More Friends,Blackberries,Plums and Redwoods

That's Terri & Keith in the "T" bucket! Terri won it in Reno at Hot August Nights car show. It's quite a rig. They drive it in parades and take it to the Healdsburg square on music nights. It's way cool!
There is nothing on earth like a redwood. They are magnificent. The one I am standing in front of with my arms outstretched is just one of many "saved" by Col. Armstrong. There were acres and acres of virgin redwoods when the white man arrived. Then, Guerneville became known as "stumptown." Armstrong decided to preserve what was left up the canyon, thus, Armstrong Woods Park. We have hundreds of hours spent there. A paradise for children and others! There is an open theatre area where Shakespeare is performed in the summer. The sun filtering through the redwoods is so beautiful, it is quiet, and the forest smells are wonderful. Redwoods are so unique. When the "mother" is cut down, babies sprout up around the stump. Where we first lived in Guerneville, the stump in our yard had 5 babies around the stump. Today they are all about 100' tall. Redwoods survive forest fires because of the thickness and wetness of the bark, no bugs attack them, and they stand, watching us all. The largest one left is named after Col. Armstrong, she is 308' tall, 14.6' in diameter and 1400 years old.
August was a time I really looked forward to when I lived on the Russian River. Plums and blackberries galore! (Plus, autumn was just around the corner!) It was time to make jam! The kids and I would head out armed with buckets, long sleeve shirts, and a board. We would go to the dry creek bed and truck in. It was 1 blackberry for the bucket, 1 for the mouth! The shirt protected our arms from the thorns, and the board was to flop down on the brambles to walk in and get more berries! Sammy and I went out to Cazadero to see my old friend Pat (you know, she came to see us from northern California on her way ? to Wyoming right after we arrived in Pahrump!) There were 3 plum trees on her property! Wowee! 2 of them so laden that the limbs touched the ground. They were small and black. Not like the ones I used to pick. No matter what size they were they were sweet! The bigger ones were not more ripe than the smaller ones! We filled a bucket with the plums and blackberries. I was determined to make jam! And make jam I did! I was at the music night in the square in Healdsburg, there is also a farmer's market going on around the square. Pat didn't know what the plums were called...and there they were. Elephant Heart plums. Now, isn't that the most beautiful name for a plum? I was able to make jam and my heart and soul were filled. Can't tell you how much it meant to me.
And me-dam fine jam