Tuesday, October 20, 2015
I haven't been back to Michigan in the fall since 1987. I went back to see the family. Mother wants to live in her own house, but can't because she is too frail and other problems. She has a nice woman come 10 hours a week to do things with her. She is living with my older sister and brother-in-law. Eventually she will have to go into an assisted living place.
The trees were gorgeous.
My other sister's front yard.
I went over and hung out with mother and her helper, Desiree. We went on walks and I collected leaves.
Winter is coming.
We went to visit my namesake's grave. He has been dead for 62 years.
Homer
One night a beautiful rainbow lit up the sky. I had been cooking supper for Susan and called her to look at it.
\Gaybow.
Traverse City has changed. They tore down my great great grandfather's house to put up an ugly building. The downtown is losing its historic character, replaced by tall modern brick things.
Trees.
New apartment buildings across from Grandma's old house. The McGill house torn down. The trees taller than I remember. Grandma's house painted bright red (it was always a pale green or white). I guess I am getting older.
I left on Saturday morning to head south to go see Brodie.
It was snowy at times.
At the Canadian border, the hot border agent grilled me on why I was going, whether I owned a gun, how I knew Brodie. It was ridiculous. I got there and we hung out.
Breakfast at Cora's.
We made the unfortunate mistake of going to Toronto, not realizing that there was a marathon being run by enthusiastic runners. We were trapped in traffic for hours, with the gas running out of the rental jeep. Somehow we survived.
Homer and Brodie.
It was nice having a few days of actual vacation while on vacation. I drove and flew back Monday and now I am sooooo tired. I need a post-vacation, vacation!
Thursday, October 08, 2015
Last three weekends have seen busy times. My buddy Dave arrived for a visit from Austin, Texas. He was here to visit galleries to sell them his beautiful ceramics.
I took him out into the desert so he could see cacti.
Rob really liked the views.
I saw a pretty poppy. At the top of the mountain the wind blew really hard as we had a picnic lunch.
I took him out into the desert so he could see cacti.
Homer and Dave.
Of course he had to do the saguaro pose.
Dave!
We went up to the top of Mount Lemmon and I forgot to take pictures except for this one of a pretty flower.
Flower.
The lunar eclipse happened, my cell phone camera takes pretty ugly photos at night.
Lunar eclipse.
I woke up one morning with a perfect handlebar mustache.
The Scientist in his native habitat.
Last weekend was Rob's turn to visit from San Francisco. We ate Mexican food. On Saturday we went up to Mount Lemmon.
I saw a pretty poppy. At the top of the mountain the wind blew really hard as we had a picnic lunch.
Poppy.
That night I invited Patrick and Kamron over to play Risk.
Kamron.
I don't think Rob and Kamron had ever played Risk before.
Risk.
Patrick and I battled each other over Australia and Asia.
Rob.
I was defeated after about three hours.
Patrick.
We eventually gave up, after probably three hours and many drinks. It was a fun night.
Rob had a nice visit, taking lots of naps. I even made him watch Lawrence Welk.
Thursday, October 01, 2015
I've been an archaeologist since 1986. For most of this time I have specialized in historical archaeology- excavating sites dating from about 1700 to the 1930s. I've worked for my company since 1992, and have excavated many historic period sites
in southern Arizona. Occasionally we recover artifacts that can be linked to a
specific person. Our recent work on Block 92, at the northwest corner of E.
Broadway Blvd and S. 5th Avenue, is one such case.
The first individual to live on Lot 8 of the block was David
John Boleyn, known in Tucson as Jack Boleyn. He was born in New York state in
the 1840s and arrived in Tucson with the railroad in 1880. He set up a transfer
business, hauling freight around Tucson and surrounding areas. In 1881, he was
one of the founding members of the Tucson volunteer fire department. By 1883,
he was the Chief of the department, a position to held for most of the years
until 1898. Ironically, in that year his buildings on Lot 8 burned and the
charred debris was thrown down a well shaft, which Desert Archaeology excavated
in June 2015.
Among the artifacts found in the well were metal buttons
marked FD for Fire Department. A photograph of Jack Boleyn shows him wearing
his uniform with its shiny buttons. He is also wearing an identification badge.
An identical badge was found in a planting hole during the excavations.
Jack continued to help out on fires after he retired as Fire
Chief in 1898. In 1910 he was helping out on a fire at the Goldring Store when
the roof collapsed. A beam fell on his stomach, perhaps causing internal
injuries. Water had accumulated on the tin roof, boiling from the intense heat,
and this also fell on Boleyn, scalding him from the waist down. He was able to
walk home, but died the next day. His funeral was attended by the mayor, city
council, and the volunteer fireman. His grave in Evergreen Cemetery was
unmarked until 2008, when a modern tombstone was installed.
One of the reasons I like doing historical archaeology is being able to learn details about the people whose homes I dig up. In Jack's case he was known for being a strong man, a hard drinker. He was also a bigamist, at one time married to three different women at the same time. I think I would probably have liked this man in person.
Friday, September 18, 2015
So it was my 52nd birthday and I decided to do something fun. So I invited Kamron and Mark to come over and decorate sugar cookies.
I made the cookies the night before, picked out a dozen favorite cutters, used the Better Homes and Garden recipe.
Kamron showed up first and helped me color the powdered sugar and lemon juice frosting.
Kamron mixing frosting.
We spooned the frosting into plastic baggies and nipped one corner. Mark showed up and the cookie decorating commenced.
Cookies.
The frosting was a little too runny, unfortunately, but we did out best.
We spooned the frosting into plastic baggies and nipped one corner. Mark showed up and the cookie decorating commenced.
Mark, the artiste.
We talked about Burning Man (Kamron went) and life in general.
The frosting was a little too runny, unfortunately, but we did out best.
I made the frowny bear.
It was a fun get-together. Everyone should have a good time on their 52nd birthday!
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Version 52.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Today I got in my car and drove toward work, listening to NPR. About half way there I realized that it was Sunday instead of Monday.
Oh lord. I'm turning into an old person.
Oh lord. I'm turning into an old person.
Monday, September 07, 2015
Craig and I drove east on I-10 towards Las Cruces.
On Friday we headed east to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. I was last there in 1989. Craig has never been there. We took the elevator 750 feet down. It was a cool 65 degrees. The old restaurant that was once there was gone.
Stalactites.
Cute little lamb.
Afterward we drove north to Santa Fe. The sunset was beautiful. It rained a few times.
Road trip.
We spent the night in Las Cruces.
Silhouette.
The cave formations were huge, interesting, and unexpected.
Enormous column.
As we were leaving the park we saw a car stopped and looked over the edge of the road and saw a large number of bighorn sheep. I'm not sure whether I have ever seen bighorn sheep before.
Afterward we drove north to Santa Fe. The sunset was beautiful. It rained a few times.
New Mexico sunset.
The next morning we headed east to Pecos National Historical Park. My friend Jeremy is the archaeologist there. We stopped at the museum first.
Lots of interesting things to learn.
Craig and I headed up to see the pueblo and the cathedral. As we went along I showed Craig how to spot pottery.
Pecos church.
That afternoon we went to downtown Santa Fe. Escaping rain under an overhang. Later we had supper at the Plaza Cafe with Jeremy. They managed to charge my debit card for a meal we paid cash for. Not cool. The chili was delicious and burned throughout my digestive tract.
We drove down to Albuquerque and spent the night, watching silly fancy tv. The next day we drove south through back roads to see the Spanish Mission of Quarai, built in 1625 and abandoned in 1677.
Quarai.
Craig enjoyed seeing the well-preserved ruins.
Inside the church.
Outside the church.
The trail led through a wild area where we ate chokecherries and some other berries. It was fun to sample them.
We then drove to Mountainair. I lived there in 1986 on my first dig, and lived at Gran Qivira in 1989 while teaching field school. I hadn't been back since.
Mountainair.
I was kind of surprised at how poorly I remember the town. I spent 10 weeks there in 1986, but little had stuck in my mind. One of the things I recalled was the Rosebud Saloon, where I learned to love Patsy Cline, who was popular on the jukebox, as well as the Cattle Call song.
Rosebud Saloon.
We had lunch at the Ancient Cities Cafe. Church was getting out and the town elders arrived to have the buffet, which Craig enjoyed. I had the red chili cheese enchiladas and then an order of super delicious onion rings.
Jerry's Ancient Cities Cafe.
We went back to Tucson, and Craig headed home to Phoenix. It was a lovely time with a good friend.
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
Often when I am at work a movement catches my eye and I turned to my left and spot either a bobcat or a coyote(s) walking by. I call out to Patti and Sarah and we go into the next cubicle and watch.
There are two or three bobcats. One has a limp. This one doesn't and looks very healthy, probably eating rabbits, ground squirrels, maybe an occasional cat.
I tapped on the window and it pauses to look at me.
It rapidly lost interest and continued on, climbing back and forth across the fence.
It eventually went behind the agave, which you can see on the left, and started scratching around. Patti wondered why. I reminded her that cats like to do that when they poop or pee.
One of the perks of living next to a wildlife corridor.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Time flies.
Bought myself an early birthday present- a Cuisinart ice cream maker. It only takes about 15 minutes to freeze ice cream. I have made vanilla and strawberry so far, will probably make some chocolate today.
People came in costume. This was my favorite.
Bought myself an early birthday present- a Cuisinart ice cream maker. It only takes about 15 minutes to freeze ice cream. I have made vanilla and strawberry so far, will probably make some chocolate today.
You scream, I scream...
I attended Tucson's 240th birthday celebration. A couple of hundred people were there,
Cake lady.
It is the same ceremony every year. At one point I ducked outside to escape.
You can't tell, but I am so sweaty.
People came in costume. This was my favorite.
Birthday hat lady.
The mariachi band played before the ceremony, really good. Once again I decided I need a pair of mariachi pants.
