Saturday, January 30, 2010

An unusual morning


On the short list of things I miss about living at the beach, fog ranks near the top. Not to be confused with those grey days that are now referred to as May Gray, or June Gloom, but honest to goodness, thick as pea soup fog.

Once in a blue moon (figuratively), I'll see fog here in my little part of the world. I've seen it roll down the Rio Grande, and from here it looks like a giant white caterpillar crawling along the mesa below us. This morning I watched it come up the mountain towards me, like it knew I didn't really want to be up this early and it was pulling the covers back over my head. I stepped outdoors to take this photo and the instant the air hit my skin, it brought back memories of a nine year old girl growing up in East L.A. and having the special treat of ice skating in the Paramount ice rink.

So for now...onward through the fog. Have a good weekend.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Animal matters

I was watching the ABC Evening news last night and saw a disgusting expose of a huge, factory sized dairy farm, and the abuse of the animals there. Even if the hidden cameras hadn't filmed the abuse, the relative squalor and practices under which these poor cows live was enough to make me want to never buy dairy products again. It made me think about some programs Lisa Ling did for Oprah's show a year or two ago, exposing the dark sides of some pig farms, chicken farms, and possibly the worst, puppy mills in Amish country.

Later last evening, I caught part of a Dan Rather report on the HDNET channel. It was about a small town in Vermont (Hardwick). A once thriving town that was dying after the granite mines shut down, local like-minded citizens decided to rally around the concept of a full circle food focus for their town. There is a seed farm (High Mowing Seeds), a compost farm, and locals are now farming food for the local markets and cooperatives. There is a restaurant that was started by donations from locals and uses primarily those things that are produced locally: vegetables, meat, and dairy products. The waste from the restaurant is sent to the composting farm. The once thriving dairy that had closed down was purchased by a group of young men who now produce artisan cheeses and tofu. It was such an inspiration, I ordered the seed catalog from HMS today and hope to implement some of their ideas in my own lifestyle this coming year.

On a lighter note, my friend Debra sent me this YouTube video this past week and it just melted my heart. There is absolutely nothing like the love of an animal to rock my world.

AFTER WORD: For some reason, I wasn't able to change the color on the hyperlink to the video I have mentioned. If you place your cursor over the word "video" it should link you to YouTube.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Quiet here


There hasn't been anything of note happening here since I last posted...well, except that I got a great new drum carder I haven't had time to work with yet. Starting Thursday morning, we've been picking up the after effects of the storms that have been slamming California. We're on the north end of the front, so maybe only 6-8" of snow for us. It was enough to enjoy staying indoors to spin...I'm working on some new yarns that I'm loving, much finer weight than I usually spin, and quite time consuming.

Our new girl dog will be coming home from boot camp in a few weeks and I'm trying to get myself prepared for having a new member of the household. She's just over a year old and full of you know what. It's going to shake our household to the foundations but will be well worth it all, I know. Here's a photo of the day we picked her up in California. She wasn't quite sure why we were on the scene, but got on the program pretty quickly...especially soon as she found out I had a huge bag of treats.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Busy day in the yard


northern goshawk 1 (male?)
Originally uploaded by qmnonic
While eating lunch this afternoon, I heard a big crash on the window behind me. I turned in time to see the Robins in great numbers, flying in circles, in and out of the trees. In a few more minutes, what I identified later from my Peterson Field Guide as an immature Northern Goshawk appeared, sitting on the little rock wall just outside out window. He gave us no mind, and after surveilling the flower beds for possible rodents, hopped up on the bird feeder, wondering why the party had to break up. Turns out he was here yesterday, and snagged lunch on his/her way through.

It's been quite a week here...several days ago Mr. Sunflower saw a grey fox in the yard (mid-afternoon) and the deer have been pretty bold about coming up to nibble, as I reported in an earlier post.

This photo is coming to you courtesy of Flickr and a user there named qmnonic. My gratitude for its use.

Busy day in the yard


northern goshawk 1 (male?)
Originally uploaded by qmnonic
While eating lunch this afternoon, I heard a big crash on the window behind me. I turned in time to see the Robins in great numbers, flying in circles, in and out of the trees. In a few more minutes, what I identified later from my Peterson Field Guide as an immature Northern Goshawk appeared, sitting on the little rock wall just outside out window. He gave us no mind, and after surveilling the flower beds for possible rodents, hopped up on the bird feeder, wondering why the party had to break up. Turns out he was here yesterday, and snagged lunch on his/her way through.

It's been quite a week here...several days ago Mr. Sunflower saw a grey fox in the yard (mid-afternoon) and the deer have been pretty bold about coming up to nibble, as I report earlier.

This photo is coming to you courtesy of Flickr and a user there named qmnonic. My gratitude for its use.

Busy day in the yard


northern goshawk 1 (male?)
Originally uploaded by qmnonic
While eating lunch this afternoon, I heard a big crash on the window behind me. I turned in time to see the Robins in great numbers, flying in circles, in and out of the trees. In a few more minutes, what I identified later from my Peterson Field Guide as an immature Northern Goshawk appeared, sitting on the little rock wall just outside out window. He gave us no mind, and after surveilling the flower beds for possible rodents, hopped up on the bird feeder, wondering why the party had to break up. Turns out he was here yesterday, and snagged lunch on his/her way through.

It's been quite a week here...several days ago Mr. Sunflower saw a grey fox in the yard (mid-afternoon) and the deer have been pretty bold about coming up to nibble, as I report earlier.

This photo is coming to you courtesy of Flickr and a user there named gmnonic. My gratitude for its use.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Hard times in California (again)


I have a confession to make: like many others, I tend to live in my own little world and not keep up with so much of importance that's going on around me. I vacillate between thinking this is good for my mental health and feeling like a real loser for not have a broader picture of the world I live in.

Just before we left for this last trip, I saw a report on the national news about the drought in California and specifically, how hard it has hit the farmers of the central valley. This valley has, historically, provided a significant portion of the food we see in our stores. I knew that many acres of rich farmland have been sacrificed for housing developments, but somehow missed the news that things were so bad that many farmers aren't able to grow their crops. Featured on the program was a man who was, sadly, shoving 3-4 almond trees at a time in a high powered shredder because he had no water and his grove had died. The soil looked like the silty dust I've seen in photographs of the dust bowl during the depression (another topic). So what you ask? Well, this means you'll be eating more food grown in China and other great places, that's what.

Then, after leaving Winslow, we drove across the Hoover Dam. I know I posted a photograph of the dam last year and having just checked back, regretfully, it did not include a shot of the water line in Lake Mead. Here is one taken just last week. California, I learned afterward, is in its third year of drought, and is, at "critical", only one step below the worst possible state it can be in.

Again, I recalled Marc Reisner's accounting of how the water rights of the west were settled, "Cadillac Desert". While it was written in 1986, it is still relevant.

P.S. It doesn't look good for us here in Taos this winter, either. No new snow (to speak of) in weeks. Driving into town on Tuesday, the peaks have only a dirty dusting of white on the very tops. Everyone better buckle down, it's going to be a bumpy ride ahead.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Road work


We returned home on Tuesday evening with 2,000 miles, one new dog and two sweaters to show for part of our trip. The dog has gone to "boot camp" until we get her manners tuned up and she's ready to come home and be integrated into our small herd at home. The sweaters will be finished and mailed off to Afghans for Afghans for their current campaign...they are in need of sweaters, hats, mittens and blankets for children 7-14. I love knitting this neck down pattern...it's a great stash buster and there's no sewing when you're finished.

However...I seriously underestimated how much yarn to take with me, so after finishing the blue sweater, I found myself with this limited palette for the second: rust red/brown, Christmas green, and lime green. I think it could be the ugliest sweater ever, but Mr. Sunflower kept assuring me that someone will like it.

On a happier note...my new drum carder arrived while I was gone last week, so it will get set up on Saturday and I hope to be selling batts again on my Etsy shop sooner than later. Very cool!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

The battle of the bulge

If you know me, you know that I'm always either losing weight or (more likely) gaining weight. I wish I could say that at almost 60, I have some promise of getting a good handle on this...but evidence to the contrary exists.

I've decided to start a second blog to help me put a relief valve of some sort on my angst and hope, if you have a similar problem, you'll come along for the ride with me. It's listed on the side bar of this blog, under my Etsy shop.

Please be patient with me, I'm a work in progress.

Surf's up



Greetings from my other world. We've come for only two days, because we're adopting our grand dog and taking her home to Taos with us. She's a little over a year old (a Rottweiler, like our other two) and has been the apple of our (canine) eyes since we met her a year ago.

The sunset was incredible last night and I couldn't help but share the photos with you, taken from the house. The surf was glassy and huge, and the streets were parked for blocks because of all the surfers that were out. Last evening was one of only a handful that I can recall (in 24 years of owning this home) that I could hear the surf crashing instead of Interstate 5. What a nice lullaby it was.

Friday, January 8, 2010

All you need is LOVE




One of the satellite channels recently featured this documentary about the collaboration between the Beatles and the Cirque du Soleil that became the show LOVE. I sat, mesmerized, walked downstairs and announced we were getting tickets to go. For those of you who remember last year's posting, you will recall that Las Vegas is pretty much the last place on earth I would put myself on purpose.

So...we saw the show last night and I am here to report that if you love the Beatles, you must see this show if at all possible. I won't even try to explain it...it was a seamless experience from the sensory to the visual. (For the record: this is my first ever Las Vegas show, so I may have broken some ice here.)

There was an amazing gift shop, and this chopper, donated by the local dealership, was on display, as was this "violin" bass guitar, signed by the Fab Four. I will confess that the chopper meant a lot more to me than the guitar, but that's because of another part of my life I'll probably never share with you.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

More info on e-readers

The six or seven hours we spent driving to Winslow yesterday were a great time for me to pick Mr. Sunflower's brain about his current view on e-readers. AKA Mr. Pixel (a nickname Kay and I have given him for his history with the plasma panel) was full of all sorts of news about the possibility of what might be coming down the pike from Apple.

I've known he wasn't a fan of Kindle or the others on the market (Barnes & Noble, for one) and wondered why. Now I know a little more. Part of it is that the screens are only B/W on the current readers (color is important when you're into pixels). There was much more but I will confess here I was also knitting, so part of what he was saying didn't quite soak in.

He has given me the following information to share with you, should you be interested. The video link below is particularly interesting...depicting a "futuristic" look at how a student might use the "possible" Apple tablet for studying, instead of lugging pounds of books around.* While the tablet would be larger (more like the screen on your laptop now), it could be an interesting alternative and possibly more useful tool overall for someone other than the recreational reader.
I admit even this one has my interest, although I don't see one in my immediate future. I'm still into holding a book.

Dreaming Up Textbooks on an Apple Tablet
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/01/05/dreaming-up-textbooks-on-an-apple-tablet/

About CourseSmart:
http://www.coursesmart.com/aboutus

And for la piece de la resistance, check out their video:
http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/apple-tablet-as-imagined-by-book-publishers/6B8EF7D4-3F23-4827-9CCB-7403080F4E10

Now it's time to head down to the Turquoise Room for breakfast. Hmmm...baked eggs? Pancakes? Well...whatever happens in Winslow, stays in Winslow...so I may not share.

Anxious to hear what you all think of this stuff above.


*Jack Matthews offered that having one's books surrounding you on a table during a research project is something an e-reader will never be able to replace. Right on.

AFTER NOTE: I just looked at the published blog page and for some reason, Blogger or Firefox is not letting me hyperlink the first two references. I hope you'll take the time to paste them in your browser if you're interested.

ONE LAST FLASH FROM THE PRESS ROOM:

Just found this:

Does the Brain like e-Readers?

http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/14/does-the-brain-like-e-books/

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

To e, or not to e...that's my question


My friend Kay got a Kindle for Christmas this year. Kay is the person who taunted me with tales of Tivo for at least 2-3 years before I ever even understood what it really was. She got her iPhone a year before I did and gave me iPhone lust. I, in turn, convinced her to come over from the dark side and get a Mac. We laugh about being geeks with our love of these electronic tools in our life.

But Kindle???? I'm struggling with this one. I'm such a huge lover of books, I'm trying to figure out where my loyalties are. Mr. Sunflower has been on the periphery of paperless publishing for years and years, and I've not shared his enthusiasm for the concept. I feel crazy just reading off this computer screen for more than the time it takes me to do my business here each day. My favorite books (which I buy lots of) are those that have been in libraries or others' homes and have that well-loved feeling to them when I take them to bed at night. I am a child of Fahrenheit 451, and the daughter of a printer. I grew up around publishing...from melting the lead for the linotype machines to use to the huge presses that printed the final newspaper. I worked in the newspaper industry during the transition from hot type to cold. And now...plastic and an electronic screen???

Alas, the advantages are numerous, it would appear. I won't have to wait for books to arrive in the mail. It has a smaller carbon footprint, perhaps, because you're not using paper and the US mail service (although there are numbers I can't quote from memory about how much power it takes to keep all of us on line each day...this is no power-free ride) . I would no longer have to choose books instead of clothes when I pack for a trip. It might even keep me from being the woman found buried under her gazillion books one day.

BUT... can I cuddle up with a hunk of plastic each night?

Yours truly,

Conflicted in Taos

Friday, January 1, 2010

Peace


It is quiet here in the forest today. We don't watch games or parades, so the only sound to be heard (other than cats and dogs snoring) is the crackling of the turkey roasting in the oven. Mr. Sunflower is reading in his chair, and I plan to follow suit soon. I am reading a fabulous book about Kit Carson and the story of the settling of this part of the west: "Blood and Thunder" by Hampton Sides, if you are a student (or fan) of the southwest.

I took myself for a long walk this morning. I started by following the deer tracks that began just outside our house, and followed them several acres down. Mr. Sunflower found them happily munching on the dead sunflowers in the yard this morning around 5 a.m. Times must be tough...I have no recollection of them ever coming in to graze during winter. I feel so fortunate to be able to be part of their world, invited or not.