MARY CHRISTMAS!!!

http://www.thecompassgroup.biz/merryxmas.swf

Hey there everybody; it's been awhile, ain't it. Was just talking to GrandmaV last night, and she reminded me that it's been eons since I've been on our little family blog. As far as what's going on here, things are pretty much normal. Crashing at the in-laws 'til our lives get straightened out, with me missing AK and Erin missing CA... good times. There is a possibility that I'll be working for TSA soon, so better money, steadier work, crappier job, but at least we'll be able to get ahead. Erin should be done with her school in about a month and a half, so she'll be able to get a decent job too (I hope). If you receive a password reset e-mail from blogger, just ignore it as it's been so long I forot my password. I might be doing some fashion photography for a friend of mine soon, and I'll toss the pictures up here for critique. Only other news I have right now is that I'm finally quitting smoking (one day at a time). At any rate, will be updating you guys more frequently now, so if'n you don't hear from me, just send somone to slap me around a little bit.

my cats are mad at me. i don't think they like being moved around all the time and they definitely don't like the cold or when they don't get enough to eat. but i'm going to give feather a can of tuna cat food because tuna is her very favorite. machina wont touch the stuff. so for her, maybe i'll put her on top of the fridge or something.

hanks show went very well in NYC last night. which was a much needed morale boost after their drummer quit the band this weekend.

i'm going to hang out with dogs today and cook myself a wonderful vegan meal. watch some cable and read my national geographic. hope to talk to family today. call me!

love and thanks to everyone and thanks for snow!!! yay

maya

A beautiful day in the neighborhood. But winter br-r-r-r- is on its way. I'm deeply involved in the annual orgy of cooking: turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, waldorf salad, ambrosia salad, two sorts of cranberry relish, green bean casserole, apple pie, pumpkin pie, oh yum. I'm thinking we should go the Grand Canyon on Friday if Fran and Bill want to. I've e-mailed Matt Trail asking him to join us. He lives near Phoenix now and Tom told me he's not planning to travel to Nebraska.

I'll try to post a photo of last Thanksgiving in our house on the Rez, just Vern and me. So long ago.

Maya, have you heard of Canyoneers? They are less expensive that OARS and are featuring a restored Neville's dory. I want a really good trip but mostly I just want to go messing around with boats.

This above all gratitude and love for the universe and everything in it.

Hi people. The cat enzyme/pheromone substance is called Feliway. I use it in diffusers plugged into electrical outlets -- two downstairs and one up. I think it helps to keep the peace (we have seven cats in about 800 sq. ft. of living space) and reduce stress from overcrowding. It's pricey but I honestly think it works. At least for my guys -- all neutered, all totally indoor cats.
I really liked the ice pictures. I couldn't pick up the poster from Photobucket. What am I doing wrong?

Brother Tom called today for a really long conversation. He's sounding really good. He's birdwatching and making walking canes from diamond willow. Google it up -- really outstanding. His boy Matthew lives in Tempe (near Phoenix) and Tom suggested I invite him for Christmas. Which I will do.

I found turkey necks for sale at the supermarket, $0.59 per pound, which I'm slow-cooking for supper and to make stock to use at Thanksgiving.

Michael's birthday tomorrow. Unbelievable. The world has changed so much in 46 years. For better? For worse? Hard to say.

What am I thankful for? Family. Health. Possibility. The world wide web. Abundance. The great western rivers flowing .....

Love -- VBT

New Poster for Parts and Labor Collective

mom, love the pix, love to see you back. Just spoke with maya, and she is going to do a really quick turnaround to spend t-day with us, so we can relax and be sooo thankful! Michael and Ayla get turkey and fixins, and Maya and I get to be tofu-creative. Most stuff is shared, like yams and salads and cranberry stuff, just the entree, stuffing and gravy will be unshared.

Hank and she will come down a couple days after xmas and spend a few days, i hope.

i am at work, off to lunch, am gigging with my jam-buddies down at an art opening at Lick Creek Saloon or Country Store or something. Oh - General Store, that's what it is. Kevin is showing his paintings, mom. Isn't that cool? He sends his affection: he really enjoyed meeting you!

Things are calm, whether in a smooth part of the river or caught in one of those backwater eddies I do not know!

Zaadz is ablaze with a new seeding system that has lots of folks uproaring. You might check it out, Mom!

off to lunch, back for paperwork, clients, slam into high gear and get me down to the Lick Creek Corral - yee haw!

hehe ;-)

http://chickencrap.com/specials/arctic.htm

just some really cooooOOOOOOooool pix!

Flagstaff Friday morning. We had a major catfight last night with bold cats picking on shy, reclusive cats. It made some major noise and resulted in some ba-a-a-d cats being shut into spare rooms. I've been placing Feliway dispensers around the house to counteract this problem and upon checking this morning found that one dispenser is out of substance. So I remedied that. One internet site recommend more hiding spots so I'll try to rectify that today. Bright spot: no spraying. A very good thing.

Speaking of catfights -- I watched the CNN Dem candidate "debate" last night. I really really like Joe Biden best but I hope that whoever wins the nomination and hopefully the election has the good sense to appoint Biden Sec'y of State. The candidates look tired -- we need a better primary system.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? We are staying here; Fran and Bill are coming from Farmington. I bought the turkey yesterday, and sweet potatoes and cranberries, yum. Love you all.

Lovely morning in Flagstaff, cold, clear. I built a fire in the Franklin stove to take the chill off. I post while breakfast cooks -- fried apples, snoqualmie falls oatmeal. This post is to break the ice and get into the mood of posting, communicating ..... The inset photo is something I found on the web which I really really like. Have a great day everyone. :-)

hey, here's a really cool link to PostSecrets. It changes every week. There is quite a bit of fizz here!

staying awake at work.... chasing a headache. Great jam last night, bad for sleep! Pretty day today, breezy but warmer, bright, bright blue. Funny how peaceful it is when you imagine all the violence about, but it is nowhere to be seen when you look outside, just the leaves turning and the blackbirds flocking and the construction crews racing to button everything down for winter. It is so nice to be peaceful! such a luxury...

;-)

hey y'all

this here is a story about missing nukes... yes, for real!

funny what people will do for attention!

hope all is fine with everyone. Kinda lonely out here, kinda cold...

;-)

cindy sheehan has a very interesting message for us! She shows some good sass here...

Hey guys, talked to Dad, he's back on his place, pretty upset about lots of stuff having to do with still being mandatorily evacuated against all common sense and he's going to run out of gas for the generator. He says anybody on their way to visit, could they please haul some in? About ten gallons would be great! Then he can keep his cell phone charged.

He also said that the reporters have been witnessed out and out lying on the air about their location etc, where the fires are, etc. Lots of really lousy and deceptive reporting. I guess when the lines go down, everybody takes lots of rope!

Rosemary was pretty exhausted and worried about their avocado grove and properties, as they had already been evacuated once and now there may be a fire that may come down their canyon. They emptied out the swimming pool and are spraying down the orchard, but they have little help, with Trish and John out of town, and they aren't so young anymore. She said her new great-niece is doing well, though.

Gmail - DSC_0215.jpg

This is all pretty scary stuff! Us guys, we need to keep on top of this and make sure everybody is getting what they need!

This is important.

Colbert for prezident.

self-reflection
08 16 07

Taken after the storm yesterday, in the Murdale parking lot. I took shelter in the Neighborhood Coop, in their wi-fired eatery. Got some great photos, but couldn't catch the lightning. Drat. Or maybe not...

Taken this morning around and about the place. Before it got to be 149 degrees outside in the friggin shade! Actually, the bridge was taken enroute to Cape Girardeau yesterday evening, over the Mississippi. It was one of those rare shots, taken "blind" (meaning i actually am watching the road while my hand takes pictures) and is unretouched: as is straight off the camera.

The corn is because that is where we are out in. The honkers are working the field to our west. The first shot is early, dawnish. The one with them flying off is a bit later. I'm not sure what set them off, but maybe the sun and heat reminded them that they are technically water birds, and all we have to offer are bone-dry accommodations. I think they are amassing for an early trip back north. I don't blame them a bit: the weather forecast is grim. But anyone reading this has already endured it and gleefully shipped it on east...

The cool little hopper dude is my friend.

Love you guys! Hope to get this going again, after a busy summer!

Hi people. I have just arrived in Sacramento at Mike's house. This is pre-Mini-Meet week, when all and sundry get everything ready to go to Hood River, Oregon, next week for the annual Mini-Meet West. (Google it up and take a look at what's going on). I'll be here a couple of weeks just having fun. Love to all ---- Virginia

Dear Mom (in lieu of a Hallmark card and durable, unscented roses....)

Dear Mom

I am in awe

Of your grace

your dignity

your lightning mind

And the fierce curiosity

I find embedded

Like shining ore

In deep veins

In the dark times

If I dig down

Embedded

Like shining ore

In subterranean caverns

In the marrow of my bones

This golden fire

This blood sacrifice

This bountiful heart

This bedrock
These are your gifts to me

And all I can offer

Is this pale reflection

And the solemn promise

To be the mother for my daughters

That you have been for me

Love beyond measure

Your daughter in flesh and spirit

mary

Michael 'n Ubu, best buds

iris 'n dew

foggy morning, view of yard from north

Annabelle 'n Ubu bowling cats (Turtle and Spook)

baby corns emerging in the field to our north

So. Well, these were posted later than the ones in the next post, as bandwidth freed itself up. It's a satellite and networking thing, I think.

All pix were from this morning, foggy and blessed-cool. Michael and Ubu aren't really in the same picture: I fused 'em. Not bad, eh? I love Photoshop! Makes me look like a pro, which I decidedly am NOT. Real photographers study their craft for years and hide in dark rooms until even their family knows them not. I, on the other hand, point this digi-thing and click my mouse. So not fair!

Of course, portrait painters were probably a bit miffed by photographers to begin with, so it all comes back around...

I plan to leave for Kerrville eeearrrly next Saturday morning and return two Saturdays from then if I have enough stamina to last that long...

Later!

hey all! Mom, those are beeauooooteeful flowers -- what the heck are they? I want to live near the red rocks too, but the ones I love are covered by condos... Remember Del Mar Terrace?

I just realized yesterday that mother's day is tomorrow! OH NO! Mom, you are so far away, and I have nothing in the mail. Heck, I don't even have your address! Isn't that the sillyest thing?

I am trying to get on Zaadz, but keep getting "bad response from server," which uncannily resembles my experience posting in the pods lately. It is getting to where I don't dast have a dark thought, or the light-vultures will be on me like stink on carcass.

Oh no! They say. Too sad! they say. Finger-pointing! they say. Well. I say, just try to shut me up now! hehe.

I didn't know it was my job to spread only sunshine. Even though sometimes that actually feels appropriate, and then sunshine is my game, and a perfectly good game. But don't I have the right to express the sorrow and see the suffering? If we can't acknowledge what we do that causes pain, then who the heck are we?

Brings to mind Animal Farm. Were there creatures who staunchly give the humans the benefit of the doubt and refuse to acknowledge the food chain? Too far back in the mists of time for me to remember specifically. But it is hard to imagine that Orwell would have missed that trick...

I wanted the pictures to go on the bottom: here. But no, they load on top. Mom, you arranged your pictures cool. How did you do that?

Any way, these are a few from what I shot this morning: first is an iris in my front yard, second is dew on grass, hehe, and third is sawfly caterpillars climbing up the loblolly. If you click on the pictures, you can see them close-up. Very cool!

then I had to quit uploading because I was hogging the bandwidth. More later!

love you all!

Maya, if you hear me, I hope all is well in the wild beyonds, and have a wunnerful time!!!

Mom, I will call you on Mother's Day! With a surprise... (shhhh)

We spent yesterday at Palatki, a Sinagua ruin, occupied from maybe from 1125-1300 a.d. north of the Verde Valley, west of Sedona, in a beautiful place called Red Rock Canyon. Love those canyons! The place is all over ruins and old fruit trees from an early Anglo settler's orchards and lots of wildflowers. I want to live there. Buy a Tiny Tumbleweed House (google it up and take a look) or a yurt and get permission to park it on the private land inholding near there. Dreams. We had a beautiful day. Today in Flagstaff it is snowing. This illustrates the difference between 4500 and 7000 ft altitude. Love to all. V&V

megan and i went to a baseball game yesterday. it was the perfect day for it and a great game. cardinals won and i was happy about that since i have never met a more obnoxious bunch of people than cubs fans. this may sound shallow but it is just a logical extension of the statement, 'severely drunk people are obnoxious,' which is usually true.

Well, Hank and I are coming down to check out the south of illinois today. we are so excited to get out of the city. love you! see you soon!
maya

Good morning! Sun coming up, Michael's tail-lights heading down the road...

We are doing pretty darn well, giving that life is one of those things that always whoops around and gets you in the end.

What is one to do?

Paddle hard! and rest... ;-)

Today Ayla is up early and even as I write getting ready for her first day on her new job. We are very excited! Went out yesterday and did a wardrobe ritual celebration at the mall and boy, did we have tooo much fun! Hehe...

I don't work with her until tomorrow, as I am stretched between three counties.

You certainly wouldn't suspect given a definite lack of wispyness in my appearance!

Michael is getting toes wet in the internet, and appears to be enjoying his new-found abilities. Unfortunately, we now time-share this computer and my gmail, until he is set up on his own. But then, if he wants to access his, we have to be logging in and out ad nauseum.

So I am looking at laptops. I need one for my occasional wilderness forays, so I have someplace to dump my pictures.

Ayla could use one to go to school and get out of the house more.

And Michael could use it whenever he wants, because if one of us has the laptop, one of the two computers is obviously available.

So it would solve lots of problems, except the problem of money. Which is okay, because in my long and fruity life, I notice that money is like a roller coaster, ups and downs, lots of willy-nilly excitement but usually sort of ok in the end, somehow... whew!

So, off and away!

love you guys. Hey: keys to longevity I learned this morning: plant-based diet, keep moving, invest in family, friends and community... Increases chance of hitting 100 fourfold?

at least, that's what the guy said on the news this morning.

and we believe everything on the news that we want to...

bye! gotta keep moving...;-)

This weekend's adventure was a tour of the volcano field northwest of Flagstaff and a hike through Wupatki National Monument, my favorite local ruin. This is Sunday Morning, which means I'm getting my weekly dose of unwanted political commentary from Vern while I am trying to watch CBS Sunday Morning. It's an oppportunity for me to practice exercising tongue control. I need to remember: I picked him. Love to everybody. Post to me, post to me .....

Hi people. This photo is from a permanent spring along the historic Beale Camel Road west of the San Francisco Peaks where Vern and I were hiking last weekend. You can see the words "Laws Spring" engraved on the rocks to the right by one Breckinridge, a member of the survey party, in 1858. Water in the desert: a miracle.

Since my RMUSD e-mail address is no longer functional -- they seem to be off the air for some reason (perhaps they didn't pay their bills) -- I have switched to vbtrail@gmail.com, effective immediately. I will try to figure out their switching notification procedure in order to notify everyone I know.

Love to all -- V

HAPPY EASTER!!!

early dawn
awakening
with snow whiskers
on dandelions
and violets

and squirrels
bask on sunny side
unaware
of slipper-feet
beneath the pines

hand-painted china egg
revives old, musty love
with fresh patina
and luster
resurrected
and beautiful
memories of shiny shoes
yellow-ribboned hats
and hankies
lacy pinafores with satin bows
and skipping up the giant steps
of a church bigger than god
and almost as big as grandpa

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

this is an article about the water wars going on right now in the west. looks like its going to be a low-water season for me. (this just means i will have very big muscles when i get back.)

maya

what do you call those suction tube things at the bank that carry your money from your car to the bank teller and candy from the bank teller to your car. i can't remember and its driving me nuts!!
maya

enjoy! compliments of ayla...

hello all, just thought I'd upload the hdr images i have from the grand canyon so far (Grandma V has them as well, but I thought I'd save her the trouble of converting them.) So, here ya are.





P.S. There are more photos, and I'm sure between G-Ma and I, the best will eventually get uploaded.

Hi everyone, sorry Ive been so out of touch! Ive been very busy, mostly in a good way.
Right now, I am in the middle of three sool projects. I am designing and printing a friend's wedding invitation, another friend's wedding thankyou cards, and new recordlow t-shirts!

The Record Low just got back from three outoftown shows this past weekend. Apparently, Dayton, OH on St. Patricks Day is the place to be. I spent the weekend working(!!!) and wrestling the apartment into someting a little less "bachelor-y." It's getting there, but there is a quiet battle of wills taking place. I am refusing to take out the garbage. But we can't put it on the porch because there is a possum in chicago. so it sits by the back door and refuses to take itself out as well. hmm...the only hope is if one of my three roomates wants to negotiate, but for now this is between me and the trash.

So, I am going to Holiday in about a month. I am nervous and excited. and a little sad. Honestly, I wouldn't mind hanging out in chicago for a summer (rather than winter). plus i have all these cool projects...i think i am just nervous transplanting again. i don't do that well.

so check out my blog in the upcoming days. i am posting all the old stuff that i should have posted a while ago..

Love you!
maya

Brian is here visiting for a few days. Yesterday we toured Antelope Canyon near Lake Powell. This photo is from looking straight up at some spectacular rock forms. The canyon at its deepest is maybe 50 feet: the walls at the top are perhaps an armspan wide. Wonderful, wonderful. Today the Grand Canyon where we will stay overnight. Having wonderful time. Wish you were here.

Not much going on. Michael's birthday was yesterday and I forgot to get cheesecake, so he is making it himself today and wouldn't let me no matter how I begged.

He is so mean!

I am mad at photobucket because when you click on my pictures, instead of making them big and beautiful, it takes you to their homepage.

Oh well, how to make friends and influence people has somehow slipped from the vernacular. I can't believe I spelled that right!

So I'm going to check out Flickr for my photos...

I don't have time to be alive! There is just too much paperwork just to get from one day to the next. Between taxes and bills and all that other stuff, I'm worn to a nubbin. How is this supposed to be anywhere near like what it is sposed to be?

So, I am thinking a lot about this pickle and alternative lifestyles, multiple project-driven income streams and a part-time day job. In my spare time, I am thinking of these things.

Miss you all, hope to get out there to see you, mom, and looking sooo forward to a river trip this summer....

Spring at last!!!

ok - cool! I just figured out that if I select the picture in the compose window and hit the little linky thing and paste in the url for the actual photograph, then when you click on the picture it actually shows you the picture! Go figure!!!

grrr -- they think they are sooooo smart!

anyhoo, try it and see!

;-)

This is "Montezuma's Well", a limestone sink fed by a permanent spring (1-1/2 million gallons a day) maybe 40 miles south of here on the north edge of the Verde Valley. Very mysterious. Yes, I do get out once in a while. I cannot find other kitefliers in this area; the nearest kite store is in Sedona. There are few open parks without trees or wires, so I'm still looking for a suitable field. Rocks are better than trees, so say I.

Maya, where are you? I would like to order a Record Low CD.

I went to Brad Dimock's book signing Wednesday night at NAU and bought a book for him to sign. It's about Bert Loper, one of the grand old men of the river community. There were lots and lots of people there, including Katie Lee, who sang. I bought Maya an autographed copy of Brad's book, "The Very Hard Way.

All is well in Flagstaff. Today looks very much like a kiteflying day. I've discovered I prefer rocks to trees. Although a large cottonwood is a fine thing.

This last is sooo pretty, pulled in from far away. And I'll be godahell if there aren't a couple of canadian honkers feeding in the lower left quadrant (visible only under extreme magnification).

All these were yesterday, enroute again.

If you want to subject yourself to all the photos that I have managed to upload so far, by no means all, not to worry, but merely many....

please notice I have placed a link in the "where to go from here" box to the right....

some of them are awful, i know, but i thought they were cool at the time...

some of them are abstracts, and not designed to do anything but please your eye, while messing with your mind....

have fun!