The Deed is Done!

Took all of 10 minutes. One of the advantages of living in small-town America! And in Indiana. Now, if only the irritating political ads (on both sides) and the very annoying phone calls would stop!!! The ladies at the polling place said there has been a good turnout for in-person voting. I was number 1,136. That doesn't sound like much but there's only about 20,000 registered voters in Noble County. They have also gotten "a lot" of mail-in absentee ballots too. Like everywhere else in the nation they are expecting a record turn-out. It's been pretty amazing to see all of the attention that Indiana has gotten from both parties. For the first time since I started voting, I feel like my vote will actually mean something. 'Bout time.

Day Trip to Gulfport, FL

Today I took a day trip over to Gulfport. I was supposed to go last week, but ended up being too sick to go so I was glad I felt well enough this week to make it. I would have been very disappointed if I had not been able to because I was going to see some of my dearest friends, Marianne and Barb.



Barb and her husband John visited us this summer at OBX. We visited Marianne at her house in PA a few years ago, but I have not seen her since. They have decided to try the life of a snow bird and have been here in Florida, so I was thrilled to have both of them close enough to see and hug in person.



I have never been to Gulfport, so it was fun to visit a new place. As I drove over the bridge that spanned the water, I was soaking up the goodness of all of the water! Once I arrived at their condo, we went outside and soaked it up some more.



It was such a pretty view!



I even saw their water friends, a pair of dolphins...although this is the best picture I managed to capture of them.



We even got to grab dinner together at a place that I think was named O'Maddies, where I learned something new: orchids are edible. I had no idea!





The visit felt too short due to it just being a day trip, but it was still so worth it to see my special friends! I told them if they come back next winter to plan on another house guest for at least some of their time here so we can really have a gab-fest!

Northern Hawk Owl

For the past couple of weeks a Northern Hawk Owl has been hanging around near the Grand Portage Trading Post. I have seen him several times, but until today he was always perched on the power lines (not the best for photos!). Today I spotted him in the trees and promptly reached for my 100-400mm lens. I watched him (or her? I'm not sure how to tell the difference in owls) for close to half an hour. During that time the owl flew to 4 or 5 different trees, and from each tree was listening for sounds of mice down under the snow. Every now and then he would swoop down towards the ground, but he never did catch anything while I was there. He sure gave me some nice opportunities for photos today though!

Redbud Tree

We had a rain shower the other day. As it went over and headed for Albuquerque there was a dark sky to the east with a bright sun to the west highlighting our prettiest redbud tree.

Passalong Plants - The Book

Passalong Plants -the April/May Selection for the Garden Bloggers’ Book Club.
By the time this book came into my life, my world was already filled with plants passed along by other gardeners, so Felder and Steve [we were instantly on a first name basis] didn’t introduce me to the concept, but they gave all of us a great name for what we were doing, validated our experiences and filled an entire book with objects of desire. We were introduced to some quirky yard art as well as some truly odd plants.
The two authors, Steven Bender and Felder Rushing talk about individual plants in a neighborly, anecdotal way, sometimes lurching over the line into Jeff Foxworthy territory, but with genuine horticultural information under the kudzu. I have no resistance to this kind of Southern- style writing, treasuring old paperbacks by Lewis Grizzard and Celestine Sibley, enjoying the YaYa Sisterhood, and loving movies like Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes. If you can’t swallow garden writing served with a side of cheese grits, you may need a lot of iced tea to get you through the pages, but the plant stories are wonderful. I love my copy, sometimes rereading the book for fun, and sometimes using it as a reference for specific plants.
Many of the most tempting stories are about plants that won’t grow above zone 7, giving the Northern gardener a case of zone envy. Felder and Steve are currently considering a new book about Passalong Plants for colder zones, so if you live where camelias freeze, read this book first and hope they’ll write a companion volume in the future. Last March, I posted about meeting Felder Rushing, and mentioned that my copy of the book was written-in, and stuffed with notes. The extra pages at the back of the book were blank when I bought the book, but were soon covered in lists of plants and people. I noted daylilies named ‘Timeless’ and ‘Charm Bracelet’ as coming from Bernice, that Sweet Autumn Clematis was given to me by Ruth, whose plant came from Sophie. The Malva moschata was from Dorothy, Iris from Lorraine, Peonies from Patty, Sweet woodruff from Sherry, orange lilies from Laverne and that the Jack in the Pulpit was passed along to me by my mother. Most of the passalong plants in our Illinois garden stayed there when we moved to Texas in 1999.

But among the passalong plants in my present garden are two that traveled long and winding roads to live in Austin, Texas.
Look into the photo above and you’ll see some tall while phlox, cavorting with a white Echinacea and some Perovskia last July. The family legend says that my great-grandmother grew the phlox in Michigan in the early 1900’s. By 1924 she'd given a division to her daughter, my Grandma Anna, who took them to Chicago. Grandma passed them along to my parents in the 1950’s. Decades later, I took some of the white phlox with me to a rental townhouse, then to our first house. Another four years passed, I redivided the burgeoning clump and took some to our second house, then repeated the process and planted them in the square garden at the third house, seen below.

The phlox are blooming in the upper left corner of this decade old snapshot - with the head of an 'Annabelle' hydrangea flopped artistically across the center.
In the mid-nineties our son M. took some of the white phlox for his garden and after we moved to this house in .., M. returned the favor, bringing a division of the heirloom phlox down here - to make this the fifth home where we’ve grown them.
The journey of another plant began on April 13, 1992, when a garden club speaker in Illinois gave me wands of corkscrew willow - extra greenery from an arrangement. I managed to root one of the slender twisted branches and grew it in a whiskey barrel. The wand eventually expanded into an attractive tree, from which I rooted more cuttings, one for my son M. and a couple for my friend Barbara. We left the original tree in the whiskey barrel in Illinois, but after a while I missed it, and wanted one here. Both M. & Barbara gave me wands from their now larger trees, with no luck at first, but this piece from Barbara finally made roots in ... The young willow now grows in a big pot, placed so any drip of condensation from the roof will land in the container. Also in the container are some passalong agapanthus plants from Pam/Digging. I started writing this while waiting for a couple of passalong daylilies to bloom, but as I waited, the draft grew longer and longer, and now the daylilies need a whole post! Since I want to tell the stories of the passalong plants in our garden and the people who shared them with us – let’s call this Passalongs/Part One.

Happy Birthday, Dean!

Rich and Donna arrived here this week, and we are thrilled about that since we haven't seen them since Peace River. Donna is the one who kept encouraging me to get out there and play pickleball and I'd have most likely quit if it weren't for her and Karen.



She said something yesterday about it probably being too late to do a Happy Hour this week, but maybe next week. I told the guys that while we were on our way to grab some groceries for the week. The Happy Hour King (Austin) thought it was no problem to do one this week.



Since I'm crazy, I agreed. So Austin invited everyone to come to one THAT DAY...and everyone of course pulled it together with no problem. Even a bit of rain didn't slow us down. We just moved to the Rec Hall and did it there. The ladies amazed me with all of their goodies that they brought even with the "no notice" ahead of time. Especially Vicki and Margie.

We've been to lots of Happy Hours, but this was one of the most special ones because it was also Dean's birthday party. Dean is the Grandparent to the really cool kid, Gavin. You know, the one who is a falconer. If you know Dean, it isn't a surprise that Gavin is so cool. It runs in the family.



Dean is one of those sunny people that just brightens the world. You can't help but be in a better mood after hanging out with Dean. His smile alone will warm you right up. (Why do I hear Bob cracking up as I write that?) He's also one of those people that you feel sees something good in you, so when you spend time with him you begin to believe it yourself.



His wife Margie is pure sweetness, so they make a great pair.

Hope your birthday wish comes true, Dean!

We had a great time, surrounded by some of our favorite people!



Living the life in friend filled Florida!

Captain Caveman M7 gets climbed

Joel Toretti made the trip into town and we spent a short day at Meadow Run. We hopped right on Captain Caveman. Joel tried first since he hadn't had a chance yet... He fell a few times, but got up through it. I got on to give it a try. I wasn't feeling too positive due to the fact that I felt pumped from my previous day attempt. Surprisingly I sent Captain Caveman first try. Joel tied back in and promptly sent in fine style. Next Joel wanted to try Anger management M6+. He tied in started up. For mental pro he got a stubbie to go in about 5 rotations till it hit rock then tied it off. Upward Joel went passing the first bolt and into the overhangs. Quickly learning that the 2nd bolt was way out of reach (now that the rodi stummp is gone), he backed off and down climbed to the ground. Having longer reach, I opted to go up and climb the route and installing a longer runner on the 2nd bolt so that Joel could make the clip. I went up to Joel's highpoint and worked into the clipping hook... What a looooong reach that clip is. Any shorter arms and I don't think I would've got it. I fired up into the ice finish, installing a near worthless screw at the lip, clipping it and gunning for the top. Seemed much harder than I remembered... Joel tied in and gave it a second go. He smoothed up through the route eventually pumping out at the lip. He hung body weight from the screw I placed and installed a 2nd (good) screw. He finished it without issue. He wanted to try again, but I had obligations and needed to leave. So we decided to leave fixed gear on the bolts for Joel when he comes back.

Momma Fox

This is a photo of the latest "friendly fox" that has been hanging around near where I live. A litter of fox were born this year underneath the Catholic Church in Grand Portage, MN and lately the young ones (and mom) have been very active on the grounds surrounding the church. The evening I captured this shot we had spent a total of about an hour and a half watching the foxes. Mom was around most of the time, with the young ones making an appearance every ten minutes or so. When I took this photo Mom was just sitting in the grass about 25 feet away from us, watching us as much as we were watching her. I love the eyes of a fox, they can convey so much emotion. In this photo she just seems to be more curious than anything, and her behavior also led us to believe that at this moment, the only thing on her mind was curiousity. She was probably wondering what these guys were doing pointing these big white camera lenses at her!

Below: One of Momma Fox's babies

Woolen Socks and Tights: Winter Cycling Delights

Over the holidays I was gifted some wool socks and tights, and I thought it might be useful to review them. Wool is of course an essential part of winter cycling apparel, but there is something so nice about fluffy socks even beyond their practical applications. At least for me, wool socks might just be the "comfort food" of clothing.

So here is what I got:
. merino tights in black from J. Crew,
. cashmere blend leggings in charcoal from Victoria's Secret,
. cashmere blend over-the-knee socks in olive from Sock Dreams,
. merino over-the-knee socks in charcoal from American Essentials,
. merino mid-calf socks in black and white from J. Crew.

In terms of warmth, all of these have stood the test of winter temperatures so far. Keep in mind though, that the colder it is and the less active your feet are, the more layers you need to wear. We were doing a photo-shoot in the snow a couple of days ago, and after 1 hour my feet began to freeze in my boots even though I was wearing both a pair of wool tights and a pair of wool socks over them. For cycling, I have found just one layer plus boots to be sufficient so far, but your experience may vary.

While all the tights and socks I got did a good job at retaining warmth, they varied dramatically in sizing and quality. In terms of sizing, be aware that the Victoria's Secret cashmere blend leggings run a bit large, while the J. Crew wool tights run very small. I have long legs, so I typically wear M/L tights. These J. Crew tights were a "Large" and they are too small on me. I can wear them, but the fit is off and the wool is a bit overstretched in the leg area. If their largest size is too small on me, who the heck were these designed for?.. The Victoria's Secret leggings I got in size S, but these things are huge and XS would have been a better fit. All the other socks were true to size. I should add that both the Sock Dreams and the American Essentials over-the knee socks stay up pretty well, compared to others I have worn.

In terms of quality, I am dismayed to report that the J. Crew tights and socks underperformed all the others. The tights tore at the back seam while I was pulling them on for the first time. I examined the tear and it appears to be a result of faulty stitching. Easy enough to sew up, but does not inspire confidence in their quality. As for the J. Crew socks, they pilled and "fuzzed up" horribly after the very first time I wore them, which was disappointing. The other socks have held up fine so far. I wonder whether the "fuzzing" has to do with the quality of wool, the type of wool, the processing, or some other factor?

Wool tights, socks, leggings and legwarmers are absolutely great in the winter and can be worn in different combinations to keep you warm during different degrees of cold. All the items reviewd here are extremely affordable, and I would recommend them all except for J. Crew. Sock Dreams in particular seems to be a good source as they sell socks in different lengths, as well as leggings and legwarmers, at reasonable prices. If you have a favourite wool sock supplier, please do chime in. We could all use more "comfort food" for the feet!

More Blackberries

After breakfast we decided to take a walk around the large yard that Paddy calls home. It was so pretty and green and there was one of northwestern Oregon's light, misty rains sprinkling on us. But that didn't stop us from exploring the huge blackberry patch to find the fruit that Jim had missed earlier. For once I had my fill of fresh blackberries.
Of course you have to fight the birds and deer for them. But that is part of the fun.

Old Town Walk

Most of the walk ways in Old Town have been covered to make for a more pleasent tour due to our hot sun and in the summer sudden downpours of rain in the monsoon season, which we are having now. There was no rain the day we were there but the shade was welcome. There are still several of the old cottonwood trees still along some of the streets and in the park.

The Case of the $12 Box Coat

Like everyone else, I've come across some "mysteries" in my family research. Particularly, with the Joslin family. In Nothing Special - A bit of a Mystery I mentioned the "separation" of James and Abigail Goodrich Joslin (my 4th great grandparents) and Why did he do this? discussed the land transactions made by James Joslin to his sons Lysander in 1841, and to Edwin and Joseph in 1844. The boys were only 16, 14, and 12 years old, respectively, at the time of the transactions.

The document that follows seems to be fairly straightforward. Lysander P. Joslin (my 3rd great grandfather) purchased a box coat from John Black on or before January 14, 1843 and apparently agreed to pay for the coat with manual labor. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a box coat was a heavy overcoat formerly worn for driving or a loose coat usually fitted at the shoulders.

In January 1843, Lysander would have been a little more than 17 1/2 years old (he was born May 1, 1825). Having worked and bartered for $9.75 of the $12.00 debt, Lysander evidently did not work for or pay the balance of $2.25 when due.

The following may or may not have any bearing on why the balance wasn't paid, but I think it might. On August 23, 1843 Lysander married Lydia Robison. By that time he had turned 18; Lydia would turn 18 in October that year. Their first (known) child, Anna Eliza was born in November 1844.

At any rate, John Black took Lysander to court in December 1844. Local court, but court nevertheless. The best part of all this is that Naby Joslin testified that Lysander was not of age when he went into debt with John Black. The document also mentions James Goodrich as a witness. Sufficient proof has not yet been found but I believe that James is Naby's brother. Naby being none other than Abigail Goodrich, Lysander's mother. Who else could provide verbal testimony that he was not of age at the time of the transaction? This is important. Why? Because we don't have "that" document that says that Abigail is Lysander's mother. There is evidence that leads to that conclusion, but no silver bullet. (Big Sigh)

But back to poor John Black. He had $2.25 coming to him. But he lost the case. And had to pay $2.04 3/4 in court costs, which included 50¢ for witness fees. Yep, that's right, James Goodrich and Naby Joslin got paid for their testimony. That wasn't unusual as other cases in the ledger indicated that witnesses were routinely paid. They had expenses, or maybe they were missing out on work. I'm certainly glad that Mr. Black decided to sue Lysander. It provided an interesting though somewhat puzzling document. I'm not too happy with Lysander because he skipped out on his debt. But we don't know all the facts of the case. I'm sure he had a good reason ;-)

The question that comes to my mind is how could minor children legally sign contracts for purchasing land (mentioned above) yet not be held responsible for incurring a debt while a minor?



Partial transcription/abstraction of the above document (click on the images for a larger version).

Troy Docket Ledger located at the Whitley County Historical Museum, Columbia City, Indiana on November 2, .. [No page numbers]

[first page]
John Black vs Lysander P Joslin}
In an action of debt
Bill filed which is as follows
Lysander P Joslin dr to John Black
December the 1 AD 1844 to one box coat a $12.00.

[The next section lists the dates he worked and amounts earned. He also provided a calf valued at $1.50 so there was a total of $9.75 paid, with balance owed of $2.25]

On which the following proceedings were had to wit
Summons issued dated February the 17th AD 1844 awarded to
George H Stocking constable of Troy township and returnable
on the 23rd day of February at 10 o'clock AM of said day
This day namely 23rd of February 1844 constable returned said
summons served on the 17th day of February 1844
and the parties present towit called Plaintiff Pleads that
he was a minor when the debt was contracted and offers
testimony to the fact Naby Joslin sworn and states that
the said defendant was not of lawful age when the debt
was contracted

It is therefore considered and adjudged that the Plaintiff pay all
costs taxed at $2.04 3/4) two dollars four cents and three fourths
James Grant JP

Labor by summons 12 1/4
two subpenas 50
sworn witness 6 1/4
Judgment 24
[subtotal] 93 3/4
Court fees 61
Witness fees James Goodrich Naby Joslin 50
paid the witnesses
[Total] $2.04 3/4

I do hereby acknowledge myself bail on the
above Judgement interest and all costs and acruing costs at the
expiration of thirty days from the rendition of the same (con'd over)

[second page]

as witness my hand and seal this 23rd day of February 1844
George H Stocking {Seal}

Received of John Black two
Dollars and four and three fourths
cents in full of the foregoing Judgement
James Grant
Justice of the Peace

A Trip Full to See Friends

This week was supposed to be our vacation week. We were going to go down to Ft Myers beach to meet up with some friends and to spend some beach time there as a family. Then I got a job offer to spend the summer at the beach, and I needed our vacation week to work out some of my two week notice. So we took my two days off to go down instead. We landed at Peace River and drove down to Sanibel Island for the day.



At Sanibel, I was able to see my dear friend Barb and her husband John. I haven't been able to visit with Barb in person for a few years now and it was so wonderful to catch up in a face to face way. She is one of the neatest people I know and someone who has had profound impact on my life, so the visit was uplifting and nourishing to my soul. We grabbed a bite to eat at a restaurant there and the food was very good, so my body was nourished well too. I would have liked more time together, but the time we did have was very precious to me.

Since we were at Peace River, we also had a too short visit with some very special friends. As soon as we returned from Sanibel Island, Rich and Donna had a cookout for us. I've shared here before how Donna is one of the main reasons I stuck with pickleball. Beyond pickleball, I just enjoy her as a person. She is one of those rare people that is sweet and interesting all rolled up in one.



We had the treat of sharing the cookout with some newer pickleball friends, Russ and Jody. They went to Capone's with us the night we visited there, so we had already shared that fun night together. We enjoyed getting to know them better tonight too. We decided to head out tonight instead of waiting until the morning, so we didn't get to play pickleball together. We loved what time we did have together though.

Living the life in Florida!

Logan Barber

Climbers, you know some memories, even recent, can seem unreal as if they could never have really happened in a world as busy and complicated as this. Jet travel creates sudden disconnections.

I find myself reliving the holds, move by move, on the magical red sandstone of Kalbarri Gorge Western Australia.

Simon Carter, Monique Forestier, Lee and Sam Cujes, Coco Carter and I spent a few days there.

Days from another thread of a different story. This story is not about that.

But being in W.A. got me thinking about the indomitable West Aussie climber Logan Barber.











Logan answered my plea to the internet for an accomplice in China for Easter .

We had about a day and a half cross over in China. That's worth a trip. Lee had told me this guy was someone I should go out of my way to meet. I think his words were "He's another me from W.A."








Logan leaves a trail of drill dust behind as he sends his latest new route on the fresh walls of Dragon City crag.
He gave it 27 (Aus). Sandbag alert!

I've got a good advantage of reach on Logan, but I couldn't find anything useable within reach through the upper sequence. The guy can lock down hard on rubbish small holds.


















Lock down!!!















I was just grateful to the climbing gods for getting me through the run outs on the lower section when it was my go. Balance and guesswork.
























Looking across the valley from dragon City crag, I have to keep reminding myself where I am.

A country that remained so mysterious to so many of us for so long. So vast, so different.







The next morning we head to super crag Lei Pi Shan where Logan has put so much heart and soul into his long project Storm Born. It's his last day in Yangshuo. Like so many Yangshuo routes now, it extends from the ground to the last useable rock.

I jug the 40M to the top for a photoshoot, plans change, Logan and David Kaszlikowski send the nails-hard arete route on the right end of the crag (see below).

I swap out Logan's draws on Storm Born, I still can't remember how I did that, I know I thought I was pretty clever at the time. I put up local legend Abond's shiny new green draws.

Logan resigns himself to the fact that projects don't stay exclusive round here.

They were still there on my last visit.




















Acclaimed Polish photographer and world climber David Kaszlikowski.




















Logan is back in China as we speak. He'll be lugging that drill through the muddy fields and dusty villages on the good quest.




Logan beneath the towering Lei Pi Shan.



Photo: jjobrien iPhone

Find him on Facebook: Logan Barber

He won't answer, he's in China.




jj




ps. this post lost all it's photo links and I've reconstructed it as good as I can.

If anyone knows why google albums would undo it's own links let me know.

Working dangerously

Sad facts of life: Construction workers here in the Philippines work dangerously for under PHP 300 a day. EUR 1 is PHP 60 so do the math. And I highly doubt if they are insured, but this guy needs to feed his empty stomach and perhaps other empty stomach’s as well. Life is not fair.

Just a thin steel rail for this man’s balancing act and a harness for protection.

Spotted at uptown area near Don Mariano Qui Street (near NBI, Capitol and Cebu Doctors Hospital)
.