I was getting ready to send out an electronic New Year's card to my friends, and all of a sudden this rant just popped out. The card features famous clocks from around the world striking midnight. I was trying to write a Happy New Year message when these thoughts came out of my fingers.
Turns out the most iconic clock of all is in your hand most of the time: It's your iphone. Mechanical clocks, especially wearable ones are virtually obsolete. When's the last time you put on the one in your jewelry box? Just another example of technological obsolescence. Watches are going the way of paper maps, phone books, land lines, paper checks, and a whole slew of other things. No wonder we're all so anxious.
Even an optimistic person like myself feels wary rather than happy about the coming year. So, let me wish you a Cautious New Year. There're going to be pitfalls, quicksand, fell strokes, quagmires, catastrophes, and fiascos, and that's only the big stuff which will befall some, if not all of us, in the coming year. Try not to let the frustration of not being able to talk to a live person on the phone, find a clerk in a brick/mortar store (another thing becoming obsolete), or being able to find anything to watch on TV despite the 200+ channels you're paying for kill you. Who knew screening your calls on the nifty answering machine using endless loop cassette tape your family got for Christmas in 1972 would morph into text and Instagram? At least we finally have video phone calls ('Facetime'). It was really tardy arriving. I wonder when flying cars are going to make their appearance?
The mounting anxiety we all seem to be feeling is a greater malaise than just personal setbacks and minor frustrations. The yearning for the past, you know those idyllic 'good old days' however you define them is really more about slowing down the pace of change than really wanting a return to an earlier time. Pre-electronic people (life before individual computers) are really feeling disconnected, rushed and downright angry. I've managed to 'keep up' (sort of) picking and choosing my tech while constantly feeling there are too many choices while technologically running as fast as I can.
There is too many of everything. Every time I'm in a grocery store, my thoughts keep veering down the path of do we really need so many types of _________. I most often have this thought on the cereal aisle. If the plethora of products aren't enough to convince you, well, think about the constant barrage of electrons thrown at us every day. How many people at your family during the family Christmas dinner pulled out his/her phone at sometime during the meal? Text checking, Tweeting, Facebook checking, or worse 'following' are more important to an increasing number of people than face to face conversation with their families during a special social time. Face to face real time communication is emotionally messy, requires a longer attention span, and isn't always all about you. The electronic version is so much more reassuringly self-centered.
In its defense, tech life is also the convenient life. Siri, Alexa, and whatever the Google version is called are changing our home life usually for the better. Technological advances in medicine are astounding and life saving. Information at the tips of your fingers is a good thing. We all love to Google an answer, look for a You-Tube video to show us 'how to', or map our route. We love being able to Skype with our family members around the globe. I think WWII mothers would have chopped off a digit to be able to actually see and talk to their soldier child even for 30 seconds. The list of good tech stuff really does outweigh the bad.
What's causing our anxiety is we aren't learning how to psychologically manage the electronic revolution fast enough. Major technology advances used to be around for hundreds of years with gradual adoption by the general public. Clocks are a good example. Even our beloved computers took a few decades before they were an integral part of every person's life. Now, major advances seem to be coming at us like flaming lava bombs. (Look it up - very pre-tech; I got one for my birthday.) We are increasingly engaging directly with our 'smart' tech.
Here comes 'virtual reality'. (Can holodecks be far behind?) I can hardly wait to see the advertising for self-driving cars. (Imagine the first personal injury law-suits!) Plan on wearing your tech. That's what is currently replacing your wristwatch, and your glasses aren't far behind. Your phone is going to be so fast you're going to need to tether it to your person. All your devices are now starting to talk to one another. (I fear they will eventually plot revolution.) Have you heard of the newest spectator sport? It's mega video gaming. Yes, it's a tournament of the best video gamers in the world shown on an Imax, 3-D screen to screaming fans in a pay-per-view streaming format all around the world. This past year the winner took home $100,000. Cyber security is a hot new field of employment. Then, there's 'crowdfunding'; a new way to raise capital. I could go on and on and on, but the tweet/text generation has already stopped reading. This paragraph is too long for the 140 character attention span.
So pull up your sox. Here comes another year. I predict it's going to be a bumpy, exhilarating and even exasperating ride. Do your best to concentrate on the positive. Life is way, way too short (still) to be anxious and afraid.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Monday, December 19, 2016
The infamous Christmas Carol Quiz
Some people got snail mail cards this year. If you weren't on the snail mail list, well, you either moved and didn't send me your new address, or you stopped sending ME cards, or you were never on my snail mail list for some other reason. I sent out 70 cards this year. Drake claims I keep the post office in business not just for my Christmas cards, but also because of all the snail mail letters I write. It's usual for me to send out an annual Christmas letter tucked into my cards. I don't care if people make fun of those of us who send out the annual missive, I LIKE opening a Christmas card which contains either a printed letter or a handwritten note. However, if you read the blog, then you know everything already, so instead of the annual recap letter, I sent my blog readers a Christmas Carol Quiz just for fun.
Well, this has been wildly popular. I've heard from numerous people who plan to take it with them to use as a family Christmas game, as well as people who sent me an email saying, WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO #___? By far, the first question is the stumper. I must confess here and now, #1 is a bit of a trick question since technically it's not a Christmas carol, but it IS Christmas music.
You can thank Jane for prompting me to remember I promised the answers via a blog entry. So, here's a repeat of the questions along with the answers. And, yes, there's no #3. I rearranged the quiz, and somehow #3 got lost in the shuffle. Get over it. Ho. Ho. Ho.
Well, this has been wildly popular. I've heard from numerous people who plan to take it with them to use as a family Christmas game, as well as people who sent me an email saying, WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO #___? By far, the first question is the stumper. I must confess here and now, #1 is a bit of a trick question since technically it's not a Christmas carol, but it IS Christmas music.
You can thank Jane for prompting me to remember I promised the answers via a blog entry. So, here's a repeat of the questions along with the answers. And, yes, there's no #3. I rearranged the quiz, and somehow #3 got lost in the shuffle. Get over it. Ho. Ho. Ho.
Christmas Carol Quiz
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1. The two room apartment of a psychiatrist.
2. May the Deity bestow an absence of fatigue to happy male humans 4. Sir Lancelot with laryngitis. 5. A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. 6. Present me naught but dual incisors for this festive Yuletide. 7. The smog-less bewitching hour arrived. 8. Exuberance to this orb. 9. 288 Yuletide hours. 10. Do you perceive the same longitudinal pressure which stimulate my auditory sense organs. 11. The December mythical being is due in this burg. 12. Stepping on the pad cover. 13. Four legged boozer named for silent film heart throb. 14. Far back in a hay bin. 15. Leave and do an elevated broadcast. 16. That exiguous hamlet south of the holy city. 17. Hitherward the entire assembly who are loyal in their beliefs 18. Listen, the winged heavenly messengers are proclaiming tunefully. 19. A joyful song relative to hollow metallic vessels which vibrate and bring forth a ringing sound when struck. 20. As the guardians of little woolly animal's protected their charges in the shadows of the earth. 21. Frozen precipitation commence 22. Obese personification fabricated of compressed mounds of minute crystals. 23. Oh, member of the round table with missing areas 24. Boulder of the tinkling metal spheres 25. Vehicular homicide was committed on Dad's mom by a precipitous darling 26. Tranquility upon the terrestrial sphere. 27. We are Kong, Lear, and Nat Cole 28. Cup-shaped instruments fashioned of a whitish metallic element 29. Natal celebration devoid of color, rather albino, as a hallucinatory phenomenon for me. 30. Our fervent hope is that you thoroughly enjoy your yuletide season 31. Parent was observed osculating a red-coated unshaven teamster 32. Diminutive Percussionist
33. Oh small Israel
urban center
34. Behold! I envisioned a trio of nautical vessels.
35. K.O. the aisles
ANSWERS
1) Nutcracker Suite
2) God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 4) Silent Night 5) Noel 6) All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth 7) It Came Upon A Midnight Clear 8) Joy to the World 9) 12 Days of Christmas 10) Do You Hear What I Hear? 11) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 12) Up On The House Top 13) Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer 14) Away In A Manger 15) Go Tell It On The Mountain 16) Oh Little Town of Bethlehem 17) O Come All Ye Faithful 18) Hark The Herald Angels Sing 19) Jingle Bells 20) As Shepherd's Watch Their Flocks At Night 21) Let It Snow 22) Frosty the Snowman 23) Oh, Holy Night 24) Jingle Bell Rock 25) Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer 26) Peace on earth 27) We Three Kings 28) Silver Bells 29) I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas 30) We Wish You A Merry Christmas 31) I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
32) Little Drummer
Boy
33) O Little Town of Bethlehem 34) I Saw Three Ships
35) Deck the Halls
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Wednesday, December 14, 2016
As We Approach the Holidays
I'm struggling with Christmas this year as is everyone in our family. It's difficult to approach a holiday with the adjective of "Merry" in front of its name when a treasured family member has been lost to us in the not distant enough past, and no one feels very merry. Everyone is still working through grief surrounding his death right now, and our first response is to turn away from happy holidays.
I've been pondering how to celebrate Christmas for weeks now. We've traveled to Austin to gather for an extended family Christmas ever since it became obvious 'Jay' was going to be the SIL. (That's son-in-law for the acrynmyically challenged. Gosh, I don't even think that's a word - you know, where you use initials instead of the words.) Anyway, over the past several years, we've all come to cherish our Christmas time together, and we've developed internal family traditions just like every family. Over time, the four parents drew closer together and became friends enjoying each other's company during not just Christmas but at other joint family times. Now one parent is gone, passed away in late October.
I had change my approach to the holiday. Sadness was overwhelming me, and when I thought about Christmas, my first emotion was dread. My Christmas decorations have remained firmly packed for the past several years. Why go to all that trouble to unpack, and unwrap decorations when the center of the celebration was not going to be at my house? Just too much trouble and effort. I was grateful I could enjoy decorations without the hassle of having to 'do them'. This year, however, I needed my decorations in a way I've never needed them before. I got them out, unpacked them, and set them up around my Arizona home. They have helped me re-center myself and re-think the holiday.
Next, I returned to my daily devotional. For non-Christians, this is called 'meditation' or 'spiritual centering'. It really doesn't matter what you call it, the kernel of importance is to remove one's self from only dealing with the commercial world and recapture a sense of the spiritual. Christmas time is when the conflict between these two sensibilities is most evident. So, what is 'the season'. Well, for Christians it's the birth of Christ. For Jews it's the celebration of Hanukkah, the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and for African Americans it's Kwanzaa, is a celebration of family and culture. These three holidays always occur in close proximity, and all feature presents which is how the commercial world has horned in.
More important than presents, all three traditions center around family. Families grow and change over the years. Members are lost to us through estangement, death, and distance. Members are gained through reconnection, marriages, and births. On most usual years, Christmas IS a merry time with food, drink and laughter. But sometimes, it's time to be together in rememberance as well as a time to cherish one another. Coming together after a tragedy says, "We're sad, but we're OK. We're still a family. We are going to get through this and come out the other side different, but stronger in our love, support and belief in one another.
So, now as we prepare for our annual Christmas trip, I will bring simple presents to say, I love you. We'll go places, eat together, and talk. Overall though, this Christmas our focus will be coming together for a time of offering love, seeking peace, and finding hope. Those are the real reasons for our season this year.
I've been pondering how to celebrate Christmas for weeks now. We've traveled to Austin to gather for an extended family Christmas ever since it became obvious 'Jay' was going to be the SIL. (That's son-in-law for the acrynmyically challenged. Gosh, I don't even think that's a word - you know, where you use initials instead of the words.) Anyway, over the past several years, we've all come to cherish our Christmas time together, and we've developed internal family traditions just like every family. Over time, the four parents drew closer together and became friends enjoying each other's company during not just Christmas but at other joint family times. Now one parent is gone, passed away in late October.
I had change my approach to the holiday. Sadness was overwhelming me, and when I thought about Christmas, my first emotion was dread. My Christmas decorations have remained firmly packed for the past several years. Why go to all that trouble to unpack, and unwrap decorations when the center of the celebration was not going to be at my house? Just too much trouble and effort. I was grateful I could enjoy decorations without the hassle of having to 'do them'. This year, however, I needed my decorations in a way I've never needed them before. I got them out, unpacked them, and set them up around my Arizona home. They have helped me re-center myself and re-think the holiday.
Next, I returned to my daily devotional. For non-Christians, this is called 'meditation' or 'spiritual centering'. It really doesn't matter what you call it, the kernel of importance is to remove one's self from only dealing with the commercial world and recapture a sense of the spiritual. Christmas time is when the conflict between these two sensibilities is most evident. So, what is 'the season'. Well, for Christians it's the birth of Christ. For Jews it's the celebration of Hanukkah, the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, and for African Americans it's Kwanzaa, is a celebration of family and culture. These three holidays always occur in close proximity, and all feature presents which is how the commercial world has horned in.
More important than presents, all three traditions center around family. Families grow and change over the years. Members are lost to us through estangement, death, and distance. Members are gained through reconnection, marriages, and births. On most usual years, Christmas IS a merry time with food, drink and laughter. But sometimes, it's time to be together in rememberance as well as a time to cherish one another. Coming together after a tragedy says, "We're sad, but we're OK. We're still a family. We are going to get through this and come out the other side different, but stronger in our love, support and belief in one another.
So, now as we prepare for our annual Christmas trip, I will bring simple presents to say, I love you. We'll go places, eat together, and talk. Overall though, this Christmas our focus will be coming together for a time of offering love, seeking peace, and finding hope. Those are the real reasons for our season this year.
Friday, December 2, 2016
Revisiting the Met
When we are in New York, my short list of what I want to do always includes a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In my opinion, it's the finest museum this country has to offer. Each year I like to revisit 'old friends', as well as scope out the new exhibits. This year there were two really exciting exhibits.
Being from Fort Worth, we loved the Kimball Museum, and they own an important painting by Caravaggio. We became instant fans of this Italian painter of the late 1500's and early 1600's. He was the first artist to paint 'naturally'. No, not in the nude, he was the first guy to use actual models for his pictures. He started with a blank canvas and painted the expressions and poses provided by real people standing in front of him. Before him, artists drew what they were going to paint on paper and then copied the drawing onto a canvas. That technique was acceptable when you were illustrating a Biblical parable or perhaps an oft told Green myth. Since Caravaggio never drew out his paintings on paper, he quickly began posing his models in a more modern context such as this painting showing a young dandy being fleeced at a card game.
As with any great artist of the time period, Caravaggio had disciples. One of these was French painter, Valentin de Boulogne. The Met together with the Louve put together an exhibition of Boulogne's paintings. He only created 60 paintings, and there were 45 in the exhibition. He took Caravaggio's ideas about using models and pushed them even farther. We were privileged to see so many magnificent paintings by this Renaissance artist.
Being from Fort Worth, we loved the Kimball Museum, and they own an important painting by Caravaggio. We became instant fans of this Italian painter of the late 1500's and early 1600's. He was the first artist to paint 'naturally'. No, not in the nude, he was the first guy to use actual models for his pictures. He started with a blank canvas and painted the expressions and poses provided by real people standing in front of him. Before him, artists drew what they were going to paint on paper and then copied the drawing onto a canvas. That technique was acceptable when you were illustrating a Biblical parable or perhaps an oft told Green myth. Since Caravaggio never drew out his paintings on paper, he quickly began posing his models in a more modern context such as this painting showing a young dandy being fleeced at a card game.
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"The Card Sharp" - 1594 |
We also took in two famous portraits of Ben Franklin as well as some gorgeous furniture from the American Aesthetic Movement. Finally, Drake was happy to see some gems of a baseball card collection donated to the Met. Jeff Burdick, the collector/donor, was told by the Met he needed to 'catalog' his collection before they would accept it. He did such a good job, the book he wrote about his cataloging procedure is now the 'bible' of cataloging 'paper' collections such as posters, leaflets, and, of course, baseball cards.
Here are the pictures: https://goo.gl/photos/KP66yXWpwWUXNgRd7
The other exhibition which caught my interest was a costume exhibition. Drake was just humoring me when we trekked down the hidden staircase to see the exhibit, but he quickly got interested. He especially liked the 18th century cherry colored wool/silk men's suit. These are sixty iconic pieces of fashion owned by the Metropolitan. There were several which I don't think could be called 'clothes'. Take a look and see what you think.
https://goo.gl/photos/xTFMuRj7R3SG6Mnu8
https://goo.gl/photos/xTFMuRj7R3SG6Mnu8
Saturday, November 19, 2016
A Sense of Awe
Boy, we've had a hard 45 days. Usually our life runs smoothly thanks to our ability to successfully collaborate on any project we undertake. Smoothness is easy to take for granted. One does not normally awaken thinking, well, my life is going to hell in a hand basket today. Unfortunately, in our extended family, life has been in the proverbial hand basket lately, and collectively we are all still reeling over an untimely death and the massive grief it has left behind. Our freaking car wreck didn't help much either.
When life serves up the unpalatable, my optimistic nature tries to find ways to put myself looking up rather than down. Laying in bed contemplating the ceiling this morning, I started focusing on what inspires awe. (Yes, really.) What started the chain of thought was the seven week old baby I visited while in Austin. Gosh, tiny fingers, tiny toes, angelically asleep. The conversation all revolved around how amazing it is to actually make a new human, and then be responsible for creating a person. The alternative bookend to the end of life.
Obviously, natural creations found on this blue marble definitely create a sense of awe. We've been so fortunate to directly contemplate some of God's best work.
When life serves up the unpalatable, my optimistic nature tries to find ways to put myself looking up rather than down. Laying in bed contemplating the ceiling this morning, I started focusing on what inspires awe. (Yes, really.) What started the chain of thought was the seven week old baby I visited while in Austin. Gosh, tiny fingers, tiny toes, angelically asleep. The conversation all revolved around how amazing it is to actually make a new human, and then be responsible for creating a person. The alternative bookend to the end of life.
Obviously, natural creations found on this blue marble definitely create a sense of awe. We've been so fortunate to directly contemplate some of God's best work.
I could put up 2,000 pictures equally as beautiful as this one. I chose this ocean scene since the immensity of the oceans define our planet. Awesome - gigantic and wonderful all rolled into one.
Sometimes a person gives those around her a sense of awe. My nominee for a person of whom I'm in awe is someone who steps up and into difficult situations with grace. Oh, you know that person; always knowing what to say as well as how to be silent. She sees what needs doing and just does it. You know you've seen one of these folks when someone says, "Wow, I can't believe you did that." She always seem surprised as if what else did you expect?
Art inspires both awe and envy in me. My bedroom ceiling got a big work-out on this. I was totally at sea trying to figure out what single piece makes me awe struck. Finally, I had to call a mental time-out and whittle down. I set some parameters: (1) I had to have personally seen it. (2) I arbitrarily restricted my choice to painting. Hmmm. Landscape? Watercolor? Still life? Portrait? What time period? I got up and played around with my thousands of pictures of pictures, and you know what? I couldn't pick. So let's leave this one with the not very original observation: Great art creates awe just by being viewed. It's that talent thing.
The best thing about the feeling of awe? It makes me feel better. It helps put my small ups and downs into perspective. My spirits lift. While I was looking at the photographs I've taken of magnificent paintings, I looked up and saw our own art collection. Every piece brings back a significant memory. I could recreate our life from just looking at our art.
Awesome
Monday, November 7, 2016
Time to Exit this Alternate Reality
It's all over except for the actual voting, the only really important element of this horrific election cycle we've all collectively lived through. I don't care if you are voting for Clarabelle the Cow tomorrow, we all have one thing in common: "Thank God this is election is going to be over!" I am so damned tired of nasty. I am so tired of repetitive, manipulative ads. I want to be finished with this insanity. I'm sick of polls and last minute revelations.
Collectively we are not a vindictive population. It's certainly time for all of us to step back from the world is coming to an end if THAT PERSON is elected frenzy the media has been whipping up for months and get back some perspective. Think of it this way: When I was sitting dazed and bleeding in the passenger seat of our wrecked car, total strangers ran toward the steaming, still ticking wreck to help me. No one asked who I was voting for, unfriended me on Facebook, screamed at me, nor turned away disgusted if I wasn't on board with their political views.
We help people. Today, the day before the election, just look around you. There will be people doing kind actions everywhere. In old people land I routinely pick up dropped stuff, and pull down items from the high shelves in the grocery store. Sometimes I just talk to people while doing my errands knowing I might be the only person they actually have a conversation with for the next 24 hours. It's also imperative in my neck of the desert to admire a person's dog. We all practice routine courtesies everyday; it's second nature to us and is the grease which makes our multi-cultural society function.
Manners and being civil are important. They take the edge off the stress most of us routinely live under. That's why we are all shell shocked by this vituperative election campaign stacked on top of all the other stuff we all have going on. In the past 20 years, we are working (on average, of course) about 163 more hours a year - that's an entire extra month of work each year! Americans are the most productive worker bees on the planet. In the past 60 years we've also incorporated the second half of our population into the workforce (women), and now almost every worker is juggling the work/family dynamic every single day. Everybody is always trying to figure out where they stand in relation to the people they work with, the family they care for, and the neighborhood they live in.
Humans love the pecking order. It's in our nature. We learned eons ago the odds of our personal survival went up if we worked as part of a group. We also learned every person has a set value to a group and could be ranked accordingly. Our overarching 'big group' is our national identity as Americans. Thus, we have a basic binary ranking: you either are or aren't in the group.
Well, my point is no matter who you vote for tomorrow, remember: That person standing next to you is part of your basic group: An American citizen, and I guarantee you will feel a solidarity with them just because they are standing in line and voting. Give that person next to you a high five tomorrow. And, for heaven's sake, let's start remembering again who we really are - a kind and compassionate people who help one another get through each and every day.
Collectively we are not a vindictive population. It's certainly time for all of us to step back from the world is coming to an end if THAT PERSON is elected frenzy the media has been whipping up for months and get back some perspective. Think of it this way: When I was sitting dazed and bleeding in the passenger seat of our wrecked car, total strangers ran toward the steaming, still ticking wreck to help me. No one asked who I was voting for, unfriended me on Facebook, screamed at me, nor turned away disgusted if I wasn't on board with their political views.
We help people. Today, the day before the election, just look around you. There will be people doing kind actions everywhere. In old people land I routinely pick up dropped stuff, and pull down items from the high shelves in the grocery store. Sometimes I just talk to people while doing my errands knowing I might be the only person they actually have a conversation with for the next 24 hours. It's also imperative in my neck of the desert to admire a person's dog. We all practice routine courtesies everyday; it's second nature to us and is the grease which makes our multi-cultural society function.
Manners and being civil are important. They take the edge off the stress most of us routinely live under. That's why we are all shell shocked by this vituperative election campaign stacked on top of all the other stuff we all have going on. In the past 20 years, we are working (on average, of course) about 163 more hours a year - that's an entire extra month of work each year! Americans are the most productive worker bees on the planet. In the past 60 years we've also incorporated the second half of our population into the workforce (women), and now almost every worker is juggling the work/family dynamic every single day. Everybody is always trying to figure out where they stand in relation to the people they work with, the family they care for, and the neighborhood they live in.
Humans love the pecking order. It's in our nature. We learned eons ago the odds of our personal survival went up if we worked as part of a group. We also learned every person has a set value to a group and could be ranked accordingly. Our overarching 'big group' is our national identity as Americans. Thus, we have a basic binary ranking: you either are or aren't in the group.
Well, my point is no matter who you vote for tomorrow, remember: That person standing next to you is part of your basic group: An American citizen, and I guarantee you will feel a solidarity with them just because they are standing in line and voting. Give that person next to you a high five tomorrow. And, for heaven's sake, let's start remembering again who we really are - a kind and compassionate people who help one another get through each and every day.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
The Difference between Watching and Noticing
Guess what? It's World Series time! Even if you live under a rock, you must realize how historic this series is: Cubs, last appearance 1945 (lost) and last win [1907/1908] - back to back - impressive even then, and Cleveland, last win [1948], are playing. The longtime hopes and dreams of their fans are riding on this series. There was a pitcher's duel last night 1 - 0 which means not enough action for me especially on TV. The way I've always gotten around the lack of action in low scoring games I've attended is by filling out a box score as the game progresses. Thinking about this was triggered by a friend sending me an article about score keeping.
I wish I had a nickel for every time people tell me baseball is boring. Basically, that translates into they don't know enough about the game to actually watch it except at the most superficial level. Since baseball takes an extended period of concentration to pick up on and see the real nuances of the game, I learned to keep score.
I've kept a box score since my brother's baseball games when I was a child sitting in a webbed aluminum lawn chair on the sidelines. It's a wonder I wasn't beaned by a foul ball. I was so young - still in single digits in age - I don't even remember who actually taught me the score keeping basics. Eventually, I was named the official scorekeeper for the McArthur Bears. Of course, I actually wanted to PLAY the game, but there were no baseball teams for girls. (Another example of just accepting something because 'that's the way it's always been'.) A fond hope is I'll live to see a woman in the Major Leagues.
Then, I married the biggest baseball fanatic I've ever known. In the 70's when we lived in Houston, I took a pay raise in the form of two season tickets to the Astros, who played at the 8th wonder of the world, the Astrodome, and I have score books which go back to that time. I never score a TV game, only live ones, which today for me means mainly Spring Training games. Early games like those are a whole other ball of wax for a scorekeeper with non-team member invited players, unknown players, minor league players with no names on their backs, and a zillion pitching changes.
My preferred score book is a legal sized spiral Spalding score book with pre-printed pages. I don't draw in my own boxes, nor my own diamond. There's a tidiness to the pre-printed version. I use a clipboard as a writing surface to hold my score book with a rolled towel under it to tilt the book and make it easier to write on. I like a thin lead mechanical pencil, the same one for several years now, since the boxes are tiny, and sometimes scoring requires erasure. My preference is to produce a tidy book without ink-outs at the end of a game. However, at this point in my score keeping career, if pressed, I'm sure I could keep a game in ink. To avoid that, I always carry a spare pencil to every game I score.
Every serious scorekeeper's book is unique. I record every pitch including all the foul balls as well as keep track of how many pitches have been thrown by the starting pitcher inning by inning. I mark all balls and strikes. I show which players touch the ball in making an out or an error. I have my own symbols for the trajectory of the ball as it's hit. "K's' are strikeouts. The backward K to account for a strikeout when a player just stands there and watches the ball go by without swinging is pretty standard. I have my own bracket symbol to indicate a double play as well as a symbol to indicate when a new pitcher enters the game. TMI - LOL - baseball scorers are obsessive.
I've always wanted to get a gander at Tom Grieve's score book, he's the color announcer for the Rangers, and in some interviews up in the booth, you can see his book, but not the notations. I do know some media people actually use different colors of ink pens when scoring to make commentary easier. When having to pee during a game, I reluctantly hand over my book to my baseball expert for a half inning. Recently, I've carped until he puts on his reading glasses to make the notations. His scoring marks even then are must less pristine than mine.
I sometimes announce to my 'row' and the people in front and behind me I'm this area's official scorekeeper. The real fans take me seriously - they begin asking me questions as the game progresses along the lines of: "What'd he do last time?" "How many pitches now?" "Are you scoring that as a hit or error?" Oh, and I also keep both sides of the contest - same markings for the other team. Occasionally, I teach a kid to score and hand over my book. Fortunately, I sit next to the aforementioned baseball expert, and I do consult every once in awhile when something unusual happens which, surprisingly to me, is almost every game.
Now, with the World Series winding down, I find I'm eager for the start of the next baseball season which for me will be the end of February! I once calculated, I notice in excess of 200 ballgames a year, but currently I'm only scoring about twenty. That's the difference for me: I NOTICE games which are running on television or the radio, but I WATCH the games I score.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
The Election
It's about two weeks until the election. The first Presidential election I remember was Kennedy/Nixon - 1960. I was 10 years old, and even I noticed how 'pretty' Jack and Jackie were. However, historically, the 1960 election was all about the influence of television on an election just as the 1932 election was all about the influence of radio.
Kennedy campaign managers understood how you LOOKED on TV was going to be more important than what you SAID. Nixon managers didn't get that. Nixon, sweating with his five o'clock shadow and no TV make-up didn't look as good as Kennedy with his sunny smile, TV bronzed appearance, and great hair. Alarm bells did not go off about form over substance. Today, it's all about how you look. One candidate has been derided for a bad toupee, and the other for gaining weight and looking dumpy. It's all about being packaged with hair, make-up, teeth, and symbols as represented by clothing and accessories. We need to be more sophisticated and stop falling for form over substance at every level of politics.
There have been many disturbing factors about this election. The most serious is the obvious erosion of trust for the government. I can cite statistics and facts and trends to prove this, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a mathematician to sense this. We are playing with fire. The line between government stability and a complete breakdown between citizens and government is very, very thin. No ordinary person has ever been better off living in a country with an unstable government.
Democracy is not about agreement. It's about disagreement. However, disagreement does not mean disrespect. In the United States there is the loyal opposition. People who don't agree with your political viewpoint are not enemies of the state nor are they unpatriotic. If you look back to the very founding of our country, the two houses of Congress are the first of many compromises between the political factions of the now revered Founding Fathers.
Political compromise means government happens. We need more compromise between the two political factions in our country. That means in practical terms, a Congressman or Senator who engages in compromise isn't financially targeted to be defeated in the next election by vindictive PACS. Compromise in government means nobody gets everything they want, but everybody gets something. The level of frustration with our Congress is so high because our perception is the people we are electing are not seriously working on our problems.
Another growing problem in the electronic age is we, the electorate, have to get much, much, much smarter about where we get our information. The days of Walter Cronkite are gone. As media has been economically consolidated, each major news outlet has a slant or bias dictated by ownership. Some media is blue; some media is red. Know who you are reading or listening to, and what their bias is. At least major media (and I include major newspapers across the country as well as the five major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS) still have to meet journalistic intregrity standards. JoeBlow@blogger.com or PoliticalOpinionRus.org doesn't have to tell you facts.
It's time to recognize you should be selecting your news information not only from people you agree with but also from people you disagree with. We oldsters remember a time when news wasn't reported if it wasn't a fact. Opinions were clearly labeled opinions. Now, our media, whether 'red' or 'blue' mixes fact and opinion as if they were exactly the same in order to persuade us of their viewpoint. Facts don't have viewpoints. Opinions do.
Every four years the hype is all about how are you casting your vote for President. That portion of your vote is largely a symbolic vote. The important votes are for County Commission, the School Board, the Water District and those little unpaid public service offices which most voters won't even be bothered with. These 'little people' are the ones who really impact your daily quality of life.
The peoplewho are giving their time and energy to work for all of us in small, usually unpaid jobs are the true heroes of a democracy. Start at the bottom of your sample ballot and work 'up'. Figure out who you are voting for. For example, in Arizona there's a Central Arizona Water District Board elected every six years. It's a no-brainer that in the desert water is crucial. It took me a long time to figure out which five water district board members I was going to vote for, but these five votes are much more important than my Presidential vote. A by-product of trying to decide my votes is I now understand the problems facing Phoenix about water.
Finally, the most imporant thing you can do is VOTE. Democracies don't work if the citizens don't vote. Apathy means the most extreme viewpoints are overly represented. Sometimes I want to shake people by the ears when I hear, 'Oh, my vote doesn't really count.' In some places, those small offices you vote for in your community are decided by fewer than 100 votes. Everybody's vote counts. The only people who don't count are the ones who don't vote. So, get out and VOTE, AND WHEN THIS ELECTION IS ALL SAID AND DONE IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: WE ARE ALL AMERICANS.
Kennedy campaign managers understood how you LOOKED on TV was going to be more important than what you SAID. Nixon managers didn't get that. Nixon, sweating with his five o'clock shadow and no TV make-up didn't look as good as Kennedy with his sunny smile, TV bronzed appearance, and great hair. Alarm bells did not go off about form over substance. Today, it's all about how you look. One candidate has been derided for a bad toupee, and the other for gaining weight and looking dumpy. It's all about being packaged with hair, make-up, teeth, and symbols as represented by clothing and accessories. We need to be more sophisticated and stop falling for form over substance at every level of politics.
There have been many disturbing factors about this election. The most serious is the obvious erosion of trust for the government. I can cite statistics and facts and trends to prove this, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist or a mathematician to sense this. We are playing with fire. The line between government stability and a complete breakdown between citizens and government is very, very thin. No ordinary person has ever been better off living in a country with an unstable government.
Democracy is not about agreement. It's about disagreement. However, disagreement does not mean disrespect. In the United States there is the loyal opposition. People who don't agree with your political viewpoint are not enemies of the state nor are they unpatriotic. If you look back to the very founding of our country, the two houses of Congress are the first of many compromises between the political factions of the now revered Founding Fathers.
Political compromise means government happens. We need more compromise between the two political factions in our country. That means in practical terms, a Congressman or Senator who engages in compromise isn't financially targeted to be defeated in the next election by vindictive PACS. Compromise in government means nobody gets everything they want, but everybody gets something. The level of frustration with our Congress is so high because our perception is the people we are electing are not seriously working on our problems.
Another growing problem in the electronic age is we, the electorate, have to get much, much, much smarter about where we get our information. The days of Walter Cronkite are gone. As media has been economically consolidated, each major news outlet has a slant or bias dictated by ownership. Some media is blue; some media is red. Know who you are reading or listening to, and what their bias is. At least major media (and I include major newspapers across the country as well as the five major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS) still have to meet journalistic intregrity standards. JoeBlow@blogger.com or PoliticalOpinionRus.org doesn't have to tell you facts.
It's time to recognize you should be selecting your news information not only from people you agree with but also from people you disagree with. We oldsters remember a time when news wasn't reported if it wasn't a fact. Opinions were clearly labeled opinions. Now, our media, whether 'red' or 'blue' mixes fact and opinion as if they were exactly the same in order to persuade us of their viewpoint. Facts don't have viewpoints. Opinions do.
Every four years the hype is all about how are you casting your vote for President. That portion of your vote is largely a symbolic vote. The important votes are for County Commission, the School Board, the Water District and those little unpaid public service offices which most voters won't even be bothered with. These 'little people' are the ones who really impact your daily quality of life.
The peoplewho are giving their time and energy to work for all of us in small, usually unpaid jobs are the true heroes of a democracy. Start at the bottom of your sample ballot and work 'up'. Figure out who you are voting for. For example, in Arizona there's a Central Arizona Water District Board elected every six years. It's a no-brainer that in the desert water is crucial. It took me a long time to figure out which five water district board members I was going to vote for, but these five votes are much more important than my Presidential vote. A by-product of trying to decide my votes is I now understand the problems facing Phoenix about water.
Finally, the most imporant thing you can do is VOTE. Democracies don't work if the citizens don't vote. Apathy means the most extreme viewpoints are overly represented. Sometimes I want to shake people by the ears when I hear, 'Oh, my vote doesn't really count.' In some places, those small offices you vote for in your community are decided by fewer than 100 votes. Everybody's vote counts. The only people who don't count are the ones who don't vote. So, get out and VOTE, AND WHEN THIS ELECTION IS ALL SAID AND DONE IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: WE ARE ALL AMERICANS.
Saturday, October 22, 2016
Sharlot Hall
Prescott, Arizona, has been very impressive as a small American town. This town of 50,000 has the slogan: 'Everybody's Home Town'. We went to see an amazing museum for a town of this size. Generally, American western towns have a pretty poor record at preserving their history. Today, it was refreshing to see a town which actually has a great museum showcasing their history. A woman, Sharlot Hall, who arrived from Kansas to the territory of Arizona as a child in about 1880 was the driving force in that preservation. She became the first Arizona historian, a paid government position. She made it her life work to preserve and collect the Arizona history and artififacts not only for the Anglos but also the history and artifacts of the native population, the Yavapi.
One of the first buildings she preserved was the Territorial Governor's Mansion built in 1864. This amazing building was hand built from Ponderosa pine logs and chinked with adobe clay. The site of current day Prescott was chosen as the capitol city of the Arizona Territory in the midst of the Civil War because the more natural choice, Tucson, an actual town with people, was the center of Confederate sentiments. Prescott came into existence when the new Territorial Governor declared it to be the capital.
built in Arizona in 1863. It was built to house the newly appointed Governor, Mr. Goodwin, until his territorial mansion could be built. As is often the case with tongue in cheek nicknames, the origin of the name 'Fort Misery' is lost.
The other historical building on the grounds of the museum is the 1878 house John Charles Fremont and his wife Jesse Fremont lived in when HE was a territorial Governor of Arizona. Man, only Kit Carson got around the 19th century west as much as Fremont did.
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| Sharlot Hall |
The original floor was dirt, and the Territorial Governor worked on one side of the house, while the Territorial Secretary worked on the other. This house was the center of the political and social life in the created town of Prescott. Usually, towns are named for a famous person from the region or a natural landmark. Ironically, the first serving Governor of Territorial Arizona named the new capitol for a 19th century American historian he admired, William Hickling Prescott. Prescott wrote about the Aztecs and Incas and was a distinguished historian whose books are totally forgotten today, but whose name lives on.
In addition to the Territorial Governor's Mansion, there are three other collected historical buildings: There is a 19th century 'one room' log schoolhouse as well as one of the first Anglo settler cabins
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| This cabin is referred to as 'Fort Misery' |
The other historical building on the grounds of the museum is the 1878 house John Charles Fremont and his wife Jesse Fremont lived in when HE was a territorial Governor of Arizona. Man, only Kit Carson got around the 19th century west as much as Fremont did.
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| Jesse Fremont over the fireplace in the clapboard Governor's Mansion |
Fremont was Governor of Arizona from 1878 to 1881. He had already been Governor of California as well as the first Senator from California. Fremont was only one of a long line of territorial governors. Post Civil War Arizona stayed in its territorial staus until Valentine's Day, 1912. It was the last territory in the lower 48 to be admitted as a state.
There is a building put up in the 1930's to house Ms. Hall's growing collection of historical artifacts. Today, one of its exhibits is 'the map room'. We discovered that Phoenix, the capital of the State of Arizona is a big time johnny come lately. It doesn't appear on any map of the Arizona area until the statehood map of 1912. And, then, it's spelled 'Phenix'.
In 1977, the museum with the help of the citizens of Prescott, put up a modern building to showcase prehistoric Arizona and the history of the Yavapi. I especially loved the mural.
Finally, the women of Prescott planted and now maintain the Territorial Rose Garden. It was spectacular even in October.
As always, if you want to see more pictures, click on the link
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Goldie's Eulogy
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| Goldie at the time of acquisition |
There were many places in the middle of the proverbial 'nowhere' in which Goldie could have stranded us, but with her innate sense of loyalty and service to the Smith Family Adventure Club, she never did. Nor did she find the logging road up, up and up, around and around Mount Sauk in Washington State beyond her capabilities even though she asked us to at least turn off the friggin' AC while she was working so hard.
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| Bombed with snow by a freak October snowstorm in New Hampshire |
Finally, I want to publicly thank her for saving my and Main Operator's lives. She offerred herself up for us. Airbag deployment wasn't lightly taken on her part since it meant her own demise. Because of her sacrifice, we suffered aches, pains, bruises and one slight burn to Main Operator's hand instead of broken bones, internal and external bleeding, concussion and coma. Sadly, sadly, we mourn losing her.
However, life goes on. We will be resuming the slightly wacky, sometimes entertaining, and always novel peripatetic show of the Smith Traveling Adventure & Vagabond Club with a new partner. Meet Hi Ho Silver. It's going to take some adjustment to have a male partner joining the club, but with his sleek silver paint, two toned leather and suede seats, together with his class IV towing package and Hemi 5.71 V-8 engine, this powerful Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited horse of a vehicle is hopefully going to live up to his specifications. He's got big shoes to fill, but Main Operator thinks he's up to the challenge.
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| Hi Ho Silver and his Main Operator |
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| Main Operator schooling Hi Ho Silver |
Sunday, October 9, 2016
In the Blink of an Eye
Since 2008 I've known one's life can change instantly. That was the year my mother died, and I realized my father was suffering from pretty advanced dementia. We had about 18 months of putting our heads down and slogging through a series of problems and heartaches before we could right the ship of our own lives. Every major event in one's life give new perspective. In a real way, my mother and brothers' deaths as well as my father's living death has shaped the last eight years of the choices Drake and I have made.
Well.... last Friday we had another one of those life can change in the blink of an eye experiences. First, it was a fabulous day. We had just come out of Zion National Park, without a doubt one of the most beautiful parts in America. As faithful blog readers you will just have to wait for the pictures, and I'll tell you why in a minute.
We got a call from our daughter just after she walked OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!! She was actually invited to the WHITE HOUSE, yes, the real one, for a meeting with 50 other people. We stopped in Page, Arizona to talk to her, and as we talked we were jumping around on the sidewalk, and saying things like "really" and "did you talk". I'm sure the citizens of Page thought we were crazy.
Getting back in the car, we were on our way to Flagstaff where we were spending the night. Our destination was the Twin Arrows Casino for a little afternoon gambing action entertainment since we couldn't get our October Prescott house until 3pm the next afternoon. We'd just spend Friday night in Flagstaff, drive the 100 miles or so to Prescott and get the keys to the rented house in Prescott.
We won $180 in three hours! Sweet!!!! Drake so loves to play blackjack, and he's such a terrific player, it's nice seeing him rewarded. For the record, I did win $80 of that booty, but we've always counted our wins and losses as a net together. Since we few gambling as entertainment not a money making proposition, keeping track is just score keeping for us. Then, we decided to have a nice steak dinner, and head to our hotel for the night. We were taking possession of our Prescott house for our month's rental on Saturday afternoon.
It was 8 pm when we were closing in on the hotel, and I was looking at my GPS realizing we'd just missed the turn for our hotel. CRASH, BAM, BANG, SCREECH. It took me a minute to realize we'd been in an accident, and then I heard running and screaming and someone saying, "Are you hurt? We need to get you out of this car." Physically and mentally Drake and I were both in shock. It took me over an hour to figure out exactly what happened.
A newbie 16 year old girl driver was in the left hand turn lane facing us as we were driving through the intersection. She decided a blinking yellow caution light meant, 'Hurry up! My light is going to turn red." instead of yield. So, she accelerated turning left through the intersection while we were sailing through it at about 35 mph on our green light. She was too new of a driver to check and see if someone was coming through the intersection before she turned. The upshot was she wrapped her small coupe around the front of our SUV. Everybody's airbag deployed, and the bystanders, of which there were quite a few, were shocked by the violence of the collision and couldn't believe no one hurt enough to go immediately to a hospital.
In other words, we all walked away from the collision. It was so very, very fortunate the little girl didn't pick up a buddy for her quick trip to Walmart because that child would have been killed. The passenger side of her car was completely crushed. I'm so grateful that 16 year old wasn't really injured and didn't have to live with hurting someone else. That said...
There's no way an insurance company pays value for a Drake Smith 2003 creampuff car. He's just had the transmission rebuilt as well as did some other expensive work to keep a 13 year old car running to peak. We've realized for years we would take a bath if we wrecked the Aviator. And, yes, the car was totalled, and we will take a bath.
We stood around on the street corner for three hours after the accident while the police gathered info. Four witnesses said not only was the girl at fault, she actually accelerated into us! It took the tow drivers an hour to figure out how to get the cars apart and clean up the intersection.
Since Friday night, we've realized what pro football players feel like the day after a game. Basically, I hurt from the bottom of my ears to the top of my tailbone. My sternum and breasts are bruised from the seat belt, and my nose is sore, but not broken from the airbag. Drake has a chemical burn that covers the entire back of one hand from the airbag. Yesterday, seven days after the accident, both of my hands started hurting.
On Saturday, we managed to rent a 15 foot truck to tow our miraculously undamaged cargo trailer. We then went to the tow yard to clear out the Aviator, and, oh, when I called the agent who rented us the Prescott house and explained what happened, her reaction as, "Does that mean you'll be late to pick up the keys?" You know, what I really, really didn't need was a house in Prescott right now, but her complete lack of compassion will come back on her. That kind of person always gets her comeuppance sooner or later. What goes around comes around. We then drove to Prescott from Flagstaff and picked up our keys - on time.
Sunday, we sorted out our belongings and realized what we needed to do was use the big truck to tow the trailer back to Sun City, unload it and drop it there. Meanwhile, Jay and Sarah were flying in for the family wedding (which precipitated the Prescott house rental in the first place) on Thurday night in Phoenix. We left Sunday and drove to Sun City, and unloaded the trailer - boy, that helped those sore muscles. Yes, that was sarcastic irony.
Monday, we took the trailer to Drake's sister's house, rented a car, returned the truck, and started shopping for cars. Tuesday, we spent 5 hours at the Emergency Room - peak day for pain for both of us. We were x-rayed and cat scanned. They were particularly afraid my sternum was cracked. Fortunately, all is pretty well, but I have a follow-up appointment.
On the upside, we managed to get a car bought on Thursday - a 2010 Grand Jeep Cherokee, Limited with a class 4 tow package. We attended the Prescott wedding which was a real wanted spot of fun, and we managed to get Drake's mother's party in Phoenix at 'the home' pulled together and pulled off to her delight.
Slowly, life is returning to normal since we were unexpectly tossed about like fruit salad. Surprisingly to me, both Drake and I have been having PTSD like symptoms with disturbed sleep, irritability, driving fears and other indications that this incident has also had a mental toll. On the physical side, I now know where all my arthritis is located. Woo Hoo! And on a positive note, nine days after the accident, my sleep was uninterrupted last night for the first time since it happened. This too will pass, and it's great fortune a little girl will not have to live with dire consequences of a foolish driving mistake.
Well.... last Friday we had another one of those life can change in the blink of an eye experiences. First, it was a fabulous day. We had just come out of Zion National Park, without a doubt one of the most beautiful parts in America. As faithful blog readers you will just have to wait for the pictures, and I'll tell you why in a minute.
We got a call from our daughter just after she walked OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!! She was actually invited to the WHITE HOUSE, yes, the real one, for a meeting with 50 other people. We stopped in Page, Arizona to talk to her, and as we talked we were jumping around on the sidewalk, and saying things like "really" and "did you talk". I'm sure the citizens of Page thought we were crazy.
Getting back in the car, we were on our way to Flagstaff where we were spending the night. Our destination was the Twin Arrows Casino for a little afternoon gambing action entertainment since we couldn't get our October Prescott house until 3pm the next afternoon. We'd just spend Friday night in Flagstaff, drive the 100 miles or so to Prescott and get the keys to the rented house in Prescott.
We won $180 in three hours! Sweet!!!! Drake so loves to play blackjack, and he's such a terrific player, it's nice seeing him rewarded. For the record, I did win $80 of that booty, but we've always counted our wins and losses as a net together. Since we few gambling as entertainment not a money making proposition, keeping track is just score keeping for us. Then, we decided to have a nice steak dinner, and head to our hotel for the night. We were taking possession of our Prescott house for our month's rental on Saturday afternoon.
It was 8 pm when we were closing in on the hotel, and I was looking at my GPS realizing we'd just missed the turn for our hotel. CRASH, BAM, BANG, SCREECH. It took me a minute to realize we'd been in an accident, and then I heard running and screaming and someone saying, "Are you hurt? We need to get you out of this car." Physically and mentally Drake and I were both in shock. It took me over an hour to figure out exactly what happened.
A newbie 16 year old girl driver was in the left hand turn lane facing us as we were driving through the intersection. She decided a blinking yellow caution light meant, 'Hurry up! My light is going to turn red." instead of yield. So, she accelerated turning left through the intersection while we were sailing through it at about 35 mph on our green light. She was too new of a driver to check and see if someone was coming through the intersection before she turned. The upshot was she wrapped her small coupe around the front of our SUV. Everybody's airbag deployed, and the bystanders, of which there were quite a few, were shocked by the violence of the collision and couldn't believe no one hurt enough to go immediately to a hospital.
 |
| I got the brunt of the collision, but Drake got the airbag injury |
In other words, we all walked away from the collision. It was so very, very fortunate the little girl didn't pick up a buddy for her quick trip to Walmart because that child would have been killed. The passenger side of her car was completely crushed. I'm so grateful that 16 year old wasn't really injured and didn't have to live with hurting someone else. That said...
There's no way an insurance company pays value for a Drake Smith 2003 creampuff car. He's just had the transmission rebuilt as well as did some other expensive work to keep a 13 year old car running to peak. We've realized for years we would take a bath if we wrecked the Aviator. And, yes, the car was totalled, and we will take a bath.
We stood around on the street corner for three hours after the accident while the police gathered info. Four witnesses said not only was the girl at fault, she actually accelerated into us! It took the tow drivers an hour to figure out how to get the cars apart and clean up the intersection.
Since Friday night, we've realized what pro football players feel like the day after a game. Basically, I hurt from the bottom of my ears to the top of my tailbone. My sternum and breasts are bruised from the seat belt, and my nose is sore, but not broken from the airbag. Drake has a chemical burn that covers the entire back of one hand from the airbag. Yesterday, seven days after the accident, both of my hands started hurting.
On Saturday, we managed to rent a 15 foot truck to tow our miraculously undamaged cargo trailer. We then went to the tow yard to clear out the Aviator, and, oh, when I called the agent who rented us the Prescott house and explained what happened, her reaction as, "Does that mean you'll be late to pick up the keys?" You know, what I really, really didn't need was a house in Prescott right now, but her complete lack of compassion will come back on her. That kind of person always gets her comeuppance sooner or later. What goes around comes around. We then drove to Prescott from Flagstaff and picked up our keys - on time.
Sunday, we sorted out our belongings and realized what we needed to do was use the big truck to tow the trailer back to Sun City, unload it and drop it there. Meanwhile, Jay and Sarah were flying in for the family wedding (which precipitated the Prescott house rental in the first place) on Thurday night in Phoenix. We left Sunday and drove to Sun City, and unloaded the trailer - boy, that helped those sore muscles. Yes, that was sarcastic irony.
Monday, we took the trailer to Drake's sister's house, rented a car, returned the truck, and started shopping for cars. Tuesday, we spent 5 hours at the Emergency Room - peak day for pain for both of us. We were x-rayed and cat scanned. They were particularly afraid my sternum was cracked. Fortunately, all is pretty well, but I have a follow-up appointment.
On the upside, we managed to get a car bought on Thursday - a 2010 Grand Jeep Cherokee, Limited with a class 4 tow package. We attended the Prescott wedding which was a real wanted spot of fun, and we managed to get Drake's mother's party in Phoenix at 'the home' pulled together and pulled off to her delight.
Slowly, life is returning to normal since we were unexpectly tossed about like fruit salad. Surprisingly to me, both Drake and I have been having PTSD like symptoms with disturbed sleep, irritability, driving fears and other indications that this incident has also had a mental toll. On the physical side, I now know where all my arthritis is located. Woo Hoo! And on a positive note, nine days after the accident, my sleep was uninterrupted last night for the first time since it happened. This too will pass, and it's great fortune a little girl will not have to live with dire consequences of a foolish driving mistake.
Saturday, September 17, 2016
Leaving Colorado...
In the past twelve months, we've spent seven of them in Colorado. We lived two months last fall on the 'back range' in Fraser, a tiny alpine town of 1168 people. This year we spent five months on the 'front range' in Colorado Springs, a big town of 600,000. Every state I've been to, and I think it's up to 46 now, has some element of natural beauty. However, Colorado got more than its share when gorgeous was passed out.
I decided rather than write, write, write about my impressions of living here, I'd let my pictures do the talking.
https://goo.gl/photos/EhfTAxGgQNSYExcFA
We leave Colorado Springs next week, and we're going on vacation. (OK, laugh, I know you want to.) We're visiting the Black Canyon at Gunnison National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, the Grand Staircase Escalante, and Zion National Park. We've even rented a jeep at the Grand Staircase since the roads are mostly dirt or just 'tracks'. Then, we will be in Prescott, Arizona for the month of October.
This is one place I'm sad to leave. I'd like to stay and see the aspens turn yellow and the snow fall.
I decided rather than write, write, write about my impressions of living here, I'd let my pictures do the talking.
https://goo.gl/photos/EhfTAxGgQNSYExcFA
We leave Colorado Springs next week, and we're going on vacation. (OK, laugh, I know you want to.) We're visiting the Black Canyon at Gunnison National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, the Grand Staircase Escalante, and Zion National Park. We've even rented a jeep at the Grand Staircase since the roads are mostly dirt or just 'tracks'. Then, we will be in Prescott, Arizona for the month of October.
This is one place I'm sad to leave. I'd like to stay and see the aspens turn yellow and the snow fall.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
The Castle in Manitou Springs
Manitou Springs was founded by the railway magnate, William Jackson Palmer, and his partner, William Abraham Bell. They brought the railroad to Colorado Springs. In post Civil War America of the 1870's and 1880's, a health craze was sweeping the country. Palmer and Bell thought Manitou Springs, a site nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain front range, and an area known for hundreds of years for the naturally carbonated springs which flow up through the granite, was a natural site for a town based on attracting people for 'water cures'. To ensure the town's success, they even built a railroad spur directly into Manitou Springs. Thus, Manitou Springs, just a scant 10 miles from the heart of Colorado Springs downtown, has always been a tourist town.
With today's medical knowledge, the idea you could recover from tuberculosis or other ailments by drinking carbonated water seems silly. However, during a time in which medical care was mostly about trying to do no harm to the patient, the fresh mountain air and a water cure certainly couldn't hurt them. People came by the droves from the time of the town's founding in 1872 until the 1920's. Some came to find cures for ailments while others came to vacation in a charming town which developed more and more tourist attractions many based on the spectacular scenery of the location. Middle class people in post civil war America had disposable income to indulge in the vacationing - a new possibility in the 1880's.
One of the people who came to recover his health was a Catholic priest by the name of Jean Baptiste Francolon, a French aristocrat
who followed another aristocratic French Catholic Bishop to New Mexico in 1878. By the early 1890's Francolon was suffering from a digestive malady which would not go away. There are unsubstantiated rumors he was being slowly poisoned by his New Mexican parishioners. In any case, he was transferred by the New Mexican Bishop to Manitou Springs to recover his health.
With the backing of his mother's wealth, he immediately began designing a magnificent home in Manitou Springs. This became known as Miramont Castle. It originally contained 14 rooms, numerous open air porches and a conservatory.
Upon its completion Father Franolon immediately sent for his mother. She arrived with a gigantic four poster bed which was too large for the bedroom Francolon had designed for her use. A quick remodel ensued, and his French speaking mother was accommodated. The castle was completed in 1892 mostly of 'greenstone', a type of granite which today has been quarried out of existence.
The interior woodwork, except for Madame Francolon's bedroom, was of lowly pine, but the carpenters and woodworkers led by the pictured Gillis brothers knew their business.
Madame Francolon's re-designed bedroom was huge, and her woodwork was fashioned out of oak.
Her son's bedroom was much more modest in keeping with his clerical vows. However, he didn't seem to have much of a problem reconciling his clerical vows of poverty by living in a mansion which was certainly extravagant for the small town of Manitou Springs. As a French aristocrat, he must have viewed his housing in Manitou Springs as barely adequate.
During the Francolons' occupancy, there were several open air porches which were used during the summertime. Interestingly, one of the main porches didn't have a 'rail', but rather the outer perimeter of the porch was set with granite slabs of stone about 4" high, just enough to stub your toe and warn you of the edge of the second story porch.
Miramont is two connected French words which basically mean 'look at the mountain'. The eight sided conservatory with the 18' ceiling, which was also glass in Francolon's design, would have been an interior green house to take in the mountain view during the winter months.
Father Francolon and his mother only lived in his castle for 8 years. Her health failed, and he returned with her to France where she died. He was then sent to New York for his final posting. Father Francolon left Manitou Springs and his castle behind, but the grounds and building were purchased for $1300 by the Sisters of Mercy, a convent of nursing nuns, who transformed Miramont into a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. They enclosed porches, and partioned the large rooms into smaller patient bedrooms.
To get the patients out into the 'beneficial air' during the summer, they also built 'tuberculosis huts' where patients slept in the summertime. This is the only one left on the property. The Sisters ran the sanatorium into the 1920s.
With today's medical knowledge, the idea you could recover from tuberculosis or other ailments by drinking carbonated water seems silly. However, during a time in which medical care was mostly about trying to do no harm to the patient, the fresh mountain air and a water cure certainly couldn't hurt them. People came by the droves from the time of the town's founding in 1872 until the 1920's. Some came to find cures for ailments while others came to vacation in a charming town which developed more and more tourist attractions many based on the spectacular scenery of the location. Middle class people in post civil war America had disposable income to indulge in the vacationing - a new possibility in the 1880's.
One of the people who came to recover his health was a Catholic priest by the name of Jean Baptiste Francolon, a French aristocrat
With the backing of his mother's wealth, he immediately began designing a magnificent home in Manitou Springs. This became known as Miramont Castle. It originally contained 14 rooms, numerous open air porches and a conservatory.
Upon its completion Father Franolon immediately sent for his mother. She arrived with a gigantic four poster bed which was too large for the bedroom Francolon had designed for her use. A quick remodel ensued, and his French speaking mother was accommodated. The castle was completed in 1892 mostly of 'greenstone', a type of granite which today has been quarried out of existence.
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| Grand Staircase of Miramont Castle |
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| One-half of Madame Francolon's bedroom |
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| 1890's period Catholic vestaments |
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| The Miramont Castle View |
However, from the 1930's until the restoration of the building began in the 1980's, Miramont dwindled into a shabbier and shabbier structure. By 1947 it had devolved into small apartments for returning GI's. There's only one piece of original furniture in the house, and it's a built in bench at the top of the grand staircase on the landing.
The Manitou Springs Historical Society over the years has diligently returned Miramont Castle to it's 1890's beauty with money and labor provided by the service clubs and citizens of Manitou Springs. This restoration has taken them decades. Their accomplishment is impressive when considering the town only has a permanent population of 5,000 people. Today Miramont is a National Historical Site, a tourist attraction, and a local tea room.
The furnishings were all mostly forgettable as are so many in restored houses. In lieu of pieces of furniture and other decorative items original to the house, these types of places are furnished with 'period pieces' which are historically accurate but lack any cohesive decorative scheme. Miramont definitely falls into this catagory, and to make up for the lack of original furnishings, several rooms are set up as mini-museums. One such room is the re-created study of the head Judge of the World War II Nuremberg Trials who was from Colorado Springs. Another current exhibit is about firefighters of Manitou Springs. None of these added much interest to the house itself.
In this house's defense, in all my tours, I've only seen ONE house which is completely furnished with all original pieces. Most restorations, like Miramont Castle, have to peel away decades of alternative use. When that happens, all original decorative pieces are long gone, and members of the restoration committee pour over every available period photograph or painting to try and determine what each room originally looked like.
As always, to see more pictures of the house, click on the link:
Friday, September 9, 2016
Are you Labor or Management?
The Labor Day holiday got me to thinking... Labor Day was born in the 1890's to acknowledge the contribution of labor (workers) to the industrial revolution which transformed the American economy in the 1800's. By the end of the 19th century, wealth distribution could be described as between the 'robber barrons' and the hordes who labored in their factories.
In 1880 the workday in those factories was 10 hours a day, six days a week. There was no safety net for workers. If you got hurt in those factories, and they were ALL incredibly dangerous and hazardous, then you were just fired. Your pay was whatever the factory owner decided, and, for instance, if all the steel mill owners got together to decide what they would pay in their factories as well as blackball any 'agitators' or 'troublemakers' trying to organize their laborers, well that was just good business.
If the working conditions weren't bad enough, up to 40% of the industrial workers made less than a minimum wage necessary to feed and clothe their families. These desperate conditions gave rise to the labor movement which was about safety first, second a reduction of working hours to the eight hour day, and finally, to be able to bargain as a group to set their wages. This was a fight to gain acknowledgement of the workers' contribution to the industrial production as well as gain a portion of the incredible wealth the production generated. And, trust me, it was a fight. There were laws outlawing unions, striking for better working conditions, as well as gaining that slice of the wealth. Police as well as the rest of the judicial system was in the pockets of the owners.
Old news, right? What does all this history have to do with you today? Well, look around. We are in the midst of another revolution. Our entire society and economy is being remade by the Electronic Revolution just as surely as life in the USA was remade by the Industrial Revolution. Today, we have the increasing gulf between the few and the many. What is the 99% movement if not a nascent labor movement?
The means of production these days in America is shifting away from the strong back, and the manufacturing base of the traditional labor union. Instead, as the Electronic Revolution continues to roar forward, isn't it increasingly obvious the means of production are brains not backs?
The wealthy have learned a few things since 1880. Their factories are clean, upbeat environments with breakfast bars, free food for lunch, well lighted, air conditioned and heated with company gyms, and lots and lots of other perks for their workers.
However, all those trivial trappings aside, if you work in one of these places, believe me when I tell you that you are labor. You can be fired without cause at the whim of the Board of Directors whenever there's a company downturn, however slight or temporary. Your job can be at risk every three months.
You are being trained to work seven days a week, twelve or fifteen hours a day. Your company is keeping you working those hours through that marvel of the electronic age: the smart phone. Balk at those hours? No problem. You'll just be 'laid off', that new euphenism for being fired. Object to your pay? Beware, your name just moved to the top of the list to be 'laid off' in the next round of cut-backs.
Get to be 50+ and have worked hard and faithfully to get to the top of the wage list? Congratulations. Your name also just moved to to the top of the cut back list. Why pay you for your expertise and knowledge, when a new hire thirty years younger can be had for half of your wage. Are you working the equivalent of two jobs because your company has laid off so many people?
Wages throughout the economy are stagnant; there are few pay wage increases because company's don't recognize the contributions of labor to their profitability. However, the gap between what the upper echolons of companies are being paid (or paying themelves) is huge compared to their employees' wages and steadily growing. And the stock markets, the measure of American business profitability just keeps going up. Yes, sir, the wealthy robber barrons have learned a few things since 1880.
I think it's time for a new labor movement. Just because you don't get dirty, or sit at a keyboard, or walk around with a hand held computer when you work doesn't make you management. It's time to take some lessons from those organizers of the late 19th and early 20th century. There, of course, would be crucial differences this time in how to obtain a slice of the economic wealth of this country, but collective bargaining would certainly be a step forward in wealth redistribution just as it was 100 years ago.
In 1880 the workday in those factories was 10 hours a day, six days a week. There was no safety net for workers. If you got hurt in those factories, and they were ALL incredibly dangerous and hazardous, then you were just fired. Your pay was whatever the factory owner decided, and, for instance, if all the steel mill owners got together to decide what they would pay in their factories as well as blackball any 'agitators' or 'troublemakers' trying to organize their laborers, well that was just good business.
If the working conditions weren't bad enough, up to 40% of the industrial workers made less than a minimum wage necessary to feed and clothe their families. These desperate conditions gave rise to the labor movement which was about safety first, second a reduction of working hours to the eight hour day, and finally, to be able to bargain as a group to set their wages. This was a fight to gain acknowledgement of the workers' contribution to the industrial production as well as gain a portion of the incredible wealth the production generated. And, trust me, it was a fight. There were laws outlawing unions, striking for better working conditions, as well as gaining that slice of the wealth. Police as well as the rest of the judicial system was in the pockets of the owners.
Old news, right? What does all this history have to do with you today? Well, look around. We are in the midst of another revolution. Our entire society and economy is being remade by the Electronic Revolution just as surely as life in the USA was remade by the Industrial Revolution. Today, we have the increasing gulf between the few and the many. What is the 99% movement if not a nascent labor movement?
The means of production these days in America is shifting away from the strong back, and the manufacturing base of the traditional labor union. Instead, as the Electronic Revolution continues to roar forward, isn't it increasingly obvious the means of production are brains not backs?
The wealthy have learned a few things since 1880. Their factories are clean, upbeat environments with breakfast bars, free food for lunch, well lighted, air conditioned and heated with company gyms, and lots and lots of other perks for their workers.
However, all those trivial trappings aside, if you work in one of these places, believe me when I tell you that you are labor. You can be fired without cause at the whim of the Board of Directors whenever there's a company downturn, however slight or temporary. Your job can be at risk every three months.
You are being trained to work seven days a week, twelve or fifteen hours a day. Your company is keeping you working those hours through that marvel of the electronic age: the smart phone. Balk at those hours? No problem. You'll just be 'laid off', that new euphenism for being fired. Object to your pay? Beware, your name just moved to the top of the list to be 'laid off' in the next round of cut-backs.
Get to be 50+ and have worked hard and faithfully to get to the top of the wage list? Congratulations. Your name also just moved to to the top of the cut back list. Why pay you for your expertise and knowledge, when a new hire thirty years younger can be had for half of your wage. Are you working the equivalent of two jobs because your company has laid off so many people?
Wages throughout the economy are stagnant; there are few pay wage increases because company's don't recognize the contributions of labor to their profitability. However, the gap between what the upper echolons of companies are being paid (or paying themelves) is huge compared to their employees' wages and steadily growing. And the stock markets, the measure of American business profitability just keeps going up. Yes, sir, the wealthy robber barrons have learned a few things since 1880.
I think it's time for a new labor movement. Just because you don't get dirty, or sit at a keyboard, or walk around with a hand held computer when you work doesn't make you management. It's time to take some lessons from those organizers of the late 19th and early 20th century. There, of course, would be crucial differences this time in how to obtain a slice of the economic wealth of this country, but collective bargaining would certainly be a step forward in wealth redistribution just as it was 100 years ago.
Friday, September 2, 2016
It's State Fair Time
I was thinking the other day about agricultural fairs. There are county fairs, which are usually very small, with limited exhibits since they are only from one county, and then all the counties contribute to the state fair. Some state fairs are in the top ten across the country year after year. The Minnesota State Fair and the Iowa State Fair are always in the top five. The Texas State Fair usually makes the top ten, and as Texans know, it's huge, lasts for weeks, and has a big college football game as part of it.
Colorado is one of those states which is schizoid. Half the state is rolling plains dotted with small towns while you can see the ranch and farm land shrinking as the state urbanizes. It's dry ranching (non-irrigated) and farming, but mostly ranching. Right at the eastern edge of Colorado is where you find corn, wheat, and don't forget, marijuana cultivation. The Rocky Mountains explode right down the center of the state, and there's no agriculture in the mountainous terrain. West of the Rockies once you leave the back range foothills tends to be more desert in character, but the very southwestern corner raises dairy cows.
We went to the El Paso County Fair a few weeks ago (see blog), and this past week we decided to take in the Colorado State Fair. This was not a top ten fair. We were hard pressed to find five hours of entertainment. As always, what we were interested in were the 4H kids showing their animals. While the El Paso County Fair offerred the first annual Cat Show, the state fair stuck with more traditional animals. We checked out the heifer show as well as the ewe show. This is my favorite picture from that day
No fair is complete without quilts, and the Colorado State Fair had some dandies. However, I really enjoyed visiting with this quilter who was exhibiting her skills for the enjoyment of the fair goers.
We did see the weirdest couple of dudes at the Colorado State Fair. They were guys wearing horse costumes. No, it's not the guy INSIDE the horse costume; it's two guys riding horse costumes. Anyway, here's the picture - one picture, 1000 words, well, you know.
Colorado is one of those states which is schizoid. Half the state is rolling plains dotted with small towns while you can see the ranch and farm land shrinking as the state urbanizes. It's dry ranching (non-irrigated) and farming, but mostly ranching. Right at the eastern edge of Colorado is where you find corn, wheat, and don't forget, marijuana cultivation. The Rocky Mountains explode right down the center of the state, and there's no agriculture in the mountainous terrain. West of the Rockies once you leave the back range foothills tends to be more desert in character, but the very southwestern corner raises dairy cows.
We went to the El Paso County Fair a few weeks ago (see blog), and this past week we decided to take in the Colorado State Fair. This was not a top ten fair. We were hard pressed to find five hours of entertainment. As always, what we were interested in were the 4H kids showing their animals. While the El Paso County Fair offerred the first annual Cat Show, the state fair stuck with more traditional animals. We checked out the heifer show as well as the ewe show. This is my favorite picture from that day
We also took in the Creative Arts Pavillion as well as the Fine Arts Pavillion. Ironically, we just went to an art gallery in Colorado Springs which had a couple of artists displaying at the Colorado State Fair. Here's one of them.
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| The 'Beehive' by Julia Masterson |
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| She quilts 10 stitches to the inch, and she was great offerring ideas about assembling the crazy quilt I've been working on for three years |
I interviewed this pair, and it turns out these guys are frustrated actors (home base California) who wear their 'horses', wander around fairgrounds, take pictures with people, and have a 'horseback' stand up routine. It turns out State Fair committees contract with these guys, fly them in to the fair locale, pay for hotel rooms and meals, as well as a 'fee'. These guys follow the 'fair circuit' the same way cowboys follow the 'rodeo circuit'. What I couldn't figure out was how they took a 'comfort break'. Do you hitch up your horse and open your fly or what?
It was a superfun day, and I finally figured out why I love fairs. It was an activity of my family, and included one of the three annual opportunitie in my childhood to eat sugar. I always went first for the biggest cotton candy I could get, followed by a sugar daddy. My mother didn't believe children should eat sugar. There were only a few times a year she relaxed about sugar consumption: Easter, Halloween, and the Tulsa County Fair.
When I hit my teens, the fair was prime teen territory. I'm looking at the inch long scar I got after a couple of my jokster 'friends' forced me on to that horrible, horrible ride where they put you in a cage which spins independently while it's being rocketed around in a vertical circle. Oh, I can still remember leaping out of that cage screaming at those two idiots while waving my bloody hand in their faces. I was so terrified during that carnival ride a metal 'burr' dug into my hand the entire time. it's a wonder I didn't develop lockjaw. Considering, I still have the scar 50 years later, it was not a trivial cut. On a better note, my high school steady (not part of the aforementioned group), and I always rode the ferris wheel hoping to get stuck at the top so we could indulge in a little necking action. Yes, indeed, fair time was prime date time.
So, here are the pictures if you want to see more kids showing animals.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
The Royal Gorge
Ever been to an attraction you thought should be a national park or national monument? Well, there are two such offerings in this neck of Colorado. One is the Garden of the Gods which attracts hundreds of thousands of people each year and is, in actuality, a park owned by the city of Colorado Springs.
The other attraction which I was surprised wasn't a National Monument was the Royal Gorge. This is a canyon cut by the Arkansas River just outside of Cañon City, Colorado. Like the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, it turns out the Royal Gorge is actually a city park owned by Cañon City.
As this part of the country became settled by Europeans, the Arkansas River gorge was an engineering problem, not a tourist attraction. How to build railroad track at the bottom of the gorage as well as some kind of bridge that could be anchored to the cliff walls and would be high enough for railway engines and cars to pass under.
The railroad was just a vital in 19th century Colorado as it was everywhere else. In 1879 an engineer from St. Louis came out to Colorado to supervise the building of the bridge as well as the laying of the railroad track. The 'hanging bridge' cost $12,000 to build; that's the equivalent of $1 million today. Today, there's only a portion of 274 foot bridge left, mostly a tourist attraction and part of the steam engine rail trip you can buy at the old railway station in Cañon City. The old fashioned steam engine pulling a couple of cars will chug from Cañon City, through the gorge and back to the town.
Today, there are many bridges that span the Arkansas River, but the hanging suspension bridge over the river is a pedestrian walkway and a big part the Royal Gorge tourist attraction. Every time a golf cart rumbled across the suspension bridge, it swayed and vibrated. There are two other ways to cross the Arkansas River in the Royal Gorge 'Park': One is by gondola, and the other is by zip-line. To give the suspension bridge an extra pizzaz, the flags of all fifty states fly in reverse alphabetical order as you walk back across the bridge after the gondola ride.
It was actually more fun to see the gondola from the bridge than the actual ride itself since the goldola took less than one minute to cross the gorge. This is not the Grand Canyon, but don't get me wrong, the Royal Gorge is impressive. The gondola was a slow poke compared to the zip line which took less than 30 seconds, and seemed to involve lots of screaming.
As we were ambing across the suspension bridge, Drake noticed you could look down between the planks and see the tracks and river.
I think this excursion would have been a bit disappointing except for two things: First, Cañon City was founded in 1860, and it has some really impressive 19th century buildings which line Main Street for several blocks. Second, we found a two mile hike, completely deserted, along the canyon rim with amazing rocks and which culminated in a unique view of the gorge above the park.
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| I took this picture of the Garden of the Gods from the mid-point up Cheyenne Mountain from the top of the Will Rogers Shrine which sits above the zoo |
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The Arkansas River and the Denver, Rio Grande Railway
are at the bottom of the gorge
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The railroad was just a vital in 19th century Colorado as it was everywhere else. In 1879 an engineer from St. Louis came out to Colorado to supervise the building of the bridge as well as the laying of the railroad track. The 'hanging bridge' cost $12,000 to build; that's the equivalent of $1 million today. Today, there's only a portion of 274 foot bridge left, mostly a tourist attraction and part of the steam engine rail trip you can buy at the old railway station in Cañon City. The old fashioned steam engine pulling a couple of cars will chug from Cañon City, through the gorge and back to the town.
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| And there's the third way to see the gorge: river rafting. (I'm shooting this picture hanging over the edge of the swaying suspension bridge,) |
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| In a nod to our New Yorkers, Drake is showing that flag, and you can see the suspension bridge in the background |
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| While the gondola ride was less than exciting, the rocks in this canyon and the entire area were amazing. |
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| Of course, I couldn't resist trying to take a picture. Obviously, the blurry part are the two planks, and the water is about 1000 feet below us. |
As always, if you want to see more pictures, click on the link:
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