Murdock Muse November-December 2002 - Part 2


TRIUMPHEST CAR SHOW REPORT AND PHOTO
Colleen McKay

On October 15 I flew from Baltimore to San Francisco to drive my first car, my 1980 TR 7 Spider convertible, to the Triumphest Car Show in Laughlin NV. I rested, and left at 3:30 am PDT time, which was 6:30am EDT, to drive the 610 miles to Laughlin from Vallejo Ca. The strange thing was not seeing one highway patrol car on either side of the highway to or from. I won a gold award for my car and placed second in the autocross for the TR7 and TR8 class at the show.

Since I did not arrive timely from the 101 mile road rally to go to the Saturday 4:00 pm Mass, I thought I would get up early and drive to Barstow, because I knew where a church was there. But the Mass was in Spanish - almost over - and the next Mass was in English but in 75 minutes. I thought I would drive on to Bakersfield. In Bakersfield I did find a Mass in English at our Lady of Guadalupe luckily, since the next two Masses were in Spanish. I had lunch at the church since they were having a fundraiser.

I made it back safely to Vallejo and flew back to Baltimore on Monday, Oct 21. The things an original owner (I bought the car new from a dealer in Sacramento in Oct 1981) will do with her car. My car on the East coast is a boring VW Fox. The top does not go down.

Click here for the photo.


WHEN IS THE NEXT POWER OUTAGE?
Daniel Leskinen

On Sunday Oct 27 at about 7:00pm, the power went out in our Little Borough of Hanover. Carolyn drove up to the church to check on Alizabette. Stephanie did her homework by candlelight. Annabelle sat next to Stephanie and drew pictures. Calder carefully placed lit candles on the porch to light the way, upon Carolyn and Alizabette's return. After Stephanie finished her homework and the candles were well placed. We had to put one in the Bathroom. The four of us played a cutthroat game of Sorry.

About the time Annabelle was victorious, the rest of the clan arrived. We set up blankets and pillows in the living room and read stories until we all got tired. First I read from Annabelle's favorite book of stories, a story about a little witch learning to use magic. Then we took turns reading a chapter from "The Happy Hollisters." Yes, I had to dig deep to find that old favorite. I think Stephanie and Calder can't wait to get home and finish reading the book.

Hmm, maybe I should start staging power outages. The power came back on sometime after we were all asleep. I set my alarm on my cell phone to ensure we woke up at the correct time in the morning.


MEMO FOR MUSE READERS
Cathy Howlett

Well, you wouldn't know it, but I just spent an hour typing a very witty letter to you about the month of September here in Chichester. And just as I was summing up, Compuserve fribbled off somewhere and I lost the connection - again, for the umpteenth time. I don't think we'll be renewing our contract with them when it expires next month. (Growl, grimace.)

John and I had planned on taking vacation during the mid-September tourist lull, both because the weather is so pleasent then and because our family was anticipating some special events. On Monday, the 9th, I was in an accident on my way home from work, and what's that expression about the best laid plans...? My brave Taurus gave its life for me when the driver of a Chrysler Town & Country mini-van decided to cut across in front of me to get to the interstate - but I was already occupying that spot in the road. And did you know that the ABS brake system on a '98 Taurus makes a rachetting racket even after it's been totaled? Well, maybe not all do, but mine did.

I was wearing my seat belt, so I ended up with technicolor bruises and a severely sprained right foot and left pinky finger. Much better than being crushed by the steering wheel or being thrown through the windshield, don't you think? I was out of work for a couple days, and had to train my supervisor by phone to cover for me; then I went in to work for a day and a half to train her and the shipping manager to cover for me during my vacation week. I always knew I did a lot of running around at work, but it took being confined to my chair and needing crutches to realize it takes three people to fetch, carry and file my paperwork.

So our vacation was spent with me hobbling around, happy to be alive but not able to do anything we had planned. We did go car shopping - not as much fun as it would have been if circumstances were different - and we went out to Ogunquit for lunch on Friday, but that also wasn't as much fun as usual since we couldn't walk the Marginal Way or along the beach. We did do one fun thing - bought John a lawn tractor! We had discussed it off and on since buying this house. We were going to wait until next year to do it, but John was having an asthma attack every time he mowed the lawn (not quite the cardio-benefitting exercise it could have been) so it seemed to be the right time to purchase. Now he can mow the entire yard in an hour instead of three, and he has pulled stumps and worked on the orchard road, too. And no more leave raking - he mulches them as they accumulate! The snow will be flying before my foot is strong enough to work the pedals, but you can bet I'll be insisting on lessons next spring - he's having way too much fun!

Our children's happy occasions more than made up for my mishap. Sarah and Gary's new home is delightful. The rooms are bright and the arrangement is perfect for them; there's a big tree in the yard complete with a swing, and plenty of places to plant flowers and an herb garden. In the spring we're going to plant a hibiscus for Huey! Sarah stays overnight here between clinicals since Somersworth is farther away than Barrington was; but that's about the only drawback to the move.

And of course the arrival of Thomas Lawton is the best news of all. His disposition is exceptionally sweet, and his parents are in awe of him. They have taken to their new roles with bravado (Sean) and grace (Kris), and drop by at least once a week so I can get my "baby fix." When Tommy smiles, his expression is of such joy there is no room in the world for sadness.

As for plans for the holidays, John is off Thanksgiving but working Christmas and New Year's Day, so we'll be here in New Hampshire for all occasions. We had been discussing something a little more adventurous for vacation next year, but I'm not sure I should plan too much, or too far ahead. And John would like us to host the Fourth of July get-together next year, which gives us something fun to anticipate. You know, we have to justify that lawn tractor as many ways as possible!


HOLIDAY PLANS
Gene Murdock

I don't intend to travel any more this year, beyond a hundred miles or so, and will spend Thanksgiving with Eric, Robin and the grand-kids. Always a great delight.

I used to enjoy Halloween when I lived in a house where it was easy to monitor the comings and goings of the Trick-or-Treaters, but here in Iowa I am several stairs up in a split level, so it is a pain to answer the door. Consequently I look around for some place to spend the evening away from the doorbell. This year I lucked out! A new Barnes & Noble bookstore opened up a few miles away, complete with coffee shop and all, so I will spend Halloween there away from all the little Beasties.

I had an odd experience last week. I was returning from the aviation museum Friday afternoon, heading south down a state highway, about to head east at the next intersection. Ahead of me in the sky I saw a small plane flying along from east to west at about 1000 feet altitude. As I made the turn I realized it was just ahead of me, following the course of the highway I was on. Strangely, it didn't seem to be going fast at all, so I picked up my speed a little to just a few miles over the speed limit and found I was gaining on the plane! Sure enough, in a few mintes I was right alongside of it and PASSING the airplane!! It was a little ultralight craft with a motor not much bigger than a lawnmower's, but it was a strange sensation to actually overtake an airplane.


MUSE-INGS
Margery Aukstikalnis

We went to our first Octoberfest last evening, at a chalet in Vermont. Now, I had heard stories about Octoberfests, and was under the impression that a few hundred young hooligans drank too much beer and made a lot of noise. Well this was a surprise. The average age in the room was about 60, the festive German buffet (four courses!) left nothing to be desired. The one man and one woman band played and sang a delightful mix of German, American, French, Swiss, and Spanish tunes. Many of us danced several dances, but one couple in their mid eighties entertained us with polkas, that we all wished we had the energy to do, but sat back admiringly and enjoyed their display of young love. One woman said it best. "This was a wonderful party; it stretched my face!" :)

Jack is recovering well from his severe sprain, and has completed my new granite-framed flower garden, has extended the maze of trails in the woods, and is now putting the charm on my vegetable garden by building the stone wall on the south end. It is all so pretty. It's fun to decorate God's earth.

I have completed my term as President of the Garden Club, and have now accepted the position of Treasurer. No term limit there, so I may just settle down. I had a wonderful time last week, representing the Garden Club, as I brought a mountain of tangled bittersweet vines, complete with berries, to Emerson School for their Fall Festival. I gathered moss, Princess Pine, Blueberry branches, acorns, pods, dry flowerheads and berries from the woods. I brought burlap, macaroni, a couple gallons of buttons, pipe cleaners, cranberries, popcorn (the plastic kind you hate to get in packages that makes such a mess and doesn't recycle), string, yarn, old, faded plastic flowers, and a couple glue guns. Except for helping some of the kids get their hoops started from the bittersweet to make wreaths, all I had to do is run the glue gun. The kids were ages 4 to 84. What imaginations those kids have! They were allowed to take anything they wanted, and as much as they wanted, as long as they made some kind of arrangement to bring home. In two hours we made some happy kids, and I bet some proud parents.

WE LOVE THE MUSE! KEEP IT COMING! Thank you both.


NEW EMAIL ADDRESS
Carol Howlett

Doug has made me a new email address, cpratth@aol.com, so I can get mail on my own account.

Oct. 26 - Today is a miserable rainy day here but we need the rain. We enjoy reading the Muse online and look forward to the next one.


CLYDE'S HOSPITAL TRIP
Polly Soberg

Clyde was taken by ambulance to Concord Hospital early Friday morning as he was having chest pains. We met him there and spent about three hours just waiting for the doctor to come in so he could be admitted. We were lucky on the weekend as nurse John was working on the psych unit and he could check in on Carl and get the real story from the chart. We were in and out of the hospital Friday and Saturday then he was able to come home on Sunday.

He seems ok now and has a couple of funny stories about them trying to get him on the treadmill and him being a stubborn Howlett, just getting off and telling them it was a ridiculous thing to do to a 93 year old man. Yeah Clyde!!

Muse readers can Email to Clyde at CHow264656@tds.net.


FROM THE HEARTLAND
Darrel Murdock

Oct. 29 - Well, it's not been the greatest fall in Minnesota, despite all the wonderful things I have said about past MN falls. We have only seen the sun for a few hours in the last month. The annuals left early this year, under the persistent cold, cloudy conditions. Even many tree leaves shriveled instead of turning color. But on the bright side, it makes preparing for winter sooner and that will mean a colorful spring. And there are still lots of mums, thank goodness. They are worth the space they take up in the summer.

I've begun the transition to my winter garden, my website. I am checking the links and searching for new pics and sites to add, adding backgrounds and thumbnail images. I put a counter on and discovered I was getting ample hits, from a couple dozen search engines I never submitted to. It is interesting to see what is popular. The number one section was Dinosaurs, with Fantasy , Alien World and Wildcats/Wolves right behind it. Interactive pages with sound and the Slideshows are the biggest hits.

I found the UK's Virtual Newscaster and added that to Online News. She's pretty cool, with several formats. And I added a translator and some other fun tools to the page.

I also have started going to a Chiropractor to straighten out my spine. It seems it got a bit twisted, which has been less than pleasant. I'm lucky I have an easy job right now. I almost quit 'cuz it was boring, but it's a lifesaver now.

Until Next Time, have a good one!

Click here for Darrel's website at http://d21c.com/AAALynx/.




MY CHACO CANYON TRIP
Chip Martz

In late October I joined an Elder Hostel group for a camping and hiking experience at Chaco Canyon in northwestern New Mexico. This is the largest prehistoric civilization site north of Mexico (850-1150 A. D.). Chaco was the center of a phenomenon that included construction of a dozen multi-story buildings (100-700 rooms). These "Great Houses" were only partly used for living space. Most of the rooms were used for storage of food and religious rituals.

In addition to these structures, the Chacoans built hundreds of miles of roads extending from the Great Houses outward to outlier settlements. The roads are somewhat of a mystery since the Chacoans did not have the wheel or beasts of burden (horses came with the Spanish in 1540).

We know little of the culture of the Chacoans who consisted of groups speaking a variety of languages. Most intriguing is recent evidence of cannibalism being practiced on a small scale. Intimidation by the rulers? Witchcraft? Nobody is sure why this happened. All in all, this was a complex and fascinating civilization. The descendants of the Chacoans live today in small pueblos along the Upper Rio Grande and at Zuni and Acoma in New Mexico as well as at three Hopi settlements in Arizona.

The picture is of me on a mesa top overlooking the ruins of Pueblo Bonito, the largest of the Chaco Canyon Great Houses.

Click here for the photo in the Martz Gallery.



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