sunflowers #2 (2011)

I’ve always dug sunflower season: a last brilliant gasp of summer before autumn. Every sunflower season for the last 3 or 4 years we’ve made a point to find a first rate sunflower field for photo ops with the family. Marshall county has had some of the best in the past, but the farmers I know have moved away from the crop – and they never got into it for the aesthetics anyway. And it’s a 2 + hour drive.

Right now is the best time to find pictures. They'll be haggard in a week.

There’s a farmer near Lawrence who we’ve discovered – who plants a field most years – and leaves a Karma bucket up so you can cut flowers (1$ apiece I hear) if you want. I’ll search and post again once I find more pictures from years past. His wife (I assume) blogs at The Farmers Wife blog.


Map with directions found below.




Double click on map to enlarge. Field is 7 miles from the turnpike ramp in north Lawrence.

Trains - the ole 844 steamer

I've long had a soft spot for trains. These images come from the UPRR Facebook site. I voted to get them to come through Topeka/ KC with this classic steam engine (the 844). I didn't have a chance to see them either place - but caught it going through Lawrence yesterday - Didn't have time to bail out and snap a picture though - so I'm linking these photos. We were so close - but pictures or it didn't happen.

day trip

A special thanks to the bloggers in Comp 1 who turned me on to Deanna Rose farmstead for children. And thanks to my wife, who takes much better pictures than I. We really like this place - and I can't believe it was so close and we never knew it was there. It pays to know other people with kids.

KC Disc Dog Photo Experiments

So the only camera I had when we stumbled across the Kansas City Disc Dogs demo in Southpark Last week, was the ancient 3 megapixel - which is enough a camera to outpace my talents as a photographer. So this is more of an experiment is image editing.



These dogs got serious air. The KC disc dogs group has a Facebook page, and they do free shows all over the Kansas City area.

Master Teacher Retreat

This weekend I'll be co-facilitating a Master Teacher Retreat in the bucolic splendor of Tall Oaks. We've got the wiki started up, and I'll give anyone attending rights to add and edit content. If you've never participated in a wiki before, I highly recommend the 3 minutes it takes to watch the common craft presentation, Wiki's in Plain English. For further ideas on how to use wikis, check out this page.

I'll share my experiences using wikis, blogs and podcasts and other collaborative media in and with my classes.

Here are some links I'll use:

• for the podcast
• podcasts of yor
• Twitter (I'm Kaizer3 and I'll be using the hash tag #kcpdc and displaying using visible tweets (and for those that don't have a twitter account - just enter the hashtag).
  
• Social bookmarking
  
• Google Docs Moderator - where audience can ask and/or vote on questions. http://goo.gl/mod/c33D
  
• Facebook group for the retreat (note: we shouldn't have to friend to collaborate here).
  

A hole in the road

Experimenting today with embedding images from other blogs. Driven by this place hundreds if not thousands of times and never stopped. The kids loved it.

Alcove Spring

There isn't too much on Alcove Springs online yet, except where it's mentioned in just about every account of the ill-fated Donner party. I'm collecting resources, so let me know if you have anything. I'm helping a niece with a research project and started to get interested. It has an undiscovered feel to it, though it was one of the first and most popular stops along the Oregon Trail.

When I was growing up nearby, the spring was private property, and so not many people actually saw it. That helped preserve the site. The associations with cannibalism and doom likewise didn't appeal to many (not to mention band of agnostic vigilantes rumored to protect the site), but as several pioneers noted in their logs, it might be one of the most romantic spots in the country, and it feels unspoiled.




Don't know why blogger want's to rotate the ancient graffiti. Ironic that preserving graffiti is important to maintaining the spot, but the name was carved by one of America's most famous cannibals.


Been thinking about the bittersweet my niece found on the trail. There was no vine in sight and I looked, and the stuff brings a good price at farmer's markets... so I'm thinking somebody inappropriately harvested it and dropped a twig on the way out.

I love this place, but don't want it to get more famous.

Does anyone see anything in this?

See also colorblind tests for children. and colorvisiontesting

Sunflowers - photo essay

It's sunflower season. Field 5 .1 miles north east of Lawrence on Hi-way 24/40 - about halfway to Tonganoxie from Larryville on west side of road. I put the roadsigns below - but the field of yellow is hard to miss.

You can pay a dollar and cut your own to take home. It's the honor system and I hope they make $. I donated a buck out of appreciation. My wife took the best pictures in the morning around 9am. Earlier might be better. Because the field is west of the road and runs up a hill, late afternoon isn't as good - and the moths, bees and butterflies are better in the morning.






Can anyone name this moth?

Persied meteor shower?

Last night Perseid Meteor shower reached its peak, and we bundled up the family on a picture quest. My wife captured the moon over KU campus with 3 planets aligned - Mars, Venus and Saturn - over the top. We also experimented with sparklers while we waited for the meteor shower to start, but clouds moved in by 11, when the action was due to start. The lingering heat, persistent bugs and dust from the infrequent traffic on the old country road contributed to our heading home before midnight, without having gotten a pic of a shooting star, but I may try again later.

WTF: What the fruit?

I don't shy from exotic food - in fact it is one reason I love traveling. A blog post on BoingBoing.net reminded me that one of the fruits I grew accustomed to in my 5 + years living in S.E. Asia freaks people out. Maybe 1/2 the people in Taiwan like Durian though many have never tasted it. If you try it, you'll love it or hate it.

It assaults the senses. The stench is legendary. It looks like a medieval weapon until you crack it open, and then it looks like some alien in its larva stage. People generally describe the texture as creamy and rich - but it's... the experience of eating Durian defies polite analogy. BoingBoing shares

19th century British naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace described the taste of durian as "a rich custard highly flavoured with almonds, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, sherry wine and other incongruous dishes."

One of the comments describes the experience in more visceral terms, in an expression common in S.E. Asia, "It's like sitting on the toilet whilst eating your favorite ice cream." You've got to read the comments. They are inventive and have the ring of truth. Even smelling it alone is unforgettable.

Which is funny. Long before I heard that expression I shared with my Taiwanese friends the theory that no-one falls in love with Durian the first time they eat it, but the smell comes through so clearly when it passes through you - and since, to quote Fat Bstrd from Austin Powers, "everyone likes their own brand" after you've eaten and passed it, when you smell Durian it will remind you of your own earthy odors - in the most positive way possible, and Durian appeal to you in a way it couldn't the first time you tried it.

Which explains why many people never try it. It's a questionable taste to develop since the fruit has more calories than ice cream and may be more unhealthy. Most hotels ban the fruit. I have a buddy who ignored the message in Singapore and left a Durian in his room while he went back out shopping. In Asia they do a very sensible thing and cut power to your room when you're out (if the room key isn't proximal to the room no power). Equatorial climate being as hot as Kansas in August, and heat having a liberating effect on the fragrance .... the whole hotel reeked when he got back - which made him amazingly unpopular.

Beef tendon soup

Common in Chinese cooking, and a frequent ingredient in Vietnamese Pho soups, Beef Tendon is surprisingly tasty and a texture not found in western food. My son refers to it as "beef gummy," and it's one of my "go to" recipes: Beef Tendon Noodle Soup.

Our pediatrician said other ethnic families he serves have asked him about feeding it to children - but he had no idea the nutritional content - other than "It's loaded with collagen - it's probably good for you." If anyone knows a nutritionist help me out. Most staples of authentic Asian diets are healthy - but I want hard data. Several sites sell pill supplements and make some strong claims about the benefits of collagen, but I don't find sources credible - tho they may be correct. Some in Asia will tell you eating collagen is the reason Asians keep their youthful complexion so long, but ...

I start with large beef soup bones cut into pieces - and the bones don't need any flesh. Asian markets have good soup bones - unless anyone knows a butcher in the KC area who'll cut up bones for stock (if so share in the comments). Hint: throw in some previously boiled eggs - peeled - and let them stew. By the time you serve the eggs will take on a nice rich color and flavor throughout.
Bones cook in the crock pot (slow cooker) over night with the spice packet shown, and a small handful of star anise. That's important. Add also some garlic, a couple red peppers, some whole black pepper corns, some orange peel (fresh or dry. I generally dry and keep orange peel).

FYI: Chinese food and "medicine" are more closely related than westerners generally understand. The revolutionary AIDs drugs that made life so much better for Magic Johnson and others was developed by a Taiwanese researcher and derived largely from star anise. Wish I could remember where I learned that [Citation Needed].

Cook the broth 12 + hours, and then throw in the raw thawed tendon 3 hours or so before you want to eat. Hint: I struggle cutting raw tendon and I like knives. Cook the tendon first and it's easy to cut. Throw in green onions, a little brown sugar and a dash of white pepper if you have it. It's a rich relatively clear and light, though savory broth with a clean body.

30 minutes before serving I add 3 -5 tomatoes cut in wedges. Serve over noodles - the fresh frozen kind you find in Asian markets is the best. I like the Korean Oriental Market on Metcalf in Overland Park for the bones and the tendon and most all produce. Ho's Market in Lenexa for the spice packet and the noodles.

Soup photo by W. Hsu. Anise image from flickr

Wild Fruit

Wild plums are in season, and while I like the idea of wild fruit (they tend to be loaded with anti-oxidants) I haven't decided what to do with these.

Most that we picked were under-ripe, because the ripe fruit falls pretty quick - or otherwise gets eaten by wildlife.
Mom made a wicked wild plum wine - but I imagine some sort of compote. At any rate, we enjoyed to picking.

Day trips: the Nelson

Recognize the Day lilies at the right? They c0mprise less than 10 % of the space of one of my favorite paintings by arguably the greatest painter of the 20th century. The portrait (?) is a contemporary interpretation of a classic Greek myth in an unmistakeably midwestern rural scene - and it predates Percy Jackson the Lighting Thief by 70 years. For the complete painting and the answer scroll to the end of this post.

I mention how much space because I'm concerned about fair use, and because the pictures and images I use are generally links to other sites - I cover my assets. What images or quotes I use also

• don't infringe on the market
• re-imagine, interpret or review the work
• are for educational purpose

All of which make them fair use, but sometimes copyright law is written by the corporation who has the best lawyers and wishes to pursue litigation. I know it was legal to take the image of the shuttlecock below - but is it fair use for me to post the image?

BTW: the lilies are from my Persephone by Thomas Hart Benton - a native Kansas Citian. If anyone remembers the TV show Good Times with Jimmy Walker- the style should seem familiar. I'd like to find a student interested in art criticism and analyzing paintings - the day lilies mean something - in addition to being a familiar sight around rural farmsteads.

Taste test: Lilies

I've eaten lilies in soups, but only recently learned those same lilies grew almost wild. The same lilies you find around old farms and homesteads are tasty - and a surprising number of sites offer recipes, advice and information.
Some say the taste like asparagras when stir-fried, but we found the taste lighter. BTW they cook FAST.
I've found older (possibly spent) or post bloom flowers in soups in Asia - so using the tender buds didn't replicate anything I'd eaten - but it worked.