Master Landscaping
http://www.masterlandscaping.net

landscaping.gif”>The yard of Rick and Terry Stone, 1803 E. Howard St., has been named the June 2008 Yard of the Month by the Beautification Committee of the Pontiac Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Stones have resided in the house they built 14 years ago and every year has led to a little more of their landscaping touches.

While not too much of the front yard can be seen because of a privacy hedge along Illinois 116, the open areas at both ends of the curved driveway give a glimpse of the beauty within.

“While the hedge does shut off a lot of view it also has its advantages in that it cuts down a lot of traffic noise from the roadway,” said Terry Stone.

One thing that cannot be overlooked is the unique driveway paving material chosen by the Stones. The off-red gravel-looking material is named “rotten granite” and gives the large curving driveway its own special soft color very different from routine run-of-the-mill white or gray gravel.

Knock-out roses in a deep red are repeated throughout the yard along the front, back and side.

“The roses have done so well and bloomed so profusely this year. I have lots of daffodils which did not bloom that well this year and I was afraid other perennials might follow the same course,” she said. “Instead what a pleasant surprise it has been with the roses and a few others, including the purple perennial salvia.”

“I have also been a little disappointed that more perennials like black-eyed Susans and purple coneflowers are so much later this year. I’m guessing the cold and wet spring has put everything a little behind,” she said.

Rick Stone’s project this spring has been starting some maple trees from maple “helicopter” seeds that blew into the yard.

“While the seedlings look good, they are still small, it’s too early to tell how they will do once set into the landscape as trees,” she said.

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Location: 280 Fourth St., Bremerton.

Permanent displays: Located in the old Seafirst Bank building, this museum documents the fascinating early history of Kitsap County. The area was home to Native Americans, including the Suquamish Tribe, and artifacts include a rare, preserved cedar bark mat from the 1890s. The California gold rush of 1849 spurred a building boom in San Francisco, and the dense conifer forests of the Northwest attracted logging camps and mills. Because the forests were so impenetrable, logging began near the water and worked inland. A floating logger’s bunkhouse represents those typically moored in nearby Dyes Inlet, and other logging artifacts offer a glimpse of those early days.

After the trees were cut, settlers moved into the logged-out areas and set up farms among the huge stumps (called stump farms). Displays offer a hint at their hardscrabble lives, and the county became well-known throughout the U.S. for its egg and berry production.

A reconstructed Main Street features a detailed look inside establishments typical of an early 20th-century town, such as a doctor’s office, a photography studio, a general store and a schoolhouse. The small structures are packed with actual artifacts, and a hands-on kids’ area includes a working telephone switchboard. Displays describe the development of the Bremerton Naval Shipyard and the Mosquito Fleet, the small ships that transported people around the area. The Carlisle II, one of those ships, now operates as a daily passenger ferry from a dock just north of the Bremerton ferry terminal and runs over to Port Orchard.

Highlights: Clocks are a main focus of the museum, partly due to the presence of a local group of clock restorers. In the conference room, check out the three early 20th-century clocks on loan from the Naval Shipyard that have been restored. One of the structures on Main Street re-creates the watch-repair shop of George Moeller, who ran a local family business. At the top of the stairs to the second level, check out the large clock face the big crack in the glass was left by the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.

Don’t miss the conference room’s 1942 WPA murals by Ernest Worling, which were created for the Naval Station library and feature fanciful depictions of military personnel on leave in Hawaii and Alaska.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; open until 8 p.m. the first Friday of the month.

Admission: $2 adults, $5 families, $1 kids 7-17; free the first Friday of the month. On July 4th weekend, the museum will hold an ice-cream social to celebrate its 60th anniversary.

Directions: From the Bremerton ferry terminal, turn right on Washington Avenue, go up the hill and turn left on Fourth Street. The museum is on the right in a block.

For more information: 360-479-6226 or kitsaphistory.org. For information on taking the Carlisle II foot ferry, see www.kitsaptransit.org.

Cathy McDonald, Special to The Seattle Times

Renton-based freelancer Cathy McDonald, a former geologist, has written about science and nature travel for 20 years. She’s currently a travel guidebook editor at Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door. Contact her: nwwriter@hotmail.com

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PAGE, Ariz. Twin torrents of water unleashed from a dam coursed through the Grand Canyon today in a flood meant to mimic the natural ones that used to nourish the ecosystem by spreading sediment and creating river beaches.

“This gives you a glimpse of what nature has been doing for millions of years, cutting through and creating this magnificent canyon,” Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said after he pulled the lever releasing the water from Glen Canyon Dam, upstream from Grand Canyon National Park.

More than 300,000 gallons of water per second were being released from Lake Powell above the dam near the Arizona-Utah border. That’s enough water to fill the Empire State Building in 20 minutes, Kempthorne said.

The water gushed from the dam into the Colorado River below, creating a churning, frothy pool that glided past the salmon-colored sandstone walls of the canyon.

The dam is releasing four to five times its usual flow during the three-day flood. The water level in the canyon will only rise a few feet, but officials hope that will be enough to restore sandbars on the Colorado River downstream from the dam. Officials have flooded the canyon twice before, in 1996 and 2004.

Before the dam was built in 1963, the river was warm and muddy, and natural flooding built up sandbars that are essential to native plant and fish species. The river is now cool and clear, its sediment blocked by the dam.

The change helped speed the extinction of four fish species and push two others, including the endangered humpback chub, near the edge.

Shrinking beaches have led to the loss of half the camping sites in the canyon in the past decade. Since Glen Canyon Dam was built, 98 percent of the sediment carried by the Colorado River has been lost, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Steve Martin said.

Martin said man-made floods need to occur every time there’s enough sediment to do so about every one to two years depending on Arizona’s volatile monsoon season.

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Welcome to 10th and Pike “the epicenter of Seattle rock ‘n’ roll,” as one local boasted.

That might be just a touch over the top … or is it? After all, live music is blasting on these adjacent blocks, from indie-rock heavyweight Neumo’s and metal-loving newcomer King Cobra to old-timers the Comet Tavern and Wildrose, both of which have pumped up their music offerings in recent months.

And there is more to this suddenly vibrant Capitol Hill neighborhood than rock bands and hard-partying fans. Several new establishments on or just off Pike have the two blocks between Broadway and 11th Avenue booming and transforming.

If you haven’t been over here in a few months, you just might sprain your neck with double-takes. Rowdy, raggedy ol’ 10th and Pike is in the midst of a makeover put it on TV, and it would be “Flip This ‘Hood.”

We’re moving on up!

While ripped jeans and band T-shirts used to be the school uniform around here, several new spots are pulling in a more fashionably attired crowd. Take Quinn’s Pub. This European-styled “gastropub” recently replaced an unpretentious Mexican restaurant that for years had been feeding slackers and local families.

At Quinn’s, generous windows offer passers-by a glimpse at the long, sleek bar and diners who, for the most part, look more First and Bell or 36th and Fremont than 10th and Pike. Then again, Capitol Hill is fast changing.

“Some of my friends were joking about that,” said Pete Capponi, a Capitol Hill resident and member of the band Coconut Coolouts. “They were saying that everyone buying the new condos [Quinn's] seems to be their bar.”

For the punk crowd, this upscale bar people are drinking Old Fashioned cocktails and wine on a busy Monday night with a fanciful menu (braised oxtails, wild boar sloppy Joes, rabbit p%26#226;t%26#233;) might seem, well, a little “There goes the neighborhood … “

On the other hand, why can’t trendy eateries and dive bars with rock music coexist?

“It seems great to have both on the same street,” said Brian Collins-Friedrichs, an architect who works in Belltown and lives in Ballard. He gave Quinn’s high grades for its design (”industrial, with elegance”) and its cuisine.

The architect was having dinner with friend and business associate Jerry Everard, who helped get this street rocking years ago, when he launched Moe’s Mo’ Rockin’ Cafe. Everard got off the corner for a while, but returned four years ago to reopen the club as Neumo’s, again pumping nightlife onto the block.

Now, Everard is in on this upscale-the-Hill thing, as he has transformed an old shoe repair shop into the chic Sole Repair. This annex of Quinn’s is normally set aside for private parties, sometimes open to the public.

The other night, a few actress/model types were smoking (figuratively and literally) and attracting whistles outside the club. Inside Sole Repair, there were lounge music, low black couches and seductive lighting.

A little of this, a little of that

There seems to be something for a variety of nightlife palates on these blocks, and tonight launches another long weekend of diverse decadence.

Everard is working both sides of 10th tonight, hosting “The Young Ones,” a collection of rising Seattle acts, including rap crew Dyme Def, indie-poppers Throw Me the Statue and old-school rockers the Moondoggies (who recently signed to Sub Pop offshoot Hardly Art). The acts will be split between Neumo’s and Sole Repair.

Over at The Comet tonight there should be a decent crowd, soaking up beer and the artsy jazz-rock band Dead Science and quirky Pwerful Power. Next door, King Cobra gets ready to rock into its second weekend of live music (the Valley, one of Seattle’s most potent young bands, plays there Friday night).

At Havana, an attractive, Cuban-inspired lounge that came here in the summer of ‘06, DJs will spin house music as patrons enjoy mojitos and other rum drinks. Love lives will be compared over coffee and laptops at Caffe Vita.

The ladies will be shooting back beers and trading notes on “The L Word” on the big screen, Sunday nights at the Wildrose.

Bimbo’s Cantina/Cha Cha Lounge recently moved to this block from its longtime home down the hill, a relocation, according to its MySpace page, “due to the rampant condoization of Capitol Hill.” Kincora’s Pub was also booted by a condo project, which led the owner to start up King Cobra. Here at the Cha Cha, locals will leave their apartments (probably not condos) to dive into punk cuisine as one menuism.com reviewer put it, “OK burritos, cheap beer.”

Those with more refined taste buds will sample frutti di mare, quattro stagioni and other exotic offerings at high-class pizzeria Via Tribunali.

It’s almost like the table cliques of your high-school cafeteria turned into Capitol Hill nightspots … if you can imagine a cafeteria serving everything from nachos (Bimbo’s) to foie gras (Quinn’s), and Frank Sinatra singing in the background, the Ramones backing him up.

Tom Scanlon: %26#116;%26#115;%26#99;%26#97;%26#110;%26#108;%26#111;%26#110;%26#64;%26#115;%26#101;%26#97;%26#116;%26#116;%26#108;%26#101;%26#116;%26#105;%26#109;%26#101;%26#115;%26#46;%26#99;%26#111;%26#109;

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On a cool night, it comes as no surprise that Quail Ridge Books %26 Music was almost filled to capacity as the staff scrambled to find chairs for a steadily growing group of fans. James McBride was visiting this independent bookstore in Raleigh, N.C., to discuss his latest novel, “Song Yet Sung.”

There’s something special about McBride. He wowed book lovers with his best-selling novel, “The Color of Water.” “Miracle at St. Anna,” his fiction debut from 2003, was a tale about black soldiers during World War II. “Miracle at St. Anna” is a movie in the making and predicted to be a blockbuster, thanks to filmmaker Spike Lee. McBride’s uniqueness lies in his sing-song way with words, his infectious laughter and his casual and candid interaction with fans. Sounds of soft chatter and flipping pages competed as people scanned the room, eagerly awaiting his arrival.

Finally, he strolled out to greet the enthusiastic crowd and settled at the podium with purpose and a huge grin. He was at ease, not only with himself, but with others; and his fans knew they were in for a treat.

McBride shared his love of writing and music, and he relived candid stories about his mother. He joked about the politics of living black and white; but his success is no joke. The death of two of his siblings and the politics of a marriage between his white mother and black father were tumultuous events in this author’s life. McBride didn’t pause to dwell on adversity, but instead, penned his way to success.

He elaborated on the joy of creating, whether performing music or writing. McBride read a passage from “Song Yet Sung,” while fans lingered on his every word. He closed the book to loud applause and ended with, “You’ll have to buy the book to find out what happens next.”

What happens next
There’s an old saying, “Tell the truth and shame the devil.” Well, here’s the truth … After the event, I grabbed my bag and raced home to devour the four remaining chapters of “Song Yet Sung.” I have not revealed the substance of these last chapters, but I can promise you that it only gets better. So let’s start from the beginning …

At the center of this story is a beautiful and troubled slave girl, Liz Spocott, the Dreamer. She dreams of the future and early on gains the trust of many suspicious but tired slaves waiting on yet another miracle. The Dreamer befriends the “Woman with No Name” and fulfills a long awaited prophecy. A meeting so magical can only lead to chaos; and the Dreamer is soon pursued by merciless Patty Cannon and her posse, and money hungry Denwood Long known as “The Gimp.” Everyone has a different agenda; and nothing, not even unpredictable weather conditions nor the most dangerous terrain, will halt their imminent capture of the Dreamer. But know one knows the Chesapeake like the rugged watermen - agile on water and skilled at fishing and oystering.

Intent on duping their latest prey, unsuspecting slave catchers overlook a plot in the making by slave Amber and his nephew, Wiley. Unfortunately these dreams are abandoned when a young white boy goes missing. All hell breaks loose, along with a heavy downpour, as desperate and dog-tired hunters trek through muddy logging trails, low-lying swamps, bogs and hidden marshes.

How long can the Dreamer evade them? With the help of the Chesapeake watermen and the slaves’ secret code, who knows? But exactly what is the code? What does it mean? What does Clarence, the blacksmith, reveal to “The Gimp?”

“You free or slave?” Denwood asked.
“Free, sir.”
“Then I could get you in a mite of trouble, couldn’t I?”
The blacksmith placed his hammer down. “I done nothing wrong,” he said.
“Five hits. Stop. Two taps. Stop %26#133; That’s it, ain’t it? Tell me you ain’t signaling somebody, and I’ll leave right now on your word. But if I find out you’re lying, I’ll knock you squint-eyed and stand you up for the constable. You working on the gospel train, ain’t ya?”

Amber, Clarence the blacksmith, Denwood Long “the Gimp” and nameless watermen are essential to this story, but the one character who captures and holds my attention is the Woolman. He boasts a wild mane of woolly hair that cascades down his muscular back. Feared by those who are quick enough to get a glimpse of him, he is often referred to as “the devil.” Strong and adaptable to the harshest of environments, the wild looking Woolman declares war, and now, even the hunters are being hunted.

McBride, a skillful storyteller, masters in just 359 pages, beauty, deceit, rage, greed, love, fear, hope and passion. This incredibly intense and colorful saga merits a sequel … and soon!

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Outside, the snow falls and it’s too cold to walk in the woods, so my mind wanders to places I’ve been and places I hope to someday visit.

I pull out the most recent addition to my library: “Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die” by Chris Santella (Stewart, Tambori, and Chang).

Santella interviewed 50 well-traveled birders, including tour leaders, artists, ornithologists and writers to come up with 50 “must-bird” locations. It’s hardly the ultimate list of “birdie” destinations; 24 are in the United States. But it’s a great starting point for ornithological dreamers.

Scott Shalaway is a biologist and author and can be reached at scottshalaway.googlepages.com and RD 5, Cameron, WV 26033.

John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, chose Gambell, Alaska, a God-forsaken outpost on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea, closer to the Russian mainland than to Nome. It’s the place to find rare Asian migrants that rarely show up elsewhere in North America.

Author Kenn Kaufman selected the mountains of Ecuador at 6,000 to 7,000 feet for the spectacular diversity of hummingbirds and tanagers.

And Victor Emanuel, dean of bird tour guides, chose South Georgia Island near the southern tip of the world, an Antarctic destination few will ever visit. He found the sheer numbers of penguins, skuas and seals particularly memorable.

My travel experiences are far less exotic and include many highlights that have nothing to do with birds. Among the memories I’ll never forget: my first glimpse of Arizona’s Grand Canyon, the smoking crater of Washington’s Mount St. Helens, the eastern front of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Pennsylvania’s Rickett’s Glen State Park, West Virginia’s Dolly Sods, Ohio’s Hocking Hills, and the beaches of Lake Michigan.

My wanderlust began in college. A 10-day field trip to Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp hooked me on wildlife watching. I had close encounters with alligators, pileated woodpeckers and a variety of frogs, turtles and snakes.

After graduation, I drove cross-country to graduate school at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. While there, I explored most of the national parks within a day’s drive. As an impoverished graduate student, I camped and scrimped on food. It was during these years that I gained an appreciation for Native American cultures and saw my first prairie dogs, golden eagles, trogons, roadrunners, rattlesnakes and horned lizards.

In 1977, my wife and I took a whirlwind 17-day journey from Michigan to Washington across the northern tier of states. We saw wolves in Glacier National Park, mountain goats and harlequin ducks in Idaho, and our first old-growth forest.

As the snow continues to fall, the cascade of travel memories continues. Another highlight was a visit to Kodiak Island in Alaska. One day I watched brown bears fish for salmon; the next I caught so many salmon my arms ached. And one morning I awoke on a boat in a foggy bay in the midst of a pod of killer whales.

My international travel experience is limited to the Western Hemisphere. A colleague and I took a group of students to Colima, Mexico, in 1983. We camped on the slopes of a rumbling volcano, and I tallied more than 100 life birds on that trip.

A few years later, I led a dozen Elderhostel trips to Mexico. That’s when I discovered the Mayan ruins at Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico. Bat falcons and white hawks flying above the ruins remain a vivid image in my mind.

Three years ago, I visited the Canopy Tower in Panama and saw flocks of parrots, six species of trogons, and motmots coming to a bird feeder.

Books like “Go Birding” fuel my desire to travel, to see things I know only from books. Time and money limit the possibilities, but that doesn’t keep me from dreaming.

For example, I’d love to experience the vast herds of large mammals on the African Serengetti. And with places like Belize, Costa Rica, Peru, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, Iceland, Nova Scotia and Madagascar on my wish list, I admit my hopes and dreams are ambitious.

If Robert Browning’s advice, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp” is sound, then I’m the poster child for eco-travel. As I tick these places off my list, I promise to write about them.

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Those are two big changes globetrotting travelers will see by 2011 when Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport opens its new international terminal, a soaring glass wing of a building that will cost more than a billion dollars.

The Transportation Committee of the Atlanta City Council on Wednesday tentatively approved about $1.2 billion for construction of the long-anticipated terminal, which has been discussed since the late 1990s. Roadways, underground trains and other costs will push the cost to about $1.6 billion %26mdash; twice the original estimate %26mdash; by the time the terminal opens its 12 new gates in about three years.

Transportation Committee members, who oversee the world’s busiest airport, got their first glimpse at new plans for the terminal Wednesday morning.

Fliers will approach the Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. International Terminal %26mdash; named for Atlanta’s late mayor %26mdash; from Interstate 75. And because there is curbside pick-up, arriving international travelers will not have to recheck their bags as they now do.

The current international gate complex, built for the 1996 Olympics, is located on Concourse E, which can only be accessed through the distant main airport terminal off Interstate 85. Arriving international travelers currently have to recheck their bags once they clear U.S. Customs and retrieve them after a train ride or long hike to the main terminal. The baggage recheck system is often cited in surveys as a major complaint by the 86 million people a year who use Hartsfield-Jackson.

The new terminal will have its own gates and parking deck, and will be accessed via I-75. It will be connected to the main terminal through an underground train that connects the new facility and Concourse E, whose gates will be used primarily for domestic flights.

Located near the control tower, the new facility will encompass 1.2 million square feet. Its soaring glass walls with a view of the Atlanta skyline are intended to make a bold statement to arriving passengers.

The design is by Atlanta Gateway Designers, which the city hired after firing the first firm, Leo A Daly, in 2005. At the time the city cited costs and delays. Daly sued the city for damages, and the litigation is still pending.

The new terminal coincides with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ push to vastly increase its international business, the most profitable arena for the financially strapped airlines. Delta accounts for more than 70 percent of the airport’s business, and has increased its international destinations from Hartsfield-Jackson five fold since 1996. It now serves 81 offshore destinations.

Delta has been a key supporter of the new terminal, but objects to an increase in the construction contingency fund contained in the current proposal. The contingency was $58 million, but has been increased to $168 million .

“The terminal is an important part of our international growth strategy and we are in support of the project and its budget which was approved last year,” said Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott. “Delta does not support the latest proposal calling for a $110 million increase to the contingency fund. This project needs to be managed in a cost effective manner and having an inflated contingency fund does not accomplish that goal.”

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There are so many decorating styles prevail these days to cater to the needs of various types of people. Some of these decorating styles are more common while others are limited to a selected class of people. Here are some of the most popular home decorating styles for you so that you can choose one for yourself too.

People Love To Have Whatever Latest Is Available
It is a general human tendency that we want to possess the latest that is available in the market. Selecting a decorating style is no exception to this fact. A majority of us wish that our home should be decorated according the latest trends prevailing in the world. People enjoy discussing various types of latest decorating styles.

Select which Decorating Style Appeals You The Most
No matter if you decide to change the decoration of one of your rooms or of entire house you can definitely find one or two decorating styles that grab your attention. Here, we will try to evaluate some of these styles so that your task of making a decision becomes easier.

Traditional Decorating Style: Never Goes Out Of Fashion
The first among the most popular home decorating styles is traditional decorating. The biggest benefit of choosing this style is that you can be rest assured that it would never go out of date. Traditional style is based on the time-honored and long-established conventions of the past styles of royal decorating. You will find a glimpse of early American decorating and many other decorating styles akin to it.

Traditional style is best when it comes to upholstery, accents and window treatment. However, you should be ready to pay a high price if you choose this style because it has the costliest category of furniture.

Shabby Chic Style
Next popular decorating style is shabby chic style. In this style light colors are used for decorating walls and furniture. It is the best style in the opinion of many people. Antique china is the main trait of the shabby chic decorating style.

French Country Style
Those who prefer bright colors can go for French country decorating styles. Rich tome woods like cherry and other fruitwoods are used in this style. Modern or contemporary decorating style also uses bold bright colors with use of straight architectural lines in furniture.

Rustic And Art Deco Styles
Rustic and art deco are two other popular home decorating styles. Rustic is based on the design of southwest. Abundant use of woods is a special feature of this style. More stress is given on making the furniture as much comfortable as possible.

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If you’ve seen the movie Titanic, you have had a glimpse of Dennis Hale’s real life drama. Hale is the sole survivor of the sinking of the steamship Daniel J. Morrell. The 603-foot-long ship sank in the dark early morning hours of November 29, 1966 on Lake Huron. Hale will share his story as the only survivor of a 29-member crew as part of the 2008 Great Lakes Underwater conference in Oswego on Saturday, March 15.

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By Nelson Alcantara l Special to eTN | Feb 21, 2008

On that given afternoon in December last year, a stroll down Medellin, Colombia’s center provided a glimpse of how the city once referred to as “the murder capital of the world” has managed to lift itself up from the ruins of its beleaguered past to become the thriving city that it is today. Shops were bustling, the mall in front of Plaza Botero (Sculpture Plaza), which in itself is a tourist attraction for its 80,729-square-foot open-air space that holds 23 sculptures donated by hometown world renowned artist Fernando Botero, was crowded.

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