Standing Into Danger: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

October 2013 Scavenger Hunt: Aurora, Colorado

Thanks to Jill and her Made with Love blog for setting up the hunt.

Blog: http://suzzie43.blogspot.com/

Hunt: http://suzzie43.blogspot.com/p/scaerngera.html

October 2013 Scavenger Hunt:

Aurora, Colorado

1. Orange

Orange Pumpkin Patch at My Grocery Store

Orange Maple Leaves

Orange Mums

Orange was everywhere this this month!

2. Two

Two Photographers on CNBC

During the recent government shutdown
and the fight over the US debt limit,
there were endless press conferences.

These two photographers waited over an hour
for the Speaker of the House and others to speak.
I'm sure these two photographers never dreamed
they'd be constantly in a window
on CNBC for such a long time.
I found myself watching them wait!

A Quick Check for Messages on His Cell

3. Flower

Lone Survivor

After our recent snows and frosts,
there were very few surviving flowers
One such flower was this solitary petunia.

One flowering plant is still thriving on the prairie
and in gardens in the area: rabbitbrush.

Rabbitbrush with Grapes

4. Rubbish

Rubbish Bins in the Neighborhood

Rubbish is carefully contained
and largely invisible in our community.
The green bin is for recycling and the blue is for garbage.

Garden Rubbish

This leaf litter in a garden
will soon land in the rubbish bin.

5. Emotion

Curious Gracie

A first encounter with a milkweed stirs Gracie's curiosity.
Colorado is a new experience for this little lab
who has spent her life in Asia.

My little neighbor is wary.

6. Flight

Passenger Jet's Contrails Catching the Evening Light

I spent all month chasing planes in flight!

It's amazing

what a zoom lens can do!

The challenge is to be able

to find the fast moving plane

as you zoom!

But I caught it!

A Southwest Jet Heading for Denver International Airport

7. Home Made

Homemade peach pie is the best!

Retirement has given me time to truly enjoy
being at home doing homey things.

Homemade scarves!

8. Black and White

A little black and white ghost in a tree.

The ever-patient Terry walks his sister's labs ~
about as black and white as you can get with this lovable breed.

9. Coffee Time

The E-P with His Coffee

There's nothing like Sunday morning coffee time.

Me with My Coffee and Sunday Paper

10. Balloon

Okay, I did find balloons

at our new neighborhood emergency room
Open House last Sunday;

but really,

this Broncos Inflatable
Obstacle Course

was way more fun!

Kids at Play at the Saddle Rock ER Open House

11. Weathercock

No weathercocks
in our neighborhood ~
just a windsock for
the helicopter pad
at our new stand alone emergency room.

The AirLife Helicopter on the Landing Pad
at the New Saddle Rock ER
(windsock in upper left)

12. Fridge Magnet

A Fridge Magnet from an Awesome Museum ~
the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

November's List:

Gold, 5, Patterns, Bread, Happiness, Rain, Traffic, Boxes, Staircase, Sunset, Park, Pair

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Lovable Labs

Have you ever spent time with labs?

They are irresistible!

Sweet, gentle, and affectionate.

Gracie and Rufus

Terry and I unexpectedly found ourselves

with furry four-footed houseguests

the past two long weekends.

Rufus (black) and Gracie (blonde)

We, who had lost our beloved

Scottie Mac and Kerry Blue Dorian

decades ago,

were suddenly immersed

in doggie love ~ AND

doggie walks, doggie dodo,

doggie treats, doggie licks,

doggie dishes, doggie drool

and lethal lab tails

banging everything:

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Terry and his sister Noreen

headed out for that cold, dark 5:30 a.m. walk ~
before Noreen flies off to parts distant.

Gracie

Don't let those sweet blonde eyelashes fool you.

Gracie is pure Diva!

She will hound you for affection,

and she knows how to work it!

Terry and Gracie

While Gracie insisted on constant love and attention

(pats, hugs, belly rubs, chin scratches),
Rufus quietly hung out nearby.

Rufus

Big labradors mean big walks ~

miles of walking!

Heading Out for a Three-Mile Jaunt

Wow! This doesn't look like New Delhi, India!
What happened to our world?

Having just moved here from India,

these tired labs were resting at 6,000 arid feet

two miles into their long walk.

Once home,

sack out time!

Tuckered Out Rufus

A wiped out Gracie is never-the-less vigilant
for the crinkly sound of me opening a treat bag.

Rufus Peeking Through the Kitchen Door

Come On Big T!
Give me a pat, an ear scratch, a treat ~
anything!

Brown-Eyed, Black-Haired Handsome Fella!

Just a Man and His Dogs

Give lovable labs a minute,
and they will take over your home and heart!

I'm going to make you love me, Big T!

You're gonna love me, too,
I just know it!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

HR10: Touchdown Lansdowne House ~ Finally!

Wednesday, September 14, 1960

My father wrote
(with a carbon copy to his mother):

Dear Sally,

Well I finally made it to Lansdowne House. I was beginning to think that I would never make it. As you know by now, I was stuck in Nakina for four days on account of bad weather.

This is the Norseman that I flew

from Nakina into Lansdowne House.

The company maintenance man

and the pilot Rudolph Hoffman "Rudie"

(at the extreme right of the picture).

They have just finished refueling,

and we are ready to go.

D. B. MacBeath, September 13, 1960

I arrived at Lansdowne House by plane yesterday. It took us one hour and forty-five minutes to make the trip. We were bucking a twenty-five mile an hour headwind all the way.

This is a picture taken from the Norseman

just as we were crossing the Albany River

which is about halfway between

Nakina and Lansdowne House.

You can see the Albany River down to the right.

D. B. MacBeath, September 13, 1960

Flight Path

Connect the three red dots in the upper left:

Nakina to Fort Hope to Lansdowne House.

The line will pass over the Albany River.

Source:

National Geographic Society: Canada

Washington D.C., November, 1985

I spent yesterday getting settled in for the winter, getting unpacked, and putting everything away in the proper place. I haven’t started school yet, and it looks like I won’t be starting for a while. Someone goofed and goofed rather badly.

They have a beautiful new school, but there isn’t a stick of furniture in it. No desks, no chairs, teacher’s desk, or what have you. I immediately got on the radio and contacted the Department of Indian Affairs at Nakina to ask them what I was to do. It is utterly impossible to teach school with no furniture in the school.

Also, if I don’t start soon, I will have no Indians to teach. Already some of them have come to the conclusion that there is going to be no school this year, and have pulled out of Lansdowne bag, baggage, and families for the winter trap lines.

My roommate, or rather my bunkmate companion for the winter is a very nice chap by the name of Uno Manilla. You will probably think the same as I thought at first, that he is either Italian or Spanish. Actually, he is of Finnish extraction. He is very young, but he has taught Indians before.

We have a nice unpretentious little two-room cottage to live in. The front room we use for a living room, washroom, cloakroom, and general store room. The back room we use for a bedroom, a library, and study.

Dad is standing outside his "cottage"
which he sometimes referred to as a shack.
He and Uno shared the two room "cottage."

Lansdowne House, Fall 1960

We are renting it from the priest for fifteen dollars a month each. For this we get the house, fuel, and lights. We eat at the Father’s, and he charges two and a half dollars a day each. This is very reasonable considering the price of food up here. The prices are out of this world. Everything has to be flown in, and the transportation costs are added to the original costs.

For instance,
a bottle of Coke costs 35¢ up here.
I had my first and my last bottle
the day I arrived.

I nearly dropped
when the clerk at the Hudson’s Bay
asked me for 35¢
after I had drunk the Coke.

I had just come in and opened a Coke
like I would at Charlie’s.

(Charlie Munroe's neighborhood grocery store
in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island).

However, it is just as well.
Coke is very fattening,
and I am trying to loose weight.

Source: Wikipedia

Well goodbye for now,
Love,
Don
(Letter to be continued)

Some Additional Photos