Write your own story......

July 15th, 2022.  A small town in Wisconsin.  By the side of a residential street I find this:

So what is a 20 Rand bill doing 8,700 miles away from home?  Did somebody bring it home as a souvenir?  Travel to South Africa is not all that common as these things go, even pre-covid.  I'm unaware of any foreign exchange students in the neighborhood, and in any case why would they bring a piece of paper that they can't spend, and that is only worth $1.17 US anyway?

There has to be a story behind this, but as we'll never know it I encourage you to write your own.

Spending Canadian Tire Money

One of the last stops on our North o' the Border trip was at Canadian Tire.  This is a Big Box retailer that sells auto parts and just about everything else.  It has some quirks.  For instance:

I immediately began coveting Canadian Tire Money.  It looks like this:

More on that topic in a bit.  But for starters, what could you buy with Canadian Tire Money?

One of the first things I saw walking in was this interesting brand of hot sauce.  It's actually an American company so if I want to try it I won't have to have a long, interesting conversation with the folks screening my carry on luggage.

As I've mentioned it was darned hot when we visited in July.  Not that this alters the sporting goods section at CT.  Several aisles of hockey gear.

When I saw this my pulse quickened.  Did Canadian Tire actually sell taxidermy critters?  Alas, no they were simply decor.

I regard Dog as Man's most faithful and noble Companion in a hostile Universe.  They deserve better than this indignity....

In case you've wondered why I have not shown much family from the Family Reunion, well I am pretty respectful of people's privacy.  Please accept this image from the toy department with my assurance that it was somewhat representative.

So, back to the Tire Money.  It can only be used for purchases in the store, so in principle you could use it to acquire all the fine merch shown above.  It's actually more of a Loyalty Program.  If you pay in cash, which I suppose means the store does not have to shave off a little for the credit card companies, you get a teeny, weeny little amount back in Tire Bucks.  It's been around a long time and once you'd get 5% back.  Now it is .04%.  Many people seem to just toss the gaudy pseudo bank notes into the charity donation box on the way out.

Hops 'n Homeless in BC

Although we spent most of our Canadian time down in Okenagon Falls there was a day or so on either end spent in the larger city of Kelowna.  To my small town, Midwesterner eyes it was an unusual place.

Think of it as a sort of hipster Boom Town.  It has very little history beyond of course the indigenous peoples.  In 1905 there were 600 people living there.  Now it is over 220,000.  The economy was once based on fruit growing, as a nice local micro climate allows peaches, apples and so forth to do well.  Eventually somebody tried grapes and that went very well indeed.  I can't give an accurate count of how many wineries are spread out up and down the valley, but certainly dozens.  Now I've nothing against a wine based economy - France has down nicely with it for instance - but that much chic can have side effects.  Kelowna has 20 brew pubs.  Also, although of no interest to me beyond social observation, 20 cannabis shops.  Rugged Canadian farmers and loggers appear to have decamped for parts unknown as the lofts and condos rise up.

If you think of a sort of mountainous Seattle you'd not be far off.  And of course as in all such places you have the inevitable dichotomy.  Behold, electric bikes and scooters for hire are everywhere and bike paths lace themselves around the lakefront and on former rail lines.

You hire these things by downloading an app and touching your phone a few times.  That's one of the bike paths in the background.  Let's mosey a hundred yards, oh I mean meters, down it....

Here somebody on a two thousand dollar bike is cruising past one of the permanent homeless encampments.  A police car was just pulling in on stage left.

I'd be remiss if I did not mention Ogopogo.  According to First Nation legends this is a sort of Loch Ness critter that lives in the big lake.  In the lakeside park there is a statue of him.  No opportunity for silly photos should ever be wasted.

The Blasted Church

It's the small details you have to look for.

On one of my walks around Okanagan Falls I cruised by this tidy wood frame church.  Nothing remarkable there.  

Until you look closely.  Lets just zoom in on that sign, shall we?

The Blasted Church.  

Some pastors of my acquaintance would quietly endorse this phrase but realistically there has to be a story here.  

My first musings were along these lines.  Well there are some odd denominations out there.  Quakers gonna quake, Dunkards gonna dunk.  But Blasted?  It sounds pretty Mad Max post apocalyptic.  Of course there are still some Fire and Brimstone enthusiasts out in Christendom but the United Church designation and the benevolent looking dove don't fit.  Here's the real story at least as it is being told.

This was originally the Presbyterian church in a nearby mining community called Fairview.  It was built circa 1897.  Mining towns are notable for their boom and bust status, and when Fairview went bust the church was abandoned and fell into disrepair.

In 1929 the congregation in Okanagan Falls decided to put it back into service.  This was presumably not the first mining town structure to be moved so there was a procedure for it.  Nail the doors shut.  Board over the windows, presumably after taking out any stained glass.  Suspend a single stick of dynamite in the middle of the building and set it off.  This loosened all the nails and made disassembly easy!  It is reported that the iron cross atop the steeple did not survive the procedure.

The original location of the church would have been on the east bank of Lake Skaha a couple of miles up.  At least so I infer from the presence there of the Blasted Church Vineyards! I much prefer beer but their products have attained a level of recognition such that finding them locally would not be impossible and I might get a bottle just for the interesting backstory.

Who's Got the Ball Now?

This is the most ball obsessed dog I've ever met.  Over several days of interaction at our Canadian family reunion I had a running contest over possession of the Blue Object of Desire.  Dog proved to be a worthy adversary.  I'm quite a bit smarter but Dog was able to devote her entire mental processing ability to the task.  Every once in a while I'd fool her into a momentary lapse.  And then...."who's got the ball now?"

I'd pretend to chomp on it a bit which really got Dog worked up.  But the oddly demonic glowing eyes seen here are just because I happened to have left the flash setting active.

I think.

Family Reunion Up North

I've been North of the Border of late.  One branch of our extended family lives in British Columbia and with the slightly reduced difficulty of travel it was time for a long delayed family reunion.

Most of the time was spent next to a picturesque lake called Skaha on the outskirts of Okanagan Falls.  Note, there are no longer any falls there, a dam having replaced them.

On our first morning by the lake we were awakened early.  A 3000 rider bike race was scheduled to go through and the support tents went up early.  The elite level riders went through not long after in a silent brightly colored pack.  As the morning wore on the riders were slower and far more inclined to stop at the hydration, first aid and repair tents.  Some of them looked worn out.  I suggested we make and hold up a sign that read:

LEAVE THE CULT.  WE'VE GOT BEER

The week was blessed with perfect, if a bit toasty weather.  We splashed around in the lake.  Yes, beer was consumed along with pizza and barbequed stuff.  Most of the family had grown substantially since our last get together.  As the lone grizzled old guy in a mostly young female group it was an interesting experience.

Sometimes I got out on long walks into the surrounding mountains.  

I'll show you some odd stuff in the week or so ahead.

PITA

 (Precisely Identifying Tasty Animals)

Consider this another clue to where I've been.   

To tell Mule Deer from White Tails, in areas where both can be found, there are a couple of clues.  Mulies have big ears but it seems a bit judgmental to point this out.  They also have a big round white fur patch on their butts and a smallish tail that is white with a small black tuft at the bottom.  White Tails on the other hand have brown butts with tails that are also brown on the top.  Blazing white of course on the underside which they flash insolently at you when they take off.

I have no data on the respective culinary properties.

 

Where I've Been

Sort of a clue.

Tree Shaped Tombstones......Daphne?

From time to time roving correspondents - in this case my brother - send me pictures of odd tombstones.  This one was from a small town called Mineopa, over near Mankato Minnesota.  At first glance it did not look like an official "Tree Shaped Tombstone".  

Here's another view.  Note the diminutive tree adjacent to the young lady?

As with all graves of young people there is an innate sadness here.  But I wonder if there is something else going on.  

This combination of themes jogged a memory.

From my trusty copy of Bullfinch's Mythology Daphne.  A nymph, daughter of a river god and loved by Apollo, who killed his rival Leucippus.  Daphne escaped and was later changed into a laurel or bay tree which remained henceforth the favorite tree of the sun god.  The hand on the bouquet of flowers sure suggests Preservation of Virtue.

Apollo is portrayed as the jerk in this story and indeed, that is his defining trait.  But supposedly it was not entirely his fault.  Apollo considered himself to be pretty darn studly and was mocking a runty guy with a boy.  The shrimp challenged the sun god to an archery duel and easily hit Apollo with an arrow that caused unreasonable, passionate ardor....and Daphne with a different model that caused total antipathy.

Don't mess with Cupid.  Good advice for all ages.

Unfortunately the photo is not clear enough for names and dates, so I can't say if there was anything out of the ordinary going on here.  No, most likely just the tragedy of an early death and of grieving parents picking a monument out of a catalog.

Beer Politics - Summer of 2022

A while back I posted on a politically inspired beer that I encountered in the cooler at the local outlet.

It was, and I assume still is, produced by a brewery on the other side of the state.  Said brewery is run by people with strong progressive beliefs and I say more power to 'em.  

On a recent trip to the same store I did not see Biden Beer on display.  But a few racks over there was a product from a different brewery......

The Big Guy.  Reading the back of the far left can (wait a minute.....shouldn't the Biden beer be on the left?) I see that it is a reference to the father of the brew master.  But can a subtle reference to matters political also be implied here?  And if so, more power to them too.

I am a true centrist in this debate.  Neither Kolsch nor IPA being to my taste.

Faded Flowers......

Fireworks stands are not the only temporary, seasonal retail outlets.  In the same parking lot I showed you on Monday were these little plastic huts....

Abandoned in the sweltering July heat, but they were pretty busy a month or so back.  

I peeked inside.  Did I mention its been really hot lately?  It might be time for a further price reduction........

4th of July - Lets Make Some Noise

Of course the Fourth of July is about more than things that go Bang!  But that is part of it.  A few random pictures.....

Note the special Divorce fireworks package!  

And for when things work out a bit better and you have a big Announcement to make....

Shockingly they only sell two genders of the stuff, but I guess anyone who goes in for this sort of thing could mix up any variations that they felt were necessary.  One hopes, for the sake of everyone's ear drums, that nobody does this when expecting triplets and quads.

And of course as the 4th draws near we have the proliferation of fireworks stands and tents.  In Wisconsin there is this odd situation.  Other than puny stuff like sparklers and smoke bombs, fireworks are illegal to light off without a permit.  Heck, even transporting them without the proper paperwork is against the law.  But buying them?  No problem.  I suppose there is this implicit wink-wink that you are going to go right out and get a permit.  Sure you are.  Or drive to South Dakota where it is legal to put match to fuse.  It probably says something about our Revolutionary past and our attitude towards authority.

When speaking with friends over in the UK the subject of what Americans really want did come up.  I think the flag below gets it wrong....

Nah.  I don't think most of us insist on  boasting about America being On Top of the World.  Most of us just want to live our lives without being bothered unduly by assorted nonsense that sometimes includes the more petty aspects of government.

Photography Nuts and Bolts. With some actual nuts and bolts.

It is Off Season for robotics.  But there is always planning to be done.  One area where our team did not live up to previous accomplishments was on the Media/PR side.  It was expected......we had a very capable photographer/videographer who graduated, and when essentially rebuilding the team post Covid it was not an area we chose to emphasize.

But we will going forward.  Thanks to a nice grant for equipment we now have a good SLR camera that can shoot still or video, along with all manner of lens and filter options and a laptop dedicated to editing.  Of course this means many new things to learn, and while the kids are all off being sleep 'til noon idlers (as they should be) I'll try to pick up the rudiments.

So far I've figured out how to charge the batteries, turn it on, point and shoot.  So.....with this admittedly basic start, how much improvement in quality will we see?

I decided to try three options.  The new camera, my phone, and my travel camera.  I've tried to make it a fair challenge, same light, same subject, same minimal skill level.

This is a swerve drive gearbox system.  I put it on a weathered picnic table as a back drop.

First my travel camera.  This is a Panasonic Lumix TS25.  I carry it on expeditions because it is light weight and can be dropped, chewed on, covered with dust etc without making a fuss about it.  Picture One:

Note that I have not done anything with photo editing on this series so it is a bit washed out in bright sunlight.

Now my phone.  This is a four year old Motorola that I got mostly because of long battery life, not for any camera features.  Phones always have the advantage of convenience, and a picture you take that is not ideal is always better than the missed opportunity.

I think it is better.  Honestly I carry the travel camera more for its superior close up function which comes in handy when snapping small Roman artifacts.  Now, the SLR.  It is a Canon 250D with a standard lens.

Hmmmm.  Not that much different.  It did appear to be engaging an autofocus feature which has made the blue tread material less defined.  I have not figured out how to disengage that yet.

To be fair we are mostly expecting this to be a video camera and one used for event pictures where the telephoto lens will be in use.  Also to be fair I am at best a sloppy photographer who has so far just figured out where the ON switch is.

As I laboriously climb the steep learning curve I'll inflict a few more updates on you.

Maybe the SLR is significantly better.  When walking back to the house I encountered a cute bird sitting on the sidewalk.  Here's a point and shoot that turned out pretty well...