THE WEEKENDER :) AN AMAZING CLIMB

AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN

This is an older video but I recently received it from

from a couple of friends.  It's been seen 

by a million plus viewers, but perhaps you've not seen it.

Catherine Destivelle made this climb

in 1987.  She continued to climb and achieve

more extraordinary accomplishments.

Today she lectures, speaks and writes of her

climbs and achievements.

We are fortunate that film and tape has recorded such events and that YouTube makes distribution so

universal.

See you down the trail.

BEACH HOUSES

LIFE'S A BEACH

It's called the Paradise Coast.  The Gulf of Mexico

in Naples Florida provides a strip of sand and landscaping

that is host to "places at the beach."

Here is a glimpse.

As you will see many are "closed for the season"

the owners no longer "in residence."

As large and elegant as they may be

most of these places are

not homes.  They are

simply the "beach house."

 This place takes 3 frames to see.

 One estate in two buildings.

There are more "modest" places as well.

 Another multi building estate, seen in a couple of frames.

Recession?  There is a lot of building here.

Here is one of the "little old places" that will soon make

way for a larger place.

Hard to imagine a gulf side home like this is "inadequate."

It is different reality along the

"paradise coast."

See you down the trail.

On the public beach.

GOLD ON THE WATER

A SIMPLE PLEASURE

WATCHING THE DROP

       Can you remember how you felt the first time you saw the sun turn a body of water into a path of gold? I don't remember specifics but I can recall that sense of wonder and awe and wanting to touch it. All these years later, it still fascinates. That painting of light is one of the enchantments of sunset.

       For centuries we bipeds have marveled at the daily act of cosmology. It is a turn in our life, a rhythm. Each sunset is unique, but those near water offer a canvass of light play.  In the incremental descent is a peace, if you will a natural meditation. And everything in the light is a player in the drama. We know the eventual outcome, but we are drawn to the slow recess of that path of gold and its provider.

        Everything reflects or captures that special sweet or golden light.

       We watch our watery path of gold get further from our touch, fading into the mystery.

       If our busy lives have allowed us to pay attention, the ritual leaves us more complete
and perhaps with a hint of enchantment active in our being.

And then, it is that time of day when dreams begin to walk.

See you down the trail.

       

THE OTHER WEST COAST & THOUGHTS OF A DEBT CEILING

SUMMER FUN

California friends said "Florida in July?!"

We told them we'll survive just fine.

A visit with our eldest and a family wedding 

brings us to the other west coast, along

the beautiful Gulf of Mexico.

This is where summer fun means the beach.

The gulf also provides a canvass of relaxing scenes.

And as you can note, changing cloudscapes.

A tropical summer offers a vast change from

the central coast.  Stay tuned.


AS THE DEBT CEILING DEBATE CONTINUES

Here's an interesting perspective from
James Surowiecki in the New Yorker
The truth is that the United States doesn’t need, and shouldn’t have, a debt ceiling. Every other democratic country, with the exception of Denmark, does fine without one. There’s no debt limit in the Constitution. And, if Congress really wants to hold down government debt, it already has a way to do so that doesn’t risk economic chaos—namely, the annual budgeting process. The only reason we need to lift the debt ceiling, after all, is to pay for spending that Congress has already authorized. If the debt ceiling isn’t raised, we’ll face an absurd scenario in which Congress will have ordered the President to execute two laws that are flatly at odds with each other. If he obeys the debt ceiling, he cannot spend the money that Congress has told him to spend, which is why most government functions will be shut down. Yet if he spends the money as Congress has authorized him to he’ll end up violating the debt ceiling.
Interesting eh?
You can read more of an illuminating article
in the August 2 New Yorker.
 See you down the trail.