Saturday was the annual picnic of the Redwood Camera Club on the Avenue of the Giants. The majesty and beauty of the Sequoias always makes for an enjoyable ride. This was my first time to visit Williams Grove. It will not be my last. There are many good picnic spots, toilets and river access. I […]
Outdoors
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HumBug: Gold Diggers
In more than 300, trips I have yet to go on a walk down to the Van Duzen River and not see something interesting. Today was no exception. Because I got a late start I expected all the dragonflies to be perched high up in trees for the night. The puddle I’ve been watching had […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Party for the Parks
The former log deck of the California Redwood Company located just north of Orick, once covered with stacks of huge old-growth redwood logs, was filled on Sunday with the vehicles of visitors arriving for the 2016 National Park Service’s Centennial Celebration in the Redwoods. Activities included horseback riding, hiking to the nearby Centennial Tree, storytelling, […]
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HumBug: Water Babies
One of the most remarkable things about many insects is their ability to completely change their lifestyles through the process of metamorphosis. Like us, the most primitive insects start out as small copies of their adult parents. Their lifestyle will be the same throughout their entire lives as to where they live, what they eat […]
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Aggressive Hitchhiker Spotted in King Salmon
It proved to be a pretty epic first kayak trip for Liz Bagnell. Bagnell, a sales consultant for Northwood Chevrolet, had just moved down to King Salmon from Cutten, and set out to get to know her new neighborhood by hopping a kayak for the first time to paddle around the residential channels in her […]
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HumBug: Scary Scenarios
If you like the Alien movies with Sigourney Weaver, you’ll love the solitary wasps. Take one of my favorites, Eumenes, the potter wasp. She flies up and down tiny branches, diligently seeking small caterpillars. When she finds one she darts down, grabs it and paralyzes it with a sting. Once it’s immobilized, she takes it to […]
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HumBug: Feed Me, Seymour
Once, when I was a kid, my mom sent me out to the garage to get some hamburger from the old chest freezer. When I opened the lid I was nearly bowled over by the smell. Someone had left it unplugged for weeks and the half side of beef had turned nasty. You may wonder what […]
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Keepin’ it Kinetic: Last Legs
In the end, Team Tempus Fugitorium crossed the Ferndale finish line first for a thrilling third consecutive win. Time flies and so do they. We tip our oversize steampunk hats to all who made it through the sand, sea, rough road and hellish hills. Today the sore and the sunburned rest — their battered contraptions […]
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HumBug: Little Blue Butterflies
While most everyone is delighted by the recent rains, I await warmer weather. Since insects are ectothermic (cold blooded) they maintain a low profile when it’s cold. In the brief sunny interludes we’ve had recently, I’ve seen California hairstreaks, Acmon blues, and several other small, blue to gray butterflies that didn’t hang around long enough […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Keepin’ it Kinetic: Day 1
The great rolling circus that is the Kinetic Grand Championship took off from the Arcata Plaza today for the first leg of a three-day marathon of creativity, humor, stamina and daredevilry on wheels. Now in its 47th year, the Hobartian hullabaloo shows no signs of slowing down (maybe we need another brake check) or running […]