Sonja Says

  
Saturday, November 1st, John and I decided to take our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out for a picnic lunch.  We went north on Hwy. 191 headed for the Dead Horse Point Road.  For those of you who have  been lucky enough to have visited Moab, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  About one half mile from the Colorado River Bridge, traffic was totally stopped, then moved a few feet, stopped again for about ten minutes.  There were sherriffs deputies in vehicles ahead of us and we assumed it was an accident.  Much to our surprise, when we rounded a slight bend in the road, we saw a herd of cattle headed for the bridge where they would cross to get to their winter range.  Because of the delay, when we were able, we went up the river road, found a lunch spot and ate.  On our way back to town, we decided to follow the cow pies across the bridge to see just how far the cattle drive had gotten.  They were just about to Arches National Park entrance road and, of course, we had to turn around because the road was closed.  It was an unexpected and exciting thing to see.  Anyone from the eastern part of the US visiting here that day had a treat in being able to see part of what happens here each spring and fall.

In the center photo, there is a small rider at the far left rear of the herd.  This youngster was still short enough that his legs didn’t reach the end of the saddle.  Even so, he was very confidently perched on his horse moving cattle with the best of the rest.

John and I encourage any and all of you to come out to experience the west.  We’d be glad to show our part of it to you and other parts as well.

Thanks for checking my ‘blog.

It’s difficult to write just a few words about such a great trip.  The 1958 class of New Milford HS had it’s Fiftieth Class Reunion, which is what prompted us to head east.  Of course, with so many of our family members and friends there, it was a trip with many purposes.

We began our trip visiting with my brother, Rich, in Philly.  He is a wonderful cook and I think I gained five pounds during the first week of our visit with him.  There were juicy German sausages, which are really missed here at home, BBQ chicken, ribs and terrific tomatoes and peppers from his garden.  Of course, there were many laughs and great conversation about “the good ole days”.

On several occasions, as a child and later with John, we had visited Fort Mifflin on the Delaware River and never really had a guide.  This time, we were very fortunate and got a young man who was definitely excited about the fort’s history and gave a very good tour.  His only difficulty was that planes from the Phila airport, a stone’s throw away,  passed over our heads every five minutes making the outside tour halt often because we couldn’t hear.

One must for us when visiting Philly is Pearl’s Oyster Bar in Reading Terminal Market.  It was our lunch stop while we were touring center city.  Pearl’s is renowned for it’s snapper soup and fresh clams and oysters.  John dreams about raw clams so this is always a great treat.  The Terminal Market is somewhat like the Pike Street Market in Seattle, selling the same sorts of items.  As a child, I remember farmers bringing their produce, sides of beef, homemade cheeses, pickles, baked goods and other tidbits into town and selling them to commuters and those of us who wandered through.  There was a goat’s milk bar at which my Dad had to stop each time for his picker-upper.

Rich, John and I also went to Longwood Gardens, which is part of a Dupont estate in Kennett Square, PA.  Outdoor pools had spectacular water lilies. Although many  of the outdoor plants were done for the season, the greenhouses had full displays of orchids, ferns and humid climate loving things.  While still touring the grounds outside, we came to a plant with brown flowers.  Now, in the wildflower books there are some blooms listed as brown in color.  John said they were hydrangeas at season’s end.  Well, I wasn’t happy with that explanation because I wanted them to be something exotic. So we talked with a young botanist who said that, in fact, John was correct.  Have you ever seen a red face among brown flowers?

Katie had suggested that we should visit the Mutter Museum.  It’s part of the Philadelphia College of Physicians and the exhibits are of  human anomalies.  There were various organs, skeletal deformaties and other things of a fascinating nature.  John and I spent several hours just looking and thought it was an interesting thing to do, but  only once because of the macabre nature of the items. 

John met two of his brothers at Gettysburg and took  a several-day tour.  They hired a guide who drove their car and filled in many of the details one doesn’t usually find in brochures, etc.  By all accounts, it was a very good trip.  John came back through Philly to get me and we went directly to Connecticut for his reunion.

While in New Milford, we enjoyed visiting with family and had more delicious food.  We were treated royally all around.  Of course, there were more stories, which is what visiting is all about.

The planning committee had arranged for a pizza night on Friday, dinner in Newtown, CT, on Saturday evening and a picnic on Sunday.  John got to renew acquaintances and I met lots of really great people.  The class was a small one, 52 graduates.  Everything was beautifully planned and we enjoyed every minute.  Took lots of photos.  (I remembered the camera this time.)

On Saturday, during our spare time, we went to a town called Kent, CT, where a friend of ours had begun a mining museum before he retired from teaching.  He had made several trips out here to find old mining equipment, tools and ore-containing rocks along with some minerals.  The local USPS had its work cut out for it when John (our friend) began mailing home boxes of rocks and other very heavy materials.  The employees were probably glad when he stopped coming in.  Unfortunately, John was not at the museum when we visited.  He was at a gem and mineral sho that day.  His friends at the museum were more than happy to show us everthing and to explain how things worked.  It was really wonderful to see John’s project, even though a work in progress, come to fruition. 

We arrived home very tired;  however, we have some great memories and pictures to share with Katie.

P.S.  Here’s the battleship New Jersey, parked on the Delaware river, on the Camden side:

It’s a good thing I allow Katie to access and bother my ‘blog, because I have important things blooming at home, and I am on the east coast, blissfully unaware of said goings-on.

I have a Stapelia grandiflora blooming at home.  It has a lovely (but very stinky) dark red flower.  The flower smells like rotting meat, because in nature, it needs to attract flies to pollinate it.  Here are some photos (and luckily they have yet to figure out how to convey smell across the internet):

Yesterday was the first time, in what seems to have been months, that the weather was ideal for a walk.  I pulled on my hiking boots and started up the hill beyond our house and took the usual tour.  It seems each time, even though my walk covers the same territory, there is something new to see.  Yesterday was no exception. 

 There was a lot of bird noise across the road from where I stopped to catch my breath so, of course, I walked over to see what it was all about.  Sitting on a rock with a morsel in her beak was Mrs. Rocky (rock wren).  She didn’t fly away when I got close, but sat patiently waiting to see what would happen.  Small chirps were coming from the hillside and, as I scanned the rocks, lo and behold, in a sandwich of flat stones, the filling was a nest of tiny rock wrens.  When mama decided no harm would come to her brood, she hopped in and stuffed the little tidbit into one of her chicks.  All of this happend at eye level so the whole experience for me, a birdwatcher, was absolutely the best.  Guess who didn’t have a camera while all this was going on?

Rock wrens are great little birds and information about them, including picutres and their song, can be found by Googling Rock Wren.

We are back from a wonderful trip through Idaho in search of Lewis & Clark trails.  How lucky we were to get into our vehicle each morning, get out the map and proceed on a paved road through some of the most beautiful country.  Lewis & Clark had already done the work of mapping out the area.  After having seen the terrain where they explored, carrying everything necessary to life including heavy iron pots, rafts, etc., and having to bushwhack trails among trees in order to pass, they are greatly to be praised for their fortitude.  It’s difficult to imagine easterners and middle westerners thoughts on entering this  incredible country opening before them.  I, personally, would have groaned on seeing such huge mountains to be crossed on foot.

Above are some photos we took along the Going-to-the-sun Road, beginning at Apgar, on a very overcast day in Glacier National Park.  Road repairs were being made in several places so, while we were stopped, we took advantage of the situation to get a much better look at our surroundings.  We went as far as Logan Pass Visitor Center and doubled back.   A fellow tourist mentioned she and her family had been up there on July 3rd to find the roads flanked by 12 feet of snow.  Now that the snow was gone, there were great fields of glacier lilies in bloom and dozens of other mountain blossoms.  Bear grass, in the first photo above, is very impressive.  It’s stalk is about five feet tall with a huge puffy flower on top.

 John and I love vintage vehicles and were lucky enough to see several on an outing plus an old park service bus, also pictured above.

Our old Buick had a terrific workout which added 2,410 miles to the odometer.  My dreams of cooler weather were also realized at Glacier.  The high temperature for the day was 59 degrees.  Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the fifth spring and summer we’ve been living at our current address.  We’ve  been surprised with the arrival of a black throated sparrow who stayed to raise its family. They’ve provided great entertainment in that the fledglings are following mama around and asking to be fed.  She’s trying desparately to ween them;  however, they’re still trying to avoid fending for themselves by plumping themselves on the ground and waiting for service.  Here are photos of the little guys actually on their own.

Earlier in the year, while ordering poker primroses for Katie, I stumbled across pineapple lilies in the catalog.  In my effort to have new plants each year, for educational purposes, of course, this plant couldn’t be passed up.  Now that the blooms are almost full, I thought you might like to see what they look  like.

Hope you find these photos of our newfound flora and fauna fascinating.

It’s been a while, again, since writing.  This message has been put off because it’s difficult to write.  Our little, beautiful blue budgie, Punch, recently passed away.  John and I  really miss him because he filled the house with his singing.  Punch particularly loved Stocks in the News and would add his comments each evening as we watched the program.  Many times they were  disapproving squawks.  He was also very helpful contributing input to my cooking and and John’s solitaire games.

He was called Punch because, early on, he was part of a pair with Judy.  She was a real bully and, even though we provided two feeding troughs, she would control both, which made us feel really sorry for Punch.  Judy has been gone for six of Punch’s seven years.

There is a photo of this prince among birds, which can be accessed through Sonja’s Website HERE.   By scrolling down & clicking on ‘Wildlife’, you’ll see a 2006 photo.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to say anything via my ‘blog because we have a new computer which is taking me a while to become accustomed to.

There are two mystery plants, which I’m hoping someone can ID. The first is a plant from the florist’s (the green shiny leaves with white flowers) and the cute blue bells, which are wild flowers I photographed along side Lake Oowah in the Lasals where we spent the fourth of July sitting in the shade and enjoying the cool.

We were prepared to catch dinner and there’s John holding a lovely rainbow trout. Delicious!

This spring, after swathing my Asiatic Lily with chicken wire to prevent squirrels from chewing on the tender buds, we got this lovely group of very fragrant flowers.

The last photo is of what John likes to call the Desert Nasturtium. The Sensenbrenner family seems to have a penchant for nasturiums. This is an Adenium obesum, called a desert rose. This one has made me proud because it actually survived my care for a year to bloom.

That’s the current news. Next week we’re headed for Idaho and the Lolo Trail and Bitterroot Mountains to follow some of Lewis & Clark’s trail. Should be very interesting.

It’s been a wonderful spring for bird watching.  While hanging clothes today, an unfamiliar bird song floated through the air.  Sitting in a juniper close to the patio was a never seen before black-throated sparrow.  To make certain the ID was correct, I checked the internet for it’s song and, yes, I was right.  My life bird list is growing.

What an amazing sight! This morning as I went past the diningroom window, there was this gorgeous blue-headed bird and it’s mate looking at me. That was a terrific surprise and, of course, I had no idea as to what they were. Out came the bird books and the description of lazuli buntings fit perfectly. They are stunning.