Pope House Tours 6.23.12

We are getting ready.  Next week we will be giving tours of the Pope House.  R says she is ready.  I think I am also.  I am going to "shadow" another volunteer on her tour in twenty minutes to get another person's perspective on the tour.  Then I will choose which parts I want to use to make the story My story.  It is fun to listen to other volunteers and hear how they conduct their tours.  It is the way I learn.  My wife, likes to write everything down and then by reading it several times, she gets it learned.  Neither way is better than the other, it is just the way it works for each of us.
   I already have my costume figured out.  If we wnat the guides can choose to dress up for the tours.  I have found, in the "prop room", a tan sports coat that looks time apporpriate ( the mid twenties) along with a shirt and tie.  With it I will bring my own black slacks and shoes.   Did I mention the straw hat?  Very stylisth.  I will tell you more later after my first tour.  

Tallac Musings

1919 Pierce Arrow R-9 5 Ton Truck

First session is history.  Things are gearing up for more visitors, more programs, and more fun.  There are 4 five week sessions here at Tallac.  The first and fourth are basically work sessions.  Number one is opening up the site; taking the shutters down, uncovering the furniture, hanging the curtains and putting down the rugs and accessories and getting the grounds ready for visitors.  The fourth session is just the opposite.  It involves putting the items away, replacing the shutters, and just getting the place ready for the snow and cold winter.  Sessions two and three is running the site at full speed with programs and visitors going on everywhere.  Lots of confusion, lots of activities and lots of fun for everyone, vistors and volunteers alike. 



1949 International

   And that's where we are right now.  If only the weather would find out that summer is here.  The wind has come for a several day visit and it is cooling the temps and blowing the pine pollen around like dust on a gravel road.

Wine Tasting 6.10.12

   Fifty miles west and south of here is Placerville  ( pronounced like glass).  Placerville was an important town during the gold rush of 1849.  Gold was to be found in the creeks and rivers of the area having been washed down from the surrounding rocks.

   The gold ran out, of course, and the miners moved to another place.  The town shrunk.  Today Placerville is fueled by tourist gold.   Highway 50 runs through it. People hurry by on their way to and from Lake Tahoe.  I hope they stop.

   Nearby, to the south is the Amador wine country, and area lower then Placerville but above the valley of Sacramento.  As one person put it, “This area is above the fog and below the snow.”  An area, it seems, that is perfect for growing grapes.  And going grapes is what happens here.  In this altitude zone of lots of small and large hills, there is a winery in every direction.  Neat fields of green stretch up and over each bump of land and many of the hilltops are locations of shady farms and wineries beckoning you to stop and sip.  And so we did.

    If you are in the area of Placerville and the small towns nearby such as Lincoln or Plymouth and you have a sunny afternoon to kill, do some winery exploring.  The scenery is excellent and most of the wineries do not charge for tasting.

Waiting

It's Tuesday morning June 5th, 2012.  I'm in Les Schwab Tire in South Lake Tahoe, waiting while they do a brake check on the truck.  It pulses when the brakes are applied, especially when towing the trailer.  Warped front rotors, no doubt.  They are checking and will give me an estimate.  And so I wait.  But at least they have WiFi here so I can catch up on the blog.
  

    Yesterday was a Tahoe weather day.  Because of it's location and elevation, the weather here is quite unpredictable and yesterday was no exception.  We have been told that it can snow here any day of the year and yesterday was one of those days.  R and I took Mollie for a short walk around the Tallac site about Noon and the weather was already starting to change.  Clouds and sprinkles warned of things to come.  A look across the lake showed the future.

 By  1:30 it was raining and by 3:30 the rain turned to snow.  Big fluffly flakes.  The drive to the restaurant for our Monday night dinner was in a snow storm.  By the time we left the restaurant the parcipitation had ceased and blue sky was showing.


  This morning's walk presented several snowy vistas that will not last more than a day or two.

The Lunar Traverse May 2012

   We were in the path.  It was a sunny evening.  The volunteer group was having a BBQ to celebrate, the end of teh day, the getting together of friends, and the lunar event. 
   There had been some preparation.  A hole had been cut in a piece of cardboard by one volunteer.  Another had a glass from a welding mask.  John had four pairs of dark glasses that he stacked for his viewing arrangement.  They all worked to some degree.  The cardboard was the best to get a photo of (as you can see).-->>>

  The welding glass provided a great view through the eye, but the my camera was not able to see the actual event.                             ----->>>



 I am glad we were there to see it.  I'm the group got together.

Peaches

Dogs.

  They are funny little creatures who love you unconditionally.  They are happy to see you if you leave them for 10 days or 10 minutes.  The wagging is the same.  If you have been angry with them previously or petted them recently doesn't seem to make a difference either.  It's still,  " Hi Dad.  Boy am I glad that you are home.  Can we go for a walk?  Please?! Please!?

   Today we take Peaches to the vet for the last time.  She is nearly 13 and has not been good for several days and R and I made the determination that it is time.  She and her sister, Mollie, have been part of our lives for 9 years.  When we got them, they had been in a home where there were no rules, no boundaries.  They were a handful and a half.  "What had we gotten ourselves into?"  But we worked hard and things have worked out.  The two of them helped smooth out Winnie's transition into our family routine. 

   Mollie is going with us to the vet.  I think she needs to be there today to say good-bye to her half sister.   I am not sure how she will react to the whole thing.  I am not sure how I will react either.  It will be hard. 

Tuesday, the day after.

   We made the hard decision.  We said good-bye.  The doctor told us what was going to happen.  We could stay for the whole event of leave at any time.  We stayed while the doctor gave the shot and she slowly fell asleep in my arms.  Her breathing was labored even then.  I handed her to the assistant and we slowly walked out to the truck.   Good-bye sweet girl.  You loved to be held.  I will miss holding you in my arms.

Ancestors

Ancestors.com

  I saw an advertisement for Ancestors.com the other day and it got me to thinking.  I wonder about the average age of the customers using this service.  I bet it is older folks rather than younger ones.  It seems that young people do not have an interest in their ancestors. 

   I know that my children could care less about their heritage.  I doubt that they could tell me anything about their ancestors; what their grandfathers occupations were, or where their parents were born or grew up, much less where their grandparents.   It is not an important part of their lives.  I guess part of that is my fault for not telling them enough stories and not living closer to family all these years.

     Both my wife and I come from the Midwest.  There are sisters and brothers and cousins that live and work back there, but contacts with them are maintained by us.  The contact and communication ties  to that area and the relatives that live there will die when we do.   It is a sad commentary on our society today.   In this day of instant messaging and tweeting and such, the old values are fading away.