A Symbol of My Heritage

One of the prerequisites for participation in the Summer .. Genea-Blogger Group Games is to create a flag that represents your ancestry, heritage, or personal expression. These flags can be created at WeAreMulticolored.

This is my flag. Bold, simple, clean lines. It turned out rather nice, if I don't say so myself ;-0 (Can you tell, I kind of like it?)

• The colors Red, White and Blue signify the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States of America. The first two are the homelands of my earliest known ancestors. The latter is my homeland.
• The Red and White colors also represent Switzerland, as does the small White Cross in the center of the flag. Switzerland is the homeland of my Phend and Wiseman ancestors.
• The two large crosses symbolize my parents while the four stars stand for their four children.
• The four blue sections represent my four grandparents and the ocean their ancestors had to cross to reach this country.
• You'll notice that the four "arms" of the large white cross do not extend to the edges of the blue background. The eight "notches" created as a result, symbolize my eight great-grandparents whose paths crossed and merged at just the right moment in time.
• The tips of the red cross, which extend to the edges of the blue background, represent bridges that symbolically span the ocean as well as connect the generations.

In addition to Swiss, Dutch and English, my heritage also includes a considerable number of "Pennsylvania Dutch" ancestors, one or two Scots-Irish, and probably some other (as yet unknown) nationalities.

Little Tahoma

While one Foursquare group was down climbing St. Helens, another group finally got a chance to climb Little T.



The guys climbing up the final 300' of soft snow.



Doug, Ron, Kevin and Mark on top of Little T.



The Fryingpan Glacier was covered with millions of Ice Worms. They burrow through the ice and come out at night to eat Watermelon Algae.



Fryingpan Creek on the hike out.

Mark skied down ahead of us, fired up the BBQ and made hamburgers for the rest of us hungry climbers!

Seminole State Park :: Georgia!

Wednesday March 16, .. - - Because of “Spring Break” I decided to leave Florida. I had looked online and tried to reserve sites at several different State Parks but it seems that just about everything was nearly fully booked. There were sites available for one night at a time in several places but I just didn't think it was worth the hassle to have to move every night!



So, I found this lovely State Park in the southwest corner of Georgia, not far from the Florida and Alabama state lines. Since I was trying to find a place for the night and the next few days through the weekend I gave them a call to make sure they had sites available. Luckily for me, they did.



The campground is on the southside of a lovely lake, which I can see from my campsite, which is quite spacious. You can see your neighbors but they aren't right on top of you as in some places. It is really a very nice place. The temperature today was “unseasonably warm” in the 80s with lots of sunshine. Wonderful after a long, cold winter up north!



A trail winds through the pine forest, follows the boardwalk over the swamp and marsh area then on through the woods for about two and a half miles. The perfect ending to a long day of driving!

Kilian again!

Photo of Mont Blanc courtesy bigstockphoto.com









A few of us took note of this when it happened back in Sept. but I was unable to put it into context here. His run on the Grand is likely better understoof by the NA locals.



More here on that one:



http://outerlocal.com/hiking/the-grand-teton-a-runners-peak-outpost



This should help with the Innominata climb.



"Kilian Jornet, 25, one of the world's great endurance runners, has speed soloed
the long, technical and exposed Innominata on the Italian side of Mont
Blanc in a scant 6:17. The time is amazing on many levels. While technically the
climb is easier than the north faces of the Eiger or the Matterhorn, the scale
is much greater and the objective dangers are higher. Jornet, who is not even
known as a climber, started from the church in Courmayeur at roughly 3,300 feet
and ran the 12,000 feet to the summit of Mont Blanc, then ran over 12,000 feet
down the French side arriving at the church in Chamonix in a total time of 8:43."



There is more and worth a look.



""Can you imagine what I could do if I had the physique of Kilian?" Steck told
Rock and Ice."



http://www.rockandice.com/news/2250-kilian-jornet-takes-speed-soloing-to-next-level



More on the Grand climb:



http://outerlocal.com/hiking/the-grand-teton-a-runners-peak-outpost



Running Grand Teton trailer from Teton Movie on Vimeo.

We're Leaving on a Jet Plane

For my birthday, Nathan planned a little trip for us. Since it is definitely high season here at the park, I didn't plan to go any place until the end of the season. Thank to him, the manager and the girls who covered my shifts-we were able to go now.



Normally when we fly, we both read books. This time we both had smartphones to entertain us. Which means Nathan did this:



While I did this:

A Noble Life :: A Farmer's Wife

Lellah Golden "Goldie" (Wiseman) Quine, daughter of Samuel and Amanda (Alexander) Wiseman, was born on May 8, 1890 in Kosciusko County, Indiana. She eloped with Clarence Quine and they were married on September 19, 1914 in Centreville, Michigan.

They became the parents of four daughters, two of whom are still living. Clarence and Goldie lived on their 80 acre farm three miles east of Warsaw, Indiana until the early 1940s. During World War II Goldie and Clarence both worked at the Kingsbury Ordinance Plant in Laporte County, Indiana.

Goldie passed away on August 6, 1973 and is buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Warsaw, Indiana. The photo is not dated. It is from my Dad's collection. Goldie was a sister of my grandfather, Charles Wilson Wiseman.

Contributed to the 12th Edition of Smile For The Camera.

I need a holiday

We are off to Santorini, Greece in less than 48 hours and I still don’t feel the holiday feeling flowing in my veins. So I thought, perhaps writing about it – blogging it, would help me get into the holiday mood.

I’ve managed to print a list of places to visit in Santorini and in the nearby islands of the Cyclades Islands-Region. They say that Santorini is the most beautiful, with breathtaking and unique views, and is the most popular island of Greece. The pictures make me look forward to the holiday but with many things to do before the actual flight, everything seems like a last minute run, a miasma of activities.


The kitchen needs cleaning and I don’t know where to start. Ugh, I swear I have failed housekeeping. I’ve never hated housekeeping this much until I came to live in the Netherlands. Dutchman promised to vacuum the place before we leave. He better do it as I am not in the mood.

I still have to pack! It’s not going to be quick mixing and matching clothes and accessories. Are my favorite clothes clean? I know Dutchman did a load of wash yesterday. You know that feeling that you must, in whatever circumstances, bring your favorite shirt?

And then there’s work. Right, work is preoccupying my mind right now. There are politics at work to be dealt with. There are things I want. I know what I want. I WANT IT. I swear. I WILL GET IT. I have to. I MUST.

It’s the end of the month, the end of the quarter. There is still 1 day to go and I am stretching myself far and wide even though I am way over my targets for the month, quarter, and year. I am never satisfied. I am a slave driver to myself.

I need a holiday right.