Cosmic Charlie

Sittin' Tree

Posted by Tolchinsky , Tuesday, May 4, 2010 11:47 AM

Went by Mather again yesterday for a short hike. We found a big rock pile with some trees sort of intertwined, and found you can easily sit in the branches of the tree. We dubbed it Sittin' Tree and will hopefully play some music there tomorrow. And yes, it looks out on a beautiful meadow. What doesn't here? We also bushwacked a bit again through moss and dead leaves and fallen trees, and then saw a dead squirrel.

I had my first day of work, too! My boss got stuck in the valley I think so a really nice girl trained me on how to rent out dvds and dvd players to guests, and how to set up s'mores. There wasn't much to do so I tried to get some chords for camp songs. A woman walked by and asked if there was going to be music tonight and the girl training looked at me and said "sometimes staff play music at night?" and the woman looked at me and said "will you be playing?" and i said "yes?" and she said "at what time?" and i said "uhm.. 7:30?" and that was that. I set up the s'mores and the fire and fumbled through a few songs but the guests really seemed to enjoy it, one woman sang along to some John Denver, and when I walked away a man asked me if there was going to be more music or if I was done. I think people don't mind what you play as long as they get to hear a guitar and some singing in the background while they roast marshmallows over a fire on vacation. But it was a good test of the waters, because I have more of a gauge on what the reception of my music playing might be. After work we jammed again, and it was fun as usual.

Today a bunch of us drove to Hetch Hetchy and then hiked along the side of it almost all the way to Wapama Falls. The view from the dam of the Poopenaut valley was stunning, and once we hiked for a bit we got a great view of the reservoir. The water gushes out in two snow-like tusks and lands gleaming in the river below. We sat on a rock high on the edge of the water in front of a small grassy meadow with some fiery yellow and red wildflowers. As we talked and looked out on the water, one of my friends said "This is so much better than TV" and I could not agree more. It really was beautiful. I wasn't expecting much of Hetch Hetchy but I really enjoyed its glittering blue water, wildflowers, and falls.

After the hike I went straight to work, where I learned to CHOP WOOD!!! I had a great time splitting logs and felt like a real mountain woman. I also got some more concrete duties today which feels good. "Dam" I love it here.

Lodgingly,
ET