The Big Walkabout

Well, the big walkabout happened this past weekend, in which Ryan and I hiked from Pine Ridge near Ashland up to Rutherford Bridge ... near Englewood. All in all around an 8 mile hike through Mark Twain National Forest on the Cedar Creek Trail System. I'll warn you in advance that I did not take a ton of pictures on this trip due to some of the difficulties we encountered. Next time we try this it will be a lot more relaxed.

We'd planned on doing this for some time, and waited for the first break in the hot weather combined with a weekend we were both free. That happened last weekend. Before that, we experimented with various soda can alcohol stove designs and our lightweight mess kits.

I had borrowed an external frame backpack from Mark (actually, technically it is an internal frame pack, but the frame elements are, in fact, on the outside of the pack) that appears to be U.S. Army issue, or at least was at one time as verified by Brian -- who knows about military product codes (having been in Supply Administration for the U.S. Marines). The pack itself isn't all that light. I didn't weigh it by itself (I should do that tonight) but I imagine it weighs 7 lbs or so. I put my 3 lb, 2 oz tent and my fleece sleeping bag (about the same weight?) in it, and strapped my ... ~5 lb self-inflating mattress pad to it. That gets us up to ~18.5 lbs. Add 4 lbs of water, a 1 lb water filter, 0.5 lb cook kit, 1 lb of fuel.... 21 lbs. 2 lbs of food. another 4 lbs of clothes.... you see where this is headed. I weighed it the night before we went. 29 lbs. That's about the upper limit of "lightweight" for this kind of trip.

Before I left we added a few more things. Little did I know I was carrying about 39 lbs.

The backpack frame is ultimately too small for my torso. I can't get it to transfer the weight to my hips. It wants to tug on my shoulders too much. Finally, I cinched it down on my hip bones so tight that they hurt slightly, and I could get most of it to transfer. It isn't a wide-belt one like my Mountainsmith Daypack. I started to feel for our soldiers.

We dropped Ryan's car off at Rutherford Bridge, and Vicki took us to Pine Ridge. We went to the parking area supposedly by the trailhead, and spent the next hour ... trying to find the trailhead. It turns out that parking place really isn't for the trailhead. Frankly, I'm not sure what it's for. We used the GPS to head toward where we were sure the trail should be. Ended up crossing a road... turns out the first part of the trail was along this road. We'd gone too far, so we had to backtrack to see where the trail split off of it. We found it, and headed out on our way.

That first hour we spent in a field with tall grass. I had made a mixture of sulfur and baby powder to keep chiggers at bay, and we'd put it on our socks and legs. Next time, we'll have to be more liberal with it.

We hiked through a pretty field further down the trail, and wound our way to the Nevins Homestead -- a cabin and a barn, both falling apart, where a black family had lived years ago from 1905-1982. The original cabin may have been built as early as 1856. There was a little history written up on a sign next to the house. Columbus Nevins was active in the Civil Rights movement.

From there we crossed CR363 and into the next section of trail.

We stopped for lunch around 1:30 ... about 2 and a half hours into the hike. We had used half our water. There wasn't any water in any of the dry branches of the creek system to be had. At that point I knew we pretty much needed to camp by Cedar Creek, which meant going all the way to "the hotdog spot". And we weren't even halfway there. We had passed a group of ladies walking the trail, and I figured they must be staying around a campsite we knew we should be coming upon any time. They came back and passed us while we were eating lunch and resting, so I asked one of them if that's where they came from, if it was close, and if there was any water. Thankfully, they said it was about 3 minutes ahead and yes, it had water.

So we tanked the rest of our water and struck out for the campsite. Filled our hydration bladders and an empty water bottle I had brought along just in case.

The next leg of the journey was around a mile along a gravel county road, and we picked up the pace. Caught a few minutes of the MU football game on a little radio Ryan had brought. We were ahead 20-7 with something like 9 minutes left. But we lost reception. That did, however, help pass the time on this not-so-interesting part of the journey.

Eventually we hit another trailhead where the trail went off the road and up toward the trail loop that leads, in part, to "the hotdog spot" (so named because that's an established camp site with a fire ring Ryan and Daryl ... and I ... have often stopped and cooked a lunch of hotdogs over a fire.

All in all, it's a generally hilly hike, but nothing too steep. We went through one large field early on, and a smaller one on this leg. At one point a trail ride of about 30 horses came down the trail, and we stopped and let them pass with appropriate "howdy"'s and small talk with the riders as they passed. And before we knew it, we were at the junction with the other trail.

This whole time I had been constantly adjusting my backpack, trying to keep my shoulders from cramping up without cutting off the circulation to my legs. I'd finally found a pretty good compromise, though.

We sat on our little tripod folding seats we packed along -- and decided they were worth their two pounds of weight. The hotdog spot shouldn't be more than 25 minutes away to the West.

We struck out for it after about 15 minutes. We considered camping on Gilligan's Island (our name for it) where our winter/spring walkabouts usually ended up since we more likely wouldn't have company there, but that would be another 30 minutes of hiking, plus 30 more in the morning. We sat down.

When we stood up, we both realized how beat we were. I was dizzy. Low blood sugar. It was about 4:00 when we got there. We set our tents up. I thought a nap sounded really good. But I probably wouldn't have gotten up. I laid down on my self-inflating mattress for a few minutes and forced myself to get up.

We cooked dinner -- Dried instant rice/bean meals to which I added texturized vegetable protein (tastes like chic-ken ... well, sort of). Started to get a second wind. We played around with the three survival kits Ryan had brought to test out. Started a fire with a flint & some oil soaked cotton balls that were in one. Sat on our chairs. Drank Turkey out of our flasks. Enjoyed a pipe, the fire, and the sounds of the Mid-Missouri forest. We even got a whipoorwill right around dark. And then we crashed.

Got up at about 6:30 the next morning. Filtered some water from the creek to cook our oatmeal breakfasts, then broke camp and hiked out. I got phone reception from the top of a bluff and called Vicki to let her know we were on our way out.

We're still pretty sore, and Ryan got downright infested with chiggers. I got a few down by my ankles and a couple under my watch.

We'll do it again sometime, with a different backpack, less weight, cooler weather and after the chiggers get killed off by frost -- or we'll go nuts with the sulfur powder. The only place Ryan didn't get chigger bites on his legs was where he'd spilled a bunch of it on his leg.

And that's the name of that story.

Well, Crikey!

So sad to hear of Steve Erwin's shocking and untimely passing. We watched him so much the first couple of years he was on we felt like we almost knew him. He was a lot of fun, and it looks like he lived life full throttle.

I'll add my condolences to the enormous pile of condolences to Terri, Bindi, and Robert -- unfortunately, all the condolences in the world won't bring him back -- but know that a huge chunk of the world grieves with you.

We're glad we knew ya, mate!

Irish Fest

I decided to make a quick solo trip to Kansas City to go to Irish Fest -- for which Cami is in charge of graphic design -- and pretty much works her little Cami tail off getting it all together and working the fest itself. I think she actually got to enjoy some of it this year.

Vicki decided to sit it out -- she thought Mark and I could use some no-girls visit time. Since Cami lives at the fest on fest weekend, that's what it would be.

Mark wasn't feeling well -- he got into some poison ivy a week or so ago on his new property. He was slathered in calamine and doped up on anti-histamines. But he was kind enough to take me and Cami gave us the royal treatment. Well, hey, we're family, right?

Irish fest is mostly about the music. There are a lot of vendors if you're in to that, and a kids' tent, and a kind of "Celtic Family History" area ... and a whole lotta redheads.

When we got there a band called Seven Nations was playing. They were Celtic Rock, with an emphasis on the rock but a firm foot in the Celtic as well. The lead singer (Kirk McLeod) reminded me of a young Stephen Stills (the #15 shirt didn't hurt that perception any). I adopted him as my Rock Persona Alter Ego.

Luka Bloom couldn't make it due to strep throat or something -- I am disappointed, Luka. I was really looking forward to seeing you. And while I don't have anything in particular against the Hot House Flowers, they aren't you. Take care of yourself and come next year, dammit!

Gaelic Storm did not disappoint. We saw them at Jesse Auditorium last year and they are an extremely talented group of musicians and they have a real entertainer for a frontman. Not to mention the lovely and talented Ellery Klein on the fiddle. Where was she when I was in College? Eh. She was probably 10. (if she were in college when I was, I wouldn't have stood a chance anyway) I wondered aloud to Cami and Mark why music like that isn't mainstream? It's freakin' awesome! Beats the heck out of Snoop-shizz-nizzle and Paris flippin' Hilton. (Why is she famous, again?) Anyway, I got to go right up to the stage and take pictures. That was cool. Immersed in a crowd of several hundred people most of whom probably felt the same way I did.

We stayed later than we'd planned -- got home around 10:00. Mark and I sang and played until about 1:00 am, bless the poor guy. I'm sure he was beat. Poison ivy and antihistamines are no fun.

Cassie mostly played with friends. I raced cars with Nathanial for a while. Of course, he always got the blue car that stays on the track much better. He set a record by going around the track 20 times without flying off! Next time I'll bring some epoxy putty and modify the gold car to be heavier. Then I'll beat him! Yeah. Always cool to beat a 6 year old. Got my game on, dude!

I left around 1:00 in the afternoon. Stopped by Cummins tools to see what they had. Found a couple of collapsable cups and a couple of stainless Sierra style cups. Headed home.

Today I fixed (hopefully) the leak in Vicki's windshield. She was being awfully patient about it. I didn't want to pay someone to do it, and I didn't want to do it when it was hot. Or raining. Or after work. Well, those three stars lined up perfectly today.

Went to work on another alcohol stove. It still won't boil 2 cups of water on a tablespoon (my elusive goal) but it'll do it on 4 teaspoons like my pressurized model and -- it'll simmer. It is more efficient, I believe, than the pressurized one. Slower, but more efficient. And more flexible.

And while we're waltzing down memory lane

Here's the guy who taught me how to juggle back in 1985 or so. His name was David Stemmerman. Real nice guy. He truly wanted to make it juggling -- that is, be able to make a living doing it. His life was juggling. When I knew him, he lived in a closet in a basement on east campus -- he was renting it for $30 a month. His bed (a matress set on a box spring, probably a twin bed) fit tightly between the walls to the back of the "room". He had a trunk and a lamp, and I think a phone -- although I think it only worked when he could afford it. He shared a kitchen with several other people there, and a bathroom as well. Talk about your starving artist.

Wonder what ever happened to Dave?

Well, Dave, if you're out there, I never got past three objects, but three has been satisfying. Thank you, Dave.

Speaking of Shorts...

When I first got to college ... um... over 20 years ago, was when this bermuda shorts thing became popular. I thought it was a sad day in the history of shorts when they became popular. It's still hard to find a pair of shorts in the store that doesn't go down to your knees. Thankfully, in the last several years, people haven't been afraid to wear shorts that are at least several inches off the knee... a big improvement.

(yours truly, above, showing what shorts are SUPPOSED to look like ;-) )

I am often reminded of a cartoon in the Maneater eleventy jillion years ago there was a cartoon that pretty much captured how I felt about it. I mean, 24 years later, they've grown on me some (meaning I don't just hate them anymore) ... but ... as I was digging through old memory boxes to find that drawing of Johanna, I came across the cartoon -- and since it still appears somewhat timely... (click on it if you want to actually be able to read it)



No idea who Dr. Donald was ... but thanks, Doc.

A Happy Fashion Trend

Nothing's more "American Summer" than a pair of cut-off blue jeans.

I've also always had a thing for denim skirts. In college, a girl in a denim skirt, white blouse, and red shoes would grab my involuntary attention in a heartbeat.

Recently, a new trend which combines these two favorites of mine has really gotten popular, and I must say, I approve. It adds a little edge to a classic look, and a little class to an edgy look. During rush this year there was a whole sorrority full of girls in t-shirts and cut-off jean skirts. That's when I knew it had arrived. I can't say I'm disappointed.

Donavon Frankenreiter

I mentioned going to see "Snakes on a Plane".

About the most memorable thing about it was the opening song while the credits were running -- a song called "Lovely Day" by Donavon Frankenreiter.

I'd never heard of him, but I looked up the song on the soundtrack and listened to the rest of his stuff that's available on Rhapsody. It's really good stuff.

Despite the fact that Rhapsody lists him in the "Adult Alternative" category (alternative to what?) -- he has, in my opinion, strong Jesse Colin Young & Johnathan Edwards influences -- both good things in my book. Not that anything by Jesse Colin Young they have on Rhapsody is even a shadow of the classic Song for Juli album I'm mostly thinking of.

Donavon's music is very... "Phil". Reccomended.

update: Turns out this dude is a surfer-turned-musician. Cool.

Hummingbird Moth

Sitting out with the boys doing cigars (well, I had a pipe, but... no matter) across the street tonight, and Daryl saw this moth at Kristie's petunia pot. It had a lot of petunias to attend to, so I ran across the street and got the camera and managed one shot before it left.

Never seen one of these before. They're literally as large as a humming bird, and make their living about the same way. This is a White-Lined Sphynx Hummingbird Moth.

Check that tounge out! The thing's twice as long as the moth!

Enjoy!

The Wonderful World Wide Web

Ok, so the Finnish reference in the Air Guitar story ... and Björn Türoque reminded me of a girl I went to High School with (well, sort of. She was a Finnish exchange student our senior year) Her name was Johanna Sarmela. Stunningly beautiful girl, she was, easily the prettiest in at St. Clair High School at the time. Not only did she have clear eyes that smiled and sparkled, practically perfect complexion, and gorgeous fine off-blonde hair that never seemed out of place no matter how it moved - she also had a mature, kind, and gentle aura about her which nobody else my age seemed to have. Of course, her foriegn accent didn't hurt any, either. Quite endearing.

Although I didn't know her well, her beauty (and her brains-she was intelligent!) and her kind disposition somehow inspired in me some foolish courage to ... ask her to the senior prom. I didn't expect her to say "yes" but it was ... I don't know. I was a terribly shy and incredibly socially-inept teenager without the courage to ask even someone who knew me well and I liked out on a date (that's an entirely different story). But something about this young lady moved me to just damn the inevitable rejection -- because it would be worth taking the infinitesimal chance that maybe, just maybe... she might say yes.

She didn't.

I didn't blame her. I probably wouldn't have gone with me, either. She was very nice about it (which, in retrospect I probably figured she would be and that probably helped me get through my gut-wrenching apprehension). Anyway... that was that.

One thing I used to be pretty good at in high school was art, and I took 4 years of art. As sort of a tribute (or maybe as an excuse to gaze at her picture for hours on end), I made a pencil sketch of her with a Finnish Flag for a pendant round her neck and gave it to her. I thought for a moment I might not have given her the original, but all I have is a photocopy. Good. At least I had the class to give it to her. I don't think I did two originals. Anyway, that's it at the top of this post.

Anyway, just out of curiosity, I typed her name into Google today, expecting to find anything about her about as much as I expected her to say "yes" when I asked her to be my prom date. Well, life is much luckier for me than it used to be in general, and lo and behold, I found her. A tiny picture of her told me immediately it was her. I gathered from looking at the page (which is all in Finnish) that she is some sort of eye specialist in Helsinki at a private eye clinic (I did do some Finnish-English translation ... what I could, from an online dicitonary).

Sometimes you just want to know how people you knew are doing today. It's even cooler when they're halfway around the world for some reason.

Twenty four years later, still as pretty as ever. Well thought-of by her collegues*. And probably fairly successful. And helping people to see.

That's nice to know.

* from a reference to her in a collegue's thesis paper.

In other news

We finally got a real rain. About an inch and a half one night, and the first 3/4 probably fell too fast. But still. I'm not complaining.

We took Mom back to Fort Wayne a couple of weekends ago and stayed for a couple intervening days. Powerwashed and painted the porches, and Vicki did her cleaning magic on the garage and pulled weeds and day lily stems out of the yard (which was quite a task in itself). Vicki also had me fix a very minor problem with the wooden blinds in the bathroom -- a couple of slats were not attached to the... er... slat mover... it's been that way as long as I can remember it, and I'm not sure Vicki even remembers how long its been like that. But thanks to a couple of small staples from Lowe's, a little superglue, and my trusty Leatherman tool, it's as good as new.

We went to the Decateur Cemetery to hunt down the graves of relatives and friends of the family. Vicki had me take pictures so we'd know what to look for -- maybe more importantly so the boys would know what to look for ... if we should ever go back there without Mom as a guide. I noticed a piece of plywood on the ground nearby some of the graves and some disturbed dirt. I figured they were working on a new grave. I was right. Either they weren't done with it yet, or you really only get burried about 4 feet under.

Since coming home, Ryan and I have been working over different alcohol stoves for camping/lightweight packpacking. My original V8 pressurized stove still works very well, boiling 2 cups of summertime tapwater in 4:20 and burning for around 6 or so minutes total on 2 oz of alchohol. Still, Sgt Rock's Ion stove is supposed to be more efficient, boiling 2 cups of water (not as quickly) on only a half ounce of alchohol. For lightweight packers, less fuel needed = less weight. I had built one a few years ago that I was disappointed with (because my pressurized one was so much faster and it wasn't like I needed to take a weeks worth or more of fuel with me on last year's trip) -- I got it out again and it would boil the 2 cups on about 4 teaspoons -- not quite as efficent, plus it won't do his cool 22 minute simmer on 6 ml, either. I may try building another one.

I did build a new pressurized V8 stove last night, though, this time with much smaller holes than my original, which I want to test tonight and see if its any more efficient than the original.

Boys never get tired of playing with fire.

(well, neither do some girls -- had to laugh at the line from Snakes on a Plane where Julianna Margulies says "I went through a pyromaniac phase as a teenager" as she hands Samuel Jackson an impromptu flame thrower made from a zippo lighter duct-taped to a hairspray bottle -- gotta love a girl like that!)

So yes... that does mean we went to see Snakes on a Plane.... a terrible movie, but also a terribly entertaining movie. It was, I think, kind of a subtle spoof on the genre, but still held together enough so that it wasn't obviously a spoof. You do have to take your sense of humor into the movie with you.

Vicki's feet came up off the floor not too long after the snakes got loose. She only jumped and yelped once, though ;-)

I feel so cool now

A week or two ago in an email from my college friend Sarah, she asked if I still played air guitar.

Frankly, I had forgotten all about the fact that I was a prolific air guitarist in college. Probably on purpose. I must have been much more comfortable in front of her and Karen than I remember, because -- well I just have a rough time imagining myself doing it -- but I must have. And probably frequently.

Well, via Blonde Sagacity, I came across something she was tipped off to by Just Rose -- that gave me a good laugh now that I have been reminded of my air-bending past.

Apparently, Air Guitar is a relatively big thing now. And there are Air Guitar Championships. So I emailed Sarah the post from ALa. She emails me back with this story about Björn Türoque (pronounced B-yorn Too-Rawk).

I may have to buy the book.

Anyway, the cool thing is, I can brush that question aside now. I told Sarah I don't have to anymore. I play my real one :-)

Promises, Promises

Tuesday night, as it pretended it was actually going to rain, we got this rainbow. Just as I tripped the shutter, a hummingbird zoomed into view.

Promises, promises.

Another high of about 100 today, followed by hopefully some decent rain tonight and a cooler tomorrow.

Off With a Hitch

The big day has come and gone, and I am, once again, a father-in-law. And I do love my new daughter-in-law. Brian and Kristin are now, as the bishop in The Princess Bride said, man and wife! And currently they're hopefully enjoying themselves in Hawaii.

Someone asked me if it went off without a hitch. I thought that was an interesting choice of words. I answered "well, just one" (with a grin).

That's not quite true. The maid of honor rear-ended the bride on the way to the wedding - nobody was hurt. And as we went to leave for the reception, we had a flat tire. So I was out in the 100 degree heat in a tux changing a tire before the reception.

Dick & Dorothy came up from Texas, and Linda brought Mom down from Indiana. We stayed in a bed and breakfast near Kristin's Warsaw home. The rehearsal dinner went fine, and the wedding service was nice with a good sermon about their upcoming journey.

My contingent (0utside of Vicki's family) consisted of Tom & Betty, Joel & Dawn, Mark & Cami & kids, Mike & Lois & kids, Ryan & Kristie, and Sam.

We've had a nice visit with Dick & Dorothy & Mom the last few days. Dick & Dorothy left for Texas today, and we'll take Mom back to Fort Wayne this weekend, I guess.

We've had a few more 100 degree days and no rain to speak of. The trees look tired, and the rain is teasing us to the north and to the south. We got about 5 minutes of very light sprinkling yesterday.

I spent a lot of yesterday editing pictures -- cropping, reducing red-eye.... to share them out to the interested parties from the wedding. We got a few prints today.

Next big thing is the Colorado trip at the end of next month. :-) Can't wait for that.

These are the states I know, I know....

Morgan showed me a site where you can map out all the states you've been in.

Here's mine.

Some of these states, while I've technically been in them, I wouldn't say I've visited. Some of them I've barely clipped. Maryland I flew to. Went from the Baltimore Airport to Washington DC. And didn't see much there, either except a quick drive at sunset one day around the Capitol & White House. Still. Kinda fun.

I'd like to see the Dakotas and the Pacific Northwest, followed by Minnesota, then the Virginias & Carolinas -- and finally, the Northeast.

It's too darned hot!

I shouldn't complain. It's been a pretty nice summer so far, temperature-wise. But this week with heat indicies well over 100 degrees and actual ambient air tempatures either flirting with or hitting the 100 degree mark... I have just one word.

Pleah!

My car's in the shop this week getting the dent fixed and new front tires. We're staying indoors as much as possible. The big news is that Aunt Pat stopped at our oasis on her way back from Colorado and we had a nice visit. I'm afraid we wore her out Saturday & Sunday, though, as she & Sam went golfing. In the heat. We actually went with them Sunday. First time I'd ever been on a golf course. Eh. I could enjoy it I suppose. Definitely on a cooler day. But I played paparatzi and took photos instead. Imagine that.

Sam took this one of Aunt Pat and me, which turned out pretty nice I think.

Other than the golf, our visit was pretty low-key. But that's kinda the way we are, normally. Vicki and Aunt Pat played cards & dominoes, and we talked. Sat out on the deck in the evenings for "Cocktail Hour" (hey, I think I'm going to like retirement ... but that's a ways off).

She left yesterday morning, after a scare with Dad (her brother) -- he thought maybe he had another leg blood clot, but apparently it's just complications from his valve problem in his legs. His blood thickness test came back fine. So I guess chinese silkworm stomach enzymes DO work.

We've decided on, probably, the Maroon Bells/Snowmass Wilderness area this September -- going to go see the mountains with their Aspens on. Might be a little nippy at night, so I'm thinking about maybe one of those catalytic tent heaters. Still need to find a good camping location there.

In other news, I'm having a little dispute with an Ebay seller over a replacement cell phone I ordered over a month ago. Their feedback is generally very good. I did note that the negative comments seem to be poor communication when the product is defective. Well mine was defective, and I'm experiencing the same thing. I shipped it back to them. I used the post office's Track & Confirm. Post Office said it was delivered almost a month ago. They say they don't have it and want me to get proof that the post office delivered it to the correct address.

Now I suppose it is possible that they did not, but that possibility is extremely remote. Judging by their carelessness in correspondence (ignoring several emails over the past two weeks), I think it's much more likely that they got it and misplaced it. At any rate, I'm out $66 if they don't agree that they got it, I guess. Even if I did insure it, as far as the post office is concerned it was delivered, so it wouldn't matter.

So if it doesn't work out, I guess the lesson is get signature confirmation on these things. But I was unhappy enough about having to pay return postage on it, much less add on signature confirmation.

Well, stay tuned on that one.

General Stuff

That last post chronicled Vicki's and my visit with Sam out at his pond on the first, and then a visit with much of the Leith clan at Mom & Dad's on the 4th (I think Ryan and Kristie made it in there, too, from Sunday evening). Aunt Pat came up from Florida to visit everyone so we used that as an excuse to gather. Cousin Dawn and her husband Marty came down (Dawn still takes a good picture, doesn't she?) Julie and Guy, and Uncle Eddie and our other Aunt Pat. Tom, Betty, Joel, Jeff.... I had fun with Jeff playing a few tunes on the guitar and dulcimer. Jeff "gets" music theory better than I do and picked up the dulcimer pretty quickly.

I took Monday off and patched woodpecker holes on the back of the house and re-painted that whole side of the house -- most of it was on the chimney. We need concrete siding. Well, I did use autobody putty for the patching material. That's pretty hard stuff. Anyway it looks much better now.

Last Thursday we went down to Cooper's Landing. It was a beautiful evening, and my guitar instructor Lee Ruth was playing and I'd never seen him perform. He plays a lot of river songs, and his own songs have a certain warm quirkiness about it that matches his voice well. The sunset over the river was beautiful, and provided some good light on Lee which just completed the picture -- I think I was able to capture the mood quite well. I love the sunlight on his old Martin -- I think it's a D-18, and it's probably about 50 years old and it shows it. The sunlight helps visually marry the two subjects and might give an idea of what it sounded like as well.

There's a trailer-kitchen down there, like those you find at a fair where this Thai lady cooks up Thai food... we had Thai BBQ, which frankly tasted a lot like American BBQ. Not that that's a bad thing. There was a nice Thai cucumber salad, though, with hot peppers in it that was unique and went well with the ribs.

Let's see, I added a couple of shelves to the workbench in the garage to stash things like my coffee cans of random fasteners and some odd tools in boxes -- hole saw, mitre box saw -- things that don't hang well on peg board or take up too much room in a toolbox drawer.

Sarah and Mark & family just got back from Colorado, and she sent pictures because she is cruel and heartless and loves to taunt me. Actually, I appreciate hearing from an old friend and I always appreciate mountain pictures. She and I go back to our college days where I spent my time unfortunately too captivated by her roommate to fully appreciate her. She helped me through a fairly rough period in my life after I graduated and was always a good friend. It's good to have her in my life again, however peripherally. And she seems to share our love for the mountains. *sigh* Mountains. (Photo by Sarah)

Vicki and I went through pictures this weekend, culling ones we didn't want anymore and organizing some of the rest. I went through my old ones and found a few pictures of Sarah in College. She was always very photogenic -- and then there was me. So here's a gooofball shot of us back then. (I'm pretty sure I was pointing her face at the camera so she wouldn't hide it). Yeah. The cute one is Sarah, in case you're wondering.

We also ran across this great old one of Vicki with quite the glamorous hair do. Never knew she ever had it that way. And she said all the guys were after her roommate. Huh. Strange guys. I saw her room mate and I know which one I would've picked (hint, I'd remain in a married state if I told you).

Last night I decided it was time to fix the drip edge/gutter situation in front of the garage. Whoever installed it installed the gutter on the wrong side, and a lot of water from the roof ended up running down behind the gutter, causing an annoying cascade out front whenever it rained. Taking it apart was cake, but I soon figured out why they did it that way (no, it was still wrong but they did it that way because they were too lazy to fix the problem and do it right). The drip edge was longer than the gutter and wouldn't fit inside. So I had to cut it. I still had quite a bit of trouble getting it back up behind the drip edge and had to have Vicki come out and suffer the 100% (not exaggerating!) humidity and mosquitoes. It was only about 73 degrees outside, but the dewpoint was also 73 and absolutely no sweat would evaporate. It was not raining and yet I was very quickly drenched. Needless to say, a shower was in order after that ordeal. But it's done (except I need to re-patch a seam on the corner with some caulk when the gutter dries out.)

4th Weekend Photo Essay

If a picture paints a thousand words, then you've got a LOT of reading ahead of you.