Chiff and Fipple Forums

Chas, the clocks on the east coast of the U.S. read 4 hours LATER than Alaska time (assuming you use daylight savings time, as we do). So, our 1:00 am to 3:00 am "night" would be your early morning, 5:00 am to 7:00 am. We're near the end of the world & the end of the day. My favorite t...

I'm not a runner, but I just saw a notice for this solstice run and thought some of my more southerly acquaintances might find it amusing. People who live at high latitudes tend to care about solstices and equinoxes. You can join in if you can get to Fairbanks, Alaska by Thursday "night." ...

I really appreciated push-button door openers when I was on crutches last year. That was just crutches, but still it struck me how many heavy, hard-to-open doors I had to get through on campus, only one of which had the magic button. I could get through doors without the button, but it was a struggl...

I, too, came to feel like I knew Leslie and Roland from afar through this message board. I don't check in often, but when I do check in I always to look to see if Leslie has posted and how she's doing. My condolences to Byll and to all Leslie and Roland's family and friends. I'm so sad this happened...

The priest called and my wife left a message to return our phone call. On the drive up, we agreed that I'm not going to do anything. We have a code word and everything. If I look like I'm beginning to become a control freak, my wife is going to offer me one of her mints. Just to show her, I told he...

Hey Rod -- I grew up in the Palouse and graduated from Pullman High School. This summer a bunch of old high school classmates are getting together for "50@50" -- a 50-mile bicycle ride on a section of the Coeur d'Alene trail to celebrate that we all have either recently turned 50 or will b...

I hope all of you have a lovely summer* solstice. Wild plants and introduced perennials that are blooming in my yard today, at 65 degrees North latitude: Wild roses, bluebells (almost done blooming), irises (just starting to open), "moe" (a low-growing wild plant with delicate tiny white f...

The snowy "sentinels" are obviously conifers (my best guess is black spruce, if the flora of Finland is like Alaska), and are also much more widely spaced than the green trees in the summer photo with mixed conifer/deciduous cover. The summer photo looks a lot like where I live, in the (su...

My mother (mid-70's in age, good health) had her first knee replaced in January of 2011 and the 2nd one done a year later. She had a particularly hard time with the first one -- it wasn't so much the knee as the recovery from the surgery itself. We were worried that after that experience she wouldn'...

Where is the haiku?
I open thread, expecting
verse but find just stars.

It's wonderful to get good news from you, Berti! I have been thinking about you and hoping it was going well.

Sarah

I have a child applying to colleges and the earliest financial aid deadline was Feb.1, so I had to scramble to get things done early this year. On the bright side, now it's all done: federal taxes and FAFSA and CSS Profile. Whew. Now we just sit back and wait for the acceptances and financial aid of...

No real disasters, but defiantly not one of my better weeks. Better to be defiant about it than to curl up, depressed, like a blob of inactive sourdough. :) As for the sourdough: I neglected my starter for too long and it was nearly dead. I revived it in this way: First I poured off the black water...

I don't have any recommendations for you Sarah but I did want to help clarify your request. What type of music does this teen want to play? I asked and it sounds like folk (which would include old-time) and perhaps some rock (though she's starting with acoustic guitar, not electric). For now, I thi...

To all guitar players/teachers: Can you recommend a good guitar instructional DVD? Internet access is slow so I think a physical DVD, rather than online videos, would work best. This is for a teen who is new to guitar but did play mandolin a bit as a small child and played bass in middle school orch...