Dogwood Sunset

After spending a long afternoon hiking in the deep woods of northern Minnesota, I went down to the Lake Superior shoreline on Grand Portage Bay to photograph the sunset. After a quick look around, I found this piece of Red-Osier Dogwood laying in the shallow water. I don't know how it got there (wind, or perhaps someone threw it out there), but it made for an interesting foreground for this image. This image was captured with my Canon 17-40mm lens, shutter speed 2 seconds, aperture f16, ISO 100. I also used my Singh-Ray 3-stop reverse graduated ND filter.

Institutional Memory

Institutional memory is a collective set of facts, concepts, experiences and know-how held by a group of people. As it transcends the individual, it requires the ongoing transmission of these memories between members of this group.



The collective memory of the tribe.



I had hoped that Cold Thistle would be a source of Institutional Memory for our tribe, alpine and iceclimbers. For the most part I think it is. Heavy on gear, light on climbing stories, visions and deeds.



Intentionally so if it is just me writing here. A few changes recently, with Twight weighing in. More with Craig and others coming. Bruno and a few others prior that have really helped out and hopefully will continue as they have time and interest.



I'm happy to see any one involved that cares about the "tribe". And my pleasure to host the resource.



But! And it is a BIG but!



I've said it many times. What I write is only my experience. If it helps you great. If not, "turn off the CT and step away Amigo". No harm no foul. My only claim to fame, if I have one at all,is staying alive this longwhile active in the mountainsand thankfully not getting anyonehurt. That isn't gear related, more likelya set of skills buriedbetween your ears. One begets the other.



The guys that should be writing here, telling stories, sharing their passion and reviewing gear don't have the time, don't care or have much better things to do. Like climbing, or spending precious time with their families or flossing their dog's teeth.



So what you get for the most part here,is me. I am certainly proud of my accomplishments and that I am still climbing. But trust me, I know lots of guys as old as I am, or older, pulling harder....today....while I am sitting here writing. I don't need a reminder. Many of the guys are DEAD that should have been writing here. It is a never ending and long list of excuses. If you think it needs to be done better...feel free to copy my format or better it and soldier on. Or send me content to add here, unedited.



So if you want to know who I am...and it is a fair question, theshort version is linked below. If it isn't enough, sorry, it is all I got. Unless of course you wantto help out with my dog's teeth.



One of my first posts at Cold Thistle:

Friday, January 29,

Where did I come from?






If you are going to be reading the blog seems
like a fair question that deserves an answer. Not every summit is listed here or
every climb pictured here a success. But simply where I have been. And
looking back what seems important to me today.



Canadian water
ice, winter1972/73

On the top of Cascade.



the rest is here:



http://coldthistle.blogspot.com//01/where-did-i-come-from.html

Studio Bike

As mentioned previously, my beautiful Mercier mixte (now named Suzanne) was acquired and spruced up for the important role of Studio Bike. She lives full-time in our photography studio outside of Boston, and is there for me when I need her for local errands. These involve mostly coffee runs and scoping out photo-shoot locations, neither of which are too far from the studio. And thank goodness for that, because my initial impression of the area as "No Bike Town" has only been confirmed over the past two months.



I know it looks like a day at the beach, but honest - we've been working all through the weekend! Plus, this bit of sunshine was but a brief interlude between hurricane-like rains.



See? Hard at work. Mlle. Suzanne fits nicely in the narrow space between my desk area (a.k.a. negative-scanning station) and the wall. To the right is the Co-Habitant's desk (a.k.a. paper-cutting station), behind us is the darkroom, and in front of us is our studio-mate's work area - including a formal portrait studio that he has been operating for decades.



A portion of the dark room.



Drying area for negatives and prints. Suzanne is overjoyed to have access to this cool space and to work as an artist's assistant. And I suspect being close to the beach does not hurt either.

Hay Delivery

The Bike Aquatic

Our latest trip along the coast was of the epically off-road variety.



Behold the single speed aquatic tandem recumbent, a.k.a. pedal boat!Isn't she a beauty?When I was growing up, we used to pedal these things around small lakes, but I had no idea they could be taken out into the ocean. Turns out there is a whole culture out there of self-propelled ocean travel, including transatlantic voyages. The boats used for those are a tad more sophisticated, but this one is just fine for pedaling leisurely along the coast.



The local rental place assured us that these boats are marvelously stable and virtually impossible to flip over.We experimented, and are pleased to confirm this. Very safe and reliable, even in turbulent water.



Operating the pedal boat was much more effortful than we expected! Ocean water is rougher than lake water, and pedaling this thing felt like riding a single speed bicycle that is geared way too high.



Feeling as if we were treading through thick mud as we rode the waves and tried to stay on course, we soon longed for gears and foot retention. At least the adjustable seats allowed for full leg extension.



Despite our slow progress along the coast, the whole thing was ridiculously fun. It took me some time just to calm down from the excitement of being out in the ocean on a pedal boat.



We went as far out as we dared, pedaling among the sailboats and lobster boats and imagining what it would be like to cross the Atlantic on one of these things.



We pedaled into some of the tiny harbors and beaches that line this part of the coast and took photos from angles that would have been impossible from the shore. We docked outside a cafe and I jumped out to buy us some coffee - just for the fun of having done this. And for the first time in maybe 10 years I wore boat shoes on an actual boat.



We are both pretty comfortable in the water, and at some point we took turns swimming next to the boat. I wish I had the nerve to do this way out in the ocean - but after having seen sharks on Cape Cod for the past two summers I am cautious about that stuff, so this was fairly close to shore.



After three hours we returned the boat, utterly exhausted. Pedaling it felt very much like cycling - though so strenuous that you'd have to be in pretty good shape to do any serious touring along the coast. I cannot help now but wonder what the "serious" pedal boats feel like to operate - I imagine not very different from a recumbent bicycle, not that I have any experience with those either. I am happy to have found a way to combine my love of the ocean with cycling. Pedal boat, we will meet again!

New Walk Way

Lee is putting in a new walk way by the hay shed. When we built the shed we found that that area was a big mud pit when we had one of our rare rains. We laid old pallets down then laid old plywood sheets on top. After 7 years the plywood decided to come apart. A couple of times Lee or I stepped on a rotten section and almost fell through the pallet underneath. The nails were so loose they didn't want to stay down and we and the dogs kept tripping on them. So the other day after the cold left and we had a couple of warm days we started mixing and pouring cement. This photos showes two sections done. The one in the center is now finished. As soon as it drys we will do the other and I will take a photo of it. It should be a lot nicer even if not as 'authentic' as the old boardwalk.

Lunch, Flowers, and a Happy Dance (not mine)

Thursday, June 2nd - - Today Carol and I had lunch with the You Go Genealogy Girls, Cheri and Ruby. We heard research stories and were told that if they were repeated we would be endangering our lives! LOL. It was great fun and they are great story tellers.



It was a bright sunshiny day and we took our time strolling through the Temple gardens on the way back to The Library. Of course, we couldn't resist stopping to take pictures of the marvelous flowers. Such variety. So colorful.





I have no idea what kind of flower this is...



Same variety as the above but a different color.



Gorgeous white Iris. So difficult to photograph.



A close-up of the white Iris.



Purple Iris.



And, a close-up shot.

Later that afternoon, Carol found something that made her do a little jig at the microfilm reader. To be honest, I can't remember exactly what it was... but as we were walking out to the parking lot later she was still “full of it” with the dancing and smiling. It's fun to watch others with their reactions to a good find, but I'd sure like to experience it myself!





Congratulations, Carol...

And may you have many more opportunities to dance your little jig!