2014 Alien Festival

If you have been around for over a year, then you might remember my post from last April 1st about the spontaneous celebration which occurred in my little town to remember the 1947 Maury Island Incident, when a UFO - the first post war sighting of a UFO - occurred.  Last year was a hoot - so I had to go this year too, even in my broken condition!

Everyone had so much fun last year, that they decided to do another celebration.  This time there would be UFO building contests, best Man In Black, Woman In Black, Alien, etc.  Attendance was only half of last year but it was a much better celebration!  However, I was not able to get lots of photos, nor chase down interesting aliens, as I am confined to a scooter until my leg heals from all of the breakage I wrought upon myself.  :(

First two entries, one rough but with lasers which reflected off of the smoke well as it got darker.  Little one was radio controlled.

An hour later a hovercraft! based UFO showed up, the clear winner in my book!

This year's flash mob was by junior and senior high girls, well until a gang of liquored up Men In Black jumped in and quickly learned that you can not mimic when everyone turns around and now you are in the front.

Sorry no alien photos as they all hung out up around the rock band which was blaring away.  It was a hoot to watch the hovercraft come in to lyrics of, Eli's Coming!  But, it was a real one and it even had to execute a 90 degree turn to get around the truck that brought in the speakers and lights for the band.  When it had to made a turn, the driver got a huge cheer from the crowd!  I think like me everyone thought we would have to push it sideways, well until he figured his baffles to move left without hitting the rock band nor the truck.  It was powered by the darn biggest battery I have ever seen, and it was completely and utterly quiet.  I bet that six cell battery was into the 200 pounds or more range!

So, it was a mighty fun evening for me kneeling on my scooter trying to stay out of everyone's way.  A waitress from one of the bars was bringing me stuff since i could not exactly go anywhere.  Which I thought was darn thoughtful, I was the only non ambulatory person there, so it helped refresh a belief in the goodness of at least one in a crowd of about 500.  Most of the others excelled at stepping right in front of my camera as I pushed the shutter - I had a massive collection of backs, butts and sides of heads.  Amazing.

And there was a Bernese Mountain Dog, whom visited as well.  My favorite dog and not just because they came from the Canton of my heritage, nor that they are real dog sized, but because of the memories I have of being pulled around my village by one as a child in a dog cart.  Such happy, slobbery, warm fuzzy memories. Of course, they were work dogs and would be used to haul the milk cans from the milking barn to the road for pick up by the cheese factory - a mighty heavy task.

My Crazy Cousin

One of my cousins, I swear is crazy, in a good way.

He has a little YouTube "channel" devoted to shooting and he has a great deal of fun with it!  When I created my Bigfoot hunting site, he went out with his friends and got a hold of a Bigfoot suit and then had someone dressed as Bigfoot then doing the shooting as well.  I laughed my head off at his antics!

So someone asked him, "How many Twinkies will a .22 bullet go through?"  Actually an intriguing question!

Probably 25 years ago Dutchman and I created a pc based program to figure out just that kind of problem.  But, Lord only know where that disk is in this house!  And Dutchman is out of town as usual.  So, I had to do this in my head.

Now there are plenty of variables involved in figuring out how far, how flat a bullet will travel.  Speed of the bullet, shape of the bullet, length of the barrel, bolt action or semi-automatic rifle, distance from end of rifle to first twinkie.  But no matter how you slice it, a bullet does not travel flat.  First it will rise, then it will drop, it may rise again and then it will drop to the ground.

How long until the bullet hits the ground?  Well if you could do this test you would know: fire a gun and drop a corresponding bullet from the same height as the barrel - both bullets will the hit the ground at the same time, if the barrel is perfectly parallel to the ground.

So, they loaded 40 twinkies into a piece of rain gutter and the twinkie always disappeared at the sixth twinkie no matter what they did!  I expected more like 130 before the disappearance - but that is because I was forgetting one thing about twinkies, they are cream filled!

That cream filling is basically a liquid the bullet has to pass through, but more importantly is the change between the cake texture and cream texture and the angle at which that change occurs!  The bullet was exiting after six twinkies because the cream filling is not symmetrical nor inline with the twinkie!

Silly Kris, you should have thought of that one!  Oh well.  All of the cool prizes go to someone else whom guessed six!

Next up, how many Pabst Blue Ribbon Beers will a .22 go through?

Yes, my cousin is having fun on YouTube and making some money surprisingly as well!

Birthday Bucks

I spent quite a bit of time this past weekend spending my birthday money.  It is not usual for my friends and family to give cash, and yet, they did this year!  Well, I am not going to complain, I think my tastes are so eclectic that everyone has given up one!  And yet, I think I am quite easy to shop for!

My sister sent me money to buy new art brushes with, well my brushes are fine but there is a thing called a shader used in pastels that I use and managed to lose somehow!  The stinking little brush handled nibs of soft rubber are expensive and I have been using Q-Tips and toothpicks dipped in maskit to keep areas of my watercolor paintings white.  So, I picked up a set with that money.

My last remaining step-mother's gift I used for buying some cotton water color paper.  I sure wish I had stocked up three years ago when I read about the Egyptian cotton failure!  Seems everyone now is having crop failures and the price of cotton has tripled - and paper being a secondary market has become almost untouchable!  But, now I have 36 sheets, so that will last me quite a while!

Dutchman gave me what turned into two instructions books.  One is how to evaluate something you have painted in order to make it a better painting on your next attempt.  At first I snorted when I saw the title but then as I leafed through the book I realized that their advice was quite valid.  The other is something which is nothing but examples on how to do more realistic painting.

My mother's gift was spent at a woodworking store.  I am very pleased with some cheap wood I managed to scarf up as it was on sale!  Sweet!  I love sales!

And even Gaelic Girl gave some money with which I picked up the Art of the West from the Cody Museum, in Cody, Wyoming.  I had gone to this museum back in 1992, taking my American "nephew" to see Yellowstone and the museum was next door to the hotel.  The heck with the park!  I fell in love with the museum!  So everyday we did the free movie showing, wandered the incredible exhibits and somehow still fit all of Yellowstone in!  Very happy to find the book!

I even bought myself a book as well, since the birthday money ran dry, an exercise book.  Yuck!  But, when I leafed through it I saw all of my old back exercises in there as well as knee exercises.  Plus it had a section of what to set you goals on.  Sure someone, somewhere can do 10 minutes of jumping jacks but I think I will start with 30 seconds and work my way up from there!  Gotta do something if I am to survive the Bigfoot Hunt this August with my cousins and friends!  (Though I am betting I will be the only one to actually do it and be forced to work out of a campground.  But, I will be in better shape and still have fun all on my lonesome.)

The Interview

So, today I turn 59.  I have outlived all previous male members of my mother's family, now by 19 years.  Whom could have thought!  I am the last male left from my father's side as well, as much a woe to my Swiss family as it is to me!  No one, not even my doctors thought I could have lasted this long - their doom and gloom goes back 28 years!  Which just goes to prove my argument through all of these years, God is not quite done with me yet!  And who really needs a liver or kidneys after-all?

I was challenged by one of my readers last year to do a humorous pseudo-interview of myself.  I am sure they have forgotten, until this very moment, and I hope my wit holds out as I do this interview now cold and in one take!  Not sure if I am going to be a smart ass or serious, maybe a combination?  But, what ever it is - it will be a one shot off the cuff, natural Kris!  So, here goes:

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

July in Arizona making crab legs!

Finding Bigfoot, teaching him how to play cards and being accepted into the Bigfoot tribe.

Freedom to just be me, time to relearn what humanity is, absence of all of my constraints.
To know I served my God well.

What is your greatest fear?
Spiders, I hate spiders, I will scream like a three year old girl and "jump" on top of a table if you do not save me!

Which historical figure do you most resemble?
Samuel Richardson, most famous as a Captain in the Texas Volunteer Cavalry, Confederate States of America.  A man whom although having no stake in the situation in America, at the time returned to the land of his birth, served his men and country with distinction then quietly disappeared from public history.

His death in a Union prisoner of war camp was greatly exaggerated.  He went on to live his life, traveled to Oregon, at some point crossing the er, tarnished path of my great-aunt, his stories via her, becoming a part of my own knowledge and character. 

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Any thing that others can do better than me!

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Anything they can do better than me!

When and where were you the happiest?
Since most of my life was lived without any such emotion, here are some highlights:
The quiet and solitude of closing down a ski area at -80 degrees.
Summiting Longs Peak at -20, in 60 mph winds.  Cold granite, cold steel, total conquest.
My first car, a 1969 Fiat 124 Spyder body on an Alfa Romero drive train.
Taking an impossible shot and succeeding!
Adopting each one of my children, in court or before God.
When each of my children were able to say "I love you", often not even in words.
The rarity of having a boss say "Well done."
When one of "My Kids", gets it, and suddenly understands.
At the honesty of a moment with no walls, only truth and total commitment.
Knowing I have someone watching my back.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
abecedarian, calamanco, morioplasty, worsification and of course, zum!
But, I am trying to cut back on each and everyone of these daily words across this next year!  (yes, those are all real words!)

Which living person do you most despise?
There is no one less qualified to continue living than Ratko Mladić, the murderer of my cousin Bernard, whom was a medic in Bosnia.  Sorry no mercy for a coward whom whom would kill a medic, no mercy for each of the NATO troops whom would withdraw to allow the slaughter of 1,100 women, children, old people and seven NATO medics performing surgery at the time!  No mercy for Ratko from me, but as a Hutterite and a Christian I am required to let him know about God's forgiveness for what he has done - but if he accepts before his well earned execution, do not expect me to even look his way once in Heaven ...  It shames me that I am counted in his number, as no better before my God.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?
A fortune telling machine, where I can give out the real fortunes to the user of the machine.  Usually, the message would read something like: "You are soooooo stupid!".

What do you see as your greatest achievement?
Problem is, all of my greatest achievements have been surpassed by others, now hollow victories no one cares to remember today - I am just a historical relic.  Better technologies, more money, better sponsors, etc.   But, back in the day ...

So, I can then only say that God used me, often in odd ways, to reach His own ... even to others utter amazement.  And it is the Church's condemnation of me that I hold closest to my heart as proof of having done what was right in God's eyes, not what was politically correct in man's.  I did as I was told.

What is the lowest depth of misery for you?
Listening to the ten thousandth person at an antique show telling me all about how their grandparents had boxes full of "these", usually my neanderthal tool collection on display, and how they used to sell them for only a penny a piece.  I was just unaware that neanderthals lived in North America, or perhaps it is just one of their family problems ...

What is your most marked characteristic?
My ability to entertain.  Mind you, the last thing on Earth I want to do but it is the wall I hide behind.  And everyone thinks I am hilarious by nature, no - just a really really really insecure clown.

The real me?  To think through all of the fluff in life which blinds us and to ferret out what the real causes for problems are.  To desire to help my friends overcome their causes ...  Yeah, then that brings up some other problems too.

What do you most value in your friends?
My friends are my family - no hidden warts, everything out in the open - a no holds barred free for all!  And we still respect and love each other.

Who are your heroes in real life?
People, not so unlike Theodore Roosevelt.  Those willing to just stand up and do something to take on the status quo of the day, to set right wrongs in this world.  Of course, as history has shown, the bureaucrats will always destroy what was accomplished for good, in the end.  But, even small gains are better than being ground down without a fight!

How would you like to die?
Peacefully in my sleep, but then I did that one once - there is no such thing!
Kicking, screaming and in a sea of spent brass - but I vowed to God I would never take human life.
Someone unplugging the machine while I am drooling on myself and wondering if I still have toes - that would be okay.

Just nothing as meaningless as being backed over by a bread truck, please!

What is your motto?
Determination and Persistence will always trump Education and Skill.

Peru

"Have a little fun for a change!"  With these words from my friend I was left to wonder what kind of fun!  What I think is fun, others find mind numbingly boring.  And really, what fun is there around here?  But, my friend has been proven to be wise, often in advance of when that advice was needed.  So, wise words, best heeded.  I guess.

But, there is one thing I have not done, have promised I would do in October but just never had the money to - the Peruvian Exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum.  So, I went.

I did not know that as a museum member, I get into the exhibit for free, so cool start for an evening!

The exhibit was well worth pretty much any price.  The artifacts covered roughly 3,000 years of Peruvian history.  Artifacts in gold, silver, copper, shell, wood, ceramics, terracotta, exotic feathers, wool, cotton weavings, etc.  The pre-Inca exhibit was incredible for all of the gold and silver and the bits of culture they have discovered.  They worshipped the sun and moon.  The sun was gold, the moon silver and it seems an awful lot of people lost their heads in their ceremonies.

One group of 30 something guys was stuck on the ritualistic sex artifacts.  Really?  I might expect that of junior high schoolers!  So they made it easy to avoid that section.

The Inca presentation was devoid of metallics - thank you Pizarro!  But the ceramics were outstanding!

Then the Spanish era, heavy with its ornate forms of pseudo-Christianity.  Again outstanding at the work the natives produced for a pagan god the Spanish had beaten into them.

The post colonial exhibit was sort of a yawner.  Nowhere near the workmanship levels their ancestors had produced in the past.  I would have been embarrassed to have any of my work shown next to the treasures of this exhibit - and yes, I can do much better than 80% of those modern pieces!  (so why don't you!?!?!?  Hint, I am not an Inca descendent, lol ...)

It took me exactly one hour to do it all, the museum recommends 20 minutes!  It closes on the 5th so if you are in the Seattle area - DO IT!!!!!

Afterwards, i took myself downstairs to the gift shop and bought the book of the exhibition, then off to dinner at the SAM Taste (bistro?).

Their menu had been modified to provide Peruvian experiences and I did order and eat one of everything Peruvian!  It was outstanding ... simply outstanding!

So my dear friend, your suggestion was right on the money as usual.

Thank you.

:)

Christmas Gifts

Every year I promise myself I will do paintings for those I give presents to and every year I fail.  Oh, I have given some paintings out as presents, just not to everyone on my list - which would be a real joy for me (but about 5x more expensive to mail!).  So, another year of failure.

I have been fighting to even have three hours in the past month to work on this year's Christmas card!  Last night, I finally got those three hours and about 90% of the layout is now complete.  This year's image is of the Baptist Church in South Fork, Colorado.  It is a very pretty exterior, clean lines with just a hint of southwestern flavor.  I am making it with a winter scene to make it more seasonal.

I was down that way in 2005 with my kids.  The Lord had laid on my heart that this was the last year we would be together, so we traveled to Colorado and each of the kids got to try new experiences - horseback riding, packing, fly fishing for trout, sneaking through the woods looking for bears - you know all of the fun things of the youthful years.  And then there was South Fork.  One decent restaurant and Swiss at that (the owner came out when he heard someone ordering in correct German for his dishes, such fun)!  A grocery store and a church, well and the little strip mall full of tourist tee shirts.  So, I snapped some pictures of the church, a rock, back side of a moose, yeah not exactly a mecca for photography.

And I was glad I had heeded that warning because within months my eldest daughter would be gone in a spat over whether or not a 17 year old should even be around a 23 year old male.  It was the last of the family outings, well other than the move here.  And I should add that my first son-in-law has done well by me and my eldest daughter, and I have told him that - so he is not so afraid of me any longer.  LOL!

Well, time to mosey and see if I can get that drawing complete so I can start painting tomorrow!

Party

Last night there was a birthday party for one of "my boys".  It was his 22nd birthday and his fiancee invited me to the party at a local "brew house".

So, as I am walking in the door, he is coming out.  His hair is combed oddly and he is now sporting an earring.  I was not sure what to say once I saw the blonde hanging off of his arm ...  He stepped around me with no recognition in his eyes.  Did he have a twin?  I know that in his family there is a set of boy and girl twins.  But, I thought I knew the entire family for the past many years.  Weird.

I join the party and mention the weirdness of seeing his twin, everyone laughed, he didn't have a twin.  So a laughingly good start but I have a broken jaw where each smile and each laugh is very painful.

Then our waitress comes - and my jaw literally bounced off the table - one of "my girls" from so many years ago it is embarrassing to say!  What are the odds?  This was the younger sister of the guy my oldest daughter had a major crush on ten years ago!  And, she is here?  Wow, what a very small world!

Of course no weirder than running into a clerk at the local Fred Meyers and commenting that i had met a girl in Northern Russia with the same name and blonde hair - yup, it was her, now 15 years older.  She had been adopted, moved to America and then moved here to go to college!  Wow, extremely small world!

But back the party, it was just his family, his fiancee and then two friends - both named Kris!  I have met so few through the years with my name that it was sort of weird sitting by someone with the same name as me.  And it was fun because he was just as warped as me.

An hour later it was all over, which sort of surprised me.  I shook hands all around, something I really do not like to do and when I came to his sister, I shook in the polite female grip and she complained, "No I want a real one!"  I looked at her mother, whom shrugged - so I took her hand, flipped it horizontal and gently kissed her hand.

Oh you should have seen and heard the uproar of laughter from that one!  And she just stood there stunned and turned almost vermillion in color.

I was home in time to catch NCIS, take my pills and fall asleep for 13 hours!  Guess I needed that.  But, I am still chuckling over the shade of red she turned ...

Tagged

So, my American cousin down in Vancouver tagged me and I thought of ignoring it but given that he really does not know me all that well (only seen him once in my life! but we do yak daily on FaceBook), okay, I will do it!

Fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!
 
1. Did you date someone from your school? No

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? No

3. Did you car pool to school? Bicycle or walked, 20 miles in the snow, uphill, each way!

4. What kind of car did you have? Austin Cambridge, but it rarely ran.

5. What kind of car do you have now? 1986 Lincoln Towncar, it does run.

6. It's Friday night....where are you then? Eating with friends at Shakey's Pizza on Havana Road!

7. It's Friday night...now where are you?  Mostly with friends, beer and hummus platters.

8. What kind of job(s) did you have in high school? Designed and built dragsters.

9. What kind of job do you do now? Retired, thinking about being a scab if the grocers go on strike ...

10. Were you a party animal? I take the 5th!  Oh, wait, that was part of the problem!

11. Were you considered a flirt? Only in my dreams.

12. Were you in the band, orchestra, or choir? Barbershop Quartet.

13. Were you a nerd? Totally.

14. Did you get suspended or expelled? Never!

15. Can you sing the fight song? The only one I remember was, "Hell No, I Won't Go!"

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher(s)? Mr. Beadling - auto shop, an incredible man.

17. Where did you sit during lunch? Rode my bike to other school to see my girl friend at lunch.

18. What was your school's full name? Aurora Central High (don't bother no pictures of me in the annuals).

19. When did you graduate? 1973

20. What was your school mascot? A Trojan (seriously!).

21. If you could go back and do it again, would you? "Hell No, I Won't Go!"

22. Did you have fun at the prom? No

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? No

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? No

25. Do you still talk to people from school? Only two.

High School was a lesson in torment and torture for me.  I had NOTHING in common with anyone, I could speak English with a pronounced accent but by and large unable to read it.  I desperately wanted to just study art but father forbid it, so I excelled in all areas of auto design.  Frames, bodies and engines, were my only creative outlet.  We broke the High Altitude Drag Race speed record in 1972 and it would be decades before someone could beat it.  Our Baja Buggies were a hoot, never finished a race but they were a challenge I would love to pick back up!  And the street rods? :) Well, it took a Lamborghini to finally destroy us in the 5 mile bandit races.  My personal car by then was an Alfa Romeo Diana with a custom spyder body and a joy to drive!  It still is running races down in the Oakland vintage car rallies I am told.  Yeah, I was a motor head.

Musical Saturday Morning

Okay, you guys are never going to forgive me for this one!  But, it is from the 1980's.  Yeah, roll your eyes now, just so you are past it before you start the video ...



Franzl Lang was probably the best yodeller I have ever heard.  I can remember trying so hard as a child to mimick his vocal sounds, alas, to no avail - I just never had that musical gift, talent or even a hint of it!

In this video I thought I was going to die I was laughing so hard at his horse hair mane on his Tyrolean cap!

Off For The Week

So I am gone for the entirety of this week.  My German blood requires occasional refreshment so I have ventured off to the land of the brat, the wurst, the bier, the wien, the schnitzel!  Oh how my mouth waters at just of the thought of real food and I am not the one being forced to make it!

My children were awesome enough to buy this trip for me and I was going to do this trip the beginning of May, and well, we saw how that one went!  The tour provider was gracious enough to cancel my booking and apply all of the funds towards a later date.  And well, that later date has arrived without another heart attack, so far! Just survive 24 more hours Kris!

So madly typing up this week's posts for you to keep yourselves amused by!

Bis später ...

(see you later alligator, for my American friends)

Seattle Sounders

So billionaire decides to take 80 of us to the soccer match Sunday evening.  It was a hoot.  Best part of the evening was a 12" Bratwurst and it was prepared wonderfully!  :)

Last soccer game I was at was in 1968, NATO vs Germany - and they were beating the tar out of us!  I lost 4 players in just the first quarter!  So, four down and being transported to the hospital, I filed an official complaint against Germany, the referee told me something not so nice in Germany.  And well, if that is the way they wanted to play - the game was over in 12 minutes.  I lost two more players, Germany only had three thugs left standing but bloodied and no fight left in them, the ref was unconscious and the German coach would never have to ever worry about procreating.  As for me, three cracked ribs and a tremendous amount of my countryman's blood all over me!  Like I said, I did file a complaint first ...  We took our soccer seriously and honestly if you wanted to play dirty, so could the combined NATO team!  Amazing the rest of 1968 was incredibly clean and Germany was dismissed for the rest of the year, as was I because I was German playing on the NATO team.  Thank you the magic 8mm film!

As for the game, Seattle won, Portland could not shoot well - beautiful passers but just not on target with a 30 foot net.  Quite a bit of unnecessary rough housing by Portland and after Seattle then flattened one of Portland's plays they cleaned up their act and got back to soccer.

So if you were to follow that orange line on the right, straight up to the top, you would find my empty seat!  Yeah, I get up once to buy a bratwurst and the only photo taken of my section is exactly then!

Once again I am denied public photo-ability, I tell ya!

A Beautiful Weekend To Film

Simply gorgeous weather here in the Great White North!

So beautiful in fact that, it was perfect weather for the filming of, Tthe Maury Island Incident - a short film concerning the goings on over and on Maury Island, back in June 1947.

 I had wanted to be an extra in the film but unfortunately casting selection was the day of my auto accident and abruptly broken knee!  OH Phooey!

For those not familiar with the first modern flying saucer event:

Seaman Harold A. Dahl, out scavenging for drifting logs, claimed to have seen six UFOs near Maury Island on June 21, 1947. Dahl, his son Charles, an unnamed hand and Dahl's dog were on the boat. Dahl reported seeing "doughnut-shaped objects" flying in formation over the area where his boat was. He said he could see blue sky through the holes in the center of the discs, and that there appeared to be port holes lining the inside of the ring. One of the craft appeared to be malfunctioning and another craft edged up to it. At this point the troubled craft began ejecting objects through the inner port holes. Slag-like material began hitting the boat and damaged the windshield, the wheel house and a light fixture, and killed his dog on the deck. He said his son was also slightly injured by falling debris. Dahl claimed to have taken a number of photographs of the UFOs, and recovered some type of slag ejected from the craft that malfunctioned. Dahl also recovered samples of sheaves of lightweight white sheets of metal that fluttered like "newspapers" out from the inner ring of the troubled UFO to the ground.

The next morning, Dahl reported a man arrived at his home and invited him to breakfast at a nearby diner; Dahl accepted the invitation. He described the man as wearing a black suit and driving a new 1947 Buick; Dahl assumed he was a military or government representative. Dahl claimed the man told him details of the UFO sighting while they ate, though Dahl had not related his account publicly. The man also allegedly gave Dahl a non-specific warning which Dahl took as a threat that his family might be harmed if he related details of the sighting.

In spite of the threat, Dahl had reported the incident to his employee at his sawmill operation, Fred Crisman, who had long claimed to have experience with unusual phenomena (and who was later alleged to be linked to the John F. Kennedy assassination ) and who also was the owner, or co-owner, of the boat used by Dahl. Crisman and Dahl also had a joint-venture to retrieve drifting logs from Puget Sound as a source of raw lumber. Crisman sailed to the island the following day and said he spotted a craft briefly, but it went behind a cloud. He gathered more of the slag which he found littering the beach area. He then sent a sample to Chicago with a request it be tested. According to the FBI report, Crisman either sent it to Ray Palmer, science fiction writer and editor of Amazing Science Fiction, or sent it to a friend at the University of Chicago who failed to identify the material and then sent it on to Ray Palmer. While the "rock formation" was being passed around in Chicago, the famous sighting by Kenneth Arnold took place at Mount Rainier in Washington state. Palmer contacted Arnold and asked him to investigate the incident for the story Arnold was writing for one of Palmer's publication.

And now it gets weird.

The US Air Force took custody of the objects ejected by the flying saucer, which were put on a flight, which then crashed outside of Kelso, Washington.  The Air Force then denied the entire incident but finally admitted it had happened in 1987 when the crash site was rediscovered.  The official report also told of two people parachuting from the plane just prior to the crash.
 
Alarmed by the air crash and deaths of those involved in the investigation, Dahl disappeared, although the FBI report mentions his son, allegedly injured by the slag from the malfunctioning UFO, had run away from home to Montana for some reason. Other witnesses would also die suddenly, survive other air crashes or die mysteriously during a two week period.


Weird eh?

So, first modern sighting, physical evidence gathered by the US Government and then lost, the damaged boat - confirmed by both the Air Force and the FBI, deaths of most of those involved in a short period of time, two people hospitalized at Tacoma General and a dead dog.  And then came the "men in black" - nameless men, whom refused to show credentials yet knew all of the details before the stories had spread, only to be followed by the best conspiracy theory events possible!

Yup all the makings of a mystery movie.  Will it make it to Cannes or Sundance?  Probably not, but it was fun watching the filming and enjoying the day ..... and wishing they needed a man in black with a limp .....

Forth Goings On

Generally we have a big celebration for the Forth of July.  But, this year, I am as weak as a kitten and unlikely any of the kids would help.  So .....

Did the local parade:

Humorous Tow Truck

Oldest Daughter in white with her in-laws

Scoobie-Doo and van

 

 

Aztec dancers sponsored by my favorite restaurant

.

So the parade was long and hot and very fun since at the end I asked my daughter how it felt to be in a gay pride parade - needless to say, my trout daughter immediately bit the hook, "What!  I thought this was for the Forth!?!?!?!?"  LOL!

Then Dutchman begged out of coming as his wife had some teeth pulled the night before, Swede was descended upon three of his nieces and my kids floated in and out all evening with other priorities.  Sigh.  Life goes on.

But, I had fun.

And then there were fireworks....

I Am My Grandmother

So, I finally did it.  After three years of doing antique shows with my mother, I have rented space in an antique mall and now am now a certifiable antique dealer for real.  Oh God!  I am my grandmother now.....

My grandmother was an antique dealer for 60 years, my grand-aunt for 20 years, my mother for the past 30 - I am discounting the first two years where she sold everything which was mine because I was away at college - sigh.  And last but not least is my sister, now a dealer for 15 years back in the mid-west.

Not knowing what to put in a case, yet wanting to make it mostly guy stuff, it only has a few items from the household.  Most of it are things I collected back in the 1970's and very early 1980's.  We will see if I get what I paid for the stuff back - Bush the first really whacked the collectables market with the first Gulf War and Obama has not done anyone any favors in that regard either!

I think I did okay selecting the eclectic, rare and stuff I never have used - yet has sat around for decades.  Sure be nice if it all went away and I could reload next week with all new stuff from the attic!  (LOL! Like that is going happen!)

And no, those are NOT arrowheads, they are Neanderthal tools!  ARGH! Everyone always says the same thing!

LOL!

Metal Detecting

Well after a many year absence, Kris is back to metal detecting again.

Originally, I had stopped due to the winter of 2011.  Then busted my left foot and right ankle, and let us not forget my heart ailment!  So 2012 was lost.  Then busted my knee in January of this year, so I expected no hunting this year either.  However, one of the men in the church has been wanting to so badly, I finally invited him over and showed him how to use a detector in my yard.  We both did okay!  :)

So, every Tuesday since, we have been out hunting.  I can not walk for long periods of time so must constantly rest.  But we are having fun!

Just by the numbers, bottle caps, pop tops and pull tabs rule.  Followed by aluminum cans, nails and tent stakes!  Somewhere, far to the end of the list of stuff we find has been coins.  I think we are up to about $20 combined now.  Three more dollars and we can afford new batteries!  Yeah.

Now to find my pro-pointer somewhere in this house!  I really need my little detector for locating metal inside of a hole I have dug.  The big machine are great for showing you where to dig and useless for telling where in a hole the item is.  So, must fine!

Well, just back from my first beach hunt ever, and I found a nickel!  Yeah, big deal  you think, but nickels are the hardest to find metals, so very excited that only did I find one but I did so in a 100% salt environment!

Father's Day

It was a mellow Father's Day, bitter sweet if you will.  I know as a "father" I failed with my daughter or at least lost the tug of war against whatever took her away - a year minus one week ago.  As with each day since June 24th, when God showed me what was to be, I have prayed for my missing daughter.  Yeah, I know, but I am the patron prayer for lost causes...  Her approval of me nor absence actually has much bearing on my prayer life - nor does my eldership's approval either.  The tricks her mother has played with her mind .....  Yeah, I pray for her as well because I have loved her as a friend and sister for a third of my life.

Conversely, my "niece", whom truthfully I do see as a type or kind of daughter, is dong so very very very well, against odds unknown to any of you.  I am very proud of her and how far she come in such a short time.  If nothing else, I am a spiritual parent and she honored me greatly Sunday.  Like daughter, she plays a major focus of my prayer life.

Like last year, son and middle daughter worked, though daughter did take me out for snacks on Friday this year.  Oldest daughter and Dutchman's son threw a father's day bash but Dutchman did not show up until it was almost over.  We still had fun.

BBQ'ed salmon, jerked chicken, Jamaican rice and beans, lemon meringue  and apple pies, plus some fruit salad and rolls.  Good eats.

Grand kids stayed over for the night, so that guaranteed an early departures and bedtime for all.

It was okay, given what my heart can take anymore, but more about that later.....

Carnival

Saturday the carnival opened up in town and for the first time I went to it.  Well, I had the youngest grand daughter and desperately needed something for her to do she would enjoy.  She is so small that I had no thought of her being able to do a ride, maybe cotton candy and the lights would be enough for her.

But, there was a carousel and this was my favorite as a child.  And, it seems, that if an adult will stand with you, little rascals can ride!  So, youngest grand daughter got to do the carousel a number of times!

Add some horrible fair food, candy and cotton candy and she was in hog heaven!

Scoobie Doo!

God has many ways of tell you that you make too much money, cocaine just being one of the more horrible ways.  Cars are another example of making too much money.  (sorry not going to condemn myself here!  in years past Alfa's were my weakness ~ as well as ~ hopped up Volkswagens!  sigh, wish i had some of that $$$ now!)

So, I am working in my yard, doing so light tree trimming because they are over grown and it is light exercise!  So it took 5 hours to do about 40 minutes worth of work but I am glad I did, for the exercise and knowing that I might live longer for it.  Sort of, maybe, yeah I know my days are numbered and in God's hands but I like to think I will be in better shape then!

Across the street is a high school graduation party going one for one of "my" girls.  Hundreds came!  Wow!  And out of nowhere, Scoobie Doo's Mystery Machine appears!  Someone has way too much money and is letting their high school son drive it!

Yeah the rear pipes were actually working and I am not sure of the engine but it was very sweet sounding, in this age of rice burners being considered hot .....

So hope you enjoy the photos!

Such Fun!

Just in from a hard days hunt of metal detecting!

With a friend I have been hunting a 1904 home site, a park from the 1920's and a park from the 1960's.  Of course, it was between bouts of rain but very fun!

I have a loose 6mm YAG (yttrium-aluminum garnet) stone, and a sterling silver mounted white sapphire about 7mm in size.

The sapphire, much more beautiful in life, I could not get to sit at the right angle as the loose stone was!  So, it came out rather grey!  Neither are diamonds but my first jewelry finds and on the first hunt in several years!

I think my cousin is going to be jealous ..... again.  :)

Very happy day for a painfully heavy heart ...

Maury Island Incident

It was a sunny day in 1947 when suddenly a UFO appeared in the skies over Maury Island in Washington State.  This was the first real sighting, well, let's say the first real verifiable sighting.  How real?  Well, there was a fair number of witnesses on both sides of Puget Sound and some physical evidence no one could explain away.

You see, the saucer became stationary over the beach area on Maury Island and then some part of it exploded.  Proof?  Well, how about a dead dog and, a man and his teen aged son in a boat fishing whom were hit by flying debris and injured enough to require hospitalization.  And then there was the man on the dock under the saucer.  Yeah.....

In the following days and weeks, Maury Island was to be descended upon by the Sheriff's office, Washington State Patrol, the FBI, the Army and a questionable group dressed all in black whom thought they owned the island and took complete control.  And then there was the problem of "aliens" making a surprise visit several more times.

Weird enough yet for you?

How about one of the survivors of the incident, whom had been injured by the explosion, writing a book to remind people it really did happen, and getting the local media and businesses to start a campaign to get a movie made of this?

And so, a saucer was constructed, a crash staged just blocks from my house, and I was there!

It was great fun!

About 400 came out, many dressed in alien costumes, some quite inventive, there were two flash mob dances, lots of smoke from the crash and an official alien emerged!  It was one of the local celebrity horticulturalists whom is well liked here.  He emerged from the smoke with a huge bag of brussel sprouts and began throwing them at the crowd! It was a great deal of fun and a real hoot!

And yes, even a picture of me at my lowest weight since about 2000!  Yeah, I lost 35 pounds last year, have kept it off and lost a further 10 this year so far!  All I did was shift my big meal of the day to lunch and a small meal, no seconds, for dinner.  So very happy.  Of course, in this little contest, one of my cousins has lost 190 pounds and she was featured on the Biggest Loser last year and the other cousin lost almost 260 pounds! to date.  Yeah, they got me whipped but I am still lighter than either of them as of this point!

So, it was a very fun afternoon and evening!