M F A T B

Walking New Hampshire

2010-05-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 17th: Morse Preserve, Alton

I read about this new preserve in Forest Notes, the publication for the NH Forest Society. I was interested to explore the roads up the Alton Mountain direction, which include Silver Lake and Crystal Lake. It was a beautiful day, both for the scenic drive along Winnepesaukee and for the easy hike up Pine Mountain on the preserve.

The property begins on Avery Hill Road, a lovely gradually climbing overgrown pasture. After passing through a short wooded area, the path moved upward through blueberry patches. There were several interesting stands of shaggy pines and a lovely birch grove.

After passing through the birch grove, the path wound over patches of bald granite and through more blueberries, finally arriving at the vista point.

All Winnepesaukee was spread out below me. The Broads were quiet but I spotted several sails in Alton Bay.

UP: Beautiful day, easy hike, lovely view.

DOWN: Trail needs more markers; the most ticks I have ever had on me after a hike!

***

MFATB

2010-01-12T10:07:00.000-08:00

I have changed the title of this blog to MFATB "my feeble attempt to blog" and hope that eventually I can change the F to something more positive. In any case, it is a new year and appropriate time for some musings. I should at least work as hard as this leaf cutter ant appears to be!

Did you ever wonder...oh no, I sound like that guy on 20/20...

Start over...

Today I wanted to download some music from Juan Carlos Urena, a Costa Rican artist. I learned from Itunes that I live in Guatemala! I guess that's because of the IP address for the internet modem from Claro that we bought. Claro is a Guatemalan based company. Well, it's not far from Honduras so I figure if my IP address was Honduras, I'd still be kicked out. That's right, no downloads for you!

So how is it in Honduras? Cold (70 degrees) and rainy for the past week. I know, not cold like NH but nonetheless. The new Honduran government is installed on the 26th of this month. We have had fairly reliable electricity from the new Roatan Electric Coop. The roads here have been repaired are in the best condition in the 5 years we have been coming down. We have had materials for our metal roof replacement sitting in our yard for nearly 2 weeks waiting for a sunny day for the crew to start.

Bruce has been working on a pal's ATV for the past week. It's kind of the gift that keeps on giving. Every time he fixes something and moves to the next, there's a new opportunity! Keeps him laughing. He had hoped to be working on the cistern project but that's been held up by the weather too.

What do I do all day here? Here's a typical day: wake up; cup of tea; take an hour walk; breakfast; email; clean; read; errands/lunch; email; swim (if sunny); read; email; cocktails; dinner; email; read.

Feeble, yes?

Thoughts on Father's Day

2009-06-23T11:58:00.000-07:00

Just a few that crossed my mind this past Father's Day:

1. Father is both a noun and a verb. The noun is taught in first grade. I'm not sure when the concept of the verb is taught. Or where or by whom.

2. My four brothers are fathers.

3. My three sons are fathers.

4. My father is going to be 82 next week. He has lived to a greater age than his father.

Dad constantly amazes me. On Father's Day, I spent the afternoon with him. We "made dirt".

Then we filled in and seeded some bald spots in the front lawn. All the while, he told me stories I'd never heard before about the summer before he entered Princeton. He was 20 and had just completed his "extra" year at Haverford after serving in the Navy. He took a bus out to River City, Iowa and worked in his Uncle Jack's fertilizer plant. He told me about the various jobs he did in the plant and about his friends there. (This came up because we were discussing the word "screen".)

Then, when the bugs became intolerable and we discovered it was past 5:00, we adjourned to the house for our libations. It was a great afternoon. Thanks, D.O.D.

How to Begin?

2008-12-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

The full moon will arrive later this week and that will mark one month since my friend Don's death. The full moon has become a reminder rather than a counter for me. I spent an hour down at our dock taking pictures of the rising moon on the night that Don went missing, November 12th. I have not taken any pictures since then and that bothers me. Damn it. I have to shake this off and get back to living. I would never have thought this would be so difficult. Where has my sense of humor gone? Where is my passion for anything? How to begin again?

Seamus

2008-11-08T09:59:00.000-08:00

No, not the Most Eligible Bachelor...this Seamus is a border collie rescue dog who is now living with Sarah.

Thoughts Post-Election Pre-Travel

2008-11-06T00:43:00.000-08:00

Yah, it was a happy evening at The Homestead on Tuesday. The SO brought down his shop radio to follow NPR's coverage and we were surprised at the quick 10:01 pm announcement that M had conceded. WOW. The phone rang constantly today as all our friends were making contact to share the enthusiasm.

What do you think - can this last? Will the US "me-generation" wake up?

I'm heading down to the Winter Palacio on Saturday. There are a whole 'nuther set of trubbles going on there right now related to the "new" ownership of the electric coop. There was a coop vote to sell 51% of the shares to a US company with specialty in alternative energies. Sounds good, right? However, one of the other companies bidding for the shares was a Domincan Republic company (spanish). The spanish-speaking locals (aka "mainlanders") were upset at the time about a gringo company being in control. The kettle was on simmer for months.

Then lately the burner was turned up when the new owners finally started cracking down on the many many households who do not pay their bills and who illegally hook up to the grid. It was no wonder that the old owners had financial problems when they never collected except from the gringos! It is almost as if the locals felt they were entitled to free electricity!

So a couple of weeks ago, a mob set up barracades on the streets and disrupted the tourist business. They were rioting about a billing increase (applied to everyone) and the shutoffs. That was quaffed in short order. But word is that the blockades are up again AND that the electric company has had some sort of major equipment failure causing the power to have been out for the past 2 days with prospect of 3-4 more days with no power. Seems the blockades are keeping the repair people from getting things turned back on.

And I fly in on Saturday afternoon. It is paradise...of the 3rd world variety. This is the sunrise view from our deck.

Bulow Day Off

2008-10-30T12:26:00.001-07:00

I took a break from being hostess-with-the-mostess for The SO's technician class today and visited the Bulow Plantation State Park. I bet you did not know that this SP was the first in the nation to win a Gold Award for Best State Park two years in a row! Yep. Big sign announced that one.

Bulow Creek was beautiful and the nature walk through the former sugar plantation was great. This was founded back in the 1700s and was burned in the Seminole Wars mid-1850s. It has been returning to native woodland since that time. Tall pines draped with spanish moss. Palms dressed with air plants. Armadillos rooting in the pine needled forest floor. Just great.

I had hoped to take a swim but oh well...

I found a little pond with water lilies and spent a few minutes trying various camera settings. This one was a wide angle shot and I think it turned out pretty nice.

Loves Walking Barefoot On The Beach

2008-10-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

The SO and I have been in Flagler Beach, Flah-di-dah, for the past week. It is a stuck in the fifties town which is quiet and quite nice actually! Helping The SO with his teaching gig is keeping me in street shoes instead of barefoot however. And not a single Sudoku completed! We did take a walk Sunday morning and I had some POs. Here's one shot that required some patience and cold toes.

2008-10-16T07:23:00.001-07:00

I have grown so sick of hearing the word "fundamental" lately. So I got interested in the definition. Typed "define:fundamental" in The All Powerful Search Engine. Hummm...

Which is your favorite?

How about: In the area of knowledge management, a fundamental category illuminates a relationship between the subjects and objects of knowledge. A fundamental is basic; it is important because it is something that other things can be built upon.

I think I like this one:

"What I call a surrounding earthiness to the fruit or flavour: a wine with its feet on the ground, not an airy wine. "...www.drinkrhone.com/glossary.html

Substitute that into the next phrase you hear using "fundamental".

I recall a few of these to have contained fundamentals! We need more wine consumed by prezidenshul candy-dates! Then we'll get to the fundamentals!

I Love My Daughter

2008-10-14T17:34:00.001-07:00

She is funny, smart and a joy to hug. The rare times she comes to spend the night here, I look forward to snuggling up with her in the morning. She phoned me Sunday evening to let me know that she was "okay with growing up" and excited about starting her teaching job on Monday. Her friend Lindzee took this shot of her on Mount Percival this past weekend. Catches her personality for me! Braids, plaid and pearls. That's Sar.

And she is likes taking pictures too - here is one she got at the Sandwich Fair this past weekend.

I love the expression on the kid's face at the right of the shot!

2008-10-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Been a busy couple of days at The Homestead. Beautiful weather prompted a flurry (not snow) of outdoor activity sprucing (not the tree) up the yard. Three huge brush piles appear now instead of view-hiding undergrowth. Looks fab for a no maintenance yard!

Today I took The Bomber over to Maine and picked up The World Travelor and The Sherpa. We cruised up the Maine Turnpike to Scarborough to visit with The Amazing Woman Who Won't Die at her hospice. P was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year ago. After several rounds of treatment, including some innovative new therapies, doctors are still amazed that she is still kicking up a fuss a year later. We are just so pleased to still be able to share time with her. Although she said tonight that she is ready to go. Especially since Medicare says she is not staying on Their Schedule. Seems once you go to hospice, you are supposed to die within two weeks. She hasn't so she is being sent home. As she said, well, when I get ready to die again, I can come back here and get another two weeks! Pretty nice place actually. We had some good laughs.

The World Travelor heads to Italy later this week and when she returns, she is going dirt-biking in Oklahoma of all places. The Sherpa returns to Kathmandu in December, so this was the last time this year I'll get to see him this year. He stopped by The Homestead today also. Climbed some trees to fly new prayer flags for me. He is heading to Cho Oyu with climbing clients next spring. Here is a picture of The Sherpa on top Everest last May.

No, I did not take this picture.

Autumn Walk

2008-10-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

Autumn walk

leaves swish and crunch.

Cool cheeks breathe

the smell of harvest and

thoughts turn to wood fires.

Leaves crunch and swish

on an autumn walk.

10-09-08

Serendipity

2008-10-08T07:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's post alluded to the fine line between "lost" and "found". Strangely enough, we had a phone call yesterday from our pal in Canada - they have found our bikes! We are holding our breath for confirmation which will not arrive until this coming Monday. The bikes were stolen in Mt. Tremblant, Quebec on August 18th. We had nearly given up hope of their return but our friends in Canada always believed that the bikes would be found. And their networking did the job for us indeed!

Yesterday was a grand day anyway as the sky was blue and the air warm and just begging to be enjoyed. After morning chores, I picked up Mother in The Bomber ('82 Merc 240D) and took her on a Driving Miss Daisy tour around my favorite PO-s in Tamworth. I wanted to bring up the VP debate as Mother has made a few statements which indicate to me that she may be an undecided for November. But I did not. The day was too nice to possibly bring something negative on board with us.

Here are two of my favorite spots which I call "shaggy barn" and "the gryffyn".

Roads Traveled

2008-10-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Today's quote is from Lewis Carroll (1832-1898):

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there."

To me, this is as much an admonishment as a challenge. Which would you prefer? To know the road and it's destination or to take the road unknown and experience the adventure of defining destination? Or both?

While I will always love maps, we are purchasing a GPS and intend for it to be used only after getting entirely and blissfully "lost", because supposedly the term "lost" doesn't apply when you have a GPS. And after all, we aren't ever really "lost" because we are where we are, right? "Lost" is just a relational label to where you wish(ed) to be. We don't say about ourselves, "I was lost and now I'm found" except in lame lyrics.

In Living Color

2008-10-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

No, not the variety show of the past...but the variety show of the present autumn. We have had the pleasure of several trips which afforded us opportunity to ooh-aah. Just snapping wildly from the car can capture some of the grandeur of our region at this time of year. As October forges on, the reds and oranges will gradually mutate to gold and bronze.

Leaves give this great gift of beauty at the last days of their lives. Would that we would perceive our human last days as an equal opportunity to share beauty. Following is Last Poems 10 by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941):

I'm lost in the middle of my birthday.

I want my friends,

their touch,

with the earth's last love.

I will take life's final offering,

I will take the last human blessing.

Today my sack is empty.

I have given completely

whatever I had to give.

In return if I receive anything-

some love, some forgiveness-

then I will take it with me

when I step on the boat that crosses

to the festival of the wordless end.

Ghandi's Birthday October 2nd

2008-10-02T16:30:00.000-07:00

Today's "quote of the day" was from Mahatma Ghandi, who was born on this day in 1869.

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

An apt quote in this election campaign and a reminder to all of us that being active in effecting change is the only way to responsibly change anything including oneself.

Another quote referenced in the Ghandi section:

"Whenever you have truth, it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected."

We see this in nearly all the places that the "USA is the only way" philosophy is trotted out, don't you think?

Anyway, it also brought back memories of my 2004 trip to Nepal. Nepal is both Hindu, Buddhist and anti-regious Communist. It is a fascinating blend and everyone seems to get along very well. Unlike the non-sharing between religions and religious sects that goes on in the Mid-East. I wonder why that is? Could it be because Hindus do not have a primary god and Buddhists do not acknowledge any god? Maybe "god" is the problem and not the solution that so many are looking for in their lives.

Here is the Hindu temple Pashupati, on the banks of the Bagmati River. Many devout Hindus travel here when aged or diseased as dying at this site is said to be of great benefit. The funerary pyres are all along the river here and the remains are scattered into the waters. Bathing here is said to be full of blessings.

There is an acceptance of death and dying also not seen in western religions. It is a coincidence to have these thoughts come up for me today. You see, when Bruce and I go off on a motorcycle trip together, as the passenger I sometimes find myself distractedly singing some dumb song or repeating something over and over (Chateauguy, Chateauguy, Chateauguy). When I find myself doing this, I try to be mindful to bring a meditative opportunity to my time.

Well, yesterday we were on an 8 hour journey from NH to Mont Tremblant, Quebec (more in another post). My mantra was "Death is sure, the time of death is unsure, so what am I doing about it?"

Spend a few minutes and think deeply about that.

Then re-read the Ghandi quote above.

Fall is not a verb in NH...

2008-09-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

For me, autumn is an experience of the heart. Some quotes I like about autumn:

Browning: "I trust in nature for the stable laws of beauty and utility. Spring shall plant and autumn garner to the end of time."

Stanley Horowitz: "Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."

William Cullen Bryant: "Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile."

Thoughts on Prezzy Debate

2008-09-27T07:49:00.000-07:00

I do not have television. I have old slow dial-up connection and no speakers anyway on the computer. So I have relied on the actual transcript of the debate last night. Nothing there to change my mind. GO OBAMA!

I was disappointed that the "talking points" continue to crop up rather than having some new rhetoric appear. And I missed seeing facial tics, body language etc that may have been factors to people watching on tv. But if you really want to focus on issues, then why not just read the transcript. It was kind of how I imagine watching a NASCAR race is...you are just waiting for the problem/crash to occur. The rest of it is kind of boring.

Maybe we should nominate a MotoGP rider for president. GO ROSSI! Well, he is not qualified, I know. But he has been to many foreign countries. And he is a babe. And definitely not boring.

Leave Me Alone

2008-09-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to return from Italy in time for peak color season here in NH. But it has not happened yet! I should be happy I did not miss it I suppose. I've driven all around my favorite color spots to do photo reconnaissance. Only disappointment so far is that the farmer did not plant his traditional pumpkin field up in the Tamworth intervale. I have always loved to contrast the pumpkins and drying vines with the brilliant red/orange/yellow of the surrounding treeline. Instead, the fields have been hayed this year. At least they used a vintage tractor and equipment which made for an interesting opportunity to play with Photoshop.

Today it has been raining so expect tomorrow to see much more color along the roadways. Will make another circumnavigation of favorite byways on Sunday for POs.

Challenges

2008-09-25T16:28:00.000-07:00

Today I heard an interview with a person who is undertaking a "100 items" challenge. He has a goal to trim his total possessions to 100 items by the end of November 2008. Says he will have been working on it for a year.

So I thought about what 100 items would be most important to me at this time of my life:

Laptop (include cords in one item total)
Cameras and related equipment (call this two items)
Thangka
Meditation cushion
Clothing: 2 pants, 2 shorts, 2 skirts, 5 ss tees, 5 ls tees, 3 blouses, 1 dress, 5 sets undies/socks = gee, 35 items right there!
Shoes: 3 pair (assume a pair is one item)
Riding Gear: Helmet, gloves, jacket, boots
Toothbrush, comb, bar of soap, shampoo

Up to 51 items already and have not included books/CD/DVD or anything with personal sentimental value.

This would be a challenge! And where/how to unload all the other stuff...???...another challenge. Is it impossible? Maybe not with plenty of time to accomplish it. But just looking at my desk here as I post, there are over 100 items just there!

It may be an admirable goal but I think not for me at this point in my life. Still, was worth considering.