Month: August 2004

Finally, I’m posting images from around Bass Lake. Some of the wildflowers posted earlier were from this hike. The distance is 5.6 miles all the way around. Some of it is quite rocky but, it’s not that difficult if you take your time. Philip took me here because not even he had done this hike even though the cabin is less than 10 miles away.

The Sundholm cabin sits on a beautiful piece of property with birch, pine, and aspen trees. The lake it sits on has numerous islands, some of which are privately owned. Weekends are noisy with powerboats and kids having fun. Otherwise, it’s very quiet. We did listen online to Le Tour de France while there from his computer but, other than that, the radio never goes on. I don’t care for polka music. There is no TV. The phone rang with a wrong number, once. I cook most meals when I’m there. Philip was today talking to me about chili. He likes my chili. He likes my cooking.

The Sundholm cabin has been on the same land for just about 100 years. Even though Philip maintains the property, pays taxes and such, other fmily members chip in because they all use it at various times during the year. The cabin gets used in the winter very rarely but, if somebody does travel up there, they need to supply everything they need, including water. The cabin gets closed down by the end of September, food tossed, pipes drained, etc. There is an outhouse but, it’s a long, cold walk in the winer. I didn’t post all the pics I took while there and, I do like this one a lot.

Philip’s dog, Albert, was better behaved this year, except for mealtime, not at doggie dinner time but, our dinner time. He still begs, whines, whimpers, barks, rolls around on the floor and, in general, has fits until he gets food off the plate of his master. I fed the dog once BEFORE we sat down, and poured the drippings from the ground beef I cooked for that night’s chili. That was the only night the dog didn’t drive me nuts with the noise. He is cute, though.

Even as I look into this camera only days after beginning this project, I know I must return to my normal life and leave this beauty, tranquility, and sanctuary behind. Thank you as always Philip for your love and generosity and friendship.

Nobody said anything about the text linked images I posted yesterday. It was the weekend so, it’s understandable. I also know I have something of an audience that I try to please, too. Okay, maybe they weren’t interesting. Next…

August & September 2004 Photos (even though September hasn’t arrived). There’s this non-native lizard on campus I see all the time. Friday, I got a good three pics of it. Today while reading in the park a huge bird flew into a nearby tree. I think it’s an osprey even though it was difficult to see. If it was sunny out, I probably wouldn’t have gotten a decent pic at all.

Gawd, check this rugby hairy crack!

Have I mentioned about the university lately? Nah, I don’t think so. Anyway, I’ve been working a bit on getting my class from last semester back on the listings: photography and creative (non-fiction) writing. The Eng. Dept. Chair wants to co-list it with the art dept. However, the Art Dept. Chair doesn’t want to offer it as a grad course, as the Eng. Chair wants the course listed, because I’m an adjunct, not fulltime. I was on a fulltime contract last year but, the contract was not renewed. Hoping for things to happen is just plain foolish on my part. I was ‘hoping’ to teach at least one course this summer and I haven’t made enough money to stay on top of my bills. Thank goodness I’ve had some web design work the last few weeks, now that I’m out of money.

Tomorrow is another grants meeting and I probably will be there. The person that deals with that for the humanities area saw me on Tues. and asked if I was going to be there. He’s over the Art Dept. Chair, although he’s not the Dean of Arts and Humanities. The Dean talks about interdiscplinary courses and mine certainly is that. So, even though the Dean won’t be at the meeting, I should probably show up to say that I take this seriously. Maybe, I’m wasting time in academia. If I am, I need to find out VERY quickly so I can get myself involved with something else.

And finally, the Daily Selfpics have continued with success (in terms of documentation). Any comments?

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