Old Glory
Old Glory. 1776. Every piece of cloth slowly made in a colonial weaving room had a story. There remains a story – rewritten and still thriving in Sonoma County at North Bay Industries. The Stars and Stripes. 2018. Cloth and thread. The cotton is no longer picked by hand – the current cotton picker is a self-propelled machine that removes cotton lint and seed from the plant at up to six rows at a time. It’s fast, self-driving and replaces the labor of 240 sets of field hands. The Red White and Blue. Today they appear the same, but many ingredients used to come from Spanish colonies in Central and South America. Eighteenth-century dyers used insects to produce red, indigo for blue, campeche tree heartwood for purple, walnut for brown, and turmeric for yellow. Because of their chemistry, many eighteenth-century dyes are these days deemed unsafe, so the chemicals used at NBI to dye these beautiful flags are now American made.
The story of how our flag is made will continue long after those that proudly wave it.
Photography by Michael Woolsey
Bleacher Critic captured by Field
Michael Woolsey captured the day at one of Petalumas cultural newcomers, Bleacher Critic.
Cannot get other user media. API shut down by Instagram. Sorry. Display only your media.
Field trip to Bolinas
A northern California version of the California surf town, Bolinas comes complete with a vegetarian deli, aging hippies and some seriously wetsuit-worthy chilly water. It has a good hippy history having been home to musicians with Grateful Dead, and many counter culture poets and artists which today run the unincorporated town with a rose in their fisted gloves.
Known for its reclusiveness, the locals are friendly so long as you respect their town and clean up after yourself on the beach. Not a lot of rules on Bolinas beach, so dogs off leash, bonfires, camping, weed-it’s part of the scene. There are no actual police in Bolinas, so unless something is truly egregious, most everything flies smoothly under the proverbial radar.
Bolinas is a popular surfing spot, perfect for beginners and those preferring not too big of a break. For a Bolinas surf report, go to the local surf shop’s site HERE.
At 2 Mile Surf Shop boards and wetsuits are available for rent or sale, and it’s a good place to get the lowdown on whatever is happening in the water that day. They also do lessons and run surf camps for kids in the summer. It’s namesake is the “Bolinas 2 Miles” sign off Hwy 1 that is never there because the locals continually take it down every time the county puts it back up.
So, if you can find it, have a great day in Bolinas.
