This is the camping crew this year. We had a great time, hanging out talking about Victor and sharing stories. Jimbo and Dennis were telling us all about the Vietnam War, first hand stories are always fascinating. Note: I am the only girl, that only occurred to them on the third day. ha ha That's what only having brothers will do.
These photos are almost all the work of Dennis. He's very good as you can see.
Manzanar under the non-shadow of Mount Williamson which is only a little over a hundred feet shy of Mt. Whitney, so essentially one of the highest peaks in the mainland US. The snow is such a tease. Owens Valley is desert, I always forget how hot and unprotected the area is. It must've been so bleak and isolating for the Japanese-Americans forced into camps here.
Taiko drumming, my favorite part of the ceremony.
Wearing plaid in honor of Shibat. / Mike caught some pretty sizable fish considering the stream. He also brought the holy saba and cooked it to perfection. We were all waiting with anticipation for it to come off the grill. Aktab was cutting some lemons for the fish and asked Rome if he'd like any. Rome said, "yes, go cut them down by the river."
We saw through his nefarious plot, that he was just trying to distract Aktab so he could have more fish for himself. But you can't blame a man, that's how good Mike's mackerel is.
The feast lasted for hours. Willie made a huge vat of fried rice. Dennis' wife marinated a huge steak for him. Steve made the best homemade pesto I've ever had. There were tons of sweet potatoes and corn (perfect camp food.) I'm on a mission to get Okinawa sweet potatoes now. They are the most beautiful shade of purple inside. Jimbo brought his camp stove which also had an oven! Who has an oven at a campsite? So we had to try that out. Got some brownie mix at the general store. They were skeptical at first because we didn't have any bowls, so I had to mix them in the tin with chopsticks. And they took forever to cook and used what was left of the propane, but it was all worth it; they tasted goooood.
Eye on saba (picture by Jimbo)
Jimbo telling stories about Vietnam. He's one of the best storytellers I know. You feel like you are there.
The altar made for Shibat
The Eastern Sierras, after spending a day in the mountains you never want to go back to the city. I'd take the mountains over the beach any day. They seem to each have their own personality and spirit. I wonder what they think about their human names - Williamson, Whitney, Keith.
All photos by D.B.H, except last one - that's mine and the other is Jimbo.
