Happy Birthday, Kitty

When gardening with seeds was the subject, I wrote about my sturdy gardening grandma, who was born on a farm. This is my other grandmother, Grandma Kitty, a 4’10” bundle of spunk and style. She was born in April, and she's still remembered every April by her descendents. In this photo, Kitty is 21 years old, wearing a pleated dress that she designed and sewed.
Kitty died when I was quite young, so it's likely that my few actual memories of her have replicated themselves into memories of remembering her. But I’ve seen photos and watched old movies and heard a lot of stories about Kitty. A city-loving apartment dweller with no chance to be a gardener, Kitty was pretty and kind, frequently taking in relatives who needed somewhere to stay for a while. The tale is that everyone loved Kitty – she’s seen in many group photos, never separated from the people near her, but always with someone’s arm enclosing her. Every Friday she baked and cleaned the house like a tornado, getting ready for whoever would drop in over the weekend. You might get her famous kidney stew, or the children's favorite Burnt Sugar Cake, or her own favorite coconut macaroons.
Having a houseful of company was Kitty's delight. With a large extended family just a stroll or a streetcar away, casual visiting was easy and children grew up in a expansive social network, where the cousins were as close as sisters, and the friends were as close as family. There was always someone in the group who could play the piano in Kitty’s parlor, so everyone could sing as they passed the refreshments – which probably included a bucket of suds fetched from the nearby tavern.
I heard that Kitty would spread a sheet of newspaper on the carpet, have one of the children lie down with arms extended to the side, and make marks on the paper. She'd send the child off to school and make a well-fitting coat by the time school was out. [Carol of May Dreams Garden posts the diaries of her grandmother Ruth, who was also a lightning-fast seamstress.]
I’d dearly love to be able to talk to my grandmother, finally find out the answers to genealogical mysteries, ask her if she remembers the Chicago World’s Fair, and quiz her about the photo taken at a pre-World War One party where all the young wives dressed as men and smoked cigars. But tomorrow, it would also be great if Kitty could clean my house like a tornado, whip up some macaroons and magically sew me some new clothes, because company’s coming and I could use her help.

A Break in the Storm

Light on Cal Poly, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Storms pounded California all last week, and the wild weather made for wild photography conditions. In a break between storms, the Sun kept poking through the clouds over San Luis Obispo. I got this photo after 80-mph winds blew over my camera and nearly smashed the lens...thank goodness for lens caps!

How's the weather in your part of the country?

Wiley & the Angel

Wiley sitting up on the shelf that is over my kitchen sink and divides the kitchen from the living room. This shelf is about 10 feet long and 18 inches wide. Wiley likes to chase his tail up here while moving back and forth on the shelf. I don't know how he keeps from falling off. It is a long leap to get up there for such a young cat. Oh, and that is a griffin siting between Wiley and the Angel.

Fear and Loathing of the City Bus

As a cyclist, I doubt that I am alone in my strong dislike of city buses. They are enormous. They make frequent stops and wide turns. They have sizable blind spots. And their operators - overwhelmed with countless stimuli and the stress of keeping to a schedule - don't always notice cyclists in their path. All in all, it seems reasonable to be wary of these vehicles, and prudent to keep away from them whenever possible.



But as most fears, mine is not based on such rational ideas. What frightens me are things like the "heavy breathing." I will be riding along, when suddenly there is the sound of a most horrific heaving inches behind me, and I realise that a bus is dreadfully, unacceptably near. What exactly is responsible for the sound that buses make when they are braking I do not know, but it sends shivers through my body and makes me want to jump up on the curb in panic. A couple of times the bus stopped and "heaved" so closely behind me, that I could feel the heat of its terrifying dragon breath against my left calf.



My fear of buses can border on paranoia, and sometimes I am convinced that the driver is playing "chicken" with me. I can tell that they see me - they will sometimes look straight at me - yet they seem to intentionally try to squeeze me out in order to make their stop, or make the green light, or make a high-speed left turn as I am attempting to cycle straight through an intersection - figuring I'll stop out of sheer terror. I've been assured by bike messengers that the driver willyield if I don't give into them. But I lack the courage to play that game,and allow them to win every time.



Over the past two years I've overcome most of my fears about cycling in city traffic. Taxi cabs, large trucks - I am more or less okay with them. But the city bus continues to terrify me. Oh enormous, heaving metal beast... Some day, I will learn how to deal with you and my fears will be conquered.

BikeShare: Possibilities and Limitations

As I have already mentioned, Vienna has a fairly well developed bike share programme: Citybike. And as I have already mentioned, I do not use it. Partly the reasons for that are practical.

For a tourist who wants to explore the center of Vienna by bicycle, Citybike is great. It also works for locals who both live and work in the city center. Sadly, I work in an area of Vienna that is not covered by the Citybike network and there are no stations near my office. In order to commute to work and back, I would have to rent the bicycle for the entire day, which would be financially prohibitive: The rental costs are calculated on a sliding scale, where the first hour is free, but the second hour is 1 Euro, and subsequent hours are priced increasingly higher. According to this scale, it would cost me 30 Euro per day to commute to work and back - which would of course be madness.

Even to go for a short recreational ride before or after work is not an option, because the bike's basket does not accommodate my work bag.

This is the bag I carry to work when I am in Europe. It contains my laptop and the documents I need for the day. As you can see, it does not fit in the basket - and since it's a one-shoulder bag, cycling with it in traffic is not something I want to do. This bag goes with me to official meetings, and switching to a messenger-style bag would not be appropriate in my line of work. I think that any city implementing a bike share programme must take this factor into consideration. In my view, it is a design flaw when professionals are unable to use the bicycles because the basket will not accommodate a standard laptop-sized bag. As you can see below, there is no rear rack either.

For those who want to cycle in the center of Vienna as tourists, the Citybikes are certainly well fitted for this purpose: step-through frames with adjustable saddle height; swept-back handlebars for an upright sitting position, dressguards, a chainguard,

fenders and mudflaps,

non-slip pedals,

a wide saddle with springs that is probably fine on short rides,

and the newer Citybikes have 3 speeds, which is sufficient for the central (non-hilly) parts of Vienna.

An additional reason I do not rent Citybikes is that, frankly, I do not wish to turn myself into a mobile billboard. In the photo above, you can see the juxtaposition of the Citybike moto "Vienna for free!" (this refers to the first hour of rental being free of charge - though there is still an initiation fee of 1 Euro) and the yellow adverts for Raiffeisen Bank, as well as the white and red adverts for Gewista (a local advertising agency). Personally, I would rather pay a small fee for the first hour of rental, than advertise for a company I have no connection to - though I understand that others might be perfectly fine with this practice. In the meantime, I will continue to support local bike shops by renting from them whenever I need a bike in Vienna.

Trends I'd Like to See in the Bike Industry

With Interbike coming up this week, discussions regarding what trends to expect have been coming up. Last year was big for transportation cycling, but where will it go from there? To be honest, I have no idea. At the small but influential New Amsterdam show earlier this year the biggest specific trend I could spot was an increase in casual reflective gear. Hopefully Interbike will surprise us with something more substantial.



Meanwhile, instead of making predictions I thought I'd list some of the things I'd like to see myself. In no particular order...




Transportation bicycles for long distance

Most transportation-specific bicycles on the market today are designed for fairly short trips over easy terrain. But for a huge segment of the population, longer commutes over hilly terrain are more typical. Granted, cycling is not feasible for everyone. But I believe that for many, undertaking a long commute by bike is possible without sacrificing personal style and enjoyment. With that in mind, I would like to see more performance-oriented yet transportation-specific bicycle designs. While road, cyclocross and touring bikes can be adapted for long-distance commuting, it is exactly that: aftermarket adaptation. For every person who goes through the trouble, there are probably 100 who will not bother. A transportation-specific design will both validate the possibility of long distance transportation cycling, and make it easy to actually do it.


Affordable, quality dynamo lighting packages

The options for bright LED dynamo lights and light-weight, no-drag dynamo hubs have never been better. However, that's the good stuff and it is very expensive. And the inexpensive stuff - particularly what tends to be bundled with typical city bikes - is not great. Consumers complain about the dim halogen headlights, the heavy, lackluster hubs. It would be good to have an affordable middle ground. Bike shops that specialise in fully equipped bicycles tend to agree, and some have taken to modifying stock bikes with upgrades. But to see an across-the-board improvement in quality of bundled lighting packages, the initiative must come from the manufacturers.





Decent cycling trousers

Normally I wear my everyday clothing when riding for transportation and do not feel a need for cycling-specific designs. One exception is trousers. As it stands, I ride mostly in skirts and avoid trousers, because the crotch seams on most of them - particularly jeans - cause me discomfort in the saddle on anything but the shortest rides. Considering the growing selection of cycling-specific trousers on the market, it amazes me that virtually none of them aim to address this issue (which I know others experience!), focusing instead on bells and whistles such as U-lock pockets and reflective tabs. Somehow the idea of a seam-free gusseted crotch either escapes the designers or does not seem important, but I hope to see this feature in future.


Easy to use mini-pumps

When I talk to women about self-sufficiency on the road, a lot of it comes down to finding the equipment physically difficult to use. This is particularly true of portable bicycle pumps. A few months back I attended a "fix your flat in 5 minutes flat" clinic, and most of the women present admitted they were unable to use the mini-pump they carried with them on the bike - telling stories of roadside frustration, ripped out valves and ruined tubes. In fact there is exactly one mini pump I know of that is agreed to be fairly easy to use, but the complaint is that it's heavy; few are willing to carry it on their pared-down roadbike. It would be great to see manufacturers come up with designs that are both easy to work and lightweight; it would be a game-changer for many.



Road component groups designed for low gearing

For those who prefer low gears on their roadbikes forclimbing-intensive riding,it is not easy to achieve a build that is in equal measure modern, lightweight, and perfectly functional. Road component groups tend to be optimised for racing and therefore geared on the high side. Setting up a bike with truly low gears (I am talking sub-1:1 here) usually means resorting to mixing and matching components and brands, switching out chainrings to non-native ones, installing mountain bike derailleurs, sourcing vintage parts, and so on. While I am sure some will disagree, according to my observations and personal experience it is rare that these hybrid drivetrains will function as flawlessly as dedicated component groups where everything is designed to work together. This year SRAM has begun to venture into the low gearing territory with their "WiFli technology" - lightweight road derailleurs designed to accommodate wider cassettes. I can't wait for others to follow suit.





Mainstreaming of 650B



There has been talk about the rising popularity of 650B for years, and I am looking forward to this wheel size finally becoming mainstream and unremarkable for both road-to-trail and transportation bicycles. Increasingly, cyclists are choosing bikes built for 650B wheels: Framebuilders are being asked to make more of them, DIY 650B conversions are all the rage, choices for 650B rims and tires are expanding, andsome fringe manufacturers are offering dedicated 650B models. There are benefits to 650B wheels, including wider tires and no toe overlap. But there is also concern about the longevity of the trend, as well as about mainstream bike shops not stocking relevant parts - which could pose problems for those experiencing mechanical issues on long trips. I hope it is only a matter of time before affordable and mainstream manufacturers normalise 650B and put those concerns to rest.



So that's my wish-list. I don't think anything here is especially radical or too much to hope for. Mostly I am guessing it is a matter of time, but hopefully sooner rather than later. What trends would you like to see in the bicycle industry in the years to come?

On The Road Again...

Saturday March 12, .. – Five days ago, on the morning of March 7th, I left Columbia City, Indiana heading south for, hopefully, sunshine and warmer temperatures. As I passed into central Kentucky I noticed the grass was a little green and then through Tennessee things warmed up a bit; some of the trees were sprouting little leaves and bushes (don't know what kind) were blooming too.



I stopped in Huntsville, Alabama and spent two nights with a friend (and distant Joslin cousin - 3rd cousin once removed). Tuesday night they had high winds and got over three inches of rain, which altered my traveling plans somewhat. Instead of meandering through on state highways I stuck to the Interstates. Just didn't want to deal with any flooding issues. And from the Interstate you could see that the streams and rivers had risen over their banks and the waters were flooding nearby land.



It rained much of the day Wednesday but at Montgomery I decided to strike out to the southeast taking US 82, which goes all the way to Brunswick, Georgia. It was a pleasant drive and much less stressful than the Interstates though it rained all afternoon. That night I stopped at a nice campground at Lakepoint Resort State Park north of Eufaula, Alabama and just a few miles from the Georgia state line.





The next morning (Thursday, March 10th) I was most pleased to see the sun coming up through the trees. There was some fog but it burned off quickly. The above photo was taken through the rear window. The dark lines across the picture are from the window defroster.



By 2:30 pm I had checked into the campground at Laura S. Walker State Park just east of Waycross, Georgia. That evening and the next day I visited my niece and her daughters and delivered some things that my Mom wanted them to have. Today (March 12) was spent in just relaxing and taking it easy. I went for several walks, easing back into activity as it has been more than three months since I've done any walking let alone hiking!



I did get my wish - temperatures were in the 70s and there was lots of sunshine!The scenes below are of the lake at Laura S. Walker State Park. Photos were taken on March 12, ...





Morning fog rising off the lake.



Lilly pads.



And, of course, a Sunset...

The Cows Are Out

As a child I lived in farm country long enough to hear the phrase "The cows are out" plenty of times. We lived on a pig farm for a bit and we also learned to hear and say, "the pigs are out" with equal parts frustration and weariness. So I don't find it odd that each time I drive down a certain road here, there is a cow on the side of the road. This cow is always in the same spot, close by the fence and not looking like it is going to move for anything.



Today, once I got past that cow I encountered a different cow. This one was not so much on the side of the road and near the fence. This one was running away from home.



As I crept closer, he moved in to check me out. I think he was contemplating whether or not he could hitch a ride with me. Like maybe if we put the top down, he'd fit just fine.



I decided that it might be best to just put the car in park and sit there until he decided what he wanted to do. I also decided that was just fine because there were horses in the field and I could take pictures of them.



I start to think this time spent sitting there in the road is just fine with me. I was getting to talk to horses and that is always a good thing. I was so distracted by the beauty of the horses that I lost track of what my buddy the cow is doing. Until I see this in my camera lens:



Turns out he did not want a ride after all, he thought he was a super star and I was the paparazzi. I completely confused him when I was taking pictures of the horses instead of him. As soon as I took some more pictures of him, he started off down the road in search of other groupies or cameramen.



Living the life in Cowville Florida!

Falling in the Woods

Falling in the Woods, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

The recent heavy rains have filled up the creeks with water. This small waterfall is in Las Trampas Regional Park, a 5300-acre wilderness close by. It's amazing how green and lush it is up in the wooded canyons of the park...ferns and mosses coat every surface!

Wish I Knew...Are you really who I think you are?

The names "Alla" and "Flora" that are written on the face of this photograph appear to be in the handwriting of my 2nd great-grandmother, Malissa Joslin Brubaker Bower. I'm not positive, but I think the woman standing between the two seated ladies is Malissa. It sort of looks like her, but then again, it doesn't. (Click on the image for a larger version.)

This picture below, of Malissa, was taken about 1930. Am I imagining it, or is there really no resemblance?

Back to the two seated ladies in the first picture. When I first saw this picture several years ago, I had no idea who Alla and Flora might be. But I've done some research since then ;-) and the only people in my genealogy database that "fit" in any way whatsoever (assuming the people in the picture are related) are Alice and Flora Joslin, daughters of Malissa's uncle Edwin Joslin, and thus, her first cousins. Of course, I don't know for sure, but that's who I think they are.

Malissa was born in June 1849 while Alice was born about 1858 and Flora between 1852-1855. I don't think the lady standing looks old enough to be the mother of Alice and Flora (their mother was born in February 1839). There were two other sisters in their family, Pauline born in 1859 and Nellie in 1862. But the lady in the middle seems to me to be a bit older than the other two ladies.

Here is what I know about Alice and Flora Joslin, daughters of Edwin Mattoon and Sarah (Fellows) Joslin:

Sadly, I haven't been able to find out anything more about Alice. She appears with her parents and siblings in the 1860 and 1870 census records (Henry County, Illinois and LaPorte County, Indiana, respectively) but that's it. I'm guessing she married prior to 1880 and I haven't looked for her in marriage records yet.

Flora also appears with her parents in the 1860 and 1870 census records. I haven't found her in the 1880 census but in 1900 she is living with her husband, William Clark and son Clifford Clark in Sangamon County, Illinois. Her parents, Edwin and Sarah were also living with them. In 1910, Flora and her husband were still living in Sangamon County. Their 22 year old son, Clifford was living with them as was 27 year old Edward M. Cole who was listed as William's stepson. This seems to indicate that Flora was married first to Mr. Cole, first name unknown. Flora hasn't been found in the 1930 census; in 1920 she was a widow and still living in Sangamon County.

The Illinois death index has an entry for Flora Clark, aged 97 years, who died May 4, 1949 in Sangamon County. Her obituary, obtained by another researcher (thank you Lorene), was found in the Illinois State Journal of May 5, 1949:

"Mrs. Flora Clark, 97, of Berlin, died yesterday afternoon in a Springfield nursing home. She was born Aug. 22, 1851, in Columbia City, Ind., a daughter of E. M. and Sarah Fellows Joslin. She came to Illinois 51 years ago.

She is survived by two sons, Ed M. Cole, of New Berlin, and Clifford Clark, of Springfield; a daughter, Mrs. W. E. Knarr, of DuBois, Pa.; one stepson, Frank Clark, of Springfield. Two sisters and a brother preceded her in death. The body was removed to the McCullogh funeral home in New Berlin."

Census records indicate that Flora was born in 1855 or 1857 (in 1860 she was 5 years old, in 1870 age 15, in 1900 she was 42 (born Aug 1857), in 1910 she was 55 and in 1920 she was aged 63) so she apparently aged a few extra years after 1920. The obituary also shows a daughter that did not appear in the census records, opening an avenue for additional research.

Perhaps a relative or someone "out there" in cyberspace will find this and know for sure who these people are. If so, please contact me at kinexxions "at" gmail "dot" com - you would make me so happy!

Wild green apples and cultured red apples

While at Marienwaerdt I wanted to show MadamE the place. I was planning on taking a walk to the klooster (monastery) and the river banks however we did not have enough time on our hands. So instead we went by car.

We actually drove outside of the property. We drove on a narrow winding dike that protects the property from the rising rivers. The dike road was lined up with wild green apples. Being city girls, we were so amazed at the rows and rows of green apple bearing trees.

Further ahead as we reached the nearby village we saw fences of cultured red apples clinging to a stake. Apples seems to be a popular fruit in Geldermalsen area.

Next time when we or I have time I will go to a fruit farm and help pluck the fruits.

Visit Period: September

Upper Calf Creek Falls

Being that we had just spent 4 days and 3 nights camping along Hole in the Rock Road, we figured it was a good time to head into the town of Escalante and stay in a motel and get some nice restaurant food, a hot shower and do some laundry. We completed all of those tasks last night, wrapping up our evening with dinner at the restaurant at Escalante Outfitters, where we had arguably the BEST pizza we've ever eaten! No joke, their pizza was AWESOME!!! And, we're not just saying because we had eaten nothing but camp food for 3 days ;-)






This morning after getting a good night's rest in the motel and some yummy breakfast coffee cake from Escalante Outfitters, we headed out on our next adventure. The first hike of the day: Upper Calf Creek Falls. We were excited about this hike because there would be WATER! We had been hiking mostly in sand and rock for the past 4 days, with very little water. Indeed, Upper Calf Creek Falls was a riparian paradise! We heard a ton of birds along this hike, and saw a lot of vegetation along the creek. It was like a little desert oasis :-)





















































The hike was fairly short, but still quite strenuous as we had to hike down a steep slickrock hill that dropped several hundred feet in elevation. Hiking down wasn't all that difficult, but we definitely broke a sweat going back up! Seeing the falls was definitely worth the workout, though. The main falls was beautiful and tall, but difficult to photograph. I had more fun photographing the small waterfalls and pools above the main falls, as they were much more photogenic. The main falls was the most fun to just take in and view, though. All in all, it was another wonderful hike to add to our list of beautiful honeymoon hikes :-)

Cold Weather Victories

When I saw this poster it made me laugh, reminding me of a street scene from the previous day: A woman bundled up in a shearling coat and hat waited for a taxi, while a cyclist in a long sleeve jersey and tights waited at a red light. The woman looked cold and uncomfortable. The cyclist looked ruddy and relaxed, checking his phone for messages with one unclipped toe on the ground.



In the short time window before the cyclist's light turned green and the woman's taxi arrived, somehow the two ended up in a conversation. As I walked past, I caught bits of their exchange. "But how can you... in the cold?," and so forth. By the time the cyclist replied, I was out of earshot. But whatever it was he said to her, they both laughed that special laugh that rings with anticipation. And when I looked back over my shoulder discreetly (I hope), sure enough the woman had her phone out and it looked like they were exchanging numbers. His light had turned green. Her taxi was waiting. They were on the side of the road smiling. "Stay warm!" I thought I heard him yell when he finally took off on his bike. More laughter.



Briskly walking down the street as I fiddled with my scarf, I experienced a moment of longing for my roadbike, and for my technical layers of cycling clothes! It's just so much nicer to be on the bike in cold weather, I caught myself thinking...

Beartooth Highway

Yesterday I took a break from sorting and deleting photos from my hard drive and decided to follow U.S. Highway 212 from Red Lodge, Montana south into northern Wyoming. This route is also known as the Beartooth Scenic Byway or the Beartooth All-American Road, and, according to an acquaintance, Charles Kuralt put this highway on his list of the top 10 spectacular drives in America. It is also the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies. And, it definitely lives up to its reputation!

Looking northeast from Rock Creek Vista Point (elevation 9,190 feet) in the Custer National Forest, Montana. The highway is that ribbon of white way down in the valley.

Looking northwest from Rock Creek Vista Point. The speed limit was 25 mph along this stretch of winding switchbacks that traveled up the south side of the mountains.

The view to the north, a short distance from Rock Creek Vista.

From Rock Creek Vista, the road continued upward and into Wyoming where the peaks were viewed from across wide-open meadows.

Stopping at almost every overlook along the way, I was taken by surprise when I saw this view as the lake was not visible from the road. The wind was quite strong and several times I had to brace myself when a big gust came along.

Taken from near the summit (elevation 10,947 feet at Beartooth Pass) in Wyoming, looking towards the north. It was windy and cold, and the short walk to get this picture was quite exhilarating.

You again!

Yesterday morning Jasmine sounded her "Snake! It's a snake!" bark again. This time at least she had the sense to be angry with the non-biting end of the gray rat snake. His mouth was otherwise occupied anyway.



Wayne from Niches asked in previous comments if rat snakes ate eggs. Yes they do.



The blue one he's swallowing is a Mallard egg, which is a bit larger and heavier than a chicken egg.



Pretty amazing.



Tell-tale lump:



While his business end was busy, I sneaked a peek at his belly.



And got a closer look at his scales. I hadn't noticed the slight ridges the other day.



Not too hard to get into the duck pen.



Obviously I need to start removing the duck eggs first thing in the morning. We feed them to the dog so it's not a big loss, I just don't want the snake getting into the habit. If he keeps it up I'm afraid he's going to find the chicken coop.

Of course I'm not really sure if this is the same individual from earlier in the week - not sure how territorial they are. (I tried Googling it but kept coming up with herpetophile Fred from Fragments from Floyd instead.)

We saw another large gray rat snake close to the creek last night. They must be doing well this year.