Horned Toad Flats || Floyd

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Introducing Floyd

A native Californian, Floyd was born in Tulare, California to Andrew Salyer and Julia Sartuche. He has a colorful heritage especially on the Sartuche side of the family. His grandfather Sartuche walked to California from Chihuahua, Mexico in the late 1800's. He brought his young family to California's Great Central Valley where they were raised and educated. Julia and Andy raised four children, of whom Floyd is the second.

Floyd was educated throughout the state of California from Mojave to Tulare to Fresno to Ridgecrest. He has worked as an Experimental Aircraft Electronics Technician-Flight Test Instrumentation at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); as a Hot Shot Forest Firefighter based in California, traveling to fight large fires in the western states; heavy equipment operator; heavy equipment mechanic; communications cable splicer; truck driver; and now as a journeyman carpenter and mason.

His great loves are woodworking (he makes beautiful spoons and knife handles), fishing, working on old trucks, gardening, hiking in the desert and mountains, and hanging out with his hound dog, Mollie the Bluetick Hound.

Wooden Spoons by Floyd

Floyd has whittled on wood as long as I've known him (over 30 years). In the summer of 2001, he started making wooden spoons, ladles, and other wooden cooking utensils. Using oak, mesquite, cherry and other types of wood, he has created a whole kitchen's worth of beautiful wooden utensils. How he takes a shapeless piece of wood (sometimes just dunnage that he's recycled) and crafts a utilitarian tool, I'll never understand. But I am continually impressed, amazed, and grateful.

Deep Sea Fishing

On January 7, 1999, Floyd and a group of buddies from work traveled to Morro Bay, California for a deep sea fishing excursion. Floyd came home with quite a catch of Sea Bass.

As a 1999 Valentine's gift to Floyd, I put all the photos he took in a 5"x7" album complete with coordinating papers, die cuts, and stickers. Here are a few of the photos that are in the album:

On the Fiesta, they left from Virg's Landing at Morro Bay at about 6:30 a.m.

Two gulls graced the skies overhead.

As expected, the seas were a bit rough, so taking pictures was tricky at times, not to mention fishing.

A couple of the guys enjoying the trip.

Cleaning the fish.

Morro Rock

A pelican scavenging for scraps from the boat.

Heading back into the harbor around 1:00 p.m. they had a good view of some work boats.

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