high 60's. See Forest Service Weather Report updated on Thursdays.

We carried a bear canister but could have done without it.

Next day, August 6th, we left our camp site and hiked up to the Lower and Upper Canyon Creek Lakes with just water bottles, some trail mix, power bars, and fishing gear. The lakes are very pretty, located in rocky area with 8,886 ft Sawtooth Mountain towering over the landscape. There were many backpackers camped near the lakes. We tried fishing at the Lower Canyon Creek Lake -- no luck, and didn't see anyone else catching fish -- before carrying on to the Upper Canyon Creek Lake, less than a mile away.

On the return trip from the lakes, we bypassed Boulder Creek campground and reached our tent before darkness set in.

We broke camp on Sunday, August 7th, and headed back at 9:30 A.M. Took us about 4 hours to reach the parking lot. Then it was the drive home with a stop at Weaverville for lunch and gas for the car. A good trip. The photographs below will give an idea of the trail, the water falls, and the lakes.

At Ripstein Campground

At trailhead parking lot

The beginning of Canyon Creek Trail

SG wearing netting as protection against flying insects

Distant view of the mountain range

Wild Flowers, look like Indian Paintbrush

We forded quite a few streams, the major one a mile before the Lower Canyon Creek Lake

Lower Canyon Creek Falls

Wild Flower - Name unknown

More Wild Flowers

Our Campsite

SG - near our campsite alongside stream from Middle Canyon Creek Falls

Another view of the stream near our tent

Middle Canyon Creek Falls, close up

On the trail to the upper lakes

Field of Wild Flowers

We had to push through thick vegetation at some parts of the trail

Last stream crossing about a mile before Lower Canyon Creek Lake

The Sawtooth Mountain 8,886 ft

Near Lower Canyon Creek Lake

Lower Canyon Creek Lake

SG fishing. The trouts were elusive

Leaving for Upper Canyon Creek Lake

A boy getting ready to jump into Upper Canyon Creek Lake

Upper Canyon Creek Lake

Another view of Upper Canyon Creek Lake

Still some snow on the peaks

Pink Wild Flowers

Back at the Lower Canyon Creek Lake - still no fish

A Brewer Spruce tree at Lower Canyon Creek Lake

Heading back - all good things come to an end

"The idea of wilderness needs no defense. It only needs more defenders."

---Edward Abbey

*****

Ripstein Campground Canyon Creek Trail Trinity Alps

The Debt Ceiling - Obama and Democratic Senators Sold Us Down The River

2011-07-31T16:43:00.000-07:00

A Confederacy of Hypocrites

They made a deal with Dark Side. They call it "compromise"; they call it "pragmatism".

The bottom line is shameful, utterly abject surrender by Obama and the Democratic leadership to the demands of Republican and Tea Party bullies. According to current news on the Internet, Nancy Pelosi is making some noise about not supporting the deal made by Harry Reid and Democratic senators. Hope she does not capitulate. Not going to make a difference but at least a symbolic gesture that reflects the position of many Democrats.

And America's long-suffering taxpayers, who pay the salaries of the politicians who brought us to the brink of default? How do they come out?

That remains to be seen. The big concern among many was that this crisis would result in significant tax increases. All the big discussions -- the Simpson-Bowles Commission, the Gang of Six in the Senate, the potential Grand Bargain between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner -- included revenue enhancements, the elimination of loopholes, the termination of tax credits. In other words, tax increases on some people. And at time when income tax rates and overall tax receipts as a percentage of GDP are as low as they've been in recent history, the prospect of making a huge dent in the deficit through spending cuts alone seemed politically unviable. And yet, thanks to a combination of Republican intransigence, moderate wishy-washiness, and Democratic lameness, the deal included no revenue enhancements. People worried about higher taxes have dodged a bullet, for now. -Daniel Gros, Yahoo.com

Obama's role is not surprising. A typical, amoral politician, he has steadily shifted to the right after his election. One gets the impression that to win in 2012 he would readily be a 'born-again Christian' and a fervent pro-lifer.

*****

Debt Ceiling Obama Democrats Republicans Harry Reid Nancy Pelosi

Lower Paradise Valley, Kings Canyon, California

2011-07-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

A Walk from Roads End, Kings Canyon, to Lower Paradise Valley

"Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,

A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse, and --Thou

Beside me, singing in the Wilderness --

And Wilderness is Paradise enow."

-- The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by Edward Fitzgerald

Quite different than the wilderness that Persian poet Omar Khyyam wrote of. But the trail from Roads End in Kings Canyon to the Lower Paradise Valley offers great vistas -- from towering cliffs to the awesome force of Woods Creek flowing alongside.

On July 3rd, Sarbajit Ghosal and I hiked the approx. 13-mile out and back trail. It was a good day, cool at 6:oo in the morning when we began. Even at mid day, when it turned warm and we could feel the rocky parts of the trail radiating heat, it was not punishingly hot.

The trail is not very demanding, first two miles mostly flat with a few rocky segments. Many hikers go only as far as Mist Falls, about halfway to Lower Paradise Valley campground. After Mist Falls, the trail becomes rocky. We met backpackers who were returning from doing the Rae Lake Loop, about 46 miles. One group said it took them 3 days -- hardy souls.

A few pictures follow. Encountered three rattle snakes, the first one in the morning soon after we began our walk at Roads End. After I took a picture of the snake, my Canon Powershot S3 stopped working. Error message read "Lens error. Restart camera." Tried restarting but it did not fix the problem. It was SG's Nikon Coolpix P500 that was used for the rest of the trip.

SG at Roads End Trailhead

The first rattle snake, ugh

We forded a number of such gullies soon after Roads End