Mendocino

   Our California tour continues.  Three hours north of San Francisco we entered magical Mendocino County.
 


   It felt like driving at Le Mans as we whipped around curves on the winding coastline road.  Redwood and cypress swept down the hills until huge rocks kept them from falling into the sea. 
  






 
We visited the town of Mendocino with our friend, Les. 
  It is so perfectly perched on the pristine headlands I doubt anyone can afford to live there.



           Sure, people own the  two million dollar cottages but if you had that kind of money would you live in a cottage? 
   I know people are there serving lunch. In a rustic cafe a gnome brought us steaming bowls of chowder.  
                    Gnome Bike Rack 
   They're all over the place, happy, hippy men with snow white beards flowing over tie-dyed shirts. One guy pedaled past with his hair and his beard in braids.  Many of the women are similarly haired and dyed.    
While tourism is huge here, the biggest industry is growing dope.  We saw no evidence of it except for one well-kept store, "Herban Legend". 
 
      People love this place for its cuteness but more important, the spectacular scenery.  
  Unlike Coconut Grove, the good folks there have preserved acres of open land between the town and the sea. 
       Two Miami friends preserve their sanity by heading there every spring.  Les and Norma live eight miles north in Fort Bragg, Ca.  We'll visit them and their sixty-degree weather next.

Lost in the trees,
G & F'ca

THE HOUSE OF UTA

           One of Miami's most unique art galleries is inside the home of a Coconut Grove artist.  
    "Uta", like Cher and Sting,  chucked her last name years ago. At the same time she decided to get closer to nature, amp up her art skills, and to share them with the world.
    When you step inside the artist's 1930's bungalow you are surrounded by art.

 Much of it are things we take for granted taking on new forms.

  
         Woven packing paper mandala

                        Painted paint brushes

    While Uta paints,


 
 photographs,

                          
  and draws,


 



I find her smaller creations most intriguing,

the painted bones,

clothespins,

and corks.

Arrangements of  bottles,

 matches

and dried flowers delight as well.  

  I've known Uta since she moved here from Germany in the 60's.   Though the earth whisperer is in her sixties, she keeps young by continually exploring new art forms, working in her garden, and bouncing on her trampoline.

    She sells her creations at art shows and on her website, www.theartofuta.com.

    Uta's art flows out into her yard as well. On another day we'll tour her magical garden.

______________________

 

FLORIDA MANGO IN CALIFORNIA

  We rode another rocket yesterday. This one landed in San Francisco.  I'm still astounded that, for the price a brake job, you can buy a window seat and zip through space at 500 miles per hour. 
    We saw the entire state of Colorado in twelve minutes and missed the Grand Canyon because we were ordering drinks.
   I did see what circular sprinklers can do for the desert.  We were too high to see what they were growing...

probably not mangoes. 

      
    I did bring a bunch to Berkeley where we are visiting Francesca's sister.  The mangoes are much appreciated here 'cause most folks have never eaten a good one.  People north of South Florida  can only get the crummy ones from Mexico.  They don't even realize these imports are tasteless until I put out a bowl like this, they bite into a Miami mango and yell "ZOWIE!".
     
   Yes, the Tijuana variety can be beautiful but like some pretty people, they  have no taste, aroma, or texture.   
      

  We went to one of the best places in the Bay Area to buy produce today, Berkeley Bowl (it used to be a bowling alley).  


  Their fruit and The veggie section alone could fill an  entire Publix. 

The "Bowl" offered  16 varieties of tomatoes,

 



eight types of eggplant,





but sadly, only three varieties of tasteless, Mexican mangoes, "Blanditto", "Mongo Mallo", and "Yuckiz".  The place has so many great things to eat you can easily forget about my favorite fruit.   
Check out the food from Mars.

   I love the way burdock roots inspire you sing "I Am the Walrus".  
My father-in-law found a real walrus tusk on a bay area beach. It now graces our Miami living room.

 

 You can live on bread alone in San Francisco. It's that delicious.  Good food can be cheap too.  

A week's worth of organic s greens goes for $3.99. 

The Bowl has an "old produce" section where everything is bagged and 75% off.   A funky looking/good tasting pineapple?  Just a buck.
 There's actually a new chain of food stores that sells old, edible food...like bananas with spots, the food that everyone else throws away.  
    California may be on the cutting edge of most things but Florida's still the place where mango is king. The rocket will return us there next month.
   And speaking of kings, our Berkeley Bowl check out lady thought she recognized me and asked, "Aren't you the mayor?"  I told her I was and added, " I hope you like what I'm doing for this town".  She giggled,  took our money, and reminded us to have a nice day.

                                 _____




Note:  A dear friend from Mexico responded to stand up for her country's mangoes. I'm sure they've got great ones that never make it here.  The ones exported are the poor- tasting varieties that have a long shelf life.  Also, they are dipped in hot water and sprayed for pests.
                                                                ______
 (Read the following only if you have a criminal tendencies)

Everything I wrote about California is a lie.  My wife and I are still in Miami protecting our home from guys like you. 

(Everyone else can read this)

  You know the great bits of advice that realtors send to remind us that they are still alive in case we decide to sell?  I just got this in an e-mail:

"July is prime vacation time, and you want to make sure your home is safe while you're exploring a new city.

Don't share your vacation plans on social media. You can tell about your great trip once you're home rather than broadcasting your home is vacant."

Are we at home or exploring a new city?  You decide.

____

      



       policeman pawing peaches
            Berkeley Bowl Market

PAPER MACHE MASKS

    
    I've been teaching art for 25 years and one of our annual projects is making masks.  The kids and I use cardboard and paper mache to create magic.  I put some of theirs on the blog a few months ago.

  Sometimes I make masks myself to show 'em how its done.  
   There are so many in the attic now I thought it'd be fun to photograph and share them with you. 
A few of my students were kind enough to model.
A tip o' the hat to them. 
Here it is, 

         "Glenn's Incredible Mask Collection".


    My fish masks led Wynwood's King Mango Strut parade four years ago.

 This one's fishy too. 
It doubles as a bike helmet.

     I wore this
in February's Grassroots Festival parade.  My wings were painted palm fronds.

 I'm still working on Monkey Man. It'll take a few more hours to complete.

 I spent weeks making  Bonehead. The idea was to make a wearable skull so cool I'd want  to wear every Halloween.   I've done just that for eighteen years.

  

 Sometimes the results are surprising.  I created this one for my three-year-old son, Dylan, 25 years ago.  I thought he'd be the cutest thing wearing it.
   He wasn't. No one wearing it is.  
It scares people.  Every time.

    Such is the power of masks.  Mine are simply crazy ideas mixed with newspapers, paint, and glue.
                                       __________________________