Category: Misc

Airplane crash off the South Coast of Big Sur

UPDATE 9 pm – The SLO Tribune is reporting that 2 people were rescued from this crash.

My son reported from the hermitage that he heard sirens and something that sounded like a loud shot from the direction of Lucia around 4:45 pm. Another reader reported that he saw the last of an airplane crash into the ocean from his position at Gorda Mountain. He witnessed the last 15 minutes or so, before the plane sank. The Coast Guard were on the scene. These two reportings may have been related.

John Galuszka sent me these photos of the incident:

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Profile, Willow Springs Supervisor

Recently, a new face came to the South Coast, at the Willow Springs Maintenance Yard. His name is Greg DeAlba. He is the new supervisor. He came to us from Santa Barbara where he was a lead worker, which sometimes entails acting as supervisor. He has six years experience with Cal Trans, although his father has over 30 years.

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He oversees a crew of six. Currently, he has only four on his crew, including himself. One of his crew, another Greg, also comes to us from Santa Barbara, and has only been here a short time. The other, Joel, comes from the Cambria station, and has been here a few months longer. When I asked him what he thought the major difference between the Santa Barbara station and this one is, he replied: “The quiet. You can go out on the road first thing in the morning and not see another car.” He recently hiked a couple miles up the back country behind the Willow Springs Yard, and is completely taken with the beauty of his new home.

He acknowledges that keeping the road clear this first winter will be his biggest challenge, but he is enthusiastic, and says he, Greg, and Joel all love to work, and are looking forward to and are up for the challenge.

Greg is married with three children, the oldest of which just started second grade at Pacific Valley School.

Vehicle over the edge, north of Bixby Bridge

As of 5:30 this evening, CHP is reporting a vehicle over the edge, 70 feet down, just north of Bixby Bridge. One reporting party seems to indicate the parties were out of the vehicle, and seemed okay. NOTE the comments below re another incident at Sycamore Canyon re a roll-over, so very unclear at the moment.

A little of this, a little of that

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To me, our hills are very sensuous, particularly in the spring, as when this one was shot.

Just a word of update for all those curious about what has been happening on the case involving the 5 Cal Trans workers. The last court date was 8/23, and it was continued again until October, which is not unusual, apparently due to voluminous amounts of paper. There has not been a preliminary hearing, yet.

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The same contractor who has been doing this project will be starting the Rocky Creek Viaduct after labor day. There will be a community meeting about the impact of the project, if any, on Emergency Services this week. It is looking like Thursday at MAF at 10:00, but that has not yet been firmed up. Cal Trans is also looking to make a presentation at the next MAF meeting in October.

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Okay, this doesn’t have to do with anything. I just like it!

Bob Mattson, Barbara Sparhawk, and Black Walnut

Last week I got an email from a friend and fellow blogger in Carmel Valley, Barbara Sparhawk. What an amazing lady. Her life has been so rich and diversified, I want to be her when I grow up. She wrote for CBS News, FOX, and others in NYC, all the while doing huge murals in NYC, Coney Island and other places. You can find a sprinkling of who she is here: hawk’s Perch

Any way, she emailed me about a walnut tree that had shed a limb that she wanted to offer to a Big Sur wood carver. Rock Knocker is such a carver, so I asked if he would be interested. “Hell yeah!” he said, and so we were off to see the Farm Center in Carmel Valley on Robinson Canyon Rd. I hadn’t been since I moved to the South Coast, and there were LOTS of changes! I love what the place has become – an artist’s colony. Here are some photos of that journey.

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I am convinced that Barbara is a soul sister from a past life. If not, she should be!

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Barbara carried 90% of the wood to Rock Knocker’s truck. What a gal! I’ll make sure there is a bowl for you, but RK says it will be at least a year before it is ready to carve. If he won’t carve it, I will. My maiden name is “woods” for a reason!

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Friday the 13th, Zebras, and other stories

I didn’t want to write this morning, for fear I would jinx myself. Now that I am safely escounsed in my own home, I figure I’ll give it my best shot. It was actually a good day, no hi-jinxs came my way today.

First, Zebras were close to the road today, so I took advantage of it. This is for my friend Rose, who has a thing for Zebras. It think it is their cute little butts. But who knows? Maybe its the black and white of it all!

Zebras for Rose

(YAY! It inserted!) For those out of the area, when Hearst built his castle, he imported some exotic animals, among them, the zebra. Now the herd of a dozen or more are healthy and happy with lots of “home-like” land to roam.

Second, here are a couple of shots of the rock drapery on last year’s Alder Creek slide. You should see those rock climbers lay this stuff down. Such talented people Cal-Trans has working for it.

Bottom of Rock Drapery, Alder Creek 1/13/12

Top of Rock Drapery, Alder Creek 1/13/12

Wow! Two more photos uploaded AND inserted! This is my lucky day!

And lastly, I warned about accepting advertisements. Well, I added two links on specific prior posts a couple days ago, and today, I am adding a new link to the right under a new category for “Sponsors.” These are for people who pay me for providing a link to their site. You can ignore them, but it would probably help me if you could click on one, once in a while. Right now there is only one, but since it leads to a fire fighting course, I thought it was very worthwhile. The money I was paid for these three links is enough to cover the donation I made earlier this week to the BSVFB, so it all comes around in the end.

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH EVERYONE! And it looks like Kate is no longer “unplugged.” (Thanks, Neil for pointing that out.)

I’m back

The holidays, for me, were full of joy and friendship. It was also, beyond hectic – they were chaotic, in many ways, so sorry I haven’t been around to wish you all a Happy New Year, so a day late, and several dollars short, I wish that 2012 brings you joy, peace and love.

Our weather has been remarkable, a very dry December, and temperatures that are defin

I tried again several times over the holidays to upload the photos for voting for the photo contest, and I am just not having any luck at all! I don’t know what is going on.

Changes coming to bigsurkate

About a year ago, a reader in Fresno informed me of an ad for Treebones on my blog. I couldn’t see it, and John Handy knew nothing of it. Since then, others have noticed ads, as have I.

My blog has become popular, so ads are becoming more and more a part of it. I do not get paid for these ads. In fact, I have to pay MORE to have an ad-free blog through an update. I already pay for storage, and will have to pay for more sometime next year. So, I started questioning how I could get paid for the ads on my blog, and I was just accepted into a new program which will allow that to happen starting next year.

Just prior to being accepted into this program, I was offered the chance to buy bigsurkate.com. My offer of $200 was rejected, so I went to godaddy.com and purchased bigsurkate.net and bigsurkate.me. Both have now been directed to my blog. Turns out this was a good thing, as I had to have my own domain to be accepted into the wordad program, and yesterday I was! So, starting next year, I will have more ads on my blog, but the money it generates (I imagine quite small) will help me to off-set the cost of the space I must pay for in order to keep this blog going and to archive ALL the old “stuff” I have posted. I hope this will work for all of us, and that the ads are not too intrusive. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about these changes.

Also, in my major push to get some photos up in the last couple of weeks, I managed to use up most of my data allowance for this month, so I will be watching how long I am online until the 22nd, when the next cycle starts.

Also, a new rain gauge found a good, solid place to be which should render accurate readings, and is anchored so it should not be subject to loss due to winds. Also, today, I got my wireless weather station set up. It still needs to be tied off, but absent unexpected winds, it is up and running. With it, not only can I get indoor/outdoor temperature readings, wind speeds (up to 100 mph), barometric pressure, forecasts, and history of maximums and minimums. This, hopefully will allow me to make more accurate weather reports this winter. We are uptown now, boys and girls!

Happy Holidays! I’ll still be here, but a tad less frequently until after the 22nd!

Happy Mother’s Day

While some believe this is another “created” holiday for more commercialism, the roots of this celebration are much deeper than that.

Spiritual Origin of Mothers Day
Only recently dubbed “Mother’s Day,” the highly traditional practice of honoring of Motherhood is rooted in antiquity, and past rites typically had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones; societies tended to celebrate Goddesses and symbols rather than actual Mothers. The personal, human touch to Mother’s Day is a relatively new phenomenon. The maternal objects of adoration ranged from mythological female deities to the Christian Church itself. Only in the past few centuries did celebrations of Motherhood develop a decidedly human focus.

Goddess Isis – Early Egyptian Roots
One of the earliest historical records of a society celebrating a Mother deity can be found among the ancient Egyptians, who held an annual festival to honor the goddess Isis, who was commonly regarded as the Mother of the pharaohs. Her stern, yet handsome head is typically crowned by a pair of bull horns enclosing a fiery sun orb. She is most often depicted sitting on a throne.

So, for our ultimate Mother – Mother Earth and Gaia, Happy Mother’s Day. And for the female energy, blessings to you and yours.

Happy Valentine’s Day

I wish for all of you … love.

I am spending the day – on and off – with the first love of my life, my Mother. She is passing on faster than we thought. Back when I can.