Moving day.

The day has finally arrived to move. This is going to take some amount of time as our last few days in town will be busy doing little things to finalize leaving, repacking things for the drive to New Orleans, and saying good-bye to our friends.

I'm happy, but tired. I wish I could just snap my fingers and be in New Orleans tomorrow, but that's not going to happen. Also, it looks as though today might be our first snow shower. A bit of a complication, but nothing major is expected to fall. Truth be told, I cannot wait to be somewhere a lot warmer over the winter!

My blogging will be sporadic over the next two weeks, if at all. There is so much left to do, and of course, the big drive ahead. So--hang in there if you are expecting regular updates.

Turkeys are interesting.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Our new phone.

So we got a new cell phone on Monday. We haven't owned a cell phone since 2000. My, they have become so much smaller. My sister works at Verizon so she set it all up for me and sent it over via FedEx. But...what's with all the "texting" and picture stuff? All I want to do is call people, and have them call me. That's it. That's all our old phone did, and oddly enough we found that sucker jammed all the way back in a desk drawer while we were packing our stuff for the move. It weighed almost a pound, and was just smaller than a brick. We threw it away. What else could we have done?

The new phone's camera function is actually scary if you think about it for too long...the lens is very, very small. The picture is fairly decent quality. Just where could you find little cameras like that? Well, anywhere. And now people have them on their phones. A teeny tiny camera could be taking your picture right now. There could be a lens in you DirecTV receiver. We know there is one at every ATM. ARGH! Big Brother is watching!

Other than the total freak-out over the camera function (which I sort of like), I really like the phone. It says "HelloMoto" when you turn it on. Cool. Then, you can use a voice dial function to call people! Way cool--like Star Trek cool. Ok, ok...I've lived in the middle of nowhere for six and a half years, and without a cell tower where I live, there was no call for a cell phone. We had to cancel our cell service when we moved here because there is none! With the new phone, I suppose the antenna technology has improved since 2000, because if I stand on a picnic table in my backyard, I can get a signal from Navajo Mountain in Page, Arizona, some 55 miles as the crow flies. I usually get two, maybe three, bars.

I don't want to think about what the roaming charges would be if I used the phone too much while we wind down our operations here. It will definitely come in handy in New Orleans, but right now it's still sort of useless, which is fine, because we're still learning all about the functions and extras, which we think are pointless. But fun.

Ivory-Billed Mania!

I was looking around the internet a few weeks ago trying to find out as much as I could about the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker and its current contested existence. I was pleasantly surprised when the new (Dec. 2006) National Geographic arrived this week with a small article and photos concerning the new search for the rare, possibly non-existent, bird.

There was a photo spread of the sixty-odd specimens at Harvard with the caption that reads, in part, "The birds were doomed in large part by unchecked logging."

Really? What about unchecked museum collecting?

After reading the article, which wasn't exactly informative concerning the bird, but more about the drama of its recent sightings, I went back to the internet and found Cornell's Ornithology web site. I was immediately sucked into the Ivory-billed Soap Opera for the rest of the day.

I don't know what I believe about the bird at this point; I would really like to get out and look around while we are in New Orleans, as several "I-B sightings" have been within a few hours' drive from the city. I have spoken with two friends here who are retired PhDs. One was a birder, and encouraged me to look for the I-B. Another was a paleontologist, who told me to look for the Carrier Pigeon while I was out there, too...ha ha.

Currently, there is a bad video of some bird that was taken in Arkansas. It caused much contention in the ornithology community. I have watched it and watched it...over and over. That is one big bird with a lovely flight path. Ivory-billed? Maybe. Pileated? More likely. The Pileated Woodpecker is more common, more shy, and better adapted at human encroachment. I saw one once in the Ozarks of Missouri on a canoe trip. It was amazing--its beady white eye just looked at me from across the river. It held completely still; it knew I was looking at it. But I was far enough away that it didn't want to fly off. I remember it being HUGE--and that red tuft on its head? Completely amazing. Some birds are very reminiscent of dinosaurs. Turkeys are, and so are big woodpeckers.

So here is a thought I've been having...remembering that sighting on the canoe trip...since I am not a birder and did not have experience looking at birds or even in differentiating between similar birds, WHAT IF I was actually looking at an Ivory-billed and didn't know it? I wouldn't have known it then. I didn't even know about Ivory-billeds until the big announcement after the grainy video in 2005. Southern Missouri is sort of out of its range, but I saw the bird in July, and it's possible that they might range where ever to find the food that they eat, which are bark beetle grubs...

...which brings me to my current interest in the bird that began when I realized I was moving to Ivory-billed country. There have been several tree-killing hurricanes in the Ivory-billed's known habitat over the last three years. If they are simply following the food, so to speak, then there are several places to look around for the big bird, considering that the beetles themselves will have a population boom from the tree damage. It looks hopeful for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker when you think about it from a sustenance point of view. Personally, I have reviewed areas on the map that I think may be strong contenders for the bird's livelihood, and I am going to try to get out hiking and take a look--and listen--around.

I'm bringing my cameras--video, digital, and film. I plan on getting a great picture!

From a metaphysical point of view, I think that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker means something much deeper for Americans. It's a sign of hope that we can reclaim our past. Considering that no "official" sightings of the bird have been made on the mainland since 1944, think about all that has happened to our country since that time, and what it would mean to find that this bird somehow lived through it all...the DDT, the sprawl, the idiots that shot them out of just wanting to shoot something...and on. When something dies, and dies for good, isn't there a part of any grieving person that wants to know that it is still living, still relevant? That there is life after death? Look at the popularity of John Edward, the guy that talks to dead people. Most Americans are looking for confirmation of life after death, and I think that the Ivory-billed search is a scientist's way of coming to terms with the death of something...if it lives, then there IS hope. And not just for the scientists that might find definitive proof of the Ivory-billed, but for all Americans--that miracles do happen, the Phoenix DOES rise from the ashes, and we have not completely squandered our natural resources and there is time to fix problems. We will have been given a "do-over." That would be the real miracle in all of this.

Because if the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker IS found, what next? WHAT will we do?

Secret Santa in KCMO

Secret Santa reveals his identity - Yahoo! News

I grew up hearing about this guy on the local news in Kansas City. He always made for a great local story around Christmas, and I always secretly hoped I'd run into him...ahem...so, you know, he could be my "Secret Santa" and drop some cash my way.

However, Secret Santa always seemed to pick the people that needed him the most. Call it providence, call it "social profiling," call it what you will, but Secret Santa always, ALWAYS, helped the right person at the right time. No one ever knew who he was...until today.

Now, his life might be coming to an end and he wants others to emulate what he has done to help so many. I sincerely hope other people want to be a "Secret Santa." It really is better to give than to receive--and the other secret about Secret Santa was how he gave. No strings were attatched to his gifts; he truly gave of his material wealth and out of his heart, because he never wanted anything back, no favors, no strings, no control. And that is the bigger gift in this whole story, I think...the gift that your heart receives when you give out of love, not because you expect something in return. Secret Santa didn't care about all that, because he used to be poor once.

Many wealthy people have this problem, I think. They want control over their money, how they give it, and what the receiver does to repay them, or make them look good, or whatever. That is not true giving. That's more like a creepy loan of some kind in which the soul is collateral.

No matter what happens in the life of Secret Santa, be aware of the gift he has given all of us with his example of true charity and cheerfulness. His actions, to me, exemplify the true spirit of Christmas, and the ministry of the original Saint Nicholas.

Moving - Yahoo!

Moving is stressful. I am happy to be moving along in life, but it does have its lower moments.

Usually, I'm not one to pepper my posts with profanity. In fact, I'm a strong believer in the Harrison Ford view of profanity. Paraphrasing, but he has said that cursing is a complete lack of imagination and creativity with the English language. I am in complete agreement with him on this issue.

However, in my previous post, I got fairly colorful, which is not like me. I chalk it up to the stress of moving. Also--I have forgotten that older family members now read my posts. If my mother had read that "Everest" post, she wouldn't have understood it, and she would have been offended by the big F word. She may have read it...I don't know. I apologize for the profanity.

I usually don't care to go over what I have written before, and every now and then I really have to stop myself from copy-editing my posts, because it would change them. For the better, perhaps...but that would be my call. I do have a staunch policy with myself to not edit too much, because the writing gets less fresh and more formal as I edit, and I want to get good enough at first-draft writing that I hardly ever have to edit. The blog helps in both of those writing needs.

Moving, however, does not help in any creative endeavor. At least I am sleeping well. But our whole living situation is up-ended as our time in Utah draws to a close. Moving from the most remote area in the lower 48 has huge draw-backs, too, like actually taking over eight hours to get to the next big city to the East. Argh...at least there is a "Taco Cabana" restaurant there. YUM!

Our things, like furniture, art, blankets, books, and crap, are sitting in the front of the house and the pile grows every day. I am glad I've only been married eight years. The longer you are married, the more that stuff will just pile up...in closets, on shelves, etc. The colossal job of clearing out our married stuff could have been much, much worse; if we had been together 20 years I couldn't imagine the cleaning. Or if we had children. It will bad enough moving three cats and an elderly dog.

So, I apologize for getting a little loose with the language previously...but the macho Everest dudes can STILL kiss my ass.

Man vs. Earth

Catchy post title, huh? I'll bet you were thinking it was going to be about the environment or global warming, right? Well, you're wrong.

I was watching Discovery Channel last night; I really do enjoy this channel. They have some decent programming at least three nights out of the week. Apparently, Tuesday night's theme on Discovery is "Man v. the WORLD" in whatever kind of insane outdoor activity you could imagine.

Discovery has made an entire series out of climbing Mount Everest, one of the stupidest things you could do with your life. If you value your life, you wouldn't climb Everest. Anyway, this piece of macho clap-trap is called "Everest: Beyond the Limit." I was beyond my limit of watching these idiots by the time the hour was up. As an outdoor hiking guide, this show just irritates me to NO END. First, the clients that hire the guide pay $40,000. That's if you summit or not, if you die or not, or if you fall ill or not. That's $40,000 to do something that could kill you. The guide, an old Kiwi, has no insurance, because no one will insure an Everest guide service--and he also has no scruples. Look, I'm not one to disparage people with disabilities, but this guide took money from a man with NO LEGS who wants to summit, and from a man with bolts in his legs and spine from a motorcycle crash. Motorcycle boy appeared to have never even carried a backpack before--and it was bugging his old back injury.

I owned a guide service--I wouldn't take either of these guys to the beach, let alone Everest. I have no problem with actually wanting to climb Everest if you have experience in mountaineering. Aaron Ralston has more experience climbing mountains than anyone on this show, and I would trust him to climb Everest without hurting himself or others--and he's missing an arm from an unfortunate slot canyoneering adventure in Utah! The thing about Everest is that shit could go down and get ugly in a heartbeat. If you aren't EXPERIENCED in mountain climbing...if you aren't in TOP PHYSICAL CONDITION...if your only goal in life is to summit Everest and damn everyone else, including your spouse and kids...you have NO BUSINESS climbing Everest. THE..FUCKING.. END. And that's why this TV show is a load of horse-shit. It glorifies all the WRONG reasons for climbing Everest, as well as making the macho assholes doing it look like heroes...they are all ZEROS.

Right after "Everest" came Discovery's other new X-sport-cool-dude show "Man vs. Wild" with Bear whoever...the show opens with his "life list" of macho derring-do: "I've trained with MI-5...I've scaled Everest...I've joined the Foreign Legion..."

BLAH BLAH BLAH. I quickly turned the channel because the opening three sentences of this show immediately reminded me of "Commander McBrag" from the "Rocky & Bullwinkle" hour. "I was in darkest Africa..."

Gawd Discovery Channel...maybe this is good TV to people that sit in a cubicle all day, but from somebody in the "outdoor industry" both of these shows are crap--and from a woman's point of view, insufferable macho boasting and chest-beating. The guys on TLC's "The Monastery" are braver than the idiots on these shows. Forty days in a Benedictine Monastery or 40 days climbing Everest? I know which takes more balls, to be sure.

----An aside from a professional guiding POV:

Clients used to call us for a hike and start going off on their "list" -- "I've done Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison...I've paddled the River of Doubt AND the Colorado...I've fought off grizzlies and mosquitoes and leaches and dehydration..."

I could have cared less. If they thought they could do the hikes, then that was their decision. Guides don't know how fit you are, to be totally honest. YOU have to be totally honest with yourself and compare the descriptions of the adventure with your level of fitness. I didn't really want to know what they did, because their ego REALLY wanted me to know about it much worse than I needed to know. After people that needed to "share" their accomplishments would call, I'd only tell them this: "Yeah, you can do this hike." They'd be bummed I didn't say "Oh cool dude," or "Way rad, brah."

I have never stroked egos, I don't appreciate being put in that position, and I am certain that I may have lost business being this clear-minded about people and their narcissistic needs. But when safety is MY responsibility, I'm not going to be thinking about all the stuff they've done; I'm going to be thinking about the hike that's going on RIGHT NOW...and if that's not good enough, if they needed a guide that patronizes as well as minds the trail, then I would not have been the person to hire.

BBC: alien rain fell on India

BBC NEWS | Searching for 'our alien origins'

I was just finishing my first cup of coffee and I had to shake my head a couple of times, AND reread this article to get it through my consciousness.

And now that I've read it twice, my only question is why would the BBC put a story like this out on the Science section front? Maybe Coast to Coast AM will talk about it--they will most likely talk about it--but the BBC?

Last summer, Horizon had exclusive access to a trip taken by Professor Wickramasinghe to India to investigate at first hand the red rain phenomenon.

He met Dr Louis and together they visited the people who had witnessed the red rain.

He was able to see the recent work of Dr Louis which shows that the red rain can replicate at 300C, an essential attribute of a space micro-organism that might have to endure extreme temperatures.

All this has convinced Professor Wickramasinghe that the red rain is a form of alien life.

I am not a fiction reader, usually. But I could SWEAR I read a Dean Koontz book with the premise of an "alien rain" that fell on the world, and then the body-snatching horror began right after that.

This story is freaking me right out. I need more coffee...

Men from Texas.

Now, I don't usually wax poetic about anything other than the United States (which I keep typing as "Untied," a very disturbing typo). However, I will usually try to write about something fluffy and happy about once every two to six months, I guess, which brings me to today.

Men from Texas. And I mean guys that were BORN there, not in wherever Connecticut.

There's Matthew McConaughey. Texan and Scots-Irish...extra points--and from Uvalde County, one of the prettiest places in Texas. Dennis Quaid. He's been hot from day one, and he only gets better every year. Luke and Owen Wilson...not exactly totally hot, but funny and cute. Which means they're inexplicably attractive. George Strait. Words can't do George justice. At the least, he's a perfect southern gentleman--and very handsome. At the most, who knows? He's an enigma. Which makes him very desirable.

And, of course, my husband...from El Paso (he always says El Paso is a good place to be from). He's very cute, AND irritating. And endearing. It must be true love. His great-great grandfather ran for governor of Texas in 1890 as a third-party candidate; he lost to Jim Hogg. No matter. He was a respected judge, and beloved by Texans everywhere. He's buried in Stephenville, Texas, where his son later built the county courthouse that still stands today. We've been meaning to get on over to Stephenville one of these days and see the courthouse--I'm very interested in seeing it, AND I'm very interested in dropping on down to Dublin, Texas, 11 miles away, to the last small Dr. Pepper bottling plant in the USA. They still use cane sugar in their Dr. Pepper recipe, and it is SO, so delicious...yum.

There is a lot to love about Texas; my husband wants to move back there eventually. I'm not against the idea. The state is amazing in many ways, the greatest of which is its diversity of ideas and people...let alone the awesome food and creative arts scene. And, of course, there are the men of Texas. What else is there to say?

Ancestors & The Alien & Sedition Act

U.K. Web site traces celebrities' roots - Yahoo! News

I meant to write about my ancestors sooner, and when I saw this article it spurred me into action. I am really busy right now with moving and other things, but I need to type this out and take a break from the busy work. It is a timely story in so many ways...read on:

My mother's ancestor came to America from Northern Ireland, and one generation before they were in Ireland, they were from the Scottish Highlands around the Oban area. This is what is known as "Scots-Irish" I suppose. My ancestor came to America with his brother to fight in the American Revolution; they were offered citizenship and residency plus 40 acres for fighting.

My ancestor, Thomas, fought in the War of Independence directly under George Washington, and records show he wintered in Valley Forge and fought in the battle right after that winter. After the war, he was granted 40 acres in Center County, Pennsylvania, where he had a farm. It was during this time that he ran into some trouble. John Adams had signed the Alien & Sedition Acts, and Thomas had said or done something that alerted the authorities to his behavior. The sheriff arrived at the farm to arrest him...however, Thomas claimed he needed to go down to his spring and get a drink and some water before leaving on the ride back to jail. The sheriff let him go, and Thomas didn't come back to the homestead. He wasn't arrested, and eventually the Alien & Sedition Acts were repealed during Jefferson's presidency. I would guess that the sheriff knew Thomas personally, knew he fought in the war, and didn't really want to arrest him.

We don't know what happened to him after that incident, only that he lived out the rest of his life in Pennsylvania and that he is buried in the local cemetery. My mother went there to research the family roots, and found that his grave is decorated by the local DAR every holiday. She also found "the spring" that was his reason to escape arrest. It is in the town of State College and is now bound by concrete in some way.

If, for whatever reason, the current "Military Commissions Act" is turned on patriotic Americans, I believe that local law enforcement will not carry out their duties, and the national guard, if called up, will not point their weapons at American citizens. This act, this travesty of civil liberties, needs to go, as does the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007," which allows the president to "...employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service when he determines that the authorities of the State "refuse" or "fail" in maintaining public order, "in order to suppress, in any State, any domestic violence or conspiracy." (thanks to The Chattanoogan) No president has had the power to declare Martial Law since 1878. And frankly, no president should ever have this power.

With a new congress coming to Washington in January, I can only hope and pray that they do what is right, returning the United States to its previous incarnation and removing these demeaning infringements upon our lives and liberty.

The United States has so much good in it, but when the ideas and freedoms that made it great are taken away or twisted to give the government more power, the goodness is gone, and we are no longer American citizens in the sense that the founding fathers agreed upon and created in their literary masterpieces of governance.

God help us...and God Bless America.

My Aunt's book.

The Demise of Cotton Picking for the Coon-Dog Jones Eleven: One funeral we were happy to attend

My father's family is a source of great joy and many happy childhood memories for me. My aunt has published a book about their lives growing up on a farm in depression-era Oklahoma. My dad used to tell me stories about picking cotton, how they all lived in a two bedroom farm house, and how hard a life it was. I respect my father immensely for the hard childhood he lived. Because there were eleven children Christmas was hard for them. He said they would get a new pair of shoes and an Orange during the 30s. That was it.

I'm glad someone in the family decided to write it all down. I once asked my dad how it was that the farm was able to be kept in the family during the Dust Bowl/Depression. He said that when his father came to Oklahoma from Arkansas, he chose his piece of land wisely. It had a running creek through it and he guessed that that choice was the thing that kept the farm productive. That and having lots of free labor via eleven children.

My life has been so very cushy compared to my father's. My sisters and I were spoiled rotten compared to how he grew up. Looking back, I didn't realize that at the time. But now I do and I don't have anything but appreciation for him trying to give us the life he didn't have. And I'm so proud of my extended family.

I have close to 100 cousins including the children of my first cousins. It's amazing. Some of my first cousins are grandparents now. It boggles the mind. I always had a great time at the family reunions in Oklahoma, and visiting in California. I'll always remember trips to the beach, Knott's Berry Farm, and Disneyland, as well as just hanging out with the family. The original farm in Oklahoma was sold at auction in the 70s after my grandfather died. Just two years ago one of my cousins was able to buy it, so it now rests with the family again. It is still a beautiful piece of land. The creek still runs through it, and you can see the Cache Mountains from a hill on the property. I don't know what plans my cousin has for the farm, but I look forward to the next family reunion in Oklahoma. My husband hasn't been to one yet. I can't wait to show him the farm and introduce him to more cousins.