Wordless Wednesday - One of the Joys of Summer!

August 1998. Digitized ...Copyright © 1998/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman

Thai Spring Rolls

Thai Spring Rolls, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

These tasty Thai spring rolls are easy to make and don't require any super-exotic ingredients. Filled with clear noodles, pork, cilantro, pepper, and carrot, they're an explosively flavorful snack that will be sure to please.

Thai Spring Rolls (Po Pia Thot)

- 1 frozen package of spring roll wrappers (8” × 8”)
- 1 lb lean ground pork
- 2 small packages of mung bean thread noodles (4 oz.)
- 2-3 cups shredded fresh carrots
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- few drops of sesame oil
- fresh ground pepper
- vegetable or canola oil for frying
- fresh chili paste (optional)
- 2-3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and fresh ground pepper. Soak or boil the mung bean noodles until tender and cut them into shorter pieces. Add the noodles, carrots, garlic, ground pork, sesame oil, optional chili paste and cilantro to the bowl. Mix the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.

Peel the spring roll wrappers and store them under a damp cloth towel until use. Take about 2 tablespoons of the stuffing and place in each wrapper. Roll the wrappers up and seal them with a few drops of water.

Fry the spring rolls in vegetable oil on medium heat until they turn golden brown and are cooked through. Serve with a sweet and sour sauce, such as nuoc mam.


Recipe adapted from:

Thai Food Tonight

(http://www.thaifoodtonight.com/thaifoodtonight/home.htm)

Colors of Fall

We don't get many colorful fall leaves here at the house, but with a little gardening know-how we have fall flowers that are lovely. The first 2 photos are the wild purple asters that take no care at all. Next are a few photos of different marigolds.















I had zennias in all kinds of colors this year.











A yellow rose and a blanket flower daisy.







Morning Glories are one of my favorite flowers as they are so easy to grow and vine nicely over things that don't look so good. Once started they re-seed yearly by theirselves with just a bit of water here. Where it rains more you usually don't need to water them. In fact to much water and they don't bloom, just making the nice vine.












And the wild sunflowers that are so prolific here.

Working dangerously

Sad facts of life: Construction workers here in the Philippines work dangerously for under PHP 300 a day. EUR 1 is PHP 60 so do the math. And I highly doubt if they are insured, but this guy needs to feed his empty stomach and perhaps other empty stomach’s as well. Life is not fair.

Just a thin steel rail for this man’s balancing act and a harness for protection.

Spotted at uptown area near Don Mariano Qui Street (near NBI, Capitol and Cebu Doctors Hospital)
.

Heavenly Blue

Open, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

The 'Heavenly Blue' morning glories are finally starting to bloom vigorously. What an amazing color for a flower...I have never seen anything like it.

It's Still There!

What's still there, you ask? The residence of John Brubaker, my 3rd great grandfather, that's what! Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful fall day here in northeast Indiana and I couldn't resist taking advantage of it. After running some errands, it was about 2:30 in the afternoon by the time I got to Huntington County. A few minutes later I was in the area where I thought the house should be, and there it was! It didn't quite look the same as in the image from the atlas, but I was pretty sure it was the right house. I pulled off to the side of the road and took a couple of pictures. The sun was in the "wrong" position for a really good shot, but it does show some of the details. The house is some distance from the road. Thank goodness for zoom lenses!

Comparing the two images, the first thing I noticed was that the pitch of the roof is steeper in the old image (artistic license perhaps?), several of the chimney's have been removed, and the brick exterior has been painted. The porch has been extended to the full depth of the offset and a sloped roof replaces the railed deck. There is only one entrance off of the porch into the house. The door going into the south facing section has been removed. The second window above the porch was actually a door. It too has been removed as has the "front" door (the empty space below the 3rd upstairs window). Modern insulated windows have replaced the originals, and the decorative thing-a-ma-jigs above the windows are gone.

Cropped portion of the picture used in the 1876 atlas, shown in a previous post.

Looking southeast, showing the room that was added onto the southwest corner of the house and some of the out-buildings.

After taking the pictures, I did something that I've never done before. I saw a car in the driveway so I drove up to the house. I was greeted by a very friendly black lab and a small golden haired retriever-mix. They didn't bark or make a sound, which I thought was odd. Anyway, I petted them for a minute and then went onto the porch and knocked on the door. No answer. I peeked around behind the house thinking perhaps someone was outside, but there wasn't anybody there. Went back on the porch and knocked on the door again. Still no answer. Waited a few minutes, knocked again. No answer. So I left. As I was driving down the lane out to the road, the school bus pulled up and dropped off several children. After speaking with them for a few seconds, I turned around and went back to the house, where their mother was waiting on the porch!

She hadn't heard me knocking on the door. She was very nice and friendly. I showed her a copy of the picture of John's house and she confirmed that it was the same house. She said that she was told that the house had been built in the early 1850s. She and her husband purchased the house eight years ago from a couple that had bought it about 1970. She didn't know who they had purchased it from.

After a few minutes of chatting on the porch she invited me inside. The walls are solid brick, at least 12" thick. It's hard to see from the pictures above, but the house is really two rectangular "sections" that are offset by the depth of the porch. So the back, or south facing section, is only as long as the north facing section. We didn't go down into the basement but I didn't think to ask whether it was a full or partial basement or whether its walls were stone or brick.

There are two fairly large rooms on each floor of the front section. There is just one large room in the back section on each floor but the enclosed stairway is also on that side of the house. At the top of the stairs there is a large landing area that has been converted into a closet and a hallway. I was surprised by the height of the rooms upstairs as they have 8' ceilings. I was expecting them not to be as high as those downstairs. There are no fireplaces left in the house.

The only change to the original footprint of the house is the addition of a room at the back, southwest corner, downstairs. It is actually two small rooms. One is being used as the laundry room and back entrance and the other is a galley-type kitchen.

All in all, I must say, it was a very nice day!

Wordless Wednesday :: Stone's Trace

The Tavern at Stone's Trace. Built in 1839. South of Ligonier, Indiana.

Bartering at the encampment.

Photographs taken on September 6, ...
Copyright © .. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman.

Campobello Island :: Head Harbour Lightstation

Thursday, September 20th - - Also known as the East Quoddy Head Lighthouse, the Head Harbour Lightstation sits on a small island at the northeastern tip of Campobello Island. Built in 1829, it is the oldest surviving lighthouse in New Brunswick and one of the oldest in Canada. Its distinguishing feature is the red St. George Cross on the front.



However, at low tide, this island is no longer an island. I arrived at Campobello too late to take advantage of the low tide and visit the station. Ladders, partially visible in the second photo, allow visitors access to go down and walk across the bay.



The first three photos were taken between 12:45 and 1:30 while the last three were taken between 5:30 and 5:45 (Eastern Time, in reality though they were an hour later because Campobello Island is in the Atlantic Time Zone).

Beware the Punter! A cautionary tale.

On the then unclimbed N. Face of Mt Hunter, Alaska 1981



Punter (plural punters)



1.One who bets (punts) against the bank (banque).



If you don't know what you are capable of, one way to find out is to bounce your head off a few projects and see what sticks. Risky business if you are looking for what is possible whilealpine climbing. You could end up dead even if you do get up anew line or two and do everything right. You are rolling the dice every time you go out...but you do thatgoing tothe corner store as well. More than today at the storethan back in '81 it might seem.



You try to limit the odds by experience.



None of these if you are looking for something new. You'll have to write your own when you are done.





Bradley topo courtesy of Mark Allenhttp://www.alpinelines.blogspot.com/



Strong has no excuse...



Yes, I did see that on a T shirt yesterday.



In 1981, I had already climbed in the Alaska Range 3 times and done a couple of minor first ascents. But I thought we wereprepared technically by climbing harder technical ground in other parts of the world. My partner this timehad already done the S. Face of Denali, a route onForaker and he had solo'ed the N face of the Matterhorn. More importantly he was hungry for more.



Together we had done climbs in the valley in a quick day that seemed pretty good. We were convinced we really rocked! Truth is we were punters :)







When we helped Mugs and Paul over the 'shrund that morning we were pretty much kitted the same with two glaring exceptions. One was visible and one wasn't. The most powerful tool we were missing was a duplicate of Mug's experience and mind set. Like having an over grown Ueli Steck as you partner. Ya, we lacked that :) Not to say either Brad and I were gumbies, we weren't. The other thing I left behind was a set of ice tools capable on hard Alaskan ice.



I bet there are few rolling their eyes on that one. I still do.

I though I knew my shit. But I didn't.



Brad reminded me after 30 years..not so gently that I had a "small issue at home", a pending divorce.



Never good for the mind. But here is the real truth or at least part of the truth. I got scared.



More than onerather speedymodern dayalpinist has been brought to reality of the climbing on the North Butt. The realization, if you aren't up to climbing fast, you are going to spend some miserable nights out. That hasn't changed. The fact that some accept the top of the Butt, with still a full 1000m of climbing as the goal, has.





Photo courtesy of Will Simhttp://willsim.blogspot.com/

Jon going old school here on Hunter with no tent. And suffering through the coldest hours of the twilight night.

The tools? Ya, I know. Which is one reason I write this blog. In 1980 I sewed much of my own gear and tools were changing almost by the month.I figured any tool would work. How hard can alpineice be?

Imagine taking a set of randonee race axes on steep, colfd, hardice. Possible but not reassuring.I had just climbed one of the longest water falls in the world. No water falls on Hunter. (roll of eyes here) Lwt tools that I could easily plunge make sense...or so I thought. How bad could the ice climbing be on the Butt?

The answer? Bad enough.And no plunging required.

Mark Twight and Scott Backes do the climb,Deprivation, in

asingle round trip push, 13 years later after extendedschooling on Chamonix granite and the correct mind set.



Below is the crux where Brad and I bailed in the first rock band (and I got scared) and now known at the "death pitch" 30 years later. I could see that whipper coming. I had no intention of earning my alpine wings thereand wanted no part of it.A few50m rappels soon followed.





Photo Courtesy of Colin Haley and Nils Nielsen

http://www.colinhaley.blogspot.com/

http://www.alpineaddiction.no/



Strike One..unsettled mindStike Two...the wrong bit of kitStrike Three..the reality of abad night out

The Banque wins! A hard lesson butwe lived to play another day.The divorce was final a few months later.

Strong has no excuse!And very likely something Mugs would have gotten a good laugh from!Take only what you need and ignorethe rest.



The scene of the crime in May 1981

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...

Fantasy Land

These images of the Aurora Borealis were made last night at 10:45 p.m. over the Pigeon River in Northeast Minnesota. Many rumors were circulating that the aurora was going to show up again last night, so I figured it was worth it to head out again to watch the sky. I met up with my friend Nate and we headed over to the river at 10:00 p.m. Only moments after we arrived at the river we started seeing vertical shafts of light appearing in the sky. Like the previous night, the lights lasted for a little over an hour before diminishing entirely for the rest of the night. For those that might not know, the Pigeon River IS the border between the U.S. and Canada in Northeast Minnesota, and the man-made lights that you see near the center of this image are the lights on the Highway 61 bridge over the river. Last night was the first time I've made night images from this location. It was a terrific spot, so rest assured that you'll be seeing more night-time images from this location in the future!

Oneonta storm damage

Things got a little intense last night. We were narrowly missed by a tornado! A waning storm suddenly intensified. We ran to our safe place with no time to grab the camera... the dark clouds were beginning to rotate.

When we went into town this morning I took the camera. (Click any of the pictures for a much larger view.)


Near the high school there was a lot of debris.


The fieldhouse is not what it used to be...


News crews were on hand.


Television reported that two infants were injured and trapped inside that SUV the previous night.


Power crews were everywhere. So were sightseers. This is a huge amount of traffic for Oneonta!


This was the strangest damage. Only the flagpoles in the middle were toppled.


Another view of the former flagpoles.


Was that scratch on the courthouse wall there before?


Two huge limbs are missing from this old courthouse tree. I wonder if it will survive. The column supporting the bell was apparently damaged when the limbs fell.


The Co-op roof had a problem.


So did their sign. (Note the snapped tree also.)


More roof damage.


I'm not sure if this building was still in use or not.


Lot of this kind of thing in the area.


This was atypical tree damage.


Most were like this -- as if they'd been twisted off. I believe this is characteristic of tornadic winds.
Updated: I've been told that strong straight-line winds can have the same effect.


This one looked like had a problem already.

We didn't make it down the side streets, which were alledged to have the most damage... We didn't want to get in the way of the cleanup.

Update: Preliminary reports from the National Weather Service indicate F2 tornado damage (113 to 157 mph winds) in Oneonta.