Monday, February 12, 2007

Catching Up and More Skiing



A grain drill (thanks Ed) waiting for a Spring that will never come.

It was a hectic weekend, my second in a row. I can’t wait to get out of here for a week later this month—heading down south to check on my mother and to relax. Right now I’m fighting a head cold while trying to get everything done so that I can take off.





The snow picked up later in the afternoon.

I did get to spend a couple hours out cross country skiing on Friday. I didn’t get out until late in the day because my daughter was home ill. I went by myself, the temperatures had moderated (it was about 20 degrees F), but the wind was blowing and in many places I had to break trail. I saw the remains of a squirrel done in by either a coyote or a bobcat, not much left, just some blood stains on the snow, a few bones, and pieces of fur strung along the trail. I decided not to take a picture; it seemed sacrilegious to have done so. Yet it reminded me, as I skied alone, that life can be challenging.

I did reread a short book on Friday. I won’t write a full review, but I highly recommend Nicholas Wolterstorff’s Lament for a Son. Woltertorff, a professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale Divinity School, lost his 25 year old son to a climbing accident in Europe. It’s a touching, yet honest and somewhat anguish book expressing his grief.

The sun's reflection, as it drops lower behind gray steely clouds, as seen on an open body of water.

I’ll write more later; I’m working on some other stories from my past that I hope to post soon. I’ve also order a slide copier for my digital camera and can’t wait for it to come so that I can transfer some of my better slides (I’ve got 20+ years of them) and share the photos here in my blog as well as using them in presentations.

13 comments:

  1. Sweet! More girls to add to the timeline and more pictures of you with hair? :-)

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  2. It's a drill used for sewing seeds, probably wheat, oats or grasses in closely spaced rows.

    I've only got a half dozen years of slides and I've thought about a slide scanner but they always seemed so expensive. Have they come down in price? On a cold snowy Sunday afternoon, sometimes there is nothing better than sitting down looking through old slides and remembering.

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  3. Go South, young man. It's 63 here today.

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  4. it's been 15 centigrade here today. crazy weather.

    starting to miss the snow. though i'll regret saying that i'm sure when it finally arrives. as will my blossoming plants.

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  5. Gorgeous pics! Our snow is melting and it's just muddy and gray now. I love pure white snow that is unmarked by anything....

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  6. Murf, there are really not many pics of me in the 1000s of slides, as I was generally the one behind the camera. I am working on another bad date story that I'm sure will tickle you.

    Ed, thank--i thought it was a grain drill, but wasn't sure, I'll correct it. I've order a slide copier for a digital camera--it mounts on the camera--and cost about $60 through Amazon. We'll see how it works--good slide scanners are very expensive and as this camera has quite a few megapixals, it should create good results for my use. Almost all of my Appalachian Trail pics and Western Pics are slides (the one's you've seen have been scans from prints)

    Bone, I could live where it never got above 65 degrees! But I'll be in NC in two weeks. I'll be the fool running around in short sleeves acting like it's summer.

    Keda, you're just a little cooler than Bone down in Alabama. What is the usual temp in Istabul? I know the mts of Turkey get really cold, but have always thought the coastal areas to be moderate.

    AMG, the snow here isn't melting as the temp hasn't been over freezing in three weeks (it may have gotten just above freezing on Saturday, but only for an hour or so). Thanks for stopping by.

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  7. No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.
    Hal Borland

    The pictures are...well, wonderful.

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  8. I'm in love with the places you photograph!

    DON'T bemoan a long winter! I'd kill for one. Can I even express to you how much I miss real snow storms??

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  9. Great shots, sage!

    Michigan is a beautiful place, eh?

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  10. great photos! And thanks for not posting a photo of the dead squirrel. After my dog caught (and ate) a mourning dove last week, I contemplated taking a photo of the feathers strewn all about . . . but decided it wasn't necessary

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  11. Interesting. I've never heard of a slide scanner that mounts to the camera. Can you give me some more details, perhaps email them to me so I can look it up. $60 would be more my price range.

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  12. Thanks anon!

    Meghan, I like winter. I don't particular care for hot and humid summers, however.

    Karen, yes, Michigan is beautiful. I'm beginning to fall in love with the state (although I times I miss the wide open spaces of the west).

    Diane, now that Michigan allows dove hunting, your dog might be in demand here! I get a lot of doves in the feeders, but my dog doesn't seem to bother them

    Ed, will do, when it comes I'll copy some slides and let you see what the results are like. I've used one a friend had, many years ago to copy slides into b&w

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  13. Glad to see you are out and about, getting some skiing done. And you are definitely putting that digital camera to good work. Simply outstanding photographs. I'm sure the slides are as great.

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