Bird Update

We have five baby birds on our balcony. They hatched last week. We were not pleased with their parents' choice to build a nest in our flower pot, but we are happy to keep them safe for the next few weeks. The parents are very busy flying back and forth feeding their new chicks. They don't like the cat, but neither does our cat like them. Zephyr watches the birds for hours while making an occasional lounge for at the window. It's really a lose-lose situation for both parties.

Edwards Fam

JoLee and I took a trip out to CA a few months ago and visited her old track-mate, Kristen, who now has three kids. After hanging out with them at their house, we went out for sushi and ice cream. We had a great time, but sorry, Kristen and Cory, your mugs did not make this post. Your three kids stole the show.

I can't remember what inspired this jumping contest, but it lasted for some time. Perhaps it was the popsicles.

Here's Rachel in one of her more contemplative moments.

Blake invited me in after filling up the pool, but I declined. (I've always been suspicious of those kiddie pools.)

Baby Ellie, who judging by the age of this picture, probably does not look like this anymore.

We all piled onto the couch to look at our pictures.

Beauty Masks

JoLee and I just watched a show called the The Human Face in which they explained exactly what makes a face beautiful. Scientists have developed a mask whereby they can quantify beauty. They contend that all beautiful faces fit into the mask perfectly. After the show we downloaded the mask from beautyanalysis.com to see how well we matched up.

 

Not surprisingly, JoLee matched up rather well.

 

I, on the other hand, found out I am a freek of nature. Did I mention that the show said it was more important for men to have sense of humor than to be beautiful?

Four Wheeling With Toby

Last month I took a business trip out to Utah. My old pal, Toby, was kind enough to put me up for the week in his mansion and show me around some of his hills. Here's a taste of my very busy week in Utah.



Toby has spent countless hours restoring this Land Cruiser. Needles to say, it's awesome.

Toby, like his father, makes everything an adventure, including driving out of his driveway.

To everyone's utter amazement, Kai found a buried treasure left by Jeremiah Johnson. The treasure contained some of Jeremiah's most precious possessions including Tick Tacs and Skittles. How they survived years of being buried under a large purple rock is beyond me.

Sinus Surgery

Recently I had surgery to correct a deviated septum. It's taken six weeks, but I think I've fully recovered. That first week was really tough, as the doctor put splints in my nose that made me talk like a goof. I decided I wouldn't shave until I went back to work. I'm so glad it's over and I can breath again normally.

For the Birds

Two weeks ago a Carolina Wren decided to start building a nest in one of our flower pots located on our balcony. The flower pot is on the other side of our bedroom window. We awoke to the bustling activity of the birds building their new nest and the perfectly still gaze of our cat watching her next conquest. Zephyr hasn't been this interested in anything since she saw Eight Below on DVD last winter.

Carolina Wrens are small (about 5 inches long) non-migratory birds that primarily inhabit the southern states. They often build their nests in odd places like mail boxes, car bumpers, and broken tail lights. In our case they chose to nest in a flower pot.


We tried to discourage the birds by letting our cat have free access to the balcony. We figured they had neglected the three most important rules of real estate (i.e. location, location, location), and that they would be better off finding a new home. Unfortunately, within a few days we discovered an egg. For four days thereafter, we discovered a new egg every morning.


Needless to say, we have now locked our cat out, which she very vocally objects to throughout the day. She has settled on waiting and watching the bird nest from our bed for hours at a time.


We're expecting the birds to hatch soon. They will spend about two weeks in the nest before flying away. We're hoping that all the eggs hatch so that we will have five beautiful new wrens to watch.

Rampart Reunion

Nate and I just got back from my 10 year high school reunion, and we had a good time - even better than we expected. On Saturday, a bunch of us had our own unofficial reunion at the Garden of the Gods and the Phantom Brewery.

My fighter-pilot friend Erika brought her fighter-pilot boyfriend, Jeremy.

Susan brought baby Grace.

And Amy brought her two kids.

Jessica brought her shiny new engagement ring. It's on her finger you just can't see it.

The official reunion events included a Sky Sox game and a fancy dinner, but we only took one picture of those events. Here I am with Jenn, Jessica, Donna, and Erika. Although, it may seem so from the picture, I really wasn't the only person at the fancy dinner that wasn't in black.

The Kansas City Zoo

JoLee and I recently visited the Kansas City Zoo for the first time. We didn't hear very good things about the zoo, so the visit wasn't a high priority. However, I've learned that zoos are like movies, it's best to go in with low expectations. We were pleasantly surprised with all of the fun things they had to offer.

 

The big motivator for the visit was the recent arrival of a koala. Neither of us had ever seen a koala in person, so we were pretty excited. On our second stop in the koala cage (the first time he was sleeping), this guy was walking around and showing off for the crowd. The docent said that koalas are not very social animals and prefer to be left alone. This guy seemed content to do his thing which was eat a ton of eucalyptus leaves.

 

I think the coolest part of the zoo was the kangaroos. They were allowed to room the center of the older part of the zoo without cage, fence, or wire to keep them in. Plus, there were dozens of these amazingly strange marsupials.

 

This little guy had just been born, and like many newborns, he had a huge head. He spent most of his time clung to his mothers back, but we learned that these primates are very social and help each other raise the young.

 

The newer section of the Kansas City Zoo is like an enormous safari. I say enormous because the path around the center is about 1.5 miles long. In this section of the zoo you can find all the African animals like lions, rhinos, and gazelle. Here JoLee is trying to get a good look at the animals beyond the lake.

My Face

I've been having some problems with my nose lately. After seeing a few physicians, an allergist, and an otolaryngologist, the problem seems to be connected to a deviated septum. I've included an image here from a CT scan of my head.

 

I had a hard time scanning this image into the computer. Perhaps I will post a better image when I have more time to play with the settings. The scan shows three things: bone (white), tissue (grey), and air (black). My skull is the white outline, my eyes are the large grey ovals, and my septum is that little curved line going down the center of my face. If you squint you can see, not Abraham Lincoln, but the sinuses in black. The septum is deviated into the right side of my face. You can see one of the sinuses on the left that has some very narrow passages. That is what has been causing the problems.

I scheduled an appointment to have a septoplasty where the doctor removes the entire septum and cuts out the bent bone and cartilage. If I survive the surgery, I will record the results in a future post.

Cicadas

Cicadas are insects that are prevalent in a large portion of the US, but not in CA, CO, and UT. So we were very surprised when these noisy bugs started to intrude on our peaceful lives every summer in KS. If you have never heard one, they are incredibly loud pests. Tonight I heard my first one of the season.

There are dozens of types of cicadas that live throughout the world, so the word cicada is about as descriptive as the word worm. There are some that hatch only every 13 years and others that hatch only every 17 years. The cicadas that we deal with in KS are Tibicen cicadas, and they show up every year.



According to the wikipedia only the male cicadas make noise. They do it by vibrating their rib like exoskeleton together, then they amplify the noise by using their body as a resonance chamber. They are loud enough to disrupt phone calls, and disturb a good night sleep. Surprisingly, it only takes one of these things to infect a whole area.

After reading this post I realize how irritated I sound. Cicadas must serve some purpose (besides being one of Zephyr's favorite bugs to chase). Perhaps they are food for more noble creatures. But I have to admit, I think they are incredibly obnoxious and call far too much attention to themselves. Feel free to chime in you have ever encountered these guys.

Mormon.org

The Church has launched a revamped website, mormon.org, that answers questions about the purpose of life. It includes a number of excellent videos, and if you haven't seen it you should. Accompanying the new website is a 6 month ad campaign in select cities. Below are two billboards located in downtown Kansas City. For the first two months the billboards will ask questions. In the following four months, the billboards will attempt to answer some of those questions. The Church has also been running new ads on local TV.

Bleeding Kansas

It has been said by a few that the Civil War really began in Kansas. If you recall your American History, Missouri came into the Union as a slave state. Kansas, on the other hand was anti-slave. As Kansas petitioned for statehood shortly before the Civil War, a series of skirmishes took place leading one reporter to describe the events as bleeding Kansas. John Steuart Curry portrayed the time period in his painting, Tragic Prelude.



Every spring over 100 Civil War reenactors converge on a park near our home for a "War on the Border". Since there were no Civil War battles in Johnson County, this reenactment is a representation of battles that happened along the Kansas-Missouri border.

Everyone related to the reenactment is dressed in period clothing. Before the battle, this lady came out to tell us what to expect.

JoLee sitting among the kids waiting for the fighting to begin.

The cavalry leading the charge.

The entire battle was choreographed. It was amazing to see the lines advance and then fall back, while the cavalry rushed in and out. We expected to see some hand to hand fighting, but instead the entire event was incredibly organized.

A photographer with the two opposing lines in the background.

At times the men were obscured by the gun smoke.

The most boring job in a Civil War reenactment? Dying early on. This guy lay there for more than half the battle. Near the end, the men start dropping like flies.

The Confederates won this battle. After it was all over, both regimes marched back to their camps.

Attending the reenactment was like stepping back in time. The men stay in tents and tend the horses. Merchants sell period items like candles and metalworks.

If you're interested in learning more about Civil War reenactments, this book comes to me highly recommended.

We're Back!

After a long absence we're back posting on our blog. We've had a busy spring, so expect to see some good things in the upcoming week. Thanks for not giving up on us!

California Dreamin'

My cousin Mindy got married last weekend in Oakland, CA, so JoLee and I flew out for a much needed break. My father happened to turn 60 (congrats, Dad!), so we celebrated that as well.

The wedding was beautiful. Our friend and former bishop, Brian, took the photos. It was a nice day for pictures at the temple.

These are the two Music Mates who enjoyed an adaptation of the Music Man (performed by the groom's family) the night before their wedding.

After the wedding Brooke, Aaron, and we took a short drive into San Francisco. We ate at the Ferry Building, which was a new experience for all of us (and one that I highly recommend). Then we went to an underwater aquarium on Pier 39. The aquarium literally takes you under the bay and through a Plexiglas tube where you can see native plant and animal life. It was a little touristy, but since we were visiting from Kansas we had a hard time pretending to be otherwise.

At the end of the exhibit we could pet the leopard sharks. Their skin is rough like sandpaper, and scaly so that you can only stroke them in one direction.

The next day we traversed the valley into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Our first stop (after a nauseating ride through windy hills) was Moaning Caverns in Calaveras County. The caverns were named Moaning, due to the water drops echoing out the entrance.

The caverns are privately owned, and they have a much different feel than a national park. The tour winds downs a spiral staircase to the cavern floor some 165 feet below.

Our next trip was to Big Trees state park where we visited some of the largest trees on the planet. The giant sequoia are larger, albeit shorter, than the coastal redwoods, making them the largest things to have ever lived on earth. They are are located only in handful of groves along Eastern California. Their branches are big enough to be massive trees on their own. There is no poetic metaphor of to their root system being as deep as the tree is tall, since these trees have shallow roots to collect surface water. These ancient trees can live for more than 2000 years. Their thick bark allows them to withstand fires. The trees that topple do so as a result of soil erosion exposing their root system. Man also is good at destroying these mammoth trees, but only after a great deal of exertion.

Redwood tours are somewhat awkward, since most of the time visitors are staring straight up. This bench was designed to give visitors a break.

The path takes visitors through the trunk of an old tree that was hollowed out from fires.

I don't know who's bright idea it was to put a tunnel through this tree, but it does make for a good shot. There is a similar, more famous tunnel through a tree along the coast.

This tree was the largest of those found in the North Grove at Big Trees. The 49'ers decided that it would be great to chop it down and take parts of it around the country to show everyone how big the trees are in California. It took five weeks to cut it down by boring into the base repeatedly, but human tenacity paid off in the end. The massive trunk fell to the ground, and the stump was smoothed down and turned into a dance floor. This form of tree dating left no doubt to the tree's age. It was 1244 years old, young compared to those around it. The stump is still in good shape 150 years later, although it has required a few band aids.

The stump is 25 feet in diameter. That's just long enough for Brooke, Aaron, and I to span the trunk by joining hand to toe.

Portions of the trunk of tree still remain. Here you can see the bore marks that lead to the trees demise. The trunk was split and fashioned into a bowling alley. Other parts of the tree did eventually go on tour, but ironically the exhibit caught fire and burned to the ground. The morale is obvious enough to not need to be stated here. Not everyone approved of chopping this tree down. In fact, the act fueled the conservation efforts lead at the time by men like John Muir.

Visiting the sequoia is an awesome experience that I would recommend to anyone that hasn't seen these trees (or their cousins on the coast). Their shear size is hard to comprehend even after spending a few hours in the grove. Aaron and Brooke were nice enough to accompany us on our trek last weekend. After seeing the trees we visited their property in Amador, and then headed back to Sacramento for Dad's birthday party. We had a great trip. Thanks to Mom and Dad and everyone who made it one of our best!