DT
Western Turkey
USS Bainbridge
Hull number DDG-96, the Bainbridge is a guided missile destroyer based in Norfolk, VA. Commissioned in 2005, the Bainbridge was involved in the return of the hijacked freighter Maersk Alabama's captain from Somali pirates. This was the incident which led to the movie "Captain Phillips". The Arabian Sea, not the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
Pictured here at the ammo pier of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. Taken from the Colonial Parkway.
Continue reading →Watch For Falling Rock
Joys of living in mountain country. Been lots of unseasonable rain and little snow.
Rocks happen.
Should have one lane open soon ...
Continue reading →Oops – Re: “Depression”
Tunesday: Ladyva – Boogie Woogie Piano
A sample of some obscure - and maybe not obscure - tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today's selection: Ladyva "Boogie Woogie Piano" 2022
A live performance from the 2022 "International Boogie Nights" festival in Uster, Switzerland. Worthy of a video.
Ladyva is a Swiss pianist, specializing in boogie-woogie, jazz, and blues. Born in 1988, she's quite popular on her own Youtube channel - with over 120 million views.
Look at those fingers ... born to be a musician.
Continue reading →Dry Well
This well-digging truck was sitting in a field outside of Grouse Creek, Utah.
Up near where Idaho, Utah, and Nevada come together is the small Mormon community of Grouse Creek, UT. First settled in 1875, it was named for the plentiful sage grouse that inhabited the area. Plentiful meadows in the area encouraged the support of cattle. By 1878, some of the sagebrush had been cleared off and wheat was grown but drought years made finding irrigation water difficult.
At that time, the Central Pacific Railroad still ran on the original transcontinental route; the nearest town for mail and supplies was Terrace, some 40 miles away to the south-east. A co-op store was opened in Grouse Creek but was only partially successful - several owners came and went over the years.
An LDS (Mormon) Ward was formed in 1879; meetings were held in private homes until a hall was built in the 1890s. A sandstone chapel was built in 1912 but torn down in 1983 when a new chapel was built.
A post office opened in 1890, a school opened in 1892. An irrigation pipeline was constructed in 1908; electricity came in 1952.
Even now, Grouse Creek - at an elevation of 5500 feet - is a very remote settlement of about 90 people. Mainly a ranching center, there are no paved roads leading to the town although the main street in town is paved. It's a long way to nowhere from Grouse Creek, and when you get there, it's still a long way to what many call civilization.
The roads leading to Grouse Creek are not recommended for low-clearance vehicles; 4 wheel drive is recommended, especially in wet conditions. The town may be inaccessible in snowy conditions. It is 20 miles to the nearest paved road (UT30), 80 miles to Wendover (on I-80) and 200 miles to Salt Lake City. Snowville is between 85 and 105 miles away, depending on the road taken; Twin Falls, ID is 100 miles away and is the closest major town.
There is very limited lodging, gas, and supplies available in town. It is not the kind of place one ups and moves to; while the people are friendly, it is the type of town where one is not a "local" unless one's g'grandparents lived there. My guess is it would help to be Mormon if one chose to move there.
Words Matter
The headline: "Trump adds his birthday as free national park day while axing MLK Day and Juneteenth"
What the article doesn't mention is Trump's birthday happens to be Flag Day (June 14). Furthermore, he eliminated those dates only intended to appease a certain element of the population that continually needs to be appeased and instead selected "free days" as those of American holidays and two dates important to the National Park Service.
"In 2026, the fee-free days for U.S. residents at national parks will include President's Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day weekend, the 110th Birthday of the National Park Service, Constitution Day, Theodore Roosevelt's birthday, and Veteran's Day."
Teddy Roosevelt's birthday was selected as the founder of national parks.
Ought to drop MLK and Juneteenth as holidays anyway.
Continue reading →North Of The Border
(yes, it's Pearl Harbor Day. everybody else is speaking of it. nothing new for me to say.
Along about 1983 or so, I lived in Tucson. A work friend - both he and his wife - and I would get together for mini road trips. He drove an itty-bitty 4x4 pickup; I had a full size Jeep 4x4 pickup. As you can see, his truck wasn't large enough for three people - especially since it was a manual tranny - so we went in two vehicles. His got great gas mileage but got stuck often. Mine got not even as good as lousy gas mileage but it would climb trees. It wasn't unusual for me to pull his truck through rough spots. It wasn't unusual for me to have to gas up every 40 miles when off-pavement.
In this photo, we're travelling along the Mexican border - that fenceline heading off to the distance. We didn't worry about cartels, or border agents, or two-legged coyotes then ... though we were well armed. I can't recall his name now - probably because I'm trying to - but he's checking out the path ahead. The tracks faded along this little stretch and there was an arroyo cutting across mid-photo just before the tracks become visible again mid-right. As I recall, there was enough dirt along the fence that we could bull our way through to the other side of this section ... with a little help from some chains as I pulled ahead of him and hauled him through not long after this photo.
I wouldn't dream of doing this today.
He and his wife were both busted for stealing software from the company and I stayed away after that. I left that company not long after but I must not have left on bad terms because they asked me to come back some time later. I declined. Hindsight being what it is, perhaps that wasn't the best decision I ever made .... but it was by far not the worst either.
Damn, I can't recall his name ...
Continue reading →Jefferson Davis
died on this date, 1889 at age 81
"Several notable Northern lawyers offered their free services to defend him in a treason trial, which Davis longed for. The government, however, never forced the issue—because, many believe, it feared that such a trial might establish that the original Constitution gave the states a right to secede."
Davis died in 1889 in New Orleans of a complicated bronchial ailment. At his temporary interment he was accorded the greatest funeral the South had ever known. On May 31, 1893, he was buried permanently in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Lincoln illegally invaded sovereign States when they exercised their right to withdraw from the voluntary union. Regardless of the narrative - the victors write the histories - the invasion had more to do with the economics of cotton (the global commodity of its day) than slavery or "save the union". It was Lincoln that changed the nation from a union of sovereign States to a centralized Union of subservient states.
I was raised "Yankee" but looking at different levels of history, including family papers, my participating ancestors fought for their State, not some need to Save The Union (the slavery issue came up later in the war). The family at the time was anti-slavery but pro "States Rights". They aligned with the north (in a state militia, not directly the US Army) simply because the Confederates invaded the neutral State and raided close to their home.
G'grandpa was with mounted infantry, mostly performing scouting duties, primarily in eastern Kentucky. His brothers were scattered around, one of whom served with him, another was with the Confederates. They all survived the war.
The only major battles g'gramps was part of were Salyersville, Cynthiana, and Saltville I (which was the only time his unit left the state). He was part of the action at Mt Sterling, chasing Morgan's raiders, New Haven, and Roaring Springs. He mustered out in December '64, before Saltville II. My father's grandfather; he died at age 61, long before my father was born.
Kentucky was a torn state during and after the war, more so than the "true" southern states. Kentucky had a star on both flags - Kentucky being the central star on what people think of as the Confederate flag. Those issues still persist; I have a close cousin who is proud of her Confederate heritage ... even though her g'grandfather, her only direct ancestor in the war, was a proud member of the GAR as stated on his tombstone. Facts sometimes get in the way of the desired narrative.
Continue reading →