Archives for June 2016

Artists in our Midst

June 30, 2016 By Michelle Fain

Photo: by Michelle Fain. Fun, whimsical hand-crafted Frog Box created by Gerry and Marlene Ludlow of Mt. Shasta City, California.

You know that feeling you get when you walk into a home and all the decor and neat items the people have displayed are so cool you just can’t get enough? Well it happened to me again last week. I was honored to have been invited to the home of Gerry and Marlene Ludlow and what I found there was downright exciting!

First let me say that you can gaze upon, marvel at and even purchase some of the truly amazing items these two have created at the Siskiyou County Fiber Arts Show, being held at the Snow Creek Studio in Mt. Shasta City.

As individuals, Gerry and Marlene have many unique artistic skills and talents. As the perfect peanut butter and jelly team, their combined efforts deliver creations that are out of this world! Their whimsical hand-crafted, hand-painted wooden “boxes” (above) are just one example of their joint talents. He builds the boxes and they both take turns painting in fun imaginative styles! Their boxes even have names! Cute fun adorable names! Some of the wooden boxes are more elegant in their old world craftsmanship and are perfect for holding your precious treasures.

Photo: by Michelle Fain. Works of Art – Hand-crafted wooden knitting needles created by Gerry Ludlow of Mt. Shasta City, California.

The first items I saw and fell in love with that Gerry creates in his perfect wood shop are his hand-crafted wooden knitting needles. These are stunning! I bought a set and I don’t even KNIT! I have always been a crocheter from wayyy back but the smooth and perfect feel of these creative wooden tools is impossible to resist. You can choose a set of these heirlooms for your very own at Weston’s Quilting and Crafts in Mt. Shasta City along with delicious yarns, threads and fibers…

Photo: by Michelle Fain. Fiber Art Doggie lovingly created by Marlene Ludlow of Mt. Shasta City, California.

Continuing on through their gallery, I mean their home, I found a delightful work of art that Marlene created. It is so unique! Hand-painted face, leather nose, perfectly placed rovings for its fur, patchwork fabric background, oh my! This is a one of a kind!

Everywhere I looked in their home I saw something else to ooooh and ahhhh about. He makes gorgeous musical dulcimers, she hand paints fish on the walls of their gorgeous ocean themed, hand-made thick ceramic tiled bathroom, and they both built the most incredible solid 4×4 foot wooden coffee table with hand carved branches and leaves surrounding it and decorating the many drawers!

Below is a wooden cabinet the two of them built and painted. Makes me smile just thinking of their sweet artistic realm!

Photo: by Michelle Fain. Lovely hand-painted cabinet by Gerry and Marlene Ludlow of Mt. Shasta City, California.

My hat is off to Gerry and Marlene for sharing their beautiful works of art. The love and attention to detail that pour out of their partnered creations, surrounding them each day in their perfectly unique artistic styles is solid and so very inspiring.

I hope you take the time to go see the Fiber Arts Show at Snow Creek Studio and witness all the magic for yourself! Create cool stuff… and enjoy your summer! 

Beachcombing the Backroads

June 16, 2016 By RalphFain

Photo: by Ralph Fain. Wind-swept waves at Crescent City, California.

Winter storms fresh out of the Pacific, wild waves crashing the rocky shoreline, howling winds driving horizontal rains, then 60 degree calm, sunny, balmy days. Where will you find these wildly varied conditions January thru March? In the State of Jefferson of course! Along the Pacific coast of Northern California and Southern Oregon you can discover some of the most varied and beautiful ocean coastline in the United States.

With miles and miles of coastal trails, ancient redwoods, towering rocky cliffs, sandy beaches and world class steelhead rivers there is an adventure awaiting the exploratory soul. You simply observe the weather conditions, choose your activity, prepare accordingly and launch yourself into the day. Don’t let a little rain slow you down. There is a reason they make rain jackets! Use them and get out and about! The only time you really want to stay inside is at the height of a Pacific winter storm. Then it is best to observe the action from your warm, dry car. Heck even a diehard adventurer seeks shelter during the worst storms!

I like to wander the beaches after these storms. Every storm, every tide, every day changes a beach. One day may be a driftwood day with piles and piles of newly delivered driftwood lining the high tide mark. Sometimes the driftwood consists of thousands and thousands of small pieces of wood. Sometimes you find logs, stumps, limbs and even whole trees. Usually the tide and currents bring the driftwood fresh from flooding rivers. Occasionally, the driftwood arrives after spending months or even years in the ocean.

These pieces are worn with character from salt, sand, wind and waves. Another day may be a sand day where the churning ocean has dug the sand from the shallows and flung it high onto the beach covering everything. Or maybe it is a shell day, with thousands and thousands of small shells washed high and dry. Beware the shells in the water for these almost always contain a critter of some kind and neither you nor they will be very happy a few days after you bring them home and your cool shells become a stinky crustacean grave yard!

I wait patiently for the days when the gravel beds are exposed. I like to look for agates within those gravel beds. My buddies (and son) who find this to be less than a manly activity can poke all the fun at me they wish. I don’t give a rat’s keister how much seal guano they throw my way, searching for agates is one of the most relaxing, soul soothing activities I enjoy! I can walk and search for hours with nothing more on my mind than the sound of the surf, the taste of salt spray and the touch of the onshore breeze. My favorite way to look for agates is to walk into the sun with the light shining from behind the stones. The agates glow with the light and jump out from the gravel beds. With the next tide these beds can be covered in sand and may remain so for days, months or years.

I have been on the beaches when dozens of whole, unbroken, full sized sand dollars were scattered along the beach. I have discovered the same whole, unbroken sand dollars the size of a quarter. What occurs in the ocean to cause hundreds of small jelly fish to wash ashore?

Floats from the fishermen’s crab pots can be found washed ashore after large storms. I gather these and bring them home to be used as a reminder of the sea, someday to use as adornments to my pool area. My greatest gift occurred after a large storm when I was walking a Southern Oregon beach. Within a 100 yard stretch I found 3 hand blown glass fishing floats from Japanese fishing boats. How do I know these were Japanese? Along with the floats were jars, bottles and papers all with Japanese writing on them. It is my understanding we will be deluged in the next few years with the flotsam and jetsam from the devastating tsunami which struck Japan. Along with the garbage, I wonder what treasures we will find from their tragedy?

Hit our coastal backroads. Explore, relax and absorb the best of times along our beaches and have great patience awaiting your “Gift from the Sea.” ♦

“I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.” -T. S. Eliot

The Shasta Route along the Southern Pacific Railroad

June 3, 2016 By Claudia East

Featured Photo taken near Edgewood Contributed by Yreka Preservation

It took from 1850 until December 16, 1887 before the railroad had the last piece of rail connecting San Francisco with Portland. It was with great angst that the railroad decided to bypass Yreka, the county seat, in favor of a different route via Montague. But, with determination and pluck Yreka set out to build a connecting line from Montague to Yreka so our residents could easily access the direct rail line for shipping and travel.

Many Yrekans took advantage of the train routes, but travel from Yreka to San Francisco and back was a mainstay for many Yreka shippers, merchants and travelers. It is interesting to note that special excursions were often advertised about the beautiful Shasta Route and the lovely scenery one could enjoy along this route from San Francisco all the way to Portland. In 1915, during the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, Southern Pacific had special round trip tickets from Montague to San Francisco. A 9 Day Exposition Rate, good with stopovers was $17.00 per person for the round trip. A 10 Day rate was on sale for a round trip cost of only $14.25.

If a person traveled from San Francisco to Yreka on this route their journey would begin at the Ferry Building in San Francisco at the foot of Market Street. The ferry boats of the Southern Pacific would take the traveler across to bay to the Oakland Pier. Boarding the train at Oakland the traveler would ride along the eastern shore of the bay and quickly arrive at Port Costa where the train actually was loaded on a ferry boat and was carried across the Carquinez straits. From there the train would be able to get back on the railroad tracks and head to Sacramento. Once they passed through Sacramento they would head north on the advertised “Road of a Thousand Wonders.”

Featured Photo of Shasta Springs Contributed by Yreka Preservation

The passengers would pass Mt. Lassen, chug through Redding and on up through the Sacramento River Canyon. They would pass Castella, view the beautiful Castle Crags, and arrive at Dunsmuir. Near Dunsmuir they would next pass by the beautiful Mossbrae Falls and stop at Shasta Springs which was known as one of the best all-the-year-round resorts! The passengers were able to stop long enough for a drink of the famous sparking Shasta water. The view of gorgeous Mt. Shasta would be seen as the passengers wound through the canyon and past the base of the mountain. Black Butte, also known as Muir’s Peak, was another advertised site along the way. The train would pass into the Shasta Valley via Edgewood on through Gazelle and Grenada and make its way to Montague. Once at Montague a passenger would either take a taxi service to Yreka or ride the short line to town. The Shasta Route continued as far as Portland.

This kind of service for Yrekans was available for many years, but unfortunately much of the route is no longer easily available for passengers. Those that do ride the train miss most of the beautiful scenery as the time table runs past the most scenic areas in the dark of night.

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