Mayan Weaver at the Market

Today's farmers' market had some light rain, but some people still turned out to shop. The market manager wrote up a nice preview for the local paper, including this tidbit:

Special this week: Katja Grace will bring her friend, Albertina López Húmez, a Mayan weaver from the town of Santa Catarina on Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. Albertina will demonstrate Mayan back-strap weaving and show her work, along with that of other Mayan craftspeople featured in Katja's "Tomorrow's Traditions" fair trade business.

According to the resident vendor, Katja, this woman will be going back to Guatemala before next week, even though her home has been "wiped out" by the flooding down there. I wish her well.

Giant Steam Powered Spool

Take It Easy, Deer

A trip to Ukiah included a visit to the graves of some ancestors. Among the elaborate monuments of the past, about a dozen deer calmly rest together between rounds of grazing and browsing.



On a visit to mom's place, a very pregnant doe and her handmaid showed little fear, even as I tried to get to my vehicle without causing undue alarm. Move along, ladies...

It's Back: The "Outdoor" Farmer's Market

Built to Last

More of the spool donkey boiler from a few posts ago. The scale and detail of a time gone by are beautiful in a way. Note the *"superfluous detail" of the red painted lines.

*Thanks to Pasadena Daily Photo for the term.

Arbor Day

Trees, in all their variety, are so compelling. Our fate is completely entwined with theirs.

Gutter Eddies

The City public works people spent part of the morning giving a main water supply trunk line a good, thorough flush. Seems like a waste, but in the scheme of things, it is worth it to keep sediments out of the tap water. It is also good news that our water supply reservoirs are topped up to overflowing this season, after a decade of drought.

Life on Earth Day

I don't know what this plant with the flowerbuds is, but it's making friends with a thistle on the edge of a parking lot. Against all odds, life in some form or another has such a will to persist.

Happy Earth Day.

Uncertain Prospects

Opal Miner is actually a woman's name, but this horse waiting patiently behind Ardella's adds echoes of the past, and suggestions of prospecting.

Iron Stains

A steam donkey boiler, used for logging a century ago, now on display in front of the Mendocino County Museum, shows iridescent stains in hazy sunlight.