Giant Cat in Front of Barn. Double Exposure using a film camera. Accidental Art. -and- The HSU Marching Lumberjacks Band in Eureka.

The Magic of a Film Camera
Just FORGET to wind it before taking next picture

Photo taken from down low...
a cats eye view - In Cutten, California

HSU Marching Lumberjacks Band in Eureka

HSU Marching Lumberjacks Band in Eureka

Magic Mirror Cat - Trippy Photo using "Fool the Eye" Technology to defy Time and Space!

Like a reflection in a Mirror but actually
two different photographs taken at two different times...
the PLANTS did not move but Meadow the Cat Did...

Another View of Meadow the Cat on a Cloudy Day
in the Same Window... 

solar car - we can engineer our way
out of endless war for oil - obsolete idea

Cats in Humboldt County - Some Real, Some Fantasy - Quest Trail in the Headwaters Forest Park

Our Cat Meadow on a Cloudy Day
Mom's Car out the Window - Plymouth Valiant

Mural in Eureka on the Fin and Feather Pet Store

Jack Noonan collecting signatures on petitions in front of the Library
Talking to a Reporter from the Newspaper
Carson Mansion in the Background

Start of the Trail in the Headwaters Forest

The Path Forward

Banana Slug near the creek

Bear Tales: Our family loved to go camping in the woods... and so, we met bears. Walk away backwards slowly and let them eat your Lunch.

We lived in Eureka on the edge of a forest that was about 5 miles to the next house. Many animals lived in those woods including bears, a fox, deer, raccoons and skunks. The only time I saw a bear was when I was standing in my kitchen looking out the window at the parking lot. The bear just walked slowly past and I was really glad to be indoors. That bear killed the neighbor's dog. I assume that the dog was annoying and barking at the bear... that's a mistake you don't do twice.

We enjoyed the deer so much that we bought a salt lick at the feed store. The deer really loved it as not only did it have salt but it also had seeds to eat. We put it in the meadow next door to the house and that's how we got to see the fox... In general, animals are afraid of humans but if you buy them Lunch... that's a different story.

Once a skunk came into the house thru the cat door and hid behind the record player cabinet. I took a roll of Christmas Wrapping paper and poked the skunk and it left without spraying. LUCKY!

We had three cats and they were free to go outdoors at will. I became especially fond of Shasta the cat. He was a disobedient large male cat. I am a disobedient large male human so we got along great. When it came time to go to the VET he and I would wrestle and when I won I put him in the cat carrier. It was not obvious that I would win the fight.

When he got really old he became blind and during the last week of his life he would walk forward until he hit a wall then turn right or left and walk forward until he hit another wall. He repeated this blind walk for hours... I had to clean my room so that there were not any corners because in a corner he became stuck... turning right or left did no good in a corner. So I walked around the house throwing away trash and straightening us the clothes on the floor etc FOR HOURS! It was as if Shasta the Cat was doing his "Forever walk" and I too was on the same wavelength... Sometimes he would lie down and not move and so I sat down and looked at him and I did not move. I was retired from work at this time so I had all the time in the world to meditate with my friend.

Eventually he walked into a storage room and hid under a pile of clothes and did not move. I assumed that he was dead but I wasn't so rude as to POKE him to find out for sure. A couple of days later he walked out of that room and continued his blind "Forever walk"... I figured that he had regained his health and so I went on a driving vacation to Chico. He died a couple of days later.

BUT, we had a very meaningful week together.

Shasta had a sister named Meadow that we got at work in Chico. Miss Vicki was working at United Healthcare as a Data Entry Operator and another employee had a litter. I was assigned the task of Naming the cats and I wanted to name them after the Native American Sacred Spring on Mount Shasta at Panther Meadow... Miss Vicki overruled the name Panther because one simply does not name a housecat - lion, panther, lynx, tiger - so they became Shasta and Meadow... Meadow is still alive.

I made a Youtube film of Shasta... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQUHWAVDTv0

A family of raccoons lived under our house. Evidently the bathtub leaked and it was a good source of drinking water. They really freaked out Miss Vicki as they made a scary scratching sound whenever someone would go into the bathroom.

Read more of my autobiography at: http://gvan42.blogspot.com/2018/03/growing-up-in-los-gatos-california-in.html

Sequoia Park Flower Garden in Eureka, CA and Deer in my backyard in Cutten, CA

Entrance to Sequoia Park. Road thru the Redwoods

The well looks just like Farmville.

 Cloudy Day. No shadow for sundial.

Time has no meaning here.

Looking towards the Forest near my Home.

Deer in the Backyard

Our Cat, Shasta playing with the deer. 

CATS: trippy pictures of felines... and... Los Gatos Fantasmos (a scary story)

Magic Mirror CAT

Digital Max

Cats Eye View

Los Gatos, California.

Famous Sculptures that have become the town mascot.

Located on Highway 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz. 

---------------------- (~);-} -----------------

A scary story written by my brother: We were riding around with my DAD and Marty's daughter Vanessa and she asked him to "tell her a scary story". He told the basic story and I remembered it and typed it onto my webpage...

LOS GATOS FANTASMOS (fiction) If you drive over highway 17 from Los Gatos Ca. to Santa Cruz you will see the statues of two cats on the right. Most of the time they just sit there but on moonless nights they ooze out of their concrete shells and HUNT. They used to go up stream past Lexington reservoir to eat pigs but recently there aren't many pigs left. (humans killed them off) Nowdays they roam downstream and look for "long pigs" near Vasona. One night a little girl named Vanessa was picnicing at the lake when Leo & Leona crept up."what do you want?" said Vanessa. "Lunch" said Leo. "You're lunch" said Leona. "Well, Help yourself. I've got burritos and salsa verde" said Vanessa. "No, You ARE lunch" said Leona. "Oh! That makes no sense. Beans and rice are much better for your figure. DUH!" said Vanessa. "Who cares? We're dead!" said Leona and she pounced. Moving quickly Vanessa jumped onto Leonas' back, dug her heels into the cats ribs and shouted "Yeeehaw! let's go!" They run upstream past lexington and down the old Santa Cruz Highway to the ocean."Fish" commanded Vanessa and they all feasted on the gifts from the sea. The cats took a nap and Vanessa caught the light rail trail home. THAT'S how Vanessa made the world safe for little girls! If you are ever in the Santa Cruz Mountains on a moonless night, notice how foxy Leo and Leona look. That fish diet really makes their coats shine! But be careful, They move quicker now and YOU'RE LUNCH! The End.

NEXT WEEK ! Yehudi Menuhin adds a mind melting violin solo and the cats meow backup vocals to "Cats under the stars" (Jerome Garcia de los muertes agradecidos)It goes platinum. By Greg and Martin Vanderlaan

Sitting in the window: safe, warm and observing the world outside. 

Our Cat, Meadow, helping me play Farmville.

The Cats Sculpture Los Gatos CA

Los Gatos Cat Sculpture on Highway 17 at the Cat's Restaurant.

Los Gatos Cat Sculpture on Highway 17 at the Cat's Restaurant.

Redwood Region Logging Conference Eureka CA 3/19-3/21/2015

 CAT Machine for picking up a log and stacking it on a pile... 

 Chainsaw Bear Carving Demonstration...

 Train Rides on a Steam Locomotive...

A Buffalo Springfield Road Making Machine. 

Log Chopping Demo

Steam Donkey. Used to haul trees to the mill.

Invented by John Dolbeer in Eureka, CA

Mobile Sauna with Shower made out of Redwood.