Winter, yet? Winter, yes!

The calendar says Winter is near

a solstice awaits, mere weeks away

but i say “no way!” winter is here!

look at the dewy moss and the fungi hoo-ray!

(the majestically misty morning on my regular walk up to GUS was irregularly magical and mythical – like Lord of the Rings meets the Headless Horseman!)

(baby nasturtium that survived the dear's summer ravaging of EVERYTHING i tried growing)

(all the turkey-tails made a strong brew of immune-boosting tea – while i cooked up the wither's butter (orange jelly blog-thing) with my soup. It was tasty, and very much an Asian delight!)

And for a exquisite and strange look into the variety of fungi (the fruiting body of the mycelium) here is my personal look at the odd things growing here on the land here. (it's last years' mini-documentary)

Falling November

"Grub-morning" says the boar.

Fall time is here and with the new roots, shoots, and grubs for the wild animals - so comes new beauty.

And good neighbors make good fences, especially home-made from pine saplings. . .

And co-habitators make good family - and good family is like a strong and reliable bridge . . . .

 And time passes . . . 

But no matter the changing matters, its always quite (and cozy) on the Vista front:

Chestnuts, maples, and more. . . all say hello in their special colored greetings.

And the creeks will flow with the coming rains. . . 

Peace, love, and groovy gravy.

Ciao for now.

Big News (and chicken-mushrooms!!!)

Well, the Big News is "i'm not a father. . . " but i am re-launching a new website for TheoZoic next week. Its been held-up by technical issues and delayed for 3 weeks now. But the hosting services assure me it'll be ready by November 3rd. I will spill more beans later in this posting.

Otherwise, figs have widdled away in freshness this season, but they still fry up well with butter!

The new Falltime food craze is Chestnuts - so far i've collected 60lbs for Scopa, a fine Healdsburg restaraunt, and a few more dozen pounds for family, neighbor, and friends' consumption....

But the real prize goes to Mom for finding the first glorious, bulkiest, strangest, and tastiest chicken mushroom ever!

And because of the 1/2 inch of rain (which fell during the Valley Fire), these fungi were dripping when we cut them from the white oak tree they grew from. Totally, 15lbs – these mushrooms are also known as sulfur-shelf.

And the house my dad built; the house i was born in; the same house i grew up in for almost 3 years of my baby-hood is a dusty, fire-ridden foundation now.

David's doing well. Me and Mum' visited the Big-Wave-Bro for an afternoon up in Lake County. Now he's back home is the land of Pura Vida. . . .

 (a "Nya-ha-ha" quote from David's influential childhood icon: Dishonest John! If your intrigued, ask me the story sometime)

I found a temporary pet bird for seven days. It was disabled, but i couldn't tell how or why. So it would hop around under the Madrone tree all day, eating berries dropped by the birds above. Then by night it would climb and flutter up to my sunflower plants, or other low branches for rest. Always returning to wander the grounds the next day. I gave it worms and maggots, but all wanted was water . . . don't know where it went after that week.

There was a fantastically resplendent wedding at Fitch Mountain, and i caught up with the best of my old friends (and found more chicken mushroom before the ceremonies begun, on the premises).

(the day after we all camped out from the late night festivities)

And some friends i got to see even earlier in the season. There is a celebration known as growing older, wiser, year by year – but still remaining a kid at heart:

Found even more chicken mushroom....

(a fourth harvest of the shelf fungi went into my 4-day broth. adding flavor to the chicken back & feet, shank beef, herbs and and other assorted magical ingredients like unicorn tears)

And Diane helped me understand that "manzanita" bush berries are edible. For medicinal reasons but also as condiments as used by Native Americans. I ate some in September, then added a nice lot to some La Bamba Samba rum rum!

(Thanks Naomi!)

Here's a Petaluma visit to see the Elder Pear Tree Dweller (Mr Ricky) and the vast array of distracting amusements...

Afterwards, we saw the new triplets on Taylor's side of the family. Here's the mom and us:

And a good day is always better with a hike up to the Mendocino line to see the neighbors and examine artistically designed cement retaining walls . . .

Lastly: a unique items i found hiking around with Mom and Ross. Raven skull! 

(if i strap this around my neck with some vertebrae-bones of a cat, i suppose i can now do Shaman rituals)


TheoZoic is so very-very close to becoming a reality. On the new website you will find, ink based Mandala artwork, Musings (essays and poems), and my existing three musical albums.

That's all for now folks.

Jolly Jello!

Cobb-Valley Fire (Day 3)

A yet unknown source of the fire in Cobb Mountain has spread after 3 days to an area of 62,000+ acres to include Middletown and Napa. With mandatory evacuations of multiple cities and California officials declaring this fire the main priority of all current wildfires – today the CALFIRE website showed the first factor of Containment (10%). Slow progress.

But the reports are as wild as the fire itself due to lack of real reporting and too much Facebooking’ spreading both rumors and reality. So here is what i consider the real happenings.

Two close family friends lost their houses however in Cobb. Others may be able to salvage the remnants of the homes. I hope it is only the two accounts i heard of and no more.

My old property in middletown (Kamura) and the McCrackin RV is gone - but that happened 2 weeks ago from a separate fire and doesn’t really belong in this posting. Regardless here is what's left:

(That trailer was good to me - The Cloud of Unknowing)

Big Wave Dave was very close to the giant fire until he evacuated. Glen J. was closer yet. He slept through the fire the first night with propane tanks exploding through the night in his neighbourhood and still hasn’t’ left! His house (the Starr House i was born in and my father built) is gone. After the first day Glen packed up but didn't leave – he corougeously defied mandatory evacuation orders to stay at the Sanctuary’s land and help protect certain zoo animals like the camels. With constantly encroaching fires from differnent angles, they have kept the animals safe. Or maybe the animals kept the humans safe. . . .

(Here's the Rescue/donation page: http://www.gofundme.com/camelrescue)

Hot days and shifting winds kept it going strong, but now its moved out of Cobb (save for some smaller fires) and the bulk of the blaze is in Middletown and moving towards Napa (if not already there). Still, we folks on the sidelines of Sonoma pray and predict rain. In fact, after two nights of really willing the cats’n’dogs out of the sky, well, some has come down today (when none was on the weather forecast!) and more is on the way.

Now things are improving with the reallocation of firefighters and machinery from other ongoing fires like Butte and Yosemite – the “Valley” fire of Lake County is getting more attention now and i’m happy for it. Because it was a 0% containment for the first 48 hours.

It’s been a distressing few days for us to try to sift through the reports and keep communications with those imbedded in the crisis without electricity or any semblance of normalcy. And beyond my personal angle, there’s those who actually went through it and ended up at Red Cross and Church emergency shelters in Lakeport or Kellsyville, only to await the news of when they can return home . . . and if they have homes to return to.

Sadly, some may not have made it at all. This is not in the news yet but an officer said that there are “cadaver dogs” sniffing through the rubble of house remains. Some probably never left their homes and never will. Rest in Peace.

Otherwise, PG&E is cleaning up the electric and telephone cables from the roads in Cobb and i think soon those we know will be able to re-enter the mountain.

Meanwhile, if you can, check around for donation centres that are doing private collection/delivery circuits to the disaster victims. I hesitate to trust Red Cross.

And always remember that perspective is of prime importance. This is a true crisis for those intimately involved with the Valley fire but in all frankness its a necessary thing in an ecologic sense - just like the rain we need is necessary: fires are required for recalibrating of the various ecosystems and seed germination of certain trees (read: Too many trees and not enough forests). Fires are like composting before fertilizing your garden: much brush, shrubs and small trees will burn and large trees remain (in a healthy forest fire) leaving nutrient rich soil. I just wish this all came in a proper balance instead as the intentional aftermath HAARP induced desertification of California. I want a non-geo-engineered winter season full of rain without the oddball Cloud Seeding interference in the ionosphere with nano-refined heavy metals.

Rain and Fire. Essential and part of the larger perspective of earth’s ebbs and flows. But in their right time and place.

Lastly, a tribute to the first 3 years of my life, spent in a very unique house: The Starr House of Cobb Mountain, Loch Lomond.

 (My dad and i near the front porch of Starr House)

Old Man Starr built it during a few years time. I was born in it, a home-birth. I experienced the delight of snow for the first time as a child there. Learnt to walk there. And was a kind volunteer to my sisters bemusing entertainment.

(Pops and Mums - during the cement foundation construction)

 (Me and Days, playing with our puppy-pinata-dog)

This weekend, we all thought if any structure could survive the wildfire - the Starr House could because it was the first legal Subterranean (partly underground) structure built in the grand state of California. Yes, my dad built the first ever (on the books) underground house in this state. So with all the concrete reinforcements and walls – it was sad news last night to learn that it is no more. And the kettlebells with it.

I will visit and pay homage next month if possible after the fire has run its course.



Here to rain!