UNPREPARED FOR SNOW.

That first snow, at 5:00 a.m. surprised me. I'd never seen it that deep in Murphys. I wished my old friend Buster Reidel was still around to confer with. He would know how unique is was or wasn't back to 1920. He used to advise me not to plant my tomatoes until after Frog Jump. He was keen about local weather patterns.

Tree limbs bent over the roof and over the railing.

The small wires that hold my summer shade cloth were totally encased in snow.

It made for some pretty pictures.


.

.

.

My housemate, Karen's car, isn't garaged. After a lot of melt, she braved the first day, and got out to the store for cigs. you can see where she was parked. Coming back was a different matter.

She was all over the driveway getting back. But, it was a smarter choice because that partly melted snow is now ice.

When the power went completely out, it was still light outside. People up here know to have a good supply of candles and flashlights. I covered the end of the table with an old tablecloth and set up the outage. I placed candles in strategic places in each room. We ate soup and bread for a light supper. People in the east probably chuckle at our unpreparedness for snow, but we do know how to weather a power outage.

BE CAREFUL TO WHOM YOU GIVE.

Today is play day. Jim and I are taking a day off to take pictures of an "endangered species", old barns and miner's cabins. I mistakenly thought yesterday was Saturday. We both worked in the motor home kitchen. yesterday. Thinned canned goods, tossed stuff we don't use, etc.. I did the wash and worked on mending a rug and some paperwork and pictures, etc. Jim received an email from our friend Al Penta with a list of charities  that you DON'T want to support. This is the biggest "giving" season of the year. Be wary.

How many ways can you spell G R E E D?

THINK BEFORE YOU DONATE! SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT BEFORE YOU MAKE CONTRIBUTIONS: As you open your pockets to do a good thing and make yourself feel good, please keep the following facts in mind: The American Red CrossPresident and CEO Marsha J. Evans' salary for the year was $651,957 plus expenses MARCH OF DIMESIt is called the March of Dimes because only a dime for every 1 dollar is given to the needy. The United WayPresident Brian Gallagher receives a $375,000 base salary along with numerous expense benefits. UNICEFCEO Caryl M. Stern receives $1,200,000 per year (100k per month) plus all expenses including a ROLLS ROYCE. Less than 5 cents of your donated dollar goes to the cause. GOODWILLCEO and owner Mark Curran profits $2.3 million a year. Goodwill is a very catchy name for his business. You donate to his business and then he sells the items for PROFIT. He pays nothing for his products and pays his workers minimum wage! Nice Guy. $0.00 goes to help anyone! Stop giving to this man. Instead, give it to ANY OF THE FOLLOWING GO "GREEN" AND PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE IT WILL DO SOME GOOD: The Salvation ArmyCommissioner, Todd Bassett receives a small salary of only $13,000 per year(plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization. 96 percent of donated dollars go to the cause. The American LegionNational Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! The Veterans of Foreign WarsNational Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! The Disabled American VeteransNational Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! The Military Order of PurpleHeartsNational Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! The Vietnam Veterans AssociationNational Commander receives a $0.00 zero salary. Your donations go to help Veterans and their families and youth! Make a Wish: For children's last wishes. 100% goes to funding trips or special wishes for a dying child. St. Jude Research Hospital 100% goes towards funding and helping Children with Cancer who have no insurance and cannot afford to pay. Ronald McDonald Houses All monies go to running the houses for parents who have critically ill Children in the hospital. 100% goes to housing, and feeding the families. Lions Club International 100% OF DONATIONS GO TO HELP THE BLIND, BUY HEARING AIDES, SUPPORT MEDICAL MISSIONS AROUND THE WORLD. THEIR LATEST UNDERTAKING IS MEASLES VACCINATIONS (ONLY $1.00 PER SHOT). Please share this with everyone you can.

I would like to add some information to the above. During our recent rim fire, the Red Cross performed poorly according to volunteers who worked the fire. They brought inadequate and moldy supplies, treated volunteers as though they were stupid and gave conflicting orders to volunteers who were on the scene working two days before the Red Cross even arrived. Most of the supplies came from local businesses. The Red Cross did very little. (Not every member was callous and arrogant.) I'm also reminded when we burned out, the Red Cross refused my dad a loan, not a handout, a loan.

Locally, our food bank is in desperate need of food this year in both Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties. They don't have enough to give turkeys to needy families this year.

For international and local charities, Oxfam is one of the best. International Heifer, is another. (I hope I have that name right.) It is about supplying money to buy goats, chickens, a calf, etc. to enable people to help themselves, rather than handing them money or rice or wheat.

Finca makes small loans to people to allow them to start small businesses to become self-sufficient.

Covenant House provides food, clothing and housing for people in need. Not as big a  problem where the weather isn't brutal.

Solar Cooking International supplies solar devices for cooking and pasteurizing water in countries with plenty of sun and not much money for fuel.

Our local Elks Club supports abused children.

Hope you'll dig deep this year since childhood hunger in the United States is getting more serious with cuts to food stamps. Don't wait for the holidays to open your wallet. Americans, by the way,  are the most giving, charitable people on earth.

(AFTER PUBLISHING, I REALIZED THE GRID I COPIED IS TOO WIDE FOR MY PAGE. THE LAST AND WORST OF THE CHARITIES IS GOOD WILL. NOTHING GOES TO HELP OTHERS.

REAL TREASURE.

High stakes yard work is kind of an exaggeration. Difficult as it seems in this cool and rainy weather, I have to think about heat coming on while I’m gone. You can lose an expensive, mature shrub in a week in withering weather without an intact sprinkling system. My housemate and I checked the system and it needed two small repairs. The sprinkling clock works, and I can rest in peace when I return to the motor home, hopefully on April 15th.

It’s killing me that Jim is having soooo much fun while I’m missing some great craft beers and the friendly folks of Vicksburg.

Brian, my computer guru is set to come tomorrow and help me out. This morning I’ll evaluate my insurance coverage before paying the bills and then attend an engagement party in the afternoon. Shoot, I haven’t been to an engagement party among friends in…?? (I’m not counting that extravagant engagement shower In Louisiana.)  I’m not sure what to expect. I know chocolate and cherries spell romance so I did put together a chocolate bouquet and a cherry surprise. These kids are 25 years old so I hope to toast them with this old saw:
Here is to Karli, may you always have diamonds on your fingers and knock-em-dead-destroy-the-paycheck-dresses to wear.
And to Danny, may you have an indestructible paycheck.

 Karli and Danny aren’t as materialistic as that toast suggests, but it always brings a laugh and they don’t read my blog. What I really like to impress on young people is the definition of treasure.
Before getting on-line this morning, I cruised through some old family photos and put on slideshows of my grandkids at an earlier age. What a pleasure my pictures are to me. A keen reminder that real treasure is our family and friends.

ANTI-SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE.

The White House has called on federal agencies and departments to improve the ability of government scientists to openly discuss their research and findings with media, policy makers, and the public. Some agencies, like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation, have put forward policies that encourage such communication.
Government scientists should be able to alert the public when their research indicates a potential public health, safety, or environmental hazard.

Strange that we should NEED such a call to listen to science. Our whole world of inventions and weaponry , space travel and architecture, astronomy, road design, medicine, comfortable furnishings, computers, fabrics, mailing materials, machinery, building safe structures, growing more food per acre, improvements in glass, car safety, new technologies be it a bicycle or a car medical device have been invented or strengthened by  scientific testing and  investigation. We live every day with the things science has made possible.  We, as a country, used to lead the way in  scientific discoveries and investigation. Now we are #17 in the world.  Such a long fall from dominance.

How did we turn into a society that denies the overwhelming evidence of climate change?  It has hurt us as a country financially and in leadership around the world.

Part of it stems from the conflicted discoveries that appear to undermine religion. Red states with high numbers of fundamental religions, are where most climate deniers and anti science attitudes come from. Yet, many scientists believe in God and have religious beliefs.

The truth and nature of the world, which includes people, is a factual, solid place, not changed by science, but understood by science. However, people are more comfortable in their own beliefs and somehow feel it affects their self esteem if what they have  believed for most of their life is challenged.

Uneducated people regard scientists as some elite, arrogant class of know-it-alls that live off the taxpayers and deserve trashing. In fact scientists don’t make a lot of money. They have houses, a salary and spend into the private economy and pay taxes just like everyone else unless they work within a mega corporation where they can make better money. Where they buy houses, buy into the private economy and pay taxes like everyone else.

Scientists provide the infrastructure for great companies to succeed and compete. They are necessary to our capitalistic economy. And suspicions that they are liberals with an agenda to sway the public in some sort of conspiracy would take thousands and thousands of scientists to agree to a shady plan. It is unreal, untrue and unfortunate for all of us that such anti-scientific attitudes have been promoted and enhanced by politicians for their own gain. It is up to each of us to confront that attitude when we see it if we want to be the America we grew up with.

MODERN CHINA-2006

With my first digital camera, I visited China in 2006 , when China was in the middle of changing from a Socialist/market economy to a capitalistic economy. As a child, I watched a neighbor dig a deep hole in his lawn. Every few minutes, he’d say, “Look at this?  He’d hand me a penny he’d supposedly found, and tell me “We must be getting close to China.”  He regaled me with fantastic stories about dragons and castles and magic, all happening on the other side of the earth.  Simple things that fostered a dream.

We whizzed through Beijing with 300,000 vehicles in a city of 13 million people. Fifteen percent of families now own cars that intersperse with weird motor driven carts piled high with goods,  and 8 million bikes, motor cycles carrying whole families  and buses and pedestrians all mingling  in a way that you are sure someone is going to get killed at any minute.  I saw a man carrying a baby high above his head as he squeezed between two moving buses. You just have to turn your head away. We stop at Tiananman Square, so huge it defies the camera’s ability to capture it. A flag pole so tall the flag can be seen all over the city.

Just like us, Chinese tourists, something new for China, have their picture taken at their seat of government,  much like us having our picture taken outside of the White House. Sixty per cent of the citizens of Beijing work for the government just like the greatest percent of people in D.C. are under some kind of government employ.

The grounds around the building are beautiful where once there was a forbidding wall around the buildings and the whole city. Chairman Mau tore down the old city walls and built what they call ring roads to replace the  feudal walls of China’s  cities.

This is “modern” China. We were very quickly dispelled of the notion that we would see Chinese men and women in black sack pants and shirts wearing straw hats. This is the infamous square that led to student deaths in 1989, forever giving China a black eye over their aggressive policies. We are mobbed by vendors selling post cards. Capitalism is grasped very quickly.

We move on to the Forbidden City which was built, or finished anyway, in 1420. Eleven Emperors  have lived  in this multiple complex of buildings between 1419 to 1911. It has 9,999 half rooms in the palace. Nine is the supreme number. Nine gates, each gate measures nine x nine. Our guide tells us that the Last Emperor,  the movie, is very accurate about what happened to their last Emperor.

This is one of 18 water pots around the square, (a multiple of nine). They represent the 18 provinces. All must be in harmony.

Soldiers still guard the palace and live here. Notice their boots and shoes  lined up next to their “barracks”. The living quarters of the Emperor  is approached by a series of stairs and nine gates to pass through.  Each gate is a building with marvelous gold, jade carvings, incredibly fancy decoration as part of the building, with real gold leaf.   The rooms that store antiquities are  not lighted, tall columnar rooms, no windows. Pictures don’t reflect  the glorious treasures inside.

It seems as though every inch of the building is exquisitely decorated like this mantel above a doorway.

My traveling companion, Michal Houston and I posed before this Chinese guard lion. His left foot is crushing some small creature, I think.

His right foot is balanced on this ball. I’ve forgotten the significance of this stance, and its meaning, but it is the same wherever these lions are seen. And, the dog-like face of Chinese lions was rendered by artists who had never seen a lion. They only had a description of lions from explorers/travelers  who passed through China.  I always wondered about that. Now I know and so do you.

The roof of the palaces are  protected, as you can see. It seems a bit strange to us that the superstitions of old are still, if not believed, at least respected and revered. Visiting China  helps to understand many mysteries about the Chinese people’s beliefs that hang on.

This little boy knows nothing of the Ming Dynasty, 1420 to 1644 or the Ching Dynasty, 1644 to 1911, or the turbulent  history of  the gate he is crawling through. Notice you step over the deep thresh hold as you move from one gate, which brings you to another palace, and on to the next.

And I got to see many dragons. This gives you an idea of the size and scope of these carved wall panels.
Aren’t they gorgeous?  There are nine of them at the Palace of Tranquil Longevity.

We see so much, it is difficult to take it all in and remember it all.

More tomorrow.

ALL ABOUT FERGIE

In yesterday's blog, I referred to a ceremony that master balloonist, Fergie invited us to attend. We repaired to the motor home, changed clothes and washed up a bit and then found out we were the foil of this little ceremony,  not the observers.  Fergie is, without a doubt,  a genuine character. First he recited the balloonists prayer while everyone doffed their hats.
The winds have welcomed you with softness.
The sun has blessed you with his warm hands.
You have flown so high and so well
that God joined you in laughter
and set you gently back into
the loving arms of Mother Earth.

While we were at attention, we were given a cup of champagne.  And, we were not alone. Lynn and Jim to our right, were also part of the plot. I thought they were regular crew members. I found out   they were part of the veterans motorcycle motorcade from the Freedom Ride, and got invited to fly as we were.

Fergie uses stuffed animals to explain the history of ballooning during  this induction ceremony for newbies.  We gathered from the heckling of the crew during  his speech, he is required to fit every stuffed animal given to him (by them) into the history.  No mean feat.  Technically, I have ridden in a balloon, but it was a fly-by compared to this experience and I gladly submitted to induction. We started out as turkeys or virgins, take your pick. About three  weeks back we visited the ABQ Ballooning Museum and learned about the rich Frenchmen who made the first balloon inspired by a house fire that caused objects to rise high into the air. In Fergie's version, it was the Parisians ogling of French women whose skirts rose when stepping over a heated vent that inspired the brothers in 1783.
"We're drinkin' and drinkin' and thinkin' of drinkin'"  (This from the crew.)
And, so the convoluted history continued from the original sheep, duck, and cock proving air was breathable high off the ground. The King of France wanted to sacrifice a  prisoner to try the balloon. The brother's didn't want a prisoner to be the first person to fly. He was released instead. In Fergie's version the prisoner was  the first prisoner to participate in the "early release program."  And the crews dirty underwear was used to fire the balloon  instead of rotting meat, old shoes, straw and manure.  "We're drinkin and drinkin..."
It was tough fitting  the stuffed dinosaur into the history,  but the two donkeys better known as asses, became the first haulers of the balloon wagon.  
Fergie, part preacher, actor, comedian,  and all around good guy, getting high on flying and fun. "We are drinkin' and drinkin' and thinkin' about drinkin'  is an essential part of the ceremony.

We kind of learned why his Balloon was named Itsa Touchie Subject, again by some off comments from the crew about "...burning fabric..." and "...a big hole in the balloon" and from event officials, "why doesn't your balloon have a name?
At the end of the ceremony, we were  pinned as genuine flyers.

Crew member,  Patty,  pinned Jim in the vicinity of his brain.  Fergie pinned me over my heart. It was all in fun, and the crew  enjoyed  the celebration as much as we did.
So, hey, Fergie. What are you gonna to be when you grow up?
My second file of balloon pictures is available in the following link. It takes about two minutes for a full screen slideshow.
https://picasaweb.google.com/106530979158681190260/2012520FreedomFlightRide?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_FzaTgyKXa6QE
Yesterday, we outdid ourselves, putting in a nine-to-five,  visiting four museums, jewelry stores, The Gallup Cultural Center, and the famous El Rancho Hotel.  We leave for Window Rock this morning, so I'll try and catch up with our last day in Gallup tomorrow morning.

I BROKE THE LAW.

Route 66 through Albuquerque is well represented by some of those old motor courts that later became motor-hotels from which the word  motel was coined. It was a grand thing to “Get Your Kicks on 66.” The old road may be gone but ABQ has seen fit to permit and encourage  refurbishing and protecting many of the old places and especially the neon signs that remain on what’s left of 66.
La  Puerta lodge (both photos above)  is one of those still in business and is on a list of 25 places we got on-line to see.

Luna Lodge is all boarded up and workers were on site, restoring the place.

Marks on the walls, a fun reminder of the past, the dinky rooms, with a single window and a tiny air conditioner built into the wall with a separate heater. The Luna had an old menu posted on the wall from their restaurant. It was once a fancy place.

This brought us  a chuckle since the protected figure is a Paul Bunyan with an ax and the new owners have opened the May Cafe, a Vietnamese restaurant.

Not all Route 66 businesses were motor courts, of course. When this building is refurbished, it will look better but still have that quaint look that gives ABQ’s Central Ave. a very mixed business neighborhood.  Example, the older buildings juxtaposed with a brand new building  of modern architecture as in this bank, below.

And, it may have been against the law for me to take the picture. But, more about that later.

According to a bit of Route 66 history, the motor courts competed for business by erecting bigger and bigger signs, sort of like Las Vegas, NV.  This one is still in use with the same name.

Here the sign is the only thing left awaiting refurbishing. The building  long gone.

This cool 50′s diner is all redone and still serving 50′s style food.

Saving their neons is another thing ABQ is doing.  You can drive the strip at night to see them lighted,  which we will do after our Cinco De Mayo festival tonight.   We saw signs in this neon shop which was closed.

Someone didn’t like the peace sign and put a bullet through it. In fact, this window had three bullet holes in it.

This old theater is just one of four that are being restored. ABQ is a very eclectic city.

Eventually, they will be looking for old artifacts from the past to accent these buildings.

We wandered close to Old Town and got a quick look at the beautiful Kimo Theatre. We’ll visit inside on our next jaunt.

As we crossed over to the Nob Hill area of town, we found fancier old  buildings. This architecture dates from the 1920′s to 1950′s.

ABQ has many murals around town. I particularly liked this “corner” of a mural.

A refreshing fountain on a hot day, located at the convention center downtown.
In one section, all  street signs have a fancy motif.  It would have been easier to take the tour bus and have the cities features pointed out to you by a guide. But you miss so much, including getting accosted by a security guard for breaking the law.

It happened when we were cruising the motor courts. This motel was getting refurbished and was fenced all around. I stuck my camera through the fence since it was the only one I had seen with a swimming pool.  A security card came out of the building and said, “Don’t take that picture.”  And I said, why not. He said “It is against the law to take a picture within 300 yards of a bank.”  Wha???  “I don’t see a bank?”  It was out of sight. ” No, I said. That can’t be true.”  He said:  “If you take that picture, I will call security right now.”  He brandished  a phone or maybe a two-way radio in his hand. He was not  bully about it, just letting me know he had to call, it was his job, his duty. He asked me where I was from. I told him I was from California and Jim, who was around the corner, was from Massachusetts. Then he said: “Why do you have a Washington license plate?”  Oh, no!  Try and explain a full-time RVer’s difficulty getting a license without a permanent address.  I tried. I finally told him, I’m going to take this picture. Go ahead and call. We are  tourists and these buildings are listed in the visitors center. So I did. And, he did. We got in the Bronco and drove away.

I may be  a jinx. I arrived May 1st.  There was a security upheaval at the airport, a road block, then another road block Wednesday where we were immediately blocked three times as we tried to get out of the way. And, then I broke the law and the cops may be coming for me at any time.  I told Jim, maybe I better return to Murphys?
But, dang, the food is too good. We’ve been out to eat every day. Tonight, I gotta cook before we turn into roli-polies.