A New Song for Wildflower Time!

You might not think of me as a Wildflower Girl - all those old-fashioned garden plants, Banana shrubs and roses and iris aren't exactly native - but if I made a list of native plants fitted into the boundaries of our garden it would be pretty long and very colorful. Don't forget that the Carolina Jessamine, Coral Honeysuckle, Texas Mountain Laurel, Redbud trees, Creeping Phlox, many of the Salvias, all the Mistflowers, Purple Coneflowers, the Gauras, Skullcaps and even the wall of Mockoranges covered in buds are all really native wildflowers that have been lassooed and corralled in my yard.
The list of cooler-climate wildflowers that I grew in my Illinois gardens was pretty long, too, and if more of the free-draining, sun-loving natives would put up with my chunky clay and shade, my Native Plant Life-list would grow again. Sometimes it just takes the right spot or luck or maybe one dead tree coming down to make the wild flowers grow - after years of failure with Blackfoot Daisies they are thriving in the parkway strip and one bluebonnet grown from seed is blooming in the triangle bed. Time to celebrate - and time to sing!
A place we've visited over and over since we moved to Texas is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center - at first just trying to get our bearings in this strange landscape,going sometimes for information, sometimes taking visitors there and sometimes for the sales of plants, shrubs and trees. (The big sale is coming up next weekend)


When Lady Bird Johnson died in July .. I added a verse about her love of wildflowers to a post mentioning her passing. Eventually the verses turned into a song, and finally my husband helped me turn the song into a video for YouTube with many of our favorite Wildflower photos.

Our equipment is very simple - 1 acoustic piano, 1 old lady, one cheapo mic, no vocal processing equipment and a lot of nerve.





Click to play the embedded video or watch it on our YouTube station kaefka

This song is part of a musical play-in-progress called Roots in Austin.

Jonas Joslin :: 1850 Ohio Census

The Jonas Joslin family was originally found on microfilm of the 1850 census in Liberty Township, Delaware County, Ohio. Knowing that the surname was misspelled by the census taker as "Gloslin" an alternate name request was submitted to ancestry. As a result, they now show up in the online index when searching for Joslin.

Page 417/208a Dwelling 1511 Family 1514

• Jonas Gloslin, 81, Real Estate valued at $1500, born Mass
• Jonas Gloslin Jr., 42, born Canada
• Lucy Gloslin, 42, born NY
• John Gloslin, 21, born Ohio
• Leucretia Gloslin, 19, born Ohio
• Nancy Gloslin, 16, born Ohio
• Jane Gloslin, 15, born Ohio
• Wm Gloslin, 14, born Ohio
• Mary Gloslin, 9, born Ohio
• Elisabeth Gloslin, 7, born Ohio
• Charles Gloslin, 2, born Ohio

Page 418/208b continuation of Dwelling 1511 Family 1514

• Fanny Gloslin, 40, born Canada

Page 418/208b Dwelling 1512 Family 1515

• Benjamin Bartholomew, 70, born Conn
• J Gloslin, 21, born Ohio
• Lovina Gloslin, 21, born Ohio
• Franklin Gloslin, 1, born Ohio

==+====+====+==

Note that Jonas Sr. is listed with a real estate valuation rather than Jonas Jr., which I find a bit odd since James Joslin sold the original homestead to Jonas Jr. in 1837. The land records need to be checked to see if there are other transactions for them, it could be that Jonas Jr. sold that land.

The J Gloslin enumerated in the household of Benjamin Bartholomew is probably John Joslin, son of Jonas Jr., although John is also listed in the household of Jonas Sr. (John H. Joslin was married on June 13, 1848 to Lovina M. Pain).

The other item of interest revealed in this record is birthplaces: Jonas Sr. was listed as born in Massachusetts; Jonas Jr. and Fanny were both born in Canada.

Rio Grande River at Las Cruces

Photo of Sarah and her dog Lobo. Lobo is the brother of a dog I used to have.

I posted photos of the Rio Grande River at Albuquerque, NM a few weeks ago. These are photos of how it looks where it runs near Las Cruces. The dought has hit harder there that it has here. There were only small, murky puddles of water here and there. But it gave a good view of the river bed which I had never seen. This cottonwood in fall colors looked great against the beauty of the stark, gray rock hills. Sarah's dogs Lobo and Ruby loved to chase a stick and bring it back together. The also liked to play in the yucky mudpuddles. There is a photo of me and Lobo. And a photo of the river sand with a few of the tiny, delicate fresh water clams that should live here. All I found were a few shells. I hope that there will be enough of them to survive if the water ever comes back. A lot of the water is used for irrigation by the farmers and a lot is left in Elephant Butte Lake which is north of Las Cruces. I would think it would make more since to take more water out of the lake and send it down river, although I have heard the lake is at it's lowest since it was built. It is a man-made lake. I didn't get any photos of the lake this trip.

Bringing back Catharijnesingel in Utrecht

This is for those who have been in myadopted home city Utrecht (Netherlands)...

Trivia: Did you know that the 4-laneroad that separates the Hoog Catharijne mall (right under the mall passageway)used to be part of the Catharijnesingel (canal)? It used to be water underneathuntil the Gemeente Utrecht dried the area to pave way for the 4-lane road.
Rest assured though, the GemeenteUtrecht has plans on bringing back Catharijnesingel to its former glory! And to a much granderlevel! That’s the reason for all the on-going construction and road works. Utrechthas 25 different projects that includes the new Utrecht Train & Bus Station and bringing back the old canal into the centre. The projects will be realized in the coming years until 2030.
I can’t wait to see the new Utrecht withthe old Catharijnesingel back to where it was before.
Below are the pictures I took of the current Catharijnesingel that rims the south western part of the old centre of Utrecht. Soon it will be extended back to where it was, up to Vredenburg.

But firstly, a video (in English) of the infrastructure developments in the City of Utrecht:

And here are my pictures of Catharijnesingle during our walk:

Grand Hotel Karel V on Catharijnesingel is the first 5-star hotel with a 1-Michelen star restaurant in Utrecht.
Walking Period: December

Arizona Sunset

I hesitated to post two sunset pictures in a row, but you take what Mother Nature gives you – the good along with the bad...







Benson, Arizona. Sunday, January 8th ...

Phend-Fisher Family Reunion Ledger - 1921

The 12th Annual reunion of the Phend - Fisher families was held at the home of John Ernest at Elkhart. The morning was spent in a social way and at noon a basket dinner was served, after which a short business session was held and the following officers elected for the ensuing year.

Henry Phend. Pres.
Jacob Phend. Vice Pres.
Christ Phend. Treas.
Fred Ernest. Sec.

It was decided by vote that the next annual reunion would be held at the home of Henry Phend. Columbia City, Ind on the 1st Sunday in September.

Fred Ernest,Sec.

The Phend-Fisher families gathered for a reunion in Elkhart County, Indiana almost annually from 1909 until 1943. Usually held at Nappanee, the events of the day were recorded in an old ledger book. Spelling has been retained as it was in the original though some punctuation and paragraph breaks have been added. To view all articles in this series click on the "Phend-Fisher Reunion Ledger" label at the bottom of this post.

Natural Bridges National Monument

On the morning of my third day (May 23rd) at Mesa Verde National Park, Mother Nature decided to allow me to experience another side of her personality! I awoke to the sun rising through a beige-colored sky and strong winds – it was a dust storm. Or rather, a sand storm. My plans for the day had been to hike several of the trails in the park but instead I went to the library in Cortez and was able to get a few blog posts written and scheduled. I also checked the weather report for the next day – it was to be more of the same and included most of southeast Utah and southwest Colorado.

That evening the wind died down somewhat and the sky cleared up a little. But by the next morning the sand storm had returned. Since I was going to attend the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree in June I didn't want to go any further east or north into Colorado (I plan on returning to Colorado later this summer) and had decided to go back west, to Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon. It wasn't that far and it was more or less in the right direction.

As I left Mesa Verde, the wind was gusting to 40 miles per hour. Visibility was okay but I kept seeing a “wall” of sand several miles ahead. I continued to drive down the highway and the wall of sand continued to appear in the distance. Then it dawned on me, I was “in” that wall. After just a little over an hour of driving, I decided to stop for the day. The closest campground on the way was at Hovenweep and that is where I went!

There were only five sites in use when I got there and two of those campers left within an hour of my arrival. That left three others and me. One of the other campers said she now knows a little about how it felt during the dust bowl days of the 1930s. True, but we got just a small taste of what it was like. I can't imagine dealing with that for weeks and months at a time. The sky didn't get blackened out by the dust and there were no huge dust clouds as shown in the photos of the dust bowl, but the sky was light beige in color and the dust was everywhere. The inside of my van was covered with a light layer of gritty sand. It permeated every opening it possibly could.

It was hot. It was dusty. It was windy. I didn't do any hiking. It was a quiet day. Not much was going on, other than the howling wind and the sound of sand blowing against the van. Near sundown, not that you could actually see the sun, the wind died down and the sky started to clear. The front had moved through and along with it came cooler temperatures.

The morning of May 24th arrived with clear blue skies, bright sunshine and cold temperatures. I drove west from Hovenweep to connect to US 163/191 then north to Utah Highway 95, which went through the mountains. As I gained elevation, it got colder and a few snow flakes drifted down from the now gray and gloomy sky. Soon the snow was falling thick and fast, reducing visibility. Big flakes of snow, lots of them. And they were sticking to the ground. Forty-five minutes later, and about two hours after leaving Hovenweep, I saw the turnoff for Natural Bridges National Monument.

This is another of those parks that I knew nothing about except that it was on the map. Because of the weather, my intent, when I turned off the main highway into the monument, was to simply drive through to see what it was. When I got to the visitors center it stopped snowing and I could see the sun trying to come through the thick layer of clouds. But it was cold and windy and quite uncomfortable.

There is a nine-mile scenic loop drive which takes you to viewpoints and trailheads for the three natural bridges. The difference between a natural bridge and an arch is that the natural bridge is created by water, specifically a stream or river gouges its way through the rock. Once the river has done its job of creating the opening, then the wind and rain enlarge it through erosion similar to the way those elements carve out an arch through solid rock.

Despite the chilly temperature, the hike to the Sipapu Bridge was so much fun that I decided to hike down to view the other two bridges also. But first, I drove back and picked out one of the few sites still available in the 13-site campground!

Sipapu Bridge seen from about halfway down the trail.

Sipapu Bridge is the second largest natural bridge in the world (only Rainbow Bridge in Glen Canyon is bigger). In Hopi mythology, a “sipapu” is a gateway through which souls may pass to the spirit world. The trail to the canyon bottom below Sipapu is the steepest in the park. A staircase and three wooden ladders aid in the descent as does a series of switchbacks.

One of the ladders used to descend/ascend to/from Sipapu Bridge.

The view from beneath Sipapu Bridge.

A zoomed-in view of Kachina Bridge from the the overlook.

Kachina Bridge is massive and is considered the "youngest" of the three because of the thickness of its span. The relatively small size of its opening and its orientation make it difficult to see from the overlook. The bridge is named for the Kachina dancers that play a central role in Hopi religious tradition.


Portions of the trail to Kachina Bridge.
Kachina Bridge.

Owachomo Bridge.

Owachomo means “rock mound” in Hopi, and is named after the rock formation on top of the southeast end of the bridge. From the overlook, the twin buttes called “The Bear’s Ears” break the eastern horizon. Tuwa Creek no longer flows under Owachomo like it did for thousands of years.

Owachomo Bridge is presumed to be the oldest of the three bridges because it's delicate form suggests that it is has eroded more quickly than the other bridges.

In addition to the impressive natural bridges, the monument has one of the darkest skies in a national park in the country. The stars were brilliant. Even with the moon shining brightly, the night sky was really, really dark! The number of stars that could be seen was incredible. In my book it ranks right up there with the night skies of Big Bend National Park and the Grand Canyon!

And the weather that day? It was a little chilly, but the sun did break through the clouds and it warmed up a little. I did have to add some layers of clothing for the night but it really didn't get uncomfortably cold. The bridges were immense, the trails were fun and challenging, and the views were fantastic! All in all, it was a great day.

Wind-blown snow

I was mesmerized by this scene when I came across it. The patterns in the snow created by the wind made for a nice foreground and begged for a vertical composition. The morning light and clouds were the icing on the cake!

Tall and Short, Big and Small

The thing I miss most about not owning a house is not having a garden to play in. These pictures were taken in August ... The sunflowers were volunteers. We had planted seeds the previous year. They didn't do very well but provided some feed for the birds. Four stalks came up the next spring (..) and produced a weird combination of flowers. One stalk had just the one flower but it was huge. The other three stalks gave us all those smaller flowers. About a week after I took these pictures a storm came through - high winds and lots of rain - and the stalks were blown over. Again, the birds enjoyed the seeds that winter. They are on a raised bed that is about a foot high. My guestimation is that the plants were at least ten feet tall. But then, at the bottom of the stalk, one little flower bloomed, all by itself. It was, maybe, 18" tall.

A Day Out

We took a day to go for a drive to some of our favorite places and try out the new camera. A couple of shots of a hiking and fishing area along the Jemez Creek.



Two photos of a little water fall called Soda Damn as it is a natural fall and damn with and because of the way the water causes a rush of bubbles as it falls some thought it looked like the bubbles in soda's or soft drinks like colas.








A walk along a forest trail.



Looking out across the creek that runs under the bridge in the above photo.



Tuffee went with us and enjoyed our walk.



A big rock called Battleship Rock.



On the drive home we are headed for the Sandia Mountains and Albuquerque.



We turned off before getting to Albuquerqe to go to Rio Rancho and stopped to get a couple of photos of the Sandia Mountains with desert. Albuquerque would be hid by the juniper tree on the right.







And Tuffee decided to stick out her tounge just as I snapped this one.