Sunday, December 23, 2007

Enjoy!


From You Tube - Hippo-Dog-Cat by zvengaar Here's part of the story behind this song.
This is the story of an African doo-wop song. Its original title was “Mbube,” (pronounced EEM-boo-beh) which means “Lion,” and it was sung with a haunting Zulu refrain that sounded, to English-speaking people, like “wimoweh.” “Mbube” was a big hit in what is now Swaziland; it sold nearly 100,000 copies in the 1940s by its originator, South African Solomon Linda. Linda had written it based on a boyhood experience chasing lions that were stalking the family's cattle, and recorded the tune in 1939 with his group the Evening Birds. Click here for more info.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Tom Says to Relax & Watch Pelicans...


...in this little Mexican white-sand beach town on the Caribbean about an hour from Cancun. I'm game! Information here!

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Friday, December 7, 2007

Frog Visitor


This frog stopped by our house vent to get warmed up, I suppose, since it's in the 30s today. He's (or she's) a lot bigger than the frogs we usually see around here. He was definitely bashful and didn't want to turn around so that I could get a photo of his face.

And Here's Jack in His New Hoodie


...with his master Patrick

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Meet the Cutest Kitten in all Seattle!


This is Dot, now about 15 weeks old. She's taken up residence at Rod's house. And Ivana says that besides being cute and affectionate, Dot loves to play catch! Also, if you're wondering about the name choice like I was, here's Ivana's explanation:
No great mystery surrounding her name...She has a dot on her head. And a dot on the roof of her mouth, and a peach dot on the tip of her tail, and approximately 27 cheetah-like tan dots on her otherwise white belly. And we tend to prefer names with few syllables, and I tend to like names that were popular women's names in the 1920's. (The runners-up were Vera, Cora, and Pearl.)

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Looking for Good Air Fares?


Try signing up at the http://www.airfarewatchdog.com site. You can designate the airport you want to fly from and get periodic emails with good flight prices. Here's their blurb:
AirFareWatch is the only airfare alert and comparison site that includes fares on *all* airlines, including Southwest, Skybus, Allegiant, and JetBlue. If you're relying on any other source, you're not getting the full airfare picture.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Neal on October 31st!


I think Neal loves Halloween. Here's his email message that he sent with the photo: Halloween was last week. You know what that means. Another Halloween costume. I was feeling a little Jamaican this year.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Randall & Hillary

During Hillary Clinton's October visit to New Hampton, Iowa, Randall had a prepared, researched question relating to Iran for Hillary - which resulted in ruffled feathers and raised voices from both of them. Lisa, at Randall's side where she was very aware the tone of his voice meant he was angry, was eyeing the secret service man standing about five feet away. But things did calm down, and Randall made the national news! Just try googling 'Randall Rolph' or click on this link.

Downtown San Francisco


After coming up the stairs from BART, San Francisco's subway, the first thing Dave and I saw was fantastic architecture like this building near our hotel in the center of action in downtown San Francisco. Besides enjoying Emily's wedding and getting together with relatives, we enjoyed a tour of the Giant's baseball park by a guide who loved his job. After our cable car ride to Fisherman's Wharf, we enjoyed clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl and then heard the raucous and fortissimo sea lions at Pier 39. A fun trip!

Emily's San Francisco Wedding


Here's Emily and her dad going down the aisle toward the Pacific Ocean in this outdoor wedding at the Cliff House in San Francisco. The sunset was just perfect and the breeze made Emily's veil flutter and float. In fact, sometimes her veil was vertical!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Favorite Photo from Yesterday's Hike


Taken at serene Nolte State Park where we walked the 1.4 mile trail around Deep Lake. Nolte is about five miles from Enumclaw.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

The Judges Have Reached a Decision

Judge Margaret, who has returned from Kansas, and Judge Rebecca, who recently spent two weeks in Hawaii, reached a decision in the Hoon Herald "Add A Caption - Family Contest." Their decision: the first-place winner is Kara with Justin receiving Honorable Mention. The winners can claim their prizes by contacting me. Kara will receive her choice of either a $10 bill or a $9.99 download from the iTunes store. Justin will have a choice between a $5 bill or five 99¢ iTune songs. (By the way, it seems Roscoe feels that Kara and Justin both have potential as caption-writers.)

Salmon on the Cedar


We saw hundreds of spawning, mostly red with some green, sockeye salmon and enjoyed a great tour of part of the Cedar River Watershed today. The sockeye with some white - that's usually caused by "battle scars," the tour guide told us.
Here's some info about sockeye salmon from Wikipedia:
A Sockeye can be as long as 33 inches and weigh 6 to 8 pounds. Its colouration changes as it migrates from saltwater to freshwater in preparation for spawning. In freshwater, its colour is bright red with a pale green head; females may have green and yellow marks or stains. Its colour in saltwater is bluish-green on top, silvery on the bottom, with uniform, shiny skin.

Mother Nature Paints


Just one example of the autumn color change in our yard - the Crimson King maple next to the street.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Same Birthday as Rod & Born in Beaconsville, IA


You must google 'Astronaut Peggy Whitson '- you'll love reading her letters from space! Here's an excerpt: "Ah, the perfect trip: Eat from a bag, cut your hair with scissors and a vacuum cleaner, and see several sunrises a day." By the way, the population of Beaconsville (south of DesMoines) is 27.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Feel a Cold Coming on? This is Worth a Try


Ads constantly try to lead us to believe that their answer is the best and only answer. (A type of "brainwashing" I guess.) But the ads for cold remedies shouldn't be our only source of information. What about other solutions? Since we're in a season change which might include the discomfort of getting a cold, here's a free alternative that you don't have to run to the store for - give it a try. Do-it-yourself Acupressure And, of course, as always, drink lots of water - your body will thank you! Yes, you need some rest, too!

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

No, I Havent Named My Roomba!

I haven't named the iRobot Roomba vacuum that Dave gave me for my birthday. (He was influenced to purchase one by Jen who was in turn influenced by several of her friends!) Anyway, according to today's Seattle Times article, there are people out there that DO name their Roombas. So far, Roomba and Dave and I are still getting acquainted, and Hoover still needs to come out of the closet to do the stairs - with assistance! Oh yah, be sure to read the last sentence of the Seattle Times article

Thursday, September 20, 2007

A Must-See in Seattle


Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park along the waterfront, that Dave and I visited yesterday, has not only a varied collection of outdoor sculptures, but a variety of native plants. The sculpture in the photo above is called Eagle. Click here for more information.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

My Silent Neighbor


Yes, the one-time tallest man in the world, Bernard Coyne, was our neighbor when I was growing up. However, I never spoke to him. He was 8' 2" and wore size 25 shoes when he died in 1921 and was buried in the St. Joseph cemetery next to our Anthon, Iowa farm. The photo above is Bernard with his parents. My mom had told me about him and had evidently seen him in person. I imagine she was quite impressed. She was seven when he died. Also, another family connection is through the Dixon family. Bernard is the brother of my uncle Francis Dixon's brother-in-law! Click here for an undated newspaper article about Bernard. And believe it or not, I didn't know he was my "cemetery neighbor" until today when I found some info on the Internet.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

I'm Officially a Photosynthesizer Sympathizer

After PayPaling my $15 membership fee to Plant Amnesty (Seattle's organization dedicated to proper tree pruning) I was informed that I now am a Photosynthesizer Sympathizer. Guess I need to practice pronouncing my new status. Actually, I joined so that we could give away our contorted filbert shrub whose abundant yellow catkins successfully activate Dave's spring allergies. Plant Amnesty has an Adopt-A-Plant program with the tag line "you call, you dig, you haul, thats all." So, now we're waiting for an email or phone call from another Phototsynthesizer Sympathizer who's willing to move our contorted filbert (including its spring pollen) to a new home.

Got My Name in the Paper!

...and not for a traffic citation. Click here and scroll down to near the end of the article to find my name - but don't believe the "incredibly" part!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Roadside America & Rusty People & Animals


In and near Raymond, WA, we enjoyed seeing the town's unique metal sculptures, and above is a photo Jen took near Raymond's Dairy Queen. (Oyster burgers are a specialty at this Dairy Queen according to its reader!) Online, is a fun site with info on these metal sculptures and oodles of other unique roadside tourist attractions across the US that you'll enjoy browsing: RoadsideAmerica.com

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Watch for Smart Cars in Seattle


According to Seattle Times columnist Nicole Brodeur's article http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/
vortex/display?slug=brodeur04m&date=20070904&query=smart+car
in January we should be seeing a lot of Smart Cars! Above is the photo I took of the first Smart Car that I saw - which happened to be in Baden Baden, Germany in 2003. (Baden means "bath," and that's where Dave and I and some of our tour cohorts had our nude spa experience.) When I spotted this car not too far from our hotel, I had to get a photo, and conveniently the owner came out of that drugstore to smile and proudly pose for me - while Dave was letting me know that our tour bus was ready to pull out.

Buckley From Mt. Peak's Peak


Yup - we made it to the top of Mt. Peak (aka Mt. Pete and Pinnacle Peak) where there are views of Enumclaw, Buckley, White River and, of course, Mt. Rainier. This was our fourth trip and we plan to go back and investigate some of the side trails. Our first trip up (because we didn't know any better) was the "almost straight-up. one-mile front trail with 1,ooo ft. elevation gain"! That took us well over an hour because we had to stop many times to ease our panting. This was after a guy at the trail head told us it took about 25 minutes to get to the top! Well, our last two trips have been up the back trail which is a somewhat gentler 1 1/2 miles! Woo-hoo!

Lighthouse at Long Beach, WA


Our family - Dave, me, Laura, Bryan, Kara, Justin, Rod, Ivana, and Jen (Patrick and Dustin were there in spirit!) celebrated Dave's birthday and enjoyed a late August weekend in Long Beach, WA. One of the really fun things we did was tour this North Head lighthouse. Our cameras were put to good use, and this arty photo is by Jen.

Angela & Matt's Wedding Dance


Angela's wedding reception in Iowa City was held at Old Brick, a former church, across the street from the apartment house (still standing, but needs paint) where Dave and I first met in 1961.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Notice Any Similarities?


Jack Palance and Uncle Orman....

Tuesday's Half-hour of Laughs

Check out this site for the new summer show Just for Laughs that is now one of my favorite TV shows - along with What Not to Wear, Samantha Brown's travel stuff on the Travel Channel, Dancing with the Stars and re-runs of Friends.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Family Contest - ADD A CAPTION


Figure out an appropriate caption for this photo of Roscoe and enter our Family Contest. First prize will be a $9.99 download of your choice from the iTunes store or a somewhat crisp new $10 bill! Judges will be cat-lovers Margaret and Rebecca. BE A WINNER - ENTER NOW! (Multiple entries accepted from each entrant.) Either click "Comments" below (you'll need a Gmail account) or email me.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

A Song That'll Make You Smile

I haven't figured out how to put an audio file on this blog yet or even it I can do it legally, so I'll post the words of IKEA. If you want to hear this lilting little tune, talk to Rod. You see, several weeks ago, Rod played Jonathan Coulton's song IKEA on my computer for us to listen to. Recently I decided to play it several times so that I could figure out all the words. And now - that tune keeps flitting through my mind - in the kitchen, in the car, during yoga class ....
Here are the words:

IKEA
by Jonathan Coulton

It all began with a god named Thor
There were Vikings and boats
And some plans for a furniture store
It's not a bodega, it's not a mall
And they sell things for apartments smaller than mine
As if there were apartments smaller than mine

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
But if you don't have a home you can buy one there

So rent a car or take the bus
Lay your cash down and put your trust
In the land where the furniture folds to a much smaller size
Billy the bookcase says hello
And so does a table whose name is Ingo
And the chair is a ladder-back birch but his friends call him Karl

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
But if you don't have a home you can buy one there

Ikea: plywood, brushed steel
Ikea: meatballs, tasty
Ikea: Allen wrenches
All of them for free
All of them for me

I'm sorry I said Ikea sucks
I just bought a table for 60 bucks
And a chair and a lamp
And a shelf and some candles for you
I was a doubter just like you
Till I saw the American dream come true
In New Jersey, they got a goddamned Swedish parade

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
But if you don't have a home you can buy one there

Fungus Mungus LBC: Family Apeiron Champion


I just checked, and Jen (alias Fungus Mungus LBC) is on the Apeiron Recent High Score list TWICE as of today - ranked at 40 and 92 out of 100!

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Enumclaw's Scottish Highland Games


Dave and I watched several athletic competitions at Enumclaw's Scottish Highland Games including "The Sheaf" which originally involved tossing with a pitchfork a sheaf of straw onto a cottage roof when re-thatching. At the games today, tossing the sheaf was done by huge guys in kilts who tossed a "stone" over what looked like a football goalpost. The cross-piece was raised as the game progressed. We saw lots of kilts and dancers - and the bagpipe music was continuous. Above is the family crest for the MacDowell clan for Dave's side of the family.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

If Only I Had Remembered My Camera....

At the Black Diamond Pizza & Deli today, a straw-hatted, gray-flyaway haired guy while waiting for his bowl of Tuscany bean soup gave us a piano concert of his original boogie-woogies. Then, Felix, another noon-time regular, regally entered through the open front door. On his way to exiting at the back door, (gently prodded by waitress Tracy) Felix looked at us and the piano-player but didn't bother to greet us with a me-ow. Now - just give this some thought. If Dave and I had eaten at Subway as first planned - well, umm, it would have lacked this great ambience that Black Diamond Pizza & Deli had.

Want to Have a Unique Belt Buckle?


For instructions on using your Apple Mouse for a belt buckle, click here

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Bill & Hill Stop at Nashua's Dairy Treat!


Some Nashua kids got a look at Bill Clinton when he, Hillary, and their campaign caravan stopped for malts and hamburgers at the little Dairy Treat that Nana used to take us to.

Justin Nears 5K Finish Line


At Kent's Cornucopia Days, Justin's time was 31.04. Way to go, Justin!

Friday, July 13, 2007

No Ants at our Picnic, we had ART!


Not only did the deviled eggs that Ivana brought to our family's July 4 picnic taste good, they were a "work of art" with their tiny blue borage flowers, chives and orange nasturtium! Thanks Ivana!

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Hoon Driving in Australia!

Check out this link to learn about Australia's "hoon driving" problem. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/18/1097951627257.html?from=storylhs

Woodpecker Diner


While hiking near Black Diamond on the Green River, Dave spotted this tree that evidently has special meaning to a lot of woodpeckers! Hmm, lunch!

Sunday, June 24, 2007

New Camera: Two-best-photos-to-date




Both happened by accident!

SAWDUST!


Yesterday, Dave and I saw, smelled and heard sawdust being made at the 34th annual Buckley (town 15 miles from here) Logging Days celebration where loggers competed in various buck saw, chain saw and logging skills. We saw some loggers shimmy up 300 foot poles, effortlessly! Even the clown competed in buck sawing - as you can see in the photo. Only, he was out to win, not to be funny! He came in second. Oh yah! We saw lots of suspenders, and the beer tent was rockin'.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Reindeer & Finland


Rod and Ivana are back from Finland where some of their meals included reindeer - and fish and mushrooms!

Sunday, June 17, 2007

A Dilbert Laugh!

Visit with Mike & Linda from Atlanta


The Johnsons came over with Kara's cool cupcake graduation cake, and we enjoyed a Midwestern summer meal (potato salad, baked beans, ham, veggies) along with plenty of laughs - some of that Dixon humor! A fun day!

Turbine Power


On our trip to eastern Washington for Lindsey's graduation and a visit with seven of my Dixon cousins and their families, we also toured the Grand Coulee Dam. Awesome!

Dave Becomes a Wheeler-dealer


At the June neighborhood garage sale, Dave raked in some money and cleaned the garage in one fell swoop! Women shoppers commented, "This is all guy-stuff!"

Monday, June 4, 2007

Nikko


Thinking of Nikko who is now in kitty heaven - with thanks to artist B Kliban (arwork above) for all his kitty cartoons.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

A POEM


More About People
by Ogden Nash

When people aren't asking question
They're making suggestions
And when they're not doing one of those
They're either looking over your shoulder or stepping on your toes
And then as if that weren't enough to annoy you
They employ you.
Anybody at leisure
Incurs everybody's displeasure.
It seems to be very irking
To people at work to see other people not working,
So they tell you that work is wonderful medicine,
Just look at Firestone and Ford and Edison,
And they lecture you till they're out of breath or something
And then if you don't succumb they starve you to death or something.
All of which results in a nasty quirk:
That if you don't want to work you have to work to earn enough money so that you won't have to work.

Saturday, June 2, 2007

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Rod's Goin' to Finland


Rod, Ivana and his new camera are headed to Helsinki (conference/vacation/visit with Ivana's Finnish friend, Aki) for a couple of weeks, including a few days in Estonia!

Monday, May 21, 2007

Take a look at this Iowa Images web site


http://www.iptv.org/lii/iowaimages.cfm
And be sure to notice the composer mentioned with this particular Iowa photo - Gayla Drake from Linn-Mar (Laura's class).

IOWA made the Snopes.com website!


http://www.snopes.com/photos/patriotic/iowarock.asp
Interesting story. Highway 25 is near Greenfield, not too far from Des Moines. "Bubba" has his own website: http://bubbazartwork.com/ And, as you can tell, he went to Iowa State!

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

What's a Badonkadonk?

We knew what thunder thighs and blubber were - when the couple orders at the drive-through in the Subway TV ad - but we didn't know what a badonkadonk was. So, to the computer to check it out.

Badonkadonk Definition from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Badonkadonk is a slang term for a woman's buttocks that are voluptuously large and firm, yet bouncy. Women who possess this feature have a small waist that flares dramatically into round, peach-shaped buttocks with deep cleavage.
The term is based on the imagined rhythm of a sexy gait, an example of non-auditory onomatopoeia.

Originally, the word was hip hop slang. It first appeared in mass media in 2001 in a line by rapper Keith Murray in the song "Fatty Girl": "You got a badonkadonk, girl, don't hurt nobody!" The term gained a wider audience in the fall of 2002 through Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's #2 hit "Work It" which includes the lyric "keep your eyes on my ba-bump-ba-bump-bump, and see if you can handle this ba-donk-a-donk-donk."

Monday, May 14, 2007

Jack Comforts Noah


Noah's ears get uncomfortable from time to time, so Jack comes to the rescue and gives Noah an ear licking/massage.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Elmer Showing Vacation Slides (circa 1960)


1) Look at the number of slide cartridges, 2) Check out the facial expressions, 3) Notice the feet positions.

I came across this photo when I was helping Justin with an assignment! And it's definitely one of my favorites!

L to R: Me, my dad's foot, my cousin Helen, Dolores Koehler (her facial expression and feet position are my favorite!), Elmer, Papa Koehler, my aunt Edna Dixon, and Grandma Koehler. Naida probably took this photos, and my mom is most likely just outside the photo's perimeter.

Kara & Garrett Are Graduating



Kara plans to go to Renton Tech, and Garrett will be going to Wartburg College, in Waverly, Iowa

And Heeeeeere's Jen's New Car....


Dave and I went with Jen to test drive a Honda CRV and a Subaru Tribeca - both of which she discovered she really didn't love. And the used Volvo didn't meet her requirements either. As you can see, the Toyota 4Runner is the chosen one with plenty of cargo space for palm trees (fake, I think) and other props! And, she said she did her wheelin' & dealin' via email - pitting one car dealer agains another!