In this YouTube clip, the host of the British Top Gear show gets a ride in an U2.
Rainbow Falls Hike
I went on a hike last Saturday to Rainbow Falls in Jones Gap State Park. The trail is 2.6 miles long from the parking lot with about 1000 feet of rise. It was a beautiful day, not to hot, partly cloudy, low humidity, light breeze, no bugs. What a difference from two weeks ago. The trail was different too. It was clear and well prepared with steps where required making the climb less difficult.
Blast and Fire
In a land far away many years ago, I would sing to my children as I pushed them on the swing. Recent events at work brought to mind this song:
Every morning about seven o’clock
There were twenty tarriers drilling at the rock
The boss comes along and he says, “Keep still
And bear down heavy on the cast iron drill.”
Chorus
And drill, ye tarriers, drill
Drill, ye tarriers, drill
For it’s work all day for the sugar in you tay
Down beyond the railway
And drill, ye tarriers, drill
And blast, and fire.
The foreman’s name was John McCann
By God, he was a blamed mean man
Last week a premature blast went off
And a mile in the air went big Jim Goff
Chorus
And when next payday comes around
Jim Goff a dollar short was found
When ‘e asked, “What for?” came this reply
“You were docked for the time you were up in the sky.”
Chorus
And Drill ye tarriers drill. And Blast. And Fire.
Guests and Family
My daughter had a break from work and came Thursday evening. My son was supposed to go “Caving” but the trip was cancelled due to lack of a faculty sponsor. So he came with girl friend and another long-time friend for dinner Friday. We had BLT’s, eggs, strawberry short cake. Listened to music and hung out. My son actually requested Silver Apples of the Moon. I have not played that in years. After dinner they went out to the woods in the dark.
UnBlogged
I have been busy elsewhere on the web, playing with new toys. I have discovered Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Wunderground and LinkedIn. So I have been exploring each. On the first and last, I am Christopher Calvin. On the middle 3 of these, I am known as CBCalvin.
I find Twitter a bit distracting. If you follow a long list of people, the updates are frequent and probably not related to what you are doing. This requires disciplne to maintain focus on the task at hand. The best part of twitter is its simplicity. A simple input box permits 140 characters of text in answer to the question “What are you doing now?”. Some people, including me, use it as a sort of asynchronous IM to people they know are following. Others use it as a journal. There is a way to watch the whole stream. A few minutes gives you an idea of the esprit de temps. If my message is long, I sometimes try to edit it so that it is EXACTLY 140 characters.
Flickr is a site for posting pictures. All of the pictures you post are part of your “photostream”. If you are a free member, you can organize 3 collections. If you want more and more storage, you can pay a fee and become a professional member. Flickr is a good way to share your pictures.
Facebook is a social networking site. You can locate and communicate with people you may currently or have known in the past. You can post notes and pictures. Most of what you post is shareable with the world if you want it to be. Another way to keep in touch.
Wunderground is basically a weather reporting site. You can get your local weather in great detail with discussion and the whole works. They also have weather pictures of current (the last week) of weather. I have posted some pictures there, not because they are great pictures but just to document the weather.
So because I have been elsewhere, that is why I have not been here.
Sphere of Falling
Many years ago, my late mother gave me a birthday present Sphere of Falling. Over the years I have never failed to smile whenever I see it. Sphere of Falling is a hollow clay sphere. It must have been very difficult to make. It is very round. The small base of the sphere is flat and it stays in balance on its own if left undisturbed. But if bumped, it will roll. At some point I got concerned and made a base for Sphere of Falling. There is a post in the middle of the base that keeps the sphere from tipping or rolling.
A few weeks ago, one of Mr. Sphere of Fallings feet got bumped and broke off. A spot of glue put him right and he is again back where he lives
Sphere of Falling was created by Meg Scott. Now she teaches Laughter Yoga .
Busy Weekend
BOTH of my children were home this weekend. And my wife is a away taking care of aging parents and belongings (mostly my daughters) left in the midwest. She will be returning on the Thanksgiving day so we will postpone our festival meal until the weekend. The kids and I had fun talking, listening to music, cooking (not me) and generally hanging out. I am on vacation to take care of the kitties. All 7 kitties are doing fine. On Sunday, we went to Climbin’ High. The kids climbed, I took pics.
