The Passing of a Giant

My dad was always a giant among men to me. Between the ages of 13 to 45, I never beat him in a game of tennis - talk about a blow to my self esteem. I'd get ahead and he would hunker down and grit his teeth, then charge the net and kill me once again. I might have beat him after he went blind, but you never know....

On March 19th, my 33rd wedding anniversary, my dad passed away from complications following a major stroke on Wednesday, March 17th. The prior photo with the guns was taken just 2 weeks prior to this life-ending stroke, showing that he was smiling and enjoying life up until the final moment.

Do I believer in life after death? Dang right! There is no way this guy won't be my dad in the life to come. I am so thankful for the faith I cherish that gives me a view of what awaits in the future. Maybe we can have a rematch, playing tennis on a net strung up by the pearly gates. He'll still beat me, but that will be half the fun.

I think it was President Obama that said, "when times get tough, some people turn to guns and religion". Well, in Utah you can have them both, although this cheerful guy would probably take guns over religion any day. 85 years old, blind, but still a dead eye with a gun! Way to go, dad!

If you haven't paid your Brewer Camp annual fees, watch out!

So, what have I been doing the last month? Looking down a microscope at cool rocks, what else? I finally upgraded my computer with a 1gig video card, then got a high def 24 inch monitor and plugged my digital microscope camera in to this setup and, wa-lah!!! I can see clearly now, the rain has gone.....

Seems like every day brings something new, something interesting. We have been at work from 7am to midnite 6 day a week for the last month or more. I'm dreaming of rocks in my sleep - not good! Peggy doesn't like my new shower schedule - which is don't take one until I'm socially offensive. I don't have time for showers! Now with the rain falling again, I get wet just walking out to the lab, Throw me a bar of soap and call it good.

Oh well, the centrifuge just stopped - gotta go talk to my clays!

New Year's Sunrise at the Farm

Last Thursday we awakened to the first morning with sunshine in the last 3 weeks. We have been stuck in fog or drizzle since before Christmas. It was nice to see the Cascades hadn't washed away and the early morning light hitting the clouds over Mary's Peak made for some beautiful colors. Quite a beautiful, peaceful sunrise. Happy New Year!

Die Vergangenheit

Back in the old days there was a mountain man who liked to sniff flowers ("Peace - Love"). Times have changed. Who is this guy?

Waiting for Hurricane Danny

Well, we are at Bethany Beach for a week or two. Just missed Hurricane Bill, which flew by Saturday and Sunday last week. It was a non-event here at Sussex Shores - didn't flatten the beach or create any good wave conditions. Just smashing shore break that blows sand 30 feet in the air and will break the back or neck of anyone that tries to ride these death barrels.

Now we have near perfect calm - the quiet before the storm. Danny doesn't look to be much right now, and may not make hurricane strength, despite the weather channel's hype. Looks like we'll get a nor'easter out of it on Friday and early Saturday, but again, it might blow by so fast that the beach won't flatten out. We need something to get the sand offshore and make a break that won't just bash on the shore. Stay tuned.....

Summer In Oregon

Hi! My name is Katarina and I am my grandpa's favorite grand daughter. I want to tell you about the crazy summer my grandpa has been having. He's been on the go and living in his camper for most of the time, either looking at rocks in Utah or climbing mountains in Oregon. He never slows down. He even rode a bicycle down the Oregon Coast for 250 miles, just to look at rocks. Silly grandpa! I finally got to see him when he took me swimming in the Alsea River. Don't I look cute in my sun hat? I'll probably always be the cutest grand daughter, because my Aunt Jackie will probably have another boy baby.

These are the guys that rode down the Oregon coast. One day they had really strong head winds and rain, but most of the time the weather was great and they all had a great ride.

So, this is a picture of Broken Top, a volcano near Sisters, Oregon. Grandpa couldn't stay up there too long because it started to thunder and lightning - pretty scary

This is a picture of my Uncle Josh before he left on his mission to Oklahoma. He went with grandpa to Utah to look at rocks with some oily geologists. They must be funny people to travel all that way just to look at rocks. I hope they take me down there one day, because I love rocks, too!