Articles by Bo Mackison

Modern Conveniences

Maybe I Should Get a Set of These?

get link Maybe I Should Get a Set of These

here Soooooooooo. I have been without a washing machine since the Monday before Thanksgiving. It’s beginning to seem like a really long time. We ordered the replacement before Thanksgiving Day. The economy is stagnant, no one is buying big ticket items, so I foolishly thought my big ticket washing machine would be an easy get.

https://www.appliquecafeblog.com/raggy/ Wrong. I was wrong, Really wrong. No washing machine is in sight. And the darn thing is manufactured in Iowa AND Iowa is just across the border from Wisconsin. So how hard can this be, folks?  Will someone please send a truck for my washer?

https://geneticsandfertility.com/services/ Or perhaps I shall be forced to set up some outdoor tubs – like the ones in the photo, the ones the historical re-enactment ladies use at Old World Wisconsin, the state’s historical outdoor museum. The tubs they use when they pretend it is summer and 1890 and indoor plumbing is non-existent.

go site Oh wait. I can’t do that. It’s mid-December, and we’re in the middle of a blizzard. Depending on how accurate the weather folk are in the area, we are likely to get eight inches of snow tonight and tomorrow, give or take two inches.

Xanax Buy Without Prescription I’ve already been to the laundromat once. It’s not a horrible experience. Though it’s not at the top of my list either. Two hours and $21 to wash and dry eight loads of clothing and linen. (I had overnight guests over Thanksgiving, or it wouldn’t have been quite so bad.) And I even was treated to TV – a TV bolted to the ceiling so neither I nor anyone else in the place could turn down the volume or change the channel. The TV host was describing fast food horrors, sandwiches and such, complete with such high calorie and fat counts that they should satisfy a grown man’s food needs for several days.

Order Soma Online Sorry,  I got a bit distracted. I’ll get back to the good part. Seems I’d planned on a quiet evening tonight. I worked with a new computer program for five solid hours today, and then wrapped Christmas presents for another two hours, so I was ready to relax with a nice book and a cup of Earl Grey tea. My husband, however, after surveying the silent laundry room, thought it would be a great time to move the machines and prep the walls for a quick paint job. After all, there would be no laundry to get in the way.

https://www.completerehabsolutions.com/ergonomics-assessments/ Seemed like a good idea – at the time. He turned off the water, or so he thought, and then disconnected the hoses. Except the water wasn’t completely turned off, and the first floor laundry (and the floor below) was well soaked by the time he wrangled with the shut off valve in the basement. Yuk. Water. Mess.

Hey, but it gets even a little better. (One of those nights when you can be glad you were in your own home, rather than being a fly on the wall of my laundry room – you really didn’t want to hear that conversation, did you?)

Jazz, whom we are now fondly calling the Velcro Vomit-er, sized up the situation before we did. She grasped the obvious quickly. She noted her litter box had some major flood damage. She couldn’t be expected to use that litter box, could she?

So, all things considered, it was an exciting evening.  And if we don’t get our snow dump, not only will I have to go to the laundromat with a lot of wet towels tomorrow, I’ll have to fork over cash for a plumber, too.

Maybe those old wooden laundry tubs wouldn’t be such a bad solution, after all.  Hmm.

 

Arches in Devil’s Garden

Double O Arch

Double O Arch

Double O Arch is the second largest arch in the Devil’s Garden area of Arches National Park. (Landscape Arch is the largest.) There are actually two arches here – the smaller arch spans 21 feet and the larger one has a span of 71 feet.  They are both a part of the same sandstone fin.  The path to this arch is considered primitive (ha!) and is nearly a two mile hike from the Devil’s Garden Trailhead and parking lot. If you are a movie aficionado, you may recognize these rock formations from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Top Story Window

Top Story Window

Although geologists do not recognize the classification of a rock window, popular names often attribute window-like features to openings in the rocks. This opening, Top Story Window, is in the southern part of Devil’s Garden.

Landscape Arch at Sunrise

The Grand-daddy of Arches

The Grand-Daddy of All Arches

No, I am not talking about McDonald’s Arches.

There are arches other than those golden ones which have become an American icon.

These natural beauties are the arches that should be one of our icons.  Landscape Arch is surely one of the world’s greatest natural wonders.

It has the greatest span of any natural arch documented, over 290 feet long. At its narrowest, the rock is only 6 feet wide. This is an go to link arc natural arch, a geological specimen very old and near the end of its life cycle. The arch could collapse any day or it could last another century. You have to remember we’re talking about arches made from eroded sandstone here – they have an incredibly long life span, but can collapse without warning.

In the last 17 years, sizable chunks have fallen from Landscape Arch.

In September of 1991, a 73-foot slab of rock crashed to the earth from underneath the narrowest part. This rock fall may have actually prolonged the life of the rest of the arch, as the piece was considered structurally unimportant and it reduced the weight of the suspended rock. In June of 1995, a 47-foot mass fell from the front of the thinnest section , soon to be followed by a third rock 2 weeks later. Since then, the trail that once wound beneath the arch has been closed by the Park Service. Smart move!

Landscape Arch is in Devil’s Garden in Arches National Park, a few miles north of Moab Utah.

The hike to see this arch is just over a mile, but it really is an easy hike to this point on extremely maintained paths. If you can walk 2 miles in your mall, you can walk the 2 miles in and out to see this giant arch. If you are ever in this area, consider getting out of your car and really look at the rocks. This is a must see, and the Park Service has made it as easy as possible to see Landscape Arch. I saw toddlers carried on their parents’ backs and I saw octogenarians walking with canes, all checking out the magnificent view.

There are other arches in Devils’ Garden – it has the largest number of significant natural arches in the world.

However, once past this landmark, it gets a mite more rugged (ha!) and it is almost easy to feel that you are an intrepid explorer in the wilderness if you are visiting at an off-peak time. Next post, I’ll share with you the other arches in the area – the ones I had to crawl up and down rocks to see. Ah, but they are so awesome. Such a wonderful experience to have filed away in my brain for further consideration.

Shadows of Leaves – Great Sand Dunes Nature Trail

Illusion

On Great Sand Dunes Nature Trail © 2008 Bo Mackison

Photography, as we all know, is not real at all. It is an illusion of reality with which we create our own private world. ~ Arnold Newman  (American photographer)

Meme – in Search of the One Word Answer

Detail of Chihuly Art Glass Sculpture

Detail of Chihuly Art Glass Sculpture

I needed something to post. This great glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly could easily have merited the entire post, but then Amuirin – that girl is always full of ideas – posted this crazy meme. It is supposed to be a one word answer meme, though I’m terrible at following rules, so I’ll give it a go, but no one-word promises.

Well, I was looking for a likely spot of procrastination. Almost anything would have qualified. My new washing machine to replace that blankity-blank one hasn’t even made its warehouse appearance yet and I’ve been without a washer for over a week and it was Thanksgiving and I had a houseful of overnight company  and there are “linens and things” to launder and https://www.jacobysaustin.com/general-info/ I simply don’t wanna go to the laundromat.

Ah, pay attention.  Procrastination is a fine art.

Join the fun if you wish. Use these questions or make up your own like Amuirin and I did.  I am non-celebrating the first day of December in Wisconsin with snow, dark clouds, more snow, slippery streets, gray, gray, gray. So I say – who needs to drive to the laundromat in search of clean underwear?  Not me!

Here’s mine:

  1. Where is your cell phone? — upstairs
  2. Where is your significant other? —  an epic tale
  3. Who is your favorite blogger? — blogger with comment
  4. Your favorite beverage?— sipping tequila ($$$$$)
  5. Your hair color? — fine, and you?
  6. What is your favorite thing? —  camera
  7. Your dream last night? — people sleep long enough to dream?
  8. Your dream/goal? — serenity
  9. The room you’re in? — studio
  10. Your hobby? — setting goals I never reach
  11. Your fear? — caving snowbanks
  12. What do you want to be in 6 years? — sane
  13. Where were you last night? — driving in Iowa in blizzard.
  14. What are you not into? — organized groups
  15. One of your wish-list items? — the perfect photo printer
  16. Where did you grow up? — overlooking the Mighty Mississippi
  17. Last thing you fantasized about? — sunshine
  18. What are you wearing? — wool
  19. What you are not wearing? — bikini
  20. Your TV? — what TV?
  21. Your pet? — Jazz, the Velcro cat
  22. Your dinner? — pizza, delivered, hurry!
  23. Your mood? — tolerable
  24. Missing someone? — always
  25. Your car? — in the shop, again
  26. Favorite store? — Apple (computers, not fruit)
  27. Favorite Breakfast? — chocolate ($$$)
  28. Love someone? — usually
  29. Last time you laughed? — a half-hour ago
  30. Last time you cried? —  morning, much better now