Cream Delta-Cruisin'

Last night, our 3-speeds Lucy and Rodney came home after a bit of sprucing up. When replacing the original tires, we decided to go with the cream Schwalbe Delta Cruisers. These are light touring tires with a "racy" quality. They have Kevlar puncture protection and are inexpensive.

Here they are in motion. It was getting dark by the time we got the bicycles home, so pardon the blurry shots. I think the cream looks so elegant with the green frame! As an aside -- Yes, I've been wearing the same shorts in recent photos (well, alternating between 2 pairs of the same shorts)! It's been over 90° F here with 100% humidity for the past week, and the thin terrycloth material of these is about the only thing I can endure wearing when not submerged in the ocean. Summer dresses get soaked instantaneously and stick to the saddle, but these shorts have an intriguing moisture wicking and non-slip quality to them. They are by Champion; highly recommended.

Back to the Delta Cruisers: The tires on the Roadster are 28", and the ones on the Lady's Sports are 26" . Note that the 26" tires have reflective sidewall strips, but the 28" do not; no idea why that is.

We've tested the tires on a ride around the neighborhood. They feel very similar to the Schwalbe Marathon Plus that came with our Pashleys, but the Delta Cruisers are a bit lighter and faster. This makes them well-suited for the vintage English 3-speeds, which are somewhat more sporty than the Pashleys. I also love how the cream tires give the bicycles a personal touch. There are so many 3-speeds in Boston, but Lucy and Rodney are our 3-speeds.

Mystery Photo #1 Man and Woman

This is the first in a series of unidentified photographs from the Charles Wiseman Family Bible. See this post for background information.
Tintype. 2 ¼" x 3 ½" Note the tacks in the picture, one at the top and two below. This is a picture of a picture!
Could this be Samuel Bray, Sr. (1797-1885) and Susanna Ball (1797-1877), the parents of Naomi Bray Wiseman? Do you think the man and woman have similar facial features? Samuel and Susanna were first cousins, both born in Kentucky. Their parents moved to what would become Kentucky from Hampshire/Frederick County Maryland about 1785. What clues are there that might help date it? As always, you can click on the picture to enlarge it.

Snowy Road

Night Time in the North Country

Here's another Aurora shot from last night. This one was taken just after 3:00 AM as the sky was starting to show the very first hints of daylight. Contrary to what this photo may lead you to believe, the clouds were NOT moving fast in this exposure. In fact, they were barely moving at all. Usually you only get this effect with the clouds when they are moving quickly through the scene. This was a 30 second exposure, but the clouds moved very little in that time.They held this "streaking" formation for close to an hour. It was one of the coolest skies that I have ever seen.

People Watching at the Tigers Game

While cropping pictures from the game today, I realized that I enjoyed some of the shots of the people as much as the shots of the action going on there. So I thought I'd share a few of my favorites.



Still sleeping on the couch? Oh yeah...but she's coming around!



The key is to keep them guessing. If we start to be consistent, then they get bored.



Yes, I do need to update my Facebook status right now!



You caught that one?



I loved seeing the fans decked out in their sports gear, both young and old.





My all time favorite moment of the day was when the ground crew dropped their equipment to dance to YMCA! So funny!





Living the life in sunny Florida!

Dolphins At Play

One of my favorite things to do at Sea World is to watch the dolphins.

I especially like it when they are moving around in what I assume is more natural and less "trained" ways.

To watch them move through the water is a beautiful thing.

It might just be me thinking it should be so, but they just look happy to be moving about so freely.

Even if they aren't really smiling, they put a smile on my face. Dolphins are truly amazing creatures. It is always a wonderful thing when we can watch them, especially when we can get this close to them.

Living the life in Florida!

Lake Powell - Alstrom Point

Now in Page, Arizona after a VERY WINDY drive from Moab. I stopped at the entrance to Antelope Canyon to inquire about shooting there tomorrow. It's 80 degrees and the Navajo people that were at the canyon entrance were wearing sweaters. Sheesh. I'm wearing a t-shirt and I'm too warm!



After checking in at Antelope Canyon and stopping for a bite to eat in Page, I drove out to Alstrom Point (and back) on Lake Powell. The road was nice and dry, a few deep hard ruts in some places but otherwise not bad. Sunset was spectacular, but the wind was a pain. Watched the moon come up over Lake Powell. Tomorrow I head into Antelope Canyon!

Wish You Were Here!

I just saw Sallie's comment on my last post, while working on pictures for this post. She asked where we were staying. Sallie, we are staying at Sunshine Key RV Resort and Marina and it is a great park!



I do understand her comment on the jealousy because we are rarely jealous of where people are at. We know we are at a great place or we wouldn't be there, or we'll be in their great place sometime. If I were going to be jealous though....it would be over this place. Out of all the places we've been to, this is our favorite by far.



We started out the day with this view:



Then we headed out to see what is here.





This is Austin's "wish you were here" pose.





This is the marina here:





This is Coco wondering what on earth was in this water:



And this is just some of the fish we saw today:



The rest of the day was just as wonderful. We swam in the pool, we hung out at our site, we grilled lunch and dinner. After all of that, we came back to the fishing and swimming pier. Nathan did some snorkeling. He found a conch shell:



And we sat and watched the sunset with Coco:





I could get used to this!

Living the life in the Florida Keys!

So the Kingdom of the Netherlands finally has a King

I’m back in the Netherlands from my road trip and currently watching history unfold before the television—the Netherlands has a new king after 120 years! As I write this, the festivities in orange-bedecked Amsterdam is far from over. In fact, the party has just begun.









It’s been mentioned a few times in this blog that I am not into the monarchy thing. I don’t follow personalities in general per se. However, I see royalty as culture and an important part of the country’s history, so therefore I regard their presence and identity well in the society.



Life as a high-profile royal, especially a European royal is not an easy walk in the park. Because gone are the days that royals have real power. They are somewhat demoted to being the PR house (press relations) of the country and are often seen as a symbol that unites the nation and as an image representation internationally.



THIS IS A FACT: European royals live in glass covered palaces. Everything they do are subjected to criticism. They have a committee of advisors that help them give meaning to privacy and living normal lives, away from the scrutiny of the media and the public. Royals in principle have no real freedom; they can’t even speak out their minds? They learn to become puppets and people pleasers.



This is what happens when you have an empowered and watchful media - populace that can and will find fault on everything about people placed on pedestals.



I can’t say much about royals in other parts of the world, but try criticising the king or queen of an Asian or Arab country and you’ll see serious ramifications. Whereas in Europe, the royals—kings and queens, and princes and princesses have become the laughing stock of many tabloids, public commentary platforms and television commercials and shows. They are fragile and their existence are at the hands of their people (check out the troubled royals in Spain and Belgium). Times indeed have changed!



Hmm, definitely not a place I would love to sit. Like I said, it is not easy being a royal in Europe.







TRIVIA: Did you know that in the Netherlands the king is not crowned but instead inaugurated? He does not literally wear the crown compared to their counterpart in the UK (where the Queen literally wears the crown). In the Netherlands, the crown is seen as a symbol only. Because in reality, the royal house does not have power over the politics and the land.



Interestingly, many Dutch people (and I think Europeans in a country with a royal house) would not ever want to be in their shoes. I remember growing up and dreaming of becoming a princess—don’t we all go through this phase? Well, let’s just say that I am glad it remains a dream of a bygone childhood era.



Here’s a good write up from BBC about the adaptability of the Dutch Royal ‘Orange’ House into the 21st century.



Willem-Alexander sworn in as King of the Netherlands

BBC picture slideshow of the event



More picture slideshow from NU.nl:



King Willem-Alexander inauguration

Royal boat parade on Het IJ

More pictures of other European royals guests



Lastly, you might ask why I or we didn’t go to Amsterdam to witness the event? Well, firstly, we are not royal fans... secondly, we hate crowds... and thirdly, we are not anymore into partying. It’s better to follow the events on the tube in the comforts of my lounge chair.



Other than that, I really had no energy left after my road trip. I even slept on the sofa this afternoon watching the event. Dutchman and I were glad we stayed at home, relaxed and far from the craziness we are watching on TV.



Nevertheless, more soon about the road trip I made =)



April 30,

The Netherlands

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

How dark does it get where you cycle at night? Some of us travel mostly on lit city streets, others in sparsely lit suburbs, and others still along pitch black country roads.

Last week I rode a good chunk of a 10 mile trip home in complete and utter pitch darkness. Even with my good LED headlight, I could only see a small part of the path ahead of me at a time, but eventually my eyes grew accustomed to the dark and I began to distinguish other clues. I went at a steady pace of about 12mph, which was sufficiently slow for me to recognise upcoming turns and obstacles on the road. A small fox trotted across my path once, crossing from one side of the meadows to another. I stopped and watched her wet fur glistening in my headlight beam, then continued on my way. At another point, a raccoon considered dashing to cross in front of me, but changed his mind and observed me from the side of the road as I cycled past him. I also encountered a few late-evening joggers and commuter cyclists, all of whom I was able to spot in advance at the speed I was going. Any faster though, and I don't think it would have been safe on that particular trail. Local cyclists are always ending up in hospitals from crashing into one of the gates and dividers that are placed there.



I know that randonneurs will go over 30mph on winding descents in the dark, but I am not there yet.Even as recently as last summer, I was terrified to cycle on winding unlit country roads in Maine and New Hampshire. But now I'd like to try it again.



I have LED headlights on most of my bicycles now, and the Co-Habitant has just updated his Pashley's stock lighting with the Supernova E3.The front and rear standlight features are on the dim side, but we think that is due to the bicycle's barely adequate 2.4W dynamo hub. When in motion, the lights are super-bright.



While good LED lighting is important, I think that cycling in the pitch dark also requires a certain degree of skill, as well as knowledge of your bicycle's handling and familiarity with local terrain. What's the darkest you're comfortable with when traveling by bicycle?

Muscovy love

Amorous Cairina moschata domesticus.

Last summer our friend Jen gave us three white Muscovy ducks (one male and two females).



In the world of domestic ducks, there are Mallards, lots of ducks derived from Mallards, and Muscovies.

In researching Muscovies I was surprised to find how long they'd been domesticated - at least 500 years and possibly more. Columbus saw them in the West Indies.

They don't quack like other ducks; the males hiss and the females make a sort of trilling noise. (The trilling is actually a soothing sound. The hissing, not so much.)

They don't walk like other ducks; the head lunges back and forth while the tail wags from side to side. They pretty much do this when they're standing still too.

They don’t like the water as much as other ducks, but can fly better than most.

They are also fairly ugly. They have bright red warty areas around their bills. The wild version (in Latin America) is mostly black, and is infinitely more attractive. Domestic Muscovies are usually black and white. To me the pure white ones are more handsome.

Everything is exaggerated on the males: their size is much larger, they exhibit bigger lunging movements and more tail wagging, and they have an expanded warty area (for extra ugly).

You might wonder why we wanted them.

Because homestead lore claims that they love to eat mosquitoes. Really though I think that ducks love to eat just about any bug that they can catch.

You can make pets out of chickens, especially if you start handling them when they're very young. But you'll never make friends with a duck. They just don’t want to have that much to do with you.

In this the Muscovies are also different, especially the males. Ours likes to follow us around.

If you stand still anywhere in the yard for more than a minute he'll be right beside you, lunging, wagging, and hissing. If you stand still long enough, he'll nibble at your feet.

While you're still thinking “Oh how cute!” he'll start pulling on your pants leg. At first it seems funny, but if you don't move away within a few seconds, he’ll alternate pinching and stabbing you with his bill. Hard!

Once I figured out this behavior, naturally I tried not to stand still for very long if he's around. But sometimes he's insistent and will run after me. Muscovies are the cheetahs of the duck world. You can't outrun them.

I'm divided on whether this is hate or love on the part of the Muscovy... territorial response or misplaced affection?

Raven Tracks in Snow

From today's walk in the woods. I love winter for many reasons, and one of those reasons is the snow makes it easier for us to see what the animals have been up to. Today I found these raven tracks... they were in the middle of an opening in the woods, beginning with the two tracks in the lower right. Apparently this raven landed, then hopped on both feet a few times before beginning to walk. It sure was a fun find :-)

Another View

This is a view of the Indian Market Place from the other end.

The Cyclist and the Roundabout

Though not nearly as widespread as in the UK, roundabouts - also known as rotaries and traffic circles - are fairly common back in New England, particularly in the sort of areas that brevets and similar rides tend to take us through.Personally, I don't know anyone in the US - be they cyclist or driver - who actually likes roundabouts, and I am no exception. Over the years my attitude toward them has transitioned from one of pure terror to one of a more manageable, subdued loathing. There are right of way rules to navigating them, but somehow the traffic flow ends up being chaotic despite those rules. Drivers don't always yield to other vehicles correctly, and bikes they sometimes outright ignore. As a cyclist, you can end up waiting your turn forever despite having the right of way. Or worse yet, a driver's failure to yield once you're already moving through the circle can result in a close call or collision.




Now cycling in Northern Ireland, my relationship with roundabouts has moved to an entirely new, downright intimate level. On the North Coast they are everywhere, often used in leu of traffic lights, and I go through at least one - but more typically anywhere between three and six - every day. There are large roundabouts the size of parks. There are smaller ones that might display a modern sculpture or two. And there are tiny ones that are just painted circles on tarmac, easy to miss. There are urban roundabouts through which cars move at a crawl. And there are rural ones, through which lorries fly at top speed.




Most impressive of all are the roundabouts situated along steep hills. One such stunner is just outside of Limavady town, approaching the village of Aghanloo. When I first saw this thing appear in front of me, my jaw dropped. When approached from one direction, this roundabout requires being ready to yield or stop while climbing a 10% grade, from another direction while descending the same. And to be clear, the hill does not start or end with the roundabout; the intersection is half way through the climb. For a cyclist this can be rather ...interesting, requiring precise control of one's bike and brakes.




But one thing I realised about the roundabouts in Northern Ireland over time, is that they are predictable: There is no chaos or confusion, as everyone actually follows the right of way rules. Traveling on the left side of the road, you yield to traffic approaching from the right, and in the same manner other traffic yields to you. Unlike in New England, drivers do actually yield when it is another vehicle's turn - even if that other vehicle is a bike! It took me some time to trust in this, but once I started to all the stress from navigating the roundabouts was removed. When it's my turn, I go and when it's not, I stop: easy, and, admittedly, more efficient than a traffic light. I like it!




What has been your experience with roundabouts as a cyclist in the area where you live?

The Florida Crowd Lands in Chesapeake

It is feeling like a little mini-reunion here to us.

Last year, we hardly saw any of our winter friends, even though we hoped to. This year we had low expectations in this area, so we've been thrilled beyond words to have Florida friends around since we left Florida. Granted, it will not stay that way, but we are loving it for now.

Jack and Diane and their family Jim and Marlene are still at the park. Tracy and Jim are still here too. They had landed here while we were still here last time, with Lee and Judy, but I didn't see them. It was great to see then again.On top of that, Karen and Tom are here. I have to stop and share a story about Karen here. Austin was telling Aric about Karen, because he hadn't met her yet. He says she is sooooooo nice. I compared her to someone else who I thought was sweet in the same kind of way and Austin said oh no, she is way sweeter. She is in a class all of her own. You can't compare Karen to ANYONE else. I think he has a little crush on her. Not that I can blame him because she is in a class all of her own, both inside and out.

We have enough people to play pickleball each day. Today we played twice in fact. It was hot in the morning and then cool in the evening. I prefer evening play, not only because of the weather, but because I hate playing in the morning due to my hating to be awake in the morning.

Our travel buddies are supposed to come tonight and that will just add to our contentment of being surrounded by enjoyable people.

Living the life in now sunny Virginia!