Concluding Scenes from our Little Life (for the moment)

Since I've emailed friends and family and invited them to drop by the blog, I started uploading a few recent pictures in my earlier post today. Blogger seemed to decide I'd had enough, though, and wouldn't take any more photos in that post, so I'm adding a few more here.

(One thing I don't necessarily like about blogs is that they post most-recent messages first. I'm sure this is a reflection of modern culture--blah blah blog--where ten minutes old is a long time. We've moved on.

I'm still stuck in older notions of beginning, middle, and end. Imagine a novel written backwards. [I'm sure there must be one.]

But I won't go on about the end of culture because I've gained so much from technology. Our new computer and high-speed connection, for example, have opened up whole new avenues to music that weren't available to me here in my small town in the past. Check out Pandora, if you haven't already. And Napster, which is now legit, is a wonderful resource for finding and listening to music. There are lots of other sites).

But on with My Summer Vacation:

Mary and I took three weeks in our trailer and visited the Rockies in Montana and Wyoming. Our longest stop, and scenically most spectacular, was Grand Teton National Park. This was the view from our campground.

Actually, when I took this photo, some dope a few hundred yards away was running a radio-controlled speedboat up and down the shore. If I'd had a good sniper rifle, I would have shot it out of the water. This, actually, could be a fun game and I'm surprised it hasn't caught on.

Overall, though, I was impressed with how the Park Service manages such large numbers of visitors and still preserves a magnificent experience of wildness for those who want it. It would be nice to go back in the fall some year when there are far fewer people, but until we're both retired from teaching, we'll have to settle for the on-season. (Yes, I retired three years ago but am now back part-time at the community college in town. Couldn't stay away from it. I think everybody should work part time until they don't want to work anymore. These days, though, the trend seems to be going the opposite direction)

After almost a month on the road, it was good to get back home.

I liked it so much I stayed for three whole days, then took off on a ten-day motorcycle trip to Monterey for the World Moto GP races. Now, though, I really am glad to be home and not planning any more travel until at least next month. In the meantime, I'm getting ready for classes and looking forward to school again.

More below, and hope you'll drop by from time to time. I'm working on a piece about the end of life as we know it but need to stop now and go shopping for dinner.

Ross