Well, we got as far as one day out. Got a day's nice visit with our granddaughter. Then we had to turn back--after all that packing! And fussing, and mail forwarding, etc. We may be able to try again in a week or two. I have left my suitcases in the car, except for the night case I carry into motels.
The small dogs had a bath before they left the kennel. They can't visit the relatives with us because of allergies. But they still have a faint odor that I call Kennel Stench. It's a good kennel and I like the woman who runs it, but you can't help a smell in a kennel.
The leaves on the madrones and the red oaks in the Feather Canyon were pretty and very green this time of year. Wildflowers are over and most of the small waterfalls and seeps are dry. Still, it is a beautiful drive, until you get stopped waiting for roadwork (a crane on a bridge) for three-quarters of an hour.
The weather is still a little warm, just summery, really.
I got my computer back, the Norton protection made Windows unstable and then crashed. It wasn't rebootable even from the CD recue disk. I got the security the repair guy recommended: Kaspersky. So I'm back on the blog. It feels good.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Contrail
Tomorrow I pack, and freeze some cereal and other stuff that might get stale. Once again, I will try not to take too much stuff, and this time I might succeed.
I finished repotting and moving my cactus and succulents back onto the patio today. And there are only dribs and drabs, as S. would say, remaining of the kitchen to pack up. Last night I read an account by the military historian John Keegan about the battle of Agincourt. By any standards this is old news, but he makes it very fresh and fascinating. There were lots of things I never knew: about the low social status of archers, and how they each pounded a large sharpened stake into the ground where they took up a position before the battle. This stake could pierce the breast of a rapidly moving horse. Although, horses don't like to run into things and they particularly don't like to step on something living (or very recently dead) which factor was a problem in many battles, as soldiers fell wounded or dead. This the author makes very clear.
Apparently, at the time Keegan wrote the book, the countryside around Agincourt remained close to what it had been, with an irregularly-shaped plowed field separating two areas of woods. I am looking forward to the essays on Waterloo and the Somme, which complete the book, which begins with a fascinating essay on military history and historians. I found out about Keegan some time ago when he was interviewed on the C-Span program, In Depth, about all of his books. He was such an intelligent and articulate fellow that I ordered several of his titles. I have enjoyed and been impressed by all of them, but have not yet read the one on the Second World War.
Stay tuned, out there in blog-land, I will try to post updates during the drive across the middle of America.
I finished repotting and moving my cactus and succulents back onto the patio today. And there are only dribs and drabs, as S. would say, remaining of the kitchen to pack up. Last night I read an account by the military historian John Keegan about the battle of Agincourt. By any standards this is old news, but he makes it very fresh and fascinating. There were lots of things I never knew: about the low social status of archers, and how they each pounded a large sharpened stake into the ground where they took up a position before the battle. This stake could pierce the breast of a rapidly moving horse. Although, horses don't like to run into things and they particularly don't like to step on something living (or very recently dead) which factor was a problem in many battles, as soldiers fell wounded or dead. This the author makes very clear.
Apparently, at the time Keegan wrote the book, the countryside around Agincourt remained close to what it had been, with an irregularly-shaped plowed field separating two areas of woods. I am looking forward to the essays on Waterloo and the Somme, which complete the book, which begins with a fascinating essay on military history and historians. I found out about Keegan some time ago when he was interviewed on the C-Span program, In Depth, about all of his books. He was such an intelligent and articulate fellow that I ordered several of his titles. I have enjoyed and been impressed by all of them, but have not yet read the one on the Second World War.
Stay tuned, out there in blog-land, I will try to post updates during the drive across the middle of America.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Reaching for a star
Nice weather today. Grandchildren are fun to take to see things as this aquarium photo shows. Tonight, we've been listening to Verdi's Requiem, which always reminds me how my brother went out before Dad's funeral and came back with CDs of several requiems which he played while we were planning the services. The Verdi was especially beautiful.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Run for your life
Sometimes we feel like this! Art by granddaughter M.
Tonight we had our monthly poetry meeting. It is great to have a group like this to talk about writing with! It also means you work on your poems to get ready; it's a goof motivator.
Things are slowly coming together around here as we get ready to travel. I'm hoping to get Internet access along the way, so my readers, wherever you are, will know about the weather in the Dakotas. Good night.
Tonight we had our monthly poetry meeting. It is great to have a group like this to talk about writing with! It also means you work on your poems to get ready; it's a goof motivator.
Things are slowly coming together around here as we get ready to travel. I'm hoping to get Internet access along the way, so my readers, wherever you are, will know about the weather in the Dakotas. Good night.
Her delicate grace
She came from Indonesia. If I had seen one like her in Bali, I would have wanted to buy her and carry her home.
It's been a busy week. Every day I empty out a few shelves in the kitchen. I have found a crystal dish that was a wedding present 51 years ago and many other forgotten wonders.
Tonight we put together the anthology of haiku poems our Yuki Teikei Haiku Society publishes every year. We designed a black and white cover with purple end pages stamped with a copper spiral inside the front. It's very handsome. So that was fun.
I guess we will get to make our trip after all; we plan to leave on Saturday. It's after midnight and very quiet, a nice quiet, surprisingly, softly quiet.
It's been a busy week. Every day I empty out a few shelves in the kitchen. I have found a crystal dish that was a wedding present 51 years ago and many other forgotten wonders.
Tonight we put together the anthology of haiku poems our Yuki Teikei Haiku Society publishes every year. We designed a black and white cover with purple end pages stamped with a copper spiral inside the front. It's very handsome. So that was fun.
I guess we will get to make our trip after all; we plan to leave on Saturday. It's after midnight and very quiet, a nice quiet, surprisingly, softly quiet.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
The red suspenders
In the badlands, a man and his new dog, Wolfram, look out over the palest sunbaked earth formations. I love the contrast in this picture. My brother sells these red suspenders, which have Shakespeare on them, at the Cedar City Shakespeare festival. I chose a red pair for my husband. Now he has three more of these little dogs. Barkers.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Brine shrimp
Colors of San Francisco Bay, seen from the air. It's been a quiet Sunday, with a long phone call from my daughter. On Book TV, an enthusiastic historian talking about Benedict Arnold's navy and the Battle of Ticonderoga. He is showing slides and pointing out the errors in the history paintings. He's quite funny. A bearded bear-like guy. I often wonder if I could have been precise and disciplined enough to study and write about history. I don't think I am still deciding what to do when I grow up, but maybe so.
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