Eastward, Ho-hum!

I think of the Donner Party every time I cross over the Sierras, snug and comfortable in my climate-controlled vehicle. I make a trip in 2.5 hours, nutritionally-enriched smoothie in my hand and a bucket of snacks at my side, that took weeks of life-and-death struggle to accomplish.

It never fails to fill me with a sense of awe and gratitude....

Which lasts until I hit Nevada and start complaining about how long it's taking and how hot I am, and willthisdesertneverendI'vebeeninitforever.

Personal epiphanies never last long with me. At least not in the desert.

This year I got to realize an ambition I've nourished through many, MANY trips across Nevada---I 
finally got to stop at the California Trail Interpretive Center. Every other time, I've hit that area either too late in the day, or on too hurried of a trip and didn't have time to stop.

Not this time.

The center itself is very nice and has high quality displays and exhibits. It takes you along the experiences of the pioneers, from first "seeing the elephant" and deciding to make the trek to the California gold fields through the struggles they encountered on their way.

It is truly amazing that there were thousands upon thousands brave (or foolish) enough to willingly put themselves through such an experience. And to do that knowing they would almost certainly never see their friends or family again, losing forever those connections most dear to them.

Quite a difference from these days of Skype and Facebook!

The museum had this cheerful display to illustrate one of the great tragedies of the journey. To lose your spouse, your child, was bad enough, but then to have to leave them behind forever to be forgotten in a trackless wasteland was truly devastating.

And to do that with the almost-certainty that they were going to get dug up and eaten the minute you left must have broken many a heart.

Yes, full of flaws though they may have been, those nation-building emigrants did not lack for bravery.

For those of you who are history buffs and know the story of the Donner Party, this is a view looking south to the Humbolt River where the Donner Party rejoined the traditional route to California after their disastrous jaunt on the Hastings Cutoff. The extra time they spent taking that much-longer "short cut" is what caused them to reach the Sierras dangerously late in the season and become trapped by early winter storms.

Now there's an interstate freeway, where wagon trains loaded with exhausted travelers once plodded their determined way.

How much has changed in only 168 years!

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

And the Tragic End of an Orange Named Howard....

It's September and school is back in session. Summer is over and it is time to hit the books again. This semester I am taking Speech and a class called Health and Human Function, where I will be learning the basics of anatomy and physiology. This class also comes with a lab, and Friday I set in to perform my first lab assignment.

Enter Howard, the very worried orange.

My job was to learn the various terms for dissection planes---fun words like sagittal, coronal, median, and transverse. And to help me learn them, I had to dissect poor Howard.

My first cut was along the sagittal plane, cleaving Howard right through the middle of his noble proboscis. I was pretty sure Howard was terminal at this point, but he wasn't allowed to rest in peace.

Pieces, yes. But not peace.

After that, I had to cut his left side along the transverse plane, separating his ear top from bottom, and his right side along the coronal plane, separating the front of his ear from the back.

 Gruesome stuff.

I had a somewhat horrified audience in the little homeschooling girlies whose house I've been staying at this week. Perhaps one of them will trace their future career in the medical field to this very occasion.

Perhaps not.

 
 Now that I have read a whole two chapters in my anatomy and physiology book, I feel I am qualified to speak on the topic of human health and function. The human body is an amazingly complex organism, dependent on such a wide variety of interconnecting systems, each one requiring the cooperation of the others in order to function.

It boggles my mind that anyone manages to survive without a PhD, let alone thrive! There are so many potential ways to mess things up! We don't think about it, but when we eat, we are actually performing chemistry experiments---adding elements to our body's chemical reactions---and hoping it somehow all ends well. 

And it boggles my mind that people devote their life study to learning about the amazing and complicated creatures we call "humans" and still take the premise that it all developed by chance with no input or organization from an outside source.

The human body amazes me. 

But people who deny the existence of a Creator amaze me even more!

A Few Random Pictures From a Random Trip

I am currently enjoying a wonderful vacation in California. So far, it has mostly consisted of sitting on my butt talking or taking naps.

So nice.

I did manage to change out of my pajamas briefly yesterday and go into Public. And as long as I'd gone to all the trouble of dressing, I took a few pictures here and there.

California is in the middle of another Historic Drought (they've been in the middle of one historic drought or another for approx. the last 200 years...) and I stopped by to see how low the local reservoir had fallen. I do have to say, it is impressively low. Hopefully California will get some rain this winter and end the Historic Drought---just in time for the next one to start!

I love the California foothills---this is truly the Golden State.

As long as I was wearing actual clothes, I thought I'd have a little fun with the self-timer. Sometimes it's difficult for a photographer to prove he or she actually existed, since they are never actually IN any pictures.

Beautiful sunset to end a nice, lazy day. I am not convinced I will manage to find my way back home again when my vacation is over. I am sure my mom would love to fall heir to my various furry felines and cavorting canines.

Yeah. Sure.

Fair Time!

Yes, it's that time of year again. The time when I enter way more than my share of pictures into our county fair because I have no self-control.

This year I was determined to enter at least one art project as well, and though it nearly killed me, I actually got two done.

I had a hard time entering the artwork. My perfectionistic soul rose up in protest, since I felt my pieces was not as good as I am capable of. But my practical side told my perfectionisitic soul to shut up, sit down, and enter them anyway---that it's more important to participate in the things I want to do than sit around not doing anything until I feel I've gotten "good enough".

Personal growth is not always my favorite thing!

Anyway, here is a gallery of my photos----and ART----for your enjoyment.

My giant spool painting got a 1st place ribbon, plus a Special Award. Ever since the fair, It's Royal Specialness has been riding around in the back of my van. Someday I will actually get it out and prop it in my yard somewhere......

These first two photos got the dreaded "Thanks for participating" ribbon.

Category: Snow

Category: Beach

Category: Photo Editing/special effects---Third place.

Category: Storm---Second place.

Category:Western---First place.

Category: Landscape---First place, plus Special Award.

Category: Clouds/Sky---First place.

Category: Baby---First place, plus Best in Show.

Category: Trees---First place.

Category: Historic Architecture---First place, plus Special Award.

Category: Architecture---First place.

Category: Sunrise/Sunset----First place.

Category: Sun---First place.

Category: Animal with Person---First place.

Category: Inspirational---First place.

Category: Portrait---First place, plus Special Award and Sweepstakes Award.

Summer----Shorter Than it Used to Be

So I've been meaning to make this post since the beginning of  June---and that right there should tell you how my summer's been going! Here it is the end of July already and summer is almost over. In the spring, I was looking forward to school getting out so I'd have more time. Now I can hardly wait until school STARTS so I will have more time.

Somehow I doubt it's going to work out the way I think this time around, either.


But I have made sure to take the time for a few fun things, though sometimes at the expense of more mundane activities like washing dishes and tidying houses.

 I made a trip to Bozeman for campmeeting---this time only as a helper, so it was way less intense than usual.

I've been swimming---count 'em----THREE times already this summer. That's about an, oh, 75% increase over the typical summer.

And I've been going on a few bike rides. Not as many as the one-per-day I'd originally envisioned for my fitandhealthy summer, but still way more than I usually take the time for.


I've been experimenting a little bit using some of the local farm tracks for my routes. This "experimentation" would work better if there were more than one of them within my seriously limited range. Farm tracks are fun to use because they keep you clear of traffic (and when you have two dopey-doodle dogs as your companions, that's important).

And as an added bonus, they are adventurous. If you are looking for solitude, a farm track in North Dakota will definitely fit the bill.

I'm pretty sure this is the dictionary definition of Robert Frost's "the road less traveled by..."

My little prairie farmhouse in all its June glory...Picture taking is very important on bike rides. Every time I am gasping for breath and feel like I can't peddle another second, lo and behold, I find something I need to stop and photograph. It works great.

My favorite (read: only) route runs north for a time and then turns west.  I'm pretty sure the west-running track is in the dictionary as the road even LESS traveled by!

Maybe one of the reasons for the lack of traffic on this leg of the trip is the ridiculous drainage ditch someone cut right through the middle of it. I mean, sure the farmers want to be able to use their fields, but didn't they even stop to think what it would do to the casual cyclist?  I somewhat regretted my choice of white tennis shoes when I had to wade through that!

This is the pond on the other side of the ditch...

And here is the view of my prairie farmhouse from the backside. The frequent reader might recognize my famous sunset tree in the cluster of trees to the right of my house. The large, bare hill is where we like to go cross country skiing in winter.

The last hill before I reach my pickup spot!

Here comes the cavalry---otherwise known as my mom and my sweet border collie sister, coming out to rescue me so I won't have to ride all the way home. I hope to be able to do the whole thing myself at some point, but since it would double the length of the route, I will have to work up to it.

If I push myself, I think I might be ready in, oh, another 10 years or so.