Kong Fun

Mom is learning how to do vids. She's also learning how to upload them. For most of the day, she has been unsuccessful, but finally she made them stick! In most of my play life, it's all about my kong. I lost my blue kong a couple of weeks ago, so for my birthday, I got an orange one. The color orange is supposedly more difficult for us pups to see - especially in the water. Thus I have a bit of difficulty finding my toy in these movies. They are taken in Marinwood Creek Park, a place that not only has a year-round creek, but also is very close by. It has lots of places for gophers to hide (many holes hehe!) and in another part of the park (top video) a place I call "squirrel woods." When I'm looking for something "lost" I circle my tail like a rudder heehee! So Dave (A4), Pruett (GSD) and all pups: enjoy! (Dave and Pruett - you've often commented on digging kongs-on-a-rope too!) Happy Thursday!

Mission Bells

Misty Mission Bells, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

On a hike yesterday I spotted these mission bells in full bloom. They're really an interesting species, unlike anything else that grows nearby in the grassy oak woodlands.
Spring is here in San Luis Obispo, but what about your part of the world?

Thoughts and Quotes on Art

As I see it, the world is made up entirely of photographic subject matter...with pictures you can say what you can't with words. Peter Sekaer

It seems that the artistic personality has a certain contrariness
to it. If you are conventional, than perhaps there's no impulse to create. Author unknown
Art comes from a desire to make sense of the world and one's experience in it. It's intended to make up for the separation that we feel between us as humans and beauty. The artist tried to recreate beauty...to make the world whole again. Author unknown

Request granted, but who was the last out of the state?

Whomever it was obviously forgot to turn the lights out. I went to Myer at Pacific Fair today (I still had a gift voucher from Christmas) and ended up buying three items -- a shirt, a CD and a calendar. I ended up having to take each one to a different checkout (remember, this is all within the same store), because apparently if you take an item to any other checkout within the store, the machine "goes spacko", or words to that effect. Now just why can't items at a store all be on the same computer program? This situation defeats the whole purpose of having "conveniently located" checkouts, does it not?
I have a new home on the Internet. Bikejournal (reminds me that I need to update the links section on this page in the near future, maybe tomorrow?). Regular followers of my ramblings over at bikeforums will note that in recent times, my ramblings have dissipated somewhat. Let's just, for the moment (because I don't have time to type out a massive rant right at the moment), say that I have certain issues with the direction in which that forum is heading. Bikejournal seems a much friendlier place right at the moment, and the lower level of traffic that it has makes it easier for someone with my schedule to keep up with things.

I even managed a pleasant ride this morning, down the coast, taking in the pleasant currumbin estuary...


And then out into the valley at Piggabeen (the southern one)...


I guess the concern out here, like so many other rides, will be urban development. Already some of the land around this road has been sold off...


... so perhaps it's one that I'll need to make the most of while it lasts. Maybe I'll do a few night rides down there when I get my hub-generator light.

Gumley - Smeeton Westerby - Kibworth Beauchamp - Foxton - Gumley

Thursday 9 June . Barry and Eddie. Just over 8 miles. About 3 and a half hours. One of the more hilly walks in the area, and some good views. Not much arable field walking.

The Tower House Gumley - it used to be the stable block for the Hall.

St Helen's Church, Gumley.

Up above Gumley. Saddington reservoir is somewhere in the valley.

Fine views and splendid colours - the poppies have been magnificent this month.

The intrepid explorers (explorers are always intrepid)

As we walked downhill we noticed a raised ridge, clearly artificial, carrying water. At first it could almost have been a moat, although it didn't surround the hill, but continued flowing very slowly. So we had to investigate, and follow its course uphill and to the right of our official path. Eventually we found the spot where it joined the Grand Union Canal.






A little nearer to our route was the outlet for excess water, into a stream flowing through this culvert.

and where any excess water drains off.

For map etc

Celtic Music

Tonight Darcie and I went to a concert featuring the hammered dulcimer.  I LOVE this instrument.   I bought two CD's; one of Christmas music and the other with Celtic.
Several years ago my Mama built a mountain dulcimer out of a kit.  She never played it much, so I was able to beg long enough for her to give it to me.  I've played it off and on over the years.  It's really simple to play.  Of course you can get fancy with it, and that takes more skill.  I think it'd be the same way with the hammered dulcimer.  I could probably pick it up fairly easy since I already play the piano.
I grew up listening to Bluegrass music.  Of course Bluegrass comes out of the  Celtic tradition.  They are very similar. 
All of my ancestors came from the British Isles.  Names like Jones, Collins, Stiles, Deaver, Walker, Barnes, Moore, and Kilpatrick belong to my progenitors.  I am a huge anglophile.
My question is this:  Do I love Celtic music because it was the music of my forefathers? Is it in my blood?  Is that possible?   I don't love Russian, Polish, or Danish music.  I like lots of different classical music from various countries.  But I simply love Celtic music.  It's haunting melodies move me deeply.  It stirs up something in me that feels centuries deep.  Am I crazy?  Any theories?

Questions and Quandries

Something to think about.

Steamboat Trace

Dennis and I headed to Nebraska City today to check out the Steamboat Trace. Now, we knew it might be windy, but with the trees and the bluffs, figured we would be sheltered. For about the first 6+ miles we were sheltered. The ride was pretty good, considering we were mostly riding into the wind. Our goal was riding to Peru.
All that changed. We came out of the woods into the open. Over a mile we were riding right into the wind - guessing about a 20 mph wind (more on that later). The map that was retrieved on the web site lead us to believe the ride from the Nebraska City trail head to Peru would be about 8-10 miles.
In the woods, we were riding at about 10-13 mph. Out in the open, at times we were down to 6-7 mph!.
When we reached 10 miles, still riding into the windy and mostly in the clear, we gave up. For what we could gather, it would be another 2+ miles to Peru, we did not have the energy to do that in the wind.

The ride back was a "breeze". On the open section, I clocked the wind at 20 mph. That's the speed I was riding to get the point where I could not feel any wind.
A note about the Steamboat Trace - it needs a lot of work. The crushed limestone trail bed is badly eroded in areas. I was happy that I rode my mountain bike rather the hybrid with the rigid fork. It would have been nice to have a full suspension bike!
Once I have time, there will be more photos of our ride on the Steamboat Trace. (Check my NaugaBike web site.)
Yesterday, I rode the Wabash Trace from Silver City to Malvern. Beautiful day for a bike ride - 70 degrees, light wind, sunny.
Now I need my dirt fix!

Green Bay

It took me 2 days to drive from Little Rock to Green Bay. Stopped overnight in Bloomington, IL. Was thinking of riding there. But, was late when I got to the motel, not sure how to get to the trailhead, and still had a good drive the next day.
Yesterday the weather was not conducive to riding. Today was a little cool (28-30 deg), but mostly sunny, light wind, and I needed to ride.
Headed South on the Fox River State Trail from downtown Green Bay, past downtown DePere. When the trail surface changed from asphalt to crushed stone, it was time to turn back.
Anyway, I knew my feet would be getting cold. Time to be back. Got in my 15+ mile ride.

Wolves at the door

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

Winter Afternoon on Mink Bay

A recent winter afternoon along the Lake Superior shoreline in Ontario. We had really nice clouds all afternoon and the sun kept shooting rays of light down between the clouds. I really liked the cracks in the rocks shown here, and how they draw your eye into the scene.

RPi Up & Running

Since I basically got my taxes done (just clipping together, into an envelop, and deliver to the tax guy), had some time to initialize my Raspberry Pi. The monitor here on the office desk has both VGA and HDMI inputs. Normally, I use the VGA, which leaves the HDMI for my RPi.

With all of the computer "stuff" around the house, no problem finding USB keyboard and mouse. Had purchased the 1 amp power supply when I bought the RPi.

In the top photo, I will identify the connections:

On the upper/left edge of the board you can see the SD card (sticking out on the underside of the board). To the left is the micro-USB power connection (same one used my my cell phone). The larger cable on the lower/left of the board is HDMI monitor connection. The blue cable on the lower/right corner is my ethernet connection. Finally, on the same side are the USB connections for the mouse and keyboard.

I had initialized the SD card and "wheezy" Raspian operating system. So, when I powered things up, Raspberry Pi booted. Following directions on the RaspberryPi.org web site, I was able to set up the system running. Success!

My experiences with Linux distributions me be giving me problems. Raspian is a stripped down version. Here's a couple things that have been giving me problems:

The initial User ID and Password are "user" IDs, not root. It appears that the root password is "enter", just enter at the password prompt.

The only way I have been able to get to "root" has been the menu item "root terminal". Linux command "su" or "sudo" has not been getting to root.

Attempts to adding a second user id end up with an error.

Updating and upgrading the software is done from the terminal (text input). There is a menu item for Aptitude (the Debian package management system), but entering my user id and password causes an error.

The weather is supposed to be shitty this weekend (cold and rainy). Looks like will be good time to spend some more time with the RPi.

Magic Light in the Snowy Forest

Earlier this week after photographing an AMAZING sunrise at Horseshoe Bay on Lake Superior I was walking back to the car when I came across this scene. About 4 inches of light, fluffy snow had fallen the previous night and every now and then a wind gust would kick up and blow snow from the trees. When I saw the sunlight shining through this part of the forest I instantly knew the shot I wanted to get. I set up my tripod and waited for another gust of wind. I didn't have to wait long. About two minutes after I was set up the wind came up and blew a bunch of snow from the trees down into the light. It was a magical scene and I'm glad I was there to photograph it!