Today it is not -20C so I can't complain too much but this is where I currently live stay and work:
In one week, after the horror version of Planes, Trains and Automobiles has run its full 30-hours in reverse, I will be home to this:
The countdown is on!
I have three cameras on the go at any given time and I am continually downloading pictures so, here's the kicker, both of these pictures were on the same SD card which had only been in my camera for a week. Defines "World's Apart".
Our resident swan and her nine perfect babies.
Things like this totally amaze me. Incredible; the thought, planning and sweat that had to go into building something that will stand forever and, apparently... lead nowhere. See that mountain on the left? That's all we saw once we crossed it, too. No trails, no continued road no little stone house. I kept expecting some inconspicuous bush to blow aside in the wind to reveal a secret doorway to another world. Didn't happen.
Taryn-the-nineteen-year-old-girl billygoated up the mountain a little ways for a better vantage and the Boys saw a basketball. As they wistfully watched the basketball, their unicorn, bouncing in an eddy, all Werner-the-amazing-man had to say to Liam-the-fifteen-year-old-boy was, "Too bad we can't have that, hey?"
Three seconds later:
As it turns out, that large rock that Liam was hanging onto in this picture was not as well-earthed as it appears. I stopped breathing while I watched that rock and a truckload of dirt and debris come down on him and only started breathing when I heard him laughing; little shit. Boys are a pain in the ass.
I had some really great pictures but subsequently lost my camera so, these photos are from Werner's camera. They are good pictures but he obviously didn't want any photographic evidence of the ensuing disaster; destruction of wildlife, trespassing, breaking my son's leg because of a dare, so many things.
Anyway, no worse for wear.
Success!
In the Babe Ruth Regional Tournament, each baseball team was only required to play one game per day whereas most tournaments see them play between two and three times each day. When I was first made aware of the schedule, I thought of two things; first, what the hell were we going to do with a bunch of highly energetic teenaged boys for the rest of the time and, secondly, this was going to cost me a shit-load of money.
Thankfully, I was wrong. Most of the area tourist attractions are really inexpensive and totally rudimentary.
There were the waterfalls for which the town was named after. They are subtitled Niagara of the West and, like the Niagara Falls, they are prodigious and infinite and a wonder to see but, unlike Niagara Falls, there is no fanfare associated with them. The cost to get to a viewing post was $3 per car load and there was one small souvenir / refreshment booth. There were trails up and down the canyon and personal residences along the cliff.
I felt as though I had inadvertently stumbled upon them.
These waterfalls held the boys' collective attention for almost twenty minutes. A true feat. Included in the thee dollar admission was access to a small lake with low cliffs, lifeguards, floating docks and and dozens of Sunfish that would pull bread out of the boys' hands. And, so went the rest of that day.
The following day, we set off for the highly publicized Shoshone Ice Cave. The price of admission included a guided tour given by a lifer area resident. She, of course, was knowledgeable about the cave itself but she also shared the history and pop culture of the region. First ice cold beer in the west available all year thanks to the seemingly endless supply of ice.
The Ice Cave is actually a one thousand foot long lava tube created by one of the area dormant volcanoes. Only the perfect combination of conditions can cause of one these lava tubes to create ice: east to west direction and low pressure wind flow at the appropriate velocity to allow for the desert air to be cooled enough by the porous lava rocks to be able to freeze the underground water flow. The temperature difference between the desert above and the inside of the cave is around 40 degrees Celsius in the summer.
Good education.
Then, in sharp contrast, on the way back to town, a few of us decided to stop at another cave. The hand-made sign on the highway pointed down a single lane gravel road towards a Mammoth Cave and Museum; from the highway, we could see nothing.
The road ended on a claimed piece of desert that was strewn with seemingly unplanned buildings, reclaimed skeletons of carriages and cattle, live pigs and peacocks, character faces carved into stones and a large round building built from various densities of lava rock. There was one other car in the small parking lot and a mid-70's model monster truck parked by what I assumed to be the caretaker's residence.
The first thing that the six of us faced when entering the large circular building was a crocodile that had to have been over twenty feet long (stuffed, not an imminent threat). Not exactly what I was expecting to see at a cave in the middle of the desert. The young man seated behind the manual cash register and propane lanterns told us that his Dad is a hunter and taxidermist and the price of admission ($4 - $7 each) included a tour of the Museum and the loan of a lantern for the "cave out back".
The Museum was, in reality, a mausoleum. There were thousands of dead and stuffed things, skeletal remains, fossils and pelts. Creatures from every medium and every place on earth were posed as if, at any moment, the spell would be broken and they would go on with their day. In defence of the hunter-killer guy who stuffed all of these, many specimens were brought to him following the animal's unfortunate, but unplanned, demise.
It still looked like something that could set the ominous atmosphere for many horror movies.
As most know, Liam-the-thirteen-year-old-boy has an irrational fear of certain animals like turkeys and anything in the water that has teeth. He was touring with two other thirteen year old boys so he certainly couldn't start screaming like a girl but he was more than willing to point out the obvious ferocity of the wild turkey with a certain satisfaction.
While touring ahead, I could hear his voice echoing along the walls from the water creature section, "Oh, great! Now I can't go swimming in the Philippines either."
Then, the main event; the Mammoth Cave.
The six of us took three propane lanterns and started towards the entrance to the cave. No tour guide, no map, no electrical. I asked our host if he would come looking for us if we didn't return within a couple of hours.
He didn't even look up from his comic book, "Nope."
I would have thought that the lanterns were at least worth something to him.
I thought this sign at the entrance was a joke but in the 1960's during the Cold War, the US government approached the owner to ask permission to use this cave to house local citizens in the event that the local B-52 base was targeted. For the next twenty years, the Mammoth Cave held enough supplies to feed 8000 people for an undisclosed period of time.
Recipe for good entertainment:
1. Look at a bunch of dead things.
2. Notice the random shot gun casing outside the cave.
3. Read the sign.
4. Have your super-mature parents take away your lanterns mid-cave.
5. Keep up the air of nonchalance since you are hanging with your friends and, once again, can't scream like a girl.
Good Times.
"The Birds are back."
"Pardon." I said to the strange, dog-walking lady.
She pointed ominously up into the skeletal trees and said simply, "Look."
With a sense of dread and foreboding, I slowly turned and looked in the direction she was pointing.
In the City of Vancouver, there is a cluster of eight trees or so that serve as a seasonal home to hundreds of Great Blue Herons.
Stanley Park is the oldest urban forest and park area in Vancouver. Many great photo-ops, like this beautiful swan, along the walk.
Seriously, I don't know what it is. I'm waiting to hear back from Cornell University. I'm sure I'm really high on their priority list.
"Hi, this is Kim.... there's this bird in my tree...." Went well.
Vancouver in December.
After having three Vancouver flights canceled due to inclement weather, it was very cool to see this in the rear view mirror.