More pics

A short break as we hiked up to the Druid last week.



Posing on the Deep Springs firetruck with pals, Percy, Mac, and Zeke.



Some of the horses on the ranch. Many more will be coming back this Wednesday after the cattle drive.



Newsflash: piglets were born yesterday! We haven't yet visited them, though. Yesterday, we did take a nice drive along the DS dirt (read sand) road toward Deep Springs lake, where the cattle are being dropped off via trailer. It was beautiful and wild and amazingly enough there's enough water for grass to grow and form a meadow. We watched little desert rabbits jump across the road, and we stopped at a cowboy camp marked by flagpole, camper, and outhouse.

After dinner, we joined in games of Banagrams and Sets. Binbin put on his game face and shouted and giggled until it was time for ice cream at Amity's place. He gave high marks to the homemade Andes Mint.

Pics!

Binbin and friends at the Druid, east of the college, at the top of the valley rim.



The circle.



Binbin ready to head out for a feed run.

New Sights and Sounds

Thursday afternoon, the work crew digging out a water line in our front/back yard took a break at 3:30 for a puppy party. The farmer’s border collie had a litter three days’ before, so Binbin jumped in the van with a handful of guys to drive out there for some puppy therapy. There were seven adorable furballs, eyes still shut. Binbin had one in his lap, squirming and vulnerable, licking about. The lowered blood pressure and the raised happiness quotient was palpable. Was it Charlie Brown who connected Happiness with being with a Dog?

On a couple of early morning walks, I heard sounds new to me. The first was the rustled crunching of about 60 sheep grazing in the fields. Fluffy lawnmowers making slow progress from east to west. The second, this morning, the noisy groans of cows come back to the valley. When I returned to the BH, the cowboys explained to me that about 17 cows had to be separated from their calves, which were being held in a different pen. Apparently, they weren’t so vocal about the separation yesterday, but now, well, the trauma is audible.

The project of digging up the pipe has been dramatic. Binbin likes to hang out watching, and helping, to the extent that that is possible. We try to finish up school work in short spurts, in between his doing the rounds, checking on the guys’ progress. Progress is visible, but it hasn’t been easy. Twice, the propane line running the same course as the water line has been ruptured. Yesterday the rupture was somewhat alarming, as the whispery sound of escaping gas was quite loud. The smell was awful to us, but apparently the flies love it, mistaking it for carrion. It’s a weird sight to see: hundreds of flies buzzing crazily at a broken pipe.

It’s beginning to be fall here, and so we see clouds regularly in what used to be a blue dome overhead. The clouds brought significant rain yesterday, and a mighty wind kicked up in the pass. Jack and Binbin had gone along the weekly student errand run into town. As the exited Westguard Pass, they saw the propane guy driving the other direction, toward Deep Springs. They waved.

More cattle will be driven back on Wednesday. Apparently it’s quite a sight, and we’re planning to have a look at lunchtime.

90s Reunion Weekend

Deep Springs' alumni from the 1990s and their families started arriving Friday afternoon, and by evening, Binbin had a whole slew of new playmates to run around and wreak havoc with. With pal Mac and his brother Zeke, Binbin quickly formed a little boy trio. They lord it over the ants, attack hay bales with their stick-swords, and thrust ill-advised challenges at the students.

Yesterday morning, with Mac and members of his family, we hiked up to the Druid, an immense boulder that watches over the valley from his perch on the eastern rim. After leaving the sand road to the upper reservoir, we trekked across the sandy desert scrub populated with puncture weed and other hard-scrabble, future tumbleweed types. Then, as the valley rose, we scrabbled up rough rocks, following cairns where we could and improvising as inspiration hit. From the Druid, we could see the college and farm, and much of the valley spread before us. The sun beat down, and the air was dry as usual. But an occasional breeze and the forgiving morning temps made the hike not too trying. At the top, Mac and Binbin played hide-and-seek among the giant fingers of boulders, a wild and beautiful playground for these lucky guys. Gravity was on our side going down, and the smell of bacon kept us moving. Dewey has been cooking up a feast for the alum, and we benefit alongside them.

In the hot afternoon, we walked back up the sandy road to the upper reservoir for one of the most refreshing swims I have ever experienced. A couple of quick dips was all it took for Binbin to perk up and join in the building of an informal dam with the other kiddos.

Riding 'round the ranch

Lately, Binbin has been going out to give feed to the horses, pigs, and chickens with the feed man. Feeding the critters is only part of the job, though. The first time, they came back with just four eggs, but the after lunch run today produced about 10 or 20 (according to Binbin’s count). That’s rewarding, but so too is the ride out and back in the back of one of the many pick-ups on the ranch.

A more unusual vehicle here is the pedi-cab that the cook uses to transport his dog back and forth from Henderson Station about 2 miles down the highway. The pedi-cab, is a 3 wheeler contraption with seating area affixed to the steering. The cook graciously gave the green light for a ride down to the fields and back before dusk yesterday evening. It’s got kind of touchy steering, and it’s slow-going through the softer, deeper pockets of sand, but that’s part of the charm.

now that's old

Behind Binbin is one of the oldest living things on earth, an ancient bristlecone pine tree! Some of the oldest individuals in the Methuselah Grove, where we went hiking this morning, are known to be over four thousand years old! They grow at altitudes around 8000 to 10,000 feet above sea level in a crushed dolomite, nutrient poor soil. Incredibly, some may suffer from fire, soil erosion, and sacrifice a part of themselves so that another part continues to live.

From our high vantage point, we could see much of the impressive Sierra range to the west beyond the Owens Valley. And, we could see nearby Deep Springs Valley, which is our temporary adopted home, a little green oasis in a dusty bowl. Last night, as we peered to the east after sunset, we could see a magnificent lightening storm happening in far, far away Nevada.

We’ve heard about Hurricane Irene even farther east, and we hope our friends are managing to keep dry. We miss you.

Cream, Mmmmm

A couple days ago, I started my morning by stirring a thick, nearly solid spoonful of cream into my coffee. Jack spread the rest of this heavenly stuff on toast with jam. Does life get better than this? Most of our milk, cream, and other dairy products come from the udders of Ruth and Lilith and the daily labor of the dairy boys who milk at 4 am and 4 pm. The dairy boys let us come and watch Thursday afternoon, as they dished up some grain, added more hay to the feeding area, topped off the water trough, then cleaned the bovine ladies, and milked them. Frothy, fresh milk poured out for the dairy boys whose calloused hands worked with enviable efficiency. I managed a single, small pitcher, as Binbin looked on. He also watched the separator produced two streams of cream and milk. When Ruth and Lilith were done, the boys checked in on the leffies (Ruth and Lilith’s most recent progeny), Boyd and Oliver. Then, we headed back to the Boardinghouse with the afternoon’s goods.