Timeless

He: "What time do you want to leave?"

She: "What are we gonna do when we get there?"

He: "What time do you want to leave?"

She: "Why do you want to leave so early?"

He: "What time do you want to leave?"

She: "What's the temperature gonna be there?"

He: "The high will be about 95.  What time do you want to leave?"

She: "It's only a 2-hour drive."

He: "No, it'll take 3 hours.  What time do you want to leave?"

She: "Okay, 3 hours."

He: "What time do you want to leave?"

She: "What time do you want to leave?"

He: "No later than 9 AM."

She: "Okay, 9.........ish."

He: I need a drink!

2 Long, 1 Short

If you're under age 60, you're probably clueless about the reference - although you've likely seen pictures of the related device.  And, you've likely heard the phrase, 'party line.'  We're talking telephones, here.  Old telephones.  Old systems.  In the early/mid 1900s, there were no phone numbers, just long and short ring combinations.  The phone ring combination on the farm in MN was 2 long, 1 short.

These were hand cranked phones in wood (yes, wood!) cabinets, attached to the wall, usually near the front door of the house.  To make a call, you lifted the earpiece and turned the little crank on the right side of the cabinet, which rang the the little bells located top front - on your phone and all phones on the party line.  Each home had it's own unique ring combination of longs and/or shorts.  You could call anyone on your party line, about 6 neighborhood homes, but that was it.  If you wanted to call someone not on your party line you had to ring the operator for assistance, 1 long.

If you heard someone talking when you lifted the earpiece, you were SOL, had to wait until the other call ended.  You had to keep lifting the earpiece every few minutes to see if the line was free.  Calls were supposed to be limited to 5 minutes but most people ignored that guideline.  If you thought the other call was running long, you'd lift the earpiece and toggle the hook a few times, causing a clicking sound that might inspire the other party line user to wrap it up.  Or not.  

Oft times, someone in a hurry would lift the earpiece and crank a call before realizing there was another call in progress.  Doing that was rude, scared the crap out of the people already on the line, pissed them off.  So, you'd quickly apologize and hang up.   

 Privacy there was not.  You could listen to any conversation on your party line, and eavesdropping (rubbernecking) was common.  A favorite family trick was to catch a sibling listening in, sneak up behind them and holler, "Gerry Delaney rubbernecking!"  Then, run like hell to avoid getting whacked.  Discretion was the better of valor, me being the youngest and smallest. 

Another, nastier, trick was to ring your own phone, then quickly hang up.  This caused all the other phones on the party line to ring.  Of course, I - never mischievous and always innocent of all charges - would never think of doing such a dastardly deed.  

Fire Grenade

Ever heard that term, fire grenade?  Don't recall ever hearing it called that myself although we had one in our farm home in MN.  The name sounds militaristic, but it wasn't built for military use. Which is not to say it had no military application.

Fire Grenade

It was a household fire suppression device, about the size of a softball.

In case of fire, you were supposed to lift this thing out of its holder and throw it at the base of the fire.  To my knowledge, it was never used in our home - which is a good thing.  A good thing because there was no reason to use it, yes, but also because its effectiveness was iffy at best.  

"Holy crap, there's a fire in the kitchen!"  All pumped up on adrenaline, you grab the grenade and hurl it at the fire.  "Oops!"  You overshot the fire by a good 5', and it's the only grenade in the house.  Exit stage right.  Call your insurance agent.

"What kind of liquid did it contain?" you ask.  Excellent question!  Above, I hinted about a military application.  You better believe it!  The bulb was filled with carbon tetrachloride, which, when heated, can produce phosgene gas.  Phosgene gas was first used by the Germans in WW I, and caused an estimated 85,000 casualties.

Obviously, the word never got out about the dangerous contents of fire grenades.  Since I can remember having one in the house, it was still hanging there in the 1950s - and probably well beyond that.  Yeah, not having to use it was a good thing indeed. 

Lake Powell 2016

This was the second Lake Powell houseboat trip for Trish and me, but the rest of the crew were newbies.  We launched from Wahweap Marina, near Page, AZ, spent 4 nights, had a great time.

The Crew in Last Chance Canyon

Sitting L to R: Lisa, Trish and Ranger, Jan, Elaine

Standing L to R: Mike, Terry, Doug, Junior, Eric, David

And a finer crew there never was!

West Canyon where we spent our first 2 nights

What kind of flower be this, all green and leafy in the desert?

Terry and I hiked to the base of the butte in the background,

saw this specimen along the way.

Happy Hour: it's 5  O'clock somewhere!

We had campfires every night thanks to David, the Fire Master. 

This shot taken in Oak Canyon.

We toured Secret Canyon in Junior's powerboat.

I drove the houseboat into this narrow canyon in 2011, had to back out.

Not my fault, the map was wrong.

The 4 kayakers went to the end of Secret Canyon.

Lots of debris there, including beaver-chewed sticks that had

to have traveled a very long way.

How did this circular pattern occur?

Do rocks get ringworm?

Picture taken in Twilight Canyon.

Twilight Canyon pond scum fouled the water intake.

We waved down a passing powerboat and they towed us back to the houseboat.

Doug and Junior cleaned the gunk out of the water intake later, no problem.

Where the hell are we?

Wahweap Campground, where we camped before and after.