Rocky top

The top of our property is a little steep.

And rocky.

I've been there once.

And I wasn't too happy about it.

I don't enjoy heights! (Such a weenie.)
Going up is not the problem... coming down is.
Needless to say, my husband took these pictures. It might be a nice view if the trees weren't in the way.
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Check out I and the Bird! Thanks for including me, Clare.

Like A Bird Floating Along A Livermore Breeze

It's been 2 months since I raced a mountain bike race and 9 months since I raced a cyclocross race.
I should practice some mounts and dismounts and pirouettes and whatnots tomorrow since I'm racing on Saturday. I haven't done any of it in a while.

I'm looking at old pictures and reading cyclocross articles to get myself PUMPED up. Getting EXCITED.
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Like a little kid jumping in a bouncy tent. Riding round and round till the rocklobster's bent. So EXCITED and... then it's on like tony orlando and dawn.
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I'm looking forward to BARFING afterwards. I tend to do that in the beginning of the season. Because I'm always so out of shape. And if I don't barf, it's the hairball noise that I'll be making. So watch out, there's a cat with a hairball BEHIND you. Just WATCH out.
Anyway. SO ready. Livermore will be 150 degrees or something on Saturday. I'm SO ready.
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I'll be with the hammer and the nail at the door. Fresh like a box of Krispy Kremes and more. Causing all kinds of hysteria. Cause my dismount is sick like malaria.

BRRRR

Happy New Year!
Well, I made it to the New Year's Day ride. It was about 12 deg, with wind chill well below zero. I managed a little over 4 miles, 50 minutes. That was enough.
The thing is that I ended 2007 with a bike ride and started with a bike ride.
With the warmer weather coming the next few days, the riding is just about over for a while. Looking forward to the Xtreme Winterfest Ride (forecast mid 40s) Saturday.
At the evening, I went to our Edwards campaign headquarters since Edwards was schedule to stop by. I just could not stay -- the office was just tooooo crowded, and more were still arriving and trying to get inside.

Let Us Not Malign Our Teachers

So here I am in the Obediencemobile with Moritz, my commuting Corgi pal.
I feel that I may have maligned my teach a couple of blogs ago, when I let the cyberworld know that she called me fat. She's jes watchin' my back. Actually, I want to dedicate this post to her. She's been working out of the Oakland Dog Training Club for a long time - and does it for free. She opens up the place at 2PM every Monday and doesn't leave until the Utility Dogs are done - often around 10PM. Wow.
The sun-weathered sign belies the marvellous toys and games that exist behind this door. I like this place a lot and so does Moritz. You can tell, cause we whimper and whine when we arrive, begging to get out.
Barbara, above, caring for these cute Westies as she directs her pupil (that you can't see). They are barking their heads off as Moritz and I enter the place. Soon the Westies leave and it's my turn to learn!
I greet Barbara enthusiastically, cause for some reason (can't think what) I really dig her.
We start off practicing the forced dumbell retrieve. Now. Get this. For me to have to lower myself to a "forced" retrieve is ridiculous. I readily pounce after kongs, balls and bumbers happily returning them time after time. But ya think I wanna chase after and return a dumbell? No way. So Barbara starts me out with this.
Hate it.
Hate it more. But I don't get why. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwU3x8E6e1UAt least I have great cheese-catching skills!
Moritz is starting his "Open" training. His mama has to throw a dumbell over the jump, command Moritz to "Over" the jump, then retrieve the dumbell and then finally, jump back over and come face front to his mama. Amazing job.
Okay, next? Here's Bella, who is also working on her "Open." Isn't she purty? And she's real nice too.
Thank you so much Barbara. You've given me a lifetime's worth of pawesome skills. Huggies.
PS: Barbara said my waistline was showing again - ya-hoo!!!

The Broadmoor Apartments

I ran across this great old brochure from the Broadmoor last week. My grandfather, Roger Calvert was the first manager there when it opened- just before the Big Crash of 1929. Our family moved in in the late summer while the children stayed on their grandparent's farm in Misssissippi. The Broadmoor is still there- and still a great place to live, although the olden days always sound more charming to me:
“On Connecticut avenue north of Porter street is the attractive apartment section of Washington. Here within a landscaped five acre setting of garden and flower decked promenades is erected THE BROADMOOR, an imposing edifice expressing the acceptable in modern architecture and fireproof construction. Within its 800 rooms are maintained the lovely apartment homes of lovely people.”
(A lot of the Senators-the baseball players-lived there in the early thirties. Mom remembers going to games with her dad at Griffith Stadium, and the excitement when the team went to the World Series in 1933. She also remembers Huey Long arriving to stay with a great big entourage that scared my grandmother.)
“Dining Room and Silver Grill: Decorated in the moderne.... The food is of the highest quality, and prepared by a particular chef who caters successfully to particular people.”
Here is the “dollar menu” from those days:
Choice: Fruit Cup- Iced Cantaloupe- Consomme Hot or Cold- Strained Chicken Gumbo-Iced Celery
Choice: Filet of Sole, Saute Meuniere- Fried Chicken with Corn Fritters- Grilled Sirloin Steak-Assorted Cold Cuts, Potato Salad
Sherbet
French Fried Potatoes New Peas in Butter
Green Corn Saute O’ Brien
Hearts of Lettuce Thousand Island Dressing
Choice: Green Apple Pie Fresh Peach Shortcake
Chocolate, Vanilla, Peach Ice Cream Raspberry Ice
Homemade Rolls
Tea Milk Coffee
(Mom had never had sherbet before and was very impressed with that- especially since it wasn’t served as a dessert!)
“All Apartments have outside porches and windows overlooking the garden of the Broadmoor or famous Rock Creek Park.”
(She also remembers her little brother, Roger hanging by his fingers from theirs on the sixth floor, overlooking the garage.)
"Most important to Milady:
All apartments have been designed to provide the utmost in comfort, and to eliminate home- making responsibilities to unusual degree...Waste from the kitchen and apartments is placed in receptacles, and noiselessly removed in the early morning by janitors from corridors outside apartments.”
(A pet rabbit with a voracious appetite for undergarments was sent to live downstairs where the bellboys took care of him. Later, he reportedly lunged at a bellboy and was not seen again.)
“Schools : The Broadmoor is close to all educational centers.”
(They even had a little bus to take children to John Eaton.)
“Beauty Shop: Within the Broadmoor. All approved treatments, and scientific care.”
(Mom got her first haircut other than the detested ‘Dutch Bob’ here. It was called ‘The Windblown’.)
“Children’s Paradise: A play estate supreme, away from mere grown-ups, and in a wooded setting among wonder-trees and fairy verdure....Here the commanders of the sand pile, see-saw and swing develop to become the kind of men and women the world relies upon.”
(That may have been all well and good, but Mom remembers mostly hanging out on the beams underneath the building with her pals-one particularly noteworthy commander of that sandbox was John Hechinger. He grew up to be the commander of Washington’s hardware scene.)
The Broadmoor also boasted of: a valet service, a laundry, a pastry shop, and a newstand-where Mom hung out and read all the magazines for free. She also got movie passes for the Avalon Theater. She and her brother, Roger would take a picnic and ride up there on the streetcar to spend the day at the movies.
Life was good for the family until a year later at Christmas time when Roger Calvert was killed in a car accident. He had been visiting his parents in Mississippi and was bringing two cousins back with him to find them work at the beginning of the Depression. Mom was only 13, and Roger Junior was 8. My grandmother took over the job at the Broadmoor until 1934. At some point she hired a musician/medical student named Bernie Schultz, to play the tea dances held in the dining room, and later married him. Mom also met the man she would marry at the Broadmoor. She’d seen him around at John Eaton and Western, but it was that fateful day in April 1932 when Dad’s friend, Carl Langmack took him to hang out with Mom’s gang that they remember the best.

Antelope Canyon

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

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


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

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

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

Some Like it Hot

If you're someone who likes it hot, then San Antonio, Texas, would be right up your alley. Early morning temperatures in the summer are 82° degrees. Today, the high is expected to be 99° with a 20% chance of afternoon and evening thunderstorms. When you plan to do an 11K (6.8 mi.) walk in the mid-summer Texas heat, it's best to start early.

I was up at 5 a.m. with a plan to start my Volksmarch in the Broadway neighborhood by 7 a.m. Didn't happen, but I did make it by 8 a.m. (It is said, the pathway to somewhere hot is lined with good intentions.)

If you like it hot, then the Broadway Daily Bread Company would be a good place for you to get your morning coffee and some pastry while it's fresh. That was the start point of the walk.

Thankfully, this walk spent about 80% of the time in the deep shade of old live oaks or on park walking trails. Having long morning shadows helped too.

The walk started by going around the block behind the bakery in a stately old neighborhood, through a small shopping center, past HEB's Central Market and onto the campus of University of the Incarnate Word. The university is getting ready for new student orientation on August 19. Construction workers, early new arrivals with their parents, and those preparing for the arrival of new students were out and about on campus today. It wasn't very crowded.

Photos at University of the Incarnate Word:

Cemetery at the University.

Beautiful iron bridge.

Do you think maybe the mascot at this university might be a cardinal??

This cardinal was nice enough to strike a pose.

Cardinal sculpture at Benson Stadium.

A meditation maze on the side of a footpath.

Below is a photo of St. Brigid's Oak, a live oak tree that is approximately 600 years old, dedicated to St. Brigid of Kildare (451-525 AD).

Live oak (Quercus virginiana)

Fall???

"In Celebration of Children's Play," by Joe and Betty Frost.

"Classmates," by Paul Tadlock

1881 school insignia in walkway.

Below is the lovely Jordan Carillon Clock Tower. I got to hear it play music at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Jordan Carillon clock tower.

Stained glass as seen from inside the clock tower.

Another perspective.

George Washington Brackenridge Villa with sculpture.

From the university, the walk took me down Broadway just past the Witte (pronounced witty) Museum and into Brackenridge Park. I love walks in Brackenridge Park on tree-shaded trails. Here are photos of the park and surrounds.

Gate to the Witte Museum grounds.

The start of the San Antonio River.

Turtles sunning.

A photo from the old days taken in the San Antonio River.

The restaurant below looks like good place to eat. We'll have to try it. It's called Bombay Bicycle Club Grille.



Next destination in Brackenridge Park: the Chinese/Japanese Tea Garden. This garden is built on the site of an old quarry. Don't you just love all the rock work?

The Japanese Garden waterfalll

Japanese Garden Pavilion

The pond surrounded by rock work and filled with koi.

Koi polloi.

Another koi.

Lotus blossoming.

Lotus blossoms.

Pavilion.

So, I'm walking along the trail toward the San Antonio Zoo. Off to my left, I see a wooden enclosure with two furry critters in it. At first I think it's a rabbit pen in the middle of nowhere. Didn't make sense. So I zoomed in and found that someone is feeding stray cats here. One of the cats spooked when I turned on my camera and beat feet out of there, but I was able to get a photo of one of them.

Stray cat feeding station.

Agave in bloom.

Dragonfly on water lily pad.

Water lily in bloom.

On the opposite side of the river people and their kids were feeding the ducks. The two youngsters below were as still as stone. I almost missed them. But when I zoomed in I realized they were ducklings. Beautiful!

The pattern of falling water.

Wilderness Trail in Brackenridge Park.

Grass seed pods in morning light.

I did this walk by myself. Even though it took two hours and 45 minutes
(because of all the stops to take photos) to do 6.8 miles, it didn't
feel near that long because of all the things to look
at. When I'm out walking I'm always glad I got out and did it. It's so easy to stay inside in the air conditioning and watch movies, read magazines and blogs, but it's essential for me to exercise and enjoy the natural world. This particular walk is an excellent one to do on a summer morning. I like it hot, but I also like shade.

Travel Bug out.

The end.