Old Man Tree

This is Old Man Tree.  He has stood in this spot on this ranch for many, many years.  He watches over things around here.  He has seen and heard many things.  He ain't talking, though.

New Moon

Have you seen it yet?  I went with a group of girlfriends (we all went to see Twilight together, too) last Tuesday night.  We waited for the craziness to die down a little bit--as in people camping out in line.  I mean, ya, I like the Twilight series but it is too damn cold to stand in line for 24+ hours to see a movie. 

I was a little surprised that the movie had just come out the Friday before we saw it and by Tuesday the theater was actually pretty empty.  I was a little nervous that maybe that was saying something about the movie and that we were about to be really disappointed.  The first movie was okay.  It was neat to see the book brought to life--but it could have been done so much better.  I was pretty happy when I heard that there was going to be a new director for New Moon--and then when I found out that it would be the guy who directed The Golden Compass I was stoked. 

I don't want to give anything away for those who have not seen the movie--or read the books--but I have to say, New Moon was head and shoulders above Twilight.  And, I am and always have been Team Edward...but...damn!  Jacob is HOOOOTTTTT!  (and yes, I know I am being very cougarish right now)  I was finding it very hard not to root for him during the movie. 

Have you seen the movie yet?  Well, what are you waiting for...go on...you know you want to...LOL

A Tour of The Pioneer Yosemite History Center at Wawona Part 1

Intro

On Saturday the whole family (all 11 of us) packed up in two cars and headed up to Yosemite National Park to check out the History Center at Wawona.

"The Pioneer Yosemite History Center consists of historic structures from different eras of Yosemite history.  Originally constructed in different locations in Yosemite, they were moved to Wawona in the late 1950's and early 1960's.  As you walk among them, it is important to remember that the area does not represent a village.  Instead, each building represents a different chapter in the Yosemite story."  --from Pioneer Yosemite History Center Online

Up until about 1955, the historic preservation of structures was considered a low priority for the National Park Service while the preservation of natural scenery was paramount.   During this time many important historical structures met an untimely end at the hands of the Park Service and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)--among these were John Muir's cabin and the oldest building in the park, Cedar Cottage which was built in 1859.  Thankfully in the late 1950's, in large part because of the extensive efforts of Park Naturalist Douglass H. Hubbard, this way of thinking began to change and several historical buildings and structures were restored and saved for the benefit of future generations.

The Covered Bridge

The first of these structures that we would encounter on our tour was to be a very old, very nostalgic wooden covered bridge that has spanned the South Fork of the Merced River at Wawona for over 152 years.  All Yosemite bound traffic through this area--whether on foot, on horseback, by stage, or by car--would pass over this bridge until 1931 when a new modern concrete bridge on the new Wawona road would replace it.

When it was first built in 1857 by settler Galen Clark, it was a "simple, open structure" (as seen below). Mr. Clark established a tourist facility here known as Clark's Station and was one of the area's first conservationists and innkeepers.

The Original Wawona Bridge — Photo Taken in 1866

In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation that created the Yosemite Grant to protect the Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias.  Galen Clark was appointed the Guardian of the Grant.

In 1875, two brothers from Vermont purchased Clark's land along the river and opened the road from Wawona to the Yosemite Valley.  It would be these two gentlemen  who would go on to cover the bridge in 1879.  It was far easier to re shingle the roof of a covered bridge than to replace the large wood truss beams and other major supporting structures that might be damaged from sun and weather.

This was an amazing structure to walk through.  The history of the place is staggering.  It is almost as if you can hear the clop of the horses hooves and the squeak of the wagon wheels moving along with you.  When you look overhead at the hand-hewn beams you marvel at the craftsmen who used only ax and adze to shape these huge logs.  It is almost as if you leave one time zone as you enter into this bridge and come out into another time--very long ago--when you come out on the other side.

 A granddaughter of one of the brothers claims that it was not only for practical reasons that the bridge was covered but also because the Washburn brothers were a little bit homesick for New England.

The bridge was almost destroyed by a flood in 1955.   It's authentic and painstaking restoration by master craftsman and builder, Glenn Gordo, in 1957 was the first step in the creation of the Pioneer Yosemite History Center.

Belated Thanksgiving Wishes

Yes, I know....I am waaayyyy late with my Thanksgiving well wishes.  I had totally planned to send my post thru on Wednesday before we left for the ranch but it turns out that getting my family roused and dressed and packed and the animals all fed and watered and cared for before we left town took waaaayyyy longer than I had anticipated.  We were actually two hours late getting out of town as it was.  And then to top it off, the internet at the ranch is dial up and sparse at best and I just did not get an extra 7 hours or longer that it would have taken to try to upload anything of value to my blog.  So, I apologize for the lateness but please know that I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful, delicious, and safe Thanksgiving holiday....pictures of our time at the ranch coming soon.

Scary Moments Because My Hubby is Crazy!

Christmas is my hubby's favorite holiday of the year.  I mean, I enjoy it, too, but he is a little bit fanatical.  One of his ways of displaying this fanaticism is by trying to duplicate Chevy Chase's exterior illumination technique in the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  Let me put it this way...I am usually quite terrified to open December's electric bill--and for good reason.  But, this is not the worst part.

Our home is a two story, Swiss chalet looking behemoth with a VERY high, VERY slanted roof.  This is a picture of it from the road out front:

You see the top of the roof line, above those three triangular windows?  Well, my hubby likes to illuminate that roof line.  And, since a bad knee makes it difficult for him to accomplish this task himself, he has taken to bribing my stepsons to do the job.  The bribes usually include me cooking them dinner and a few greenbacks exchanging hands.  Hey, they are starving college students.  So this is the site that I came home to the other day:

 

Normally, I stay in the house while all this is going on because I simply do not have the nerves required to watch.  Let me tell you, I almost had a heart attack!!  The pictures are not the best as hubby took them himself but they do portray the hair raising aspects in good order.

So, what did I do?  I said a quick prayer to whatever higher forces happened to be listening, then I went inside to start dinner and pour myself a little liquid courage in the form of some Southern Comfort and Coke.  All better...

A Little Bit of A Review

So, we saw the movie, The Fourth Kind, on Friday night.  I had actually called the theater on Thursday to make sure of the show time as my sister was driving in to town on Friday afternoon.  What the recording did not tell me was that the movie was leaving on Friday.  So, we walked right up to the booth to buy our tickets and the little gal behind the glass looked at us kind of funny and said, "ya, that movie isn't playing anymore."

And, it wasn't playing anywhere within an hours drive from us.  So we did what any crazy people with limited gas buying resources would do.  We drove an hour all the way to Santa Maria to see this movie playing at 10:10 pm.  It was crazy, but it was also fun.  My little sister and I had time to really talk and laugh without anyone else around (kiddos or husband) and it was really great.  We didn't get home till around 1 a.m.  She is a pretty swell gal, my sister.  I really, really enjoy spending time with her and wish that we lived closer to each other.

The movie was actually pretty good--a good story and scary.  And if it was just being marketed as a simple work of fiction it would have both my thumbs up.  But, I did not like how Hollywood is trying to make people believe that this movie is a true story--that some of the footage in the movie is actually real footage taken by Dr. Abigail Tylor during the regressions of some of her patients.  It is my belief--and many others that this movie is nothing more than a big fat farce in the fashion of The Blair Witch Project.

I am not sure why, but for some reason this really bothers me.  I mean, I don't have any idea  if the human race is alone or not.  I have never seen an alien--well, that I know about--and I have never seen a UFO, but I try to keep an open mind.  After all, this is a wild and amazing world we live in.

I just know that there are going to be a whole lot of people who are going to take this movie at face value   and the aliens in this movie are depicted as something approaching demons or evil incarnate--even speaking in an ancient language in very scary voices and stealing our children away from us while all we can do is look on in terror.  I just did not care for the message depicted in this movie.

It's weird, I know, why the heck did this movie affect me this way?  I can't answer that.  I just know that it did.  It actually made me angry.  Weird...that's all I can say.  It's just the way I feel.

What did you think of it?

The Fourth Kind

My daughter and my sister are dragging me to see this movie in an hour or so...I say dragging me, but I really do want to see it...I'm just...well...I'm scared...okay?  LOL.  I'll let you know what I think of it tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a safe and happy evening and although I adore owls there better not be any looking in my windows tonight...just saying.