Still More Europe, 1979*

Gruyere, or was it Emmentaler?

At length we did make it to Venice and
a few other towns in northern Italy

And then back north to Salzburg, in Austria, the ancestral
Scheraus home

And still further back north, to Bayreuth and Wagner's
Haus Wahnfried, back in the days before the "no fotos"
policy

And then, moving right along, through the Rhine, etc., to
Merry Olde England

Taking the same shots at Canterbury I did when I was last
there, in 2009;  comparing the 600 35mm slides I took in
1979 with those of the last few years in Europe, I am struck
by the many similarities in subject, composition, etc; I am
not quite sure whether to be pleased or concerned

We spent most of our time in or around London; this was about as
close to Scotland as we got in 1979

But we did make it up to Stratford

And out to Stonehenge, back in the days when you could
walk right out to it and touch the stones; the beginning of
our megalithic interests

All in this brown (ick!) Austin Mini, rented for a week; it's
amazing how much crap you could pile into a Mini

The End

*from the Archives of the Sherouse Family Digitization Project

More Europe, 1979*

The d'Orsay wasn't in the train station in those days

Montmarte, Basilica of the Sacred Heart; still where it
was then

No longer there department: the Cafe Wagner (commemorating the infamous
Paris  debut of Tannhauser) across from the old opera; I remember a young
store clerk laughing at our pronunciation of "opera"

And on to Versailles

And the Loire...

With many fine pique-niques along the
way

The amphitheater at Autun that we skipped last July

Our first visit to Lauterbrunnen

At the cemetery in Zermatt, the grave of the famous Swiss guide Michel Croz,
who died in the Matterhorn's first descent

After three days and two freezing nights, this was all we
got to see of the Matterhorn

To be continued...

*from the Archives of the Sherouse Family Digitization Project

Europe, 1979*

And so it came to pass that in June, 1979, The Ohio State University conferred upon me the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in philosophy; after a mere 9 years in graduate school. In my defense, I offer that I actually earned 3 degrees in that time, including the one that eventually lead me into university and non-profit administration, where I would spend the next 28 years. Even before my graduation became certain, Vicki announced that she was going to Europe that summer and that I was welcome to join her if I got my work done. Fortunately, in the eyes of my advisor and dissertation committee, I did. After the graduation--the only one of 4 I attended--we shipped daughter Rebecca off to Miami to stay with her grandparents and then, in the usual whirlwind of activity, departed for 5 weeks of car-camping in Europe. It was our first trip abroad and, with some 30 years' perspective, I can say now that it was immensely formative for us both.

The Graduate, and family, on the porch of our Minerva Park home; my parents
drove up from Miami for the occasion; a moment of great pride and relief, although
I still have nightmares about getting the dissertation done; upon graduation and as
we embarked for Europe, I was, of course, completely unemployed; but that worked
out all right; eventually

At a rice table in Amsterdam; I had always liked food, but 1979 was my
introduction to fine and interesting food, and a foodie thus was born; it only
got better

The caramel Opel from which we tent-camped and toured much of Europe
in the next month

At the Rijksmuseum was born our interest in Brueghel and ilk, which lasts to
this day

We spent a week or more in the Netherlands, Delft
 and the coast, and then Brussels and Brugge; but then
had to move on to Paris...here, St. Chapelle, for the
first of many visits

Among scores of Paris sights...

Vicki, atop the Eiffel Tower; the postcard was for
Rebecca

The Trocadero, and more of Paris

Napoleon's tomb, at the Invalides

First visit to the Louvre

To be continued...

*From the Archives of the Sherouse Family Digitization Product.

Vernal Yosemite

The waterfalls of Yosemite are at their fullest in the spring, we had a few days off, and so drove back over to the park to see them, staying two cold nights at Curry Village. But three nice days of hiking and driving.

In addition to all the usual waterfalls, there were some new
ones too; temporarily

Here, Yosemite Falls crashing down its 2400 feet to the valley; highest in North
America, 6th or 7th highest in the world

I wasn't the only one taking pix

More seasonal falls

Next day, Upper Yosemite Falls; note Lost Arrow Spire to
the right of the Falls

From the top of the Falls; plenty more snow in the high
country

Yosemite Creek just as it plunges to the Valley below

The western dogwoods were in full bloom (you can tell
them by their bark) (nyuk, nyuk, nyuk)

Another day, another hike...Nevada Falls

Vernal Falls

All a-bud along Tenaya Creek

Half Dome above Mirror Lake

Bridalveil Fall

Bridalveil from afar

And what account of Yosemite water features would be complete without Hetch
Hetchy, the dam?

And reservoir? and canyon, itself with great waterfalls...OK, I know it has always
been controversial, and still is; Grand Teton National Park has a commercial airport
within its boundaries; and Mt. Rushmore is an abomination unto itself...

Source of the Hetch Hetchy water system, which brings water from the Tuolomne
River, via the reservoir, and 170 miles of pipeline, under San Francisco Bay,
up the peninsula, ultimately to San Francisco; as alert readers know, our present
abode sits nearly on top of the main (buried) pipeline; I guess you could say we
live on the Tuolomne River...

California Quotidian, 4

It's been nearly two months since I posted last. March was consumed mostly with house guests Marie and Norm, en route to and returning from China, and assorted outings. The big news was that Penelope took her first steps in early March, and March 12 is regarded as the day she first walked. Ten months, two weeks. More on her below, since today is her first birthday.

Through March and April, I continued my digitization project--digitizing the family's 35mm slides--and have completed nearly 7,000. Four at a time, ten minutes or so per pass. Plenty of additional time reviewing, cleaning, organizing, recording, archiving, etc. I have a about a thousand to go, but, happily, saved the easiest for the last. They are mostly our 1989 family European vacation, already sorted and placed in chronological order, unlike much of what has preceded them. In any case, quite a few topics and pix from the digitization project relate to travel and therefore will find their way onto this blog...selected European sights and incidents, 1979-1998, hiking and climbing in the Winds, Montana, western snowmobiling 2003-2008, and more.

Daughter Rachel and her husband Will visited earlier in April. Although we talk nearly weekly, it was especially good to see her; first time since their wonderful Missoula wedding in August. We undertook a number outings, the four of us and the seven of us, down the coast and up to the City, and more. Penelope instantly took to them both, especially Auntie Rachel.

Penelope. I am sure her mama will more thoroughly document her achievements by her first birthday. At age one, nonetheless, she was walking very well and performing a variety of maneuvers associated with walking, falling down, getting up after falling down, changing direction, pivoting, scampering at least for short distances, etc. She can be very quick and has to be watched closely. She feeds herself mostly. Small bits of anything. Healthy stuff, always, of course. She favors flavor and spice. At PF Chang's she will avoid the egg drop soup but go enthusiastically for the hot and sour. "Baby-led weaning" has been a great success for Penelope and her parents. (Her dad Jeremy is a foodie). She has half a dozen baby-tricks: "babies rule!" "Penelope Power," "Penelope is number one!" etc. Although she plays quite well with her toys, she most enjoys "reading" books with her parents and grand-parents. She has a passive/receptive vocabulary of probably a hundred or more expressions--names of people, places, toys, objects--and can follow all sorts of simple requests ("bring the ball to Grandma," "keep hat on," "let's read the Nose book," etc.). Rebecca has been teaching her baby signing, and she has several signs down very well ("more," "all done," etc.). She uses her index fingers all the time, pointing to this and that, nearby and far. She waves bye-bye and hello, and often conjoins "hi" with a little wave. We'll let her parents figure out what the first words are. She is a happy baby, a constant joy for us to be with, and we are so thankful for the past months' time with her. Happy birthday, Penelope!

Rachel and Will with Penelope

Penelope shopping with Mama at DayOne on her birthday

Penelope Power!