Thoughts on Other Things

Kaput

2008-05-03T19:23:00.002-06:00

I hereby declare this blog kaput. However, my other one is once again open for business. Click on My Main Blog over there on the right side of this page.

Latest Collection of Geocaching Icons

2008-01-13T20:54:00.001-07:00

Went to a geocaching event in Castle Rock today. This was a very well attended event and there were many many travel bugs and geocoins to grab or discover. I discovered all the geocoins I could and this is my current collection of icons representing my discoveries.

Travel Bug Update

2007-12-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

Big Bug Turtle is my most travelled travel bug. It has just moved from Abilene, Texas to Las Vegas, Nevada. It is in a cache called "RATED PG FOR PRETTY GIRLS" and it has now travelled 10,779 miles.

My third most travelled TB is called "1936 Milwaukee Road". It is a copper date nail that I found at least 25 years ago. After drilling a hole in it and attaching the travel bug dog tag to it, I placed it in a cache a few miles from home in Colorado. It has since travelled 2038 miles to Illinois via Arizona. Right now it is in a cache called "John's Little Redhead" in Plainfield, Illinois. Plainfield is near Joliet. The date nail has been in this cache since October 21st.

Pet Peeve #4

2007-12-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

Whenever the person in front of me is turning right and is doing so at a snail's pace.

Maple Leaf Mailbag

2007-12-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

I managed to get mentioned on that short wave broadcast once again - the Maple Leaf Mailbag from Radio Canada International in Montreal. Go to this page and then click on "Click here" for the latest program. This will get you the program for December 9, 2007. I am mentioned a bit past the midway point in the 1 hour show. I listen to this show every week now because it is common for them to briefly discuss geocaching.

If you are reading this and want to listen but the latest program is not for 12/9, then go to the archives and select the 12/9 show.

Here is one of the pictures I sent to the show.

This is a collection of travel bugs that I had in my possesion a while back. I moved them on to new caches after I was done admiring them for a few days. That is, except for the "250 Finds Geo-Achievement Geocoin" which my wife, Heather, bought for me to celebrate my 250th cache find. I will be keeping that one. As of this post, the total is 372 caches and the next geocoin available as a milestone is for 500 caches.

The other ones in the picture are "Fearless Leader" of Bullwinkle fame. I found it in a cache called "Lady Coot 125" up in the mountains. The one with the geocache logo on it is called "Handcrafted by geotrash". We found that one in Lone Tree, Colorado which is adjacent to Highlands Ranch. The other geocoin in the photo is called "Man! is it HOT!". This was found up in Conifer, Colorado in the mountains. You can also see the copy tag with Marc's travel bug and my GPS receiver pointing to my next cache to find. The frog is what I often put in caches - sortof a trademark. I have placed at least 50 of these frogs in caches all over the place.

Mountain Sea Turtle Bug

2007-11-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

This travel bug is one of the first ones I released. He has the second most miles of any of my travel bugs with almost 8,000 miles logged.

The cache into which I initially released this one is about a mile from where I live in Colorado in a cache called Highlands Ranch Bug House. That was on April 14th, 2007. The first person who picked it up took it to the Bahamas! It has since travelled to other caches in Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maine, and Vermont. It is currently in a cache near Montpelier, Vermont called Lost and Found. It is near a covered bridge called the Upper Cox Bridge. Go here for a picture of the bridge.

Big Bug Turtle

2007-11-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

Big Bug Turtle is a geocaching travel bug that I released into the wild world of geocaching. So far he has travelled farther than any of my other travel bugs with almost 10,000 miles logged.

The cache into which I initially released him is in Kansas. The cache is called Mingo. It is the oldest active cache in the world and it was the seventh one created way back in the year 2000.

I put Big Bug Turtle in the Mingo cache on August 2nd, 2007. It was picked up by another cacher later that same day. It has since travelled to other caches in Kansas, Florida, Alabama, Alaska, Alabama again, Florida again, and Texas. It is currently in a cache in Abilene, Texas called TB Train Station in the company of 8 other travel bugs and 2 geocoins.

I wonder where Mr. Turtle will go next.

Pet Peeve #3 and #4

2007-11-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

Dog owners who don't pick up after their dogs along public park trails.

Dog owners who let their dogs off leash where they are not supposed to do so.

Icon Collecting

2007-11-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

One of the interesting facets of goecaching is the discovery and movement of geocoins. These are trackable coins that wander around the world visiting caches with the help of geocachers like myself. Once one is discovered, an icon representing the coin type is added to the cacher's profile. Below are the icons I have collected so far. Each one represents a different type of geocoin or other trackable that I have run across. The two that look identical are actually different.

Pet Peeve #2

2007-11-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

Preachy bumper stickers. Even though I sometimes agree with the sentiment. I prefer funny bumper stickers. I do not have any on my car whatsoever.

Today's Pet Peeve

2007-11-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

People who get offended at something and expect something to be done. If we outlaw everything that offends us, there will a noticable lack of freedom.

1002

2007-10-30T20:34:00.000-06:00

That is the number of bike miles I have for the year so far. My goal is to ride 1000 miles each year. Last year, I rode 1200 miles so my secondary goal for this year was to ride 1300. That's 300 more to ride in the next two months. Not likely to happen with the change in weather and the fact that it gets dark earlier now.

One of the reasons for fewer miles this year is that a lot of my bike riding time has been taken up by geocaching hunts this year. And some of those hunts were lengthy hikes in the mountains. Such hikes use different muscles than when I rack up miles on the bike.

World Famous Geocacher?

2007-09-16T18:34:00.000-06:00

If I get mentioned by name on a short wave radio broadcast, does that make me world famous? Go to this page and then click on "Click here" for the latest program. This will get you the program for 9/16/2007. I am mentioned right at the end of the show. Have a listen next week, too since he only talked about the one email I sent him. I sent another one with more details and a couple of geocaching-related photos.

If you are reading this and want to listen but the latest program is not for 9/16, then go to the archives and select the 9/16 show.

This all came about because I found a travel bug that was launched for these radio guys.

Cool Places

2007-09-03T15:40:00.000-06:00

There are some really cool places that the hobby of geocaching can lead you to. Here are some pictures from the geocache hunt of 9/1/2007. If you click on a photo, you will see a larger rendering.

This picture is along the South Platte River along the abandoned Colorado and Southern railroad grade. There is a cache supposedly hidden downstream from here but no one has found it in over a year. The owner emailed me today and said he was on his way to check on it. If he tells me that it is still there. I will go back soon.

An offshoot hobby related to geocaching is the hunt for benchmarks like this one:

This one is along the same trail as in the picture above.

The wildflowers are wonderful:

Some enticing berries (we didn't taste).

There are always bugs in the woods:

If you get tired, you can check into a nearby top notch hotel:

Lots of mushrooms to check out:

All of the above pictrures were taken on September 1st, 2007.

Caching 8/28 - Micro Managed

2007-08-29T22:28:00.000-06:00

There are a number of micro caches that have been hidden within a few miles of the house. I set out on my bicycle yesterday to see if I could find a few of them. the first is a small item that I guess is hidden in a pine tree along Wildcat. I was unable to find it. I'll bet it is a small capsule attached to one of the limbs on the tree. It is really hard to spot those.

The second one is called Head Scratcher #2. I didn't bother looking for this one since there were a bunch of muggles sitting in the grass nearby. I'll try again another time. I had looked for this one once before and failed to find it. Another clever hide.

Cache #3 is called Recurring Dream and I was able to find it. It is a little box with magnets holding it to a bolt underneath a footbridge. I signed the log and replaced it.

There are several micros along Highlands Ranch Parkway that I considered looking for but there were too many people (muggles) around.

Lastly I rode over to another cache that I had found once before because there is supposedly a white jeep travel bug in it. I found no jeep or cache. I think it is missing altogether. Oh well.

This 13 mile bikeride yielded 1 cache out of 6.

On my next bikeride, I am going to try to find some benchmarks which are loggable like caches.

The Mushroom

2007-08-26T18:42:00.000-06:00

I believe that I have identified the mushroom I wrote about in my previous blog. Here is the photo again:

I believe it is a Lycoperdon Marginatum. It is supposedly edible when young though you won't catch me eating one because how would I know if it's young or not? And what if I am wrong in my identification? It is supposed to have some "psycoactive characteristics". It is described as a puffball mushroom. This photo illustrates young and old (I suppose).

Saturday GeoCache Hunt

2007-08-26T15:19:00.001-06:00

Had a great day of geocaching on Saturday and here are the highlights. Click on the photos for a larger view.

The first cache I went for was a historical cache. There is a fellow who has registered a bunch of these on the caching website all around Douglas County. I have found a number of them and I found one on this trip. There is no actual cache at the location; rather there is something interesting of a historical nature at the site. This one is the Indian Park School. It is a small schoolhouse with a cemetery out back. In order to claim such caches, you have to email the owner of the cache certain facts about it. In this case, I had to email the information from the building under the bell (school district information and the build date of the building - 1884), information from one of the cemetery headstones, and what is written on a stove that is sitting in a field out back.

The second cache of the day is called Indian Creek Cache. This is near a campground where there is a fee to even park there for a little while ($4). Since I parked along the road, I didn't have to pay. I saw a park ranger there checking on the cars that were parked in the lot. I had a very nice hike to the cache though I was a bit wary of the 12 year old practicing his archery in my general direction at the campsite that I skirted to get to the cache! Don't worry; no arrows came close at all. I got to the cache area and found that there is no visible trail in the immediate vicinity. This made it extra fun. The trees caused some problems with the GPS receiver so I did the usual circling and zeroed in on the cache. Just as I found it, a bee got very interested in me. I did the usual smart thing with a lone bee - gave him a swat! Seemed to work. For a while. He came back. Another swat. Gone.

The next cache was up by the Noddles which are large rock outcroppings out west of Sedalia. The cache is called "Noodle?". I was a bit wary about hiking this trail because it is mainly intended for ATVs. However, I only encountered a single group of 4 off road motorcycles and they were not a problem. They were having a lot of fun - maybe as much as me! I stayed off of their trail for most of the hike where I could examine the plants and wildflowers. This is a really neat area for a cache. It was a little tricky finding it. It was hidden under a huge rock behind a rather prickly shrub. Here is the view from the cache area:

The next cache is called Totally Worth It and it really was totally worth it. This was a hike up a portion of the Colorado Trail about 1/3 mile as the crow flies. But since the elevation gain was about 500 feet, many switchbacks were involved. This made for a much longer and more strenuous hike. Here is a picture from the cache area (the hike started by that road down there):

After this cache, there was another one farther down the same trail. It is called the Quartz Quarry Cache and it is one of my favorite caches so far. The climb to this cache was another 100 feet relative to the previous one making the total climb about 600 feet and the ending elevation about 6635'. I guess the hike was about 1.5 miles one way. The quarries in the vicinity of this cache are very interesting. I have so far been unable to determine when they were last used but it is obvious that it was not any time recent because of the overgrowth on the switchback roads in the area. I guess 40-50 years ago. The area is littered with millions of white rocks. These were quartz quarries so I wonder what the white rocks are. I brought back a few rocks with me. Here is the view from this cache:

Here is a picture of a mushroom I found on the way to the quarry cache. It was right in the middle of the trail and there were quite a few of them along the way.

During my trip up to the quarry cache, I had run out of water. The next cache I planned to find was in Reynolds Park. On the map for that park, there is one cache location that is advertised as having drinking water. The only problem was that it required a hike of about ½ mile uphill. No problem. However, when I got to the pump, it was locked down. So, I found the cache called, Fee-Bee Chickadee Out of Site and then drove into Conifer to quench my thirst.

Another cache I had to hike and climb to is called Raven's Roost. This required a hike of about a mile and another elevation gain of 600 feet. This trail was the steepest of the day but was quite enjoyable nevertheless. I saw only 3 other people on this trail.

For my last cache, I picked a multi cache called Keychain Cache. The first location was up the South Platte river about 2/10 mile where I had to find an altoids tin that was hidden under a rock. There are about a million rocks up there but I found it anyway after checking under quite a few. Inside the tin were new coordinates. I was glad I didn't have to hike all the way to the final location. I had enough hiking for the day already at previous caches. The final was a bit more than 3 miles away but near the road. But it was about 100 feet up a steep hill. I discovered when I got to the location that I didn't pick the easiest route up.

I left home with a goal of finding 16 caches which would have beaten my old record for one day, 12. I ended up skipping 3 altogether for various reasons (too many people around, poison ivy, too far/too tired). There was also one that I couldn’t find. So, I found 12 altogether tying my old record. This day was more fun though even though my feet really hurt today. I hiked about 8 miles altogether and a good portion of the hiking was either up or down fairly steep grades.

Union Pacific Steam Train

2007-08-26T14:31:00.001-06:00

This train went from Denver to the Colorado State Fair in Pueblo yesterday. Nothing like the approach and passing of a fine train like this one. Click on the pictures for better views.

Dang pole:

There were 14 passenger cars. The train carried 320 people.

Interesting Bear

2007-08-26T14:08:00.000-06:00

That bear is very interesting.

Recent Birds Out Back

2007-08-25T22:08:00.000-06:00

Heather spotted these two interesting birds in our back yard recently. The first one is some kind of hawk. Here are two photos.

He had at least one of the little birds that frequent our bird feeder for lunch. The little birds were quite excited to have this big guy in the neighborhood.

This is another large bird that came for a visit. A woodpecker.

He even thought he would sample the food intended for birds less than half his size.

Another Bike Ride

2007-08-13T16:00:00.000-06:00

Today's bike ride was the longest I have done in Colorado. 42.5 miles. I've had some others that were nearly as long. I started about 8 am when the temperature was quite nice. By 10:30 or so it was getting hot and the ride ended about 12:30 pm. I did some geocaching along the way finding 9 new caches and not finding a number of others. I even overshot one by almost a mile and went back to find it. That's what contributed to the extra long ride on a route that is normally more like 39.5 miles. I did a few other minor detours as well in search of elusive caches.

Heading to Texas tomorrow to bring Sarah back to school at Baylor. We are actually going all the way to Houston to visit Heather's sister.

Might do a few caches along the way but I will be staying out of the weeds. We were in Texas a little more than a week ago for a wedding and while I discovered some caches, some chiggers discovered me. I have had them before and was reminded how nasty and itchy 13 chigger bites can be. And this was less than two weeks after getting into some poison ivy!

Not so bad

2007-06-26T20:36:00.000-06:00

Had a wisdom tooth extracted today. Not too bad. My first and hopefully only one to be pulled. Don't know if the laughing gas helped or not. The vicadin definitely helps.

Sheep, Bighorn Sheep

2007-06-10T21:52:00.000-06:00

The coolest thing about today's bike ride up Waterton Canyon was the spectacle of three large bighorn rams running down the middle of the road at full speed. they did not stop when they reached us and passed by like we weren't even there.

Waterton Adventure

2007-04-29T21:28:00.000-06:00

I went for a lengthy bike ride today with several missions in mind. Scenery, wildlife, exercise, and to get a couple of geocaches that I was very interested in getting to because they hadn't been visited yet this year!

I set out for the 29 mile round trip at about 2 pm and headed for Chatfield State Park with the intention of continuing through the park all the way to the end of the road in Waterton Canyon. I like to ride the dirt trails that are adjacent to the South Platte River in the park. However, after doing so for about half a mile, I came around a bend and found myself staring at a little creek passing over the trail about 6 inches deep. I rode through this but about 50 feet further, the whole area was flooded. This was due to the recent snow and rain storm we had less than a week ago. The warm weather lately contributed to a lot of snow melt and high waters. I have never seen the river so high and the same can be said for the lake in the park. I had to backtrack a bit and then found my way through some other dirt trails to get back the the main trail that isn't threatened by the high water. I wonder when those flooded trails will be passable once again. They might need some grooming after these high waters.

I arrived at the Waterton Canyon trailhead before 3 pm and immediately continued up the canyon. There are two geocaches that I was interested in finding. The first one is called "Fore the Cars". This cache is about half way up the canyon and then about 1/4 mile up a steep trail. The person who put it there wrote that he saw a mountain lion 25 yards away right after he placed it! I had my eyes open for one of these big cats.

I didn't want to leave my bike back by the road so I pushed it up the trail a ways and hid it behind some brush so as to be invisible from the main trail below. It is a very steep trail with an elevation gain of about 300 feet in the first 1200 feet of the trail. Then it levels off a bit. It was a tough climb but the view of the canyon below was spectacular. 99.9 percent of the people who ride up that canyon never follow any trails like this.

I followed my GPS receiver closer and closer to the cache. Right before I got to the spot, I heard an interesting noise. It was very easy to hear since it was otherwise so quiet. I had gone far enough away from the rushing river so that its sound had completely dissipated. There was only the sound of a slight breeze blowing through the brush and the aforementioned interesting noise which I believe was a mountain lion cub! This was based on the reports of seeing a lion at this location and all those nature shows I've seen over the years. Now I was a bit fearful so I quickly found the cache, which I had actually passed while distracted by the noise, did my trade and log signing and got out of there poste haste. At least I found the cache - this particular one is not visited all that often. It is almost surrounded by prickly pear cactus but I avoided having an unpleasant encounter with the thorns. About half the people who visit this cache report getting thorns in their hands - ouch! It would have been neat to see a lion but I am glad that I didn't see one in this location!

I continued up the canyon to the end where the other cache is. Finding this one, called "Waterton Canyon Cache", was much less eventful. It was by a rest area near the Strontia Springs Dam. Since the river was so high, that meant that there was a lot of water being let through the dam. The result was a fine mist in the air and about a 10-15 degree lower temperature on this hot day. Very pleasant area to cool my heals, chat with some other riders, and find this other cache. It had been 4 months since someone else had visited this one.

One the way beck through Chatfield, I saw a large vulture that was interested in a nearby deer carcass. I also saw a trio of mergansers which are very interesting ducks - intersting coloring and styling. The males and females are so different looking. I wonder if the two males were competing for the females attention.

Here are some photos from this adventure.

This one is a picture of Plum Creek. Notice the high water. Compare it to this picture of the creek at the same location at normal level from last fall.

This photo was taken on the way to the "Fore the Cars" cache. I am about half way up the steep trail, taking a break and taking this photo.

Water was flowing from everywhere. Never saw any waterfalls in Waterton before today - like this one.

Here is a friendly vulture. He posed here for several minutes before taking off. Isn't he (or she) cute?

Activity for a Friday

2007-04-27T21:42:00.000-06:00

Had a nice bike ride this afternoon over at Chatfield. Nice weather - about 63 degrees. Tried to get to another geocache while I was there but the area was flooded. Chatfield reservoir is as full as I have ever seen it. In fact, it appears to be above its apparent maximum level. Another foot higher and it would encroach on some of the roads. There are already some paved trails that are under water.

This particular cache is of the multi variety. This means that you have several steps to get to the actual cache. This one is called "Pies are Not Square". The first location reveals a serial number on an object out in the woods and then you have to do some complicated math to determine where the real cache is. No one has been to this particular cache since last fall and I was hoping to be the first one there this year. No luck though with the water level so high.

I have seen some interesting birds in the park lately. Pelicans have returned. They are so odd looking. I especially like seeing them fly when the otherwise all white birds reveal their black feathers.

I have also seen some smaller all white birds that resemble pigeons but are a bit smaller. Definitely not gulls. I wasn't close enough to see any other identifying characteristics.

Today I saw what I thought were 5 dowitchers. Dowitchers are peculiar looking birds with long slender bills and I saw one once before over there. But then I realized that these birds were different because their bills were not straight like the dowitchers. They were curved. I believe that these were long billed curlews which are relatively rare in Chatfield.

One of My Favorite Kid Jokes

2007-04-17T21:14:00.000-06:00

What is the difference between a duck?

The answer is, of course, One leg is both the same.

I really don't know what that means either. So I got curious to see what other answers might be plausible to this mysterious question and came up with these on the internet - these are the ones that I especially like:

Twice as much as half the difference.
The higher it flies, the much.
No, because of the moose in camo.
Ice cream has no bones.
The duck floats in water, as do wood and witches
The same as the difference between an orange.
A vest has no sleeves.
Nor is the beak.
You can't get down off an elephant.
The higher, the fewer.
Sponges, because firetrucks have wheels.
The same as the difference between a frog.

Any other bright ideas?

More Snakes

2007-04-17T20:50:00.000-06:00

On my bike ride the other day, I managed to see a total of 3 snakes! The first was a plains garter snake. I missed running over its head by about 2 inches. That probably would have killed it. It was about 18 inches long, dark green with yellow or light green stripes running the length of its body. Really cool snake. I went back and shoosted it off the trail to avoid any more near mishaps.

The second snake I saw, I actually did run over. This little guy was about 9 inches long and no thicker than a pencil. I ran over it before I could possible do anything to avoid it. I went back and found him right where I had run over him. He was coiled up and did not appear any worse for the wear. Like the first snake I saw, I encouraged him to get off the bike path with a stick.

A little while later, I came across the 2nd snake's uncle. This one was about 18 inches long and thicker than the first snake I saw. I again used a stick to prod it to get off the trail where it was sunning itself.

These last two snakes were western terrestrial garter snakes.

You can see pictures of these sorts of snakes here.

Two of the Bugs

2007-04-17T20:46:00.000-06:00

Two of our travel bugs have been picked up by someone in as many days. Oddly enough, the same person has claimed both but has not placed them anywhere yet. I am anxious to see where they go next.

Travel Bugs

2007-04-15T20:40:00.000-06:00

Travel Bugs are items that are trackable in geocaches. I have 4 of them that I "own" and they have all been placed in caches in the last few days to begin their journeys. As far as I know, they have not been claimed yet by another geocacher. They each have a dog tag attached with a unique id that can be used to track the item. These are their names:

Colorado Sea Turtle Bug - a 4" sea turtle
Aragorn - a happy meal sort of toy - Aragorn from the Lord of the Rings
1931 Big Four Indiana - a 1931 square date nail
Kokopeli - from a Kokopeli key chain - about 3" high

I also have a civil war geocoin that I found in a cache and it turns out is was adoptable. I now "own" it. It is called Civil War Geocoin #5 Antietam. I have not yet placed it in a geocache.

Adventures in GeoCaching This Weekend

2007-04-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

Saturday was our high water mark so far with geocaching. 12 caches were found in all and all of them were in Highlands Ranch or Chatfield State Park. These caches were in various containers such as metal boxes, plastic containers and even one altoids tin. They are all in fairly clever locations making it not easy to find by anyone who is not actually looking for them. By the way, people who are not aware of this activity of geocaching are referred to as "muggles".

On Saturday, Heather, Katie and I set out to find a number of caches and the first one we actually were not able to find. The location was in a rather conspicuous location but we failed to find it nevertheless. I think I have any idea though and we’ll try again soon.

We then drove about a mile to the next one and we did find this one. The funny thing about this one is that it is right out in the open yet we took about 10 minutes to find it near an old unused concrete structure. This one is called Johnny Caches' Cache Can.

We then moved on the Highlands Ranch Bug House which is supposed to be primarily used for Travel Bugs. More about those later. We then drove to another area that has about 10 caches in it within about a mile’s walking distance. We found 5 of them – we’ll do the others some other time.

Later in the day I set out on my bike and thought I would look for a few around Chatfield State Park. I looked for 5 but only found 4 of them. The one I couldn’t find has given other people trouble as well. I even went back there today for a second crack and failed once again. This one is called Kingfisher Stroll.

Today, I went on another bike ride and found 1 out of 3 caches. A great bike ride and it turns out that I can do two things I like at the same time, cycling, geocaching, wildlife viewing, and even railfanning. Hey, that’s 4 things!

GeoCaching

2007-03-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

GeoCaching sounds like fun. I think I'll try it. See this web page.

CD

2007-02-16T22:31:00.000-07:00

Go by the Newsboys is the best CD I have acquired in a long long time. And it was a lot of fun singing "I am Free" in church. Every song on this CD is excellent.

Owl Alert

2007-02-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

This nice great horned owl came by for a visit the other day. He was about 20 feet high in the tree overlooking our yard and the neighbors. I alerted the next door neighbor to not let their little dog out.

Partisan Poison and American Political Aristocracy

2007-01-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Number 2 in a series of comments about something I have read recently.

I found an article on the web entitled “Anyone but a Bush or a Clinton”. It was written by James Burkee who is an assistant professor of history at Concordia University Wisconsin and co-founder of the bipartisan political action committee Americans for Responsibility in Washington. It was written January 22, 2007 and can be read on the Los Angeles Times website here.

The gist of the article is that the next president should not have the last name of Clinton or Bush. These names might become a sort of "unnatural" aristocracy who inherited great fortunes and political office – something that Thomas Jefferson warned against. There is also a great partisan divide right now in politics that I think is threatening this nation – something that George Washington warned against.

Just imagine that Hillary Clinton serves 2 terms as president. And then Jeb Bush gets elected for two terms after that. We would have had a Bush or a Clinton as president from 1989 until 2024! That’s 36 years that the United States will have been governed by either a Bush or a Clinton. That's an awful long time governed not just by the same two families but probably by much of the same supporting staff.

The thing about the Clintons and the Bushes is that they are loved by many and hated by just as many. I think it would be foolish to elect someone in 2008 that will be hated by as many people as hate George Bush right now. Leave aside the reasons people hate George Bush and Hillary Clinton. Why elect someone to mirror what is going on now with George Bush?

I think it is time for someone that one side will like and the other side will be able to respect – someone who can heal the great divide that exists right now. But to do this, the dividers on both sides of the aisle must realize that being bipartisan does not mean when the other side does it our way. And, probably most important of all, can put the nation before party or power.

Is there a candidate who can win 55% or more of the votes? The last candidate to do so was Ronald Reagan who got 59%. Since then, no one has received more than 50.1%.

We need someone new. I do now know who this will be and I do not have an opinion yet other than to say that it should not be a Bush, a Clinton, or anyone else central to the last few administrations.

Watching the Sky Move

2007-01-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

This is the first in a series of comments about something I have read recently.

I read an article in the February 2007 Astronomy magazine written by Glenn Chaple called Watching the Sky Move. Glenn writes that he has an unusual interest in watching very slow things enfold such as watching the movement of the minute hand on a clock. Or more pertinent to Astronomy, he spent time trying to actually observe the movements of stars across the sky. He did this on one occasion by sitting very still and watching a bright star, Sirius, move past branches in a tree that were between he and the star. It must have been a very still night as well or the branches would have moved as well causing his attempt to be less interesting.

I found this article interesting for several reasons. Although not recently, I actually have tried to observe the movement of the minute hand on a clock. It is easier with a large clock, by the way. Why? I don’t know – just something I had to do once upon a time long ago. That means not recently – not in the last 25 years. But I did do it and did discover that those minute hands do move while they are being watched.

I have never tried to observe star movement without looking through a telescope. In a telescope, such movement is very apparent because whatever you are looking at does not stay in view very long if you don’t have a motorized telescope to keep things in view.

What causes the apparent movement of the stars? Mostly it is the rotation of the Earth which causes the surface to zoom along at about 1000 miles per hour. Yet star movement is nearly imperceptible.

Lilac Parade

2007-01-14T22:52:00.000-07:00

My hometown of Lombard, Illinois is famous for one particular thing. Lilacs. There is a park in town called Lilacia Park that has a huge collection of lilacs of all sorts of varieties.

There is also a parade every year called the Lombard Lilac Parade. I remember going to this parade every year in May at the peak of the blooming of the lilacs in town. This parade has been held every year since 1930. I haven't seen this parade for more than 25 years but I remember seeing the marching bands and the floats crafted by local businesses and schools. I recal the Shriners driving their motorcycles or flying carpet gocarts. The clowns, the horses, the clubs. What I always liked best was the fire engines. They always had 20 or more fire engines at the beginning of the parade from Lombard and the neighboring towns. They had their sirens blaring and they were really really loud. It made some little kids cry!

Snow, More Snow

2006-12-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

Last week's snow storm dropped 29" of snow in our neighborhood. Less than half of it melted before we got our next storm of 14". The forecast for the next couple of days has been reduced to the possibility of only 7-14 more inches! I have a lengthy pile of snow in front of the house that was shovelled from the driveway. This mound is about 6 feet tall and 20 feet long. I wonder how long it will take to melt. Because of the position of our house, our yard is the last one on the block to lose its snow. It doesn't get as much sunshine as the neighbors.

Speaking of Grand Marshals

2006-12-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

Gerald Ford was one of three presidents to act as Grand Marshal of the Rose Parade. The others were Hoover, Nixon and Eisenhower. Nixon hadn't been president yet when he was Grand Marshal in 1953 and 1960.

I looked through the list of past Grand Marshals and see only a few people who did it more than once who were not parade organizers. That was a common practice before about 1920. Since then, these people have done it more than once:

Shirley Temple in 1939, 1989, and 1999
Bob Hope in 1947 and 1969
Richard M. Nixon, 1953 and 1960
Earl Warren in 1943 and 1955

George Lucas will be the Grand Marshal for 2007.

Gerald Ford

2006-12-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

Gerald Ford was defeated in his only run for the office of president. He lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. That was the first presidential election that I ever voted in. I was a sophomore at the College of DuPage at the time and I remember how happy a number of teachers were that Carter had been elected. They were even handing out peanuts as part of their celebration. Carter was known as a peanut farmer. I voted for Ford.

Gerald Ford is also the only president I have ever seen in person. I only had a glimpse of him as he rode by as Grand Marshal of the 1978 Tournament of Roses Parade.

While a student at the University of Michigan, I recall that he was to do a lecture for some class in Angell Hall. It just so happens that at that time I happened to have a class in that same building not too long before he was supposed to be there. I didn't get to see him, but I do remember the secret service guys hanging around. As I walked down the hall, one of them was keeping an eye on me through his sunglasses.

Laser Pointers

2006-12-26T16:25:00.000-07:00

Laser pointers have more use than pointing at things. They make great cat toys, too! Cats will chase the little piece of light all over with gusto until they are completely tired out. Good exercise for cats. They'll even try to run up the wall to get it.

But they do wise up after a while. I suppose they get frustrated after a while so you give it a break and bring it our sometime later.

Snow Topped Off

2006-12-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

The snow topped off at 29" at our house. Worked from home both Wednesday and Thursday. Took the day off Friday and did get out in the Pilot. Most of the main roads were okay but the side streets were interesting with only one lane plowed if that. Parking lots varied from poor to bad with the worst one being at Target where the plowing was mediocre. Best Buy had plowed their snow from one side of each lane to the other so the available parking was a little more than half of what is normally available. There just wasn't anywhere to put the snow. Saturday, it's going to be a zoo at the stores.

Let It Snow

2006-12-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

When I shoveled the snow at 4 pm, it was 15 inches deep. It is still snowing.

The New Goal

2006-12-16T17:36:00.000-07:00

As the year nears a closing, I find that I have reached my revised mileage goal of 3700 miles on the odometer. That's 1204 in 2006 - by far the most I have ridden in one year. I think my goal for next year should be at least that much and if I can make 1300 miles that would put the odometer at 5000. So, that's the new goal.

That's only an average of about 108 miles per month. One of the keys is to get a head start during the coming winter months when riding is limited to weekends when there is no snow and it is at least 40 degrees (like today). Today it was a little chilly when the sun was behind the clouds and I found my toes to be rather cold. Fingers, too, but not as bad. This seems to be the lower limit on temperature for me to be riding.

Cashews

2006-12-15T20:49:00.000-07:00

I was reading about cashews and got a kick out of the interesting words:

The Cashew is a tree in the plant family Anacardiaceae. Anacardium occidentale is a small evergreen tree with leathery textured leaves that are elliptic to obovate. The flowers are produced in a panicle or corymb.

On the tree you will see what appears to be a pear-shaped fruit. However, it is actually a pseudofruit or false fruit that develops from the receptacle of the cashew flower. The false fruit is called the cashew apple.

The true fruit of the cashew tree is a kidney shaped drupe that grows at the end of the pseudofruit. The drupe develops first on the tree and then the peduncle expands into the pseudofruit. Within the true fruit is the cashew nut. The seed is surrounded by a double shell containing a caustic phenolic resin, urushiol, a potent skin irritant toxin (also found in the related poison-ivy).

So, there you have it.

Nuts I've Eaten

2006-12-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

peanuts, almonds, cashews, filberts (hazelnuts), Brazil nuts, macadamias, California (English) walnuts, black walnuts, pistachios, pecans, chestnuts, pine (pignolia), coconut.

Some interesting things about nuts:

Peanuts: It is rare to find one with 3 nuts in the shell. But I have had as many as 5 nuts in one shell!

Brazil nuts: The nuts grow inside a hard, woody fruit rather like a coconut shell. When it is broken open, you might find as many as 24 nuts inside.

Cashews: Some people think they have no shells because you never see them in the store with their shells. The truth is that the shells are very caustic. Nobody would buy them more than once in the shell. More about cashews later.

Chestnuts: Roasted on an open fire or not, blech.

Coconuts: My father could not swallow coconut. One time he tried to eat a cookie that unbeknownst to him, had coconut in it. After chewing it for a long while, he ended up with a wad of coconut in his mouth!

Filberts: According to one web site I found, filberts are similar to but NOT the same as hazelnuts. Go figure.

Macadamia: From Hawaii. Yes, but they are native to Australia.

Pecans: Come from the state tree of Texas. There are numerous varieties. Good in Chinese stir fry if deep fried for a short time. Top the Chinese dish with the nuts. Use some hoisin sauce.

Pine Nuts come from numerous types of pine trees. They are good on pizza with ground lamb and feta cheese on a spinach crust. Maybe a little cinnamon.

Black Walnuts

2006-12-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

I am rather fond of nuts. Nuts are plentiful in grocery stores this time of year and we have had a good supply to snack on here at home. I especially enjoy nuts that are in the shell rather than those in jars or bags. There is a fun element to cracking nuts and then eating them.

Of the common nuts found in grocery stores in the shell, I like filberts, brazil nuts, and almonds the best. Peanuts are good. Then there are walnuts and pecans.

There are different varieties of some nuts. Walnuts are the main subject of this blog posting. The ones you find in the grocery stores are California English Walnuts. These are popular because they are plentiful, tasty and have an easily cracked shell.

They are not as good as black walnuts. I have never seen black walnuts in the shell in any store. I have seen small bags of shelled black walnuts on occasion.

My father liked black walnuts. When I was a kid, on at least two occasions, we drove out to Rock Falls, Illinois where we knew of some black walnut trees. After the first frost, the walnuts would start falling from these trees and that was the time to pick them up. However, they were not ready to crack or eat. The black walnut shell is about the same size as a typical store walnut but when you pick them up off the ground, they would normally still have their husk on them. Black walnut husks are about the size of a small peach and the juice that is in them will stain just about anything it touches. After the nuts fall from the tree, we would use our shoes to roll them on the ground and that would remove the husk leaving the nut exposed.

Black walnut shells are very hard and a typical nut cracker will not work. We used a hammer to crack them. We'd end up with a large box of de-husked black walnuts which was stored out in the garage. My father had a piece of flagstone that he setup on a shelf in the garage and it was out there that the hammer would be used to crack and shell the nuts.

Invariably, some of the nut meat would be left inside the remains of the shells. These we threw out in the yard for the squirrels. You could hear them trying to crack the remains up in the trees.

The edible part of the black walnut looks a lot like a typical walnut but the taste is quite different and unique. Maybe I'll see if I can find some.

I Really Like Our New Church

2006-12-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

This was a wonderful sermon about "The Dearest Place on Earth".

It is by Senior Pastor Bill Oudemolen of Foothills Bible Church.

My First Job

2006-11-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

My first job was during the summer of 1973 when I was 15. I worked for a company called Western Folder for $2 per hour. Western Folder distributed travel folders to travel agents across the United States. Once a month a new mailing would go out to all of them with order forms for various travel folders for airlines (mainly). When the orders came in, we would fill them and get them ready for UPS shipment.

The company resided in Addison, Illinois in a strip building in which there were many small businesses. I recall two interesting episodes.

At this time, UPS did not ship to all states. They would not ship anything to Montana, for instance. We didn't always pay close enough attention to where we were shipping things and inevitably, some Montana packages got in the truck for UPS. One day, the UPS driver came by and was quite ticked off about this - surprisingly so, I thought since we were actually his customer! He came in ranting and raving about these packages with Montana addresses and that they didn't deliver there. Then he randomly picked up a package that we had just put together and lo and behold, it was to another Montana address. What were the odds of this?

On another occasion, one of the managers pretended to be a travel agent and filled out an order and let it go through our system. He selected one folder from each page in the order form. We spotted this order and wrapped the package extra fancy. I don't recall the details but it was quite funny. Not sure he thought it was so funny, though.

I see via the internet that this company still exists. The company is actually much older than 33 years; it goes back to 1922 according to the web page. It says that they have been doing this travel folder business for almost 35 years so I guess I was there close to when they started doing that.

To Help or Not to Help

2006-11-23T12:37:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I had a software gig in downtown Denver. One day I went out for lunch by myself and walked out of the building and headed down the block. I noticed a teenage girl on the other side of the street who was looking my direction. Hardly anyone else was around. I needed to cross the street and decided to jaywalk since there was no traffic. I wanted to avoid this girl though so I walked a bit farther down the street before crossing. She was determined to talk with me, though. When I got close enough, I saw that she was crying and was definitely in need of help.

She told me that she and some friends had driven to Denver from Albuquerque - about 450 miles. They were doing some sort of fund raising activity and had actually accomplished some of that. But rather than make good use of the money, they had all gone somewhere and got drunk using all of the money they had raised. Then, for some reason that she did not tell me, they had abandoned her so that she was stuck in Denver with no place to go and no way to get home.

I agreed to help her but since I only had enough money for lunch, I took her to a nearby bank where there was an ATM and I got her enough money for a bus ride to Albuquerque and some lunch. She was obviously relieved as she went her way.

This isn't the first time an opportunity to help someone in this manner has come to me. But there is always that little bit of doubt about whether these people are sincere. To me, there seems to be a difference between someone with a story like this girl's from the random person who just wants a few bucks for some food or the people who seem to make their living by hanging out at "their" instersection asking for handouts.

Michigan versus Ohio State (again?)

2006-11-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

I think it would be a bad thing for these two teams to have a rematch in the National Championship Game. If Ohio State were to win again - even bigger bragging rights for them. If Michigan wins, that would mean that they split the two games. Then, how about a best of 3 series? Plus, playing, let's say, USC in the big game and winning would be that much better for Ohio State should that happen.

Michigan should go to the Rose Bowl. But they should not play Notre Dame because this would also be a rematch of a game earlier this year in which Michigan won handily.

I would like to see Ohio State beat USC in the big game and for Michigan to beat Florida in the Rose Bowl.

Michigan versus Ohio State 2006

2006-11-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

The game is over with Ohio State winning 42-39. Good for them. Michigan was close but fell short. Too bad there wasn't another quarter - they might have passed up the Buckeyes. Oh wait, maybe there will be another 4 quarters should they meet again in the national championship game. A long shot, I know, but if certain other teams lose...

Michigan versus Ohio State

2006-11-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

The Michigan flag flying in front of my house tells anyone who sees it that I will be rooting for Michigan on Saturday. I have seen an Ohio State flag flying a few blocks away as well. I thought it looked a little dirty.

Michigan last won in 2003 and Ohio State has won 4 of the last 5. The two teams have previously met 102 times with Michigan winning 57 times, Ohio State winning 39 times and there were 6 ties. I am hoping that Michigan wins this year and goes on to the National Championship Game. Should Ohio State beat Michigan, they will go on to the National Championship Game and I will root for them in it unless by some unexpected circumstance, the game becomes a rematch. I almost always root for any Big Ten game in any non-conference game including bowls.

Three Posers

2006-11-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

As I rode through Waterton Canyon the other day, I came upon these three fellows.

They stood there like statues while I and several others took pictures of them. It seemed that they were aware of the photographers and willingly posed for the cameras. After a minute or two, they slowly made their way up the road pretty much ignoring the presence of interested humans passing by.

Judging by the extent to which the horns have grown, the one in the middle is the oldest and is probably the big cheese for the local herd. According to what I have read on the internet about bighorn sheep, he is 8-10 years old. He has probably butted heads with the other two numerous times.

Here is a neat link to a movie of some sheep. These sheep are known to live to as old as 17 but 10-12 years is common.

Chain Reaction

2006-11-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

The sound of these geese taking off was as much fun as the sight of their takeoff. I just got a little bit too close for one of them. When it took off, the rest followed.

Grebe is a Funny Name for a Bird

2006-11-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

The western grebe in the photo below was having a problem. I watched him for a while before I realized what the problem was. He went back and forth for quite a while and sometimes he would go below the water. That's not unusual for a grebe but sometimes he would also flop around in an eratic fashion. Upon closer examination with binoculars, I could see that he was snagged on an abandoned fishing line. We notified some park personnel and they went in and rescued the poor fellow.

I think grebe is a funny word. I also think grebes are cool looking. Western Grebes are common in this area (Denver) but are also migratory so you won't see them all year.

Red Tailed Hawks

2006-11-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

We've seen quite a few hawks lately. This first one was circling above us as we walked along the short of the lake at Chatfield.

This one was near the trailhead to Waterton Canyon. He just sat there for a few minutes no more than 20 feet away. And yes, that is an airplane in the background. Didn't notice it while I took the picture.

In Case You Didn't Know

2006-11-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

In case you didn't know, if you click on any of the pictures on this blog, you will get a larger version of the same picture...

Ring Billed Gulls

2006-11-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ring billed gulls are very common right now at Chatfield. In fact, they are supposedly common year round by the lake. In the picture below, you can see what happens when you get too close.

Here is one that is more comfortable:

More Information About Banded Geese

2006-11-03T20:44:00.000-07:00

I found this webpage about the goose banding by the group that banded the goose I spotted. Interesting study.

Feedback on Tagged Goose sighting Report

2006-11-02T19:07:00.000-07:00

In a post of a few days ago, I included a picture of a tagged Canadian goose and that I had found a website on which to report the sighting. I got a response from the USGS - Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland. This is what it said:

"We have received your report(s) of a neck-collared Canada Goose sighting. These collars are used to individually identify geese throughout North America in several large-scale studies of changing habits and habitat preferences of geese.

"We have forwarded your report and a copy of this letter to the individual researcher responsible for collaring the bird (s) you sighted. Because of the large scale of the various projects, it is incumbent upon these researchers and managers to provide the public with information on the nature of their projects. Additionally, if the collar color and code are properly reported, the researcher will provide you with information pertaining to the individual bird(s) you sighted.

"If you have reported birds from several different projects, you will receive a copy of this letter for each project. In this way if you do not get a response in a reasonable time you can contact the specific bander directly. The address is below.

"To learn more about birds and bird banding, see our web page at http:// www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl

"Thank you for your interest and cooperation in the North American Bird Banding Program."

Then the email mentioned that this particular bander was from the Colorado Division of Wildlife in Fort Collins, Colorado.

For Collins is not that far from where I live as the goose flies. Of course, this particular goose might have travelled a lot farther than that. I hope I get a report from the bander.

Not Long After All That Snow

2006-10-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

It was just a few days ago that we had about 10 inches of snow. Then, as is typical for Colorado soon after a snow storm, yesterday it was in the low 70's and today in the 60's and quite sunny. I went for a lengthy bike ride and even got a bit of a sun burn. Not too bad, though.

I went up Waterton Canyon in hopes of finding some wildlife. I saw very few birds up close but I could see a lot of them near Chatfield Lake. I didn't venture over there to get any pictures. I wanted to explore the Chatfield Pond areas on my way to and from Waterton Canyon. There was not a single water bird in any of the ponds. Maybe the snow of a few days ago encouraged the migratory birds to head farther south.

In Waterton, I saw more Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep that I had ever seen up there before. I saw one group of 16 and another group of 10 for a total of 26 sheep!

Since Waterton is a canyon, the sun does not shine in there for a good part of the daytime so it was a bit chilly up there. Fortunately, today was almost windless. This also made for quiet ponds and in one place behind the diversion dam, the South Platte River was as smooth as glass. This picture turned out nice but it doesn't do it justice. The photo only captures a part of the scene.

Tagged Goose

2006-10-28T18:21:00.000-06:00

Here is a tagged Canadian Goose. I found a website to report this sighting. I wonder where this goose has been and who tagged him.

Mallards

2006-10-28T17:15:00.000-06:00

Here is a nice couple I spotted in a park in Littleton.

Quiet Chatfield

2006-10-24T19:47:00.000-06:00

I left work a bit early today to get in a bike ride before it got dark. Went over to Chatfield with my camera to see if I could catch something interesting on electronic film. I saw lots of water birds but could not get close enough to get a photo or to check their ids. I did see a red tailed hawk fly over me. Neat.

The most interesting wildlife I saw was some deer and one of them is in the photo below. Usually, when I see deer in Chatfield, they are female - without antlers. This one and his nearby buddy (not in the photo) were both sporting some fashionable antlers.

On the way back, these two deer had joined 6 others nearby that I had missed when I first rode through. Some had antlers and some didn't.

I like how they stare right at me when I stop to stare at them.

Chatfield was very quiet. I got there about 5:15 and left about 6:00 this evening. I only saw about 3 other people the whole time. Maybe that's why the deer were so easy to find - there weren't a lot of people to encourage them to hide away.

More Water Birds

2006-10-15T17:15:00.000-06:00

Not being content with the lack of battery power for my digital camera yesterday, I recharged it and rode my bike over to Chatfield today for exercise as well as to see if I could photograph a few of the birds we saw yesterday but didn't get pictures of. Here are the results.

First up is a squadron of pelicans.

Next up is this little guy which I think is some sort of grebe. This fellow is quite small - about half the size of a typical duck. It might be a younger version of the next one below.

This next one might be another type of grebe (horned grebe?).

There were also either some Clark's grebes or western grebes in the area as well but they were too far away to get a good picture. I'll try again next time.

A Little Birding

2006-10-14T21:59:00.000-06:00

Having bicycled through Chatfield State Park, I know where there are a number of good places to spot birds - especially water birds which I find interesting. Heather and I drove over there today to see what we could find and we found plenty. Unfortunately, the battery on our digital camera pooped out so we couldn't get pictures of the pelicans or the grebes or a number of other birds that we saw.

Cormorants and Canadian geese were plentiful and so were coots and gulls. Also saw mallard ducks and some mergansers. We even saw some shovelers but they were too far out to get a clear picture. Here are some pictures we did take:

Killdeer

Dowitcher

What kind of gull is this? (Ring Billed Gull? Herring Gull?)

What kind of gull is this?

My Third Bike

2006-10-12T17:36:00.000-06:00

My third bike was a Schwinn with a banana seat. It wasn't a Stingray, though. I believe the Stingrays were the first Schwinn bikes to have the banana seats and the high handlebars. Later Schwinn came out with a series of similar bikes that were 5 speeds. The tire in the back was about 20" and the one in the front may 12" in diameter. These models had names like Pea Picker, Orange Crate and Apple Crate. Those models were replaced with the bike I eventually got, the name of which I cannot recall. It was similar since it had 5 speeds but the front and back wheels were the same size. It was a blast riding that bike.

It eventually got stolen off the side porch on our house. We kept it there unlocked at night and one day when I went to ride it, it wasn't there. We never found out who stole it.

My father and I spent some time driving around looking for it, though. This was about 1970 and oddly enough, I still remember the serial number – CD11802. Isn’t that bizarre?

One day after swimming at the public pool in Lombard with my friend Kevin, we called my mother to come and get us and had a little time to kill. There was always a zillion bikes at the park so we went to check them out – looking for that serial number. Much to my surprise, we found it! When my mother got there, we told her and the police were called. They showed up and cut the lock off the bike and put it in the trunk of my mother’s car.

Meanwhile, the kid who had the bike had also been swimming in the pool and he came out to get "his" bike while it was being put in the trunk. This was quite traumatic for him and he started bawling.

He was not the one who had stolen the bike, however. It had a sticker on it indicating where he had bought it – a store that is still there (I checked on the internet). Whoever had stolen it had sold it to this store and of course they had no record of who that had been. The bike store that we always patronized kept records of who sold and bought what at their store and we thought this other store was disreputable.

Well, the kid who had the bike ended up getting a brand new bike as a replacement. I wonder who had to pay for that – his parents or that bike store.

I had already replaced my bike with a new one as well so the recovered bike was surplus and I no longer wanted it anyway since the kid who had it had put a "sissy bar" on it. That was a fad at the time to extend the rear seat support up about 3 feet. It was hideous looking. Besides that, it had been beat up somewhat so we got rid of it.

My First Bike

2006-10-04T21:18:00.000-06:00

I got my first bicycle when I was in second grade. I remember my father running behind me trying to help me learn how to ride it and get the hang of balancing. I did not have training wheels and it was difficult at first. I think he helped me with it twice. After that, I got determined to ride it myself and did so without any additional help.

It was a second hand bike with 16 or 20 inch wheels. I am pretty sure it had only the one speed or gear.

I rode that bike all over and even had a few adventures with it. One day, I decided to find out where the end of our street was. I already had been as far as I could go to the north so I rode south. Stewart Avenue in Lombard, Illinois goes quite a ways south from the 300 block but it doesn't go directly through. I discovered that there is one spot where you have to go around the block to continue down the street. Eventually, it dumped out on Roosevelt Road which was a very busy 4 lane road and I rode on the shoulder for a ways and found a different way back home. No place for a second grader!

On another occasion, I rode the same bike on the sidewalk down Main Street in Lombard. I came to a place between Maple Street and Parkside Avenue where an alley dumped out onto Main. As I rode by, a car popped out and hit me. I was knocked to the ground. The man who was driving the car jumped out to see if I was hurt and I remember telling him that my little finger hurt but that was it. He told me that I should call him later if I discovered that I wasn't okay after all. I said okay, got on my bike and rode home. I thought later that it would have been difficult for me to call him since I did not know his name nor did he give me his phone number! I wonder if he ever thinks about when he hid the little kid with his car.

These two events happened when I was in second grade when I was 7 years old. I finally told my mother about them 40 years later.

I Like Ducks

2006-10-02T19:38:00.000-06:00

Found a beautiful pond yesterday in Littleton, Colorado and here are some pictures of what I saw there. First, an American Wigeon.

Next is this interesting duck. It is a female wood duck.

This duck didn't come very close to the shore. I believe it is an American Coot and if so, I suppose it is not really a duck at all.

These white ducks were extremely vocal - much louder than any of the Canadian Geese they were hanging around with. They were almost as big as the geese, too!

Adventures of 9/30/2006

2006-09-30T15:58:00.000-06:00

It was a very nice sunny morning – about 60 degrees so I went out for another one of my bike rides in quest of my mileage goal. I made one goal of riding 1000 miles this year. My real goal is 1004 miles, however and I am still 4 miles short of that. The extra 4 miles is because that’s how far short I was of last year’s mileage goal. I fell short last year because of a fall I took on the bike in which I hyper extended my left elbow sometime last November. That and the weather ended my riding for last year – just 4 miles short! Making up for it this year and then some.

I rode through Chatfield State Park again and also up into Waterton Canyon. The fall colors are really getting wonderful right now and this picture is one I took in Chatfield:

It seems that I always see a snake somewhere on my rides and this little fellow was today’s snake. It’s about 14 inches long and I believe it is a bull snake.

Trashing C470

2006-09-26T17:55:00.000-06:00

While driving to work the other day on C470 across Highlands Ranch, I spotted a large pile of trash along the south side of the highway. Not just a bag or two; it looked like about the amount that would nicely fit in the back of a pickup truck. Large non-descript items neatly piled about 20 feet off the road.

I wonder why this trash was dumped there. While it is not that unusual to see "gross" piles of trash in out of the way places, it is very unusual to see it dumped along a busy highway where, no doubt, lots of people saw whoever it was doing their deed. The C470 right of way is relatively clean although there is enough loose trash that accumulates so that it has to be picked up fairly often.

Why do people do this and why did this person do it there?

More Secret Chatfield Trails

2006-09-25T21:32:00.000-06:00

The last time I rode my bike over at Chatfield State Park, I spotted another rider way over across the field. He was riding at a good clip so I knew he wasn’t simply riding across the field. He had to be on a trail that I didn’t know about. On my ride today, I found the trail. It is a single track trail that I suppose could be quite muddy though that wasn’t a problem today. It’s on the west side of the park close to the trees that line the lake. It’s really more like a rut about 8 inches wide. I could tell that lots of people had ridden the trail before even though it is not obvious how to get to it. This is what it looks like:

While riding down this trail, I came to an even more secret trail. A picture of it is below. What you see in the picture is a completely overgrown trail that is actually paved with asphalt. I didn’t venture any further into the woods than what you see but I know that beyond the woods in the photo is a is a little section of the lake. From earlier exploration, I also know that there is a similar trail on the other side of this portion of the lake. It is my theory that these trails connected to each other at some time but are now separated by this part of the lake that is about 40 feet across. I wonder what happened.

Colorado High Country – 9/24/2006

2006-09-25T21:20:00.000-06:00

Heather and I spent a good part of the afternoon exploring some semi-back roads up in the mountains looking for some fall colors. We found some but saw that they had not yet peaked by any means. Nevertheless, we saw some nice patches of aspen gold and Heather took some great pictures.

This first one is on an unpaved side road off of Colorado 119 between Rollinsville and Blackhawk.

This one is near Tolland on the road that goes to the Moffat Tunnel. There was snow up there, too.

This shot is from the car window while we driving between Rollinsville and Blackhawk.

There was the Indiana Game...

2006-09-20T21:26:00.000-06:00

In 1979, I attended this game. Have a listen...

College Football Road Trips

2006-09-20T20:56:00.000-06:00

When I was in college at the University of Michigan, I attended all the football home games the same as most students. I also attended some road games while still a student and shortly thereafter that were memorable events.

I transferred to the U of M in 1977 as a junior and the team finished the regular season with 10 wins and 1 loss. They had entered the season ranked #2. Michigan rose to #1 after its first game but had a hard time beating two lesser opponents, Duke and Navy. When they played Texas A&M in Ann Arbor, they were ranked #3 and everyone was afraid of A&M who was ranked #5 at the time. I believe A&M was actually favored to win the game. A&M scored first with a field goal and then Michigan scored 41 unanswered points to win 41-3. I don't believe A&M even got past the 50 yard line the rest of the game! A couple weeks later, Michigan played undefeated and 14th ranked Wisconsin and beat them 56-0. This vaulted Michigan back into #1 and everyone was happy in Ann Arbor. The next week Michigan traveled up to Minnesota to battle for the Little Brown Jug and lost 16-0. So much for the undefeated season and #1 ranking.

They ended up the season with just that one loss to Minnesota. They played in the Rose Bowl on January 2, 1978 against the Washington Huskies and lost 27-20. I attended this game and despite the loss, the trip was a lot of fun going to the Rose Parade and various Los Angeles area attractions such as Disneyland and Universal Studios.

In the 1979 season, a bunch of us drove to West Lafayette, Indiana to see Michigan beat Purdue. The game was in mid October and it was really cold that day – about 30 degrees with light rain, yuck. Oh, and did Michigan win? No, they lost 24-21. I don’t recall much about the game but I do remember a Purdue fan trying to steal my Michigan hat at that game. They didn’t get it.

In 1980, the year after I graduated, a bunch of us got together to go to South Bend to see Michigan beat Notre Dame. This was a September game and the weather was pleasant. I still clearly remember that football sailing over the goal post by about 18 inches to score the winning field goal for Notre Dame as time expired. I was surrounded by Notre Dame fans and they were happy but also sympathetic to me. A nice bunch of people.

(A side note: Harry Oliver kicked that field goal for Notre Dame. He said after the game that he said a few Hail Marys before the kick. I wondered if this was the origin of the football "Hail Mary Play". It was not but this did qualify as one of those.)

Another road game was at Wisconsin in September, 1981. Wisconsin won this one 21-14. This was the first game of the year for both teams, I believe. Not a good way to start the season (unless you’re a badger fan!).

So, that was four road games and four losses for Michigan. Some people thought I was jinxing our favorite college team.

I went to one more road game, at Purdue, in 1981. Michigan won that one 28-10. So, the jinx was over. That was the last Michigan game I saw in person. Overall, Michigan’s record for games I attended is 20 wins and 7 losses.

I Saw a Snake

2006-09-20T18:36:00.000-06:00

On my most recent bike ride, I saw this nice little snake. It's about 18 incehs long and is on the paved part of the bike path in Chatfield State Park.

Today's Adventures

2006-09-16T13:09:00.000-06:00

As I started this morning's ride, I commented to my wife about my desire to see a bear somewhere on the ride. I had been on the alert for one since I know that they have been seen in Chatfield State Park but I have not yet seen one. I brought my camera along just in case. I passed all the way through Chatfield without seeing anything particularly interesting except for a magpie that was sitting atop a spindly tree. It would have made a nice picture but he flew away before I got my camera ready.

I entered Waterton Canyon. About three miles up the canyon, I startled a female Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep who was in the weeds between the road and the river. The ewe was agitated and jumped up and then came to stop in the middle of the road about 30 feet in front of where I had stopped. She then slowly approached me and I took this picture.

She was quite bold to approach me like this and when I backed away, she followed me. She even licked my bicycle tire. Then I rode on to leave her with the other sheep that was up the hill a ways.

About 5 miles up the canyon, I came to a place where there was a bunch of people all looking across the river and up the hill. When I asked them what was up there, they pointed out a black bear to me. I caught just a glimpse of the bear just as he went behind some brush. Too bad since I had my camera along. We waited around for a while and he did reappear for another glimpse but again disappeared before I could get his picture. He was 300 to 400 yards away.

Mowing the Lawn

2006-09-15T17:20:00.000-06:00

Since the weather was threatening enough to keep me from heading out on my bicycle after work today, I decided that I would mow the lawn instead. While I was going to and fro in the back yard I began thinking about why I think of it as "mowing the lawn" instead of "cutting the grass". Is this a regional phrase? Is it old fashioned? Is it a US versus British English thing?

Mowing the Lawn
- Sounds better than "cutting the grass"
- Implies that great care is being taken with the grass growing in the “lawn”
- An enjoyable task
- The result is a thing of beauty
- Goes with edging and trimming

Cutting the Grass
- Something you have to do because the neighbors are complaining.
- The result is shorter grass
- Something you do to get rid of the dandelion flowers
- Goes with weed whacking

Trust and A Good Deed

2006-09-09T22:01:00.000-06:00

When I lived in Texas, one of the places I used to railfan was in central Fort Worth. This is where many railroad lines converge and is therefore a very busy spot for those who like to photograph trains. One time in the early 90’s I drove to the Broadway Street railroad crossing (13 tracks, I think). From here you could see trains from multiple railroads while remaining off of railroad property. I sat on a concrete stoop by a nearby building.

One Saturday or Sunday, I met another guy there who was doing the same thing. He actually had ridden his bicycle to this location which I thought was odd given the location. We talked about our common interest in railroads and enjoyed the trains when they came by. I had brought a video camera with me to capture some trains belonging to Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, and Southern Pacific.

The neighborhood was not particularly good in this area. It’s not unusual to find seedy looking buildings and questionable people in areas like this and that is what you would find here, too. After an hour or so, an African American man came walking up and said that he needed help. He had no money and no place to stay. I had to make a decision about what to do.

I asked him what he needed. He said he needed enough money to stay in a not-so-nearby place and he also hoped for a ride back there. I wondered how much of a risk I was taking but nevertheless, I offered to help him. I opened up my car which was parked nearby and I put my expensive camcorder in the trunk.

He directed me to a particular house that was about 3 miles away. He told me his story of how he had just arrived from Mississippi. He came to Fort Worth for a job but his truck had broken down and he had arrived late. He was supposed to have met his boss at a particular location but when he finally got there, there was no sign of his new boss. So, he was out of money with no place to stay. He had a wife and baby and they had no food. He set off on foot to find some help and had quite an adventure himself like getting turned away from places that you’d think would have helped him. He was threatened with a gun at one place he had tried.

He told me that his name was Anthony. He was desperate enough to offer to give me his truck in exchange for some money that he could use to stay overnight at a house he had found as well as to get some food for the baby. I gave him, I think, $20 which was most of what I had with me. He said he would repay me so I gave him my address.

He never did repay me but I didn’t really expect it from him nor do I hold it against him. I felt good about having helped out someone in need. I felt bad trusting him only so far when we first met. That’s why I had put the camcorder in the trunk, after all.

I went back to Fort Worth the next week to the exact same location to photograph some more trains. The fellow with the bicycle was there again. The first thing he asked me was, “Well, was he telling the truth?”

A Fun Thing to do with Cats

2006-09-08T19:27:00.000-06:00

We have two cats, Pippin and Dora. And just about every evening Pippin insists on playing a certain game and Dora always joins in once it starts. We call it "Tossing Goodies". Pippin will find me, sit down and simply stare directly at me in the face very intently thinking that will get me to start this game. He might do this for 15 or 20 minutes until I finally begin the game.

So, I go into the kitchen and get the container of goodies. These consist of Pounce Crunchy Tuna flavor dry catfood that comes in a little pouch. I figured out that it is about $9 a pound!

Anyway, I get the container and toss one of these little fish-shaped goodies across the room while Pippin is watching. Because of their odd shape, these bits of food tend to bounce strangely on the carpet almost like they are alive. Pippin nevertheless quickly chases them down and often jumps quite a ways in the air to swat at them. Dora joins in the game as well usually coming from out of nowhere once the game starts. They get 8 or 10 goodies each and its a lot of fun watching them chase them down and getting exercise at the same time (the cats, that is).

New Wildlife Sightings

2006-09-05T21:00:00.000-06:00

On an otherwise routine ride around Chatfield Lake today, I had one unusual wildlife encounter. It was in the stretch of "secret" trail I mentioned in my previous posting. I was riding along at a moderate pace when I surprised two full size deer who ran across the path to a point about 40 feet away. They stopped there with big eyes staring back at me and their big ears sticking up. I slowed down but kept going to leave them in peace. They had surprised me as much as I surprised them.

Chatfield State Park - 9/3/2006

2006-09-03T17:24:00.000-06:00

Today's bike ride around Chatfield State Park was very nice with a few interesting sightings of wildlife despite the large number of people present on this beautiful Labor Day weekend. The temperature was about 70 degrees. As usual, the bike trails were not very busy which is what I like about riding there. In addition, I know of some "secret" trails. Here is a picture of one of them:

This trail is on the west side of the lake and it is quite possible to ride a bike on it despite its overgrown look. At least it was today. Sometimes, it's underwater! Today, however, the lake level is very low and there is no problem riding all the way through.

The trail is mostly paved but due to its closeness to the lakeshore, it has been eroded or covered with sand in some places. It is part of a set of older paved trails that can be found around the park. Some are in better shape than others. Some should be avoided due to the presence of puncture vine (goatheads) growing in the cracks in the pavement. The part shown in the photo does not have this problem.

There is one trail near the bridge over the South Platte River that heads into the woods and becomes so overgrown that it is impassible. There are even more trails like this on the far east side of the park as well. I wonder if some of these trails predate the dam.

As I continued my ride around the lake, I ended up on top of the dam as usual. Looking ahead, I saw a large brown bird soaring and then land on the structure on top of the dam - about 50 feet in front of me. It landed and left its large wings spread for a moment. Then it folded them in and I could clearly see the head of the bird. I had my camera and tried to get it ready but the big old bird flew off before I could get the picture I wanted. I took a picture of it as it soared above me:

I had hoped it was some sort of eagle but the head was unmistakable. It was a turkey vulture. There were two of them soaring together. I enjoyed watching them for a while before continuing on my way.

Two Childhood Games

2006-08-31T18:54:00.000-06:00

There are two neighborhood games that stand out to me from my childhood (1960's). The first, we called "Free Free Free". This game was played in the front yard of the house across the street. The front porch was the home base and it was 3 or 4 steps up to a concrete stoop. Whoever was it had to count to 20 while the rest hid nearby but out of sight. When done counting, whoever was it had to look for the others who were hiding. If he saw John, for instance, he would hold the porch railing and call "not free, not free on John". Whoever was hiding could run to the porch, grab the railing and say "free free free" to avoid being "not freed" by whoever was it. It was possible for the hiders to accomplish being free because whoever was it had to venture away from the porch in order to spy those who were hiding. It was often a foot race between the two players.

My favorite neighborhood game was called "flashlight tag". This required neighborhoods unhindered by fences to roam around in. Boundaries were defined such as a certain 3 yards, front and back but only back as far as the clothesline. This game was played, of course, after dark. Whoever was it had the flashlight. He would roam around the bounds looking for one of the hiders who were also free to roam around or hide as they saw fit. A tag was accomplish by shining the light on someone and identifying them. Then the flashlight changed hands. The holder of the flashlight did not have to keep it turned on so it was possible to get caught when it was unexpected.

Fences

2006-08-30T21:52:00.000-06:00

If you look at the photo of the "Moose Tree" on an earlier posting of mine, you will see a house. That house is next door to the house where I lived. If you look closely at the picture, you will see three buildings. Our house is on the left side of the picture. The building on the right is the detached garage for the house in full view in the center of the picture.

What do you notice about this piece of neighborhood? No fence between the houses. In fact, there were very few fences in that neighborhood. The only people who had fences had either a dog or a swimming pool.

These were fairly large yards; they were almost 300 feet deep most of which was in the back yards. So, it would cost a lot to put in a fence all the way back. But even most yards with less depth had no fence.

The picture was taken about 30 years ago and I believe that there is a fence in this yard now. I can't tell you why because I don't know the people who live there now.

In many of today's neighborhoods, almost everyone has a fence. And it's not just because of a dog or swimming pool. It's the desire mainly for privacy but also for security.

I think the prevalance of fences is one of the reasons we don't know our neighbors all that well anymore.

Today's Fun

2006-08-30T21:45:00.000-06:00

I decided to split my blog into two blogs leaving the original one as the storage place for topics about railroads since it is named using my railroad-related moniker (cajrrman).

This new blog is for other topics so I decided to name it cajotherman.

I got in a nice bike ride this evening over at Chatfield. The most interesting thing I saw was what I first thought was a very nice looking fox. He was running at a fairly fast clip and went across the bike path about 50 yards in front of me. He ran towards the nearby woods and stopped with the sun right behind him. He was going too fast to get a picture of him and then when he stopped with the sun behind him, there was no way to get a good picture. I thought it was a fox at first but upon further consideration, I have to conclude that it was a coyote. Too big for a fox.

Today's Bike Ride (and yikes, snakes)

2006-08-30T21:24:00.000-06:00

(From 7/21/06 on my old blog)

After planning to do an after-work bike ride all week, I finally did one today. The late afternoon thunderstorms kept me inside earlier this week. I did the ride around the lake in Chatfield State Park. The ride was 17.5 miles so I now have 3049 miles on my bike.

One of the weird things that happens to me on this ride is that I almost always see a snake somewhere along the trail and today was no exception. So, when I got home I was able to say once again, "I saw a snake". It's gotten to be a bit of a joke to me.

But it is really weird. I have seen at least two different types of snakes on this trail - garter and bull. Today's was a bull snake. It was about 20 inches long with the first 16 inches about 1.5 inches thick with a quick taper off to a pointy tail. He was right in the middle of the trail and I almost ran over him stopping in the nick of time. I watched him for a minute to make sure he got off the trail. I didn't want him to get run over by another speedy bike. I try to keep a sharp eye out for snakes on the trail because I actually have run over two snakes on my bike thinking they were sticks until it was too late. The snakes I ran over did not seem to be hurt - or at least I could not find them when I went back to check them out.

The snakes I have run over were both garter snakes about 18 inches long and about as thick as a pencil. The largest snake I have seen was a bull snake, I think. It was about 6 feet long and 2 inches thick. This was along the trail along the South Platte River.

Goathead Plants

2006-08-30T20:56:00.001-06:00

(From 8/23/06 on my old blog)

On my bike ride today I found just how plentiful the Puncture Vine plant is in Chatfield. These nasty plants are everywhere. They look like this:

Here is a closeup of the goatheads on one of the branches. The actual thorns are clearly visible especially on the head at the bottom. Once these plants die and dry up, keep your bike tires away from them!

Don't Take My Picture

2006-08-30T20:56:00.000-06:00

(From 8/14/06 on my old blog)

This is one way to avoid getting your picture taken.

Marmots

2006-08-30T20:55:00.003-06:00

(From 8/14/06 on my old blog)

I like marmots. This one got his picture taken in Yellowstone National Park in 2005.

Monty Hall Two

2006-08-30T20:55:00.002-06:00

(From 8/14/06 on my old blog)

Read the posting below called “The Monty Hall Problem”

Now suppose that Monty does not know which of the doors is good and which are bad. You randomly pick one of the three doors and then Monty randomly picks one of the others and reveals what’s behind it. If he picks the good door, the game is over and you lose. If he picks a bad door, you get the choice of whether to switch or not. Should you switch?

Consider. The selected door is in caps. There are three initial possibilities.
GOOD bad bad
good BAD bad
good bad BAD

There’s a 1/3 probability of selecting the good door. This time, Monty does not know which door is good and which ones are bad. He randomly picks one of the doors you did not select. So for each of the original three cases, there are two possible doors that Monty can reveal. That means that there are now six cases.

For the "GOOD bad bad" case:
1. Monty could reveal the first bad door leaving GOOD and bad.
2. Monty could reveal the second bad door leaving GOOD and bad.

For the "good BAD bad" case:
3. Monty could reveal the good door - you lose.
4. Monty could reveal the bad door leaving good and BAD.

For the "good bad BAD" case:
5. Monty could reveal the good door - you lose.
6. Monty could reveal the bad door leaving good and BAD.

Of the six case, there are four where you don’t automatically lose. In two of them switching is bad and in the other two, switching is good. The probability is equal so it doesn’t matter whether you switch or not.

The Monty Hall Problem

2006-08-30T20:55:00.001-06:00

(From 8/13/06 on my old blog)

Suppose Monty Hall offers you the choice of one of three doors. You get to keep whatever is behind the door that you select. However, only one of the doors has something good behind it – a new car! Behind the other two doors are goats.

After selecting one of the doors, Monty, who knows what is behind each door, reveals what is behind one of the doors that you did not choose. The door he reveals has a goat behind it. Now there are two doors left, the one you selected and the door that Monty did not show you. He then offers you the opportunity to switch doors. Based on probability, should you switch?

You might think that that since there are two doors left and one of them has the car and the other has a goat that it’s a 50-50 chance so it doesn’t matter if you switch or not. You would be wrong.

It is actually better to switch. There is a 2/3 probability that the unselected door has the new car.

Consider. There are three possibilities with your selection in caps:
CAR goat goat
car GOAT goat
car goat GOAT

Notice that in only one of the three cases you select the good door. So, there’s a 1/3 probability of selecting the good door. Since Monty knows which door is good and which ones are bad, it doesn’t matter which one he reveals when there are two bad doors left. Let’s reveal (eliminate) a bad door that you didn’t originally select in each of the cases. That leaves these possibilities:
CAR goat (goat)
car GOAT (goat)
car (goat) GOAT

We started with three cases and there are still three cases. In two of the three cases, switching results in a good door. This problem has been argued over and over again over the last number of years. Here is a link to a page with another good explanation.

Goat Heads

2006-08-30T20:55:00.000-06:00

(From 8/12/06 on my old blog)

Goat Heads are the bane of many bicycle tires. They are little burrs that have two pointy stickers that will easily puncture a bicycle tube. They will also embed themselves in your shoes or feet (ouch).

I have ridden my bike many times in Chatfield State Park in Colorado and have acquired a collection of these burrs in my tires. Yet, I haven’t yet had an immediate flat tire from them. I have had cases where my tire was flat the next morning though. One time, when I got home, I removed 15 of them from my front tire alone. Most of the head part of the goat head had broken off leaving the nasty little thorn still in the tire.

To combat this problem, I have replaced my tire tubes with puncture resistant tubes. The rubber is thicker and the tubes add a couple of pounds to my bike. I have also put some gunk inside the tubes that will immediately fill a puncture with a little fibrous plug. These two things have kept me from needing to repair any flats for the last 1000 miles or so. In fact, I rarely even have to add air to my tires. They simply don’t leak. The other thing I am always sure to follow, is to stay on the path, stay on the path, stay on the path. Goatheads are usually just off the path in the weeds and grasses or on the plant they come from.

Goat Heads come from a plant that is actually called puncturevine. They are also called bullhead, Mexican sandbur, caltrop and Texas sandbur. The plant is native to the Mediterranean area of Europe but can now be found in most states in areas that are sandy, dry, or gravely. These nasty little burs are the seeds from this plant which is an inch or two high and as much as five feet across.

A couple of years ago, I was riding my bike along the Highline Canal and I came upon a fellow who was walking his bike. He had two flats and each tire was covered with goatheads – at least 20 in each tire. I asked him if he had gone off the trail and he said yes. The Highline canal trail ends just north of Acequia on the west side of Santa Fe Drive. Well, actually, the trail continues beyond but it is full of, you guessed it, lots of weeds including, obviously, puncturevine. That’s where he acquired his problem. When I found the guy, he told me where he was heading to. It was about 5 miles away. I offered to ride my bike to my home and get our van and then give him a ride home. He accepted. Turns out that he was from Switzerland working for a company in Highlands Ranch and it was his first time on that trail. I told him how I avoid the goatheads and now I have told you, too.

Next time I pick one up, I'll post some pictures.

Dora

2006-08-30T20:54:00.002-06:00

(From 8/6/06 on my old blog)

This is our #2 cat, Dora. She strikes such interesting poses.

Sweet Corn

2006-08-30T20:54:00.001-06:00

(From 8/4/06 on my old blog)

When I was growing up in Illinois, sweet corn was one of those things that we ate a lot of. Corn on the cob, that is. And the fresher the better. There were numerous “fruit stands” along the road within 10 miles of our home where we would visit to see if they had some nice fresh corn – supposedly picked earlier that day. Then we would eat the corn later that day. None of this cold storage stuff. And forget the “horse corn” with the big kernels. And stay away from gummy corn – that was the worst. It had to be preferably white corn, picked that day with fairly small kernels. We’d get a dozen ears. I was known to eat three or four of them.

Had sweet corn on the cob tonight. It was very good and fits the description above except it was most likely picked days ago, was probably grown here in Colorado, and we bought it at King Sooper. Nevertheless, I at two whole ears and considered a third. I’ll save it for tomorrow.

Relatives

2006-08-30T20:54:00.000-06:00

(From 8/1/06 on my old blog)

Do you know what different types of relatives you have? Do you know what a second cousin is? How about a first cousin once removed? These are the most misunderstood relationships there are with relatives. Here are some definitions:

Father and Mother – most people know what these are. Everyone has one of each.

Brother and Sister – most people know what these are. I have one brother and two sisters.

Grandfather and Grandmother – parents of your parents. Everyone has two of each. I never met my grandfathers. I knew one of my grandmothers very well. The other died when I was very young.

Grand Daughter and Grand Son – children of your children. I don’t have any of these yet and I can wait a bit longer.

Aunts and Uncles – sisters and brothers of your parents. You usually count their spouses as well. My father’s sister is the only aunt on his side of the family. She had two husbands who were both uncles by marriage. My mother had two sisters and three brothers. They all got married once for a total of two additional uncles but only 2 additional aunts since one of my uncles married his brother’s widow. So my total is six aunts and six uncles.

First Cousins – these are children of your aunts and uncles. You and your first cousins have one set of grandparents in common. Usually, first cousins are referred to simply as cousins and usually you know who your first cousins are. First cousins are in the same generation with respect to the common ancestors. I have two cousins on my father’s side and twenty on my mother’s side. I have met them all but not all their spouses which I haven’t counted since they usually aren’t counted as cousins as far as I know.

Second Cousins – You and your second cousins have one set of great grandparents in common but no grandparents in common. It is not unusual for a person to not know the names of any of their second cousins. Second cousins are in the same generation with respect to the common ancestors. I didn’t feel like counting these up.

Third Cousins – You and your third cousins have one set of common great great grandparents but no common great grandparents. I’d be surprised if I know someone who knew more than one of their third cousins. Third cousins are in the same generation with respect to the common ancestors. I didn’t feel like counting these up.

First Cousins Once Removed – this is tricky because there are actually two types. Being removed means that you are in a different generation with respect to a common ancestor. For instance, your first cousin’s children are your first cousins once removed. And, you are also their first cousin once removed. Which means that your father’s and mother’s first cousins are also your first cousins once remove and you are also their first cousin once removed. For the generation that is younger than me (children of first cousins), I know of four of these on my father’s side and 33 on my mother’s side. There could be more that I don’t know about. I haven’t met more than 3 or 4 of them. For the generation that is older than me (parents’ first cousins), I know of 20 on my father’s side and 25 on my mother’s side. I have met a few of these. So, in total, I have 82 first cousins once removed!

First Cousins Twice Removed - The amount that you are removed is the number of generations different with respect to a common ancestor. So, an example of first cousin twice removed would be your grandparents’ first cousins. Or, stated in reverse, your first cousins’ grand children. I didn’t feel like counting these up.

Fourth Cousin Twice Removed – This is quite possible but I’ll leave this exercise to determine what it means. President Harding is one of these to me.

Grand Uncle and Grand Aunt – these are bothers and sisters of your grandparents. Sometimes called great uncles and great aunts. I had 16 great aunts and 12 great uncles. I have met some of them but it was a long time ago.

Nephews and Nieces – These are children of your brothers and sisters and you usually count the ones by marriage (that is, your spouse’s nephews and nieces). I have 5 nephews and 2 nieces ranging in age between 33 and almost 5.

Grand Nephews and Grand Nieces – These are children of your nephews and nieces. None of these yet.

Bike Route 7 - New Santa Fe Trail

2006-08-30T20:53:00.002-06:00

(From 7/31/06 on my old blog)

This ride is 34 miles out and back. The trail runs from Colorado Springs to Palmer Lake mostly along the abandoned right of way for the Santa Fe Railway. This is where the trail gets its name. The railroad was taken up in the 70’s to avoid running through neighborhoods with lots of street crossings in Colorado Springs. Instead, the railroad uses the still existing track now owned by the Union Pacific Railroad.

You can access this trail at numerous places along the way but it you want to ride the entire length, I suggest starting in Colorado Springs. The trail crosses Woodmen Road about 1/4 mile west of I25 and there is a small parking lot there if you carry your bike via your car. The trail heads north from there for 17 miles to Palmer Lake. On the way, you pass through the Air Force Academy where you are not always on the railroad right of way. Eventually, you come to Monument and then end at the lake in Palmer Lake. I recommend starting from Colorado Springs because it is uphill all the way to Palmer Lake although the grade is not usually noticeable. The end of the ride at Palmer Lake is about 7200 feet in elevation.

If you want to start in Palmer Lake, you can get there via Monument on Colorado 105 which intersects with I25. Or, if coming from Denver, you get off of I25 at County Line Road and head west towards the mountains about 3 miles. The parking area for the lake is right before the railroad crossing.

This trail actually continues farther south from Woodmen in Colorado Springs. From Palmer Lake, you can go farther north as well on another trail that I have not tried.

Most of this ride is quite pleasant and there are interpretive signs along the way about the area that you can read if desired. Part of the trail closely parallels I25 so you do hear a bit of traffic noise. The last time I rode this trail, Air Force was playing a football game and I got to see the flyovers.

Italian Beef Update

2006-08-30T20:53:00.001-06:00

(From 7/29/06 on my old blog)

My wife and I tried Mustard's Last Stand in Denver today. I had their italian beef sandwich. You can read about my other italian beef adventures in the Denver area here.

I would rate Mustard's beef sandwich an 8 out of 10. They are quite authentic and I would have given them a 9 if they had made my sandwich correctly (I told them no peppers and it came with peppers anyway).

This store has apparently been there since 1978 and is right by the University of Denver campus on South University.

Another Ride up Waterton Canyon

2006-08-30T20:53:00.000-06:00

(From 7/29/06 on my old blog)

Today's ride was 33 miles for a total of 3111 - 615 for this year so far.

Having heard of a bear sighting in Chatfield State Park, I was interested in making such a sighting myself. So, I rode my bike over that way this morning to see what I could see. No bears. This nice deer is the closest thing I could find to a bear this morning. I actually saw 4 deer on this ride. Three lizards, too.

After riding through Chatfield, I headed for Waterton Canyon. Once you get up the canyon about 6.5 miles, you will find the Strontia Springs Dam.

Most views of the South Platte River in Waterton look something like this.

Although not from today, here are some more pictures from Waterton Canyon. First, a pair of mated mergansers - male and female. They are quite different looking from each other.

Sometimes, you can see bighorn sheep along the trail. And you can get pretty close to them.

Pelicans

2006-08-30T20:52:00.002-06:00

(From 7/28/06 on my old blog)

Pelicans are plentiful in Yellowstone. Here is a handsome couple.

Moose

2006-08-30T20:52:00.001-06:00

(From 7/27/06 on my old blog)

I think moose are very amusing and interesting animals. Here is a picture of one of 4 moose we saw in Yellowstone National Park in 2005. Isn't she lovely?

This moose was in Wyoming as well but outside of Yellowstone.