"The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object."---Thomas Jefferson
Getting ready to do some last minute stuff for Christmas.
Spent part of yesterday morning getting my last series of spinal shots (L3, L4, L5), then spent the second part of the day sort of fuzzy from the sedative they gave me. Right now I'm a bit fuzzy from lack of sleep (my insomnia is still working); my back is a bit stiff, and my left leg is a bit weak, but almost all the pain is gone for now.
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No complaints or raving today. I'd like to wish a happy holiday weekend for anyone who drops by, regardless of your personal beliefs. I'm not religious myself, but I have no problem wishing people a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you believe in. The important thing is that there should be a time when people can all put aside their complaints against one another and just show some good will to others. After all, we're all related if you go back far enough.
It's been several weeks since I posted, and I don't really have a good reason, because I do enjoy writing and ranting. I haven't really been feeling up to snuff since the cold weather started (getting up in the morning when it's 16ยบ F outside tends to be discouraging), and haven't been doing my usual photographing. I usually get some inspiration from the internet, but every time I look at the news, I get overwhelmed by the huge avalanche of WTF? that cascades onto the screen. I'm already sick of the presidential campaigns, and we still have almost a year left to go; either we will have the narcissist socialist that is there now, or one of two RINO dumbasses for president. I have a feeling the country is doomed no matter which one of the Three Stooges wins.
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My friend Meleah has lost her grandfather. From reading about him in her posts, he seems to have been quite a character, and someone I think I would have liked. She and her family have my deepest sympathies.
That's one of the (many) problems with getting older, the people you care about the most start disappearing, and leaving you with nothing but photos and memories. Make the most of the people you love now, otherwise you'll regret it later.
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Still no news about why the killer in Belgium attacked all those people. I'm getting the feeling he may have a lone nut case, but usually they give some sort of idea of an agenda. This guy just gathered up a bunch of weapons (all illegally, by the way) and started attacking people without warning.
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Any favorites or comments on this bunch? Some of them may seem a little dark, but sometimes I get in a melancholy (not depressed) mood, and my music choices can reflect it. Bear with me, please.
"I Wanna Go Back" by Eddie Money
"The Thrill Is Gone" by B. B. King
"For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield
"Someday Never Comes" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Just a Pilgrim" by Jim Byrnes
"Whispering Pines" by Johnny Horton
"The Actor" by The Moody Blues
"I Am A Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Have a Nice Day" by Bon Jovi
"One of the Living" by Tina Turner
One of my favorites by Jim Byrnes, actor, songwriter, and blues singer.
This road to the harbor is all that I know I'm here at the crossroads, which way do I go? I've been lost, sometimes found Down this road, that's where I'm bound With all of the others, we all travel alone
I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road Yes, Lord, I'm a pilgrim on the side of the road
This road to the harbor is paved with our tears I've been out here walking for what seem like long years I wonder, how can this be, that they all feel like me? All of these others, though we travel alone
I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road Yeah, Lord, I'm a pilgrim on the side of the road
Please don't let me find that I've been left behind Hope I will reach the end before dark night closes in
This road to the harbor out here under the sun I'm tired, Lord, I am weary, my race halfway run But I must, I will soldier on, even when hope is all gone All of the others, we have to travel alone
I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road Yeah, Lord, I'm a pilgrim standing at the side of the road Yeah, sometime I, sometime I, sometime I need help on my journey I'm just a pilgrim on the side of the road
We had a snowfall a few days ago, but it melted away within a couple of hours. Didn't really affect much other than the tomatoes and zucchini plant; they are down for this year.
The flowers are still doing fine, even though it has been freezing every night. As of yesterday, it hasn't been too bad; these are some pictures I took in my yard.
Nasturtiums
Chrysanthemums
Wild Geraniums
This morning that all changed. What is especially bad is that none of the leaves have dropped yet.
I get quite amused by all these protestors with their Guy Fawkes masks; do any of those people have a clue who he was, other than a mask in the movie Vendetta? Fawkes committed treason against the British government to replace an Anglican king with a Catholic queen; he really didn't give a shit about the British subjects, their rights, or anything like that. So why is he treated like an icon of freedom?
It makes about as much sense as all the brainless halfwits who run around with Che Guevara on their t-shirts, and treat him like some kind of freedom fighter. The man was a ruthless cold-blooded killer, who only cared about people as tools to use in supplanting one type of dictatorship with another. He helped set up a government that was just as vicious as the one that he and Castro kicked out.
One of my favorite commentators has passed away. I always considered him the best of the bunch on 60 Minutes; you're welcome to your opinion, but I found him very entertaining.
A few days ago one of my favorite bloggers left this world. In between stuff with his job (he was a medical examiner) he had interesting posts on shooting and life in general. I didn't know him personally in the real world, but enjoyed reading his blog, and will miss him.
For a better look at his personality and character, Breda has a good post.
There must be at least one favorite in this bunch. Any comments?
"Abraham, Martin, and John" by Dion
"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
"La Grange" by ZZ Top
"Evil Woman" by Electric Light Orchestra
"Salt Lake City" by The Beach Boys
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"See Me, Feel Me" by The Who
"Break On Through" by The Doors
"Do You Believe In Magic" by The Lovin' Spoonful
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything. At the time of my last post, I was doing quite poorly; my back was a constant throbbing and cramping that kept me from doing much. Even walking forty or fifty feet required me to sit or lean against something to get some relief.
Back on the 13th I had an appointment with a pain-management specialist, and have gotten some relief. I was given some steroid injections in some of the L vertebrae, and in the S-1 vertebra, along with some Lidocane. The Lidocane helped somewhat with the immediate pain, but I was somewhat dizzy afterwards and had to be driven home. Over the past few days the intensity of the pain has lowered considerably, even after the Lidocane wore off. The pain is still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was, and seems to be abating still. I still have a lot of stiffness in my back from my waist to my shoulderblades, but I am able to ignore it in most cases. For about a week after the treatment, I had sort of a low level buzz going on, just enough to keep me from sleeping well, but not enough to make me feel active. I'll be getting some more treatments next month, and hopefully will improve even further. Now that I have a little more mobility, I hope to get out and do more photography, and maybe get more sleep. Lack of sleep tends to make me feel fuzzy, and I have a hard time posting when I am feeling burnt out. I am able to walk more, and have started doing some light work with weights.
Thanks for having patience with me and showing up here.
Qadhdhafi is finally gone; I doubt if anyone will miss him much. I just hope we don't get mixed up in that mess in Libya; from the sound of it, the new government will probably be just as bad, if not worse. They are planning to run it according to Sharia law, which is about as backwards and barbaric as they come.
The OWS protests are reminding me of the ones I used to see in the sixties; probably the same sort of people. There were some idealists out there back then, but most of them didn't have a clue what they were talking about. The rest of them were basically out for free stuff, and getting stoned and laid.
I've been seeing some ugly stuff happening at these OWS happenings, and I think it's going to get worse before this is over.
Any favorites in this bunch? A lot of older ones in there.
"Something's Gotta Give" by Christian Kane
"Ribbon of Darkness" by Marty Robbins
"Chelsea Morning" by Judy Collins
"Just for Love" by Quicksilver Messenger Service
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"Mr. Bad Example" by Warren Zevon
"Yesterday's Gone" by Chad and Jeremy
"Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring
"Solitary Man" by Neil Diamond
"Squeeze Box" by The Who
Monday, October 10, 2011
Starting to get some fall weather around here. We haven't had any frost yet, but we did get some snow and sleet last week, though none of it stuck at our elevation.
Thursday, I had this view of the Oquirrh Mountains to the west of my mailbox:
My vegetable garden is still ok, so the temperatures are still well above freezing at night, but we've been getting a lot of rain, wind, and cool weather.
A few days ago I received a box of .45ACP ammo (PMC 230 grain bronze hardball) from an internet ammo company called Ammo.net to try out. Their prices are relatively inexpensive compared to a lot of other companies, especially for good name brands, so I will be adding a link on my sidebar if anyone would like to check on their goods and prices.
NBA lockout still on. You know, I can think of a lot of things more important than a bunch of guys getting paid enormous amounts of money to play games.
Yawn...
"You're the One" by The Vogues
"Eye in the Sky" by The Alan Parsons Project
"I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles
"Run to You" by Bryan Adams
"Midnight Rider" by The Allman Brothers
"Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs
"I'm Alive" by Spooky Tooth
"Down In Mexico" by The Coasters
"Someday Never Comes" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"The Midnight Special" by Johnny Rivers
It would appear that the Gunwalker program of the ATF is looking worse all the time. The Federal government has been maintaining that it was merely a sting operation that has suffered miscommunication. Now we find out that not only was the ATF knowingly selling to illegal buyers, but they were actually buying firearms illegally themselves, and delivering them to the Mexican cartels. That is not a sting operation; it is the deliberate arming of criminals, and the only explanation I can see is to give credence to their complaints that the cartels were arming themselves from American dealers, all so that they could whine for more gun laws and more funds.
Sort of like an unethical fireman starting fires so he could get more work and a raise. And these sales were under the aegis of the Department of Justice, though they claim they didn't know about it. The ATF would have had to inform the FBI for the NICS checks, so the DoJ would seem to be lying. The information was also being relayed to the White House, so when the POTUS says he had no knowledge, I don't believe it. Most of the information media has been completely ignoring the situation, with the exception of the NY Times and the Washington Post, who have both been trying to make excuses, so we know who's pulling their strings.
It's a sad day when the federal government is working with foreign criminal gangs for the purpose of curtailing civil liberties of American citizens.
The last time I posted I mentioned that I had received a copy of a book for a review; the book was Glock: The Rise of the American Gun, by Paul Barrett.
I found the book quite fascinating. In it, Paul tells the story of Gaston Glock, from his humble beginnings repairing car radiators and making cast items such as curtain rods, to becoming a multimillionaire. I can't say that Glock comes off well; he changed along the way, and not for the better. A quite common story of someone with humble beginnings catapulted into wealth and power, and losing part of themselves in the process.
Alongside his story, we are shown how the Glock pistol spread ripples into modern culture, including politics, movies, TV, law enforcement, and music. Something that I found interesting was that the more anti-gun groups attacked him, the more successful he became; he had people working for him who were smart, knew how to spin things successfully, and used their own attacks against them. He also had amazing luck; things would happen at just the right time and to just the right people for him to use to his own advantage.
We are told the story mainly through the people who were involved; his sales people, legal people, and those from other parts of society; the other firearm companies, politicians, police, and more. If I were making a documentary of the book, I could advertise that it would feature "politics, intrigue, treachery, sex, violence, and courtroom drama!".
For the most part the book is quite objective; the author does believe in some gun laws that I do not, but reserves those for the last part of the last chapter of the book, and doesn't let them affect his telling of the story. He actually corrects a lot of misconceptions that people have about firearms and gun violence statistics, including a lot of false facts spread by the anti-gun groups, so I feel that he is doing his best to tell the story in an unbiased manner.
Whether you are a firearm owner or not, pro-gun or anti-gun, I can recommend it to anyone interested in modern culture and its influences.
If anyone is curious about the type of people who go to a Gunblogger Rendezvous, Sam has put together a slide show just under five minutes long of some of us who attended. If anyone is interested, I'm the fat guy with the shaved head and photographer's vest at 2:41. SandyG (my wife) is holding a Cabela's hat at 3:47.
Back again.
Had a meeting with the doctor about my x-rays and MRI scan to see if they could do anything about my back problems.
As I was already aware, I have several disks in the lumbar area that are somewhat displaced and are also arthritic; these are what is causing my spasms and bouts with sciatica.
The doctor also was curious when I had fractured my spine.
"!!!!?????????"
Evidently I have fractured one of the higher vertebrae at some time, but luckily it healed without adding to my problem. I have a feeling that it may have happened when I injured my shoulder, and the pain may have been masked by the pain I already have in my back.
They have decided to try a treatment that has done fairly well in the past in which they do some injections into the bad area, and then do it again a month later. This has been successful in most cases like mine, though on occasion a third set of injections has been necessary. Hopefully it will work, otherwise I may be looking a a surgical approach, which I would rather not do, unless absolutely necessary. I am currently waiting for them to schedule the treatments.
During the Gunblogger Meet a few days ago, one of the people we met there was author,journalist, and editor Paul Barrett, who has written a soon-to-be-published book entitled Glock: The Rise of the American Gun. I sat across from him at dinner the first night, and talked with him later that evening and the next day about such things as gun control, gun rights, violent crime, and similar topics. He told us about his book, and offered to send interested bloggers galley copies if they would read it and give it a fair and critical review. I got my copy today, and will be reading it over the next few days. According to the author, the book is about the invention and marketing of the firearm,and examines its impact on modern literature, media, and our culture in general. I think this shall be some interesting reading, and I would like to thank him for this opportunity.
A meme going around the gun blogs, started by Og, is to show which knife you carry normally.
The bottom one is always clipped to my pocket, it is a S & W SWAT with 3.75" blade. I like it because it is one of the few folders that fits my hand and feels comfortable.
The Swiss Army knife and the Leatherman Wave are usually in my vest pocket, but sometimes I carry the Leatherman on my belt.
"God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
"You're the One" by The Vogues
"Immigrant Song" by Led Zeppelin
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"On the Road Again" by Bob Seger
"Back Where You Belong" by 38 Special
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Bob Dylan
"The Old Man Down the Road" by John Fogerty
"Right Down the Line" by Gerry Rafferty
"Come As You Are" by Mindy Abair
Got back from the Gunblogger's Rendezvous late Sunday night/Monday morning. Still getting stuff put away, but wanted to start this post, even if I don't finish for a bit.
The post below is not all that we did, it is only hitting the highlights. We were actually doing more than it appears.
A pretty good time was had by all. We got there Thursday afternoon, and met up with the rest of the group at Cabela's, who was kind enough to give us a tour and a $20 certificate. We got together afterwards, and listened to some speakers, saw some new equipment and goods displayed and explained by manufacturers, and went to dinner. Afterwards we got together again and mainly visited until the wee hours of the morning.
Friday after breakfast we spent several hours at the range. Since there was quite a variety of firearms there, a lot of time was spent shooting one another's ordinance, and getting familiar with different types. For example, Rick of Traction Control had a nice little full-auto Uzi with a silencer that was a hoot. My wife got to shoot a Ruger 45 Long Colt, got to fire a Glock for the first time, and had an especially good time shooting Skip's .308; she had never shot a center-fire rifle or used a scope, and she quite enjoyed doing some precision long-range target practice with a firearm suited for game hunting and military shooting. An amazing person to watch was Molly, a young lady in her teens who can shoot better than most grown men I've seen; she was a joy to watch. My shoulder was acting like it belonged to someone else, so as I had thought, I couldn't shoot worth a damn. I am basically having to learn all over again from scratch with my shoulder in its present configuration.
Pic 1: Rick with his Uzi
Pic 2: My wife doing her sniper shooting
Pic 3: Molly
More time that night listening to people who are helping to keep the Second Amendment alive in this country, and more milling and such until late.
Saturday after breakfast was steel shooting, but I was hit with sciatica bad, so wasn't able to go. Felt a little better after lying down, so we played tourist and went out to lunch and to the National Automobile Museum in Reno. I have uploaded a few pictures to my Flickr account; you can go to it from the sidebar if you would like to see them.
We had raffles and drawings for some firearms and a lot of sporting equipment that night. Visited until late.
Left after breakfast on Sunday. There was a cowboy shooting contest for those who desired to attend, but we had to start on our way home.
One of the reasons the GBR takes place (other than like-minded people getting together and having fun) is to raise money for the Project Valour-IT program to help some of our wounded soldiers. We managed to raise a fair amount ourselves, and some of our sponsors added to this also.
This was my first visit to the GBR, and I must say it was awesome to find how friendly and helpful everyone was, and how much they went out of their way to make my wife and me feel welcome and have a good time. I hope we can make it again next year, if possible.
Pic 1 and 2: Couple of candid shots of us milling about.
Pic 3: Caleb displaying his awesome hat-wearing skills. He is a top competition shooter, and was in the first season of Top Shots, if you are familiar with the show.
Pic 4: The person standing is Alan Gura, whose name you may know if you are familiar with the famous Heller decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment was an individual right, rather than a collective right.
Should be something of interest to someone in here; I was in sort of a disjointed mood for music here.
"Rocky Top" by Chet Atkins
"Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
"Alone" by Heart
"England Swings" by Roger Miller
"Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
"Hellhound on My Trail" by Robert Johnson
"Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert
"I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After
"Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Next week my wife and I are going to Reno for the Gun Blogger Rendezvous; getting together with other bloggers in the western US for some visiting, range time, and whatever we feel like. Should help get rid of some of the cabin fever bothering us at this time. I haven't been to Reno in years, and then it was passing through at about midnight, so I'll be interesting in seeing the sights, and meeting some of the bloggers I've read over the internet for several years now.
Don't know how well I'll do at shooting; I haven't been able to work a firearm for over a year now because of my shoulder, so it should be interesting to see if I can hit a target, or end up seeing Maggie's Drawers a lot.
I got almost a full night's sleep last night; feel like my IQ went up several points.
Went in for an MRI on my back yesterday (had an X-ray last week); the doctor is supposed to look them over and get back to me on whether there is anything they can do for my sciatica and spasms; I'm trying to stay hopeful that they can help without any major surgery.
Looks like the revolt in Libya may be winding up soon; it all depends on when they can dig out Qadaffi from where he's holed up. Then will come the fight to see which faction/tribe will run the country; at that time we may see a bloody civil war take place, depending on what the military does. I just hope the POTUS doesn't get us involved in that part; what those barbarians do over there is their own business, not ours.
Some oldies; some of you out there might even remember a couple of them.
"Substitute" by The Who
"If You Don't Like Hank Williams" by Kris Kristofferson
"Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot
"Baby, Won't You Come Out Tonight" by Buddy Holly
"Mechanical World" by Spirit
"Go Your Own Way" by Fleetwood Mac
"I Am A Rock" by Simon & Garfunkel
"Diggy Diggy Lo" by Doug Kershaw
"Runnin' Blue" by The Doors
"Can't You See" by The Marshall Tucker Band
I hoping to get back to here sooner, but didn't make it.
Went to the art festival, but had to take my cane with me. The fair is on main street and is about a quarter mile long, and uphill. The worst part for me was the trip downhill; had to stop at times and lean on my cane when spasms hit. After getting home they got worse, and I ended up fighting them for several days. Haven't had any in the last couple of days, but my sciatica is keeping me awake a lot, and makes it difficult to focus sometimes.
Looks like the police were lucky and found out about a teen who was building a bomb to set off in his high school from which he had been expelled.
Looks like he was a stoner with a lukewarm IQ; why am I not surprised?
Supposedly the POTUS has a plan for the economy. Of course, he can't reveal it until he is done campaigning and has taken a vacation (he takes more vacations than anyone I've ever heard of).
I don't have much faith in him coming up with anything that will work. Time and again he has shown that both he and his advisers have no knowledge of economics or business; I can only imagine what sort of bullshit that bunch will try to pass off as a recovery plan.
Tomorrow (Aug 18) is my 38th wedding anniversary; it was the best thing that ever happened to me, and the smartest thing I've ever done. I'm just lucky that I married the amazing woman that is my wife, Sandy.
Damn, but the time really flies.
In an oldies mood; seems to make me feel better when I'm feeling down.
"Forever in Blue Jeans" by Neil Diamond
"You're No Good" by Linda Ronstadt
"Saturday in the Park" by Chicago
"Tequila" by The Champs
"If Not for You" by Bob Dylan
"Bottle of Wine" by The Fireballs
"Woman, Woman" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"My Little Red Book" by Arthur Lee
"Look Into the Sun" by Jethro Tull
It's been a few weeks since posting; still not getting any better at it, I'm afraid. The last couple of weeks we have had intermittent rain, and as a consequence I have been laid up with constant sciatica and muscle spasms. Makes for poor sleeping, and when I do get any energy it is put into housework and yardwork during the brief times when the pain abates.
I had some major yardwork done a few days ago; two of my trees in front needed pruned badly, and I also had a large pine removed from the front yard.
Looks like the economy is still circling the drain; between the idiots in the Whitehouse, and the ones in Congress and the Senate, I think we are in for a rough time in the next few years.
Time for the yearly trip to the arts festival; we like going up in the late morning, and have lunch at Wasatch Brewery; they have good brew and great beer-battered fish and chips.
I'll probably have to take my cane (have used one at times for several years now) and walk slow, but I enjoy getting up there anyway.
About time to go pick a few tomatoes and then spend some time with a heating pad on my back. Hope to get back sooner with my next post.
"You Ain't So Tough" by Heart
"Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto
"Run Through the Jungle" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
"Dark Night" by The Blasters
"Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol
"Sultans of Swing" by Dire Straits
"Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody
"Soapstone Mountain" by It's A Beautiful Day
"Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer
"Foxy Lady" by Jimi Hendrix
My wife and I spent some time Saturday up in the Uinta Mountains, about an hour and a half from Salt Lake.
It was still early spring/late winter in the higher elevations, and quite a bit of snow there. The Bear River and the Provo were both raging fairly well due to the high runoff at this time. It was a pretty good day, all in all.
Picture 1: alpine flowers starting to bloom.
Picture 2: Mirror Lake
Picture 3: the trail around the lake (some of the drifts were 3 feet deep)
Picture 4: upper falls of the Provo River
Now for the bad times.
We were driving out to my mom's place to visit her, and never made it out there.
As we were heading out of the valley, along the Great Salt Lake, we ran into a downpour of rain. I slowed down considerably, since the road can be slippery (the speed limit is 75mph, I was doing 50mph). Up ahead I could see people slowing down and stopping (there were a couple of accidents up there), so I let off the gas, and tapped my brakes to slow down as I was approaching them. Nothing happened; I had hit a sheet of water and lost all traction. My my brakes had no effect, and I was unable to steer, so I just sailed into the back of a small car.
The other driver was unhurt, I was uninjured, but my wife (being much smaller than me) was bruised across the sternum and waist when the seat belt kept her from going into the dash and windshield.
Some days you wish you had stayed in bed.
"It's Only Make Believe" by Conway Twitty
"Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon
"If I Were a Carpenter" by Bobby Darin
"Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine" by Country Joe and the Fish
"My Back Pages" by The Byrds
"You Ain't Going Nowhere" by Bob Dylan
"The Warrior" by Patty Smyth
"Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benatar
"Waltzing Matilda" by Slim Dusty
"Wanted Man" by George Thorogood
Summer has finally hit. We went from cool temperatures to 99°F (or just over 37°for you of the metric persuasion) in a matter of days. Some of the flora is confused however; the yucca plants in the neighborhood are just barely opening their flowers, which is something they usually do in early June.
We went for a drive in the mountains Saturday; American Fork Canyon and over to Provo Canyon. We wanted to go there on Memorial Day, but the road was still closed due to snow and washed out roads. What we noticed was that all the streams were roaring white water, and many were trying to overflow the banks.
Picture 1: this is normally a tiny seep next to the road. It had washed out a section of road and had to be diverted into a culvert under the road. Instead of a few inches across, it is now about four foot across, and flowing fast.
Picture 2: a lake up at Granite Flats; the people were having good luck pulling out some fair-sized rainbow trout.
Picture 3: typical looking area; there are humongous boulders scattered about in some of the forest areas left over from the Ice Age.
For those who liked the Moab photos, here are a few more. .
Picture 1: a lone butte from Island in the Sky
Picture 2: a jeep road, looking down from the Sixshooter Viewpoint
Picture 3: looking down from Island in the Sky; if you look close you can see roads all around down there
"Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean
"Your Cheatin' Heart" by Hank Williams
"Light My Fire" (long version) by The Doors
"Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream
"Good Vibrations" by The Beach Boys
"The House of the Rising Son" by Eric Burdon and the Animals
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"Summer Nights" by The Marianne Faithful
"She's Not There" by The Zombies
"Beg, Borrow and Steal" by The Ohio Express
I was hoping to get back here earlier, but I've been busy. Between putting in a vegetable garden, fighting weeds, and cutting down a small tree, I haven't had a chance to put together something really coherent.
Thought you might like to see some of the photos that my wife took down in southern Utah.
Picture 1: a good reason not to stray far off the roads
Picture 2: view of potash ponds; they are used to extract chemicals from the desert
Picture 3: one of the local inhabitants
Picture 4: sunflower with a small visitor
For those who have heard of the Gunwalker hearings (the media hasn't given them near as much air time as it should), this is probably one of the best summaries out there.
Deliberately selling guns to known smugglers and cartels in a foreign country is not police work, it is criminal behavior, and the people running it should be prosecuted as such.
I've been in the mood for almost all oldies, I don't know how many of these anyone will remember.
"I Saw Her Again" by The Mamas and the Papas
"Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash
"Coming Into Los Angeles" by Arlo Guthrie
"Secret Agent Man" by Johnny Rivers
"One" by Three Dog Night
"As Time Goes By" by Rosemary Clooney
"Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix
"How Can I Be Sure" by The Young Rascals
"98.6" by Keith
"Hang On Sloopy" by The McCoys
Well, actually I wasn't sailing or hunting, but I did get home.
We came home Monday afternoon, but I've been so busy catching up on stuff around the yard I haven't had much of a chance to post until now. It was cool and raining here in Salt Lake, so the grass and weeds grew into a jungle. I've also been tilling and planting a vegetable garden, so I've been fairly busy.
We took our time going to Moab; it is only about a four hour drive, so we did some stops on the way.
One of stops we made was the Natural History Museum in Price, Utah.
As usual, click on the pictures if you want to see the full-size version. These are only a small portion of the pictures, I may post some more later.
Not far from the town they have been pulling out some mammoth skeletons, such as this guy.
They also had a few dinosaur skeletons, allosaurus, stegasaurus, triceratops, and a few others.
We spent quite a bit of time south of Moab; our first stop was a small museum in Blanding that was built next to a small Anasazi village. The Anasazi were the ancestors of the modern Pueblo people; their culture collapsed during the time of the 13th and 14th centuries BC. The name Anasazi means "the ancient enemy" in the Navajo language. The ancestors of the Navajo and Apache peoples raided the Anasazi, hence the name.
Some ruins.
Some of the pottery recovered from the ruins.
We next went on to Hovenweep, another Anasazi settlement.
Hovenweep is in a small valley, and has towers along the edge. I took pictures of some of the towers.
Some time was spent around the Canyonlands area. There was some wind that day, so the air was a little hazy in some areas due to dust.
The first two are from Sixshooter Viewpoint.
The other two are from on top of Island in the Sky area.
We also saw various wildlife, such as raptors, elk, and pronghorns.
I couldn't pass up some of the flowers blooming at this time.
The first two are cactus.
The third is wild hollyhocks, a type of mallow.
Wild irises.
When coming home on Monday, it was fair weather until we reached Soldier Summit.
My wife was driving at the time, and I took this picture(through the windshield while we were moving) of a blizzard we had to pass through. It was actually worse than it looks.
We also stopped by the Sundance Institute to check out the mountain roads in the Wasatch area. The road going over to American Fork was still closed, and snow was still present at Sundance in many of the shaded areas. I got a picture of the sculpture there when the sun was out.
"It's My Life" by Bon Jovi
"Lightnin' Strikes" by Lou Christie
"Season of the Witch" by Donovan
"Shape of Things to Come" by Max Frost and the Troopers
"American Pie" by Don McLean
"She's My Girl" by The Turtles
"Brown Sugar" by The Rolling Stones
"Burnin' For You" by Blue รyster Cult
"Rock Me" by Steppenwolf
"I Drink Alone" by George Thorogood
