Scary

Something on alex_antonin's tumblr reminded me of an incident when I was growing up.

First off, I have to describe where our house was. We were at the top of a 500 foot slope with the Spokane River at tnhe bottom. A couple miles away across the valley was a ridgeline with 100 foot cliffs on part of it. And about 20 miles away on the other side of the ridge was Fairchild AFB. Which at the time still had B-52 bombers (and likely nukes)

So, this summer night in the late 60s, in the early evening, there was a beautiful clear sky, with lots of stars. Nary a cloud in sight.

Suddenly there's this *incredibly* bright white flash somewhere beyond the ridgeline. It lit up most of the sky.

And my first thought was to look for the mushroom cloud. Yep, my first thought was that the USSR had nuked the airbase.

Given the geography involved I *wasn't* worried about a shockwave. And fallout wouldn't be an issue for hours (yes, I knew these things in my teens).

No mushroom cloud. Apparently it was a massive bit of "heat lightning" (remember, there was a clear sky)

I want you younger folks to stop and consider the mindset and the *world* where that was my first thought. And that it was not an unreasonable one.

BTW, I know someone who is a few years older than me. And she has talked about the way she felt living *on* an airbase during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

We may have screwed the world up some. But at least *those* are no longer "normal" worries.

Yes, it's still possible that somebody might nuke a city or two (though it'd most likely be terrorists, noit North Koreasor China or the like).

Cully Farmer's Market

A month or two back, I got a letter offering me a chance at some "checks" for the Seniors Farm Direct Nutrition Program. I sent back the form and last mmonth I got the checks (either I got lucky in the lottery or there weren't that many folks applying).

So I had 6 $4 checks that can be spent with vendors at farmer's markets. One thing to beware of is that they don't give change. So you either buy more than $4 worth of stuff and pay cash for the rest, or you "lose" some of the money.

There was a partial list of "local" (within 20 miles or so of Portland) farmer's markets, and a link for a complete list (which I haven't gotten around to checking.

Yesterdauyy I tried calling the numbers for several of the markets on the list, but only got thru to one. It was the Cully Farmer's Market, which is only open on Thursdays. That much I already had, but from the person on the phone, I got tne hours.

BTW, none of the others answered or returned my call.

Anyway, Fay and I were going to check out the Cully market as it's the nearest one. She didn't get enough sleep last night and bowed out. So that meant that instead of wasting an hour on the bus, I was able to take my bike. Only took about 10 minutesto get there.

Pretty small, they're in a restaurant's parking lot. And only two or three booths that had actual produce (the one I'm not sure about was selling edible plants).

There were several crafty ttype booths one selling drinks, and a bakery booth. I was tempted by a couple of things at the bakery, but not at the prices.

The two produce booths were one with apricots, blueberries, and two kinds of cherries. I'm not much for apricots, and blueberries weren't doing it for me. But I got two pints of cherries. One of the red& yellow sort and one of the deep purple kind. That was $5. So I handed over one of the $4 checks and a $1 bill. %0 cents a pint for cherries. Oh yeah.

The other produce booth had figs(meh) gojiberries (didn't have any out) butter lettuce and chard. I had both lettuce andchard, so I didn't buy any, but when I need more, I'll keep them in mind.

There's market down in the Hollywood district that's open on Sasturdays. That's on the list to check out. There's one that's way out on 122nd, but the bus that runs past her runs past it as well. And it's supposed to be open 7 days a week. But we dont know the hours. And their phone wasn't answering. Probably have to waste a bus trip to check for their hours.

There's another one a few blocks off the same bus, a bit farther along.

Ooops. Missed another that's on the same bus.

So we have a few places to check out.


stats
total distance 2.33 miles
moving time 25 min
max speed 14.2 mph
avg moving: 5.6 mph