Oystergate: Drake's Bay Oyster Farm loses lease

"Clem Miller, a US Congressman from Marin County wrote and introduced the bill for the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore in 1962 to protect the peninsula from residential development which was proposed at the time for the slopes above Drake's Bay. Miller's vision included the continuation of the historic ranching and oyster farming along with the preservation of the grasslands and open scenic vistas. The mix of commercial and recreational uses was the reason the area was designated a National Seashore rather than a National Park."

Schooner Bay, old Johnson's Oyster Point turnoff

I'm not sure if I agree with U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's decision to close historic Drake's Bay Oyster Farm on the Point Reyes National Seashore, in Northern California, in order to redistribute Drake's Estero "to the state of wilderness that Congress designated for it in 1976."

It seems that our local history has been suddenly rearranged to fit the needs of the present tense—with eco-justice warriors riding roughshod on our land, by changing the storyline.

(Map of Drake Estero and proposed wilderness.)

Salazar said, "I believe it is the right decision for Point Reyes National Seashore and for future generations who will enjoy this treasured landscape." Salazar also stated that:

The decision also ensures that, in keeping with the historic use of the land, existing sustainable ranching operations within the national park will continue.
In 1972, the National Park Service purchased the land that housed the oyster operation and the owner reserved a 40-year right to continue its activities through November 30, 2012. —Department of the Interior via Yubanet

Schooner Bay, Oyster Point turnoff

However, all is not how it sounds on paper. In a nutshell: Point Reyes rancher Kevin Lunny purchased the remainder of a 40-year lease on Johnson's historic oyster farm in 2005. Lunny maintained that the agreement he signed in 2005 held a renewal clause that was not accepted by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It specifically did not contain a non-renewable clause.

Salazar said that his decision is “fulfilling Congressional vision for wilderness.” This is in conflict with the original congressional intent of land use which sought to protect the livelihood of the ranchers.

Schooner Bay

It seems there's a massive conflict of interest here: a collusion of fuzzy science, outdated ecological impact reports, and politics—the elephant seal in the room that nobody's addressing. 

Point Reyes National Seashore was designated as a unit of the national park system by Congress in 1962 to protect more than 80 miles of California coastline. —Department of the Interior via Yubanet

[The oyster farm] existed before the creation of the seashore, the permit applies to an area that is within the pastoral zone—“created cooperatively by the federal government and ranchers in the 1960s to protect the land from development and also to continue the tradition of ranching”—not a potential wilderness area. ”—Point Reyes Light

Holding pond; Drake's Estero

Although relatively unmodified by human interventions, especially as compared to highly developed portions of San Francisco Bay, Drakes Estero is not a pristine coastal lagoon. p19 ...other activities in the Point Reyes National Seashore (ranches and recreational use), the ecosystem of Drakes Estero will be affected by both legacy effects of earlier human interventions and also ongoing human activities, even if the oyster farm were closed and all the associated equipment removed. p23 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, 2009

Salazar has singled out historic use of the land via mariculture. or sea-ranching—from ranching. To many folks, Drake's Bay Oyster Farm (DBOF—aka the old Johnson Oyster Farm) was viewed as a prime example of responsible stewardship. 

Lunny supporters and local businesses including Straus Family Creamery, seem to be in agreement that Lunny farmed oysters with integrity and cared for the environment. Lunny turned an ailing historic oyster farm into a clean, sustainable operation. Drake's Bay Oyster Farm attracts some 2.5 million visitors per year, and it's good for the economy—it brings in $85 million with its annual harvest of 460,000 lbs of oysters a year. Lunny claims that the National Park Service fabricated and misrepresented the scientific evidence

The National Park Service paints another darker picture—replete with old, bogus or skewed environmental studies, citing, for example an environmental report originally from New Jersey involving jet skis. . The National Academy of Science said the estero was healthier with the oysters. So, what's really going on here?

While NPS in all versions of Drake's Estero: A Sheltered Wilderness Estuary  (2006) accurately depicted the ecological significance and conservation value of Drake's Estero, in several instances the agency selectively presented, over-interpreted, or misrepresented the available scientific information on potential impacts of the oyster mariculture operation. Consequently, Drake's Estero: A Sheltered Wilderness Estuary did not present a rigorous and balanced synthesis of the mariculture impacts. Overall, the report gave an interpretation of the science that exaggerated the negative and overlooked potentially beneficial effects of the oyster culture operation. It appears that hasty responses to local stakeholder concerns by NPS led to the publication of inaccuracies and a subsequent series of retractions and clarifications during this process from 2007–2008, which cast doubt on the agency’s credibility and motivation. A lack of coordination among the multiple agencies regulating the mariculture operation also gave mixed messages to stakeholders, fueling the controversy.p71-3 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California, 2009

According to today's KQED blog report, "Feinstein and the National Academy of Sciences claimed the National Park Service is trying to get rid of the oyster farm by exaggerating its negative impacts on the environment." 

Not only that, it seems that the NPS Environmental Impact report is fictitious and loaded with flawed science and the required 30-day public comment period required by law has been axed. 

The final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is due out any day, according to Rachel Jacobson, acting assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.
The 30-day public comment period required by law will not have ended before November 30, the date the permit expires.
Secretary Salazar has the option of renewing the permit, however, with or without the EIS. His office said he expects to issue a decision next week.
Critics had called for a complete rewrite of draft EIS for a laundry list of reasons, citing scientific studies concluding the farm does no measurable harm to its natural surroundings and could, through adaptive management, continue to operate within a thriving ecosystem. —Point Reyes Light

One bone of contention may be that Lunny, like his oyster farm neighbors in Tomales Bay, expanded the oyster farm to include Manilla clams to make the business viable. But so did the Tomales bay oyster farms—so that can't be the reason.

Besides, the NPS is not in charge of fishing rights—the State of California is. When Johnson sold the lease in 2004, the oyster business was failing. Lunny revitalized it.

Lunny, who owns the historic "G" ranch lease, managed to turn the ailing oyster farm around. He schucked some serious oysters, and expanded the market to carry Drake's Bay Oysters in local grocery stores. DBOF is the last on-site shucking and packing facility in California.

The bivalve harvesting activities occur on about 1,000 acres of the estuary. DBOF, with a staff of 30 employees, operates the only on-site oyster canning facility in the state, and provides 40% of California's oysters. Or I should say: provided. Fukushima oysters, anyone?

Schooner Bay, Home Bay and Drake's Estero.

While some people don't think Lunny should've introduced Manila clam harvesting per se, I understand the concept of diversified farming. Tomales Bay oyster farms grow Manila clams too. BTW, those clams were originally exotic hitchhikers on the Pacific oyster shells during the 1930s, and someone discovered that they tasted good too. So Lunny didn't introduce them to the estero, but to the public.

After all, the oysters that are farmed in both Tomales Bay and Drake's Bay are non-native species. Most shellfish mariculture in the United States is based on non-native species, the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), the Kumamoto oyster (Crassostrea sicamea), and the Manila clam (Venerupis [Ruditapes] philippinarum).

So are the reintroduced Roosevelt elk—the native species, long since extinct.

I would like to have seen the reintroduction of California's native Olympia oysters (Ostrea lurida). I know, that confusing. Olympia oysters? Yep. Seed oysterbeds are in trouble in Oregon, due to ocean acidification, so California may be their last stand. The shell mounds in the Coast Miwok midden near DBOC are mostly Olympia oysters.

According to Linda Murphy, "Five types of oysters are grown in North America: The Pacific (Japanese Miyagi oyster); Eastern or Atlantic; European; and Kumamoto." As well as green mussels and Manila clams.

Native Olympia oysters became functionally extinct in the San Francisco Bay Area due to overharvesting and then siltation during the Gold Rush, and from logging finished them off, but in the 1990s, a colony of native oysters, was discovered and is thriving at Point Richmond.

Unfortunately, voracious non-native snails (introduced by oyster farmers) are devouring California's only native oyster in Tomales Bay.

Reintroduced Tule elk.

However, oyster farming in the estero is a long-standing tradition that dates back more than a hundred years. When I was a kid, the shallows of both Tomales Bay and Drake's Estero were lined with "Indian fences" laden with oysters. Now

[Tomales and Drakes Bay] oyster farmers use the French rack-and-bag method of farming. The process begins when they buy seedlings from hatcheries and transplant the seeds, called spats, onto pieces of shell. The fingernail-size spats are raised in mesh cylinders in an aqua nursery until they are about an inch long, then are transferred to mesh bags and tethered to racks and cables in the water to grow to a size of three to four inches — an 18-month-long process. —Linda Murphy

(See a photo of DBOF racks.)

Here's an interesting dilemma: since the native Olympia oysters are no longer filtering Drake Estero waters, the non-native species of bi-valves are scrubbing the Estero—with five finger bays and only one opening to the sea—clean. Remove them, then what? Watch the Estero cloud up and die? Want to clean up an estuary, create super-filtration systems—oyster reefs—that's what they did at Chesapeake Bay.

BTW, removing the oysters will also negatively impact the eelgrass (Zostera marina)—which is dependent on their pseudo-poop for nourishment. Eelgrass worldwide is dying off—except that it grows in abundance in Drake Estero.

... filtration by the cultured oysters could provide additional benefits to eelgrass production by lowering turbidity and adding nutrients because these limit eelgrass distribution and production even in relatively oligotrophic estuaries (Carroll et al., 2008). Thus, sedimentary anoxia induced by DBOC shellfish is unlikely. p27 Oyster enhancement and oyster reef restoration is a major and expanding component of estuarine restoration throughout the United States P28 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009

Drake's Bay Oyster Farm was the last remaining oyster farm on the point. Lunny, who lost a five-year battle with the feds, wanted to extend his lease with the National Park Service for10 more years. Lunny had a legal right to ask for that extension-Congress, when it created the PRNS, stipulated that the farm leases were to be renewed.

Why is the NPS and Salazar singling out Lunny? Last I heard the Bureau of the Interior and the NPS were not in control of fishing rights in California. Something smells rotten in the state of ....

Oyster farming was an integral part of Marin history and will be deeply missed.

 "It's part of the history, the community and the tradition of a coastal community," Lunny said. "It's a national seashore where working landscapes, agriculture and farming were meant to co-exist."  —KQED

The lease expires on November 30, 2012. Lunny was given 90 days to dismantle his business.

Why I object: When I read several reports, I found that there were some shenanighans going on with either falsified, or vague catch-all ecological impact reports conducted on the eastern seaboard and then retailored to fir PRNS, then pressed into service, courtesy of the National Park Service, et al. It's a case of politics and science as corrupt bedfellows.

I've posted below some interesting articles on the ongoing battle between the Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Drake's Bay Oyster Farm. Salazar's recent decision has made more than one rancher uneasy with their mercurial landlord, the NPS. Not if, but when will they be next on the chopping block?

The Interior secretary also has the power to lease the park's lands for dairy and cattle-ranching purposes. Currently there are 15 beef and dairy ranches operating along the Point Reyes seashore. Those ranches will remain open under the decision Thursday.
Oyster farm owner Kevin Lunny, whose family also operates one of the cattle ranches, said he was disappointed by the decision and was still trying to figure out his next move. He had been asking for a 10-year extension of his lease.
"This is going to be devastating to our families, our community and our county," Lunny said. "This is wrong beyond words in our opinion." —Sacramento Bee

Most of the news coverage has been biased towards developing a wilderness marine preserve—supported by the PRNS and the NPS (who are not necessarily the good guys in this case. I understand that, on paper it sounds fantastic. A marine preserve. But shooting the little guy is not the way to go about it. Nor is falsifying ecological reports.

It seems someone's tampered with data and offered blanket reports about the alleged destruction of eelgrass, hitchhiking non-native tunicates (Didemnum vexillum)—not due to human introduction, a non-native marsh snail (Batillaria attramentaria) (introduced by humans), and the possible introduction of invasive protozoan and microbial species (that could've arrived via the Roosevelt elk, cattle, or even someone's chickens)—and then there's the destruction of pinniped pupping habitat.

That is, the habitat of harbor seals—the most common and widely distributed species of the pinnipeds; yes, they are a protected, but hardly an endangered species, nor is Drake's Bay their only pupping grounds.)

...negative interactions between oyster harvest and seal attendance at these subsites do not provide a causal link." p43  None of the scientific research projects within Drakes Estero was designed specifically to assess whether the oyster farm operations were impacting the local harbor seal population..." p47 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009

But a voracious wayward elephant seal swam into the estero and chomped his way through 40 harbor seals—before they fled the crimes cene.

The invasive species in question is a common tunicate that lives on hard substrate like oyster shells—not on the soft bottom of Drakes Estero—and one that scientists have said will do little damage to marine resources; the eelgrass has in fact doubled over the last several years.

…The multiple federally funded studies conducted in recent years have resoundingly exonerated the oyster farm of environmental harm. —Point Reyes Light

 I won't mention the recent introduction of the non-native snail into Tomales Bay that's drilling the life out of the native Olympia oysters. But the feds are not shutting them down.

Senator Feinstein pointed out that DBOF should be saved because it is a key part of the local rural economy. "The National Park Service's review process has been flawed from the beginning with false and misleading science," she said. We need to support responsible and sustainable farms, and grassroots businesses, not shut them down!

"Drake's Estero and the Point Reyes National Seashore have significant existence, option, and bequest value as protected environmental resources. It is likely that the presence of oyster farming in Drakes Estero has a marginal negative effect on the non-use values of the estero. P66 Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009

PRNS and the NPS have not been traditionally viewed as a good neighbor by many West Marinites. More like a big bully, than a big brother. When the PRNS was first proposed, ranchers were assured of a right to their livelihood via renewable leases. Many ranchers felt that it was either take the offered leases, or hit the road.

Tomales Bay Association sent a letter to Secretary Salazar reiterating those points. Noting that the group existed before the creation of the seashore, the authors emphasized that the permit applies to an area that is within the pastoral zone—“created cooperatively by the federal government and ranchers in the 1960s to protect the land from development and also to continue the tradition of ranching”—not a potential wilderness area. “Simply put, the continued operation of the oyster farm will promote the preservation of cultural heritage that has been part of the area for many generations.”—Point Reyes Light

Schooner Bay and Creamery Bay.

So ranchers accepted the NPS leases, rather than be displaced from their traditional lands. Maybe they should've fought harder for better leases, but when they were up against the federal government, many cowped, then folded. Some fought to keep their land and won. Most did not. Drake's Bay Oyster Farm, the last of its kind, operated on one of those original leases. Lunny wanted to extend his remaining lease 10 more years.

Drake's Bay from Point Reyes.

Outsiders just see the grandeur of the magnificent PRNS park, and know nothing of the countless families and small farms it displaced. What most people don't realize is that the NPS irrevocably changed our lives in West Marin when it created the PRNS—and not necessarily for the better.

The federal government will not ensure employment for those who've lost their livelihood at the development of the PRNS preserve. They didn't do it in the past. Salazar's recent DBOF decision will displace some 35 families, and their homes will be razed.

At least Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) tries to ensure that ranches and dairies can continue to be viable and operate in West Marin, thus preserving them. We need a more sensible approach to land stewardship along the Point Reyes Peninsula that includes and supports local farming endeavors—whether by land or by sea. Not a stewardship comprised of of outside politics and vested interests dressed in fabricated ecological raiments.

Schooner Creek, historic "G" Ranch.

Cicero said, Nature abhors annihilation. This closure is the annihilation of right livelihood. DPOF is the last remnant of an older way of life on the Point—and it has been found in violation of variable and often contradictory NPS statutes.

The NPS is often found in direct violation of its own statutes too. Power wielded by the beholder swinging a very big stick. I suspect that if the NPS wanted to oust some of the cattle ranchers on the point, they'd utilize the same statutes to void their leases. In other words, we don't trust the NPS to play fair.

(Here's a map of the power structure of the federal, state and local govenrnment agencies that Lunny has had to deal with.

Why I wrote this blog was because someone asked me what the local angle was. I admit that I'm biased—I have a vested interest in that I witnessed the transition of Point Reyes from traditional ranches, to that of an urban playground.

Overnight, our bucolic landscape was changed from viable dairies to a bizarre weekend warrior's retreat. Sir Francis Drake Boulevard became a parking lot Saturdays and Sundays. Traffic jams in the middle of nowhere.

Nothing says wilderness quite like hiking alone on a ridge trail only to get run over by a mad mountain biker freewheeling at 40 MPH.

Drake's Beach looking toward Limantour Spit.

I also admit that when the historic moment to turn the point into a national park in 1962, it was exciting. I saw the Air Force One helicopter fly overhead, with Ladybird Johnson enroute, to open the new park at Drake's Beach. But we locals weren't invited to the party. In fact, the Secret Service, practically closed off all the roads. So yes, I have mixed feelings on the decision to close the last remaining oyster farm at Drake's Estero.

Drake's Beach looking toward Pt. Reyes.

I suggest that you check out the weekly, the Point Reyes Light, that won a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism,  as it offers an alternative perspective to the idiotic one-sided ranting of the East Bay Express looking for another Oystergate in all the wrong places.

As I write this piece, I am reminded of a Nigerian saying. I am tempted to update it to: When two bull elephant seals fight, it's the eelgrass that loses.

FURTHER READING: Point Reyes Light
Salazar chooses to close Drakes Bay Oyster Company
Salazar visit provokes old and new arguments

Feds Deny Oyster Farm Lease Renewal | KQED News Fix

Drakes Bay Oyster Company Permit to Expire
Salazar pays visit to Point Reyes

From Straus Family Creamery—Please help support a small family farm and sign this petition to preserve Drake's Bay Oyster Farm

 Drakes Bay Oyster Company - Sustainable, environmentally friendly farming. Inverness, Marin County

 More information at http://www.drakesbayoyster.com

Shellfish Mariculture in Drakes Estero, Point Reyes National Seashore, California 2009 study: "The presence and biological activities of cultured oysters in Drakes Estero results in locally enhanced filtration of the water column and deposition of feces and pseudofeces onto the bottom. One study was conducted in which sediment cores were taken in eelgrass as a function of distance away from oyster culture racks in Drakes Estero and also in nearby Estero de Limantour, which lacks oyster culture. No enhancement of sediment organics and no reduction in oxygen content of sediments were detectable near the culture racks or in Drakes Estero as compared to Estero de Limantour, indicating a lack of detectable negative impacts of oyster biodeposition, probably because of relatively low oyster stocking densities and high tidal flushing, which disperses the deposits. Limited water quality sampling did not demonstrate elevated levels of nutrients." p67. Report published by the National Academies Press (NAP) created by the National Academies to publish the reports issued by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council, all operating under a charter granted by the Congress of the United States.

Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar: Renew the lease for Drakes Bay Oyster Company

Feds deny oyster farm lease renewal in California

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/11/29/5018900/ap-newsbreak-feds-deny-oyster.html#storylink=cpy

East Bay Express 

Dianne Feinstein's War | Feature | Oakland, Berkeley & Bay Area News & Arts Coverage

Drakes Bay Oyster Company Is Still Illegal | Eco Watch | The Bay Area Environment Column

Great synopsis in the WSJ by Michael Moritz: Welcome to the Salazar Wilderness—Shame on the Interior Department for trying to drum a family-owned enterprise out of business.

There's a great list of even more coverage posted at Bay Area Open Space Council's blog. Check it out. This blog made the list.

GET INVOLVED:

Sign Save Drake's bay Oyster Farm Petition
"The Drakes Bay Oyster Farm is a small, family run business employing 30 people providing fresh oysters to the San Francisco Bay Area restaurants and individual. Oyster farming has been going on in Drakes Bay for over 80 years and the oysters produced are some of the finest you will ever taste. Reversing this decision will allow this family business to continue to prosper and provide these great oysters to enjoy."

You'll need to create a White House email account in order to sign this petition. it needs 21,553 more signatures—please sign it. Don't let Big BullyBro (The National Park Service) illegally (they lied, falsified reports) to oust the Lunnys 30 more families employed at the DBOF—thus making them homeless, BTW! DBOF supplies 40% of CA's oysters. But it's not about the oysters as much as it is about the sanctioned illegal activities of the NPS and PRNS.

LIKE Drake's Bay Oyster Farm on Facebook

CALL: Howard Dillon in Bolinas has been encouraging people to call Steve Kinsey, West Marin county supervisor, to protest the decision: (415) 499-7331  

See Dispelling the Myths about the Drakes Bay Oyster Company conflict

Note bene: In case you're wondering what's in it for me—I write in order to learn what the real story, or what the backstory is. It seems there's another backstory that was not addressed by the media. The story of local people vs the NPS. Sort of like Pilgrims vs. Native Americans. Understand that it's an opinion piece, hopefully an informed one. And hopefully this blog has painted a broader picture of the problem. I will continue to revise as facts are uncovered so check back again. And thanks for reading this blog.—MH

Ken Salazar stepping down as Interior secretary

Judge upholds eviction of Drake's Bay oyster farm Looks like Ken Salazar and the NPS-PRNS dirty politics won after all.

Lunny continues legal fight to halt shut down Point Reyes oyster farm

Bringing Oysters Back to the SF Bay

Recycled oyster shells provide boost to ecosystem

You also might want to check out my blog entry on the demise of Marin dairies: 
Marin's Pastures of Plenty

I won a pass to MacWorld Expo

Feeling fairly well chuffed here—I, who never win anything, just won an iFan pass for MacWorldExpo! I'm an odd duck on a wet day‚ I'm renown for taking apart old Macs and reassembling them because I can. Duct tape is good. They mostly (usually) work when I do patch them together—except when the power supply blows. That scares me. My poor beloved elderly PPC iMac went KABLOOM! But I have hope for Ol' Lazarus. The old iMac is sublime for photo editing. Imagine seeing your photo 20” across. Talk about detail. That’s why I work so hard to keep it alive. The newer iMacs don’t have the same kind of screen. Too glossy. A mirror of sorts. I am an avid Mac addict and always learn lots by going to the MacExpo at Moscone Center. It's like a floating techno-university. And this year, iPhonograpy is featured—a huge photo exhibit!

WHAT TODDY SAID:

WHAT TODDY SAID:

I don't think I am getting enough dreaming in

because it solves problems while you sleep, 

Dreaming gives you a better perspective. 

Something's wrong inside my head, I know

it's the not knowing what it is, or how to correct it.

I can't remember. I'm worried about walking in my sleep.
Something's wrong inside my head, I know.
I know.

11/24/12






My dear aunt Toddy who, after too much wine, was caught streaking in her sleep one night. Officially diagnosed with dementia. Sad. But such clarity, nonetheless.

RIP Jack Gilbert

Joy Harjo, Bob Hass & Linda Gregg

I met Linda Gregg backstage at the Watershed Poetry Festival in Berkeley in September—Bob Hass said, Maureen, do you know Linda Gregg?

And my jaw hit the floor.

I told her about an after-school softball game I watched at Lagunitas School—the Gregg twins were on 2nd & 3rd base, Billy Joe Bianchi hit a home run and when they ran, they were so freckled and golden, I was in awe.

Someone was up at bat. Maybe it was Liz Haas. Or one of the Farley boys. I remembered them from catechism class.  I think it was Lagunitas vs. Nicasio. It was a foul ball that rolled right down the third base line and turned out at the last minute, so everyone had to retrace their steps.

I was about 6 or 7, so baseball was a mystery to me—but Billy Joe was my neighbor (family friends). So, I watched the game and cheered  as he brought them all home.

Linda was a little blown away by the baseball story—expecting something more modern, perhaps—her role as a major poet and me as sycophant—instead it was about a childhood softball game.

As it turned out, her sister was in the audience, too. So I got to meet the Gregg twins together again. I always want to call her Alma, but that's the name of Linda's seminal poetry book—if women can have a seminal books, that is. But perhaps her sister was Linda's Alma. Louise lives in Tomales. The weather has taken its toll on her. She favors the same plaid shirts as did her father. Tough no-nonsense women, the Gregg twins. 

Linda & Louise Gregg

Linda had just come from seeing Jack Gilbert. She said that he wasn't doing well. His mind may have taken flight. But he always knew her. A bond that deep.

I'm racking the brain as to how the story is possible as they are 10 years older than me but Lagunitas was such a small place in those days and I started school early—perhaps they also started school late, to make the timeline work.

Or, they were already in high school. I remember someone saying they were 8th graders—and that seemed like such an impossible distance in time, I couldn't fathom it. Maybe Carol Manning remembers it better.

A BETTER EYE VIEW

I once found a tiny octopus 
curled up in a tiny abalone shell
I thought my eyes deceived me 
but he hitchhiked up my finger,
perhaps for a better look at me.

11/13/12

Wrinkle in Time as Graphic Novel

I adored the Newbery award-winning (1962) classic, Wrinkle in Time, an adventure through space and time, the first time around—it was a magical book.

I voraciously read all Madeline L'Engle's (1918-2007) time-travel quintet (and other books) again as an adult. The magic still held. 

However, I'm ambivalent about the idea of graphic novels—an extended comic book, but, then, I'm a fast reader. So a weighty tome doesn't slow me down. 

Certainly the Harry Potter books demonstrate that kids can and do read lengthy books—not that Madeline's books are even long. They're not. 

So, if graphic novels encourage kids (and adults) who struggle to read, then, all is good. I guess. 

But in a graphic novel, crucial text is necessarily omitted because of length. It concerns me (especially the loss of metaphor/simile), and the inevitable dumbing down, the visual spoonfeeding of mental imagery disallows the readers to form their own unique images. 

Hope Larsen's interpretations of tessering may be vividly imagined in the graphic novel rendition of Wrinkle in Time. But they're HER interpretations. Not the reader's. A little too pat. Taming the wildness.

As one dissatisfied Amazon reader put it: "I don't know why we feel the need to make comic books out of classic literature. It is an insult to the original story-telling; it is an insult to the reader and this book is no exception. It allows for no imagination, no interpretation other than that of the illustrator." — KiddieLit

The engagement of one's imagination is an important aspect of reading. That amazing movie-in-your head. I know, I know—it's a facet of the old "book vs. movie" paradigm. Movies of books generally disappoint, but then, I've an agile imagination (artist/ writer) and that enters into it. 

During the Middle Ages, books (the Bible, psalters, etc.) were graphic novellas in that most people couldn't read—but the graphics were splendid summations. 

When I traveled to tiny villages in South America, I was amazed to see semi-literate men reading graphic novels—torrid little affairs—bodice rippers for men—but at least they were reading (sort of.) 

I'm all for wild imagination versus passive reading. But I hope that kids will also read the original novels as well.

NB: this came from a post to James Patterson on Facebook.

Elderberry Whine

Sambucus cerulea, aka S. nigra ssp. caerulea; S. mexicana; S. canadensis

One year I made a killer wine from elderberries (no, not the Arsenic & Old Lace variety). We weren't after anybody's pension, my grannie's was so minuscule, we lived below the poverty belt, but elderberries do contain "just a pinch" of cyanide, or rather, a cyanide inducing glycoside. My grannie said that during the Prohibition, the ladies of the parish brewed a sacramental wine (or  was it a cordial?) out of elderberries for the priests. I suppose that's what gave me the idea to make wine out of elderberries.

One year I became obsessed with brewing—someone had given me a homesteading cookbook for my birthday, and that year I made wine from everything I could think of—blackberries, apple juice, cranberry juice, huckleberries, and elderberries. 

Not enough tannin? I added a handful of tea leaves—Irish Breakfast. Not acidic enough? Lemons did the trick. The huckleberries and elderberry wines were the most successful of my home brews because they didn't need adulteration. They fermented just fine.

In those days, I didn't like booze, I was 19, as there were far too many alcoholics in the family, so my grandmother was the official guinea-pig, sipping each variety from an old scuffed shot-glass, and giving her nod of approval. She didn't die, so I knew my fruit wines were safe to drink.

A few years later, I found some abandoned bottles of my homebrew on the back porch toilet that we'd missed. Or rather, that my Uncle John Ritter had missed. One fall, while chopping winter wood, my aunt's husband discovered my hooch stash and drank his way through it. And lived. The hangover was not recorded. I was furious.

I brought a bottle of my huckleberry-elderberry blend wine to a regional French Culture class at Sonoma State—painter Marguerite Pendergast, (née Thomas) who, as a child, spent summers in France, taught these great off-campus weekend classes—we'd learn about folklore and cuisine. It was really an excuse to eat and drink ourselves silly. It was also the 1970s. Everyone said that it was like a dry Pinot Noir. There were hangovers, yes, but nobody croaked.

Halloween Traditions in Bantry

This is the original published sort version of Halloween agus Samhian

Irish Medieval History

This post on our timeline by Maureen Hurley is so good we decided to share it with you all. Thanks Maureen.

Hallowe'en (aka All Hallows Eve—an Irish Catholic tradition supplanted older pagan Samhain traditions) was introduced to Scotland. And then it was introduced to America by the Irish, not the Scots.

As a child, my grandmother carved turnips (or swedes, or mangles—any big pithy round roots used for cow fodder) in Bantry during the 1890s. Turnips were used as lanterns, candles were placed in the window. It was also a tradition to let the hearth fire die, clean the hearth, and then the sacred tradition of relighting it—from the flame of those travelling turnips. Out with the old, in with the new. It was New Year's Eve, after all!

Wearing masks (as a disguise) and using bull roarers to scare off spirits—were all part and parcel of a long ongoing tradition of Hallowe'en. My grannie was thoroughly disgusted by the American tradition of Trick or Treat. She said in Ireland, one had to dance and sing, or recite a poem or story, and then, if one was good, they might be given a treat, or a ha-penny if they were very, very good. One was expected to trot out one's best pony show. Move over, Simon Cowell.

As to the Scottish Hallowe'en connection: much of Glasgow (and River Clyde) environs—especially the slums—was heavily settled and continuously resettled by waves of itinerant Catholic Irish workers—through the industrial revolution.

 

Hallowe'en, An Irish Tradition

Hallowe'en (aka All Hallows Eve—an Irish Catholic tradition supplanted older pagan Samhain traditions) was introduced to Scotland. And then it was introduced to America by the Irish, not the Scots.

As a child, my grandmother carved turnips (or swedes, or mangles—any big pithy round roots used for cow fodder) in Bantry during the 1890s. Turnips were used as lanterns, candles were placed in the window. It was also a tradition to let the hearth fire die, clean the hearth, and then the sacred tradition of relighting it—from the flame of those traveling turnips. Out with the old, in with the new. It was New Year's Eve, after all!

Wearing masks (as a disguise) and using bull roarers to scare off spirits—were all part and parcel of a long ongoing tradition of Hallowe'en. My grannie was thoroughly disgusted by the American tradition of Trick or Treat. She said, in Ireland, one had to dance and sing, or recite a poem or story, and then, if one was good, they might be given a treat, or a ha-penny if they were very, very good. One was expected to trot out one's best pony show. Move over, Simon Cowell.

Hallowe'en agus Samhain

                                                                                    Newgrange, 1905 —Wiki

For the fairy mounds of Erinn are always opened about Hallowe'en. —Expedition of Nera. (Meyer trans.)
Oíche Shamhna! Hallowe'en, aka All Hallows Eve(n), has its roots in an Irish Catholic tradition that supplanted ancient pagan Celtic Samhain traditions, and was introduced to Scotland ca. the 16th century, and to America in the 19th century.

Someone had posted a thread on Facebook that Hallowe'en (or Samhain) was a Scottish tradition (versus Irish—or even a shared Celtic tradition) that got me all in a lather. 

He wrote: "a small fact that halloween started in scotland in 16th century and this was a A modern jack-o'-lantern is typically a carved pumpkin, although originally typically large turnips. It is associated chiefly with the holiday of Samhain and Halloween and was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called ignis fatuus or jack-o'-lantern.lol") 

Note that I left the fellow's punctuation & spelling intact—stet. LOL, indeed.

Samhain/ Hallowe'en customs may have traveled to Scotland, but, for the record, the Scots didn't invent it. Not sure where that misconception arose. Maybe it's the word Hallowe'en itself, allegedly a Scots phrase, that leads to this red herring.

This is not to say that Hallowe'en/Samhain isn't celebrated in Scotland. As to a Scottish-Irish connection: it occurred to me (as I was gnashing my teeth) that during recent times, much of the east end of Glasgow was heavily settled by Irish immigrants (as well as the Barrowland), and along the River Clyde wherever there were shipyards. 

One could also include most of Renfrewshire in that Irish matrix—especially Johnstone, one epicenter of the Industrial Revolution: paper, flax, cotton mills, lathes—has distinct boundaries between the Protestant and Irish Catholic parts of town.

Glasgow slums were heavily settled by, and continuously resettled by waves of itinerant Irish Catholic workers—especially after the Irish Famine. Harvest/Fall traditions carried to Scotland from Ireland took root. 

If one goes back far enough, much of Scotland—especially the Highlands, was settled by the Dalriadan Irish—who spoke Gaelic, and brought their customs with them. 

October 31 has been a big mojo date in the Celtic Irish world for at least 2000 years—with and without church sanction. All ancient Irish epic tales (dating back 2000 years, but recorded in the 6-10th centuries) include many traditions we now associate with Hallowe'en—and most tales begin on the last day of the old harvest year, Samhain, when the gates to the Otherworld open. 

But Hallowe'en customs in Scotland seem to arise a bit later on the event horizon. Curious to know as to when they arise in Isle of Man? There seems to be a strong link in the Goidelic-speaking regions (vs. Brythonic).

Hallowe'en arose because the older Celtic pagan traditions worshipping ancestors and mythological deities needed to be Catholicised and brought into the churchfold: hence we have All Hallows Eve(n), All Saints Day and All Souls Day. 

Think of the feast days as a hierarchical list of who got to heaven, or not—and it gave the living souls a chance to boost the fannies of the tarnished souls of their ancestors and dearly departed ones a notch up the corporate ladder of purgatory. And so Hallowe'en was church sanctioned, as it were—just like México's El Día de los Muertos (originally celebrated in August.)

From Wiki: Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl. 

If you can pronounce the name of the Aztec queen of the underworld, that flaca star-swallower, Mictecacihuatl, then you get ten purgatorial points. 

BTW—there's a reason why there are shared customs in both the Old, and New World. In the 9th c., Pope Boniface IV decided to show those heathens a thing or two and Christinised the holidays (holy days). Not really, it was more complicated than that. Besides, the New World hadn't been "discovered" yet. Detail.

According to Halloween Facts and Misinformation: "Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary. The date was later changed to Nov 1 by Pope Gregory III who dedicated a chapel in honor of all saints in the Vatican Basilica."

Well, that certainly explains a lot. Like someone giving directions to their home and becoming increasingly incoherent as they get closer to home and you drive around the block trying to find home.

Wiki Answers posted: "Boniface IV introduced All Saints Day to replace the pagan feast of Lemures - in which malevolent and restless spirits of the dead were propitiated. It took place on/about the 13th of May and All Saints replaced it. All Saints Day was moved to November 1 by Pope Gregory III (731-741) and the previous May 13th day was then discontinued." 

I'm sorry, the festival you are seeking is no longer in service. Please check your calends and try again.

Take three:

All Saints Day on Nov. 1 in England, and such a celebration also existed in Salzburg, Austria. Ado of Vienne (d. 875) recounted how Pope Gregory IV asked King Louis the Pious (778-840) to proclaim Nov. 1 as All Saints Day throughout the Holy Roman Empire.
It took another hundred years for the entire Catholic Church to celebrate the saints on one single day. Pope Gregory IV (827-834) declared November 1 as the new date to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Martyrs and expanded it to include all saints, not just those who died for their faith. All Hallow's Eve, the vigil, was celebrated on October 31.

So, who dunnit? Bonyface or Gregory? I found this on a rather rabid Christian site. (I feel the need to post it in 6-point type and eliminate all adjectives, and past perfect tense references so I shortened it a bit. —Maureen : 1)

By the first century A.D., the Romans conquered Celtic territory and adopted (some) traditions as their own. Since the Catholic church... became the official religion of the Roman Empire, pagan rituals were incorporated by the church (to make) Catholicism more appealing to the heathen(s).
In the 6th century, "Gregory the Great (A.D. 540-604) advised the Archbishop of Canterbury to retain Druid sacrifices (REALLY???)and celebrate them in honor of the Christian saints" (Occult ABC, Kurt Koch, p. 87).
During the 7th century, in an attempt to replace the Celtic festival with a similiar, but "holier" holiday, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 as a time to honor "saints and martyrs" and called it "All Saints' Day". This celebration was also known as All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from the Middle English word "Alholowmesse", (or) All Saints' Day) and the night before, Samhain, (was) called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
Then in the year 1000, the Catholic church set up November 2 to be All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated much like Samhain, with bonfires, parades, while the people dressed as saints, angels, and devils. 

However it all went down, the secular aspect of Hallowe'en certainly caught fire in America a few centuries later.

The first historical reference of Hallowe'en in America dates back to 1919, The Book of Hallowe'en—written by a Massachusetts librarian, Ruth Edna Kelley. She credited the Famine Irish with bringing to the new world, Hallowe'en customs. 

The place of the old lord of the dead, the Tuatha god Saman, to whom vigil was kept and prayers said on November Eve for the good of departed souls, was taken in Christian times by St. Colomba or Columb Kill, the founder of a monastery in Iona in the fifth century. In the seventeenth century the Irish peasants went about begging money and goodies for a feast, and demanding in the name of Columb Kill that fatted calved and black sheep be prepared. In place of the Druid fires, candles were collected and lighted on Hallowe'en, and prayers for the souls of the givers said before them. The name of Saman is kept in the title "Oidhche Shamhna," "vigil of Saman," by which the night of October 31st was until recently called in Ireland. The Book of Hallowe'en

AS in Ireland the Scotch Baal festival of November was called Samhain. Western Scotland, lying nearest Tara, center alike of pagan and Christian religion in Ireland, was colonized by both the people and the customs of eastern Ireland.The November Eve fires which in Ireland were replaced by candles and were continued in Scotland. In Buchan, where was the altar-source of the Samhain fire, bonfires were lighted on hilltops in the eighteenth century; and in Moray the idea of fires of thanksgiving for harvest was kept to as late as 1866. The Book of Hallowe'en 

Speaking of fire, of course, there were no flashlights (or torches) and glass chimneys were not always an option, way back when, so carving a turnip root lantern makes sense if one wanted any form of light at night whether in Scotland or Ireland. Just try using a naked candle outside at night—even if there's no wind (or rain) you're blindsided by it. Turnip lanterns were a brilliant, if practical rural invention—like organic alabaster lamps.

As a child, my grandmother carved turnips (or swedes, or even mangles—any big pithy round roots used for cow fodder) in Bantry during the 1890s. Turnips were used as lanterns, candles were placed in the window. 

This is what I turniped on the Irish ancestors of Jack O'lanterns:

"The turnip or white turnip (Brassica rapa, subsp. rapa) is a root vegetable grown in temperate climates for its white, bulbous taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, larger varieties as feed for livestock. In northern England and Scotland, the turnip is called neep; the word turnip is an old compound of neep. Neep also refers to the larger, yellow rutabaga AKA the "swede" (from "Swedish turnip")." —Wiki

In Scots, it is known as "turnip," "tumshie" or "neep" (from Old English næp, Latin napus). In North-East England, turnips and swedes are colloquially called "snadgers" or "snaggers" (archaic). —Wiki

Apparently a rutabaga (Brassica napus, subsp. rapifera), or yellow turnip, is a (natural?) cross between a cabbage and a turnip. First noted in 1620 by a Swiss biologist. this sordid little love affair was also noted by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 because the resulting crossbreeding doubled its chromosomes. This relationship is aka the Triangle of U. 

Rutabagas were carved out and used as candle lanterns in Halloween celebrations in Scotland and Ireland. —Wiki

Whether kålrot, or steckrübe, or or rotabagge—the old Swedish word rotabagge, meant "root ram"; or turnips were used as root lanterns, the root vegetables were considered famine foods, fit only for livestock. So the origin of Jack O'lanterns was really a poor man's torch. Somehow our family survived the Great Potato Famine: an Gorta Mór (1845-52), in the hills of Coomanore, and I suspect it was because they ate lots of turnips.

It was also an Irish tradition to let the hearth fire die, clean the hearth, and then the sacred tradition of relighting it—from the flame of those traveling turnips. Out with the old, in with the new. It was New Year's Eve, after all! 

My great-grandfather also used to run his cattle between two bonfires, on his farm in the hills of Coomanore. My grandmother told me he also filled an oak (whiskey?) barrel with tar, set it alight and rolled it down the hill. An Irish Catherine wheel of sorts. (The Walsh farm, Coomanore.) 

Wearing masks (as a disguise) and using bull roarers to scare off spirits—were all part and parcel of a long ongoing tradition of Hallowe'en. There was a plenitude of food for the dead—soul cakes, and apples and nuts. In my grandmother's time, prized Valencia oranges—a luxury item wrapped in foil—was also given as gifts. There was scrying in water or mirrors—if you owned one. Then there was the barmbrack cake with its symbolic thimble, ring and penny baked inside. (See James Joyce's The Dead.)

My grannie was thoroughly disgusted by the American tradition of Trick or Treat. She said, in Ireland, one had to dance and sing, or recite a poem or story, and then, if one was good, they might be given a treat, or an orange or a ha-penny if they were very, very good. One was expected to trot out one's best pony show. Move over, Simon Cowell.

An Irish turnip lantern from the early 20th century at the Museum of Country Life

More links:

Halloween Traditions in Bantry

Hallowe'en, An Irish Tradition

Folklore: Fertility Rites

Jerry Brown Sighting

Today, I saw a familiar figure turn and approach my sample booth where I was serving Halloween cake samples—I recognized those ears. The way they stuck out. I was surprised no one in the store noticed who it was.

So I started clapping, and soon others joined me.

Jerry Brown approached my table, smiling.

I said You should be out running around Lake Merritt.

He said I just was!

I laughed and fed him cake—we chit-chatted. I said to the gathering crowd Jerry Brown gave me my first California Arts Council Artist in Residency grant at Mark West School in Santa Rosa.

He said You don't say.

I said I voted.

He said, Good. Where's the salmon.

I yelled to a co-worker, Can you please show the Governor where the salmon is? Fish of wisdom.

I thought my co-worker was going to die of shock as he led the governor over to the fresh produce section.

Old Oakland Poster

Oakland, California
Where Ship and Rail Meet
The terminus of three transcontinental railways

Paddy Keenan—the Jimi Hendrix of uillean pipes

If you haven't heard Paddy Keenan play, add him to your musical bucket list. He's a marvellous international treasure—the Jimi Hendrix of uillean pipes.

Paddy Keenan was a founding member of The Bothy Band, one of the most influential bands of the 1970s that turned traditional Irish music on its ear. Paddy's unmatched virtuosity on the pipes, combined with the ferocity and passion of his playing, made him, in the opinion of many, its driving force. 

Bothy Band-mate Donal Lunny once described Paddy as "the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes"; more recently, due to his genius for improvisation and counter-melody, he has been compared to jazz great John Coltrane.
 
Recent awards include: 2002 Irish National Traditional Musician; 2010 Irish Music Awards Top Uilleann Piper; and in 2011 Irish Music Awards Lifetime Achievement Award.

 At The Plough & the Stars in SF. Isn't Jack Gilder looking grand?

Swallowing a wisdom tooth

Damned! Just ate a quadrant of my wisdom tooth—does that make me any less smarter? I still have 3.75 wisdom teeth left. I have very small teeth and a long jawline . So I need all the wisdom and grinding surface I can get! Ok, so after a visit to the dentist, I'm gumming it—wisdom tooth with a shiny new silver filling. Sort of like putting new spats on old shoes. I have a very sore mouth, and have met one rather disgruntled dentist—why is it that ALL dentists feel wisdom teeth should be plucked out of our heads before we're barely ripe? Let alone, smart? I have perfectly well behaved wisdom teeth, that don't take cuts in line, or jump the queue. They’re not shoving my molars off the bus. Great little grinders they are—even if they do collect cruft in the far corners of my mouth. TG I have all four, er,  make that 3.75 wisdom teeth.  I ate the other .25. Great source of calcium. If you want to keep your molars, avoid Grape Nuts, popcorn, corn nuts, and almonds! I dare say these are the first wisdom teeth my dentist has ever filled. He who used to work on the mouth of Jessica Hagadorn...she hardly had any teeth. He wondered why she even bothered. His morning wasn’t all in vain as he had to replace a filling on another tooth. It was the filling on my lower molar that  crumbled, leaving my wisdom tooth vulnerable, and the rock-hard almond just sheared it right off. There’s a metaphor buried somewhere in all this, only I can’t quite put my finger on it. Guess I need a full set of wisdom teeth for that one.


Vaguely revised 10/24/18

Patriotic Citizen

Today Neil became a US citizen and someone at the ashram gave him a silk scarf as a gift—it had the American flag woven into it. I though, oh, that's nice. Then he said who it belonged to: Alan Beavan—the man who singlehandedly kept Flight 93 from crashing into the White House. And gave up his life. Now, that was an act of real patriotism. I burst into tears, surprised that the aftermath 9/11 still burns so bright the psyche after all these years.

Beginias reflected (photo)

OK, so it took me a while to clean up the patio for summer—Jajaja it's Autumn—but Autumn is our summer in the Bay Area.You can tell by the soft focus and relative lack of light. I snagged a heavy old beveled mirror headboard on the street, we put it against the wall, and now it doubles my wimpy begonia pleasure! Weird hairy little things! You can see me (or my hands) on the left, and camera. And who knew the wild birds were so vain?

On the Scots Tongue

Most of the sentiment of an article posted on Facebook, The Scots Language and its European Roots, by Dr. Sheila Douglas, on the development of the Scots Tongue, is of great interest. But it reminds me of something my Celtic Studies professor, Dan Melia loved to quote: "A language is a dialect with an army and navy."

It seems that the author, Dr. Sheila Douglas plays a bit fast and loose with facts—perhaps trying to overprove a point for nationalism's sake. Though I agree with the author's basic premise, that Scots English evolved concurrent with what later became standard English, I find myself picking apart the argument. (Try reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight—one distinct strand of the English dialect—or the works of Blind Harry) they're almost as obtuse as Beowulf in a different dialect).

For example, much of the relationship between Danish and the broad Scots tongue can be linked via the Germanic branch of the Indo-European continuum—not necessarily a direct infusion from the Danish (or Dutch).

One statement concerning Gaelic is too generalized and therefore, is misleading: "Gaelic is also a language with European roots linked to other languages like Irish, Welsh and Breton."

For starters, Irish, was also called Gaelic until quite recently. It predates Scots Gaelic—which is, in itself, a dialect of Donegal Irish, having come from Ireland to begin with.

Ireland was called Scotia Major by the Romans, and Scotland—Scotia Minor. Scotland was predominantly settled by the Irish.

Orthography (spelling) has changed since the 18th c.—especially in Irish. But the "languages" are still mutually intelligible. Ergo, they are dialects—as is Manx—though the Manx orthography is phonetic English—you have to read it aloud to hear the words.

All three languages are from the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages—they are not similar to the Brythonic branch of Celtic languages: Cumbrian, Pictish, Cornish, Welsh and Breton, though they are all Celtic languages and share the same ancestry-predating the Germanic tree, BTW.

The only Celtic language that's "European"—I think what the author means, is, from the Continent, versus insular (from Britain), is Breton—which probably evolved from a Welsh or Cornish settlement in Brittany. So it was a rather poor example—thus eroding the veracity of the argument.

John Tchikai 1936-2012 (drawing/photo)

John Tchikai
April 28, 1936 — October 8, 2012 Remembering John Tchicai. RIP jazzman. Glad to have known you all these years.

I don't remember when I did this drawing. I think it’s of of John, I was with Ken Bullock. We had dinner at Ken's parents' place in Inverness, and we also went to a couple of John's concerts, in Davis, and Stern Grove in SF. Ken said the drawing definitely looks like John, but John didn’t play a brass instrument. Maybe I never finished the drawing, adding the brass mouthpiece later instead of a tenor sax mouthpiece.

John Tchikai & poet David Gitin in Half Moon Bay, 1996. Ken Bullock photo