A Queer Mobile

My new bike!

John bought a bike about a year ago so he could commute to his new shop. I held off getting one until about a month ago. We visited a neat little shop in Iowa City (The Broken Spoke) and I put in an order for a Kona Dew Deluxe. I'm so long-legged that I need the biggest bike frame Kona makes, and they special-ordered it for me.

When I got back from California last week John and I made the trek to pick up the bike. I took a quick spin around the area on Sunday. Then the weather turned blazingly hot and humid - until this morning. After walking Ki I took off to the river trail that John and I walk every other week.

I chiefly think now of the rabbits that scurried away as I approached; of a goldfinch that played with me; cardinals flashing by; and embankments filled with Rubeckias in bloom. As I pedaled by I suddenly realized that this is the beauty that I ask the Universe to reveal to me as I walk Ki each day.

How remarkable to go along silently without regard for cars. Other than a few riders and one walker, I was totally alone. I zipped under a wooded canopy and thought: this is my cathedral. There’s no better way to worship.

Clearly I’m not ready for RAGBRAI! (I probably went about eight miles.) I figure if I ride several times a week that I’ll get my legs where I want them to be.

Touring the Neil Smith National National Wildlife Refuge

The high point of our trip to Newton was the chance to tour the Neil Smith National Wildlife Refuge, just outside Prairie City. The refuge maintains over 5000 acres of tallgrass prairie, complete with bison, elk, and more wildflowers and butterflies than you can imagine. Here's the learning center, which nestles into the top of a ridge in the refuge. It's an amazing facility, presenting video tours and extensive exhibits - and viewing access to working greenhouses and labs.

There's so little original tallgrass prairie left that the staff at the refuge works very hard to reconstruct whole ecosystems, from plants and grasses to larger animals. I have a few images from the trip below.

The trails are wonderful in every way and very easy to follow. I can't recommend too highly taking part of a day to wander here - and we plan to go back soon.

John at the Iowa Sculptural Festival

John exhibited at the Iowa Sculptural Festival in Newton last weekend. We rolled in and set up Friday morning, and the show ran all day Saturday and Sunday. Here's a shot of a new sculptural piece atop a table with an amazing rosewood top.

John sold a piece and has several new commissions pending, so it was a good show for him. It was a great show for me, though! I brought along books and an audio program I've been wanting to work through. I listened and walked through Maytag Park for hours on both days.

We headed home yesterday evening. Today's been John recovering from the weekend and unloading furniture. I'll send off images of new work to various galleries - where hopefully some of this work will go for final placement.

Our new photo studio

I've been fighting inadequate conditions for photographing John's new work for about two years. We haven't had adequate space to work here in John's old shop. This last weekend John created a very cool magnetic mounting device to hand some photographic backdrop material. My new camera (Nikon D200) works very smoothly with slave flashes and diffuser disks to get a very smooth look.

Last Sunday we put it all together and shot about eight new works. I've only had time to retouch this one image so far - but you can get an idea of what we're now able to do.

Yes, you can do something about Iraq

I've been very excited about Kiva.org, a non-profit that lets folks like me make micro-loans to people in developing countries. It's incredibly easy now to be part of launching new enterprises throughout the developing world. Here's what you do:

• Go to http://www.kiva.org and browse to learn about entrepreneurs around the world and their projects
• When you find someone, you choose how much to fund - from $25 up to the total value of the loan
• You fund the loan through a credit card, and optionally donate some money to keep Kiva on the air. Kiva takes no money from your loan amount

Muhammad Yunus made the first microloan in Bangladesh in 1974. His financial institution, the Grameen Bank, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Kiva makes the connection between you and the microlending institutions in developing countries, and handles the transfer of all funds back and forth. Because these are loans, not gifts, they're not a charitable contribution. But you can make a real difference to folks. So far I've funded a woman running a natural foods store in Northern Mexico, a man in Tajikistan with an auto repair shop, and a fellow in Baghdad who's doing computing and telecommunications work in his neighborhood. Seems to me to be a lot more constructive way of supporting development around the world than simply doling out government aid...

Katie graduates!

John's niece Katie Schwartzkopf graduated from Wartburg College last week. John and I headed up to have dinner with her, her parents, and John's sister's family. She's heading to graduate work in occupational therapy, and John and I are both thrilled with her work so far.

All our best, Katie!