Whizzpopper Words

Words, words, words.  At one point in my life I decided to learn a new word a day.  Now whatever happened to that idea?   I guess the word "forgot" came into play.  As a little kid attending San Antonio School in Ojai, California, as I struggled over my lessons,

 I'd ask my mom how to spell or pronounce a word.  She always said, "look it up."

As a result I spent lots and lots of time with my nose in a dictionary because my spelling was abysmal and my vocabulary pretty darn inadequate.  And finding a word you cannot spell, wow, now there's a time consuming challenge.  Did the word start with a 'c' or  's'?   Maybe a  'sh' or  'ch'.  What followed?  Was it an 'e' or 'i' or 'a' or what?  In the process I decided I hated the dictionary despite my heavy use of it.  But,  slowly, very slowly, over the years I began to admire, if not love, this book.  It became my right-hand.   Look it up became my mantra.

And now, in our modern world, word fascination can be propelled out of bounds with the Internet.  Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Google, lists and lists of synonyms and anonyms along with spell check and grammar check reign.  I  have daily word assists that can morph into anti-assists.   Like, if you have a good friend named Drury,  as I do, it routinely gets changed to dreary.  Or apostrophes, good grief, they are confusing enough before my computer takes charge -- often improperly I might add.  Rereading my work often finds me gasping in exasperation.   Between the computer's not so helpful help, and my own failings, the results can be quite alarming.

Then there are the words that my trusty computer doesn't recognize.  It diplomatically suggests, "did you mean …?"  For coffiwomple, on the other hand, it bluntly says, "No results found."   But wait, digging deeper, Goggle says coffiwomple means to "travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination."   Aah, it does exist and that's exactly what Ed and I plan to do this fall.

Our destination is a trip to the Rockies, with an unstructured, boondocking-shunpiking Thistle adventure from Banff to Colorado.  Given it's snowing in Yellowstone and the Sierras right now, who knows what the route will be.   But, at any rate, the idea is to follow the changing fall colors, observe wildlife in their winter preparations, and bask in glorious rugged mountain scenes.

                               

One day for fun I found myself searching for travel words and I found some whizzpoppers.  Feeling delight at my findings I wrote this little story about our upcoming trip (translation included for non Scrabble masters): 

Right now, here in Langley, Ed and I are hygge. 

Right now, here in Langley, Ed and I are experiencing cozy feelings enjoying the good things in life with friends (hygge). 

Before we depart eleutheromanaia hits us.  Wanderlust overtakes us!  Or, is it fernweh?

Before we  depart we’re hit with an intense and irresistible desire for freedom. (eleutheromanaia). A very strong and irresistible impulse to travel (wanderlust) overtakes us.  Or, is it an even stronger urge (fernweh)?

Unfortunately, before we hit the road, resfeber engulfs us. 

Unfortunately, before we hit the road, a restless race of our travelers' hearts engulfs us with a mixture of both anxiety and anticipation (resfeber).

 But, once on the road, we'll coddiwomple along feeling our life is eudaimon. 

But, once on the road, we'll travel in a purposeful direction towards a vague destination (coddiwomple), with the feeling that our life is being lived well (eudaimon).

 Nemosphlisht lulls us into complete comfort, right before we're jolted into yugen.

Our fondness for forests and forest scenes ( nemophilisht)  lulls us into complete comfort when suddenly we're jolted into  a strange universe that triggers emotional responses too deep and mysterious for words (yugen).

 It’s a whoopsy waffling world!

It's a great (whoopsy waffling) world!

A 'biffsquiggled' Fran

~~~

"Don't gobblefunk around with words."

~ Roald Dahl

National pride, National Contentment, National Health

National Parks again…so important, our national jewels, I must write more!

If you have not been to a national park, national monument, wildlife preserve, national forest or any other public lands in a while, get going.  These lands are this country's greatest treasures and   are stunning examples of beauty and splendor and peace.   They represent the best of "government of the people, by the people, for the people," and stand in sharp contrast to what's happening for-profit on our land.  Cities and towns and  highways are clogged with ugly development.  This spirit-killing growth is brought to us, all too frequently, by corporate power, the same power the Republicans want to turn our public lands over to for private exploitation.    

We had traveled too many miles along roads showcasing ugly to be tranquil.  Yet, as we stood on the edge looking deep into Bryce Canyon, the splendor erased our travel weariness and political unease.  To our right was a Japanese family on vacation.  Their darling little girl was delightedly jumping around as only a small child can do.  Her parents were snapping photo after photo, first of the canyon and then of the family.  On our left  were teenagers on a school field trip, stunned into a few moments of silence by the canyon's sheer beauty before  leaping into a photo-taking frenzy.  A young family from Canada asked me to take their picture.   They posed in such a proper manner I asked them to do something silly for a second photo.  They were at first embarrassed by this unknown woman, asking them to do something silly, but then they sprung into action.  I'll never see the "silly" photo but I'm willing to bet it's a favorite -- all four of them flung their hands in crazy directions and put their bodies into crooked crazy angles and giggled with delight.

Bryce Canyon

Happy people from all over  the world gather on our nation's public lands.  They bond over the beauty and majesty.  All through the land, with cameras clicking and folks oohing and awing, friendships are forming.  The Grand Canyon, Arches, Mesa Verde, the Statue of Liberty, Glacier, Crater Lake, Big Bend, Denali, Everglades, and more are high on vacation destination dreams.   Often the dream is to see all 59 national parks, 121 national monuments or to hike as many national forests as can be squeezed into a life time.

Big Bend, Texas

Everglades, Florida

Empire State Building,  New York

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Cascade Mountains,  Washington

If our Washington DC cocooned politicians would travel this country, outside their chauffeur driven black cars, with a walking stick and walking shoes, exploring the nooks and crannies like we do, there would be no talk of  public land swaps, giveaways or privatization.  If they allowed themselves to get down and dirty -- camp, hike, swim, fish, build sand castles, observe wildlife, talk with park visitors -- they too would "fall in love with this land".   Fortunately, our dear President Barack Obama  did just that when he and his family visited Yosemite this year.  It inspired these words:

"I think that the way a place like this imprints itself in you, especially when you're young, and carries on the rest of your life, is remarkable.  I do believe that when we get kids,  families, out in the open spaces, it changes them.  It roots you.  It gives you a sense that there's something bigger and grander than you.  It gives you a sense of order."

I find it ironic that in this centennial year of our national parks, the Republican Party platform would have them struck dead, or at the very least turned over to profiteers for ruin and squander, as if squeezing the life out of them with draconian budget cuts has not been severe enough. 

~~~

"The parks do not belong to one state or to one section… The Yosemite, the Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon are national properties in which every citizen has vested interest; they belong as much to the man of Massachusetts, of Michigan, of Florida, as they do to the people of California, of Wyoming, and of Arizona.  Who will gainsay that the parks contain the highest potentialities of national pride, national contentment, and national health?  A visit inspires love of country; begets contentment; engenders pride of possession; contains the antidote for national restlessness… He is a better citizen with a keener appreciation of the privilege of living here who has toured the national parks."

~ Stephen T. Mather
 NPS Director, 1917 - 1929

Desecration in the Air

If you've been reading my blog these past many months, you will know the high value I place on public land.  Without a doubt, I consider these words of Wallace Stegner, 1983, to be absolutely true.

"National parks are the best idea we ever had.  Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."

Just look at a few of the treasures we love right here in Western Washington.  Can you imagine any one of them spoiled with mining or oil drilling; the wildlife hunted to extinction; used for private enterprises such as casinos, golf courses, theme parks; or covered with private homes, with all the roads and power lines and clearing of the land that entails?

North Cascade National Park

Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

Rainier National Park

Snoqualmie National Forest

Olympic National Park

How would it feel if you suddenly came across this sign on your favorite hike in a national forest?

So imagine my shock when I find myself needing to defend our public lands, lands I hold sacrosanct.  To hear utterings from certain powers to "sell the land" or, horrifyingly, "turn them over to private enterprise".  I cringe.

Remember Reagan saying, "If you've seen one redwood tree, you've seen them all"?  We all laughed, calling him a fool and disrespectful of the most beautiful forest imaginable.

Redwood National Forest

Yet, I just read the 2016 Republican Party's platform which includes language threatening our public lands.

"Congress shall immediately pass universal legislation providing a timely and orderly mechanism requiring the federal government to convey certain federally controlled public lands to the states."

The provision calls for the immediate disposal of unspecified public lands leaving national forests, wilderness areas, national parks and wildlife refuges ripe for privatization, development or transfer of ownership.  But it doesn't stop there.  The Antiquities Act of 1906, protecting national monuments, is not safe either.  Repealing or gutting this act would put  such things as the Grand Canyon, Natural Bridges, Black Canyon of the Gunnison and the Statue of Liberty at risk.  As I continue to read, letting the words sink in, I feel alarm -- hard and bleak.  The Republican Party platform proposal is for desecration of our treasured public lands.

This is not how Republicans have always seen conservation.  In fact, how disappointed Teddy Roosevelt would be with his party's intended gutting of his greatest legacies.  During his administration he  was responsible for protecting  230 million acres -- 150 national forests, 51 federal bird preserves, 4 federal wildlife preserves, 18 national monuments, and 5 national parks.  Included in his mission to protect our lands from exploitation were the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Gila Cliff Dwelling in New Mexico and Muir Woods in California.   

To my mind, when we have park lands  and  historic treasures we protect and care for them, as was intended when they were set aside.       These natural wonders are our heritage.   Our sense of ourselves, our pride in our country, and our  spiritual wonder are all wrapped up in our nation's most beautiful, dramatic and historic places. 

I find it mind-boggling that there are anti-park folks or anti-government extremists who are unwilling to be good stewards of our nation's most special places.    As Terry Tempest Williams says, "If you know wilderness in the way that you know love, you would be unwilling to let it go." 

~~~

"Wilderness is an anchor to windward.  Knowing it is there, we can also know that we are still a rich nation, tending our resources as we should -- not a people in despair searching every last nook and cranny of our land for a board of lumber, a barrel of oil, a blade of grass, or a tank of water."

~  Clinton P. Anderson

    Senator, New Mexico

Yellowstone - Between Every Two Pines

Those of you signed up to receive notification of thistleadventure postings probably wondered about the blank page you received a couple of days ago. I had done quite a long posting on Yellowstone, apparently too long for Blogsy, so it was chewed up and spit out. I ranted about that for a spell, but no matter how much I ranted, the posting was gone.  

There is no reworking the lost posting, but I hope you'll enjoy this photo trip with us...

Thanks for joining us...

~~~

"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world."

~ John Muir

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Yellowstone: Man & Nature!

Beauty is a criteria in life that Ed and I seek out, as if our lives depended on it, and I believe they do. With each unspoiled river, snow capped mountain, or rocky outcrop we feel a deep peace and pleasure and connection to our earth...

Fine architecture can do the same or the hand-woven scarf I throw around my neck when it is cold out or the hand-turned mug from which I drink my morning coffee. Stunning natural scenes as well as masterful human craftsmanship please our beauty-seeking natures.

                       
                             

For 32 years the army managed Yellowstone Park prior to the formation of the National Park Service. The building below housed the bachelor officers at Fort Yellowstone. It is a majestic and beautiful building now serving as the Mammoth Hot Springs Visitors' Center.

And Officers' Row in it's military discipline and rigid design, is equally pleasing...

When humans build in natural surroundings, nestling the buildings into their site, they can be both modest yet enticing. The mysteries of human history as well as functional charm enhance their being and honor their setting.

Yellowstone Park Bookstore...

Yellowstone Park Museum...

At other times buildings on a grand scale, matching the grandeur of the setting, can excite and elevate one's experience. Often the success of these buildings includes the use of materials from the site so they both stand out and become one with their setting...

Humans can do magnificant things. Roads can be works of art or just a dull hunk of blacktop to move traffic. In Yellowstone Park there is a five mile stretch of road at Gibbon Falls, built in1928 by 110 men and 30 horse teams. The work they did is inspiring! The stone used in the rock walls was quarried on site.

Natural beauty is inspiring but so is human built beauty. I will rant against "development" but never human-built art.

~~~

"Oriental thinking, and indeed all pre-industrial thinking, knows that nature may seem hard-hearted and her laws inexorable and often cruel, yet she herself is the very raw material you are working with, and of which you yourself are necessarily a part. You therefore always have to treat her as your friend, as someone with whom you must somehow keep on good terms, or else you and your works will be no good. She is after all your mother, not an enemy to be subdued, or a slave to be violated.

~Michael Cardew, A Pioneer Potter

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Yellowstone

Wildlife

~ again ~

"When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us."

~ Arapaho Proverb

Bison

Yesterday we saw a bison calf in our campground. How lovely to have bison entertainment with my coffee. This photo was taken from Thistle's window...

As Ed and I were exploring early this morning, a bison mom and her calf crossed the road in front of Thistle. The tiny baby was wobbly, but keeping up with mom. Mom has just given birth as the placenta was still dangling from her body. One of the wildlife-viewers told us the calf was probably about an hour old, as they need to join their herd quickly. Mom will protect her calf, with the entire herd helping out. It's clearly birthing season. Just today we saw about a dozen new calves. Prior to today, we'd only seen two.

Here's mom and her new calf...

At this same location there was a buffalo carcass near one of the ponds, well dined on by bear, cougars and wolves. Now it's raptor time. As a herd of buffalo moved single-file along side the pond, they left the trail, one-by-one, moving near the carcass where they each paused and sniffed it, as if paying homage.

And, back in camp, two women were trapped in the restroom by a dozen bison slowly grazing their way through camp.

Coyote

We observed a coyote slowly walking on the snow when suddenly he jumped straight up in the air, with all four paws leaving the ground. He came down with a prey pounce, but missed the mark. Off he went.

Bear

A very sleepy bear attracted a number of cars and much excitement, especially with the kid-tour that happened by. While we were watching, the bear got up for a drink of water, and then promptly went right back to sleep...

A Couple of hours later, on our return trip, he was still sleeping. I guess he left hibernation before he was ready.

Elk

After seeing no elk, they are now returning from the lower winter elevations to the park...

Wolf

And then there are the wolves. Both Ed and I saw wolves today, courtesy of a wolf-watcher sharing his high-powered scope. We almost rented a scope for tomorrow, but couldn't track down the rental folks. Guess we're saved from ourselves -- for now! The wolf world is getting into our blood.

~~~

"Wildlife is and should be useless in the same way art, music, poetry and even sports are useless. They are useless in the sense that they do nothing more than raise our spirits, make us laugh or cry, frighten, disturb and delight us. They connect us not just to what's weird, different, other, but to a world where we humans do not matter nearly as much as we like to think. And that should be enough."

~ Richard Conniff

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