Arcata Plaza During Farmers Market

During Farmers Market the plaza fills up with musicians, jugglers, and entertainers. It was great fun and a chance to see what the locals are all about.

A group of locals form a drumline and circle the plaza lead by a self proclaimed band leader. The children follow the parade dancing and holding flags.

The band leader was enthusiastic and entertaining.

Locals watch a jazz trio. Beautiful music.

Locals. Guy in the yellow shirt has a lovely carved piece of redwood in his ear.


The plaza empties out as soom as the vendors leave.

Warning signs are the result of the Alaska quake in the 60's which caused the tsunami in Crescent City 80 miles north of here. The warning went off when Joey and I were hiking around the nature trails in the marsh area. It was short lived so we decided it was a test. When I got home I heard that Alaska had a 5.9 quake. Maybe the alarm we heard was an almost event they canceled.

I noticed Joey looked just like Caesar on his shirt.

This is the front entrance to Humboldt. The new apartments will be ready next year.

If you haven't already, start with blog posted below, "Joey Checks In At Humboldt". Outside of Wildlife Department

Joey and polar bear inside department

Some friendly faces in the stairwell.

You can not appreciate how large this wolf is. His head came to my chest.

Joey in the hallway.

This room has four walls of stuffed birds. Joey wanted to stand by the volture.

More friendly faces on the wall in the bird room

Looking from the top of campus. The rest of the campus is below with Humboldt Bay in the distance.

The track and football field is in a bowl surrounded by redwoods. The bowl was dug out as part of the government's Works Project. The campus is 100 years old.

Redwoods are throughout the campus.

This is one of the new buildings that house indoor pool, new basketball gym, dance and fencing rooms, kineseology dept, etc. It is beautiful.

No doubt Joey will be spending a lot of time at his Aunt Nancy's house. She is just 10 minutes away. Photo: Nancy holding Neveah, Ray, Elaina (not sure how to spell), and Joey. Joey looks a lot like his Aunt Nancy. They also have a similar personality. I think they will enjoy each other.

Joey plays with the girls.

Joey Checks In At Humboldt

After 10 1/2 hours of driving we arrive at Arcata. We went directly to check in at HSU, or Hills and Stairs University as it is also known.

Joey unpacks his truck.

This is check in for housing which is the beginning of the long climb up to Joey's dorm room.

1st set of stairs

2nd set of stairs

3rd set of stairs

4th set of stairs

5th set of stairs

6th set of stairs. Could we be there yet? Oh, no.

Yikes! This one killed me. At the top of these stairs you are at the bottom of Joey's dorm building. "Which floor?", you ask. The 3rd floor and no elevator.

1st set of dorm room stairs

2nd set

3rd set

4th set

Ah, we are finally in the room. We went up and down those stairs some ungodly number of times. Joey will have legs of steel.

Tomorrow I will post more pictures of the campus, Joey, Leonard, and Luke. We had a great time. Arcata is like no other place. The locals are from a time warp. It is the 70's all over again. I say all the people who are too freaky for San Francisco come up to Arcata. The campus is not so freaky. And, Joey's department of Wildlife Studies is very impressive. There will be pictures of a polar bear, wolf, and voltures. So, be sure and check in on the blog.

Extra Updates

Another copy of Luke's artwork. I love his work. He has such beautiful use of color and movement. Luke is also joining a rugby team. He still does his mixed martial arts. What's a mother to do? Speaking of sports teams, Patty is joining a softball team from work. Go Patty!



On Thursday Joey, Kaleigh, Joey's friend, Nick, Gina, Steven, Alan and I went to see Spamalot at the Ahmanson Theater. It was hysterical. Even the program was funny. I will have to scan the cast of characters and email it to Sarah Jane. She will enjoy the humor. I also plan to show Kimmo and Kristina Pylvanainen the next time I see them. The program makes fun of Finland. Go see the play if you like Monty Python.

Joey And I Visit Grandma, Grandpa, And Family

Joey and I wanted to visit Grandma and Grandpa before Joey leaves for HSU. Plus, Grandpa's birthday is Sunday. Everyone was out at Mountain Lakes. Sarah and David were trying out their new 5th wheel. It's a beauty. Not all my pictures came out, so I don't have photos of Keren, Frank, and Seth. Next time. The weather was great. We only stayed a couple of hours, but had a good time. Leonard and I will have to take the trailer some time.

Grandma Sarah and Sarah

Raquel, Summer, Sarah, David, and Alexa

Summer, Sarah, and Alexa in the 5th wheel

David in his man-vehicle

Raquel and Enoch

Grandpa Chet and Selah

Mia

Scott and Debbie (they are both standing!)

Sal

Karol and Ericka Come To Visit

It was a joy to have Karol and Ericka visit. Ericka starts 8th grade in Sept. She will be attending public school for the first time. This summer she took surfing lessons. She has taken lessons before and is off the foam boards and using a hard board. Her mother is supposed to send me photos. I will post them as soon as they come. I wish I was a surfergirl.

The Dreaded Latrodectus mactans!

Every year at this time I let my plants overgrow in the garden. It helps to keep them from burning in the 100 + degree weather. The problem is the black widow spiders love to hide in my overgrown garden. I have been bit twice by black widows. The first time was not so bad...heart raced a little, clammy sweats, then muscle spasm for a day in one thigh. The next time I was bit was horrible. My whole body felt like a spasm. My mother-in-law said the second bite was worse because I was bit in the tender skin of my under arm. The bite went deeper. I seem to get bit when I decide to clean out my garden at the beginning of fall. Joey took this photo. I hope it will remind me to be cautious.

This spider (above) nested on the fence right above the beautiful cherry tomato plant my sister gave me (below).

Although not quite ripe, this is the healthiest plant in my garden (above). Does the spider know that?

Unfortunately my Topsy Turvy plant is not doing as well as it was. When the weather turned real hot I had to water frequently, the water dripped down onto the plant and gave it blight. I still am getting plenty of cherry tomatoes. But, the blight may eventually take over the whole plant.

My peppers are ready to pick. I am going to make salsa. My step family call it "chili".

My eggplant went into hibernation during the heat wave. Now it has cooled down and I am producing eggplant again. The grasshoppers are eating it, though. I think I will still get a few.

This is the basil (above) I used for the pasta salad (below). I also used yellow squash and parsley from the garden. I couldn't use my own tomatos because we ate all the ripe ones last week. I won't have new ripe toms until next weekend. Same with my zuchini and yellow squash. That is the downfall of container gardening. I never get a bumper crop, just enough to enjoy.

Yum!