I've been thinking about change a great deal lately, as many things in my life have been in transition.  In just the past 2 years, the girl graduated from high school and went off to college, we moved (a total of about 50 feet, but it was still a move), and my work load has increased.

But, I think, the biggest change has been what I believe to be an instinctual need to travel.  To find new places, explore new things, see what I have never seen before.  Maybe it is instinctual, or maybe it is just because I am watching many of my friends retire and realize for the first time that I am running out of time.

Before you get the wrong idea, there is nothing wrong with me, well outside the things that have always been wrong with me, but no health issues, I still take no medications, my eyesight is fine over two feet away.  I'm fat and out of shape, but that can be fixed.

But I also know that I have limited time to do some of the things I have wanted to do.  Hike the Appalachian Trail, do a coast-to-coast bike ride, fish in Alaska, learn pottery, build another bike are all on my list.  I refuse to call it a "bucket list," but essentially that is what it is.

I also realized that in life I have collected a bunch of things.  Not things that mean things to me, or things that make me happy, or things that I use every day or every 6 months.  Just things.  Since the last move started, we walked though the house and put a piece of blue painter's tape on everything we thought we could part with.  We came up with enough to almost fill a one car garage.  All stuff that was not essential, not valued, and for the most part, not used.  With the exception of the treadmill, that is just worn out.  And every week we look around the house, and the garage, and find more things we can throw out or give away.

Those are some of the changes.  I look forward to more.  And as I change my approach to live to focus on experiences I want to have, I also look forward to the upcoming years, sometimes planning, but more often flying by the seat of my pants.

Garden Startin'

If it wasn't for the snow on the ground....

Gilmore Museum

Sometimes the best "treasures" are found off the beaten path.  That is truly the case with the Gilmore Car Museum.   Looking at the map, getting from here to there, I could not find a direct route.  Mostly back roads.  It would be a great trip by bike or car.

Gilmore Car Museum from air.  

The route from our house was very rural.  A couple of small towns,  corn and wheat, soybeans being picked by massive combines, lakes, rivers and very little traffic on some curvy sections that were fun to drive.  After about an hour and a half through some beautiful scenery, we were there.  An old farm transformed into an impressive museum consisting of new buildings and century-old barns.

We had wanted to go for a couple of years after hearing great things from friends.  Plus, being the day the Smithsonian calls "Museum Day Live" we had free admission.  We could have gone to any one of hundreds of participating museums across the country.  It is a great deal, and I look forward to it next year.

Happy New Year!

I have resolved not to make any New Years resolutions, but there are things I am planning.  In David Letterman style, here are the top ten:

10.  I promise not to laugh at people in the comment section of on line news and sports stories.  After reading a few of these every day, no wonder the world thinks Americans are idiots.

9.   I will change my diet so that I'm not eating crap all the time.

8.  I will start swimming again in the morning.  I also will not say anything so stupid as "so I can beat my child in a 50 yard race."  Part of my Christmas gifts was a pass to the pool.

7.  I will use the wisdom of the years.  (the quote on #8 is a good start on that one!)

6.  I will help Moose become better on the leash.  And more Frisbee for all!

5.  I will laugh more.

4.  I will not get stressed.  Well, maybe not as stressed.

3.  Nature calls.  As in wilderness.  So does camping.  

2.  I will ride my bike this year.  Really.  Maybe a couple of thousands of miles.

1.  DALMAC is back on the calendar.  That is why #2 is so important.

No big promises.  Nothing that I can't actually do.  So we will see how this goes.

The New Unbilicle

Three weeks ago, my 4-year-old LG phone finally decided that enough was enough it was time to enter cell phone Valhalla.  Over the preceding months the battery took longer and longer to charge, and about the first of May it started turning off on its own.  At first, the turn-offs were widely spaced.  At the end, they came one right after another, even in the middle of a call.

So I finally took the plunge and upgraded to an iPhone 4.  My preference was for a 4s, with double the memory and the ability to have Siri answer my questions, but the difference between 99 cents and 99 dollars won out.

Like a kid at Christmas, I had to play with it immediately.  All the great things of which it was capable, from becoming a compass, or a calculator, a real calendar that was easier to access and program than my old phone, not to mention all the fun and useful apps from geocaching to checking up on the girl's grades at school.  I can even watch live tv!

Over the years I have become much more attached to a cell phone.  I rationalized it was essential in case my car ever decided to quit in the middle of nowhere.   But I am never in the middle of nowhere anymore.  After we dumped the land line in the house, I rationalized that it was the only way someone could reach me in case of an emergency.  But when we only had a landline, yes I do remember those days, of someone was trying to reach me and I could not answer the phone, they had to leave a message on the answering machine or call back.

I thought a lot about this over the weekend.  Twenty years ago, my cell phone was the size of medium sized purse, weighed about the same as a small dog, and did one thing; made calls.  Today my phone can play music, take better pictures than my camera, give me a weather forecast, complete with live doppler radar, tell me how many calories I burned while eating a cheeseburger at a restaurant I found on the phone's internet browser, and do just about anything but wash my car.  I truly need an app for that.

But is there such a thing as too connected?  I attended a seminar at MSU a couple of weeks ago about how technology, especially cell phone technology, has crept into our lives.  I'll come back and edit this when I have time to include some of the interesting parts of the lecture, but to make a long story short, the cell phone has become part of the human existence, a technological umbilical cord that, for some reason, many modern humans have become way too attached.

A long time....

My last post was in.....January?  Oops, too long between posts.

My latest project is converting my old workbench into a workbench/toolbox.  I have too many tools for my current toolbox, and wanted something with shelves that would hold my router, circular saw and other tools that come in boxes.

My goal is to find a few pallets in good condition and use the slats for drawers.  Most of the pallets I have seen lately have slats that are around 1/2 inch thick, which is perfect for a drawer.  So if you have know of someone looking to divest a couple of pallets, please let me know.

Earlier this week, the girl and I mounted casters on the workbench, which is now much easier to move around.  It also lifted it to a much more comfortable working height.

I will post pics as progress is made.

Tomatoes? Already?

It was a beautiful winter morning when I let Moose out around seven to commune with nature after a good night's sleep.  Stars filled the dark blue western sky as the dawn was preparing to break, temperatures were around zero, and a light powdery snow blanketed the ground and drifted in wisps as a light breeze blew from the north.  As the Master of His Own World took his time sniffing everything in the yard, I was regretting not wearing socks as a cold wind blew across my ankles, my thoughts were focused not on the cold, but on warmer temperatures, spring and planting tomatoes.

In the past few years my tomatoes have been rather small when I transplanted them to the garden compared to the plants they are selling at the garden and home improvement stores.  My plants are always healthy, and present a decent harvest, but they come to maturity later than the store-bought ones.

So, this year I thought I would start my tomatoes a little earlier than last year's late-February date.  I think by starting in late-January/early February my plants should be close to store-bought plants.  I am also considering building a small hydroponic system to produce tomatoes year-round, but thoughts of that can wait for a later date.

I am also looking for suggestions on what and how many of each variety to plant. If you have a favorite, or an heirloom that you would like me to plant in my garden let me know. Also, I am looking for people to plant  some of my heirloom Italian tomatoes in their gardens.  Four years ago we had a strong wind storm that came through the weekend after transplanting, and we lost all our tomato plants.  And recently we have seen a few deer right outside the back door.  I would like to ensure that I have seeds from this season, even if something happens to my plants.  My thought is that if I can loan of our a few plants to others, with my only payment being the seeds from two or three tomatoes that the "foster gardener" may grow in their garden, I can rest a little easier about having seeds for next year in case something unfortunate were to happen to my garden.