Road Trip

If you've noticed, I've slowed the posting a bit. Reason: Lucy (right) and I are road-tripping from Phoenix back to Kansas City, to spend a few weeks there while the entire ground floor of my Arizona abode gets ripped out. Two cracked, slightly sinking tiles in the bathroom turned out to be a rotted sub-floor under much of the ground floor, complete with mold! To treat it, the floor comes up (all kitchen cabinets have to be removed first), the mold gets treated (yuck!), and then the floor has to be rebuilt before the house can be put back together.

There is always a silver lining. Insurance is paying for it and we get a remodel!

The home's owner - my friend Jean - and I shopped together for new carpet, a beautiful new wooden floor, new tile. If she's lucky, maybe the formica counter tops she dislikes so much will be demolished when they pull the base cabinets out. She may end up with something brand new that she loves. Anyway, what was already a perfect place (mold excepted) will be even more delightful when I return.

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to my Kansas home, by way of Albuquerque (my friend Ava lives here) and then Manhattan, Kansas. I teach online for Kansas State University, two-plus hours from my Kansas home. I thought I'd drop by to meet the new department head, Jeff Pickering. I sure am dropping a lot of names today.

The map shows a proposed detour through Amarillo, Texas, where there is an art installation called "Cadillac Ranch." The other photo is - you guessed it - that. The idea for the detour was the brainchild of my friend Jim Armstrong, via facebook. My fb community is now planning my vacations for me! In the top photo, btw, Lucy has her nose in the air conditioner. I won't let her stick her nose out the window. This is an (unsafe) alternative, I suppose. The entire back seat is filled with belongings, so I'm really rather unable to prevent it. Yes, you are sensing guilt.

So, the blog has been a bit neglected.

Please, as a substitute, accept the link below to Allegheny Front, a Pennsylvania radio station that runs nothing but environmental news stories. While some of the links will be specific to Pennsylvania, many of them are of general interest. Like, for example, an interview with The Nature Conservancy's Bill Ginn, and lots of varied stories about things like President Obama's early efforts on climate change, information from organic gardeners, tips on reducing energy use, increasing the efficiency of your automobile, cycling, and more.


Allegheny Front Archives