It was a perfect day for a drive, so after a leisurely morning, we headed to Reno. Before doing so however, I had referred to my trusty Atlas Obscura and found The Generator.

We knew, just driving up, that this place was something special.
The Generator is an inclusive art space, makerspace and community space in greater Reno/Sparks for anyone who wants to make things and be part of a creative community.
"We dream. We convene. We create. We make. We’re inspired by the magic and inspiration we see in all its enormity at Burning Man each summer, and we want to keep it alive all year. We combine forces and share resources in the name of creative growth and community involvement for all. Never been to Burning Man? No worries. Burner status is not required."
This enormous cavern was built to be a collection of people, talents and tools. They share their skills, knowledge and resources to help each other build their ideas.  Artists teach carpenters how to paint. Carpenters teach makers how to build. And makers teach artist how to tinker. What is totally cool is that they welcome 'tourists'. You do have to sign a waiver which, in addition to obvious safety issues, asks you to follow the creative community ethics as outlined in Burning Man’s Ten Principles (radical inclusion, share and share alike, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, leave no trace, participation and lastly immediacy.
I think I like #10 Immediacy best. The principle states, "Stay with us; we’re going to get a little philosophical here. You know how sometimes while you’re going about your everyday life you can lose track of yourself, of what you really value? We’re not going to tell you what you should value, but we will tell you this is a place where you can hold onto your dreams, cultivate the heck out of them, and let them loose. We want to see you flourish creatively. We think that’s good for everyone."


And what's really cool is that this place is fluid. Projects get completed and another one begins, so each visit reveals a new creation. I was intrigued by Bee Dance by Andrea Greenlees. I love bees so this totally grabbed me. I read all about it on London-based Andrea's go fund me page.
As a climbable and interactive art installation its primary purpose is to provide pleasure and stimulation and a sense of wonder to participants but it also serves to remind us of the crucial role that honeybees play in our own survival at a time when the bee population is under threat. When completed, it will be 20 feet high and 25 feet wide. It is made of hand-formed tubular steel that will be welded and invisibly bolted together. The Bees will have huge protruding eyes, illuminated from within. The hooped bodies and myriad projections from thorax and head provide robust handholds and footholds for people to clamber over and cling to, just as pollen clings to a bee. As well as clambering over the outside participants can crawl inside the bodies like insects themselves and explore. I hope, after Burning Man, it will be installed somewhere so I, too, can be a bee.


Eclectic indeed. Each artist has defined his space in his own unique way adding an exciting element which provided us with numerous occasions of delighted discovery as we wandered about.


When in Reno, with time to explore, The Generator, will be on our must visit again list of amazing things to experience. Wow.

Tonight's Friends of the Library presentation was described, "Join us to uncover the truth behind Lake Tahoe’s popular myths and legends! Sarah Hockensmith, from the Tahoe Institute for Natural Science, will debunk some common misconceptions, while also exploring the basin’s unique history, geology, flora, and fauna."

Sarah is amazing and dispelled so many local myths, I should have taken better notes to be able to share them.
The one that surprised me and my other Forest Service volunteer friends was the fact that the Lake was not formed by a volcano... it was here millions of years before the eruption happened. Hmmm.
No, there are not a bunch of preserved dead bodies floating about in the bottom of the Lake (mafia or otherwise). Yes, beavers are indigenous. No, bears do not hibernate. Yes, bats can carry rabies but they are not dirty (Sarah thinks they are awesome). There is no correlation between a big winter and a terrible presence of yellow jackets in the summer. Interesting... all of it.
Fifty-two of us came to the library to learn more about the area we love. That's a pretty awesome way to spend a Wednesday night.

For one of my summer volunteer gigs, I have to be fingerprinted digitally. Not a big deal, right?

Chances are my report will be rejected. Turns out I have very rough hands (old lady fingers). Who knew 57 years of non-pampering would have such consequences?! Of all ten fingers, after several attempts, only one (my right thumb) passed. The tech said, typically, the second scan passes.

The good thing about this all is that I'm starting the process early. Hopefully all will pass with flying colors before volunteer season begins.

I have only skied here once and it was in the early 90s. I think times have changed for this ski resort and I was happy to return, if only to stroll about.

Northstar was a former lumber site once owned by the Douglas Lumber Company of Truckee. It was acquired by Fibreboard when they purchased Douglas in 1967. Its original name was Timber Farm, but was changed to Northstar-at-Tahoe when the mountain opened in December of 1972.
Now known simply as Northstar (since its amazing transformation beginning in 2004), its Village had a relaxed vibe and delicious Mexican food.
Strategically located around the property were fire pits to help combat the 31° temperature.
We plan to return after the snow melts. We've been invited after all, "Join us at the Village main stage every Saturday and Sunday afternoon this summer to enjoy live performances from local bands and musicians." Woo hoo. We are so there!

It was a silly friend day. Plotting trips, sipping tea, thrift store shopping and a stroll to the Lake... Jenny and I had one of those days.

And the Mountain Chickadee sang his cheeseburger song as he frolicked in a snowmelt created pond.
And we stood on the pier during a spectacular Spring day... life is pretty sweet at the Lake.

Emerald Bay is my happy place. When we awoke and saw what a gorgeous day it was, we headed out early beating the exodus of tourists checking out of their hotel rooms.

While the snow was a tad treacherous in some parts, it was all worth it just being there.

Even Spring was visiting the Bay.

A picnic lakeside makes the trip down the hill that much more fun.
This selfie, and the four images below, were taken with Steve's new Pixel 3 cell phone. I think they are exceptional. They almost make me want to trade in my flip phone ... almost.

I could have slept here for hours.




The butterflies were out in full force. What an added delight to have one land on my water jug. A true gift. What a morning in Tahoe!

Today begins the celebration of libraries. I thought I'd share a little history about South Lake Tahoe's.

I secured my library card three days after moving here.

In 1978 preliminary plans were begun for a new branch library in South Lake Tahoe next to the county campground. After obtaining grant funding from the federal government the new library was completed and dedicated on April 16, 1983. The 12,000 square foot facility on Rufus Allen Boulevard has the unique good fortune to overlook beautiful Lake Tahoe out of its north windows. It is a popular place for locals and tourists alike.

Part of our decision to move where we did was due to the quality of the library. It helps, too, that it is within walking distance of our cabin.

I'm a huge fan of the postcard. It has been called the haiku of correspondence. During one 5 week trip across America, I documented sending 483 postcards, sharing our adventure with the masses.

This work was created by me c. 2018

I wish I could be two places at once. If possible, I would be at the British Museum free exhibition, The World Exists To Be Put On A Postcard, displaying over 300 postcards by artists who used their work to highlight the major political and social events of the 1960s.
Artists have subverted the common postcard for decades. While the artists’ postcard began as a child of the Conceptual and Fluxus movements of the 1960s, it quickly broadened as an artistic medium to highlight political and social issues, such as feminism, anti-war protest and the fight against AIDS.


"In this, the first major museum display of artists’ postcards, discover both the politics and playfulness of this unique collection of 300 postcards recently gifted to the British Museum by the artists’ postcard expert Jeremy Cooper - ranging from feminist artists such as Lynda Benglis and Hannah Wilke, to Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s anti-Vietnam War is Over postcard and the original invitation to Andy Warhol’s Holy Cow! Silver Clouds!! Holy Cow! exhibition."

What an ideal way to celebrate National Card & Letter Writing Month. If I only could...

Often Steve will take the road less traveled and we then make new discoveries. We have passed this marker and have never paused for the history lesson it provides... until today!

It reads: Carson Valley is the Birthplace of Nevada. By 1851, people settled at a place they called Mormon Station, renamed Genoa in 1856. With the early establishment of a post office and local government, the community can lay claim to the title of "Nevada’s first town."


Thousands of emigrants moved over the old road skirting the west bank of the Carson River as they prepared to cross the Sierra, feeding their livestock on grass cut along the river. At Genoa; at Mottsville, settled in 1852; and at Sheridan, settled by Moses Job about ’54; emigrants stopped to enjoy produce of the region’s first gardens. Pony Express riders used this route in 1860, switching a year later to the shorter Daggett Trail, now Kingsbury Grade.

It was far too beautiful of a day not to stroll to the Lake.

No breeze, warm sunshine and spectacular scenery... it couldn't have been more perfect.




After a walk along the shore, we dined at my new favorite coffee spot- The Morning After Café. I am addicted to their savory, Hangover Waffle. Oh man, delicious.

Photos have always been powerful memory evokers for me. Recently, I rediscovered some long stored pictures and this one, in particular, brought a flood of memories to the forefront.

What a ridiculous sight really. Obviously the 14 year old (me) is way too big for the pony on which she rides- oblivious to the ridiculousness. The image was captured in the summer of 1976, on a farm in Iowa. Just weeks prior to this photo being taken, I was fitted for a scoliosis back brace, which unbeknownst to me, I would be enduring for the next 2 1/2 years. At the time, I really hadn't yet got a handle on how to maneuver myself in the contraption I was wearing. From under my chin, to the top of my pelvic bone, I was encased in metal and plastic. I was pretty immobile, which was the goal of the Milwaukee Brace- to hold my spine straight while I finished growing, keeping my curvature from getting worse.

My family never flew anywhere on vacation. In August, we piled into the station wagon for a two week cross country adventure. My parents hail from Iowa, so it was our first stop along our journey. 

I had always wanted to ride a horse. A  reunion on my uncle's farm in Des Moines gave me the opportunity to explore my equine dreams. I was pretty clueless and really didn't think much beyond the moment. I believe the pony was way smarter than me. Once we began our trot, I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't in control. This was an old school farm. One in which outhouses were still used and laundry fluttered in the breeze drying on a clothesline strung between two metal poles.

I was loving the experience until the pony galloped under the clothesline. This would not have been an issue for anyone else, but my new brace prevented me from bending over in such a way as to avoid running directly into the line. Upon impact, I fell back, landing on the ground, and the pony continued on his way. As it turns out, this was the first of several injuries I would sustain due to my brace but the only one that was physical. The other hurts came in the form of stares, limitations in school, rejections at dances and an ever present awareness of being different.

When I look back at that girl smiling on the pony, I remember my optimism (ignorance?) of what was to come. I also knew then that this was something that was a necessity. It is through the challenges in life that we see what were capable of enduring. I'm happy for the photographic reminder of how far I've come.

The U.S. Postal Service officially designated April National Card & Letter Writing Month in 2001 “to raise awareness of the importance and historical significance of card and letter writing.”

These days, (for some) letter writing is a lost art. What fun to have a month that asks us to consider picking up a pen and paper and taking a few minutes to write a letter to someone. Why? Well for one it’s a way to spend some calm and thoughtful time doing something different and productive. Also because April is National Letter Writing month. A letter is a gift. When you have taken the time to write a letter – not grabbing your phone to jot a quick text, but actually write a letter – you are demonstrating to a recipient that he or she is important to you. Also, that letter is permanent and tangible, easily reread and savored.

I want to add here that I have the most amazing letter writing friends and this post is not aimed at you. You so get the importance of corresponding. I'm just trying to encourage others and I'm sharing our love of snail mail.