Postcard Painting Depicts Steamer Tahoe

The Steamer Tahoe is depicted in this postcard painting as at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe.

This postcard is titled “Steamer Tahoe” and is shown at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, Calif. The postcard has been estimated to have been in use between 1900 and 1920. UNRS-P1987-09-06.tif collection_2350. Digital Archive Legacy ID: tahoecollection:2350.

The photo’s creator/contributor was Edward H. Mitchell, publisher. “Use and Reproduction: The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by the organization that has made the item available, but the organization was unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item,” according to the University of Nevada, Reno, where I downloaded an original an optimized it for web publication. “Please refer to the organization that has made the item available for more information. You are free to use this item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.”

My use of the photo is for journalistic/educational non-commercial use. Image use is courtesy of the University of Nevada, Reno.

Hub Coffee Roasters: River Trail Oasis

Hub Coffee Roasters in Reno, Nev., along Riverside Drive.

by Glenn Franco Simmons

No matter what time of year one walks along Truckee River Walk, there is one place my lovely wife Kathleen and I always want to stop when we are in Reno: Hub Coffee Roasters at 727 Riverside Drive.

Hub’s motto is “We exist to bring people together,” and that is exactly what it does. Just visit Hub for a lively, pleasant experience!

Kathleen and I have only visited the riverside location, but we plan to visit both other locations and look forward to the bike store.

Hub is the perfect place for bicyclists, motorists, strollers and joggers who want a delicious cup of coffee, hot chocolate, sandwich, cold drink or some other item on this roaster’s menu featuring yummy creations.

After you quickly place your order (if the line is long, have no worries because it is one line that moves fast), you can sit comfortably in what is a coffee house and art gallery combined! No kidding! On a spring day in 2023 when Kathleen and I were there, there was beautiful art on display. The seating, while in a small area, is comfortable with access to a quaint and pleasantly clean restroom for your convenience.

Looking back toward the Wingfield Park area from Truckee River Walk roughly across the street from Hub. It is a lovely walk in almost every month of the year.

Hub has Reno roots and there is more than coffee for sale!

“Our founder Mark, along with his two kids, Joey and Jessica, opened the first HUB location in 2009 in a tiny garage in Midtown Reno — with the goal of creating a space that would foster their love of coffee, community and bikes,” states Hub’s “About” section on its website. “While we’ve moved on from that location, it lives on in our cornerstone coffee blend, Thirty-2-Cheney (and of course in our hearts) — and the original goal behind it still informs every blend, location and relationship we build today.

“We’ve since opened up three cafes that have the daily pleasure of welcoming Reno’s coffee lovers, cyclists and community members. There’s our Riverside location with its picturesque Truckee River views — and our Pine Street location in Downtown Reno (which shares a roof with our very own bike shop). Our newest location at Meadowcreek nestled in South Reno across from Reno ICE.”

Saint Thomas Aquinas Cathedral, short walk from Hub.

A coffee shop and bike shop is quite a combination!

Hub said it started with San Franciscan roasters, which, I believe, are made in Carson City!

“Since 2012, HUB has been continuously exploring roasting and profile development techniques,” the website notes. “We started out roasting on San Franciscan roasters, an SF-1 for sample roasting and SF-25 for production batches. We still have those amazing atmospheric roasting systems, but we have added a Loring S7 Nighthawk to our roasting tool belt.”

Hub’s dedication to bringing you the best coffee is grounded in doing what is best for people and environment, according to the website.

“In addition to roasting beans and opening new locations, we’ve spent the last few years fostering deeper relationships within coffee-growing regions,” the website noted. “Mark has partnered with three Colombian coffee farms: Finca las Nubes, las Veraneras, and Purity Coffee.

“Along with the HUB team, Mark travels to origin three to four times a year and continues to learn more about the incredible places where our coffee is grown and the inspiring people who are part of its journey to your cup. We couldn’t be prouder of our founder’s journey — from acclaimed Latino business owner to coincidental translator at-origin to producer himself.”

The closed (at the time this May 2023 photo was taken) Lear Theatre is  a very short walk from Hub Coffee Roasters.

More growth may be forthcoming in Hub’s future.

“HUB is continuously growing, and we love being a part of this awesome community,” the website states. “We’re here to be a meeting place for the creative, the driven, the passionate. Cycle over, stroll on by, and swing in — we’re happy to be your HUB.”

There are also hats, shirts and sweatshirts usually on display that bear the name of Hub. If not, one can order them through Hub’s online store, as well as coffee.

On that spring day, there were beautiful paintings by Yasuyo Corbett.

Yasuyo Corbett’s nickname is Chilipepper because “as I am told I can be Spicy,” states Corbett on her website.

“From Lake Tahoe to Tokyo, to New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai and my art has taken me all over the world,” she noted. 

(Left to right) 1. "Her Arrangement" by Chilipepper (20x24-inch acrylic painting). 2. "Hello Green Breeze" by Chilipepper (20x24-inch acrylic painting). 3. "Spring Vibes" by Chilipepper (20x24-inch acrylic painting).

Corbett “was born in Osaka, Japan surrounded by all the beauty of the Japanese culture,” according to the website.

Trained in “Kimonos and traditional flower arrangements,” Corbett said on her website, “this is when I first experienced joy in expressing my emotions with colors.

"Happy Bouquet" by Chilipepper.

“I was fortunate to keep art in the forefront of my life, working as a visual merchandiser,” Corbett stated. “I am incredibly pleased that my love of creating and working with color has continued throughout my life and enabled me to experience so many amazing places in the world.”

How to pronounce Yasuyo? “YA SU YO,” but Corbett goes by her nickname, as previously noted, for her business: “Chilipepper’s Paintings.”

Corbett said she found herself in Lake Tahoe because she “met the love of my life, my husband,” according to the website. “I love living in Lake Tahoe.”

The Northern Nevada artist still visits and exhibits in Tokyo twice annually, according to the website.

“I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to grow my art in the United States,” she stated on her website. “I work in acrylic gouache and acrylic paints. I enjoy rich, deep colors and playing with how they can provide an immersive and sometimes playful experience. I hope you enjoy my artwork, a representation of the Japanese experience in the U.S.”

Bear portrait, "Always Be Here For You," by Chilipepper (18x24-inch acrylic painting). 3. Bear portrait, "Coffee For You," by Chilipepper (18x24-inch acrylic painting). 3. Bear portrait, "Old Photograph," by Chilipepper (18x24-inch acrylic painting).

Her art is enjoyed! It sure was a feast for the eyes as I sipped my bubbling Kombucha and Kathleen enjoyed her delicious coffee.

Corbett is also a dog-lover, as evidenced by a well-written article in “Life Hugger.” (Translate to English, if you cannot read Japanese. It is a mostly accurate translation of Japanese to English by automatic Google Translate.)

“… Yasuyo also talked about an episode {she} had with a rescue dog two years ago when {she} was recuperating from an illness,” the article states.

“‘I had to leave the hospital one day after the surgery, and the doctor told me to walk every day, so I walked alone every day holding my stomach,’” she explained to “Life Hugger.” “‘Then, a rescue dog who lived across the street started walking with me every day. He walked ahead of me, and when I caught up with him, he walked ahead of me again. He did this every day, and before I knew it, I was able to walk long distances.’”

This journey back to health was the inspiration that further lit Yasuyo’s creativity.

Regarding her feelings when drawing a rescue dog, she was quoted in the article as having said, “‘I always draw it thinking about what it would be like if I were living with this dog. For example, if I wanted a snack for me. There is a very clear lake called Lake Tahoe, and I’m imagining playing in the water together there, jumping in, being blown by the wind, etc.’”

To read the full, excellent article and see Corbett’s paintings of dogs, please navigate to the “Life Hugger” article link above.

Sovereign' Look Of Mt. Shasta

Mt. Shasta by Owne Byrne via Flickr. CC by 2.0.

by Glenn Franco Simmons

As the night wears on, the gentlemen of The Comstock Club continue their discussion that included (in my last post) revelation on Mount Sinai. With a question, the conversation shifts to Mt. Shasta in what is today's Northern California.

"Professor," Mr. Strong said, "we have heard about the Wasatch Range and Mount Sinai, shake up your memory and tell us about old Mount Shasta! I heard you describe it once. It is a grand mountain, is it not?"

"The grandest in America, so far as I have seen," was {Brewster's} reply. "It is said that Whitney is higher, but Whitney has for its base the Sierras, and the peaks around it dwarf its own tremendous height. But Shasta rises from the plain a single mountain, and while all the year around the lambs gambol at its base, its crown is eternal snow. Men of the North tell me that it is rivaled by Tacoma, but I never saw Tacoma.

"In the hot summer days as the farmers at Shasta's base gather their harvests, they can see where the wild wind is heaping the snow drifts about his crest. The mountain is one of Winter's stations, and from his forts of snow upon its top he never withdraws his garrison.

"There are the bastions of ice, the frosty battlements;

there his old bugler, the wind, is daily sounding the advance and the retreat of the storm.

"The mountain holds all latitudes and all seasons at the same time in its grasp. Flowers bloom at its base, further up the forest trees wave their ample arms; further still the brown of autumn is upon the slopes and over all hangs the white mantle of eternal winter.

"Standing close to its base, the human mind fails to grasp the immensity of the butte. But as one from a distance looks back upon it, or from some height twenty miles away views it, he discovers how magnificent are its proportions.

"For days will the mountain fold the mist about its crest like a vail and remain hidden from mortal sight, and then suddenly as if in deference to a rising or setting sun, the vapors will be rolled back and the watcher in the valley below will behold gems of topaz and of ruby made of sunbeams, set in the diadem of white, and towards the sentinel mountain, from a hundred miles around, men will turn their eyes in admiration. In its presence one feels the near presence of God, and as before Babel the tongues of the people became confused, so before this infinitely more august tower man's littleness oppresses him, and he can no more give fitting expression to his thoughts.

"It frowns and smiles alternately through the years; it hails the outgoing and the incoming centuries, changeless amid the mutations of ages, forever austere, forever cold and pure. The mountain eagle strains hopelessly toward its crest; the storms and the sunbeams beat upon it in vain; the rolling years cannot inscribe their numbers on its naked breast.

"Of all the mountains that I have seen it has the most sovereign look; it leans on no other height; it associates with no other mountain; it builds its own pedestal in the valley and never doffs its icy crown.

Mr. Brewster noted that "sunlight points with ruby silver and gold the mimic glaciers of the butte."

"It is a blessing as well as a splendor. With its cold it seizes the clouds and compresses them until their contents are rained upon the thirsty fields beneath; from its base the Sacramento starts, babbling on its way to the sea; despite its frowns it is a merciful agent to mankind, and on the minds of those who see it in all its splendor and power a picture is painted, the sheen and the enchantment of which will linger while memory and the gift to admire magnificence is left."

South Lake Tahoe. Flickr. Navdeep Raj. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

"That is good, Professor," said Corrigan; "but to me there is insupportable loneliness about an isolated mountain. It sames always to me like a gravestone set up above the grave of a dead worreld. But spakin' of beautiful things, did yees iver sae Lake Tahoe in her glory?

"I was up there last fall, and one day, in anticipation of the winter, I suppose, she wint to her wardrobe, took out all her winter white caps and tied them on; and she was a daisy.

"Her natural face is bluer than that of a stock sharp in a falling market; but whin the wind 'comes a wooin' and she dons her foamy lace, powders her face with spray and fastens upon her swellin' breast a thousand diamonds of sunlight, O, but she is a winsome looking beauty, to be sure. Thin, too, she sings her old sintimintal song to her shores, and the great overhanging pines sway their mighty arms as though keeping time, joining with hers their deep murmurs to make a refrain; and thus the lake sings to the shore and the shore answers back to the song all the day long.

"Tahoe, in her frame of blue and grane, is a fairer picture than iver glittered on cathadral wall; older, fairer and fresher than ancient master iver painted tints immortal upon.

Bonsai Rock. Flickr. Geoff Stearns. CC by 2.0.

"There in the strong arms of the mountains it is rocked, and whin the winds ruffle the azure plumage of the beautiful wathers, upon wather and upon shore a splendor rists such as might come were an angel to descend to earth and sketch for mortals a sane from Summer Land."

"You are right, Corrigan," said Ashley. "If the thirst for money does not denude the shores of their trees, and thus spoil the frame of your wonderful picture, Lake Tahoe will be a growing object of interest until its fame will be as wide as the world."