Young deer poses with crossed legs

Holy Leaping Lizards! Limping Laptops Lead to Lapses…

/ Curt Mekemson / 37 Comments
My limping laptop seemed like a minor problem in comparison to the Thomas Flyer being stuck in the snow during the 1908 NYC to Paris auto race. (National Archives photo)

I thought that normalcy had returned, that I could get back to putting up posts and reading blogs and commenting on posts and responding to comments. Ha! The keys on my laptop went bad. So I jumped to my backup computer. Bad decision. It crashed. Not just crashed, mind you, but crashed with two long posts I had just written about the 1908 22,000 mile automobile race from New York to Paris. It was a doozy. The race started in February— and no one had ever driven across the US in winter. Then the cars were transferred to Siberia by ship for the next leg! I became interested in the race when I found the actual vehicle that won, a 1907 Thomas Flyer, in the National Auto Museum in Reno when I was traveling down Highway 395.

The Tomas Flyer at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the clock was ticking. Peggy and I are taking off on a one month trip through Arizona and New Mexico and it looked like I would be computer-less. Horror of horrors! So I went out and bought a new MacBook Pro. It arrived yesterday. We leave tomorrow. I couldn’t have cut it much closer.

It’a a beauty. The screen features a sand dune that adjusts to ambient light. Makes me want to head back to Death Valley. It’s so fast, I’ve named it Jack, as in jack rabbit. I have another Jack name for it when it misbehaves…

I’ll rewrite my auto race stories but I just wanted to give you an update on why I am still playing hooky from the web. Here are a few recent photos…

I know, I post lots of photos of cute deer, but check out how this young fellow has his legs crossed. It was like he was posing for me.
Hemp, hemp, hooray! I think Jackson County is vying for hemp capitol of the world. Peggy and I counted 20 farms between Medford and our home. Last year, there was one.
Our book club made its annual visit to our house in September. We are now celebrating being together for 31 years— the same five couples! This is Peggy with the book club founder, Ken Lake.
It can be disconcerting when you look out your window and see this, as we did two days ago. A fire was raging less than a mile away. Fortunately the forest service had warned us that it was doing a controlled burn. Here’s to keeping it controlled.
Another photo of the controlled burn. My last shot for now.