Tahquitz Canyon Legend

 

"Tahquitz was the first shaman created by Mukat, the creator of all things. Tahquitz had much power, and in the beginning he used his power for the good of all people. Tahquitz became the guardian spirit of all shamans and he gave them power to do good. 

But over time, Tahquitz began to use his power for selfish reasons. He began to use his power to harm the Cahuilla People. The people became angry, and they banished Tahquitz to this canyon that now bears his name. He made his home high in the San Jacinto Mountains in a secret cave below the towering rock known today as Tahquitz Peak. 

It is said that his spirit still lives in this canyon. He can sometimes be seen as a large green fireball streaking across the night sky. The strange rumblings heard deep within the San Jacinto Mountains, the shaking of the ground, and the crashing of boulders are all attributed to Tahquitz as he stomps about the canyon."

That's Tahquitz 101, from the Palm Springs Indian Canyons website.

Well, plenty of people stomp around the canyon with Tahquitz these days. The 2-mile RT canyon hike to the waterfall is so popular the gates close when the parking lot is full, usually about noon in high season. The Indians charge an entrance fee of $15 per person, but the parks are only a few minutes from Palm Springs, so the experience is pretty miraculous.

We hiked this trail for the first time in 2018, which frankly, seems like a lifetime ago. The trail is steep and rocky with many steps, so I was grateful we could still do it just fine. You walk through a canyon of stunning natural beauty, and at the end a magical waterfall. John was quick enough to can snap a photo that makes it look like we had the place to ourselves. 

I was ready with my ear plugs last night, but our neighbors in the adjoining villa must have been tired out from the previous party so it was a quiet, peaceful night. This is our last day in Palm Springs and I think we'll go to the downtown art museum, then Villagefest street fair tonight for the full California experience. There's no better place for colorful people watching. Back to dull, grey Seattle in the morning.

Postcards from Palm Springs

 

Peaceful early morning breakfast in our courtyard, then a walk through Moorten Botanical Garden yesterday. A little early (or late?) for cactus bloom, but the bougainvillea at its peak right now.

Not quite so peaceful last night. The nice thing about our room is we are next to the pool.  The bad thing about our room is that we are next to the pool. 

A group of women set up camp outside the door and partied on, even though they ask guests please keep the noise down after 8 pm. This is such a small intimate inn, sound really carries, and there's no staff on site here at night...oh well. Wherever you go, the world has become so darn loud.

Anyway, we're off on a quiet hike this morning. A poolside nap in order for afternoon.  Looks like a perfect blue sky day with temps in the 80's.

In the desert

 

A beautiful, cool early desert morning. It should get up to the mid-70's today and 80's tomorrow. Perfect. Stormy skies and a bumpy descent when we landed yesterday afternoon, but the rain (if you can call it that by Seattle standards) nothing but a warm light sprinkle when we walked to dinner last night. It came, it went in 20 minutes.

It's very quiet here in the morning because most people sleep later than us. I love sitting by the pool watching the wispy coastal clouds rise above the mountains and then disappear in the dry desert air. You can see them in this lovely view outside our room-- right up against the desert mountains, you would never guess we're in the middle of downtown Palm Springs and can walk everywhere.

We have lots of company, though. In the past, Monday through Thursday was the quiet time, but the airport was jammed yesterday and the streets last night full of people. Kind of a shock, actually. What pandemic? Everything is wide open and then some in California, for better or worse, enjoy the moment seems to be the rule. Why not?

The rental car lines at the airport yesterday. Renting a car is never fast, but we had “Thrifty “ and didn't have to wait long. 

Well, time to hit the pool while I have it all to myself.

And the theater goes dark

 

A few more pictures from the final performances of "The Fantastic Mr. Fox.” 

 Yes, that's really Nova as Mrs. Rabbit. No, she is not 21. The kid acting was great all around and thanks to dedicated adults coaching and helping the kids rehearsing for months. And the community, of course, selling out the shows. 

What's next for the Methow Valley children's theater? I overheard the girls talking about "Winnie the Pooh," and Maya saying she wants to audition along with her big sister next time. 

We are off to Palm Springs tomorrow morning, landing in the middle a rare desert rain event. Then it looks like pleasant weather for the remainder of the week. A short trip this time, but a welcome change of scene. I'll check in later from Hotel California.

Nuts

Today is Pecan Day, the only nut tree native to the United States. On March 25, 1775, George Washington planted a pecan tree at his Mount Vernon estate. Pecans are beautiful hardwoods that live up to 300 years. Although technically, pecans are classed as fruits, not nuts. 

I buy big bags of pecans at Costco and don't think much of it, but pecan nuts were once a rare treat. This frugal recipe from the 1950's has a cup of Karo syrup plus an entire cup of sugar, with just a sprinkling of nuts. As kids we would have gobbled it up. It makes my teeth hurt now just reading it.  

Remember good old Stuckey's and that blue roof along the highway? The chain started in the 1930's in a lean-to roadside shed in Eastman, Georgia. Ethel Stuckey made pecan rolls with the nuts from their family orchard.

Stuckey's was a popular stop for Florida-bound drivers on U.S. Route 23. At one time there were 350 stores scattered across the south and mid west.

A sad abandoned Stuckey's restaurant somewhere along a freeway. 

Not much news here, except looking forward to Monday when we're flying to Palm Springs for a short (and hopefully) warm break from the rain. 

Feed the birds

 

Dad and his springtime friends at Floyd Lamb Park in North Las Vegas. It reminds me of the song "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins.  We could use more of that old-fashioned sweetness these days.

 

 

One day wonder

Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far-- a scorching 60 degrees in Seattle. Yes, it felt good, and everything is bursting out in bloom along my walk route. 

It was warm enough to sit outside for a bit after dinner, finish my wine and listen to our neighbor's assortment of noisy gas power tools: mower, weed-eater, edger, blower. He's a yard perfectionist and likes to work late in the day when people would enjoy some peace and quiet. A sure sign summer is coming.

Back to winter-like rain today. It's been a chilly spring. 

With the bright sun streaming through filthy windows, I cleaned out my dusty closet and drawers yesterday and made a big black bag to take over to the charity store. 

Hey, if I didn't wear it before the pandemic, I'm sure not going to now. My ugly go-to uniform for 2+ years has been stretchy pants with a long sleeve t-shirt. And so much black! Old ladies should not wear such depressing clothes! Ha. Well, at least this looks a little bit brighter.

Whew

 

 

"The Fantastic Mr. Fox" cast
Children's Theater at the Merc Playhouse
Photo from Methow Valley News

 

It's not often that I'm too busy to take photos and yak on the blog, but I was too busy to take photos and yak on the blog.

We had a good trip although it turned into a whirlwind. We left Saturday morning instead of Friday as originally planned, and went to the play that same night. A long day but a delightful experience and Nova was splendid as Mrs. Rabbit. An impressive budding actress in the family.

Uncle Dave and Nova

Then on Sunday morning, hosted a big brunch at the house, followed by a family dinner in the evening. Lots of fun but River House (and me) got quite a workout in 48 hours.

The reason for the day late departure from Seattle: I was making corned beef sandwiches for the road early Friday morning (dark kitchen, lack of mindfulness with a razor sharp cleaver) and I managed to slice my fingernail quite dramatically leading to a trip to Urgent Care. I'll spare you the gory details. No stitches but typing is painful and if the blog isn't regular as clockwork, no worries, all is well.

John even found time to hang my new sign up outside the front door...

Hills to climb

 

West Seattle is hilly, although a lazy walker can avoid most of them. This is my 3rd year walking the same neighborhood loop, mostly on the flat. I know, boring, although there's something meditative about watching the same plants, flowers and trees cycle through the seasons. I plug in the Airpods, get lost in my music and try not to think. Just one foot in front of the other.

Nature changes by the week, but some houses I walk by have not changed an iota in 3 years. The same car always in the driveway, the blinds down, the yard a sad mess. People live there, and you hope the life inside isn't as neglected as the property.

The first year of the pandemic I missed my gym and couldn't wait to go back. The second year not so much, and now-- nope. In fact, it's right up there with bars, in terms of places I'd least like to go. I have hand weights and do stretches, I walk almost every day. Still, I suppose a person should push themselves a bit beyond the comfort zone.

The girls are so strong and fit they can run up steep mountains. It's a beautiful sight. Amanda and Tom are also extremely athletic from year-round outdoor activities. There's no way I could keep up with that crew, but don't want to trail too far behind either. I've added a couple of hills to my daily walk.

We're off to Twisp. Weather looks just rainy over the passes today.

Have a good weekend.

 

Forsythia time

It's cheerful seeing the forsythia blazing outside the living room window. It started out as a little stick in a plastic bag. I probably paid a couple of dollars for it, which was still money 35 years ago. Have you been to a plant nursery lately? Goodness, what little snips and starts cost now. We're sitting on a fortune of old plants.

What a cute poem. People don't plant those old-fashioned "woody shrubs" anymore, especially in garish yellow. The landscaping around the big new box houses is minimalist, boring really. Most of the lot footprint is taken up with the structure. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Wouldn't the world be a dull place without the charming and entertaining Irish? The best thing about this day might be the excuse to make corned beef and cabbage, although the meal is more traditional American than Irish.

We had ours last night. Very tasty, and enough left to make sandwiches for the drive to Twisp tomorrow. Nova has a speaking part in a community theater play, and after many months of rehearsal, the performance is finally here.

Wordless Wednesday

 

National Potato Chip Day

Once upon a time, potato chips came in a big can. Pretzels, too. The Pennsylvania Dutch love their potatoes, but back then chips were for special occasions. 

Some of the Pennsylvania local brands eventually went national, like Utz and Snyders. They used to fry chips in pork lard, and apparently they were incredibly good, like the old McDonald's fries cooked in beef fat. No wonder we got addicted at an early age. 

This is an old photograph of a family picnic at the farm where our dad was born. There's a cake, so it might have been a birthday party. The point-and-shoot Brownie camera was invented in 1900 and took off like gangbusters. I see family resemblances, but unfortunately these relatives are unidentified.

In the 1950's, we had family summer parties in the very same spot. People didn't have fancy outdoor dining furniture, so trestle tables were set up in the front yard (with tablecloths) and the kitchen dishes and chairs brought outside. 

There was good simple food like ham, potato salad, pie and watermelon. A wooden crate of little glass soda bottles in flavors like cream, chocolate, orange and strawberry. The kid's agonizing choice of just one!

And that would have been an occasion for opening a can of potato chips. Oh, the childhood food memories (good and bad) never fade away.

In limbo

 

The rescued Alki Beach Stone Cottage is sitting on Seattle Port Authority property near Elliott Bay. It was moved successfully 7 months ago without a single stone lost.

The cottage is still in limbo, after the community raised enough money to save it from demolition.  There was a lot of excitement about the move at the time, and they offered to donate the cottage to Seattle Parks and Recreation. The city declined.
 

The hope was that Seattle would relocate it near the Alki Bathhouse. The above picture is an artist's impression of what could be a sweet tribute to Alki's beach-bungalow past. I don't know all the details, but the Park's refusal was probably about the expense of restoring the structure and making it ADA compliant. 

Not to be deterred, the cottage advocacy group is now organizing another fund raiser to set up an endowment to renovate and maintain the cottage. Stay tuned.

Wow. I woke up after 7 this morning. We thought about going across town yesterday to visit the Asian Art Museum on Capitol Hill, but time seems all out of whack. Lunchtime rolled around before we knew it. So we stayed in West Seattle and took a little stroll at the Community College Arboretum and Chinese Garden, a low stress, close to home excursion we've done many times. Pictures below.

After that, a stop at a very busy Home Deport-- potting soil and a new hose I'll dislike for one reason or another. I have a long history of bad relationships with garden hoses.

The indoor mask rule in Washington state was just lifted. In our blue zip code, where almost 90% of people are fully vaccinated, about 90% were still wearing masks inside Home Depot, even though they didn't "have to." 

I went without mine in the outdoor garden center which felt fine, but walking around without a mask in the warehouse felt like being naked! Probably by the time we're finally comfortable, they'll tell us to put them on again.

 

Daylight savings time

 

Most people like going back on daylight savings time and "spring ahead" is easier on the body clock than "fall back." Of course, twice a year we still ask the same question-- why? There's always talk of it going away. We have Benjamin Franklin to thank for the original idea. 

Not much news here, I'm settling back into the Seattle routine. The Washington indoor mask mandate ends on Monday. Some of you live in places where there never was one, but we've been living with masks for a long time. People have mixed feelings about it ending now.

I parked on the roof lot at Safeway yesterday. It was cold outside, and when I went inside and headed down the 3 flights of stairs to the store, my mask immediately fogged up my glasses. I could not see a thing and the absurdity of this really hit home. The chances of a senior citizen catching Covid in that empty stairwell vs falling down? So yes, I'm ready to ditch the mask in most situations.

Have a good weekend.

A cool, wet spring

 

Above normal precipitation expected in the Northwest, meaning dreary spring weather ahead but good news for the water supply. More snow pack in the mountains, and rain for the dry land farmers in eastern Washington and Idaho.

I had a fairly stress-free drive home and it took about five hours, not bad factoring in a couple of stops. I picked up a pie for John at Lone Pine and yes, another smoothie (raspberry) to get me over Blewett Pass. Wednesday seems like a good day for lighter traffic which makes all the difference. Sometimes on the freeway, it feels like you accidentally wandered into the middle of a car race. Such aggression.

I'm not complaining, but it's a mental adjustment going between two places that are so different. Of course, that's why people go to the trouble of keeping vacation getaways. Instead of a river, I'm looking at a construction site across the street. On the plus side, anything I could possibly need is within a mile radius of here. The trick is to enjoy the moment.

Going, going, gone

 

 

At least half of the snow in Twisp disappeared over the last five sunny days. Some of the streets have already gone from mud to dust. And suddenly, the first tinge of green showing on the grass and trees in front of the house. It's still way below freezing at night for several more weeks, but no going back now--we've crossed over to spring.

Back to Seattle today.

His and hers

 

Our second Lazy Boy recliner was finally delivered, the excitement of the day. We ordered it from a family furniture store in Brewster last July, right after we bought the house. I remember the hot, smoky day. Nine months later and the house looks so nice I really can't think of a single thing we need. But I probably will. It's such a fun project.

The store owner himself came along on the delivery yesterday. Honestly, people are friendlier or maybe not in such a rush. Brewster is about 50 miles from Twisp so it's a long delivery route. He said I "got lucky" on the chair because the waits were about a year for that brand. Lots of lazy old boys out here wanting a chair. 

Filled up the car (ka-chink) for the drive home tomorrow. Some mountain snow today but sunny skies predicted for tomorrow and the roads should be fine. Back to winter for a few days, with lows in the teens.

Spring in the air

 

Maya and "Lemon"

I'm looking forward to some fresh poached eggs. Despite the snow and cold, the hens have been laying like crazy all winter.  All the love and attention must have something to do with it. They are truly pets, and come running for a treat whenever they spot human legs.

Mornings are my favorite time of day here. The house faces east, so you can watch the sun come up over the mountain across the river. The golden light is beautiful. No drapes or blinds in the living room windows, so the glare is intense until the tree canopy fills in again. Don't even think about watching TV, not that I'd want to pollute the magic hour with a bunch of awful news.

 It's back to work and school today for everyone but I'll keep busy. Another sunny day in the 50's which should finish off the snow on the deck. Then it gets cold again, as the weather whipsaws between winter and spring for a few more weeks. Snow in the mountain passes tomorrow, so I'll probably return to Seattle on Wednesday.