Favorite Thanksgiving Picture

No need to say more.


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Paddle harder before we sink.

Paddle harder before we sink.
Originally uploaded by P_Linehan.

This is my entry for this week's Photo Friday Challenge: Travel. I really like how they choose the themes for the challenges. They are interesting, but generic enough to be open for a lot of interpretation. It makes it more fun.

In this picture, they made it back in time and didn't go under. The Cardboard Canoe Race is a fun event put on by the School of Forest Resources at Penn State in the fall at the Stone Valley Recreation Area. This is the first time that a Mont Alto contingent competed. We will have to do it again next year!

Portland Oregon Area

I'm leaving for the airport in about an hour. We had time yesterday to take a quick car ride up the Columbia River and around Mount Hood then back to Portland. The top picture is the approach to Mount Hood from the North after climbing out of the gorge. The mountain is totally unexpected. It is all alone. It must have been an impressive volcano when erupting.
There are so many waterfalls along the Oregon side of the Columbia. This is a smaller one, Bridal Veil. You have to hike along a winding hill to reach it. The trail circles around, crosses a bridge and then you see it. It's really worth seeing.

Some day I hope to have time to come back and hike some of the trails. There is so much more to see.

New War and Peace

I have read the reviews of the new translation of War and Peace by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. I was planning to get around to reading it eventually. So, before leaving on a long airplane flight this past Tuesday I was browsing in a bookstore at the the airport and there it was. I couldn't resist the compulsion to get it.

This is a heavy book! It may not be the best for a flight. It is certainly great reading. I read War and Peace years ago. Now that I am older I am finding it even more interesting. The part where Prince Andrei says goodbye to his gruff old father, Prince Nilolai, certainly rings true. They don't say much, yet they understand each other completely. With the passing of my own father last year I very much get what Tolstoy was saying. I am looking forward to the adventure of this book.

New map stretching tool

Here is a link to a new mixed map of the Michaux State Forest around Mont Alto. This is a cool application that lets you stretch a map over the Yahoo imagery. It is also pretty easy to use. You upload the map image and identify two points on the map and imagery.

Mystery Flowers

In late August these mystery flowers appeared behind our house. This was an area near a lawn that had been under tree cover for many years. . It was then exposed to the sun after a white pine was destroyed by wind last fall and our landlord cleard out a few other trees. It looks like an amyrillis of some kind? It only lasted a few day before withering away. With luck, they will be back next year!

Vandalism

Someone committed this vandalism on my truck last weekend. There is nothing more cowardly than senseless destruction like this. There is a spree of vandalism going on in this part of Shippensburg. I hope it ends soon!