Tender Is the Night

Coming home the other evening, I was charmed by the grace of this lovely cyclist in the Vienna twilight. With her silver flats, tutu skirt and perfect posture, she looks like a beautiful ballerina.

And on a nearby street, a woman walks her bicycle past a stationery shop, looking longingly at the illuminated display of fountain pens and leather journals.

Maybe it is the blinking lights mingling with the streetlamps, or the sound of the spokes in the dark, but there is something about bicycles and the city at night that evokes a sense of tenderness and magic.

Twins in the family - Maude and Maurice Wise

This picture shows my Great-Grandmother Maude Wise Brubaker Yontz and her twin brother Maurice James Wise.

They were born on December 9, 1877 in Whitley County, Indiana. There is no date written on the back so I don't know when the picture was taken but based on several other photographs of Maude, it was probably in the mid-late 1920s. Maurice died on July 25, 1943 in an automobile accident in Elkhart, Indiana. He was 65 years old.

This is a very nice picture but it has an amusing aspect as well, at least to me. Looking at this picture, you wouldn't know that Maude stood just a little over 5 feet tall, perhaps 5'3" at the most, while Maurice was 6'2" tall (according to my mother). You can distinctly see the height difference in the Wise family photograph included in the biography of their parents, William P. Wise and Sophia Dunfee. (Scroll about halfway down the page.)

At the time of his death, Maurice was living at 103 North Nottawa Street in Sturgis, Michigan and was the owner of the Wise Restaurant in Sturgis. His obituary said he was active in civic affairs at Sturgis and had been living there for six years. Again, according to my mother, Maurice had never been married and didn't have any children. I really don't know any more about him, I'll have to ask my mother and her sisters again, but in the past all they have said is that he owned a restaurant and was much taller than his twin sister.

It's Over...

This weekend has been fantastic! I've had the bestest time ever meeting genea-bloggers as well as other genealogists and even attending a few sessions! It's been such a great time, I really didn't want it to end. I think many of us felt that way.

Thank you to the Geneabloggers Swag Bag Team of Amy Coffin, Thomas MacEntee, Joan Miller, and Denise Levenik for putting together a wonderful assortment of items for us. Another thank you goes to the Sponsors for providing that swag!

I'll post additional photos and more information in the very near future. Thanks to everyone for an absolutely amazing time!!!!


in front: Miriam Midkiff (AnceStories), fM (footnoteMaven and Shades of the Departed), Becky Wiseman
the others: Kathryn Doyle (California Ancestors.org), Cheryl Palmer (Heritage Happens), Denise Levenik (The Family Curator), Elyse Doerflinger (Elyse's Genealogy Blog).

Thomas MacEntee (Destination Austin Family and Geneabloggers), Joan Miller (Luxegen Genealogy), Becky Wiseman, Randy Seaver (Genea-Musings), Miriam Midkiff (AnceStories), Craig Manson (GeneaBlogie), and Susan Kitchens (Family Oral History).

Favourite Cycling Routes

While I ride for transportation on the streets of Cambridge, Somerville, Boston and beyond on a (mostly) daily basis, it is of course physically impossible to photograph myself doing so. But recently the Co-Habitant was with me, and he surprised me by taking some snapshots with his mobile phone. I wanted to share these, because they happen to be of my favourite cycling route.



We cannot always articulate what we like or don't like about cycling in our city. But taking our favourite route as a starting point and examining what is so great about it, can lead us to discover our preferences - as well as our anxieties - when it comes to transportation cycling.



The pictures here document a busy street around the corner from my home that stretches through several neighborhoods along the border of Somerville and Cambridge, winds into MIT territory, and then proceeds directly over the Longfellow Bridgeacross the Charles River, into the center of Boston. It is not a traffic-calmed side-street, but a crowded major road, and it is not especially attractive. And yet, it is my favourite cycling route in the area. It goes on forever, gives me easy access to Boston, and does not make me deal with ambiguous traffic situations.



When cycling in the city, I think it is ambiguity that causes me the most anxiety: left turns from side streets onto busy roads; bicycle lanes that suddenly end; commuter trails that force the cyclist to cross busy intersections without streetlights; roundabouts and stop signs where questions arise about the right of way and I never know whether the car is really letting me go... I could go on. But on this route, none of those things happen. I am basically cycling down an endless avenue, andas long as I abide by street lights, the road will take me where I need to go. This not only eliminates ambiguities, but appeals to my love of the "endless open road." I like knowing that I can get on this road around the corner from my house and end up in downtown Boston, stress-free.



You have probably noticed that this route has a bike lane most of the way. But that is not what I like about it - at least not the lane alone. Unlike most streets with bike lanes in my area, thisone is consistent and logical. At no point does it suddenly end in a dangerous spot, and at no point does it place you in the door zone of parked cars. It even takes you through a curve in the road with a left-turn lane specifically for bikes. The bike lane here functions as a bike lane should in my view - a suggestive marking, similar to a bus lane, that signifies a space on the road where bicycles have priority over motor vehicles. It goes without saying that you must still be vigilant of things like occasional double-parked vehicles, and vehicles making right turns at intersections. But overall, the lane - and specifically its consistency - has the effect of legitimising the presence of bicycle traffic. There are quite a few bicycles passing through, and it is just another lane of traffic. Normal. I do not always feel this way about bike lanes, but on this particular route it seems to me that they really do have this positive effect.



When a cycling route feels comfortable and convenient... well, that is pretty much how it ought to be. Cycling for transportation in the city should not feel as if you are going into battle every day; it should feel like the city you live in is open and accessible to you. This is my favourite route, because it does just that.

Steven's Pass Ski ..

First ski of the season. (Or about four months, ten days since my last ski.) I couldn't get a mid-week partner, but figured it would be safe enough to poach at Steven's Pass. The ski area is planning on opening on Friday, and I had seen a few trip reports reporting an adequate snow pack. The trip reports I saw for Hyak didn't appear as promising.

I left Seattle casually after 8am figuring that would give the DOT some time to clear the road. By the time I got to the pass, it was sunny and there was a bit of slush on the road, so nothing to worry about.

The scene when I arrived

I geared up in the parking lot where there were already 30+ cars! I guess many others had the same idea. I hiked up the stairs and walked in the snow a bit before putting my skis on. The snow was already fairly tracked out from previous days. (Probably Sunday.) So I went in search of fresh tracks by skinning under the Skyline Chair and eventually reaching the top of the Brooks Chair in a half hour or so. I transitioned at the top of the chair. Four months is plenty of time to get a little rusty transitioning. I then turned the skis downhill to go nowhere. The lower angle and deep unconsolidated snow was sticky. (Those factors combined with a need for a wax.) I worked my way to a slightly steeper section and mostly headed straight downhill without turning. It was the only way to keep up speed. Then I jumped back on a cat track for a bit before trying some other slope near the bottom. While I didn't fall, things were not smooth, and I wouldn't exactly say I enjoyed the run. So I decided to try something different on the next lap.

The next lap had me skinning to near the top of the Hogsback Lift. Once near the top, I decided to turn around and head down before getting into terrain I didn't want to be in. On the way up and from where I transitioned, I could see plenty of rocky areas that did not have good coverage, and I wanted to avoid those. So I ended up riding a cat track almost all the way down from my transition with a slight excursion into the powder near the bottom. Once again, the deeper untracked snow proved slow and unenjoyable. The time was now 12:30pm. I wanted to get one more run in that I really could enjoy. So I transitioned to skinning and headed up.

Dork
This time I headed up near the Big Chief Chair, skinning up the Showcase run. It was fairly tracked from early in the day as well as days earlier. (There were about 25 teenage boys with snowboards running up the slope to catch turns. They were also building kickers near the bottom of the slope.) I went up the slope for almost 30 minutes and decided to turn around at a flatter section of slope so I would not have to attempt to ski down this slower low angle area. During my transition I was joined by one of the teenage snowboarders. We had a chat about whether the ski area could kick us out or not and then he took his ride down. I followed shortly afterward on what was my favorite run of the day! Unfortunately, I was looking to get home and get my skis to the shop for a wax as I hope to get out later this week. So I headed to the car after ending on a high note.

Closing shot

Overall, I enjoyed my day out. The weather was mostly sunny, and fairly warm. (High was supposed to be 33°) I skinned in a light base layer and shell pants. I put on a shell jacket for the descents. It was nice to get back into the motion of skinning/skiing as well as working on my transitions without having others to wait for me. I tried out my new ski helmet which seemed to work as advertised and will be anticipating bringing it on other trips in the future.

Raven Tracks in Snow

From today's walk in the woods. I love winter for many reasons, and one of those reasons is the snow makes it easier for us to see what the animals have been up to. Today I found these raven tracks... they were in the middle of an opening in the woods, beginning with the two tracks in the lower right. Apparently this raven landed, then hopped on both feet a few times before beginning to walk. It sure was a fun find :-)

Yellowstone :: West Thumb Geyser Basin

Wednesday, August 31st - - After spending the night at one of the campgrounds in Buffalo Bill State Park west of Cody, Wyoming it was a relatively short drive (a little over an hour) to the eastern entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Then another 30 miles to the campground at Bridge Bay in the southeast portion of the east side. I had decided to give the park a “second chance” since simply driving through it last year just before the Fourth of July weekend. My visit this time was quite pleasant with less people, far less traffic, and much cooler temperatures!



After checking into the campground, which would be my “base” for two nights, I drove the southern loop through the park. My first stop was the West Thumb Geyser Basin, which overlooks Yellowstone Lake, the largest lake at high elevation (7,733 feet) in North America – it encompasses 131.7 square miles, is 14 miles wide and 20 miles long, with an average depth of 140 feet. In other words, it is HUGE! And beautiful, with the Absaroka mountain range on its eastern side.





The volcanic caldera at West Thumb contains many geothermal features including pools, springs, geysers, and paint pots. Above is a view of the central portion, which sits above the lake. The geysers, however, are currently in a dormant stage, thus no eruptions were seen.





The Abyss Pool is one of the deeper hot springs in the park, descending to a depth of 53 feet.





The trail guide states that Black Pool was, at one time, actually black. Cooler water temperatures allowed thick mats of dark green and brown thermophiles (heat-loving microorganisms) to grow in the pool, causing it to appear black. The water temperature rose during the summer of 1991, killing the organisms.





Walking alongside the pool on the boardwalk you could feel the heat from the hot water. At times, the steam rising from the pool was so thick you couldn't see the other side!





The water appears to be turquoise but it was so clear you could easily see portions of the bottom. There were several deeper areas – the “black holes” where the bottom could not be seen.





Interesting formations line the sides of the pool.



Constantly in a state of change, new features appear every day.



Hot water from Black Pool and other features in the area flows into Yellowstone Lake. The color variations are caused by those little thermophiles – microorganisms that thrive in the hot water.





Along the shore of Yellowstone Lake is this feature, called Big Cone. It's difficult to tell from the angle of the photo, but the cone rises about 12 inches above the outer surface.





Boiling hot water bubbles up in the Big Cone.



Further along the path and completely surrounded by water is the “Fishing Cone” so called because Mountain Men told of catching a trout in the lake, swinging the pole around, dipping the catch in the boiling pool, and cooking the fish without even taking it off the line! Sometimes in spring and early summer the Fishing Cone is underwater due to the rising lake waters from snow melt.

Catch the Feather

This and the next two photos are of Wiley playing his favorite game of Catch the Feather. You can see a chicken feather floating down a little bit above his nose, looking like it is almost part of the plant.

Solomon's Castle

Last year, Austin and I visited this quirky place. It ended up being one of our favorite things since we went on the road. We have tried to explain what it was about this place that captured our hearts, but it is really hard to put it into words. Last week, Nathan and Aric were able to see what all the hoopla was about.

First, there is the castle. This eye catching art studio/home was built by Howard Solomon. Then there is the art. If you hadn't realized there is a sense of humor in the artist just by seeing the castle, you will know it after seeing the art.

Some of the art, like the stained glass windows, is so beautiful.The bonus to this neat place, is Howard Solomon.

I think Aric said he was one of the funniest guys he has ever met. When you take the tour, and hear his life story, he is equally impressive in his drive to follow his own path. Given we are living a somewhat out of the box lifestyle in order to pursue our dreams, we always respect it when someone else is bold enough to do the same.And we love it when someone finds a way to take what is burning inside of them, and instead of quenching that thing...finding a way to keep it alive, and share it with the rest of the world. Even if it is not "our thing", we can appreciate the beauty in the process and the delivery of someone honoring what is their thing.

We use a lot of sappy phrases when sharing with our kids to convey what we hope for in their lives. You know..things like, "You only have one life to live so you might as well make it yours". And sometimes they look at us like uh yeah...sure...what does that even mean though???? It's a really cool thing when they can see what that looks like, and we can simply say "that, is what we are talking about". So we thank this artist for being a fine example of that.



Not that my kids seem to need a whole lot of help in living their lives as their own.



They still can use heroes though, even if they are the most unlikely ones.





Living the life, our life, in still so chilly Florida!

Rain, rain, and more rain

By Saturday the ice went from great to unsafe. Joel Torretti, Josh Hurst and I made the best of poor conditions. Josh came all this way to climb so we did. We even put him to work. We decided to equip a new line at Upper Meadow Amphitheater. A short ice start leads to steep roof climbing, from there leave the rock, punch the curtain and finish on the last 15' of the ice pillar to the top OR continue left passing 1 more bolt to the left hanging curtain. Despite a single attempt by Josh and numerous attempts by Joel and I the line still remains unclimbed. (Josh was feeling under the weather with a head cold and busted ribs from a fall on Caveman extension the previous day). If he weren't in bad shape I'm sure he'd fired the line with little trouble. The line is strenuous and powerful. When completed it could be the hardest mixed route in SWPA. With all the rain in the forecast I doubt the finishing ice pillar will still be upright, thus rendering a true ascent impossible until ice reforms at the lip. Dont let that deter you. The route stays day and can be worked on rain days. Keep the season alive, go give it a go. Today we went back to work the line some more and possibly equip another. Instead we were lucky enough to witness a very cool natural event. As the morning temperatures rose an ice dam broke further upstream. The small, tame Meadow Run became quite intimidating in less than 2 min. We quickly gathered our gear and headed for higher ground up in the ampitheater. we sat and watched in amazment. Large ice debris and class five rapids lasted for 20-30min. then slowly the water receded. Quite a cool thing to see happen. Even though it was warm and rained we still had a great weekend, climbed hard and laughed most of the time. (Hope your ribs are feeling better Josh)!

Seymour Blueskies

As some have already noticed, I recently acquired one more bicycle that I have not yet written about. It is a vintage Trek roadbike - fast and aggressive, with super-responsive handling. Don't ask how I got the bike; sometimes these things just find you. It was in exactly my size, and came along at a time when I had begun to experiment with more aggressive road cycling. I wanted to try a "real" roadbike without spending more money, and here was my chance.



So please allow me to introduce Seymour Blueskies. He is a Trek 610, built in 1982. The lugged steel frame is made with Reynolds 531 tubing, and cro-moly fork and stays. The frame is 52cm, with 700C wheels.It is an interesting blue-gray colour that Trek called "gunmetal"in its catalogues.



The 610 was a higher-end model, and the previous owner built it up with nice components - though over the years they had become somewhat of a medley.



The wheels were handbuilt using Rigida racing rims with a gunmetal finish, a Campagnolo rear hub, a Suntour XC 9000 front hub, and double butted spokes. The drivetrain is Suntour Sprint 9000, with Suntour downtube shifters. The stem is vintage Nitto and the handlebars are ITM. The bicycle also came with a Brooks Finesse Titanium(!) women's saddle.



I have kept all of the components as they were, except for the brakes and brake levers, which we replaced with newTektros.We also added cork bar tape, installed SKS fenders and a bottle cage, replaced the original clipless pedals with MKS Touring pedals (withPowergrips), and attached my Zimbale bag and a Crane bell from another bike.



I prefer cloth tape on handlebars, but these bars have a weird, squared-off shape to them with a carved-out channel for cable routing. This can all be felt though cloth tape, making the bars uncomfortable to hold without a layer of cork. They are also a bit too narrow for me, and if the Trek ends up being a keeper I would like to replace them with something like Nitto Noodles, or a vintage equivalent.



The reasoning behind the SKS fenders was initially budget-driven, but I am very happy with this choice. They are quieter and less fussy than Honjos; I hardly even notice them. The Co-Habitant hates SKS fenders, because he thinks they are "ugly". I do not find them "ugly"; just more sporty than Honjos - which was exactly the look I was going for here. Incidentally - even with the fenders, saddlebag and waterbottle, the Trek is the lightest bicycle I own.



After a few weeks of ownership, I have also justreplaced the original Michelin 25mm tires with 28mm Panaracer Paselas in white. The Michelinsthat came with it are supposed to be fantastic, but they felt hard as rocks and made for a very harsh ride. The Paselas, on the other hand, feel as if I am riding on a cloud. 28mm tires are probably the widest this bicycle will fit with fenders, and that is fine with me.



Now, for the ride quality... The vintage Trek handles very differently from the Rivendell Sam Hillborne. The best way I can describe this bike's behaviour, is that it wants to go fast and does not like to go slow. At slow speeds the Trek feels unstable and difficult to maneuver, especially when cornering. It took me a few rides to learn how to handle this without panicking, but eventually I got used to it. By the same token, it becomes amazingly stable and precise at fast speeds: Once I exceed 16mph, it seems to magically "relax" and almost floats above the asphalt. Accelerating is easy - almost too easy! One turn of the pedals, two turns - and before I know it, I amflying. This is great fun now that I am more or less comfortable on a roadbike, but even a couple of months ago I would not have been able to handle this kind of cycling. When riding the Hillborne, I feel that I am exploring - I can go fast, or I can go slow. Riding the Trek, I feel that I preparing for a race - going slow is not really in the cards.



All other factors remaining equivalent (road and traffic conditions, my energy levels, etc.), the Trek is a faster ride than the Rivendell. I cannot tell how much faster exactly, because conditions are never identical on any two rides - but when the Co-Habitant accompanied me, he said the difference in my speed on the two bikes was noticeable. One explanation for this could be that the Trek's handlebars are set lower, but it could also just be that the bike is designed to be a bit racier. On the flip side of the speed advantage, the Trek is not as comfortable as the Rivendell(which is insanely comfortable) and encourages over-exertion - leaving me feeling far more exhausted after a ride. One curious thing about how I feel on the Trek, is that my hands always hurt at the beginning of a ride - but stop hurting as the ride progresses and I pick up speed. This is surprising, because when something hurts at the start of a ride, it typically only gets worse the longer I cycle - so each time I get on the bike I have to suspend disbelief and remind myself that my hands will stop hurting in a few minutes. And thankfully, they always do. I also find it challenging to hold the drop portions of the bars on the Trek (something I have already mastered on the Rivendell) without losing some control of the bike or at least weaving a bit. I am sure this will feel comfortable eventually, but I am not there yet. Just yesterday, I was finally able to use the downtube shifters for the first time - after having tearfully declared that they were "impossible" time after time on previous rides. Everything takes practice.



When I first got the Trek, I was not at all sure that I would be keeping it. We modified it just enough to make me comfortable, and it would be easy to resell this bike at no loss. I wanted to experience a "real" roadbike without the coddling qualities of the Rivendell, and now I have. So what next? Well, I don't know yet, but I don't really want to let it go. It has been bewildering to discover that I kind of, sort of might actually be good at road cycling, and I would like to see this discovery through. Depending on how much time I have in a day for a ride, I take either the Rivendell (for long rides), the Trek (for medium, but fast paced rides), or the fixed gear Moser (for shorter, intense rides) - and together they are helping me understand my potential.