This morning I said good bye to a dear friend who has been such a huge part of our store. Robert Bruce Miller (11/6/1923 – 1/9/2016) passed away early today very quickly and peacefully.
i can’t really write about this yet. After leaving the hospital though, my first thought was to walk down Mandich Street to Sunland as the sun was rising and the ravens called. This was Bob’s traditional “early” walk, to assess the day and note the trees, horses, birds and mountains. This is where he spent hours and weeks drawing the two cottonwoods and many other pieces. As the hives are traditionally informed when a beekeeper passes, his trees know he is In a new place too. I’m sure they will spread the word.
Since I try to celebrate one holiday/season at a time, I tend to have a lot of “last minute” things on my list. (I also claim all 12 days of Christmas to celebrate, so I think there is still time…) If you are in that boat too, stop in! We are still in full Christmas mode here, and have lots of giftable books and other things, including gift certificates, to finish the shopping list. Our Storybook Tree Contest goes through the end of the year, and we are
Enter the Storybook Tree Contest!
sampling different delicious teas every day. Most of the teas are organic, some herbal, some black as well as green. Just added some nice new organic hot cocoa to improve the hot drinks line too. Get out of the cold and stop in for a visit!
Our holiday hours will be short on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, 10:00 to 2:00ish, and we will of course be closed on Christmas Day and New Year Day. January will see the start of some more limited winter hours as well.
Merry Christmas, all twelve days of it, Happy Solstice and other seasonal celebrations, and best wishes for the New Year!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our great customers! It has been a short year, with a lot of progress for the store and more improvement to look forward to. I’m asked daily how the new location is doing, and I am optimistic. However, I’d like to request your continued support in the coming year as we haven’t quite hit a viable level yet. It certainly takes a village to keep books available in the village, and I know if you are reading this, you have been one of the reasons the doors are still open. We sincerely thank you.
Wishing all of you a happy and healthy 2016 with plenty of reading time.
Best wishes,
Diane & Dave Doonan, and Courtney, Lindsey, Jill, Celica and Jill
If you have been in the store at all, or followed our social media, you know how Robert Miller’s art fills our life here at the store. We have been showing his artwork since about 2010, and enjoying his company even longer than that. Bob makes a daily circuit from one end of town to the other, probably five miles round trip, and we are glad to be one of his daily stops for a chat and an art update.
While he recently has been feeling his age, he says, the rest of us sure don’t think he shows it! I am always impressed at his willingness and interest in learning new things and studying new topics. Art of course is high on the list, and he studies techniques of the old masters but also Degas, NC Wyeth, Howard Pyle, and anyone else that shows a technique of interest. Color and color values fascinate him and I am frequently sent on book research errands on that topic. Besides art though, topics include psychology (Maslow is a hero since he designed a mental hospital in the 60’s), geography of the Sierra, botany, music, brain functions, the Welsh in Patagonia, and this month, German. If you need an example of keeping your brain sharp by learning and keeping your body mobile by staying active, Bob is your man. The breadth of his reading and the things he remembers, his self discipline and ability to focus, astound me regularly.
I know he touches many lives around Bishop, so please feel free to share this invitation with others who may want to drop in and wish him well.
Happy Birthday Bob!
Happy 90th Birthday Bob! 2013Our artist Bob Miller grabbing some of his favorite molasses cookies.
If you missed the 2015 Chocolate Art Walk last weekend, you did miss out. BUT, we are excited to say that we will be keeping Judyth Greenburgh’s photography and sculptural display up for awhile longer, so come on in! We have prints and candlesticks available for sale, and more are available to order.
Judyth Greenburgh lives part of the year in Darwin, and is very active in the Southern Inyo community, including working on the board of the Owens Valley Growers’ Cooperative (http://www.owensvalleygrowerscooperative.com). Her background is in graphic design and The art in our exhibit takes, as she says, the ordinary views in Darwin and the surrounding desert, and shows the extraordinary. Greenburgh is an award-winning photographer, creative director and artist who has influenced elections, changed opinions, made us think, and delighted our hearts. She has over 30 years experience in premium brand development and design for a grand array of projects in different parts of the world.
I love having them up in the store and I am growing constantly more attached to them, and, well honestly, it makes me smile that we are exhibiting a photo also on display at the
Judyth Greenburgh’s article about photo on exhibit at the Louvre October 2015
Louvre, as recently featured in the Inyo Register! She also has exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Here’s some comments she provided about her work and the inspiration.
A little more information about my art – by Judyth Greenburgh
Darwin is like a blank canvas. There is no clutter to cloud the skies or pollute your mind, no stores, no paved roads or cops. You are exposed to the elements and yourself. Here, there is nowhere to hide and nothing to distract you.
Darwin is the perfect place to invent, re-invent and live in the now.
Things get dumped in the desert, Cars, trains, Boeing 747’s , eccentric people, condensed milk cans, bombs and radio active waste. It’s a place where the past has been left behind, yet to be covered by changing times
This show is a selection of different perspectives.
Photography: When I have a camera in my hand, I notice more.
I slow down enough to see the details and the beauty there.
What looks ordinary can be pretty extraordinary on closer inspection.
There’s beauty in everything. It’s my meditation practice – the art of being here
Notes from the Edge: shows a few pages from a calendar I made about Darwin.
Sandwiches: reflects my appreciation of the Eureka sand dunes.
Darwin Details shows just how extraordinary the ordinary can be.
12 Frames is my showcasing system . I show in series of 12’s and print a limited edition of 12 numbered giclees. Only 12 of the prints get numbered. This is validated with a certificate of authenticity. These are normally on acid free archival cotton rag paper. ‘So this is art is it?’ Anything hand made or printed by me, I also emboss or stamp with a seal.
D.U.M.P: Discovering Unwanted Metal Pieces
Imagine a Post Apocalypse world. A place where trash becomes treasure.
Darwin was a mining town. There are fields of ‘can dumps’. Where the miners threw away their canned goods.
Over time they have become dented and rusted. I was intrigued by the oxidation of time. How metal rusts, copper patinas.
The juxtaposition of shine with rust/ patina. How this layer transforms common trash into something worth considering,
The Can Panels: reclaims what has been abandoned.
Inspired by the scalability of the repetitive form I made short movie and re created the sea of abandoned tin cans as panels that can be hung individually or together.
What’s with the shiny can? The shiny can comes from the short film I made. In the film – a can of Natural Ice is crushed and tossed onto a pile of rusty old cans … the new kid on the block. This has become the signature of each piece. A dvd of the film is available & given with every art piece bought
Yes you can. What if you could bottle a positive permission and sprinkle it to activate? Each bottle contains the dust from a whole lot of cans and is labeled with a positive ‘CAN’ intention
COPPER ATTRACTIONSare candlesticks with a magnetic twist. Exploring the shine and oxidation of pure copper, plumbing fittings adding magnetic ends, enabling them to defy gravity and balance in places not normally possible.
More copper, magnetic art can be seen on my website. www.copperattractions.com
This Book Signing has it all – get ready for a list! We are celebrating the release of Eastern Sierra and Death Valley Camping with Privacy by the Gardnerville, Nevada team of Kimberly and Patrick Wilkes. If, like most of us, your camping opportunities are too few to waste on a lousy experience, this book is the research tool you need! Kimberly and Patrick thoroughly researched hundreds of campgrounds in our region, rating the privacy, listing fun things to do nearby, passing on warnings, and describing how to get there and how to get your spot. All campers will want this book, and signed would make it the perfect gift! Call to reserve a copy.
And here is the “plus”:
Local interest book – thorough descriptions and privacy ratings for over 3,400 campsites in the Eastern Sierra and Death Valley
Door Prizes – Including gifts from Upper Crust Pizza, Anne Marie’s Home Boutique, Range & River Books and framed art by photographer Patrick Wilkes. Yowza, right?
Cookies from Great Basin Bakery and S’mores bars of course! Plus other treats.
S’mores kit prize to the FIRST purchaser of the Guide Book
Meet the Author and Photographer, husband and wife team of Kimberly and Patrick Wilkes, and have them sign your copy. Would make a great personalized holiday gift!
Professional digital portraits by Patrick for the first 20 individuals or family groups that attend the book signing.
And a really big PLUS – the Wilkes are donating a portion of each book sale to the non profit Eastern Sierra Land Trust. The local land trust works with willing land owners to preserve vital lands in the Eastern Sierra for the scenic, agricultural, historical, watershed, or natural values. These funds will go to good use furthering the preservation of the vital lands we all love!
Join us Saturday, October 17 from 3:00 to 5:00 for this event!
The reason our first son began his school career in a Montessori classroom was an innocent sign on the public school kindergarten teacher’s wall that said “Teaching kindergarten is like holding 25 corks underwater all at one time”. I was trying to be a conscientious parent, investigating options and objectively choosing the absolute best for my son, but this image of holding my baby underwater like a cork was just horrifying – plus the public kindergarten had a really awkward schedule that didn’t work for anyone. So with minimal knowledge or conviction about the benefits of Montessori, we started him there. Ironically, when he did go to public school the next year, he got that same teacher for two years and we all loved her. Her little sign was just ambulance humor that did not strike me as funny at the time.
My lack of humor was fortuitous though since I then learned about the brilliant Maria Montessori and her theories of teaching young children. In the briefest nutshell, Montessori determined that young children go through stages of development at their own speed, and if appropriate tools and “jobs” are available to them, they will gravitate to the tasks that teach them the skills that match their developmental window. The children focus on a skill until they master it. It is hard to picture this working out in a classroom setting, but it sure can. The emphasis is on sensory exploration and manipulatives. Lots of manipulatives, which certainly suited my active boys, and in my opinion, suits most kids. Both sons attended Montessori preschool and kindergarten and then moved into a traditional public school My daughter missed the opportunity because we moved, but I had enough indoctrination then to make sure manipulatives were still part of her life. While living on a ranch certainly helped, we made sure all three children benefitted from working with their hands.
(While I could, and probably too often do, rant about the focus on screen time in classrooms now, I will skip it. Honest, I will, but I don’t think Maria would have liked it either.)
My point here is that children still need to learn how to do stuff. Real stuff like cooking,
From a 4H small engine project to a job.
cleaning, fixing engines, making clothes, building, caring for animals, knitting, growing peppers, whatever. It is practical, they can then take care of themselves and others, they learn skills that are helpful to employment, they appreciate when difficult things are done for them, and it gives them confidence. While some good vocational programs and teachers are still around, we can’t expect all that teaching to happen in school anymore, if we ever could.
Early days learning to walk pigs
Getting ready to show.
Matt and Ashley sharing the turkey experience
Answering the judge.
Community Service projects
Learning to multitask.
Proud of their new skills
Responsibilty starts early.
Yes they made these!
Mini member art.
An old but useful skill.
“Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment.” Maria Montessori
Cody representing his club for a community service project.
So now is the time to sign up children as 4H members, and adults as 4H leaders. 4H is still a great place to learn how to do real stuff, but its future looks bleak. Membership is dropping because, ironically, so many other opportunities are available. Active kids in supportive homes end up being overscheduled and stressed out trying to take advantage of all these opportunities, which is bad. Some kids don’t get to participate in much at all for hardship reasons, which is also bad. There are strong arguments for all enrichment programs, but for whatever reasons, the practical projects of 4H that are often the first activity to get chopped. There is no team to “let down”, the initial monetary commitment is minimal, and the schedule can be crazy. Then, when a shortage of leaders results in projects getting cancelled midyear or unavailable altogether, kids are less likely to sign up again.
4H is made up of local clubs under the County/State Cooperative Extension umbrella. The real action takes place locally when local adults take on a project. Leaders are all volunteers with the multitude of other commitments we all have, and it gets tough. But, here is my plea, a project can be as little as 6 hours of meeting time, and even with the inevitable prep time, many people COULD fit in 6 to 12 hours of volunteer time. Of course there are higher levels of commitment available and needed too, but PROJECT LEADERS are the most pressing need. Fun projects keep kids interested.
Projects can be very specific, like cord bracelet making or salsa preparation. People have taught beginning dog training, trap shooting, archery, gardening, small engine repair, bread baking, knitting, recycled object crafts, paper airplane making, hiking, creative writing, photography, photo editing, and there are so many more cool ideas. As a kid in 4H, I learned to cook, make sauerkraut and jam, raised dairy goats and lambs, and learned cake decorating (which then became my college job for quite awhile). Projects can be geared towards “mini-members”, ages 5-8, or older members 9 and up. Older members can help as junior and teen leaders. It is not a bad gig!
Getting to know these great young people and helping them learn practical skills is, in my opinion, the best way to stay optimistic about our future. When you see all the memes and political cartoons bemoaning the problems and gaps in the upcoming generation, you can think, “well at least there’s Josi, Michael, Dani, Jared, Harrison, and ________ that know how to do things.”
If you are interested in volunteering as a 4H leader, come talk to me, or the 4H office 760-873-7854. (http://ceinyo-mono.ucanr.edu/4-H_Program/)
If you are interested in the notion of practical learning, here are a few related books. We may not have them on the shelf, but can certainly help you find them! There are many more, and I would love to get your recommendations if you have read some.
Shop Class As Soul Craft: an Inquiry into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford . This is a philosophical and practical look at why we need to be sure the trades are not forgotten and physical labor is not to be reviled. Crawford now has several more books in a similar theme.
The Mind at Work: Valuing the Intelligence of the American Workerby Mike Rose. Rose investigates what should be obvious, that intelligence and calculation is essential to jobs like waitressing and carpentry. This book is credited with being able to shape both public policy and general opinion.
The Montessori Methodby Maria Montessori. Montessori has quite a few books on early childhood development, but this one is a classic. Also check for biographies like:
Maria Montessori: Her Life and Workby E.M. Standing.
The Unsettling Of America or What Are People For? by Wendell Berry. Philosopher, cultural critic, poet, and farmer, Wendell Berry always has a lot to say about the need to stay connected to the land and the discipline of work. Any of his works will give you new appreciation for labor.
Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Futureby Bill McKibben This book explores the need to refocus our economy on local production of food, goods, and even entertainment. That requires people who can do things!
Endangered Minds: Why Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About It, by Jane Healy. This is a discussion of developmental windows and how missing them affects higher levels of reasoning. I loved this book. This was published in 1991, and things have changed. Healy has quite a few new related books out which likely address these changes, but I haven’t read them myself.
So, from a current 4H leader, and a former 4Her, please consider volunteering. And if not in an organized program, make an effort to teach some children practical skills.
Did you know that dragonflies have teeth (they are predators) and they can bite(sort of)? Did you know they can’t walk?
Dragonfly author Kathy Biggs and husband Dave Biggs at 9/2/2015 Booksigning
Did you know there were no field guides for dragonflies until author Kathy Biggs grew frustrated researching the lovely creatures visiting her new garden pond and subsequently wrote and published her Common Dragonflies of California? Fun booksigning yesterday with Kathy, her husband Dave, and Ron and Barbara Oriti! These four were full of interesting bits of knowledge about the odonata, plus good stories! One of the best stories is how these former Sebastapol neighbors independently became fascinated with dragonflies and linked up again years after the Oritis had moved here to Bishop. And then there is the story about Ron leeeaaaning over a creek in New Mexico last week to photograph a perfect specimen….not a happy ending for his wonderful Nikon.
Barbara Oriti explains her dragonfly spotting technique!
Ron Oriti and guest sharing a dragonfly story
Courtney and her Mom Desi appreciating the dragonfly party!
Author and Photographer with stories to share.
We still have copies available of the Dragonflies of the Greater Southwest, Common Dragonflies of California, and even a coloring book! We also have coloring contest pages if your young ones want to participate. Stop in soon if you missed the party!
Indulge me here, but I do get a smug sense of satisfaction when I can serve a whole meal from my garden, and this party menu was close! (I do see many, many dragonflies in my garden which is near a pond, so it is related.) We had zucchini served three ways, and it would have been four if the zucchini chips had turned out anything like the lovely crisp, browned, discs in the Pinterest picture. Armenian cucumbers with dill, tomatillo salsa, cherry tomatoes and even the flowers also came from the garden. Makes me happy after a gardenless summer last year! If anyone knows how to make crisp zucchini chips though, let me know.
Don’t forget we sell the well labeled photo posters by Ron Oriti that will be immensely helpful (as well as beautiful) as you learn your dragonflies. Kathy Biggs also has an informative website (http://bigsnest.members.sonic.net/Pond/dragons/) and there is an interesting public group on Facebook called Western Odonata if you want to learn even more!
This morning I said good bye to a dear friend who has been such a huge part of our store. Robert Bruce Miller (11/6/1923 – 1/9/2016) passed away early today very quickly and peacefully.
happy after a gardenless summer last year! If anyone knows how to make crisp zucchini chips though, let me know.