"Although he is a very poor fielder, he is a very poor hitter."
Ring Lardner, Sr.
(03/03/1885 – 09/25/1933)
US writer
They don't make sports writers like this any more.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Speaking of Things Starting...
Today is the day of the Ceremonial Start of the Last Great Race on Earth, aka The Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The first musher, Ray Redington, Jr., wearing bib #2, will be heading out of Anchorage in just a few hours heading to the Campbell Airstrip 11 miles away. He will be followed by 65 other stalwarts with the last being Ryan Redington, wearing bib #66.
Yeah, Ray and Ryan are brothers. Granddad, Joe Redington, is credited with starting this race 40 years ago and with keeping it going during the difficult early years. (Joe also completed the Iditarod 19 times finishing his last at the age of 80!) Their dad, Raymie, was a participant in the first race in 1973 and has completed 13 Iditarod races. He's not in this year's race, however.
As might be expected, the preponderance of racers come from Alaska but there are a number from the lower 48 and Canada. There are even entrants from New Zealand (rookie Curt Perano) and Norway (rookie Silvia Furtwängler and veteran Sigrid Ekran).
Tomorrow's restart will be in Willow this year. Along with some rerouting of the race the total distance will be 975 miles. Here's a list of this year's checkpoints and the distances involved. You can expect the first musher and his/her team to pull into Nome between 9 and 11 days after they leave Willow. The final musher and his/her team can get to Nome anywhere from 14 to 18 days after they leave Willow.
Good thing I've not much planned for the next two weeks or so.
Yeah, Ray and Ryan are brothers. Granddad, Joe Redington, is credited with starting this race 40 years ago and with keeping it going during the difficult early years. (Joe also completed the Iditarod 19 times finishing his last at the age of 80!) Their dad, Raymie, was a participant in the first race in 1973 and has completed 13 Iditarod races. He's not in this year's race, however.
As might be expected, the preponderance of racers come from Alaska but there are a number from the lower 48 and Canada. There are even entrants from New Zealand (rookie Curt Perano) and Norway (rookie Silvia Furtwängler and veteran Sigrid Ekran).
Tomorrow's restart will be in Willow this year. Along with some rerouting of the race the total distance will be 975 miles. Here's a list of this year's checkpoints and the distances involved. You can expect the first musher and his/her team to pull into Nome between 9 and 11 days after they leave Willow. The final musher and his/her team can get to Nome anywhere from 14 to 18 days after they leave Willow.
Good thing I've not much planned for the next two weeks or so.
It Has Begun!
This is the time of year when a young man’s fancy (and many a young girl’s) turns to the smell of new leather rubbed well with neatsfoot oil; the odor of ash rubbed hard with an old bone to compact the wood grain; the fragrance of a freshly mowed baseball field; the pop of a pitched ball into a catcher’s mitt; and the crack of the same ball against that ash bat recently boned to give it hardness as it is sent sailing over the fence.
This is the time of year when hope springs eternal. Baseball season has begun.
Last night, the Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland A’s 8-5 in the first Cactus League game of the year. Today there will be four more Cactus League games and five Grapefruit League contests—including the first for those damn Yankees and cursed Braves. The Mets do not play their first game until Monday when they face the Washington Nationals. From then until October it will be baseball, baseball, baseball.
Oh, there will be some March Madness on the NCAA front (teams TBA soon), a long and extended NBA playoff (I’m pretty sure New Orleans (9-27), Washington (7-28 and Charlotte (4-30) are out of the playoff picture but as for everyone else…), and a similar NHL playoff (is anyone truly out of it?) leading to a championship or three--and, perhaps some crazy fans setting fire to a city or two—at the beginning/first half of the MBL season. Hopefully they will be done by the All-Star break. And there will be college and pro football to serve as distractions for those fans teams are 20 games out on September 1st. But it will be another summer of baseball. Lots of baseball. And that is good.
This is the time of year when hope springs eternal. Baseball season has begun.
Last night, the Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland A’s 8-5 in the first Cactus League game of the year. Today there will be four more Cactus League games and five Grapefruit League contests—including the first for those damn Yankees and cursed Braves. The Mets do not play their first game until Monday when they face the Washington Nationals. From then until October it will be baseball, baseball, baseball.
Oh, there will be some March Madness on the NCAA front (teams TBA soon), a long and extended NBA playoff (I’m pretty sure New Orleans (9-27), Washington (7-28 and Charlotte (4-30) are out of the playoff picture but as for everyone else…), and a similar NHL playoff (is anyone truly out of it?) leading to a championship or three--and, perhaps some crazy fans setting fire to a city or two—at the beginning/first half of the MBL season. Hopefully they will be done by the All-Star break. And there will be college and pro football to serve as distractions for those fans teams are 20 games out on September 1st. But it will be another summer of baseball. Lots of baseball. And that is good.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Rare (for this year) Visitors
Recently we have been inundated with American Goldfinches. Most of the winter we have had only a smattering of these birds while having copious amounts of Dark-eyed Juncos. Both species would show up at the feeders immediately prior to and after any snowfall.
But this morning I spotted two birds I hadn't seen much of this season: a Pine Siskin and a Common Redpoll. The former drew my attention when I realized its back was brown and not the olive green of the goldies, the whitish wing bar did not stand out nearly as well against the brown not black wings of the goldies and the breast was heavily streaked unlike the smooth grey of the goldies. I didn't notice any of the yellow on the wings the Siskin is supposed to have, but then again, the goldies aren't exactly golden yet either. (When they begin to turn the color of daffodils we'll know spring is in the air!)
The Redpoll showed up while I was watching a mass of goldfinches hitting the feeder hoping to spot the Siskin again. Like the Siskin, it had the stripped breast and brown back and wings, but this little guy had a jaunty little red beret shoved low over his forehead and a reddish blush to his chin/breast.
Both the Siskin and Redpoll are birds of the far north that range south only to feed during the winter. I had thought that, despite reports from others in Pennsylvania--west and south of here, that they had passed us by in this year of a mild winter. Certainly two birds do not come close to the huge flocks we've had over the last two years, but it's better than not seeing them at all.
Neither bird stayed around--or still--long enough for me to get the camera out and snap their photo before they flitted off into the tree. *sigh* Maybe I'll get lucky and spot them again--now that the camera is at the ready.
While I'm taking about birds.... Yesterday we had some really strong winds that reached 40 mph coming out of the northwest. Perhaps that's what carried the Siskin and Redpoll our way. Standing on the deck early in the day I happened to catch a group of approximately 30 Wild Turkeys with their heads down and the wind at their backs hustling up the hill through the woods. In all likelihood they had been spooked from the field below us by either human, feline or canine activity. Whatever it was that got them moving, they were not going to slow down. They were trotting right along.
But this morning I spotted two birds I hadn't seen much of this season: a Pine Siskin and a Common Redpoll. The former drew my attention when I realized its back was brown and not the olive green of the goldies, the whitish wing bar did not stand out nearly as well against the brown not black wings of the goldies and the breast was heavily streaked unlike the smooth grey of the goldies. I didn't notice any of the yellow on the wings the Siskin is supposed to have, but then again, the goldies aren't exactly golden yet either. (When they begin to turn the color of daffodils we'll know spring is in the air!)
The Redpoll showed up while I was watching a mass of goldfinches hitting the feeder hoping to spot the Siskin again. Like the Siskin, it had the stripped breast and brown back and wings, but this little guy had a jaunty little red beret shoved low over his forehead and a reddish blush to his chin/breast.
Both the Siskin and Redpoll are birds of the far north that range south only to feed during the winter. I had thought that, despite reports from others in Pennsylvania--west and south of here, that they had passed us by in this year of a mild winter. Certainly two birds do not come close to the huge flocks we've had over the last two years, but it's better than not seeing them at all.
Neither bird stayed around--or still--long enough for me to get the camera out and snap their photo before they flitted off into the tree. *sigh* Maybe I'll get lucky and spot them again--now that the camera is at the ready.
While I'm taking about birds.... Yesterday we had some really strong winds that reached 40 mph coming out of the northwest. Perhaps that's what carried the Siskin and Redpoll our way. Standing on the deck early in the day I happened to catch a group of approximately 30 Wild Turkeys with their heads down and the wind at their backs hustling up the hill through the woods. In all likelihood they had been spooked from the field below us by either human, feline or canine activity. Whatever it was that got them moving, they were not going to slow down. They were trotting right along.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Snowy Morning At the Aerie
I was going to write about how we have enjoyed some Camelot Snow over the last week or so. (That's an inch or so of snow that arrives over night but melts away during the day.) The weather folks forecast a 2-4 inch fall overnight that would be followed by some pretty heavy rain which would wash it all away. Didn't happen. Those prognosticators proved they were NOT Merlin. We got the snow but no following rain.
Some 4+ inches of heavy, wet snow lay on the ground--which had been completely bare thanks to bright sunshine and 45+ degree temperatures on Thursday. Terry tackled the deck while I started with the shovel on the driveway. I soon gave that up and started up the tractor. (I deemed the snow too wet and heavy for the snow thrower to be of much use.) It took some time and I scrapped a good bit of the gravel and dirt that comprises the driveway, but the job did get done.
Terry headed out to the Bradford library for one of her stitching meetings and I went for t he mail. Our road hadn't been touched by a plow yet and the going was a bit rough but it was down hill. The paved roads and the dirt portion serviced by the school buses (two hour delay) had been plowed and were quite passable. Coming back up the hill I needed to switch over to 4-wheel high and had only a few moments when the Tundra slipped in the heavy snow. Of course, I was followed by the snow plow that cleared the road and spread some cinders in its wake.
The temp is now 35-36 degrees and there's a bit of a drizzle falling so what's left on the road and driveway may well be gone before things freeze up tonight.
The birds are pleased that the feeders are filled. I'm happy that the driveway and road are cleared and Terry should have little difficulty getting home this afternoon with the pizza she'll pick up in Troy. I even saw three deer pass through the back part of the yard when the snow plow created enough racket to stir them from their beds. Even the cats are happy--they just got fed.
Time for another cup of coffee.
Some 4+ inches of heavy, wet snow lay on the ground--which had been completely bare thanks to bright sunshine and 45+ degree temperatures on Thursday. Terry tackled the deck while I started with the shovel on the driveway. I soon gave that up and started up the tractor. (I deemed the snow too wet and heavy for the snow thrower to be of much use.) It took some time and I scrapped a good bit of the gravel and dirt that comprises the driveway, but the job did get done.
Terry headed out to the Bradford library for one of her stitching meetings and I went for t he mail. Our road hadn't been touched by a plow yet and the going was a bit rough but it was down hill. The paved roads and the dirt portion serviced by the school buses (two hour delay) had been plowed and were quite passable. Coming back up the hill I needed to switch over to 4-wheel high and had only a few moments when the Tundra slipped in the heavy snow. Of course, I was followed by the snow plow that cleared the road and spread some cinders in its wake.
The temp is now 35-36 degrees and there's a bit of a drizzle falling so what's left on the road and driveway may well be gone before things freeze up tonight.
The birds are pleased that the feeders are filled. I'm happy that the driveway and road are cleared and Terry should have little difficulty getting home this afternoon with the pizza she'll pick up in Troy. I even saw three deer pass through the back part of the yard when the snow plow created enough racket to stir them from their beds. Even the cats are happy--they just got fed.
Time for another cup of coffee.
Monday, February 20, 2012
GBBC 2012
Sent in my count for the yesterday. I spent the entire morning on the deck and looking out the windows to come up with my list. It's not terribly large but this has not been a winter for either manyhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif species or many individual birds.
Just 14 species on my list.
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 15
Downy Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 1
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 35
Northern Cardinal 1
American Goldfinch 18
I didn't actually "see" the Raven or the Crow, but they were calling from somewhere nearby. The voices of the two are pretty distinct.
I first heard the Pileated Woodpecker calling from across the street where there's a tree that has obviously gotten its attention. Then it flew through the yard heading for another excavated tree up on the hill that I saw the other day.
The Red-tailed Hawk flew out of one of the white pines on the hill above the Aerie and circled once before disappearing over the ridge.
I spotted the nearly invisible Brown Creeper working its way up a locust trunk on the other side of the yard. Once it got to the second level of branches it swooped down to another tree deeper into the woods and I lost sight of it.
The rest were visitors to the several feeders I've got on the deck and in the side yard. They are here nearly every single morning--right after I scare the fattening squirrels away.
The rest
Just 14 species on my list.
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 15
Downy Woodpecker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 1
Common Raven 1
Black-capped Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 35
Northern Cardinal 1
American Goldfinch 18
I didn't actually "see" the Raven or the Crow, but they were calling from somewhere nearby. The voices of the two are pretty distinct.
I first heard the Pileated Woodpecker calling from across the street where there's a tree that has obviously gotten its attention. Then it flew through the yard heading for another excavated tree up on the hill that I saw the other day.
The Red-tailed Hawk flew out of one of the white pines on the hill above the Aerie and circled once before disappearing over the ridge.
I spotted the nearly invisible Brown Creeper working its way up a locust trunk on the other side of the yard. Once it got to the second level of branches it swooped down to another tree deeper into the woods and I lost sight of it.
The rest were visitors to the several feeders I've got on the deck and in the side yard. They are here nearly every single morning--right after I scare the fattening squirrels away.
The rest
The 2012 Yukon Quest is Fini
The Mushing Loon posted this on the Yukon Quest 2012 forum on the Iditirod site this morning at 8:03 AM.
Congratulations to Michael Telpin and his team of dogs upon competing their first Yukon Quest. Congratulations also to the 18 men and women and their teams who finished ahead of Telpin. Four other teams scratched during the race and one never got off the line at Fairbanks because the musher was too ill. Congratulations, too, to the many, many volunteers working to make this race happen.
The Iditarod--The Last Great Race On Earth--kicks off in just over 12 days!
Yukon Quest Update #25
The Red Lantern is in!
The 2012 Yukon Quest officially ended Sunday night at 8:05 local time when Michael Telpin crossed the finish line in Whitehorse. The Russian musher finished with all 9 of his native Chukchi dog...s, winning the Challenge of the North Award as the musher “who most exemplifies the Spirit of the Yukon Quest.”
The race ended 15 days, 8 hours, 5 minutes, 22 seconds after it started.
Rookie Marcelle Fressineau finished only 45 minutes before, making it a closer finish than it appeared it was going to be.
Complete Final Standings got to The Loon's Mushing Report: Yukon Quest
Congratulations to Michael Telpin and his team of dogs upon competing their first Yukon Quest. Congratulations also to the 18 men and women and their teams who finished ahead of Telpin. Four other teams scratched during the race and one never got off the line at Fairbanks because the musher was too ill. Congratulations, too, to the many, many volunteers working to make this race happen.
The Iditarod--The Last Great Race On Earth--kicks off in just over 12 days!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Today's the Day!
Pitchers and Catchers, baby!
It's on!
This year I'm going to find a way to go to a couple of games. Minor or major league won't matter as long as I can get out to the ball park and watch the action while sipping a beer (or two) and eating some peanuts, popcorn, Crackerjacks and hot dogs.
Spring is when every major league hopeful aims to impress and make the roster. Every year some young phenom shows up and heads north with the team. This causes the casual fan to ask the most important question:
It's on!
This year I'm going to find a way to go to a couple of games. Minor or major league won't matter as long as I can get out to the ball park and watch the action while sipping a beer (or two) and eating some peanuts, popcorn, Crackerjacks and hot dogs.
Spring is when every major league hopeful aims to impress and make the roster. Every year some young phenom shows up and heads north with the team. This causes the casual fan to ask the most important question:
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Yukon Quest update.
Two men and their dog teams remain on the trail to Whitehorse.
Marcelle Fressineau, in 18th place, has arrived at the Braeburn Checkpoint. Michael Telpin, in 19th place and the current Red Lantern, is approximately 48 miles short of Braeburn and appears to be camped. (His last position was reported some 6 and a half hours ago.
Both men need to spend at least 8 hours in Braeburn before heading out to Whitehorse and the finish line 100 miles away.
IF they continue, Telpin should finish early Monday morning bringing the 2012 Yukon Quest, The Toughest Race In The World, to an end.
Marcelle Fressineau, in 18th place, has arrived at the Braeburn Checkpoint. Michael Telpin, in 19th place and the current Red Lantern, is approximately 48 miles short of Braeburn and appears to be camped. (His last position was reported some 6 and a half hours ago.
Both men need to spend at least 8 hours in Braeburn before heading out to Whitehorse and the finish line 100 miles away.
IF they continue, Telpin should finish early Monday morning bringing the 2012 Yukon Quest, The Toughest Race In The World, to an end.
Just When You Thought ...
...it was safe to go back in the water.
Sea otters face a growing threat: shark attacks
Sea otters may be cute and fuzzy little acrobats in the water, but something out there is doing a number on the population. And scientists aren't sure why the sharks are going after them. Perhaps the sharks need glasses. Or maybe they are just opportunists.
In any case, the sharks have discovered something the killer whales up north have known for a couple of decades: Sea otters taste good.
The question then arises:
Sea otters face a growing threat: shark attacks
California's sea otters have struggled for years with diseases, parasites and even the occasional collision with boats. But now the fuzzy coastal mascots are increasingly facing another threat: shark attacks.
For reasons still a mystery to scientists, the number of sea otters killed by sharks has soared in recent years, with great whites as the leading suspects.
...
In the mid-1990s, about 10 percent of the dead sea otters found along the California coast had shark bites. Today, it's about 30 percent -- and growing -- to the point where shark attacks now represent the largest hurdle to the otters' recovery from the endangered species list.
Sea otters may be cute and fuzzy little acrobats in the water, but something out there is doing a number on the population. And scientists aren't sure why the sharks are going after them. Perhaps the sharks need glasses. Or maybe they are just opportunists.
One major change: the abundance of elephant seals. Until 1990, the large mammals were rare along the coast in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. But that year, two dozen came ashore at Piedras Blancas, near Hearst Castle. Now there are more than 15,000.
A small number of white sharks, perhaps juveniles, could be coming into the area to feed on young elephant seals and ending up killing otters, as well, Tinker said. Had the rate of shark attacks remained where it was a decade ago, there would be about 500 more California sea otters now -- around 3,250, according to his computer models. That would be enough to reach the 3,090 population target to remove the otter from the federal endangered species list.
In any case, the sharks have discovered something the killer whales up north have known for a couple of decades: Sea otters taste good.
In the 1990s, Tinker and other biologists published studies showing that orca whales in southern Alaska were beginning to feed on otters there. Since then, the otter population there has fallen from 80,000 to about 5,000.
The question then arises:
Can anything be done?
No, he said. Even if people wanted to try to identify the sharks responsible and somehow kill them, others could easily take their place.
"It's a hard thing to explain to people," he said. "But there's nothing we can do about changes in shark distribution or shark behavior. It's natural."
On Getting Older
These thought about getting older came over the email transom today.
On hunting:
On hunting:
Shot my first turkey yesterday,
Scared the HELL out of everyone in the frozen food section…
It was awesome!
Getting old is so much fun....
Ramblings of a Retired Mind
I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So, I'm wearing my garage door opener. I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what they call blue teeth, I think.
You know, I spent a fortune on deodorant before I realized that people didn't like me anyway.
I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans!
I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is 'when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.'
I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age, and call it 'Pumping Rust'.
I've gotten that dreaded furniture disease. That's when your chest is falling into your drawers!
When people see a cat's litter box, they always say, 'Oh, have you got a cat?' Just once I want to say, 'No, it's for company!'
Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I think you should write, 'A Good Doctor'!
I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then, it dawned on me. They were cramming for their finals.
As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve.
Enjoy Your Days & Love Your Life,
Because life is short and a journey to be savored.
Scared the HELL out of everyone in the frozen food section…
It was awesome!
Getting old is so much fun....
Ramblings of a Retired Mind
I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one. So, I'm wearing my garage door opener. I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what they call blue teeth, I think.
You know, I spent a fortune on deodorant before I realized that people didn't like me anyway.
I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans!
I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is 'when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.'
I thought about making a fitness movie for folks my age, and call it 'Pumping Rust'.
I've gotten that dreaded furniture disease. That's when your chest is falling into your drawers!
When people see a cat's litter box, they always say, 'Oh, have you got a cat?' Just once I want to say, 'No, it's for company!'
Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I think you should write, 'A Good Doctor'!
I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then, it dawned on me. They were cramming for their finals.
As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve.
Enjoy Your Days & Love Your Life,
Because life is short and a journey to be savored.
Friday, February 17, 2012
The GBBC is On!
The Great Backyard Bird Count is underway!
Starting today (February 17) and running through Monday (February 20) the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society are sponsoring an event aimed at counting birds all across North America. Participants should count (and identify the species of) birds in any one locale for a minimum of 15 minutes. You can do this in your backyard, at a nearby park or sitting in the woods somewhere. After tallying your list, you can go to the GBBC web site and post the results.
The web site has a multitude of information for those not familiar with such efforts. There are How-to links; an instructional video; and a running tally of numbers of checklists, species and individual birds. Check out all the links on the right side of the GBBC page, too. The Photo Gallery and Learn About Birds are especially enjoyable.
And there are prizes for some lucky participants, too!
Starting today (February 17) and running through Monday (February 20) the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Audubon Society are sponsoring an event aimed at counting birds all across North America. Participants should count (and identify the species of) birds in any one locale for a minimum of 15 minutes. You can do this in your backyard, at a nearby park or sitting in the woods somewhere. After tallying your list, you can go to the GBBC web site and post the results.
The web site has a multitude of information for those not familiar with such efforts. There are How-to links; an instructional video; and a running tally of numbers of checklists, species and individual birds. Check out all the links on the right side of the GBBC page, too. The Photo Gallery and Learn About Birds are especially enjoyable.
And there are prizes for some lucky participants, too!
Talking Baseball, RIP Gary Carter
It's nearly the start of the major league baseball season. Some players are already reporting to spring training camps in Florida and Arizona although things won't get really going until Sunday, February 19th. That's the date for pitcher's and catchers to report. Position players will be appearing later in the week (Friday, February 24th).
It's a time for hope and dreams to spring eternal. Next Year is here and every player and every fan has hopes his/her team can make it to post season play and, perhaps, the World Series.
Still, there is sadness in the air as well. The death of Gary Carter--aged 57, former catcher of the Montreal Expos, member of the 1986 New York Mets' World Champions, 11 time All-Star, 3 time Golden Glove winner, Hall of Famer--has cast a pall upon the sunlight diamonds. Diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer just last May, The Kid succumbed to the disease on Thursday, February 16th.
He will be sorely missed.
More here, here, here, and here.
It's a time for hope and dreams to spring eternal. Next Year is here and every player and every fan has hopes his/her team can make it to post season play and, perhaps, the World Series.
Still, there is sadness in the air as well. The death of Gary Carter--aged 57, former catcher of the Montreal Expos, member of the 1986 New York Mets' World Champions, 11 time All-Star, 3 time Golden Glove winner, Hall of Famer--has cast a pall upon the sunlight diamonds. Diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer just last May, The Kid succumbed to the disease on Thursday, February 16th.
He will be sorely missed.
More here, here, here, and here.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
I Bet It Was!
Smokehouse Blaze 'Best-Smelling Fire We've Seen In A Long Time': Pennsylvania Firefighters
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Firefighters in Pennsylvania have managed to save 200 pounds of Polish sausage from what they're calling the best-smelling fire they've doused in years.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Yukon Quest is won!
The Yukon Quest is won! (Not over it won't be over for a couple of days when the final musher and his/her team crosses the line in Whitehorse.)
Hugh Neff out sprinted Allen Moore to the finish line. The time difference was less than a minute. Neff was officially clocked in at 5:14 AM and Moore at 5:15 AM.
Five plus hours later (10:39 AM) third place went to Lance Mackey. Jake Berkowitz took fourth, arriving at 12:31 PM.
There are still 15 mushers on the trail--or possibly only 13 since two seem to have skipped one of the check points at the McCabe Creek Dog Drop.
The Red Lantern (final musher) is Michael Turpin who left Dawson at 19:22 PM yesterday. He's currently somewhere around mile marker 585 meaning he's got a tad over 400 miles to go. Michael is a rookie to the Quest from Chukotka, Siberia, Russia.
I believe the rules say something about 60 hours after the first musher crosses the finish line the race is officially over. Turpin will not make it to Whitehorse in that time--nor will a couple of others just ahead of him. Checkpoints may be closed when they get to them and assistance may not be available as volunteers head for home.
Of course, nothing short of the RCMP will be able to get some of them off the trail. It's not always about being first. Sometimes just finishing is as important.
Many of these folks and their dogs will be setting off on another 1000 mile race in just over 17 days. The Iditarod, from Anchorage to Nome, starts on March 3rd.
Hugh Neff out sprinted Allen Moore to the finish line. The time difference was less than a minute. Neff was officially clocked in at 5:14 AM and Moore at 5:15 AM.
Five plus hours later (10:39 AM) third place went to Lance Mackey. Jake Berkowitz took fourth, arriving at 12:31 PM.
There are still 15 mushers on the trail--or possibly only 13 since two seem to have skipped one of the check points at the McCabe Creek Dog Drop.
The Red Lantern (final musher) is Michael Turpin who left Dawson at 19:22 PM yesterday. He's currently somewhere around mile marker 585 meaning he's got a tad over 400 miles to go. Michael is a rookie to the Quest from Chukotka, Siberia, Russia.
I believe the rules say something about 60 hours after the first musher crosses the finish line the race is officially over. Turpin will not make it to Whitehorse in that time--nor will a couple of others just ahead of him. Checkpoints may be closed when they get to them and assistance may not be available as volunteers head for home.
Of course, nothing short of the RCMP will be able to get some of them off the trail. It's not always about being first. Sometimes just finishing is as important.
Many of these folks and their dogs will be setting off on another 1000 mile race in just over 17 days. The Iditarod, from Anchorage to Nome, starts on March 3rd.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Aerie Report, February 12, 2012
I haven't written much this week, but it's certainly been interesting in a couple of minor ways.
Terry got a gift of a vase and a bulb for a paper-white narcissus for Christmas. It sat o n the counter for nearly a month before she added water to it and within a week the roots began to grow. A couple of days later the green leaf shoots started lengthening and then two flower stalks emerged.
Well, for a week and a half we could almost see those greens growing skyward if we just stared at them long enough. Everyday they'd be a half inch or more taller in the morning and another half inch by bed time. Things grew like Jack's beanstalk!
Last Sunday, the flower buds burst open and two clusters of pretty little white flowers appeared.
I was out of the house most of Monday, but on Tuesday my eyes started itching, my nose stated dripping and I started sneezing hard enough to tweek the muscles in my lower back. If I sneezed any harder, the walls of the house would have given way!
This continued on Wednesday and Thursday despite my taking my daily Loratadine tablet every morning. (That little pill makes it possible to have three cats in the house.) Trying to think of what might be causing my obviously allergic reaction we finally settled on the paper-white narcissus and it was exiled to the guest bedroom around noon on Friday.
It took a while before I started to recover, but by Saturday I was back to normal and continued to be itchy-eyes, runny-nose and sneeze free. Coincidence? The only way to find out is for me to go and sit in the guest bedroom for an hour. And I, for one, will not tempt fate.
******
Friday saw the temperatures around the Aerie begin to fall down below the historical averages. Clouds moved in and by Saturday noon hour it was flurrying. Not much, but enough to say it was doing something. Forecast initially said we would have only an inch or so but then they changed to "up to 3 inches" later tin the day. It was to stop by 8 PM. And it did. But then we started to have snow squalls all day Sunday. One minute the sun would shine through a break in the clouds and the next we would have white-out conditions with the wind whipping the powdery snow that fell on Saturday about as much as blowing the new stuff sideways.
And the Sunday morning temperature was just 7 degrees. Got as high as 18 though. Still, that's colder than the folks running the Yukon Quest are experiencing.
Tomorrow, they say, it will be mostly sunny with the temperatures reaching the upper 30s so, except for the deck, I left the snow lay where it fell. Mother Nature can do the cleanup this time around.
******
Terry and I were going to support the local church yesterday by going to their beef and chicken dinner. We scraped the snow and ice off the Tundra's windshield and drove down in the snow and were surprised to see that the parking lot was empty. Either Terry got the wrong night or the wrong church, or the thing got cancelled because of the snow. At any rate, we found ourselves down the hill with no firm plans for dinner. So, off to Mansfield and Papa V's for some fine Italian food.
We passed on the pizza and went for an appetizer of fried calamari and entrees of chicken parmigiano. Mmmm-mmm, good!
By the time we got home, I had to put the truck into 4-wheel to assure we would get up the hill. Drifting snow from the fields and pastures at the base of the hill had filled in much of the road.
******
Only thing that intruded upon a nice dinner out was some college aged kid sitting at the next table with his girlfriend and, I suppose, his mom and dad. The kid was loudly pontificating on the need for more than a high school diploma to get a job, the gas companies, the rise of tuition at Mansfield U, and education cuts made by the Governor.
I finally had enough and asked him to lower his voice since some of us wanted to enjoy our meal and had no interest in his ill-formed opinion. Surprisingly, he did.
I later thought of his comments and, if I had had the desire, could have put him in his place with just a few points. The gas companies are hiring people left right and sideways. Some of their jobs need special training WHICH THEY WILL PROVIDE so even a high school grad can get a gas job. The influx of gas workers has caused a boom in numerous support businesses in the area and there are help wanted signs up all over. I'm sure lots of those jobs do not require more than a high school diploma. How many more high school diplomaed kids would get jobs more easily if the high schools still taught skills like auto shop, carpentry, home economics (specifically cooking) instead of believing every kid must be trained to go to college? (On the home ec front, some entrepreneurial young ladies in the area have set up a housekeeping service to tend to the many single gas workers and drill rig offices that need cleaning up after. They say business is booming!)
Rise in tuition at MU? You mean the school that just had a building spurt and put up a couple of big dorms? Does it still teach things like "women's studies"? Why?
As for the cut in education monies the Governor has put in his budget (some $900 million), spread across the state of Pennsylvania that's not much at all. And in this area we actually had a round of consolidation recently because some schools were being underused. Imagine that.
The fact that this young man was spouting his opinions in an eatery that just doubled its size because of the gas boom and from whose windows one could see a micro brewery that didn't exist a little over a year ago and a Mexican cantina that is just two years old, and just down the street from a local bank branch that handled $130 million dollars in deposits last year--mostly from gas royalties payed to land owners...well, that was icing on the cake.
Terry got a gift of a vase and a bulb for a paper-white narcissus for Christmas. It sat o n the counter for nearly a month before she added water to it and within a week the roots began to grow. A couple of days later the green leaf shoots started lengthening and then two flower stalks emerged.
Well, for a week and a half we could almost see those greens growing skyward if we just stared at them long enough. Everyday they'd be a half inch or more taller in the morning and another half inch by bed time. Things grew like Jack's beanstalk!
Last Sunday, the flower buds burst open and two clusters of pretty little white flowers appeared.
I was out of the house most of Monday, but on Tuesday my eyes started itching, my nose stated dripping and I started sneezing hard enough to tweek the muscles in my lower back. If I sneezed any harder, the walls of the house would have given way!
This continued on Wednesday and Thursday despite my taking my daily Loratadine tablet every morning. (That little pill makes it possible to have three cats in the house.) Trying to think of what might be causing my obviously allergic reaction we finally settled on the paper-white narcissus and it was exiled to the guest bedroom around noon on Friday.
It took a while before I started to recover, but by Saturday I was back to normal and continued to be itchy-eyes, runny-nose and sneeze free. Coincidence? The only way to find out is for me to go and sit in the guest bedroom for an hour. And I, for one, will not tempt fate.
******
Friday saw the temperatures around the Aerie begin to fall down below the historical averages. Clouds moved in and by Saturday noon hour it was flurrying. Not much, but enough to say it was doing something. Forecast initially said we would have only an inch or so but then they changed to "up to 3 inches" later tin the day. It was to stop by 8 PM. And it did. But then we started to have snow squalls all day Sunday. One minute the sun would shine through a break in the clouds and the next we would have white-out conditions with the wind whipping the powdery snow that fell on Saturday about as much as blowing the new stuff sideways.
And the Sunday morning temperature was just 7 degrees. Got as high as 18 though. Still, that's colder than the folks running the Yukon Quest are experiencing.
Tomorrow, they say, it will be mostly sunny with the temperatures reaching the upper 30s so, except for the deck, I left the snow lay where it fell. Mother Nature can do the cleanup this time around.
******
Terry and I were going to support the local church yesterday by going to their beef and chicken dinner. We scraped the snow and ice off the Tundra's windshield and drove down in the snow and were surprised to see that the parking lot was empty. Either Terry got the wrong night or the wrong church, or the thing got cancelled because of the snow. At any rate, we found ourselves down the hill with no firm plans for dinner. So, off to Mansfield and Papa V's for some fine Italian food.
We passed on the pizza and went for an appetizer of fried calamari and entrees of chicken parmigiano. Mmmm-mmm, good!
By the time we got home, I had to put the truck into 4-wheel to assure we would get up the hill. Drifting snow from the fields and pastures at the base of the hill had filled in much of the road.
******
Only thing that intruded upon a nice dinner out was some college aged kid sitting at the next table with his girlfriend and, I suppose, his mom and dad. The kid was loudly pontificating on the need for more than a high school diploma to get a job, the gas companies, the rise of tuition at Mansfield U, and education cuts made by the Governor.
I finally had enough and asked him to lower his voice since some of us wanted to enjoy our meal and had no interest in his ill-formed opinion. Surprisingly, he did.
I later thought of his comments and, if I had had the desire, could have put him in his place with just a few points. The gas companies are hiring people left right and sideways. Some of their jobs need special training WHICH THEY WILL PROVIDE so even a high school grad can get a gas job. The influx of gas workers has caused a boom in numerous support businesses in the area and there are help wanted signs up all over. I'm sure lots of those jobs do not require more than a high school diploma. How many more high school diplomaed kids would get jobs more easily if the high schools still taught skills like auto shop, carpentry, home economics (specifically cooking) instead of believing every kid must be trained to go to college? (On the home ec front, some entrepreneurial young ladies in the area have set up a housekeeping service to tend to the many single gas workers and drill rig offices that need cleaning up after. They say business is booming!)
Rise in tuition at MU? You mean the school that just had a building spurt and put up a couple of big dorms? Does it still teach things like "women's studies"? Why?
As for the cut in education monies the Governor has put in his budget (some $900 million), spread across the state of Pennsylvania that's not much at all. And in this area we actually had a round of consolidation recently because some schools were being underused. Imagine that.
The fact that this young man was spouting his opinions in an eatery that just doubled its size because of the gas boom and from whose windows one could see a micro brewery that didn't exist a little over a year ago and a Mexican cantina that is just two years old, and just down the street from a local bank branch that handled $130 million dollars in deposits last year--mostly from gas royalties payed to land owners...well, that was icing on the cake.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Changes (For others. Not for me.)
Gregor (aka Sad Old Goth) has changed his location. He's moved his blog from Blogger to Wordpress and also changed its name. He's now at: it's enough to make married men go home...
I'll be updating the sidebar to reflect those changes.
Reasons for his move had something to do with a straw and a camel's back...or something.
I'll be updating the sidebar to reflect those changes.
Reasons for his move had something to do with a straw and a camel's back...or something.
Wednesday, February 08, 2012
Aerie Weather Report, February 8, 2012
This winter has been a weird one. The temperatures have probably averaged right around the average but it's been more of a roller coaster ride than a smooth-lake canoe paddle. One day we might never get above freezing and the next it will be 50 degrees or more. Monday when I went down to Harrisburg and back, the sun shone brightly and the thermometer in the Tundra registered 54 degrees. Tuesday it was overcast and cloudy with a fair breeze from the north and the temp was no more than 30 at its highest. Today it's slightly colder with only the tiniest of a breeze out of the south and a sprinkling of snow flurries.
Speaking of snow, there isn't any on the ground around these parts. That's both good and bad. If it continues this way, there won't be much of a spring freshet in the creeks and rivers so there won't be any flooding to speak of--and after last fall's disaster that's a good thing. The counties and towns are saving tons of money on their snow removal budget which is a boon not soon overlooked. (I just hope they are wise enough to hang on to that money for next November and December.) The bad news is that the little bit of snow we are getting is not adding much to the water table. When it melts now, the ground is too frozen for it to soak in and, as a result, it merely runs off in the streams and rivers heading to the Chesapeake Bay. For all the rain we got last fall, it has been a dry, dry, dry winter.
As to the forecast for the next two weeks, AccuHunch is not terribly encouraging. In the next fourteen days, Mostly Sunny appears just three times, Partly Cloudy twice, Mostly Cloudy once, Cloudy twice, Freezing Rain three times, Showers once, and Dreary twice. (What the heck do they mean by "Dreary?" I have several meteorology courses under my belt and never once saw or heard of a weather condition classed as "Dreary" except in a Jane Eyre or Conan Doyle novel when they spoke of some damp castle upon the moor. Dreary, indeed.
As to the temperatures, it will get colder on Saturday with the high forecast to be just 21 degrees. It will then warm slightly and we'll see the daytime temps in the low 40s from next Tuesday on. (The "Freezing Rain" part must be coming at night when things drop down to the low 20s.) Sounds like the kind of weather the maple sap gatherers would like...if it came a month from now. I don't think the trees are ready to wake up quite yet. Those Ents are hardly hasty folk.
This weather has been playing havoc with our bird feeding. The lack of snow cover means there's plenty of places for the seed eaters to forage. They've only been showing up for an hour or two each day.
The gray squirrels, on the other hand, are another kettle of fish. Sharks. They have been here nearly every day in numbers ranging into double digits. It's not unusual to have four on the deck and the same number over on the side lawn.
It's comical to watch the squirrels at the two stick feeders hanging over the edge of the deck. They grasp the bottom perches and pull the feeder toward them so they can snatch a seed from the openings. They look like little submariners peering through the periscope.
They can empty the one feeder in no time flat. Of the 150 pounds of sunflower seeds I've put out this year, I'd estimate half of it--if not more--went to the squirrels.
Speaking of snow, there isn't any on the ground around these parts. That's both good and bad. If it continues this way, there won't be much of a spring freshet in the creeks and rivers so there won't be any flooding to speak of--and after last fall's disaster that's a good thing. The counties and towns are saving tons of money on their snow removal budget which is a boon not soon overlooked. (I just hope they are wise enough to hang on to that money for next November and December.) The bad news is that the little bit of snow we are getting is not adding much to the water table. When it melts now, the ground is too frozen for it to soak in and, as a result, it merely runs off in the streams and rivers heading to the Chesapeake Bay. For all the rain we got last fall, it has been a dry, dry, dry winter.
As to the forecast for the next two weeks, AccuHunch is not terribly encouraging. In the next fourteen days, Mostly Sunny appears just three times, Partly Cloudy twice, Mostly Cloudy once, Cloudy twice, Freezing Rain three times, Showers once, and Dreary twice. (What the heck do they mean by "Dreary?" I have several meteorology courses under my belt and never once saw or heard of a weather condition classed as "Dreary" except in a Jane Eyre or Conan Doyle novel when they spoke of some damp castle upon the moor. Dreary, indeed.
As to the temperatures, it will get colder on Saturday with the high forecast to be just 21 degrees. It will then warm slightly and we'll see the daytime temps in the low 40s from next Tuesday on. (The "Freezing Rain" part must be coming at night when things drop down to the low 20s.) Sounds like the kind of weather the maple sap gatherers would like...if it came a month from now. I don't think the trees are ready to wake up quite yet. Those Ents are hardly hasty folk.
This weather has been playing havoc with our bird feeding. The lack of snow cover means there's plenty of places for the seed eaters to forage. They've only been showing up for an hour or two each day.
The gray squirrels, on the other hand, are another kettle of fish. Sharks. They have been here nearly every day in numbers ranging into double digits. It's not unusual to have four on the deck and the same number over on the side lawn.
It's comical to watch the squirrels at the two stick feeders hanging over the edge of the deck. They grasp the bottom perches and pull the feeder toward them so they can snatch a seed from the openings. They look like little submariners peering through the periscope.
They can empty the one feeder in no time flat. Of the 150 pounds of sunflower seeds I've put out this year, I'd estimate half of it--if not more--went to the squirrels.
Monday, February 06, 2012
Goin' Fishing
Joe and I booked a northern Quebec fly-in fishing trip for the week of August 9 through August 16.
We were able to get the outpost cabin we wanted. It's the same one we took our sons to when they were 8 and 9 years old...20 years ago.
We also walked around the show's floor for 2-1/2 hours and we didn't go to all the display halls but held ourselves to the hunting and fishing halls.
We were able to get the outpost cabin we wanted. It's the same one we took our sons to when they were 8 and 9 years old...20 years ago.
We also walked around the show's floor for 2-1/2 hours and we didn't go to all the display halls but held ourselves to the hunting and fishing halls.
Blogging Award
Paul in Anchorage just awarded me (and others) this blog award. The drill is to pass along the 'love' to other bloggers.
Here are the rules:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award. (I'm not sure about the followers count for the blogs I've chosen, but I do enjoy the posts at each of them. Just wish some would post more often. That's a hint Dudley.)
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.
1. Northview Diary (Threecollie, I don't have your email so help yourself to the award.)
2. Stitchen in the Willows
3. At The Water
4. Scary Yankee Chick
5. Dudleys Diary
Aw gosh. Shucks.
Here are the rules:
1. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
2. Link back to the blogger who gave you the award
3. Pick your five favorite blogs with less than 200 followers, and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award. (I'm not sure about the followers count for the blogs I've chosen, but I do enjoy the posts at each of them. Just wish some would post more often. That's a hint Dudley.)
4. Hope that the five blogs chosen will keep spreading the love and pass it on to five more blogs.
1. Northview Diary (Threecollie, I don't have your email so help yourself to the award.)
2. Stitchen in the Willows
3. At The Water
4. Scary Yankee Chick
5. Dudleys Diary
Aw gosh. Shucks.
Going shoppin'
My buddy Joe and I are heading to the Eastern Sports and Outdoors Expo down in Harrisburg Monday morning. We want to book a fishing trip in northern Quebec with Caesar's North Camps for sometime in August.
We've gone with Olivier's for many trips and enjoyed each one. Walleye and Northern Pike are our quarry. The former for their taste and the latter for their fight. If we get to go to the cabin we would like (the first one we ever went to nearly 20 years ago, Hanotaux), we'll be able to bring some of those Walleye home with us to the delight of the wives.
Besides booking a trip, we'll spend a couple hours walking about and checking out all the booths.
We've gone with Olivier's for many trips and enjoyed each one. Walleye and Northern Pike are our quarry. The former for their taste and the latter for their fight. If we get to go to the cabin we would like (the first one we ever went to nearly 20 years ago, Hanotaux), we'll be able to bring some of those Walleye home with us to the delight of the wives.
Besides booking a trip, we'll spend a couple hours walking about and checking out all the booths.
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