1200 Miles and Walking

When I left school on the very last day,

I was exhausted and run down.

Morning of the Last Day                                    St. Anthony,  Newfoundland

The first goal I set for myself

was to regain my health and fitness.

I decided to walk from Aurora, Colorado in the USA

to St. Anthony, Newfoundland in Canada.

I headed for I-70 my very first day,

and I've been walking ever since.

wikimedia

And yesterday, my 759th day of retirement,

I hit 1200 miles or 1931 kilometers.

That puts me in Huber Heights, Ohio,

near the intersection of I-70 and I-75

on the outskirts of Dayton, Ohio. 

 wikimedia  

google/epodunk

I want to make it clear

that I am not physically trudging 

along the side of a hot and busy interstate 

as I head from Dayton to Columbus.

I'm tallying my daily walks and marking them on a map.

I knocked off 146 miles of walking on my recent trip to Europe.

The miles I record have to be walking miles,

not steps during the day.

As I closed in on 1200 miles yesterday,

I was walking along my prairie pocket.

This is what I saw:  

  

A Mallard Swimming in a Pond

Prairie Pocket Pond

Pronghorn on the Prairie

Prairie Fence

Pronghorn

Pronghorn

Muley Buck

1200 miles and walking ~

St. Anthony or bust!

St. Anthony, Newfoundlamd

Wikimedia

It's a great week to be a Canadian ~ American!

Fundy Blue

I have the birthdays of two great countries to celebrate!

I love both of my countries!

  wikimedia

But sometimes it's hard to reconcile my two halves!

thetango

Google/Tumbir

Happy Fourth of July to my fellow Americans!

pinterest

IWSG Redux

"I'm running out of clean underwear," 
says the Ever-Patient this morning.

Gently.

After thirty years of marriage, 
he knows The Signs.




My life is Out of Control ~ again.

"I thought you said you had plenty of clean underwear," 
I respond.
Sweetly.

I'm feeling distinctly guilty
as I surreptitiously slip fuzzy strawberries 
and black red pepper into the kitchen garbage.
A Definite Sign.

Source:  wikimedia

Unlike the Wall Street gurus
on the TV in the background,
I know inflation is happening.

I've paid the high price 
of strawberries and red peppers 
in the grocery store recently!






"That was four days ago, Honey Babe," said the E-P.
Very gently.

Four days?  Yikes! 
"I'll try to get some done today," I promise.
Very sweetly.

Into the garbage I silently slide 
two more fuzzy strawberries,
as the E-P eyes the yellow sticky notes
festooning the coffee pot and TV.

Reminders from Me to Terry
Another Sign

"Only if you have time.
I'm good for my doctor's appointment today."
So that's why he's ranting about the damn underwear!

He gives me a quick hug and an encouraging smile.
Then wisely departs for his physical.

The E-P knows I have been somewhat overwrought
the past several days.
I've been duking it out with my computer ~ again.

And he saw me stumble out of bed this morning
after a late, late night
when I was strung out, wrung out, exhausted.

"Coffee's ready to go! 
All you have to do is push the button," 
he had chirped cheerfully 
as I gathered speed rolling for the coffeepot.
"I didn't start it because, well, I'm fasting."
He had whispered the last word.

He was probably grateful that I wasn't fasting.
I am not tickety-boo when I have to fast;
I'm foul enough to bite the heads off live chickens.

Yesterday was a rough, tough day.
I had woken up excited, 
with a Jupiter Great Red Spot 
of a brainstorm swirling in my head:
A maelstrom of ideas and enthusiasm!

Jupiter's Great Red Spot, 1979

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center,

NASA/JPL

Source:  wikimedia

Those were thoroughly deadened 
by over four hours at the Apple Store
sandwiched between 
two bouts of stressful driving.

Followed, at home, 
by two hours of video conferencing 
discussing complicated math spreadsheets.

Source:  pinterest

When you're learning disabled in computers,
such challenges can suck you dry.
I was a sere husk last night.

So while I got my IWSG post up yesterday morning,
before my technical misadventures started,
I did not finish thanking all the co-hosts
or visit enough blogs.
I'll get to it later today or early tomorrow.

The good news from yesterday?
My awesome Apple trainer 
and the patient tech at the Genius Bar 
figured out the ports to connect peripherals 
to my computer are defective.

A new thingamajig part is on the way!

And I thought it was my brain!

I'll be back as soon as I get some much needed sleep.

IWSG: Why Do Writers Write?

Throughout my life I have 

considered the question, 

"Why do writers write?"

Most school years,

my third grade students and I would 

brainstorm a list of reasons for writing

and group them into categories:

inform, persuade, entertain.

Source:  wikimedia

Pedestrian ~ but a good jumping off point

for discussing the question with seven and eight year olds.

Recently at the British Museum,

I asked myself the question again 

as I marveled at the most famous cuneiform tablet 

from ancient Mesopotamia.

The Flood Tablet ~ The Epic of Gilgamesh

British Museum

Nineveh, Royal Library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal

 Reign:  669-631 BC. 

Source:  britishmuseum

This tablet and others

record one of humankind's oldest stories

and the world's first great literary work,

The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Source:  wikipedia

Gilgamesh
Source:  wikimedia (PGN grayscale)

English archeologist Austen Henry Layard

is credited with the discovery 

of the Gilgamesh tablets,

but his Assyrian assistant Rassam Hormuzd

likely found them.

              Austen Henry Layard                           Rassam Hormuzd 

                          Source:  wikimedia                                                                               Source:  wikimedia

The tablets were among thousands

unearthed in the library of King Ashurbanipal

during the excavation of his palace in Ninevah

near modern-day Mosul in Iraq.

Excavation of Nineveh

Source:  wikimedia

Frontispiece of Nineveh and its Remains, 

by Austen Henry Layard, 1849

Procession of the Bull Beneath the Mound of Nimrud

Source:  wikimedia

Winged, Human-Headed Bull

British Museum, London

Although my mother told a young me 

about the haunting Assyrian art in the British Museum,

I don't remember hearing of Gilgamesh 

until I read the epic 

at Cal State Fullerton years ago.

The epic recounts

how Gilgamesh tragically lost

his best friend Enkidu

and went on a quest 

to find the secret of immortality.

Source:  shmoop

I was fascinated with the similarities

between the flood stories 

in Gilgamesh and in the Bible.

I never forgot.

The Deluge, Based on the Story of Noah's Ark

Frontispiece to Doré's illustrated edition of the Bible, possibly 1866

Humans and a Tiger Try to Save Their Children and Cubs

Source:  wikimedia

I wondered then,

Who were the people who created this epic?

Why did they do it?

Standing in front of the Flood Tablet,

I longed to touch the ancient cuneiform

and absorb the thoughts and feelings 

of all who had created, 

recounted, compiled, 

transcribed, preserved, 

and translated this story.

What drove them?

I think storytelling must lie at the heart

of what it is to be human.

Exciting Story ~ Artist Unknown

Provenance: Estate of Clemens Franckenstein (1875-1942)

Source:  wikimedia

And so fellow IWSGers,

I'd love to know,

Why do you write?

June Scavenger Hunt: London, UK

Happy summer, everyone!
This June Terry and I had the good fortune to spend two weeks 
in Terry's sister's and brother-in-law's flat in Notting Hill, London.

London Skyline

The Old and the New

View From Our Flat in Notting Hill

Junes's List

1.  B is for ?

London Double Decker Buses

B is for … Buses, 

and so many iconic London things:  

Beefeaters, Buckingham Palace, street buskers, the British Museum, 

bobbies, telephone booths, Big Ben, Anne Boleyn, bearskin hats, 
and Barbour stores (iconic for me ~ I'm a Barbour).  

I could do a whole post on Bs!

Beefeater ~ Yeoman Warder in Daily Uniform

 Tower of London

B is for … Beefeater, 
and we had a fascinating yeoman warder as our guide.
Their official duties include looking after Tower prisoners, 
safeguarding the crown jewels, and guarding the Tower of London.

Today they also act as tour guides
and are tourist attractions themselves.
The yeoman warders were formed by Henry VII in 1845,
but their origins can be traced back to the eleventh century
when the Tower of London was constructed.

Two interesting things I learned from our guide
were that the yeoman warders 
must live in the Tower of London
and that one of them guards the Tower ravens,
because legend has it that the tower and monarchy will fall
if the ravens ever leave the tower grounds.
Source:  britannica.com

A Barbour in Her New Barbour Trench Coat

 Trafalgar Square
(This is for Kezzie!  My favorite London Fashionista!)



2.   10 a.m.

10:00 Hour in the Morning on Portobello Road

Sewing Supplies on Portobello Road
(10:00 a.m. London Time ~ 4:00 a.m. Colorado Time) 

A Very Famous Clock Tower
Nicknamed Big Ben

(Technically, Big Ben is the bell inside Elizabeth Tower)

3. Spoon

Silver Spoons ~ Portobello Road

4.   Puppet

King Henry VI

Source:  Wikimedia

King Henry VI was the last Lancastrian king,

reigning from 1422-1461 and from 1470-1471.

His mental instability and his gentle, pious personality 

led in part to the Wars of the Roses.

Henry VI was deposed and imprisoned in 1461.

Nine years later he was restored to the throne as a puppet king. 

He was murdered in the Tower of London 

on the night of May 21st/22nd, 1471.

Source:  englishmonarchs  

The Chapel Where Tradition Says
That Henry VI Was Murdered

                         

This is one event in the Tower of London's Bloody History

5. You Again

The E-P Suffering from Museum Overload

You Again!  Poor Terry ~ I found him waiting for me,

yet again, while I visited the magnificent 

Assyrian Lion Hunts Gallery (You Again!)

one more time (this day). 

King Ashurbanipal Hunts Lions
Narrative Panels
North Palace, Ninevah
668-627 B.C. 


6.   Water

Cygnets Swim in the Serpentine
Hyde Park, London

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
Hyde Park, London

7.   Habitat

The Long Water Reed Beds and the Serpentine Bridge
Kensington Park, London 

This beautiful habitat, the Long Water Reed Beds, 

was established in 2010 to improve 

the water quality and the biodiversity potential 

of the Long Water in Kensington Garden.

Reed beds are found at the margins of many waterbodies.

They stabilize banks and act as natural water filters.

The UK lost about 40% of its reed beds between 1945 and 1990.

Source:  Sign by the Reed Beds in the Park

8.   Soccer

Pringles' Giant 'Lucky' Football Boot

Soccer Balls

in a Poundland Window

on Portobello Road

 

England was gearing

up for the World Cup

while we were in London.

9.   Calm

The Geological Society
is a calm oasis near 
busy Piccadilly Circus

The Geological Society, London

Terry walks past William Smith's famous 
1815 Geological Map of Britain.
A bust of Smith, the Father of English Geology, is in front of Terry.

10.   Man Made

Blaschka Radiolarian Model
Natural History Museum
Treasures in the Cadogan Gallery

Out all the man made marvels in London,

I chose this extremely fragile glass model 

of a radiolarian (Aulosphaera elegantissima).

It was crafted by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka in the 19th century. 
The techniques they used were lost when they died. 

The model is displayed in the Cadogan Gallery 

which contains some of the Natural History Museum's 

most important artifacts chosen for their 

scientific, historical, aesthetic and cultural significance. 

11.   Open

Mounted Sentries at Horse Guards

The Household Cavalry guards the official entrance 

to St James's Palace and Buckingham Palace 

outside Horse Guards in Whitehall.

The mounted sentry in back is relieving the sentry in front

by riding through the open door at the back of the guard box.

12.  Steam

Steam Rises as This Crepe Cooks on the Griddle

Portobello Road

July's List

C is for?,  9pm,  Stem,  Pool,  Dough,  Liquid,  Lever,  On the wall,

Together,  In your bag,  Your view of today,  and Sweet

Thanks to Jill (Greenthumb) 

and her Made with Love blog 

for setting up the scavenger hunt.