Play

Yesterday I ran into Norm Dillinger, the owner and painter of this car. He is a prolific artist and told me he is giving 100% of his art sales now to Play Pumps ( www.playpumps.org ) a simple pump and holding tower strategy for getting water out of the ground for clean, affordable water for many communities in Africa. Check it out if you have time.
We took our time to get out of the valley. Michael has fixed the veggievoyager Ford truck and processed veggie oil so we had enough to make it about 60 miles up to the edge of Mt. Lassen National Park. We went up Hwy 32 though, along Deer Creek, where fire is still smoldering and ash lays down in fingers and carpets all the way to the creek and roadway on both sides. Some of the fire just got the under story and in other places there will be a big risk of mudslides if we have a heavy rain winter. I’m worried about profiteers coming in to salvage-log healthy trees and making the forest more torn up than it already is.
We appreciated being really cold and alone last night up at Wilson Lake, a wonderful lake that goes to meadow almost every summer. It rears many invisible but noise making birds in it’s grasses. The whole area below Lassen was really smoky still with a red sun setting then a red moon rising.
On the way home we stopped along Panther Meadows and walked along Deer Creek enjoying the flowers. There is a view here of Butt Mountain, which we have enjoyed from top and all sides in summer and winter in the past. It looks pretty choked up. Still.