Blue Moon Farm and the Frog Pond

Click on any picture to see larger

Cathe Steele

They like to say that magic has left this world and there are no places left that soothe your soul in the ways that make you feel renewed. Let me assure you that isn't true. Just outside tiny Silverhill Alabama, down a dead end road, amid the horses in the fields sits Blue Moon Farm - home of the Frog Pond stage. Most every Sunday afternoon around 3, Cathe Steele - owner of Blue Moon - opens her house to music lovers and like minded people for what she calls her "Sunday Socials".

The Watch Frog

 Modeled after Levon Helms 'Midnight Rambles' in Woodstock you only have to contact Cathe by email or Facebook to get added to her list of guests. Everyone brings a covered dish and their chosen beverage and settles in on the lawn out back for an afternoon of good music and meetin and greetin. Cathe is a throwback to a kinder and gentler time when friends got together and talked and met new friends. Going to her home you feel an instant shock of recognition and familiarity when you meet her....as if you have known her your entire life. I felt like coming over in the morning for coffee and swappin gossip on the deck.

The Back Porch/Frog Pond

In the Back yard she has built a stage that looks just like the back porch you always wanted. Here musicians play and sit and talk as they share songs with one another and the audience. A tip bucket is provided for the thank-yous. They take a break midway through where everyone can go and eat or talk to new friends. The musicians will sign copies of their cd's for you and generally hang around tell you what they think of stuff. Like visiting your Uncle Earl and Aunt Esther on sunday evening but nobody's pinchin' your cheek or askin' why you ain't married yet.

It's a sing and dance along.

Frog Pond Henchmen

The audience ranges from young kids to elderly folks like Dorothy! Some listen right in front of the stage and some wander around and talk and watch the horses and listen to the singing through the trees.

The GREAT CEDAR tree in front of the stage.....

Behind the stage is  "The Twisted Road To Nirvana" 

And of course there is The Music. I have been there twice and was lucky enough to hear Grayson Capps both times. I am thoroughly hooked on this guys' music. I have also seen him with his band and I have to say that any time with Grayson seems intimate. He is one of those rare artists that listening to him sing his songs is like someone telling you a good story over a cold on a hot evening. Sometimes you even hear yourself in his voice.

Grayson singing goin to the "Big Rock Candy Mountain"

Grayson advising folks to "Drink a little poison before you die"

Corky Hughs pickin'

The folks sittin in With Grayson and his handyman, Corky Hughs, have included Sugarcane Jane from this area and Big 'O' Otis from New Orleans.Sugarcane Jane are a joy in their own right and a wonderful mix with Grayson. Click on the link above to learn more about them.

Corky Hughs, Grayson Capps and Sugarcane Jane

Savana Lee and her husband Anthony Crawford are Sugarcane Jane

Corky's guitar is singin....

Big Daddy 'O' , Owen Tufts, is grinnin' under the mustache,

Rob from Gulf Shores lends a hand with some absolutely incredible guitar work

And even Cathe lends her voice to a song or two.

It's all seen over by a terrific sound system. Cathe has been recording some of the shows with the hopes of making some of them avaliable. I heartily recommend gettin some of them of she does.

The sound booth

The soundman tweekin it just right!

And even the trees light up!

Oh yes, Cathe is involved with resuce dogs too and I hope you like dogs too cause there are always quite a few running around asking to have their ears scratched and maybe catch a dropped morsel or 2.

He wore himself out dancin too hard!

My friends you would be hard pressed to find kinder or nicer people to hang out with than Cathe Steele and her friends. In particular Grayson Capps is a wildly wonderful talent that is you get to see him it really will enrich your life. Failing that check out his CD's from his web site - I promise you wont be disappointed!

BC & The Inside Passage of Alaska

When we left Roslyn we drove west towards Seattle and it began to rain. Coupled with rain, gloom, and the worst urban sprawl I have seen anywhere, next perhaps to Washington DC, I would caution anyone from ever going to Seattle (unless you are being paid perhaps a million dollars a day). I understand for the first time why all of the Seattle sound bands sound like whiney little children with poop in their panties - if you lived there you would not be able to sound any other way. Also it finally becomes clear to me why Windoze continues to be an evolving piece of crap as Microsoft has settled there much like the fungus and mold that permeates the air thoughout Seattle and it's hideous suburbs. Go there only if you aspire to be a Zombie.

The rain continued for 3 days - all the way up the west coast of the US and about 800 miles into British Columbia as we stopped twice.

A rainy lake in BC

Finally, the rain let up for half a day in Smithers BC where we could take a walk

Twin Falls at the Hudson Bay Glacier - Smithers BC

The red headed Irish girl and I hiked to the base of the falls where we performed ceremonies to make her the "Goddess of the Twin Falls". It IS a rainforest so the smells were very wet and foresty. All of the forest glistened with wet in the brief sunlight. A great walk! The photo is taken from the campground we were staying in with a 450mm lens. I didn't take the camera with me on the walk as it is hard to be "in the moment" when I am thinking photo op and I needed a break from the rain.

Ketchikan

The next day we drove on to Prince Rupert, in the rain, where we were told it rains 330 days per year! We boarded our first ferry on the Alaska Maritime Highway. The 8 hour boat ride to Ketchikan - in the rain - was relaxing after so long in the motor home. It was in Ketchikan that we saw our first real wildlife - Bald Eagles!

Eagles

Spotted by my consulting detectives main henchperson ....

Bad Berta!

In Ketchikan we saw Totem poles...

Totem

Log Rolling...

Lumber Jacks Roll!

A Salmon spawning stream....

No Salmon yet...

and we ate dinner at Annabelles Saloon in downtown. No cruise ships were in and we had a wonderful view of the street - in the rain!

Petersburg:

The next day we were back on the boat by 6pm and traveled overnight to Petersburg where we spent 3 days....including the 4th of July. Petersburg is one of those small towns on the inside passage that are accessible only by boat. It is small enough that the cruise ships do not go there and everyone know everyone else. There is one grocery store and a couple of bars. Everything closed on the 4th even the tourist holes. We camped in a small campground right on the waterway and were surrounded by bald eagles in the trees. The first thing we did was drive to the end of the highway - in the rain.

The Actual End of the Highway, Alaska

To get a Big Stick Picture

Big Stick and me the end of the road.

As you can see by the sign, Alaskans love to kill signs. We have seen very few signs that haven't been shot by some Alaskan...not sure if they are using Helicopters like Sarah (who is NOT very well thought of here because she quit as Gov.) but there seems to be a nice mix of small arms involved in the shootings.

One of the most magnificent sights we have seen in Alaska was the LaConte glacier. We chartered a small boat with Capt'n Ron. Ron runs a charter service to see the glacier, whales or fishing. He also publishes the local newspaper and runs an office supply business....they tend to do alot of things in these small towns. After days and days of rain the sun came out for this trip and Ron got us close in to the Glacier. We were the only boat in the bay with the glacier and were lucky enough to see it calve a "corker". That is when a very large piece breaks off and falls into the ocean creating a large wave as it sinks but then, like a cork, it pushes back up through the surface and creates another large wave! Ron said he sees something like that maybe once in every twenty trips in - if he is lucky. Unlike the glaciers north in the inside passage that are jammed with ferries with cruise ship passengers we had the sight all to ourselves! A National Geographic cruise was at the mouth of the bay but was not small enough to get in close like we were. A truly once in a lifetime experience.

Cap'n Ron

At the LaConte Glacier

Icebergs from the Glacier

Ancient Blue Ice

Snowcaps & Bergs

Critters of the Berg

Juneau:

The bay coming into Juneau - whitecap mountains in the Background

On the Ferry again - in the rain of course - we continued North to the Capitol of Alaska - Juneau. This city can only be reached by boat or plane. There is no road that reaches here. Juneau is very small and really retains the feel of Alaska (without the cruise ships anyway) - I hope they aren't successful in moving it to Anchorage. After we land we see the huge and magnificent Mendenhall Glacier looming in the mountain as we drive down the road to our campground.

Our first day here we drove through the downtown and everything was closed. Turns out that the whole of the commercial side of downtown Juneau is only open when cruise ships are in port - they open and close on the schedule of the ships. We drove on out of town to a salmon sluice on the bay to watch the salmon swim upstream.

Salmon Hauling Fin up the stream

It was early in the season but this stream was alive with 'chum' salmon trying to work their way up the river.

The next day we took a walk back to the Menedenhall Glacier. Three cruise ships had landed at the port and it seemed most of the people taking excursions had opted for the glacier. There were so many of them I think the ambient temperature raised 10 Degrees. Still - if you were willing to walk off the path a bit it was a very pretty sight.

Mendenhall Glacier.

The glacier has been receding for years and the rate appears to be accelerating according to the rangers. As the glacier melts and retreats back up the mountain the runoff has split creating a beautiful waterfall to the right of the glacier.

Waterfall at Mendenhall Glacier

It was a very nice walk and it even stopped raining the 3+ hours we spent there!

Watching the Humpbacks do Bubble Net Feeding:

The following day we got up and went down to the docks to take a whale watching trip. It was a small boat with only 9 people on board and we were fortunate and got to witness the rare sight of Humpbacks "Bubble-Net Feeding". This is when a group of whales work together to corral and feed on herring. A female Humpback will dive and find a school of herring. She then circles around them herding them closer and closer while the males above circle around on the surface.

Circle of Humpback Whales

When she is ready she calls to the males above and they all dive under the water to where the female has corralled the herring.

Whale Tails Diving

The males then get below the herring and all push air and water and herring up to the surface at one time. They then surface through the fountain of fish and water with their mouths open devouring the herring.

Feeding Humpbacks

Our Captain had an underwater microphone on board which he lowered into the water and we could listen to the whales call to each other just before they surfaced. It was an incredible sight and we got to watch them do it twice - and it didn't rain that day either!

After the 3 nights here we boarded the ferry one last time and headed north to Haines for the drive back back into the Yukon and North - to Anchorage!

The Cult of The Moose

The Moose is Loose

Recently; my consulting detective and the summer creative director for Blue Honey, Pete, brought to my attention the fact that he had been a fringe member of The Cult of the Moose for quite some time. I was later made aware that his main squeeze, Bad Berta, AND the red headed Irish girl were also members of this odd group of people! This cult centers around the now defunct TV show "Northern Exposure".

Northern Exposure was set in the fictitious town of Cicely, Alaska but was actually filmed primarily in Roslyn Washington. "Stud, we are required, as true cult members to go to Roslyn anytime we pass within a 100 miles of it", Pete informed me as we were setting off for Alaska. "We MUST have an adult beverage  at the Brick", he told me in a pleading tone of voice that left no doubt he believed they all would suffer severe psychic consequences if they didn't fulfill the Moosie obligations.

Now I had only been vaguely aware of this shows existence when it was on - as you all know I only watch TV programs on Origami and travel programs to imaginary places - so I innocently agreed to this seemingly innocuous side trip. Little did I know what was waiting for me....

We arrived in Roslyn on a bright and sunny morning in time for a farmers market/craft & art fair. The town is small and very picturesque....but the first thing I noticed was the throngs of people from all over the world who had come there to make their pilgrimage to the home of the Moose! My companions were agog at the streets and said it was exactly like the show. My consultant and Bad Berta took a bench and began conversations with passer-bys as the Red Headed Irish Girl and I looked all around and she identified the sites for me.

Pete & Bad Berta singing the Northern Exposure theme with a semi-local.

"There's Roslyn's cafe!" she pointed down the street,

Roslyn's without the 's'

"but I guess the hippie who painted the sign didn't really get so stoned he forgot the 's'" she said slightly disappointed. She told me the town in the show had been founded by 2 gay women - Cicely and Roslyn - who moved to Alaska and started the business. I was starting to get sucked in...

We found the remains of the radio station -KBHR - right where it had been in the show..

KBHR

but looking slightly worse for wear.

The totem pole was still in the same place across from Dr. Joel's office:

Totem

Dr. Joel's Office

Which is now run by Steve as really unique gift and souvenir shop where you will find many impossible and strange things...and a lot of Mooses!

Steve

When the show quit they left behind Joel's desk with a Cicely newspaper and sundry other props that had been made to add realism to the show. I was beginning to get tingle every time we saw something connected to the show. Later that night Pete took me back into Roslyn for a night time look the Brick and to show me THE Mural. There will still people flowing into and out of the Brick - women in skirts and Mukluks come to sit at the bar - bearded bicyclists who just wanted to stand next to the heat stove. We had our beverage and stood outside by the door watching other cultists come and go. They seemed to know Pete was a consulting detective at times and asked him arcane questions about Alaska....they seemed disappointed when he told them he was retired.

Pete Consulting

And finally we went to the see the MURAL:

The Wild One

A giant size painting of Brando as the Wild One - now fading and chipping away. Why was it here? Had it been part of the show. No one we talked to seemed to know and Pete only smiles cryptically and knocks back another Bud when I ask him. The Moose has got me now....I'm into the 3d season of Northern Exposure and hoping, illogically, that it will never end......

   

True Alaskan Moosie