Green Gal

Last Friday while on vacation in the mountains, my family took a day trip to the town of Murphys . We make the drive from Tuolumne to Calaveras county almost every year when we're up there. Though historic like its neighboring towns, Murphys is a little more upscale. It's a big wine-tasting place: in the Sierra Nevada Adventure Co. , I saw a shirt that said "Save the Earth. It's the only planet with grapes." After lunch at Firewood , my family sat in the shade by Murphys creek, which runs through a park behind the main street. My sister and I waded in its waters, and we read our various books at a picnic table. The library is right across the creek from the park, so my dad and I ventured in, since we'd never been in before. They had the same Miwok book that my friend Alexys's grandmother let me borrow. It was printed at Columbia Junior College and can't be found online. We spent some time in Sustenance Books , on the main road in Murphys. It's a de...

I always forget that I know how to draw and that I actually enjoy it. When I was little I drew like crazy, but as I got older I drew less and less. Every once in a while I draw something and remember that I can. It's not that I can draw really well (as my sister PawPrint can), but I can at least get my point across sufficiently. So yesterday after I posted the drawings I'd made in December , I thought I might as well take pencil to paper and make another addition to my Miwok Picture Language Book. I brought my Native American and Miwok books downstairs to our coffee table and began sketching, looking up words and images when needed. I copied the roundhouse from a drawing in a book published through Columbia Junior College called "Miwok" that Alexys's grandmother let me borrow. I collected the words from various sources: Alexys's knowledge of the Miwok language, the internet , Deeper Than Gold , the "Miwok" book, and a pamphlet from the Stanislaus Na...

I returned from my best friend's grandma's house in Tuolumne on Sunday afternoon and was enjoying my extended time away from the computer, so I didn't post about what I learned at that time and still haven't gotten around to it. I've been mulling the experience over in my head and will eventually write about my time there and what I learned. For now, with so much going on at school and One Act rehearsals beginning tomorrow, I'm just going to share bits of it and let my pictures tell some stories, too... Here are some photos from Thursday, April 8. We bought Strawberry-Rhubarb pie at a stand along Highway 120, visited Knight's Ferry (in which we walked to the Stanislaus River edge and explored the nature and history museum), and had lunch in Sonora before going to Alexys's grandmother's house. My mom and sister drove us up there. One thing I learned while I was staying in Tuolumne is that in the Me-Wuk tribe, there are different clans, like the Turtle...

As I have mentioned here before, my best friend Alexysjayd is Native American. Though she is Cherokee and Choctaw, her family moved to the Sonora area and her grandmother and family live with the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians (if you visit the website, be sure to turn the sound on!). The Tuolumne Me-Wuk are known for their annual Acorn Festival in September, which I hope to attend this year. I plan on studying anthropology, Native Americans, and ethnobotany (also a some wildlife education would be cool) in college next year--likely at UC Santa Cruz--so I am very much looking forward to next week when Alexys brings me up to her grandmother's house to spend time at the reservation, learning about the Me-Wuk people and spending time in Sonora, possibly horseback riding, hiking and exploring. I've been going to Pinecrest since I was a baby, and Sonora is a town nearby that I love exploring. It can't be mere coincidence that Alexys and I became best friends within a week of ...

I could try and describe to you what a lovely Saturday morning I had with my mom and sister, but it probably wouldn't do. So instead, I'll post some pictures to give you an idea... Happy Saturday! Green Gal --- Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads. -- Henry David Thoreau