Fossil Hunting On the Jersey Shore?

Yep! As crazy as that sounds, that's exactly what I've been doing... The past four years we have vacationed in Cape May, New Jersey, as a family. One week in July, every year. And the first two years, my daughter was so little and required so much attention, that I didn't really even collect any seashells, which as many of my friends know, is my big weakness. I am an avid shell collector. 

Well, last year, E was 2-1/2, and finally playing with Nana on her own two legs. And I had a chance to sift through the pebbles and shells along the shore... a couple of things caught my trained eye as possibly organic in origin, though they were currently stones. So I picked them up and put them in my little pile of goodies, consisting mainly of Cape May Diamonds (quartz crystals worn smooth by the sea,) pretty colored stones, jingle shells, scallop shells, other bivalves, and a growing number of "interesting looking" stones. One of them turned out to be a fossilized marine mammal tooth! A mosasaur, to be exact!! I identified it by comparing it to Fossil Guy's photos and descriptions of his less-worn fossils found in New Jersey. So exciting!! (Edit: after putting my finds to The Fossil Forum, I was called out on my "mosasaur tooth" and must bow to the pros on their consensus: It's actually a Rugosa Coral, aka Horn Coral. Thanks, guys!)

Rugosa Coral at right

After I got home, I got out my daughter's little stereoscope to view my finds more closely. That's actually when I realized that I had a lot more fossils than I'd thought... mostly fossilized sea sponges, corals, and bryozoans. But a few other things that I had to research on the web, and discovered were possibly dinosaur vertebrae, based on the pattern of the mineral replacement.  (Edit: the two pieces on the bottom left are oolites.)

Coral fossils and possibly bryozoans

Dinosaur vertebra? (Edit: or honeycomb coral)

So this year, with my daughter actively playing in the water with her Nana, her great aunt, and her dad, I sat an "excavated" the beach for more fossils... and I found a few...

I think these are rugosa corals, or "horn corals" from the Permian Era

No idea what this was!

The photos above are a few of my favorite finds, though I actually have a small container full of what I have determined to be fossils of one kind or another. A lot of sea sponges and corals, for the most part. I also found lovely agates, and a few semi-precious gems, but they are so small and worn, that I just put them all into a little clear bottle, grouped by colors. So pretty! 

I will have to post soon about the other fossils I've found here in Pennsylvania, while hiking near creeks and rivers.... but that's for another day!

I hope you're all well. I know it's been ages since I've posted, and you might not even be out there listening anymore. If you are, Hello! If you're not, I hope to have you visit soon.

Blessings

I Love a Good (B)Rainstorm!

I have today off, Friends! And it's raining cats & dogs outside... and the thunder is rumbling above like the gods are bowling a few strikes up there. I love this kind of day! It's not exactly a cuddle on the covers kind of day... it's still pretty warm out, but it's definitely a hunker down with a book kind of day, and that always makes me happy!


Also, tomorrow is K's birthday... so I'm working on some fun stuff! I'll share AFTER so as not to spoil the surprise for him.


By the way, I still find it surprising that it can be raining, and I can be hot, requiring the help of a fan or A/C. That's really bizarre for us west coast peeps. Subtropical weather is very interesting, and I find that I like it.


I'm glad that you all enjoyed my last post! I really, really appreciate your comments, whenever I get them. I just want to tell you that reading comments from people is like opening a present for me. I mean, that's the main reason I started blogging... to connect with people! It reminds me that I'm not shouting into the wind. I love those reminders.


So I'm going to get going on my project.... and also try to get some stuff done around the house. I'm going to try to be productive for part of the day, at least! Besides, I plan to go on a rain walk to return a DVD to the library.... Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City"... have you seen it? If you haven't, then you should! I've read the book, and seen the made for TV movie... I love it because it's so much about living in San Francisco after the 60's. It was filmed there, too, so I get all nostalgic, you know?


I hope you have a fantastic day! I know I will!


xoxox

Musikfest 2011!

The arts & crafts vendors

It's Musikfest time again! Every year, around the first/second week of August, people come to Bethlehem to indulge in free music, yummy food, beer you can carry around town all day, and arts and crafts to buy. It starts around noon, some vendors open around 11 am, and goes on until 10 pm. 


This year, they opened up the festival to the South Side, as well, utilizing the area at the Steel Stacks; it used to be the old steel mills when steel was THE industry in Bethlehem.


In fact, we saw the Steve Miller Band play at Steel Stacks on Monday night... it was a great show! The view was good, it wasn't brutally hot, although it was humid and everyone was still sweating... you could get relief when a breeze passed over you, though. 

Steve Miller Band

It was a beautiful evening for the show, really. No rain, and the occasional breeze were key. Steve Miller was in top form, and played lots of their classic tunes, as well as some newer, blues numbers that were really good! He got people up and dancing towards the end... it was just so hot, ha ha! Earlier in the week, Maroon 5 had a show, but we hadn't gotten tickets to see them. We heard that it rained both times they played a song that had lyrics in them about rain! Pretty strange!

Facing the food vendors

There's always a lot of goodies to eat when you're at Musikfest. My favorites are the gyros, the funnel cakes, and the twisty soft-serve ice cream! I can only have so many gyros, though, so last night I got fish-n-chips from a vendor, and it was actually really good.

This is one of the biggest music festivals that happen in this neck of the woods. People come in from other states, stay in hotels and B and B's, and just hang for a week. Traffic and parking become an issue, and roving groups of teens are easily seen in the neighborhood, but all in all, it's a really cool thing! The coolest vendors there were Sassy Sisters Jewelry, who also has a shop on Etsy, and the tent where you can make your own patterned scarf, using the marbling technique. This was really fun to watch! 

My purchase from Sassy Sisters Jewelry

One of the cooler vendors there... Sassy Sisters Jewelry!

Marbling to make your own scarf

I know it must give a lot of stores a slight boost in their books to have such an influx of new people shopping downtown. When I was walking around yesterday afternoon, I saw a lot of tourists out and about, going into shops, and eating at cafes. It's probably even, though, when I think about it, since most locals probably avoid downtown during Musikfest, unless they're there to party!

Flavored olive oils & balsamic vinegars

We also watched one of my glass blowing teaching assistants, Lindsey, do a demonstration at the ArtsQuest tent. She made a blown glass vase with handles, all in front of an audience. It was amazing to see her do something so complex, when the things we made in class were so simple.

Lindsey with the "gather" before she has shaped it.

Lindsey putting on the second handle... tough work!

If you're on the east coast next year, you should try to come out to next year's Musikfest. It's a lot of fun, and if you let me know early, I'd be happy to meet up with you there! It goes on for a full week... by the end of it, I'm pretty well saturated with fair food, crowds and beer.  So catch me early!! :-)


xox

Part 2 - Sunfish Pond and Back

A giant birch tree.

Okay, where did I leave you? Oh yes, on the way to Sunfish Pond. It was very hot, very humid, and the bugs were flying into our eyes and ears. It was a bit frustrating. We passed two guys who were talking about the bugs being worse on the Appalachian Trail. They advised us to return from the pond on the same trail we were hiking due to the worsening of the bugs along the AT. We took it under advisement, and continued along the blueberry trail. I picked berries here and there, and we swatted the flying bugs and kept hiking up, up, up. 


We got to a point where we actually started to descend a bit, and then we had arrived in a very birch-filled copse of trees at the top of the Kittatinny Ridge. There was a sign that told us we were at Sunfish Pond, a 44 acre glacial pool that was created by the Wisconsin Glacier back in the last ice age. There were only the sounds of a few birds, frogs in the pond, and a little bit of wind through the tops of the trees. It was hot up there, and once we had viewed the pond, we realized it was no swimming hole. The edge along the pond was muddy and populated by frogs. 

Frog in the mud... center of the picture

Skeeters and other water bugs danced on the surface. It looked extremely shallow from where we stood, so we decided to just sit and have our lunch, and enjoy the view.

Sunfish Pond

It really is a beautiful place to stop. The reflections of the clouds upon the water were magical. The buzz of the insects (cicadas among them) were hypnotic. There was even a grassy spot to sit.

There wasn't a soul in sight, nor even the sound of voices other than our own. It made it easy to hear the sound of branches breaking and grunting sounds coming from our left... We both stopped and listened. K got out his binoculars to see if he could see what was making the noise back up the trail. I was certain that it was a wild boar or possibly a bear.
Then we also heard the sound of voices. Another couple had reached the ridge top, and came into view. I asked them what was back on the trail and they told us that about four deer were back there! K had guessed deer, but I thought deer were pretty quiet, so I had scarier animals in mind. I'm glad he was right!

Our view from the grass

After we'd eaten our sandwiches, fruit and almonds, and filled up our bellies with water, we decided to head back. A storm was supposed to be coming, and we wanted to get back before then. It was a three-hour hike (...a three hour hike...) back to the car. On the way back, I found a bracelet floating in the water and put it on...

My birch bark bracelet!

Isn't it cool? And we also saw a lone deer... she looked to be pretty young. She spotted us, but continued walking and eating at a leisurely pace. Also, I had a brilliant idea to deal with the bugs. We tied our bandanas around our heads, making sure to cover our ears, and we wore our sunglasses the whole time. It kept the bugs out, anyway! 

A young doe eating nearby.

It was a very hot, humid walk back, and both of us were feeling the ache already in our legs. The climb from the car to Sunfish Pond was four miles up from 600 feet elevation at the base to 1300 feet at the ridge. And then you have to go back down. I admit that I wasn't really in shape for this. My legs are better NOW, but over the weekend, they were sore!

There was so much beauty to see, though. I'm so glad we finally did this hike that we'd been talking about for months. It was truly gorgeous. Apparently, New Jersey does have something beautiful to offer! Just kidding! You know I love Monmouth Beach, too, in Long Branch. It's just that the reputation of New Jersey isn't the best since "Jersey Shore" first aired. Now I believe them when they say that it's the "Garden State." It's truly something to see for yourself.


One last thing before I close... check out this amazing exposed root... it's wild. There were still rocks embedded in it, and crazy plants, moss and mushrooms growing on it. I wish there were some way to lug this home and put it in my yard! (Just kidding! I'd never remove it... but it's pretty awesome, isn't it?) I hope you enjoyed your virtual hike with me and K. We are planning another trip up there in the fall, when the leaves are turning colors and the humidity is a little lower. It's going to be fabulous.

Creative Shlump

Is everyone having a good summer? Staying cool? Or if you're "down under" are you keeping warm and toasty?

It's been strange, this first full summer in Bethlehem. I love the heat, really, as long as I don't have to DO anything in it. I adore the fireflies. I loved going to the ball games, where it was so hot, yet it rained a bit, too... that one Iron Pigs game it actually got rained out! It's just so different from what I'm used to. In California, every evening it cools off. You can open your windows to the outside, and let the heat from the day escape, and be replaced by cool air. Here, not so much. I'm not keen on sitting in front of the computer when it's hot out because my room, though I have an AC unit, it doesn't really ever feel too cool these days.


I'm creatively stifled, too. Is it the heat? I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that my studio has become a nightmare again, and I can't get into anything without first cleaning the space up. I've started and stopped this project about three times... I WANT to clean. I DON'T want to clean. The bottom line is that I have no where to put my stuff, and that makes organizing rather difficult. I'm moving one pile of stuff to another area, and that never makes things look neater.


I haven't been Pinning on Pinterest. I haven't been in the Blogosphere too much. I haven't even been taking a lot of photos. My Diana hangs from her strap on the doorknob in my room. 


Honestly, I need some creative electrocution or something. A shot in the arm, and poke in my brain, you know. Nothing has been inspiring me, really. We haven't had a truly good storm in ages, to clear the heat & humidity from the air. I think that would help. I haven't even worked in my art journal! Or my sketchbook! Not since Mexico, anyway. 


I'm asking for your help, friends. Any ideas to get my creativity flowing again? I'd love some fresh input here. I'd appreciate it. 


xox

The Cicadas Sound Above

Deep in the heat of summer, the sounds of the tiny maracas overhead are the hordes of cicadas clicking away... their sound is like a gentle surf rushing along a pebbled shore.... I love it.


We'd had some seriously hot days, as you know... and when it finally rained, it wasn't any cooler! I went out for a walk in my yellow boots and shorts, ha ha.

And my leopard umbrella, of course. I love the rain, but I like to have my camera with me, so I need my cover...

Yes, another walk to the cemetery, but it's been a long time since I visited, and I wanted to see if anything had changed. The moss and grass became lush again. The verdant nature of the cemetery is one of my favorite aspects of it. 

And check out my favorite garden... it's blooming like crazy! I love this wild garden! The Gardener Extraordinaire said that he doesn't even know what's going to happen in his garden! I love that. You know me and serendipity! It's a wonderful thing to have magic happen, especially when it's unexpected. That's the best kind of magic.

Philadelphia Summer Time Ball Game

I'm here! I might have had to be peeled off the floor, but I've reconstituted myself a bit. It's cooled down about 15 degrees, give or take, so the days are still hot (80-85 degrees F) but it's better than 100+! The humidity is around 73% today, so it's not that easy to be out. But yesterday, I was in Philly, and it was hotter, so I'll take it and smile!

Check this out. I went to the Phillies/Giants game at Citizens Bank Park... it was so much fun! My bro, Spencer, offered up some tickets for the game because he couldn't make it... and it was a blast! First of all, I enjoy watching the Phillies play, generally. I like the team they have right now. But to get to see them play my home team? That was so fun! There were probably about 20 Giants fans there, ha ha, besides me. Four or five were in my row, so that was cool!


K and I drove out to Philly, and parked at a garage in South Philly. We then walked to Varalli to have some tapas before the game. It's sooo good, by the way! The portions are bigger than I was expecting for a tapas place, and everything we got was tasty!! The lobster and crab mac and cheese was a favorite. YUM. Service was great, too, and I tried a new Belgian wheat beer that I liked a lot. So summery.

Lincecum warming up...

After dinner, we walked to the Broad Street subway line and went with many other fans to the stadium. It was so easy and relaxed.... I loved it. Once there, we got seated, and I took a picture of Lincecum, one of the Giants' all-star pitchers. I like that he's called "The Freak" for some reason. He's a wonderful pitcher to watch. ALSO, I got to watch their Closer, "The Beard", who's another one of my favorites.... what awesome power when he pitches. Wow. It was raining when he closed the game, so I didn't get a photo. :-(

Waiting for the fireworks

Afterwards, there was an amazing fireworks show that lasted a long time! It was amazing... At the end, they shot off all these fireworks that each were a different color so that the colors seemed to meld and create new colors, like watercolors running together... it was beautiful! I wish I had gotten a photo, but it was kind of still drizzling, and I didn't want to take a chance with my camera. It was still really hot out, around the 80's, even at night. Crazy. It's hard for me to grasp still, since in California, evening time means cooling time.


Anyway, we had a wonderful night... so beautiful, if a bit wet, and the Giants won 4-1 against the Phillies! (K was NOT happy about THAT. Sorry, Sweetie.) It was a good night for Giants fans, though! :-D And a GREAT night for US.

I'm Melting... Melting....

I apologize for not posting anything lately. To be frank, I'm not at all disposed to sit in my studio/computer room when the temperatures are above 100 outside, and the temperature in my room hovers around 80. There hasn't been a whole lot to share, anyhow, since I've been sprawled on my living room floor most of the time, reading an old Alan Dean Foster novel.

Yesterday Keith and I took ourselves (and laundry) over to his mom & dad's house. We sat in the cool air-conditioned house, hanging out with his dad. All was well and good, and then Heidi, the family dachshund, wanted to go for a walk. Now, it was about 3 pm, the temperature was at about 102-104, the humidity was about 50%, and the sun was fully beaming... and she won't go for a walk without two people. You have to understand, though; Heidi is about 8-1/2 years old, and the family has been trying to get her to lose weight: altered diet, and trying to get her to exercise, but she wasn't very excited about any of it. You're lucky if you can get her to walk across the street and to the neighbor's house. So when she wanted to walk, of course we indulged her. She jauntily trotted from house to house, and then even made to cross us at the "busy" intersection to the other side of the development.... we were kind of in shock. So with the heat cranked full-throttle, the sun beaming, and sweat already forming on my lower back, we let her take the lead. She walked us to the point where I thought I might actually be getting heat stroke. We made her turn around after several blocks, and got her to return home with us. She was incredibly excited to be out walking, for some reason, even though her black fur was absorbing the heat of the roasting sun, and she was almost tripping on her tongue. At several points on the walk, we gave her cool water from the water bottle, and I even poured a bit onto her back to help cool her off. (I really wanted to pour it over my own back, but it was already wet with perspiration that had soaked through my dress, so I didn't bother.)

When Keith mapped out our walk, turns out we walked almost a mile! Heidi was such a good girl! I mean, with as much as we walked and with how hot it was, she had to have burned off some calories... I know I DID. I pretty much just drank water and read my book the rest of the afternoon, until the laundry was finished. I'm not entirely sure how much of my book I absorbed because I was in a little bit of a daze. Even the fruit popsicle didn't help that much.


So, after all the good advice about "how to stay cool" in the summer heat, we kind of threw that all out the window for love of Heidi. :-) Tonight is our friend's graduation party, as he just finished his master's degree. Way to go, Dan! I plan on spending it inside the house, unless they have the sprinklers on or some misters going outside... it's still very hot, and I'm not sure I'd survive another sweat-a-thon like yesterday.


I hope you guys are all staying cool somehow. If any of you have a nice, cool swimming pool anywhere in the Lehigh Valley, invite me over. I'll bring the fresh fruit and a bottle of chilled white wine. Deal?

Summer Heat

It has been blazing hot here in Bethlehem, PA. The humidity is high, the cicadas are humming up in the tree tops, and it seems that I'm always just a little bit hot, no matter where I am. (Well, it's cool inside the movie theaters, restaurants and stores, but I can't very well go to those all the time.) I'm mostly sweating my balls off, so to speak.


Back in California, I hear that it's the least summery summer they've had in a while! The daytime temps have been low 70's, even dipping to the 60's. Evenings were always cool in the Bay Area. Here, you're lucky if it gets cool at all in the evenings! Last night it actually got down to 69, which was lovely. It was right back up into the 70's with the sun, though... and over the next couple of days, it's supposed to hit some record 100+ highs with high humidity in the mix. That bears the question: how do you keep cool?

Is cool just a state of mind? A matter of style? Or all about the relative temperature around you?


My mom was always telling me, "If you think that it's cool out, it will feel cool out. It's all in your head!" Well. I don't know. I've tried that before, and gotten some minor relief. I admit that you can sort of tell yourself that it's not that hot out, and that your skin isn't baking off your body. It helps if you can see or hear some water nearby. It also helps to be under some big, leafy trees. They are the best kind of heat relief in this area because they're abundant, whereas water features are not! 


We really wanted to go on that hike up to Sunfish Pond soon... but it's only going to get hotter this week, and then K leaves for Austin, Texas, for a Teacher's Workshop for a few days. No beach, and no glacial pond in the foreseeable future for me. (I never hike alone... though I'll go for walks alone all the time. Best to be safe!)


Here are some of my heat remedies.... lots of ice. Slices of lemon and lime. Fruity popsicles and sorbets (just went to Trader Joe's yesterday and stocked up! Have you tried their Pomegranate Blueberry Sherbet yet? Delish!!) Also, frozen fruits, like watermelon and grapes. Minimal heat-producing activities, like vacuuming or baking. One problem is that our bananas have gone bad, and I wanted to use them for banana nut bread. Guess they'll have to wait.... Staying away from my computer is another way, but nearly impossible for me, since I'm working on it for work, and I hate being out of touch! Oh, I also wear my hair up, and wear cool, free-flowing clothes. Check out this tutorial by Keiko on how to do "the messy bun." Looks fab, right? And it's as easy as it looks! Thanks, Keiko! It's my new go-to hair style this summer.


Do you have any special ways to keep cool? No cold showers, please. I take slightly warm ones in the summer, but I can't stand cold showers... no matter HOW hot I am! I will, on occasion, dip into a freezing cold pool of water, but only after being in a steamy sauna for a long time. It's the only way to do it! My friends and I used to swim in the Merced River, in Yosemite... it was freezing cold. All snow-melt water! But it was over 90 out, most of the time, and felt good after the initial shock wore off. I'd take that right now, that's for sure.... So 'fess up, friends! What are your favorite ways of keeping cool? Let's hear it!

Picnic Under the Trees

Some days you want to get out of the house, even if you don't really want to go for a long drive anywhere. On those days, a little picnic is in order... and yesterday was just such a day.

I packed a light and healthy lunch, grabbed a big tote bag to throw it all in, and off we went to a nearby park that's set along a portion of river, under some nice big trees.

The cicadas were humming, the sun was beaming down way up above the tree tops, and the sound of the river was a soothing backdrop to our little late afternoon meal. We had our e.e. cummings book of poetry with us for some entertainment.

Toenail polish is quite chipped after Mexico!

The little scenes around us were mesmerizing, too... little flowers, butterflies swerving and dipping around us, and the scent of distant barbecues from other people's lunches.

All in all, it was a lovely afternoon! We plan to have several more picnics this summer... especially after the success of our first one. Hope you have a wonderful day today. xox

Weekend Gardening

So, it's been really hot here in verdant eastern PA. Perfect weather for growing veggies... hot and humid. Like a hot house. It IS a hot house. 

My cats sleep more than usual in this heat, as we don't crank the A/C up too high. Poor Jimmy Boo!


Anyway, the garden has been doing alright, except that there's some critter who has been eating the fruits (veggies) of our labors! Therefore, we had to construct something to keep said critters OUT.

The Anti-Squirrel Cage

I know it's not the prettiest looking cage, but it works. And check it out, the makings of a Three Bean Salad...

Three beans

Ha ha ha! We probably should have planted more than one bean plant, don't you think? We're learning! Slowly but surely we're figuring it out.

The herb garden is doing really well! It's growing out of control, which you just KNOW I love! We've already used lots of the chives, bits of the rosemary & oregano, and we even used some of the pineapple mint for tea! Still need to use some dill... the chamomile hasn't bloomed. I think we planted it too late. Bummer.


On Saturday, we were over at Kyle's house, helping with his garden again. He planted early enough to have some nice ripe veggies. As I was cutting back the honeysuckle that overhung his garden, we threw the cut flowers together in a glass, making a lovely, impromptu display of summer's floral bounty! (Kyle added the lilies, and I found some cosmos to fill in the arrangement.)

Music and flowers

I didn't take photos of the zucchinis or yellow squash... the tomatoes were going wild, and my photo wasn't that great, so you can just use your imagination. We've been enjoying the fresh zukes in our meals for the past few days! Can't wait until the tomatoes are ripe for the picking... the lettuces have been useful in everything. I also grew some mustard greens because I like adding them to my ramen when I'm being a lazy cook. Sometimes when it's this hot, you really don't feel like cooking all that much. It makes the kitchen hot and it makes you sweaty, and who has a big appetite, anyway, when it's profoundly stifling? 


I can't wait until our tomatoes are ready... some tomatoes, some cucumbers, basil, squeeze of fresh lemon, sea salt and olive oil... instant fresh summer salad! Do you have a favorite go-to summer meal when you don't feel like cooking?

Summer Time... and the Living's Easy

I recently have been working on another video. I'm not in it, really, other than my feet. But that's because I was doing all the filming! When I'm in Mexico next week, I'll have K take some footage with me in it, so that I can be in one of my little video productions. :-)


I hope you enjoy it! 

Summertime in Bethlehem from Shari Durfey on Vimeo.

Did I mention that I'm loving summer in the east? It's so much more summery than summers in northern California. The daily heat, the humidity, the fireflies, the relaxed air of people starting to take it easy... people fishing in the rivers... it's just a whole other world to me. I may prefer winters in California, but I prefer summers in Pennsylvania.