Much Ado in the Muck, on the Mats...

Again, we were roused way too early on Sunday. Now where were we headed? (Avalon playing with Levi, her brother!)
Here, at a new place for doggehs and ducks. Avalon is definitely into those feathered creatures (as are her siblings, three of whom were there, and her Mom!), while I still have an affinity for the furred sort that dip down into burrows, or race up trees. But I will show you what I saw my sister and family do. Here's a little show all about Avalon (and her siblings' and Mom's) day in Denverton, near Suisun City.

Avalon was very happy to see her mom, Sporty (who is really good at doing this field stuff) and her brothers, who love the feathered creatures as much as Avalon. Here's a cool picture of them all - thanks, Christine of Tigana Goldens for fixing up this photo and helping my sister so much! Now... it's my turn!
Ready Ma, for my closeup heheh! I have a fun match this coming weekend, and at the end of October, there is a show that spans over 5 days near here. Mom (naively) thought it would be practical to sign up for an Open class for me on all five days, hoping that I could snag my CDX in one long weekend! Barbara rolled her eyes and told us to get ready for a full-on judged Open class, right then and there. Mom thought I was pretty ready. Here are both Sierra and I in a little show made just for our friends, so you can see that we're coming along at Barbara's school for "Finishing Dogs."

Uhhhh....ohhhhhh.

Well... all doggehs can get confused, right?
Here's Barbara making adjustments to Avalon's new bling.
And then it was time for all good puppers to play, as well as show our fabulous agility skills! See you soon again, pals!

Chilly Peppers

We've had our usual up-and-down weather here in Austin - mild weather interrupted by several freezes and some rain to soften the ground. I missed GBBD, but a few days ago the sun felt warm as I clipped back some of the dead plants. What a surprise to find a handful of peppers still firm & fresh on the two plants next to the back house wall next to the Meyer's Lemon tree. The leaves of the pepper plants had been hit by frost but the stems were still green. These are 'Holy Mole' peppers - very hot little devils. These will belong to Philo ... not me!
I didn't make a Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post - but there are a few photos of January flowers and a late GBBD List with botanical names over at Annie's Addendum.

Chinatown Lights

Night Lights, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

While exploring the shops in Chinatown, San Francisco, this one stood out due to its huge collection of lights and lanterns.

McDowell Mountain Park

Yesterday I was up early to ride. (The day-time highs are running in the mid/upper 100s this week in Scottsdale!) Drove to McDowell Mountain Park for a singletrack ride. By the time I drove to the park, payed the entrance fee ($6 for the car - $1 had I arrived by bike), I was about 6:45.
The trails is mostly fine gravels with sections of rocks. No "dirt" as we consider at home. Lots of up and down with portions of flowing singletrack. I rode the "Long Loop" - just short of 8 miles.
During one f the climbs I heard a ominous sounds of rattling. Stopped and saw the rattlesnake. Backed off, and waited for it to slither away (and shot this photo). He was rattling a litlle as a hiked the bike pst him, at what I felt was a save distance.
After the ride, I high-tailed back to the room to pick up my camera to shoot the tee-off of the reunion golf tournament. Finally shower and breakfast.
Didn't do much anything the rest of the day. Worked a little on organizing my photos, napped, visited at the reunion, napped, etc.
Dinner was at Pinnacle Peak Patio. Was a relatively long drive for steak & beans.
The day capped with a Memorial for Reuel Baughman - one of my army friends.
Pavement ride with Pallette in the morning.

The Best Way to Live

Here's an excellent quote by Alain de Botton, which I took from the blog Becca & Bella, on the contemporary difficulty of constant distraction and our tendencies toward indulgence and over-feeding in all areas of life:

"One of the more embarrassing and self-indulgent challenges of our time is the task of relearning how to concentrate. The past decade has seen an unparalleled assault on our capacity to fix our minds steadily on anything. To sit still and think, without succumbing to an anxious reach for a machine, has become almost impossible.

The obsession with current events is relentless. We are made to feel that at any point, somewhere on the globe, something may occur to sweep away old certainties—something that, if we failed to learn about it instantaneously, could leave us wholly unable to comprehend ourselves or our fellows. We are continuously challenged to discover new works of culture—and, in the process, we don’t allow any one of them to assume a weight in our minds. We leave a movie theater vowing to reconsider our lives in the light of a film’s values. Yet by the following evening, our experience is well on the way to dissolution, like so much of what once impressed us: the ruins of Ephesus, the view from Mount Sinai, the feelings after finishing Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich.

A student pursuing a degree in the humanities can expect to run through 1,000 books before graduation day. A wealthy family in England in 1250 might have owned three books: a Bible, a collection of prayers, and a life of the saints—this modestly sized library nevertheless costing as much as a cottage. The painstaking craftsmanship of a pre-Gutenberg Bible was evidence of a society that could not afford to make room for an unlimited range of works but also welcomed restriction as the basis for proper engagement with a set of ideas.

The need to diet, which we know so well in relation to food, and which runs so contrary to our natural impulses, should be brought to bear on what we now have to relearn in relation to knowledge, people, and ideas. Our minds, no less than our bodies, require periods of fasting."

Top two photos are from my 'mind fast' last weekend at Fripp Island.

The cloister photo was taken in Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, England.

Festival of the Trails - Last Day

Today was the last day of the Festival. Sorry to see it ending. But, before that, I had another trail to ride this morning.
Taking Bill's recommendation, I headed up to the Wilson Lake trail head. Weather was very cloudy with a threat of rain. When I reached the trail head, I checked in by signing the roster and headed up the Patsy Lake Trail.
At first, I was riding a bit "tentative". Soon enough, I got the rhythm of the trail. The trails is a relative new trail - from when I could see. As a contour trail, the climbs and descents are short. The photo here is of the Patsy Lake Trail.
I was feeling pretty good riding this trail. Most of the trail is singletrack. I gained my confidence and start riding better and faster. At the first control point, I consulted my map. Decided to ride a section of the trail against the normal flow. This would get me to the punch (to verify my tally card).
Back to the control point, I was faced with - "which way to head back to the car". I opted to riding with normal traffic flow. This part of the trail was overgrown doubletrack.
Some doubletrack spots, I few down hills. The computer showed I maxed out at 14.6 mph! Didn't know I could "fly" through the woods!. A great ride - Thanks for the recommendation, Bill.

After a stop at the hotel to pick up my raffle tickets (it started raining on the way to the motel), I was off the the closing cook-out. Here, we turned in our ride and special events tally cards.
Every participant had been given one ticket at registration. Now, those tickets were exchange to your choice of grab-bag items. I selected a t-shirt.
The weather was cool, overcast, and occasional shower during the cook-out.
From tally cards, everyone receive some number (I got 13) tickets for the "general" raffle. There were things from sports watches, to a bike repair stand, cassette set, trainer, and more. I did not win anything there.
The main raffle featured a Trek Fuel EX8 full suspension bike. I did not win any of the 5 big prizes, either.
In the next week, I will put together my thoughts about the Black Hills Fat Tire Festival and the CAMBA Festival of the Trails. For now, I am planning to skip BHFTF next year in favor of the CAMBA function.
The last photo here is one of the participants riding the tall teeter-totter on the Test de Trails course.

Acoustic Cafe

Yellow Bearded Iris
My wildflower buddies and I made another visit to the Acoustic Cafe Amphitheater.

Steve Masterson
Steve very graciously took us on another guided tour. Most of my flower photos didn't turn out well (it was too sunny) - the ones from last year are here.

Mabel and the formerly perfectly fine soaker hose.
Mabel's the new pup on the block, and she's very friendly. She's still at the chewing stage though, and will probably be on vacation during the upcoming festival, so as to save tent ropes and such.
Sadly, the lovable Buster passed away since last year. Lucy is as aloof as ever.

Tadpole
Tadpole walked with us. Her sister (Sarah) joined us briefly, but was skittish of the camera. Katy the calico slept through the whole thing.

Fiery Searcher
On our walk, we spotted a Fiery Searcher, Calosoma scrutator. They're also known as Caterpillar Hunters.

Another view
So brilliant in the sun! If not the most beautiful beetle, he's at least in the top ten. He was large, as beetles go, and very fast.

Take off your shoes
Also new since last year, this exquisite hardwood floor (Ash).
There are some wonderfully worked details. I didn't forget to photograph them, but I did forget to remove the lens hood. (The lens hood is great for reducing flare when you're taking pictures in the sun. When using the flash, it causes horrible shadows. Duh.)

Skull tree
The skull tree. Still wishing I'd thought of that. Now that we have Jasmine the bone-stealing dog, we don't find the number of skulls that we once did. But I'll remember Steve's advice for cleaning such things: stick them in an ant bed. Reeeeally wish I'd known that before the antler incident.

The Acoustic Cafe is all about String music, and this is its museum. (Click for a larger version.)
It includes:
John Hartford's bowler hat,
Sam Bush's whiskey bottle,
Vassar Clements' pipe, and
Duke Bardwell's photos of playing with Elvis.
Now, Steve knows that while my friends and I do enjoy string music, we are pretty much totally ignorant about it. "You may not know his name," he said, speaking of John Hartford, "but you know his song, Gentle on My Mind."
I didn't realize though, til just now when looking up his links, that I did know John Hartford. He was on the PBS special Songs of the Civil War, that I had taped years ago, and watched dozens of times.
Here he is singing my favorite version of my favorite Civil-War-era song, Lorena:

link
Just lovely.
I looked for another song I remembered from the show, Sweet Honey in the Rock's rendition of Climbing Jacob's Ladder. Couldn't find the video, but I believe this contains the audio:

link
OK, one more. Another favorite from that show was Hard Times Come Again No More, sung by Kate and Anna McGarrigle and their families. I found this somewhat later version by them that I actually like better, and it has the added bonus of Emmylou Harris:

link
Rufus Wainwright is in both versions. Here's a link to the original, with a much younger Rufus and Martha.

Waiting to greet you at the Acoustic Cafe Amphitheater...