All posts by Steve Stern

Marble bath at Steel Pass

California, Death Valley, Photography

 

 

Several years ago  – probably more looking at how much less I weighed  – I was involved in what I like to call The Marble Bath Gambol. At Wendel Moyer’s suggestion, several of us installed a marble bath at Steel Pass where one did not seem to exist but was shown as Marble Bath on many maps. It had been increasingly likely that the area was going to be annexed into Death Valley National Monument which was then going to be upgraded to a National Park – the highest level of protection and control. Wendel felt that the park would need a real Marble Bath but it would have to be done before the area was actually a park.

The installation did involve a certain disregard for the rules and regulations governing the installation of a structure in a Wilderness Area but it was felt that the end result justified the violation.

Somewhere, I have a bunch of pictures of the whole thing but my picture storing protocol has been pretty casual and I am not sure where to even start looking for them. But, today, while looking for something totally unrelated, I ran into this picture.

A fall day

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I do hope that it is not just because I am getting old, but one of my major enjoyments is going to the Farmer’s Market on Weekends. As much as possible because we are often out of town or have something else going. The scarcity of deep winter that turned into some leafy things in spring and then the abundance of the livin’ is  easy summer is all a prelude to the explosion of the fall harvest season.

The two Farmer’s Markets that we have habituated on are Saturday at the College of San Mateo, just 16 miles up 280, and Menlo Park, just 7.5 miles of traffic jamming away. As aside, San Mateo used to be a suburb of San Francisco. When I grew up there, and the Market Street streetcar from San Fran eventually ended up in San Mateo on B Street. Now the College of San Mateo advertises itself   as located at the northern corridor of Silicon Valley. End aside.

On Sunday, we went to the Farmer’s Market is in Menlo Park. For Michele, the first stop was to get a couple of the last tomatoes of the season.

For me, it was to get some greens, while listening to a jazzy combo in the background.

But the stars of the day were the squashes and other fall only fruits? veggies? whatever.

And, of course, this being California – and in San Mateo County, a long time flower growing area – orchids.

From Menlo Park, it was north to San Francisco to see Tracy’s Open Studio.

 

This changing world – Korea edition

Sports, Travel

This weekend was the Korean Gran Prix, the country’s second Formula 1 race. When I was in Korea, in 63 and 64, it was a very different country.   I was on a Tac Site about two hours down a dirt road. When I tried to find it on Google Earth, I couldn’t, but I did notice a six lane freeway nearby. In those days, driving down a road, we often saw Korean women walking by the side of the road; we irreverently called them Mamasans.  The san being a diminutive stolen from the Japanese.

Anyway, in a thoughtful homage to male chauvinistic piggism, every F1 race has a group of women called Grid Girls. They stand at the grid position with the number of the car that will start from that position. Interestingly enough, they are no longer Mamasans.