Walkin' with Joaquin

 Yes, that was me hugging that tree.  This month, I had the serendipitous fortune to join an intuitive painting class in the redwoods, something I've never done before.  On summer weekends, Redwood Glen teems with brides and grooms posing for professional photographs, hikers with dogs, and groups of children in art camp--but it still feelsprivate, spacious, and soaring. I arrived to find a picnic table groaning with art supplies, and spotted a gathering away between the trees.   Seven people sat on the ground around a carpet, some on plump cushions. After a moving introduction by our facilitator, Bahar Amanzadeh, we were no longer strangers. Bahar, who moved the the US from Iran half a lifetime ago, shared some ceremonial Persian artifacts, and told her story. Then she read a long poem by Rumi--first in Farsi, then in improvised English.  “If the thirsty seek water, the water is also seeking the thirsty.” — Rumi Bahar runs intuitive painting classes and wor...

The first musical this summer was Jekyll and Hyde and I did some guerrilla literary ed in the Park. I'm working on a poster for the Ranger Station that displays a map of the California Writers Memorial Grove, just downhill from the amphitheater, and photos of all the writers for whom these trees were planted. This seemed like a good opportunity to label one of the trees! So if you are walking the stairs and you see these unsightly papers taped to a redwood, pay attention! (I recommend zooming in... I had to brave some protective ivy to put them there.) There's a story there! The text page reads:

Before we can even say hello, Saumitra (Sáw-mit-truh) Kelkar disappears behind a tree to examine a half-eaten mushroom I didn't even notice was there. This becomes the theme of our Sanborn Road walk, a deeply tracked conversation with constant interruptions when something would catch his eye and he'd climb up to take a closer look. Purple Needle Grass! Amanita Velosa! Mariposa Lily!  Saumitra's Instagram, oakland.bio is blowing up, and I'm a huge fan. This now-freelance biology teacher posts about native plants right that grow in sidewalk cracks and on empty lots—I couldn't wait to see what he knew about Joaquin Miller Park. Since he's someone who can find nature anywhere, Saumitra doesn't need to "go to the woods" like the rest of us—we're both amazed he's never really hiked here. Our 2 hour walk is a mutual info dump as we weave together what he knows —the secret life of all of the plants—and what I know—the people behind the scenes, the...

FOJMP welcomed 120 kids from Head Royce to the Park for Earth Day where they could learn about plants, pull some weeds, and hear my song! I performed it 5 times, turning skeptical faces into big smiles each time. I'd ask for a volunteer to play the guitar and select my tall brother Felix Baum from the audience. I'd confess that he was a plant (ha ha) and teach the German word for tree. Then I'd secretly teach a few Joaquin Miller facts as I dressed up "Mr. Tree." When he had the hat and bearskin vest on I'd ask if anyone had ever seen a picture of Miller and if he looked right. One person, each time, would know that he had a beard and voilá! I would produce the paper poetry beard!  After each performance to a group of 30, the kids would come and try on the beard and hat, or play the guitar, or sing their own songs to me! One kid even introduced himself as the real Joaquin. (Eyeballs are part of the disguise...) After each performance to a group of 30, the kids...

The CWC tabled at the Earth Day work day this year, with a simple writing prompt for all participants:  Write an Earthday Haiku! Because haiku as we know it has a direct lineage to Joaquin Miller Park! Learn why here . Crafting a haiku is something you can do while your hands are otherwise occupied. All you need your fingers for is to keep track of syllables. One hand plus two fingers.  In the back of my mind as I invited passersby to write a haiku, or to read poems written on this land by Joaquin Miller, I cranked them out. Once you start forming 5-syllable phrases, it's very hard to stop! (And yes, oops, I did bring a patch of it home!) Every so often, someone would come back to the table and write down a haiku they'd created. I'd tape them along the table's edge. This one was hilarious! It felt so special hearing each person read their poem out loud to me, heartfelt, among...

Our Friends of Joaquin Miller Park annual meeting and "In the Hights" Literary Arts Festival last October was an epic revival of great traditions. There's a video coming, but until then, taste these delicious highlights. We shared a pot of crowdsourced “bandit stew” (everyone brought an ingredient) prepared by chef John Farais of Indigenous Edibles . The audience--which included all of the readers--was treated to a cascade of historic literature read by local lights! The first reading was by a Rachel Royce,  president of the  Metropolitan Horseman's Association . From atop her horse, Harry Potter, she read a rollicking excerpt of the poem "Joaquin Murietta" -- the poem that shaped Joaquin Miller's destiny. Miller's horse, by the way, was named  Chief. The purpose of the program was to entertain and educate the public about the first and second wave of  California Writers who lived at or visited The Hights, Joaquin Miller's art colony that later ...