Go Tigers

Wilson's back to school night got off to a rough start yesterday. The doors stood open, and the auditorium was very warm- not having the benefit of air conditioning. The first speaker urged every one to move up as there was no PA system. The principal seemed to be running a few minutes late. Lights kept blinking, and if you looked up, you noticed the large areas of plaster rotting up there in the ceiling. But then, with no press, photography or fanfare, up popped our new mayor, Adrian Fenty. His voice was clear and strong, and he gave the mandatory short spiel on making school improvements. It was such a morale booster that it really didn't matter what he said. The most important thing to me was that he was there-and that it was not the first time he had been here in this auditorium. It is somewhat comforting that he is from this town-generally only people who are from here can understand here, and even we find it A Challenge.
The rest of the night went well. The teachers, for once, were not complaining about a lack of books or other glaring oversights. There was even a glimmer of optimism. The stadium and field have been renovated, and the pool is finally under reconstruction. Wilson was a brand new school back in 1935, when my dad's brother, Nick went. You can literally feel its age going up the stairs which are concave now like the steps of a Roman coliseum. It's still a beautiful building despite its age and deterioration- but it desperately needs improvement- as do the vast majority of our city schools. There is a tiny light now- maybe- just there at the end of this long dark tunnel, but it sure is amazing how fast that new baseball stadium is getting built.

It's enough to keep you guessing.

Blackberries

My brother-in-law Jim was unable to go on our trip to the Park because he had to work, and he seemed glad to have us back, too. The next morning he fixed us a wonderful breakfast of biscuits and bacon, with lots of blackberry jelly that he and Jan had made the previous summer. Not only was there the delicious homemade blackberry jelly there was fresh picked blackberries. Jim, with the help of his dog, Paddy, had risen very early and ventured into the blackberry patch to pick fresh blackberries. It had been years since I had eaten fresh berries, just picked from a thicket. I remembered doing it as a teenager when we lived in Sandpoint, Idaho but had not had a chance to do so after we left there. I love any kind of berry - blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, elderberries, and especially huckleberries - and I will include cherries in that list, too. You might just say that I love fruit, but berries are best. I recently received a care package full of blackberry jelly from my wonderful brother and sister. In the photo are blackberry blossoms.

Oklahoma Wild Flowers

Tuesday, April 12th - - Alongside US highway 70 in Southeastern Oklahoma. These were about an inch or so in diameter. If you look closely, you can see a bumble bee in the center of the picture. It is in between one of the blue and the red flowers. (Double-click the photo to view a larger version.)

Greetings from... California!!

I am sitting in the "Park Rock Cafe" at Joshua Tree National Park in southern California, using their free wifi - which is the first wifi I've found in over a week.

I gave up finding warm weather in Texas. The further north I went, the colder it got. It was nice (50s and 60s) during the day but at night the temperatures were still dropping into the lower 30s. Not too bad but just cold enough to make it uncomfortable when the sun went down.

I also realized that if I were to visit Joshua Tree and Death Valley in a few more weeks, it might be somewhat uncomfortable the other way - too hot. So I buzzed through New Mexico and Arizona. But I'm going back. In a few days I'll be going to Death Valley, and then I'll return to New Mexico and Arizona for a while. At least that's "the plan" for now. I didn't make it to Guadalupe National Park. High winds and colder temperatures didn't make it sound too inviting. Perhaps another time.

There will be a few more posts on Big Bend and then I'll update you with where I've been since leaving there. But that's dependent upon internet access. I'm a bit further behind with posts than usual - it's difficult finding internet access in remote locations!

Taken at Picacho Peak State Park.
The stereotypical image of an Arizona Sunset!

Mt. Rainier, Little Tahoma

Another wet weekend forecast for Mt. Rainier caused us to change our plans from a three day climb of the Emmons Glacier to a one day attempt on Little Tahoma. We spent most of the day walking on snow. Dave and Brad crossing over Fryingpan Creek.
Brad, Mark, Doug, Norm, Collin (and Dave) almost to Summerland. Little Tahoma is in the background. Our view of the summit did not last for long. Collin and Norm nearing Meany Crest and the Fryingpan Glacier.
After going up the Fryingpan Glacier, we crossed a ridge to the Whitman Glacier. The five tiny dots are climbers from our group heading up into a lenticular dome (with GPS units on).
Mark, Dave (Doug, Norm and Collin) at our high point of 10,300'. Unsafe conditions and worsening weather made us turn around 800' from the summit.
Mark was able to ski about halfway back to the car. We enjoyed great views of Fryingpan Creek beside the trail. Although we did not summit, it was still good to spend the day outside exploring another part of creation with friends.

Flooding in New Mexico

It was a true Friday the 13th thispast Friday. Colorado had already had a lot of flooding on the west side of their state a few days before. New Mexico didn't think they would get that much of it. But we did. These are the photos that hubby took of the little bridge that crosses the arroyo (ditch) that is about a half mile from our house. We can see it from the back yard but we were much higher and safe from the water. There wasn't that much rain right here. Most of it came from north of us. We are west of the bridge. The photos are looking north east. The water came so fast with so much dirt, rocks, branches, and other stuff that it got caught rapidly under the bridge causing the water to rise above the bridge and over it. With in a few hours it was over except for the mess.


We were lucky that this is all we had. Much of the state suffered far worse and many people still can't get to or out of their flooded homes.The little dirt roads going to of the mountain or desert communities became rivers with lot of damage including sink holes, boulders, drop offs and fallen trees. Many people had to be rescued and a few are still missing. We hope they make it to safety.

Pancake Ice

So far, this winter has been rather mild with very little snow and days/nights that have been too warm for any serious development of ice on the lake. Last night, however, the temp did drop a bit which meant that this morning there were some nice "pancakes" of ice floating in a couple of areas along Grand Portage Bay. One of these areas (shown above) was very close to my house. How could I resist stopping and making an image of such beautiful ice formations so close to my home?

After photographing the ice I took a drive up to the Mt. Josephine wayside along Highway 61. This wayside was improved by the MN Department of Transportation this year. They replaced the bathroom building, built a new parking area and picnic sites, and last but not least constructed a very nice viewing platform that takes in the view of Mt. Josephine, Wauswaugoning Bay and the Susie Islands. The photo below was taken from this new viewing platform. I have taken many a photo from this location over the years, but I have never seen the trees stand out the way they do in this photo. The lighting was such that it really accented the trees. Even though there isn't really too much snow or ice in the photo, I still think it conveys a strong feeling of winter.