It seems like the most adventurous thing in the world. That dark opening in the hillside beckons, tantalizes, excites. What wondrous treasures await discovery inside What artifacts might remain in this time capsule, mute testimony to an era when grizzled men moved tons of rock in pursuit of their dreams Such is the poetic, romance-novel appeal that might induce you to take leave of your senses and crawl into an old mine. Thousands of such small openings are scattered throughout the country. Although most common in the historically "hard rock" Western mining states, they can also be found in the old lead and copper districts of the Midwest. In reality, multiple dangers lurk beyond the pale ring of light that filters through the adit mouth.
While scoping out a field area for a thesis project, I spent six weeks camping and hiking in the West Elk Mountains, in the Colorado Rockies. My days were spent tramping around the flanks of a majestic 13,000-foot peak, chosen due to tantalizing reports of silver mining activity around 1900. During my ramblings, I came across several old mine workings. Some were simply short adits driven into the hillside, designed to test for the presence of silver, copper, and lead minerals that might be distributed within the contact zone of the porphyry intrusive that defined the mountain peak. Other workings, though small, were relatively more sophisticated and had rail tracks extending from the passageways out onto the progressively extended pile of fine waste rock. I explored each of these, sometimes crawling over piles of rock that had fallen from the roof or ribs, or widening a hole and sliding down the pile of washed-in dirt to reach the adit floor.
This really was the height of folly, as I was alone in the wilderness and had no idea of the potential dangers. I currently work in the field of ground control engineering, and have firsthand knowledge of numerous fatalities that occurred in active mines when rock fell out of the roof without warning. I have also become more familiar with the extensive engineering design work, and variety of support systems, required to develop and maintain a mine opening. The "old timers" were often lucky by developing small openings in hard rock, but modern mining engineering indicates that time does not favor stability.
A more insidious danger is represented by a lack of breathable air. In sealed underground openings, the air may have become "stale" by not being circulated through the outside. In modern mines, a staff is devoted to designing and maintaining ventilation systems that cycle fresh air through the mine. Some gases displace oxygen, but are colorless and odorless and give no warning of danger until the person suddenly realizes that they feel as though they have been holding their breath for several minutes. This is a condition known to miners as "black damp" that can cause loss of consciousness or death. While working in Bolivia, I entered over a dozen small mines in a district that had been developed initially by the Spanish, or perhaps even the Inca, and later by a Polish mining engineer in the early 1900

If youre like me, you have hundreds of photographs sitting in envelopes. Pictures from birthday parties, weddings, family gatherings, anniversaries, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. You have already put the best snapshots into albums and these are leftovers. You dont want to throw them away, but you also dont know what to do with them.
Instead of letting your snapshots take up space and contribute to the clutter in your home, use them to make collages at a cost of less than $10 each that you can give as Christmas gifts to family and friends. Heres how:

Assess your collection of pictures. Do you have several dozen of your spouse or significant other Your parents Your children Grandparents A friend A beloved pet Decide which person would like to receive these pictures and divide them into groups accordingly.
Buy a picture frame with glass either 5x7 or 8x10 for each collage you are going to make. Department stores sometimes have sales on picture frames, and you can often purchase a suitable frame for $5 or less.
Cut a sheet of paper use cardstock, 24# paper or light cardboard to match the size of the opening on the picture frame.
Cut out the background of the pictures, leaving just the people or pets. Cut out enough pictures to cover the sheet of paper.
Arrange the cut-out pictures on the paper. Mix and match and experiment. Try placing the pictures at different angles.
After you have an idea of how you would like to arrange the pictures, glue them to the paper. Check the label to make sure that you can use the glue with photographs. Cover the entire sheet of paper with pictures.
When the glue is dry, insert the paper into the frame.

Collages are not only a good way to use your old snapshots, but the recipients also will cherish them for years to come as a special and thoughtful gift.
© 2003 LeAnn R. Ralph

About The Author

LeAnn R. Ralph is a freelance writer in Wisconsin, is the editor of the Wisconsin Regional Writer the quarterly publication of the Wisconsin Regional Writers Assoc. and is the author of the book: Christmas In Dairyland True Stories From a Wisconsin Farm August 2003; trade paperback http://ruralroute2.com
bigpines@ruralroute2.com

Pinatas make a great theme to center a party around. It can be a birthday party, a going away party or just a fun party where friends and family get together. Pinatas offer excitement and challenge for both the young and old because it

Dr. Nancy Kalish, a psychology professor at California State University, Sacramento, is the only researcher of couples who reunited with former sweethearts. Her book, Lost & Found Lovers: Facts and Fantasies of Rekindled Romances, 1997, is based on her first four years of research now 11 years. Questionnaire responses were included from 1001 participants, ages 18 to 89, in all 50 states, and 35 countries. In addition, the book contains the lost love stories of the couples in their own words.
These first participants found their lost lovers without the Internet, which in 1993 was nonexistent as we know it today. Since the publication of her book, she has surveyed, met, emailed, and spoken to more than 2500 lost love participants.
The findings indicated that even before the World Wide Web, it was common for people to reunite with lost loves from their past. Now of course, it is even more common, with web sites such as Reunion.com Kalish is their Relationship Expert and people search engines such as at yahoo.com.
This is not a Baby Boomer, or senior citizen, phenomenon. People of all ages rekindle romances, as just another, ordinary way to find love. In fact, half of the participants were under 35.
But people do not reunite with just any lost love from the past; most participants, regardless of their ages, went back to someone they loved when they were 17 or younger. These are the romances that parents usually belittle, calling them puppy loves. But these were the very loves that my participants took most seriously as time went by, the loves they missed the most.
Parents not only belittled these young romances, but many played a large part in ending these romances. When I asked participants why their initial romances broke up, the reason cited by the largest group of respondents was, "Parents Disapproved." Years later, when the couple reunited, they still resented that past parental intrusion. Many parents went to extremes to separate the young couple -- from hiding letters to jailing the young men. Couples who are happily reunited as adults are most regretful if their childbearing days are over and they can never have children together.
Other typical reasons for the initial breakups included "We Were Too Young," "Moved Away," "Left to Join the Military," and "Went Away to College." But only a very few couples checked the box, "We Were Not Getting Along." These were not neurotic, try-and-try-again couples who went back for another round of emotional battering. People dont change very much when it comes to personality, so a reunion with an abuser would be a poor choice. The reasons the romances broke apart years ago were situational, so years later, during the second romance, the original roadblocks were gone.
Journalists often assume that most rekindled couples reconnect at school reunions. This turned out to be a false assumption. Very few couples waited until the year of the school reunion to reconnect. The two most common ways that they reunited were by writing a letter or an email to the lost love, or by placing a telephone call. They had no trouble finding the other person in most cases, so it turns out to be just another myth that people needed to use a detective agency. Only 4 people out of 1001 used a detective. Most people leave a trail when they move: relatives that remained in the old home town, mutual friends who know the current address, or a school alumni association that is willing to forward a letter to the new address. Or now, the Internet.
People dont usually go looking for lost loves unless they are happy and secure within themselves. These are not desperate and lonely individuals who are afraid to form new attachments so instead they take the easy way out and refind and old flame. Quite the opposite. People search when they feel good, and that makes sense. Would you go to a school reunion, and let your old friends see you, if you were unemployed or depressed No, we all want to put our best foot forward, -- especially if we want to win back someone who left us.
Usually it is the person who was initially left by the other, the "dumpee,

Is there any drink more delicious to chocolate lovers than a tall glass of frosty chocolate milk
How about a chocolate milkshake
Chocolate milkshakes are easy to make and a delicious indulgence to have with your classic restaurant meal consisting of hamburger, shake and fries. Instead of heading out to the closest fast food joint when you feel that chocolate milkshake craving coming on, why not get out the blender and make it yourself
Chocolate milkshakes are easy to make and you can control how much chocolate syrup and ice cream you use

NEVER TO OLD
My great granddaughter said I was too old to learn to use a computer.
The trouble with the younger generation is that, they think that just because you are getting old, you are also becoming stupid.
At seventy three I suppose I do seem ancient to a twelve year old.
Never mind. I decided to show them by example.
A second hand computer and an old Epson printer cost me

So many people are talking about how slow their metabolism is and why they need to start taking the latest diet supplement scam yet they don

If you have a passion to learn all you can about horse training, then you will want to know about a 108 year old horse training manual recently revived from a dusty old book shelf of a used book store.
This horse training manual was written in the late 1800s by a then world famous horse trainer named Jesse Beery.
In Beerys manual he explains the different steps it takes to train a horse to be gentle, safe, reliable, and valuable.
Although this is a very basic example, Beery describes the number one abuse of a command given to horses by their riders. The command is "whoa". The reason this command is so abused is because the rider will often say "whoa" while riding when they want the horse to slow down.
Very quickly, the horse associates the word "whoa" with slowing down instead of stopping. Soon, the frustrated horse owner wonders why his horse wont stop when he says "whoa".
Beery reminds the reader to say "whoa" ONLY when you want the horse to stop. Pick a different command for the horse to slow down.
Furthermore, Beery explains with great detail how to teach a horse to stop - even under any circumstance. This lesson, according to Beery, is THE MOST important one of all.
Beery also describes in his book how to cure different vices a horse may have. For instance, if a horse is a confirmed biter and has been for a long time, Beery gives clear instruction on how to stop it for good.
Even better is the instruction Beery offers for horses that jump fences. In the book, you see a picture of a simple apparatus put on a horse to keep him from jumping. Beery says "When this simple appliance is on your horse, he can lie down and get up, eat, or do anything but run fast or jump. This is the best, most reliable, and safest remedy that has ever been devised for fence jumpers."
Unfortunately, this book is rare enough that few copies exist. The copies that exist are not always readable due to fading and age. Thus, good copies are very pricey.
American horse trainer Andy Curry discovered a legible copy from a used book store on a dusty shelf. Curry was able to make copies available to horse owners who want to learn about Beerys methods.

About The Author

Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author of several best selling horse training and horse care books. For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com. He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beerys horse training methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.htm.

At age 47, Martina Navratilova returned to Wimbledon and represented the United States at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
In September, seventy-three year old Ed Whitlock shattered his own world age class marathon record by completing a marathon in under 3 hours. Ed is the first 70+ human in history to attain this goal and he has done it twice!
September 26th was Jack LaLanne

I recently had the unpleasant experience of turning thirty much to my chagrin. However, I will forever allege that this was not my fault. Time was moving much too swiftly and although I tried my best to stay in the sexy and swinging twenties, I lost my grip and fell flat on my face in my thirties. I am led to believe that I will not be allowed to return. The horror. The horror.
Aside from my momentary lapses of self pity, there are some great benefits to being a woman in her thirties. As you probably guessed from the title of this article, I am now in my sexual prime. It seems like a cruel joke. Guys cant think about anything but the tent pole in their pants while in their teens and early twenties. But by the time women get to the same stage, the men are calling in reinforcements of Viagra. I am sure you have all heard about this before. Women hit their sexual prime at thirty......or do they I almost half expected to become some raging ball of hormones as if I was pushed on by a button when I turned thirty. I was looking forward to it. To my dismay, no such transformation has occurred.
Shedding light on this curiosity of mine was Dr. Sandor Gardos, a doctor in sexual education. According to Dr. Gardos, the notion that women hit their sexual peak at 30 is very misleading. You will find many websites and articles on the very subject talking about how women get their groove on and peak at 30, or 35 while others say 40. But if you are talking about a hormone flux, this is simply not true. Men and women develop the same hormones at the same time: puberty. The only reason why women seem so much more interested at a later age is because we were taught NOT to be interested in sex when we were kids. If you experimented with sex like the boys did, you would be labeled the town Jezebel. Only when women mature are they able to feel more comfortable talking about and practicing sex. They finally open up and begin to feel normal about desiring sex.
Then it becomes a whole new world for women. The reason why people argue about the age of the sexual peak in women is because it varies for each women. It might take some women, for example, longer to learn how to orgasm. But when each woman finally feels comfortable with her body and the virtues of sex, it just might be like hitting puberty for her, especially if she had always lived a reserved or conservative life. This can be a great time in a womans life; a true sexual awakening. And if you measure a sexual peak by interest level, then you can say that she has hit her prime. On the other hand, there are some women who go wild and crazy in their twenties and never give a thought to those societal messages, i.e.