You're looking at July, 2010
Brooks B66 Gents Model
··· Jul 30 2010 · By ···
Ever since I was turned on to the concept of riding my bikes with leather saddles I haven’t looked back. Thanks for this mode of thinking go out to my friends John and Kathy Beebe. Among other things, they are bike hoarders and they have some awesome bikes in their stable. Almost all (if not every one) has a leather saddle made by Brooks. I tried for some time to take a Brooks saddle off of John’s hands but he resisted, so that made me start hunting around on online auction sites to see if I could find any deals on some old models.
The Brooks B66 is an old two spring model made sometime in the 1950s. I know this because of the unique cutout design found in the middle of the saddle. Brooks soon after went with a three hole design instead of the cutout that you see here. I am looking for an old catalog that this model appears in, stay tuned for updates.
Being an old saddle, there is a bit of wear and tear and the leather isn’t in that great of shape, but the old saddle is still a rider. Unfortunately I am having a hard time finding a bike I like to mount it on. My single speed fixie is a little too silly for this seat, it looks good with my B-15, and my mountain bike might work, but I like the B-17 I have on there right now. (More on the other saddles later). The springs make it a little squirrely, I kind of like my saddle a little more firm in the seat, and not moving around. It will probably end up on a cruiser or mixte down the road. Until then, enjoy some more photos of this saddle madeby the premier manufacturer of leather bike saddles, Brooks.
Our Ashram = 120 D Street
··· Jul 30 2010 · By ···
A couple weeks ago I was enjoying a Friday afternoon at our local Peet’s (yay – our favorite coffee shop chain in walking/biking distance!), working at a sunny outside table. Jeph sent me an email with a picture he took when we visited Pt. Reyes National Seashore a couple weeks prior. It’s a seagull balancing on one leg with the other leg straight out to the back. He dubbed it “the seagull warrior pose” (it’s like Warrior III pose, only no arms extended in the front.) He said “it’s the new craze at the yoga gyms” to which I replied “you mean, at our yoga studio, to which he replied “yeah, our ashram.”
That got me thinking about what an ashram is, so I Wiki’d it, of course, and what I found was pretty interesting. In it’s key attributes, an ashram is what we are creating in our new home:
- a place to practice yoga, make music (create), study spirituality (consciousness)…
- a place for regular physical and spiritual (self development) exercises…
- a place to find solace and tranquility…
- amidst nature…
- a place to learn and practice the art of personal power…
Picnic and Concert at the Marin Art and Garden Center
··· Jul 29 2010 · By ···
Last Thursday Jeph and I packed a picnic dinner and headed over the hill to the Marin Art and Garden Center (MAGC), in Ross, for the weekly farmer’s market, where there was also a band playing on the lawn. We’ve been walking downtown to our local San Rafael farmer’s market every week since moving here, and enjoying it, but also want to visit some of the other markets nearby. This was great because it introduced us to a new part of the area: Ross and Kentfield. On the short drive over Wolf Grade, meandering down a few side streets, we saw some lovely properties – great Sunday drive/bike/walk potential.
I read about the concert (part of a summer concert series) while looking around on the MAGC website, and was excited by the idea of a picnic accompanied by live music. What’s not to like about eating outside, on the grass, in the beautiful early evening warmth and setting sun, with a band playing? Apparently, many other people love the idea too, because the parking lot was full. Not a big deal; we found a spot up the street and walked back, picnic basket and supplies in hand.
After getting our weekly veggies and fruits on, we found a central spot on the lawn with a good mix of sun and shade. Out came the tapestry to sit on and appetizers: white wine, flatbread, and baba ghannouj (homemade, of course.) Jeph wondered if it was kosher to drink wine in this public setting – my response was that this is Marin County, the gateway to wine country, and people love to drink wine here. And, I was right, because, as we enjoyed ours and looked around, there were many others doing the same! One lesson learned, though, is that it is tricky to balance wine glasses on a picnic. So, next time we’ll either bring more sensible glasses (but that’s not as fun), or a flat surface to serve as a little table (I’m sure Jeph can fashion something.)
We had no idea what to expect from the band, “Rich Fike & Friends” (would love to give them a shout out here, but unable to find a website for them), and were quite pleasantly surprised. They were really good and did a bunch of fun classic rock and reggae – perfect for a lawn picnic.
Our main course was one of my personal favorites for picnic fare: Panzanella, also known as “bread salad.” I’ve been making it since my mid twenties. The recipe, cut from a newspaper, is tattered and faded, and not even really necessary at this point. As good food can do, preparing and eating this dish brings back memories of other fun times (a hot summer afternoon at Walden Pond, a windy day at Delores Park with family visiting from back east.)
As we enjoyed our meal and the music and looked around at the families and groups of friends doing the same – kids running around, pregnant moms, grandparents, old friends catching up – I celebrated the fact that this is where we have chosen to make our home and begin growing roots. The scene all around me there was confirmation of a wise choice!
New Desk!
··· Jul 27 2010 · By ···
We’ve been having some wonderful Good Fortune since arriving in Marin. I will be writing more about these gifts here. The most recent occurred a few days ago when we went for a Sunday bike ride. Frequently I let Jeph choose a route for us, but something compelled me to suggest we ride over to Fairfax, which we had done once before, shortly after moving into our new home. It’s a nice flat ride and a good chunk of it is on a side road which gets very little through traffic. So, it’s quite relaxing because you’re not dodging cars, or climbing hills. The part of San Anselmo it passes through is a sweet little neighborhood, too; there’s just something about it I like.
As we passed through that neighborhood a flash of color caught both of our attention at the same time. We pulled over to find two old 2-drawer file cabinets and a white laminate desktop, set up as a desk and sitting there on the sidewalk with a big “FREE” sign on it. Oh My God – that is exactly what I have been envisioning for my office/our studio, for several years really and even more vividly since finding our fabulous home. There it was – my vision turned into form, and the magic word: FREE. Of course we wanted it – it was perfect – but we needed to ride home and get the car. So we wrote “Please Save for Foust/LaRue – we will be back in 45 minutes” on it, took a quick detour up a steep hill to check out a great view of the hills around us, then booked home, got the car and drove back. It was a relief to find them still there, waiting for us. They fit easily into the RAV (which always pulls through for us.)
Back at home, Jeph gave everything a good scrubbing while I cleared a space in my office. The width of the desktop fits perfectly into the space between my desk and the side door. That’s more good fortune because there is Really no other place for it in the apartment. So there it is, the desk/workspace we’ve been wanting and needing for a good long time. Just like our new home, it was worth the wait.
A big THANK-YOU to the person(s) who made set it free so we could give it a home!
Larkspur Ferry and Back
··· Jul 21 2010 · By ···
I decided to try a little commuter loop to the Larkspur Ferry and back. I had to go up and over the Wolfe Grade one way or another for this ride, so I decided to get it out of the way first. I started out at the base of Wolfe Grade, in Gerstle Park. Using my geared mountain bike I figured it would be no problem. For the most part I was right. The hill is pretty steep, but not undoable with gears. My single speed fixed gear around town bike is great to ride, but not for this ride. Once over the top of the grade, it is a pretty quick coast to the bottom and Sir Francis Drake.
There is a nice creekside bike path and roadway that follows the wash that you see above. This shot is looking west under the 101 bridge that crosses over the bike path. Here are some more memorable photos from this area.
As you can see there were trains that used to pass through these parts, but the automobile seems to have made trains unnecessary. A little more pedaling around this area and you come into the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. At this point I have ridden about 4.5 miles, over two hills with the rest of the ride pretty flat. The well marked bike path really makes this ride worthwhile. There are good signs letting you know where to go by way of the network of bike paths, way to go Larkspur! The Ferry Terminal is a pretty cool place, with plenty of car parking and a good bike parking area too.
Heading back I decided to take Andersen Dr. as it was an easy ride the other day on my fixie. So I headed out on the bike path running along Sir Francis Drake. Along the way I came across a giant statue of who I believe to be of Sir Francis Drake coming ashore, and as I turn around, I see a pretty sun setting next to Mt. Tam, so I snapped some shots.
On toward San Quentin, lots of bad people in there. The road starts to go up hill, to meet up with Andersen. A quick left and it’s all downhill, past the sewage treatment plant, and down to the 2 mile straightaway. Winding my way through the Gerstle Park neighborhood, I get to my destination, home, ready for dinner.
Andersen Drive Bike Route
··· Jul 20 2010 · By ···
I decided that checking out the Andersen Dr. bike route would be a good excuse for a short ride to test out the new tube I put in the other day. So I pulled down my fixed gear Marubeni Yamaguchi Crystal bike and started pedaling.
I take a meandering route through Gerstle Park Neighborhood and Albert Park to ultimately get to Andersen.
Heading east/southeast on Andersen is pretty easy, as the majority of the road is flat and level. A fairly well marked bike lane and light traffic makes this route seem like a great option for getting to the Larkspur ferry. After you pass Marin Sanitary Servces, the road begins a mild snaking up a small pass on the way to Sir Francis Drake. I made it up the hill with one gear (46×16), but I had to stand and crank to do it. With gears this hill is no problem. You will notice the water reclamation plant on the left as you go up the hill. A quick right onto Sir Francis Drake will get you to the Larkspur Ferry in a few minutes.
Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the ride.
- Light traffic
- Good bike lane
- Fairly flat
- Water Reclamation and Marin Sanitary = kind of smelly
- Not too pretty, kind of industrial
All in all, this 2.5 mile stretch of bike lane is pretty good, and if I have to take the ferry somewhere, I will probably choose this route just for its ease, even though it is about 1.5 mile longer than going up and over Wolfe Grade to Sir Francis Drake. I will test that route another time.
Raga and Muffin
··· Jul 18 2010 · By ···
It is always better to make something as a gift, than to simply go to the store and buy a manufactured something or other, made in a land far far away, with no connection to you or the giftee. In this instance Dorothy and I decided that we wanted to make a couple of gifts for our friend’s two daughters, one who we know, and one newly born who we would get to meet for the first time. So we hauled the sewing machine out and got into the fabric box and got our supplies. For these gifts, we were going to make a couple of stuffed animal toys.
Dorothy decided to make a little doll out of an old argyle sock, a cat owl sort of thing (inspired by our newest owl friend.) She had some yarn, some velvet, and the sock. So she got to work making some ears, a set of wings, a tail and finally a face with some eyes and a cute nose and whiskers.
We thought about how to best fill it but nothing was really making sense, then something hit us, why not a simple puppet? So Raga was born. A half cat half owl half sock kind of friend. The perfect thing to play puppet with a 6 month old little girl.
I went the full on stuffed creature route. I quickly sketched out what sort of thing I wanted to make, then transferred that idea onto some paper to use as a pattern for the body, arms, and legs. I scoped out some velvet fabric, some funny puffy fabric for the eyes and some more velvet for the mouth, and went to work cutting, pinning and sewing. You need to put the face on first, so that’s how I worked, sewing and over sewing around the 4 pieces that made up the face. then I put it together inside out, and sewed most of the way around, leaving an opening big enough to flip it around, and stuff it through.
We picked up a bunch of cotton batting at the fabric store, so Dorothy cut some of it down into strips, and I stuffed them into the little body, filling out the arms, and legs, then the main body. When it was all packed in, I threw a quick stitch across the opening and. Poof, meet Muffin.
In all, it took us maybe 4 hours to put together the idea, lay out the plan and make a couple of one of a kind toys for some very good friends.
What kind of unique stuff do you like to make for gifts?
Dorothy’s notes:
- We started working on Raga and Muffin after dinner on Friday evening, at about 10PM, and they were officially born at 3AM the next morning. It was a lot of fun to collaborate and craft together and we plan to make it a much more regular activity here on D Street.
- A lot of love went into those little guys and when we got home from our visit Saturday night we actually missed them! Funny how an inanimate object can be infused with spirit. One of the many cool aspects of creating with your hands, and heart.
Composting – The Beginning
··· Jul 11 2010 · By ···
Now that we’ve had our own compost pile, and then curbside compost pickup in Oakland which, surprisingly, Marin does not offer yet (NOTE: this could be a good community/environmental activism project for me…), and then access to my sister’s giant compost heap in Newton, MA, there’s no turning back. It’s kind of on par with how once you’ve had your own washer and dryer, you’re spoiled for life – only this is more important, because we’re talking about the health of the planet, not just how easy it is to wash and dry your dirty clothes.
So our first week in our new home, we were tossing kitchen scraps into the brush along the edge of our yard. But, we generate a pretty hefty scrap load and didn’t want to start attracting “vermin” so we put “Find local composter options” on the Action List and started putting our scraps in the garbage disposal and trash. It was painful, every day, but we were so busy unpacking boxes, setting up our home, and dealing with the million and one logistics of getting settled in a new place. I had hoped to find a program offering subsidized compost bins through the City of San Rafael or Marin Sanitary Service (garbage and recycling service in San Rafael) but couldn’t find any information. (Only just now, as I dug even deeper into the maze of sites for recycling in Marin, did I find out about a program offered via College of Marin. It’s tucked away on page 6 of the Marin County Recycling Guide. I couldn’t actually find details of the program on the College of Marin website, though. NOTE: more reason to take this on as a community/environmental activism project.)
It took several weeks but finally we carved out time on a Saturday afternoon to shop around for a composter. First we checked our local hardware store, Jacksons, preferring, of course, to give our business to a local business. They had a few options – all substantially more than we wanted to spend. (We figured $50 was really more than enough to spend for what would likely be a made-in-china, quite basic plastic bin.) We moved on to Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) which doesn’t carry any composters (and didn’t impress us in general.) At that point I was ready to throw in the towel (this was just part of a typical Saturday marathon of errands) but Jeph dragged me to the big orange chain store and they actually came through for us. We went with a 3x3x3 black plastic box with a lid. The good news: recycled plastic(!); made in Israel (not China!); and $50 (right where our budget topped out.) We were Very Excited.
Jeph built it in the yard, following directions, and ended up with the two side panels on upside down! It came apart pretty quickly, he flipped the side panels over, then hooked in the bottom panel. The lid snapped on and we hauled it into place.
Per Jeph” I know, I know,,, you’re going to ask…why didn’t you build it out of some reclaimed wood, or brick or other scrap material? You guys are crafty/handy and into creative re-use, right? Here’s my answer to that. In the urban neighborhood we live in, this self contained unit is right for the application, and DIY’ing this would have further delayed getting all that organic material where it belongs: in the continual cycle of growth and decomposition – and not stuck in a plastic bag, in a huge pit in the earth. Don’t worry, we’ll be creatively re-using in other household/craft projects.”
Even though we had a compost pile of our own before, it’s been a few years now, and it was just that: a pile. A bin environment is a little different and also it’s just good to research what you’re working on and take an informed approach. Jeph learned that the healthiest ratio for composting is 2 parts brown (twigs, leafs, grass, etc) to 1 part green (food scraps), though it depends on the info source because I read 5:1 or even 8:1, so we’ll shoot for somewhere in the middle, 3:1-ish. Tossing in a little bit of some existing compost, and maybe a few worms (the next phase of this project), keeping it wet (but not too wet), and turning it over regularly, will get the pile humming along, encouraging the healthy microorganisms to flourish and do their job.
Our little yard has a lot of potential and our green thumbs are itching to start raking, pruning, digging, planting, and tending. The rich compound generated by our bin will be put to good use. Composting is an exercise in patience, though. Again, depending on the info source, (and drawing on our own experience and common sense) it will probably take about 3-4 months before our pile is kicking out the good stuff. That gives us plenty of time to keep researching and practicing techniques, clearing and tidying the yard, and envisioning/sourcing plantings!
Pt. Reyes National Seashore – Limantour Beach
··· Jul 06 2010 · By ···
The day after the 4th we decided to take advantage of the long weekend and make our first trek out to the coast since returning to the Bay Area. Since we knew Fairfax already (that’s where we stayed for the 3 days we were looking at apartments – Big Thanks to Nicole), we decided to follow that trajectory West, which leads to Point Reyes National Seashore. It’s a lovely, winding drive through the forests and fields of West Marin. Midway there, in Woodacre, I was excited to see the sign for Spirit Rock Meditation Center, a place I have read about many times, from far away, and now it’s less than 30 minutes from home! I look foward to learning and practicing through some of their classes, daylongs, and retreats.
Jeph’s suggestion to stop first at the Bear Valley Visitors Center was a good one. Aesthetically it feels like a lovingly restored old barn. As their mission states, it was,
“designed to blend in with the historically significant ranching culture of this area.”
Well done. On a holiday weekend in the heart of summer vacation season, it was abuzz with activity. We enjoyed exploring the natural history exhibit there, learning about the flora and fauna of the land and water. There were plenty of maps and pamphlets with suggested routes and activities. And there were plenty of rangers on hand to answer questions, too, like our burning question: where can we get gas? I highly suggest you fill the tank before heading out to these parts because gas stations are few and far between.
We decided to detour up to Point Reyes Station (the closest gas – only about 5 minutes away) so our minds would be at ease while hiking around. Our first week in Marin, Pacific Sun had an article about the town, extolling it as a mecca for local, sustainable, and organic farming, foods, and other businesses. It’s very tiny and quaint and we plan to return for a tour of Cowgirl Creamery, and coffee and the Saturday Farmer’s Market (the Bay Area’s only all-local all-organic market) at Toby’s Feed Barn.
With that taken care of, Jeph pointed us towards the beach – I was craving that fresh, wet air and ocean rhythm that’s so good for the spirit. In the 30 minutes or so it took us to climb up and over the hill and end up at Limantour Beach, we entered a quite different microclimate (for which the Bay Area is famous – one of the many charms!) The wind was strong and steady and fog enshrouded the whole area. In the parking lot, we added a couple layers of clothing (thankfully we hadn’t forgotten that wisdom) and headed down to the water. There’s nothing like the feel of cool sand between your toes and ocean air in your lungs. It’s both relaxing and rejuvenating – a winning combination.
As we walked up and down the beach, examining natural and man-made objects left behind by the tides, taking pictures, breathing and letting our minds wander I realized that our palette had totally changed. In San Rafael it was a typically golden sunshine-y day, and was like that most of the way, until the final hill down to the water. In the language of film, that’s Kodak. But in this part of the world it was a million shades of gray, some gray blue and gray green for sea grass and water, muted browns and more gray for the driftwood and rocks, pale salmon for crab shells, and the occasional manufactured item of a brighter hue. This is what Fuji film is like. After that analogy, I found myself feeling like part of a photo. It was lovely to experience and is vividly imprinted in my memories, (and captured digitally.)
One thing we learned from the Visitors Center and the maps/guides we gathered there is that Point Reyes National Seashore is a Large area. We could easily go there every weekend for the next year and not see it all. On our next visit, we’d like to head up to Tomales Point, at the northern tip, to observe the tule elk during their “rutting” season. It is encouraging to know that, after being on the brink of extinction in the mid-1800s, with the aid of complete state protection, their population has steadily grown. And then, in January, the California gray whales pass through on their Southern migration to Baja, California. Just the thought of the opportunity to see them leaves me breathless. The National Parks Website describes their magic well:
There is a mystery about these beautiful giants. Like humans, they breathe air, have warm blood and give birth to live young. However, their home is in the depths of the dark ocean where so much is concealed from our probing human eyes.
I can tell that Point Reyes National Seashore is going to be a cherished outing for our family for many years to come!
