Ritual and Repetition

"Business in the front, party in the back, yeah!!!"




Riding from the grocery store, I stopped on the side of the river path to watch the row boats. A grinning cyclistrode past - pointing at the front, then the rear of my bike in an enthusiastic Contador-style salute.




Huh? Oh! Camera bag, flowers. Got it. But before I could say anything, he was gone.






Riding to and from work assignments on a warm sunny day feels suspiciously good. Now that the snow is gone, I am making longer trips again, seeing parts of the city and suburbs that I've missed, encountering new characters.






Grocery shopping can feel like a chore, except on those drawn outafternoons when the sun lingers and lingers.






Back from a hard road ride, my legs feel too restless to sit. Nothing feels better than spinning on my city bike along the river to fetch some groceries. And flowers, to brighten up the kitchen. Sport, transport. Business, party. Weekdays, weekends.






On the way home I stopped to visit the Tiny Tree. We replanted this tree(a Dwarf Alberta Spruce, I am told) in some woods nearby in the first week of January. The ground was clear of snow then and we were lucky to get a warm day, when the soil was soft. I found a spot in a clearing that would get some sun.




Afterward I regretted having planted the tree so close to home: Now I would feel compelled to check up on it. I visited every week. When the snow storms started, it was covered almost to the tip, and I was sure it wouldn't survive the cold. But every time the snow melted, there it was - emerging green as ever. It doesn't look much bigger than it did three months ago. But today I saw some buds resembling baby pine cones.




Have a good weekend, and, as always - thank you for reading!

A Give-Away for Valentine's Day

Roses are redand so is this bike

- which could soonbe yours if you like!

For on this comingValentine's day

it shall be promptlygiven away.



"What is this bike?"you might inquire,

"with its bright red frameand old-fashioned tire?"

In reply I guide you to

this Bobbin Bicycles Birdie review.



The lovely loop frameand the lugs

will surely elicit passionate hugs.

And as the cupid'sarrow nears

you've got the Sturmey Archer gears.

For yourself or for your darling

a shiny red bike is oh so charming!



From England it traveled by land and by sea

to Boston's Harris Cyclery,

and from thence it shall be sent

to that person for whom it is meant.



For a chance this bike to recieve

a velo-Valentine you must conceive,

in the US you must reside,

and by the guidelines below abide:



-------------------------------------------

Guidelines for the Bobbin Birdie Give-Away:



Submission Procedure: Create and submit a bicycle-themed Valentine. Your Valentine can be intended for a real person, for a fictional or hypothetical person, for your bicycle, for any other bicycle, or for anyone or anything really (except for me) - as long as it is in some way bicycle themed. The Valentine may consist of text and/or image (no video, no audio). If your Valentine is text only, please submit it directly in the comments here. If your Valentine is an image, upload it and post the link in the comments (if you have nowhere to upload it to, email it to "filigreevelo[at]yahoo[dot]com" with the subject "Velo-Valentine"). Be sure to include your email address in the comment when submitting your Valentine. One submission per person please.



Submission deadline is Thursday, February 9th , 11:59pm Pacific time. Recipient will be announced on Valentine's Day (February 14th, ).



Eligibility: Entrants must reside in the continental USA. Entrants may be of any gender, and may be getting the bicycle for themselves or for a loved one. Entrants should be readily reachable via email. This bicycle is best suited for persons 5'3" - 5'8", please use your judgment.



Selection criteria: Selection will be made on the basis of the Valentine, assuming that eligibility criteria are met. Any Valentine submitted may be publicly viewable and there will be reader input in the selection process.



This give-away is made possible viaForth Floor Distribution - the North American distributor of Bobbin Bicycles. Many thanks to them for donating this beautiful bike, and to everyone for taking part!

Major new route on the North Face of Hunter!

http://moonflower-expedition.blogspot.com/



Congrads to Matt Helliker and JonBracey!





Picture of the route is courtesyof Helliker's web site.

Camp Patriot Climb

The motto for Camp Patriot, “giving back to those that have given” effectively states their mission: to provide disabled veterans opportunities to continue enjoying outdoor adventures. In this spirit, three disabled veterans were chosen to join professional climbing guides on a summit climb of Mount Rainier, a challenge that many climbers without any physical obstacles find difficult.

The three participating climbers, Ryan Job, Chad Jukes and Joey Martinez, all served in the military and are disabled as a result of injuries sustained during a tour of duty oversees defending our country. Each was chosen because of their unwavering commitment to service, their strength, courage, and dedication to continue living active and fulfilling lives despite past injury. Camp Patriot commemorates these exceptional men and in the process provides this experience of a lifetime.
The attached photo was taken on the last day of Camp, Sunday July 10th, when two F15's from the 173rdFW out of Klamath Falls, OR, flew overhead Camp Muir at precisely 8:00 a.m. to celebrate this extraordinary climb. For more information about Camp Patriot and the Mount Rainier climb, see a recent front page article posted in the Seattle Times or check their website.

The Dream? The Adventure!

I don't know what climbing, specifically alpine climbing, means to anyone including myself. I can no more tell you why climbing is so important and good for me than I can tell you how the universe was created or what "life" is.


But I know it started as a dream, a wish for adventure and a ability to comprehend what I saw in nature as something more than just special.

No matter what I climb, the type of terrain or how much I enjoy the moment it is all related to being in the mountains eventually and alpine climbing.

I get teased sometimes about my obvious boot fetish. Couple of things happened recently to bring me back to the original "dream", cold feet and why my desire of wanting to climb so badly.

The boot fetish is based on the reality of spending a lot of time out doors as a young kid. My parents hunted, fished and skied. Of course all that slowed down when they had kids..at least until we (the kids) could walk. And by walking I don't think we had to be able to walk far before we were off on their adventures. From my childhood I remember three things from those adventures, cold feet, how I liked heights when everyone else got scared and how much fun it was to be in the snow.

So the boot fetish should be easy to understand. I had cold feet from day one!

In the late 1950's the lookout shown above was the first place I remember seeing, and others talking about, climbing. I can remember my Dad walking with me out to the lookout and back hand in hand on that set of stairs. I was in the 2nd grade. Imagine my surprise to find out the Needles had its, "first recorded technical climbing is April 1970, Fred Beckey, Dan McHale, Mike Heath climbed the South Face of the Warlock, an 8 pitch climb rated 5.9." That ascent is of course a a full ten years after me seeing climbers in the Needles.

The view of the Needles from the lookout.


That was 50 years ago and I still get a thrill remembering the journey. It was another 10 years before I was to actually climb. But not because of a lack of desire. As I aged I remembered the thrill of that simple visit to the Lookout and the awe I had for the guys climbing on the rocks.

Learning to ski held my attention as did dirt bikes, basketball, football, bicycles, guns, knives and swimming. In the late '60s and early '70s our high school library carried a French magazine called "Paris Match" and even though I was taking French I couldn't read much of it. But, my Oh my, the pictures! Rene Desmaison made me WANT to be a alpine climber. Add a subscription to National Geographic my Grandmother gave at Chrismas every year since I was born (really, since I was born) and how could I not WANT to climb :)


" Readers of Paris Match read his dramatic reports and a radio audience measured in millions shivered with him during a live broadcast caught in a storm on the north face of the Grandes Jorasses......

In the 1960s when many of the so-called “last great problems” in the Alps were being addressed, Desmaison played a leading part in solving them. One attempt on the unclimbed Central Pillar of Freney, high on the Brenva face of Mont Blanc, became a France v Britain race. A team including Chris Bonington, Ian Clough and Don Whillans had a day's lead and were attempting the difficult overhanging crux of the climb when a group led by Desmaison appeared, attempting the same pillar by a nearby line. Bonington recalled that the corner crack they were trying to climb was too wide for their pitons but too small for the protective wooden wedges they were carrying. A request to the French for suitable gear met a firm and not unreasonable “non”, as the same gear was needed on their own route. Bonington and Whillans persevered, overcame the crux and dropped a rope to the rest of their team which the French then asked to use to ascend the difficult pitches. The rope was left, but seemingly failed to find a mention in French accounts of the climb.

Desmaison's closest brush with death came in the winter of 1971 attempting a new route on the Grandes Jorasses. With Serge Gousseault, a newly qualified Chamonix guide, the two climbers became trapped by violent storms sweeping the mountain face. After six days of slow, difficult climbing the weather had closed in. They reached a summit cornice, an overhanging lip of snow and ice, only a short distance from safety but were unable to move, hanging from pitons in a festoon of ropes. Rescue helicopters twice arrived above them but failed to understand Desmaison's signals for help. On the 12th day Gousseault froze to death and it was two days later that Desmaison, near death himself from cold and dehydration, was air- lifted to safety. Two years later he returned and completed the climb, once more arriving on the summit in a storm. "
René Desmaison, French mountaineer, guide, author and film-maker, was born on April 14, 1930. He died on September 28, 2007, aged 77

So between Desmaison and Gaston Rebuffat, another French Alpinist with a penchant for photography, writing and good climbs I was hooked long before I ever owned an ice axe.

Skiing, when I started, most still used leather boots. And the boots could be used for walking as required as well as skiing. Not cutting edge technology by any means even then but a whole lot of fun. Not a lot of difference between skiers and climbers then from my limited perspective.

Then while in high school our family moved to a little town just east of Mt. Adams. From our new home you could see Mt Hood, Mt Adams, St Helens, and of course Mt Rainier!

Now I just had to learn how to climb mountains! Of course I had no clue just how much mountains and climbing would come to influence the rest of my life.

A duplicate of my first "climbing" boots, age 14. Army surplus, alpine troop, ski and mtn boot. Bought in Lewiston Idaho with paper route money shortly before seeing Mt. Hood up close for the first time.

That was my start. Yours?

Farewell Festival

Last night Laura and I decided to take advantage of the last day of the and stack a few of our favorite activities. Laura came up with the name "The Farewell Festival." Not really a festival, but a seriously fun day of outdoor activities. Ideally we plan to continue this in upcoming years as well. Here's my recap of our great day!



Phase 1 - Skiing, Seven Springs resort (Somerset Co.)

First activity of our festival was to get in some skiing at Seven Springs. Ice climbing conditions have been dismal thus far, so we've been enjoying some local man made winter and decided this would be the first activity of the day. We left home in time to make a run down from the North parking lot and hit the lifts at 9:00AM when they first started running. We skied for about a couple of hours enjoying the best conditions of the season thus far. There were no mojo sapping crowds as in previous holiday mornings up there, just perfectly groomed, fast running slopes. Yesterday we had 7" of fresh snow which had skiers and boarders swarming the mountain like bees on a hive. We usually only stay until the lift lines take longer than the runs down the hill. Yesterday was a very short day. If we hadn't planned multiple sporting events for our farewell festival day we definitely would've stayed longer to take advantage of short lift lines, fast conditions and fun jibs. Laura and I cruised some hills, hit some rails all the while filming our hijinks! Alas we had to move on to the next phase of our festival which required considerably less clothes than our phase 1 jibwear!



Phase 2 - Ice climbing, Ohiopyle State Park (Fayette Co.)

After Seven Springs, we made a pit stop at home to exchange gear and clothes. After a quick change out of our baggy ski attire into more trim fitting climbing duds. We packed up the Subaru and set off to Ohiopyle. Meadow Run was our destination. We filmed more pre-climbing stupidity in the car then set off for the crag. Not much ice was to be found, but we managed a few laps each on Season Finale M6. I was anxious to see how my injured shoulder would handle dry tooling. I've been resting it for several weeks now under the care of my good friend Dr. Andy. It seemed to work fine for the limited climbing we did. Also to make my climbing day sweeter was that I finally tried my new Lowa Ice Comp "fruits".

Lowa Ice Comp GTX

They were quite fun and much lighter than my standard mixed boot and crampon combo of Lowa Mountain Expert GTX and Petzl Darts. They should prove to make for some fun climbing this season! With still more festival fun ahead we had to pack up and move on to even funnier looking outfits and phase 3. NOTE: Visiting climbers looking for ice. Next weekend should have some drips forming up. Check for ice condition updates both here and on NEice.com



Phase 3 - Winter Running, Mammoth Park (Westmoreland Co.)

Running is a great interest of mine. I've been running for a number of years now and have logged many, many miles and lots of elevation on both trail and roads. It's a great way to keep your cardio in tip top shape (be sure to focus on hills for climbers). Laura started running this fall and has been working hard while following a safe, proper training schedule. Today was proof how much effort and dedication she's put into becoming a runner. Conditions were less than ideal, but she crushed her 30 minute workout today in proper style. We made the short drive to Mammoth Park, a local county park that has a nice 1.04 mile brick exercise path that is usually kept clear of snow for users. The thermometer in the car read 35 Degrees with gloomy skies. The path was plowed, which resulted in removing the snow, but in its place remained ice. Running it required careful and attentive footwork. Several times I found myself having flashbacks to my morning rail slides at Seven Springs. It was a great run to end the year. Laura followed her program and ran 3 laps like a champ completing a 5k for the first time in winter conditions. I ran 4 laps in a slippery 29:42 then running an easy mile to cool down. We walked together and filmed some running segments for future laughs. We had an amazingly fun day of activities. We're going to be heading out early in the morning to follow our New Years Day climbing tradition. We're heading to the Higher elevations to see if we can't find a New Years first ascent!



Farewell ... Hello !



Happy climbing,

Tim and Laura

GEORGE P. CORKINOS

When my nephew and I proof read the death notice for my father, George P. Corkinos, we both missed that extraneous "r" at first. Everything we have done as a family this past week has been in a collective state of disbelief. It is hard to accept that this man is no longer here with us. Usually when a human reaches the age of 91, people shake their heads and say how sorry they are, but the word shock does not usually come up as it has this week. My father was so vivacious and charming- no one believed he was as old as he was. He had a great run.

His name, of course, was George P. Cokinos. The 'p' is important. There is my cousin, George A. Cokinos, my nephew, George S. Cokinos and and my cousin Mark, who is actually George M. Cokinos. (He has a son named George as well.) That's just off the top of my head. Believe me, I could go on.

My father was out cruising when he fell. He had been in Florida since New Year's Eve, tanning on the roof of his condo every day that the sun shone. The ship was in port in Mexico when he tumbled down the stairs, and he was taken to a hospital in Cozumel, then to one in Fort Lauderdale, but he never recovered.

He went out doing something he loved- traveling with my mother and my sister, tanned and vibrant, but not able to overcome the blow. It is a blow to us all- everyone who knew him- whether it was a brief meeting or a lifetime of friendship, he always made an impact. (I've actually felt sorry for a car salesman in his presence.)

I will be starting a new site as a memorial as some family members have requested. Please send me your memories or stories- pictures, too. (lyndalu@gmail.com) You can get to the site by hitting this link- Big George

My Dad 's life touched a lot of people. He was kind. He was funny. His sense of humor was one of a kind. His special name for me was Gunga Din. "Gunk" for short. What could be funnier than that?

Only about a million stories which I hope to keep adding here and at the new site.

Thanks, Dad. It was a blast.

Tombstone Tuesday :: William and maybe John and Susanna Phend

According to early family papers, John Phend (aka Johannes B'hend) passed away on December 22, 1859 and his wife Susanna (Kübli) Phend died on September 9, 1856. They were both reportedly buried in Hepton Union Cemetery, Kosciusko County, Indiana. However, I have not found any record of their deaths (way too early for "official" state death records) or even a record that they lived in northern Indiana. And the cemetery caretaker does not have record of their burial. Their son, Jacob Phend, moved from Greene County, in southern Indiana, to eastern Marshall County, in northern Indiana, in 1852 and it is possible that his parents were with him at that time. Hepton Union Cemetery is only about two miles from where Jacob's farm in Marshall County was located. In 1856, Jacob purchased a farm in Hepton while maintaining his farm in Marshall County.

The marker with the broken top on the left is that of William Phend, son of Jacob and Louisa. I suspect that the clump of flowers to the right marks the final resting place of John and Susanna Phend. This picture was taken on April 4, .. and you can see part of a broken marker on the left side of the clump of flowers. I've been to the cemetery several since the first time in 1986, in winter and in spring, but found only bits and pieces of a marker, none with any legible writing on them.

We'll probably never know for sure whether John and Susanna are really buried there or not, but it's comforting to some degree to think that they rest in peace beside their grandson.


William's gravemarker in Hepton Cemetery is broken off at the top so the first name is missing, but the remainder reads:
SON OF
J & L PHEND
DIED
Apr. 5, 1875
AGED 19 Y. 7 M. 29 D.
William also died before Indiana began keeping death records and I haven't found an obituary for him either so I don't know what caused his death.

ANT Headbadge in the Making

Visiting ANTyesterday, I got to see something very cool: The making of a headbadge from start to finish. The ANTheadbadgelooks like a piece of antique jewelry - resembling an oxidised copper brooch. I've been wondering how Mike Flanigan makes them, and now I know:





Turns out the headbadges are brass, not copper. While initially Mike made them by hand, for years now he has been getting them laser-cut in batches. But on this occasion he needed a headbadge for a bike with a short headtube, so he made a smaller one from scratch, starting with a blank plaque.





The headtube was not only small, but had decorative lugwork around the edges, limiting the space for the badge quite a bit.To start with, Mike measured the available space and cut down one of the blanks to size with a saw.





Using one of the laser-cut badges as a model, he then drew the design on the smaller blank freehand in black marker. Because of the difference in scale, the ant on the smaller badge came out slightly differently - chubbier and shorter, with a rounded head. We decided it was a juvenile ant.





Not sure whether this is obvious, but the rendering of the insect actually spells "ANT" - the head being the "A," the torso the "N" and the bottom the "T." It's a clever logo.






Using a variety of files and an awl, Mike carved out the ant and "distressed" the plaque.






The remaining traces of marker were then removed and the surface smoothed down.





Once the headbadge was ready, the patina was applied. This is the stuff that gives the headbadge the look of oxidised copper.





This is a liquid patina goes on blue, but turns rusty-green as it air-dries. The process can be speeded up by putting the patina-covered headbadge in a plastic bag for a few minutes.






As the "oxidation" completed, Mike attached the badge to the headtube and it was done. The process took about 30 minutes total and was pretty exciting to watch. I don't think that many headbadges are carved out freehand anymore, and doing it this way gives them a distinctly hand-made look. A big thank you to Mike for letting me observe and share the process!

Owachomo Bridge, Newspaper Rock, Goosenecks State Park

Staying in Blanding, Utah tonight. After a day filled with sunshine, spotty rain, occasional snow showers, and some pretty good dust storms (not to mention some REALLY cool clouds throughout the day), I caught a nice sunset over Owachomo Bridge at Natural Bridges National Monument. Was hoping to photograph some stars over the same bridge, but it was too cloudy.



Some other highlights from today: Stopped by Newspaper Rock in Canyonlands National Park, an amazing rock which has probably the highest concentration of petroglyphs of any single rock in the Southwest. I also drove through some intense rain today, followed by some amazing skies as the storm broke up. As I drove North from Monument Valley I took a quick side trip to Goosenecks State Park to photograph the sky above the bends in the San Juan River.

Peruse our Virtual Album and Tickle Your Funny Bone!

Welcome to the 6th Edition of Smile For The Camera ~ A Carnival of Images!

Show us that picture that never fails to bring a smile to your face! An amusing incident, a funny face, an unusual situation. Choose a photograph of an ancestor, relative, yourself, or an orphan photograph that tickles your Funny Bone. . .

A big Thank You goes out to everyone who participated in this edition of Smile for the Camera, there were 29 posts by 28 contributors. As you peruse the pages of our virtual photo album, I am sure you will find more than a few pictures that will tickle your funny bone!

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Leading us off today is Midge Frazel of Granite in My Blood. She reminds us to "Never forget that your parents were once young, crazy and impulsive; even if they are gone, laughter about them will endure forever." Good advice, indeed. Her contribution to the carnival is My Parents Tickle My Funny Bone and it's likely to tickle yours too!

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Amanda Erickson presents Photo of my grandfather having fun posted at Random Ramblings. Two pretty girls and a "drunken" young man. Is it for real, or just pretend? Amanda's grandfather reveals the truth.

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Sheri Fenley, The Educated Genealogist, provides a "word picture" of her "Mummy Dahling" as "a lovely woman, a little uptight, a lot of prim and proper" but does that really describe Sheri's mother? Seems there is a funny side to her mother too, as shown in It Must be Genetic.

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Linda Stienstra, blogging at From Axer to Ziegler, presents some recent family pictures in These Just Tickle my Funny Bone!. A happy, laughing family with a little guy whose laughter is contagious and another of a couple of goofballs! When I viewed Linda's second contribution, Wouldn't this make you laugh out loud? I did, laugh out loud that is.

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Normally, you wouldn't think that a picture taken of a man in the hospital would be funny, but Elyse Doerflinger shows us that it can be with Hilarious Pictures Of My Family posted at Elyse's Genealogy Blog. Be sure you find out what he's reading!

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Wendy Littrell gives us "Scream" for the Camera posted at All My Branches Genealogy. Wendy says "Yes, we are a bunch of sick individuals! This picture shows just how twisted we are." Well, it is Halloween after all.

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Jasia, the lady with the Creative Gene has some new-found cousins with a sense of humor. And it shows in It Tickles My Funny Bone..., which is also a very nice tribute to a WWII Navy veteran.

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At I Dream of Genea(logy), Amir Dekel presents us with a photograph of his paternal grandfather that shows "an amazing blend of extreme happiness, some sadness, pain and sheer terror". And given the circumstances, I agree! You'll find it posted at I Dream of Genea(logy): Smile for the Camera.

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T.K. asks "The funny bone is in the ear? Who knew?" Check out Tickle! posted at Before My Time. A wonderful, amusing portrait of mother and son!

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Colleen M. Johnson presents Pouty Laughs posted at CMJ Office Blog. Colleen has a right hook that had her grandfather laughing. And a second photo has Colleen admitting that "Pouty faces tickle my funny bone."

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Summer is officially over and autumn has set in. Where has the summer gone? Miss Jocelyn presents her Summer '08 Memoirs posted at A Pondering Heart that will have her smiling with remembrances for a long time.

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Bob Franks presents Yawning for the Camera? posted at Itawamba History Review: The Itawamba Historical Society. Bob says "From the first time I saw it many years ago, this photo has always brought a smile to my face. To me, it looks as if the subject was caught yawning the moment the photographer captured the image with the camera."

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Julie Cahill Tarr recently went antiquing and rescued some orphan photos. One in particular, Funny, Ha-Ha posted at GenBlog, made her chuckle. Their expressions are priceless.

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Terry Thornton, of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi, presents A photographic essay of an orphan --- a visitor at Christmas. He says, "A few years ago, Sweetie and I "adopted" an orphan. During the few weeks the orphan was at our house, he took over our household. He was out of control --- and in need of a Ten Step Plan for rehabilitation. We sent him on his way and our household returned to normal --- what a relief. All we have left of that time are these photographs."

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One picture says it all! Donna Pointkouski combines all of the suggestions given in the prompt for this edition: "an amusing incident, some funny faces, an unusual situation" in her contribution My Father, the Comedienne posted at What's Past is Prologue.

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With My Dad, the Birthday Boy - But on a Horse?? posted at Attala County Memories, Janice Tracy wonders was a horse, a car, a tractor, and a wagon pulled by a goat all “accepted” as normal places for photographing children “way back when"?

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"Is this your grandma? Let's see, height, about 6'4", clean shaven, broad of shoulder... hmmmm..." Well, Sheri Bush says that Kind Of A Drag . . . posted at TwigTalk is an orphan photo but I wonder if she is just embarrassed to claim it as one of her family?

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Melody Lassalle presents Look! It's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! posted at The Research Journal. Melody says " I can’t help but look at that fake city background, then the car, and laugh."

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With The Chart Chick: The smile on a little girl's face. posted at The Chart Chick, Janet Hovorka, shows us several of her mother's favorite pastimes, well, maybe one isn't quite so much a favorite.

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John Newmark presents Smile For the Camera: Funny Bone posted at TransylvanianDutch. A grandmother who hides behind a large pair of sunglasses and a grandfather who prepares to dive into the water - aren't candid photos the best?

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Msteri River says "This family line is full of silliness!" and you can see the truth of that statement in It Tickles My Funny Bone posted at Heritage Happens.

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Carol presents 6th Edition Smile For The Camera - Funny Bone posted at iPentimento In Your Reader. She says, "I can’t say this picture necessarily makes me laugh, but it does make me smile :)"

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M. Diane Rogers, blogging at CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt' says " Here's a family photo that always makes me smile!" Funny Bone - Smile for the Camera.

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At Taylorstales-Genealogy, Pam Taylor authoritatively states Laughter really is the best medicine! and gives a short, loving tribute to "two people who loved to share a smile and a laugh."

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Randy Seaver presents Family Photographs - Post 26: The Kids posted at Genea-Musings. According to Randy, "Children always make me smile, and laugh, and appreciate the gift of unconditional love between parent and child, and grandparent and grandchild too. These are my favorite people in the world."

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Over at Destination: Austin Family, Thomas MacEntee wonders if it is Funny, Embarrassing or a Cruel Joke? What? You ask? I'll just say it involves a cake and a 13-year old girl on a special day.

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footnoteMaven shares a special photo of Mr. Denver Colorado posted at footnoteMaven. There's more to the tale than a tall hat!

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And, rounding out this edition of Smile For The Camera, is my contribution Funny face, I love you! posted right here at kinexxions.

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The word prompt for the 7th Edition of Smile For The Camera is Oh, Baby! Show us those wonderful family photographs of babies, or those you've collected. Share the ones that are too cute for words, or those only a mother could love. Your favorite of grandma or grandmas' favorite. Grandpa on a bear skin rug or grandpas' little love. Everyone has a baby photo, so let's see it!

Choose a photograph of an ancestor, relative, yourself, or an orphan photograph that is the epitome of Oh, Baby! and bring it to the carnival. Admission is free with every photograph!

Your submission may include as many or as few words as you feel are necessary to describe your treasured photograph. Those words may be in the form of an expressive comment, a quote, a journal entry, a poem (your own or a favorite), a scrapbook page, or a heartfelt article. The choice is yours!

Deadline for submission is midnight (PT) November 10, ...

There are two options for submitting your contribution:

1. Send an email to the host, footnoteMaven. Include the title and permalink URL of the post you are submitting, and the name of your blog. Put 'Smile For The Camera' clearly in the title of your email!
2. Use the handy submission form provided by Blog Carnival.

Ceci N'est Pas une Bicyclette: a Peek at the Brooks Two Wheel Display

Has anyone else noticed that mystery bike Brooks of England uses to display their wares? You know the one - It's army green and you can see glimpses of it in their catalogues and advertisements, though never enough to identify what the bike is? Turns out, Harris Cyclery now has one of these up on display. Last time I was there, they were kind enough to get it down and even let me drag it outside for some photos - extracting a promise that I wouldn't attempt to ride it.






Because you see, it is not a bicycle. It is a two wheel display ("Warning: Do not ride!") What makes it unridable is mainly the lack of brakes, though I suppose there might be other issues. It felt very bike-like to roll.






Usually this bicycle is laden with panniers and stuff in the basket, so being able to examine it bare was quite a treat. It is an odd bike with no manufacturer markings I could find.Lugged steel frame with unicrown fork. Same colour of powdercoat as the Bella Ciao I used to have. Step-through frame, the top tube at a slightly shallower angle that the downtube. Fenders, rack and chaincase powdercoated to match. And of course Brooks saddle, grips and basket.






The Brooks advertising panel is painted on a thin sheet of metal and affixed between the top and down tubes.Notice that the clips holding the banner in place are part of the frame. The head lugs are unusually filigree-esque for a transport bike, but there is nothing fancy about the frame otherwise.






The rear rack resembles the rack on the Bobbin Birdie.






The chaincase looks identical to those used by Abici.






The wire and wood Hoxton basket affixes to the handlebars via a quick-release system.






The leather washers on the handle are a nice touch.






The obvious benefit of the Brooks "Two Wheel Display" is that it allows them to demonstrate their products on an actual bike, without associating themselves with any particular bicycle manufacturer. I do wish the bike was ridable though. In general, it would be neat if bikes with advertising panels came back into style: Local shops could use them for errands, advertising their business along the way. I still don't know what exactly the Brooks bike is, when it appeared, how many of them are out there, etc. - but it was fun to examine it up close.

A Good Idea Gone Wrong :: But, I've Done It Before...

If you don't publish a Blog and you don't use Blogger you may want to skip this post... I'm venting...



I did what I've done for the past couple of years. But this time a change made to Blogger (probably when "New Blogger" came on the scene) has caused extra work as well as a little frustration on my part.



A group of posts was created a few years ago that I call "Index Posts" and they list the blog posts that have been published for a given surname. As new stories are posted for a surname, the Index Post gets updated with links to the new post and periodically the date of the post will be changed. The date is changed so that when someone does a search on the blog for a specific surname or clicks on a surname label at the bottom of a post the Index Post will be displayed near the top of the search results.



Maybe I should have known better, but, in the past, doing what I've done did not cause any problems. But what I learned today means I won't be doing the same thing again!



You know that thing called a permalink, aka the url for a post? Well, contrary to it's name, it isn't a permanent link. At least, not if you click on the button that says "Revert to Draft" while you are editing a blog post AND you change the publication date of the post. If you've done that and you then re-publish the post or page, the permalink (url) could change. That's not good. Especially if you have linked to that post within other posts. It's now a broken link.



So, I had updated all of the surname Index Posts (19 of them!) before I discovered the error of my ways. And then it was too late. I tried to change the url by using the "custom url" but that didn't work. It only allowed me to enter the last portion of the url (the part after "kinexxions.blogspot.com/../12"). If a post had previously been published, say in July .., the beginning portion of the url would have been "kinexxions.blogspot.com/../07". When I changed the date, Blogger changed the date portion of the url to "../12". And therein lies the problem.



After a few choice words, and thinking about it for a while, I edited the "Master" Index Post to update it with the new links. And then edited the two "Pages" for my Maternal Ancestors and Paternal Ancestors, as well as the links along the sidebar that list the surnames that I am researching. Those are the obvious links.



The "problem" now is that I know there have been times when I've linked to an Index Post from a another blog post. I don't think I've done it very often but, in my opinion, one broken link is one too many. For one thing, it leaves a bad impression. And for another, it's irritating to the reader.



If I had thought about it, and if I had kept track of the date the posts were last published, I could have edited all of the posts a second time and then reverted back to that publication date. I think that would have worked and I wouldn't have the broken link problem. Each of the Index Posts does have the date it was last updated, but that isn't necessarily the date of last publication. In other words, I may not have changed the date when the post was updated.



I've spent all afternoon and evening working on this. I'm irritated. I'm frustrated. Mostly at myself but also with Blogger. So,I'm going to "sit" on this for a few days and think about it some more, then decide if it is important enough to go looking for broken links to the various Index Posts.In the meantime, if anyone has any great ideas regarding this, please let me know. Oh, and if you come across a broken link, please notify me. I won't yell at you. I promise.

New Hampshire & Massachusetts

My earlier experience with New Hampshire on this trip lasted about 45 minutes – traversing it to get from Vermont to Maine.

Rather than simply adding it to the list of states I've been in, I figured it would be nice if I spent more than an hour there but I didn't really have the time to spare. At least I drove through it again. The weather was pleasant – sunshine and blue skies - and it was mostly a nice drive. I spent the night in Concord. The next morning, Thursday (October 8th), was also a very nice day for traveling although there was quite a bit of traffic and congestion through Dover, Manchester, and Nashua.

By noon I was in Massachusetts and, 30 minutes later, at Pine Grove Cemetery in Leominster, where Joseph and Sarah (Tarbell) Joslin and his grandfather Peter Joslin are buried. Joseph and Sarah are (probably, most likely) my 6th great-grandparents which would make Peter my 8th great-grandfather. Photographs of their tombstones are posted on find-a-grave but I wanted to visit their graves myself.

Pine Grove Cemetery, established in 1742, is the oldest of the four cemeteries in Leominster. It was closed to burials in 1937 and is on the National Register of Historic Places – there are nearly 100 veterans of the Revolutionary War buried there. It took me about half an hour to locate the Joslin gravesites. It was a pleasant walk through history. I recognized other surnames that had married into the Joslin line – Wilder, Whitcomb, Gardner – undoubtedly some very distant relatives. But how they were related I knew not. I haven't done enough research on those lines to make the determination.

Did I mention that black slate tombstones are really, really hard to photograph! Particularly when they are in the shade.

That's me at the gravesites of Joseph and Sarah (Tarbell) Joslin.

In memory of
Lieut. Joseph Joslin
who died
August. 18. 1829
Aet. 86

In memory of
Mrs. SARAH JOSLIN
wife of
Lieut. JOSEPH JOSLIN
who died 28 Aug. 1810
aged 69

Inscription at bottom of Sarah's stone:
The happy soul that conquers sin;
Shall everlasting glory win.
Shall see the end of war & pain.
And with the King of glory reign.

By far the oldest tombstone of an ancestor (or probable ancestor) that I have personally photographed is that of Peter Joslin/Joslyn (below). I was delighted to find that it was out in the sun. The lighting was perfect!

In Memory of Capt.
PETER JOSLYN
who Died April. ye
18th Domini 1759
Aged 94 Years.

O Death Thoust conquered me
by thy Dart am Slain.
But CHRIST has conquered thee
And I shall rise again.

Thanks Sheri...

While sitting in the auto repair shop in Oakhurst, I had contacted Sheri Fenley (The Educated Genealogist) to see if we could meet up for a day or two. She had been unable to attend the Genealogy Jamboree in Burbank earlier in the month and since I was (sort of) in the area I thought I'd stop by to see her on my way north.

It was a relatively short drive of 150 miles or so from Yosemite to Stockton and I arrived at Sheri's place about noon on Saturday (June 26th). It was non-stop talking for the next 10 hours and most of the day on Sunday! What did we talk about? Our families and Genealogy, of course!

On Sunday, I joined Sheri and a few members of her APG Chapter for lunch and a behind the scenes tour of the San Mateo Historical Museum Archives in Redwood City. It was nice to meet some of her cohorts and see the resources available in San Mateo. Sheri wrote a little about that excursion.

Monday morning photos as I was leaving.

Sheri was saying “Goodbye, Becky!”

Thank you, Sheri, for being a gracious hostess. I very much enjoyed meeting your family and spending time with you. Thank you, Thank you!

SST (That's Sorting, Scanning, Trashing!)

For the two weeks prior to my mother's 80th birthday much of my time was spent in removing the pictures from several of her albums, scanning those pictures and then putting them into archive albums for her. This resulted in approximately 575 scanned image files! I then selected the "best" and printed out perhaps 75 images for display at her open house. I'm very happy to say that the photo-montage was a big hit and well worth the time and effort.

With that project completed I (finally) began the task of sorting my own pictures that have been stored in three "shoeboxes" (not really, but photo storage boxes about the size of a shoebox) into chronological order. I'm trashing the out-of-focus, really bad shots, and giving away duplicates. I did get a good start on scanning some of those pictures the first part of this week but got sidetracked onto another project the latter part of the week.

On Monday and Tuesday I scanned nearly 350 images working about 12 hours total. These were all 3 1/2 x 5" pictures so I could put 5 photos on the scanner bed at once. Of course, I still scanned each one individually but the fact that there would be a series or group of pictures that had been taken at the same event helped to speed things up to where I could scan about 40-45 pictures per hour at times. I also discovered a neat feature of the scanner software that allows me to set a prefix for file names so that all the images from a group or series could automatically be given the designated prefix. Eventually I'll go back and add identifying information to each picture, once I figure out how it is done. The entire process is both fun and tedious. Yeah, right! No, really, it is! So I keep telling myself...

Of the three "shoeboxes" of pictures, half of one box has been scanned. I considered sending the pictures out for commercial scanning, particularly using the free offer at ScanMyPhotos.com that Apple used. The thing is though, after sorting and selecting the pictures to be sent out, there were only about 300 that were of the 4x6" size, which was what was required for the free offer.

While sorting the pictures into chronological order I realized that I had only had prints made of a few of the pictures from my trip through the western states that I took after getting out of the Navy. Those pictures were slides. Prints from slides were expensive back then, compared to the cost of prints from negatives. And I didn't have a job at the time. Anyway, now I'm trying to locate a slide scanning service here in the Midwest. There are lots of places on the west coast. Some that do the scanning onsite and others that send them off to India or some other country. Really, really don't want to send them overseas. And would prefer someplace closer than California.

I've got seven 3-ring binders that each have 500 or so slides in protective pages. That's 3500+ slides, and no, not all of them will be sent out for scanning! Selecting the slides to send out is problematic. I'm trying to figure out a way to jerry-rig a light box or possibly find someone who has a slide viewer. I did scan a test slide on my HP Scanner that has slide/negative scanning built into the lid. I don't have the time or patience to scan those at the rate it took to pre-scan and scan the test slide (several minutes). The scanner added an overall bluish tint to the slide as well. I was able to adjust the image after scanning to get a usable picture, but it took a lot of time to get it close to the original.

The "other" project that I got sidetracked on this week was sorting through the four HUGE boxes of mounted and framed photos that haven't seen the light of day since they were boxed up in 1996! These are mostly photos that were taken while working on my bachelor's degree from Indiana State University. As part of each assignment we had to mount our work "professionally" for presentation to the class. Needless to say the stack of matt board (nearly 4' high) was far more impressive than the photographs themselves. The majority of the photographs were saved though and the matt board went to the recycling center today.

My plan now is to continue scanning the pictures in the shoeboxes, several hours a day, with a goal of completion by June 30th. (I'm setting a goal hoping it will keep me on track and motivated.) Devise a method for selecting the slides to be sent out for scanning; get them selected and sent out as soon as possible. And there are still all those boxes in the garage that need going through! And all those ancestral genea-documents to be scanned. And, well, lots of other things too.

What I've found while doing all this sorting, scanning, and trashing is that it is difficult to wrap my mind around the task of writing. I've stated before, I'm a slow writer, it takes time for me to put together a decent post. I guess the muse has left the building. As a result, posting has been sluggish. Most posts lately have consisted of recently scanned photographs. They don't take much thought, and are somewhat entertaining. Hopefully my few faithful readers will still be around when the muse returns and I get back to writing and, also hopefully, you will be interested in whatever it is I have to say. In the meantime, I hope y'all enjoy the pictures!

Somewhere along the Oregon coast, June 1979.