Early Early Pioneers: Getting to know Dr. Goodspeed better

Posted on October 21, 2008 by June Morrall

Story by John Vonderin

Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,

You mention Peninsula Farms Company as the buyer of Loren Coburn’s land after his death. You also mention it went bankrupt in 1928. I can find no connection with Mr. Hearst. Peninsula Farms did register a number of Parcels in 1923 as they divided up the land. Many of those are mentioned in Peninsula Open Space Trust’s  (P.O.S.T.’s) acquisitions. I suspect Mr. F.L. Lathrop just moved on to another employer, in this case Mr. Hearst, when the company folded. Eventually, I’ll be able to check Mr. Hearst’s papers at Berkeley to see what I can find.
I did find out that Lathrop, California was named after Charles Gardner Lathrop(though others say Ariel Lathrop, another of Jane’s brothers) Stanford set up the town as part of his railroad efforts, hoping to compete with Stockton.
I also ran into the following excerpt, about one of Pescadero’s leading citizens in Alexander’s book. I’ve got to get up to the Archives to see this. It has the picture of Lobitos Cave and of nearby geologic oddities I wanted to see. Enjoy. John

Source: History of San Mateo County by Philip W. Alexander & Charles P. Hamm page 174-176. Press of Burlingame Publishing Co., Burlingame, CA. 1916.

Dr. Isaac R. Goodspeed FOR fifty-six years—more than half a century, Dr. Isaac R. Goodspeed has been one of the foremost citizens of San Mateo County; coming here when a young doctor with the ink on his diploma hardly dry, he remained in the county ever since. During this time he has been identified with many successful business enterprises and has faithfully filled the various offices he has held for both San Mateo City and County. Dr. Goodspeed was born in China, Maine, on May 30, 1831. In 1854 he graduated from Bowdoin Medical College, one of a class of nineteen. Today he is the only living member of that class. He began the practice of medicine at Milwaukee, and in 1854 he was married to Miss Elizabeth P. Woodcock at Gardiner, Maine.

A short time after his graduation he went west to Chicago, and in 1858 came to California. He tried mining in Nevada for a while, but with indifferent success; and soon came to San Francisco and opened an office on Kearny street, where he remained until 1860. In the Spring of this year he decided to try his luck down the peninsula. He liked the climate of Pescadero so well that he settled in this town and remained there for the next ten years. For two years he taught school and practiced medicine. Then he went into the merchandise business and later on tried ranching,—all the time keeping up the practice of medicine. His other activities while at Pescadero were, serving as Justice of the Peace, ex-officio Coroner, and Associate County Judge with one of the justices of the Santa Cruz Bar.

In those days Pescadero was in Santa Cruz County, and did not until 1868 become a part of San Mateo County. It was through Dr. Goodspeed’s ceasless activity, in conjunction with Judge Templeton’s legislative work, that this addition was made to San Mateo County, amounting to about 140 square miles of new territory. While at Pescadero, although there were many hard characters to deal with, Dr. Goodspeed was instrumental in keeping this place as peaceable as a New England town by driving out the unruly element. In 1870 he came to San Mateo and began to practice. His career at Pescadero had been most successful: everything that he touched seemed to turn to gold. The corner where the cigar store stands, opposite the S. P. Station was purchased by him when he came to San Mateo, and is still owned by him.

Dr. Goodspeed was soon elected Coroner. He served as postmaster from 1875-82. In 1882 he received the Republican nomination for the state senate but like all other candidates of that party, he suffered defeat, although he ran 5000 ahead of his ticket and received 400 majority in his own county. He was chairman of the Republican Central Committee for sixteen years. He held the position of Surgeon of the Sat Mateo County Hospital for thirty-five years, and was the Division Surgeon for the Southern Pacific Company from San Francisco to Monterey from 1895-97. In 1882 he was appointed Surgeon of the Steamship, City of Sidney; and on his return to San Mateo found that his property had been destroyed by fire, which wiped out a whole block, with a loss of $5,000 to him. Dr. Goodspeed has served several years as school trustee, and filled an appointment about fifteen years ago, from former Governor Pardee, as State Examiner for Insanity. In addition to his local activities,

Dr. Goodspeed has found time to make five trips to the east. January 23, 1916 was the sixtieth anniversary of Dr. Goodspeed’s marriage. Both Dr. and Mrs. Goodspeed are hale and hearty. There are a son and daughter: Edward Goodspeed, freight agent at San Mateo; and Mrs. R. J. Pye of Santa Rosa.

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Meet Me At Bathhouse Rock….Story by John Vonderlin

Posted on October 18, 2008 by June Morrall

John Vonderlin sets out to find “Bathhouse Rock”

Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,
I mentioned, a few postings back, that after having had the chance to read Dr. Alan K. Brown’s (circa 1960s) book, “Place Names of San Mateo County,” gave me a passel of new (yet very old) places to research, hunt for, explore, photograph and write about. Now I’ve found a place name I think you’ll find particularly interesting, given you wrote the definitive book on Loren Coburn. Dr. Brown’s book is available for purchase at the San Mateo County History Museum in Redwood City.
You’ll recall, in a series of my postings about trying to find any remains of Loren “Coburn’s Folly”, I lifted a few 19th century quotes about the expensive “white elephant” hotel from your book, “The Coburn Mystery.”  One San Francisco reporter guaranteed visitors foolish enough to enter the treacherous waters near Pebble Beach almost certain death, or at least serious injury, from being battered on the sharp, pointy rocks near Loren’s unpopular hotel.

For me, Dr. Brown’s magic word was “Bathhouse Rock,” and simply stated it is: “The large rock just off Pescadero Point, Coast Highway, 1.4 miles south of the Pescadero Junction. Evidently one of the Pebble Beach Hotel bathhouses was here in the 1890s.”  Well,  the name and description of “Bathhouse Rock” may have been one short entry in Dr. Brown’s book but it got me to return to Pescadero Point, one of my favorite places on the South Coast. I wanted to try to envision what had actually been going on there over a hundred years ago.

I first thought that there weren’t any rocks offshore of Pescadero Point, at least, not one that I would have perched a bathhouse on. The possibility of being swept away by a rogue wave while lounging in a bathtub, no matter how spectacular a view you were enjoying, would have justified the negative review by the 19th century San Francisco reporter But my recent return visit to the area leads me to believe Dr. Brown got it right. That means the reporter was probably doing nothing more then relaying the distortions Pescaderans were telling him because of their abiding anger at Loren Coburn and the lengthy “Pebble Beach War.” My visit also offered a bit of support to Mr. Coburn’s dream of building a resort that could compete with the luxurious Del Monte Hotel in Monterey County.
I’ve written about Pescadero Point many times. It was the spot where a large blue whale carcass washed ashore on September 6, 1979. The 86 foot female’s skeleton was recovered and is now displayed at the Long Marine Lab (Seymour Marine Discovery Center)in Santa Cruz.

It is said to be the largest on display in the world. I also wrote about and shared some photographs of the numerous “tafoni” and scattering of concretions found on Pescadero Point..

Once I arrived on the South Coast, I photographed the only large rock just offshore of the Point that I remembered and immediately dismissed it as the former site of the bathhouse.. Perching a bathhouse on this rock, one that is inaccessible at high tide, and often overwashed by large waves, was not something the clever, but irascible Mr. Coburn would have countenanced.


Scrambling over the rocky Point I had a sudden epiphany.

The rock Dr. Brown referred to in his place names book was the whole Point, which is separated in large part by a long, shallow, water-filled depression connected to the ocean only at high tide.

Surveying the scene I came to believe that this was the site of one of Coburn’s bathhouses. And an impressive site it was. Not only is the Point composed and covered with all sorts of geologic oddities;

it protects the large, shallow, wading pool behind it from the surf.  Above the pool there’s a spacious, flat shelf, that is relatively well-protected from the wind. It would have been a perfect place for Loren Coburn’s Pebble Beach hotel guests to set up a sun umbrella and enjoy a picnic lunch, while keeping a close eye on the kids as they splashed or swam in the natural pool or checked out the nearby tidepools.

Furthermore, when scrambling over the Point’s rocks to the north you come upon Fiddler’s Cove, a long, sandy stretch of beach, protected from rogue waves by a wide, flat reef barely under water except at low tide. It’s here that I like to launch my kayak. Not only is the bottom sandy right next to the Point, but by staying in the wave-shadow of the large offshore rock, I can shorten the distance I’m exposed to large waves as I make a mad dash-paddle to the calmer waters further offshore.

As you climb over the Point’s rock, you’ll find several fairly deep, large bathtub-sized holes in the rock, holes that are usually filled with water from the high tide’s surf.

Warmed by the sun they provide a comfortable soak, with a spectacular view, if you’re willing to share your bath with a small crab or two.

If you want to visit this area, and judge for yourself whether “Coburn’s Folly” got a fair shake from some city slicker hack a hundred years ago, I’d recommend you check the California Coastal Records Project website and look at the Pescadero Point picture (click here and those surrounding it. You’ll find there are few spots as easily accessible along the San Mateo Coast, that have as many unusual, interesting, and enjoyable things to see in such close proximity,  as this relatively, infrequently visited stretch of the coast. Enjoy. John
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John: Do You See The Man in the Woods? June: I see it! I see it!

Posted on October 16, 2008 by June Morrall

In an earlier post, I put up a still photo called “The Forest,” an image originally taken from a flip video. Here it is:

A few weeks ago my longtime partner Burt’s cousins were here from the East Coast and Colorado. I wanted to show them my beautiful Coastside—especially after they had visited Muir Woods in Marin County. I told them we had our own forest and it was unlike any other they had ever seen. I took them down Tunitas Creek Road. At one point we got out of the car and I played with the flip, shot some moving pictures.

And then I sent “The Forest” image to John…..and he mystified then frustrated me by commenting that he saw a little man’s head in the pix. I could not see it. I couldn’t see it for the longest time because I was looking for Burt’s head, or a head belonging to one of the cousins…..

——

John:

Hi June,
Could you send the Flip photo of the woods I saw the man’s head in to me and I’ll frame, accentuate etc. it  for you? It was just a small bit of pareidolia, something I see a lot of because of my collecting habits. When I first started showing Meg some of my pareidolic stuff she soon found the rock I’ve attached a picture of

and gifted it to me. It’s a simple profile, but reminds me of the little Tiki Gods that were popular in Hawaii when I was a kid. The “head” in the photo was a similar profile.

When we were kids we could lay on our backs and see pictures in the clouds. Or monsters created by hanging clothes in our closets in a darkened room. Thank God pulling the covers over our head protected me from the latter. We tend to lose that “skill” as the world’s adult worries gather on our ever more stooping shoulders. I suppose my fascination with pareidolia may be an attempt to “recapture the inner child” as the book promoted some time ago.

However, the ability to see the predator hiding in the woods or bushes from limited stimuli is probably a hardwired survival trait. Once we became a weaponized species our fellow man was probably the most common of the dangerous predators hiding in wait. This, and our narcissism, may explain the majority of pareidolic topographical features being related to humans.

While writing a story on the evolutionary significance of pareidolia I came on a scientific paper that theorized the young infant’s ability to recognize its mother or other parental figures’ facial features very early on, and respond favorably, was important in creating the bond necessary for a species that has such a long period of vulnerability. Whatever the truth it gives me one more form of amusement and another group of things to look for. Enjoy. John
——-
Email John Vonderlin ([email protected])

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Lost & Found…1984 Story by Charles Jones

Posted on October 14, 2008 by June Morrall

[Note: Writer Charles Jones & Artist/Painter Molly Ramolla lived and worked in an old weathered barn on Stage Road near Duartes Tavern. Later they moved to the artist colonies in New Mexico-Arizona, where Charles passed away years ago.]

While digging through my research files, I came across a 1984 letter from Charles to me. He hadn’t been feeling well; he and Molly were about to make a big change in their lives.

Charles Jones: “We are about to make a move. Next Fall we are off to Arizona, a little town called Bisbee, 100 miles south of Tuscon. Felt better there, cheap to live, tired of pain and the gallery…”

Attached was/is a story about wife Molly and her adventures with South Coast papyrus. Other than the rusty footprint of the paper clip on  the upper left corner of the white paper, the typed letter and attached story appear nearly unread. Clean and white.

Charles painted himself as a  controversial writer (during the 1970s/80s “war” between the Coastside’s  developers & no-growthers) when the Sierra Club published his book called “A Separate Place,” featuring South Coast photographer Susan Friedman’s magnificent b/w images.

Miss Friedman was lucky to have met and enjoyed the rare opportunity of taking pictures of her Pescadero/La Honda subjects who were also her neighbors and friends. As I recall, Susan Friedman then worked in a classic old barn, her studio on Highway One, way south of Pescadero, when you could count on one hand the number of cars that moseyed on by.

Who can forget Emma Duarte? Emma was the Pescadero version of Betty Crocker, the perfect 1950s-style cook pictured on pink and white packages of cake mix.  Emma was well-traveled, having visited most corners of the world but at Duarte’s Tavern she was ? Always wearing the proper black shoes with

I bought several pieces of Molly’s work, her paintings, many of which evoked moods which I then favored. I didn’t have the cash to buy a painting so we worked out a payment plan. I took home, for example, what I call ” rain storm over Pescadero.” Each I wrote Molly a check for something like $10 and mailed it to her in Pescadero. Going to the gallery in person was deadly: There was always something I could see on the walls of my house.

(Because I am by nature “a keeper,” I still have a few of the canceled checks I wrote Molly.)

In the March 31, 1984 letter to me, Charles advised of places I might look for a writing job.  The fancy places he mentioned were above my skill level, or I thought they were, and that’s all that counted Then he added the postscript below….]

Charles Jones: “It occurred to me after I wrote this and put it in an envelope, that when we leave, no one will be doing papyrus anymore. Doing what, you say? When Molly discovered how to do the native California reed the way the Egyptians did, I started doing a lot of research, and one result is that no one in this country does this. We are in touch with the Papyrus Institute in Cairo, and have sent seeds and so on. There is no reed in Arizona, and there will be no Molly in California. ….”

—–

Reed of the Nile

Story by Charles Jones, 1980

Along with the origins of the wheel and of language, the beginnings of papyrus are lost in unrecorded time. Even among surviving writings, there is no mention of just how Egyptians, Greeks or those who came after made paper from ‘Cyperus papyrus, the reed of the Nile.’ There are a few illustrations, especially of the use of the reed for boats, sails, mats and shoes but, no one knows exactly how papyrus was made as a paper.

We do know that papyrus was as important to the ancient world as a paper is to society now. Pliny the Elder once warned that a complete breakdown of commerce might result when a bad crop year was forecast for papyrus. The huge rolls of papyrus stored for the year would not have lasted long, and the best grades of paper were saved for special uses. The English word “protocol” comes from the Greek ‘protokollon,’ which literally means “the first glued-on,” referring to the finest quality of papyrus, which was put on the rolls first.

Today, there are a number of places where a reed paper is made, but the Papyrus Institute in Cairo, Egypt, claims to make the only paper from ‘Cyperus papyrus.’ At the institute, paper is made using only the inner portion of the fiber. Lightest in color, the inner strips are placed in a crisscross pattern, then pressed and rolled with equipment designed for this special paper.

In the United States, Molly Romolla of Pescadero, California is one of the few reed-paper makers. Using a native California plant, the giant or great bulrush (‘Scirpus acutus’), Ms. Ramolla makes paper entirely by hand tools. The bulrush, triangular in cross section like ‘Cyperus papyrus,’ is first harvested from around farmers’ ponds. It is sliced, made into bundles and soaked for three to five months. The sliced fiber is then soft enough to pound into a sheet on a wooden panel; it is then dried in the sun. Variations in color, from a dark brown to white, are obtained by using outer fiber for the darker portions, inner fiber for lighter areas, and the sediment from the soaking for white. The sheets are excellent for watercolors.

Ramolla also uses the fibers themselves to create images, “painting,” as it were, with the fibers. She also makes castings, moldings and sculptures of papyrus. A soft, supple paper–almost like cloth–can be made by burnishing the material with a hard, smooth substance such as ivory or polished shell, which the Egyptians used.

The creation of this kind of papyrus is a very simple technique once it is mastered. Molly Ramolla experimentecd for five years, using bleaches, boiling, lye and vegtable and animal glues in various combinations, but no such things are needed. In one publication she read that the absolutely essential ingredient was the water of the Nile. Not so. The absolutely essential ingredient is patience.

———

more coming

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How Bean Hollow Lagoon Got Its Name Change….New Story by John Vonderlin

Posted on October 13, 2008 by June Morrall

[Note: John has been recovering from eye surgery, which was very successful. We all want you to “get well soon!” Here’s John latest piece.]

How Bean Hollow Lagoon Got Its Name Change

Story by John Vonderlin

Email John ([email protected])

June,

I need to keep this short because of my eye, but thought you might want to know this. When I was writing about the Bean Hollow Bridge and Loren Coburn’s constructing what we now know as Lucerne Lake, you asked if I knew where the name of the lake came from. Not knowing, I posited that Loren may have wanted to add a little  pretension to his resort, the Pebble Beach Hotel. I knew he hoped the hotel, nicknamed “Coburn’s Folly,” by derisive Pescaderans, would compete with the famous Del Monte Hotel in Monterey, and I thought that by naming the lake he created after the famous and stunningly beautiful Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, he was furthering that dream.  Apparently, the reason is nowhere near as colorful.

Meg came to visit today and lent me a book she had borrowed, entitled “Place Names of San Mateo County, by Dr. Alan K. Brown.  The book had been reprinted in 1975.  by the San Mateo Historical Society, with a few corrections by Dr. Brown, from his original manuscript, finished in 1960. Here’s what he has to say:

“What used to be Bean Hollow Lagoon was made into a reservoir and renamed in 1923 by F.L. Lathrop, manager of the land company. The new name was suggested by alfalfa culture, and has been intensely disliked by Pescadero, on the grounds that it is likely to cause the old name, Bean Hollow, to be forgotten. The county’s new Bean Hollow Beach sign on the highway here has probably removed the cause for quarrel.”

Alfalfa used to be called lucerne, particularly in Great Britain, which explains Dr. Brown’s excerpt. Though I must confess I had to look up the connection.

I need to rest my new bionic eye now, but Dr. Brown’s book also has some interesting facts about Bean Hollow’s naming I’d like to return to in another posting, along with some facts I’ve discovered about Mr. Lathrop. Enjoy. John

P.S.  Here are some of Dr. Brown’s numerous publications over the past five decades, some that I’ve read, all I hope to:  A Description of Distant Roads: Original Journals of the First Expedition into California, by Juan Crespí (San Diego State University Press, 2001); Place Names of San Mateo County (San Mateo, CA: San Mateo County Historical Association, 1975); “Discovery of the Redwoods,” Forest History, 13 (1969; with F. M. Stanger); Who Discovered the Golden Gate? The Explorers’ Own Accounts (with F. M. Stanger; San Mateo, 1969); “Rivera at San Francisco: A Journal of Exploration, 1774,” California Historical Quarterly, 41 (1962): 325-41; and “Salt for the Scraping: Origins of the San Francisco Bay Salt Industry,” California Historical Quarterly 39, (1960).

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Russell Towle Tribute Weekend

Posted on October 8, 2008 by June Morrall

RUSSELL TOWLE TRIBUTE WEEKEND
October 11-12 • Dutch Flat, California
Please join us for any or all of these events. Children are welcome.

***** SATURDAY, October 11, 2008 *****

9:00 am, Dutch Flat Community Center: TAKE A HIKE!
Honor and remember Russ with a hike to one of his favorite places.
Destinations will depend on the weather, the number of people, and
hiking ability levels. Bring lunch. We’ll return to Dutch Flat in time
for the Quesadilla Dinner.

12:00 Noon to 4:00, Dutch Flat, ongoing:
• Golden Dri* museum open, and featuring Russ’s local history
publications, with Sally Towle.
• Art show (Russ’s art and art he inspired) at the Community Center.
• NFARA (North Fork American River Alliance) exhibit and membership drive
• Story recording room — Record “Russell stories” and memories for
his family, and for posterity.
• Russell-inspired crafting, with Shellie Towle. (The “Russell Towle
Coloring Book”/Geometric model building/Make a “God’s eye” / Make a
dreamcatcher…)

4:00 to 6:00, Dutch Flat Community Center: QUESADILLA DINNER. Open to all.

6:30, Dutch Flat Community Center: MULTIMEDIA PROGRAM
Featuring Russ’s geometrical imaging work, computer animation,
music, artwork, and his fascination with the North Fork American
River Canyon. Also, short presentations by family and friends.

***** SUNDAY October 12, 2008 *****

9:00 a.m. to 11:30: VISIT RUSS’S FAMILY AT HIS HOME ON MOODY RIDGE
Come prepared to walk a bit If you are able—wear trail
shoes/clothes, and enjoy the paths and viewspots Russ has been
grooming on this 25 acres of magical canyon rim woodland for the 33
years he lived here. It is unfailingly beautiful here in October. Take
the Alta exit from I-80 (17 miles E of Colfax) and follow signs.

12:00 Noon to 4:00, Dutch Flat Community Center
SHARING CIRCLE, followed by a POTLUCK (vegetarian food please!)

Camping will be available Friday to Monday in Russell’s meadow; and a
few Dutch Flat Hotel beds will be available Friday and Saturday night.
We can also arrange beds with local friends who have spare rooms.
Questions? Ideas for the Saturday evening program? Email
[email protected].

Donations to assist Russell’s family may be made be made in care of
the family’s attorney. Write “For the Russell Towle Family” on your
check, and make payable to:
Gerhard Stoll, Attorney / 425 California St. #1900 / San Francisco, CA 94104

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The Sunken Cathedral in Three Acts

Posted on October 7, 2008 by June Morrall

By John Vonderlin

Email John ([email protected])

To view The Sunken Cathedral, Act I, click here

To view the Sunken Cathedral, Act II, click here

To view The Sunken Cathedral, Act III, click here

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A Gumboot, a Pectoral Girdle & Snotsicles….New Story by John Vonderlin

Posted on October 6, 2008 by June Morrall

A Gumboot, a Pectoral Girdle and Snotsicles

Story/Photos by John Vonderlin

Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,

My last trip to Invisible Beach didn’t fail to amaze, mystify and amuse me with oddities and superlatives as usual.

The first treasure spotted was the largest and freshest Gumboot Chiton I’ve ever seen washed ashore.

This lovely brute, the largest of the numerous chiton species, measured nearly twelve inches end- to- end, close to the listed max of 13 or 14, you’ll find in books. What made it particularly special was that it still had its gills, those brown tentacle-like things arranged in curves on either side of the large central foot. I’d never seen these in such good shape before, in the hundreds of chitons I’ve seen washed ashore through the years.

In this enlarged picture of its mouth you can clearly see its radula, the mouth-part it uses to scrape its food, various algaes, off the reef.


Here’s an excerpt from “Gumboot Chiton Wikipedia” that explains the origins of this strange creature’s names. By the way, “Gumby” or should it be “Gumbo?,” is presently immersed in a sloppy mix of water and soil in a bucket, so that I can eventually remove the giant butterfly-shaped valves or plates, for artistic use, after it decomposes.

The name, “gumboot chiton,” seems to derive from a resemblance to part of a rubber Wellington boot or “gum rubber” boot. These boots were previously known as gumboots. However, support for this apparent etymology is scanty; the Giant Pacific Gumboot Chiton Homepage states “it has reminded others of the sole of a gum rubber boot”, and an Alaskan seashore field guide says it is named “from the animal’s resemblance to the rubber, or gum, boots worn by Alaska’s coastal residents.”

Neptune’s Vomitorium, had coughed up the next beach oddity, this strange piece of cartilage.

I’d seen smaller, partial versions of similar-shaped chunks previously, one still connected to the recognizable parts of a ray, so I was pretty sure I knew what it came from. After a little websearching I discovered it is called a pectoral girdle. Rays, sharks, fish, even people have them, though the fish’s and ours are composed of bones not cartilage. It provides a strong, stable foundation to anchor fins and arms onto, so they can do their vital work. My belief is this must be from a quite large ray.

There were also several unusual types of algae in the wrack that had washed up at Invisible Beach, and despite hours of research, I’m still trying to identify them.

I was, however, able to find the answer to what that strange hole was in the Sea Star photo I sent you last time. I found the Sea Star under a foot of water right next to a golf ball. There was a perfectly round hole in it, perhaps as much as a half an inch wide.


.It turns out that this hole, that I think I’ve seen before, but can’t clearly remember when, is something that all Sea Stars have. It’s called a “madreporite.” (Mother of all holes?) It’s tightly closed in Sea Stars washed up on the beach, or clinging to the rocks when the tide recedes, so it’s not often seen.

Wikipedia explains it as:  “The madreporite is an opening used to filter water into the water vascular system of echinoderms. It is visible as a small red or yellow button-like structure, looking like a small wart, on the aboral surface of the central disk of a starfish.”

On the same day, at a nearby beach, I saw several other oddities I’d like to share. There had been a mass stranding of almost fifty large Moon Jellyfish. They were in really good shape.

You can tell the two in the picture are both male by the fact that the horseshoe-shaped gonads visible through their translucent flesh are purplish. Females’ are white or yellowish. The strange coincidence of them being side by side on a spacious beach is due to the fact that Moon Jellyfish, or Aurelia aurita, as they are officially known, are unique amongst the large medusa species because they don’t capture prey with their tentacles. Instead they trap zooplankton in the mucus coating the outer surface of their bell and their oral arms. That old song lyric by Mary Wells, “I’m stuck like glue to my guy,” might be relevant in this case.

Nearby another oddity lay exposed in a sandy cliff above the normal reach of the waves. A number of iron-oxide-stained, stalactite-like features hung down from the eroded cliffside.

After an examination I believe I know what they are. They are the early stage of concretions that form around roots or twigs. While they were still buried, iron-containing materials had accreted around them. If the roots had stayed buried and calcium-rich water had percolated through the sand, I believe the cementation process that creates concretions would have happened.

Not far away, flowing over a low seaside cliff into the sand, was a another oddity that doesn’t have a name that I can be sure of. Upon seeing the photo, my brother insisted it was either a snotsicle or snottite.

He’d watched a show on spelunking recently and both snotsicle and snottite were mentioned. Unfortunately, the word snotsicle is also commonly used to denote the frozen result of a runny nose. On the other hand snottite only occurs in caves, so neither name is quite right.

A Wikipedia article, besides pictures, had this excerpt about snottite:

“Snottites are colonies of single-celled extremophilic bacteria. They hang from the walls and ceilings of caves and are similar to small stalactites, but have the consistency of ‘snot’, or mucus.

“The bacteria derive their energy from chemosynthesis of volcanic sulfur compounds and warm-water solution dripping down from above. Because of this, they are highly acidic, some with the corrosive properties of battery acid.”

Yow! Where’s my teflon kleenex?

As I said in the beginning of this posting, a trip to the San Mateo coast almost always provides me with a sense of awe, mystery and amusement at what Neptune and Mother Nature have to offer. I wonder what this week will manifest? Enjoy. John

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1978: Oil in La Honda?

Posted on October 6, 2008 by June Morrall

Rick Sullivan wrote this in 1978.

Wes Dognetti surveys the gentle coastal hills west of La Honda and gazes serenely at the Pacific below.

“I’m told that close to a million barrels have been taken from these fields since oil was discovered here (in the mid 1800s) . And there’s probably a lot more down there.”

Dognetti should know. For the past 20 years he’s worked as La Honda superintendent for a variety of firms, including the ZIA Petroleum Corp, the newest in a line of independent companies that hope enough oil remains in the overworked fields for them to cash in on the skyrocketing price of oil.

ZIA’s president, William Weaver, Jr. of Long Beach, is among a number of south state entrepreneurs traveling north to seek their fortunes in the precious black crude.

While the so-called “majors” of the petroleum industry are reviewing potentially rich deposits off the Northern California shoreline, smaller oil firms such as ZIA are taking a closer look at abandoned wells in the coastal hills of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

So far, ZIA likes what it sees.

The independent company, in limited partnership with Union Oil, last year successfully rejuvenated 12 “stripper wells” in the upper and lower La Honda Fields.

The company is now pumping an average of 100 barrels of crude daily.

In the next few years, ZIA hopes to have 21 additional wells in operation, pumping a total of 2,000 barrels per day.

At the current price of almost $12 a barrel, ZIA is happily staring at a potential yearly gross of $8.6 million.

Oil production in San Mateo County could indeed become big business.

Weaver got a taste of good fortune in his new enterprise earlier this month.

The 44-year-old ZIA president contacted the San Mateo County Planning Department on a recent Thursday to inquire about oil exploration permits near the South Coast.

He was advised permits would run $200 per well, but on the following Monday would increase to $2,000–the hefty hike a direct result of the property tax restrictions imposed by Proposition 13.

Weaver hastily boarded a plane on Friday morning to fly north. He issued the planning office a check for $4,200 plus another $350 in other environmental fees for 21 oil drilling applications.

Had Weaver waited one more day to make his inquiry, he would have been required to pay the county a total of $45,550 for the same number of applications.

Weaver can only hope that the almost miraculous paper savings of more than $40,000 is a signal of the financial prosperity that awaits his three-year-old enterprise.

The county has never earned the distinction of contributing mightily to the national petroleum reserve. In fact, it seems safe to assume few are aware oil is pumped from the ground of this predominantly suburban region.

But according to Weaver, a professional engineer and businessman who says he has researched the oil drilling history of Northern California, the coastal hills of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties were among the first areas of the state to be tapped for commercial oil production.

It was in the year 1865, says Weaver, that a San Francisco druggist Charles Morrell, was tipped by the rugged timbermen of the era that crude oil was actually bubbling from the ground on the grassy slopes near La Honda and Half Moon Bay and south into Santa Clara.

Weaver relates that the intrepid druggist laid claim to this land, ladled the crude from man-made sumps and marketed the liquid as illuminates for lamps.

Later, more sophisticated light, steam engines were employed to pump the crude oil.

Petroleum giants such as Exxon, Texaco and Union purchased mineral rights to the land in the mid 1950s and established more modern, gas-operated commercial pumps on land that is now part of the Cowell Ranch south of Purisima, the Amburst and Savage land, and the Peter Folger property off San Gregorio Road, about 2 1/2 miles west of La Honda.

What attracted the majors to the area, according to Weaver, was the relatively shallow depths of the deposits, and the “low gravity” content of the oil, which eased refining the crude into gasoline.

In some sections the sticky crude was found within 15 feet of ground level, but in most areas oil was hit after drilling 1,600 feet to 2,400 feet.

These depths are considered by oilmen to be extremely shallow. By comparison, most Texas wells are sunk 10,000 feet and more.

But the shallow wells, however convenient, didn’t produce what was hoped for by the majors. The wells yielded far less than newly discovered deposits in the southern states and overseas.

In the late 1950s, according to Weaver, oil was selling for about $1.85 per barrel.

“The majors just couldn’t show a reasonable profit with their La Honda wells at the price,” he notes.

Most of the large companies quit-claimed their leases and they passed uneventfully to the Neaves Petroleum Co., then to the South Western Apache Petroleum Co., then back to Neaves.

Weaver’s ZIA Corp purchased Neaves mineral rights to the scenic coastal slopes in 1975. With these rights was an agreement that that the owners of the land that contained the oil would be guaranteed a percentage of the gross production.

Twelve gas-operated iron pumps, unseen from the La Honda Road, and nestled in the hills among patches of wild thistle, operate 24 hours a day.

In what is locally referred to as the Lower La Honda Field just north of the roadway, a barb-wire fenced compound contains a cluster of storage tanks and machinery.

There water and gas is separated from the oil pumped from the ground and stored.

The gas is used to operate the pumps, water is injected back into the earth and the oil is transported from the field tanks to a large tank closer to the road.

ZIA Oil is sold to Union, which in turn sells it to the Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez.

“What we’ve done (in purchasing these leases),” comments Weaver, is to turn heretofore marginally profitable wells into ones that are quite profitable.

“One has to remember that we (oilmen) are now getting five times as much for oil than was given six or seven years ago,” adds Weaver, who reminds how the Arab oil embargo dramatically boosted the price of a barrel of crude.

Weaver further advises that the market now for crude oil is far greater in Northern California than in the south–the major transfer point for Alaskan tankers.

ZIA has attempted to keep a low profile, skirting any publicty for fear of hassles from environmentalists and vandals.

Weverr employs Dognetti–an old time oilman–schooled not in high finance, but in the muck, the ditches and the heat of the Casmalia oil fields near Vandenburg–to guard and maintain the facilities.

But Weaver claims his operation is ecologically sound, and reminds that in the long run his business can add much needed revenue to local government coffers. He must pay a mineral tax based on production.

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The Silent Procession: New Story by John Vonderlin

Posted on October 3, 2008 by June Morrall

The Silent Procession

Story by John Vonderlin

Email John ([email protected])

Hi June,

With my brother visiting from Oregon, I used the opportunity to come out to San Mateo’s beautiful coast and do some collecting of Marine Debris at Invisible Beach and below the Ritz Carlton a few days ago.

It had been a while since I’d been to the latter, and I wanted to clean the reef of golf balls before the big Samsung Golf Tournament that started yesterday. There were only a few more visitors then normal, but the place was a beehive of activity. Big tents raised along the hotel’s southern side, Samsung signs everywhere, huge light pole trucks waiting to be positioned, workers buzzing around everywhere on electric carts, talking earnestly on their cell phones. Things are really coming together for their moment in the sun, or at least the Golf Channel. The nearly unique-in-golf-tournament-history twenty-six minute fog delay the competitors experienced yesterday, certainly put a Northern California coastal imprint on that moment in the sun.Wearing my kayak booties I was able to splash around the rock promontory that isolates the beach below the Ritz except at low tide and had the Sunken Cathedral Beach to myself. The Sunken Cathedral’s ruins seemed a little more eroded from its cliffside grave then the last time I saw it, but still looks like it has a few more good years in it.

I took some obligatory pictures of it with my camera, trying a few different angles from those previously tried. I was hoping to luck out and capture the somber, brooding aspect of this monument to some developer’s cleverness. I also shot a little video of it with my new, cool Flip Video, which I’ll send in a subsequent email. I obviously need some more practice with it, but so do the golfers whose errant balls I began to collect as I started northward.

I ended up gathering 59 balls.

But, probably got only part of those that were there, as there was a lot of seaweed filling the holes in the reef where they often gather. I tried to locate them in their hiding places, but feeling around with my feet in the slippery mess for hidden balls seemed like a prescription for a broken ankle or a concussion. Note from the pictures I attached that the balls are social sea creatures. They love to congregate. While five in one place was the maximum this time, if I remember rightly, I found as many as 46 in one hole last year. It was of interest that of the 59 I gathered, only one was not complete and that most were fairly new, hardly smoothed by their time in the surf. This is very unlike those that are regurgitated by Neptune’s Vomitorium, 15 miles south and perhaps many months or years into their travels.

The last two pictures are of an odd congregation of marine debris I spotted south of the Sunken Cathedral as we were leaving.

On first sight I thought I was looking at Cinderella’s glass slipper, three complete golf balls and the pink core of another. When I picked up the small, round, spongy, pink thing and examined it carefully

I realized that it was the severed “head” of a personal item. While I was glad to add it to my collection of adult-themed marine debris items, it made me doubt that Cinderella had anything to do with the “glass slipper.” Or maybe Walt Disney left that part of the story out.

My trip to Invisible Beach that day produced a bonanza of oddities or superlatives I’d like to share in my next posting. Enjoy. John

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