Odds 'n Year Ends

Answering all the comments posted daily to this blog is stealing too much time and creative energy from my annual artistic extravaganza - the Mohr Xmas Newsletter and Advice Column. So the blog is taking a vacation - I'm emailing it to Bermuda, where it can sit comfortably in a speedo laptop under a beach umbrella and sip virtual Coronas (no lime, please - this is a manly, not wimp/yuppie, blog). It will return when there are some new significant wanderings to report. However, I'll have it summarize the last month or so before it packs to go....

The Sedona adventure was completed satisfactorily, albeit without much in the way of bird photo ops - the raptors were yet to arrive. A couple of weeks after our return, we took off for Glenview, IL for Thanksgiving with the (old) Glenview Mohrs, the (new) Glenview Mohrs, and the rest of the kids, kids-in-law, and grandkids (of which there are two more than last thanksgiving). I'll probably post a few pictures, eventually, but most will be repeats of what superblogger Cori has already put in hers - see the pictures at http://midwestmohrs.blogspot.com/ and in her Picasa photo album.
For the third year, the winter drive to/from Chicago met with mild weather, which means either we're very lucky or Al Gore understated the situation. We stopped on the way there to visit with some UW friends - Mike and Paula Bunch in Prarie du Sac WI - and with sister-in-law Joyce Powell in Iowa on the way back.

Well, gotta get the blog emailed on the next packet to Bermuda, so enjoy the holidays, and don't put lime wedges in your Coronas.

Apologies and correction

Obviously, the aforementioned article is from New Yorker magazine, not the NY times, as stated. I regret the confusion that this unforgiveable error has certainly caused, especially in Uruguay and Sedona.

Fanaticism in the Art of Brewing

This post has nothing to do with Chuck, Nancy, Sedona, or Uruguay - much to your collective relief. It has to do with Dogfish Head brewing - an outfit in Delaware. Check out the NY Times story:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_bilger

An outfit like this deserves customers - gonna try it the next chance I get.

Lunatic or experimental genius? You decide......

Sedona - Our Correspondent's Report

October 31 - Rolled into town - the streets were filled with eerily-garbed residents. November 1 - Relieved to find most of wierdos (adult and child) were simply in halloween costume. Concern grows about the remainder. Must be missing the vortices, as have experienced no out-of-body travel, feelings of overflowing spiritual energy, or channeling of long-dead brewmeisters. Pictures added to "Zion" and "Sedona" folders - Sedona rocks are attractive, but southwest Zion's are better. Many interesting State and Fed parks and monuments around Sedona (and Flagstaff), mostly containing ruins of the dwellings of the Sinagua ("no water") people, so-called, evidentally, because they preferred their single malt neat. So far, have looked at Tuzigoot, Wupatki, Montezuma's Castle (and Well), and Sunset Crater National Monuments, plus a couple of local State parks. More to report later.

Another contest to get your competetive juices churning!

In retrospect, my last contest was a bit too easy (taking nothing away from Bonnie's insightful solution to the conondrum). So this one will be a bit harder, requiring more thought and, mostly, creative activity than the last. Here goes - pay attention to the rules and remember that other active minds are, at this moment, conniving ways to win and deprive you of the valuable prize....

Sure, I've gotten hits from Portugal and, even weirder, Kansas, but my blogscope is severely limited it seems, being clustered mostly about 45 North latitude. This must expand, if my wit and prose are to receive the international acclaim that they merit. So, today's secret word is "Uruguay". I want a bloghit from Uruguay! I don't want to start an internet stampede in Uruguay, so (and here's Rule #1) NO ONE FROM URUGUAY IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE PRIZE - this contest is limited to my friends and relatives residing in the US or its territories. I can hear the Southern Hemisphere groans up here in Idaho! The winner will be the person (outside of Uruguay, as specified above) that persuaded the now-enlightened Uruguayan to look at my blog and document his (temporary) interest in this blog with a blog comment naming the "Qualifying Person" who got him to peek and comment (Yep, that's Rule #2). I am adding a Rule #3, which I refer to as the "Jeff Rule": The blog comment must be believeable, not written in phony Uruguayan dialect and claiming to be from from a displaced Uruguayan residing temporarily outside Uruguay, like, for instance, in Glenview, IL.

I will be the sole judge of what constitutes a believeable comment and exactly who qualifies as a "friend or relative" (but I'm not very discriminating about either category).

The prize is an autographed 8x10 copy of my favorite bird photo - a Wandering Tattler inspecting a tide pool at Punalu'u beach - attractively matted and framed in fine claro walnut. If the prize can be hand delivered, I'll toss in mounting in the frame with non-glare glass. If it must be shipped, the winner buys the glass and does (or buys) the assembly.

OK, get crackin' - the clock's ticking.

Chuck

Response to Blogbitchers

Apparently, there is a blogfrequency standard that I am not meeting (hear that, Bonnie?). OK, this is a NEW POST, so listen up! Yesterday I hauled trash to the dump, string-trimmed the irises and some other silly flower remnants into oblivion, and started making picture frames. Today I will purchase some walnut for more frames, pick up the glass I ordered (for the frames), and wash and clean-up the truck for the upcoming trip to Sedona. Oh, and have Jiffy Lube change the truck oil. Time permitting, I will continue making more frames. At approximately 7:00PM (MDST) I will grill cube steakes and soon after that Mom and I will dine upon them, perhaps accompanied by a robust yet sprightly cheap wine. Sometime within the next couple of days, we will gather our crystals, pyramids, and magic healing stones in preparation for our pilgrimage to the power vortices of Sedona (New Age capitol of the known universe). Gotta remember to get in a couple of hours of mantra practice and wash the meditation rugs.

Jeff wanted something interesting, so here goes: When Sedona was incorporated, the new postmaster sent a couple of candidate names for the community to the US Post Office for official acceptance. The response was that the names were too long to fit on a cancellation stamp, so send something shorter (Maybe "Newageflakemecca" was one of the original choices). The postmaster's wife's name was "Sedona"...... and now you know the rest of the story!

So stay tuned for the next installment, in which will be related the saga "Chuck and Nancy go to Sedona", complete with aura photos, tarot reading results, and, hopefully, a few bird pictures (The Verde River valley hosts many eagles and other raptors during the winter, and Oak Creek is also a neat birding location).

I hope this satisfies you impatient, whining blogstalkers!

SW Yellowstone Hiking - Part Deux

The 3-day hike with Emily along Boundary Creek in the Southwest corner of Yellowstone was quite enjoyable – excellent weather (mid-70’s in afternoon, mid-30’s at night), the start of brilliant fall colors, and OK fishing (not as good as last month's wander, but OK). Wildlife was sparse – heard some coyotes howling and saw a big bull elk along the Bechler River while walking out. The elk are not yet bugling, at least in the SW corner of the park. Unlike last month’s hike in the same area, no fly rods were trashed and no tires blown-out. Check out the added pictures.

The traditional follow-on cheeseburgers (at Big Jud’s in Ashton) exceeded all expectations!