Takin It To the Streets, The Jackson Fall Arts Festival

Five am was really early and as we finished packing while making coffee, we knew it was going to be a long day. The drive to Jackson was scary as we kept a constant lookout for wildlife. Sure enough a huge bull elk gave us a scare as it stood in the ditch and watched as we drove by. Renita said it had a huge rack but I was too busy watching for more elk to risk a glance/

Arriving in Jackson we set up in the early morning light. It was cold, about thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and we wished the sun would hurry up and climb high enough to peek over the stores. Our spot was just east of the antler welcome gates and not on the park side, (the park side spots are much more desirable as not everyone walks down both rows of vender tents.

The show officially started at ten am and the sun chased the shadows away just as people started checking out our booth. The first sale was small, a twenty-dollar cabochon, but at least we would be able to afford hot dogs for dinner, one of our standard jokes.

It remained slow for the next hour and then the people arrived. We barely had time for a lunch break and so we took turns eating and answering questions. Our work and stones were well received and we even had the president of the Jackson Hole Art Association stop by to chat. He said we had the first green Wyoming jade he had seen in years and complimented us on our displays.

The president of the Jackson Geology Association also stopped and invited us to become members. She was also impressed with our stones and even bought a pair of jade earrings and a matching cabochon. It’s a real compliment to have a local resident compliment you by buying some of your work!

Many of the visitors were from out of the country and we sold one of our most beautiful green jade pendants to a woman from China. It’s always a huge compliment when a person from China buys a piece of our Wyoming Jade!

Renita tried to stroll around and look at the other booths but I had to call her back as the crush of people was just too much. A little after three pm we made a sale of a Spencer opal and just after that person left a huge gust of wind threatened to blow down the vender tents. The artists near us actually had paintings and cards blow away but our rocks didn’t move.

Just like a house of cards the other venders started to tear down exposing us to more wind. While our tent was staked out with four seven gallon containers of water, we still decided discretion was the better part of valor and tore down ourselves.

It had been a very good day, even with closing early and we had met some new and old friends. That’s what the shows are really about. It was our last show of the year and now we can concentrate on finishing up with doctor’s appointments and getting our new rig ready, well new to us anyway, for our winter travels. Clear skies

A Busy Week of Fishing and Art in the Parking Lot, 2016

The summer is drawing to a close and yet we are still too busy to get everything done. It was almost Labor Day weekend which meant we had a three-day show in Alpine, Wyoming. We also had heard that the fish were biting and so we stopped working on stone to make a quick trip up the Grey's River.

It was our friend George’s birthday and as he loves fishing we packed a lunch and took George and Val along. I knew that with George along we would be out fished as he is only eighty-one and usually out fishes us.

It was no surprise then that both he and Val caught some large fish, pushing seventeen inches. Ours were smaller but that was how it should be, the birthday boy should catch the most fish. It was a beautiful day with friends on the Grey and the fall colors had staring to explode throughout the valley.

Friday arrived and we loaded our jewelry, hoping to set up the day before the show. However, a strong front was coming through and so we decided to wait till the morning of the show for our setup.

The next morning we set up in the cold and waited for the day to warm. By noon warmer temperatures and with the warmth, people started to arrive. Art in the Parking Lot is a small show but a good show as it gives us the chance to reconnect with people we have met since we have moved here.

Some of the people brings their rocks for us to identify, and one brought opals she had dug at the Spencer Opal mine. Even through it was the first time she had dug for opals she had some really pretty finds and I showed her how the material should be worked.

We ended up planning an opal dig for next summer and that’s the best thing about why we do shows. Making new friends and listening to new stories is really what it’s all about. As to the show, we had a very good turnout and a good three days. We have been blessed to have so many people love our work.

This sunday, we have our last show of the year, and it’s in Jackson, Wyoming. That show is called, “Takin it to the Streets”, and is a weeklong Fall Arts Festival. There we will be set up along the park with the elk antler arches in the center of the city. Clear skies

A Busy Week of Fishing and Art in the Parking Lot, 2016

The summer is drawing to a close and yet we are still too busy to get everything done. It was almost Labor Day weekend which meant we had a three-day show in Alpine, Wyoming. We also had heard that the fish were biting and so we stopped working on stone to make a quick trip up the Grey's River.

It was our friend George’s birthday and as he loves fishing we packed a lunch and took George and Val along. I knew that with George along we would be out fished as he is only eighty-one and usually out fishes us.

It was no surprise then that both he and Val caught some large fish, pushing seventeen inches. Ours were smaller but that was how it should be, the birthday boy should catch the most fish. It was a beautiful day with friends on the Grey and the fall colors had staring to explode throughout the valley.

Friday arrived and we loaded our jewelry, hoping to set up the day before the show. However, a strong front was coming through and so we decided to wait till the morning of the show for our setup.

Saturday morning arrived and with it cold temperatures so setting up we waited for the day to warm up and by noon warmer temperatures and people had started to arrive. Art in the Parking Lot is a small show but a good show as it gives us the chance to reconnect with people we have met since we have moved here.

Some of the people brings their rocks for us to identify, and one brought opals she had dug at the Spencer Opal mine. Even through it was the first time she had dug for opals she had some really pretty finds and I showed her how the material should be worked.

We ended up planning an opal dig for next summer and that’s the best thing about why we do shows. Making new friends and listening to new stories is really what it’s all about. As to the show, we had a very good turnout and a good three days. We have been blessed to have so many people love our work.

This sunday, we have our last show of the year, and it’s in Jackson, Wyoming. That show is called, “Takin it to the Streets”, and is a weeklong Fall Arts Festival. There we will be set up along the park with the elk antler arches in the center of the city. Clear skies

Jen and Eric's Wedding

They called it the first look, or something equally romantic. It’s the moment when the father of the bride sees his daughter in her wedding gown. The father stood on the alcove until his daughter touches his shoulder and turning there she is. The little girl who once wore rabbit ears was now a stunning woman grown, where did the years go?

We had flown to North Carolina for our daughter’s wedding. Guests had arrived from as far away as San Francisco. The couple has been blessed with so many friends and family. The destination wedding, at a mountain resort allowed us to meet the groom’s family and friends.

Now we stood poised to walk down the sandy beach and of course it started to pour as a torrential mountain downpour swept over the ridge. The wedding facilitator and others quickly ignored the rain and carried the folding chairs into the reception building, a rustic dance hall and speakeasy built in 1904.

It all fit into the theme, a nineteen twenties wedding. The guests were mostly dressed in flapper dresses, zoot suits, knickers and bow ties. Waiting at the door the music started, the theme song from Jurassic Park, and I made a few steps before bursting into tears. Trying to smile we walked slowly down the aisle and reaching the minister, Jen’s Aunt Mona. I still tried to smile but I was simply overcome with emotion and love as I handed her to the bridegroom.

The words were all said, stories of love told and sacred vows exchanged. Renita and I cried but we were not alone as I glanced at the groom’s parents. Her dad, also named Mark and her Mom were all we could hope for. Jen was marrying into a close knit and loving family.

Later we gathered in the speakeasy as the rain finally stopped and heading back upstairs the music begin and the dances followed. The newlyweds smiled as they danced their first dance and then it was the groom and his mother's turn.

Now it was my time to dance with Jen and the song I had picked was one of my favorites. It was a 1930’s jazz recording of Summertime, sung by Bille Holiday. When I was a teacher I would start singing it every May and here I was trying to follow the words.

The dance floor itself was filled with dancing and artistry. At least seven of the guests, were or had been professional dancers and the movements and energy filled the hall. Jen herself was once a member of a professional Jazz Dance Company and she picked up her train and did her steps with ease.

The last dance played and it was time to wish our families and friends goodbye. I never got to make my toast, I know I would have botched it and broke into more tears of joy, and so I write it here, “ To Jen and Eric, and to the family and friends. May the blessings and friendships from this marriage last through time.” Clear skies

Floating Wilsons Creek, at Brown Mountain Beach Resort in Western North Carolina

I now know what a pinball feels like, while its bouncing from bumper to bumper without any control. That’s because I was a human pinball as I rode the inner tube down Wilsons Creek while bouncing off the rocks and boulders being propelled from chute to chute and rapid to plunge pool.

Renita and I had left Star Valley, driven to Salt Lake City, and flown to Charlotte, North Carolina for our daughter’s wedding. It was a destination wedding at a resort, located between Morgenton and Lenoir.

The soon to be married couple had chosen the location as it had all the requisites. These included waterfalls, trees, and it was an in between place where all the families and friends could meet.

It was the day before the wedding and a group of seventeen daredevil individuals carried each one’s tube down the tree shrouded path to the water’s edge. Pushing off required all to dodge some low rocks and to learn not to allow ones behind to stick through the bottom of the tube. This was because the rocks and bottom were a way of getting hung up and it hurt when you hit a rock!

Quickly the group became separated as the myriad channels moved at different speeds. Compounding this, was the frequent stops as everyone bounced off rocks and learned, I already said this, to not let one’s bottom stick through the bottom of the tube as you got hung up.

Even though many of the floaters were good swimmers, it also became quickly apparent that one could not control the tube. Trying to change direction with one’s arms and legs by paddling and kicking had almost no effect. So when the minister, Mona, became stuck in the middle of a rapids almost everyone sped by all out of control and unable to help.

Luckily the bride, knowing that the minister was an important component of the wedding, was able to get near her and talk her through the white water and large boulders, (Jen had earlier told us she would allow nothing to stop her wedding).

Meanwhile I heard the water roaring and realized I was near a waterfall/chute that I really didn’t want to go down. Attempting to stop, the current sped up and, like everyone else, I had no choice but to go along for the ride!

Surviving the ordeal, it was really fun after all , I was able to stop and take images of others as they screamed, shouted, and laughed, as the water took them for their own bobsled ride.

The rest of the way to the resort was more of the same. I was never in control and like the proverbial pinball bounced from rock to rock as they acted like bumpers and flippers spinning me down the stream.

Finally, I reached the old broken dam surviving one more rapids and catching up with the rest of the group in a large slow pool. A rope hung from the far side and a large group of thrill seekers headed over to it but I decided that I was too tired and paddled to the beach.

Everyone had fun and some of the group rode the rapids the day of the wedding. However, I was in the wedding party and so I watched with envy as I dressed in my finest and waited for pictures. Clear skies

Perseid Meteor Shower August 12th, 2016, Thayne, Star Valley, Wyoming

There are meteor showers and there are meteor showers. Often the term shower is used loosely and its really a meteor drizzle. Several times a year there are true showers, like the Perseid's, and every thirty three years a meteor storm occurs. That one is named the Leonids and happens in November.
The highest meteor count I ever made was in the Lenoid Shower in 1999. I held a star party and my students and I counted 347 falling stars per hour.
This morning was the peak of the Perseid's and I had no problem waking up in the middle of the  night and going outside to see the shower, (One of the advantages of getting older is the need to get up in the middle of the night).
 Settling in to our new lawn chairs, and wrapped up in a blanket, I first looked at the Little Dipper. All the stars were visible and so I knew I had excellent viewing conditions. I knew that would be the case as we live at six thousand feet, with no light pollution.
The Milky Way was overhead in all its glory and Perseus was just below my zenith. Noting the time I began to count the falling stars and from 2:36-2:57 am MDS time I counted 26 falling stars. That turns into an hourly rate of seventy four falling stars per hour.
Going back inside I woke up Renita, (she had actually asked me to), and returning outside we counted 32 falling stars from 3:03--:21 am. That calculates into 106 falling stars per hour and that is one of the best meteor counts I have ever had for the Perseids!
The next seventeen minutes, 3:21-3:38 gave us 30 more meteors with a count about the same, 105 per hour. By this time Renita and I got cold, its cold here in the mountains, and she went back to bed. I stayed outside for another count and saw twenty more in the next fourteen minutes, from 3:38-3:52 a count of 86 per hour.
By this time I was pretty cold so I also went inside to calculate the hourly rates and make some cinnamon rolls. They are never as good as the ones made by my sister Connie, but that's no surprise as she makes the best cinnamon rolls in the world!
All in all it was one of the best meteor shows we have ever seen and definitely the best Perseids! Clear skies

Floating the Salt River 2016, from the Swimming Pool to Pallisades

Arriving at the Swimming Pool launch site, we noticed that the rivers level was down from the last time we made this float. Not sure what this would mean we nevertheless pushed off. Quickly we passed the first hurdle, a chute through a man made rock pile. It was one of many that allows the water to be diverted for irrigation.

The water was crystal clear and while the river was swift there was nothing challenging for the first half of the float. This allowed us to watch for wildlife and especially to look for rising trout. There were fish everywhere but we didn't bring our fly rods as this float was mainly a quick run of an unknown distance.

We passed great blue herons and mergansers, along with the occasional duck and osprey. The first real rapids approached and we tried to enter a chute nose first but Val hung up and was swung backwards. I stopped downstream and watched her, Smirking a bit I told her that it was easier going down the river forwards and you can imagine what happened next. Yup, I hit a shallow spot, almost flipped my kayak, and got hung up, before going backwards through the rapids.

Paying more attention to the shallow spots and rapids, easy class two, we both had fun as we entered chute after chute and easily avoided any snags. In one passage we missed spotting a large submerged rock and both took a glancing blow on our starboard sides.
Twice the rapids were large enough that we were splashed in the standing waves and took water over the sides. Not a lot however and while we were wet there wasn't enough in our yaks to present any problem and require us to land and empty the water.

Passing the first bridge we saw that the small covered bridge had been adorned with flowers. Diversions came and went and we had a few tricky runs but nothing that caused any problems. Too soon we passed a second bridge and then the McCoy bridge. The water had been so fast that it had only taken us one hour and twenty minutes!

The river changed quite a bit and after passing one short rapids the stream spread out a bit. The bottom dramatically changed it's characteristics with lots of flat white clay/mud and we stopped seeing any rising fish.

It only took twenty minutes to see George at our take out point. He helped us get unstuck in a shallow spot and didn't have anything good to say about the fishing. He had lost four flies and hadn't had a bite. It was the first time he has been skunked here and he seemed to take offense at the lack of the fishes cooperation.
We both agreed that the float had been one of the best floats we had ever had! It was a fun and quick float that only took one hour and forty minutes, but that because we hadn't stopped to fish. Now if we could just talk Renita into learning how to bof, (a method of using the fast current near large rocks) rocks and run the easy waves, (fat chance). Clear skies