Sunday, November 13, 2011

Teresa Jean Waite

You'd be 32. You were a fleeting hope, a dream, our first, and forever a memory.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

We've Gone Solar

We had hoped to install a 3.0Kw system, but 2 roof vents and a skylight limited us to 2.0Kw. This will be enough to provide 33% to 40% of our electricity needs.





Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Desert Pirate's Booty

There's lots of black obsidian there, although much of it is mixed with rhyolite and other igneous material. The yellow and reddish rocks below the black obsidian includes some rare pumpkin obsidian. A couple of the black pieces have traces of snowflake obsidian. We'll go back later for more of the flat sedimentary rock for landscaping in Idaho and Oregon.




Rockhounding in the Southern Idaho Desert 4

To get back to the Twin I headed up Road 500 into the South Hills. Some very welcome rain washed off several pounds of road dust.





Rockhounding in the Southern Idaho Desert 3

Day 2 of rockhounding led me to the Shoshone Basin, south of Twin Falls and east of Hwy 93. Most backroads are unmarked, so I ended up way to the south than I intended. Thanks to my excellent sense of direction, spotty cell phone reception, and built in compass in the Subaru Outback, I got back on track. The haul in rocks was excellent!







Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Rockhounding in the Southern Idaho Desert 2

More photos of the southern Idaho desert. The last 2 are at and on the way to Norton Bay at Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir. The first 2 are on the Rabbit Springs road which leaves Hwy 93 just north of the ID-NV border and rejoins in "downtown" Jackpot, NV. I found most of my new rock collection on the Norton Bay road.




Rockhounding in the Southern Idaho Desert 1

Off Hwy 93, about 8 miles north of the ID-NV border is a gravel/dirt road to Norton Bay at the south end of Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir. About half way there I took a more primitive dirt road spur up to some low hills for some rockhounding. A wash (dry stream bed) there was a great source of interesting rocks, including obsidian, and wildlife. I looked and looked for snakes but didn't see or hear a single one.

Check out the animal below. It turned out to be a Greater Short-Horned Lizard. When I first saw it I thought it was a snake head without a body! I threw a couple pebbles at it. Nothing. So then I poked it a couple times with a long, pointed rock. No reaction. I flipped it over a couple times, but it stayed there, unmoving. Their defense mechanism is to puff up and stay still. That's what it was doing - determined to wait patiently next to the wash, anticipating the next big thunderstorm and flash flood.


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Elsa's First Trip to the Beach

Just moments after this 1st video, and with the camera now off, a sneaker wave swept in and nearly wiped out our beach umbrellas. We barely had enough time to run up the beach and grab mat and blanket off the beach. The beach? Hug Point, south of Cannon Beach, Oregon.






Elsa's Interpretive Dance - Dance of the Tissues

On June 29 we ate dinner with just-arrived Jon-Mo-Elsa at a Korean restaurant in Beaverton (Du Koh Bee). Elsa entertained herself (and us) by ripping several napkins into little pieces, then dancing on them on the table. No video camera! So we tried to recreate her Dance of the Tissues the next day at home. She could only give us a brief taste of her dancing abilities.


Elsa Rose and Her VIP's - 2 in May and 5 in July


July 2011. Scary!

Lolo (Grandpa)

Hug for mommy.

Elsa really looks like her daddy here.

Lola (Grandma)

Aunt Lorna, in May.

Aunt Lorna, Uncle Shawn and Cousin Jason, in May.

4-months old, lounging around among diaper collection.

Part 2 - Lucy Calkins Summer Reading Institute - Columbia University July 2011

Besides the incredible 5-day Institute, there was time for enjoying a bit of New York during my 2nd visit there (first in 2004). July 6 Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater with 3 McKay colleagues was amazing. The first 3 photos, below, were taken with my Sony flip cam. It's been great on the videos, but had a hard time delivering quality pics inside the Apollo lobby. The other photos were taken on my iPhone. The best thing about Amateur Night was the house band and MC. There was some great amateur talent, and some not so great. The second best thing was the aggressive usher with the scary flashlight. Taking photos inside the Apollo is strongly discouraged and can lead to being tossed!


Below, rainy day July 8, following day 4 of The Institute, a quick subway ride down Central Park West to Columbus Circle, then a walk down towards Times Square. Later, dinner with 5 McKay colleagues at a spendy Italian restaurant on 8th Ave and 54th Street. Yum.