Wild flowers - Aspens...what is the difference?

In central California there is a season of wildflowers which many to got great length to view and be among.
As fall came here in Santa Fe, the bowl of the ski basin began to turn bright yellow.  This might leave one to believe there was a field of wildflowers growing there.  However, there is a sense of scale that is off and taking a bike ride up Artist Road and Hyde Park Road into the ski basin it becomes apparent that the yellow mass seen to the north east of Santa Fe is really a large grove of Aspen trees.


The video pretty much explains it all...

Nolichuckey Bluffs and the Tennessee Twisties

Tennessee and totally cool roads were never something I would have thought of using in the same sentence. Until this last week that is.  While staying at Nolichuckey Bluffs in Greenville, I happened to go on a car ride with my brother on a whim and was totally stunned by the amazing potential riding basically right off his doorstep.

Heading south highway 70  is a narrow ribbon of road is one of those beautiful pieces of engineering that has almost no straightaway for miles and miles.  A few short miles south we crossed into North Carolina.  

Along the  fly fisherman flocked, like well, flies along the side of the 208.

The trees even at this time of year formed a type of tunnel making the mountains seem dark and foreboding, much like I imagined the Smoky Mountains would look like.

Enjoy the video....more to come.

That voice leading in my head...pt.1

One of the things I keep on my desk at my "day job" is a list of ten things to do to reduce daily stress.  One of the things on the list is "always have something to look forward to."   For the last six weeks I have been looking forward to a trip to the American Indian reservation at Window Rock, AZ.

I actually took a day off from work and gave myself a three day weekend and headed out.   I was a little, actually a lot, apprehensive about what was going to transpire at our destination.

My riding partner and I were suppose to meet up with a Shaman on "the rez" to do a sweat and possibly some other types of ceremonies.  I was excited about the sweat and the ceremonies, but apprehensive because I was informed that the Shaman may or may not show up.   I also found at the last minute that we may or may not have shelter.    I was OK with that, sort of, sleeping in the arroyo somewhere...but I was not totally thrilled about it.

Nevertheless at eight AM we met at Java Joe's to get caffeined up and make our final preparations.  After making sure our caffeine levels were correct we headed south on I-25 toward Albuquerque then head west on I-40 toward Gallup, NM. 

It was a long, mostly boring ride as the slab from Albuquerque to Gallup is more reminicent of southern New Mexico to wit dry, brown and boring.  At Gallup we turned north on US 491 (Previously US 666) and things began to get more interesting.  Large, oddly shaped rocks and red buttes normally associated with norther New Mexico began to appear. 

As we grew close to our destination there were some large stones that were more intriguing than the others appeared in the distance..

Bohemian

I had a suitably Bohemian weekend with my Santa Fe friends.   I had a need today and another one of my "mad" friends (Refer to Ginsberg to put that in context)  gifted me exactly what I needed.   I gifted back with some music and he seem pleased.   Back to five days of corporate life tomorrow....yeah!

'till next time...

Cameron

Rolling with the "Beats"

I recently picked up a book at the library called "The Beat Reader."    One thing anyone who is familiar with this literature could probably agree on is that it is Leftist to say the least.  In the context of this post I wish it were possible to strip the Lword of its chequred baggage and use it as a descriptive word only.

To get to the point, I am having a great day today living the Beat life.  There was a time not too long ago when I didn't think I would ever say that, given my Objectivist ideals.  But, personal and prolonged brushes with poverty have a powerful influence.

Even more to the point is I enjoy the relationship I have with the other members of the Hooligans.  We are all fans of Beat writing and have many discussions about books and philosophy.   The outcome of this type of thinking is nobody goes without in the group.  Just like today.

I met one of the Hooligans for coffee and only had three dollars in my wallet and an empty gas tank.  The other Hooligan is question had 23 dollars.  I told him I could only have coffee that morning because we were in-between paychecks and I had no money.  With out even a thought the twenty dollars was split into two ten dollar tanks of gas.  We chose a shorter ride than originally planned to accommodate the comfortable range of the bikes in question.  When we got to our destination we pooled what money we had, scrounged for a little change and asked the young lady behind the rough, wooden coffee bar if we could get two of something for that amount of money.  Turns out it was just the right amount with a little left over for tip.

We came home broke, but happy in a morning well spent.

See the rest of the pix HERE