First?

Eek. I'm nervous, this close to the Kit.

When I lived in DC I loved to visit Mt. Vernon. I would graze from the grounds, eating wild strawberries, sheepshower and similar treats, while I graciously allowed all these people to come admire my house. Of course, I never had cocktails on the piazza. It is good to be king.

Try as we might to manage wilderness, that pesky "nature" factor keeps getting in the way. Trees down, fires raging, floods, insect plagues: if we wire the trees I bet the Net goes down.

First?

I have no idea how I became first, twice, six minutes apart.

byoolin has come unstuck in time.

I live surrounded by forest. You can see it here:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/chippewa/

Some thoughts later on the challenges of living where the views do not include people. But now, I am off to the post office because I can't get mailed delivered to the house.

Yep, the affluent buy houses in the forest then count on the guvmint to fight the forest fires, control the bears roaming the golf courses, chase the elks munching on hedges and catch the coyotes snatching Yorkies from the backyards. It's happening in Western canada as well. I was surprised in my last visit to Banff a couple of years ago to see all kinds of homes, from castles to condos, all the way from Calgary to the ouskirt of the National Park. In my first visit in the early eighties there was Nature between Calgary and Banff. The oil boom saw to that.

One difference between the Chinese and us: they are more honest on surveys.

====
One question was: If forced to choose between your business and your family, which would it be? Of the respondents, 60 percent chose business, and 20 percent chose family. The other 20 percent couldn't make up their minds.
====

Frosty... I used to live in Chippewa, PA (near Pittsburgh). Must have been a wide-ranging tribe.

Still back-boodling this morning, but Son of G just sent me this from his one of his favorite sites, Wonkette. Comes from Raw Story and has photos accompanying of the two men.

Redskin fans especially will like this...

Source link (must use Tiny URL to get wirty dird past the Halinator:

http://tinyurl.com/2pewfz

==

Republicans have "re-branded" themselves as the party of simpering pansies, forcing Democrats to sack up and occasionally act like men.

The big scary NFL quarterback on the left is new congressman Heath Shuler, D-Southern football monster, while the chirping dandy on the right is far-right draft-dodging Texas representative Louis Gohmert, who was skipping past Shuler's offices Wednesday night when he saw something he wanted: a sign illustrating the deficit and how deep we're all in the hole.

Shuler is one of the fiscally-conservative "Blue Dog Democrats" and they've all got such a sign outside their offices. Gohmert thought this sign would be a swell prop to use on the House floor that night to attack Democrats on spending.

The next day, according to Roll Call, "Shuler, a former NFL quarterback, was spotted towering over a seated Gohmert, wagging a finger in his face during the heated session."

The furious Shuler was yelling at Gohmert for being a "gutless chickens%%t thief" and was apparently barely able to keep from stomping the little Republican's skull.

Such episodes give the nation hope that this guy might get drunk with Jim Webb one night and then bust into Cheney's house and rip off his fording head.

It must have been a *very* big tribe, 'toon: I used to live near Chippewa High School in North Bay, Ontario.

While post 9-11 regs mean "I can't get mailed" I meant "I can't get mail delivered."

Joel, I fear you are totally correct. The future belongs to wildlife management. And your vision, as hyperbolic as it might seem, is probably not too far from the truth.

I just hope that somewhere a little bit of the truly wild remains to regenerate the biosphere when the manmade simulacrum finally fails to reboot.

As much as developers and nature lovers would like to take over and manage the wild, I think they'll always be thwarted until they learn to manage the weather. Here, we went from a severe drought to persistent flooding. In the last few years, the crops were poor because there was no rain. This year, the crops are very poor because insect invasion was followed by too much rain. Many farmers may not harvest much if anything (too bad they didn't all plant rice, since the fields are flooded anyway). In the West, insects are invading the forests of New Mexico and the Rockies, driven onward by climate changes which allow them to move into previously inhospitable areas. As they kill the trees, the forests become huge fires just waiting to happen. And people continue to move in, as though this has nothing to do with them.

While I think it's wonderful to pass by historic sites during my day-to-day life, I realized how in some settings it is important to leave things they way they "were" (meaning the way we think they were) in the past.

Case in point: several years ago, there was an uproar because a local developer was going to build a shopping mall within sight of the Manassas Battlefield. My first thought was that it was important that we live side-by-side with history.

But then I visited the battlefield and saw the beautiful vistas and realized how awful it would be for visitors to look over and see Sears and Old Navy on the horizon.

I believe what happened was that the state purchased the land from the developer to keep it from being developed. That may have been his plan all along.

(For the record, as a child of a real-estate developer I am not anti-development.)

For RDP: http://www.jigzone.com/puzzles/66055D50EBA2

Slyness, count on us to listen and help you laugh.

This role of wildlife custodians we didn't ask for. It was thrust upon us by - us. As we stroll through the managed forests, noting the signs with pictures of former species and blurbs of their significance, we will experience moments of simulated nostalgia.

Please inflate your shoes and follow the rubber lines for your comfort and safety. Thank you!

"In the near future, the transformation of the planet into an artificial environment will be complete."

Don't you think that little stickers on every piece of fruit we by is a huge step toward this future?

SCC: we BUY... we BUY..

Loo Dobbs live right now at the National Press Club if any of you locals want to dash down for a laugh.

Joel writes:
Some four billion years later we are reaching the inevitable end of the geological and biological evolution of our world. We are not entirely sure of the meaning of it all, but we suspect the meaning has something to do with gift shops.
***

I cannot really Boodle today as Loomispouse is home in sick bay. The virus that he carried to and from North Carolina has finally brought him down, felled him, and there is a stomach and gut component that I was dealing with pretty much most of last week.

And I do so want to tell the story of Saturday morning, a private breakfast among a very small American cadre of camel experts. The details are fascinating.

The occasion that brought everyone together was the celebration of the founding of the general store at Camp Verde, Texas, 150 years ago. At this time last year, my husband and I went to the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Texas Camel Corps at Camp Verde.

According to a web account, the store was established to supply liquor to the troops and caretakers of the camels. Today, the two floors of the store are devoted entirely to jelly beans and bottled sauces, dips and toppings of all sorts; T-shirts and caps and clothing paraphernalia; a bath section with towels, soaps, and lotions; a kitchenware section; a cookbook, scented candles and Christmas section; as well as several inexpensive jewelry counters.

Only a small countertop at the very front of the store, just a few steps beyond the store's entrance, has merchandise related to camels--camel earrings and camel-topped pens among the offerings. This year, the better books about camels and the oval embroidered camel patches were nowhere to be found.

I must be very careful here as one of the owners of the store, a woman, was present to greet us at the private ranch house and ranch headquarters where the catered meal of breakfast tacos was held, less than a mile from the general store. She was welcoming, friendly and gracious, and, I believe, didn't stay long.

I wouldn't have missed for the world being among the camel experts assembled for the breakfast and the intimate hour's conversation we had at the sole table on the patio of the house, in the cool of the morning as the dark and low storm clouds were just beginning to break. This conversation was one of the most lively, entertaining and informative that I have had in quite some time--full of laughter, too, thanks to Jim Hale and Doug Baum, whom I'll write about later.

It was historian and soon-to-be author Frank Gonzalez who invited me. It was he who shared that the owners of the store are involved in a conglomerate of sorts, with business interests in many enterprises. Gonzalez works for the family. He said that years ago the clan had the Coca-Cola franchise in Mexico. Knowing former Mexican President Vicente Fox Quesada's biography and how he worked his way up from a delivery boy to the top tiers of management with Coca-Cola in Mexico, I asked Frank if Fox had worked for this family. Frank didn't answer my question directly, but allowed that he had meet Fox.

When the Camp Verde store opened back in 1867, it was open only on soldiers' paydays. Now, it is open pretty much seven days a week.

I must double back and read the NYT story that Joel linked to. I had seen the story but have focused more on the nuts and bolts of the firefighting itself. Editor and Publisher had an article today about how the web has enabled the South Lake Tahoe Tribune to keep owners--including one in the Midwest--informed about the status of their home in the Meyers/Tahoe burn area.

http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003603143

"It is an interesting way to use the Web," he said. "We have been updating constantly, we are the only real news source here." Ironically, Munson said, the paper had a meeting to plan for just such a massive fire three weeks ago.

How odd.

Ivansmom

"In the West, insects are invading the forests of New Mexico and the Rockies, driven onward by climate changes which allow them to move into previously inhospitable areas."

This is only partially true. In fact, like forest fires, insect infestations have been around for far longer than people have been inhabitating North America. Also like fires, their prevalence has been somewhat artifically reduced over the course of the past 50 years as people have suppressed them.

The biggest insect threat to the Colorado forests right now is a huge infestation of pine beetles. If you drive I70 west of Denver you will see thousands of acres (and probably millions of trees) of red, dead pines that have been infested over the past 5 years. There is, however, no legitimate scientific evidence that this has been caused by global warming. To kill the beetles naturally, you need 5 straight days of temperatures less than -30F in the late fall or late spring, which were pretty rare prior to the advent of global warming. While global warming is bad, not every single adverse natural phenemonon can be explained by it. Many of them were occurring regularly prior to it. You are right, however, that there are quite a few instances where the range of pest plants and animals seems to be extending due to general increases in temperatures.

Oh hey... forgot to say to martooni... keep it going, friend. We're here with you all the way.

Looking forward is the way to go.

Yes, Awal, I was referring to the fact that particular kinds of bugs have extended their ranges, especially in the Northern U.S. and Canadian Rockies. The extended range appears to be due to warmer temperatures, which allow them to spread where formerly it was too cold. I didn't mean to suggest that the fact of bug infestations, which do occur naturally although they appear to be worsening, are themselves the result of global warming. However, the extension of range does appear to be connected to climate change.

TBG - thanks so much for the Shuler link....very funny. I think a lot of table-turning is in order for the Democrats...if they would just step up to the plate and let it rip.

Also, yes, yes....what is UP with those dang stickers?! I was just muttering not-nice words as I washed all my Costco fruit haul yesterday!

Great BPH pics, enjoyed them.

Slyness - I hope you can find some comfort during this tough time.

Last time we were at Mount Vernon (which is one of my favorite places) my husband and I were sitting on the porch and hubby said, "Man, those rich old white guys knew how to live back then"

Yikes....I know, a lot of the rich old white guys were living off the labor of slaves - hubby wasn't yearning for the days of yore...just wishing he could get a spot on the Potomac.

A good example of imaginary friends from days gone by...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/25/AR2007062501675.html

With the Wallet Came Something More

Thirty years ago as a young bride off to a weekend in Manhattan with my new husband, I stopped at a newsstand at Union Station to buy a book to read on the train.

We were on the train and well on the way to New York when I realized that I'd left my wallet with all my credit cards, several hundred dollars in cash, identification, etc., on the counter. I was sure that was the end of my wallet and everything in it!

To my surprise, two weeks later a special delivery package arrived at my door. There was my wallet with nothing missing, nothing awry. There was a note from a Miss Daisy Miller with a D.C. address. Miss Miller had found my wallet on the floor by the newsstand. I wrote Daisy back, thanked her and sent a little gift of some cash along with an inspirational booklet about people who care about others. She wrote back that she would keep the little amount of cash on her dresser and that whenever God sent her a needy person, she would use the money to help. Although she was struggling herself to make ends meet, she gave from what little she had. We corresponded over the years, and I replenished the gift whenever she made a need known.

Although Daisy and I never met, I felt I knew her as a sister. Years later, Daisy became infirm and moved to Florida to be with family. After a while my letters came back unopened, and I felt she had passed on to be with the one she loved the most, her Lord. I still miss her; her influence in my life was profound, and I love her to this day. It was truly a privilege to have known her.

-- Jill Harper, McLean

Details of Pine Needle outbreak in the Canadian West.

http://www.mpb.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/

If you have seventy minutes free:

Heil Feur Reichstag

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4026073566596731782

Long live America, fabricated national trauma notwithstanding

Fourth Reich

Follow the link: http://pictures.aol.com/galleries/davifeon/page1 to see two pictures I took of the field and sky on Saturday. Next to them are two turtles given to me by a colleague when she noticed my turtle ring and I told her the Turtle Island myth. I prefer the Onondaga version to the Iroquois.

Turtles all the way down, omni!

SCC: "feur" should be "feuer"

My bad, one vowel and one consonant short of German "fire" gives you French "fear," "peur" - no wonder the stormtroopers marched in the shade le long des Champs Elysees

"In the near future, the transformation of the planet into an artificial environment will be complete."

I think of this as "terraforming Earth."

bc

In the Nature Fighting Back category, a report says that, thanks to increased ambient carbon dioxide levels, poison ivy is growing faster, bigger and more potent. The growth rate doubled, it came back more quickly after grazing by animals, and the urushiol levels are higher and more allergenic. This is like the study showing that ragweed growing in cities was hardier and more potent than the country ragweed. You can hear the weeds chortle "Bwaaahahahaaa!"

Why don't we ever hear of George Washington or Thoreau or those hardy farmer, planter and back-to-nature types complaining of poison ivy? Maybe the remaking of Nature started earlier than we think.

Don't know if they still do it, but the best time to visit
Mt. Vernon used to be around Christmas. They gave candle light tours of some parts of the house that are not on the regular tours because of very narrow steep stairs, etc. While we waited outside in line, NPS provided a bonfire and warm cider. Everybody sang carols. Very very cool, especially with kids.

Please don't say it will be so, boss. That would be the sorriest thing mankind ever did.

http://www.strathconacounty.com/pdfs/tourism/Beaverhills.pdf

I live on the Cooking Lake Moriane, in an area just south of Elk Island Park and Blackfoot. There has not been a forest fire in the general area since the late 1880's, and you can see it in the peat on the forest floor. I worry about fire in summer. there are always idiots tossing cigarette butts and the train to worry about.

frosty, mrdr has relatives just down the road from you in Menagha.

I almost forgot I was in a golf tournament last week and noticed on the edge of the forested areas signs warning about the poison ivy.

ivansmom, I'm thinking it's not because there was less poison ivy in the old days, but because there was less complaining.

dr-I do hope Menahga is not suffering the same subdivisionitis that is afflicting the "Brainerd Lakes Area." I may find myself passing through on the way to Fargo later this summer and will check it out for myself.

Here at Chez Frostbitten we are protected from having too many neighbors by the presence of wooded tribal land and "Indian Burial Grounds" on two sides. I've written of these before, they are simple family cemeteries with veterans' stars and headstones, not archaeological sites. The other two sides are water with views of fewer buildings than would have been seen 100 years ago. Gone are the ramshackle barns, tourist cabins, and bullhead cannery. Some have been replaced with grand, for here, houses but for the most part people live a lifetime in what would be considered a starter home elsewhere. We set our houses back from the water, and sacrifice some water views with wind breaking trees.

Still no sign of the Short Crested Spectacled Mudgeon on the Robinson chat. A wily bird indeed.

Kbertocci, I'm tempted to say you're right about the complaining. However, I've read a fair number of "pioneer" accounts which were full of complaints. I think the ones handed down for posterity just had better editors.

Ah, have a 3:00 meeting, then off to the BPH.

See those of you there, there.

bc

The view that JA mentions in MD is in my county, PG. Somewhere, along that long stretch of waterfront is a compound bounded by concertina-wire fencR, and I told, guarded by red-haired, leggy, undocked doberman pinchers.

The manse is owned by one G. Gordon Liddy.

Martooni: Here is a carrot >>>s for you, if you ask.

Finally, you could use simpler marks: X OR /

X on the day, which might embody the spirit of one-day better than a number.

bOOdl <3 u. TRANSLATION: We boodle-love you.

I expect it had something to do with leading a by-and-large rural life. Toxic weed-recognition skills were probably much sharper in the general population.

There appears to be a massive storm out over Manassas and Reston. But it also doesn't seem to be moving.

There also appears to be a massive storm out over Baltimore that is moving. South.

Looking out the window the clouds over Bethesda appear to be motionless.

A Yoki sighting! Yoki, you may be interested in knowing that DR, MostlyL, Frosti and I keep conferring off-boodle about blue in the garden.

I think the concensus is that you could plant perennial sea hollies in front of your yellow house. Then, insert annual sunflowers to be perky in a Western prairie sort of way.

Low care, low water: and such easy flowers in that classic combination of yellow and blue.

I am making a picture of this for you...more later.

Omni -- the birdies in CPland are suddenly quiet; the air holds that hush and awe.

Oh my... Rob Pegoraro's blog allows embedded links!

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fasterforward/2007/06/mac_market_math.html#c1196971

Just took another look at the radar and it shows rain over College Park. I'm looking out my window due east and don't see it

Cute website Omni. My daughter loves jigsaw puzzles, so I will share it with her.

JA, thanks for solving a mystery for me. Was at Mount Vernon a few weeks ago with the fam, and we noticed that house across the river. Didn't remember it from previously, and thought that perhaps some conniving developer managed to skirt the rules. Glad to see it was there all along, just not visible.

Not sure that poison ivy is more widespread than before. But I do look out for it more--particularly due to TWD's insistence on pooping on leaves. (Reminds me of a T-shirt Raysdad brought back from Alaska. Has a bear walking out of the woods holding a roll of toilet paper and is captioned, "Yeah. We do."

RDP, kbertocci showed us that website a while back and I've been visiting daily since. The puzzle I linked you to should be a bunny.

Raysmom... just sent you an email.

Fortunately, would be bunny with a small b and not something copyrighted by Hugh Hefner.

Love this article, an 87 year old woman in Newfoundland took on a Black bear and won.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2007/06/26/black-bear.html?ref=rss

Well, I am out of here until 9 July. On the morrow I head down to Myrtle Beach with the dependents. The idea is to relax, sit on the beach and, like, chill.

Yeah. Right.

Passive relaxation is not in my nature. Fortunately I am bringing lots of books. Plus, despite the protestations of my offspring that I look silly doing so, I shall create yet another impressive fortress of sand. With flying buttresses.

Alas, I fear the condo does not have wireless internet. And my wife gets all cranky when I sneak out looking for a Starbucks. I shall be forced into Boodle Withdrawal.

Cheers to all.

Have a great time RD! Don't forget the sunscreen.

kurosawaguy,

Mount Vernon still does those winter tours. I haven't been to one but they look very inviting and I'm happy to hear your report supporting that.

Enjoy, RD. You could have come to soggy Oklahoma and boated through our burgeoning rivers, creeks, canals and ditches. You could probably pick up some nifty floating poison ivy too. Or you'd have a great excuse to stay indoors with the books and WiFi all day.

RD, we'll miss you! Let us know what you read.

Don't think I can make it to the BPH tonight. This crud is getting me down. Takes a huge effort to get one thing done each day and today's thing is already history.

So hoist a few for me, my friends. L.A. Lurker... I'll see you in July on my visit out west.

Good show RD!

Enjoy, RD. Both the books and the sandcastles.

RD have a great vacation.

TBG feel better soon.

RD, I hope your trip is good. I'm sure there won't be a lack of people to mingle with. During the Fourth, the place is flooded,and they ususally stick around for awhile, one can hardly get to the beach.

Good to hear from you, Martooni.

The g-girl and I are wiped out. It is so hot here. When one steps outside, it is like being in an oven. The heat just presses in on all sides.

Slyness, hospice care is good. My dad would not allow them to come the day and night of my mother's death. Of course he had barred me from the house also. My sister came and got me after my mother died. I lived next door. I am truly sorry about your brother.

There is an area in this county that is so beautiful and lovely, words just cannot express the beauty of it. It looks like the mountains, and in the fall and winter it just takes my breath away. There are homes in this area, all kinds, but they don't look out of place. This place slightly makes up for the decay in so much of the area.

frosti, beautiful picture and lovely view. You are blessed.

Hey, Cassandra. I posted a long and tedious response to your immigration question at the end of the last Boodle. I don't want to repost it here, but you can go back and read it if you want.

I wish you had some of our rain, though I don't want any of that muggy heat.

Any word on your grandsons?

Cassandra-it is beautiful, but a lot of trouble hides in the trees. Poverty has always been here but meth and violence have taken even more out of families. Trying to send our cool dry afternoon your way. It is 79 here, but with low humidity and a breeze it feels cooler.

RD-Have fun!

Rd, quick catch.

Faxing yarn, faxing knitting needles. The beach is a great place to learn to knit. Besides, your wife really needs hand knitted silk and wool socks when its cold out there. Look to her future.

What? what? she says as she blankly looks around. TBG, I could fax you some too.

Something tells me you'd both rather have something else. I shall fax you some Shelley, but not Ozymandias.

"I am the daughter of Earth and Water,

And the nursling of the Sky:

I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;

I change, but I cannot die. "

PB Shelley - The Cloud

I am sorting through a pile of really old files today. The guys cleaned out their desks and put it all on a nice big pile for me to file when I get to it. Isn't that nice of them.

Oldest one so far is from 1982. Considering the company was incorporated in 1979...

And this was from the clean office.

It's dead Jim....

Not dead, dr, just gone to M&S for R&R. Wish I could be there, how about you?

Me too. I forgot about that one. Usually I don't.

I'm thinking from the heat down your way a long cold ice tea would suit you just fine slyness?

dr, similar heat here, and a nice cold ice tea is tasting just perfect. Crossing fingers our hydro system holds up tonight - they will be pushing it.

The BPH would be more fun though.

DR -- you are so funny and about kntting, too!

Slyness, I learned to knit to deal with stress and long hospitalizations for CeePee boy. I also stopped biting my nails to the quick, and that on a good day. So, if DR faxes the set up to you, well, it is a kind of wooly--pointed sticks love.

Off to swim. So glad for a Yoki sighting....I am going to plan a bit of a blue-yellow easy-care, high steppe border....sounds like knitting, almost.

Hi DMD.

Slyness, you situation reminds me about brave and generous Sevenswans. She must be recovering. Does take something out of a body.

Now, off to swim. Did you know that white wine, as in summer-light Pino Grigio or spicey Gewurztraminer sp?, can help with pulmonary function? Some of us lap swimmers, will enjoy a winecooler of white gold plus soda water, at the end of 30 laps or 45 minutes, whatever comes first.

Swimming. Really.

I won't tell you who are suffering in heat that at Banff (closer to Yoki) this morning it was wavering just above freezing at .1 to .3 C, and that I slept with my socks on last night. I wore my nice heavy warm sweater, and now its 22C and muggy and I am dressed so wrong for the weather. It's fairly normal up here to be cool at night, and hot in the day, relatively speaking.

Even when its cool in the evenings, even near freezing, I like to keep my windows open. With the bedroom door shut, and the furnace way down, it kind of reminds me when I was a kid and we lived in a great big old house with little insulation and no central heating. It was the kind of house you burrowed under the wool filled quilts your momma made with her sisters, with frost nipping at your nose. On really cold mornings, she opened the oven door and let us stand there in front of it to warm up.

I guess that was in the spirit of think cool?

Anyone want to share a favourite iced tea or coffee recipe? I've searched the net and have't found any I really like. My experiments with tea and lime cordial aren't too bad but all my iced coffee concoctions are fechh.

Circa 1980, a colleague from Livingston,Montana complained that houses were popping up so fast in Paradise Valley (which runs from Livingston south to Yellowstone National Park) that the night sky was no longer dark. I was annoyed by light pollution from Billings, Montana, while doing range surveys at Butch Cassidy's most remote hideout, on the Wyoming side of the border.

'Pino Grigio or spicey Gewurztraminer sp?, can help with pulmonary function'

Good thing too. We had some of that last evening. Or was it the evening before.

dr, I make iced tea by the gallon. When the kids are home a gallon will be consumed each and every day. (I sweeten with Splenda, so I can drink as much as I like without worrying about the carbs.)

A little storm just blew up and is raining upon us. The sun was shining fifteen minutes ago...So much for weeding the periwinkle for a while!

Am I dreaming CP or did you find a recipe for a drink from rubharb? If not I shall did it and find it. Lovely and light, crisp even, for those hot summer days.

At least National Airport keeps Rosslyn from having 70-story towers hovering above the Lincoln Memorial. The existing buildings are bad enough.

dr, one more day and our cool nights will return, driving home my car read 36, before humidity, actually temp somewhere between 32 and 34, 38-40 with humidity. More than cool weather we need rain, it has only rained a couple of times for brief but heavy downpours. My hydrangea is not enjoying the current heat - how do they manage further south? It gets lots of water but is still wilted at the end of the day, and it is in part sun.

Started reading (?) the Family Jewels on the CAI web page. Very fast reading given all the redactions and duplicate pages. Do government page copy people get paid by the number of pages?
Disturbing note. When I open the document, links pop up across the top of the screen like I've never seen before
. Aljazeera home page/english
. Alta Vista - Bablr engish trans
. Applegate Valley news
. Bestwestern.com

I think hydrangeas always wilt in the heat, dmd, but should bounce back at night. I do give mine extra water, a watering can full every other day. They look so sad when they're wilting. It is very hot here too. "S" got the air conditioner in the bedroom window last night, just in time. We are going to attempt to walk to the beach in a bit, not that it will be much cooler there.

Even as a child I hated to see the yearly additions to the Cape Cod landscape. It accerlerated when JFK became president and never truly stopped. Some towns have gotten smart and adopted zoning regulations that have kept some of the charm, but others have just given in to greed. The middle, around Hyannis, seems to be the worst. There are nice areas around Falmouth and the outer cape isn't too bad thanks to the National Seashore. But the traffic is a killer. Both daughters have birthdays around the 4th of July, I won't see them as trying to get across the bridge and back is a nightmare. Too many people all wanting to be in the same place and making it a place I no longer want to be - at least in the summer.

The headline, Firefighters Gain Ground on Calif. Blaze, on the Washington Post homepage needs to be changed. If a person goes to the article, the news is that the Tahoe fire has jumped the fireline to now threaten Tallac (tuh-LAK) Village, rather densely populated and just west of the Tahoe Keys, and additional evacuations are under way.

And where is California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Tahoe burns? Traveling, as I noted earlier (and omni commented on), but as reported by NBC News this evening, Schwarzenegger is with Britin's Prime Minister Tony Blair on his last day in office.

Arnold fiddles on a diplomatic foray as Tahoe is torched? Shouldn't he be at home supervising the 24-hour dousing of the fire rather than cavorting at 10 Downing Street?

TBG I'm sorry for your crud and how you're feeling.

Sometimes family time is just what the doctor ordered, so make use of it tonight.

Anybody else find it too hot to cook actual food? My suggestion: Gazpacho soup and any sandwiches of your choice ;).

If you've never gone gazpacho, it really is no-cook and tasty-- and tomato-intensive.

You have a point about Ahnuld, Linda, but I doubt he would be much help around Tahoe. In fact, he would probably be in the way and a hindrance to boot!

Just for grins I read today's guest blog on the Mommy Blog. It only took 46 minutes before the comments began to harshly criticize the poor girl who wrote it.

Can I say again that I love this place?

Thanks for the nice comments. I will miss the boodle lots while I am gone. You are such a great group of people.

Anyway, I think we are all packed up and ready for the seven hour drive.

I remember Myrtle Beach, 30 years ago, as a boring stretch of road between more interesting places. If any savannahs are left, one might find Venus flytraps. Or they just might be visible on roadsides.

Thinking of Banff, I think they have an overpass with separate lanes (separated by a barrier) for autos and elk. It apparently took the elk no time at all to figure it out.

Back home from the BPH. bc, Mudge, omni, pj and our guest, LA Lurker, were there, too. We were missing the official boodle photographer, so no pics--sorry! As always, good time, good talk, good laughs.

dr, please fax over some of your freezing temperatures. As of 9:00, it was 89 F here. Yuk!

Safe travels, RD.

I kilt it.

Raysmom;

If I had a REALLLLLLY good telephoto lens (kinda like the ones SciTim uses), I coulda taken some BPH shots. My apologies.

*wandering off to sob in the corner at the indignity of missing a BPH*

:-)

thanks for the emergency bph. it was fun. i can also now boast that i've met the official achenwaitress and seen the achenfish.

tbg, hope you're feeling better.

Maybe I am inflating Dick Lugar's stature in international affairs within the beltway (I don't really think so) but was interested in his frank acknowledgment that it is time to openly discuss exit strategies in Iraq:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062601688.html

Lugar is a true R believer (once known as Dick Nixon's favorite mayor when he was mayor here). It is a sign that the President is not a lame duck; he is now Rufus Firefly.

I do want to point out that I said Dick twice. Caaaching!

Slyness,
You're undoubtedly right about the likelihood that Ahhnuld would be in the way of firefighting efforts. It's not as though Texas Gov. Rick Perry ever showed up once at the Helotes Mulch Fire.

However, this item about charity and good works is being reported at the Tahoe Tribune website, where I've been for the last 45 minutes since Loomispouse has turned in wwwaay early:

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons and First Lady Dawn Gibbons will attend "Together for Tahoe," a Red Cross fundraiser for Angora Fire victims in Reno at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

"Tomorrow's fundraiser will provide clothes, food, and funding for the families affected by the devastating fire," said Gov. Gibbons. " I encourage all Nevadans to stop by and lend their support."

Note, Boodlers, that the fire is presently only on the California side of the lake.

The Trib's website has many links to Youtube, one clip from the Nevada Appeal showing the evacuation late this afternoon from Tallac Village, with fire and smoke in the background and a helicoptor quickly going over the scene, the helicoptor briefly appearing at the top of the image.

There is also at Youtuble a 6-minute clip shot by an amateur from the beach and at anothrr location near the Tahoe Keys. The latter viewpoint enables the cameraperson to scan across a lake meadow to the area just over a ridge. The smoke and plume are enormous, and toward the end of the video a helicoptor and plane look like little teensy ants in the sky, they are that tiny compared to what they're flying through.

Interesting footnote of history as to why the Tahoe fire is called the Angora Fire. But it's getting late here tonight for history.

Sorry to hear the news about your brother, Slyness.

Thinking of you and your brother, Slyness. I've been wondering how Sevenswans is doing too. Martooni, keep on keeping on. RD, have a great vacation! Snuke, where are you? (I think we need an official scorer.)

Thanks for the updates on the Tahoe fire, Loomis. The Mark Twain connection was great.

This triggered a Strange Thought: "met the official achenwaitress and seen the achenfish."

Strange Thought being: "if Joel was an Effenbach and not an Achenbach, the attendees of a BPH might be mistaken for sailors trying to be polite."

Sorry. It's late. I'm tired. Loaded/unloaded/spread about 1200 lbs. of gravel to appease the zoning Nazis and the old noggin' is acting strange.

Joel, took the family two summers ago to DC to do the nation's capitol tour. I know they are making changes to Mt. Vernon; wonder what your feelings are about those changes.

I remain amazed at the stakes that were involved when they "THHWWPP" to the British.

SCC: "said" before "THHWWPP."

Gesundheit!

Wow! I almost hate to intrude upon the sepulchral quietude!

I will send this thought to martooni: There's almost never a thought (which isn't rigidly historical) which tempts you to use the term "Nazi/Nazis", which wouldn't be better (or at least more clearly) stated by the use of "pigs" or "overlords".

:o)

Good morning, friends. Another day, another dollar, as some will say. Not the case here, at least I don't see my ship coming in. It is morning, not light, but the clock suggests it is another day and the morning part of that day. The g-girl and I will try and make the Center on time, which can be an effort because she doesn't want to get up.

Ivansmom, I found my grandsons and my daughter-in-law. They are home, and doing okay. Daughter-in-law gets upset when my daughter comes here and stay any length of time. She got my calls and beeps but totally ignored them, which is par for the course with her. I think I will still make the trip because I have not seen them in some time. I would visit more often but the car just is not in shape for that kind of trip.

Morning Mudge, Slyness, Scotty, and all.*waving* Have not seen you here Mudge. Martooni, peace my friend, and you will have peace if you trust in the one that is called our Peace, Christ.

Slyness, thinking of you with prayer. And you too, Error.

Ivansmom, I read your response. I realize immigration is a tricky issue, and not a simple one, yet I also realize that it is an issue that we condoned and allowed to happen. I could be wrong, but I believe someone, somewhere, eased the restrictions and turned a blind eye. This country seems to work best using slave labor or cheap labor. And I'm not trying to wrinkle any one's feathers, but take a serious hard look here. We can dress it up all we please, but when you take off the layers and reach the core, what do you got? And I am an American citizens born and raised here, having done, and still occasionally do, that same labor performed by the immigrants we're talking about. Of course, I did not swim the Atlantic to get here, nor was I even paid cheap wages. We, my friends, have a history here.

TBG, hope you get to feeling better. And I hope your husband is better also, Loomis.

Got to go. It is difficult to type or do much else with swollen fingers. A gift of old age. Who's complaining? I get to talk to some wonderful people everyday.

Slyness, I forgot to mention, we had some terrible thunder-boomers yesterday. The lightning was awful. It was so bad, even I could hear it. And lots, lots, of rain. I thought about the farmers, and I'm sure they were happy. Not too many farmers now.

Read Eugene Robinson op-ed piece detailing our Vice-President. Interesting read. Are they really going to replace him with Thompson?

Have a great day, folks. I hope the weather is nice where you are. We're still going to get hot, muggy, thunderstorm, weather. And it is all good.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ. Peace.

Here's some newspaper gossip about an important issue. On Sunday, for the first time in its history (I think), our #2 local newspaper, the Sun-Sentinel, published an advertisement (gasp!) on its front page. This is part of its journey to the dark side, and indicative of the trend in American journalism. On his blog, "The Daily Pulp," Bob Norman, a columnist for a local alternative paper, published an email by someone who was in a meeting at the Sun-Sentinel.

Here's Norman:

"...The fire wall between the editorial and business sides has been washed out.

We knew that already, but read the following anyway. It's brilliant, telling of how the newsroom is being flushed down the Orwellian toilet of corporatism."

http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2007/05/sunsentinels_transformative_ch.php

Oh, and good morning, everybody!

Morning all!! *Lone Star State Grover waves*

Busy schedule today, with many meetings and such. Don't think I'll be able to check in again. Have fun, everyone!

G'morning, everybody! Hey Cassandra, I'm glad you got rain, even in the form of thunderboomers. Hope it made life more bearable in the evening.

Mr. T was annoyed with me, because I asked him to help me weed the periwinkle bed. His stated objective for the evening was not to get hot, but he was dripping with sweat when we finished. However, the bed looks much better. Not all weeds gone, but many. And my back isn't giving me fits this morning!

Linda, you are perfectly correct that Ahnuld should be spearheading the charitable relief effort at Tahoe. I hope that is done expeditiously, with or without him.

Thanks to everyone for your good wishes and concern. The report from the bloodwork done Monday is good; he is holding his own for the current time.

Have a great morning all, off to a meeting out of town this morning. Its hot already and humid, looking forward to the rain that is supposed to come this afternoon - fingers crossed.

Had a great time at the BPH last nite. I got there just after Mudge had trudged off for the bus.

Kbertocci, I have the Oscar video, and have watched it. It's all wrapped up and ready for mailing, but I'm such an infernal procastinator that it rests by the door waiting for me to take it to the mailbox. I might watch the Helen Mirren interview again (thanks for the preshow interviews and red carpet show (that was a double bonus)).

bc, what was the name of that book again?

June 27:nothing...oh, wait...Happy birthday to Emma Lahana (actress and singer, turns 23 today). Yellow Ranger Kira Ford on 'Power Rangers: Dino Thunder'. Favorite actress: Audrey Hepburn. Favorite band: Beatles. One of her musical inspirations: Eva Cassidy.

OK, that was a streeeetch.

bill, I'd also like to see Joel's take on about the new stuff at Mount Vernon, but here's mine.

I hate the thought that every historical site must somehow be livened up and made interactive. But given that now seems to be a necessity, Mount Vernon did a pretty good job of it. The museum, exhibits, shops and (of course!) food court are quite far from the historical building and grounds (at the bottom of the hill by the main entrance). I would have preferred to enter directly onto the grounds, rather than have to go through one of the new buildings and see the obligatory introduction film, but it wasn't a major issue. After exiting that building you can turn right to go to the new stuff, or go left to the house and grounds. Of course we turned left. The grounds are still lovely--that day a young man in Colonial garb was teaching a group of young people a game that could best be described as T-ball cricket. And the gardens!

Of the new stuff, I preferred the exhibits of Washington's furniture and housewares (or those of the period) to the interactive stuff, but Sis felt otherwise. So apparently there's something for everyone. All in all, they added stuff that some will like, without detracting from the main attraction.

omni, please, I think we know who the champion procrastinator is in this scenario. (hint: it's not you and it's not me)

Speaking of watching videos of things that happened in the distant past: my DSL was recently upgraded to the point where I have Youtube on demand (before, I would have to load the file first and then watch it). And I have been going nuts watching all this great stuff from my childhood--I started with Laugh-In and then the Smothers Brothers and then a bunch of old James Taylor and Simon & Garfunkel and so on--it's the coolest, like a time machine.

Here's James Taylor when he was young and beautiful (and check out his pianist...):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=N2meOb_0qmg

Once again, Cassandra really nails it doesn't she?

"Oh hey, I hate to have to use those (slaves/illegal immigrants) but gee I can't find enough people to do the job for the nothing I want to pay. Hey, see my new boat? We'll be towing it down to the new lake house next week."

Winter Spring Summer or Fall. Thanks for that kb. But I have to say that in my defense I had the tape two weeks before I watched it as prime time season wasn't yet over and I had all those 'great' shows to record and watch. But the tape has been watched and ready for the mail for three weeks now. For that I pull out my Master Procastinator Card.

Now to watch Carole King perform You Make Me Feel (Like a Natural Woman).

oops: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WX9esv_US1A&mode=related&search=

Wow, can you all say goosebumps. If you all don't follow kb's link to James Taylor (actually do so, it's a great video)...Carole knocks it out the ballpark.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cX_OWIleBRc

Here's what I consider one of the better YouTube clips of the Tahoe fire, the one I mentioned last night. It's 7:29 minutes long. It's eerie how absolutely quiet and still are the scenes at the lakefront, compared to the noise of sirens and aircraft in the background. You can also see how strongly the winds were whipping about on Monday. I'd advise advancing the video to the 6 minute mark so that you can see the aircraft against the entire sky full of smoke.

The projection by firefighters, as reported by the Tahoe Tribune, is that the blaze will not be completely extinguished until July 3.

Why is the present fire called the Angora fire? The answer is reminiscent from a scene from the book or movie, "Heidi." Alpine pasturage.

The naming belongs to the story of Nathan Gilmore, a young rancher from Ohio who had been caught up in the gold rush of 1849 and who came west on the Central Overland Trail. He settled in Mud Springs, below Hangtown (present-day Placerville, an old beau is currently editor of the Placerville Mountain Democrat), where he acquired grazing land, married, and started a livestock business.

In the early summer, as the foothill grasses where growing dry, he and two Mexican vaqueros would head up the great Johnson Pass turnpike (Go figure, a glib Ohio lawyer, who was a correspondent for the Placer Herald, is credited with the "discovery" of Lake Tahoe)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Calhoun_Johnson

with about 100 head of cattle (with some loss of the heard on the trek), cross Echo Summit, and often stop at Yank's Station (now Meyers, the approximate loction where the fire began) to rest for the night before heading to Fallen Leaf Lake. He would be tolled at Osgood's Toll House--five cents a head for the animals and six bits for the rest of the party.

Gilmore was an important explorer of this backcountry and developer of a mountain retreat at Glen Ellen Springs, in a small alpine meadow higher up.

His cows actually found the spring after wandering off. Gilmore set out to find them and stumbled across the springs. An interesting sidebar is that Gilmore decided to bottle the naturally carbonated water from the springs in the late 1870s. By 1880, Glen Alpine Tonic Water became famous throughout California and Nevada. Gilmore's resort followed his phenomenal bottling success.

However, cows were not the only animals Gilmore brought to the high reaches of the Sierra. Angora Peak and Lakes received their name from the herds of Angora goats that Gilmore pastured in the region. And that's how the current Tahoe fire gets its name.

Huge line of storms headed this way, Flooding in north and central Texas. Wish I could see some of this rain to the Eastern seaboard and Tahoe where it's sorely needed. Loomispouse little improved over yesterday. He went back to bed right after breakfast. Camel tales one of these days.

kb and omni-thanks for a great start to the morning.

Turned on NPR this morning just in time to hear someone at the Pentagon quoted as saying we can't close Gitmo and move the detainees to US soil because they'd have to go to federal or military prisons and that would be a problem why? Because according to this person, whose name I didn't catch, the Geneva Convention doesn't allow detainees to be held with common criminals.

Off to look for a link once I have some more coffee and my head stops spinning.

Hey all you Battle Star Galactica fans out there: I just learned that Adama is Hebrew for Earth.

New kit, and nobody tells us...

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