Reuben of Redway

Ferndale was first on the agenda today, the Victorian village where the great Kinetic Race finishes up each Memorial Day weekend.  Stan Bennett, who makes kinetic marble sculptures in the back of the local museum was a participant in the earliest days of the race. He spoke of Ferndale as being kinda like Brigadoon, a place that time pretty much forgot, and artists descended upon, though many have now moved on. 

 

We did too, dropping back into the Avenue of the Giants, for some serious redwood tourist action.  Our plan to enjoy the Drive-Thru Tree was thwarted though, by our taller than 7’ roof rack.  But a friendly couple in a white sedan let Don hop in back for a roadside thrill none of them will soon forget.  “Hey, pipe down in back...”

The real mission for the day was to find Reuben Sorensen in Redway.  He’s a Wisconsinite who hoboed around for years and ended up in Humboldt County.  Reuben paints from visions that give him the images from which to begin.  He’s made are hundreds of small papier mache cars that form a freeway perimeter (though he’s never driven), paintings of basketball and baseball players sans heads (“can’t draw faces well”), and a whole series of adventures centered around a mysterious red box and “headwrapping school”. Oh, and Scrabble-styled letter arrays that scream to be deciphered even when they can’t.

Reuben went to considerable trouble to pull things out of storage and display them for us in and around the yard.  And his friend Katie served up huge mugs of hot coffee, fruit and desserts, though somehow the luscious looking cheesecake never quite made it to the camera guy’s mouth! We’re still hearing about that one...

Today’s music in the van-”Neko Case”,”Por la Vida”--Tribute to Alejandro Escovedo, Best of Simon & Garfunkel, Johnny Cash “American V”, “I Believe to My Soul” Soul Music Sampler

Kinetic and kinda frenetic

A day in Eureka can be pretty enervating.  That’s what we discovered anyway, with a first-thing-in-the morning visit to see what remains of Romano Gabriel’s garden. RG was an Italian emigrant who created what can only be called a top tier folk art environment in his yard, completely obscuring the small home he lived in with wooden flowers and figures that he built from old grocery crates.  After his death in 1977, the city managed to move most of the pieces to a glass-cased display in Old Town Eureka. Kind of a cross between a department store window and museum conditions.  (Don’t ask ‘em what happened to his hat!)  Anyway, the townsfolk were most accommodating, and a reporter from the local paper came around too.  Do we follow a script, she asked, which brought the requisite laughter, and hopefully some good press.

Then it was a short journey to a place called The Studio, where developmentally disabled adults learn to use art as a way of expressing themselves. The sign says ‘visionary” artists, and the results bear that out, especially in Bette Kuehnele’s “buffets”--food that’s both painted in a wonderful series of  “still lifes” and rendered colorfully in ceramics. The program’s been going for ten years under the supervision of Kristi Patterson, and remdinded us of GRACE in Vermont, without the funny accents!

And finally, though Duane “the most entertaining man in California” Flatmo stood us up, Ken Bierman delivered on his promise to show off the world-famous Kinetic Lab in Arcata.

That’s his “Flash Gourd’n” bike pictured above, one of last year’s entries in the annual Arcata to Ferndale Kinetic Race.  Ken’s a 5 time winner in that Lost Coast mechanical adventure, which calls for vehicles that can navigate with pedal power on land, sand and water, up hills and over dunes.  These guys are crazed, and deliver big on both art and engineering.  Rumor is they know how to party too!

A slightly overexcited Big Ball almost sent Ken to the ER, but he’s clearly a pretty tough character, and ultimately emerged from our visit unscathed.

Though we were invited for post-show beers at the Lost Coast Brewery, our prime ale tipper, Don, was starting to catch the coastal crud, and we declined. Rest is in order if we’re going to see more redwoods and art tomorrow.

royal tree-tment

Well, look at this.  The TV Weasels are still on the loose.  And looking down on the world from up above for a change!  That’s Mike showing his complete command of heights at the Out ‘N About Treehouse Resort outside Takilma, OR.  As the name implies, its owner Michael Garnier has, as he put it, “found a way to make a living doing something fun.”  He’s built a series of treehouses around the property, ranging from romantic little  passion perches to a split-level Swiss Family Treehouse.  He’s also got horses, a stream fed swimming pool and zip lines for racing through the trees at breakneck speed.  Score one for “Strap Me In & Let Me Go” Murphy there too!  

All this action actually occurred yesterday, as did a visit to the giant Caveman and Cowboy Corral Muffler Man in Grant’s Pass, but computer issues put the kabosh on this overdue blog--until now.  

Today also turned out to be quite tree-centric, with a trip down scenic 101 into northern California that detoured into a redwood grove near Klamath for what else--some quick forest catch.  When the ball rolled into the woods, we expected Bigfoot might toss it back, but no go.  The awesome beauty of those ancient giants kept our wise-cracking to a minimum. However, the talking Paul Bunyan at the entrance to the cheezmoriffic “Trees of Wonder” was another story. As Babes go, his blue companion was quite well-endowed!

Don had a terrific veggie-laden lunch in Arcata at the Daybreak Cafe. Who says we’re not treating the geezer good?  Tomorrow’s a big day, with much art and adventure in Eureka.  Stay tuned!