September 29, 2008 Telephone poles

35 years ago today, Ray and I made vows to each other to stay together through good times and bad and to respect each other forever. Boy, that sounds like a LONG time. But, in retrospect, it has passed like a flash of lightning.

It's only fitting that our "honeymoon" trip was before the actual "I dos"--hitchhiking through Europe for the summer of 1973. That trip was made with a total of about $1000, and we tented and ate cold food for the most part, and loved every (well, ALMOST every) minute of it. (There was the time in the rain in England...)But I'm digressing. In 1975, we did our 3 month cross-country trip (in our almost new VW bug), an introduction to the wonder that is this country. Then came the kids. It wasn't until after Lauren died in 1988 (Can you believe it was 20 years ago?), that we came to our senses and said to ourselves "If not now, when?" So, when Alex was 6, we started to travel again. Each year we went to someplace different. Ray and Alex would drive out a week or so before I would fly out, and they would meet me at our first travel spot. We would travel around a bit for 2 weeks, and then they would drive home afterward from the place they dropped me at the airport. What a great time! Over the years, we traveled to places like Mammoth Caves, Smoky Mountain, Arches, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Sequoia, Theodore Roosevelt National Parks and more. We even saw the wonders (!?) of the International Peace Garden. Over the years we've visited 33 of the 51 National Parks (several more than once!) in the lower 48 states, and 25 of the 75 National Monuments, and scores of other cool places (ever been to the Porter Music Box museum??? or McCook, NE??)

We have hiked miles and miles through New England and the northeast, and all over the states, as well as Europe. There was a time in 1973 in England when I was just about ready to give up on the day's hike. We had been on the go all day, and had a steep hill yet to climb, with all our traveling possessions in our backpacks. We still joke about it now. Ray's encouragement to me then was: "Come on! Just get to one more telephone pole!!" In other words: Don't let the size of the hill overwhelm you, just make it to the next telephone pole, then the next. We did make it up that hill.

So, this note comes as a public thank you to my travel, hiking, PB&J, cold-beer-on-a-hot-day, crazy eyebrow, good times and bad times partner. The good times have been wonderful, and the bad times have been bearable because we were together.

And I thank our parents, Larry and Eva, Ray and Anne, for modeling for us what the best of commitment, love, and marriage is.

Love you forever, Ray. I don't need any encouragement now, and the road seems so easy to walk as long as I am with you. I can say with a great deal of enthusiasm now: On to the next telephone pole!

September 3, 2008 How do you vacation?

Some time ago, before the "do not call" list was started, we were solicited for and decided to go on one of those time share offerings--come and listen to our pitch and tour our condos, and we'll give you dinner for 2 at a place of your choosing. We get a kick out of showing up and telling the sales person we talk to that we have no intention of buying, and that we just came for the dinner. I guess we just hope (s)he'll give up and just give us the bonus without the need to bother shepherding us around the place. That tactic has never worked, but it's worth it to see the sales person's face when you use it.

So having given our sales person our opening line, we waited for his response. I'll always remember this. He really didn't address our disinterest in purchasing his timeshare offering, but instead soldiered on:"How do you vacation?" We had all we could do to not laugh in the guy's face. We really had never considered using the word "vacation" as a verb to describe what we do. The rest of the conversation we had with this gentleman is really of no consequence (suffice it to say that we don't, and probably won't ever own a timeshare). But I thought it might be interesting to know what other people like to do on vacation. More specifically, where do you like to go, if you travel? And why? Maybe you prefer to stay home? So, I'm asking you: "How do you vacation?" Just click on the Comments button below.

August 26, 2008 Bad times for Winnebago

Ray had mentioned this to me recently, so I checked it out. The news for Winnebago Industries is dire. Winnebago sales are down drastically. Revenues are down 40% from a year ago, and shares have lost 60% of their value over the past year. Apparently the high price of gas and an uncertain economy has caught up with the motor home industry.

Interestingly enough, motorhome sales in Great Britain are up 50% . It seems that they are opting for adventures close to home over airline vacations.

August 31, 2008 Boston again

A while ago Ray and I had had passing thoughts about buying a small place in Boston. We really love it there, but we also really love it here in NH. But we quickly decided that it is much cheaper to treat ourselves to a night in a nice hotel as we wish, and still enjoy the city without having to hustle home at the end of the day. So, last weekend was another jaunt into Boston for us. We had no big plans. Actually, we had NO plans. But it was a beautiful day in the 80s, so off we went. Our major entertainment for the day ended up as a sunset cruise of Boston harbor. We had at first considered the dinner cruises, but most if not all of them were dinner and dancing. Usually on those, the dinner sucks, and the dancing is to music that sucks too. So we opted for the safer sunset cruise.

The first danger sign came when the guy who was pointing out the sights over the PA system had a girly high pitched voice. It was really hard to hear him even without the wind roaring in your ears. But when you add the drunks yelling to the occupants of other boats, it was next to impossible. Fortunately, we knew the city pretty well already. So, no great loss. From what I could tell, his narration couldn't compete with that of the Circle Line tour of Manhattan, pretty much the gold standard for boat tours in our book.

But the tour itself is pretty cool. If you have ever walked the city, it's neat to see it from the water point of view. The evening and the sunset was gorgeous.

The next day, we strolled up Washington Street, the in-town shopping and financial district in Boston. It was something of a luxury to not be mobbed as we stopped to admire the architecture of the buildings. Usually because there is so much foot traffic in this area, it's uncomfortable to stop and stare up. That Sunday morning, with no one around we had the opportunity to enjoy the day and really see things we hadn't ever noticed or appreciated before--the fantastic details of a nineteenth century facade, the way that historic blends with the modern in the city.

All in all, it was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I've posted the pictures here if you'd like to see them.

August 18, 2008 Is windpower the solution?

When we were traveling through Minnesota, we had the opportunity to view windmills atop a ridge that stretched for many miles. To us they looked peaceful and beautiful. We could not imagine why, as a country, we were not developing all the potential windpower we could. It's clean, reliable, renewable.

Then I read recently this article in the New York Times online, and this Newsweek story. As is usually the case, there is another side to this issue, and it is a human one. Whether it's for greed, corruption, hardship or tradition, many have taken a stand against the proliferation of wind turbines in our landscape. In reading a bit more about the issue, I found the following information:

Wind power is expensive (even with subsidies), intermittent and unreliable. Many modern turbines are 400 feet tall and carry 130-foot, 7-ton blades. They operate at only 20%-30% of rated efficiency -- compared with 85% for coal, gas and nuclear plants -- and provide little power during summer daytime hours, when air-conditioning demand is highest, but winds are at low ebb. Wind turbines cannot store energy.

Using wind to replace all gas-fired power plants would require more than 300,000 turbines, covering Midwestern "wind belt" agricultural and wildlife acreage equivalent to the size of South Carolina.

Building and installing these turbines requires 5 to 10 times more steel and concrete than is needed to build nuclear plants to generate the same electricity more reliably, says Berkeley engineer Per Peterson. Add in steel and cement needed to build transmission lines from distant wind farms to urban consumers, and the costs multiply.
Wind thus means more quarries, mines, cement plants and steel mills to supply those materials.

What are the alternatives?
A single 1,000-MW nuclear power plant would reliably generate more electricity than 2,800 1.5-MW intermittent wind turbines on 175,000 acres. Permitting more nukes would meet increasing electricity demand for our growing population and millions of plug-in hybrid cars.

Coal offers centuries of affordable, reliable fuel for electricity and synthetic gas and oil, with steadily diminishing emissions. Between 1970 and 2006, coal-fired electricity generation nearly tripled -- while nitrogen oxide emissions remained at 1970 levels, sulfur dioxide pollution fell nearly 40% below 1970 emissions, and fine particulates declined to 90% below 1970 levels.

Perhaps a rational approach would be to look at ALL our options. Unfortunately, we have not had either a president or a congress with the testicular fortitude to move this along since the oil embargo in 1973, when we first figured out that we needed a homegrown solution to our thirst for energy.

August 15, 2008 Is Yellowstone dying?

I read today that scientists think that the underground volcano that fills the Yellowstone landscape with hot springs, bubbling mud, and geysers may not be as hot as previously expected. The implication is that the Yellowstone landscape may be changing over time, with hot springs dying out (as we saw at Mammoth Hot Springs), and thermal features disappearing. Of course this may (and probably will) happen over a long period of time. But it points to the idea that the earth is always changing, as much as we might like it to stay the same. This train of thought led me to thinking about the subject of global warming. For all it's worth, (probably not much) I think that any climatic change we may be seeing is the result of the ebb and flow of natural processes. Once there was a sea, then there was a jungle, now there is the Badlands--all changes that took place without the "interference" of man.

August 13, 2008 The passing of a special traveler

What better place to remember Anna Marie Bartel Blank? She was a gentle soul who never had a negative word to say about anyone, and her love for her children and their spouses, grandchildren, and great grandchild was her anchor. An avid traveler, she cheered us on in our aspirations to discover the special places around the world. And she enjoyed reminiscing about all the wonderful places she had visited--Australia, Norway, France, and especially her first love, the US. Her knowledge and understanding of history helped her to appreciate her travels even more. She and Ray Sr. have been an inspiration to both Ray and me.

From the first day I met her 36 years ago, Anne made me feel a part of the Blank family. She gave unconditional love and acceptance to us, no matter what seemingly crazy or unconventional things we did or said--and there were more than a few of those over the years. Coming from a background that embraced traditions, I know that this must not have been easy. From the announcement of our hitchhiking trip through Europe, through our one month "engagement", to our "non-standard" wedding, to taking our cats in, and all the rest... Anne handled it with aplomb. If she ever disapproved, we never knew it. All we knew was that she loved us.

And through the years, I learned who she was, and she became part of me as much as I became part of the Blank family, replete with 3 additional sisters and 2 additional brothers. And so, I tell the world here that I will miss you, Anne. We’ll keep traveling, and while we can’t send a postcard, we will especially remember you when we’re on the road.