photos – Page 3 – A Jaunty Little Blog

February 10, 2009June 13, 2018

Precipitation Sequestering – Day Three

Friends,

The weather swells on TV mentioned a little something about how something might’ve happened in my little burg over the last couple days. One of them even mentioned there was quite a bit of snow. Amazing.

There was even something about the greatest amount of snowfall in decades up here. I’ve been able to measure 22 inches, which is higher than I’ve ever seen. Granted, I haven’t lived here long, but the consensus in town is that this season has been extraordinary. Oh, there have been road closures too. Here are a couple posts from a paper of record:

A slide occurred today near Mountain Center, leaving rocks on Route 74, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The slide was reported at 7:55 a.m. [February 9th] in the area of Route 74 near Strawberry Creek Bridge, according to the CHP.

But this is really fun for everybody as well…

All of Highway 74 between Hemet and Palm Desert is closed due to icy roads and heavy snow falling on the Palms to Pines Highway to Pinyon and Idyllwild.
Highway 74 was closed at 1 p.m. until further notice, except to residents, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Several vehicles and big rigs have gotten stuck in snow banks and chain restrictions are in affect.
Highway 243 is also closed near Poppett Flats from Banning to Idyllwild for all northbound traffic due to heavy snowfall and snow removal.

For the uninitiated, that’s all roads in (and out, let’s not forget that. -ed) to this one-horse town. By the way, a horse would be handy right about now.

I threw a set of chains on the Jeep Grand Livingroom and headed into town yesterday and while stopped to tension those chains, I ran into a neighbor I’d never met before. She was walking her dog out in the slop and ice and we started chatting about the snowplow issue. “My street hasn’t been plowed,” she started. “The funny thing is I just gave my Isuzu Rodeo to my son and bought a Mini Cooper. It’s now covered in snow in my driveway. Do you think I should have the guys from AAA come up and put the chains on? It’s pretty expensive…” Clearly desperate measures must be taken, so I asked, “Do you like soup?”

I think she’s gonna be stuck up here for a while, but what a place to be stuck in.

– bob

February 8, 2009June 13, 2018

Precipitation Sequestering – Day Two

Friends,

Well, well, well. I told people that the temperatures should surely rise today. Certainly the weather sites must be correct (why’s that? what has changed? -ed). But no.

We received another four or five inches of snow overnight and throughout the day today. It’s pretty, and also pretty chilly. Do we need this? Absolutely!

At least we’ll have water all Summer.

– bob

P.S. Fog has plopped down in the twenty minutes since these pictures were shot. The local snow plow has also been by, trying to build an icy wall at the end of my driveway. I and the Jeepster disagree with this idea. To relax, I chant “4-low, 4-low, 4-low, 4-low…”.

January 7, 2009June 13, 2018

This Amazing Year! – Not Any Mutt

Friends,

I’ve been telling people that I’ve adopted a little black dog. When they ask “Oh, what kind?” I’ve had to sputter out something about a mix of something and something else, the speculation ranging from Shelty to Bull Terrier (all absurd). Turns out she’s a member of a proud and weird breed called McNab (no, not that one).

Here’s a little bit from the Dogster site (Who knew? Borrowing from the Friendster concept, can you “dog” somebody? If not, why not? Discuss.):

McNab History:
It is said that Alexander McNab, a rancher who relocated to California from Scotland in the mid-19th century, developed the McNab by crossing his Scottish-born Border Collie with various shepherd dogs.

That’s right, the breed is California-native! That certainly counts for something, although it must be noted that she’s not an ultra-liberal as many might suspect. Nor is her collar made of hemp. More…

The Look of the McNab:
The McNab is an athletic, small or medium-sized dog with a short, black coat that usually has white markings on the muzzle, chest, feet and tip of the tail. Its distinctive, triangular ears are either pricked or flop over. Its tail can be naturally bobbed or long. The McNab is also distinguished by its cat-like feet.

People who know McNab Shepherds, McNab Cattle Dogs or whatever you might wish to call them can be a little fanatical. A little more background on Mendocino’s own Gregor Mendel from Hawk Stock Dogs…

Alexander McNab and his family left Glasgow, Scotland in 1868, came to the United States of America, and settled in California on the ranch known as the McNab ranch in Mendocino, California south of Ukiah. They brought one dog with them, but it died soon after they arrived. In 1885, Mr. McNab returned to the Grampian Hills in Scotland for the sole purpose of getting some of the dogs he was used to working (with) [sic]. He purchased two dogs, Peter and Fred. He brought Peter back with him. Fred was left in Scotland to have his training completed, and was sent to America later. Fred was strictly a lead dog; Peter worked both lead and drive. These two dogs were bred to select shepherd females of Spanish origin which were brought to this country by the Basque sheep herders, and that cross was called McNab shepherds because Mr. McNab perfected this breed of stock dogs which would head or heel.

So, there you have it. Peter and Fred went catting about and from them, eventually, came this happy and well-adjusted girly dog.

Scots hooked up with Spanish hotties that can head or heel? I’ve just made it icky, haven’t I? Sorry about that.

There you have it, more than you ever wanted to know about the McNab Shepherd. It is an amazing year so far, isn’t it?

Your pal,

– bob

BIZARRE FOOTNOTE: If you hate yourself, have unlimited bandwidth and feel that you don’t quite have enough blood flooding out of your eye sockets, please feel free to take a look at Donovan McNabb’s personal website. Horrible Flash movies combined with Donovan the businessman and purple copy detailing how super and also ultra-great Mr. McNabb is. After viewing this exploration of one man’s hatred of the web and your eyes, please take the lesson to heart and remove all of the Flash nonsense from your own website. Thank you.

December 19, 2008June 13, 2018

50-Year Storm Alert! – Icicle Update

Friends,

I’m just gonna post the pictures. With temperatures in the teens overnight and the insulation in my roof ranging from poor to none, there’s enough runoff to build some monstrous icicles. Take that crappy Chinese Christmas ornament companies!

More this afternoon (if I don’t kill myself putting tire chains on the Jeep first)…

– bob

December 18, 2008June 13, 2018

50-Year Storm Alert! – Command Performance Edition

Friends,

Our most frequent commenter, Mrs. Anonymous, wants more pictures and that’s what she’ll get! I hope she was talking about snow pictures…

This is to the left of the frame you see in the webcam. That pile of snow in the foreground was pushed there by the local snowplow operators. It looks to be almost four feet high right now. Thanks CalTrans!

I see this view out my living room window and the icicles sprung up (down) overnight. Charming!

This view is a little to the left of the one above it. If you could remove all of that pesky snow from the tree, you’d see Lily Rock along the ridge.

And this is the rest of the oak tree you see in the upper right of the webcam frame.

The roads out of here are shut down today, so I’m trying to get some work done with the power going off periodically and a dead or dying phone line. Even the wireless router has decided to stop working! It’s like living out on the frontier!

Yeah, right.

– bob

December 17, 2008June 13, 2018

50-Year Storm Alert! – The Snowplow Diaries

Friends,

The storm of the half-century has certainly delivered. There should be almost two feet of snow accumulation by the time this front has moved through. I’m staying put at my Secret Alpine Laboratory™, though. I don’t need the grief of, you know, crashing while trying to get off the hill.

It was pretty nice up here yesterday, blue skies and pretty crisp.

It’s snowing right now and the puppy dog is not at all happy.

Not as happy as she was dining on yellow snow yesterday. Geez.

– bob

December 8, 2008June 13, 2018

Time For Fun – Caption Contest!

Howdy Jeepers,

I’ve been traipsing about again in the Life Magazine photo archive on the Googles and stumbled on a series of shots of a Jeep trip taken some time in the 50s. Fun? Are you kidding?

Apparently, somebody up ahead has broken down and held up the entire line. The yahoos who aren’t staying on the trail (Tread Lightly, you bastards) seem confused. Lots of cowboy hats are in evidence, but strangely, no hoods are up. Are these really Jeeps?

Your captions are welcome in the comments. The best comment will win a cabinet-level position in the Obama administration.

Your pal,

bob

UPDATE: MSNBC’s First Read blog notes this morning that Agriculture, Education, Energy, HHS, HUD, Labor and Transportation are still vacant, so please also list which department you’d like to run with your photo caption. Thanks!

November 20, 2008June 13, 2018

Great American Remodel – Door To Nowhere

Friends,

You remember this, don’t you?

Now it looks like this…

More paneling. You’ve gotta love that, don’t you? Maybe not. I had a big pile of shiplap style, so I used that. What’s shiplap? This.

Naturally, I ran out well before I was done and it wouldn’t be easy to get more. Not from the locals anyway. I went to the hardware store and the proprietor said this:

“Shiplap? We don’t carry that. That’s flatlander wood. We only have tongue and groove. That’s what we use up here.

I can think of other things to be a bigot about. Superman vs. Batman. Regular Oreos vs. Double-Stuf. But millwork? Hill people versus those “down below?” What else might they do down there? Who can say!

I’ve gotta look into this. I think I’ve hit a nerve…

– bob

November 19, 2008June 13, 2018

Images From The Life Magazine Archives

Now this is pretty swell. Google is hosting the Life Magazine photo archives for all to see. Do a search for Idyllwild and you get a series of Alfred Eisenstaedt (!) shots from 1959 (!!) taken in and around the former Isomata (which you may know as Idyllwild Arts) including this one of Ansel Adams (!!!).

I have two favorites though. First this one that must be shot on the shores of Lake Hemet (does anybody know for sure?).

But this one may be the best of the bunch (as far as I’m concerned). After all, it’s what we do in the mountains, isn’t it? We drag out the typewriter, and have a smoke while reading a book in the weed patch surrounding the cabin. What, as they say, could possibly go wrong?
Oh, right…

But anyway, click on either of the photos here to go back to the archive. Do it when you have a lot of time to spare though. It’s real easy to lose a day spelunking around in there.

– bob

(Thanks, Daring Fireball!)

November 10, 2008June 13, 2018

An Open Letter To The Idyllwild Weather Clam

Madam,

Boy, were you wrong. Very, not kidding wrong. Let’s look at today’s prognostication:

Sure, I knew it was going to be cold today. I’d started working on replacing the Door To Nowhere™ with a solid, insulated wall. The job yesterday started slowly…

I stripped the panelling and pulled out the insulation to bear witness to the horrors that lie underneath. Essentially, the kooks who put that room together couldn’t afford a whole lot of boards over eight feet long.

No big deal, they just hold up the roof. Then there’s this box that had no purpose that I could discern.

What’s it for? Ah, it’s used in lieu of a post to hold up those short boards above it. Very clever.

So things were going okay. The outside bits of panelling came off to reveal more hijinks, so I knocked off for the night. Lola seemed pleased with the quiet…

So I took the rest of the day off to let my back heal. Sunday should be just fine, I’ve been assured of the by the illustrious, fabled, and nearly perfect Idyllwild Weather Clam I thought. This is what I get for thinking.

It was damp overnight, but nothing to worry about. Foggy and cold I can deal with, so I did. The crazy wall came out leaving a giant hole in the house…

Then the hail came. A big sack of not good. This is gonna put a crimp in my plans.

– bob

November 6, 2008June 13, 2018

The Sunrise Series Continues

This morning’s sunrise was pretty dramatic and the camera had a hard time capturing it. No Photoshop tricks, just a little white balance correction…

I’m really having a good time with this and I hope you like these shots too.

– bob

November 4, 2008June 13, 2018

Jaunty Election Central – A New Day In America

At least the sun still came up this morning. That’s something, isn’t it?

…and you were worried.

– bob

October 10, 2008June 13, 2018

Special Friday Webcam Feature!

Friends,

I know I’m boring you to tears with discussion of the dog fights at my house (you’re no michael vick. – ed True. I don’t even have a teevee mom to offer my coworkers soup.) so I’ve added a camera to take interior shots of the Lodge.

Maybe something exciting will happen! The chances are fairly low though since it snaps a photo every twenty minutes, it’s unlikely there’ll be any action to see.

But hey, it could happen. (what if something does happen? what’s the point? – ed Blackmail, of course.)

– bob

UPDATE: I deleted the picture link in this post because it was “live +/- 10 minutes” and causing confusion. Let’s face it, there’s enough to be confused about without that, don’t you think?

October 4, 2008June 13, 2018

Calm Down!

Nervous Nellies,

My vivacious writing partner has read the stories I’ve written here on the dog fights at the Lodge and reminded me of Rescue Remedy. It’s flowers, people! Okay, a little more than that, but a few drops in their water bowls means that everybody is much more relaxed. How relaxed? Mr. and Mrs. Goon took a nap after an hour or so. Smelly Lola has started to refrain from challenging Mr. Dog to whatever it is she’s challenging him to. Playtime? Fighting? Dominance? Who knows.

Speaking of calming, I had to pull over yesterday and take some shots of the sunrise. There’s a turnout on Highway 74 near a place called Royal Carrizo.

There are thumbnails here, but if you click on them you’ll see a full-sized image in another window. Those files are huge though, so a broadband connection would be a good idea here…

This one may be my favorite, but I’m a sucker for the shrubs in silhouette.

No more fighting, just a little growling now and again. I’ll take that.

Whew!

– bob

September 29, 2008June 13, 2018

Speed Fest!

Friends,

This is going to be a big photo blort, so pardon the lack of commentary. It’s been a long weekend, but I thought that the pictures needed to go up right now. By the way, you can click on each picture to see a larger version in a new window…

A bigger smile you’ll not easily see. What he needs is his very own helicopter. Thankfully, they have plenty at the newly christened Naval Base Coronado. I remember when it was North Island Naval Air Station. The link still shows up on the google, but it redirects a couple times now. Enough geekery. On to the real reason we went to Coronado…

Vintage auto racing on the airstrip. It was Fleet Week and each of the last seven years, there’s been a race out there at the air station. Big names show up…

That includes this guy, who tops off his radiator with bottled water. Fancy!

…and these ladies who dine while staring at the rear end of an MG. Charming!

…and this woman who spends her weekends beating up on the guys.

We didn’t watch too much racing because it was way too loud for a certain someone, despite the earplugs. Saturday was full of practice and qualifying anyway, so there wasn’t too much on the line. Lots to see though, and that turned out to be enough.

The big story today was also transportation related…

All three dogs are now at the Lodge. They didn’t hate each other during the drive, but they sure hate each other now and I’m not really sure how I’m going to handle it. More later (if I’m not mauled in my sleep).

Your pal,

bob