Category: Healdsburg

Dharma Sleeping in the “Whammy” Position

My wife and I have two dogs. Both are Australian shepherds, one named Bodhi and the other Dharma. Each have their own distinctive personality. Bodhi is a gorgeous blue merle color and is much more serious than Dharma. When Dharma is doing something she shouldn’t be doing, its easy to see the worry on Bodhi’s face. Dharma on the other hand is care free and appears to have no idea when she is breaking rules. She is cute as can be and is especially adorable when sleeping on her back. I call it the “whammy” pose. The sagging lip exposing her vampires tooth is an extra bonus.

Picking and Painting Wild Blackberries

With a small basket and sketchbook in hand, I walk down the old fire road near my house to a hidden blackberry bush that’s bursting with ripe fruit. It feels good to get out of doors and breath in the fresh air. Even with the strangely cooler weather we’ve been experiencing this summer, (about 10 degrees cooler than normal) blackberries are in abundance and tastier than ever. As I walk closer to the bush, a shapeless mass of green, I smell a sweet aroma hovering in the air.

Today I plan to paint the blackberry bush before filling up my basket. Holding my art supplies in hand, I walk around looking for a good place to draw. Luckily, I find a spot under the shade of a tree. I admire the berries in various stages of ripeness with colors ranging from inky black to a brilliant red glowing in the afternoon sun. As I pull out my paints, a couple of curious bees stop by to see what I am up to but they soon buzz off to more important matters.

While letting the watercolor dry, I reach for my basket and pick the ripe fruit, berry by berry, carefully avoiding sharp thorns. Inevitably though the bush will poke me, reminding me of the pain that often accompanies life’s pleasures and keeps the easily intimidated away. I eat some berries right off the bush, enjoying each one’s distinctive taste. Some are soft and sweet, and some are firm and almost sour. But what I love most is the inviting fragrance that smells like a delicious perfume.

Healdsburg’s Railroad Bridge

The Russian River snakes its way through the town of Healdsburg on its way to the Pacific Ocean. On the south side of town, the old Healdsburg Avenue auto bridge, built in 1921, still carries people across the river to this day. But next to it, the old train bridge, has not shared the same fate. It still stands tall but with signs that read Danger Keep Out. My sketchcrawl friend Phil and I spent a morning drawing the area including the old train bridge. Despite the signs and our better judgment, we stepped on to the bridge and walked about halfway across to get a better view. The structure is made mostly of steel with railroad ties holding the tracks in place. From this vantage point we could see up the river a ways until it disappeared, bending to the right behind some trees. Chinook salmon migrate along here to spawn in the fall each year. Their numbers have decrease enormously over the last few years do to, at least in part, the near drought like conditions we’ve been experiencing. But this year we are receiving slightly above normal rainfall and hopefully this will increase their numbers. After a few minutes of enjoying the view, I remember the signs warning to keep off, so we walk back to the safety of hard ground. All that fear and danger has caused my stomach to growl so we head off to my favorite local Tanqueria, Guadalajara for some tasty chicken enchiladas with mole sauce.