Candy Dance Art & Craft Festival

Is this the mother of all art and craft festivals? It seems bigger than the Mountain View Festival, which is one of the biggest events of its kind. Unfortunately, the Mountain View Festival was canceled due to pandemic concerns for the second year in a row. 

The Candy Dance in Genoa (Nevada's oldest town) has several hundred exhibitors,

It's now Saturday evening, and I'm home after my first day of the show. I can say that there are a huge number of exhibitors and lots of visitors .

I'm planning what I need to bring tomorrow. Today I brought more books than I could imagine selling under the best of circumstances. Yet I sold out of several titles. Tomorrow, I'll load my hand truck up with another stack of boxes.

I met a ton of readers. The stories I heard were touching. One gentleman said that the pandemic was very hard for him. But he started my series when the pandemic hit. Over the course of the pandemic, he's read all 19 of my books. He says they helped him get through the worst of it. What more could a writer want?

The Candy Dance goes until 5 p.m. on Sunday. 

Directions: From 395 in Carson Valley, turn west on Genoa Lane #206. (It's easiest if you're coming from the Carson City area to the north. If you're coming from the south - Minden, Gardnerville -, you'll have to drive past Genoa Lane for a bit, then turn around so you're heading south before you can turn west on Genoa Lane.)

Drive west on Genoa Lane about 3 miles and watch for a large parking field on the left. There is a parking fee. You'll get some exercise walking from the field up Genoa Lane to the Main Street crossing. Mormon State Park is on the right. I'm in the park, space MS3.

There are exhibitor booths all over the area, so expect to spend some time exploring. Put on your walking shoes, come to Genoa, and enjoy your day!

You Want Smart? Calves Can Be Potty Trained

Last week, I wrote about squirrel smarts. So while we're on the subject...

Everyone knows cattle are pretty dumb, right? Ranchers raise them, slaughter them, and people eat them. We don't give much thought to their intelligence.

It turns out that calves can be potty trained with about the same quickness as potty training a puppy. (They didn't try it with adult cattle. But we all know that potty training is best done young!)

As reported by Scott Simon on NPR https://www.npr.org/2021/09/18/1038533121/with-a-little-sweet-encouragement-calves-prove-cows-can-quickly-be-potty-trained, cattle produce a great deal of urine, among other waste. Cattle urine has lots of nutrients that can be turned into fertilizer, but only if the urine can be collected.

So scientists wanted to know if they could take young calves and train them to urinate in a certain place, the better to collect it. They devised a standard kind of reward. Basically, it worked like this: Urinate over here and we'll give you a sugar treat.

The calves figured it out very fast. 

Read the story. It's very fun. You'll never drive by another calf without thinking about how smart they are.

Squirrel Intelligence Is No Small Thing

 I read about a study that revealed two remarkable squirrel facts. 

1. Squirrels can remember hundreds of locations where they've stashed food.

2. When squirrels know that other squirrels are watching, they fake where they stash food, pretending to dig holes and put food inside and then, when not under observation, they sneak off and hide the food somewhere else.

Deception is a widely recognized mark of intelligence. Dog deception has been well documented. In controlled studies, dogs will deceive and manipulate people in order to get treats. Zoo keepers have lots of stories about how primates deceive humans, like the orangutan that hides something a human wants by tucking it in his cheek and then pretending to "help look" for the missing item.

Now you can add squirrels to the mix.

Yesterday, we watched a Douglas Squirrel exhibit some dramatic food behavior. (This in the Sierra foothills while we are still evacuated from Tahoe.)

The squirrel appeared to watch other squirrels and act one way if other squirrels were visible and another way if they weren't visible. 

For example, this squirrel ran up the trunk of a 100-foot White fir. At the top, it cut off the cones (which grow near the very top of fir trees). The heavy, green cones came crashing down, slamming onto the ground with enough force to knock you out or kill you if your head was in the wrong place. 

After many cones littered the ground, the squirrel came back down. He made a show of looking around the ground (I'm not kidding), and picked up a cone in his mouth (a real feat of strength considering the cone probably weighed a third or even half as much as the squirrel). He ran north into the forest, carrying the cone. In a minute, he came back with no cone. 

He looked around again, picked up another cone, then ran off with that one, again to the north. 

After several trips carrying cones to the north, he paused, looked around, then ran up the trunk of a nearby Ponderosa pine, also about 100 feet tall. Soon he came back down the Ponderosa pine carrying a White fir cone. It seemed like he was moving a bit slower than before. When he got to the ground, which was still littered with white fir cones he'd previously cut and dropped, he looked around (looking for other squirrels?) and ran off to the east. We saw him dig a small hole under a Black oak tree, bury the cone, then run back.

The squirrel repeated this process, running up the Pondersa pine, coming back down with a White fir cone, pausing, heading east, and burying the cone under an oak.

After a few trips, he went back to his previous behavior. He ran up the White fir, cut and dropped some cones, came down the fir, picked up a cone that he'd already dropped from high up, and ran into the forest to the north.

We tried to make sense of this strange behavior, picking up cones off the ground and running to the north, then carrying cones down from the tree canopy and burying them to the east. Add into the mix that he used a Ponderosa pine as his highway to the sky whenever he wanted to carry a white fir cone down instead of merely picking it up off the ground.

There might be many explanations. But the one that made the most sense to us was deception. His obvious moves of picking up cones off the ground were followed by carrying them north.

The sneakier moves of going up a Ponderosa pine, leaping across from the top of the pine to the top of the fir to get a cone, and leaping back, seemed very much like a routine designed to make his varied efforts less obvious to any less industrious squirrels who might want to simply steal his cache rather than going to all the work themselves.

Intelligence? Major league by my judgment.

Caldor Fire Evacuation... And One Thing To Brighten The Mood

One week ago, the Caldor Fire required the entire South Shore of Tahoe to evacuate. The order was issued for some areas on Saturday, our neighborhood on Sunday, and the rest of town on Monday and Tuesday.

The sheriff's deputies came through our neighborhood and made us leave in minutes. (They were kind and polite, but FIRM.) 

We took our computers and the clothes we were wearing and almost nothing else. That's stressful, not even having an overnight bag. It's easy to be gone for almost any length of time when you can have several hours get ready. The Evacuation Warning system normally gives you a day.

On Sunday morning, our area was not under Evacuation Warning. Then the wind shifted, the falling ash went from white snow to black charcoal chunks, and we were suddenly under Evacuation Order. (We never got the warning stage.) Thus we ran.

Now we will worry for days? weeks? about whether our house is going to be there when we're allowed back in. According to the current map, our house is okay. The firefighters were amazing. In nearby Christmas Valley, the fire came over Echo Summit, swept down the mountain on the west side of the valley, blew across to the east side of the valley, and swirled everywhere through the forest. Yet the fire fighters stayed near the houses and appear to have spared most of them from the flames.

We are very glad for the efforts of both law enforcement and the firefighters who throughout the Caldor burn have saved houses even as the wildfire roars right up to them.

Here is a link for one of the most up-to-date maps of the fire burn area. You can zoom in on the map and see, for example, how Christmas Valley burned and yet many of the houses were spared even though the fire came on all sides.

Now we'll watch the fire report and evacuation map for when we'll be allowed back in.

As for mood brightener... We had some business to take care of in Sacramento, but the only way to get there was to head east out of the Tahoe Basin, go north to Reno, then west down Interstate 80.

One of the best things about Sacramento is the American River with 30 miles of parkway on each side. Walking paths, biking paths, acres of green grass. Another good thing is its beauty, as you can see below.

So we took a break on the river and walked for miles.

One of the dogs we saw was a Golden Retriever. This one's owner was tossing sticks in the water, and the golden jumped in to retrieve them. When the owner tired of the game, the dog decided it could play by itself. Run into the water. Swim for awhile. Run back out. Find a stick. Take that into the water. Swim with the stick. Run back out. Drop the stick on the ground and look at it. Will it to move. Okay, it's not moving. Pick it up, run down the shore, and go swimming there. Come back out. Run to its owner. Drop the stick at its owner's feet. Will the owner to throw the stick. Okay, the owner's not moving, either. Run back into the water and swim. Come back out. Shake vigorously, throwing water all over the owner. That'll teach him.

Throughout this activity, the Golden gave that famous smile. Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing. But those who know dogs know that Goldens give you a smile unlike any other dog. (By comparison, Great Danes don't smile, but they can do a vigorous wag that is unlike nearly any dog, a wag that can raise bruises on your legs.) Like other dogs, Goldens have so much fun, it's hard to not believe they're smiling. And all it takes is water and a stick.

Decide for yourself.

No Matter How Bad, Some places Always Have It Worse

Everyone has seen the photos of the fire approaching Tahoe. It's bad. And living with the choking smoke and uncertainty of whether or not we'll have to flee is difficult. 

Yet Hurricane Ida is hitting New Orleans. 

The wind and water destruction is coming to the Gulf Coast. It can be every bit as bad as fire. I'll try to keep a broad perspective. 

The photos remind us that we're not the only people under assault from Mother Nature. Then again, some people would point out that Mother Nature has been under assault from us for a few hundred years...

Forest Fire Burns Houses And Closes Highway 50 To Tahoe

 It's a very sad day when wildfires burn houses. So far, I haven't heard of anyone dying in the Caldor Fire. We should be glad about that. However, nearly 245 houses and other structures have burned. It's a dangerous and destructive fire. 

The Caldor Fire started near Grizzly Flat, southeast of Placerville, and it is slowly moving northeast toward Tahoe. The smoke is affecting Tahoe and making life difficult for people a long way from the flames.

No fire authority is saying that Tahoe is currently in danger from this fire, although all forest areas are always at some risk.

This isn't just happening in California. In Minnesota, where we are originally from, the northern two-thirds of the state have fire restrictions very much like Northern California, and there are several fires burning in that state. Ten years ago, Northern Minnesota had the Pagami Creek Fire at the Boundary Waters near the Canadian border. That fire burned 100,000 acres, which is more than the current total for the Caldor Fire.

Fire has always been present in the forest. In fact, it's considered an essential part of the forest ecosystem. Many species of plants require fire to open seed pods and pine cones and clear the forest floor to let in sunlight and take out choking underbrush. Many species of animals require those plants that require fire.

When white men began fire suppression in the late 19th century, they put out both human-caused and lightning-caused fires. When I was a kid, "Smoky Bear" was often featured on Saturday-morning cartoon stations. He always warned us, "Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires." 

I grew up learning a clear message: Forest fires were all bad. All evil. They destroyed life. They always needed to be put out.

Thus began the slow buildup of forest fuel that now chokes the forest and practically explodes when a fire is started. (For what it's worth, I wrote my second book about this very problem. TAHOE BLOWUP, which is visible on the left side of this blog.)

Adding to the problem of fuel buildup is the increasing number of houses built in the forest. Unfortunately, when the forest burns, which it always has and always will, some houses will burn as well.

A range of evidence suggests that prior to fire suppression, the Tahoe forest was open enough that one could gallop a horse through the forest. Now, any hiker can tell you that Tahoe's forests are often so dense you would have a hard time walking through them if not for maintained hiking trails.

Takeaways?

There are no easy answers. 

Many fire experts say we need to let forests burn to some extent in order to begin to restore the natural processes in the forest. Where fires would be too damaging to people, we need to clear out excess wood and brush. And that has to take priority over environmental concerns about soil compression and other damage from logging. (A reality check is this simple observation: Protecting the soil from catastrophic burning that turns the soil to ash, which washes away into streams and lakes is more important than protecting the soil from compression and other physical damage.)

And once an area has been cleared of excess fuel, we need to encourage regular low-intensity burns to maintain that low-fuel state.

For ten thousand years or more, the Miwok and other native tribes regularly burned the land, mimicking small lightning-caused fires. They knew that, in addition to producing a healthier forest, regular fires produced greater fire safety. We could benefit by learning from their example.

 

Awesome Sierra Nevada Field Guide

Last Thursday, I did a book signing at Word After Word books in Truckee. While there, I found a beautiful field guide that I had to immediately buy. I'll explain below in a moment...

But first, we have a sizable bookshelf of field guides, three or four for each of several areas. But it seems that I'm always reaching for certain ones first.

My favorite bird guide is Birds of Northern California by Fix and Bezener. 

My favorite tree guide is Trees of North America by Brockman and Merrilees.

My favorite guide to bugs is the National Audubon Society field guide to North American Insects and Spiders.

The Peterson Guide is great for wildflowers.

Now comes a spectacular guide that, somehow, I hadn't seen before. The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada is a kind of all-in-one guide.

What's cool about this guide? First, it's got nearly everything in one book. Birds, trees, wildflowers, insects, animals, fungi, fish, reptiles, amphibians and other neat stuff like weather and astronomy information. It's well-indexed and has 2700 color illustrations. The author, John Muir Laws, is an accomplished artist, naturalist, journaler, and teacher with a lot of high-level education from places like UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, University of Montana, and the California Academy of Sciences.

The book is small enough to take on any hike. No longer will I go out into the mountains having left all of my book information behind because I can't carry four or five books.

Does it have everything? Of course not. It's just one book. But it has an amazing amount of useful information.

In addition, the Laws Field Guide has the kind of rich images and information that makes one want to spend evenings reading it.

The book has high-quality paper, printing, and binding. Nevertheless, I imagine I'll wear it out in the coming years.

Horses Or Dogs...

 I was giving a talk about my new book TAHOE JADE at Shelby's books in Minden, NV. A woman who is a favorite of mine had come. I knew she worked with horses. So I told her that my new book had a horse theme. She immediately said, "Horses or dogs. Either one does the trick."

As soon as she said it, I knew she was right. We don't all love all people. But it's hard not to unconditionally love a good horse or a good dog.

The fact that they are the most gorgeous of animals doesn't hurt, either!

The Best Way To Enjoy Tahoe Is Not What You Think

Everybody wants to know the best place to stay, the best place to eat, the best beach, the best hike, the best boat excursion, the best view. All good questions. But there is one decision you can make about Tahoe that will affect your experience more than any other.

 

That single choice is this: Don't come in July or August.

Everything you might want to do in Tahoe is available from September through June. Great weather, great experiences, great exploration. But without such a crush of tourists.

On Thursday, I made a bookstore/gift store circuit around the lake, including Truckee. I was checking in at the places that sell my books. As a 31-year local, I know how to go everywhere with right turns for ease of getting through intersections. I know the back roads, and I know where to find parking when all the lots are full. I know the best times for driving.

I've done this more times than I can count. But this trip, I noticed a change. The lake is still gorgeous. The lakeshore communities, especially Tahoe City, Tahoe Vista, Kings Beach, Truckee, and a few sections of South Lake Tahoe are still as charming as any Hawaii beach town.

But there are more people than ever. 

There aren't more hotel rooms. That number is largely capped by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The difference is that the vacation homes and cabins that used to have low occupancy or were vacant are now full with Airbnb rentals. In my neighborhood, for example, we used to have 5 out of 35 houses occupied full time. Now it's closer to 25 or 30 houses occupied full time. 

The pandemic is probably to blame. People who couldn't go to their jobs or their favorite restaurants in the city realized that they had to stay home. In that case, why not make home up in the beautiful mountains?

Add to that the post-pandemic swell of visitors in July and August, and you have gridlock. A visitor who makes the mistake of trying to drive someplace between 9 am and 7 pm will run the risk of running out of gas on the road, waiting in a long line of stopped traffic. And if that visitor gets to their destination, they will absolutely-guaranteed be frustrated that they are fighting hundreds of thousands of other visitors, none of whom can find a parking place, a restaurant that can seat them, a deli counter that doesn't have a line that will last until tomorrow.

Bottom line? If you want to visit Tahoe, you will be much happier doing it from September to June. 

Don't Take Festivals For Granted - Mountain View Was Just Canceled/Moved/Shortened

 We've all done it. We walk through an art & wine festival, look at the art, listen to a band or two, marvel at the crowds, and maybe sip a glass of wine. Maybe even buy a book by a local author.

But we never stop and think of what it takes to organize hundreds of exhibitors, coordinate with the town's chamber of commerce, the police and fire departments, trash collectors, the health authorities, and yes, even the porta-potty companies.

It's a huge job, often thankless, and after months or years of planning, sometimes the permission gets yanked.

For many years, I've exhibited at the Mountain View (where Google headquarters is) Art & Wine Festival. It's been a hugely successful show for 5 decades, drawing monster crowds to Mountain View's downtown the second weekend every September. Apparently, the show was canceled at the last minute.

The organizers scrambled and managed to put together a smaller show over at the CalTrain station and only for one day instead of the usual two.

Like many exhibitors, I wouldn't be able to make a one-day show in a new location work, so I didn't sign up.

Maybe they'll get back to normal next year?

So sorry for any of you who wanted to make the show. The closest I'll be on the peninsula this year is the San Mateo Harvest Festival November 12-14.

Thanks for your patience!

Are We Inundated Yet?

 Perhaps more than ever before, Tahoe is full. Buried with visitors. Tourists and vacation home owners, hikers, bikers, kayakers, boaters, sailors. Oh yeah, beach-goers. Blame it on the rebound from Covid shutdown.

Wait, considering nearly all of us earn our living from tourists, I said that wrong. CREDIT the rebound from the Covid shutdown.

How to cope with the crowds? Oops, there I go again. How to best ENJOY the crowds?

I've said this before. GET THERE EARLY.

It doesn't matter if you're heading out on a hike or cruise or just going to the supermarket. Getting there early makes the difference between finding what you want and need or not getting it at all.

Yes, I realize that some places don't open early. You could get to the beach early and not be able to drive in until they open. My response is that I'd rather be first in line and wait than come later and be turned away by a 'Parking Lot Full' sign.

The other day, I drove around Emerald Bay at 7:30 in the morning. Nearly all parking spaces were already taken. Solution? Plan to start your hike down to the lake (or up into the mountains) at 6:30. You'll find a parking place, and trail will be much less crowded.

Get there early, you will enjoy our fabulous sights, sites, and weather!

Hot? All Is Not Lost

 Saturday afternoon in Sacramento: Air temperature is 107, heading to a forecasted 111.

Despite the heat, all is not lost if you can get up to the lake.

Saturday afternoon at Lake Tahoe: Water temperature near the shore is 66 - 70 degrees. Water temp in the middle of the lake is in the mid-50s. Jump in and swim down 10 feet, you'll likely hit water in the upper 40s. Do a deep dive the way "free divers" do, you might hit 39-degree water.

Bottom line: If you're boating well out into the lake, it's a good idea to just appreciate the cool air blowing over the water's surface. If you fall in, you will definitely cool off. Maybe too much... Probably too much...

Enjoy!