blazing sun is down…

Pool time offers some respite……….

Hanging Moss & Ferns…

Oh Bull!

“There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.” W. C. Fields

I met this big fellow, hiking out at night from a lake. Only a bit of moonlight, first clued me in to him standing nearby and eating. Not that harrowing, in that I fence line separated us and I didn’t use a flash. But, that was/is naive comfort no doubt.

All those questions….

GHOST TOWNS OF THE WEST
Joel T. Bailey

There are old forgotten places
Out in the vast Western land
Where reminders of the past
And ghost like buildings stand

Long ago cowboys and miners
Called these old towns home
Now they’re places where only
Ghosts and coyotes roam….

Iceland’s Bardarbunga Volcano Eruption Likely

Bardarbunga Getty Images

Bardarbunga Volcano Concerns

“I read that the Bárdarbunga volcano in Iceland is considered restless, what does this mean?

Well, it simply means that it is showing some signs that it might be moving towards a future eruption. In the case of Bárdarbunga we are talking about earthquakes that are deep enough to be of magmatic origin, we also see GPS motion indicating that magma could be moving into the system, and on occasion we see magmatic tremor. For these reasons it has been called “restless”. The reason why Bárdarbunga is not classified as Active is that we do not really know how she behaves before an eruption. This is because the last eruption started in December 1902 and ended in June 1903…” Bardarbunga Info & More

Spiritual Connections…A Pathway

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A Hike: Historic Apple Tree, A Great Project

I decided to explore the headwaters of a small stream that provides habitat to waterfowl and some fish. Crystal Springs ultimately flows into the Willamette River (via Johnson Creek), but not until it flows through Reed Gulch. It is a special, fragile place wedged between residences and Reed College. Today, I noticed a very small plaque and a wired off fragile looking planting.

I took some photos and when I got home I decided to research The Old Apple Tree Project and made a very pleasant discovery of some history. The Old Apple Tree Project flows from a grant provided by Awesome Portland ($1000.) 

The project entailed taking twelve cuttings from what is believed to be the oldest apple tree in the Pacific NW (1826…..a great story here) and grafting them to form 12 plantings around the Portland/Vancouver area to perpetuate the original tree’s genetics.

Apple seeds from London, via a lady who saved the seeds from a baked apple pie served at a farewell dinner for a soldier; she tucked them into that soldier’s vest pocket and asked him to plant them when he arrived around the world. The seeds were indeed planted by Dr. McLoughlin (Hudson Bay Company) on behalf of the soldier near a stockade on what is now Vancouver, Washington. 170 years later the tree had survived many mishaps, but the above project will carry on the tree’s heritage.

I enjoyed finding this small planting in a not so visible spot today. It even looks to be near what was is an old orchard of some sort. 

Alive vs. Docile

“The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization.

It was greatest before there was any civilization.” 
Sigmund Freud

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem (Thomas Jefferson)

Technology & Mapping: Awesome Imagery!

This is a cool site that is somewhat interactive. It shows various cities around the world. I include my home town, Portland, Oregon (USA). The top map shows homes older than 1880 and up to present construction. The next pic is my neighborhood. Using this interactive site requires you know something about your city overlay as the roads are not labeled. 

I came by this at Map Lab and then to Lab Rat Revenge

“When Justin Palmer stumbled across a dataset that included the year nearly every building in the Portland metro area was built, he was curious how old the buildings on his block are. Instead of just searching the data for his neighbors’ addresses, he made the beautiful map above.”

“He posted the map on his website, and it soon caught the eye of other mapmakers. Just a few days later, Thomas Rhiel published a similar map of Brooklyn, spurred by New York City’s release of a huge dataset known as PLUTO. Pretty soon, more maps began popping up. Soon there was a map of all of New York City, one of Reykjavik, Iceland, and one of Ljubljana, Slovenia, each with its own amazing colors, patterns and stories.”

Learn Along With Us How to Make a Map of Building Ages

“These maps make more than just pretty pictures. Palmer learned from his map that Portland’s oldest building identifiable by name was built in 1851. Only 942 structures are left from the 1890s while 75,434 built in the 1990s are still standing. Palmer graphed the steep and steady decline of new buildings since 2005.”

It is a little confusing to negotiate at first but interesting to explore. Give it a try…especially you well traveled folks.

Gardening: Harvest Time!

I took the above photos in my mom-in-law’s garden last night. A bountiful yield it appears and time to share with neighbors and family because, of course, she has a big garden…more than two elders really need….but, that’s the way it goes year to year.

Here is a link for gardening you might enjoy re when to harvest etc.