Category: Random issues

Along the inner wall of an abandoned snowshed

Item #1: History alive

When the Great Northern Railway chose a logo it included the outline of a Mountain Goat. The train became “The Iron Goat.”

Today, WTA volunteers worked on a trail called “Iron Goat” just west of Stevens Pass. This trail is designed and partially funded under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is of gentle grade, wide, and partly paved. There were some culverts to be cleaned, but mostly the folks cut a lot of vegetation and moved it out of sight. This involved much bending, stooping, and stretching. We all were ready to go home at 3 o’clock. Then I had a 2 hour drive.

This old book Iron Goat Railroad guidebook
(hardest to read) has a map, from which I’ve clipped part and made notations in red.The mountain’s low pass in this area is over 4,000 feet. The eastern slopes are more gentle, so laying tracks up was easier than coming down the western, more rugged side.
The red arrow on the right shows the route down, toward Windy Point, where the route turns and stays nearly level until the very left side of the map. There the tracks crossed a valley on a trestle, entered a tunnel that U-turned inside the hill, and came out at a lower elevation (another trestle) – now heading back east (2nd red arrow). Another U-turn brought the route still lower, and turned west again, heading toward Puget Sound and sea level.
These two links go to more modern sites with color photos, but have much less history. Link 1, Link 2.

Our “mostly brushing” work was along the old route in the vicinity of the lower red arrow, and eventually along one of the snow shed inner walls.

Item #2: Count me now Will the total be 11 million, fewer, more? Help. 2008 had the 11M.
the Big Butterfly Count
The painted lady butterfly commonly flies to the UK during the summer months, but every 10 years millions arrive in a mass migration. Good. But how do you count them? How do you get a total?

Item #3: Roadside attractions

From Monmartre, Saskatchewan
If you use Google Street View and this location
[ 50.2208, -103.4482 ]
. . . You can see a replica of the Eiffel Tower in its setting.
For our high school prom, the ladies chose a theme related to Paris, and wanted a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Apparently I was the only kid (of 15) that knew the difference between a two-by-four and a hammer. Or maybe I had the lowest IQ. Anyway, I built a small (12 feet high or so) Eiffel Tower in the school gymnasium. I don’t have a photo, but being a semi-pro photographer, I sure my father took photos.
I came across this story: “5 roadside attractions to check out in Saskatchewan” – Link . This article will also answer the burning question, What is a bunnock?, and what is the Game of Bones.
You will want to look this up.

Item #4: Warming

Our forecast is to near 90 degrees on Sunday through Tuesday, and then 10 degrees cooler.
This will be cooler than much of the USA, but still hotter than we like it. Make a shopping trip as soon as possible.
Stay cool, and well.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Potatoes with onions in background [ john ]

Item #1: Free lawn mowing

Get a rabbit

Rabbit hopping is gaining fans in Australia, with hopes of hopping to the top of the podium in international competition. When not in training, they can clip your grass.
When in Idaho, one of the students was a judge for rabbit shows, but for form, not jumping.
We raised rabbits for eating. Had them in cages with boxes underneath to catch waste, and so had to mow the lawn. Bummer.

Item #2: On the road

The photo shows a modern driver sitting on the right side with his passenger on the left. What do you do?

The recent earthquakes in California have brought out all sorts of stories. There always seems to be a reference to the San Francisco quake of April 18, 1906. The movie at the following link was taken four days prior.

A Trip Down Market Street
It is 12 minutes long, but there are two things noticed early on; (1) steering wheels of the autos are on the right side, and (2) drivers change lanes without rear-view mirrors, or it seems, without looking at all.
According to this article [ LINK ] Ford introduced left-hand steering in 1908, and the Marmon Co. introduced rear-view mirrors in 1911.

Item #3: Parents on drugs?

I saw this photo and wondered if the adults nearby have ever heard of “aftershocks.”?
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I guess the child still has both legs,
so all is well.
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Item #4: Cat in the hat
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What is the cat wearing?
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Item #5: the weather

Don’t know if this is good or bad.
Often at this time of year we will have high temperature in the 90s.
In the last 4 weeks we hit 82° a couple of times but mostly the high 70s. We heat and cool with electricity. June was lower than any month in 2018, and neither the heater nor the AC has come on for a week. We’ve no hot temps forecast through next week. In fact it is cooling a little.
Okay, so it is good that the utility bill is down.
There are about 6 more weeks that hot temps could come and stay for awhile. For now, let’s call it a cool wave. We wait with bated breath.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: Extinct or not?

This is one of those reports that makes me go “Hmm” at the finish. At issue is the Purple Emperor butterfly, shown in the image at the top.
This report ==> “makes official Norfolk comeback”
. . . The purple emperor was declared extinct in the county (Norfolk, northeast of London). Likewise, I have been “extinct” from Clarion County, PA since 1965. However, I did sneak back a few times and didn’t make an announcement, nor did I find any reason to stay. Further, most folks there didn’t know I had gone, so, had they seen me, would they have made a fuss?

I suggest to those folks declaring this “return” news is (a) drop the word extinct, and (b) realize the Purple Emperor (PE) cares not a wit about your county boundaries.

Okay, it is nice that someone is trying to (re)create the woodland habitat PE needs. On their occasional sneaky trips to the area, they have noticed. Cheers.

Item #2: Landscape photos

Green shows the “Peak District”, red star = London

I came across this: Over Owler Tor
Then, I found it is located in Hathersage.
So far, none of that makes sense. I’m not from England, and one needs to be, to understand all these strange words. “Owler” appears in the very early history of England, as a family name. There is an Owler Tor, and just to the north, an “Over Owler Tor” == if that means anything.
Here are 2 links that help:
Tor, a rock formation

and,

James’ photos from the Peak District

It was a photo like one from James Grant that led me astray today.

Item #3: Do you see things?

I mean, if you see something, especially something in the air above you, and you can’t identify it, what do you do?
Right. You call 911, or the Air Force, newspaper, or Superman. Washington wins

World UFO Day was July 2nd. Who knew?
The photo above convinced some fellow that an alien space craft was using the top of the distant mountain, perhaps hollowed out, to hide in when not out spying on the goings on in Washington State. He took several photos over a short period of time, and the craft only appeared in one. Where did it go? Oh! It hid in the mountain top.

Maybe it is time to move.

Item #4: On the 4th

Saw this on a web comment, but I haven’t been able to confirm:
In California there is a Berkshire Inn, proudly creating a very British atmosphere. On July Fourth they hang a big sign: CLOSED TODAY. Mourning a loss of a colony.

Item #5: Smith Tower is 105

Nancy’s grandfather worked as a carpenter on several projects in Vancouver B.C. and Seattle. One was Seattle’s Smith Tower. The family name is from the Smiths of Smith Corona typewriters, and shotguns. The Tower was once the tallest building west of Ohio.
A few photos are here: Perhaps we should visit.

The building was completed in 1914 and opened to the public on July 4th. This is the 105th anniversary of that celebration.
Story at this link: from KOMO News

from the Seattle Times, 2017

Postscript:
I worked on a trail today on a mountain side much like the one seen in the foreground of the photo with the UFO story. The unidentified things I saw were a couple of small caterpillars.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: Wallace Falls

Actually, just a couple of the nine:Wallace Falls State Park, 35 miles NE of Seattle. {WTA web site}

Item #2: Memories

When we first got a TV [1954, black and white] a program aired titled Life Is Worth Living that was just a Catholic priest talking to a live audience. Over his long career he held several titles but was mainly known as Bishop Fulton J. Sheen.
His show was in the slot used by both Milton Berle {Uncle Miltie}, and Frank Sinatra.
The TV career is explained Sheen – television.

We often watched the program. His name came up this week in news because his remains were disinterred from a crypt at the NYC church where they have been since is death in 1979. The “remains” were flown to Chicago and then moved to Peoria, the city were he was ordained a priest 100 years ago.
This was at the request and litigation by a niece that believes this move will aid in the campaign to have him declared a saint. The Church moves slowly on these things, so this may be the last time I see anything more. RIP.

Item #3: Nice catch
By now, many have seen this:

The image is captured from a video, that in itself is not great. It shows an Algerian, a 17 year old that lives and works in Turkey, catching a 2-year old girl who is about to hit the paved street from a second story window.
It looks like she looses a hat and maybe more of her clothes as he makes the catch. Hard to tell. Years ago I was thrilled to watch Willy Mays and Roberto Clemente make great catches – and they played against each other. See: First paragraph, here
This is thrilling, too:

WOW !

Item #4: New word: Tuart

It’s a tree.

I like trees and have planted different types. About a dozen have grown and nearly as many have croaked. I think this interest comes from seeing the demise of the American Chestnut in western Pennsylvania. Crossbreeding has helped some but now, with genetic engineering, there is hope. See HERE.
The group that has been doing the crossbreeding (for years) claims they have accomplished getting a tree that will thrive. Seems there is a bit of resentment about the new genetic group. Oh well.

I saw the headline “Ludlow tuart forest at heart of campaign rebuilding once-great WA ecosystem”, and wondered if this might be a similar thing. Not really, but it is still interesting, and I learned a lot from this article and related searches.

Ludlow Tuart Forest

Ludlow is about 117 miles south of Perth, and about as far to the southwest as one can get in Australia.
Via the Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group, you can sponsor a Tuart seedling, $10 each.

Item #5: Busy

I watered onions, strawberry plants, and trees Friday.
Today I was cutting brush and moving rocks on the Annette Lake Trail, just west of the I-90 Pass. Nice weather. Same place Sunday. No brush cutting.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: Image

Hood Canal, labeled “Bloom” in the image, is 125 miles west and a little north of us. From a NASA satellite (MODIS) the image shows Puget Sound and the lakes near Seattle as blue/black, indicating clear water.
A phytoplankton bloom stretching across Hood Canal, a narrow inlet in the Puget Sound in Washington, causes the Aqua color, as the millions of tiny shells reflect that wavelength of the Sun. There is a bit of explanation here: Coccolithophores

Item #2: Pancho Villa

Shown is a wind instrument from Argentina called an Erke. A good image of the horns that I wanted is hard to fit on the page, so click below.

Pancho Villa and other things with horns
Our Naneum Fan has a Longhorn Cattle Company, just 4 miles south of us. Could an instrument be made from one of Pancho’s horns? What about some of the other horns shown in that link?

Item #3: improper tire inflation

The photo is of part of a tire stuffed with bags of drugs. The idea was to ship them to “dealers” in Canada. There was a problem:

Meth sent to the wrong place

Ford Fusion sedans were involved. Do you have one?

Item #4: Do you remember these?

Maybe you are too young.
There were rows of wooden cabinets in libraries holding drawers such as these filled with paper cards [search: dewey decimal system card_files ] using Images and/or regular Wed search.
When elders needed to find information, you could go to a library and “look it up.” Time moves on and things change.
In an article titled “Search me by Helen Rumbelow of The Times of London we learn that “look it up” is so last century. From her article:
If you are researching something on the internet, and you are over 21, I bet you “look it up”. If you are under 21, you don’t. You say “I’ll search it up.” My children say “let’s search it up on Google”, which to me sounds like a non-native English mistake.
It’s not. It’s British young people doing their young thing, and changing stuff in a way that irritates their elders. They are all at it, searching it up all over the country. YouTube is full of videos of kids “searching up”.
I’ve read blogs from teachers, doing worried analyses of the phrase on Google trends, hoping it is dying out (quite the reverse). They have changed it for a reason. The old “look up” things, as if the computer is a dusty reference library, while the young more actively “search it up”: we merely observe the internet, they dig in.

What do you say you do?

Item #5: Animals and I-90

Elk are said to dislike going under highways. Thus, I was surprised to see these photos. Many are taken where recent construction spanned a wide swath (275 yards) where Gold Creek enters Keechelus Lake, just this side of Snoqualmie Pass. WTA just did 3 days of trail work about 3 miles north of the lake. I have seen geese under the highway, but nothing these trips. It only takes multiple seconds of driving time to pass this, on the north side.
safe passage

Location in Google Earth for most of these photos:
47.390947, -121.383106

I haven’t found a good source of photos for the overpass that was built. I may have to ask the biology folks.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

NANCY IS NOT FINISHED with her text and photos.
I’ve just returned from the 3rd day of trail work, and fixed a pizza for supper.
I’ll work on getting her next missive out before Noon Monday. ~ ~~ ~

Item #1: ImagesA WTA crew was working on a re-route of a trail, basically a new 2,000 foot section, across a Sage Brush/Steppe hillside. The above photo shows an early user. (location: Manastasch Ridge, southwest of Ellensburg.
I think this is a North American Racer [ Coluber constrictor ] .
Photo is by Beth Macinko, our Blue Hat crew leader.

Item #2: Some things I did not know.

News this week has been filled with stories and images of the planning for and actual invasion of Normandy as the Allied forces began the end of World War II. For planning purposes the actual day may not be known, and when known, keeping it a secret is desired. The “filler” in communications is “D-Day” and there is also “H-Hour.” When the decision on these times is known, all involved will be notified as needed.
For Normandy, D-Day and H-Hour were June 6th and 6:30 AM local time.
The timing is explained here: Moonlight and Tides
I’ve included part of one of the images from that story.
The things in the air above the ships are Barrage Balloons, meant as a barrier to low flying planes. A bit more here ( Blimps on D-Day – with photo.
If you want a general history, go < strong> Here.

Item #3: And another thingPresident Trump mentioned Queen Elizabeth’s WWII service as a truck mechanic. The black & white image shows Princess Elizabeth over an engine. Note the number – 36086. The tinted image shows her in front of that truck. And you thought she was just another silly Royal.
Much of this interesting story is here: Wartime Mechanic

Item #4: Mt. RainierThe red dot is about where the climbers got caught in a storm.

Climbers were plucked off Mt. Rainier this week. The climbers were prepared, but ‘bad luck’ won out, expert says. Link

I’m not an expert, but they are all still alive and not too damaged. Four state and federal agencies, 20+ people, EMT vehicles, and one or more helicopters were used in getting the 4 off the 13,500 level. These are the experts – and they had very good luck.

Item #5: I was headed west
This morning I headed down the on-ramp west of EBRG. I had a brief view such as shown here of a truck roll-over.
Link

Had such an accident happened in the west bound lanes I would not have made it to the trail where I worked with a WTA crew.
Also, the driver was not hurt. All good news.
However, rain fell while we worked at about 2,800 feet, with rare breaks and sunshine. Meanwhile, when we could see it, the ridge to our east (and up another 1,500 feet) had newly fallen snow.
The rain made a mess in the digging we were doing, and the cold did not help. Harder rain and possible lightning were forecast for afternoon. We left about 1:30, an hour earlier than usual, and that’s the good news.
Home stayed dry and sunny, all day.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: ImagesHasani, and mother Olivia

Item #2: Progress

The word for “handsome” in Swahili is Hasani. However, when born, the giraffe had less than handsome back legs. Horses sometimes have the same problem, so an equine veterinarian was consulted. Where from, you might ask. Kentucky, of course. Orange line, right, shows length of taping. This is seen in the video in the link below.
Hansani, of Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo, is now shoe-free.
Cavorting

Item #3: Beer or Snacks

We were returning from Cle Elum with a slow moving delivery van in front of us. Nancy was driving and friend Kristin was on the right; me in the back. Eventually I commented that the truck looked like a snacks delivery vehicle. Kristin thought it was a beer company. She was correct.
I don’t drink a lot of beer and this was a Mexican import. I was thinking of a company split off from Kraft Foods, called Mondelēz. Some of the brands are shown below, right side.Although not the small van we followed, the truck on the left side shows what the brand looks like.
When I looked up Modelo, I learned about Mexico’s second wealthiest woman {1st I don’t know); here’s the link, with photo:
Mariasun

Item #4: First filling station

Following the theme of women of industry, here is a somewhat older story.

4 minute video: Bertha Benz
There is a version that has sub-titles. I can’t figure out a proper link to it.

The fuel she used

Ligroin was used to refuel the world’s first production automobile, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, on a long distance journey between Mannheim and Pforzheim. Bertha Benz added ligroin to the vehicle at a pharmacy in Wiesloch, making it the first filling station in history.
The video shows her needing fuel, searching for the pharmacist, and with a village girl’s quick eyes and a nod, finds him having lunch.
Bertha died at age 95; 4 months after I enter the world.

Item #5: Change in weather

Back east, after 2 weeks of nasty weather, it appears things are settling down. However, where the sky becomes clear and winds diminish at night, parts of the normally cold spots from northern Pennsylvania, where I have relatives, may seem a bit cold. For Bradford, PA the National Weather Services thinks “Monday Night Patchy frost, with a low around 37.”

That won’t kill the garden plants.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: ImagesRelates to Item #4.

Item #2: Tides and Time, again

About 70 miles northwest of Portland, OR.
Coast Guard rescues two trapped by high tide at Ecola State Park.
Story and video here:

Your tax dollars at work
My guess (above) as to where this happened.
Of course on the Park’s website one can find the tide tables.
Sunday the high tide was to be at 2:53 pm
The aircrew conducted the first hoist of the female who was being hit by waves at 12:43 p.m. The next hoist occurred at 1:03 p.m.
There is a saying: Timing is everything!

Item #3: Hopscotch

Would you send a letter to the kids to ‘cease & desist’?

The game pictured here?

The grumpy Speirs Gumley

The solution: Hopscotch chalk ban overturned after outcry from parents.

Item #4: nostalgia
Right: Old Meadville Station

Ride the train

The link is to a railway museum in Canada where folks take little kids to ride an old steam train. I found this link and that reminded me of a train ride I took, I think in the summer of 1963. That’s 56 years ago.
My folks took me to Meadville, about 50 miles northwest of Clarion, where I boarded the Erie Lackawanna train {“The Friendly Service Route”} on its milk-run to Chicago. The train made frequent stops to pick up goods, and being at night, about once an hour there would be bumps and sounds enough to spoil sleep.
In Chicago, I changed to the San Francisco Chief of the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad. That long ride deposited passengers in Richmond, and a bus took us to Frisco.
Here is a link for a story and the photo at the top: Link

Item #5: A Green Sea Turtle

This story makes a reference to the Game of Thrones, a story that has a turtle named Arya Stark. I admit I’m clueless – well that is a clue, I guess, but I know nothing more.
This Arya was found floating in the ocean northwest of Australia with a large shell wound in June 2018, after being either hit by a boat or attacked by a shark. She was nursed back to health and recently released.
Arya needed blood

Despite knowing nothing about the Game of Thrones, this is still a nice story.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: ImagesWe have a few sweet cherry trees and one tart variety. Supposedly the trees produce better when there is a “pollinator” of a different sort. This one starts blooming as the others finish. That would seem to be a flaw in the plan. Still the one small tree gets hundreds of cherries – that mostly go to waste. Birds won’t eat them but eventually wasps damage the soft ones.
It is pretty both when flowering and when sporting bright red fruit.

Item #2: Woodford Treehuggers

45 miles north of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia is the site of the Woodford Folk Festival. The Festival outgrew a previous site and moved to a larger space that had been severely damaged/degraded.
A group formed to reclaim the site. More than 110,000 trees and 600 species have been planted on the festival site since it was purchased in 1994. This is an article about this volunteer effort, with nice photos.

Revegetation of Woodfordia

At the festival they do have fun. Fire Event photo

Item #3: Finished?

The Acquavella case:
In 1977, under the threat of drought, Washington’s Department of Ecology filed a petition for an adjudication to determine the legality of all claims for use of surface water in the Yakima River Basin.

Water

James Acquavella was the first person listed in Ecology’s petition for adjudication. James sought assurances he would have water to irrigate five acres.
We arrived on the Naneum Fan in 1989 and became involved. Neighbors and us had our lands considered about 12 years ago. Still, every month we have gotten an information form (about 3 8×11 pages), along with about 26,000 other stakeholders.
This 42-year-long battle over Yakima water rights concludes this month.

Item #4: Problem solved

I use Windows 10 and the Edge browser. This week the opening screen has been of a glacier.
Glaciers being ice and mostly white allowed me to see dirty spots on my monitor. I tried to ignore these, but today I got a soft cloth and proceeded to clean the screen. When I was done, the spots were still there. Hmm?
So glacial ice can have a lot of dirt and rock. Okay, got it.

Item #5: Snow in May

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I guess it is too soon to plant tomatoes.
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And that, for this week,
is the not so nasty news.
John

Item #1: ImagesThis is an interstate crossover for hikers, dog walkers, parents pushing strollers, and folks riding bikes. Approaches are curved, narrow, go up a grade, and not part of the road system.

Item #2: Got hiking boots?

While working on hiking trails, when people approach, the crew picks up the tools and backs off, allowing the hikers to pass by. We often see folks ill prepared for what they are doing (hiking) and where they are (not in their own backyard).
We see people in bare feet, minimalist footwear (photo nearby), shower sandals, and hiking boots we would dearly love to have. We see lots of potential problems, but this an anecdote regarding footwear..

From the Coconino National Forest in Arizona:
Link: stylish, delicate, ankle-wrap sandals

A group of eight people ventured five miles down the Fossil Creek Trail. About 200 people have to be “rescued” (helped) from this area each year. I wonder if this rescue counts as ‘1’, or ‘8’.
There are signs. One is shown in the story.

Item #3: Got Garbage?

Our county sends garbage to the next county east for burial. Material that can be recycled is sent over to Spokane to a region-wide facility for sorting. Works like this for many small places in eastern Washington. Others haven’t figured out what to do with their waste.

In 2013 and 2014, a Canadian company shipped about 103 containers wrongly labeled as plastics for recycling to a port near the capital of the Philippines, Manila. So Canada had garbage.
Then Manila had garbage. [The number of containers of plastic versus garbage seems to be in flux.]
If I were Canada, I would say “Please bury the garbage and we will pay the going rate, plus 25% for the trouble. But, I am not in charge. Six years later this issue has not been settled.
Canada says “. . . we’ve certainly been working hard on this for a long time . . .”
Not hard enough!
From Manila, President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to “declare war” on Canada if it didn’t take back its trash.
Foreign secretary Teodoro Locsin is going after the Filipino importers who brought the trash into the country but dismissed suggestions they should be sent to Canada with the garbage.
But the garbage is headed north, so says the President: “I will advise Canada that your garbage is on the way. Prepare a grand reception. Eat it if you want to … your garbage is coming home.”
Coming home

For those of a certain age
This song was on the radio when I was six.

Item #4: Trail work
I’ve been doing trail work with WTA for 17 years. For the first time, several regular ‘day trips’ will be close to home – 12 miles across the valley, 16 road miles and about 20 minutes drive time.
The Google Earth view, below, shows the north-facing Manastash Ridge. The star on the lower left is the starting point. The star at the top is where several trails end up. We’ll be somewhere on that hillside. There is history here: Rocks & books
I carried a couple of rocks (from Idaho) up to the top.

And that, for this week, is the not so nasty news.
John