backattheranchwithpaula

Oct 8 2011

Pervasive Bald men and Blue Eyes trend…some research on roots…and why it could work.

by admin

Michael Stipe, R.E.M.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5mtclwloEQ&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

I have noticed more and more men are choosing to completely shave their heads.

And, I just noticed that so many of them have blue eyes.

: Michael Stipe, R.E.M.

a note: to remind you, I have lived on a ranch in western Kansas and spent a lot of time painting, jewelry-making, designing, french-teaching, history-researching, driving, cooking, running and raising children. So, this may be something that everyone else noticed long ago, but I’m just now opening my eyes to these things since I now spend time in the big ‘Ta Town.

So the two observations lead me to propose this generalization:

Men experiencing early male pattern baldness and blue eyes are rushing to shave their heads to get women.

Now, we can all accept the fact that many, if not most men are motivated to do anything, by one thing. So, this doesn’t seem like much of a statement.

But this is so prevalent and apparently so effective, that even others without this syndrome seem to be following suit.

: Wentworth Miller, whoever he is…

So let’s look at the steps from predicament to solution from a balding perspective.

a) Too much testosterone. No explanation needed there. Getting plenty, no problem.

b) Blue eyes. a single mutation which arose as recently as 6-10,000 years ago from one ancestor around the Black Sea was responsible for all the blue-eyed people alive on Earth today. AndEuropeans are far more likely to have blue eyes. They also have a far greater range of skin tones and hair colour than any other ethnic grouping. One theory for the proliferation of so many blue-eyed persons in such a short period of time is sex selection. Sex selection comes to the fore when there is a lot of competition for mates of one sex or the other. The theory is that in Europe, where men had to spend weeks at a time out on the hunt, males were in very short supply. Therefore, the blue-eyed, more unique men were at an advantage...again, getting plenty, no problem.

c) Hair loss, the problem arises. Hair, in a general historical sense, has traditionally associated with virility in males. So, the men who were winning with too much testosterone were now at a disadvantage.

First, a little background material on hairinesss. It’s not really a tangent, stay with me…

There is a differentiation between the effect of the level of testosterone in body hair versus that at the top of the head.

In the body,

more test is more,

unlike on the head,

where more test is less.

So, by the text books, more body hair indicates men that are fertile, sexually mature and strong. And if you believe in evolution, fertile women should go for the hairy bods.

But Finnish psychologists actually found the opposite to be true.

Here are their propositions:

Fertile women aren’t looking at the body hair, they are looking at the man’s muscles to work out whether he’s got good genes. Less body hair in the way reveals the structure. This is reflected in current aesthetics for idealism in both sexes of defined bod musculature and hairlessness. I am interested to see that this seemingly narcicisstic trend might actually has some positive (?) genetic basis.

The Finns also propose it’s not the testosterone but the estradiol. As estradiol increases, it changes males character slightly, making them better able to take care of their children. So less body hair may reflect a man’s greater caring potential. This might explain why women not desiring or post child-bearing age have no problem with hairy male bodies.

d) So, the solution. The balding men have taken it a step further. Being unable to do anything on their head (implants, plugs, rogaine, all humiliating and make women laugh at them even more) they have found a clever solution to regain their ability to get.

They are marching the smoothness-in-body hair trend vertically upward to tap into a visual characteristic that will trigger a women’s perception of caring potential, a positive trait equally effective in getting sex.

And I give them a great deal of credit for researching the genetic, historical and cultural trends that have brought them to this point. It’s a great look to add to the men’s team and very timely: modern, clean, streamlined, low maintenance, functionally simple.

: Michael Chiklis from The Shield.

But most important, why it works?

Bald blue-eyed men remind of us our babies….smooth heads and their blue eyes at birth.

: I remember…..carry on sweet thing…

These testosterone-laden men are fully aware of the feeling that comes over a mother when gazing into the eyes of her infant.

: …no words…

They have tapped into that desire for women to nurture their newborn and are attempting to channel it elsewhere, and where else would that be? They’ve done their homework and history. I have to say, I’m very impressed with the sophistication of this thought process.

But, I would warn that conjuring up an infant in a woman’s mind to get sex might carry some risk to be aware of.

That is, that infant also came with some other more challenging nascent characteristics. I won’t mention these because, of course, we all possess them and their potential is there to arise at any moment when unchecked. But, of course, we all know how worth it they were in raising with our children.

Why I felt I had to share, since of course, this has no real relevance at my age.

As a trying-to-be-a little-wiser older woman who gains most wisdom from my children, I thought I should share this proposition with the gals’ team.
To all the bald, hairy, shaved, bearded, waxed, paternal, nurturing, caring, maternal, bachelor, whatever men out there: I think you’re neck in neck in the race. Keep working it, whatever your angle…

And to women of all ages…

Start looking….
Please do post and share if you notice the same thing.

Comments (1)

Oct 7 2011

Put a little gravel in my travel….let my mind unravel…77 to Junction City.

by admin

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDK4GEAUjCM[/youtube]

Round bales running east and south...

Letting my mind unravel on 77…

Thought it would take a while to say

after 28 years living day to day

8 miles of gravel in my travel

ranch to pavement, tiny bit of the way…

But I’m “Sick & tired of this interstate system…”

At least this last two months, now I’m christening

“‘ ‘Wichita-KC Paula’s Freeway…

I don’t know but something miss’nin…”

Another beautiful white frame and limestone barn, not the bank barn of my studies.

Structural tile silo? Can't think it would be well? Dennis Domer? Mike Swann? any comment?

I was called mid-week to 77

Burns to Florence and Marian

J.K. Williams old barnyard,

white bank barn still standin’ hard.

Roads I’d traveled doing history stuff

Places where the writin’ was more than fluff

Highways, sideways, drainage ditches

Engineering plans that had some glitches…

I passed by and got to smile…

Road re-routed a fraction of a mile

cows in stockpens still intact

KDOT got it, had impact.

-a song, my day, my thoughts, my memories my mark on 77 with KDOT, KSHPO, and Citysearch.

: Kansas Department of Transportation does a great job!

The importance of the road in the political landscape reminds us of something we are not always willing to accept:

man as a political animal is always inclined to be footloose, inclined to leave family and home for a more stimulating place.

p. 27, Discovering the Vernacular Landscape. J. B. Jackson.

Comments (3)

Oct 4 2011

Cash in Can: a word about junk, cash, and signs. S. Seneca, Wichita, Kansas.

by admin

There is really no such thing as junk or trash.

a) it don’t matter, it’s all matter, but if we ‘no matter’, it will only affect us. a comfort.

b) don’t want to be trite but he don’t make junk.

c) reduce, re-use, recycle. -Jack Johnson

d) beauty is in the eye of the camera holder

But, at the XIT Ranch, all the “matter” currently waiting for a new life (scrap iron, old steel fenceposts, etc. etc.) is neatly organized in front of the shop. And, if it grows too large for the ranch to use, it gets hauled off and is “cash in can.” Not a lot, not really to be handed over to me for a little weekend New Mexico sojourn, but it all counts as going in the kitty.

Cash for scrap metal.

I was driving to Weckworth Manufacturing on South Seneca from Wichita down to Haysville at 7:15 am a few weeks ago and had to stop when I saw these signs.

Kansas Can Sign. S. Seneca between Wichita and Haysville.

I do believe that “Kansas Can” and I am a sucker for great signs so I had to pull over. How could I not? Signage in the “new” manmade suburban landscape post 1970 is so standardized, codified, and controlled in an effort to be homogenized and tasteful? that as a few good people stated:

“There is no there there” (Gertrude Stein)…

in the “geography of nowhere.” (James Howard Kunstler)

So this is an area of town where we can still have a unique iconic sign to sell the goods. Uniqueness and creativity pays back to the owner, in cans. And cans pay back to the consumer, in cash.

And, Gigantism has been, for so many purchased items, the current status of our shopping culture. So signs must often follow suit in scale and uniformity to be consistent with the structures.

This is not to say that there are not very wonderful creative signs being made today, because there are. Hutchinson is home to the best signmaker in the region, Luminous Neon, Inc. with origins in Kansas of 84 years linking cities of Kansas City, Dodge City, and Hutchinson through ownership.

And, sometimes interesting signs must be grandfathered in and protected when there is actually an old building left upon which it hangs. But that generally happens when the business behind the sign has not also become obsolete. Everything changes…

This is not a judgment, blame, or lack of understanding about how that works. It’s understandable and creates order in an ever-more-complicated world. It’s just a comment about when, where, and why I am actually interested enough to stop. I think these are treasured places.

So, I will stop here but these are a few photos from my stop.

Aluminum corrugated siding used as privacy fence.

Beware of dog. Privacy fence required with value in material behind it.

I could use a good ladder.

what's inside to west?

Peephole.

Reveals holy un-cola.

There. It’s in the can.

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Oct 2 2011

“Speak softly and carry red lipstick.” And please let me explain…I hate being misunderstood.

by admin

Teddy Roosevelt. Had the importance of the look down early on.

Teddy Roosevelt

” I have always been fond of the West African proverb: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far. ‘ “

-written by Teddy Roosevelt in a letter; 1900, the year before he became President.

He repeated this in a speech as President in Chicago in 1903, and twice again in his writings, but each time it was “speak softly.”

He made the statement in regard to foreign policy. It meant to speak politely or diplomatically but have the forces to make our position meaningful.

Teddy’s belief was that words and actions that went unvalidated would only attract frustration and scorn. And, that ’empty words’, ‘broken promises’ and ‘unfulfilled actions’ would not offer protection even with a ‘big stick.’ Self-respect had to be earned through hard work and determination.

I think that this can be applied to other forces on this earth. Specifically here, that God in one form of analysis, made two different models of human beings. They are, in some ways, different. And that is a good thing. A great combination of energy, a unity and friction that will always exist.

How I am applying to some of my “person” now.

I have been working on speaking softly and having boundaries. I also like to wear heels and boots, and at times, to wear red lipstick. So, my mind keeps putting together these two ideas because of Teddy’s phrase and (completely unrelated, at least in my consciousness), I was compelled to buy a classic red chanel à la Mac lipstick last week.

Paula à la Wayne Thiebaud.

Someone else has probably already said it before me, but I couldn’t find it in brainyquotes, and this keeps recurring in my mind.

‘Speak softly and wear red lipstick; you will go far.’

-Paula’s recurring thought now in print.

I have thought about this for a while before saying it or writing it. I am often misunderstood by speaking too soon, before I have thoroughly given it thought about what I am saying and I really don’t like that. That is, if someone takes it at face value and latches onto the idea that women will speak softly but use their femininity to control in a negative way, what is theirs to control, it would bother me. And control, when and if we truly can, can get mixed up with manipulate. So, here are a few thoughts…

DI-SSECTION

(di: prefix meaning “apart” or “two”)

Speak softly.

When I am excited, on task, caught up in humor, in a hurry, all kinds of reasons, I often do not speak softly. It is often more forceful, more urgent, full of unbridled energy. Sometimes when I have spoken softly, it was because I was a doormat and not wanting to take a stand. I did not know how to do it because I did not have the skills to say it with edit, with proper tone, with well-chosen words. That took hard work and determination on my part, to get the self-respect I had not earned.

Wear red lipstick.

Of course, red lipstick I see as using feminine strengths, whether it is a man or a woman wearing it.

I do not see dressing nicely, painting pretty colors on lips or eyes to highlight features, or wearing shoes that make me feel rugged or statuesque (and this isn’t easy for me!) to be anything negative. I like color, form, design, masks, costumes.

I’m an artsy

my plague and my gift

forever in my mind

even if I am blind

I will see it.

I’m not intending to misuse or entrap or mislead, I am 51 and I will enjoy this, what others may see as vanity, until I die. It is for me.

On occasion, I have crossed the line in judgment of a given region or time or field of perception.

shorts in rural churches in New Mexico in 1968.

And times change.

My Grandmother Mildred Evelyn Lee Ward, gave up stockings with her dress and heels in Seaside, Florida circa 1990. She even starting wearing slacks, not jeans, on occasion. Her mother, Lillie McDowell Lee might have been turning in her grave.

And, we are different but also the same.

It is no different than the contra-fairer sex deciding what facial hairs to keep, to shave or wear a ponytail, to boots or birkenstocks, to freshly clean t or tattarsall. We are all actors and put on this earth to play his roles. It is not superficial to bathe and clothe to fit the gig.

Lipstick versus Drawing lines and listening and reading and prioritization.

There are so many other skills and strengths that I was given to work, so this is a small outer pleasure that became so seemingly unimportant in the big scheme of time and how I used my day. I lost site of this as being something that mattered to myself or to anyone else. I see now that it does give me pleasure. And pleasure is not a bad thing. We were meant to have joy and fun.

I try to find each day a different way or action to do the hard or not-so-hard work to earn self-respect. To put forth good with no expectations by using what God gave me.

And it is work, at least for me, to give up control, to give up trying to force something to happen. I have to examine my motives, to see if I’m giving or doing to get something back in return that is off-balance. I have to reign in the inner forces to, as Teddy said, “to have the forces to make our position meaningful.”

But today, I have put some things into practice and have gone far.

And, I was told to wear red lipstick.

I know, Teddy, with his gifts of words, action, and style, would get it.

Comments (1)

Sep 30 2011

Praying for Rain at the Scottish Rite Temple. 1st and Topeka. Wichita.

by admin

Doing a Rain Sketch

I know that I should be sketching more in Kansas. It is meditative. I sketched my way through France and it rained everyday; the Loire Valley, Morzine, Paris, Bourges, it didn’t matter, it rained.

I’ve only sketched twice now in Wichita and both days it has rained while I was drawing which we sorely need. Big, juicy drops that puddled the felt tip lines and created their own thunderclouds on my drawing. I love this, it’s like felt tip watercolors.

So, something compelled me to turn right at the Orpheum Theater on Broadway at First Street. When I saw the curved wood & iron balcony on the turreted corner, there was no choice but to get out, photograph, draw.

I want to stand up there so bad, so I guess I will draw and imagine...

The sky was a dark blue grey, so the subtle colors of the leaded windows were vivid.

The colors aren't vivid in this photo but think aubergine, aubergine, Grueby green, milky cornflower....Louis Comfort Tiffany when he was alive.

And just as I was getting close to winding it up, the Rain Came! And I realized that I was at the Scottish Rite Temple.

Paula's felt tip, prismacolor and charcoal of the Scottish Rite Temple. Wichita.

This is all I can say about the numerous google pages I have read about Scottish Rite and Freemasonry and it’s not even my words.

There are “three obligations” which include:

the candidate promises to act in a manner befitting a member of civilised society,
promises to obey the law of his Supreme Being,
promises to obey the law of his sovereign state,
promises to attend his lodge if he is able, promises not to wrong, cheat nor defraud the Lodge or the brethren, and
promises aid or charity to a member of the human family, brethren and their families in times of need if it can be done without causing financial harm to himself or his dependents.

This seems like five, so maybe you only have to do three. Other than that, it was so esoteric that it eluded me, so I’ll offer no more.

I do think they always have the coolest lodges or “temples.”

Temple definition: a building devoted to the worship, or regarded as the dwelling place of a god or gods or other objects of religious reverence.

But, after seeing the above stated values, I guess God and Jesus (who probably never thought in terms of temples anyway) must not have a problem with this being a temple so who was I to fear it as cultish? It probably came from the DaVinci Code or some movie anyway.

I'm sorry, but I still see bats and think it could be a great backdrop for Damien IV.

I can imagine that God might feel, as I do, that the design of these buildings gives beauty back to the street and to the cities in which they were so painstakingly designed and constructed. Thank you Order of the Freemasons, for doing your part.

Scottish Rite Masonic Center (Temple), First and Topeka. National Register of Historic Places. One of the six designated Historic Landmarks of Wichita.

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Sep 29 2011

Taking my Pony on my Boat: what I share with Zeb Pike.

by admin

Me and my Pony on my boat on the High Plains.

What I share with Zeb Pike.

I do have a few things in common with Zebulon Pike.

I climb the mountains to my West.

I speak French which I use in the West.

As was his, my father was in the military, or at least in the Marines Corps.

And, I beat the trails through Northern New Mexico quite often. This is where Pike was encamped when he was captured by Spanish authorities and taken to Santa Fe.

I, too, am captured in New Mexico by Santa Fe.

By the art and culture and landscape I need to nourish me on the Plains, so as to be refreshed again with its beauty when I return.

And I am also an explorer of the High Plains that records with maps, drawings, pictures, people’s stories, history and research.

So I understand now that this shadow at right in yesterday’s picture, made from the clear photo corner that was holding another picture, that is me exploring the High Plains by sea.

When I did sail at camp, about all I could do well was to trim the jib. And that’s maybe all I will ever really take part in in regard to making money off land in the High Plains; to be the crewsman, cook the meals, drive. To suit up and be there.

The XIT Yacht

When I sail on this boat, it is isolated with a skilled crew, but I am somewhat of a stowaway who serves up the chow. I do share in my own way what I can, sometimes having them yacht, but often with others not on board. Not just sharing of the ranch but of other ranches, through drawings and photographs and writing about ranching in Kansas. Or in other ways like preserving a Depot that used to ship cattle or having folk artists to a one-room school near my house and inviting everyone around to come see, hear the music, and bring their fiddles.

Or by inviting the real Frenchman in Kansas down for dinner and into the schoolroom to parlez with the pupils. Or having the paleontologists from Kentucky and their European interns down for dinner where I got to parlez with Sophie, the French student. I do what I love, just as those do in their jobs on the XIT Yacht.

I do the work on the boat that I know how to do, that I did halfway well with what I’d been given, where I think I’m giving back.

Sometimes when I would return to the main dock, I would do something stupid like let go of the main halyard. This only needs to be learned once. And sometimes I need to find a different dock.

But mostly what I enjoy on the High Plains, is sailing and seeing at sea.

Sometimes it is when I am running…

A bit of it was in the pastures where I would fish for lost cattle. I didn’t always know where to look and it seemed like I never found them. But I could feel something, maybe someone saying follow me…and I will make you fishers of men…

For a lot of my time I had on the High Plains, I had the blessing and curse of taking my pony on my boat. I was probably not as useful as I could have been on the XIT Yacht, but there many people on that boat, and it just seemed so crowded it might sink. So, I lightened the load, my load…

In my books, my degrees, my work in design or preservation, in my car driving miles, in my art, I could get lost on the ocean. But, I would always be guided safely home, wherever that was for the night…Lawrence, Kansas City, Wichita, the XIT Headquarters, Santa Fe, or a hotel in a small town in Kansas when doing historical research in the field.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW43IKuxOJM&feature=related[/youtube]

a Lone Ranger note: I like this song, but I take issue with the one line that pits Tonto and the Lone Ranger as enemies. I feel it is a contemporary translation that lacks depth in understanding the actual details of the history of its writers. Their intent was to illustrate the common values of an Indian and a White man, to do good, and a friendship that united the pair. They worked alongside each other as practically equal partners, and had each saved the other from death at different points in their lives.

Tonto’s character was originally a Potawatomi Indian by choice of the radio station owner who was from Michigan. This was a non-native to the area where he rode in Texas and the clothing is inaccurate. But, ‘Tonto’ in Potawatomi means “Wild One” and was mistaken as the Spanish word meaning fool or dumb. And, Tonto called the Lone Ranger “Kemo Sabe”, “trusted servant.” They worked the High Plains together, and would have been on the same boat.

So yesterday, when I started with Zeb, I went on my sailboat journey of maps and google and Walter Webb’s Great Plains and my Master’s Thesis to try to take what I’d read and done before and make it into something short, edited and tangible. But, instead I realize I took my pony on my boat and we just enjoyed the day.

We sailed

through geological and rock formations, surface etching of the High Plains with rivers, glaciers, erosion.
I read about Lewis & Clark and re-read the Charles Kimball Lecture, “It’s all about Eating: Kansas City’s history and opportunity.”
I did a timeline of government policies and actions within the 200 year span from Pike’s quote and today that were specific to the Great Plains.
I even added in a tangential timeline of modes of production (technologies) and modes of transportation in relation to phases of Farming in America, but again, focused on my region, The Great American Desert.
And I recorded my journey, over some familiar waters at sea, with my pony on my boat.

I still do this almost every day and accept that this was the way I was made.

And just sometimes it works. I zigzag back and forth at sea and occasionally hit my mark, reach the point.

At other times I don’t really know where I went or where I was headed, but I did have kind of a plan, just like we did with America when Zeb was sent out to explore.

And I always enjoy the journey, and record it in my memory or in some other way to preserve. I take that with me, and I leave some behind for the next guy, to do with as he pleases.

This is Paula, Explorer of the High Plains.

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Sep 28 2011

Exploration: Sailing with Paula and Zebulon Pike.

by admin

Sailing away on the Cimarron River uplands...

From where did the sailboat begin it’s journey today?

My daughter posted on this picture and I noticed that the photograph I’d scanned from my album still had clear corners at the right. I use the old school corners and Webway albums and layer my pictures for space and artistic effect, photos only, no stickers, it’s a once a year event. I organize for a day, then do Jack’s, Lacy’s, Family. Then I store any good extras in labeled manila envelopes. It’s all a mess since I’ve ripped into them with this website and blog.

But, I saw this sailboat in the picture that I have now outlined with a pen. And I realized that there are all kinds of explorers of the High Plains so I set off to sail…

But from these immense prairies may arise one great advantage to the United States, the restriction of our population to some certain limits, and thereby a continuation of the union. Our citizens being so prone to rambling, and extending themselves on the frontiers, will, through necessity, be constrained to limit their extent on the west to the borders of the Missouri and the Mississippi, while they leave the prairies, incapable of cultivation, to the wandering and uncivilized Aborigines of the country.

-Zebulon Pike, 1811.

And, it is the 200 year anniversary from when Zeb Pike made this statement.

Zeb Pike, a pretty good-looking guy.

Well, Zeb’s prediction that we would only settle east of the Missouri didn’t really pan out. Zebulon Pike did exploratory travels through the western territories of North America. These travels included a voyage from St. Louis on the Mississippi to it’s source, a journey through the interior of Louisiana, and the north-eastern provinces of New Spain. This was in 1805, 1806, and 1807 by order of the Government of the United States.

Expeditions of New Spain by Zebulon Montgomery Pike.

Pike vis-a-vis Lewis and Clark.

Being from Kansas City, Lewis and Clark always came to mind and their lookout point around 12th St. downtown. And, Pike was overshadowed by Lewis and Clark. But, their journals are of no value to any study of the Great Plains. Jefferson had appointed Lewis, a military man and Jefferson’s private secretary, who was also a fellow Virginian. Lewis wisely chose Clark, another military man who was the people guy, able to communicate and rally all kinds, from all backgrounds, and of all levels of education. And, he was a brilliant cartographer. But they went by water and were of eastern orientation, so they saw little of the Plains. This is not to diminish that Kansas City is the real Gateway to the West and it just now growing into its history as a food capital of the world, for it all works together.

Who had more work and fun?

After living on the Missouri River, on the High Plains, and having climbed a few mountains, Pike’s journey is the one I would have chosen. He had the more physically challenging and foreign work. The Great American Desert and the Mountains were absolutely that to Americans who migrated from Europe and settled in the East. And, as it is for all of us who look west, this journey is very exhilarating because it is rugged, dramatic, and difficult.

Pike’s Plains Expedition

Pike’s Plains expedition began July 15,1806 in St. Louis with 23 white men and 51 Indians. By Aug. 26, he abandoned his boat on the Kansas River and went onward with horses purchased from the Indians. And he was captured and conducted to Santa Fe March 3, 1807.

This was the conversation:

Governor: Do you speak French?

Pike: Yes, sir.

Governor: You come to reconnoiter our country, do you?

Pike: I marched to reconnoiter our own.

Governor: In what character are you?

Pike: In my proper character, an officer of the United States Army.

So what’s the point about Pike?

My point is that we did it. We took the United States. This is not a value judgment on who and why and from whom and strategy of what is good or what is bad or what is sustainable and for how long. It is on a country that studies a bit, makes a plan, does it. Be it good or be it bad, in the U.S. we got $h!t done and stepped up to the plate on how fast the world was moving and took action.

And, if we hadn’t done it, or done it this way, there would have been someone else who would have. First in line, first in time in America was the open-minded people who really saw it and accepted it for what it was.

This included all kinds: colonists sick of the King, indentured servants, starving immigrants, entrepreneurs with European capital from home, businessmen, and those wanting religious freedom. Good people.

That is us and I’m glad we did it, imperfect as it was and is. Because the world doesn’t stop and sometimes to you have to act, to get the reins, to plow forward and do and make it better later. And that, is what I believe, is the spirit of America.

And I share a few things with Zebulon Pike. I am also an explorer of the High Plains. But that is tomorrow.

What I share with Zeb Pike.

I do have a few things in common with Zebulon Pike.

I climb the mountains to my West.

I speak French which I use in the West.

And, I beat the trail to Santa Fe where I am captured, as he was. But by the art and culture I need to nourish me on the Plains and so as to be refreshed again with its beauty when I return.

And I understand now this shadow in the picture from the corner holding another picture, that my exploring is by sea.

Sometimes when I am at sea, I am beaten by winds. Then, I know exactly what to do to get back home safely.

When I did sail, about all I could do well was to trim the jib. And that’s maybe all I will ever know about really making money off land in the High Plains, to be the crewsman, cook the meals, drive. To suit up and be there.

But in that private life and world of the XIT Ranch, where I lived on the High Plains, I shared in my own way what I could not just of the ranch but of other ranches, through drawings and photographs and writing about ranching in Kansas. And I shared by doing things like working on designs to preserve a Depot from where they used to ship cattle, or writing a grant to fund the work, or raising the money to help pay for it. And by inviting the Frenchman in Kansas or the paleontologists from Kentucky down for dinner. I did the work on the boat that I knew how to do, that I did well, where I think gave back.

Sometimes when I would return to the dock, I would do something stupid like let go of the main halyard. This only needs to be learned once. And sometimes I needed to find a different dock.

But mostly what I enjoy on the High Plains, is sailing and seeing at sea.

Some of it was on foot while running.

A bit of it was in the pastures when I would fish for lost cattle. And I didn’t always know where to look and it seemed like I never found them. But I could feel something, maybe someone saying follow me…and I will make you fishers of men…

For a lot of my time I had on the High Plains, I had the blessing and curse of taking my pony on my boat. I was probably not as useful as I could have been on the ranch, but there were so, so many people on that land, and it just seemed so crowded.

In my books, my degrees, my work in design or preservation, in my car driving miles, in my art, I could get lost on the ocean, but I would always be guided safely home, wherever that was for the night…Lawrence, Kansas City, Wichita, the XIT Headquarters, Santa Fe, or a hotel when doing history work in Kansas.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW43IKuxOJM&feature=related[/youtube]

a note: I like this song, but I don’t think Tonto would call the Lone Ranger “Kemo Sabe” and not want him on his boat. They worked the High Plains together with the same values.

So today, when I started with Zeb, I went on a journey of maps and google and Walter Webb’s Great Plains and my Master’s Thesis to try to take what I’d read and done before and make it into something short, edited and tangible. But, instead I took my pony on my boat and we just enjoyed the day.

It took me through geological and rock formations, surface etching of the High Plains with rivers, glaciers, erosion. I did a timeline of government policies and actions within the 200 year span from Pike’s quote and today that were specific to the Great Plains. I even added in a tangential timeline of modes of production (technologies) and modes of transportation in relation to phases of Farming in America, but again, focused on my region, The Great American Desert. And I recorded my journey, over some familiar waters at sea, with my pony on my boat.

I still do this almost every day and accept that this was the way I was made. And just sometimes it works. I zigzag back and forth at sea and occasionally hit my mark, reach the point. At other times I don’t really know where I went or where I was headed, but I did have kind of a plan, just like we did with America. And I always enjoy the journey, and record it in my memory or in some other way to preserve. I take that with me, and I leave some behind for the next guy to do as he pleases with it.

This is Paula the Explorer.

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Sep 27 2011

le sketch du jour: Sun. July 6, 1980. Beware of Italians in the Louvre admiring your sketches….

by admin

I still have flashbacks to this day at the Louvre. Especially because sometimes even now I will get myself into situations where I am thinking one thing and engaging, but realizing a little too far into it that it is turning out to be something else entirely. And, it usually starts with flattery. In particular, flattery to my work or artwork. This generally happens when I am in the field and drawing, so I am alone. If it happens before I am through with my sketch and the man lingers to talk, it has the opposite effect. I cannot talk and draw.

Some Italian man probably just pretending to be an architectural engineer who admired my sketches and me, Louvre.

From my journal Sun. July 6th, 1980. 6:30 pm, 1980.

Went to Louvre & Marché aux Puces this afternoon. Had an awful experience. This engineer from Rome walked up behind me while I was sketching the Museum of Decorative Arts from across the lawn on the south side of the Louvre. He was very complimentary of my drawing at present and asked to see others. Then, he offered to “show a Young American Girl the Louvre.” I was thinking that this sounded like a wonderful adventure, an Italian engineer showing me Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre…

He walked abound the whole Louvre, not really stopping to tell me anything in depth, but speaking with the guards. So, I thought he must be a regular. Then, he started taking my hands, putting his arm around me, and would touch my face with his hands. I did not like it and it was awful, but I did not really know how to handle it.

He then took me to the snack bar and bought me coffee, speaking with the employees on a first-name basis. I was embarrassed because they seemed like nice people and I couldn’t imagine what they thought of me as a young American girl who would allow an older man to touch her face.

By the end of the tour, I was just trying to get away but he didn’t seem to understand. I said I had to go home, and he would say that he would take me. I was afraid to go outside. I didn’t know if he would kidnap me or what. Finally, I got away after being downright rude. It was humiliating & awful & I will never get myself in a situation like that again!

Flea Market is huge and packed with people!!

Went to a Tunisien restaurant & had some kind of tuna sandwich & an ice cream cone. Headed back home.

Charlie was back, but out to dinner again tonight. She showed me all these clothes that this guy from Kuwait bought for her. To bed.

So, the moral of this story is…

…a woman has to be wary of a man who invites her up to see his sketches.

…for a woman who provides her own drawings, she might think to be wary of the man who admires them.

…unless of course, he then offers some good constructive criticism.

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Sep 24 2011

Calving Part I. Babies is comin’: 4 the girls & men that did it to them

by admin

She's not very happy and he not too with her.

First, a little music for you to read by. I was a childbride, but childless & footloose for five years. A favorite courting technique, John would break into song complete with face and head gestures to serenade, emphasis on the “baay’ beh”. Even not funnier at 8 months. After a four versions on utube, I’m just starting to appreciate it all. Your selection for tonight: Classic Paul in Patchwork and Bowler.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bwW07sCwoY[/youtube]

It’s the first week of calving season, John’s week on call as baby dr., so I tagged to barn at 10:30. Heifers are teen (I hope not really) cows having first calves who sometimes need a little help. They are brought in from the pastures to hang out together in the pens.

Second, the excuses. It’s dark, pics in pens limited, only lights on a pole. With camera broken, I’m filming a blackberry video (I keep forgetting I can’t turn the camera sideways since u can’t rotate videos, I’m sure Steve Spielberg had to learn this too). New skills are all I can do to get unedited to utube, but this is a point in history.

Re-location from pens to delivery room: the calving barn.

I really apologize mama. My style: no cameras and leave me alone when in pain; John seized the opportunity for his usual efficiences to wash the car, pick up groceries, stop by the vet when I thought he was outside having a smoke. But, he was there at Lace’s debut at my head of the table.

Pass a new baby en route to barn. Mother licking to clean and I scare but she'll be back.

This is more talking about childbirth than I could ever tolerate from about 28 on. All it takes is one long-winded, detailed story relayed by some duo couple in a social situation to be enough for life.

Calving chute, looks medieval I know.

Construction by D. (Dave Holden) and M. (Mike Simmons), circa 1982.

A stirrup, right? Have to think on how this is going to work hanging up here...hmmm...

A stirrup, right girls? Hmmm....way up there? Think, think, Paula, before you ask engineering question. I know I can figure out the mechanics.

Pretty much everything designed, mostly homemade and welded right here when it comes to stuff like this.

Pretty busy, so I keep quiet and don’t ask questions. Here are more pictures…

She's not very happy and he not too with her.

Got her in a headlock.

Dennis Knudsen, former army dr., obgyn extraordinare and Renaissance man I think would secretly love one of these for a few of his clients. A relative on John’s side out here told me (in 80s we took these funny lamaze classes pre-Lacy at local community college) he said , “ooh…kay, that’s enough of that” when she commenced with some loud hee-haws as he arrived for the delivery.

Chapter Two tomorrow. The birth and some videos, more Paul. I’m sure he quit singing a while ago.

Music commentary: John’s time is limited on computer, but he heard Paul singing and had to come in.

Paula: “that woman’s voice sounds strange…crazed…techno”

John: “she’s just happy. see? she’s agreeing with him.”

Thanks, Paul for opener that kind of steals my show, but if someone made it this far…

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Sep 23 2011

Gary the Grizz on bike bags: utube

by admin

Gary does his own work the best. Here he is….

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caIWB0ZZsCM[/youtube]

The webbing material is found either discarded or on the side of the road as it breaks with wear. It is used to tie down stuff onto flatbed trucks. Gary used to drive a truck, hauling beef with Kansas-place-of-origin meatpack from the local butcher to a pastrami deli king in California. On his return, he would haul produce back to Albuquerque. Burned out on mode of transportation, but always a Cowboy on the open road.

Closeup: Gary's hand-stitched two-tone webbing

Gary will be headed to Jackson as soon as the snow’s over, so about now. I think the place where he may frequent is called the Mission. He also goes to the library which is where he saw the picture of the Canadians with the bike bags. He doesn’t do internet, but we have a date to connect through the librarian so he can see his post, Paula’s agenda, probably not Gary’s though he politely acted interested. He doesn’t have a cell, so we’ll let you know when and how we rendez-vous, but we will meet again. Paula’s pony express is on it and now I have you enlisted to help. If you pass by Gary, please tell him Paula from Delano says hi.

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