You have maneuvered to or stumbled upon our Web

Old Military Highway    Clint's Abbreviated History    Clint's WWII  Old Log Entries   Thimbleberry Patch    Miscowaubik Cruise    Montreal River    Intra-Coastal Waterway Phi & Fiboncacci    Stephen Josiah Cook    The World is Flat    Miscowaubik Cruise 2006    Somalia Chapter  Carport Tiling   Hour Angle Differences Discussion    Hour Angle Differences Chart (This is a PDF file and requires Adobe Reader to open. Use browser's back button to return.)    Miscowaubik Cruise 2007    Deck Screening Project    Miscowaubik Club History by Bob Carlton   

  (Click if you'd like to know more about the birthday flash window. If the window doesn't open you may need to turn off your browser's pop-up blocker and refresh this page.)

We have joined the hordes, lazy ones all, who have put up a Web as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family. One buzzword for what we have in mind is 'Weblog.' It's even been shortened to 'Blog.'

This ploy has some advantages over other ways of communicating: Visitors can log in only when and if they want to. It's cheap and easy to do. It's fun. We can include some of Mary's photographs. Visitors can easily comment, protest or otherwise respond.

There are some disadvantages: It's pretty impersonal, even more so than the holiday form letter many of us have scattered around. It works only for those who are on-line. It's very public, worse than putting your message on a penny post card (Well, I can remember when they went for one cent.)

But, We're giving it a try.

On this opening page we post a daily (or weekly or whatever) log of, mostly, trivia. Periodically the current log will be removed and added to a running log page accessible through a link in the 'Links' frame at the left. If you're a regular visitor this page may be all you'll want to view for each visit. (The picture is Mary and Clint, costumed for a Miscowaubik garden party amid the lupines on Agate's South Bay.

  Click the Button to send us an e-mail

Current Entries, sequenced with latest first. (Pictures are thumbnails, click to enlarge, use browsers back button to restore or choose 'back' from the right-click dropdown menu.)

Saturday, 7 August, 2010: While reading Alex Bellos' Here's Looking at Euclid (John Rogans reported a review of this in The Economist.) I noted his report of an ancient Chinese proof of the famous Pythagorean Theorem. Mostly as an excuse to play with AutoCAD after a long absence, I've reproduced the Chinese proof. Click for a PDF (so you'll need Adobe Reader) version.

Saturday, 24 July, 2010.  We e-mailed our daughter, "Dear Bonnie, This is to ask you to continue veering north so as to miss south Texas. Thank you."  She, bless her tropical heart, replied, "Will try to do my very best, Daddy."

Since it no longer appears on the Miscowaubik Club's web page, I've added Bob Carlton's interesting "History of the the Miscowaubik Club" to our site. Click to open.

Saturday, 12 June, 2010.  It's hot and humid but there was enough of a breeze that the ladies set up out on the deck for pedicures and, for Mary, a manicure. We'll be getting out of the heat and the threat of a hurricane in a few weeks as we're flying to the UP later this month.

Tuesday, 16 March, 2010.  Joseph Roy Birch, 6, and Nicholas Andrew Birch, Jr., 9, are now officially members of the family. Those joining Joey and Junior for the formal adoption hearing included the proud parents, Nick and Cathy, Grandmother Bonny Proffitt and Aunt Sarah Jane Arbaugh. (Photo courtesy adioption worker, Tracy.)

Saturday, 13 March, 2010.  Occasionally we have really colorful sunsets, overlooking the Port Isabel harbor and the Brownsville shipping channel, . These entities, by the way, are busier than ever in spite of the economic downturn. 

Friday, 13 November, 2009. Clint's 87th birthday activities included brunch at Manuel's to which Roy, Mary Ruth and daughter Ashley brought a birthday cake. 'Twas a delightful occasion indeed. Incidentally he had walked the two miles plus to get there so felt he had earned a big piece of the delicious cake.

Wednesday, 21 October, 2009.  As I sat eating an individual pizza with pineapple and pepperoni and Mary worked on a reuben I commented that I wish I could think of something interesting to put on our web site. She suggested I tell how we were the only customers at the D'Pizza Joint. So, I just did. Things are very slow here on South Padre Island as well as in Long Island Village. Our Village grill has not opened and several area restaurants have closed. And indeed. we were the only ones in D'Pizza Joint until a lone bar patron entered. The Piano Man (Mike Schuyler) is not expected back until January. The feeble economy along with threats of swine flu and the 'red tide' that's infested the Laguna Madre combine to keep winter Texans away.

Tuesday, 9 September, 2009. About dusk a large flock of Canadian geese came motoring down the bay. I counted over fifty. I've not seen a flock that big nor that tightly packed. Clearly they are bonding for the long flight south. Only a handful of this year's hatchlings could be seen among them. I didn't call them up for a handout, not wanting to encourage them to delay their departure.
    Surprisingly, when the bulk of the flock took to wing, sounding their raucous call to arms, a dozen or so were left still floating serenely in the bay. I think this group included the youngsters so maybe these, at five or six months of age, weren't considered just yet up to staying with the veterans. They better; time is running out.

Monday, 17, August, 2009.  For several years I've been drinking, when I can find it, a beer called Honey Brown, brewed by Dundee, a brewery in Rochester. NY, and recommended by John Malone. I just got around to reading the label and it includes this paragraph. It gave me a chuckle so I'll share it with y'all.
    "What's supposed to go in beer? German purity laws say you're only allowed four ingredients. But this is America, the land of individualism, civil disobedience, and footballs that don't roll like the rest of the world wants them to. So we decided for Dundee Honey Brown  we'd add a fifth--a touch of pure honey. Granted, that's a recipe that's a little different. But we figure you can be like every else or you can be yourself and drink something unique."
    And speaking of drinking, Thanks, Bon, for reminding me of my favorite Benjamin Franklin quote: "In wine there is wisdom; in beer there is freedom; in water there is bacteria."

Sunday, 19 July, 2009.  I'm not sure it's the career I would have chosen for him but my great-grandson, Brady Thomas Arbaugh, would appear, at 24 weeks, destined to be an acrobat.

Tuesday, 14 July, 2009.  Spotted our first deer of the season when a doe and her fawn, probably a yearling, ambled through the brush in front of the cottage. By the time we grabbed a camera they were pretty much hidden from view.

Monday, 13 July, 2009.   If you forgotten what it looks like coming to the Thimbleberry Patch, this is the view heading east on M26. Our gate is on the left at the far end of the row of white posts. What do you think of the new rumble strips down the center line?

8 July, 2009.  From the Keweenaw where the thermometer this morning read 40 deg. F. We arrived in Michigan on schedule (just before midnight) on 30th June. Trip was fine except for the real long (7-hour) layover in Minneapolis.
    Found things at the cottage in good shape thanks mostly to sister Peg's work in cleaning and stocking the fridge. Well, not everything was good. In spite of John and Peg's help the wall furnace and water heater did not function for a few days. Dennis, our friend from Ferrell Gas spent a couple of hours doing cleaning and repairs and all systems are now go.  It's clear though that the wall furnace will need to be replaced soon. And during storage the Chevy acquired two flat tires. Again Peg and John came to the rescue, brought a compressor and pumped up the tires then took the Chevy with them to the GM garage in Calumet for checking. We picked it up when we dropped the rental off. Seems to be working fine but we have new tires on order.
    On 6 July the boxes shipped from Texas arrived and, with the external hard drive (with this web site) in place, the computer is functioning well 'though the internet connection seems awfully sluggish.

25 June, 2009.  A busy week--Along with packing the UPS shipment to Michigan, backing up computer files, closing down one fridge, etc., etc. have been a round of close-out visits with the medics. Between us we deal with some eight or nine practitioners--dentists, ophthalmologists, internists, heart specialists, even a urologist. Anyway looks like we're 'good to go' on the 30th.

24 May, 2009. Earlier this year we installed an all-plastic tool cabinet in our carport cum patio. With no metal parts it seemed ideal to survive our heavily salted environment. With its five shelves loaded with tools and junk it seemed heavy enough to be quite stable. But we didn't reckon with the gale-force winds that came through with the thunder storm that hit about five a.m. With a resounding crash Bernoulli toppled the cabinet flat on its doors. Later in the day after i'd rolled it over to expose the doors the cabinet pretty well disintegrated into its original twenty-some panels. Nothing was broken but it was an all-day job to reassemble it and sort out the jumbled contents.
    This morning after the storm we spotted this rainbow opposite the rising sun. We didn't notice the second rainbow until we looked at the picture so it was probably as faint as it appears to be in the picture. Unless someone asks, I'll spare you the physics explanation of primary and secondary rainbows.

26 April, 2009.  It's been said I think that it doesn't take much to amuse some people. We got a chuckle tonight while we were eating some cheese nachos left over from last night's take-out, something we like but don't have very often. I was working the New York Times crossword puzzle and came across the clue for a five-letter word, "some chips." The answer you've guessed I'm sure. I wonder how many of the thousands solving this puzzle wrote "nachos" while eating nachos!
    We're keeping our eye on swine flu developments you can be sure. Our friend,Dr. Rogans, who is something an expert in epidemics and pandemics, advises everyone to have a stock of water and canned goods so they don't have to leave their homes for thirty days if there's bird flu or swine flu in ones area. And to have masks on hand to wear if you must go out. We have a supply of masks and and plan to stock up on some canned food.

5 April, 2009.  Finished the Teaching Company course, Chaos. This is math arisen pretty much after my last university course. "Twas fun and I'm quite content with the fact I don't understand it all. After all, I don't have to explain it to anyone. Even coded a couple plots of phase state iterative maps in AutoLisp, the only programming language in which I've any facility left. Of course there are numerous interactive Java applets available on line to play with and with much less bother.

7 March, 2009  Can't believe it's been such a long silence by clintnmary. Guess I have trouble picking anything interesting out of the same-old-same-old. I do a better job with some of my other sites. But there is news. We switched cars and now drive a Prius. There's a bit of learning curve but we both love driving it. And the move is a very tiny nod to 'going green.'
    Let's see? Just finished rereading, would you believe, Riders of the Purple Sage. I remember reading this western the first time at the age of seven.  I got it from the Erie library and we moved from Erie before I turned eight. I didn't remember much of the plot but I knew the name of the hero--'Lassiter' and the fact that he wore his guns low on his thighs because I recall strutting around in imitation, crouching and pretending to draw. The publisher of this edition claims it follows Zane Grey's recovered manuscript while the 1923 edition which followed the story's appearance in serial form, was drastically changed by the editor/publisher. I suspect some of violence and the harsh portrayal of the Mormon Church might have been softened in the original edition. Anyway, I enjoyed reading Riders of the Purple Sage again after an eighty year lapse.   

31 January, 2009.  Great news from Canton Twp., MI. Becky and Tom announce the birth of our first great grandson, Brady Edward Arbaugh. The proud parents are at left and Brady himself at the right. I've added a picture of yours truly so you can see the resemblance. Well, at least we each have about the same amount of hair.

12 January, 2009.  Bonny's suggested name for our white pelican visitor has been chosen. She noted his resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock so our pet is now "Alfie."

06 January, 2009.  We've survived the holidays quite nicely. Have installed the Hour Angles Differences chart for 2009 on its page. It's a PDF file you can open by clicking the navigation bar at the top of the page.

29 December, 2008.  A card from our nephew Tommy Hobson bore the sad news that our oldest nephew, John Hobson and his wife had both passed away, Donna in September and John in November.

3 December, 2008.   Brown Pelicans (pelicanus occidentalis) are rampant here but the larger White Pelican (pelicanus erythrohycchos) is much rarer. Nonetheless, in honor of the holiday  season this one lit and apparently plans to stay. He's sitting on the stump of our old palm tree and the 'root-shoot' from it is rising up behind him. In a little over a year the fronds will be high enough to screen him no longer. We're trying to think of a name for our visitor; any suggestions?

22 October, 2008. Returned to find the painting nearly finished and to be pleased with the fine job they did. Now we embark on the task of retrieving from the storage unit all the things we stripped from the walls and shelves to make the painter's task a little easier. We'll be weeks getting everything transported, placed, hung etc.

16-21 October, 2008,  Our stay in Nashville, Tennessee was a great success. We got to visit with six of Mary's Dearborn High School classmates and Mary toured several of Nashville's sights with them.
    And we had delightful visits with Clint's family. We expected to see the Tennessee residents--Bonny, Mike, Sarah, Cathy, Nick--but much to our surprise Tom and Becky showed up to stay with us for a few days. For those not familiar with our family I'll list the names: Across the back from left: Stephanie (a member of Nick and Cathy's household), youngest granddaughter Sarah, Sarah's friend Billy, Bonny, Mike, Becky, Tom (oldest grandchild), Nick and Cathy (middle granddaughter). A highlight of the stay occurred when Mike picked us up for a visit to their home in Tennessee Ridge, some 70 miles from the city. The visit included a sumptuous barbeque and a tour of the estate.

9 October, 2008.  Contracted to have the cottage completely painted; the exterior now and the interior during our stay in Nashville.

2 October, 2008. Arrived back in Texas in good order. Were met as usual by Caroline and Clifford and delivered to the cottage which we found in quite good order in spite of visits by Dolly and Ike.

Friday, 19 September, 2008. Starting I think in 2005 we watched rise up on the side of Brockway Mountain a mile or two this side of Copper Harbor a massive and eventually beautiful log structure. It turned out to be an enterprise called the Dapple-Gray Bed and Breakfast and Antique Shop. Last month we met the owner/operators, Oley and Ruth Van Goor, at the Miscowaubik. This firmed up our resolve to check the place out so we spent tonight there. It's an impressive and delightful facility and we were royally entertained by Ruth and Oley and their son Abe. We spent the night in the Lincoln Room. These are the only pictures we took because there are a complete selection on their user-friendly site at www.dapple-gray.com

Thursday, 18 September, 2008. This evening along with Mary Ruth, Roy and Davis we celebrated Mary's birthday, first at the Miscowaubik Club and later at the Calumet Theatre where we enjoyed an excellent production by the local Players of "Annie Get Your Gun." At the Club Cindy and crew feted Mary royally. At the top of the evening's printed menu was "Happy Birthday Mary Thomas," then at dessert time the staff came out carrying her cake with candles as the whole house sang "Happy Birthday Mary."

Saturday, 13 September, 2008.  As we headed for the car, near twilight and in a light drizzle, we spotted this pair checking out the shed, a doe and I think a yearling. We all stood there for a time, each watching to see what the other would do, long enough for several pictures and for me to get an apple and cut it up to toss. They nibbled unhurriedly. These are the first deer we've seen on the property this summer and Mary figures they stopped by to wish her a happy birthday.

Saturday, 23 August, 2008.  Tonight we attended the annual fund raiser at the Miscowaubik. On the way in Mary interrupted the kitchen crew's break to clown with them. And later she expounded at length for our table mates, Ollie and Ruth VanGoor. Most came in black-tie but we opted for vintage costumes since the affair had a kind of garden party theme. Clint had the red suspenders etc. that he's wearing in the masthead photo above.

Saturday, 2 August, 2008.  Photo shows damage to the lattice beneath the rail around our deck. No, I don't think Dolly reached this far. Rather, 'twas a bear perhaps sunning on the deck last winter. He wasn't civilized enough to leave by normal ways but made his own way out. But, why two holes? Maybe one for coming and one for going? Or, maybe there were two bears and they decided to both leave at the same time? I don't attach much significance to the fact some debris is on the inside; that's the side on which the lattice is mounted. At least his (her?) destruction is more easily repaired than was the storm door torn off, also we believe by a bear, a few years ago. 

Monday, 28 June, 2008.  Dropped Dr. John Rogans off following a delightful, for us at least visit at his motel in Calumet. He's catching a very early flight out Tuesday. We had just had a very good dinner at a new, for us, restaurant in Calumet, Carmalita's Grille.

Sunday, 27 June, 2008.  Have talked both with Carolyn and our duplex-mate Marta and it appears we survived Dolly with no serious damage. Marta had some shingles blown off and we had some plantings uprooted. Lots of debris around. Those still in Long Island Village are having an unpleasant time of it. No electricity nor water for days. Something had struck the swing bridge during the blow and it could not be closed to let anyone off the island. Day temperatures 100 or more and nights only a bit cooler. This is still the situation as far as we've heard. Lots of damage on South Padre Island and the rest of Cameron County.

Saturday, 5 July, 2008. Today, a day late, the Gourd cousins who happen to be in the Keweenaw gathered here to celebrate the Fourth. From left are Joe, Diane, Bud, Curt, Mary, Jim, Peg, John and Ed. The actual Gourd cousins are Joe and Jim (sons of Norman Gourd), Curt (son of Ruth Gourd Pippenger) and Mary and Peg (daughters of Joe Gourd).

Sunday, 29 June, 2008.  A recent e-mail from Cathy and Nick announced that Davy (approaching two) and Johnny (four) are now in the family. So, I guess that makes us great-grandparents. And, some days I do indeed feel old enough to be one. This was among the great pictures they attached.

Saturday, 28 June, 2008.   The mouse (mice?) that spends the winter in our cottage has to be the most resourceful in the whole UP. For example, he emptied most of a box of Q-tips, carefully pulled the cotton swabs off each end and left the bare sticks in an almost-orderly pile. I'm sure his is a most cozy, cotton-lined boudoir.

Wednesday, 25 June, 2009. So, finally I'm able to publish the preceding week's worth of reports.

Tuesday, 24 June, 2008. Am able to log on to the internet via dial-up but still can't access high-speed broadband wireless. It took over an hour to download the 218 e-mails that had accumulated during the week we've been off-line. This evening we had dinner at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge and then attended, in the Lodge's new convention facility, a very nice musical by the Pine Mountain Musical Festival company from Michigan Tech. It featured the tunes of Richard Rodgers and was presented 'cabaret style' so we sat at a table where I was able to sip on a Merlot.

Monday, 23 June, 2008.  UPS delivered the three boxes shipped from Texas. They included our external hard drive so maybe we can get back in business once we get our computer back. It seems there was little wrong with it, just some static charges accumulated. When I picked it up this afternoon I got a surge protector with battery back-up so may be able to avoid problems another year. The computer works great, much better than the one in Texas, but I can't seem to make contact with PASTY.net wireless so can't get e-mail or update any web sites.

Sunday, 21 June, 2008.  Into the Miscowaubik Club for brunch  We learned to our dismay that Karen, the Club's very able stewardess was no longer in that position. I'm afraid the brunch showed the loss but maybe things will improve.

Friday, 20 June, 2008.  And, we discovered we left the garage door opener in the first rental. A call to National where Wanda told us the car had already left the premises but was due back Tuesday and she'd try to locate the opener when it arrived. Ferrell Gas arrived and filled our tank. And, Dennis came in and lit the pilots so we have heat and hot water.

Thursday, 19 June, 2008.  The Chevy started up fine--the one with the deer-dented hood if you remember our report from last fall. We took it to the Gasoline Alley body shop in Laurium and then drove the rental back to the airport to get our bag. We had the computer aboard on its way to Computer Mechanix in Houghton since it had failed to boot up. The car we'd gotten at National Car Rental at the airport was an SUV, very hard to get into, so we traded it for a Chevy Impala. We switched everything to the new car (or so we thought) and took off for Computer Mechanix in Houghton. On the way back we stopped at Kirkish Furniture and bought a new TV.

Wednesday, 18 June, 2008.  The flight to CMX (Houghton/Hancock) went okay. Our itinerary had an almost four hour lay-over in Minneapolis which we planned to spend in North West's Presidents Lounge but when we checked in there the NW attendant said she could get us on a flight leaving in some fifteen minutes. So it was only about 1:00 p.m. when we deplaned at CMX. The bag we checked didn't make the switch so we planned to pick it up the next day. We picked up our car and, since it was so early came on to the cottage instead of over-nighting in Calumet as we usually do. Found everything there in lovely shape--Dan had turned the water on and Peg had set the flower boxes out, stocked the fridge and cleaned the place. However, we were very low on propane and I couldn't light the pilots. The temperature was some 45 degrees but we turned on the heat strip in the air con and had one cozy room.

Tuesday, 17 June, 2008.  After wings at Wings in Brownsville, Carolyn and Clifford dropped us off at the Palace Motel to await our very early flight north.

Thursday, 12 June, 2008.  Now, that's a pizza! Shown with Al and Margaret, owners of D'Pizza Joint during the 25th Anniversary Celebration on 8 June of that popular restaurant and bar on South Padre Island. We were honored to be guests. Mike Schuyler, D'Piano Man, is there on a regular basis now and always breaks into "Afternoon Delight" in our honor when we walk in.

Saturday, 24 May, 2008.  I've been having fun taking a Teaching Company course available on some CDs, "An Introduction to Number Theory." I don't recall ever taking a course called "Number Theory" but it's math I've probably been exposed to before and I've no real need to relearn it.  But it's fun. A "lecture" on the computer screen is not the same as the real thing but it actually has some advantages. You can "pause" the lecturer any time to cogitate or verify something or just take a beverage break. And you can repeat lectures if you like and the written documentation can be consulted before or after. Lesson Sixteen displays an interesting algorithm for generating Pythagorean Triplets from a sequence of Fibonacci numbers. I've added "Section 4" discussing this to my "Phi and Fibonacci" essay. Click to look at it again.

Saturday, 03 May, 2008.  And have added some photos of our new treadmill to the deck screening project photo gallery. (Click) Assembling this device was a bit of a chore and getting it up onto the deck even more of a challenge. But three chaps from the Village staff worried it up and, thankfully, didn't get hurt in the process. The treadmill is working out well and we're both logging a bit of time on it. I use it those days I don't get to take a long walk outside. Today for example, Mary dropped me off at Mexiquito on her way to a 'show-and-tell program at Picket Fence in Harlingen and I got to walk home--about a mile and a half.

Thursday, 10 April, 2008.  Finally have the pictures of last month's deck screening project in place. Click for that photo gallery.

Sunday, 16 March, 2008.  This dollar bill is posted on my office wall. If you were to enlarge it you'd see the caption reads, "This dollar bill has a very low albedo." --an inside gag. The story is: In discussing a Foreign Affairs article we'd just read about the growing Arctic Ocean with friend John Rogans, I mentioned that the ice cap had a much higher albedo than the open water that's replacing it and this fact was speeding  up the melting to the point this 'ocean' would be navigable within a few years. John said, "Albedo? I'll bet you a dollar there's no such word." (We often wrangle over obscure words and their meaning.) When we found the word in our dictionary I was able to post John's dollar on my wall.

Saturday, 1 March, 2008: Sitting in our carport/deck/outdoor room at dusk we spotted this fellow across the canal. I'm calling him a sand crane but I could be mistaken. When the flash went off (I doubt it did much good at this distance) for the shot at the left, his head snapped our way as you can see at right. He was followed down the canal edge by the smaller fisherman, possibly, a laughing gull though I'm again probably wrong. A dozen or so different shore birds fish our canal. The only ones I've ever seen catch and swallow anything are the pelicans, our most abundant residents.

Friday, 8 February, 2008. And again, just to let you know we're still here--in the throes of the Friends of the Port Isabel Public Library Annual Book Fair. Our main contribution is printing and assembling all the signs marking the various categories and other announcements. The Fair starts at 8:00 tomorrow morning and ahead of that I'll need to place my easels pointing to the event  out on Queen Isabella Blvd. The easels are loaded into the Camry ready for the morning jaunt into town. And Mary is upstairs making cookies to take to the bake sale that is part of the Fair. Regular hardbacks sell for 50 cents and paperbacks for 25. A few very special books are marked higher. One of these is the giant unabridged Oxford Dictionary, an older edition I think. It comes complete with a reading glass to decipher the fine print. Even so, it'd be worthless to me. I prefer my computer Webster that I can search by clicking and zoom in on if necessary. The event is the Friend's main money-raiser but the more important function is to get reading material out of attics into the hands of new readers. About my own reading, I'm well into Ghost Soldiers. It's the story of the Ranger's rescue of the survivors of the infamous Death March on Bataan, told in the most part by the participants.  I must have been in the theater at the time of these events but probably was still in New Guinea, hadn't arrived in the Philippines. Jean and Dick sent me a copy of the book a few days ago.

Sunday, 13 January, 2008.  Just to report that all's well with Clint and Mary. We've been enjoying mostly unseasonable summer-like weather. Got my head back into AutoCAD and AutoLisp a bit to generate the Hour Angle Differences chart for 2008 and post it on this site. You can click the navigation bar above or just Click here. Remember it's a PDF page and you need Adobe Reader to open it. Use your browser's back arrow to return here.