Most people don’t come to the desert to see snow, they come here to get away from it. But when you are a five-year-old boy living on the Texas gulf coast and have never been in snow, why not.
So, on the first day of Jill;s and James’ visit, we headed up Catalina highway to Mt. Lemmon.
At seven thousand feet, James kept asking, “Where’s the snow?” “I don’t see any snow!” We had stopped at Windy Point Vista for James to get his “mountain-feet.” A short distance beyond Windy Point Vista we started to see snow in shady along the highway and signs that James just might become a believer — Yes, James, there is snow on Mt. Lemmon.
This all being a new experience, James carefully picks up pieces of snow near the Ski Valley parking lot to toss.
It didn’t take James long to get the gist of it.
After spending some time at Ski Valley, we headed over the Marshall Gulch and walked down the snow-packed road.
By now the snowball fighting had taken on a new level of seriousness.
Photos of James, Mom, and Grandma by kenne
A short video clip playing in the snow at Ski Valley on M.t Lemmon.
Thinking of Edward Abbey On This Christmas Morning — Image by kenne
“If a man can’t piss in his own front yard, he’s livin’ too close to town.”
— Edward Abbey, re Tom Russell
“Ed died one day at sundown, in his Tucson writing shack They wrapped him in a sleeping bag, and drove him way out back Beneath the wild Saguaro, the coyotes chewed Ed’s bones And on the hidden marker, was “No comment” carved in.”
— from “The Ballad of Edward Abbey” by Tom Russell
Benediction: Edward Abbey, by Tom Russell
Be loyal to what you love, be true to the earth, fight your enemies with passion and laughter. ~Edward Abbey
Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Runners In The Fremont Street Experience — Images & Video by kenne
Last weekend we spent three days in Las Vegas and as we sometimes do chose to stay on Fremont Street in downtown rather than out on the “strip”. While there, I watch part of the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon taking place on the streets of Vegas, which included running through the Fremont Street Experience area downtown. And, since the event took place in the late afternoon, early evening, the marathon diffidently had that Vegas feel under the bright lights for the people watching and the 30,000 runners.
You can see some of the action in the video below.
Mary Bonk, Guthrie Kennard and George Bearishill on the stage at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project. — Images and video by kenne
People who love live music in a “house concert” format in the greater Houston area are aware of the work Mary and Kenneth Harris have done for the last 20 years. When it comes to house concerts it’s difficult to beat the live events they conduct in the piney woods of east Texas.
Julie Bonk
The headliner for this fall’s event was Guthrie Kennard with Julie Bonk.
Ken and Mary first heard Julie at Camp Stupid at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2012.
At one point in the evening, Julie did a solo singing one of her songs, “Just Through Loving You.”
A few postings back, I shared photos and a video of our recent hike to Thimble Peak. This was a twelve-mile hike from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds, where we took the Sycamore Reservoir trail to the Bear Canyon trail, then on the Thimble Peak trail and back, all under windy but beautiful weather. A good part of this hike was in the Push Ridge Wilderness area of the Santa Catalina Mountains
A week later, the SCVN Friday hike was scheduled from Sabino Canyon to Hutch’s Pool, with the option of taking the East Fork trail to Bear Canyon trail, looping back to Sabino Canyon Center. The loop hike is also a twelve-mile hike through the Push Ridge Wilderness, this time continuing on the Bear Canyon trail through the Seven Falls area of Bear Canyon. The significant difference for this hike was the contrast of a cloudy day vs. the blue sky weather a week earlier– both were very alluring hikes.
Near The Start Of The East Fork Trail — Images and Video by kenne
At the fork where Box Camp Canyon merged into Sabino Canyon, six of us opted to take the East Fork to Bear Canyon, the others taking the West Fork to Hutch’s Pool. Once at the saddle between Sabino Canyon and Bear Canyon, we began heading south on the Bear Canyon trail. At this point, most of our hike through Bear Canyon was downhill.
Once we reached Bear Canyon Creek, the trail crossed it, running parallel to it, veering to the left where the creek runs into Seven Falls. The view above Seven Falls allows one to see all the trail switchbacks that are not visible from where the south part of the Bear Canyon trail leads to Seven Falls.
After hiking down through Bear Canyon, it’s hard to understand why anyone would hike to Thimble Peak through Bear Canyon, rather than coming from the Gordon Hirabayashi Campgrounds. The distance maybe a little less, but the gain would not be worth the elevation change.
The following video contains photos and video clips from the loop hike, November 15, 2013.
kenne
The Bear Canyon Trail comes in Next To Seven Falls, With Sun Light Peeping Through.
Guthrie Kennard and Julie Bonk at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project — Image and video by kenne
As a previous posting stated, Guthrie Kennard and Julie Bonk were the headliners in Ken & Mary’s 20th year of the Blues Project at their place in Porter, Texas — what a night!
I have additional images and video I will be posting “on down the road.”
A big thanks to Ken & Mary for continuing the tradition of providing great live music in east Texas.
Lou Reed (March 2, 1942 – October 27, 2013) — Source: Google Images
Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
He said, “Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side”
Candy came from out on the island
In the backroom she was everybody’s darlin’
But she never lost her head
Even when she was giving head
She says, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
He said, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
And the colored girls go
Doo do doo, doo do doo, doo do doo
Little Joe never once gave it away
Everybody had to pay and pay
A hustle here and a hustle there
New York City’s the place where they said
“Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
I said, “Hey Joe, take a walk on the wild side”
Sugar plum fairy came and hit the streets
Lookin’ for soul food and a place to eat
Went to the Apollo, you should’ve seen ’em go go go
They said, “Hey sugar, take a walk on the wild side”
I said, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
Alright, huh
Jackie is just speeding away
Thought she was James Dean for a day
Then I guess she had to crash
Valium would have helped that bash
She said, “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side”
I said, “Hey honey, take a walk on the wild side”
And the colored girls say
Doo do doo, doo do doo, doo do doo
Fall Fest 2013 is fast approaching. We are looking forward to seeing you here on Oct 26, 2013.
This year for the first time we will have three acts. Henry Old School Jones will open for Guthrie Kennard and Julie Bonk.
After Guthrie, Marina Rocks will play. In 1993 for my birthday I wanted some live blues music here at our house
The Blues Broad Kathleen aka The Blues Broad (she had a blues program on KPFT) sent me to Big Roger Collins.
He played here and the Blues Project was born and we have been presenting live music here ever since.
20 years later we are doing a special night for my 70th birthday.
As usual we will BBQ some meats and will have ice tea ,water and coffee.
Bring a side dish you like to show off to share, a lawn chair, your cooler with your favorite beverage and $10 (donation 100% for the music ).
We plan on serving food around 6:30 Henry Jones with his old school blues will play after we eat.
We received rave reviews the last time he was here so we are bringing him back .
The feature act will be Guthrie Kennard with his raspy voice Americana, bluesy, roots music.
Accompanying Guthrie will be Julie Bonk on key board . We caught Guthrie’s show at the Dosie Doe Music cafe
and were so impressed that we asked him to play here at the project . We first heard Julie at Camp Stupid at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2012 .
She was playing keyboards in a song circle, Stephanie was singing with her, Marina was also there and they were wowing everyone.
To close the night out Marina will do an intimate set and jam. She opened here last year and was an instant hit with everyone rocking the house.
Musicians are encouraged to bring their instruments to jam afterwards.
We are attaching a you tube video Guthrie and Julie did. Enjoy. It’s gonna be a bluesy, jazzy, rockin’ night at the Blues Project….
Images by kenne (Click on any of the images for larger view and slideshow.)
For you non-locals, Mt. Lemmon (9,157 ft.) is in the Santa Catalina Mountains, part of the Coronado National Forest in southern Arizona.
At this time all National Forest Services continue to be closed because of the government shut-down. However, access to Mt. Lemmon via the Catalina Highway is available since the highway is a county highway.
The Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists (SCVN) are part of the Forest Service and regularly provide educational programs, nature walks and hikes — the schedule is published on the SCVN website.Some of the SCVN members continue the hiking schedule (unofficially), recently hiking the Bear Wallow trail to take in the fall colors.
Parts of the trail goes through the area where the original Mt. Lemmon ski slope was located back in the 40’s and 50’s. Since part of SCVN mission to the public is to educate, Ricki Mensching shares the story of early skiing on Mt. Lemmon during the Bear Wallow hike this past Friday. Current skiing takes place each at winter at Ski Valley, the southernmost ski destination in the continental United States, and receives approximately 180 inches (4.6 m) of snow annually (Wikipedia).
When we moved to Tucson three years ago, one of the first people we met and established a friendship was visual artist, Malcolm Alexander. Recently, for reasons of health, the 89-year-old Malcolm moved back to Santa Fe, where he can be closer to family and friends.
Malcolm is very missed — sights of the lumbering (6′ 5″) big man walking around the Circle; conversations at the pool; knocks at our door seeking help in finding his cell phone and his general question, “What’s the latest malicious gossip?” There were the times we went to lunch, and he would ask me questions about my philosophy of life, or the knocks at the door, just wanting to talk, which for Malcolm meant listening and observing — when it comes to people and politics, Malcolm’s more into asking questions than telling you what he thinks unless it has to do with living compositions.
“To this day, I admit, I’m always arranging and rearranging living compositions in my mind: Always. It can be a bit disconcerting at a dinner party when I’m staring at a beautiful woman attentively, and she feels flattered until I say, ‘Could you move three inches to the right and remove that goblet from the frame?’ Or to my hostess, ‘You know that painting behind you needs to be hung two inches lower to compliment you, and the height of the candlesticks is wrong for it.’ “
Malcolm Alexander — Images by kenne
“I distinguish between ‘living’ and ‘life.’ Living is an encounter. Life can be a lifeless existence in many cases. My art has been the conduit linking me to people, people from all walks of life. I have traveled from boardrooms to blue-collar environments, always looking, listening, and learning that each of us has a story to tell. In articles, I have been referred to as the ‘Studs Turkel’ of the art world.”
— Malcolm Alexander
“. . . most people instinctively choose the security of harmony. An artist will choose chaos so that one can bring new order and harmony to it.”
— Malcolm Alexander
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Images from our “farewell” dinner for Malcolm.
On August 28th, a few friends of Malcolm had dinner at our house, the least we could do to show our friendship and love for Malcolm. As with his work, we hope Malcolm “. . . keeps moving toward a distant, unknown destination seemingly always just beyond his horizon.”
Diane, Malcolm, Steve, and Marsha — Playing Bocce Ball On The Circle, March 2012
“My experiences in nature taught me that we are all One. There are peace and unity in Nature. When we destroy Nature, we destroy the soul.”
— Malcolm Alexander
In the brief time, I have known Malcolm, I have learned about the man, an artist with a restless mind, yet comfortable in stillness while desiring a lot of social stimulation. In his memoir, To Reason Why, you can see the influence of his lifelong association with Native Americans —
“For from being a brained-numbed soldier, our artist is actually our child within, our inner playmate. As with all playmates, it is joy, not duty that makes for a lasting bond.” — Malcolm Alexander
Yes, my friend — “It does not require many words to speak the truth.” (Chief Joseph Nez Perce) You are a man who excels in what you do with quiet confidence.
May our paths cross again soon.
kenne
“There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Sign-posts on the way to what may be. Sign-posts toward greater knowledge.”
— Robert Henri
This was a common sight in my childhood in the south.
Source — Google Images
We shall overcome, we shall overcome We shall overcome someday Darling here in my heart, yeah I do believe We shall overcome someday Well we’ll walk hand in hand, we’ll walk hand in hand We’ll walk hand in hand someday Darling here in my heart, yeah I do believe We’ll walk hand in hand someday Well we shall live in peace, we shall live in peace We shall live in peace someday Darling here in my heart, yeah I do believe We shall live in peace someday Well we are not afraid, we are not afraid We shall overcome someday Yeah here in my heart, I do believe We shall overcome someday Hey we shall overcome, we shall overcome We shall overcome someday Darling here in my heart, I do believe We shall overcome someday We shall overcome someday
Most people don’t come to the desert to see snow, they come here to get away from it. But when you are a five-year-old boy living on the Texas gulf coast and have never been in snow, why not.
This all being a new experience, James carefully picks up pieces of snow near the Ski Valley parking lot to toss.
It didn’t take James long to get the gist of it.
After spending some time at Ski Valley, we headed over the Marshall Gulch and walked down the snow-packed road.
By now the snowball fighting had taken on a new level of seriousness.
Photos of James, Mom, and Grandma by kenne
George Bearishill, Guthrie Kennard and 
Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Runners In The Fremont Street Experience 
Mary Bonk, Guthrie Kennard and George Bearishill on the stage at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project. — Images and video by kenne
Julie Bonk
Near The Start Of The East Fork Trail — Images and Video by kenne
The Bear Canyon Trail comes in Next To Seven Falls, With Sun Light Peeping Through.
Guthrie Kennard and Julie Bonk at Ken & Mary’s Blues Project — Image and video by kenne
Ken Harris — Image by kenne
Ken & Mary Harris, 2008, The 2013 Edition is This Saturday — Image by kenne
and stored it in my in-laws’ basement in Bethesda,
Malcolm Alexander — Images by kenne
“. . . most people instinctively choose the security of harmony. An artist will choose chaos so that one can bring new order and harmony to it.”
Diane, Malcolm, Steve, and Marsha — Playing Bocce Ball On The Circle, March 2012
This was a common sight in my childhood in the south.
“If a man can’t piss in his own front yard, he’s livin’ too close to town.”
— Edward Abbey, re Tom Russell
“Ed died one day at sundown, in his Tucson writing shack
They wrapped him in a sleeping bag, and drove him way out back
Beneath the wild Saguaro, the coyotes chewed Ed’s bones
And on the hidden marker, was “No comment” carved in.”
— from “The Ballad of Edward Abbey” by Tom Russell
Benediction: Edward Abbey, by Tom Russell
Be loyal to what you love, be true to the earth, fight your enemies with passion and laughter. ~Edward Abbey
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