Geddington, Newton, and back via Geddington Grange

Probably 3 miles or so. A short pre-lunch walk of about an hour and a half. We chickened out of the drive over to Daventry. The weather was warmer and drier than forecast, but there was a downpour after lunch - first real rain for ages.

Tiny Shetland ponies

Some local history - from tough times

Morning Stretch

Cassi doing her morning stretches. Notice her tail doing a weird twist.

Sic Semper

An Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus).

For various goofy reasons, my husband, my sister, and I have developed our own names for many birds. This one is affectionately known as a Kingburger.

Sic semper tyrannis is the Virginia state motto, and the phrase that some witnesses claim JW Booth shouted after shooting Lincoln. It's often misspelled as tyrannus, which changes the meaning.

A little History of North American Bird Names.

While looking up tyrannus references, I ran across the Guidelines for contributors to Birding. Ruh-roh. I am so guilty of indefinite references. Oh dear. Restrictive vs. nonrestrictive clauses. Good thing I wasn't planning to write an article for them anyway.

(Imagine musical notes here.) It's my blog and I'll abuse grammar if I want to... overused ellipses and hyphens in place of em-dashes oh yeah! Misplaced apostrophes oh no no no... Misusing "hopefully" and blatantly writing a plural possessive adjective when referring to a singular concept, ooh wah baby...

Actually the misplaced apostrophe is one of my pet peeves.

Jumping Cat

Nebraska - Sandhill Crane migration!

As many of you know, each year for the past few years I've made a pilgrimage to Nebraska in March to photograph the large gathering of Sandhill Cranes that takes place on the Platte River. This year my friend Roger (http://www.rogernordstromphoto.com/ accompanied me on my trip to Nebraska. We had a great time photographing the birds over a period of several days. The highlight of this year's trip was staying in an overnight photography blind at the Rowe Sanctuary. The overnight blind offered up some incredible views of the birds. One thing we learned from our night in the overnight blind is that the birds make noise ALL NIGHT LONG! They did quiet down a bit between about 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. but they definitely make quite a racket throughout the entire night. I say this every year so I'm going to say it again this year... if you've never been to Nebraska in March to see this migration, you NEED to go! It is one of the most amazing wildlife spectacles a person can see! I can't wait until next year so I can experience the Cranes again :-)

On Bicycle Pricing and Its Discontents

At the moment there is an engaging dialogue going on about the cost of bicycles, which I believe many readers here will find informative: Last week Jan Heine of the Bicycle Quarterly published a post entitled Why Buy an Expensive Bicycle, in which he argues in favour of custom-built bicycles costing 5 times as much as mid-tier production bikes. In response, Kent Peterson of Kent's Bike Blog explained why he prefers inexpensive bicycles, presenting an almost diametrically opposite viewpoint. Together, I think these two posts and the reader comments that follow make for some truly thought-provoking reading, and I invite you to check them out.



Having read both posts, I find that my own opinion on this matter does not fit into the dichotomy of the debate. But I will try to explain it in my own way, without framing it as an "expensive vs inexpensive" issue.



Put simply, for me it is about the bicycle and, more importantly, about the cyclist's experience - not about the price. Bicycles are made for riding, and in order to ride them (and be inspired to ride more) the cyclist's experience must be positive. Not everyone is mechanically inclined and able to fix even minor issues when things start to go wrong. Not everyone's body can withstand poor (or even mediocre) ride quality. Finally, not everyone is inspired by a bicycle that is so crudely made and generic-looking as to be utterly without character. Now, we can criticise people for their lack of mechanical skills, their sensitivity to discomfort and their preoccupation with aesthetics. Or we can accept these traits and turn our attention to the bicycle itself - defining a "good" bicycle as one that will inspire people to ride. And by "people" I mean people as they are, with all their flaws and biased preferences and love of pretty things and mechanical ineptitudes.



Based on the huge amount of feedback I receive from readers who are either would-be cyclists or fledgling cyclists, I believe there are three characteristics a bicycle must have in order to attract those who are not already committed to cycling: (1) it has to work properly without a lot of fussing, (2) it has to feel comfy, and (3) it has to look nice. And it makes sense that a person of average financial means who desires to ride a bicycle, will naturally strive for the least expensive option that satisfies all three of these criteria.



And therein lies the first glitch. Based, again, on the feedback I get from readers, it is quite challenging to find a bicycle nowadays that both satisfies all three of the criteria listed above, and costs what most first-time buyers consider to be a reasonable amount. When I quote the $500 figure as a first-time buyer's typical budget, I am by no means making fun of this figure or disparaging persons with such a budget. On the contrary, this was my budget as well when I first began shopping around for a transportation bike. Unfortunately, $500 or thereabouts is considered "low end" by the bicycle industry today. Sad as it is, if you walk into a bicycle store right now, $500 will afford you only the lowest quality bikes available. The salesperson may even tell you, holding back a laugh, that with such a budget shopping for a new bike will be difficult. It is what they told me in .



Now let's get back to this fictional person who, on the one hand, wants a nice bike, but on the other hand is discovering how tough it is to find a bicycle that satisfies their requirements on a modest budget. At this stage they have a choice between two main options: (a) compromise on one or more of their criteria, or (b) increase their budget. Many choose the former option, which, granted, seems very reasonable. However, I kid you not that I now receive perhaps half a dozen emails a week from persons who are unhappy with their bikes and are not enjoying cycling as a result of a budget-driven compromise. The biggest complaint is that of frequent failures. The cyclist is not experienced enough to deal with them, and moreover does not want to deal with them. They also do not have time to constantly take the bike to the shop. The second biggest complaint is that of severe discomfort and poor ride quality. With all these problems, the bicycle does not get ridden very often and the cyclist begins to lose faith in cycling all together.



So you see, it is not the price I have a problem with. It is this outcome.By no means do I believe expensive bicycles to be better simply by virtue of costing more; that would be absurd. When a $500 bicycle becomes available that I believe to be reasonably well made, comfortable and attractive enough to make new cyclists happy, I gladlyherald it here and post lots of sexy pictures. Unfortunately, I find few bicycles in this price range to be of good quality, and I refuse, absolutely refuse to promote manufacturers who churn out overpriced bike-shaped toys by giving them exposure here based on their "low" prices alone. If a person cannot afford a well-made new bike, I recommend buying used or vintage.



Now that I've finished that rant, the next question might be: So what ismy idea of a high-quality new bike and what would it cost? Unfortunately, I have no definitive answers for you. Unlike Jan Heine, I do not believe that a $5,000+ custom bicycle is necessarily the solution. Customers are not always experienced and informed enough to truly know what they want, and builders make mistakes all the time. Also, the custom process takes forever and by far not everyone is willing to wait a year or more for a bike. Moreover, I agree with Kent that beyond a certain price point the anxiety over potential theft and damage may diminish a bicycle's utility.



The truth is that what constitutes a quality bicycle and a good valueoften depends on the person. It depends on their needs. It depends on their standards. It depends on the kind of riding they do, on their body's sensitivity, on their terrain, even on their climate. It depends on their level of mechanical skill. It is impossible to profess "the answer" that will be applicable to everyone.



In conclusion, my view is that it's not about pricing; we are way too focused on pricing. If you are serious about cycling, determine the criteria you are looking for first: What kind of bicycle makes you want to ride? Because that is what ultimately it is all about. Then find a way to buy that kind of bicycle, without compromising on those criteria. For some this may be doable at $500, for others it could be $5000, and most of us will fall somewhere in between. It does not matter to me how much a bicycle costs, as long as the owner loves it and wants to ride it all the time.

Greetings from... Kansas

Wednesday, May 4th - - Today was a traveling day, 260 miles through southern Iowa. Leaving Fairfield, U.S. 34 took me through mostly small towns and farming country. Ottumwa, the largest town I went through, is home of Radar O'Reilly of M*A*S*H fame. Ottumwa is also known as the 'city of bridges' and it lives up to its moniker, nestled alongside the Des Moines River.



At Red Oak I turned south through Shenandoah and Sidney, spending the night at Waubonsie State Park, just a few miles from Nebraska and Missouri.



Thursday, May 5th - - Heading west from the campground at Waubonsie the terrain changed dramatically in just a few miles. From the heavily forested hill country around Waubonsie back to rolling hills and farmland. The route took me to Nebraska City, Nebraska where I picked up U.S. 75 south to Topeka.



I mentioned in a previous post that I had been doing some research for a very, very distant Joslin cousin while I was back in Indiana. I had an open invitation to visit him (JJ) if I ever got near Topeka so I took him up on his generous offer! It is so neat to actually meet the people that you correspond with and who just happen to be related! We had a wonderful visit. Thank you so much for your hospitality!



JJ and I took the short drive (about 40 miles) to Lyndon to visit the gravesite of Lysander and Lydia Joslin, my 3rd great-grandparents. I didn't get any pictures because my camera was back in Topeka in the van! But I have visited their graves several times, most recently in September .. and posted photos from my visit in November ...





JJ and me. Our common ancestor is the 1635 immigrant Thomas Joslin who is my 10th great-grandfather.



Friday, May 6th - - Greeted by blue skies and sunshine, I headed northeast to Leavenworth, Kansas. Another distant cousin, though not nearly as distant as JJ, is buried at the National Cemetery in Leavenworth. So, since I was “in the area” I figured I might as well go visit the gravesite of Charley S. Joslin, my 1st cousin 3 times removed. He is a bit of an enigma and I'll have a post about him sometime soon. But as close as we've been able to determine he is probably the son of Ida (Joslin) Dressler Lewis, daughter of Lysander and Lydia Joslin. She would have been 15 years old when he was born on March 4, 1879. However, in several of his records in the Leavenworth Old Soldiers Home (available on ancestry.com) he lists Ida Lewis as his nearest relative, giving her relationship as sister.



From online searches I knew which section Charley was buried in but I didn't know where that section was located within the cemetery. Thankfully, they have a computer kiosk in the main office building that provides that information along with a printed map. Very nice.





The grave of Charley S. Joslin is located in Section 37, Row 6, Site 6. It is the sixth stone to the left in the first row pictured above.





Charley S. / Joslin / Missouri / Pvt 17 Inf / April 25, 1934

Then I went to the Mount Muncie cemetery, which adjoins the National Cemetery on its south side and located the gravesite of JJ's ancestor George Washington Joslin (after a stop at the main office to get the location and directions). And yes, I'll be having a post, more like a small series, on the issues we had with researching George's parents, and some rather interesting connections to me (at least I thought they were interesting)!





George W. Joslin / Aug. 24, 1837 / June 16, 1921Matilda His Wife / Sept. 20, 1837 / July 30, 1920Mount Muncie Cemetery, Leavenworth/Lansing, KansasSection 9 Stone 163



After leaving Leavenworth, I headed north toward Atchison and picked up US 36 West. I hadn't planned on going that far north but missed a turn-off just south of Atchison and didn't realize it until later. Except for the wind, which was very strong and a crosswind to boot, it was a pleasant drive. It also got a little warm (85 degrees) and the air conditioning didn't seem to be working very well Will have to get that checked out soon with summer coming on!