Plow Works

Short clip about the history of the inventor of the Oliver Chilled Plow Works
Click on the photo to see the name . Click on the link to hear a short story about the inventor
http://www.wfyi.org/wvx/ai_1306.3.wvx

Quartz Crystal

Click on photo for larger size

A quartz crystal begins with a seed of one silicon atom and two oxygen atoms. With the right amount of heat and pressure this seed starts to grow by replicating itself in a network structure, known as a crystal lattice. Over time a piece of pure transparent quartz crystal is formed. In its natural state the crystal is angular in shape, always with six sides, tapering at the end to a point or termination. The tapered sides are known as facets or faces. One of these facets or faces will be larger than the others and is referred to as the main facet or face.

I took this photo at Peterson's Rock Garden this last summer with the grandkids.

Among the Lily Pads

Click on photo to see among the Lily pads.
Well it is time to get ready for our winter trip to Quartzite Az. Got the motor home all gased up tune of a $119.00. And oil change. still had two hundred miles before it needed it. Hard to believe we traveled almost 3,000 miles in Sept/Oct
So now i have to stock the fridge and the cupboards, but not with anything that will freeze yet, that will go in just before we leave. Which will be next friday or before, going to have to watch the weather report. Nevada is not keen on the idea of having to put chains on the motor home, which we have never done before. So far we have been lucky in not getting in much snow. We will be there a month. Looking forward to going. Sure hope its going to be warmer than last yr.

Tipis, Teepees or Tepees?

Although there are several spellings for tipi (also teepee and tepee), to the Native American of the Great Plains it meant one thing...home. In fact, tipi is the Lakota word for "living in."

The first nomadic peoples were drawn out onto the plains by the plentiful supply of the game animals. Their lifestyle was shaped by the constant movement and migration of the great herds of bison. They needed a sturdy dwelling that could stand up against the several prairie winds and yet could be dismantled at a moment’s notice to follow the drifting herds. They invented the tepee. Before the horse, the tepee was smaller than the sizes we are familiar with form historical photos. The smaller sizes can be attributed to the only available draft animal, the domestic dog. The Plains People refer to this period in the history as the “dog days”. The dog was used to carry all camp items including the tepee. The tepees used during this period was likely to be 12-14 in diameter. The dogs not only carried the cover the dragged the poles along as well.

With the coming of the horse, everything changed for tribes of the great plains. They were no longer limited to small swellings. They lodges grew in size, housing their families in more spacious quarters. Most commonly, tepees were made from the tanned hides of bison and sometimes elk. Young female cow buffalo were preferred. Their hides were not as thick as the larger bulls and older animals. The chore of building a tepee was no small task and was usually taken on by several women skilled at tanning

and constructing the dwelling. The entire structure was derived from the animal from which the skin provided the cover. Tendons were stripped for the thread. Bones were formed into the scrapers to flesh the hides and needles to sew it all together.

http://epa.gov/greatlakes/native/2001/diagram.pdf

Sky Watch Friday Sunrise

I took this on 12-13-07This last one i took this afternoon. There was an accident somewhere so there is lots of cars . Also do you see my light in the photo.I took the photo from my kitchen.

Dream Catcher

Dream Catchers

Dream catchers are one of the most fascinating traditions of Native Americans. The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect the sleeping individual from negative dreams, while letting positive dreams through. The positive dreams would slip through the hole in the center of the dream catcher, and glide down the feathers to the sleeping person below. The negative dreams would get caught up in the web, and expire when the first rays of the sun struck them.

The dream catcher has been a part of Native American culture for generations. One element of Native American dream catcher relates to the tradition of the hoop. Some Native Americans of North America held the hoop in the highest esteem, because it symbolized strength and unity. Many symbols started around the hoop, and one of these symbols is the dream catcher.

Dream Catcher Lore:

Native Americans believe that the night air is filled with dreams both good and bad. The dream catcher when hung over or near your bed swinging freely in the air, catches the dreams as they flow by. The good dreams know how to pass through the dream catcher, slipping through the outer holes and slide down the soft feathers so gently that many times the sleeper does not know that he/she is dreaming. The bad dreams not knowing the way get tangled in the dream catcher and perish with the first light of the new day.

Winter Wonder Land ABC Wed is W

La Pine Wonderland

Here is the last photo of our trip from last weekend ending at Sunriver Resort
this is the there roundabout. They just added this as i didn't know it was there, been awhile since we went that way. Well anyway i think the waterfall is all frozen over, but what a beautiful site it makes.

We decided to take a drive to our friends home in La Pine Ore
She wanted me to help her download a photo program. It is about 39 miles from Bend Oregon
It was such a nice drive to see all the snow. We have had snow, but only skiffs of it, so not sure if we will have any the way its been going. They keep saying we are getting it but nothing so far.
Would be nice to have snow for Christmas. But then it can go away.

Besson Day Park

I took the next two photos because it looked like the water was coming right out of the ground

Sky Watch Friday

This is what we saw today heading to Walmart which is 15 miles from Bend

This is what it looked like on the way home going back to Bend. Didn't know which photo to use.

Benham Falls

First off i would like to thank you all for the kind words of the loss of loved. It is never a good time to loose anyone, but seems more difficult this time of the yr. So again thank you.


Anyway here are those photos i promised from the continuation of our drive this past weekend.

Of the three major waterfalls on the Deschutes River near Bend, Benham Falls is the only one easily and readily visible to visitors. Here, the Deschutes stairsteps over a series of small ledges as it flumes through a gorge. Unlike nearby Lava Island and Dillon Falls, Benham Falls isn’t surrounded by lava flows, but rather long-needle pine forest, which give the scene a much different feel than it’s downstream siblings. Benham has been cited as being the largest waterfall on the Deschutes River – a claim that may or may not stand up to testing. The vertical drop of the main falls here is likely in the vicinity of 20 feet, with what appeared to be either another significant drop a short distance downstream, or, like Dillon Falls, a long string of violent rapids following the falls.


It is so nice to have a nice walk way .
This winds down to a look out were you can see the falls. As you can see a bit of snow on the walk way.
We then went back on the trail and went to the left were we were able to get different view of the falls.I think we will have to come back here in the summer time when it is a bit warmer. It was not that bad as far as being too cold.. But when the wind came up it felt like it was minus degrees.

Our next stop will be Besson A day use area that is also very nice. that will be my next post.

Vaccum Cleaner

Vacuum, means works.

Tues Post is a sad post

Sorry for not continuing the rest of the Benham Falls trip as promised today, but Husbands Sister passed away this afternoon. She had a stroke several weeks ago and then a heart attack. She was brain dead, so they turned off all life support last Friday.
Will continue tomorrow with ABC Wed.

Drake Park & beyond continued

Well it took a while to figure out how to do the slide show, Thanks all for posting on it. really had not intended to use it on there but just wanted to check it out. Actually wanted to do the slide on the side bar. But havn't figured out how to do it yet. Any suggestions?

To continue the journey we drove a bit farther to Big Eddy Aspan. I think they call it that because they have a lot of Aspan trees there, also another place for rafting. Lots of that around here as well.

Click on photos for larger size


Love the ice forming on the rocks Our next stop is the Slough.Don't really no why they call it that, but they have a boat ramp, one thing about this part of the country we have lots of lakes and fishing places.
We continue on to Benham Falls. Which will continue tomorrow