JD's Scribbles

Autumn 2011 in RMNP

2011-10-01T19:32:00.001-06:00

It was a beautiful day to go for a hike. So I did.

Summer Almost Gone

2011-08-11T07:27:00.000-06:00

It is almost time to go back to school and my summer has been a mix of work and way too few hikes or bike rides and no getaways. I have kept my OTA position and feel a bit sad that I am not working as a Teacher Librarian, but I also enjoy some of the people I currently work with and would miss them if I changed to a TL.

The extra money, from working, went to build a much needed privacy fence between me and the neighbors to the north. I was actually intending it to go to a new roof or at least a short getaway. As usual I have procrastinated on getting the roof and repairing the paint scrapes on the left side of my bumper after hitting a right turner into the alley as I was coming out.

Dream Lake Hike, July 2, 2011

2011-07-02T20:45:00.001-06:00

Today Sharon and I hiked up to Dream Lake. The signs at Bear Lake indicated the trail was snow-packed and icy. Most of the way was dry until the last hundred yards, where we began to encounter snow patches followed by snow pack.

Remembering on Memorial Day

2011-05-30T18:30:00.000-06:00

Today I did not drive down to the cemetery where my parents and grandparents are buried to place flowers on their graves. I have not been able to do this for many years as I live in Colorado and the cemetery is in Southern Illinois. I remember doing this with my parents as a child and I miss it. It was usually warm and sunny and my mother and father cleaned around the grave stones while I would look at the names of people from my family. It gave me a sense of identity and continuity. So when I saw this video on the "On Being" Facebook post, I felt it was the answer to what I have been feeling about honoring my loved ones as I would have wished on this Memorial Day.

Where the Ocean Meets the Sky from On Being on Vimeo.

Red Mountain Open Space

2010-09-22T17:32:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday I had signed up for the Nature Walk at Red Mountain Open Space and was happy that the cloud cover meant it wouldn't be too hot. What I hadn't expected was that I was one of only two people who signed up and that I would be the only one who showed up. Fortunately Janet was willing to take the hike with me anyway. We enjoyed the beautiful colors that showed up in the misty rain as we hiked the almost 3 miles around the loop. I took lots of pictures, some of which were okay other's not as good. You be the judge.

Tour de Fat and Wild Basin Wind

2010-09-18T17:53:00.001-06:00

Saturday, September 4th, 2010 was the Tour de Fat parade from New Belgium Brewery and back. My Brother, Weldon and his wife, Bev, were visiting and wanted to see the parade this year as they had accidentally sen it a previous year. We agreed to meet at Loomis and Mountain after much discussion on the phone. Wires were crossed as I thought they were going to call me as they were entering town to let me know they were on their way. As a result we didn't get together until 10:20 while the parade was in full swing. They had found a shady spot on the median to watch and we spent most of the hour and a half there. Costumes of all sorts abounded, lots of fairies, pirates, plants and flowers were just a few of the choices. Bike trailers were decorated as boats, a personal grocery cart, and large umbrellas were all part of the mix.

Monday we arranged to go to Wild Basin to hike to Calypso Cascades. At the early, for Bev, hour of 8:45 we left my house to drive to Longmont and up Route 7 to Wild Basin Ranger Station in RMNP. It was a beautiful scenic drive with a bit more wind then I would have liked. I was sure that the trail was sheltered enough in the trees that it would be an enjoyable hike anyway. I hadn't anticipated that the gusty winds would whip the dirt from the trail around and throw it into our faces. As I listened to the trees creak in the wind I decided to warn Weldon that we should be careful and watch the trees when they were creaking. Bev was behind us and did not hear me so Weldon told her as well. No more than five minutes later we heard a loud CRACK! It was a dead, gray Lodge-pole Pine falling toward us and the trail. I leaped to the left and Weldon leaped back and to the side as it fell between us onto the trail. My only thought, "It better not hit me on the head!" As it hit other trees and the trail it broke apart and showered us with debris.

As we were staring and I was taking a picture (see above) a family from a branch of the trail came around the bend and asked us if we had heard the noise. Weldon responded that we had and the tree had fallen between us. We continued to Calypso Cascades, ate lunch, and returned home through Estes Park all without any more incidents.

July Visit to Duluth MN

2010-08-09T20:38:00.000-06:00

In July I flew to Chicago to visit my sister and her husband. My brother-in-law's High School reunion was scheduled during my visit and was in Duluth, MN. We drove up and spent two days wandering the town as Ed got together with his old high school friends. Below are some of the pictures I took.

Spring in Old Town Fort Collins

2010-06-11T18:00:00.000-06:00

Spring in Old Town Fort Collins

I walked from my house to the public library looking for spring flowers to make an Animoto video. Now a bit more than a month later I have selected a few of the pictures to create the above video. Click the above link to see it. Better late than never?

Graphic Novels for Kids

2010-05-08T08:22:00.001-06:00

I was looking through my latest update from Booklist Online, when I noticed that the webinars that I haven't been able to attend are available as videos at Vimeo. So I took the time to watch the one about Graphic Novels for kids.
Booklist Webinar: Let’s Get Graphic: Kids’ Comics in Classrooms and Libraries from ALA Publishing on Vimeo.

I found it interesting and informative as well as a way to have my cake and eat it too. I could watch for a while, pause it do something else and come back to the video to continue watching. It was also an education on how to use a visual to comment on the content without reading it word for word. One of my pet peeves is how so many PowerPoint presenters are doing exactly that.

Missed the Hike but saw Crazy Heart

2010-05-01T20:31:00.000-06:00

I thought I was going hiking today until I saw the weather forecast. Based on that I didn't even check to see if it was canceled or not. Apparently they went anyway. Meanwhile I washed clothes, cleaned up (organized) some of the mess in my spare room, picked up the living room, vacuumed, and washed the kitchen floor. Most of this after receiving a call from a friend to use my computer to upload a picture to Craig's List. Later she called to see if I had seen Crazy Heart.

We went to the two o'clock show. I see why Jeff Bridges received the Academy Award for his performance in Crazy Heart. I knew it was about a country singer who was an alcoholic but wasn't sure what happened during the course of the movie. I admit I was grateful that the ending didn't let me down. The last scenes of the countryside were particularly beautiful.

The irony is that the day was really quite nice if cool. No rain, and I wonder if it snowed up at Red Feather Lakes. Still I will be getting another chance to hike as the weather improves.

Spring Break is over

2010-03-21T08:20:00.000-06:00

The possibilities are always endless before the event. The reality is quite a come down. I planned to paint my bedroom during this week off, but I haven't managed that. I do have the paint. I can't remember what I did Monday other than trying to stem the water flow from my water heater at 10:30 p.m. that night.

Tuesday was costly in the replacement of said water heater. Followed by complaining to those unfortunate listeners at Lambspun about the cost. I did listen to The Furies of Calderon while the repairman was replacing the hot water heater and beyond. Having started listening I was hooked and only managed to knit as I listened.

Friday, March 12th, was the birth day of Natalie Jane my neice, Jodee's, third child. So deciding on a baby gift to make was in consideration during Wednesday. I decided on the hooded poncho above. I tried it with a yarn I had on hand, which was the wrong weight. I liked it enough to buy the correct weight and am now knitting the final product.

Thursday, I biked from Rolland Moore Park to the Rio downtown with two friends, enjoying the beautiful day before snow.

Friday was for staying in, rooting around my spare room and trying to decide what I could live without, knitting and buying groceries. Saturday, was more knitting, making soup for Sunday, sorting through books and taking them to be traded before buying the paint. Thus my fun week is over after the lunch soup meal after church.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

2010-02-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Art of Racing in the Rain is the February read for the Poudre River Regional Public Library Main Library Book Club. Before it was chosen for the Book Club this year I was told by my brother and sister-in-law that it was a great book and I needed to read it. Right before I began reading it a friend told me the same thing. Why then don't I feel like I read the same book? I knew that the book was going to be narrated by a dog named Enzo. I didn't know it was going to make me cry in the first few pages. What surprises me is that this book mentions reincarnation on more than one occasion and I am pretty sure my brother and sister-in-law don't believe in reincarnation for one moment. They usually don't care for any fantasy element. So why did they like it?

Enzo fantasizes about talking quite a bit and being a human in another life. He tells the story of his owner Denny who is working at a BMW dealership while he pursues his dream for becoming a professional race driver. Enzo goes back to his first meeting with Denny and covers his marriage to Eve, becoming a father and the inevitable hardship that drives the rest of the story. If you really are into car racing there are many references to races, drivers, and movies about racing that you will enjoy. There are several poignant moments in the book that drew me in, but I didn't feel a depth to this story that I was expecting. Maybe my expectations were too high. The movement from past to future and back wasn't handled badly, but I was not caught up in this story, I could easily have put it down and not picked it up for a week or a month. I felt no urgency to finish it and find out what happened. Some of it was predictable, but that hasn't prevented me from enjoying a book before. Unlike other book club choices I hadn't looked up the author on the internet to get more information. Usually I do this before I finish the book because I want to know more about them and how they came to write their book.

Here is the Garth Stein's web site address http://www.ravenmoon.com/ . I'd be interested to hear what other people found or didn't find in this book.

Pigs of Heaven

2010-02-13T19:57:00.001-07:00

A friend recently loaned me Barbara Kingsolver's sequel to The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven. I had read the first book about Taylor and Turtle while visiting Dad at La Possada in Green Valley. My sister found it in their library and laughed so often as she read it I had to read it too. Pigs in Heaven begins 3 years later and Turtle, the adopted Cherokee daughter, is now six years old. While on Easter vacation with her mother, Turtle sees someone fall into a tunnel of the Hoover Dam. She later asks her mother how he will get out and Taylor turns around to find someone to rescue the man. This leads to an appearance on Oprah. A Cherokee lawyer sees the show and suspects that Turtle has been illegally adopted. When she pursues it Taylor panics and whisks Turtle away from Tucson and their life with Jax, a musician. Kingsolver effortlessly peoples this novel with many characters and draws you into their lives making you care about each one. Although Taylor and Turtle desperately want to stay together, there are many light-hearted moments that give the reader a break from the desperation Taylor feels as she struggles to earn a living and keep Turtle. Barbara Kingsolver 's Website

Red Mountain Hike

2009-09-19T13:19:00.000-06:00

I took this picture Sunday, September 13th but when I began to add my title to the blog I discovered it was printing in Hindi. After becoming frustrated with trying to change it I gave up until today. Cooler head prevailed and I was able to understand the help advice someone posted on Bloggers FAQ.

We left Fort Collins to drive up to Red Mountain Open Space to retrace the hike I had done in the moonlight in July. It was easy to see why the open space is named Red Mountain. Almost everywhere you look the soil is red. Some of the areas have sandstone and quartz, but the red predominates. Although I would have doubted it (during the moonlight hike) the trail is just over 2 miles and is a wonderful trail for someone like me who has been spending too much time on the couch. It makes a loop from the parking lot through the canyon in the picture to The Big Hole, then around the south ridge and back to the stream. The stream is still flowing which makes the stepping stones across the water welcome. The weather was perfect for the entire hike, with clouds moving in to bring some rain as we drove back to Fort Collins.
On the way back we saw this stump which looked like a pump from a distance. It was positioned on a somewhat hollowed out slope next to the trail.

Some pictures of Red Mountain from the July hike before the sun went down are posted in my Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/27063931@N05/3749062117/

Soapstone Open Space

2009-06-17T16:42:00.000-06:00

Susan and I went to the Archeology talk about the Lindemeier site at Soapstone Open Space yesterday, May 16, 2009. There were beautiful views of the mountains. We learned that the Coffin brothers actually discovered what is now labeled "Folsom Points" before they were discovered and publicized in Folsom NM. They were excited about the discovery but didn't get any attention from anyone until the 1930's. Our lecturer was Dr. Jason LaBelle from CSU and he pointed out the dark line on the arroyo which is the layer that is identified as the layer from the Folsom people period.

With all the rain we have had there were lots of wildflowers and mushrooms.

Moonlight x/c Ski

2009-02-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, how I wish I had had a camera last night. My "Don't Hike Alone" group drove to the Colorado State Moose Visitor's Center for the Moonlight x/c Ski and Snowshoe Night last night. We arrived before sundown around 5:15 and had a glorious view of the surrounding mountains tipped by the setting sun. Everyone bemoaned not having a camera to capture it. I guess we will all have to rely on our mental pictures of the sight.

We collected glow in the dark bracelets and headed down the trail as the sunlight slowly faded. The moon was visible with only a few clouds in the sky. One of our number commented that it was a 9/10s full moon, not completely full. However full it was it was gorgeous and lit the trail with the help of various glow sticks to mark the trail.

Conditions couldn't have been better. There was plenty of snow, moonlight and no wind. The temperature was warm enough that many of us had to remove extra layers. There was the silence of the night broken only by the occasional skiers and people on snowshoes. Not only were the two footed critters out but we met our fair share of four footed companions. At least 4 skiers with their huskies pulling them up and down the trail. Some dogs had blinking lights to alert the trail users that they were there.

I had a great time and only the one fall on the last leg. I lost my balance and twisted my ankle on a basically flat part of the trail, how lame is that?

Reflections on PSD 23 Things

2008-12-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?

The puzzle maker from a picture was one of my favorite discoveries. Exploring online applications that I had never heard of and trying to see how they might be used in an educational setting.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?

I was aware that there were podcasts available but I had not really explored this area and I think that I will continue to explore it for lifelong learning as it is another tool for my toolbox.

Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?

I think I may work on blogging more since I created the one I did for this class.

If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

Yes I’m always interested in what is new and may be useful to my endeavors.

Audiobooks

2008-12-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

I discovered NetLibrary at the FCPL web site last spring. I was hoping that I would find some picture audio books that my students would be able to listen to as they looked at the book. Even though much of the story is available in the pictures some of our students need someone to read to them and I thought that we could download them to the in class computers and let them listen as they looked at the pictures. . I guess the concept hasn’t occurred to NetLibrary, since there are very few books that would fall into that category available.
I downloaded one of the Jungle Book stories by Kipling and discovered that if I didn’t have time to listen to the whole thing at my computer I would have to start all over from the beginning to listen to it. I couldn’t figure out a way to stop it and restart it at the place I left off. I decided I needed a portable solution and I went to the page that told what players worked best with NetLibrary. As a result I purchased a “Creative Zen” mp3 player and have downloaded books from the Audible.com site that advertised one free book. Now I am hooked I guess.

Podcasting

2008-12-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

I went to both Podcast Alley and Odeo. The different language podcasts were alluring, but I didn't decide to go that way for my educational podcast. I tried to get the Hubblecast vodcast to show a couple of times, but was too impatient to wait until it completed the loading process as it seemed to be stuck very close to the end and not progressing any further. I also tried Ed Tech, but decided their openings were far too long, if I was impatient with it wouldn't others be? I finally settled on Our Ocean World that is just a podcast and got down to brass tacks almost immediately. The one I have linked to is about a sea squirt, but they also have podcasts on Seals, whales and other ocean stories.

You Tube

2008-12-10T18:26:00.001-07:00

I've watched several YouTube videos in the past year, but I like this one I found tonight and decided to add it to my post.

PlayingForChange
October 31, 2008

The power of music to bring hope and inspiration is more than evident in this clip (cover of Tracy Chapman's song, "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution") from the township outside of Cape Town where we just...
The power of music to bring hope and inspiration is more than evident in this clip (cover of Tracy Chapman's song, "Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution") from the township outside of Cape Town where we just built our first connected music school. Join the Movement to help build and connect more schools and students...www.playingforchange.com

VuFind from Villanova University

2008-12-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 Awards 3rd place winner VuFind is an open source program that works with the Online Catalog for libraries. It is designed to be user friendly and customizable for each library. This allows the individual library to add widgets and create new ways for patrons to access and chose resources. It won the 3rd place category for Books the winner was a self publishing site. I like the concept. It allows users to tag the item they want to keep like bookmarking and gives them the option of finding out more information about the author by clicking on the author's name. It also accesses reviews from Amazon.com. I actually didn't see anything I didn't like in this site.

Blog Update

2008-12-10T17:14:00.001-07:00

I almost feel like I'm cheating on this one. I've been using Zoho to collaborate with students in my Master's degree classes since June this year. I've used Zoho Writer, Zoho Show and Zoho Notebook and Zoho Chat. My first attempt at the Notebook application wasn't pretty, but I sort of got the hang of it. My first use was for a Pathfinder project that I had to do for a group project.

PB Wiki

2008-12-07T22:38:00.000-07:00

I signed up on PB wiki and tried looking several different ways for the Helen Blowers pbwiki but only found it after reading Connie’s Capers and her reference to plcmclearning. I added a favorite book and favorite leisure time activity. That’s how I discovered the rockymountain23things as well. I tried to request an invitation to the Rocky Mountain 23 Things but the web site was taking too long to respond.

Wikis

2008-12-05T08:19:00.001-07:00

I like the idea of using wiki’s to review books and have various opinions on books which could extend to any form of media. I also can see the down side of allowing everyone to write and rewrite an area that people may have (probably will) strong feelings about. I can also see it as a way to provide information about navigating the library, media center. I could see using a wiki as a tutorial for example: searching a database. Opening it to others will allow input from different perspectives, as we all seem to have different ways of going about doing things. Having multiple ways available may confuse the tutorial, but may be just what one person needs.

Learning 2.0

2008-11-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

I am excited about the possibilities that computers, YouTube and other applications provide for students and adults to express themselves in creative ways. It is exciting that we can literally post our ideas so that anyone with access to a computer can see them. I’ve added David Warwick’s 2cents blog to my RSS. I understand that we have technology that was undreamed of when I was in the K-12 school system. I really enjoy discovering new applications and what they can do, but when all is said and done, not all students have equal access to computers, cameras and camcorders. Yes, every school day I walk down hallways to see students with their iPods, mp3 players, and camera phones. And yes, there are probably more students that have these then don’t, but what about the students in many of the low income areas that don’t have these products.

I know many students are tech savvy but what do we mean by tech savvy? They can set up a multimedia projector? They can create a PowerPoint? They can take pictures or video and create a project? Does it have meaning? Does it solve or suggest a solution to a problem? Does it show critical thinking? Are we creating value?

While I have seen some really great videos on YouTube, I have also seen that there are some really dreadful ones that I wouldn’t want to admit I made. Blogs and videos give access to pretty much anyone with the knowledge of how to type or take video to put their ideas out in the world to be seen. I suspect less than 50% is actually seen by the majority of the www public.

Is Learning 2.0 a force for learning, yes! Is everyone going to utilize it? Not so sure. It seems like teachers that aren’t recent graduates (within the last 5 years) are still struggling with how to implement the new technology. I’m not faulting anyone; I know that it takes time and experimenting to learn how to use anything new. We all find ourselves just trying to keep up with the work we already know how to teach. So I guess that leaves me with more questions then answers.

Technorati

2008-11-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

I've played with Technorati and could probably spend hours on the site looking at different blogs. I did notice a difference in what was brought up on Learning 2.0 but not a huge diference. I found an education blog by using a tag on environment. This isn't what I expected, but I added it to Del.icio.us so I can go back to it in the future.

Del.icio.us

2008-11-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

I like Del.icio.us and use it for bookmarking pages I want to come back to. I often don't do much with tags or comments and until this class had not tried to click on any of the tags to see who else might be on it. I know that it's considered a social bookmark site, but my main concern was keeping track of sites I wanted to go back to. Today I explored and discovered some other sites via tag that I wanted to add. I didn't see many comments on the tags I checked. My user name is cattale.

Rollyo

2008-11-09T07:33:00.000-07:00

I went to the web site and created a profile, with the reference being JD's Scribbles but I don't seem to understand how to use it. I followed instructions to drag it to to my tool bar and I now have something called a RollBar posted on it that when I click on it opens up on any web page I happen to be on. But I don't get the impression it is only looking in the web sites I set up. It seems to look at the web in general. I could see that it might used to create a search engine to get students to use specific web sites for research rather than relying on using Google, Yahoo or any of the common web search engines.

Library Thing and me

2008-11-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

I set up a LibraryThing account in June and after waiting forever to try to add Three Cups of Tea, I pretty much abandoned the site as not worth my time. So I was a bit reluctant to go back, but I did and even added all of Robert Jordan's Eye of the World series books before I again had terminal waiting happen. After deciding I had had enough I x'd out for the night. The next day it wouldn't let me log back in on a different computer and even wouldn't let me back in on the same computer, it wouldn't let me ask for my password and totally frustrated me to the nth degree. Well tonight I finally managed to get my password situation resolved and I tried to add 3 cups of tea again and low and behold terminal waiting. I know many people are enjoying their LibraryThing accounts, but I think I'll stick with just knowing what I have at home by looking through my bookshelves.

Indian Paintbrush

2008-11-04T21:53:00.001-07:00

Indian Paintbrush, originally uploaded by jdsteven.

Tried several different toys before I finally figured out how to get one to my blog. This is it.

2008-10-17T16:41:00.000-06:00

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?

I like RSS because it allows me to put news feeds I am interested in into one place to view them when I have the time.

How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?

I can use them by subscribing to news feeds to keep up with technology and ideas for working with students.

How can schools/classrooms/libraries use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

A classroom teacher could subscribe to news feeds that relate to units of study for students to use for assignments on current events. Libraries could have a link on their web site to a newsreader for students to check on latest political news, weather, and other subjects pertinent to students’ field of study that quarter.

Technology

2008-10-11T14:20:00.000-06:00

One of the changes in technology I have been observing lately is the introduction of online applications that allow several users to collaborate on one web site. Wikis, I think, were the first online collaboration, but now we have Google Docs to share word processing (and they have added a spreadsheet, presentation and have templates for resumes as well as other features) and Zoho.com that has a word processor, spreadsheet program, slide show program, notebook and several other work together programs to allow people across the country and the world to collaborate and edit one product. Each of these has a free component, but there is also the upgrade that you can pay extra for. With the new mobile phones that surf the internet you could probably view any changes to a document you were co-editing and make changes on your phone. I'm not sure where this is all leading but it's a much different world from the one I grew up in.

Flickr

2008-10-11T14:08:00.000-06:00

I’ve been using Flickr since June. I’ve uploaded photos to share and photos only for family and friends. I like that I can upload a photo and then delete it from the SD card in my camera so that I can keep taking pictures. I also like the edit feature to crop photos.

I added this picture from Flickr tagged psd23things.

Cub Lake Hike

2008-10-05T08:49:00.000-06:00

I finally made it to see the Fall colors. I took some pictures and created a Zoho Notebook with them so show Judy what I had been talking about on the drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park. There were cars and people everywhere, we were fortunate to find a parking spot near the trail head so we could do our fall hike to Cub Lake. Lots of color, but many Aspen still had green leaves. On our way past Beaver Meadows we didn't see any elk, but as we left about 2:30 we began to see some elk. We did enjoy seeing some chipmunks, a couple of young ducks swimming on Cub Lake and a few Stellar's Jays.

Beautiful Fall Day

2008-09-28T16:26:00.000-06:00

It's fall the leaves are turning and I'm not enjoying the beautiful day. I need to at least go for a walk before the sun is down. .... I did go for a walk and took some pictures of the sky, birds, and bugs. On the way back from the store the sun was behind the mountains reflecting rose and orange highlights on the clouds above. Absolutely gorgeous.