Category: social

Reunion in Bishop

In April 2017, my two brothers and I gathered together with our families to memorialize my father. We made a commitment to gather as a family on a regular basis. In 2020 we set our sights on Bishop in the Eastern Sierra and booked accommodations at the Eastside Guest House and Bivy. Then COVID-19 struck, and we scrapped our plans. With the pandemic easing up this year we decided to make another go at gathering. Family started arriving on Saturday evening, April 24, with people coming from Washington, Texas, Hawaii, and Massachusetts. My wife and I and our lovely Aunt Sue, being the hosts, arrived the day before to give us time to stock the larder with groceries. Eastside Guest House is an ideal location in the Eastern Sierra to set up a base camp for outdoor adventures. The facility has private rooms, a duck pond, a view of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and a common room for cooking and meeting.

We had the barbeque going as guests arrived. Joann and Sue had prepared skewers of Shish kebab which we put on the grill as family joined us.

April 25. The Alabama Hills and Independence

The day started with Lemon Ricotta Waffles. I had arranged ahead of time to have a couple waffle irons available and, with plenty of family chipping in, we were serving waffles at 8 a.m. Waffles with whipped cream, butter, syrup, berries and lots of other goodies.

After breakfast we set up a sandwich station. Line up and make a lunch. Then we piled into cars for the drive to the Alabama Hills.

There is much to see on the drive south from Bishop. Some of our party made a visit to the Manzanar National Historic Site, one of the sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. A few of us stopped at the Mary DeDecker Native Plant Garden and the Eastern California Museum in Independence. The museum has an amazing collection of native American basketry and the garden was looking very nice with many plants in bloom. We also took advantage of the delicious ice cream at the Eastern Sierra Ice Cream Company.

April 26. Big Pine Lakes

Monday morning everybody was on their own for breakfast. Take your pick of oatmeal, eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, raisin bran, other packaged cereals, apples, oranges, and bananas. And if that isn’t enough you can walk next door to Schat’s Bakery for espresso and pastries. Then we again set up the sandwich station.

Several in our group were anxious to get into the High Sierra. Despite the fact that the trails are usually snowed in this time of year, it looked like we might be able to hike to one or two lakes in the Big Pine Lake Basin. We piled into our cars and drove to the trailhead at the end of Glacier Lodge Road.

My wife and I made it as far as First Lake at 10,000 feet. My two brothers and clan made it to Fourth Lake at 11,000 feet. We did find a few patches of snow on the trail, but nothing that required technical gear. First Lake still had some ice. The higher lakes were still frozen over. We logged 9.5 miles on our hike to and from First Lake. You can see a map on my GaiaGPS account. Those that went higher logged 12 miles or so.

April 27. Pleasant Valley Reservoir

With family members ranging in age from 3 1/2 to 84, we opted to do an outing close to Bishop to accommodate those not inclined to tackle a strenuous High Sierra hike. We found a level paved trail along Pleasant Valley Reservoir. This proved to be a lovely hike with opportunities to look for wildflowers and birds.

The more adventuresome drove up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest and reported a lovely outing. Tuesday evening marked our last day together, and we had a birthday to celebrate.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and began our drive back over the mountains.

There is so much to see in the Eastern Sierra. I was sad to leave, but since we have family there, we manage to visit several times a year. The Eastside Guest House and Bivy was a delightful place to host our reunion. The large community room, while being shared with other guests, proved to be a great place to gather, chat, and look at family photos. And talking about photos, you can view more online.

The Church and Creation Care

A friend of mine recently told me that a friend of hers was surprised to discover that the Church has an interest in creation care. I found this a bit surprising since I have had a faith-based interest in environmental stewardship for over 50 years. We need to experience the world around us with a sense that this is a sacred gift given to us. And what institution is better suited to promote the sacred nature of creation than the church? This is not a new idea. Saint Francis of Assisi is often referred to as the patron saint of ecology and of animals. His teachings go back to the 13th century.

For my own part, I have felt that my role in promoting environmental stewardship is to use my camera to create images that capture the beauty and grace of God’s creation, and through those images inspire others to want to save the planet.

This week something shifted, and I was invited to go stand on a street corner and hold up a sign. So the afternoon of October 19 found me at Ashby Avenue and Regent Street in Berkeley holding a sign.

I’m the guy with the black hat. The invitation to participate came through a church croup, Creation Care and Climate Justice, which is looking for ways to make our own church, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, more environmentally-friendly and to share the message with the congregation and the community at large.

The location for our rally was selected because it’s close to the Berkeley Presbyterian Mission Homes (BPMH) and we wanted to show solidarity with their mission.

Now is the time to act. We’re a few weeks away from the Global Climate Conference in Glasgow (COP26) and the global organization “GreenFaith” is asking faith communities to rally and insist on Climate Action. Keep your eyes open; both faith based and secular organizations will be spreading the word.

No Spectators

“No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” is an exhibit currently running at the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland. The exhibit runs through February 16, 2020.

Treve with one of the Burning Man art pieces.

Burning Man had its origins in 1986 when Larry Harvey and Jerry James built a human effigy and burned it on a San Francisco beach. The fire drew a crowd of 35 people. Since then the event has moved to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada, where it now draws over 70,000 people from all over the world.

An entire city rises out of the dust of the desert and provides a canvas for experimental art installations. Some of those art pieces along with a glimpse of the history and culture of Burning Man are on exhibit. Burning Man is governed by ten principles: Radical Inclusion, Gifting, Decommodification, Radical Self-reliance, Radical Self-expression, Communal Effort, Civic Responsibility, Leaving No Trace, Participation, and Immediacy.

  • Burning Man fashion
  • Ten Principles
  • Burning Man art

Having not been to Burning Man, I found the exhibit quite enlightening; I recommend it to anybody with an interest in culture, art and creativity.

The ultimate goal of Burning Man is to encourage the culture of creativity. -Marian Goodell

  • Burning Man temple
  • Burning Man art
  • Burning Man art

You can view more photos from the Oakland Museum exhibit here. Burning Man now has a network to facilitate and extend the culture that originates with the Burning Man event into the larger world.

If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash. – Leonard Cohen

BAMPFA and Ottoman

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. BAMPFA
Hallway. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. BAMPFA
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. BAMPFA
Red stair. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. BAMPFA
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. BAMPFA

We made a visit to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive today, arriving by bike after church. Our motivation for the visit was to watch the film “The End of the Ottoman Empire” by Mathilde Damoisel, a documentary overview of the Ottoman Empire and its decline. The Ottoman Empire is not something I ever studied in school and not something for which I’ve had much appreciation. This movie helped enlighten me, and helped me understand some of the history and cultural issues that still impact much of the middle east today. Recommended viewing if you get a chance. There is another viewing on December 4. Don’t delay though. Tickets for today’s showing sold out early!

Aside from the movie, the building itself has some fascinating architecture.

A Different View of the World

Red shoe on red carpet

I caught some attention this morning when I pulled my iPhone out to photograph my foot. A red shoe on red carpet. My wife explained to some friends that “he has a different  view of the world.”  In any event, I couldn’t resist the temptation. It just seemed like a striking scene and the natural thing to do. And we had just stepped out of a presentation about “social location” and how that affects our understanding of how we read scripture. It seemed like the morning was about celebrating diversity, which seems like a refreshing idea given how divisive and individualistic we seem to have become. So here’s to seeing things differently.

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