Remembering Klau Mine Dave a.k.a. Studebaker Dave

David Brooks was my friend. We first met at a gun show in Paso Robles the weekend of December 9-10, 2007, at the Mid-state Fairgrounds. I was the oddball rock seller in the midst of guns and antiques and other gun show-requisite types of dealers like knife-sellers and jerky sellers and right-wing bumper-sticker sellers and army surplus sellers, etcetera. He liked rocks, too, and we clicked right away. He invited me out to where he lived which was on the Buena Vista Mine/Klaue Mine complex where he was the 20+ years caretaker. The day after the show ended we began to regularly exchange emails about obscure history and geology and other similar nerdy things. I soon took him up on the offer to visit the mines. My then-girlfriend and I paid him a visit and had a blast. The friendship continued beyond my relationship with that girl. We become brothers, he becoming the older brother I never had, sometimes quarreling as he was one of those angry atheists angry at the God in whom they claim to not believe and afraid they might be wrong. I tried to patiently battle him in such a way such as to show him the reality of the love of God and beauty of Christ in all my brokenness and still casting about trying to figure life out. By the end of his life I do believe he transformed and his perspective changed on this matter... I certainly hope so and am hopeful.

Dave was a combination of a trusty foreman, hardscrabble miner, master mechanic, fearless hunter, not to fail to mention de facto Nordic blacksmith, ancient mariner, epic poet (watch him read one of his poems HERE) and natural philosopher in the tradition of the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment as he often did arcane research and wild experiments reminiscent of the sorts of things we recount Benjamin Franklin to have done. In short, he was a Renaissance Man disguised as a short Odin with a perpetual limp and grin. That limp and grin accompanied me on a number of adventures during the time of our friendship, some of them on the mine complex and some elsewhere. On the mine complex he and I explored an adit he had not explored in many years due to difficulty of access and we unsuccessfully searched for another nearby. We also participated in the March 2009 CFMS Ant Hill Field Trip.

Dave was always there for me as a friend, brother, mentor, and wingman as the occasion required. He helped me move when I lost my house and had a short time with lots to do. I lamented to him that I could not repay him for his time and gas and he famously responded, "some things just have to be done" meaning that he simply must help me regardless. I did repay him with spoils of a project in which I was paid with material things like an old motorcycle and such. I was also there for Dave as a sounding board and adventure sidekick. Sometimes Dave would drunk-call me awash in angst over a sense of eminent major life change due to his fear that his mentor and boss and landlord Harold Biagini would die of his cancer forcing him off the property. The irony is that Harold recovered from his cancer scare, dying several years later of old age in his 90s while Dave would die on Monday, August 16, 2010, six years ago today, at age 47.

I discovered Dave's body six years ago today. All through 2010 it seemed he was having respiratory problems. After a while it seemed he got better but then fixed a neighbor's tractor he had long before agreed to work on and he got a bad relapse of whatever it was afflicting him. As he worsened he seemed to glom onto me over his much better and more long-lived friends like Andy and Billy. I think each of his friends knew not too much about his other close friends and we each thought we were his best friend not knowing how close he was to the others. For whatever reason he kept us each apart. I was honored that a guy who could be somewhat cagey and distrusting of strangers opened up to me so quickly. He was a fairly good judge of character and I feel he could read my sincerity, genuineness, authenticity, and in some respects, innocence, relatively-speaking. What I now think was going on then was he felt his impending death and wanted to be with a Christian given I was his distinctly Christian friend. I was ministering to not only his physical and logistical needs but also his emotional and spiritual needs. I was the noob friend but I by the grace of God possessed the things he needed most. I also feel he did not want to worry his longer-term and closer friends like Andy and Billy whom he loved dearly.

Anywho, he was drawn to my support and care down the final stretch of his last days as his breathing became more labored and he became weaker and prepared for his grandmother to come up from Southern California and take him to the hospital and be there with him. I helped him prep his home space for an extended absence and was going to care for his dog. He also needed a lot of assistance like bringing fluids to drink and food as he found walking about the house incredibly laborious.

On the night of August 15, 2010, we had dinner after working all day and watched BBC's Planet Earth which we had been watching successive nights  previously. I went home to sleep and get ready to finish helping him in the morning before going back to Cuesta College later that day for the first time in over 20 years. When I arrived the next morning his outer lights were still on as they had been the night before and his radio was still on as it had been when I left. I immediately knew something had happened to him, either he was down on the ground and in trouble or he had already died. I walked through the front door, the same door threshold Billy May (different Billy friend-of-Dave than the aforementioned) would drop dead in when murdered in that house in 2014 after he took over the caretaker duties at the mines. Anywho, I immediately saw Dave still sitting on his sofa where I left him and it was clear he was dead. His eyes were looking straight on focused at a very great distance. I do believe he was seeing something when he died. He died awake, not in his sleep, but without any struggle or any more discomfort than he was already experiencing as evidenced by his positioning and facial expression which was a stare into the distance.

At that point I freaked out and did not think of using the phone in his house to call 911 but got in my pickup and started driving down Klau Mine Road looking for a neighbor from whom to get help. Of course, on that day nobody was around. Even the Cal Fire state at the intersection of Klau Mine Road and Chimney Rock Road was empty as the crew was out on a call. I drove up Chimney Rock Road to Justin Vineyards (pre-Resnick ownership) and placed a 911 call right in the tasting room with everybody watching and hearing me. I then drove back to Dave's and waited. The Cal Fire engine from the aforementioned nearby station arrived and went in and confirmed Dave was gone and then the crew stayed with me and comforted me while we awaited the sheriff's office to arrive. They did and got to work getting his guns out of his house so nobody stole them while the house was unoccupied until his family arrived which happened the next day. Later, his autopsy revealed he suffered from emphysema exacerbated by a right lung infection. Had he sought treatment sooner he would have been told to leave the mine and that would have killed him, too. He died on his terms. It would appear that for 20 years working and living on an EPA Superfund Site, working a coal-powered forge, regularly working on diesel motors, and living adjacent to a dusty road inside an unsealed house will ultimately be fatal for even the hardy likes of Super Dave.

I went on to class feeling overwhelmed and things felt surreal. It helped to be a bit numb but my sadness and sense of loss steeply deepened in the days and weeks and months to follow. From the grave, Dave gave his friends new friends as Billy and Andy and I all got to know each other and became friends with each other which we remain to this day even though our paths cause us not to see each other much anymore. However, Billy and Andy are now my buddies for life and Dave brought us together through his death. Dave remains with all three of us and I hope the four of us meet again in eternity.

Dave rockhounding at Ant Hill near Bakersfield in March, 2009. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

Dave working his magic forge. Photo by Andy Randrup (all rights reserved).

Dave's life accomplishment that took years to complete and was completed within months of his death. This $20,000 gate is still located in Cayucos, CA. Photo by Kim Patrick Noyes or Andy Randrup (all rights reserved).

Super Dave with his super friend Andy; they were brothers by other mothers. Photo by Wendy Randrup (all rights reserved).

Andy returning Dave to the sea from whence he arose in a Morro Bay ceremony in October, 2010.
Photo by Wendy Randrup (all rights reserved).

"Those Who Came Before"

My late friend David Brooks, a.k.a. "Studebaker Dave" to so many and whom I christened "Klau Mine Dave" loved poetry and was a poet himself. He was the closest thing to Renaissance Man and polymath I have ever met and I mean that in the Leonardo Da Vinci style, not some effete, sissy-la-la urbane modern man. Dave was also the damnest finest blacksmith and mechanically-minded tinkerer I ever met. Lastly, he was a loyal friend and the closest thing to an older brother I ever had in my life. I miss him sorely but I am comforted by the personal revelation that he is okay having had an appointment with a patient and loving Creator on the night of his leaving this world. He frequently shared poetry with me and below is perhaps my favorite of Dave's poems with this one being rather ironic in light of his composing it not long before his ascension. Watch him read this poem HERE.

"Sometimes I think we walk alone

That I see the road is made of bone.

The bones of those who came before

In times of peace and times of war

I do believe they're at my door

The spirits of those who came before.

My house is built upon their tomb

Their graves are under my living room

The room in which I sit and think

And forge my visions into ink."

March 2009 Ant Hill CFMS Field Trip

On Saturday, March 21, 2009, I attended my first CFMS (California Federation of Mineralogical Societies) field trip which was a visit to Ant Hill outside of Bakersfield and across the Kern River from the famous Shark's Tooth Hill.

This field trip was led by the infamous rockhounding raconteur Shep Koss which was a good thing because this was my first visit ever to this location and I needed the proverbial "trainer wheels" my first visit there.

I must say I was very excited to finally make it to this locale that I've heard so much about over the years and it's nice to know where it is now and what to look for when I come back in the future on my own.

I set my alarm for 4:30 AM as I had to make breakfast, get my truck packed with what I needed and then drive out to my friend Dave Brooks' house out in the Adelaida area west of Paso Robles as I would be parking my vehicle at his place and carpooling with him to Ant Hill.

I had NO intention of leaving my truck parked all day in the neighborhood in Paso Robles where the Santa Lucia Rockhounds and SLO Gem & Mineral Club were to rendezvous prior to convoying to Ant Hill.

I AM NOT a morning person (I'm a night owl) and getting up before 5 AM TWICE in a month's time is perhaps a first in my life not to mention an alarming development.

The first light of dawn became discernible only by the time I was driving on Vineyard Avenue near Highway 46 West en route to Dave's place.

It was misty and drizzly for the most part during the drive on into Paso from Dave's place and it made me worry the storm that was to hit Saturday night was arriving early and might adversely effect the comfortableness of the field trip.

Another thing that concerned me was the realization that I neglected to bring extra layers of clothing in the event it was cold and windy or cold and rainy at any point in the day.

We all left around 7:20 AM and headed out Highway 46 East towards the Kern County and the San Joaquin Valley (Central Valley).

Strangely, once we got into eastern SLO Co/ western Kern County the precipitation stopped and a bit later the low clouds broke up and it was clear and sunny with just a few high clouds and a layer of low-laying clouds behind us to the west from whence we came.

Normally, the Central Valley this time of year is oft clabbered up with fog while the Central Coast is clear and sunny but today the roles were switched.

Our drive to Bakersfield was uneventful by way of Highway 46 East to Highway 99 and that south to Highway 178 which we then took east through and out of Bakersfield proper and out into the area on the northeast margins of the Bakersfield area which are the front lines between New California (rampant development) and Old California (the natural world).

We turned off of Highway 178 at Alfred Harrell Highway and took it north and around the corner to the left and back west a very short distance to Ant Hill.

When we first arrived at Ant Hill we found ourselves pulling off the road at Morning Drive which wends its way through the Ant Hill site but is off-limits to motorized vehicles and we saw no other vehicles.

However, off in the distance to the west we could see scores of people walking up to and about the Ant Hill site.

Therefore, we got back on the highway and drove a short distance down to where all those people appeared to be disgorging from and saw a packed parking lot and drove down into it and squeezed into one of the last remaining empty spots.

What follows is my day in photographs.

It was nice to see the large and enthusiastic turnout for this field trip.
Seen here at right are Santa Lucia Rockhounds Barbara Bilyeu and Joyce Baird.

My friend David loading up our cart while Tequila ambles about.

Even more folks had shown up by the time I was walking away from the parking lot.

David proudly posing next to his expertly-packed mobile rockhound module.

Not long after getting to the dig site we encountered this Northern Pacific Rattlesnake.

David is a herpetology buff and really "dug" the Crotalus oreganus oreganus at the dig.

Tequila asking me to let her off the leash while also telling me she felt a bit hot.

David working a dig.

My first dig site which also yielded my first shark's tooth once I got to screening.

Some smallish tabular petrified bone inside a concretion.
Concretions are common here and worth checking inside.

David and Shep Koss talking about the rattler and sharks and other guy stuff.

Wootz! My first ever shark tooth (anywhere/anytime).
I found a total of five for the day, but this was the largest.

Petrified bone inside another concretion.

David cleaning out our largest and most ambitious dig of the day.

Shep tutoring some of the folks.
What would we have done without him?

SLO Gem & Mineral Club Secretary Lynette Bayless getting down and dirty.

I came upon a guy late in the day working a hole with a bone-filled concretion.

The guy's name was Scott Harlan from the Salinas area.

David holding a large concretion I found and dug out.

Me holding my prize I hoped contained something cool.

Shep led our careful opening and inspection of the concretion.

The concretion contained nothing but a small amount of rotten bone.

On the other hand, Scott had a winner concretion and knew it.

Tequila started earnestly and self-importantly digging.
First I wondered if she was merely imitating us digging.
Then I began to wonder if she was about to squat.

As it turned out she was constructing a nest for her butt to sit on.

Wimins, I tell ya....

After a couple of hours of assisting Scott he finally got his concretion out of the hole.

It broke up once he got it out of the hole, but no prob, no broken bones!

Scott couldn't wait to get home before doing some cleaning to see what he got.

Scott soon found at least one really good vertebra seen here. All photos by Kim Patrick Noyes (all rights reserved).

After we got Scott Harlan's bone concretion free we all left it on the hill and took our stuff down to the parking lot.

Once we had unpacked David's cart we lent it to Scott and his wife and they took it back up the hill and retrieved his concretion.

While we waited David and I continued to load up for our return to the Central Coast after dark as the Sun was now rapidly lowering.

We also got the opportunity to meet with some other rockhounds including rockhound and dealer David Walblom and his wife, CFMS Secretary Susan Chaisson-Walblom.

After the Harlans returned with their prize we loaded up the cart and retraced our route home.

It was a beautiful drive across the San Joaquin Valley with the Sun soon setting below the western horizon with a gold lining to the clouds hugging the Temblor Range to the west.

The sky was mostly clear of clouds which surprised me given how the day began and the forecast of the approaching storm that night. Actually, it seemed that as the day progressed the weather got nicer which was a nice surprise.

However, there were a series of cumulonimbus buildups visible in various directions in the northern half of the horizon which appeared to be located in the Sierra foothills and in the Coast Ranges northwest of Coalinga and points in between.

After dark some of these storms generated vivid lightening that was so cool we pulled off of Highway 46 and onto Devil's Den Road and stopped in the dark and watched for a short time.

We did stop for food in Wasco and found a great little local (non-chain) burger joint run by Indians (the sub-continental type) called "Jolly Kone." I found it interesting to watch it serving a mixed white farmer/brown farm worker community (what a great melting pot!).

Once we got back over into San Luis Obispo County we found ourselves back in low overcast with intensifying precipitation the further west we got until it was drizzling in Paso Robles where we got gas. It was downright raining out at David's abode (Adelaida area) where I picked up my pickup and drove home (where it wasn't raining a drop).

All in all this adventure was a real hoot and well worth the time and effort and money.

I know some folks expressed a concern about Valley Fever prior to the field trip.

If anybody on this field trip gets Valley Fever it will be me because I used no mask or other protection and I shoveled dumploads of dirt and breathed a lot of dust while screening material and I really got down and dirty helping Scott dig out his stubborn concretion.

Therefore, consider me your guinea pig in an unofficial experiment (or the canary in the mine!).

Now that I know where Ant Hill is I plan to go back as oft as I can (and not wear a mask).

I did talk to Shep and he generously agreed to join us (or perhaps I should say we join him) for a visit to Ant Hill next month to which I'm looking forward like an excited little kid.

Paso Robles Gun Show May 17-18th, 2008

Well folks, my buddy "Studebaker Dave" called me last night and during the course of our conversation informed me that the gun show at the Mid-State Fairgrounds (now pretentiously called "The Event Center") that I mistakenly believed would be occurring on the first weekend of June like it was last year is actually this coming weekend, May 17-18th, 2008.
I had planned on attending it under that mistaken impression so I had to scramble today and call Central Coast Gun Shows and see if they had any openings in the show.
Lo and behold they did and I got myself two tables in the show.
However, the more I think about it I want an end space so if one is available I'll upgrade to three tables.
I'll call about that in the morning.

My business partner Mike Lyons is down south doing some work so he won't be attending so I've invited the aforementioned friend Dave to man my booth with me and sell his metallurgical artistic creations and whatever else he choses.

I sure hope to see as many of my regular customers as possible as well as any readers of this blog.

If any of you can do it and want to do it, please come on down and drop by our booth while you're there. ;-p

Oh, and by the way, if you have a hang-up about guns and gun shows you really should go to at least one in your life.
They're not as bad as you might imagine and they aren't as boring as you might think if you happen to not be a "gun person".
Gun shows are sorta like swap meets with a heavy emphasis on guns and ammo and gun accessories like holsters, cleaning kits, conversion kits, sights, etc. There are also plenty of outdoorsy things at guns shows, as well, plus there is not a litle bit of antique and collectible stuff being sold, too, along with even some arts and crafts-y sort of stuff by one or two dealers usually.

Anywho, I'll be selling my usual gems, minerals, fossils, and artifacts under the name of K&K Earthwerks.
My inventory will emphasize home decor and not minerals like would be the case at a rock show.
Dave will be selling his homemade metallurgical creations and perhaps some other things as well.