20. Back in California

Que and I pack up the car again and drive 15 hours south for Christmas break in California...

As soon as we cross the border into my beloved treehugger state, we spot a herd of protected elk. This herd wouldn't last 2 minutes in El Big. They have fluffy, shaggy faces and weak chins, and seem almost dog-like in appearance. A female takes notice of Que and starts doing a sideways "girlfriend" neck-bob mating dance.

19. Candles in Portland

For Jimmy

18. First Snow

I love the dry snow. The flakes are fluffy and the size of quarters. It's nothing like the slush I am used to seeing in California.I spend a half an hour taking photos just in the parking lot...






Later that morning, I drive out to the north side of town and sketch the highest mountain...

17. Stunning October

Today's Culture Shock Level is: TEMPORARILY SHROUDED BY THE BEAUTY OF AUTUMN







Cumulonimbus virga in the sky on an early morning drive.

This pine is not sick-it's supposed to be this way. It turns yellow and sheds it's needles in Autumn. It's a deciduous conifer, called the Western Larch (Larix occidentalis)

16. Culture Shock in Cali

Today's Culture Shock Level is: 180 DEGREES

After only one month in El Big, I return to California to check in with my mother. I experience a strange phenomena of reverse culture shock. The California traffic already seems too fast. People in the suburbs, in particular, seem really stressed out.

I spend all my time helping my mother move the entire contents of her house into a storage center and throwing out 40 odd years of acculmative junk. My two week visit stretches into entire month of September...
(Incidentally, if you look up "pack rat" in the dictionary, you'll see a picture of my dear mum.)

In between the moving, I take photos of the vanishing Oak trees in the foothills surrounding my mother's home...

Que emails me daily photographic updates of the changing Autumn leaves...

15. Summer in El Big

Patriotic egg farmers at the itty-bitty farmer's market...

Archaic patriarchal religious groups that sell voluptuous cinnamon rolls...



The cabbage table...

Honey sold from the neighbor's front porch.

Hal's 24 Flavors attracts visitors from every little town east of the mountains...

Drive-In movie theater!

Bison ranges! Fresh ground bison burger now available at the El Big Safestway meat section...

This is the kind of town that recruits a lot of young men for the military. I am surprised by the sheer number of yellow ribbons on every tree, lightpost and standing structure in town. Every car has at least two of them on their bumpers...








Pristine mountain lakes...

...and naughty fishermen.

A 5 minute drive to DQ. Life is good!

14. Our First Big Month in Town

Today's Culture Shock Level is: DANGEROUSLY HIGH

My jaw drops every time I leave our apartment. Every day regular activities of my fellow El Bigians stop me in my tracks. I can't sketch or take photos fast enough, and I'm self conscious about doing so. The loss of the anonymity that I had in SF is disconcerting. I've been in town for a few weeks and my culture shock hasn't died down at all. At this point I can't imagine how it ever will. I ask Que to take special note of this time and ask me how I'm doing in a year...



The locals continue to stare at us like we have three heads. The hardest part is trying not to stare back at them.

Que's photographic highlights from the Summer festival...

The man in the large rigg is trying to ride over the wheels of the small rigg. The woman driving the smaller rigg darts ahead 20 feet, and they repeat it all over again.

Click on photo to see the grin on the cowboy's face.


Where's Waldo?

Mennenights at the Quilt Show

Quiltin' cowboy
***

Pretty detail on the street lights on the main avenue.

A recently rennovated apartment on the south side of town.

"20 tans for 36.00 dollars!"
A window sticker on an apartment window...

Unlike California ruralites who enjoy wearing military styles, El Bigians wear an attractive cammoflouge created from Photoshop images of leaves and sticks. You often see people wearing cammo out at dinner, shopping, or hanging out with friends at the cafe...

There is a big bronze scene in the El Big valley. One nearby town boasts of international fame for it's artist foundries. We walk down the main street and spot huge bronze sculptures--all with varying degrees of skill and talent--placed in every open space available. There's no escaping them. Here is a snapshot of an enormous painted bronze bald eagle on the outskirts of town...

Wide selections of fancy Western belt buckles...


Thank God.