POTR #64 Proximity

PEACE ON THE ROAD

Proximity

December 18, 2010

It almost seems at times that an idea, a thought or a question gets loose in our heads and just seems to flit around inside the brain similar to the flight of a butterfly in a large room. It is there and yet not really there. It will just catch our attention for a few moments and then be gone for a while. But eventually it will land on our nose and then we give it our full attention for a bit, at least until it flits away again. In the last six years (especially the last four) since I have traveling around the US there has been a question that seems to come up every once in a while. The question is basically, “Why does a particular geographical location feel more like home than some other location. As child the farm near Princeton, Kansas was always home. After I graduated from high school and started living in other places the farm stayed the principle home and the location where I was sleeping was a secondary home or perhaps a temporary home. As would be expected when I added a wife to my life my home became the place she was and the farm became either my folks home or my childhood home. For about forty years it stayed that way with several “house” changes. Then I retired and started the traveling and for the first time there was no permanent building to call home. Home became the inside of a motor home in whatever RV it was parked. It was not long before there were certain places that just seemed more like “home” than others. One was in New York near our daughters home. Another was Rockport, TX, and a third was in Mission, TX. While there were times that I wondered why this would be I never really tried to figure out why. Denver, CO where I spent forty years working and living just did not quite have that feeling any longer. That seemed strange too because many friends of thirty plus years are there along with some family. If any place seemed like home it should be the Denver area.

One day the answer flitted through my brain and landed on my consciousness and became very plain. It was simply proximity. This is mostly about my winter location in Bentsen Grove in Mission, TX. Here I am in close proximity to many of the things that made me feel at home in Wheat Ridge, CO. I have made numerous friends here and they are all within walking distance in under five minutes and several within fifteen seconds. In Colorado it is a minimum of a fifteen minute drive and there are some friends that would require an hour and a half drive to visit. Here I have replaced the occupation that I once had with helping people with computers (they think I know a lot more than I do), photography for the park and groups in it, operation of a sound booth (just a few weeks so far) plus other things. While the friends here in this resort are not more important than the friends of years there proximity is a whole lot closer. At least in my mind that is the reason for my comfort level here.

When we first came to Bentsen Grove we had a site that was near some people that had planted a small agave plant in their flower garden. That winter as we drove by their house we admired the plant. I thought that it would be many years before the plant would grow to any appreciable size. How wrong I was. It has only been four years since we were staying there and the agave has grown huge. It is commonly called a century plant. It is supposed to live a hundred years, bloom and then die. However I have found out that is just a myth. It does not live for a hundred year but rather the average life is around 10 years. When it blooms it does die but usually sends out shoots or suckers around the base and thus its life continues. The years required to bloom varies based upon soil condition available water and other factors. During the growth years it is storing energy to be used at the time of its blooming. When it sends up its flowering stalk it is reported to becomes the fastest growing plant on earth. The flower stalk grows a foot or more a week. While it is a beautiful plant it can also be a dangerous one. The tip of the leaf has a sharp needle that can penetrate all the way to a bone and the edge of the leaf is lined with sharp barbs that easily tear flesh if a person does not stay aware of the proximity of the leaves. There are over three hundred recognized varieties of the agave plant. It is one of the varieties that is used to make tequila. That one is harvested at about six to eight years when the plant has become loaded with sap, also known as honey water, in preparation for flowering. It is possible for the sap of some agave plants to cause skin rashes that will last for several weeks. The dried leaves have been used by the Australian aborigine to make the musical instrument the didgeridoo. It is an amazing plant that combines beauty and some danger.

AN AGAVE PLANT IN BENTSEN GROVE WHICH IS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD

Many years ago Bentsen Grove was a commercial citrus orchard. It was converted to a trailer park and then expanded to include a RV resort. When that was done many of the citrus trees and palm trees that were in the orchard were left standing and today make this park a desirable place to live. Most sites have a citrus tree of some sort and some even have several different kinds, like orange, tangerines, grapefruit, lemon or lime. Of course many residents have planted trees and cactus of their own in addition to the original trees. In another site not too far from this agave is one of the largest cactus of its type that I can recall seeing. I guess that I get to thinking that except for the saguaro cactus they do not grow to large size. Of course that is simply just not right thinking. There are many cacti that grow to great size, it is just that I have not been around them. The flowering cacti produce a fruit that is called a “tuna” which carry the seed and provides a lot of nourishment to many animals. The animals in turn carry the seeds away from the original plant and spread them into new territory. I have done some research into the origin of the word tuna and have not been able to find anything that indicates how or why the seed pods are given that name. Until just recently when I heard the word tuna all I thought about was a large fish that lives in the ocean or a small can of meat which is great to make a spread for sandwiches or a stuffing for tomatoes. Since I started to travel and have come into contact with more cacti in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas I have found another use for the word.

TALL CACTUS ON ONE OF THE SITES IN BENTSEN GROVE

Right at the moment I am having a difficult time. It is sort of a proximity problem I was looking at a paper and saw an ad that said how many days were left before Christmas and it is not possible. If it was said that there were that many days left till Independence Day I would not have a problem with that. To say that I am not ready for Christmas time would be a gross under statement. And I am willing to bet that seven days later I will not be ready for 2011. I had a next door neighbor for nearly thirty years that said he did not know how he was able to get things things done before he retired because he was not able to keep up with his duties after retirement. I sure understand what he was talking about. When he told me that in the past I really did not understand except in the slightest way. I will grant that if I did not volunteer for some of the things I do I probably could catch up somewhat, and then I might get bored. It surely must be better to wonder where the weeks and months have gone than to wonder what will help the time to pass. As would be expected I take a lot of pictures wherever I go and I try to label and file them in a timely manner. In other words before I forget where I took the picture and what the reason for taking the picture. But I am about a year behind AND I am still taking more pictures. To catch up will have to be a goal for next year. Speaking of that--

I want to wish all who read this a very Merry Christmas and also send you my best wishes for a very successful and Happy New Year. While I would like to wish you a white Christmas I was just watching a You-tube of automobiles on snow covered streets and I cannot bring myself to wish that on anyone. Therefore I will have to wish you a dry and warm Christmas like I will be enjoying here in south Texas

when I have a Christmas Dinner with 300 to 400 residents of this park.

Till later this is Doug of

Peace On The Road  

POTR #63 Preconcieved Ideas

PEACE ON THE ROAD

Preconceived Ideas

October 7, 2010

I think that it must be simple human nature to get certain ideas of how something will be and then be surprised when it turns out to be another way. Part of it will be due to the paradigms that we live with and have been taught. Perhaps we have seen something and therefore we think that all things in the same category will be very similar. If a person had only seen oak trees in their lifetime and had only heard about oaks or similar trees it would not be unreasonable to think that all trees would be like oak trees. This is not necessarily a bad thing as long as a person is willing to say, “Okay, I was wrong!” I have come across a couple things that have altered my opinion.

Back in June or July of 1947 something happened in the town of Roswell, New Mexico. Not a whole lot was mentioned until about thirty years later when the possibility of an extraterrestrial space/air craft having crashed in the desert and killing several aliens was suggested. Sometime between then and now I have gotten the idea that Roswell was a single blink town. If you went through it and made a single blink you would likely miss the whole town. The main feature of the town would be a rundown cafe out in an open field where they have pictures and models of aliens and serve some decent food on the day the good cook is working. Also the impression that aliens are short creatures with very large upside down teardrop shaped heads with huge almond shaped eyes and antenna like appendages growing from the tops of their heads have been pushed into my consciousness. Both those impressions seem to be incorrect. Roswell is a fair sized town that has a business area along the highway that is several miles long. If you blink long enough to miss the town you can be guaranteed to be in accident. There were a lot of restaurants and most any other type of business you want. So, Okay, I was wrong!” I do believe that I saw some aliens though. They did not look like my description. While they looked a little strange I suppose that after all these years they have learned to “blend” in with the locals. They did look rather different but I am sure that they were aliens. My wife is convinced that the proper term would have been “undocumented seasonal workers.” But this is Roswell, New Mexico, therefore????

Every cave that I have been in has been way back up some gully, draw, or canyon. It was nearly impossible to see any indication that anything was there, including the buildings that were built around the entrance. Somewhere in every cave there is a BIG room which really is not very big at all. Perhaps a hundred to two hundred in its maximum length. They have been very humid, damp and have had a smell that is very much associated with water. There has been water dripping from the ceiling, running down the walls and across the floor. There have been pristine pools of water in any location that was even the slightest bit lower than the surrounding area. So with the exception of a few caves in the deserts of Egypt or around the Dead Sea which I have read about all caves must be like the ones I have visited. Right? Right! Now don't go near the southern border of New Mexico to the town of Carlsbad and force me to say, “Okay, I was wrong!” I have already been there and said it. I also said, “This is stunning!” As you drive south out of town on the highway into the Chihuahuan Desert it is hard to imagine that this was at one time the bottom of an ocean and that the ridge to the west was a ocean reef that was formed about two hundred and fifty million years. It was then covered by thousands of feet of younger rocks. Seventeen to twenty million years ago it was lifted by tectonic forces and the younger softer rocks were worn away to form the Guadalupe Mountain range. A brine that formed deep below in deposits high in hydrogen sulfide was pushed through cracks and faults toward the surface where it combined with oxygen rich surface water and formed a weak sulfuric acid. The acid in turn dissolved the limestone rocks creating the caves. As the mountains lifted more the water drained out and allowed the surface water to start dripping through and depositing minerals which are called cave decorations. As you drive along the highway you can look to the west at the high ridge and see the Carlsbad Caverns visitors center. A short distance beyond it is the “natural” entrance to Carlsbad Cavern, one of over 300 caves in the fossil reef. The natural entrance descends 750 foot along a mile and a quarter switchback trail to the Big Room. It is well paved with asphalt which is quite different than it was in 1898 when 16 year old Jim White first explored with a homemade fence wire and wood ladder. Or in about a minute an elevator can also drop you to the Big Room trail. The Big Room has been calculated to have an area of 357,469 foot square. This is the size of over six football fields. It is the largest under ground cavern in the US and the seventh largest in the world. A trail of a mile and a quarter goes around the Big Room and goes by thousands of stalactites, stalagmites, soda straws, popcorn, and other forms of cave decorations that mainly formed during the last glacial period when the land above was covered by forests. I was surprised at how dry the cavern was, including the feel of the air. Because it is desert above there was not the expected water dripping or the number of water pools. Only a couple locations had cave decorations that were in the process of growing. At one time the 57 degree air was used to cool the visitors center but it was found that the conditions in the cavern were being changed and causing it to dry out more. Air conditioners were installed in the the visitors center and revolving door were installed for people access down at the cavern. After the cavern itself is closed for the day there is still a spectacular show of 250,000 or more Mexican Free Tailed bats that exit the cavern to forage for insects. The only way I can think to describe them is to compare them to a swam of gnats on a hot summer Kansas afternoon. Then to add that the gnats have a wingspan of thirteen inches and weigh half an ounce. Each bat will eat between half its body weight and its full body weight each night. Thus there are a lot of insects removed from the farmers fields each night near the caverns.

NATURAL ENTRANCE DESCENDING 750 FOOT INTO CARLSBAD CAVERNS

A couple years ago when I was were talking to a friend, David, about some of the things I enjoyed doing I was told, “You are a very eclectic person.” At the time I took it as a compliment and agreed that the statement was likely right. When I get to looking at the subject of the pictures that I have taken over the years and the ones that I still want to take I still have to agree. I love taking pictures of the landscape and I love to take pictures of the smallest things that I can see. If I had the equipment I think it would be great to take macro pictures of the common things that we have around us ever day and do not even notice. We went to the Guadalupe National Monument which is just barely in Texas south of Carlsbad, NM. The monument encompasses 240 square miles of the same ancient reef in which Carlsbad Caverns was formed. It has Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at 8,749 feet. It also has El Capitan, a very prominent formation which was used as a landmark for travelers crossing the area along the trail that would be later used by the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach route. The Butterfield Stage operated through this area from 1857 till 1861 when it was discontinued because of the Civil War. It took 22 days to move the mail from St. Louis, MO to San Francisco, CA. During 18 months it was in competition with the Pony Express which took ten days from St. Louis to California. Both companies were disbanded at the onset of the Civil War and the assets of both were acquired by the Wells Fargo company. Just a short walk from the visitors center of the Guadalupe National Monument visitors center is one of the stage stations of the Butterfield Stage Company. Along that walk we encountered a large variety of flora and fauna. The most striking was the Blue Legged Jewel Beetle. On a small branch of the tree there were four of them enjoying a snack of tree leaves. We were told that the lights at night attract them in hordes along with other insects including several kinds variety of preying mantis. While we looking at the entrance I saw six different species.

BLUE LEGGED JEWEL BEETLES FEEDING ON A DESERT TREE

By the time this gets sent we will have been in Mission, TX for a few days. While it really too early in the season to return circumstances have made it desirable to return. Thus far it has not been too hot, but still I am glad that the air conditioner works well. It is also good to see some of our friends here.

Till later this is Doug of

Peace On The Road

POTR #62 Front Row Seats

PEACE ON THE ROAD

Front Row Seats

September 2, 2010

There are certain things in life that are taken to be be the very best that is available. In automobiles it is either the Rolls Royce or the Cadillac. In a business environment it is the office with a large window. In apartments the Pent House is on the top floor because it the best. In many other things it can be said that it is the crème de la crème. In the theater the very best seats to view the show are located on The Front Row. We have those seats here in the United Campground in Durango, Colorado. First of all we are parked with the front of the motor home headed east to catch the first rays of morning sun. Just out in front of us about sixty feet is the tracks of the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Rail Road. Twice in the morning and twice in the evening we have a short but spectacular show as the steam train heads toward Silverton or completes its run back to Durango. A couple hundred foot to the right of us is a road crossing so the engineer starts blowing his whistle shortly before the train reaches the camp ground. Since there is a slight grade through the campground there is plenty of steam and smoke to enhance the show. There is a one man putt-putt that comes 15 or 20 minutes ahead of the steamer and one that also follows behind. Once in a while there are work trains that come through as a bonus.

THE DSNGRR ENGINE #482 ARRIVING IN ROCKWOOD STATION

There has been a story circulating on the Internet that the gauge of the American Standard Gauge Rail Road dates back to the chariots of the Roman Empire. While there may have been some slight stretch of the facts but basically the story is accurate. Grooves were cut into stones to guide wagons across dangerous areas long before the roman empire came into existence. The grooves were cut between 4' 6” and 4' 9” in most instances. Sixty percent of the world's rail roads use the “Standard Gauge” of 4' 8.5”. Other sizes are used in many locations. In the Colorado mountains there were several reasons to use a gauge of 3'. First and foremost was consideration of cost. With the smaller gauge all the rolling stock was smaller. This included engines, tenders, box cars, flatbeds, gondolas, and passenger cars. The smaller equipment was cheaper to build. The tracks that needed to be laid was smaller, lighter and cheaper as were the ties. Because the trackage and equipment was smaller the cuts required through any hill or through a canyon could be narrower. Any trestles and bridges that needed to be built could be lighter and therefore cheaper. Another advantage was a shorter turning radius allowing negotiation in tight areas. The grade that a narrow gauge could negotiate was steeper by a couple degrees than a standard gauge. That shorter turning radius and couple of degrees climbing ability allowed the narrow gauge to go into areas not available to standard gauge trains. There were disadvantages too. The narrow gauge made them more unstable thus requiring lower speeds. In the mountains that may have been a minimal disadvantage because any train would have to go slow. The smaller engines and rolling stock necessitated smaller loads which was overcome by simply running more trains.

THE DSNGRR EXCURSION TRAIN FROM DURANGO ENTERING OUR CAMPGROUND

When a train comes through there is a lot of steam and smoke. There is the chuff, chuff, chuff of the drivers, the rattle and clatter of the steam valves. The engineer is ringing the brass bell and the whistle is blowing before every road crossing and perhaps they still blow the whistle near the homes of former engineers like they did forty years ago. Every one of the wheels clickety clacks across the rail joints and any irregularity of the tracks. The ground shakes like a small earthquake as the train goes by. In just a minutes time silence returns, the smoke dissipates and the last car of the car of the train is around the bend or has gotten so small in the distance that a person is unsure if it was just there. For all the noise and all the clatter is is amazing how quiet the train can be. It may be possible to hear the whistle from a mile away echoing down the canyon as the train approaches a road crossing. Yet if there is no crossing and the wind is right and blows the smoke away the train can approach within a hundred yards before it is detected. At that distance the whistle can be very startling when it is the first sign that the train has arrived. The putt-putts that precede the steam train and the diesel engines are even quieter. There were a couple evenings that we went up the canyon to photograph the train, then move down the route and photograph it again and repeat, then photograph it a final time at our camp or even close to the station. It was really a lot of fun. Now I have lots of pictures and video to edit.

As near as I can determine the last time I was in Aztec Ruins, New Mexico was in 1967. It has been long enough that I am unsure what has changed and what has not. Back when cameras took film and it was expensive to develop I did not take as many pictures as I do with the digital so it is difficult to compare with today. Somehow the ruins themselves seem to have changed little except for some minor excavations and some filling to protect certain areas. But it really seems to me that the visitors center has been improved a great deal. It is an amazing place to visit and contemplate how life might have been for the Native American inhabitants of the 1100's and 1200's. There is much speculation as to the real purpose of the pueblo that was built here. It might have been a planned cultural center, a religious center, or perhaps simply a village that built in a good location to live with access to water, crop lands and trading routes which became an important center for the surrounding area. The first explorers that saw the ruins thought that the Aztec from far down in Mexico must have built the pueblos. It was some time later it was determined that the the Anasazi, translated as “the ancient ones” or by some “the ancient enemy” were the actual builders of the ruins around 800 to 1000 years ago. There were several occupations and abandonments over 2 to 3 hundred years. Inhabitants came from Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon to build the 450 room up to three stories high and the numerous kivas.

DWELLINGS, KIVAS, STORAGE ROOMS OF THE ANASAZI AT AZTEC RUINS, NM

No visit to the this area would be complete unless at least a small amount of time was spent at Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde is about fifty miles to the northwest as a crow might fly or an Anasazi might walk from Aztec ruins. The American natives that lived at Mesa Verde built pit houses on the top of high mesas for several hundred years and then moved down into the cliffs to build their homes. There is a lot of speculation about why they made the transition, better living conditions, safety, or some other reason. The water supply was often 700 to 900 below in the canyon bottom and the trek for all water had to be made frequently. Some of the cliff dwellings were only a few rooms and others contained over a hundred rooms plus many kivas. The people seem to have left the mesa because of a drought that lasted over sixty years. They moved further south into Arizona nearer the rivers where a more dependable supply of water was available. There are over 4,400 archiological sites in the park with 600 some cliff dwellings. There was a fire some years ago and due to the removal of vegetation there were several sites discovered. As I drove along the roads I could not help but wonder, “How many more sites are still to be found just a few yards from where people pass every day?”

CLIFF PALACE RUINS IS THE LARGEST CLIFF DWELLING IN NORTH AMERICA

As I drive from state to state and town to town I am struck with the beauty of this country and the diversity of things to see. I only scratch the surface of a small area in each place that I stop. I drive the Interstates and main highways from point to point and then get into the Jeep and then look for a few diversions near where the motorhome is parked. Even at that I think I am seeing more than the average person will see. So from here we will slowly go south towards our winter home in Texas and look for more places to increase our amazement of this great country that we call home.

Till later this is Doug of

Peace On The Road

POTR #61 5280 Foot High

PEACE ON THE ROAD

5280 Foot High

July 27, 2010

I would have a hard time trying to figure out how many times that I have made a trip between Denver, Colorado and to some point 75 or more miles beyond Topeka, Kansas. If it was suggested that I have done it 75 or more times I would not argue. It is likely less than a hundred but it is possible that it is more. I knew that the farm we lived on in Kansas was around a thousand foot, give or take some, and of course I had heard that Denver was “The Mile High City”. In one of the steps to the west entrance there is a brass cap which reads: Elevation: 5280 feet, One Mile High, 5-12-69. I had also heard people state that Denver was actually in a low spot. The elevation increasing in all four directions. To the west a few miles the mountains start and of course it is obviously higher there. But to the east it is less obvious, so I took other peoples statements as true. This last time coming across eastern Colorado I had an altimeter. A hundred miles east of Denver about three miles past Arriba, CO we reached an altitude of a mile above sea level. When a discovery like that is made a person has to wonder just how many other towns could also advertise themselves as the Mile High City. It really did takes some of the “zing” out of the slogan. But the capitol building with a 24 carat gold dome and its interior of Colorado Rose Onyx is an impressive building to be setting “A MILE HIGH.”

THE COLORADO STATE CAPITOL BUILDING WITH ITS GOLD DOME

Coming across the middle of Kansas along I-70 has been described as boring by many people. Personally I have found it many things except boring. It is a long way with a lot of the same things to see. There are lots of wheat fields, lots of cattle pastures and a lot of miles of Interstate highway. I can understand that the Interstate system was built to move a lot of traffic and it bypasses the many unique sites along the way in favor of speed. A little over half way across Kansas is Post Rock Country. Back in the late 1800's just after the Civil War when Kansas was being settled it was almost treeless. There was also no restriction on where cattle could and would roam. Today it is the responsibility of a cattle owner to keep the cattle out of another mans property. Then it was the total responsibility of the farmer to keep the cattle out of his fields. There were few options that farmer had to protect his crops. Fences were made of whatever they could to enclose small plots of land. The first settlers had to be concerned with a place to live. So they built dugouts, soddies and some people built homes out of the local limestone rock, which was from the Greenhorn Limestone formation. This was a formation that was very consistently 8 to 12 inches thick and covered by a layer of earth less than 3 foot thick. There were some thicker and thinner layers of limestone and coverings of greater depths but they were not the best for the quarries. The earth was removed from the outcropping. Drills made from modified woodworking tools were used to drill a series of holes into the rock. Splitting devices called feathers and wedges were driven into the holes to split off pieces of rock up to twelve feet in length. Downward pressure was applied to the drills by leaning on them with the chest. Some of the quarry men claimed that they developed calluses on their chest. The drilling was all done by hand until a blacksmith “Nelse” Sankey adapted a Maytag washing machine motor to power the drills. The freshly exposed rock was somewhat soft but hardened after exposure to the air. The stone post weighed between 250 to 450 pounds so even the setting of the posts was a lot of work. A wagon could only carry between four to eight of the posts at a time, but at least they would last 50 years or more while wood only lasted 6 to 10 years. Some that are in use today are approaching 130 to 150 years. During the early years of the post quarrying the posts sold for 25 cents each delivered to the farm. When the price of the post reached $1.00 to $2.00 in the 1920's most farmers decided that the cost was too high with other materials like steel posts being made available by train, and a single wagon could carry the 360 posts necessary to enclose a quarter section. But before that happened there were over forty thousand miles of stone post fences installed. During the same time barbed wire was developed to attach to the posts making it effective for animal control. The farmers also discovered that Osage Orange trees would make a barrier to animals and hundreds of miles of hedge rows were planted. When crossing Kansas today there are many trees that were planted by the pioneers for the purpose of animal control.

REPRODUCTION OF A POST ROCK QUARRY WITH SOME TOOLS OF THE TRADE

Colorado has a couple record setting roads near Denver. Mt. Evans Highway is the highest paved road in North America. The key word is paved. There are higher roads but they are not paved. The road stops short of the top of 14,264 foot by only about 40 foot of elevation. There seems to be some confusion as to how high the road actually goes. I have found several figures. The other road is called Trail Ridge Road and it is the highest continuous paved road in North America. During the years that we lived in Colorado we drove over it at least a hundred times and possibly two hundred times. In the spring there were snow cuts that were between fifteen and twenty foot high. Years ago people were encouraged to feed the chipmunks and ground squirrels. That was a lot of fun to do. Now it is highly discouraged or even against the law. The scenery is unsurpassed any where that I know. Some places come real close but do not surpass. We almost always have seen elk and deer plus other smaller animals. There have been times that we have seen over an estimated 600 elk in one meadow. Many elk also seem to spend their time above timberline in the high meadows. We have seen a gathering nearly a hundred over 11,000 foot high. There is also one section of road where about every day the Bighorn Sheep cross the road to feed in the meadow during the night. That section of road is often crowded with people. In recent years parking has been restricted to limited areas and foot traffic is not allowed so that the sheep are not restricted in their movement. It is always fun to travel this road over the continental divide and stop at the place where rain falling in one place goes to the Pacific Ocean and rain falling a few feet (or inches) away flows to the Atlantic Ocean. It may not quite be the top of the world but it sure is high up there. All a person has to do is trot a short distance and discover that the scenery is breathtaking. Having wintered in Texas we have found that we can tell that the high altitude affects us in ways that are different from when we lived a mile high all year.

SEVENTEEN ELK IN A MEADOW ALONG TRAIL RIDGE ROAD

We have been in the Denver for longer than we had intended. We had put off some repairs to the motor home until we could have the work done where we had purchased it. And we were lucky, I think, while we have been here to have had a problem with a couple sensors on the engine of the Jeep rather than being elsewhere.. It seems that we have spent a lot of time in the repair shops for one thing or another. Have you ever noticed that a simple little job on a vehicle takes all the spare time in a day. There is another reason that we have been in Denver longer than planned and that could be called personal vanity I suppose. Kim a lady that we consider a friend has encouraged me to share the story with you.

When I worked for Newmont, the largest gold mining company in the world there was several years that they sold “Gold Splatters” to the employees. Gold produced in the Nevada mines was melted and some of it was poured into water from about a three foot height. When the molten gold hit the water it exploded and instantly solidified into fantastically shaped pieces, some very small and some possibly as large as an ounce. I bought some of these splatters and had them made into jewelry and gave them as gifts. I should have bought a lot of splatters, but hindsight is a lot better than foresight. After we had been retired several years we were in The Big Fisherman, a favorite restaurant in Rockport, Texas,. Erma had ordered fried oysters. She is eating one and “crunch”, “I think I bit into a pearl!” She had found a natural pearl in her food. We did not know if it was of any monetary value or not. It was valuable to her for esthetic reasons. We went to the jeweler that had made our other gifts and asked him if it would be worthwhile to make some jewelery out of it. He instantly said that it would look great in a ring, perhaps as the centerpiece of a rose. He said he could have it done in a week. We extended our stay a week. I took him some splatter gold from another project to be used in the ring. That really reduced the price. In a week we picked up a beautiful rose ring with a pearl center. I was able to place the ring on Erma's finger just like I did with another ring nearly 47 years ago.

Isn't that a good place for the story to end? If you say “Yes!” you are likely right. But there is another part that I can add. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 55 years ago my parents gave me a gold initial ring for my birthday. At least I think it was a birthday gift. I am sure it was not expensive but to me is was the greatest gift that I had ever gotten. I wore it everywhere and all the time. As I grew older and my hands got bigger I had to move it to other fingers, but I still wore it all the time. One day I was out in a field near the farm house doing some kind of farming work. When I got done I discovered the ring was missing. I can show you within an acre where that ring is likely still. Since that time I have always wanted a nice ring to wear. Most of my life I have not worn rings because of the danger that they meant in my work. Once I came within inches of losing a finger because of my wedding ring which was the only ring I regularly wore. I quit wearing that ring. I have considered for maybe ten years having a ring made by the jeweler that made Erma's but I guess I simply was not ready. When Erma picked up her ring I was ready. In a week I will have a ring that is made entirely from gold of my last splatters and some gold from the dental work of my Mother. There will be some copper added to it to create a harder ring alloy but all the gold will be what I provided. So I will have gold from my last job and a remembrance from my Mother to wear on my hand.

When we leave Denver our plan is to start a slow return to Texas for the winter. We plan to spend some time in the Durango/Silverton area and photograph the trains there. If it works out we may ride the train again, which is something that we have not done in over forty years. We went to that area the first time in a VW Bug with a weeks worth of food in the backseat area along with a tent. We had a gasoline credit card, paid tickets for the train and ten dollars cash. When we got home nine days later we still had some cash left. I can guarantee that this time it will cost us a bunch more for the same length of time. But with any luck I will have some new pictures and stories to share with you.

Till Later This Is Doug Of
Peace On The Road

POTR #60 Fifty Years And Counting

PEACE ON THE ROAD
Fifty Years And Counting
July 10, 2010

For months now the only thing that I had planned was to go to my fiftieth high school graduation reunion. The event took place on June 27. I had a very good time. Part of that was because I was able to attend with both by brother and my sister. That is the first time that all three of us have ever gotten together for any school function since the last day of school picnic in 1949. I was in school with my brother for one year. My sister and I spent eight years going to the same school and when she graduated from high school I graduated from grade school. It was only four years after I graduated that the last class graduated from the Princeton school before it closed. So every year there have been and will be fewer people that will attend for a variety of reasons till a number of years from now the reunions will cease to exist. I personally cannot think of a reason to attend another unless my siblings want me to go sometime. I think that this year there were only about seventy to eighty people that showed up and that included spouses and some children. If I gone to a reunion once in a while over the years it would have been much more meaningful this time I suppose. But I only have gone once three years ago so I missed seeing a lot of school friends over the years. After fifty years I have changed a lot and so have they so there were a lot of strangers that at one time were school mates. In school we had a sock hop every once in a while and I danced with every girl that was in high school with me. One lady I talked to was in the class behind me so I was in high school with her for three years. I could not remember her ever being in school with me at all. That is bad when you figure that my graduating class only had seven members and the junior class was twenty some. I guess she was just a quiet girl. There was only one person from my graduating class other than myself, so maybe a third of the attendees of the “graduation ceremony of 1960” showing up is not too bad. The seventh official graduate was unable to participate in the graduation so it was not until three years ago that I knew she was officially one of the graduates. That was a pleasant surprise to me.

We are camping in a new campground in Topeka, KS. It may be as little as three or four years old. I have heard that it is owned by a fellow that owns a local concrete company. As you might guess there is a lot of pristine concrete throughout the park. Very wide streets, large turns, with a lot of space between each space that is manicured grass. As far as I know there is not any group gathering area, nor are there any activities for the park people. For a place to relax and spread out and do our own thing I don't think I have seen a better place. The worst thing here has been the weather and that really has not been too bad. When we first got here there were several days when the wind and rain combined to send us buckets of water. One time I looked at a neighbor and there was water going from the rooftop of his camper almost horizontal between the downpour and the wind. Then we got a period of warm but still nice weather that lasted until about Independence weekend and then just enough drizzle to spoil a lot of celebration plans of a lot of people.

I am positive that when I was still in school I toured the Kansas State Capitol building, but I honestly cannot remember do it. As an adult I very much enjoyed the tour. I learned more touring by myself than I ever would have as a youth. There are several “facts” about the building that I cannot verify for positive. It is claimed that the dome of the Kansas Capitol has a greater span than the US Capitol. I think there is some disparity in the locations of the measurements, therefore I cannot confirm this but it does sound good. Wikipedia states that the US Capitol dome is 75' across. The dome of the Kansas Capitol is actually a dome within a dome. If the dome that is visible from the outside was removed for some reason the inner dome would be able to protect the building from the elements. Tours are still allowed into the dome of the building, making it the only capitol building in the USA that still allows unsupervised visitation. From the entrance on the fifth floor there are 296 step that lead up to the top of the dome. There are several straight stairways at different angles and then a final tight spiral with three full turns to reach the top where there is a great view of the city. With some of the graffiti that has been left by vandals I would not be surprised if the dome tour privilege is also lost to the general public. There are many murals in the capitol that depict events in the history of Kansas. One of the murals depicts the abolitionist John Brown as a central figure. He was convicted of treason and hanged in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1859. Thus as far as is known this is the only instance where a person convicted of treason is displayed in a capitol building. During construction of the central portion in 1885 a spring was discovered while the workmen were digging the 25' deep foundation. That spring is still running under the capitol building.


THE STAIRWAYS LEADING TO THE DOME INSIDE THE KANSAS STATE CAPITOL

I have thought and stated over the years that it was too bad that when I took the college class in Kansas State University “Appreciation of Architecture” that it was not during a time of my life that I would actually appreciate architecture. Unfortunately at the age of 18 I could not have cared less about the way buildings were built. I studied enough to barely get through the class. Oh it sad that too soon we get old and too late we acquire wisdom, at least I flatter myself that I have gained some wisdom. There are many times now that I drive through a town and marvel at the old architectural styles or the modern sweeping flow of glass that is characteristic of many buildings. In spite of the fact that I tried to not learn anything there was an appreciation that did rub off on me. At least I know an Ionic or Doric column, or when I see a flying buttress I recognize it as such. I had seen a small picture of the Central Library in Kansas City, Kansas and wanted to see it because it looked intriguing. We took a drive there and located it. The central library has had several locations and is now located in a former bank building. The library is interesting in itself with it massive marble columns, bronze doors, and ornate moldings, impressive chandeliers, beautiful marble wall and great woodwork it is the parking garage next door that I wanted to see. They call it the community bookshelf. It consists of 22 books covering a wide range of interest. Each book is about 25 foot tall and 9 foot wide. At each end of the books is a glass covered stairway that looks like a set of book ends. The library was dedicated in 2004 so they are not very old. The steps that lead up to the middle entrance are built to look like several books that are laid flat and stacked.


ELEVEN BOOKS AND ONE BOOKEND OF THE KANSAS CITY CENTRAL LIBRARY

A few years ago when we were in Topeka we tried to attend a performance at the Sunflower Music Festival at Washburn University. Due to circumstances we had to leave very early in the concert. This year we were able to attend a concert and enjoyed it so much that we went back for an even more enjoyable final concert. And it was all free so how could that be beat. The concert hall is located next to the Washburn Art Museum. In front of that museum are several sculptures that were created by weaving green willow saplings into various shapes. They form tunnels, arches, doorways, windows, rooms and nondescript shapes that fascinated me. Since I could not spend time looking at them while we were going to the concert it was necessary to go back later. They were created by Patrick Dougherty. He has created sculptures around the world. He calls them stickwork and they are designed to only last two or three years and then be removed. More about him and his work can be found at www.stickworks.net While we saw them during the summer I am quite sure that there would be a totally different look when they are blanked with snow in the winter. While the stickworks were the hook that brought us back there was other art inside that was also good. There are many people in this world that have a lot of talent. And there are also some that I would question if they created true art. As an example in one room there was perhaps two hundred pounds of blue rubber bands that were piled in the middle of the floor. It was called art and while I would say that it was interesting, impressive and even pretty was it “ART”? If I had done something like that as a child my mother would likely had told me, “Get that mess cleaned up and don't make another one like it!” There were other displays that were very artistic and so simple that anyone could have made them, and yet without an artsy inclination I am sure they would not have looked as good. Salvador Dali is an acclaimed artist. One that I have heard given praise many times. To be sure there are many that do not like his work. I guess that I would say “I am one of those.” I have seen the pencil sketches of other artist which were made as preliminary ideas before doing the actual painting. This is my impression of the works of Dali that were displayed. There was a whole room devoted to Dali.


STICKWORK BY PATRICK DOUGHERTY AT THE MULVANE MUSEUM OF ART

Years ago Cobela's built one of their big sporting goods stores within a reasonable driving distance of Denver where I was living. Several of my friends went there and thought it was the greatest stores they had ever seen. I finally was able to visit one of the stores and I have to agree with their evaluation. Inside the store they had built a couple mountains and had stuffed animals all over it. There was a room depicting the African veldt with numerous stuffed animals. Other areas depicted the mountains where there were many trophy deer and elk. Also scattered throughout the store were many stuffed animals attached to the wall. I have hunted as a youth and understand hunters. But anymore I would much rather hunt with a camera and capture the prize year after year. What I could do is spend many thousands of dollars on sporting and camping goods in Cobela's. By one definition I camp every day, but I would enjoy cooking over a fire and sleeping where I could see the stars at night and feel the breezes on my face and maybe hear a nearby stream or river. Maybe I would not enjoy it as much as I did at one time but it would be nice to find out exactly how I would feel at the age I am now.

Till later this is Doug of
Peace On The Road

POTR #59 Interesting People

PEACE ON THE ROAD
Interesting People
April 25, 2010

Bentsen Grove here in Mission, Texas is getting more vacant every week with Winter Texans leaving for their homes in the north. But there are some people that are moving into the park. While technically this is a 55 and older park there has been an Army Sargent that has moved his fifth wheel here within the last month. He is less than 55 but I have a feeling that he will be seen so seldom that few people will notice. The new resident that will be noticed and has already been noticed is the lady that has moved into a home right across the street from us. A friend of mine had owned that home and bought the house that is just to the south of me. So my neighbor that was across the street is now my next door neighbor and I have a new neighbor across the street. People in this park sometimes move around a lot. I can say without question that the new neighbor lady is a plus to our street and the resort.


THREE MONARCH BUTTERFLY EGGS ON MILKWEED LEAVES

She is the only person that I have ever known that raises and cares for butterflies from the time they are eggs to the time that they have become full grown butterflies. On her front porch she has several caterpillar castles in which the various stages of some Monarch butterflies are kept. There have been several tiny eggs that have hatched. The eggs are white to the unaided eye but under a magnifying lens there are lines that can be seen. I am not sure if the lines are color on the eggshell or part of the coloration of the caterpillar that is growing inside. They are about a millimeter in diameter I would guess. That means that 25 or more of them laid in a line would reach an inch in length. That size estimate is mostly a guess. When the eggs hatch the caterpillar is so small that it is difficult to see. It seems that they double in size every day or so. So to begin with there is not a lot of change but after a few days the size change is dramatic. As tiny as they are they really can move quite rapidly if they want. They are also genuine eating machines. They eat milkweed. Back in Kansas I could identify a milkweed but here they look very different than the ones I remember. In Kansas I pulled and cut down thousands of milkweed from all over the farm. Here I have actually planted one and I hope it grows so that I can provide some food for the caterpillars. Their black and yellow stripes are very pretty. This is probably the first time in my life I called a caterpillar that was not a woolly worm pretty.


THE CATERPILLAR OF THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY ON A MILKWEED LEAF

When a caterpillar reaches a certain stage it changes into a chrysalis where it will metamorphose into a butterfly. The chrysalis of the Monarch is a light green color with several gold spots on it and a string of gold beads around the upper portion. It is the most colorful chrysalis that I have ever seen. Except in a butterfly pavilion where they has several hundred chrysalis I don't think I have seen any color except some sort of brown. Just before the Monarch comes out the chrysalis turns black. So perhaps I have only seen chrysalis that were about to change.

One Monday morning when I had lead a session of the Computer Club meeting the lady brought over a chrysalis that was about to open. I would have stayed to watch and take picture and maybe video if duty had not called. Erma was able to see the whole “birth” of a female Monarch Butterfly. She did get some pictures and a bit of video. When I came home the butterfly was fully formed and almost ready to make its first flight. It was very interesting to see her stretching her wings and getting the strength for flight. She would hang upside down and exercise her wings just like an athlete running in place might do. A short time later we took the castle outside but she did not seem to be ready to fly. Maybe she was reluctant because there was a bit of a breeze. A male Monarch that had just been born also was put into the same castle with the female and they stayed at our house for about an hour. When the wind died down a bit we took them outside. It was not long before they took flight. The male went first followed shortly by the female. When they decided to fly they were gone in seconds. A couple days later I saw a Monarch flying near our motorhome and I wondered if it was one that we had released. The chance that it actually was one we released is small but it was nice to think it could be.


THE MONARCH CHRYSALIS WITH ITS GOLD SPOTS AND GOLD BEADED BAND

If someone had ever asked me if I would consider writing a POTR that had a subject as limited as this one has been I probably would have said, "No, I don't think so." While this has been about four different individual in actuality it could have been a single one. I have had the opportunity to see several different caterpillar growing and there have been several chrysalis that are hanging in the caterpillar castles. It will be fun to see them change in the next week or so.

We are still in Bentsen Grove in Mission, Texas. We are staying longer this year than would be normal. But perhaps this the new normal, I cannot say with any assurance. At any rate we have been telling people that we would be here until the middle of May. That gives us something to say without being too specific. Being unplanned is nothing unusual for us. We have gone on vacations where we got to the end of our street and then wondered if we should go left or right. The important thing was to get away from home for a week or two. Our plans for the summer are also pretty much unplanned. This year is my 50th class reunion from high school and I have promised to go to that. The school I graduated from closed four years after I graduated. Then for some years it was used as a manufacturing plant. It was torn down a few years thereafter. So there is nothing where I went to school except an open field with some storage sheds on it. I have been to one school reunion since I left and thought that the 50th year might be special to me. It will be interesting to see if any other graduate from my 1960 graduation class show up. When I was there for my 47th I was the only one from the 1960 class. There was only six in my graduating class so the reunion will be for all classes that ever went to the school.


THIS IS THE FEMALE MONARCH BUTTERFLY JUST SECONDS BEFORE IT TOOK FLIGHT

About a month ago the Bentsen Grove Resort line dancing class put on an evening performance on stage for the park residents. It was the first time that the class had done that kind of performing. I had set up my video camera to video the performance. Since I was supposed to be on stage dancing I had a friend do the actual video operating. He also used my digital camera to take a lot of still pictures. For being the first time that was done by any of us things turned out very well. I was able to produce a DVD for the dancers that wanted one. That was a learning experience in itself. I have a lot more respect for those people that make films and videos. I think it is probably common place to gain respect for others accomplishments as we get more understanding of the work that is required. With time I hope to be able to learn more and become better at the shooting videos and creating DVDs.

Last fall a friend of mine did not have access to the Internet so he came to ask if he could use my computer to go harvest his crops in Farmville. To do WHAT? It was a game so I watched him play the game in Facebook and it looked very interesting. For several months I did not start the game but I would hear about it from him. I finally took a look one day and started playing. Since then Erma has joined the game also. It is a lot of fun and it can take as much time to keep up with as we decide to devote to it. What I really need is one more thing requiring some of my time. But I have to say it is fun to play. Wanna be a neighbor to Erma and to me? You might find the game as interesting as the two of us do. But then some say, "Friends do not let friends get addicted to Farmville."

Till later this is Doug of
Peace On The Road

POTR #58 Winter In texas

PEACE ON THE ROAD
Winter In Texas
February 22, 2010

It has been said, "Seeing this country is the work of a lifetime. A man does not have the ability to truly comprehend the size of the country." I do not remember who it was that was credited with that quote, but I can tell you that I agree with him totally. Over the years I have tried to see some of the highlights in certain areas, and barely scratched the surface of the sights available. Setting in one place for several months at a time does several things. First it allows a closer look at the local area, and second it prevents seeing other places. It also allows new friendships to be made. All three things and others not listed are good in their own way. While I am doing that which I want to do I also wonder at times, "Am I doing what I want to do, or is there other things I would rather do?" I guess that the answer is like so many other answers, it is a choice of numerous "correct" answers that are all YES.

We are very fortunate to be able to winter here in the Rio Grande Valley down in the tip of Texas. While most of the nation is looking out their windows and seeing snow and other signs of very cold temperatures we can look out our windows and see many citrus trees that bloom soon and of course we can walk out and pick ripe citrus fruit from those same trees. There is so much fruit going to waste around here that is hard to believe. I am constantly being given an offer to come pick fruit, and that is after the resident has taken all they can handle. The fresh picked fruit, or fresh juice is so good.


RELATIVES/FRIENDS PICKING ORANGES FROM THE TREE OF A NEIGHBOR/FRIEND

In January we had some relatives/friends come to Mission for a few days. One of the things that they hoped to do was to pick one orange off a tree and eat it. Not only did they get to pick one orange off the tree they were able to pick two or three bags of oranges. Off the trees of other of our neighbors they were able to pick several bags of grapefruit, a bag of lemons, a couple bags of nectarines and a few kumquats. They did not get to pick one of the Ponderosa lemons that I have told you about before but the lemons were more like the ones you see in the grocery store. Recently the temperatures have dropped down to the freezing point for several hours during the night. The owner of the Ponderosa lemons picked them before they had a chance to freeze. It did get cold enough for long enough to nip the tender plants but it does not seem to have bothered the citrus trees. I am glad of that.


GREEN PARAKEETS BY OUR MOTORHOME IN BENTSEN GROVE PARK

I know that I have put in pictures of the green parakeets that we see here in the valley several times in the past. Usually we have to drive ten to twelve miles to a location where they roost for the evening. It is often difficult to get good pictures of them due to the fading light. This year there have been several times that they have been either in or very near where we live in the park early in the morning. Usually we hear them fly over but they are not stopping in the trees. One morning they decided to surround our home here. There could easily have been over a hundred of the birds in a tree no more than sixty foot from our windshield of the motorhome, plus a couple hundred elsewhere close by. I don't think that I have ever heard any bird make more noise than these little guys do. I have seen birds that were louder on an individual basis but there will be several hundred of these gathering in one place. In a short length of time their raucous sounds can almost cause pain in the ears. I am unsure how the people with apartments near the roosting areas handle the early morning wake up sounds of them. But on the other hand a person can get used to a lot of sounds in time. It becomes normal after a time.

It is a while before we can say that spring has reached Texas, but there are early signs that it will not be much longer. The cold weather did a real knock back of the plants but there are some that starting to bloom again. The trees that lost their leaves are showing buds and small leaves. The orange trees next to our motorhome are starting to bloom as are all the other citrus trees in the park. So spring cannot be far behind. Along a highway that we travel frequently there must be twenty Joshua trees that are putting out their blossoms. They are magnificent. My parents had a large yucca in front of the house where I grew up and I always enjoyed it when it bloomed. There were quite a few small scraggly yucca that grew in the pastures near home and as you traveled further west there were more, but they were small. When I first saw the Joshua Trees in Arizona and New Mexico I was very impressed. I am sure that these are the largest I have ever seen. We enjoy seeing them bloom out. There must be dozens of varieties of yucca. We saw several totally different ones in California a couple years ago.


JOSHUA TREES AND PALM TREES ABOUT SIX MILES FROM WHERE WE LIVE IN TEXAS

I follow a couple blogs of my family and friends. Recently one of them wrote that it is difficult to find a worthwhile subject to write about when they were just staying around home. I very much understand their feelings. We are very busy doing the everyday things that has become our way of life here in Texas. While they are very different from the things that we did when we owned a home they don't lend themselves to travel description. There are many people that are already talking about going back to their homes in the north. In less than a month there will be a lot of people leaving the valley and they will get back up north and wonder, "What's that white stuff that is falling from the sky?" We have talked about our summer plans in very broad terms. The only conclusion we have come to is that I will be going to my 50 year reunion of high school. And that is in Kansas the third weekend of June, so we have a lot of time to plan the route we take to get there. Now, I will go do something to write about.

Till Later This Is Doug Of
Peace On The Road