Christmas Party Dec 19th 2:00 pm

I decided to issue an additional invitation in case some did not read to the bottom of the last post. Also I wanted a chance to put this picture of Mother Nature and the Cracker Jack Kid on the blog. We will be hosting a Family Partay, please come.

Thanksgiving 2010

Its been so long since I posted that I forgot that the last picture will appear first so start at the bottom and then the top will show you Chris exiting with a tired Abbie whos teeth were giving her a little trouble. But we had a good dinner and a lot of fun. My, it takes so long to get everything ready and then its over in a few hours. I guess thats why its good to enjoy the prep too and I did.

I'd like to extend an invitation to all for a Christmas gathering at our house on Dec. 19th beginning around 2:00 pm. Lets get together and see what we all look like in person.

California Trip

Politics as usual in the Golden State.

CA exploits massive desert winds for alternative power.

Hiking trail to the Lost Horse Mine.

Old fahts on top of Mt. Ryan. Wind speed: +/- 51 mph

Joshua Tree at Joshua Tree National Park

Doug's view in Pala, CA. He built this wall and others.

Jim and the Anaconda discuss political verities.

The Hunt Gals, Nov. 2010.

Chas and I recently spent a few days in SoCal visiting friends, relatives, and hiking in Joshua Tree Nat'l Park. First we went to the House of Hunt and spent time with those rare orchids of west coast beauty, Wendy, Elizabeth, Alex, and Helen. It's always a treat to see them. They give off good vibrations. The girls are pursuing their studies whilst Wendy gives encouragement and keeps the ship moving forward.

We then spent a day with an old friend Doug Eaton and his wife Joy Lacho. Dougie is well and preaching a brand of right wing bullshit I find somewhat distasteful. But we go back a long way so our friendship weathers the political differences. Joy made us a delicious dinner and listened politely to our rantings.

We ended up at Joshua Tree Nat'l Park for a few days hiking. High desert country with vast vistas that vibrate with a veritable - never mind. It was a great spot.

I have a few subpar photos. But Chucky has some good ones. Perhaps he'll post a few.

Portsmouth Half Marathon

Charlie runs 20 minutes faster today.

Waiting for Mommy

Here she is!

Maia is 5 minutes behind Sara.

Maia ran the whole race with minimal training and finish line support from Giles.

All together now. Charlie ran the race in under 2 hrs.

Sara said that she felt great and could have kept running.

Charleston, SC

We recently visited the city of Charleston SC, an interesting and provocative place. A walking tour with Tommy Dew gave us a uniquely southern perspective on history in general and the War of Northern Aggression in particular.

Prior to the Civil War, the cash crop in most parts of the deep south was cotton. In Charleston it was rice. The "low country" geography and climate was well suited to rice cultivation and many rice plantations grew up along the rivers around the city. The West Africans brought with them knowledge of rice from their homeland and this allowed profitable rice production to begin fairly quickly without the normal learning curve.

And profitable it was. Charleston is a beautiful city set on a peninsula with many beautiful homes, most with extraordinary gardens. Plantation owners had second homes in the city and would spend summers with their families in Charleston enjoying the ocean breezes and an apparently permissive culture.

What is often left out in the local telling of this tale is the contribution and suffering of the enslaved people laboring of behalf of whitey. It's easy for us northerners to get a bit preachy on this subject but given the attitude we encountered I see nothing wrong with a few mild observations.

Growing rice was a tough job. Per unit of production, labor requirements far exceeded those required for cotton, tobacco or other cash crops. Slogging for hours through muddy, stinking rice paddies was difficult work.

The fact that this beautiful city and the wealth in contained was built on the backs of an enslaved population is not really acknowledged. Seems odd at this late date. The black folks left sweltering on the plantation whilst whitey enjoyed those ocean breezes isn't mentioned.

Judging this city and its culture after a visit of just a few days may be premature but I just sense a certain rigidness, resentment, and an willingness to change.

By the way, the photo of the green disk is a marker left in the road by a carriage driver to mark a defo or urine deposit. The water wagon, on constant lookout for such markers, then comes whipping by and blasts away the offensive matter so as not to offend the northern white folks being trundled about in the carriages.

Potty Training

We are in the middle of potty training Maggie.....it is challenging to say the least. She has been doing really well with the occasional accident.
Abbie is now a walking machine. She prefers this to crawling and should have been Frankenstein or a drunken sailor for Halloween.
(in the years to come i am sure Maggie is going to kill me for posing pictures of her on the potty) hehehehe

Halloween 2010

Ladybug and Strawberry

Daddy playing with the girls

Ghoulish Grandparents

Great looking Aunt and Uncle

We would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!

On the coast

Thanks

Halloween

We went to the annual halloween party and Jeff Tareila's barn last Saturday. As always, it was quite a show. Marg was a ghostly spector and danced the night away with wild abandon.