Bikes, Blues, BBQ

Every year Fayetteville hosts the Bikes Blues and BBQ motorcycle rally. During the rally 350,000 bikers overtake the city of Fayetteville (pop. 65,000) and turn the city into one large rumble of bikes and people. Most students that I know here hate it and some even make plans to leave town. I'm just the opposite. I enjoy it. Sure, it is loud but it really is a great example of an American sub-culture in action. Another reason why I enjoy it, is because I used to (if owning a bike is a criteria) be a member. Although it is always a blast to do some serious people watching down on Dickson street, I am reminded of the Heritage softail that we had to sell in order for me to come to graduate school. Graduate school is full of sacrifices and selling the bike was one of them.
Riding around the Austin Hill Country was always a blast and the miles put on that bike will always be remembered. It would have been nice to keep to ride around the Ozark Mountains but such is life. I'm sure another bike purchase is not far away and maybe even when living in Fayetteville. Until then, Bikes, Blues and BBQ will have to be enjoyed from the sidewalk.

A Day of Snow

Living in Fayetteville has changed our relationship with the seasons. In Austin, we got only two seasons - hot and warm. Around here, we get a nice mix of all four seasons. Our first introduction to this was last winter where I remember on several occasions the thermostat in my car measuring 10 degrees on my way to class. That certainly was a shock to our central Texas bio-systems. However, as we roll into our second winter season in Fayetteville, we are enjoying our first snowfall and expecting a few more to visit us before the winter season turns to a perfect spring.

Where the city of Austin would have shut down completely, things happened as usual around here with not much of a stir. Sharon headed into work the next day and I went into the field. It was quite nice for me being down along the Mulberry River working in a picturesque setting - albeit for very violent reasons - listening to the river move downstream interspersed with a subtle cacophony of remote sensing equipment beeping and investigators qualms about informant details. Odd, I know, but something different...a major benefit of field work.

Bubba and Jenny explored the fresh snow but not for very long.
Our eerie backyard filled with wintery ghosts and ghouls.
Sharon heading out to work. Same routine, different colors.
My drive into the Ozark National Forest to work in the morning.
Not many people drive down this road, regardless of the season.

Macs are cool!

Ah, the things one can do with a new MacBook Pro when one is supposed to be working on drafts for ones thesis...

Square America

This is what I hope to be doing tomorrow after a full meal of vegetables and tofurkey.. ok, NO tufurkey. Then it's back to work - reading, writing, organizing, planning and learning.

The image of a very comfortable looking man crashed out on the couch, so tired (or perhaps drunk) that both the shoes and tie stayed on, is courtsey of an excellent website Square America with hunderds, if not thousands, of snapshots from the 1950's and 1960's. An occasional 1970's photo is sometimes included in the mix. All are organized to a particular theme or grouping... a nice "find" while clicking around on the old mac machine on a lovely (but becoming increasingly colder) Thankgiving Eve.