Winter, oh Winter,
when will you go away.
I've got those bluesy blues
Wanna go out and play.
Man, oh Man. I need to set some mini goals to get me through the next couple of months until Spring.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Almost a year ago...
Wow, it's been almost a year since I posted on this blog. Our big snowstorm this year was in January. We still have many inches of snow left on the ground.
Winter doldrums have set in and I have little motivation to do the many tasks at that wait at hand to be done. Our trip to Key West seems many moons ago, although it's been just 20 days since we basked in the sun and 75 degree weather.
Winter doldrums have set in and I have little motivation to do the many tasks at that wait at hand to be done. Our trip to Key West seems many moons ago, although it's been just 20 days since we basked in the sun and 75 degree weather.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I'm Jealous!
BEND, Oregon (AP) -- Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks -- and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons.
Destination: Idaho.
art.lawn.chair.ap.jpg
Balloons suspend Kent Couch in a lawn chair as he floats in the skies near Bend, Oregon, on Saturday.
With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast -- he could turn a spigot, release water and rise -- Couch headed into the Oregon sky.
Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home.
"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Couch told the Bend Bulletin. Video Watch Couch make the shot of the day »
"When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he said. "This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that."
Couch is the latest American to emulate Larry Walters -- who in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons. Walters had surprised an airline pilot, who radioed the control tower that he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair. Walters paid a $1,500 penalty for violating air traffic rules.
It was Couch's second flight.
In September, he got off the ground for six hours. Like Walters, he used a BB gun to pop the balloons, but he went into a rapid descent and eventually parachuted to safety.
This time, he was better prepared. The balloons had a new configuration, so it was easier to reach up and release a bit of helium instead of simply cutting off a balloon.
He took off at 6:06 a.m. Saturday after kissing his wife, Susan, goodbye and petting his Chihuahua, Isabella. As he made about 25 miles an hour, a three-car caravan filled with friends, family and the dog followed him from below.
Couch said he could hear cattle and children and even passed through clouds.
"It was beautiful -- beautiful," he told KTVZ-TV. He described the flight as mostly peaceful and serene, with occasional turbulence, like a hot-air balloon ride sitting down.
Couch decided to stop when he was down to a gallon of water and just eight pounds of ballast. Concerned about the rugged terrain outside La Grande, including Hells Canyon, he decided it was time to land.
He popped enough balloons to set the craft down, although he suffered rope burns. But after he jumped out, the wind grabbed his chair, with his video recorder, and the remaining balloons and swept them away. He's hoping to get them back some day.
Brandon Wilcox, owner of Professional Air, which charters and maintains planes at the Bend airport, said Couch definitely did it. Wilcox said he flew a plane nearby while Couch traveled and took photos of the flying lawn chair.
Destination: Idaho.
art.lawn.chair.ap.jpg
Balloons suspend Kent Couch in a lawn chair as he floats in the skies near Bend, Oregon, on Saturday.
With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast -- he could turn a spigot, release water and rise -- Couch headed into the Oregon sky.
Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home.
"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Couch told the Bend Bulletin. Video Watch Couch make the shot of the day »
"When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he said. "This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that."
Couch is the latest American to emulate Larry Walters -- who in 1982 rose three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons. Walters had surprised an airline pilot, who radioed the control tower that he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair. Walters paid a $1,500 penalty for violating air traffic rules.
It was Couch's second flight.
In September, he got off the ground for six hours. Like Walters, he used a BB gun to pop the balloons, but he went into a rapid descent and eventually parachuted to safety.
This time, he was better prepared. The balloons had a new configuration, so it was easier to reach up and release a bit of helium instead of simply cutting off a balloon.
He took off at 6:06 a.m. Saturday after kissing his wife, Susan, goodbye and petting his Chihuahua, Isabella. As he made about 25 miles an hour, a three-car caravan filled with friends, family and the dog followed him from below.
Couch said he could hear cattle and children and even passed through clouds.
"It was beautiful -- beautiful," he told KTVZ-TV. He described the flight as mostly peaceful and serene, with occasional turbulence, like a hot-air balloon ride sitting down.
Couch decided to stop when he was down to a gallon of water and just eight pounds of ballast. Concerned about the rugged terrain outside La Grande, including Hells Canyon, he decided it was time to land.
He popped enough balloons to set the craft down, although he suffered rope burns. But after he jumped out, the wind grabbed his chair, with his video recorder, and the remaining balloons and swept them away. He's hoping to get them back some day.
Brandon Wilcox, owner of Professional Air, which charters and maintains planes at the Bend airport, said Couch definitely did it. Wilcox said he flew a plane nearby while Couch traveled and took photos of the flying lawn chair.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Spring Break
Frank, Jeri, and I enjoyed a few days of Spring Break in French Lick, Indiana. We stayed in a villa arranged by Jeri, went on a couple of tours narrated by Norris, and relaxed, played games, read, conversed, watched TV, etc. We all agreed it was a relaxing trip and a bonding time for the three of us.
Frank worked Thursday and Friday, while I caught up on things I needed to catch up on.
I bought a new frying pan and before using it, dutifully read the directions about proper use and care of my new pan. Along with the expected instructions about cleaning with a mild detergent and not heating over a certain temperature, I read some interesting information under the "Safety" heading. The instructions warned me to be careful about my bird, as its respiratory system could be detrimentally affected by fumes from my pan. Hmmmmm . . . I don't have a bird, but if I ever get one I know now to watch it carefully when I'm cooking. And if it does succumb to the fumes, I can pop it in the pan and make it part of my gourmet dinner!
From www.petcaretips.net:
Famous Birds in Legends, Mythology, and Religion
Ba in Egyptian mythology
Bagucks in Chippewa mythology
Bar Juchne in Talmud
Camulatz in Maya mythology
Chamrosh in Persian mythology
The Cu Bird in Mexican folklore
Feng-huang, Chinese Phoenix in Chinese mythology
Firebird in Native American mythologies
Garuda in Buddhism and Hinduism
Gryphon in European mythology
Harpies in Greek mythology
Ho-o in Japanese, imported from Chinese; Fenghuang
Huginn and Muninn (Thought and Memory), Odin's two companion
birds in Norse mythology
Kin-u in Japanese, imported from Chinese
Phoenix in Egyptian mythology
Pisia in Native American mythology
Quetzalcoatl in Aztec mythology
Raven in Native American religions
Roc in Persian mythology
Shang-Yang, a rainbird in Chinese mythology
Simurgh in Persian mythology
Suzaku or Shu-jaku in Japanese, imported from Chinese
Tecumbalam in Maya mythology
Thunderbird in Native American religions
Xecotcovach in Maya mythology
Yatagarasu in Japanese mythology
Ziz in Talmud
This blog is getting too long, but I wanted to share a book I enjoyed reading over the break. The Book Club is a story about 5 middle-aged women who share their challenges. It was the perfect vacation read.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Read summary of The Aeneid Yesterday
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
By Robert Frost
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
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