“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Hummingbird Movies
I’ve posted a number of slow-motion hummingbird movies here. They were taken at our cabin in Colorado in June, 2008.
Posted under: Cabin News • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 10/11/2009 at 01:32 PM
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Monday, September 21, 2009
Trip Summary
We drove 1851 miles going to the cabin, 1846 miles coming back. Not sure where the 5 other miles went. (I might have slept through them.)
Our average speed going out was 59.4 mph, and we made it in 31.16 hours of “drive time”. That includes the time we spent getting gas, lunch, and walking the dogs every few hours. It took us 30.46 hours to get back for an average speed of 60.6 mph.
It cost us 14.5 cents per mile going (for gas), and 15 cents per mile coming home. Since the return trip is “downhill”, I’d have thought we’d be more economical on the return. Oh well.
And, to think that Lynne accuses me of being overly analytical.
Posted under: Cabin News • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/21/2009 at 01:42 PM
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Tuesday, September 08, 2009
TV and Staying in Touch
Up till a few years ago, when at the cabin we were totally out of touch with what was happening in the “real world”. I think we’ve both posted in the past about our 9/11 experience—not knowing about it for a while because we had no radio, no TV, no phones. Well, now we have satellite Internet and satellite TV, although we have not watched much TV.
Tonight I turned on the news to see what is going on and learned about the “controversy” about the President of the United States speaking to the children of our country about responsibility and the importance of an education. Controversy? Oh my god—who are these stoopid people who are so partisan, so right-of-right, that they would deny the children of this country the opportunity to be inspired by the most inspiring President since JFK? Inspired to take responsibility for their future? Inspired to stay in school and pursue an education?
I can’t say how ashamed and angry I am. Ashamed to be in a country with such shallowness. Angry about what the past few years of partisanship and right-wing driven politics has done to us. I think we have completely lost our values as a country when we can’t show respect for the President (okay, I bashed Bush, but there are limits), and actually be enthusiastic about a charismatic and inspiring President to motivate and challenge the youth of our country.
Chili and cheese biscuits for dinner. That should help!
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/08/2009 at 05:37 PM
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Sunday, September 06, 2009
Sunday Night
Tonight we had a skillet lasagna recipe. It is a favorite of Lynne’s sister. It is an easy, one-skillet recipe that was pretty good. We’ll note it in our recipe collection as “quick and easy” and good for the “cabin”.
After dinner we took the dogs for a walk to the “bottom” (of the hill along the road). It is their late evening ritual. It started sprinkling on us as we walked back. And, by the time we got back and did the dishes it had turned into a nice shower. It rained for 15 minutes or so, cooling the air off significantly—enough to motivate a fire in the stove—and, the smell was wonderful.
We lit an oil lamp and sat on the porch, eating a lemon bar and sipping limoncello. It was so quiet. Lynne says it is so quiet “it hurts”. I agree. The silence is so profound that I can hear what is going on in my head—a subtle ringing and the pounding of blood through my veins. We did hear some coyotes sing for a while, and the great horned owl did a few minutes of his “hoo hoo” song. There were occasional drips of rain from the roof. (One airliner flew overhead.)
All in all, a very nice evening. It is now time for “final pees” for the dogs and then off to bed; read; and sleep.
Posted under: Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 09/06/2009 at 08:42 PM
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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
One Week and Counting
One week from today we leave on our 3-week vacation to our remote cabin in Colorado. There is so much to be done!
We will leave NJ on Wednesday morning, as early as possible and drive with 3 dogs and 2 cats as far as the Mississippi. That is our strategy—MIssissippi, Missouri, then Cabin! Our goal each day is to make a major river—with the last one being Bart’s Creek on our land. The cabin is about 20-odd miles directly south of Laramie, Wyoming, but in Colorado. No electricity, no post-office, no phone service, just a log cabin in the woods, 3 dogs and 2 cats—assuming we all make it across the two major rivers.
We’ve been working on “security” given some surprising discoveries about how our house and property is used in our absence. So, the web cams are running, the alarm system is tested. House sitters are lined up, the pool guy will be here every day to add toxic chemicals to the water, and the police will be doing a “house check”, assuming we get the forms back to them soon. Should keep all but the most tenacious or most stupid away from the house.
But, there is so much more to do! We need to work on our first week’s meal plan because as we drive through Laramie on our way to the cabin (the 3rd day on the road), we’ll stop in Safeway and stock up on food (and wine) for a week. So, we are negotiating meal plans, picking recipes and creating detailed shopping lists. You do not want to end up at the cabin and not have a key ingredient because it is a minimum 40 minute drive to the first 7-11.
The dogs are getting groomed so they don’t smell too bad in the truck on the way there. And, to minimize the dog hair. We just know that Bella will come into season on the day we leave and be in season the entire trip. Oh well, we’ve done it before, we can do it again.
I need to wash the truck. I like to start the trip with a clean truck. We’ll do an oil change in Laramie. It is about 1700 miles and very uncomplicated. Just drive about 10 mile south to I80, then about 1670 miles West to Laramie, then 20 miles South to “home”.
We have our favorite motels along the way—the ones that will take a dog. LIttle do they know that we don’t really walk our dog 3 times each evening and that each walk is a different dog! The cats like to sit in the window and watch the other people walk their dogs too.
I hope to post each day along the way and maybe even while we are there. Yes, we are “off the grid’ but thanks to solar panels, inverters, satellite dishes, and laptop computers, we’ll try to stay in touch.
After all, we need to check out the web cams often and watch the time-lapse movies of the pool activity, and ...
Posted under: Cabin News • Dog Stuff • Cat Stuff • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 08/26/2009 at 06:57 PM
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