They spoke to each other...

Vacation 2009 Day 2 - Waking & Fire Fall

There is nothing better than waking to the sound of water rushing over rocks, birds chirping and squirrels quarreling over some scrap. And those noises were what woke me this second morning of our vacation. But what really wakes me up in the morning, even before the coffee, is a long hot shower!

It must have something to do with prenatal nostalgia that makes this ritual of birthing into a new day so compelling! So, in a state of stretching, yawning, eye rubbing and general scratching, I leave Zoe sleeping soundly in her bed, take my toiletries out of the “Bear Box” and follow the first rays of sunlight streaming through the trees to the Communal Facilities. There within, I find a number of fellow travelers in varying states of transition between zombie and some more enlightened state of humanness. Having been a human for more than half a century, I still am fascinated by these transitional states. I am particularly enthralled by the “Eyes-Closed-Tooth-Brusher”, the “The-Munch-Screamer-Contact-Lens-Applier”, the “Water-Launching-Face-Washer”, the “Bleeding-Foam-Shaver” and the most interesting final state of transition of all, the “Bury-Your-Face-In-Your-Towel-Pretending-To-Dry-It-But-Really-Not-Wanting-To-Face-The-Day-Yet” state. All these states of consciousness are present within this facility, or should I say Water Temple. The peaceful transition these acolytes are attempting is challenged by hyperactive and noisy spawn of questionable connection to these afore mentioned... beings.

Just finding my way past and not interrupting them is a challenge. The empty shower stall I find is just leaking with excitement to help me in my daily transition.

Pulling the curtain closed I am confronted with the unique challenge of a single hook to hang my cloths and towel, a small wet seating area and stall walls that are also wet and claustrophobically close. I dismiss my inability to balance on one foot like a Flamingo while removing my clothes and not get them wet, with the delightful prospect that in a few short moments, I will be in my happy prenatal place of enveloping warm water and steam. But bouncing my bare bottom off a cold wet wall while contorting my clothes off, makes me understand that the most amazing thing Superman could do wasn’t flying or leaping tall buildings in a single bound, or being faster than a speeding bullet but that he could change his clothes in a telephone booth!

Finally prepared, I entered the warm “Stream Of Consciousness” I’d produced from the “Never-Ending-Circle-of-Possibilities-Handles” that had challenged my usual water temperature adjusting skills. I dove in face first and lathered up. An “Om” of contentment organically filled my body and prevented me from hearing the sounds of a new gaggle of daemon spawn that had entered the temple! For those of you who don’t know, I enjoy dancing. East Coast Swing, Nightclub 2-Step, Meringue and Salsa are my favorites but the arhythmic aboriginal dance I performed from one corner of the shower to the other, between dribbles of fire hot and gushing icy mountain water, with each of the daemon spawns flushings, resembled more an exorcism, down to the soapy froth, rather than anything I’d studied! And though, this may be more than some of you might have wanted to know, I’m very happy to tell you that no-one actually saw it!!

Finishing my transition into a relatively conscious humanoid, freshly exorcised and ready for the day to begin, I stepped out of the Water Temple. In this moment I realized that the builders were truly compassionate saints, gurus of extraordinary wisdom! What I thought was faulty plumbing, proved to be a brilliant solution in creating a mass exorcising facility! The proof was before me as I was confronted by a hoard of freshly risen Zombies with their heavy footed and squinty eyed migration to the Temple. From this point forward I will never question the wisdom of our government... well at least the Forest Service!

Arriving back at the tent I found Zoe out of bed and dressed. Still needing to use the Water Temple, I bid her well and prayed she would find her way back in the process. When she did return we fortified ourselves with more Bear repellant food and checked on our car in the parking lot. Seeing that it was find, we proceeded to walk to the stables to arrange for our 4 hour mule ride to Clarke’s Point. We were unable to get a reservation till the following afternoon... this is a popular activity!

As we were walking back to Camp Curry Zoe said “Why don’t we go on a bike ride?” My Zoe is so brilliant! We did just that. Finding the tent that contained the rental bikes was easy. Selecting a bike for Zoe was easy as well. A choice between the lime green or pink one - lime green won the day! Finding a bike that fit me was a bit more challenging but there it was a big black cruiser. These bikes are the Hummers of the bike world. Durable and not too efficient. With the placement of stars and stripe helmets on our heads we headed off to discover the valley in a whole new way. With the first few peddles the breeze across my body, the thrill of taking a bike out returned to me. Child like I was making wide turns across the entire path we were on on the verge of screaming “WHOOPPEEEE!!!” The call “Daaaddddd!” from behind me brought me under control, a bit but I was itching to do it again... We found our way to Yosemite Village where my photographic background required me to visit the Ansel Adams Gallery. Wandering with Zoe she found the gifts she had wanted to get for her Mother and Sister which we would return later to collect. I tried to tell her my story of Ansel Adams... well that stopped mid story!

Out of the store and back on the road we headed to the mouth of the valley. For those of you who are not familiar with Yosemite, the valley is relatively flat from one end to the other. Heading west there is a place where the road becomes one way and we are committed to continue on till the next turn to return us to the east end of the valley. It is from this point forward that the bikes we chose became a great way to see exactly how hilly the “flat” valley floor really is! This isn’t to say that it didn’t also show how out of shape I was or how a 12 year old can disregard pain - they did that too! One speed, one pain! So by proceeding on with the loop, we found our way to the meadow across from Yosemite Falls - it was time for a break! Taking photos was a great excuse to let my breath return - Altitude, I kept saying but I wasn’t able to convince even myself! Zoe took her camera out and was taking dozens of photographs.

Another tourist, who had just stopped, got out of her car, stretched and was looking at this glorious vista, came over to us and asked how to get to the Ahwanee... in exchange, for a photograph of Zoe and I, that was further away than the length of my arm, I provided the easy directions... “Just keep going straight and you’ll see the sign when you need to turn left.” As they drove off and waved we were putting our helmets back on and getting ready to complete our tour.

After returning the bikes we were walking for some lunch and saying how much fun it was to ride in general. Note too self: Next trip bring your multi speed well fitted bike along!

The afternoon was spent driving to Glacier Point with the requisite stops at Tunnel View. The fame of this location world wide is based on one photograph done by Ansel Adams, so this viewpoint has been expanded to accommodate a huge number of cars, busses and people trying to duplicate that image. After making out attempts by clicking away and some people watching, Zoe and I were off again.

The first viewpoint of Half Dome along the road is Washburn Point. Again developed for visitors to safely see the views of the east side of the park, I remember a photograph taken by Ted Orland called “One and a Half Domes”. I took this photograph in homage to his photographic sense of humor...

Next stop Glacier Point... The end of the road and here again the development of this location for visitor to safely go to the edge of the cliffs, awe and take photographs is interesting. I remember it being open rock back when I was young. Okay, if you heard this last sentence with a bit of a southern twang like Walter Brennan’s grandpa from the Real McCoys... smile! You’re old enough to have seen Glacier Point the same way!

After taking our requisite photographs, looking down into the valley to find our tent and giggling about what would happen if different things were dropped off the edge we climbed in the car and returned to the valley floor, some dinner and then entertainment at the amphitheater.

This evening it was a film about the famous “Fire Fall.” I couldn’t wait to have Zoe learn about this and so we took our seats and looked up as dusk settled here at the foot of Glacier Point. At 8:30 the program started with a Chilean docent coming on stage to introduce the DVD we were about to see. As it started I was transported back to the 60’s and seeing the falls for the first time. The interviews from the movie filled in the facts of the “Fire Fall” each night of the season being made from the embers of burned bark piled high. The “Fire Fall”, as we also found out, was a marketing gimmick started in the 30’s or 40’s to bring visitors to the park.

Camp Curry amphitheater was the center of this program. Starting at 8:00 every night, they would have some entertainment; singers, dancers, Native American chants which all culminated in the MC’s yelled command at 9:00, “LET THE FIRE FALL!” All faces turned toward the cliffs as a veil of orange embers began their descent. At it’s full stream the erie illumination of the cliff face left us mouth agape. I remember the amazing feeling of awe that that I felt as the light of the embers floated through the tears perched on my lower eyelids. A feeling that was inexplicably, deeper, richer, and spiritual. Sitting here writing about it, the tingle at the bridge of my nose and a catch in my throat, floods me with memories - mine and possibly a universal memory of all who have been touched by this nightly spectacle... The movie revealed that my feelings weren’t mine alone.

One of the funnier things that I remember were all the flash bulbs going off as people tried to capture the memory. Even at that young age I knew that the flash wouldn’t help... as I’ve gotten older I realize how simple it is to put a camera to ones face and wipe away tears.

With the success of this marketing program having helped Yosemite now get over 5 million visitors a year and trying to preserve the meadows, where people would park each night to find a vantage point to see the spectacle, it was stopped in the early 70’s - but this evening, it’s history was shared through the movie interviews with one of the MC’s, the person who pushed the embers off Glacier Point and a number of spectators, who like me, had seen the Fire Falls in person!

At the end of the formal presentation, Zoe and I quietly left the amphitheater as the docent led the audience in yelling “LET THE FIRE FALL!” - that went unanswered...

Vacation 2009 Day 1 - Prepare & Go!

Vacation Preparation

Last year was the first vacation that Zoe (my 12 year old daughter going on 30) and I took a road trip together. A safe trip visiting family in Palm Springs and then to Disneyland via Hollywood to see Eddie Murphy - but that's another story!

Disneyland is easy (if you don't mind the crowds and last year, around Fathers Day, the temperatures in the 100's!!) because you arrive and around each corner is something to do, eat, see or try. Simply walk and choose from the buffet it offers.

This year my attempt at putting together a vacation that was more natural, thoughtful, and educational, as well as fun, provided me with a more challenging task! For weeks I collected my thoughts and asked other parents for suggestions. Finally, I came up with an itinerary of Yosemite, Mono Lake, the ghost town of Bodie, and Lake Tahoe. Yosemite and Lake Tahoe were part of my childhood, having gone there with my parents and to this day, I love my memories from both locations. Mono Lake and Bodie were adult pleasures experienced through my photography and mentor Morley Baer on photographic workshops. Because these locations were on the way from Yosemite to Lake Tahoe, they became part of the itinerary with the hope they would be interesting to Zoe as well.

So with this basic itinerary I called Yosemite to reserve a room at Yosemite Lodge. I didn't ask for my first choice of Camp Curry, where I went with my family as a child, feeling that if I wanted to stay at Camp Curry, everyone who comes to the park wants to stay there as well and therefore would be completely sold out. Just goes to show you how much fun I had at Camp Curry when I was a kid!!! But when I called I was promptly informed that there were no rooms available at Yosemite Lodge. The defeated silence coming from my end of the line, prompted the man on the other end of the line to see if there were any other rooms available in the park and so he put me on hold. Figuring that the next offering would be the Ahwanee Hotel and it's exorbitant nightly rates, I was deflated and not hopeful while listening to the perky “on-hold” jingle.

When the reservationist returned, he told me that they had a tent/cabin at Camp Curry available. Through my slack-jaw amazement, I booked immediately! Yahoo!!!!!

Fortified with my good luck I got reservations in Lee Vining immediately but had to do some research of Lake Tahoe.

As a child we spent one week at the beginning of the summer and one at the end in Tahoe City. The hotel we use to stay at had been turned into a large condo complex and the subsequent lodge we had stayed at had transitioned through an “adult themed” motel but was now a “regular” hotel. They had photographs of a representative room on the web, so I took a look... Okay, the colors weren’t as garish as they once were (yes, I had visited it once while it was in it’s “adult themed” phase - disturbing my childhood memories but it was right on the lake so...) but the remaining in-room glass blocked jacuzzi tub was entirely inappropriate!

Tahoe wasn’t going to follow the example set by Yosemite!

But after just about one hour of searching the web, I found a motel in Tahoe Vista that had individual cabins on the lake side of the highway. Photographs of the interiors were rustic and charming. I booked it immediately! The first phase was now complete!

Day 1 - Sunday, June, 14, 2009

The night before trips, excitement and a bit of anxiety usually keeps me from getting a good nights sleep. This trip wasn’t an exception. So when I found myself completely awake at 6:00 am, it took a few cups of coffee to get me solidly ready to go. Loading the car with everything I thought would be useful was a spacial challenge (you might even say a “special challenge” - but lets leave that for now...), I closed the door to my home, seat-belted the goldfish bowl - with goldfish in it - in the passengers seat and was off to collect Zoe!

The exchange of goldfish for Zoe with Mary Kay, Zoe's Mother, was timely and efficient though it required some adjustment to my well packed car. But as long as the door latches held and I didn’t have to make an emergency stop, all would be fine! So with Zoe’s iPod plugged into the car stereo playing... well... I don’t know what... oh yeah... Taylor Swift, we were off at 10:45 am.

When we are together, I do my best to talk with Zoe about the things that she’s interested in and take in what’s going on in the moment to engage in conversation with her but the need to share my past with my daughter has the same unconscious imperative as salmon going upstream each year to spawn! I’ve complained about this in other writings regarding my Father's same need - I guess the apple doesn’t fall... well I’ll try to keep repeating the stories to a minimum. Maybe annually, like the salmon, might be a good example I should emulate... except their subsequent demise might be part of the example I’ll ignore for a while.

When I travel with Zoe, I like to provide her with some little, nik-nak/momentos that will be useful and remind her of the trip in the future... so the bandana, camp whistle and carabiner belt clip were just the start. What I really wanted to find was the perfect flashlight! Definitely a male thing but useful to get from the tent/cabin to the bathroom in the middle of the night and illuminate the current book in the Twilight saga she was reading. Finding this perfect flashlight didn’t happen till we landed in Manteca and stopped at the Bass Pro Shop. 

Okay, this isn’t Mel Cottons! Our local stalwart of a sporting goods store that I prefer frequenting to REI or Sports Authority. This store crosses the line into a theme park experience!! From the big sky country of the Central Valley, accentuated by the huge parking lot surrounding the store, you enter via a portal through a 3 story redwood tree into a cool earth-tone forest glen retail world filled with fishing rod cat tails, fake animals of every description (some that I believe aren’t even indigenous to the area...) ready to come to life at any minute. 

A cascading stream built around the stair well ending in a 10’ glass walled fish tank with multi pound trout and bass that I’m glad, on so many levels, my gold fish didn’t see! Fishing boats, guns and bows, camouflage gear on mannequins aiming binoculars or in stalking poses that made you fear for the fake animals!! Imagine a retail version of “Night at the Museum” and you will understand the “awwwww..... woooowwwwww...” that came out of Zoe’s and my mouths as we wandered in amazement!

Everything was so well defined and placed, that I thought to look for fire-fly’s to find the location of the flashlights! No such luck... but I’ll put it in their suggestion box next time I’m there... When we did find it, after asking directions and made our way to the camping section on the the second floor right next to the waterfall, 6 foot inclined rock surface testing area for hiking shoes, tents galore, and every conceivable item for camping... Zoe finally dragged me away from whatever useless item I was wowing about, to the “Mother-Load” of flashlights!

Everything from million candle power “burn-a-hole-in-your-tent-wall-if-your-not-careful” flashlights, to itsy-bitsy bug-light LED’s was offered to choose from! Have you ever been in a situation where selection overload froze you? That’s where we found ourselves but in two corners Zoe and I found our flashlights - a small hand held and a clip on LED. Grabbing them and working our way to the check-out we “had to get” a shirt, bag of rock candy and batteries (duh!) and exited, like squinty eyed forest moles, into the sunlight.

After a quick lunch we were on our way into the Sierras!

In middle school I remember a field-trip to the Gold Country. Columbia, the historic and picturesque mining town, was our destination to learn about the life of the 49er’s. The most memorable thing for me wasn't the history but buying a tin of snuff. A scandalous purchase shared between us on the bus back. To this day I don’t understood why forcing yourself to sneeze repeatedly was something you wanted to do!

On the way home the bus stopped at Knights Ferry and we all piled out. On Zoe’s and my trip, it was the first stop! The covered bridge and mill are always interesting and a great excuse to stretch our legs after an hours drive or so. I really can’t say if the experience at The Bass Pro Shop or Knights Ferry were the start of the educational part of the trip but reading placards about the history of the area did feel more... enlightening.

From here the trip to Yosemite had it’s points of interest... Priests Grade and the rotten egg smell of the sulfur springs at the top, Groveland and it’s Iron Door Saloon, the burn area before entering Yosemite from a couple of years ago, the ranger at the gates of Yosemite telling us to hurry into the valley before they turned off the waterfalls for the night and finally the first glimpse of Half Dome before actually entering the valley. The Yosemite Valley will always take my breath away! The majesty of the rocks, cliffs and the early summer waterfalls are inspiring.

Slowly we made our way through the valley. Vistas of Bridal Veil Falls, El Capitan, flowered meadows, Yosemite Falls, finally the looming hulks of Half Dome and Glacier Point announced our arrival at Camp Curry. In line at the trailer, that is the temporary registration desk these days, we couldn’t help but look up at Glacier Point and feel very small!

Standing in line, you feel a sense of camaraderie, a pioneer spirit with the rest waiting to pay to sleep in a tent, that is more wood than canvas, has beds with sheets and a propane heater to keep you warm... but no matter, it’s still an adventure! We heard English and Australian accents along with more languages than we could recognize. Speaking with our immediate line-mates we discovered a Mother and Daughter, who came from Boston, were there just for the night and were abundantly aware that one night and half a day wasn’t enough! We also met a family who’s 11 year old son had just asked them if there were cars when they were his age. The tears of laughter from the Mother alone were so contagious that our bandanas got their first use of the trip!

Becoming “Bear Aware” is a serious concern in the park. Watching a video once you get into the registration trailer of bears destroying car doors to get some tasty morsel of food, is both hilarious (an episode of America’s Funnies Video’s has nothing on this tape at times!) and frightening! This wasn’t Yogi saying “Hey hey Booboo, how about a pick-i-nick!” Zoe and I knew that there wouldn’t be so much as a gum wrapper in the car before we left it in the parking lot! The subsequent release agreements that needed to be signed and initialed signifying that we were “Bear Aware,” made me wish I had brought along a vacuum and a pine scented cleaner to finish the job of getting rid of any food smell in the car interior! 

“Your tent is nine-eleven.” The man at the check-in told us. Zoe and I looked at each other with concern and then nervously laughed the coincidence off. I really started giggle though when I visualized an emergency phone call that might rival Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First” routine.... There was no way I’d be able to explain that one to Zoe... didn’t anticipate “educational” might mean teaching her about classic comedy routines!

With our luggage in the tent and all of our food items and toiletries in the “Bear Box”, we walked to the general store to replace the tooth brushes we’d used to clean out the car. A small sacrifice for our piece of mind! But as soon as we reached the amphitheater, at the heart of Camp Curry, the call “BEAR!!!” echoed around us. Following the arms pointing in the same direction, we saw a small bear wandering among the tents. The confusion of people walking backwards calling out “Bear!” with those moving forward vying to get a better photograph of it, was comical down to the uniformed hotelier whistling at the bear to get lost! I could see Zoe’s face turn serious as the thought of bears invading the camp during the night, wrecking havoc! Putting my arm around her and leading her to the cafeteria, all thoughts of a bear invasion were erased as we tried to understand the food offerings at the steam tables. I truly believe that my eating the fish-n-chips and Zoe having the pasta, made us less appetizing to any beast we might encounter!

With our adventure full day behind us and our bear repellant inside us, we returned to our tent, via the parking lot. Well, we went through the parking lot to add to the list of different state license plates and, okay, check on our car to make sure that it was still intact!

Time for beddy-by...

Heartwood by William Guion

William (Bill) Guion and I met and became friends while assisting on a number of Friends of Photography workshops back in the late 80's and early 90's. An experience that molded our photographic sensibilities and friendship.

He has just finished publishing a new book called "Heartwood - Further Meditation on Oaks". His beautiful black and white photographs and words about the oaks in California and the heritage oaks of his native Louisiana are wonderful and mystical. Please sample his book on-line and if it touches you, consider getting a copy for your library.

It's a start...

There are lots of reasons to keep my life private and many more to be considered but I'm making a choice to open the door just a little into mine.

Where do I begin...

Well maybe the photograph..

I had a group of venture capitalists that were wanting to have their photographs taken. They wanted a photograph that looked like the Vanity Faire covers with all the different stars or starlets in a single view. Finding a location in their building was an interesting challenge but beyond that, showing them what the photograph might look like was a fun challenge!

These gentlemen were very literal and needed an example where I was the only model! So I set up the chairs and with the assistance of the art director from the ad agency, we to

ok 7 view that were blended together to show my clients how this image might look. 

Having channeled my inner Bashful, Doc, Dopey, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy and Sneezy, I then had a lot of fun piecing the images together in Photoshop. It still makes me laugh when I sent the photograph in for review - they all wanted to know how it was done!

Whenever I look at this photograph I think of the committee that argues in my head at times! Yeiks!!!!