Tao Verse 16

The great truth of Nature is Tao.

Mineral Baths to Mountain Bluffs

Our Anniversary Escape this year led us to Hot Springs in Arkansas.  The biggest motivator seemed to be that every other attempt to visit the namesake placename has ended in some disruption or another.  The most recent attempt north of Yellowstone in Montana found the place had closed for the season the weekend just prior to our arrival.  This turned out very similar to other attempts too, though not a complete failure.

It is an interesting little town to explore and soak in a little, quite literally and of course, figuratively. Three days seemed perfect for this visit, though a few more days might be in order if one were to have an interest in conquering things like the 21 km Sunset Trail.

Hiking was not at the top of this agenda this time, though we did afford time for the Gulpha Gorge Trail, after pausing for a ride up to the top of the Mountain Tower for a look around the valley.  Most of the remainder of the time involved parading up and down Central Avenue, relaxing in a mineral bath and enjoying some good German food.

Artistic encounters in the area proved intriguing and diverse.  Some of the pieces were gigantic, consuming three or four stories in fresh new paint.  It was a intriguing display of relatively new art that seemed to be coming from everywhere in every corner of the city.

The second half of the adventure turned north, passing through the Flatside Wilderness of the Ouachita National Forest.  The detour was mostly unplanned, beyond knowing of a waterfall there that just happened to be along the way.  We found the cascade mostly dry, though an interesting space in the middle of nowhere to visit.  The trek in and out of the location, crawling up and the rough roads offered their own adventure.

Back in Heber Springs offered time to enjoy friends and family and scoot up to Batesville for the annual dusting at Batesville Motor Speedway.  It was a bit cooler than last year, and the wind was not quite as tuned into the direction it should have, but not awful.

A day on my own led me to the North Sylamore Creek Trail.  Road conditions deterred previous transports from enjoying this piece of scenery.  The short route down to the Allison Trailhead is not always in best of conditions.  This time, well-prepared with a high clearance vehicle, the road presented itself in much more appropriate fashion.

With the primary obstacle in accessing the trail, a secondary obstacle loomed.  The creek itself it not much at the point the crossing is first witnessed.  However, the forest service encourages everyone to travel further north about 100 yards and cross at a much deeper section.

Once on the trail, the sights are quite something to witness.  Rising up and then meandering northerly above the river offers spectacular views of where water likely spills over the edge of the bluff high above, in several locations; that is, in damper conditions.  Caves and other karst features litter the landscape the length of this situation.

After exploring about 4 of the 30 kilometers associated with this trail, I decided it was probably time to think about heading back since I had no clue how long it was really going to take and there were other plans for the evening hours.  Emerging from the wilderness area, I found plenty of time and decided to take a quick vehicular jaunt over South Sylmore Creek.

The road back to Heber Springs from Mountain View takes about as much time as crossing from one side of Kansas City to other.  It is much more interesting though, even if the state continues to push to straighten out the roads and remove the deep valley dives.

Conversation and a good meal closed things out nicely, so much so that we completely forgot to jump over to Sandy Beach to enjoy the sun set on another enjoyable journey into Arkansas.

The drive homeward did not really stand out all that much.  Anticipated afternoon storms, coupled with a return to work looming on the morning horizon the next day encouraged arrival at an earlier than normal time.   It had  been another good journey, with multiple new additions to The Ozarks collection.

KC 2 Atlanta & Back

Downtown Atlanta proved an interesting place to explore for a few days, while attending FABCON / SQLCON 2026.  More compelling than anything else, I had the opportunity to capture a few views for the collection from 9 km or so in the air.

Basecamp held its own unique history, though not much is left of the old place beyond a high-rise with a spectacular view from the outdoor pool on the 19th floor.  With a Margaritaville attached, a Waffle House a block away,  Centennial Park sprawling across the street, and the Georgia World Conference Center lie just on the other side  of that, it proved itself the perfect location.

In my spare time, I wandered about a 2 km radius from the location, taking in the local art and dropping by the state capitol building.  The space between has definitely seen better times, though appeared as though it were rebuilding to return to those glory days. It was an interesting town, and very walkable in the daylight, though I am not sure I would return with the sole intent on seeing Atlanta.

Tao Verse 15

Those who have Tao want nothing else.

Mason Jars, Dishware, and Mowers in the Forest

Hiking about one of my favorite spots this past weekend, I got to thinking about a previous discovery there, and thought to check in on it.  I almost forgot where it was.  I checked one spot and then another, before a crunching sound underfoot that did not align to the sound of leaves confirmed the location.  

Brushing away the dead leaves, I noticed some of the pieces of mason jars previously noted.  There were not quite as many as before and the rusting remnants of the vehicle that contained these artifacts were nowhere to be found.  That is not surprising.  At the time, I had made the mistake of posting about this little discovery on Twitter. Shame on me.  Lesson Learned.   

A couple of new pieces emerge this time, with a few more light brushes.  They were only lightly covered in soil and appeared to be part of some sort of dishware.  Turning the piece over, fading paint appeared on the artifact.  It was not much thicker than a nickel and appeared to be hand-painted.  An AI search on this image indicates:

"The image displays a shard of antique porcelain with significant crazing, which are the fine cracks in the glazed surface and a common sign of age in old ceramics.  The pattern appears to be a transferware design, potentially from the 19th or early 20th century."

The second piece was a bit larger and probably a flanged bowl of some sort.  Judging by the diameter and the convex interior curve, it might have been a old wash basin.  An AI search on this image indicates:

The object in the image appears to be a shard of vintage ceramic dishware, likely stoneware, featuring a cream-colored glaze. The shard shows a thick body typical of 19th or early 20th-century pottery, with significant crazing (fine cracks) in the glaze.

Coloring, texture, and general make indicate both items are related, beyond just their location. They were rescued and cleaned under hot water and placed in a plastic bag for preservation.  I feel as though I may need to excavate a bit more of this situation to learn more. 

This is the most anyone will get to know this time.

The backstory on this weird little archaeological find begins after a series of heavy rains a couple of years ago, when I discovered an interesting artifact along the trail of one of my favorite hiking spots.  Lying perpendicular to the trail in a ditch created by downhill drainage, I noticed a chunk of metal sticking up and went to examine.  Brushing away leaves and dirt uncovered what appeared to be the decaying bed of an old pickup type vehicle from the 1930s.  The tailgate remained mostly intact, though sides and bed were one. Multiple broken mason jars lay against a corner of where one of the remaining corners met the tailgate.

It appeared that someone had been driving along and had broken down while ascending the hill.  The general direction of the vehicle indicated progress from the direction of Liberty towards Gladstone. They apparently just left everything there, though that seems a bit odd for someone to do.  Did they go looking for help or otherwise and simply forgot how to get back?  Did they just give entirely?  Did they get caught transporting moonshine?  Did they die here?  What exactly happened?  Scant research uncovered nothing.

Leaving this little find in place and undisturbed, I took a couple of photos and unwittingly made a post about the discovery on Twitter.  Returning to the site a few months later, it should have been no surprise to discover that someone had been rooting around, though it remained mostly undisturbed.

I posted on Twitter about it, at the time. I should have never done that and won't make the same mistake twice.  Almost everything described in this back story has vanished.

A few hundred yards from there, an old mower lay quiet on the forest floor.  This land was used for something at one time, or it was junk yard.  Hard to tell just now.  More research is needed.  Below are a few shots of that in the last couple of months.

Tao Verse 14

Beyond the sense lies the great Unity.

SharePoint List Deprecation in favor of Rules

Microsoft continues to align with the Google way of doing business, abandoning processes that are user-friendly in favor of a more awkward way of doing things.  It is simply continuing technical stupidity.

Microsoft strives to deliver utmost value to our customers through modern, optimized, secure solutions in this newly evolved world focused on digital transformation. As part of this evolution of Microsoft 365 solutions, we will be retiring SharePoint Alerts and believe Microsoft 365 customers will be better served by modern notification solutions based upon the Power Automate platform or SharePoint Rules. - SharePoint Alerts retirement - Microsoft Support

Microsoft, you believe wrongly.  Alerts were simple and straightforward.  We now have to setup 3 rules to accomplish what one alert did perfectly.  Additionally, the Rule does not include information that the Alert included, which causes users to have to click-through to get to that information.  To get that information, you have to create an Automation.  I can get through it, but it is not exactly a simple process for nearly all of my user community.  This is not helpful.  Thanks for piling on more work for me, Microsoft.

I suppose that I should be thankful they are not ditching SharePoint completely.

Golden Sands Ranked First

This view greeted us in the morning during our stay at Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve last year, and just ranked first in a little photo contest for "Golden Sands" on PulsePX. 

Requirements for submission expected one to "Explore the textures of the dunes. Capture the shifting patterns of sand in deserts or on beaches. Use the low angle of the sun to highlight the ripples and ridges, creating a warm, textured, and minimalist landscape."

 It was much more than we expected to see that morning, after overnight cloud cover denied any dark sky star-gazing. 

Year One in the Crosstrek

One year in the Subaru and it has been a good car.  It is good to run down unpaved paths with a great deal more undercarriage confidence than the previous vehicle.  I remain unimpressed with the level of technology in the vehicle and since purchasing it have discovered that many others are also unimpressed with level of technology in any vehicle.  Some things are acceptable; other points are purely ridiculous.  

As an example in 2024 model year, Subaru moved the climate controls to the touch screen.  This was a terrible move and not user friendly at all.  One has to physically look at the screen to see where to touch to turn the fan up or switch the output. This is a terrible user experience. There is also the case of the frost bomb that awaits the unsuspecting solo driver in cold weather.  

There a few other things do not really live up to expectations, but are mostly tolerable.  Gas mileage is not what it should be or could be.  If Ford can get 40 mpg out of a 2015 Focus, surely we could do a little better ten years later. "Eyesight" could be a little less helpful.  There is no need for the car to drive itself.

The chief complaint is the relative cheapness of the vehicle, which is starting to stand out.

Some things are what you might expect out of cheap car.  Scratches under the door handle, from repeated use are awful.  The above image displays the issue.  It took 8 years for my previous vehicle to even come close to looking like this.   Why do other cars not have this issue?  Is it cheap paint?

Some things you do not expect to see in the upgraded version of the cheap car.  The Limited has a Leather arm rest in the center console.   The photo above displays it poorly but a noticeable impression on the corner of the side of the driver has started to appear.  The Premium version, owned by a friend just as long, does not have this problem.  It has a much durable center console arm rest.  Subaru should have used the same framework and covered that with leather.

Lastly, the backup camera, and Subaru is not alone on this front.  The only camera I have encountered that does not have a problem with dirt and grime all over the lens was the 2015 Focus.  Ford seems to be the only manufacturer that knows how to place a camera so it does not get dirt all over it; that is, at least on that year and model.  Subaru did ensure that you have some means of cleaning off the camera,  even if it is mostly ineffective, amounting to drool running over the lens.

Those are the only complains so far, for the past year.  I am sure there are some that I missed that are trivial in nature.  It is a good car though.

Tao Verse 13

Be wary of both honor and disgrace.