Paper wasps

Today our handyguy, Mark, removed our crappy garage door and took it to the dump. We hadn't lowered it in years, and when I looked at the ceiling of the carport, I saw that paper wasps had made nests in the protected space between the ceiling and the garage door. They don't bother me, because they mind their own business and nosh on flies. They won't survive the winter, and the nests aren't reused. If you're not creeped out, click on the images to enlarge them.

This nest looks like an inverted umbrella.

This is the biggest nest.

This is a starter home.

Pie: a cut above

Years ago we were in a restaurant--I can't even remember where--and it offered pie for dessert. The price was "$1.50 per cut." (We see the same phrase in Zagat-rated restaurants and in the menu for the Pan-American Exposition of 1901, so it seems to be nothing new or unusual.)

The phrase confused me. If pie is $1.50 per cut, does it mean that if you are the first person to ask, for example, for a piece of a pristine raspberry pie, one that had emerged fresh and fragrant from the oven and then taken the air on the windowsill so that it was still warm enough to gently melt the vanilla ice cream, you would be charged $3.00 for your dessert? After all, it takes two cuts to get that first piece. Or is the word "cut" a synonym for "slice"?

I didn't want to ask the waitress, because there are Scared Straight inmates less formidable than the server we had that day. The restaurant must have been in New Jersey, come to think of it.

I couldn't find anything in the Dictionary of American Regional English to clarify the question, so I hauled out the compact edition of Oxford English Dictionary. That was no small feat, because even in the two-volume form, it takes six men and a boy to maneuver it out of the bookcase. And forget about using just that magnifying glass. At my age, I needed my glasses, the magnifier, and the harsh, gynecological light of the bathroom to read the definitions. ("What are you doing in the bathroom, P-doobie?" "Reading the OED to research pie. What do you think I'm doing?")

Definition 23 is "A piece of anything cut off, esp. meat; a slice." Thus, it would seem that a cut of pie and a slice of pie are the same things. So why not just say a slice of pie and not keep me brooding about it for, lo, these many years?

Arizona landscape

This image is from the Meteor Crater overlook. I really like it.

"One goes, not so much to see but to tell afterward."--John Steinbeck

On the way home from Santa Barbara, Sophie was moving like a spirited horse heading for the barn, and I debated about whether to make a short detour to Meteor Crater or just keep going. I may have been afraid, as John Steinbeck wrote in Travels with Charley about Yellowstone, that the neighbors would say, "What?! You were that close to Meteor Crater and didn't go?" So I went.

I forked over my 15 bucks (!!!) and schlepped up the stairs to the rim. The wind was howling, and if I had opened my jacket like a sail, I could have been home in about 10 minutes. Because I was so close to the crater, I didn't really grasp the size of the thing. It's big. I said, "Pretty."

The aerial images, however, give a better sense of the size of the crater. In the lower center of the image is the visitors' center. That's one big honkin' hole in the ground.

And so I've told you afterward, and I feel better for it.

Painted and Petrified P-Doobie

On my way to Kev's graduation in Santa Barbara, I took a morning to visit the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest. When I first got to the park, I saw a roadrunner and thought, "This is going to be a great day!" And it was.

Click on the images to enlarge them. Here are some images of the Painted Desert.

This is part of Newspaper Rock, where the indigenous people pecked petroglyphs into the rocks. Enlarge this image to see the detail.

The dry climate took its toll on Sophie.

Here is part of the roadbed of the old Route 66, which also crossed the Mojave Desert. I don't know whether I would have made it as a Dust Bowl refugee. I tend to fuss more than necessary and probably would have been the kind of person the pioneers or Okies would have been tickled pink to turn over as a hostage.

Here are some images from the Petrified Forest.

I thought it was so cool that the cactus took root in the petrified log.

Lots of little critters on this plant.

It would have been great to have Izzy the Geologist along for the ride.

A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk / Along the briny beach

Izzy, Bobbie, Mom, and I took a walk on Hendry's Beach last Wednesday afternoon. The June Gloom had dissipated, and the day was clear and warm, just like we ordered! Click on the images to enlarge them.

Cocoa and Kibble enjoyed racing around like crazydogs.

Bobbie is probably checking the image of a diving pelican.

Izzy, Mom, and Bobbie enjoyed the sounds of the waves and view of the ocean.

Izzy

A dignified and decorous commencement

I enjoyed the commencement ceremonies for the Dos Pueblos class of 2009. Here is Kevin marching into the stadium with his classmates.

After the music and inspirational speeches comes the moment we've all been waiting for.


Suddenly, a shot rings out!

But he sticks the dismount! It's a perfect 10!

A happy graduate and his happy parents.

Three happy generations.


Kevin and two aunties. Photos by Mikey.




Kevin and Mikey.

Congratulations, Kevin!