Friday, March 30, 2012

"Can I Recover Christmas?" ~ Our New Song

Christmas Tree midsection,Annieinaustin The unplanted bulbs and falling leaves will keep for another day!
Last year I wrote a Christmas song for Roots In Austin, using my power as the author to break up the character Caroline's romance shortly before a Christmas season began. That may not have been kind of me, but the breakup let Caroline sing a holiday song as the approach of Christmas reminded her of what's been lost rather than what she expected.
The song was recently finished and I think it will work well for her lovelorn situation in the play. But undertones in the lyrics told me they had deeper meanings, for other situations. Over this long Thanksgiving weekend Philo and I added photos and turned the song into a video for our Station Kaefka on YouTube. So far the reception for our latest musical child has been very kind - thank you to all who have already watched it. To the rest of you - get out your handkerchiefs!



"Can I Recover Christmas" music & lyrics copyrighted. If the screen won't play, try this Link to YouTube.


Although "Can I Recover Christmas?" wasn't ready last year, another of our copyrighted songs was finished by the beginning of December ... It's a happy song about the lovely annual tradition of Spinning Under the Tree of Lights at Zilker Park in Austin. This year the tree will be lit at 6 PM on Sunday December 7th, with the rest of the Trail of Lights festival beginning on Sunday December 14th, running nightly through December 23rd. The Trail hours are 7 PM to 10 PM.
Zilker Tree of Lights,Annieinaustin
A few days ago I had a conversation with Laura Esparza from the Cultural Affairs Division of the Austin Parks Department. Laura told me that the Trail of Lights festival will be more environmentally friendly this year. The change over to LED lights is in progress and food service now emphasizes recycling. She also noted that the power for the lights comes from wind farms. I loved the tree and like having another reason to think Austin is cool! You can go to the Austin Parks Department if you'd like to find out more about Spinning under the Tree, or Walking the Trail of Lights. Now here's an encore of our Spinning Under the Tree song to get you in the mood. Either click the screen or try this link to YouTube.



The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment. Samuel Johnson, The Rambler

Riverbanks Zoo and Gardens~The Gardens

One of the things that made this zoo awesome, was that it is a zoo and botanical gardens. We visited half of the zoo and then hiked over to the Gardens. Even the walk over there was interesting:

The river was so pretty.

The hike was just beautiful! We were so pleasantly surprised at what a great trail they had to hike on.

Then we made it to the Botanical Gardens. This was one of the nicest Botanical Gardens that we have visited so far.



It is so interesting to watch the boys with each other now. They get along so much better than they used to. There are moments where I think they actually enjoy each other! It's pretty great to see after years of them pounding on each other. I guess the older we get, the more we can appreciate our siblings.

Living the life in South Carolina.

Outdoor Cafe

I loved the colors I found in this outdoor cafe off of a coffee shop. There was no one there so we took the time to take several photos of the umbrellas, Spanish style table and chairs, ristras, and flowers in their little garden.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

ATV Time

We took the ATV's out the other day after a rain, to see how bad a shape the roads were in. Nothing to bad but a few were washed out some.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

About a Year

Looking through the pictures I took of a recent ride along the cherry-blossoming Charles River, I realised that it has been just about a year since I began Lovely Bicycle. I say "about a year", because I am not entirely sure when exactly I started writing vs. publishing the entries. But apparently it was right around this time, as in my first documented bike-ride the blossoms were in bloom as well.



It is customary to conduct some sort of self-assessment when a project like this reaches its 1-year anniversary. But when I think about why I started this website, I feel suddenly inarticulate and a little confused - because honestly I do not have a good reason. I am not an activist and do not seek to promote "a cycling lifestyle". Life has worked out for me in such a way, that personally I have not driven a car since 2007, and I love to ride my bicycle(s) for both transportation and recreation. However, if you happen to own a dozen SUVs and enjoy driving them, that is fine with me. If you collect bicycles solely for the purpose of photographing them in your garden and never actually ride them, that is fine as well. And if you are a die-hard Foresterite vehicular cyclist who hates bike infrastructure and loves 6-lane roads with 40mph+ speed limits, that's wonderful too. You are all welcome, if you feel that you can relate to some aspect of this website.



Neither is the motive of this weblog a diary-style documentation of my life. Those who know me in person are aware that my posts here create an amusingly incomplete and warped presentation of my actual life and personality. And finally, neither was it ever my intent (not that I am in any danger of this) to gain commercial success or recognition for this website.



When I first started Lovely Bicycle, the intent was to review the options that were out there for bicycles that were both practical and aesthetically pleasing for people with lifestyles and tastes similar to mine. This was driven by my own frantic search for a "lovely bicycle" in Spring of . However, the weblog developed far beyond this premise and I am still no closer to explaining what motivates me to continue it - when frankly my life is quite hectic as it is and does not need extra projects.



I will be honest: This discrepancy of the blog getting larger and more time consuming (I now get over a dozen emails per week and it is becoming impossible to answer most of them) with my not having a good explanation for why I am doing this, has caused me some concern and I have considered discontinuing Lovely Bicycle on several occasions. An alternative option could be to start accepting selected sponsorships, and using any earnings from these to at least cut down on some of the consulting projects I do in order to stay financially afloat - thereby freeing up time to continue working on the blog. But I do not have a clear idea of how this could be done while still maintaining the home-made feel of this wesite.



In short, it remains to be determined in what direction Lovely Bicycle will meander next, if at all. But in the meantime, I can't seem to help continuing to take pictures of beautiful bicycles and writing all of this nonsense about them!



While taking the pictures shown in this post, I was approached by a couple who asked me whether their daughter could pose next to my bicycle for their home-made video of the girl reciting "Make Way for Ducklings" by Robert McCloskey. We moved the bicycle closer to the river, and the mother directed the daughter while the father videotaped. They did several takes of the recital and the child was adorable.



Of course I didn't have the heart to tell them that the "ducklings" in the river were in fact geese. Where better for me to share a story of such an encounter, than on Lovely Bicycle?...

Saturday, March 24, 2012

DC with Friends

Yesterday we drove to Washington DC to hook up with some friends. We met up with Wendy and Kristie and their children. I met Wendy in Orlando last year, but this was the first time I met Kristie in person. It is always so neat to me to meet online friends in person. She was such a sweetie.



I also love watching kids who are fully engaged in life. Fearless and bold and daring and soaking it all up. So it was a real treat to me all the way. DC was just icing on the cake. I wish I had more pictures to share, but since my speedlight broke, I am still trying to figure out how to take pictures when it is gray and drizzly and when we are indoors and it is dark. If you have any tips, I'm all ears.



Here are the few I did snap:





We hit the Museum of Air and Space, which was very nice:







Afterwards, we went to Capital Hill to eat at the Good Stuff Eatery where I had the best hamburger I've ever tasted. It was very touching to see DC at night.





I wish we could have had a longer visit because I would have loved more time with Wendy and Kristie. We are definitely going to plan a longer visit next time. Thanks Wendy and Kristie for making our day so great.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Night rider on the big lake



Just got in from a TERRIFIC moonlight shooting session on Magnet Island in Lake Superior. My friend Jacob and I experienced some awesome moonlight, including an ore boat that was all lit up as it passed through the reflection of the moonlight on the lake!

Below: At one point during the evening, some really patchy clouds went over and the moonlight was shining through the clouds in the form of all these "moon rays". It was a heavenly scene!


Sunset Smoke Haze



Smoke from the Pagami Creek Fire near Ely, MN makes for a dramatic sunset over Lake Superior in Grand Portage, MN on September 13, . One thing's for sure... all this smoke in our sky makes for some pretty wild sunsets!


Thursday, March 22, 2012

Small Ristras


These small chili pepper ristras where hanging across a shop window.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Cozumel Cruise~The Ship


Today we headed out for our second cruise. This one was a Carnival cruise and was leaving from Tampa. We have an extra special bonus that some of our pickleball friends are taking the same cruise! Rich and Dee and Dean and Margie are the ones going. Rich and Dee's daughter is getting married which makes it even all the more special.





We spent the first little bit exploring the ship which was just as fun as the last time. We came upon the reception for Rich and Dee's daughter and got to see some of the toasts that were taking place. Their daughter is stunning so she made the wedding absolutely beautiful!



We found an outside deck by the food areas, and decided we would try to spend as much time as possible eating out there.





Nathan and I decided since we are now officially kid free, that we would truly spend time enjoying the kid free zone otherwise known as the Serenity Deck.



After heading out to sea, we spent the rest of this day and into the night with lots of food and watching the entertainment they provided. It was a great day!






Sunday, March 18, 2012

CT Nomic hammers?

Fall preproductionorders on the CT Nomic hammers were shipped today. Thanks for the support!



I have a few left, but won't be doing another run till fall of . Best to check on availability via email before you order.



If you are outside of the USA make sure to add ROW shipping and a verified shipping address or your order will be cancelled.



Saturday, March 17, 2012

Ouderkerk aan den Amstel: idyllic little village just a stone’s throw from Amsterdam

One of the little picturesque villages in the Netherlands which happens to be just a stone’s throw away from Amsterdam is Ouderkerk aan den Amstel. By car, it’s the first exit from the highway after leaving the A10 highway ring and joining the A2 highway to the direction of Utrecht and Maastricht. An easy option from Amsterdam would be by bike or boat as it is fairly near. If taking a look at the map of North Holland province, one can see that the village is right across Amsterdam Zuid Oost with only the A2 highway separating it.

I’ll have to warn though that this village is REALLY small. The place is ideal for lunching or having afternoon tea combined with a nice walk or a bike excursion in and around the surroundings, which I must add, the landscape past Ronde Hoep nearby is very pretty. The zigzagged dike doubles up as the country road is above sea level and the canals and vast fields below form a majestic panorama. Or, if you arrive by a boat, you can always dock somewhere and then have drinks by the café restaurant on the corner of the white wooden draw bridge called Korte Brug over the Bullewijk River.

Draw bridges are typically Dutch and the one in Ouderkerk aan den Amstel over the Bullewijk River, which is a tributary river of the Amstel River in Amsterdam, gives this little bucolic village its very own fascinating charisma.


This is the Kerkstraat, the main street of the village that leads to the St. Urbanus Roman Catholic Church and ends on the other side with a couple restaurants and shops. This wooden white bridge is called Korte Brug and the river below it is called Bullewijk River which is an offshoot of the River Amstel in Amsterdam.


The "De Oude Smidse" cafe restaurant is a pretty location to have drinks or dining while enjoying the serene village surroundings over the river. Unfortunately, my Nokia Navigator wasn't of much help here as it can't really take nice pictures against the light. On the same street, one can find the more than 100 years old bakery, Bakker Out - baking since 1897.


Here is another foto of the Roman Catholic St. Urbanus Church. There is a Protestant Church on the other side of the river which isn't as pretty as her Catholic sister (and which is always the case anyway as Protestants are more conservative than the "bourgondisch" Catholics). To get out of the village just follow - Doorgand verkeer.

Anywho... just want to say that when I was here and when I was leaving my way via the dikes in Ronde Hoep all the way to Vinkeveen, I passed by a police car and a tow truck busy pulling out a muddied car nestled between a duct and the meadow below the 2-meter high dikes. Goodness heavens. That is one long jump to get down there! The driver must have driven above the required speed limit which is 50 km/ph–the roads are narrow and winding–and lost control of the wheel. OK, tell me... why I am not surprised to see that the driver was a woman? lol

Ouderkerk aan den Amstel is also two centuries older than Amsterdam. Yes, that old!

And for such a small village, who would expect that there are 7 restaurants in residence here? One of which is even a Michelin-star restaurant. During summer months I read that there are culinaire walking tours being held here too.

A few more fotos here: Ouderkerk aan den Amstel - North Holland, Netherlands


Well, I’d like to come back to Ouderkerk aan den Amstel and park myself on the deck terrace of De Oude Smidse café restaurant by the little draw bridge over the Bullewijk River. On a beautiful sunny day, I think it’s one of the nice and romantic places to sit down, enjoy a glass of chilled wine and watch the world go by.
.

Wordless Wednesday :: Is it Spring yet?

Copyright © .. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman

Friday, March 16, 2012

Moon Ring



There's a fantastic ring around the moon right now! Taken from my back yard at 10:30 p.m. on February 16, .

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Greetings from... Georgia

After I left Anastasia State Park and my visit with Denise, I headed a little further north into Georgia. I'm not going to say just where since I'm still there and will be until January 2nd.

It hasn't been nearly as warm these past 10 days as I'd like (daytime highs in the upper 50s and lower 60s and nightime lows in the upper 30s and lower 40s) but there have been a few very nice, warm days! And I'm not complaining, really, just saying... Still beats the winter weather in the Hoosier State!

A visit to my niece to see my new great-grandnephew was a highlight as was spending Christmas Day with Carrie and her family (though Jasmine and Valen weren't there). I just wanted to reassure everyone that wondered where I spent Christmas, that I was not alone, I was with family! And I thank you for your concern...

This will be my longest stay in any one spot since I left home in September. It's a little strange not to be on the move yet, but I wanted to get “settled” in somewhere for the holidays. I looked into staying in Florida but many of the State Parks were booked up for both Christmas and New Years. I guess the “big thing” in Florida and Georgia (and probably other southern states) is to go camping on holidays. I rather expected it during the summer holidays, but not this time of year. Guess it makes sense though, about as much as anything does.

This may be my last post of .. so I'd like to wish all of my readers a Happy New Year! May the coming year be the best ever for you, may your brick walls tumble, and may you enjoy health, happiness, and prosperity.

With that I'll leave you with a final sunset photo – actually, it is what I call the “after glow” of sunset, because the sun had already fallen below the horizon when this was taken (and the sun was off to the left outside the view of the camera). I'll tell you where it was taken once I leave this place...

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Wiley in the Trash

Our kitten Wiley decided to play in a little trash can the other day. He looked so cute I had to take his picture.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Gunks Routes: MF (5.9)



(Photo: Approaching crux # 1 of MF (5.9) in the fog. Is there a climber up there?)



The weather gods have been joking around with me.



Thanksgiving weekend was stunning. We had record highs, in the sixties and seventies, and abundant sunshine. I had a full agenda of stuff going on. This was joyous, important, family stuff. Stuff that I wouldn't dream of missing, it goes without saying.



So there was no way I could go climbing over this beautiful weekend. But I had to take advantage of the warm-weather window somehow. It was killing me to let it just roll by; this could be our last good climbing weather until next Spring. Surely, I thought, there must be something I could do?



I decided to take a vacation day on Tuesday to go to the Gunks.



The only problem was that it was expected to rain. After reviewing the forecast, I decided to go for it anyway. It was going to be warm, and the rain wasn't supposed to come until the late afternoon. A pretty full day was possible, even likely, I told myself. And the weather report for the following days called for deteriorating conditions: more rain and then colder temperatures. My obsessed mind saw Tuesday as my final chance of the year.



Parker agreed to meet me. We'd climbed together once before, in early summer. Back then we were both leading similar climbs but since that time Parker had been climbing a lot, and it sounded like he'd been ripping it up. I was eager to see what he could do. I told him I wanted to climb MF, one of my big goals for . He wanted to do Amber Waves of Pain (5.10a), which I was really excited about climbing (as a second) as well.



When I got up on Tuesday morning it was pretty gloomy out. During the drive up from the city I grew concerned about how foggy it was. The air felt damp. I worried that the cliffs would be coated in a slick, wet mist. It was an unpleasant experience I'd had before.



Then at the Sloatsburg rest stop, as I stood there pumping gas, I detected rain. Not just wet fog, but actual rain.



I paused to search the sky. Were these really drops of rain, falling from the heavens to the earth?



Yes, it was definitely raining.



It grew heavier as I stood there.



This wasn't supposed to happen! Not until later.



I was furious. I started yelling into the air. "Stop it! Stop raining!"



I'm sure I resembled a crazy person.



I got back in my car and started driving faster than before. I'm not sure why-- was I trying to outrun the rain? I kept hoping it wouldn't be like this in New Paltz.



The rain stopped, thankfully, before I got to Exit 18. I couldn't tell whether the cliffs had seen any precipitation. Actually, I couldn't tell whether the cliffs were even there. They were invisible, hidden by dense fog. This was not a good sign.



As I drove to the stairmaster parking lot I saw that the roads were wet. Also not a good sign. If the roads were wet, the rock was likely wet too.



Upon his arrival at the empty parking lot, Parker remarked that we seemed to be the only idiots intent on climbing. But since we were already at the cliffs, we decided we might as well go see if the rock was, by some miracle, dry.



We went straight up to the Mac Wall to look at MF. Described by Dick Williams as "THE standard for 5.9 in the Gunks," MF has a reputation as a tough climb. (As you might have guessed, the letters in the name stand for "Mother F**ker.") The first pitch has two cruxes, the first coming at an awkward, scary move around a corner, and the second involving some thin moves over a bulge. Pitch two has just one crux: a big roof.



I've been working up to MF all year-- all my climbing life, really. I knew on Tuesday as I stood before the route that this could be my last chance to climb it before the end of the season. But I was scared to try it if the rock was damp. Hell, I was scared to try it, period. Even in perfect conditions. Maybe in this iffy weather it was beyond scary. Maybe it was a stupid idea.



But Parker touched the rock and said he thought we were okay. It seemed dry to him. "Feel it," he said. "There's plenty of friction!"



I wanted this climb. Badly. I put my hand on the rock, and it appeared Parker was right. Even though we were surrounded by mist, the rock felt fine. I decided to do the climb. I could always bail if it started really raining. It's only gear, I figured. Who cares if I leave a piece or two behind? Don't I have a catchphrase that covers this situation?



Yes I do: Carpe Diem, bitches.



I tied in and headed upward.



The early going on pitch one is tricky. There is a steep bit right off the ground, and you have to make a few moves before you get any pro in. Maybe this part of the climb just seemed hard to me because I was a bundle of nerves. The conditions were making me jittery. I stepped off the route, back to the ground, just after I started because the fog suddenly turned to rain. But then in a minute it turned back to fog again.



I went back at it, placing two pieces at the first opportunity.



After the initial moves the pitch jogs left, then back right to the big overhang. I moved slowly, checking each foothold, fearful I'd pop off. I placed a ton of pro. As I approached crux one, it seemed much more intimidating and difficult than it did from the ground. It is steep there. It is pumpy to hold on. You can see the horn thingy that you need to grab as well as the foothold that will bring you around the corner, but it seems kind of improbable that this move will work out well.



On the bright side, the pro is great. There's a pin just where you want it and another piece can be put there to back it up. The fall is clean. The holds are good. You can stand there for a good long while, shaking out each hand in turn as you reflect on the life you've lived, and the leap you're about to take.



I hemmed and hawed there a long time, but in the end I found no real trick to the move. You just have to commit. Grab the horn, get your right foot on that hold, and go. And then it's about balance. Shift slowly to the right foot and keep inching to the right. The holds are further around the corner than you want them to be, but they exist, trust me!





(Photo: Having placed pro, I'm getting ready to move through the bulging crux # 2 on pitch one of MF (5.9).)



I spent even longer hemming and hawing over the second crux. I didn't want to blow it. My flash of MF was within reach, yet still so far away. Luckily there's a good stance below the bulge from which you can think over the moves as much as you like. Again the pro is good. There is a horizontal right below the bulge (quite slimy on Tuesday, but it took a cam), and an irregular pod/handhold up in the bulge in which I managed to seat a solid green Alien. This last placement made me feel really good. I clipped the piece direct and knew if I fell I wouldn't go far.



When I finally went for it the moves were not bad. The holds were small but positive, and before I knew it I had the jugs.



As I hit the chains I was thrilled. It had been a slow lead, a methodical lead, but it had been a successful onsight lead of MF. I was no longer breaking into 5.9. I felt solid in the grade. I couldn't ask for anything more.



Parker started following me up pitch one. I heard him say something about a nut.



"Did I place a crummy nut?" I asked.



"No!" he replied. "I said YOU'RE nuts! I can't believe you did this pitch. The rock feels so slimy!"



So much for Mr. "Go For It, There's Plenty of Friction!"



I tried to remind Parker that his enthusiasm is what got me to climb the route in the first place, but he wasn't accepting the blame. For some reason, he was convinced that I was the crazy one.



I have to say it didn't feel so slimy to me. By the time the pitch was over I'd forgotten all about the weather. I thought the rock was okay, and I really wanted to continue and do pitch two. Parker said if we kept going I'd be leading. He'd led the pitch before and he had no ambition to lead any longer, given the conditions.





(Photo: Examining the roof on pitch two of MF (5.9).)



Pitch two begins with easy moves directly to the right from the bolted anchor, around a small corner. Then it's straight up to the roof. Just beneath the roof is a pin. After clipping the pin I spent a lot of time experimenting and feeling around, trying to find some holds, any holds, that I could use to get up to the obvious horizontal that was out of reach a few feet above the roof.



It's tricky because you can't really see what's just over the roof, and there are no footholds right under the pin. So you paw around over your head, finding nothing. Then you paw around to your left, finding nothing. Then you retreat to the stance to the right of the pin, shake out, and get ready to do it all over again.



I found some really poor crimps around the pin, and kept trying to contrive a way to use them to reach the horizontal over the roof. But it wasn't working out.



After a while I looked at Parker, who was standing just a few feet to my left. I said "I'm about to have you take so I can hang on this stupid pin."



"Dude, your feet are, like, on a ledge," he replied.



"Yeah, but I'm getting frustrated."



I was tired of going back and forth. I wanted to rest and look it over. But just in time I finally found the crucial hold. I'm not going to spoil the details. It makes reaching the horizontal a breeze! And it's hiding right there, in front of your face.



As soon as I had that hold, I stepped right up to the horizontal and clipped the second pin. Then I placed a cam to back it up, even though I was already feeling the pump clock ticking away. Above me I could see the creaky little flake mentioned by Dick in his guidebook. It was the next hold. The path was obvious. It was time to go. A couple quick, pumpy moves and I was through the crux, standing at the big horizontal that heads left. Pitch two was basically in the bag.



Although I really enjoyed the crux, I didn't think the rest of the pitch was nearly as nice. The difficulty level decreases greatly and there's some questionable rock. After traversing left, the pitch follows an obvious corner to the GT Ledge, but it seems numerous other paths can be taken to the finish. It all goes through similar, moderate territory.





(Photo: Parker coming up the final bits of pitch two of MF (5.9).)



Parker reached me on the GT Ledge just as a real storm started to roll in. We could see the rain falling over New Paltz as we set up to rappel and by the time we got to the ground it had reached the cliff. Our climbing day was over after just two pitches.



Ah, but what a pair of pitches.



I realize this particular trip to the Gunks was a waste of a vacation day. I know I've been clinging to summer, to the climbing season. It's been good and I don't want it to end. I probably should have gotten out of bed on Tuesday, looked out the window, and called it off. That would have been the sensible thing to do.



But then I would have missed MF.



And MF I will cherish. It's so nice to have my last climbs of the season confirm that I've made progress. Maybe I'll still be able to squeeze one more milestone into the year. And maybe not. It doesn't matter. It's been a great year either way.

Lower Tahquamenon Falls

Tahquamenon Falls are a little over an hour west of Sault Ste. Marie and were among the “must see” things that my friend Carol said that I “had” to see while in the UP! According to Carol, the pronunciation of Tahquamenon is “something like” Taaaaa quaaaaaa men on. I'll take her word for it!



There are actually two areas here, the Lower Falls and the Upper Falls. The Lower Falls are a series of smaller waterfalls coming down on either side of an Island.





The two falls shown here are on the east side of the Island.



Rowboats were available for rental to take out to the Island where there is a boardwalk that goes around the Island and affords different views of the falls. As much as I would have liked to, I'm not very adept at rowing a boat so didn't attempt this little excursion. The falls in the background are the same ones in the first picture.





This is the last of a series of three smaller falls that are on the west side of the Island. A boardwalk leads you along the river to several viewing platforms.





An interesting sign along the way - Prayer of the Woods.



Another sign – showing the layout of the river and island and warning of the dangers of the falls.





From one of the viewing platforms, looking back at where the first few pictures were taken.





Fast flowing water. The brown color is caused from tannin brought in from the streams that flow into the river.





The uppermost of the Lower Falls. Visitors to the Island wade out into the river.



And finally, a closeup of the flowing waters.