I keep looking all over the picture to see when the lighting is going to strike. Then again, the way I am with heights, I’d probably be hugging that rock for everything I’ve got because I would be afraid I’d fall off.
Well everybody get through today and then the w.e. is here. Hope everyone does have a good w.e.
Hi ID! Things are going better right now. I was laid up for awhile with my legs. I had to go back to using my walker for a couple of weeks, but now though even a little bit unsteady I’m getting around without it.
At the moment I’m watching one of my favorites sports on YouTube – Snooker! 🙂 When I was a teenager I can’t count the number of hours I was in the pool room playing that game. Even though I admit myself, I got pretty good at the game. Of course I’m waiting for the winter Olympics where the most exciting game of all will be played – Curling. 😉
I hope everything is going well with you and Mrs. ID.
Got back from vacation last night. We had a great time. The High Sierra Camps [LINK] are fantastic (we went to Sunrise, Merced Lake, and Vogelsang). So nice to have a great meal and a nice bed to sleep in each night. And Sunrise and Merced even had showers!
I am wishing for a real vacation, even just an overnight away. Something with sand and ocean in it. Or a river and rail-trail bike path. Or a lake with a dock.
Sigh. I have a computer in an office with a window that opens, and I guess that will have to do for today. 🙂
A week after we got back from Yosemite & environs, the photos are up.
We flew into Las Vegas and drove to Mammoth Lakes, CA via Death Valley. We stayed in Mammoth a couple of days to acclimate to the elevation. On the way we stopped at the Manzanar internment camp and explored Panum Crater near Mono Lake. After Yosemite, we briefly stopped at Ancient Bristlecone Pine NM before we headed back to Las Vegas, a great Thai dinner, and on to home.
The only downside to the trip was that a fire on the western side of the Sierras, over 100 miles away, was creating so much smoke that a lot of the vistas were obscured and made breathing unpleasant on a day or two.
The airing out of the life jackets at the kids camp next to us is our annual first sign that summer is coming to an end … followed closely by the start of back to school ads.
The snow pack was light this year in the Sierra, down by 30%, and they had a wet warm spring so it all melted early. That and a year or two of drought is why the fires are so bad now.
Been a long time since I visited the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Gorgeous scenery – I mainly remember the Tahoe area. Maybe one day I’ll get back. Been meaning to go back to Glacier National Park in Montana as well, while there are still glaciers to be seen.
Glacier is gorgeous. We think it has the highest wow factor of any park we’ve been to and every time on a hike we thought we’d seen the biggest “wow” possible, something would come along in a few steps and top it.
It would be nice. They’ll need some positive reinforcement for doing so. I get that blogging is a thankless hobby – one reason why I largely curtailed activity starting a few years ago. Still it is critical to feel heard and appreciated, at least occasionally. We are after all, at the core of our being, social animals.
Okay, I’ve been holding out on y’all. We just got back from out west and hiked in this little known spot. Taken with my old 8 megapixel Nikon from right near El Tovar.
Lucky you! It is a wonderful place with its amazing geological history and the splendors of its constantly changing light.
If you ever get a chance to stay at Phantom Ranch (down in the inner gorge), go for it (but not during summer as it would be horribly hot). I promise you it will be well worth the effort.
That must have been great but not likely for us. madame boran stopped climbing down well before I and the b2 boy did. Getting her down to Phantom Ranch would be near impossible.
Not this particular photo. I have another one taken during our stay that I want to paint. Bonus: It will be a thorn in the side of those staid Connecticut art critics where I enter my stuff.
Hope everyone is doing fine. As usual my health isn’t the best, but I’m getting by.
It has been nothing but hot, hot, hot down here. I’ll be so glad when winter gets here. I’ll be so glad to look out over the tundra and see the glaciers with the moose and ……. Wait a minute, I’m in Alabama. We don’t have that stuff down here. Any way I’ll just be glad for winter.
Staying cool down here is usually a major thing. I saw on the news where they were letting kids out of school because the schools didn’t have any a/c. Down here you don’t build without a/c being a must.
I can remember living in Cuba without A/C for over a year and then the same in Florida. Of course I was much, much younger then and it still wasn’t much fun. We made up a lot of creative excuses to visit the avionics shop, which was the only spot on Leeward Point with A/C.
I can remember as a kid we didn’t have a/c except my Mom and Dad had a window a/c in their bedroom. But, the heat didn’t seem to bother me as much as it does now. I guess it was all that time from working in the fields chopping or picking cotton or the hay fields I just got use to it. Yep I’ll tell ya these kids now of days don’t know how to handle it. So what if a few go down because of heat prostration. Just throw some water over them and get on with the work. [Of course I’m only joking here] Now of days I can’t imagine living without a/c.
I hope everyone’s Saturday is starting out good. Mine has started out good, but I have the whole day ahead of me, so it’s no telling. It will be hot down here today. We’re supposed to get up to 93F so any going into town, shopping or whatever you try to get done before it gets to hot. I’m just glad that yesterday morning I was able to get out and pay some bills, so I thinking I’ll sit out the hot part today and clean around the apartment.
Well I guess I better get started, so everyone have a good w/e and take care.
I just ran to the pharmacy for my BP medicine and I wasn’t outside any time at all. I got back in my apartment and sat down and I’m sweating like there is no tomorrow. I want to see frost out there, I want to see snow flakes coming down. I want winter here or at least late Autumn.
I’ll be taking it easy, you forget how slackerly I am. 🙂
That is a nice shot. When I lived at FMom’s house our next door neighbor had many many of those feeders around her house. There were hummingbirds everywhere. I never could get her to tell me what she put into the feeders or ratios. But it was nice to sit on the patio looking out at the pond and having hummingbirds not more than 3 or 4 feet away.
Although it’s late in the morning I’m just getting started. Had one of those no matter what you do, you’re not going to sleep nights. Ah the pleasures of getting older. 😉
Hope everyone has a good day and week ahead and take care.
We use a 5 to 1 mix of water to sugar that we boil for a couple of minutes to evaporate the chlorine in the water and allow the sugar to go into solution. We tried a 4 to 1 ratio, but it attracted too many bees.
I tried different ratios and things, but it just seemed that the birds like whatever she had to anything I could put out. The one good thing about it was in that neighborhood the houses were kinda of close together so in our patio we always had hummingbirds coming and going. I guess now looking back at it and living the slackerly way of life, I had it perfect. I got the hummingbirds around with no work. 🙂
That’s certainly true for southern Indiana today. A record high of 95F predicted, with accompanying mugginess. A much more comfortable high of 70 is supposed to get here Friday. Maybe it will make its way out to our eastern friends soon.
I don’t believe in them. Yesterdays forecast said next week would all be in the 80’s, but today I see we have a couple of days in the 90’s. I guess I’m just looking toward October. By that time I’m sure the 90’s will be gone. But down here you never know.
The autumn air arrived here last night. The indoor thermometer reads the same as a few days ago when it was hot outside, but now for some strange reason, I feel like wearing a sweatshirt instead of a tee.
Keeping with the theme from yesterday’s diary, commemorating the death of Stephen Bantu Biko, here is the title track from the album, “Song for Biko” by the late South African bassist, Johnny Dyani.
Right here.
I hope they measure up to AndiF’s weekly helping of humps. 🙂
Wow ~ those are some impressive humps! A fitting stand-in for Andi’s, indeed.
Humpalooza!
That is a great hump day picture — I love it.
We saw a lot of big humps out in Yosemite but none with such a splendid foreground. 🙂
I did my best while you were away! I’m looking forward to seeing some Yosemite pics- welcome home.
Your best is excellent. 🙂
We’ve got lots of pics that we’re sorting through now. We’ll put up an album of our favorites on photobucket and link to it.
Yosemite is definitely a great source of hump day pics.
Sad to hear that Indiana blogger Doghouse Riley has left us.
That’s a great photo CG!
Good morning everyone!
I keep looking all over the picture to see when the lighting is going to strike. Then again, the way I am with heights, I’d probably be hugging that rock for everything I’ve got because I would be afraid I’d fall off.
Well everybody get through today and then the w.e. is here. Hope everyone does have a good w.e.
Take care
Whit
Good to see you, FM!
Hiya Boran,
Good to see you again too. Hope you and the family are doing fine.
Hi FM! Hope all is well where you are.
Hi ID! Things are going better right now. I was laid up for awhile with my legs. I had to go back to using my walker for a couple of weeks, but now though even a little bit unsteady I’m getting around without it.
At the moment I’m watching one of my favorites sports on YouTube – Snooker! 🙂 When I was a teenager I can’t count the number of hours I was in the pool room playing that game. Even though I admit myself, I got pretty good at the game. Of course I’m waiting for the winter Olympics where the most exciting game of all will be played – Curling. 😉
I hope everything is going well with you and Mrs. ID.
Take care
Whit
Hi all.
Got back from vacation last night. We had a great time. The High Sierra Camps [LINK] are fantastic (we went to Sunrise, Merced Lake, and Vogelsang). So nice to have a great meal and a nice bed to sleep in each night. And Sunrise and Merced even had showers!
Sounds like the best of both worlds. Glad you had such a good time!
It definitely is. My poor geezer back could have never carried all that weight. Plus the food at the camps is really good.
It definitely is. My poor geezer back could have never carried all that weight. Plus the food at the camps is really good.
That looks like a great way to see Yosemite.
Welcome back! Looking forward to your photos. 🙂
click for larger
I bet the pack is glad you’re back! And we are too. 🙂
Now about those pictures…
Welcome back.
Welcome back Ms.F!
I am wishing for a real vacation, even just an overnight away. Something with sand and ocean in it. Or a river and rail-trail bike path. Or a lake with a dock.
Sigh. I have a computer in an office with a window that opens, and I guess that will have to do for today. 🙂
At leat there’s some nice sunny weather to enjoy your window view. Are you going away this summer?
A quick trip to the Poconos?
(Working on the pictures)
Hey everyone!
Morning BobX! Love the eyes.
click for larger
Nature’s golf ball, as it were. Very nice!
As it were, it would mush before it got off the tee. 🙂
A week after we got back from Yosemite & environs, the photos are up.
We flew into Las Vegas and drove to Mammoth Lakes, CA via Death Valley. We stayed in Mammoth a couple of days to acclimate to the elevation. On the way we stopped at the Manzanar internment camp and explored Panum Crater near Mono Lake. After Yosemite, we briefly stopped at Ancient Bristlecone Pine NM before we headed back to Las Vegas, a great Thai dinner, and on to home.
The only downside to the trip was that a fire on the western side of the Sierras, over 100 miles away, was creating so much smoke that a lot of the vistas were obscured and made breathing unpleasant on a day or two.
http://s69.photobucket.com/user/jimferguson/slideshow/Vacations/2013%20Yosemite
Looks like a lovely area for visiting. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
Smashing great show…WHEW!
click for larger
Colorful!
The airing out of the life jackets at the kids camp next to us is our annual first sign that summer is coming to an end … followed closely by the start of back to school ads.
I’ve seen those ads already. We’ll be going to fill the b2 boy’s school needs one of these days soon.
click for larger
That’s a beautiful shot!
ooooooooh!
Thanks guys. Those are just a few of the photogenic mountains that abound in the Mammoth Lakes, CA area.
Brrr. 50s at 5:30 this morning. Fall is not far off.
Same here. I’m beginning to wonder if I should bring the house plant jungle indoors early.
Seeing as it is going to be in the mid-80s in just a few days, magic 8 ball says “No”.
True but the summer has likely peaked as far as heat goes.
We never hit peak heat this summer. We’ve had very few 90+ days (not complaining) and lots in the 70s (definitely not complaining).
The past week has been delicious, but as you mentioned above, it looks as if we’ll be back to sweltering next week.
But still no 90s. I can’t remember the last time we went through an August with no temps in the 90s.
It’s cool all over.
click for larger
Somebody yell cannonball.
Now you’ve got me wondering if I could get Sniff to jump into water. He loves to swim but he always wades in.
But given that he’s 11 years old and has arthritis, I’m probably not going to try to get him to do it.
Can’t teach an old dog new tricks. :::ducks:::
That’s okay — Sniff doesn’t mind getting old; he says is it’s way better than the alternative.
Sniff is wise beyond his years.
click for larger
Very nice! I like that bright spot in the clouds.
I guess I shouldn’t have said anything about a 90-less August because now the forecast shows temps in the 90s next week. Bummer.
Old man summer isn’t done yet. 😉
Damn good pics Andi!
Thanks, Bob.
Drive by hi to all!
Taken July 31, 2013.
Click image to see larger version
A rocky conundrum to be sure.
But one I’d be happy to face a lot more often … as long as it was in a place as gorgeous as that one.
Looks like the scene will get a little lonelier with Oui leaving the Frogpond.
Thanks, I missed that.
No prob. Figured y’all ought to know.
click for larger
Beautiful view!
Its good to see the snow on such a warm and sultry day as we’re having here as well.
Sorry no snow. That’s all granite.
The snow pack was light this year in the Sierra, down by 30%, and they had a wet warm spring so it all melted early. That and a year or two of drought is why the fires are so bad now.
Ack – my bad! Well, it looked cool anyway…
Been a long time since I visited the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Gorgeous scenery – I mainly remember the Tahoe area. Maybe one day I’ll get back. Been meaning to go back to Glacier National Park in Montana as well, while there are still glaciers to be seen.
Glacier is gorgeous. We think it has the highest wow factor of any park we’ve been to and every time on a hike we thought we’d seen the biggest “wow” possible, something would come along in a few steps and top it.
We’ll have to get there sometime.
If you go, I’ll be glad to give you some hike recommendations. 🙂
Cool, thanks!
Have a great Labor Day weekend, everyone. I’ll try to pop in if time permits. Otherwise, will be on the road.
Stay safe on the road.
Hope that road trip is for relaxation and fun and not labor.
click for larger
Hey everyone. Finally getting some time off. Transcribing some guitar tablature that will work for someone with limited dexterity. 🙂
I had to go google tablature because I’d never heard of it. Very nice of you to do it.
Our newest granddaughter is 1 yo today! We’ll be at the house-of-chaos celebrating, along with a gaggle of other little kids and their moms and dads.
Now that’s some real labor in recognition of a very laboring day. 😉
So very lush and green!
The deer certainly seemed to agree with you. 🙂
And sure enough, the era of the Recommended World Diaries appears to have come to a close. It was nice while it lasted.
Well, we still have Frank, I hope. Perhaps we can lure some other ETers over as well.
It would be nice. They’ll need some positive reinforcement for doing so. I get that blogging is a thankless hobby – one reason why I largely curtailed activity starting a few years ago. Still it is critical to feel heard and appreciated, at least occasionally. We are after all, at the core of our being, social animals.
And yet I keep pursuing my solitary pastime. Go figure.
Okay, I’ve been holding out on y’all. We just got back from out west and hiked in this little known spot. Taken with my old 8 megapixel Nikon from right near El Tovar.
Spectacular! Watch that first step…
We actually hiked pretty far down. Not to much of a problem getting there. Getting back up was agony.
Lucky you! It is a wonderful place with its amazing geological history and the splendors of its constantly changing light.
If you ever get a chance to stay at Phantom Ranch (down in the inner gorge), go for it (but not during summer as it would be horribly hot). I promise you it will be well worth the effort.
That must have been great but not likely for us. madame boran stopped climbing down well before I and the b2 boy did. Getting her down to Phantom Ranch would be near impossible.
That looks gorgeous. Will this one day be a subject for your painting series?
Not this particular photo. I have another one taken during our stay that I want to paint. Bonus: It will be a thorn in the side of those staid Connecticut art critics where I enter my stuff.
Now you have me intrigued. That sounds delicious. 🙂
click for larger
Scott Walker tweets “Happy Labor Day”. Is that the Badger version of “Let ’em eat cake”?
No, let them eat cheese.
And don’t forget the brewskis!
Beer and cheese, the breakfast of champions.
Shana tova.
Shana tova to both you and Jim.
The Flog is up!
Give us what you got.
Shana Tova Umetukah to Andi and Boran!
Hope everyone is doing fine. As usual my health isn’t the best, but I’m getting by.
It has been nothing but hot, hot, hot down here. I’ll be so glad when winter gets here. I’ll be so glad to look out over the tundra and see the glaciers with the moose and ……. Wait a minute, I’m in Alabama. We don’t have that stuff down here. Any way I’ll just be glad for winter.
Everyone take care
Whit
Hay FM!!! :::waves furiously:::
How’s it going Boran.
Hope you and the family are doing fine. The new painting looks good. I like the way you’re going with the shadows.
Oh by the way, :::waves back furiously::: 🙂
Take care
Whit
Thanks FM! I hope that you stay cool. Give George a hug for me.
Hello FM! Stay cool;-)
How are you doing ID.
Staying cool down here is usually a major thing. I saw on the news where they were letting kids out of school because the schools didn’t have any a/c. Down here you don’t build without a/c being a must.
Hope you and Mrs. ID are doing good.
Take care
Whit
I can remember living in Cuba without A/C for over a year and then the same in Florida. Of course I was much, much younger then and it still wasn’t much fun. We made up a lot of creative excuses to visit the avionics shop, which was the only spot on Leeward Point with A/C.
I can remember as a kid we didn’t have a/c except my Mom and Dad had a window a/c in their bedroom. But, the heat didn’t seem to bother me as much as it does now. I guess it was all that time from working in the fields chopping or picking cotton or the hay fields I just got use to it. Yep I’ll tell ya these kids now of days don’t know how to handle it. So what if a few go down because of heat prostration. Just throw some water over them and get on with the work. [Of course I’m only joking here] Now of days I can’t imagine living without a/c.
Max Roach and Archie Shepp’s album, “Force”:
The album is a series of duets between one of the great jazz drummers and one of the great free jazz saxophonists.
Before I forget, here’s the tracklist:
1 – Sweet Mao – La préparation 00:00
2 – Sweet Mao – La Marche 17:00
3 – Sweet Mao – Le Commencement 34:05
4 – Suid Afrika 76 51:00
Good morning everyone,
I hope everyone’s Saturday is starting out good. Mine has started out good, but I have the whole day ahead of me, so it’s no telling. It will be hot down here today. We’re supposed to get up to 93F so any going into town, shopping or whatever you try to get done before it gets to hot. I’m just glad that yesterday morning I was able to get out and pay some bills, so I thinking I’ll sit out the hot part today and clean around the apartment.
Well I guess I better get started, so everyone have a good w/e and take care.
Whit
Hi FM! Take things slowly. It’s actually nice and cool up here in the Hudson Valley, 60s and sunny. See ya later!
I just ran to the pharmacy for my BP medicine and I wasn’t outside any time at all. I got back in my apartment and sat down and I’m sweating like there is no tomorrow. I want to see frost out there, I want to see snow flakes coming down. I want winter here or at least late Autumn.
I’ll be taking it easy, you forget how slackerly I am. 🙂
Enjoy your cool weather.
We’ve had a lovely few days here, but it looks as if the heat and humidity are on their way back for next week. Ugh!
I would say I would trade you on the temp/humidity but I’ve see temps higher up there than down here sometimes. Go figure.
Hope it stays nice for y’all over the w/e.
click for larger
It’s amazing that they stopped moving long enough to get a shot.
They’re tanking up for their migration. They’ll sit there for several seconds each time.
Good morning Andi and Boran!
That is a nice shot. When I lived at FMom’s house our next door neighbor had many many of those feeders around her house. There were hummingbirds everywhere. I never could get her to tell me what she put into the feeders or ratios. But it was nice to sit on the patio looking out at the pond and having hummingbirds not more than 3 or 4 feet away.
Although it’s late in the morning I’m just getting started. Had one of those no matter what you do, you’re not going to sleep nights. Ah the pleasures of getting older. 😉
Hope everyone has a good day and week ahead and take care.
Whit
We use a 5 to 1 mix of water to sugar that we boil for a couple of minutes to evaporate the chlorine in the water and allow the sugar to go into solution. We tried a 4 to 1 ratio, but it attracted too many bees.
Hi Jim!
I tried different ratios and things, but it just seemed that the birds like whatever she had to anything I could put out. The one good thing about it was in that neighborhood the houses were kinda of close together so in our patio we always had hummingbirds coming and going. I guess now looking back at it and living the slackerly way of life, I had it perfect. I got the hummingbirds around with no work. 🙂
“Music For 18 Musicians” by Steve Reich:
If this gets a good response, I’ll have another installment of minimalism/ambient music next week.
I first heard portions of “Anti-War Dub” while watching the film, “Children of Men.” This sometimes gets classified as early dubstep.
I’ll have another installment next week – trance, progressive house, minimal wave, etc.
One for the road – some downtempo for those needing to chill:
Summer is back in the Hudson Valley. Humid now and heat tomorrow.
In many parts of the US, it appears that the summer weather is not going down without one hell of a fight.
That’s certainly true for southern Indiana today. A record high of 95F predicted, with accompanying mugginess. A much more comfortable high of 70 is supposed to get here Friday. Maybe it will make its way out to our eastern friends soon.
I am certainly ready for the heat to break. The fall season generally tends to be quite refreshing.
click for larger
Morning!
Hot and humid. Nuff said.
Whit
Here too. Through tomorrow, if one believes the weatherfolk.
Hiya Boran,
I don’t believe in them. Yesterdays forecast said next week would all be in the 80’s, but today I see we have a couple of days in the 90’s. I guess I’m just looking toward October. By that time I’m sure the 90’s will be gone. But down here you never know.
We’ve had continuing thunder this AM but nothing else as of yet. Possible severe storms later on.
Hiya Boran,
Hope the thunderstorms don’t get too bad for you. We don’t really have any rain predicted until next week which I’m actually looking forward to.
Beautiful.
Thanks. The Yosemite backcountry is spectacularly beautiful.
Our rather violent storms of last night are over, leaving a comfortable if overcast day. At least the humidity is gone.
The autumn air arrived here last night. The indoor thermometer reads the same as a few days ago when it was hot outside, but now for some strange reason, I feel like wearing a sweatshirt instead of a tee.
Beautiful here today. I hope that it lasts.
Keeping with the theme from yesterday’s diary, commemorating the death of Stephen Bantu Biko, here is the title track from the album, “Song for Biko” by the late South African bassist, Johnny Dyani.
click for larger