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Lone Pine
Lone Pine is such a charm. Many years ago, we stayed here on our way to Death Valley. It’s an original Western small town, full of character. Here is the gateway to Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States. It’s also the entry way to the Alabama Hills, Hollywood’s favorite shooting place…
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No Time Zone
We went back to Eastern Sierra, exactly the same time as last year and once came back fully recharged. Certain places have healing power: high Sierra peaks still carrying winter’s snow, like a finger print; the Merced River giggles into white waves turning corners. When the setting sun hits Half Dome, the Yosemite Valley quiets down…
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New Conversation with an Old Friend
We went back to Columbia S.H.P in the Sierras. It has been months, last time it was cold winter and the daylight was extremely frugal. I miss the drive, as we started climbing the foothill, the horizon starts to open up, and cows are dotted on the open ranches, enjoying sunshine and the grass. Old…
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Show Time!
Today, we wanted to visit Capitola for the Christmas lights. Given it’s a regular week day, and not holiday yet, hopefully the parking wouldn’t be too bad. However, when we arrived, the road was blocked by police cars and signs that said major incoming flood! At the same time, many fire trucks zoomed by with…
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Locke- a Celebration for Life
Following the beautiful Sacramento River, we went back to Locke, the largest surviving and most intact historic rural Chinese-American community in the United States, built exclusively by Chinese, for Chinese. Founded in 1915, Locke has more than 50 commercial and residential buildings, covering approximately 14 acres along the east bank of the Sacramento River. Whenever I’m…
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Grinding Rock in the Sierra
We went to Indian Grinding Rock State Park, ancestral grounds of Central Sierra Miwok and where the largest grinding rock in North America lies. Chaw’se, is the Miwok word for “grinding rock”. The “grinding rock” is marbleized limestone with 1,185 mortar holes, which is the largest collection of bedrock mortars anywhere in North America. The Miwok used the…
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Hello September!
I saw the first tarantula this year, it seems like fall is really here, even though Indian Summer still lingers. Fall is the mating season for tarantulas, they walk around actively looking for their mate. This tarantula climbed on a tall blade of grass, slid down like an acrobat, entering the deep grass and disappearing…
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Columbia after Dark & a Letter Caught in Time
We went back to Columbia State Historic Park, a gold town of the 1850’s in the Sierras. I was touched by two highlights from this trip. The first is the original hand written Chinese letter from back in 1850’s. It was a letter from a son to his family back in China. From the writing, he…
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Coloma – Discovery of Gold, Business, and Life
We went back to Coloma yesterday. There’s something here I felt connected to: maybe it’s the Sierras, maybe it’s the discovery of gold, maybe it’s the serenity after the madhouse of the gold rush. While standing in front of the Sutter Mill, where in 1848 the first gold flake was found that started an era; how…
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Pinecrest Lake
山雨欲来风满湖 天突然黑了 森林里的风横扫一切 人群散去 热闹的湖边安静下来 正遗憾来得不巧 在失望中品着冰淇凌 冰淇凌吃完了 天又慢慢地亮晴了 八月的天 孩子的脸 山上的树林在夕阳下灿烂着 孩子们又回来了 带来了叫声和笑声 湖上划起了一条小船 雨后的夕阳映红了山和湖 宿营地篝火飘起缈缈炊烟 这时湖畔传来了”教父”的主题曲 悠悠的曼德拉前奏 夹着波浪冲岸的水声 这一刻 一切都那么和谐完美 宁静而丰盈 忽然被这个世界的美好 感动: 生命中美好的东西 总是在你最不经意的时候 最没有准备的时候 悄然而至 又稍纵即逝