Sea Songs and Towering Reds

The rain that started last week evidentally signals the rapid approach of winter, for we awoke on Wednesday to snow-tipped mountains looming over the town. The leaves aren't even off the trees! It was an alarmingly frigid week, and we frantically dug through unpacked boxes in search of winter coats, hats, and mittens. The threat of winter snows trapping us here in the valley for months on end (without chains on our tires we'll be able to travel approximately 20 miles north or south) prompted a hastily planned weekend trip. Rachel has long desired to see the Oregon coast, so we headed for the nearest beach.

Harris Beach State Park is just north of the California border, and much of the drive is through northern Cali to avoid the Oregon mountains. It was about a 3 hour drive. Even a few miles makes a difference in the scenery--California is fiercer and less hospitable. This tiny stretch of coast was beautiful, but awfully treacherous for ships. Jake bouldered on the monstrous rocks strewn about; Rachel clamored over some things. There's a large island just offshore, not shown in this photo, where puffins (!!!) breed, though sadly not in October.

In lieu of puffins we had to settle for seagulls as large as dogs, and ground squirrels that ate almonds from our hands. When Rachel ran out of nuts the rabid little thing ran up onto her lap. We explored the beach for a couple hours, but there were no shells and it was shockingly windy, dissuading us from our original plan to camp at the coast. We headed south again into California to see...

...the world's tallest trees at Jedediah Redwood State Park!!! Remarkable things. When two or more trees grow near each other, they eventually widen, collide, and swallow each other up into a single massive trunk. It was a bit like Murkwood in The Hobbit--dark and primeval and awful (in the awe-inspiring sense). It promised to get shockingly cold here as well, and there were enough signs warning campers about bears and cougars to convince us to return home for the night.

These are only a few selected shots to entice you, but be sure to check out the full album called "Further Afield" in the menu on the right. Plenty more staggering redwood shots and a good pic of a seagull.

As if that weren't enough excitement, we've added an album--called "Art Works" in the menu--of Jake's sketches from art school. The charcoal sketches (like this one) are studies in shade and tone gradients. They complete one in each 3-hour session.

The still-life pencil drawings are a study in structure; these also take 3 hours. Then there are the "gesture sketches," when a live model holds a pose for 2 to 5 minutes while the students attempt to outline the space that the model occupies. Some of these gesture studies may resemble our own Jeffrey Zeiss--Jake laments that he pays good money just to draw our naked roommate. Still, Jacob and Jeff are enjoying the instruction thus far, and learning (if nothing else) that they have a lot to learn.