The Big Lonesome

This year Ron and I chose a very late fall trip for several reasons.  Our destination:  Death Valley.  The time of lowest tourist visitation:  between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Daytime temperatures: the perfect 70's. 

The eastern entrances to Death Valley are an easy day's drive from Flagstaff through Las Vegas.  Of the two Nevada gateway towns available, Pahrump and Beatty, we chose to make Beatty our home base.  It's small, about 1,100 people. It was founded in 1905 as a ranch, then transformed into the railway center for the Bullfrog Mining District. It's only a few miles away from the more famous mining ghost town of Rhyolite.  Unlike Rhyolite, which boomed and busted in a mere 6 years, Beatty is still viable.  It has a full slate of community services-churches, schools, park with swimming pool, museum, library, bars, restaurants, and casinos.  It does, however, lack a grocery store.  Dollar General doesn't count.  Not sure if they go 90 miles north to Tonopah or 120 miles south to Las Vegas...either way it's a long drive!

We loved our AirBnb, a small historic home completely renovated with all conveniences.

Residences in Beatty are secured with chain link fences to keep out the local feral burros.  We thought they would be plentiful, but we saw them only twice, both early in the trip.  Thinking we'd see more, we didn't snap a pic and lost the opportunity! 

Death Valley National Park is actually in California.  Beatty is about 8 miles from the park boundry, which is also the state line. 

Source:  pixabay.com

We started each morning with a sweeping and beautiful 8 mile drive.

The first day, we drove the additional 40 miles or so to the Furnace Creek Visitor's Center, all view. 

We coincidentally timed our arrival at the Furnace Creek Visitor's center just right. 

Source:  nps.gov

We were able to see the 20 minute intro film that NPS provides at all the parks we've been to, then drove to the 9:00 guided ranger walk/talk at Golden Canyon.  The young intern did a nice job of introducing us to the fantastic geology of Death Valley. 

Unlike traveling to and being in Phoenix, which doesn't feel like a valley at all to me,  Death Valley looks and feels like a valley.  There are relatively close mountain ranges on both sides, with the Valley itself long and relatively narrow.  It's a place to dig out your geology:  the pulling apart of the earth at its faults stretched the mountains apart and created the Valley. 

After this walk/talk, we went back to the Visitor's Center and enjoyed the thorough and informative exhibits there.  Geology, geography, biology, meteorology and humanity were all explored.  The NPS sure does a nice job of providing enough information to whet the appetite! 

Sticking with geology, we next took Artist's Drive, so named because of the spectacular palette of colors.  The road itself is a narrow one-way rock 'n roll drive of ups and downs.  It was fun!

Our afternoon visit was at Badwater Basin. It's is known for being the lowest point in North America, 282' below sea level. 

In this picture, not only are you at the lowest point in North America, you're within sight of the highest point in Death Valley, Telescope Peak in the Panamint Mountains.   It's a very respectable 11,049'! 

This is what the salt flats look like at Badwater Basin.

 
At the ranger talk here, we added biology and meteorology to the mix.  There actually is perennial water in the Badwater Basin.  Unlike tales you might have heard or read, it isn't poisonous.  However, it is amazingly saline, significantly more so than the ocean.  Mother Nature doesn't care, though.  She adapts.  There are plants, snails and insects that live in the water at Badwater Basin. 

We also learned why the Valley is so dry: there are FOUR mountain ranges between the Pacific coast and the Valley.  the Coastal Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, the Inyos, and the Panamints.  Each takes their share of the moisture that travels east, and by the time the Panamints are done, well, there's next to nothing left for Death Valley. 

Badwater Basin is infamous among certain runners for another reason:  the Badwater Ultra Marathon.  It starts here in this parking lot:

It's 135 miles of running from Badwater Basin to Whitney Portal, which is the trailhead for the Mt. Whitney trail, Mt. Whitney being the highest point in the lower 48.  It's not run in the winter, either.  It's run in the summer.  The 2020 race is scheduled for July 6-8.  The official website, www.badwater.com says, "it's the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet."  A number of years ago a friend and I watched a movie and read some books about it.  I'll take their word for it.




 Zabriskie Point is noted for its sunsets.  The geology was outstanding:

The sky was cloudy, though, so we chose not to hang around.  However, as we drove back to the main highway it all changed, and did we ever get a Death Valley sunset!

The distances are long in Death Valley.  We had an hour of driving in front of us to get back to Beatty.  We had been disconcerted the previous day to realize the one-hour time difference between MST and PST meant it was dusk at 4:30 in the afternoon and full dark by 5:00.  Yikes!  Our late afternoon drive home was in full dark.

After yesterday's ranger talk, we started seeing Death Valley with  new eyes.  In fact, it's full of life and usually unique life.  Adapted to extremes:  extreme dryness, extreme salinity, extreme heat.  It's not extravagant life.  It's small, super-efficient life.  You have to put on a different lens to see it.

Our second day contained a lot of the human presence in Death Valley.  The ghost town of Rhyolite is representative of man's relationship with Death Valley: boom and bust in short order.  A mining town with a population of ~4,000 in its heyday, there's not much left.

Hotel/railway station/casino

Bank with a view

Glass bottle house

 Keane Wonder Mine was next.  This mine lasted the standard ~6 years or so.  The tramway visible here was about a mile long. 

We visited the Harmony Borax works.  Yes, this was the home of Twenty Mule Team Borax. 
 

Source:  20muleteamlaundry.com

There's a couple of buildings, and this original wagon set-up.  That's a water tank attached to the wagons; drinking water for men and mules on the 170 mile trip to the railroad in Mohave, CA.  Again, the ~5-6 year life span for this mine.

Back to nature.  Devil's Golf Course is a salt flat with an entirely different manifestation than Badwater Basin. 

These salt deposits were sharp, gnarly and unfriendly!

On to Salt Creek, where we saw a species of minnow with the common name of pupfish.  This nice boardwalk protected the creek.

Ron's focused on spotting pupfish.

What makes pupfish remarkable is their status of super-adaptors.  Each of the salt water springs in Death Valley has their own subspecies of pupfish! 

Our final stop this day was the Mesquite Sand Dunes.  Yes, Death Valley has it all! 

Our third and last day started with an hour and a half drive to Ubehebe Crater.  Go ahead and say it out loud:  You-bee-hee-bee.  It's fun!  Yes, Death Valley also includes volcanic activity.  This crater is new geologically, about 2,000 years old.  It's on a more human scale, too; 2,400' in diameter, 600' deep.  Gorgeous colors and formations. 

Back to Stovepipe Wells area to visit Mosaic Canyon, our final stop.  It's a slot canyon, and has more fabulous geology. 

The mosaic formation for which the canyon is named.

Most of these photos are close ups of Death Valley to show the ways it is accessible.  However, when you're actually there driving through it, it doesn't feel accessible.  It feels vast and barren and quiet and intimidating and timeless. And lonesome.  Like this. 

I shivered in those solitudes

when I heard

the voice of

the salt

in the desert.

--From "Ode To Salt" by Pablo Neruda

December Doin's

Source:  pixabay.com

December is not only upon us, but proceeding at warp speed!  Here are some activities on the agenda:

December 1:  On this day I became eligible to apply for Medicare, and I did so.  As it's age-related, I'm still sorting through my feelings about it.  I can't change getting older, but do I have to rub my nose in it?  

Source:  wikimedia.org

 

 
December 9-13:  Tomorrow Ron and I are off on a quite late fall trip to Death Valley National Park.  Ron's never been, and I was there long enough ago that it doesn't count.  It's a driving trip, and we're getting things packed.  We're staying in a B 'n B in the very small gateway town of Beatty, NV (population 1,010).  Bring your own food is recommended; our ice chest is ready!  

Source:  needpix.com

Death Valley is a remote place.  They specifically warn against relying on modern tech to guide you or communicate.  If you have service at all, gps directions are often wrong and it's not a place you want to get lost, even in the late fall.   Since I've started telling people we're going, we've had consistent rave reviews.  We've been having gloomy, rainy days here in Flagstaff.  The weather there: 70° and sunny.  It'll be another good 'un! 

December 25:  Celebrate Christmas, natch!  

Source:  pexels.com

 

December 27-30:  Uncle Dwane had a close call six weeks or so ago, and brother Mike decided he wanted an in-person visit during the Christmas break.  I invited myself along.  It's short, but we'll be there the bulk of three days.  There are several other aunts and uncles from Dad's side of the family we'll check in with as well.  We'll stay with brother Scott, whose hospitality is perpetual.  

Source:  flickr.com

 


In-between:  

• Get the Christmas cards made & mailed out.  (Ron's made and printed them; mailing is on-going).
• Make December's sewing project.  (A lap blanket is planned.)
• Defrost the chest freezer.  (There's always housework!)
• Finish our Health Care & Financial Directives.  (We've been not doing this for several months now.....finish it up!)
• The usual fitness schedule:  run, swim, hike when possible, strength workouts, Tai Chi.
• The usual music schedule:  violin and piano practice & lessons.  
•  Do some indoor training with the dogs.   

A Black Hole of Blog Maintenance

Source:  goodfreephotos.com

Recently I've had comments from readers that a couple of functions on this Blog aren't working.  One is the Comments function; the other is the Automatic Email Notification function initiated when a new Blog is posted.

I did exploratory research on the Comments function, which revealed that problems are not only relatively common on the Blogger platform I use, but slow to be resolved.  I decided to follow a recommended alternative, which is to bring in a third-party platform to manage Comments.  More research, and the result was Disqus.  (It's pronounced "discuss", which makes sense, not "discus" which doesn't. Which didn't stop me from calling it "discus" for quite some time.)  It's a highly rated platform in both popularity and satisfaction.  Plus, a bonus for this non-tech person:  "It only takes minutes to get up and running." 

Source:  Disqus.com

Today I decided to spend only minutes of blogging time to get Disqus up and running, and share the process.  Let's see.  Every hour is made up of minutes, of course.  So to translate the ~4 hours I've spent so far to get Disqus up and running, that would be......240 minutes, a virtual black hole of time.  Believe me, you don't want me to share THAT!   


And it's not exactly up and running.  It should be that anyone who reads my blog is able to Comment at the the bottom.  Not there yet.  Here's where it stands:  If you click on the individual blog title, the word "Comments" will appear at the bottom. You can click that word to read and make comments.   However, if you click on the Blog Archive by month and scroll through the posts,  the Comments function does not appear.  I don't know how to fix it. It's going to have to do for now. 

As to the email notification not working, I've done preliminary the research for a third-party solution.  So far, none have said anything about being up and running in a few minutes.  My email notification list is small.  An option is to have my own Group Mailing list in my personal email and do it myself, by hand, so to speak................and TAH DAH!!!!  In that space of time, LITERAL minutes I've done exactly that!  Done and done.

Blog Maintenance is as finished as it's going to be for now.  Good enough is good enough.  If it doesn't come right, I'll uninstall Disqus and figure out something else.  In the meantime, I'm

The Inadvertent Seamstress

Inadvertent  [in-uhd-VER-tnt] adjective  1.  unintentional

Recently I took my not-often-used sewing machine out of the closet to work on a small tailoring project.  When I pressed on the go-pedal, a horrible screeching sound ensued, and the machine refused to run.  Though Ron offered to look at it, I decided it wouldn't be worth his time and took it to the sewing machine repair shop.  For $65, they performed routine maintenance and declared it perfectly usable.  As I suspected, lack of use was the culprit.  There is a little motor and moving parts, after all, and they'll run forever if properly cared for, including use. I asked what they would recommend as minimum usage.  When pressed, I whispered I maybe used it a couple times a year.  After a moment to collect her wits, the woman I asked said, "Well, around here we use our machines every day.  But I think once a month would be okay." 

Though I'm plenty happy with parameters (Once a month?  Done!), it wasn't at all on my radar to add sewing to my busy list of activities.  However, if I have to have it serviced for every occasional use,  the per-use cost becomes prohibitive.  And since some work is only done with a sewing machine, I like to keep one around.  So.....in order to keep my machine running, I need to use it once a month. 

As mentioned here previously, I have a love-hate relationship with sewing.  My Mom was a master seamstress, as were many women of her time.  For years she made shirts for my three brothers and dresses for me. She did sewing for hire, during the time women wore dresses covered with sequins.  Like this, though with late 50's sensibilities; every sequin sewn on by hand. 

Source:  SilkFred

 
I don't remember my Mom ever offering to show me how to sew.  I'm pretty sure that would be because I was out in the dirt playing "farm" with my brothers with plastic animals.  I wasn't a girly-girl.  At all.  

Source:  etsy

I purchased the machine pictured above in the mid-80's when I was determined once again to learn to sew, and wanted the variety of stitches it offered.  HAHAHA!  The machine doesn't make the seamstress!  I actually did make a number of articles of clothing, mostly shirts and matching t-shirt/shorts outfits.  But interests come and go....

To the present.  First I considered the few tailoring projects I've been working on.  As mentioned before, I'm no clothes horse.  However, I do like what I like.  It's the old saw:  if you go shopping and pick from the offerings, you're sure to find something.  If you go shopping with something in mind, well, good luck.  Recently it's been pajamas. Mine are wearing out.  I prefer t-shirt and short sets.  What's available?  T-shirt and long pants sets.  Easy enough:  buy the long pants sets, cut off the legs to the desired length, hem.  With the sewing machine.  After that....I jumped on the WWW and took a dive into the topic of Beginner Sewing Projects.  What a fun bit of research that has been!  I'll pass on receiving blankets, burp cloths, bibs, dresses made from t-shirts, anything with a zipper,  hair scrunchies.  Possible, though, would be making my own pajamas, a lap blanket, a bib apron, totes to replace plastic bags when shopping, an infinity scarf, a poncho, a kimono, seasonal placemats or napkins. Hmmm.  Seems possible.

And if it came down to it, I could always pull the sewing machine out, plug it in, put a book or brick on the foot pedal and let 'er run.  Like Ron occasionally starts the snow blower or chain saw when they're out of season.  I'm liking the idea of projects better, though.

As it happened, November's Project-of-the Month was already in the works.  Ron and the dogs go for walks in the forest no matter the season, and during hunting season blaze orange is de rigeuer.  Hats are readily available for people, and that's what he wears.  We like putting scarves around the dogs' necks, but dog scarves take a beating and need to be replaced often.  We have trouble finding blaze orange scarves.  I suggested one of us stop by the fabric store for some blaze orange and make our own.  Ron took on that project. 

A plentitude of scarves.

In use.

So, here I am, an Inadvertent Seamstress. Unintentional.  Accidental.  Unplanned.  It's in the category of routine maintenance, but has the potential for a lot more fun than say.....house cleaning!  I'll keep you posted. 

Dear Nicholas,

Source:  Pixabay.com

(Nicholas is one of my great-nephews.  A couple weeks after his 18th birthday made him a legal adult, he moved out of his parents' home and in with his grandparents.  In the interest of not sticking my nose in where I'm not invited, I'm satisfying myself by giving advice here.)

Dear Nicholas,

You recently made your first adult decision, which was to move out of your parents' home.  You've accepted a lot of responsibility for yourself, and have chosen a challenging means to go about it.  Let me share a top-nine list of unsolicited advice:

1. FINISH HIGH SCHOOL.  Let me join the chorus of adults, friends, and relatives singing this song.  Even those who don't agree with how you're going about it agree on this. A high school diploma is the basic stepping stone to the rest of your life.
2. WORK. You've chosen to invoke your adulthood, and that means you must work during the time you're finishing high school.  You need to be making at least your own spending money, and to be able to contribute to your room and board will help earn the trust and respect of your grandparents. Some of your family has already offered you small jobs.  Do your best at whatever is offered.  No job is too small. 
3. FIGURE OUT YOUR TRANSPORTATION.  Your grandparents don't have an extra car, and can't afford to put a teen-aged male driver on their insurance.  City bus, bicycle and shank's mares will be your go-to for now. 
4. MAKE YOUR POST-GRADUATION PLAN NOW.  Will you continue on to college, or perhaps a technical certificate of some sort?  You've indicated an interest in auto mechanics.  Follow up!  All of the trades are desperate for workers, and you can make a good living doing them.   Like many of us, you will probably change career paths more than once in your life.  However, you have an urgent need to be able to support yourself ASAP.  It's what adults do.
5. STAY AWAY FROM GIRLS UNDER 18!  Girls that were interesting the day before your birthday became jail-bait on your birthday.  18-year-old girls are your new baseline.
6. TAKE CARE OF YOUR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH.  We all have challenges in this area, and you know yours.  It's not about having them, it's about how we manage them.  There's plenty of help available.  Take advantage of it if you need it.
7.  YOU CAN'T GO WRONG BY LIVING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.  They still provide a framework of honesty, kindness, gratitude and humility. There are plenty of websites that have updated the 10 Commandments to speak to modern sensibilities.  
8. YOU CAN DO IT.  Being and adult is now your life work.  It's going to be difficult, but by no means impossible.  Growth and progress comes from challenge; you have to work for it. 
9. YOU ARE LOVED.  Lots of people are in your corner.  We all want you to have a happy, fulfilled and successful life.  

 “Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.”

                                               ---Ella Williams