Tin Tray

This was a tin tray that belonged to my mom before she met my dad. It has tulips in the design and the handle had other flowers on it. It says it is made by Rodney Kent. Apparently he made a lot of beaten tin items back in the 1920' and 30's. I also have a round plate by him with no design. I found lots of his work on the internet.

Life in Longmire

It certainly is snowy here at Longmire. Check out the image of my government issue house. It's almost a snowcave, and those are some serious icicles too. Don't mess with them.

Life is pretty mellow up at Mt. Rainier during the winter. It's great getting out out of Seattle a few days a week to come here. The routine so far has been: hang out in the office (i.e. scheme ways to improve the blog and seek grants for an artist in residence program), go out skiing with climbing ranger Chris Olson (i.e. risk my life following a great skier through steep treed terrain), then hang out at Mike's house (who could be a smashing restaurateur: grilled chops and salmon, mojitos, and lemon drops). Rough life, I know.

Since Chris is pretty much a professional skier and will turn his boards down anything in any conditions, hanging out with him has been an adventure so far. During our first day out a few weeks ago (when the sun last revealed itself), we skied bulletproof ice from Panorama Point to Paradise. The saving grace was crystal clear skies, letting us see almost every big peak in Washington and Oregon. (Right: Chris at Panorama Point).

Once, we skied partway up the Eagle Peak trail then came down in the dark through the trees. It was like being on a roller coaster where you couldn't see the next twist or turn until you came right up on it. Or, as Chris put it in his ski report, it "felt like a bobsled run in the dark." Of course, he wrote that after skiing the trail by himself and blazing down it at about 50 mph. Anyway, we skied it the next day together and came down at a more leisurely pace but it still felt fast to me!

The ski up through the old growth forest was beautiful, with fluffy snow everywhere. Piled in soft pillows all around us, hanging from the trees, falling from the sky. I felt like I was living in a Christmas carol. (Left: Chris leads the way up the "bobsled run")

I was also thinking what a great trail this was for snowshoers, when Chris pointed out how easy it would be to get lost if you didn't know exactly where the trail was. (He was amazed that the trail was still visible through all the recent snow). I realized that he was right and suddenly got a little less complacent about it - especially when he reminded me that a hiker died on this trail last June.

Then again, if anyone knows his way around here, it's probably Chris. The problem is, if you follow him up something, you also have to follow him down.

Big Bend Revisited :: Boquillas Canyon Trail

Sunday, March 3rd - - On my last day at Big Bend, I decided to hike the Trail to Boquillas Canyon, going in mid-morning to avoid the heat that was coming later. It was forecast to get near 90 degrees today, the hottest day yet.





It is a short trail - only 1.4 miles round trip - but it takes you up a rather large hill, then back down the other side.





The trail provides some nice views. Blending into the distant landscape is the the town of Bouquillas. If you look closely you can see a few white buildings in the center of the photo, just beyond the green area. Actually, the town is not far from the Rio Grande Village area.





One of the many bends in the river. The man in the foreground was fishing. I wonder if he caught anything?





On my previous visit in February .. I had the pleasure of hearing "Victor, the singing Mexican" but he was on the other side of the river then. There were several bottles set out along the trail, asking for donations for singing. Some bottles were identified as Jesus, others as Victor. This man was standing beside one of the bottles identified as Victor but when I asked his name, he said Jesus! Anyway, while I was in the canyon area, I was being serenaded.






The path leads you to the river...





The canyon walls go straight up, and the river disappears around the bend.




It was cool in the canyon, but as I walked back out, I could feel the heat. It was indeed going to be a hot day and it felt good. A few of the buildings in the town of Boquillas can be seen in the far right corner of this photo. As always, double-click to view a larger version.

Visiting Neighbours at Work

A couple of weeks ago I visited Seven Cycles - a local manufacturer of titanium, steel and carbon fiber bicycles. I was given a tour of the factory and it was, of course, fascinating. I never tire of seeing local framebuilding shops: The machinery, the precision of the work involved, even the heaps of tubing and the scraps of metal lying around excite me. And there certainly was all that at Seven, on a grand scale.






To my surprise - seeing how they are TIG-welders mostly - there was even lugwork. Lots and lots of lugwork in fact, with interesting cutouts.






But what made the biggest impression on me during the visit was not the intriguing floor layout, the delicately carved titanium latticework, or the explanation of Seven's approach to the manufacturing process. It was the fact that I recognized so many of the faces I saw there.





It is hard to explain the state of mind this put me in without coming across as preachy about local manufacturing, which is not my intent. I am not thinking about the political-economic implications of local manufacturing as a concept, but about the very concrete existence of my local manufacturing. I mean, there is a factory 6 miles from my house, and in this factory they make bicycles from scratch, and the people making these bicycles - well I happen to know many of them and they live nearby, and sometimes we even see each other on the street. That is highly unusual is all. In today's society the relationship between objects and the people who make them has become completely abstracted. We do not expect our neighbours to make the stuff we might be using; we expect that stuff to be made by some nameless entity, far away from our little world.





When I told SevenownerRob Vandermark how much I enjoy watching frames being built, he replied that not everyone feels that way. For some seeing the process takes away the mystery, and it's more exciting if a frame just "appears" - shiny and new with flawless paint. I've heard that before. A framebuilder once told me that he discourages customers from watching him work, because it makes them more aware of the possibility of human error and later those customers are liable to feel more nervous about their frames. Psychologically, that makes sense. But it also means that consumers of goods prefer not to think about the process of making those goods, which has all sorts of far-reaching implications.





Maybe it's because I've made things by hand myself and used them, as well as given and sold them to others who've used them. But seeing how something is made excites me rather that ruins some illusion of flawlessness.






The first person I saw when I entered the production area during my visit was Bryan Hollingsworth of Royal H. Cycles - whom I watched make a lugged mixte frame for me more than 2 years ago now. He works for Seven(making carbon fiber frames!) a couple of days a week, and on Royal H. the rest of the time.





Welder Mike Salvatore has his own project on the side as well, albeit a Sketchy one.






Dan Pugatch lives in Somerville and is well known on the local cycling scene.





Dan writes ablog and contributes to Boston Retro Wheelmen, but what I didn't know is that he also has this cool tattoo that promotes cycling to work in regular clothing. Notice that the pirate is riding a step-through with a full chaincase. I wonder how the crate is attached to the rear rack, and whether there is a sword peg brazed onto the frame?






Jonathan Henig lives maybe 5 minutes from me and is a fellow photographer. First thing he did when we started talking was examine my camera lens and nod approvingly.





I had not met Neil Doshi before, but I knewhis bike - a happy marriage of titanium, green canvas and leather.






And now I saw it in person, along with dozens of other contraptions in the famous Bike Room. The bikes of Seven employees are staggeringly practical - lots of upright 3-speeds, handmade racks, huge saddlebags. More what I would have expected to see at Rivendell than at Seven, a company known for its racing bikes.






After my tour, I couldn't help but wonder whether I'd gotten the most out of it. The space is truly impressive and there is a positive energy that makes me want to run out and apply for a job there, regardless of what it is they'd assign me to do (I hear there is a titanium shavings sweeper position open?). In retrospect I should have asked more detailed questions about the manufacturing process. I should have taken close-up photos of the machinery with a medium format film camera. Instead I walked around talking to everyone, then watching them quietly, then talking some more. Not necessarily about bikes either. And then we all said "good-bye" and "see you soon" and then I rode my bike home - an idyllic route from Watertown along the Charles River Trail.






Cycling home after my visit, I remembered the first time I met Rob Vandermark. It was about a year and a half ago, when I had just discovered the Ride Studio Cafe. The first time I came in there was this tall, polite, unassuming guy serving coffee behind the counter. Naturally, I thought he was the barrista. Later someone came in with a flat tire and he went to take care of that, so then I figured he was the all-around shop guy. After a brief chat, it also turned out that he was my neighbour - living nearby in Somerville and commuting to Lexington by bike when possible. Only well into another conversation with him later did I learn, with some embarrassment, that he was the owner of both RSC and Seven Cycles. As a customer, you would never know. And of course the whole point is that it should not matter.







I guess all I'm saying is... My neighbours build bikes. And I think that's really, really great.

Palm Canyon Trail

The Palm Canyon section of Balboa Park. In this picture, I am standing in a grove of king palms (Archnotophoenix cunninghamiana).

Monument Rocks aka Chalk Pyramids

Monday, May 9th - - Today was a very short driving day. Still heading west, I stopped in Scott City and spent about four hours at the library getting blog posts scheduled and checking weather forecasts for points west. By the time I left the library the temperature was a scorching 95 degrees and the van was like an oven. Driving westward, with the sun beating down on you, and with those high temperatures is not fun. At the library, I had also checked to see where the nearest Dodge dealer was – too far away. Instead, I went about 10 miles north to Scott Lake State Park and got a campsite for the night. In hindsight, I should have just stayed at the library for a few more hours!



Anyway, looking at the map I saw that a “point of interest” was about 25 miles northeast of the campground. Wanting to “do something” I drove on out to Monument Rocks, also known as Chalk Pyramids. They are visible from US-83, just barely, and if you know where to look. They are on private range land but the owners have made them open to the public and accessible via a 6-mile dirt/gravel road.



Designated as a National Natural Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the 70-foot tall sedimentary formations were created 80 million years ago when this area was part of a vast inland sea. In .., the Kansas Sampler Foundation selected Monument Rocks as one of the Eight Wonders of Kansas. Wish I had found this website sooner- It looks like I missed out on many of the Wonders of Kansas!





There are two “groups” of rocks. These on the east side of the dirt access road and the ones below, on the west side of the road.







The “backside” of the hole in the wall, from the west side group.



For some reason, I found the eastern group to be more interesting.



As you walked around the formations, their character changed. The tall fellow on the left is the same formation that is on the right side of the previous photo.





Part of the eastern group as seen from the south side.



Am I imagining the smiling faces that I see in this group?



My camping site at Scott Lake State Park. Blessed shade and a wonderful breeze that was sometimes way too strong – it kicked up dust devils every now and then! There was a beautiful sunset - I watched the sky change colors as the sun descended below the horizon from the comfort of my campsite – I would have had to have driven outside the park to get a view clear of the trees. But it was a lovely sunset. You'll have to trust me on that!

Dandilions & Moss

I didn't find any flowers in the mountains except lots of dandilions. I like dandilions but would have liked some other kinds of flowers to go with them. I did find some moss, or alge, or what ever on a lot of the rocks so took soom close up photos of some