Back from klamath

Check out the MoHo Travels for my Recreation creek kayak trip and photos.

Mother's Day

My son John and his new friend Jan came to visit. It was an amazing serendipity, because as they were driving north, the tornados were hitting all around Joplin. I am sad for the people caught in the storms, but so glad that my son wasn't home when they hit. We had a nice evening and got up early this morning to walk Lincoln in the breezy cool sunlight. Lincoln is a lovely town, and John really enjoyed the architecture. I really enjoyed showing him one of my favorite things in Lincoln, the brick sculpture bas relief down in the HayMarket at the train depot. It is very nearly impossible to get any kind of photo that shows how detailed and beautiful this sculpture is, and it never ceases to amaze me when I look at it.

Teaching soil survey

I'm in Lincoln today and it's raining hard. Not surprising, and not surprising to see the radar with all those bright yellow and red blotches here on the Nebraska line, not surprising for May at least. I'm not sure why "they" seem to think that May is such a great time to be out in the fields here, maybe because the corn isn't up yet. It's been a good week. The erratic weather has been kind and refrained from dumping on us in the field. I have a good group this year, everyone seems interested and seems to be learning and having fun. It's funny how there are group dynamics and after some classes that weren't so positive, I appreciate this one even more. I was assigned a group of six to mentor and the work area we are mapping is the same one I had last year. I enjoyed that, especially taking them to "the tree". It's an amazing old elm along the creek, and definitely worth the photo. Meet a few of the new crop of soil scientists.

We all have the weekend free, and some of us decided to go to the amazing Cabela's store near Omaha. It was like Disneyland for outdoor people, maybe even more so than my old western favorite REI. There are not only acres of outdoor wear, fishing gear, hunting gear, packs of all sorts, boots, and everything wonderful that you ever saw in the Cabela catalog, there are also waterfalls and mountains and even a very huge aquarium inside the store. Lots of trophy animals as well, which may or may not affect your sensibilities, but certainly a pretty amazing place. Check out the website for the La Vista Nebraska store and be sure to go to the photo gallery! Incredible, actually

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/community/aboutus/retail-detail.jsp?detailedInformationURL=/cabelas/en/content/community/aboutus/retail/retail_stores/lavista/lavista.html&cm_re=retail*left*lavista

It was fun, and I bought a really cool soil pack that is made by some sort of fly fishing specialist that just tickled me to pieces. I'm truly a bag lady, and my bag obsession is getting a bit weird, but this one has so many pockets and straps and bells and whistles that I couldnt' resist. i will be the coolest soil scientist around. hahahaha!

Of course, in addition to all the cool outdoor stuff, there is actually a real "mall" here in Lincoln and I managed to get there last night. Nice for a shopping deprived foothill resident. Back home it's an hour to any kind of shopping and it's always crowded and crummy. I enjoyed my little foray and even managed to get a pair of glasses that I needed. Had been planning to try to figure out how to get down to the LensCrafters in Modesto where my prescription resides, and lo and behold, here I was in Lincoln and they had my prescription on line and my glasses ready the next morning. Cool. Melody will be proud of me since they aren't old lady glasses any more. hahaha again! I returned home to beautiful flowers in my room from Melody and Kevin and the kids and John and his new friend Jan will be arriving soon to spend the evening and tomorrow with me here in Lincoln. Not bad for a Mom's day out!

afternoon at home

Afternoons at home are a real treat that I don't often get to enjoy. Today I am getting ready to go to Lincoln for my annual teaching adventure. This time last year Mo and I were heading out with the baby MoHo for our first cross country trip. This year, I am flying instead. My iris finally opened. Last year they opened as I left and by the time I returned they were finished. I am watching the dark purple ones on the other side of the driveway. so far, maybe half an inch of purple is showing. will I see them before Monday when I leave? Will they still be blooming when I return mid May? I wanted to capture the poppies as well this afternoon. They are so incredibly brilliant, blooming all over the hillsides, and right here along my pathway on the east side of the house.







Of course, I can never resist the hostas. I looked back over my photos, and they are like pictures of my children, every year, the same ones, incredibly photogenic children at that! The big one in the pot on the front porch has a history. She is called "Great Expectations" I saw this hosta for the first time in 2002 before I left Spokane at my favorite perennial nursery there. They had more than 300 varities of hostas, and this one was growing in a great old Italian urn under the shade house. It was so incredibly magnificent, and I had never seen hostas in pots before. I bought one tiny plant. The nurserman warned me that it was a slow grower. He was right. I have nursed this baby along for years in Klamath in the ground, then in this pot, moved her down to Jimtown with me, and now, finally for the first time, Great Expectations is living up to my expectations! Something about the huge leaves and the way the light and water plays on the leaves captures me totally. It's a hosta thing. Only hosta lovers probably have any clue what I mean.