Creative Play

Kaweah River Road walk was beautiful that morning. It was July and the mornings were barely cool, enough to get out early before the summer heat hit. The river was flowing quietly, river rocks glistened under the cover of water. I saw Mr. Burns old VW bus coming up the road. I also noticed a couple walking a big dog toward me. Both vehicle and the couple reached me at the same time. “Get in the car, Shirley,” Mr. Burns commands. “Scottie and Eddie, you too. I have something wonderful to show all of you.” There was a back and forth about the dog fitting in such a small space with all of us, but Mr. Burns exuberance overcame all objections and we piled in the back of the vehicle. Eddie, Scottie and I made introductions. They are new in town, built a house not far up the road from me, and have walked the dog daily. That is how they met Mr. Burns. Turned out they are birdwatchers, too. Mr. Burns drove over the bumpy dirt road to the Catfish Farm and Parks. He wanted the dog l...

"Return" Clay Mono Print by Shirley A. Blair Keller I didn't start out with Mr. Burns in mind as I painted on the layers of colored slip onto to the clay slab. But once I picked up the swallow stencil the memory of him floated up and he was with me the rest of the afternoon. Each year, on our walk along Kaweah River Drive, we'd get to a certain string of telephone poles. He'd point up and say, "Well, any day they might appear." "Who," I asked. "The swallows," he'd say. It was September, if my memory serves correct, or maybe even October. Summer was slipping away, and some days felt like Fall. He told me the swallows that we have been enjoying since Spring will be gathering soon to make their trek south for the winter, flying maybe up to 1,000 miles in some cases. His admiration of this species of bird very obvious. He'd been teaching me about them from the moment they showed up, gathering mud from the river, and building mud...

http://www.threeriversrocks.com/2011/07/slicky.html

In Memory of Mr. Richard Burns, Extraordinary Mentor I grab the new digital camera and head off on the walk. Mr. Burns, retired Forest Service Ranger,  usually walks with me to the Catfish Farm, a private estate, to share the varied bird life and his knowledge of plants and other critters that live around Three Rivers. This day, though, I start out alone, to play with my new toy. I follow a Domesticated Duck as it waddles toward a pond, taking pictures as we move along. Digital is so forgiving. If you do not like a shot the delete gets rid of it and you move on to the next one. It is great fun to experiment and since Mr. DD is so cooperative and used to having people close, I am able to learn about the camera. I feel movement cross over my head and to the left. Since I have the camera up to my eye I turn and follow the sound. A Great Blue Heron lands into the pond. Click. Click. Click. No thought. I record the Heron’s movements as it hunts the fish in the pond. Mr. Burns appear...

Noise outside the studio attracts my attention. I grab the camera. On the back hillside, behind the buildings, are seven deer grazing on the slips of new grasses. Males, just 1 year old, lock their new horns with spring fuzz on them. The two tussle back and forth, play and practice for the serious future when it is time to fight over the females. The three eat, and enjoy the sunny day . Something is caught in my peripheral vision. A Great Blue Heron lands on the hillside, not ten yards from the deer. It is not concerned that I am below, clicking away with camera. Heron is stalking across the hillside, away from the deer, moving in slow motion. Suddenly, it stops, head bent low, waiting. Pounce. Up, the head lifts. Dangling from the beak, a gopher. The Heron throws the critter up into the air and it falls into the open beak below. One swallow and it is gone. The stalking begins again, this time the bird returns across the hill toward the deer, who by now settle at the edge of m...

We park the vehicle at the entrance to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at the end of Skyline Drive, Three Rivers. 8 year-old Drake, and 6 year-old Annie, run through the gate, taking only a minute to figure out the tricky latch system. “Whoa,” says Mother. “If you find a gate closed, what are you supposed to do?” “Close it,” says Annie. “But Mama, you and Dad and Granny have to come through,” says Drake. True. And we do. We used to take the main trail, more like a road a jeep might use. The BLM folks maintain it and display signs that we are really walking through private property on our way to BLM land. This is an access road and we are warned to stay on it. But as you walk along you see side trails, made by cattle, then warn by dirt bicycles, deer, horses, other wild critters and hikers, with and without dogs. The main road takes 30 or more minutes to wind up and over, around and down, to the ponds. A metal plank, balanced between granite, secure enough for bikes, crosses ...

http://www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content_detail.php?uid=sie2E6D5F6020DD8F152 National Geographic and the National Parks Service joined together to set up a website for tourists. They call it Geotourism, a way to find not only places of interest, but to add information as you travel to and from your destinations. For instance, on the way to Sequoia National Parks you have to pass through the town of Three Rivers, a true Gateway to the National Park. This has been an artist colony almost since the beginning and yet, how does one find the artists if you wish too? Each studio, or gallery have sites now, easily accessible to tourists. Restaurants, motels, and more are clearly available, photographs to entice visitors. Quite exciting. A very fancy "business card" to pass out for all of us! If you go to the site, please feel free to check out the LIKE button, and even make a comment. It adds energy to the experience and we appreciate your efforts.

Spirit Hill Studio is now displayed on this website along with the rest of Three Rivers. This is a project in conjunction with the National Parks Services and National Geographic to promote tourism throughout the United States. They began with the Sierra Mountains, dividing into four sections. We are the Southern Sierras.