Degrees of Separation

Notes from Tuscarora, September, 1994

We arrive on a September day that feels like a typical one in August:  dry, dusty, the time of day that flattens the landscape and makes me sorry for  choosing this place.  I don't like the roofline of the addition to the Adobe House.  I think the name "Adobe House" is stupid and pretentious.

Everyone pitches in, unloading the car.  The light changes.  Pretty soon it all feels better.

Getting there.  Every trip is different, but every trip has its own ritual.  Places where I stop.  What I notice on the way.  Stop at Raley's in Elko.  Notice the Hooper's stone house with  the beautiful blue roof.  Think about stopping at Lone Mountain for coffee, but we didn't do it.  We never do.  Notice the Van Norman sign, "In God..." weather tilted letters, some missing.  "What about God?" I wonder.  The willows in Taylor Canyon.  We're getting closer.  The Taylor Canyon Bar is closed.  Turn on to the Midas road for the  seven miles, then turn one more time.

The coincidences.  Six degrees of separation.  John Euler knows the Varneys, whose daughter is married to John's friend, the owner of a paint store in Mill Valley.  Wheatly Allen's friend, Elmer Colette, has been coming here for years to visit Doc Flynne, who has a house near Jack Creek.

The first Artist's Week, when I brought Heidi, Rosemary and Pamela to Tuscarora, we stayed in Winnemucca, had dinner at the Martin Hotel.  The owner asked us, "Where are you going?"

We said, "Tuscarora."

He replied, "We were just up there a couple of days ago."