Kudos to You

I stopped in at Cognition Cyclery in Mountain View this past week to look at their cool bikes and see what's new.

I asked the staff what makes this shop different from others and Vanessa Seelaus, Store Manager since August, piped up, "This store has me!"

She provided me with a brief and energetic bio about herself:


"I grew up riding my bike in Old Forge and Oseetah in Upstate New York, but the call of the big mountains and bright sunshine lured me to the Rocky Mountains. I tuned my skills on the steep hills in and around Avon, where I lived for several years.

After enjoying the perks of the mountain lifestyle for a bit, I moved to the flatlands of the Front Range in 2002 to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder. In August of this year I finally hit the left coast to work at Cognition Cyclery, here in Mountain View. I am an avid outdoor enthusiast, and can usually be found riding, running or hiking all over the South Bay, usually accompanied by my four-legged main-man, Gus.

With 11 years of cycling industry experience, I am fully geared to provide you with the best experience possible. I am an expert on all things related to the bicycle and am also a Specialized Body Geometry Master Fit Specialist."

Well, that sounds great, I told her, but what else do you bring to the store to make it different? She smiled and said better products, like their BMC, Specialized and Felt bicycle lines and rider friendly accessories.

Vanessa brings energy, enthusiasm, and a genuine concern for other cyclists. Stop by and ask any of the staff for assistance and you'll know why I enjoy visiting the shop just to say hello. And while you're there, introduce yourself to Vanessa and ask her how she can help you improve your cycling experience.

It's the Clean Up Season - time to get your home ready for winter weather. In your yard, leaves need raking, the pool needs covering, the garden needs some TLC, bushes need some work, maybe some weeding along the sidewalks and steps. Or maybe it's time to clean the house or garage. It'd be great if someone could do it without the use of dangerous chemicals, maybe some "green cleaning" products could be used? Or maybe some things need to be moved out of storage while other things need to go into storage. Do you know any one who could help? Maybe some teens from the local church or community group?

It could also be that you have some construction that needs getting done before the snow arrives or frost sets in for good. Plumbing, carpentry, electrical work, handyman skills, general labor - but who to hire? And can you afford it? Right before the holiday season when more money gets spent on social events. But it needs to get done.

It'd be great if someone could hang the Christmas lights for you. Use the ladder and get everything done while you work on greeting cards, or just watch the game. Maybe while someone is at it, they could clean out the gutters. So much to do. Must be someone around who can help for a day or two.

And if you want to promote a business or an event, it'd be great to get someone to hand out leaflets or hold a sign at a corner, but who to hire? How much will it cost?

These are practical concerns and needs. Who is looking for jobs like these that last such a short time and then its over?

Day Laborers. Sometimes called Day Workers. They can do it all, at reasonable prices, and with a willing heart and with knowledge about how to get the job done.

I did not know about Day Worker Centers until this past summer when someone asked if I could teach ESL classes, as a volunteer, at the center in Mountain View. I walked in and filled out some paperwork, and I go once a week to teach and help out as needed. It's a friendly environment. The workers, both men and women, are ready to work at a moment's notice. They arrive at 7AM and are on call until 5PM. The director of the facility matches the appropriate workers to the job requests. It's efficient and effective.

Consider visiting your local Day Worker Center (they may have other names, such as Labor Center or Labor Exchange) and finding out more about what they offer and at what cost. You may find yourself getting more projects done and being ready for the winter sooner than ever before.

And if you live in or near Mountain View, CA, consider going the the Day Worker Center's 15th Anniversary Celebration and Auction on November 12 and 13. We'd love to see you there.

'Tis the Season to be jolly / Fa la la la la, la la la la. Sounds like someone forgot the words and then just used the 'la' as the words. Or, maybe a child was singing a song and liked the sound of 'la' tripping over the tongue. 'Deck the Halls' is a merry song about being happy and wearing nice winter clothes and enjoying a warm fire in the fireplace, and decorating the home for winter celebrations.

What if you live without halls, warm heat, and warm clothes during winter? What then? Where is the joy to that? While some decorate their houses and shop for presents to add more things to store in their garages and closets, others have gone homeless and found poverty, but not by choice.

The US Census Bureau reports that the number of children living in poverty has increased since the financial crisis in 2008, resulting in nearly 1-in-4 children living in poverty in the United States. Where children live in poverty, so do their parents. Foreclosures, layoffs, bankruptcies, and hours reduced to part time from full time lead to poverty. And, for some, to homelessness. And we know what's coming for the Year End, when businesses typically lay off thousands before Dec. 31 to give a good financial report at the start of the First Quarter in the new year.

But this Season can be different, can be changed for the better by people in community with one another.

For example, a friend of mine, Ralph Gella, is the Food Bank Director at San Francisco City Impact. He is passionate about helping the poor and the homeless by providing them with food, and a place to eat, and a place to not feel homeless or impoverished all the time. I spoke with him over the summer and he said that he works in a one square mile area of San Francisco called the Tenderloin District. City Impact serves the community of 35,000 people there by providing an elementary school, a local church, a rescue mission, a thrift store, and a volunteer center. They endeavor to bring joy to a community that goes without on a regular basis.

You, too, can bring joy to someone who has had to go without. At CityTeam Ministries, with offices in San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, CA, and in Portland, OR, and Philadelphia, PA, they are asking for help in the form of 'simple gifts' to those in need this holiday season. Simple gifts seems like an understatement: meals, warm coats, food, toys - these may be 'simple' but the impact can change hopelessness into hope for a better day and into a time of joy during harsh realities.

Maybe your local community center or religious center or church needs your help. I ask that you lend a hand, give a gift, clear out your closets and garages and donate to those who need more than they ever thought they'd need the help of strangers. And if you can, and are willing, consider not being a stranger, but be a friend by volunteering and getting to know your neighbor.

Bring joy this season. Then you can sing, 'Deck the Halls' and know the joy that someone else can have, too.

Next time you visit the store, consider buying seconds, as in a second bag of groceries, or a second of other items on your list. Take the seconds and drop them off at your local food bank or community services organization.

If the budget is tight and seconds are not in reach, consider taking some time to volunteer at a food bank or a community services organization. It's worth saying these things twice. This difficult economy has hit everyone, and some more than others. When it comes time to pay the bills, do you keep the electricity going (for heat and hot water) and pay rent or mortgage, and car insurance, and school costs for your children, and still have money for food? When the budget is tight, getting enough food becomes an issue.

This is where being in a community shows what really matters: neighbors, coworkers, relatives, people you know and those you don't know. It's a way to come together and watch out for each other, to make sure our communities grow stronger, not weaker.

Consider feeding a family. What does it take? Repeated kindness and attention to who they are. A few years ago, the church small group I attended heard of a family whose 13-yr-old son was diagnosed with cancer. We asked the family if we could feed them (put together a meal every Saturday night, plus extra for the week ahead), and they accepted. We didn't know them at first, but we did get to know them over the next few months. We created community. Their son passed away near his 14th birthday. Only, by then, it wasn't just "their son"; it was "our friend". It's still difficult to talk about, or even write about. But if we hadn't reached out and offered to feed this family, that would have been the greater loss.

Consider attending an auction event for local food banks and community organizations in the next month. Put in some bids, get to know the people there and build a sense of being connected to those around you. You may find that by reaching out a helping hand, that you have fed a family and kept them from choosing between electricity and going hungry.

The Portola Art Gallery exhibits high quality, representational art by 12 Bay Area artists in the areas of painting, pastel, photography, and sculpture. The artists and their respective websites are:

• Steve Curl


• Frances Freyberg


• Marsha Heimbecker


• Carolyn Jones


• Mark Monsaratt


• Jerome Peters


• Jared Sines


• Mary Stahl


• Nancy Stevenson


• Barbara Von Haunalter


• Decker Walker


• Alice Weil

The Gallery is located at the historic Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park, CA, and is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00am to 5:00pm.

In a recent visit to the Portola Art Gallery, I noticed the work of Marsha Heimbecker. Elephants painted not shades of gray but with bold brush strokes of blues, oranges, yellows, browns, purples, and pinks. Roosters and chicks holding prominence in bold colors and stances. The roosters and chicks come in multiple shades of green, red, white, blue, orange, yellow, purple, and black. It all begs the question: at what point did the artist say to herself, "I'm going to use colors. I'm going bold. I want to show life and vibrancy and depth and attitude."

Stop by the Gallery in September to see her "Memories of Youth" presentation as a tribute to The Orphaned Elephants of Tsavo. The paintings were inspired by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, a refuge for the protection and preservation of Africa's wilderness, particularly for endangered species such as the elephant. Of the Wildlife Trust, Marsha says, "I am in awe of such a refuge, a place for the sick, the wounded, the abandoned. Thank you to those who have given elephants a new life - to play in rain puddles, roll in mud baths, and live to enjoy their memories of youth."

The Portola Art Gallery will hold an Artist Reception for Marsha Heimbecker on September 10, 2011, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. You are welcome to attend, look at the art in person, and talk with Marsha yourself.

You can also look at her work online:

Avenue Art

Here Marsha reflects on her paintings and her approach to painting. She says:

"My paintings are about color harmony. They express my mood and ideas. I love color and seek to use color to depict the world as I experience and feel it. My art is loose and painterly and based in realism, but it's not a rendering of the literal visual appearance of objects. My paintings try to tell a story and make a connection with the viewer. I capture emotional experiences with my own subjective interpretations and try to tell a story and have the viewer experience it with me.

My paintings are very expressive -- both of my mood and my feelings toward the subject."

Marsha Heimbecker Art at CafePress.com

Marsha has made some of her work available as wearable art. Support her work and wear fine art!

Marsha Heimbecker's Blog

You can view some of her art and send her some kudos.

BoldBrush Painting Competition

You can view her 6 x 6 oil painting Grayed, which has very little gray and a whole lot of presence.

Portola Art Gallery Website

Have a look at her range of paintings.

In addition to the Portola Art Gallery, Marsha also shows her art at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica, CA.

This past month, Frances Freyberg has been selling her photography to raise money for the nonprofit Nuru International. All profits from exhibit sales will support Nuru's mission to help end extreme poverty, one community at a time.

The exhibit includes photos from her recent travels to Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Chile, landscapes from New Zealand and Africa, and flower photos from local gardens such as Filoli and Allied Arts.

Frances says that Nuru International, founded by Stanford Business School graduate Jake Harriman, is a U.S.-based social venture that equips the poor living in remote, rural areas to end extreme poverty in their communities. Nuru first identifies and mentors local leaders and then partners with proven organizations to promote development in five critical areas: agriculture, water & sanitation, healthcare, education and community economic development. By integrating revenue generation models into all five of these program areas, Nuru strives to enable each community to become financially self-sustaining.

I went to the Portola Art Guild Artist Reception for Frances on August 6. I asked Frances about her world tour and how that came about. She said that she worked for a Bay Area tech company for six years, saving her money to fulfill a childhood dream: to travel the world and take photos of what she saw. In 2008, she left her job and did just that. She traveled to more than 50 countries over a period of one year, taking photographs and writing about her experiences. During that time, she built an educational travel weblog with weekly photos, as well as historical and cultural information about the countries she visited.

When she returned to the Bay Area, she published a book of the weblog and took a new job, not in high-tech communications, but as a development and marketing communications director for Mission Hospice and Home Care, a nonprofit organization that serves San Mateo County and surrounding areas. When her coworkers found out she took such wonderful photos, they invited her to display her large scale photographs (30"x40") at their office. However, for Frances, she sees her photography as a means to a very specific end: she finds great pleasure in being able to support organizations like Mission Hospice and Nuru International through her photography.

This led to my next question: how does she choose which photo becomes a framed print or a wrapped canvas print? It's clear that her photos (her eye, her choice of perspective and framing, her sense of timing and presentation) are stunningly beautiful, but how to make the selection?

Frances pointed to four framed prints and said that they are from her recent trip to Macedonia. She then started unfolding a story of each picture and how she wanted to present the four as a whole story, a whole image for what she saw and how she'd like others to see the country she'd visited.

In her words, as to why she likes photography: "Photographs have a unique ability to inspire reflection, hope and action. They hold the power to spark memories and encourage new adventures. They enable viewers to see familiar surroundings from a fresh perspective, or to explore uncharted territories for the very first time. Through my photography, I hope to educate people about our world, and to interest them in the natural beauty that surrounds us."

Frances Freyberg's award-winning photographs can be found in galleries and private collections worldwide, as well as at Portola Art Gallery in Menlo Park at the Allied Arts Guild.

A couple days ago, the right rear Bridgestone tire on our Honda took a fatal hit from a flying nail. We took this as an opportunity to replace our six-year old tires with their 48,000 miles of wear on them with new tires.

Down the road from us is an America's Tire shop. We pulled in, one tire the 50 mph-max spare, and walked in without an appointment at about 3:30pm today. An hour later, we drove home on new Yokohama tires.

The person who took care of us was the manager, Mike Balestreri, who provided excellent customer service. He was friendly, unhurried, and knowledgeable about what tires would work. He was cost-conscious and offered on-the-spot discounts. He suggested we try some new rims, but we declined and he was pleasant about it, letting the decision be ours. He showed us some options and let us know we could think about and come back in if we changed our minds. It was 'business as usual' and not a pressured moment. It was refreshing to be in an auto shop that could be professional and courteous.

This is my opportunity to say Kudos to Mike and his team at America's Tire in Mountain View, CA.