Rusty Bucket Ranch Blog

The temperature was rising, and the school year was winding down, but still the Rusty Bucket Ranch remained damp and muddy.  The surrounding hills were carpeted with thick, emerald green grass from the abundant rainfall.  By the solstice they would be brown again.  Marty’s eighth grade graduation was fast approaching,…

The damp darkness continued for weeks in that narrow redwood canyon, until even the humans felt like fungus.  Many of the clothes in Marty’s closet got mildew stains, and had to be thrown away.  A leather jacket given to him by Gorilla Joe was completely covered by a creamy white…

The days leading up to Christmas got colder and darker.  Near the solstice, with the sun low in the southern sky, not much light filtered down through the trees to their little cabin.  The creek remained full and clear from the recent rains and everything was wet, damp, or mildewed. …

The day after Thanksgiving, Marty rode over the hill with Marge and Magical Michael to help out at the pet store.  This was traditionally a big shopping day, and Pat was having a huge sale on animals.  She only discounted the animals – not the supplies – because as she…

The autumn woods welcomed Thanksgiving with cold rain and a warm hearth.  The colorful curtains on the tree house had long since been taken down, and Julie moved back into her little walk-in-closet of a room.  The Rusty Bucket Freezer was frigid all the time, and no matter how much…

The day finally came for Marty and his sisters to relinquish their freedom and choreograph their daily schedules again.  Julie would be driving her Volkswagen to high school at Drake, after dropping Marty and Susie off at Lagunitas School. Marge began shuttling Rabbit to her job as a seamstress in…

All summer Marty continued to explore the unique environment around his new home.  The geographically isolated canyon in which their “property” existed offered many opportunities for discovery.  He began to consider the entire canyon his natural home, and scoffed at the idea that it was the possession of any human…

One day, like a relic from a bad dream, a battered old school bus pulled into the driveway.  Naturally, Marty was rather agitated by this as he stared out the window – was the 8th grade coming to get him already?  Anyway, he could see it wasn’t a “real” school…

In the early summer Krishna had her second litter of kittens.  She was showing considerable promise in the cat-producing department.  One was black with medium long hair like her.  Another was an orange tabby.  There was a pretty little striped kitten, and one that might be called a “tortoise shell”…

Julie’s rebellion was a short-lived experiment in minimalist living.  She moved back in the house in the fall when it got cold and windy.  However, while the trial was at its high point, she lived a dream life that would have been the envy of any 16-year-old girl.  She lived…

After the Fourth of July festivities, Jimbo and Otter started building a large shed.  They planned to raise it 18 inches off the ground on concrete piers, in case the creek flooded.  It was going to allow the White family to get all the junk and boxes out of their…

The next day was Independence Day, and Julie celebrated by announcing, “I’m going to build a tree house in the front yard and live in it.” She was not asking permission, but reporting the news.  Julie was extremely self-assured, as if her way was the only way that made sense,…

When Marty got back to the little cabin in the redwoods, he couldn’t wait to tell someone all that he had seen.  To his delight, Jimbo was back, sitting at the kitchen table and having a cup of coffee with another long-haired man.  His mom was fixing supper, and it…

When Hillie welcomed Marty and his family to “The Lagunitas Triangle,” it had several meanings.  One referred to the strange, nurturing eeriness of the setting, suggesting a vortex of mysterious forest powers.  It was the kind of place where people could appear and disappear without drawing notice, like mushrooms.  Another…

School came rapidly to a close that year.  After so many new experiences, Marty felt as if the days evaporated, the way mud puddles in their driveway caked and turned to dust.  Suddenly, they were free: faced with a long summer where they didn’t have to go or be anywhere…

For Marty and his sisters, every day was like a tactical military operation just to get to and from school.  Most of the families they knew had a hectic morning, but theirs was beyond the norm.  Waking up in a walk-in freezer was the first challenge, followed by a bowl…