I miss you Sam!!

I miss you Sam!!
I miss you Sam!!

Monday, January 11, 2010

That's My World - The Cascades


That's My World is hosted each week by Klaus and the That's My World Team, Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and myself. It's a fun place to share the beauty, the history and the interesting things about your world. Click on the icon, sign up and join the fun! PLEASE do read and follow the instructions before signing in! Thank you!! Enjoy!



One of the major points of interest in the northwest is the Cascades, a mountain range that covers a very large area in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon all the way to Northern California. It has a fascinating history as well as incredible beauty. Today I'll try to share a little of both! Photos courtesy of Google. Remember to click on any of the photos to embiggen!



The Cascade Range (or Cascades) is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades.



The Cascades are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, the ring of volcanoes and associated mountains around the Pacific Ocean. All of the known historic eruptions in the contiguous United States have been from Cascade volcanoes. The two most recent were Lassen Peak in 1914 to 1921 and a major eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Minor eruptions of Mount St. Helens have also occurred since, most recently in 2006.



Indigenous peoples have inhabited the area for thousands of years and developed their own myths and legends concerning the Cascades. According to some of these tales, Mounts Baker, Jefferson, and Shasta were used as refuge from a great flood. Other stories, such as the Bridge of the Gods tale, had various High Cascades such as Hood and Adams, act as god-like chiefs who made war by throwing fire and stone at each other. St. Helens with its pre-1980 graceful appearance, was regaled as a beautiful maiden for whom Hood and Adams feuded. Among the many stories concerning Mount Baker, one tells that the mountain was formerly married to Mount Rainier and lived in that vicinity. Then, because of a marital dispute, she picked herself up and marched north to her present position. Native tribes also developed their own names for the High Cascades and many of the smaller peaks, the most well-known to non-natives being Tahoma, the Lushootseed name for Mount Rainier.



For more fascinating history of the Cascades click here.



It's difficult to find a more beautiful place than the northwest and the Cascades are one of the many features that create that beauty.



Takes your breath away doesn't it?

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Microfiction Monday



Susan at Stony River Farm hosts Microfiction Monday. She posts a picture and you compose a story in 140 characters. You can click on her name to get further instructions. To help you along she has posted a wonderful link that counts your characters for you! How great is that! You can get the counter at Design 215.

Here's this week's picture, followed by my story to go with it:



Leaning over the side of the boat, she stared at her reflection in the still water.
Who was she? Did it matter? But there was only silence.

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty



Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself. ~Cicero



God is good, but never dance in a small boat. ~Irish Saying



Back
in the days
of greening,
they'd sit back
on the lawns,
verdant with
bowers and trees,
little grasses
at their feet,
as the children played
on the banks,
amidst sprinkles of
the cold blue.

Today,
disappearing
in the Fall of life,
they sit
mutely , virtually,
amidst the
lifeless browns,
and greenless trees;

The little ones,
now grown up,
have gone away,
leaving
a redeye lake,
missing them.

But the sky
is still blue,
the clouds will
travel away,
and now,
in the winter of their lives
they hope
the spring brings back
the children,
and the green,
back into the world....

The sturdy chairs,
wait.....

Posted by Ugich Konitari to Sylvia From Over The Hill at January 10, 2010 7:54 PM

Don't find fault. Find a remedy. ~Henry Ford



Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. ~Buddha



The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.
~Author Unknown



Put your future in good hands - your own. ~Author Unknown



It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves. ~Edmund Hillary

Signs for the Modern Woman





















Pet Pride!


Hey, hey, hey! Guess what time it is? It's time to head over to Bozo's place in Mumbai! Time for some fun, so get that two-legged gal/guy to sign you up and lets show what's been happening!

Here's me and my Dad enjoying a little conversation in the little bit of sunshine we had here today!



Izzy brought her fluffy butt over to play for a little while. It was fun!



But what I was really thinking about today were those sunny days down at the beach and playing in the water! When is it going to get warm again????



Mojo and I both are wondering when is the sun coming to stay???



Yes, that's just what I was wondering! When! When!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty



Every exit is an entrance somewhere else. ~Tom Stoppard



Taking joy in living is a woman's best cosmetic. ~Rosalind Russell



There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.
~William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1600



I'm tired of all this nonsense about beauty being only skin-deep. That's deep enough. What do you want - an adorable pancreas? ~Jean Kerr,



Finish last in your league and they call you idiot. Finish last in medical school and they call you doctor. ~Abe Lemons



How cunningly nature hides every wrinkle of her inconceivable antiquity under roses and violets and morning dew! ~Ralph Waldo Emerson



Beauty... when you look into a woman's eyes and see what is in her heart.
~Nate Dircks

Shadow Shot Sunday!

Time to put on your sleuthing hat, get out the magnifying glass and start searching for shadows to share on Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted by Tracy at Hey Harriet! Click on the icon, sign up and start looking for shadows -- even if they are a little harder to find these days!

Had to search the files for this Sunday's shadow shots! The sun has pretty much kept itself hidden for the past week except for one totally glorious sunrise that disappeared within about twenty minutes as it succumbed to the gray once again. So, here's what I came up with for today.

Here is Sir Sam Schnauzer enjoying a little sun on the deck along with Mojo the Most's feet!



The good old kitchen chair and plant!



My favorite deck furniture just before we moved it into the garage for the winter!



The shot that first started me looking at colored shadows!



And a favorite plant in the living room, soaking up what little sun it could find this week!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Evening, Wisdom and Beauty



Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. ~Winston Churchill



The great man is he who does not lose his child's-heart. ~Mencius, Book IV



Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow. ~Mary Anne Radmacher



It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare. ~Mark Twain



A golden moment

A dark world,
killings,
bombings of innocents,
because
they look different
and speak odd.....
Cover the face,
they'd demand,
the body too;
lest lashes be
in your future,
publicly....

And one day,
she ran,
hiding,
trembling,
reaching
for another shore.

She shudders
at the memory,
terrified,
her long hair
stiff,
standing on edge...

But she is now safe,
amidst the green
pines, cones,
and a warm fireplace.
She pulls
the blinds open,
a sliver of light,
rests on her face,
and she takes
a deep, thankful
breath,
looking
through her tresses,
with hope,
on the sun,
coming up,
to brighten
a new day,
again....

Posted by Ugich Konitari to Sylvia From Over The Hill at January 8, 2010 7:02 PM

So, like a forgotten fire, a childhood can always flare up again within us.
~Gaston Bachelard



Sometimes even to live is an act of courage. ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Letters to Lucilius



One of the virtues of being very young is that you don't let the facts get in the way of your imagination. ~Sam Levenson

What Can I Say?

What Can I Say?
I'm interested in almost everything. Use to like to travel, but it's too expensive now. I take Tai Chi classes, swim, volunteer in a Jump-start program for pre-schoolers. I'm an avid reader and like nearly everyone these days I follow politics avidly. I'm a former teacher and Special Projects Coordinator for a Telecommunications company, Assistant to the President of a Japanese silicon wafer manufacturing company. Am now enjoying retirement -- most of the time. I have two daughters, one son-in-law and two sons scattered all over the country. No grandchildren.

Portland Time