Teeth

The leaves of honey bush look dangerous to touch, but aren't.

The End is Here!

Well, not the end, as in the end of the world, but rather the end of the Genea-Bloggers Games! It has been a challenging two weeks but worth every broken fingernail and every sore muscle, as well as all of the sleepless nights. LOL. In my book, each and every participant is a winner! It was interesting to me to see how each individual approached their tasks and how they were accomplished. Along the way I picked up a few ideas that can be incorporated into my research and organizational plans. Thank you very much.

A special "Thank You" and "Congratulations" goes out to the organizing committee consisting of Miriam Midkiff, Kathryn M. Doyle, and Thomas MacEntee. In addition, footnoteMaven is also to be commended for providing the logo and for creating the "medals" that will be awarded during the Closing Ceremonies.

My original goals for the games did not list each specific task to be accomplished but my intent was to compete in each category. (Retirement is Great!) So, how did I do? Quite well, thank you!

1. Go Back and Cite Your Sources! Bronze Medal.
This category is the weakest link in my research. Back in the "early days" when I first started using a program to record family information there was no sourcing option, so all of my source information was put in notes. I know where (most of) the information came from, it just isn't in the proper format. As I migrated to more modern software I never took the time to add proper source citations. I haven't downloaded the new version of Legacy yet but I understand their source writer will make the job easier and help maintain consistency. Anyway, bottom line is that yesterday I entered 15 or so "proper" citations in my database earning a bronze medal.

2. Back Up Your Data! The committee will have to determine the medal count for this category as tasks A and C were in place prior to the beginning of the competition.
A. Prepare a comprehensive backup plan for your digital research files and a security plan for your hard copies and photos. [Third Update]
B. Secure your hard copies and photos in waterproof containers. - I purchased several plastic totes and have put the "most important" documents and photos in them. I don't know how "waterproof" these containers are - I'm sure that they would fill up with water if completely covered. But they are certainly better than the cardboard "bankers boxes" that I have been using. It simply isn't feasible to store "everything" (20+ years of research) in plastic containers.
C. Backup all your data using a flash drive, an external drive, CDs, DVDs, or an online resource. [Third Update]

3. Organize Your Research! Platinum Medal.
A. Organize at least 20 hard files or ancestral items. [Fifth Update]
B. Organize at least 20 digital files into folders, add metadata, etc. [Fourth Update]
C. Organize at least 20 photos into photo albums, protective holders, boxes, etc. [First Day]
D. Organize at least 20 digital photos into folders, add metadata, etc. [Fifth Update]
E. Create at least 20 data entries in your database, or scan 20 photos, or scan 20 documents. [Third Update]
F. Create a master list of your files and notify your family members of where it is stored. Not completed - added to my "to do" list.

4. Write, Write, Write! Diamond Medal.
A. Write a summary of what your blog is about and post it on your blog. [First Day - What's it all about?]
B. Participate in a genealogy or family history related blog carnival. [Third Update - Say What? submitted to COG 54]
C. Prepare several posts in draft mode and pre-publish. [Fourth Update]
E. Sign up to host a future carnival. I will be hosting the October edition of Smile for the Camera.

5. Reach Out & Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness! Platinum Medal.
A. Comment on a new (to you) genea-blog. [Second Update]
B. Join another genea-blogger’s blog network on Facebook Blog Networks. [Second Update]
C. Invite other genealogists to join Facebook. [Fourth Update]
D. Assist another researcher with a research request or lookup. [Third Update]
E. Participate in an indexing project. [Second Update]
F. Join a genealogical, historical, heritage or lineage society. [Third Update]

A Symbol of My Heritage

Stay tuned for the Closing Ceremonies to be posted by Thomas on Monday, August 25th, at Destination: Austin Family.

A third shell material? Westcomb's Focus LT Hoody

Climbing on wet ice in the newest Westcomb Focus Lt

photo courtesy of Craig Pope




You'll likely what to readthis review first:



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//01/alpha-fl-and-shift-lt-shells.html



I have been climbingin three very similar light weight shell jackets. So similar in fact that only the high tech fabrics and minor detailing set them apart in use IMO. The first two jackets,the Arcteryx Alpha FL in Gortex and the Westcomb Shift LT Hoody in Neoshell are both great climbing shells. Some small differences in the jacket patterns but a significant difference I thinkin the fabric performance. And there might be some trade offsbetween the three fabricsthan you aren't willing to tolerate.



Before I toss in my 2 cents on the differences in materialslet give you my impression's on thethird jacket of this series, the Westcomb Focus Hoody sewn the newest eVent DVL.



The fit on the Focus is called a "full cut". It fit me almost perfectly with room tolayer under it and a tight enough fit that it is not in the way climbing and easy to layer over when required for warmth. (I'm 6'1" and 190# at the moment) The Event fabric does not stretch. Something I didn't notice up front because the patterns fit was simply so good. The Shift LT hoody in Neoshell does stretch and gains some ground for me on the other two because of it. No matter how good the pattern, and all of these are exceptional patterns, a stretchy hard shell will always have an advantage for my own use climbing. For the best climbing clothing these days it is the rule not the exception that the garments stretch with you.



My first definition of good climbing gear is, "gear I never notice". If you notice gearon a climb it is more than likely some small (or large) failure in materials, design or quality. Cold feet as an example or getting wet from sweat or moisture in the environment. You might well be able to trace those issues directly back to your gear. Not always mind you but often enough to know a gear failure when you have one. And not a food, hydration or just a poor choice in gear selection.



This weekend asI watched my partners annoyance turn to concern and then start to become a real problem it reminded me of that truism. A failure was noticed....here it was less than water proof clothing.Tied off to a hanging belay everyone was getting progressively more soaked at the base of a wet and running corner system laced with ice we were climbing.






The lads in the shower room...not that kind of shower butcricky just don't drop anything :)




I was the only one in a water proof shell. Which was the new Focus LT . It was warm out and none of us started this climb in a lot of clothing. The temperature was dropping and we thought it possible with the temp. drop to have a drier climb. Of course that was a miscalculation on our part. Only reason I had on the Focus Hoody was I wanted to see how well the latest miracle fabric (eVent DVL) breathed by comparison tothe others I had used last week. The answer to that was, "it breathes pretty dang good :)" With only a base layer under the Focus even in the shade and temps just under freezing I was warm enough until my pants started soaking through and water ran down my legs.



Those conditions always get unpleasant rather quickly.



Have to admit to feeling a little smug with myself though as my core stayed dry and warm with water running off the Focus LT. My buddies were happy to leave the ice cold shower at the belay and get started on the over hanging corner to warm up some as quickly as possible. I intentionally stayed behind long enough to more fully enjoy the lovely alpine ambiance.









All three of these jackets I have been using are water proof and wind resistant for the most part. All offer an exception fit and are very close in patterns. Just make sure the specific pattern fits you. It is worth trying them all on to see which fits you best. All are what I would call an athletic fit , even the "full cut" Westcombs. None of them are for a dough boy. The Neoshell offers a little less wind resistance from my experience. But adds stretch to the equation. The Arcteryx and Goretex is a time proven piece of gear. The Westcomb Focus LT Hoody retailsfor $279 and not the $400 the other two retail at. A $120 and 30% savings off the top. That alone has to get your attention.



Mind you I am not getting even more picky on the details here. Even with the exceptional fit of the Focus I did notice the lack of stretch. For me the extra cost of the Shift is "almost" worth it. I felt like (but never found a reason) I needed just a tiny bit bigger jacket (this was a Large) but I never noticed the Focus past the part where I was staying dry while I was climbing in it. It seemed the eVent DVLbreaths as well as anything I have tested in pretty tough conditions. And the Focus blocked what little wind we had. Noticeably more than the Neoshell I had been using previous.



The eVent fabric is a little noisy but I like the material hand. No question it was water proof.



Gotta say I was pretty impressed with the Focus LT and the newest eVent DVL. Even more so because I have not generally been impressed with previous eVent shell garments. My size large weights in at 9.5 oz/272g and will easily compact to the size of a decent coffee mug. By far the lightest jacket I tested and certainly one the top two for wind resistant and able to hold its own on water resistant. Breath ability? No test besides my own use to back it up but every bit the equal of the other two imo and may be even a bit better than either. The Focus LT is a hard garment not to like at the $279 price point by comparison. If only it were stretchy.



I am always amazed when I start a comparison review like this with an obvious personal favorite and by the end get my mind changed by the process of the review and the side by side comparisons. Classic example of that happening this time. Even though getting off the dime on stretch fabrics is almost impossible for me now.



Two things stood out to me when I was done. First was price point difference between the three. Which seldom snags me when performance is my priority. Second was the difference in these garment's performance when even a small amount of stretch was added.



But then again $279.......



In an age of the next super model...few things are astand out. And it may not be what you expected that makes the biggest impression.



More on the Focus LT Hoody here:



http://www.westcomb.com/product/jackets/103/focus-lt-hoody.html

Pete

I feel it

Ho ho ho!

Christmas art, by our niece. (Click it to see a larger image.)

Velo Withdrawal

Earlier I posted about having to stay off the bike for a few weeks after a minor injury. It is now week 2 and I am climbing the walls. My mood, energy levels, and general sense of well being have plummeted after the velo-induced high of the past few months. I want to be on my favourite path, blissfully flying past the river and the meadows!

The addictive and stress-reducing qualities of cycling that many report are fairly typical reactions to aerobic exercise. Yet, I have never had this sort of response to any other form of physical activity. I hate jogging and going to the gym, and I get worn out by any sort of sport within minutes. This makes it especially difficult to explain how I am able to cycle for hours without getting tired.

It is not long now until I am able to cycle again. Still, this "withdrawal" is difficult to endure. How do you deal with having to take a break from cycling -- be it due to travel, weather conditions, health, or other obstacles?

NGS Recap :: Fantastic!

First of all, I have to agree with many of the other genea-bloggers who have posted their thoughts about the NGS Conference in Cincinnati - IT WAS FANTASTIC!



All of the sessions I attended, with the exception of one, were excellent. And the company was incredible. It was so much fun meeting and spending time with “old friends” whom I knew through their blogs as well as meeting some new ones.



Of course, I spent a lot of time with my room-mate Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana and hung out a lot (during sessions and lunches and evenings) with Susan Clark, Linda McCauley, Tina Lyons, and Shelley Bishop. I also met Amy Johnson Crow, Kathy Reed, Lori Thornton and several others whose names I don't recall at the moment!



Two social highlights for me came on Saturday - the first was when a blog reader, Linda Edwards, caught my attention as a group of us were walking into the Hyatt after the sessions were over. She recognized me and I'm very glad that she came forward and said so! It was a really neat moment. Thanks, Linda!



Later that evening after supper at Champs with Kathy, Susan, Linda, and Laura we were relaxing and talking with each other when DearMyrtle came in. She sat down and chatted with us for a while then moved on over to her supper group. From what I understand, Laura and I left too soon - an hour or so later some of the more well-known speakers, including Elizabeth Shown Mills, came into Champs. I'm sure that Susan and Linda enjoyed their time rubbing shoulders with the “rock stars” of genealogy!



As I stated above, all of the sessions I attended (except one) were excellent. All of the presentations by Thomas Jones and Elizabeth Shown Mills were filled to capacity but luckily I was able to get into all of them. It was worth getting there a bit early or waiting in a long line to enter their sessions. Even though I have no intentions of becoming a “professional” genealogist, the practices they espouse regarding documentation, research reports, etc. can be put to use in my own research - hopefully making it better. I discovered that in some ways I already use some of the concepts they talked about but definitely not to the fullest extent.



The last session by Mills was partially titled “Information Overload” and it was appropriately named for by that time my head was nearly bursting with so many ideas and so much new information and thinking about how to apply it all to my research in the hopes of finding some of those elusive ancestors!





Lori Thornton and Becky Wiseman (photo taken by Susan Clark).



Susan Clark and Becky Wiseman (photo taken by Lori Thornton).



The view across the Ohio River from our balcony seating at the Moerlein Lager House on Thursday evening.





Supper was a braised short-rib grilled cheese sandwich with sweet potato chips. It was oh, so good! Laura had the shrimp tacos shown in the background. And yes, a little beer was imbibed.





The conference was over and everyone was homeward bound. Tina Lyons stopped to say goodbye as I was watching the vendors below dismantle their displays.



I want to thank everyone I met but especially Laura for being my room-mate and Susan, Linda, Kathy and Tina for allowing me to tag along to lunches and spending some time with them in the evenings. It truly made the conference more special for me! Thanks, everyone! It's such an understatement, but I had a great time...

Real world weight comparisons?

I wanted to make an actual comparison of gear weights and see what the real world differences are on a team with very similar gear set ups and how small choices might or might not effect us.



We are suited up for a long one day of climb that is realistically rated a Grade V but generally done in a day. Although with perfect conditions I have donethe climb in 5 hrs while roped to a partner. Iin early January's short days, in fairly cold conditions it easily lives up to the overall Grade V label.



The brothers Grimmmasquerading as "Team Arcteryx LT" for this discussion.... ;-)







This is the list of weights I keep on the blog:



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//04/weights.html





What we used that was the same with slight weight differences noted below



Spantiks

Vertical front pointcrampons

Atom Lt Hoody

Arcteryx pants

Hoody pile pull over shirts

under shirt

long johns

CCW packs

EB down jackets



What we used that was different:



inner boot 5 oz / 9 oz.

harnesses 10 oz / 12.2 oz.

carabiners 10 @ 10 oz / 10 @ 25 oz

crampons 39 oz / 45 oz

packs 25oz / 38 oz

helmet 8oz / 16oz

water bottles/water 34 oz/ 68 oz

hooded/unhooded down 13.8 oz/ 13.2 oz

gloves 7oz gauntlet/ 6.5 oz x 2 with short cuff (13 oz)

pants 19 oz / 17 oz

long johns 6 oz / 6 ox x 2 (13 oz)

________ _______



177 oz verses 265.8 oz = 88.8 oz or a............ 5.5 lbs difference.



What does 5.5# mean to you?



Most of that weight difference is in the actual packs weight we used (same Cold Cold Worldbasic designs, different material, one stripped, one not) and the decision on the amount ofextra water carried. The helmets stand out as well. Interesting withthat the same manufactures helmets, that theheavier hard shell helmet broke when hit by a dinner plate and the lighter, foam coreone did not with a similar hit.We were out 10 hrs total and both of us brought water back to the car.



Low temps were -30C or -22 F at the beginning and end of the climb.

Scottish Sport Climbs guide is here

Finally, we have the first stock of the new Scottish Sport Climbs guidebook by the SMC. It’s in the shop here. It has certainly been a long time coming. I first submitted a draft of the sections I wrote in November 2004! A lot of bolts have appeared across the lowlands, highlands and islands since then, so the book is a lot fatter than it would’ve been if it had been released at that time. So the wait has an upside.




Flicking through the guide as I took it out of the box, I was struck by the great selection of sport crags all over the country now. There are 1300 routes in the guide, on 100 crags. Who out of the slightly older generation of Scottish climbers would’ve thought we would have 1300 sport climbs in Scotland. That’s great! As you’d expect from an SMC guidebook it’s a nicely produced book with careful descriptions, good maps and plenty of nice pictures to inspire. So many of Scotland’s new routing activists have been very energetic over the past decade and the options now available for routes to enjoy has basically exploded. Now, there are sport crags for us to visit no matter what corner of Scotland you find yourself in or fancy travelling to. Also, the diversity of locations mean that I can’t see many days of the year where there won’t be some dry rock on which to clip bolts somewhere in the land.




Kudos to all who made the effort to open new sport routes, as well as all the authors and producers of the guide. It is so badly needed. Talking to the new generation of young sport climbers coming into climbing through Scotland’s climbing walls, it frequently nagged at me that so many are unaware of the lovely crags that are out there. Some of them in stunning, wild and far flung locations like Gruinard in the north west. Some of them just up the road from our major towns and cities.




The guidebook pictures brought back some nice memories for me of places like Dunglas just outside Glasgow, where I did my first 6b (Negotiations With Isaac)and 6c+ (The Beef Monster). I remember being very excited when Andy Gallagher asked me to give him a belay on the first ascent of Persistence of Vision (7a+) after watching him bolt it. A year after my first 6c+, my first 7c+ (Dum Dum Boys) was a liberating experience and straight away I wanted to get to the ‘happening crags’ of the day.




I found myself at Steall for the first time shortly afterwards, abseiling down Cubby’s project (Ring of Steall 8c+) and being totally inspired by how poor the holds were. The whole ambience of hard physical climbing in beautiful highland surroundings was where it was at for me. So in the following years, we made after school/uni/work hits from Glasgow to Glen Ogle, Dunkeld and Loch Lomondside sport crags, with weekend trips to Tunnel Wall, Steall, Weem and the Angus Quarries.




Once I got involved in exploring new routes, under the influence of Dave Redpath and Michael Tweedley, I immensely enjoyed tearing about bendy roads in Argyll developing crags like Tighnabruaich and eventually the Anvil.




One thing that I like about Scottish sport climbing particularly is that the easier graded routes in the 6s and 7s are often so much better to climb than those on the continent. In Spain or suchlike, the majority of the time, the hard routes on big overhanging sweeps of limestone are the most inspiring lines, while the easier lines can sometimes be either a bit scrappy or, dare I say it, a little boring. As with our trad, the variety of rock types we have in Scotland often make for much nicer routes in the lower and mid grades too. However, if you are into hard stuff, the two hardest routes in the book (Hunger, 9a and Fight The Feeling, 9a) give as good climbing as you’ll get anywhere. Both were climbed in good conditions in the summer and you wont find any queues or some barky dog wondering about eating your lunch at the base of the crag. The only negative on offer from Scottish sport climbing is, of course, the midge. Just remember that the wind direction is as important as the rain when you look at the forecast. Choose a crag exposed to a breeze on the day, and you’re sorted.




Enjoy the guide, enjoy the climbing. It’s here.

Climbing Cold?

I spent 12 hrs out yesterday. Not a big deal but recognised a few things I think worth mentioning.

To climb in the most efficient clothing system I think you have to climb what I consider, "cold". You want to run your clothing system at a level of heat that is well short of sweating the majority of time. So you want to be almost a tiny bit chilled a majority of time if you stop moving. And everyone starting off should feel a tiny bit chilled.

Almost the perfect storm for me yesterday. Dehydrated from the day before and little sleep the night before. Too much to get done in real life so I could get away for the day. Sound familiar? Been nursing a bad knee for several a weeks and finally had another MRI done to make sure I wasn't risking bigger injuries and more down time. So I was tired from the chronic knee pain of the last couple of weeks and had been trying to ignore the massive doses of Ibuprofen which is what I needed to get healed up.

At the trail head there was a huge temperature inversion that we didn't recognize in the predawn start. We had gained 5000' and it was cold. Seemed reasonable.

So I bundled up. With all the wrong things happening in the last 48 hrs I didn't want to be cold and uncomfortable. Being tired, dehydrated and edgy from the knee pain I just didn't tolerate the cold well that morning. It should have been an alarm bell.

Couple of hrs later we were well out of the temperature inversion. It was above freezing now and we were in the sun. I was over heated, sweating and stripping clothes as we climbed higher in the glacier basin. 1/2 way into the walk I noticed 3/4 of my day's water bottle was already gone. That was a little shocking as I generally pay careful attention to how I go through my water. That was my first alarm bell to just how out of it I really was.

What I had brought for water would have just barely been enough if everything went perfectly and we summited in 4 maybe 5 hours. I'd be dehydrated but could easily suck it up till we got back to the car.

Then the final straw was it took a full 6 hrs of trail breaking just to get to our 1500' climb. We knew the game was over 3 hrs into the walk but pressed on anyway to at least see what we in such a hurry to get up. Time to make this one a "teachable moment".

Quick bottom line? I over dressed because I wanted to me more comfortable. Unnoticed, I drank my water quickly because I was dehydrated from the previous 24 hrs. I then over heated because I over dressed, carried more than I should have in gear and clothing and not enough water.

So now as I get even more dehydrated, I get cold feet from wet boots I sweated out from being too warm. Then I am getting cold again because I am dehydrated and physically tired and having to add layers I can't easily technical climb in. Things have gone down hill fast in 6hrs. But it all started 56 or 72 hours beforehand I just didn't recognise it.

Truth is I should have stayed home and gotten some rest and re-hydrated and waited a day or so before going out again.. I would have climbed faster and better if I had done so.

My thought is if you are physically incapable of "climbing cold" do yourself a favor and stay home. I let the weather and my desire to spend time with a buddy sway me. We all do it.

The better we can identify what goes wrong and why the easier it is to have a better trip next time.

Desert Hillside

The season is underway... sort of

Hello again winter fanatics. Hope everyone had a great spring, summer and fall. My faithful climbing partner/girlfriend Larua and I have been out dry tool training and scoping things out for the upcoming winter season. Great News... We think we've found the largest concentration of moderate ice climbs in Western PA. As the weather gets better (worsens) we'll be able to tell you more. It could be home to over 20+ WI3 to WI4 routes. We've also been eyeing up some new mixed lines that are begging to be climbed. It should be a good year full of new routes. We've been getting our workout on as much as possible. Laura has come out swinging! getting early season clean ascents of routes most local "dudes" won't even try. The start of things freezing is (hopefully) a few short weeks away. The woods and cliffs are dripping plenty and all the water looks promising for an incredible year. We didn't rock climb a whole lot this summer, but we did keep our tools veryactive during the winter "off" season April-November dry tooling as much as possible.



I figure there is no reason to bore everyone with long tales of my off season activities, so I'll sum it up in a few sentences. I spent the spring and summer running... Mostly trails, but also some pavement running with a few races thrown in for good measure. I managed to do quite well across the disciplines. My true love of running is long distance in the woods for many hours at a time. Below is a photo that Laura took during a HOT summer run. She had it set on our computers wallpaper for most of the season. It shows me in all my glory during a run on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. I usually spend 5 days a week training on this 70 mile point to point trail. Its a short distance from our house to the trail which makes training convenient. On the trail I've adopted the name "woodz ninja" although below I look more like "Salt Pig Sweat Hog" It definately keeps me in shape for winter climbing. Laura spent the majority of the off season hiking a lot and volunteering at Powdermill Nature Reserve in Rector, PA. She helped in the bird banding lab.

Around mile 50 or 60 in 90° humid summer

weatherat one of our "Mobile Aid Stations"

The other hobby I enjoy is hawk watching. Unfamiliar with it? It's more like the counting, study and observing of migrating raptors for scientific purpose. In particular I've been interested in the migration habits and paths of the Golden Eagle through the central Appalachian chain. Every year in mid September I slow climbing "training" and start hawk watching for a few months. This upcoming spring season I am starting the first official hawk watch in Western MD. If you have any interest or would like to learn more check out my blog for the Cumberland Gap Hawk Watch. It'll explain a great deal. If you have any questions please get in touch. As climbers we spend a great deal of time in raptor territory and being able to identify and understand these amazing birds soaring around the crags is well... pretty awesome!



Another recent project I helped with involved former PA ice climber Rob "Griz" Ginieczki author of the 2006 climbing guide titledIce Climbing Pennsylvania. Much has changed in PA climbing since 2006 and it was time for an update. Griz approached me to help with the Southwestern PA section. Personally I can say quite a bit has been added to the SWPA section and should help everyone climb even more ice in our region. The book is in print right now and should be out in time for this season. I'll keep you posted as to when they are available. Great job Griz! Keep the PA ice community stoked and getting after it!





Stay tuned as the winter progresses and the climbing starts to happen. I'll be posting regularly again keeping ya'll updated on the happenings around here. Train on! -Tim

My Genea-Mecca Sojourn is Coming to an End

After six weeks in Salt Lake City, I'll be leaving Sunday morning. It has been a satisfying and frustrating experience. Although no breakthroughs have been made, more documents have been gathered that add to the understanding of some of the ancestors. Of course, some of those documents have generated more questions - a few which will likely never be answered. But that is the nature of genealogy and family history research, which is a seemingly never-ending obsession.



In addition to research at the library, I've also been working on cleaning up my Legacy database. It is a slow and tedious process but I'm starting to have a good feeling about it. There is still a lot to be done with it but there is light at the end of the tunnel. One of the benefits of this process is that some of the "holes" in my research have been identified and I was able to obtain a few of those missing documents here in Salt Lake City.



One of the highlights of my visit here was being able to spend some time with Denise Levenick, The Family Curator. Denise was here for five days, coming a few days prior to the Utah Genealogical Association's Spring Conference where she was the keynote speaker and gave several presentations. It was a very nice change of pace to have someone to bounce ideas off of and just talk about stuff.





One evening, A.C. Ivory joined us for dinner at The Garden restaurant on the 10th floor of the Joseph Smith Building. Lots of laughing and talking - and we also enjoyed the sunset over the valley!







What's up next?



The coast of California will be my next stop, for about a week of "just relaxing" then I'll be meeting up with some of my Joslin cousins in Missouri in mid-May. After that, I'll be returning to Indiana to "settle down" into a somewhat "normal" life - whatever that is!



G.R.I.P. is on the agenda in July. I'll be attending "Your Immigrant Ancestors’ Stories: Writing a Quality Narrative" with John Philip Colletta and Michael Hait and in August I'll be going to the FGS Conference in Fort Wayne. I'm looking forward to seeing some of genea-peeps again and soaking in some knowledge that will, hopefully, help with the research process.

A Special Concert at Peace River!

I have had an exceptionally busy week this past week. Actually the past two weeks have been unusually hectic for us. So I have tons of things to blog about, but I've been so busy that I haven't had the time to blog about them. Hopefully I will get caught up over the next several days or during my next few days off.



This was one of my favorite did but didn't blog about it things: a concert given to the park performed by pickleball friends. Not just any pickleball friends though. Super talented and musically gifted friends. I met Todd Hallawell and Garth Matthews both this year.



I heard about Todd long before I knew him though because Austin is a huge fan of Todd's musical talent and has shared numerous YouTube videos of him with me. He is an incredible musician. What I did not know was that his wife is also.



We were so impressed with Garth's playing also. They played beautifully together! Such a treat to hear all three of them play together and judging by the crowd's response, we were not the only ones that felt honored to hear them play.





Just a few short clips of them to give you some idea of their talent.

Candle

Playing with the camera.

Morning Sunrays

GREEK Easter Then

His Pashley Roadster Arrives!

[edited to add: There is now a review of this bicycle here.]



The end result of our frenzied search, was that both my darling Co-Habitant and I decided to buy Pashleys: he the Roadster Sovereign (which comes only in black), and I the Princess Sovereign in green. My Princess is getting some custom work done at Harris Cyclery (a coaster brake installed) and will be waiting for me when I return from Vienna. The Co-Habitant's Sovereign arrived last week and he has been enjoying it ever since. Lucky, lucky him!





My dandified Co-Habitant added Brooks leather grips and bags to the bike, but everything else pictured here came standard. This is an enormous bicycle and he absolutely towers over the traffic as he rides to work. I can't wait to see him ride it in person, and to pick up my Princess!





The saddle that comes with the Roadster is the Brooks B33 in black. The bags are the Millbrook and Glenbrook. The leather grips in black are pictured here. All of these are available at Harris Cyclery in West Newton, Mass.

New Puppy

We have a new puppy. She is a German Shepherd mix about 4 months old. We named her Ziva or Zivy. I have a new blog to tell all about Ziva at http://thepuppytale.blogspot.com/as well as some of Ziva's tale at this blog. It was a new experence for us to adopt a pup at the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Center and well worth it to get such a nice pup. Go to my new blog to learn more about Ziva.

80

Nothing much has been happening. Work, work, work. Hot, hot, hot. Dry, dry, dry. That's about it.



We went to Mom's over the weekend. While everyone else worked on birthday-present-oddjobs, I played with my nieces.



It was of course very borrrrring for children to be stuck in a house full of old people and no computers.



My old Johnny West horses.



Ye olde styrofoam watering hole.



Elvis thought it was all very childish.

Mount Rainier :: Narada Falls

Tuesday, September 14th - - For a few miles the road through Mt. Rainier National Park follows the Paradise River. A short distance before reaching the Paradise visitors center complex, there is a little sign alongside the road announcing Narada Falls.

It is here, at Narada Falls, that the sparkling clear waters of Paradise River plunge over the edge of a cliff and drop dramatically 168 feet. The Paradise River runs clear, not milky, because it originates from snowfields, not debris-laden glaciers.

The trail to Narada Falls is only two-tenths of a mile long, but it is a 200 foot descent/ascent! It can be (and was) wet and slippery.

For some early visitors, the power of the waterfall suggested spiritual connections. They named it Narada after a powerful sage of Hindu mythology who acted as a messenger between human and divine realms. [National Park Service Sign]

It wasn't the biggest, or tallest, or widest waterfall I've ever seen. But it was one of the most beautiful and graceful.

There is a hint of a rainbow across the center of the falls.
The “drapery” of water opens and closes as it falls. It was enchanting.
Constantly changing as you watch, it is dependent upon the flow of water from above as well as the cliff face itself and the plants thriving there.