Thursday, October 31, 2013

October 2013 Scavenger Hunt: Aurora, Colorado



Thanks to Jill and her Made with Love blog for setting up the hunt.





October 2013 Scavenger Hunt:

Aurora, Colorado

1.  Orange
Orange Pumpkin Patch at My Grocery Store




Orange Maple Leaves



Orange Mums

Orange was everywhere this this month!




2.  Two
Two Photographers on CNBC

During the recent government shutdown 
and the fight over the US debt limit,
there were endless press conferences.

These two photographers waited over an hour
for the Speaker of the House and others to speak.
I'm sure these two photographers never dreamed 
they'd be constantly in a window 
on CNBC for such a long time.
I found myself watching them wait!



A Quick Check for Messages on His Cell



3.  Flower
Lone Survivor

After our recent snows and frosts,
there were very few surviving flowers
One such flower was this solitary petunia.

One flowering plant is still thriving on the prairie
and in gardens in the area:  rabbitbrush.



Rabbitbrush with Grapes



4.  Rubbish
Rubbish Bins in the Neighborhood

Rubbish is carefully contained 
and largely invisible in our community.
The green bin is for recycling and the blue is for garbage.



Garden Rubbish

This leaf litter in a garden
will soon land in the rubbish bin.



5.  Emotion
Curious Gracie

A first encounter with a milkweed stirs Gracie's curiosity.
Colorado is a new experience for this little lab
who has spent her life in Asia.



My little neighbor is wary.



6.  Flight
Passenger Jet's Contrails Catching the Evening Light


I spent all month chasing planes in flight!





It's amazing 
what a zoom lens can do!

The challenge is to be able 
to find the fast moving plane
as you zoom!

But I caught it!


A Southwest Jet Heading for Denver International Airport


7.  Home Made
Homemade peach pie is the best!


Retirement has given me time to truly enjoy
being at home doing homey things.




Homemade scarves!



8.  Black and White
A little black and white ghost in a tree.




The ever-patient Terry walks his sister's labs ~
about as black and white as you can get with this lovable breed. 




9.  Coffee Time
The E-P with His Coffee


There's nothing like Sunday morning coffee time.





Me with My Coffee and Sunday Paper



10.  Balloon

Okay, I did find balloons 
at our new neighborhood emergency room 
Open House last Sunday;
but really,
this Broncos Inflatable
Obstacle Course
was way more fun!




Kids at Play at the Saddle Rock ER Open House


11.  Weathercock

No weathercocks 
in our neighborhood ~
just a windsock for 
the helicopter pad 
at our new stand alone emergency room.




The AirLife Helicopter on the Landing Pad
at the New Saddle Rock ER
(windsock in upper left)


12. Fridge Magnet
  Fridge Magnet from an Awesome Museum ~
the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.


November's List:
Gold, 5, Patterns, Bread, Happiness, Rain, Traffic, Boxes, Staircase, Sunset, Park, Pair 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Lovable Labs


Have you ever spent time with labs?

They are irresistible!
Sweet, gentle, and affectionate.



Gracie and Rufus


Terry and I unexpectedly found ourselves 
with furry four-footed houseguests
the past two long weekends.



Rufus (black) and Gracie (blonde)


We, who had lost our beloved 
Scottie Mac and Kerry Blue Dorian 
decades ago,
were suddenly immersed
in doggie love ~ AND

 doggie walks, doggie dodo,
doggie treats, doggie licks,
doggie dishes, doggie drool
and lethal lab tails
banging everything:
Thump!  Thump!  Thump!


Terry and his sister Noreen
headed out for that cold, dark 5:30 a.m. walk ~
before Noreen flies off to parts distant.



Gracie


Don't let those sweet blonde eyelashes fool you.
Gracie is pure Diva!
She will hound you for affection,
and she knows how to work it!



Terry and Gracie



While Gracie insisted on constant love and attention
(pats, hugs, belly rubs, chin scratches),
Rufus quietly hung out nearby.


Rufus



Big labradors mean big walks ~
miles of walking!


Heading Out for a Three-Mile Jaunt



Wow!  This doesn't look like New Delhi, India!
What happened to our world?


Having just moved here from India,
these tired labs were resting at 6,000 arid feet
two miles into their long walk.

Once home,
sack out time!



Tuckered Out Rufus





A wiped out Gracie is never-the-less vigilant 
for the crinkly sound of me opening a treat bag.




 Rufus Peeking Through the Kitchen Door




Come On Big T!
Give me a pat, an ear scratch, a treat ~
anything!




Brown-Eyed, Black-Haired Handsome Fella!






Just a Man and His Dogs


Give lovable labs a minute,
and they will take over your home and heart!




I'm going to make you love me, Big T!




You're gonna love me, too,
I just know it!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

HR10: Touchdown Lansdowne House ~ Finally!


Wednesday, September 14, 1960
My father wrote 
(with a carbon copy to his mother):

Dear Sally,  
         Well I finally made it to Lansdowne House.  I was beginning to think that I would never make it.  As you know by now, I was stuck in Nakina for four days on account of bad weather.



This is the Norseman that I flew
from Nakina into Lansdowne House.

The company maintenance man  
and the pilot Rudolph Hoffman "Rudie"
(at the extreme right of the picture).

They have just finished refueling,
and we are ready to go.

D. B. MacBeath, September 13, 1960



         I arrived at Lansdowne House by plane yesterday.  It took us one hour and forty-five minutes to make the trip.  We were bucking a twenty-five mile an hour headwind all the way.



This is a picture taken from the Norseman
just as we were crossing the Albany River
which is about halfway between
Nakina and Lansdowne House.
You can see the Albany River down to the right.

D. B. MacBeath, September 13, 1960




Flight Path
Connect the three red dots in the upper left:
Nakina to Fort Hope to Lansdowne House.
The line will pass over the Albany River.

Source:
National Geographic Society:  Canada
Washington D.C., November, 1985



         I spent yesterday getting settled in for the winter, getting unpacked, and putting everything away in the proper place.  I haven’t started school yet, and it looks like I won’t be starting for a while.  Someone goofed and goofed rather badly.  

         They have a beautiful new school, but there isn’t a stick of furniture in it.  No desks, no chairs, teacher’s desk, or what have you.  I immediately got on the radio and contacted the Department of Indian Affairs at Nakina to ask them what I was to do.  It is utterly impossible to teach school with no furniture in the school.


         Also, if I don’t start soon, I will have no Indians to teach.  Already some of them have come to the conclusion that there is going to be no school this year, and have pulled out of Lansdowne bag, baggage, and families for the winter trap lines.

         My roommate, or rather my bunkmate companion for the winter is a very nice chap by the name of Uno Manilla.  You will probably think the same as I thought at first, that he is either Italian or Spanish.  Actually, he is of Finnish extraction.  He is very young, but he has taught Indians before.

         We have a nice unpretentious little two-room cottage to live in.  The front room we use for a living room, washroom, cloakroom, and general store room.  The back room we use for a bedroom, a library, and study.




Dad is standing outside his "cottage"
which he sometimes referred to as a shack.
He and Uno shared the two room "cottage."

Lansdowne House, Fall 1960


         We are renting it from the priest for fifteen dollars a month each.  For this we get the house, fuel, and lights.  We eat at the Father’s, and he charges two and a half dollars a day each.  This is very reasonable considering the price of food up here.  The prices are out of this world.  Everything has to be flown in, and the transportation costs are added to the original costs.


For instance, 
a bottle of Coke costs 35¢ up here.                        
I had my first and my last bottle 
the day I arrived. 

I nearly dropped 
when the clerk at the Hudson’s Bay 
asked me for 35¢ 
after I had drunk the Coke. 

I had just come in and opened a Coke 
like I would at Charlie’s.

(Charlie Munroe's neighborhood grocery store 
in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island).  

However, it is just as well.  
Coke is very fattening, 
and I am trying to loose weight.

Source:  Wikipedia



Well goodbye for now,
Love,
Don
(Letter to be continued)


Some Additional Photos

Austin Airways Cessna 180
It is only a two passenger airplane,
and it was too small to take Dad and all his luggage
from Nakina to Lansdowne House.

D. B. MacBeath, September 13, 1960


This is just a typical Northern Ontario lake.
I guess that Rudie and I flew over
at least a hundred of these
on the way up to Lansdowne House.

D. B. MacBeath, September 13, 1960



I tried to take a picture of Lansdowne House
as we were landing, but I double exposed it.
I took a picture of my luggage on top of it.
However, if you look carefully, you can see
the Father's Island, the peninsula, and other islands
in Lake Attawapiskat.

D. B. MacBeath, September 13, 1960






A modern color photo from a modern bush plane.
Source:  Steve Disher