Weirdness

This is an old baptismal font at Jamestown, Virginia.
Today in Sunday School, a friend of mine was talking, so I could stare at him without being rude.   As I continued looking at him, he ceased looking like himself and became like a stranger.  I've known this person for almost thirty years.  It made me feel like I didn't know him at all.  Isn't that weird?
Have you ever had this to happen?  It's not the first time it's happened to me.

Material Girl

My car had been stolen - but I managed to acquire a Chopper bike.





It was a little on the small side for me and I felt ridiculous, but I pedalled furiously, delighting in my ability to change the gears smoothly, and made good time.





I reached my destination - which turned out to be a fabric shop - just in time for a special 15 minute sale. They were selling whole bolts of fabric - Jane Churchill, Nina Campbell, Colefax & Fowler, etc, etc.





The sale price was 3 bolts of fabric for 70p. No limit on quantity.

Borrowed Image from visual photos.com

It was so exciting, so unexpected.





I needed no further invitation, my greedy hands reached for the fabrics and then I woke up.





Oh.

BRRRR

Happy New Year!
Well, I made it to the New Year's Day ride. It was about 12 deg, with wind chill well below zero. I managed a little over 4 miles, 50 minutes. That was enough.
The thing is that I ended 2007 with a bike ride and started with a bike ride.
With the warmer weather coming the next few days, the riding is just about over for a while. Looking forward to the Xtreme Winterfest Ride (forecast mid 40s) Saturday.
At the evening, I went to our Edwards campaign headquarters since Edwards was schedule to stop by. I just could not stay -- the office was just tooooo crowded, and more were still arriving and trying to get inside.

Carlsbad Caverns

Well, my 6 week journey through the West is almost over... today was the last destination in my plans before heading home. That destination was Carlsbad Caverns National Park in southern New Mexico. After an awesome week spent in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge and White Sands National Monument with my friend Roger, we each went our separate ways... Roger headed for home and I headed for Carlsbad.

To be honest, Carlsbad was a spur of the moment decision for me. Since I still had some flexibility before heading home and Carlsbad was not that far away, I decided to head down and check it out. Boy, am I glad that I did! Hiking through Carlsbad Caverns was REALLY cool! I was a little disappointed when I arrived at the park, as the HUGE parking lot was almost filled to capacity. But, I drove all that way to see the cavern so I wasn't going to let the crowd deter me. I arrived at the park in the early afternoon and as it turns out its a good thing I didn't arrive any later than I did. While inquiring about the cave at the information desk the ranger told me they were closing the natural entrance in 5 minutes. So, I had to hustle to get to the entrance in time! I was part of the last group allowed to enter the cave and after our brief 3-minute orientation talk we were sent on our way.

The first section of the hike is VERY steep... the trail switchbacks down through the entrance of the cavern and from the top to the bottom there is an 850 foot elevation loss. "Weak knees are common" the ranger had told us, and he wasn't kidding! By the time I was halfway down my knees were already getting tired. After the first dozen or so switchbacks you are already deep enough down into the cavern that there is very little natural light, and you start to see the first of the artificial light sources that park service staff have installed along the trail. The trail, by the way, is superb. Park service staff have really done an incredible job of constructing the trail through this most forbidding of environments. The trail surface is very smooth and there are nice, sturdy railings lining both sides of the path.

After passing the first few artificial light sources a sign informed visitors that beyond this point, without artificial light, it would be totally dark in the cave and you'd be unable to see. The trail then continued down, down and further down. Switchback after switchback passed, and I soon began to question whether or not the 850 foot elevation number was accurate. It felt like I had descended 1,000 feet or more. Soon, though, the trail leveled out and I was at the "bottom". The hiking became much easier... with some gentle "rolling" terrain and a few short sets of stairs here and there.

Not long after reaching the bottom, the natural formations along the trail began to get a lot more interesting. During the descent into the cavern, the trail passed through some pretty cool and sometimes quite large "rooms", but the walls and ceilings were rather smooth and devoid of any interesting geologic formations. That all changed the closer I got to the bottom, however. Now there were stalagmites and stalactites interspersed along the trail. Walking along this path nearly 1,000 feet below the surface, I felt like I was in my own version of "Journey to the Center of the Earth"!

After walking for about a mile and a half, I arrived in the "Big Room", which is the showcase of Carlsbad Caverns. The "Big Room" is loaded with out-of-this-world geologic formations, and the trail does a large loop throughout the Big Room, passing within a few feet of many of these formations.

Above: Look closely at this image and you can see some people standing near the lower right corner of the image... this gives you an idea as to how big the cavern is!
The "Big Room" is the 3rd largest cave chamber in the Americas, and the 7th largest in the world. It is a natural limestone chamber which is almost 4,000 feet long, 625 feet wide and 350 feet high at the highest point. When you are in one of these larger areas of the room and you see the tiny silhouettes of other hikers in the distance, you really get a sense of how immense this cavern is.

After walking the loop around the Big Room and taking several pictures, it was time to head to the surface. Thankfully, there is an elevator that provides quick and convenient access back to the surface. After all the hiking I did around White Sands, and the hike down into and throughout the cavern, I'm not sure I could have climbed 850 feet back to the surface :-) Hiking Carlsbad Caverns was an awesome experience, one that I would highly recommend!

And so comes the end of my journey throughout the West. This is my last entry from the trip... all I have left to do is make the drive from southern New Mexico back to northeast Minnesota. My plan is to stay in Roswell, New Mexico tonight then tomorrow hit the road for home. I don't have any photo stops planned along the route home, so my next blog entry will probably be from the shores of Lake Superior once again. If you've been following along on my journey these past 6 weeks, I hope you've enjoyed the journey (and the images!) and I thank you for following along. Bye for now!
-Travis

The tempestuous morn - the disappearing castle

According to Matthew Arnold's poem, 'Thrysis', the tempestuous morn is meant to happen in early June. Our June this year has been tempestuous all the way through. Looking back at last year's posts I discover that June was drenched then as well - see Tempestuous morn in Stobo.
So, some tempestuous morn in early June,
When the year's primal burst of bloom is o'er,
Before the roses and the longest day -
When garden-walks and all the grassy floor
With blossoms red and white of fallen May
And chestnut-flowers are strewn -
So have I heard the cuckoo's parting cry,
From the wet field, through the vext garden-trees,
Come with the volleying rain and tossing breeze;
The bloom is gone, and with the bloom go I!
In the city centre there is less evidence of strewn blossom, although plenty of volleying rain and tossing breeze. I wonder if Matthew Arnold would have worked in a disappearing castle, Scott Monument and clock tower of the Balmoral Hotel to his poem?





Excuse the blurry shot below, but the tossing breeze was pretty brisk at that point. This was the only piper braving the rain, on a deserted Royal Mile.





The flood defences along the Water of Leith have themselves been flooded. Below, the construction work at Canonmills on a calm day.





After yet more rain:

Bossing The Blooms

No, I haven’t found a magical way to make peonies grow in Austin – these flowers appear by permission of my youngest sister - she took their photos in her Illinois garden. They’re lovely, fragrant, old-fashioned, doubled peonies, ready to cut for vases.
My sister said she wished she could hold back the peonies until out-of-state guests arrive in a couple of weeks. That reminded me of an old trick for keeping peonies in storage, ready for June graduations and parties. Maybe you already know about it? Or is this another of those things that longtime gardeners mistakenly think everyone knows? Please let me know if you’ve done this, too.
The hard part is that you have to live where peonies grow – which eliminates many of us! And you need a couple of established peony plants like my sister’s. If I were at her house we’d go out and cut stems about 10 or 12 inches long, with buds that show some petal color, and are just starting to swell – something bigger than a golf ball – smaller than a tennis ball. There are several good buds at lower right in the photo below.

The flower buds need to be perfectly dry so you don’t get mold! Remove any leaves. Wrap each stem individually in paper towels or newspaper, bundle 6 or 8 stems together and slip them in a plastic bag. I used to use the sleeves in which the newspaper arrived. Cut a few more than you need, since some may be duds.
The bundles go on a refrigerator shelf, with the heads facing in. About twenty-four to thirty-six hours before you want to arrange them for your table, you take the peonies out, recut the ends and put them in water and most of them will be fine and unfold. Then make your arrangement, adding fresh peony foliage to make them look just cut. Be amused as your friends search your garden looking for the peony plant that blooms after all the others are done.
You can use this technique to delay peony bloom for a couple of weeks… wait too long and they'll probably still open, but the flower petals get dry on the edges. Have fun!

Reminder - Black Hill Fat Tire Festival

Three weeks to the Black Hill Fat Tire Festival. Last year I attended - the first year for the festival and the first festival I had attended.
Those that came last year - there are some new trails, rides, and functions. The big one for me is the Mickelson Trail Ride Friday and Saturday. The Mickelson is an old railroad bed and runs for 109 miles.
For you singletrack racers, there are races galore - downhill, xc, hill climb and more.
Singletrack tours are held a couple of times a day (you need to sign up before the ride). Tour rides are "no one left behind" and lead by members of BHMBA (Black Hills Mountain Bike Association).
Another addition for this year's festival is a film festival. There will also be a showing of Season the new film from The Collective.
You need to take part in Beer-muda Triangle. You earn raffle tickets for attending functions and making purchases at sponsors (stuff you will need anyway - like gas, food, and souvenirs).
I had a great time last (even if the trails were over my ability). I have been told that they have new trails, including an easier trail. This will be a great way to checkout my new bike!
Good trails, good friends, good food, good scenery - a great festival. Check out my photos from last year's Festival.
While you are in the area, check out Mt Rushmore, Badlands, Needles Highway (Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway), and Custer State Park.
Hope you can attend - looking forward to meet you there...

Setting up

The German market is taking shape on the plainstones beside the National Gallery. As I passed through tonight the place was a bustle of activity ahead of Thursday's switching on of Edinburgh's Christmas lights and the market opening. Much unpacking of boxes, tapping of hammers, fixing up lightbulbs, and animated chat in German.





It all reminded me of the chapter in The Wind in the Willows where the Rat encounters animals and birds making ready to hibernate or migrate - except in reverse. "Many were digging and tunnelling busily; others, gathered together in small groups, examined plans and drawings of small flats...Some were hauling out dusty trunks and dress-baskets, others were already elbow-deep packing their belongings; while everywhere piles and bundles of wheat, oats, barley, beechmast and nuts, lay about ready for transport."

I always wonder - what do German Christmas markets do for the rest of the year?

What Constitutes a Necessity?

I saw this list on the web today and found it interesting. They were making the point that lots of things today that we think of as necessities aren't. How many of them do you have?
Some things our grandparents lived without, that are really not necessary:
microwave-*dishwasher-*SUV-*Luxury carfood processor-*smart phoneiPad or other tabletflat-screen TVrefrigerators with ice makers (or perhaps refrigeration at all)-*air conditioning-*central heating-*dryers-*Roombashair dryers-*workout machinesKindletoaster oven
All the items with * by them are the ones I have. The only things I consider to be absolute necessities are air conditioning and a refrigerator. I can't imagine south Georgia in the summer time without them. All the rest are, to me, just conveniences. One other item I consider a necessity which didn't even make the list is a washing machine.
What do you think? What do you consider to be a necessity?

Sea Palms at Shore Acres State Park

During our recent trip out west we visited Shore Acres State Park, one of the best places along the Oregon coast to watch the ocean waves. As I was photographing the surf breaking over the near-shore rocks I noticed these little ocean shrubs that looked like miniature palm trees. I think they add a bit of whimsy to this photo.

Retirement Presents

Originally I was looking for Roy Strong's Destruction of Country Houses, but whenever I did find a copy it was $75.00 on up. I didn't want it that badly. I'll keep looking though. Part of the thrill for me is the hunt. Excess testosterone, I guess!
These two treasures came in the mail yesterday as part of a 'retirement present' I'm giving myself for 28 years of homeschooling our five children. I don't need a gold watch.