Six Nations cultural mix

Today is Scotland's first game in the annual Six Nations rugby tournament. The Nations are the 'home' nations - Scotland, Wales, Ireland and England, plus France and Italy. Today we play Wales here in Edinburgh. Souvenir shops do brisk and welcome business as a result during the otherwise slow winter months. The window of this shop just off the Royal Mile has everything for the rugby tourist:

• at the left of the picture, a Welsh kilt outfit. We'll make an honorary Scot of any nationality, and the red Welsh dragon looks particularly fine with the kilt. On the white hooded top 'Cymru' means 'Wales'.
• in the middle is the green top of the Irish rugby team. Clutching a Scottish rugby ball.
  
• the Scottish top is the navy blue one on the right. Not shown, the English top, which is an impractical white with red (but that's just the mother in me talking).

• then, some essential souvenirs: the silver bowl at bottom left is a quaich, the traditional 'cup of friendship'. This is a huge one, presumably for holding a large quantity of beer.
• next to the quaich, assorted boxes of shortbread, either for sudden hunger (although chips are the more usual fuel), or for placating any female connections who have stayed at home. If more serious placating is needed, there's a selection of celtic-themed pendant necklaces next to the shortbread.
• for smaller members of the family, there are snow globes featuring Edinburgh Castle, and a fine doll in full ceremonial kilt regalia.
  
• also some boxes of tartan hankies. Why not?

Reflected above all that jumble are the austere lines of the Tron Kirk, which has looked down over various frivolities since 1647.

Gravity - Caught in the Act

Gravity - Caught in the Act, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

For years I have wanted to capture the parabolas the show up when a ball bounces to the ground. With a 39-cent light-up bouncy ball I was able to do just that.

Wolves at the door

The one who was the church clerk
Last week my cousin from New Hampshire was visiting, and we made the genealogy rounds.
Samford University's Special Collections has a treasure trove of old Alabama Baptist church records. In between learning that one ancestor was a church clerk and that another was excluded (thrown out) twice, I overheard this conversation:
"Listen to this. The church has been in two previous locations."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. It says they had to move the first time because the church was built in a spot with no access to water. The second time, they had to move because of too much activity from Timber Wolves in the area!"
Actually I'm sure they meant Red Wolves (Canis rufus), since there never were any Timber Wolves (Gray Wolves, Canis lupus) in Alabama.
The Red Wolf was declared extinct in the wild in the 1980s.
There are now over 16 million Southern Baptists.
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Red Wolf Recovery Project
Red Wolves of Alligator River
Red Wolf Coalition
This page shows the historical range of the Red Wolf. The subspecies that lived in Alabama, called the Florida Red Wolf (Canis rufus floridanus) was completely extinct by 1930. A second subspecies, the Mississippi Red Wolf, Canis rufus gregoryi, was extinct by 1970, leaving only the Texas Red Wolf, Canis rufus rufus, the species being used in the Recovery Project.

Back

The first "nervous" commute out of the last several thousand turned out alright in the end. We seem to be right in the middle of the windy season at the moment, which has meant decent headwinds riding into work over the last two days. Coming from the north, it's also meant high humidity and air thick enough to cut if anybody could find a knife sharp enough. The first morning I actually made the junction between the lights on Rudd Avenue, which it quite doable, but usually requires a reasonable level of performance. That was a sign that I was closer to being "back" than I thought.
Unfortunately, the exhaustion at the end of that first ride (an 8.5km commute is usually a pretty routine exercise for me) suggested that I still had some way to go. But it was interesting to note how much easier it all felt yesterday in identical conditions. I'll be seeking out 30-35km after work this evening, and possibly making it to Austinville (pictured above) on Thursday night. Hopefully by then, I won't be reduced to using old pictures from previous rides in this blog any longer.

Momma here...

Hi Bloggie Pals...
As you must realize, our blog has suffered from neglect... mostly by the fault of our Momma who has been most busy doing things that cause much confusion. We defer to her cause we must...

Momma here: In the last couple of months or so, we've been incredibly neglectful of the girls' blog. There has been a lot going on. Let's start with the fact that hubby, Bill is retiring in September (whoo hah!). So, we have decided to move, dependent upon the fact that we can sell our current place. Thus, we have been sorting through 41 years of STUFF, which has taken up a lot of time (hee hee) and then packing up what we deem to be necessary for post-retirement life? Well... we've been trying. And then our son decided he needed to get married... yesterday afternoon. It was a glorious celebration and there was a lot of happiness and pals and so on, but a distraction for sure!!! (From the blog, that is... By the end of this week, we should be packed up and the painters should have been finished painting; carpeters finished installing...) We will be starting to post again in a couple of weeks and looking forward to checking out your blogs once again whoopee! Back to the puppers...

Okay so here is one photo of the happy bride and groom hip hip hooray!

Ducklings on Elbow Lake

We saw a lot of neat and interesting things on yesterday's kayak adventure on Elbow Lake on the Gunflint Trail. Probably the most entertaining (and definitely the cutest!) sighting was this group of ducklings that we saw on the opposite end of the lake from the boat landing. They must have been hiding in the brush along the edge of the lake when we first went by because we didn't see them until we were heading back to the landing. They sure were cute as they swam along the bank close to shore. This sighting along with the Loon earlier in the trip really made the day special. We also saw a bald eagle perched atop a giant pine tree and a goofy gull that was flying around in the distance the whole time we were paddling. There are always fascinating things to see when you spend time on the water and today was no exception!

Antelope Canyon

WOW... Antelope Canyon is... in a word... SPECTACULAR!!!!! Definitely some of the most fascinating light I have ever seen. I spent 4.5 hours in the canyon. My mind is officially blown :-)

Above: The entrance to the canyon. Only about two feet wide at its beginning, the canyon is a bit of a squeeze to climb down into it!


Once you are down in the canyon, it does open up and travel through it is a bit easier than at the beginning. There are several areas, though, where it is only wide enough for one person to walk through at a time.

Above: A shot of Lionel, one of the Navajo guides that brings tour groups through the canyon.

Every place you look in the canyon is a treat for the eyes. The shapes and lines in the canyon walls provide for unlimited photo opportunities. The reflected light coming from above makes for some of the most amazing light that a photographer will ever see.