Part I: Growing up with a father on the run
Lifestyle embodied the drug-fuelled freedom dance of the ‘60s. He travelled along the California coast, where his father built a hippie commune in the redwoods and became a wanted man after plotting to blow up a lumber company’s model home. This is the story of a generation which is just now coming to terms with the dark side of their peace-and-love upbringing. n a sultry August night in 1969 when the Healdsburg police pulled over Paul Kuitenbrouwer for a routine check about 60 miles north of San Francisco, where California Highway 101 winds through the lush vineyards of Sonoma County, only my father knew how much trouble he was in. Woodstock was still a week away, but my father’s Sixties, the era of peace and love and hippies and flower children, a movement centred here on America’s north Pacific coast — and in which he styled himself a pivotal player — were about to come to a very dark end.Among my father’s troubles: He was wanted by police in British Columbia, having jumped bail on narcotics possession charges, and in California, on charges of possession of an explosive device “with intent to willfully and maliciously use such material.” Posters bearing his mug shot hung in post offices up and down the California coast. Two young women, neither of them his wife, carried his unborn children. He was travelling with a forged driver’s licence. And the trunk was full of marijuana.
When the troopers shined their flashlights into the front and back seats of the sprawling white Ford Galaxie my father drove, they saw six children. Three were his. The eldest, my sister, was 10 years old. I was seven. We had just gotten aboard the car, after my mother put us on a flight in Vancouver to San Francisco, to go spend a summer vacation with our dad. He had not told her that he was a wanted man.
“I thought the best way to hide from the cops would just be to go on holiday with my kids,” my father says.
This is an adventure story best viewed through a kaleidoscope, while high on hash brownies and listening to Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow.
The setting is the coast, from Vancouver to Mexico. The time: the late Sixties. The main character, Paul Kuitenbrouwer (whom Mendocino locals still refer to, with affection, as “the crazy Dutchman”), who crossed paths with the noteworthy, including Bill Deverell, his lawyer in Vancouver, later to become a best-selling crime novelist, and Lowell Bergman, the journalist who was my father’s roommate and friend in San Diego, later immortalized by Al Pacino in The Insider.
Fir Plank Flooring - News
The main floor, the width of a boxcar and a third the length, houses an elegant table my father crafted from West Coast cedar driftwood legs and a white pine slab. The wood cook stove is a lovely old baked-enamel period piece, but there may be
“We wanted to keep the character of the age of the house and keep it simple and elegant while using the original fir wood floors, which had been hidden under four layers of linoleum and carpet everywhere upstairs, in the kitchen and even on the stairs
The entire interior is neatly fitted with planks like the inside of a sauna, everything clean, close and efficient, and illuminated by floor-to-ceiling windows gently shaded by neat black blinds. In a recessed corner of the living room, an alcove forms
Tongue and Groove Fir Flooring | Fir Flooring
Tongue and groove lumber is widely used in construction for fir flooring , mahogany wood, and more. The name for tongue and groove fir flooring, also known as T&G fir flooring, comes from the shapes of the edges. On one edge of the lumber there is usually a U-shaped groove that is cut into it. This part is the “groove” in a tongue and groove lumber. The other edge is the exact opposite shape with a U-shaped tongue sticking out, thus giving the “tongue” in T&G. It’s a popular style in fir wood floors whether you are laying down a porch, kitchen floor or even a wall. The edges are always cut on the longest edge of the lumber as that is how they are interlocked together. When these are being processed in a lumber yard, one edge has a blade that is cutting a tongue and at the same time another blade shapes the groove.
The benefit of this type of design in fir plank flooring is the ability to interlock each plank together. When these are assembled in groove-meets-tongue and tongue-meets-groove style, they create a natural lock together. Because of this intelligent design, the entire wood floor ends up being very smooth as each piece of the fir flooring must move with the piece next to it as they are locked into each other. If one plank moves up, the adjacent planks must also move up, and the planks adjacent to those in a rippling effect. Imagine non-T&G straight wooden planks laid down on a floor without being locked into each other. Just one small stray bend will be obvious as each individual plank is free to move on its own accord. This design offers less stability and smoothness, hence the popularity of tongue and groove fir flooring.
Removing a T&G fir floor must be done carefully. Even if the wood is damaged or rotting, you cannot randomly dislodge a plank as there is a high possibility it will destroy the groove of its adjacent edge. Removal of a single plank should start with two cuts down the length of the plank close to the edges of the groove and tongue. You should easily be able to remove the center piece. Tap the groove piece away from the adjacent tongue where it is nailed in. For the tongue side you’ll need to tap, hammer, or pull in the opposite direction. Doing it this way prevent damage to any adjoining fir planks while preserving the rest of your T&G floor.
Fir flooring is a popular option using widely throughout North America due to the easy accessibility of Douglas firs. Firs are also great to work with as they are easy to cut and shape, accept paints without any trouble, and can hold nails firmly. Reclaimed fir flooring is an attractive and cheap type of flooring that is highly sought after. Since the material is easily reusable, it is a green and Earth-conscious way to reduce tree cutting in new home construction or home improvement projects. The tongue and groove design is popular for its solid and smooth finish thanks to its interlocking design. While removal can be tricky if not done properly, doing is patiently and properly will prevent damage to the rest of your fir flooring.
Fir Plank Flooring - Bookshelf
Old House Interiors
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Wide Plank Douglas Fir Flooring
Wide Plank Douglas Fir flooring is available in a variety of widths and lengths.
Douglas Fir Flooring | dougfirflooring.com
Douglas Fir Flooring is available in a variety of widths, thicknesses and grades from clear vertical grain to wide plank character.
Douglas Fir Flooring
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