Belles and Beaus, Oh My!

Big Sigh. To my knowledge, there are no wedding pictures of my parents or grandparents. If they exist, I surely don't know where they are! I went through the box of old family pictures that my dad had given me but found no pictures that "screamed out" the "belles & beaus" theme for the upcoming edition of fM's Smile for the Camera Carnival.

So what's a gal to do. I've never been married so I can't show you any pictures of my (non-existent) ceremony. You could use your imagination and think of what it might have been like. Something non-traditional and a bit unusual perhaps. I do have pictures of several fellows that I dated in past lives but I don't think it would be fair to them to show their mugs all over the internet.

Instead, here are a couple of pictures of my grandparents, Hazlette Brubaker and Victor Phend, together, in casual poses. These were from a box given to me by my uncle a few years ago. None of the photos are dated so I don't know where or when they were taken.

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say these pictures were taken between 1919 and 1921. They didn't meet each other until after the end of World War I and they were married on October 15, 1921 (the first time). Grandpa was 28 and grandma was 19 years old at the time of their marriage.

I wish I had seen the pictures when grandma and grandpa were still alive. What's going on in that first picture? Why are they walking in the railroad tracks, and where? Who took the pictures? Notice grandma's brother Bill in the background of the last picture, thumbing his nose at the camera, the little imp! [As always, right-click on the images for a larger version.]

DEEP THOUGHTS WITH COLIN HALEY

By: Steve House



http://www.sportiva.com/live/page.php?id=48&at=24



More here:



http://colinhaley.blogspot.com//11/exocet-solo.html

An evening at Luden and some dose of Gooische Vrouwen

Last week, like the rest of the Dutch women in the Netherlands, I went to watch the ‘Gooische Vrouwen’ movie with Blondine, but before I delve into my quick film review, I’d like to talk about a restaurant I have discovered that night: Restaurant & Brasserie LUDEN (this restaurant badly needs their website upgraded, seriously)

I was really impressed with the grandiose interior and ambiance of this restaurant—CHIC. Where have I been? Why have I only seen this now? The place was lovely, elegant and stately. Vintage as well which really brings the character out of this restaurant. And oh, I had to be careful with my hair getting on fire from those tall candles as they were about my height. And in eating places like this, you do not have to complain about the elusive customer service in the Netherlands.

The unspoken rule of tipping in this country (based from what I understand how the locals handle this): Tip if you must, but most people here just round it off, so that is usually about 5% to 7%. Now, for those outside of Europe, you might want to know that service people in this continent have normal salaries and benefits, and tips are just additional income on the side.

At home the Dutchman is eating dinner that I especially made for him the night before. I hate it when he is feeding on some frozen pizza or microwavable lasagne from Albert Heijn so I make sure I fix him something (contrary to my rat race status, I could/should be a perfect housewife) while I go out and eat in... Luden, haha!

Blondine and I shared the starter: Warm goat’s cheese with bacon and a soft honey flower sauce with walnuts and greens. 4 stars out of 5. We are not dieting per se but our stomachs can only handle so much.

Then we both ordered the same thing for our main course: Grilled albacore tuna steak with dill – wine sauce under a bed of pasta, and a glass of white wine (think it was French from Languedoc, can’t remember anymore) to go with our dinner. 5 stars out of 5!

No more space in our tummies for dessert (not that I was looking forward to it, nope) except for coffee. I love food but not too much. So I had double espresso while Blondine had cappuccino.

Luden is located in Janskerkhof, Utrecht. I am coming back here, with the Dutchman.

Now for the ‘Gooische Vrouwen’ movie, don’t be misled with the poster design and layout. Looks like a copycat of Sex & the City and the Beatle’s Abbey Road right?

Firstly, the storyline is not even close to the Sex & the City except for the fact that the 4 leading girl characters love to shop. I think Gooische Vrouwen is a chaotic mix of the story line of Desperate Housewives (they were desperate housewives indeed with very interesting issues, lol), Sex & the City (the shopping, the fashion and the girly bond and get-togethers) and the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (living up to the statuses and riches).

‘Het Gooi’ is like the Beverly Hills of the Netherlands, that’s why it’s called Gooische Vrouwen (Women from Het Gooi), and Gooische Vrouwen is actually a successful TV series in the Netherlands (and televised in Belgium and Germany as well) that ran between 2005 and .

Secondly, that isn’t Abbey Road but some random street in Paris. In the movie (after each had one setback after another), they all went to France to find themselves aka Eat, Pray, Love thingy but ended up shopping in Paris instead, lol. SIGH, I need to get my bum to Paris as well, soon!

I won’t bore you with long stories or more reviews about this movie but all in all, it was light and nice. Shallow yes, yet very funny, it kept me laughing until the end. And I have to admit that they did exaggerate many scenes in there but I guess that is part of the whole story line for these types of light comedy girly flicks. Go watch it if you are in the Netherlands and if you can understand Dutch. It’s gonna make you laugh and make you want to go back home to cuddle your man =)

Visit Period: March
Utrecht, The Netherlands

Sunrise

Sunrise over the Sandia Mountains this morning. And some morning glories.

Monday Mailbox: Cycling with Men vs Cycling with Women

Monday Mailbox is a weekly post dedicated to questions received over email. Here is one that taps into a popular topic:

Until now I've been cycling on my own, but I am considering club rides. I see that most cycling clubs in my area offer women's rides in addition to their regular [mixed gender] rides, with the idea that this helps women feel more comfortable. [Also,] talking to women [cyclists] I get the sense that riding with men is not such a nice experience. What are your impressions of cycling with men vs other women? Is there an advantage to women only rides?

From personal experience (as opposed to stories others tell me), I have not formed any generalised impressions of gender as tied to specific cycling behaviours.




For background: I occasionally take part in women-only club rides, as well as in mixed gender club rides. I also do lots of informal riding with 1-3 cycling buddies at a time, and the gender split there is roughly 50/50 (meaning, roughly half of my cycling buddies are men and half are women).




Among the people I ride with, I cannot say I notice a difference in riding style based on gender. Possibly this is because other differences are more prominent. For instance, there are experienced riders versus inexperienced ones. There are competitive riders versus non-competitive ones. Some riders are aggressive and take risks, while others are mellow and risk-averse. There is a category of riders who only talk about cycling while they're cycling (technique, nutrition, bikes), versus those who talk about anything but (philosophy, politics, gossip). I can think of other classification systems before gender starts to seem relevant.




As far as advantages to women-only rides... As I understand it, the assumptions there are that: (1) women enjoy the opportunity to socialise with other women, and (2) women feel less self-conscious without men around. If this applies to you, then that would certainly be the advantage. However, it does not apply to all women, including myself. Men don't inherently make me nervous, and women don't inherently put me at ease, it's really more about the individual. I'll join a women's ride if I want to ride that day, but not because it's a women's-only ride.




Judging by how often this topic comes up, I recognise it as a serious issue and don't mean to be dismissive. For women who, for whatever reason, feel uncomfortable riding with men, women-only club rides are a valuable resource. In that sense, I am glad that more of them are appearing all over.




But me, I'll ride with anyone. As long as they ride predictably and I can keep up. Conversation optional.

First winter climb…

This is great, it really does feel like I’m doing things for the first time all over again, and not just because I’ve lost so much ability to my surgery layoff. During the week, I decided to see if my ankle would be ready to handle a day of winter climbing. It’s quite a big step up from what I’ve done on it up to now (mostly very overhanging circuits indoors). I was rightly worried. I managed it, but only just.





I went out with Kev to Aonach Mor. Kev had been wanting to do Stirling Bridge (VI,7) for years and so we headed for that on a nice morning which was a fine reminder what I’d been missing due to the injury. Kev jumped on it and got to the difficult part but eventually came down so I went up it. The climbing felt quite straightforward. The main problem was cold hands which gave me the most nauseating hot aches I’ve had in a long time. Or perhaps I am softened by my indoor time. All too soon the fun was over and it was time to hobble off down the hill. Just as we were reaching the Gondola I could feel my ankle hurting more and more and was thinking ‘thank goodness the walking is nearly over’. 5 minutes before we got to it, the Gondola was closed early due to the strengthening wind.




The walk back down the line of the Gondola was horrible. A real teeth gritter. I felt bad for putting my ankle through such trauma and braced myself for the next day being even worse. However, to my surprise, by lunchtime the next day it felt quite good and was able to complete another 8a circuit in TCA with no problems.




So there are more ups than downs right now. Net progress.

Fort Mackinac

Fort Mackinac was a military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. Built by the British during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron (and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes), it was not relinquished by the British until fifteen years after American independence. It later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. During most of the 19th century, it served as an outpost of the United States Army. Closed in 1895, the fort is now a museum on the grounds of Mackinac Island State Park and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Morning in Devil's Garden

After a good night's sleep in the tent we woke to a clear blue sky over the desert. I couldn't resist the morning light being so close to an interesting area, so I got up early to walk back down to Devil's Garden and make some more images amongst the hoodoos. This is such a fascinating place no matter what time of day you visit. It was fun watching the first light of day catch the tops of the hoodoos then slowly work its way down towards the ground. I found several interesting things to photograph that morning, but the image shown here was my favorite by far. After a little bit of photography it was time to head back to camp for breakfast and get ready for our day-long hike to Zebra and Tunnel slot canyons.

Tail Lights and Auto Settings

What do you think of using bicycle lighting with automatic sensory settings? Several of our bikes are equipped with lighting systems that allow for this, but I have mixed feelings about the auto-mode.



Last week the Co-Habitant installed the Spanniga Pixeo tail light on his bike (very thorough review of this lighthere) and set it on auto. Cycling together later that evening, I switched my own lights on when dusk fell. As I rode behind him, his Pixeo tail light would switch on and off in response to slight changes in lighting conditions. For example, as we entered a stretch of road with fewer trees, it would switch off; then on again when the trees became more dense. Not only did I find this annoying while cycling behind someone, but I was also surprised that the light did not "think" it was dark enough to just stay on the entire time. It wasn't quite pitch black, but getting there. I wonder how the settings are configured, and whether they can be adjusted.



I have an auto ("senso") feature on my Busch & Muellerdynamo lighting as well, that I sometimes use and sometimes do not. Because this system includes a headlight, I can tell whether the auto mode is performing the way I want it to. If it gets dark but my headlight does not automatically turn on (which means the tail light is not on either), I will just switch it to the permanent "on" position. With a battery-operated tail light like the Pixeo and others, there is no way to get this feedback. Since you can't see you own tail light while cycling, you have to be confident that its "idea" of when's dark enough is the same as yours. For me that is not always the case with the lighting I've tried, which is why I am not that crazy about auto settings. What has been your experience?

Laptop Transport: Trusting Your Bicycle with Your Precious Machine

There are basically two options for transporting your belongings while cycling: (1) on your person in a backpack or messenger bag, or (2) in a contraption attached to the bicycle itself, such as a basket, pannier, saddlebag, or other fixture. When it comes to most of my belongings, the choice on this is clear: I would rather not carry anything on my back while cycling, especially since my bicycles are fitted with racks and have great transport capacity. But when it comes to my laptop (a large MacBookPro), I just can't seem to "let go" and trust it to the care of a bicycle. I carry it either in the large leather satchel in the photo above, or in the Chrome messenger bag pictured below. The leather satchel is more suitable to my personal style, but the Chrome bag is more ergonomic and feels better on longer rides. Between the two of them, I have pretty much gotten accustomed to carrying my laptop on my back while cycling, even for long stretches.

Still, I am plagued with the question of why I do this, when my bicycles are rated to handle the weight and could make my life so much easier in this respect. There are panniers specifically designed for laptop transport and sturdy wire baskets for the rear rack that will safely do the job as well. Some even strap laptop bags directly to their racks with bungee cords, and some make their own panniers out of handsome vintage satchels using Arkel or Ortlieb attachments. So I suppose for me, it is really an issue of trust and control: Somehow it feels that the laptop is safer with me than attached to the bicycle. I have browsed countless times through all the panniers in the local bike shops, but ultimately I just can't imagine myself cycling with my laptop dangling over my rear wheel and out of my field of vision. Instead of watching the road and enjoying the ride, I'd be thinking about my laptop.

Is this a logical concern on my part? I am not sure. On the one hand, if I should fall on my bicycle, the laptop is just as likely to get damaged if it sits in a pannier than if it sits on my back. Also, the straps and closure of a messenger bag are probably no less likely to fail than the attachment points of a pannier system. However, if the bicycle itself should fall over without me on it, the laptop is more likely to get damaged. How statistically likely any of these scenarios are to actually happen, I have no idea. So I think it really comes down to one's subjective perception of security.

In the end, taking the first step towards trusting my bicycle with my laptop ended up being simpler than I thought. As it turns out, my leather satchel fits quite comfortably into the front basket on my Pashley, and the edges get lodged in the wicker, so that the bag remains sturdy when the bicycle is in motion. It never occurred to me that this could be a possibility, because I assumed that the satchel would be much too large for the basket and also that it would bounce. But there you have it. I am pleasantly surprised that there are no bouncing issues: Once stuck in the basket, the satchel does not budge; the wicker sort of closes in on it and holds it firmly in place. I feel comfortable with this set-up, because I see the bag in front of me at all times and know that it is doing okay. Not sure whether this will be my permanent method of transportation from now on, but it worked splendidly for some errands close to home.

I would love to hear how other people carry their laptops while cycling, and how those solutions are working out for them.

The Death of Joseph A. Joslin :: 1919

Joseph's certificate of death was obtained from the Health Department in Plymouth, Marshall County, Indiana back in May ... Even then, they would not make a copy of the actual entry. I requested a "genealogy copy" so, thankfully, on the back of the death certificate she typed the "additional information" that wasn't included on the face of the certificate.



Information from the front of the certificate:

Joseph A. Joslin died June 21, 1919 at Plymouth, Indiana. He was 86 years old at the time of his death. Cause of death was Chronic Colonietis and Senility. It was signed by L. D. Eley, M.D. He was buried June 23, 1919 in the Bremen Cemetery by J. L. Bunnell, Undertaker. The record was filed on June 23, 1919. Certificate No. 1662 recorded in Book CH-30 Page 113.

Additional information typed on the back by the Clerk

Date of Birth - Sept. 11, no year given in Ohio
Retired farmer
No father listed
Mother - Abigail Goodrich

==+====+==

So, here we have it, finally! Something that definitely connects him directly with his parents, though only his mother's name is given. At least it is something!

Joseph's obituary, published on June 26, 1919 in The Weekly Republican, Plymouth, Indiana does not give the names of his parents but does say that he was born in Delaware County, Ohio:

Joseph J. Joslin, aged 86 years, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. J.W. Burger, 220 N. Walnut street, this city, at 4:20 Saturday morning after a week's illness. Mr. Joslin was born in Delaware county, Ohio but for several years has lived on a farm near Lapaz. He is survived by four children, Mrs. J.W. Burger of Plymouth; Mrs. Seymour Kanaar, of Lowell, Ind.; Mrs. Silas Wener of Bremen, and Delbert Joslin who lives on the old homestead near Lapaz. The funeral was held in Lapaz Monday afternoon, at 1:30, and burial was in the Bremen cemetery.

His obituary was also published in the Plymouth Weekly Democrat on June 26, 1919:

James [sic] J. Joslyn died Saturday morning at 4:20 o'clock at the home of J. W. Burger, corner of Walnut and Washington streets, aged over eighty years. He came here from Lapaz and was making his home with the family and was the father of Mrs. Burger. He had been sick for more than a week. The funeral was held at Lapaz Monday at 1:30 p.m. and the body was taken to Bremen for burial.

It's odd that in most other records I've found for Joseph his middle initial is shown as "A" and not "J" as in the two obituaries.

Gearing Up for the Holidays

Every year when it hits November, I kind of hold my breath a bit, bracing myself for the coming holidays. I love the holidays. I am really geeky about holidays in fact. But they are also tiring because of all of the "extra" they add to life.



Adding to the holiday busy-ness is the reality that work is going to get much busier. It will get downright crazy in fact. We will also have more people around us that we want to spend time with. Pickleball will be in full force. And I will love it all. And I will be ready to crash when it ends because it really is exhausting to juggle so much in such a short time. So on days like today, where I spent most of the day at Sixteen Hands...I soak up the peace and quiet while I can.



I enjoy the pace of the horses. I pay attention to the small details, like Dancer's jingle bells.



I laugh at the silly faces Patriot makes while he camera hogs my view.



I marvel at Gracie, who is one of the wild mustangs here. I appreciate her patient and gentle spirit with us as we try to attend to so many horses needs.



And I spend as much time as necessary to see that Cherokee gets as much food into him as he can handle today.



I get down to the basics when I am here. All the things that nourish living souls. Nothing more. And it is exactly what I need to keep me grounded.



Living the life in FL!

Spring on the Beaver River

I took a drive to Duluth today and along the way saw a lot of incredible fog-filled views which were a result of overnight and morning rainfall. The best view by far was this one of the Beaver River. As we drove across the Highway 61 bridge that spans the river I made a quick glance upstream and my jaw dropped when I saw all the fog over the river. After we crossed the bridge I couldn't resist pulling over and parking the truck so I could walk back out on the bridge and make a few photos of this beautiful scene.

How We Ride

To the delight of some and eye-rolling of others, during the first year or two of this blog I referred to riding a bike recreationally as "sporty cycling." What a funny term. Why not just call it roadcycling? Well, because it's not! Roadcycling evokes associations that I felt were not appropriate to the kind of riding I did at the time - or in fact to the kind of riding most people who just want to ride a bike for exercise are drawn to. Roadcycling is its own world, with what I consider to be pretty rigid parameters. There are assumptions about equipment, positioning on the bike, speed, and even style, that are pretty much unspoken pre-requisites no matter how friendly and open the people are. Whether described as "social rides" or "training rides," it is still a fairly specific type of riding that assumes performance-optimised equipment, advanced handling skills, and the ability to maintain what most would consider a high minimum speed. And there is nothing wrong with any of this. Except that not everyone wants, or needs to ride like that. To ultimately be on a bike with dropbars, keeping up with the local roadies, need not be an end goal. Some might truly enjoy riding an upright bike at their own pace, without feeling the need to "advance to the next level." The very idea of advancing - of cycling in order to get faster, stronger - is part of the roadcycling discourse and& need not influence those outside of it.



In May , just a couple of months after I touched a bike for the first time in 13 years, I rode my first 50 miles. I was living in Vienna at the time and riding around on an upright hybrid rental, up and down a short stretch of the Danube bicycle path outside of town after work. Then one Saturday, I just kept going and before I knew it I did 85km - which I hadn't even realised until I looked at the map of the area I covered later; I just knew it felt like "a lot." How fast did I go? No idea. What was my nutritional plan? None. What did I wear? A cotton tunic, leggings and sneakers. Did I look like a complete dork, puffing away on my inefficient hybrid with suspension fork, saddle too low and handlebars too high, my loose sweat-stained top billowing in the wind? To a roadcyclist, maybe. But to a regular person? I just looked like a person doing a long bike ride.





I do not know why, over the years, I have grown attracted to roadcycling and do in fact now want to get faster, stronger, to "advance." I enjoy it and do not regret the transition. But at the same time, I maintain that it is absolutely not necessary to ride a bike in this manner. Last October I was back in Vienna and did a 100 mile ride along the same route I rode in . Again, on an upright bike in regular clothing, with no training in the weeks leading up to it and no nutritional plan. I thought that maybe that kind of ride would be boring for me at this stage, but it wasn't at all. It was just different. A different frame of mind, a different style of riding. I went slowly and didn't worry. It was not about performance or timing. I was just a person, going kind of far on a bike.



Now and again I get emails from readers who are genuinely upset because they can't seem to transition from an upright step-through or mixte to a roadbike with drop bars. The local cycling clubs only cater to the latter. Their spouse rides a roadbike. They feel left out. But the more I think about it, the more I realise it just doesn't make sense to give up the sort of bike you are perfectly happy with because of some misguided notion that you "should" be riding a roadbike if you're serious about cycling. I do wish there were more bicycle clubs that catered to casual cycling, where people on hybrids and upright 3-speeds and mixtes could feel at home and within their comfort zone. I also think there is a difference between casual cycling and casual cyclists. You can be a serious, committed cyclist and ride casually. This distinction is not often acknowledged.



Roadcycling is not the only valid form of recreational or sporty cycling. There are so many ways to ride a bike, and there is no right or wrong way as far as I am concerned. How we ride depends on us alone.

Petzl Nomic /

As expected the "new" Nomics have been improved from last year and are being delivered in the EU as I write this. NA can't be far behind.



Edvin was nice enough to post the details on the "fix" and send me a link. Thank you sir! More here:



http://vikingalpinism.blogspot.com//09/pictures-of-new-petzl-nomic.html





photo courtesy of Edvin Mellergård

FOTR Rally

Enjoying a ‘canchanchara cocktail’ and a serenade at the La Canchanchara Bar in Trinidad

I mentioned previously that Blondine and I drank our way through Cuba. We literally sampled all alcoholic concoction that is being thrust in front of us. Now, we are happy to report that we both like Trinidad’s famous fresh cocktail drink called ‘canchanchara’.

Canchanchara is a mixture of rum, honey, lemon juice, water and some ice. The base of a Cuban cocktail drink is always rum. You can enjoy this drink everywhere in Trinidad and in Cuba actually, however, in Trinidad, there is the ‘La Canchanchara Bar’ faithfully offering this drink to visitors.

Blondine and I went there of course and after ordering our canchancharas, we were exclusively serenaded by some locals. Very sweet! And we met the funny ‘Jose’ as well! It was late in the afternoon so there were not many people in the bar. We almost had the place to ourselves =)

Inside the La Canchanchara bar... not busy as it was very late in the afternoon. Trinidad is not like Havana. It is not rundown with tourists.

Canchanchara is a very refreshing cocktail drink. You will have to stir the drink until the honey at the bottom mixes with the drink.

And we got serenaded!

The serenade video at La Canchanchara Bar in Trinidad.

Jose was such a funny guy! He makes us laugh the whole time.

We were told that it gets lively here at the La Canchanchara bar in the evenings. There is music, dancing and all. Jose even told us that he will personally teach us salsa and cha-cha-cha dance if we come back in the evening.

Well, after dinner that night, Blondine and I were so tired, so we opted instead for a relaxing evening back at our farm hotel. A bit boring eh?