Muirth Day

So many jumbled thoughts and nowhere to start. Arts and Mountains, Mountains and Arts. . .

It’s Earth Day and yesterday was John Muir’s birthday.

“At a distance of less than 3,000 feet below the summit of Mount Ritter you may find the tributaries of the San Joaquin and Owens Rivers, bursting forth from the ice and snow of the glaciers that load its flanks; while a little to the north of here are found the highest affluents of the Tuolumne and Merced. Thus, the fountains of four of the principal rivers of California are within a four or five mile radius.”

This happens to be where I live.

I’m having a carbon-friendly weekend in honor of our planet. I haven’t been in my car since I came home from the Eastern Sierra Chamber Orchestra performance featuring manually powered instruments on Friday evening. That was preceded by an organic Golden Ale and a free-range-chicken-free Sierra Salad at Mammoth Brewery.

Yesterday morning I shuttled up to our “vibrant” village (insert sarcasm here), and visited
the five booths set up to promote the eco-concerns of the locals. Except that there were no locals there. Perhaps four tourists. Nevertheless I got into an impassioned conversation with the local trails advocates and probably sold some insurance at the same time.

Next stop, the Main Lodge Conference Center to view “In the Shadow of the White Mountains” about the high altitude research stations in the bristlecone pine forest east of here. Three (including me) rabid environmentalists showed up for that one. Until the DVD player broke. I’ll never find out if the mules or horses fared better at 14,000 feet.

Then I took the bus back to the Village, hopped the gondola and stopped in at Canyon Lodge to hear 34 below. I felt like I was on vacation. Except that there was a surf band playing. I’m flexible, so I grabbed a small hot chocolate (cheapest on the menu) and listened for a few. (Why is a hot chocolate $2.00, a coffee $2.00, and a mocha $4.00?).

I shuttled back to Rite-Aid for my free compact fluorescent bulbs (I got a coupon from the trail people) and some kitchen drawer hardware. Then I walked home feeling smug that I had a great afternoon with only $2.00 out of the entertainment budget.

Once home, I fired up the crock-pot to make some turkey red bean chili concocted from stuff I had in the pantry. The low impact Saturday concluded with a Turner Classic Movie: “1001 Nights” – a campy 1945 take on Aladdin and his magic lamp, with Phil Silvers as the trusty sidekick in some hellapimp golden wing-shaped glasses (sans glass) saying “groovy” a few times. I had no idea that phrase dates back to the forties! (Musical director: M. Stoloff) Then, I viewed the ever bizarre but fascinating Bjork on Saturday Night Live. Not a bad day.

I awoke to several inches of fresh snow. So much for an early spring. I’m about to brave the blustery wind to snap a photo to show you the wild Sierra on Earth Day, just steps from my front door.

“The weather of spring and summer in the middle region of the Sierra is usually well-flecked with rains and light dustings of snow, and most of which are far too obviously joyful and life-giving to be regarded as storms; and in the picturesque beauty and clearness of outlines of their cloud they offer striking contrasts to those boundless, all embracing cloud-mantles of the storms of winter.”

I think maybe the red bean chili I made yesterday is contributing to global warming.