Friday, August 7, 2009

Peru


Pine Mountain News

Hello again from Pine Mountain. This week we have been harvesting vegetables from our hydroponics garden. Juicy tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, beets, and onions.
We have been making more wood chips for mulch. The weather has cooled off a little from what it was last week.

Local News

Saturday August 8 is the annual "Run to the Pines" car show beginning at 9:00 AM at Pine Mountain Village center.


Poem of the Week






Sonnets in San Francisco

by emily d stine

I awake in a sleepy corner of frisco
flip.flopping myself to the door. meander
my mind down to the neighborhood flea market.

I find vintage women and porcelain men pawing
at treasure.trinkets. I tiptoe through the crowd,
leaving them in a quiet walk, my footsteps soft
like daffodils in the morn. I circle upwards,
stopping to dance with each house, whisper stories,
we kiss, and part with a curtsy and a bow.

My feet find their way to the top and a cloudy ocean
smiles at me, to the left the golden gate sprawls out.
ward toward fog and nothing. an hour later, we find
ourselves footsteps from the base, raindrops brushing
our shoulders and the smell of san francisco in our hair.


Our Feature story


Peru


Train in the Peruvian Mountains


by Jordan Williams



Rich and I got to Peru in the middle of the night, which is

not generally how I like to start trips. Night landings leave

me feeling out of synch with the rest of the world for days

to come, which is no state to be in. Of course, we were

there to see Machu Picchu, a place where thousands of

years were peeled back, so maybe being out of synch is

appropriate.



Central Lima


We were staying in Lima, the country’s capital and, as is

often the case, it’s largest city. This is not especially near

Machu Picchu, but Lima has a lot to recommend it. Like

most South American cities, it has an incredible depth of

churches and religious architecture, to say nothing of the

food.

I am a great huge man, so I always like to check out the

local cuisine. Rich is not a great huge man, but he’s

willing to eat things that I’m not, like ceviche, which is

citrus infused seafood, which assures me is delicious.

Me, I stuck with anticuchos, which is marinated and

skewered meat, and is a meal that is definitely more

my speed.

In Lima, most of what you’ll really want to see is in the

Historic Center, which is two districts in the city

dedicated to the preservation of history and culture.It’s




filled with churches, museums, and the work is flamboyant

and colorful, well worth the tour. One thing to look at is

the Balconies of Lima, hundreds of ornate balconies

constructed for royalty.

After enjoying the sites and sounds, it was off to

Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu is known as the lost

city of the Incas, constructed in the early 1400’s, a

scant century or so before the Incan empire was wiped

out by the Spanish.


Machu Picchu


The stone city basically clings to the side of a mountain,

and being there really is like being returned to the past.

It’s also easy to imagine falling off the side of the mountain.

It’s not entirely clear why the Incas would choose to build

in such a precarious spot, but the place is spectacular.

They call Machu Picchu ruins, but they’re barely ruined.

The Incas constructed them using a mortarless technique,

and most of the stone works looks as if they might have

been built last year and not six hundred years ago.

The city seems to have served as a kind of astrological

observatory; it’s hidden heights giving perfect access to


the stars. You can still see that in The Intihuatana stone,

which predicts the equinoxes. Supposedly, touching your

forehead to the stone will infer a mystic vision, but I wasn’t

going over the ropes to find out.

Ultimately, what I was left with was a tremendous sense

of time and place. There’s an awe inspiring aspect to the

ancient city, nestled and largely hidden from the world by

the mountains. You get the sense of a time and a people

long past, and that alone would be well worth the trip to

Peru.



Pine Mountain Evening


It is evening once again at Pine Mountain ranch. We have

just finished dinner of pot roast and mash potatoes and

are now gathered in the family room.Tonight I am relaxing

with this weeks sample coffee Tropical Vanilla from

http://www.coffeefool.com

This is a smooth American roast coffee.It is a blend of

Pacific coast coffees and vanilla beans. It goes just right

with a plate of fresh sugar cookies.

My cookies and coffee are finished now and it is time for

bed. Good night all see you next week.





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