...and mud boots!
...and mud boots!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
ROL - so you know the granite quarry up the road from Academy. When they went bust
my dad bought up the entire stock of leftover granite slab, built a fireplace as big as a
climbing wall and acres of ornamental rock work. I spent so much time with a cement mixer
and wheelbarrow as a kid that the mere thought of mixing a single bag of fencepost mix
freaks me out. I had exclusive hiking and hunting rights to a half-million acre ranch in that
area because we were close to the owner and I grew up with his son. The man had gotten rich as a rodeo hall-of famer. No doubt quite subdivided by now. But still plenty of quiet backroads, esp if you angle off toward the Kings River area. Hope I can start printing
some 8x10 color shots by next spring. I just popped for a 40" roll of Fuji Supergloss.
I know the Academy Granite quarry---in fact my family tombstone is made from the stuff. Theres lots of mini ranchos around it now. Was the rodeo hall of famer you mentioned Slim Pickens? He's got a good sized ranch a bit farther up the road.
Theres still a lot of open land---water is the big issue---but it is getting nibbled up. Where I'm at we've got a good well but just to the east, in Appaloosa Acres---water is being piped in. Whats odd is 30 years ago I was told you could set a fence post in Appalooosa Acres and there was a chance it would likely float up.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Of course. My wife has instructions to bury me (or my "remains", assuming they can be locatedOriginally Posted by Drew Wiley
) in the Academy Cemetery, and there are apparently plenty of people who would prefer to see that happen sooner than later.
Off Sample Road:
Vernal Pond, Sierra Foothills
5X7 TXP 320 (200), Nikkor 300mm, PMK Pyro
BTW, having never visited it myself, we always thought the rumor of a nudist colony hidden in the eucaylptus grove at the end of Copper was urban myth.
Oops! My mistake--Wilbur Plaughter the rodeo clown has the ranch up the road.
I don't know why Slim Pickens came to mind.
Sheesh! Gettin' old.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Well. I've packed the 5x7 Speeder to have another go at it!
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
John - Wilbur Plauger was a very close family friend. He was a huge fellow and one of his
Rodeo stunts was to pull a baby donkey out of his baggy clown pants. When it got too big
he gave it to us. As a kid I made big hay forts in his barn (though I had terrible hay fever).
He had incredible trained mutts, and his Brooklyn model wife was scared to go outdoors
because she was afraid of the "beahs". He also had the meanest Brahma bulls I've ever
encountered, and himself got gored in the Rodeo ring at least six times. Later I briefly did
cowboy work myself on the adjacent ranch, which was owned but some absolutely wild
mustangers who had come off a million acre ranch in Nevada. To this day, I'm in love with
dry golden grass colors and muted green brush - had to get out and shoot some over the
weekend, using a new lens test as an excuse.
Oh the water table thing ... What I'd do is climb up on some hill and look for patches of
green or certain kinds of plants in midsummer. Then I'd check out the area for signs of
Indian encampments (reliable springs over the centuries). Plus I knew the geology like the
back of my hand. But you couldn't talk about any of that to the locals. So I'd show up with
a witching stick ... wander off dazed-looking to exactly the spot I knew would be good for
a well, shake the stupid stick up and down. They'd put in the well and pay me some decent
money..... "Damn, does that kid have the gift" (referring to witching skills)!
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