DJan-ity

Wrapping up a great week

2012-01-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

Tasty treats (behind us), Linny, Christy, me

I got my first call of the year from Linny yesterday. When she gets a chance to get out of Seattle and make a skydive or seven, she calls me, one of her group of fun jumpers, and lets me know she will be at the Drop Zone in Snohomish. She then ask if I want to join her. She called and left a message while I was in my exercise class yesterday, and I immediately called her back and left a message that I would be there today. It's been three months since I made my last jump, and we were all hoping to get our "knees in the breeze" and get ourselves feeling current. Skydiving is not the sort of thing you take lightly, and I was truly hoping we could get a January skydive together to begin to feel better about our abilities. But wind and low clouds kept us from making a jump, although many of our friends did, both out of the Cessna 182 and the Caravan. We kept waiting for conditions to improve and then decided to make the jump together another day. Here's a picture of us (along with Cindy and Dave, who were not there today) getting ready to make a jump last summer.

Me, Linny, Hank, Christy, Dave, and Cindy

Hank showed up today, hoping also that he might make a jump, but we oldsters were simply not in the mood to brave the elements. On my first jump after a layoff, I really like the weather to be sunny and benign. Today it wasn't. It was very "iffy." Hank was the first to leave, and by 1:45 the rest of us called it a day.

But about the title of the post: it was a wonderful week, and the time I spent at Skydive Snohomish with my dear friends was a great way to end it. Although I missed the Saturday Fairhaven walkers' outing, I drove 75 miles south to the Drop Zone and enjoyed feeling the ambience of my skydiving hangout. I am no longer in the place where I cannot imagine going to the DZ and not making a jump. Today it was really okay not to, since the day was spent dipping my psyche into my summer activity and anticipating the future.

This past Tuesday I enjoyed my two-hour workout, catching the bus three-quarters of a mile away and getting to town an hour earlier than usual, and Wednesday I swam a quarter mile after class. Thursday was the great more-than-ten-mile hike in the Chuckanuts, and yesterday I got my every-third-week massage after class. It made me realize how fortunate I am to have the schedule I have, one that I created out of my own needs, not one that I schedule around the need to make a living. I am retired. And I am grateful for every single bit of enjoyment I squeeze from each day. I hope, truly, that your life is fulfilling your own needs, too. It's only right!
:-)

Lost Lake 2012

2012-01-26T17:23:00.000-08:00

Eleven Senior Trailblazers headed up to Lost Lake from the Larrabee State Park (Clayton Beach) parking lot today. I thought we would have more of a crowd, since the day dawned clear and cold (40F), after last week's short hike in sub-freezing temperatures with lots of snow. However, those of us who did show up today had a great day. That is not to say it was easy, because it wasn't. A total of more than ten miles (but less than eleven) and an elevation gain of somewhere between 2,600 and 2,800 feet, with mud, snow, steep and treacherous ups and breathtaking slips and slides down. I fell once into a swamp and muddied myself pretty significantly, but it dried within an hour's time. We saw many sights along the trail today, and this picture of these trees determined to grow, even with an inhospitable rock under them, impressed me.

The determined trees sent their roots past the rock into the soil below, and they do seem to be doing pretty well, considering. Al, our fearless leader, went out on Tuesday during a major windstorm to check out the loop around Lost Lake, and although there were times when I doubted his direction, we did indeed make it to our usual lunch spot. He wrote about his Tuesday adventure here.

Not only that, but the sun was shining brightly on our spot while we stopped for lunch. Every one of us enjoyed this break at the lake, although it took us more than three hours to reach it, through bog and mud interspersed with beauty. This downed log showed us that it had been a favorite of woodpeckers, with rows of pecked-out holes. These patterns went all the way up and down the entire log.

By the time we started back after our wonderful lunch break, we had many more miles to cover before we would be back at the cars. My knees were complaining because of the downhill sections, and I was not alone. I heard others talking about their knees, too. But you know, once you're out there in the wilderness, there's not much you can do except keep on truckin' until you reach the starting point. Once we got there, however, Amy (our social secretary) pulled out a tray of cupcakes to celebrate Al's 72nd birthday. It was only two days late, but Amy is nothing if not determined to acknowledge each and every birthday we celebrate.

Al successfully blew out his single candle (whew!) while we looked on. And then, of course, we enjoyed the sweet chocolate treat. I look at this picture and smile, feeling incredibly fortunate to have found this group of like-minded seniors. We get together every Thursday, rain or shine, to experience the outdoors with each other. Ranging in age from 62 to 81, nothing could ever replace the enjoyment I feel after a day with the Trailblazers!
:-)

Old dogs and new tricks

2012-01-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

Snagged from Pixelmator

I got an email from Picnik this week, letting me know that it is being discontinued. Picnik is the editing tool I've been using ever since I began writing my blogs to make headers and to add text, show two side-by-side pictures, and whatnot. It's actually not going completely away, but it's moving some of its most popular features to Google+. Now, I'm a member of Google+ but am still not sure I truly want to get involved in yet another social networking site. My friends who post over there keep me entertained when I visit it, but Facebook is just about all I can handle after keeping up with the blogs I follow (almost a hundred), which are way more interesting to me because of their variety and immediacy. I might end up feeling differently about Google+ in a while, but for now I was sorry to hear that Picnik is leaving me in April.

And just by chance, my friend Al mentioned (during Thursday's hike) that he recently bought Pixelmator, a Mac photo editing tool, and was having fun with it. So I of course went to the Apple app store and took a look. Since Picnik is returning the annual $25 I pay for a pro account, and when I saw that this app costs $30, I bought it. The first attempt I've made with it is the new header on this blog. I don't yet know how to make a nice border, but I wasn't unhappy with my first attempt. It helped that years and years ago I learned (I'm using that term loosely) how to use PhotoShop. I took a beginning class with my very capable assistant, Ann.

It was a two-day-long introduction to what you could do with PhotoShop. In some ways, Pixelmator is similar, using layers and tools to cut out pictures and slap them onto others, such as the above picture. Fortunately, Pixelmator has plenty of tutorials for me to watch over and over until I can duplicate the sample pictures. I woke up in the middle of the night and remembered a trick I had learned years ago. While I struggled with PhotoShop, Ann took to it like a duck to water. This meant I didn't have to get proficient myself, just ask HER to create what I needed. She was so creative that she kept the entire office agog with her work. I ended up having to take another beginning class a few years later, because she moved on to another position and I no longer had her to hold my hand.

But now it's years later and I'm having to teach myself some new tricks. I knew quite a bit of theory but I didn't have much hands-on experience with photo editing. Picnik knew just what I wanted to do and made it possible to work within their framework. Now, if I can just get proficient with this program, I might actually come up with some new and creative ideas myself. I'm hoping so, anyway.

This morning the Oscar nominations came out, and I was happy to see that Judy and I have seen all but two of the nine movies that were nominated. Tomorrow we will go to see "War Horse" and later "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close." Judy reminded me today that Meryl Streep has now been nominated 17 times for an Oscar, but she hasn't won since 1982 (for Sophie's Choice). I do hope she will win this time. I haven't yet seen Michelle Williams in "Marilyn," but I cannot see how she could have been better than Meryl. But then again, I'm really rooting for Meryl to win. What do you think?
:-)

Dinner and a movie

2012-01-21T17:45:00.000-08:00

I just got home from seeing a silent movie, The Artist. When I watched the Golden Globes last week, I was interested to see that the movie garnered Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Original Score, three out of the six nominations it received for the event. So I decided it was important to go see it, and I'm glad I did. I fully expect it to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, although it's a silent film. It has a pretty good musical score to accompany it.

The story is set in 1927-31, at the end of George Valentin's career as a silent film star and the rise of Peppy Miller as one of the first film stars of the "talkies." I was pretty caught up in the entire film, which also benefits from one of the cutest and smartest Jack Russell terriers I've seen since Benny (The Smitten Image's dog). When I watched the Golden Globes, I noticed that the dog went up to the stage with the other actors, and rightly so. He was simply awesome in the movie.

The movie isn't everybody's cup of tea, being that it's in black and white and there's no spoken dialogue. At all. Towards the end of the film, there's a bit of tap dancing (which I loved) and at the very end you hear a teeny bit of dialogue. The rest of the time (other than one tiny little piece) it's either quiet or there's music. But it's obvious what is going on, and I can see why Jean Dujardin got Best Actor. He's good and certainly easy to look at. So is Berenice Bejo, his love interest. I enjoyed it very much and would be interested in hearing what other people thought of the movie. It earned a 97% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The music was a big part of the movie, since it helped to tell the story, and I can see why the score won.

Judy and I went to dinner after the movie and discussed our feelings about it. She didn't like it as much as I did, but our tastes in movies diverge somewhat. I'm looking forward to hearing what movies will make it to the Oscars (nominations out next week), but I think I've seen the majority of the ones I hope will be nominated. It's the first time I've been exposed to a full-length silent movie, and I have to say it was definitely worth the price of admission. Plus I'm in a good mood after dinner and the movie, which is worth quite a bit.
:-)

Whatcom Falls Park

2012-01-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

Whirlpool at Whatcom Falls Park

Only three of us Trailblazers showed up for today's hike. The weather took a turn for the worse on Monday, when snow began to fall. Then after we got several inches on the ground, frigid air headed south from British Columbia to lower our temperatures into the teens. I didn't move my car for three days and rode the bus to town so I could follow my regular routine. The high temperature yesterday was 19F (-7C). The snow stopped in this part of the county, close to the Canadian border, by Wednesday morning, but the temperatures made driving treacherous. I usually ride the bus anyway until Thursday, when carrying my hiking gear onto the bus makes it hard not to drive. It took twenty minutes for me to get my car ready to roll, and I was a Nervous Nelly on slippery roads all the way to the Center, which was closed. Al and Mike were in the parking lot already; we waited until 9:00am for any stragglers (nope) and then drove to Barkley Village.

It was cold, but nowhere near as cold as yesterday. The forecast said today would be much warmer, but it didn't turn out to be really warm, by any means. The temperature was hovering around 24 on Al's car thermometer. Since we wouldn't be traveling into wilderness but staying in town, I didn't take a lunch, only water and warm clothes. We headed onto the trails behind Barkley, which were being used by lots of people with their dogs, out for a walk or run, and since the schools are closed for a second day today, kids were taking advantage of the snow.

Whatcom Falls Park has 241 acres of beautiful wooded land and lots of trails, which were all covered with snow and perfect for walking on, or sledding down the hills. I saw sleds like these being used, and cardboard if the kids didn't already have sleds. (We don't get snow all that much here, and hardly ever with such cold temperatures.) It was a pretty glorious day, with plenty of trails to cover and good company, as usual. Mike took this picture of me.

Since I wasn't wearing my big pack with a waist belt, I kept my camera in my jacket pocket for quick use. Even so, I missed some great shots, like the cute husky who came trotting by with bright pink booties. We walked to the falls and I noticed that where the water sprays the rocks and branches, some really wonderful ice sculptures met my eye. Here's one.

The ice and snow on these branches made a unique pattern. I thought that part in the middle looked like an eye. By the time we got back to Barkley Village, we had covered 7.6 miles total and walked up and down maybe 500 feet. Al suggested we trek up to nearby Big Rock Garden to add a bit of distance, which we did; I had never been there before. I didn't take any pictures, because nothing caught my eye, and my stomach was beginning to remind me that it was lunchtime. We had a quick lunch in the Haggen cafeteria and headed home, happy to have been out and about, even in such inhospitable conditions.
:-)

Constructing a life

2012-01-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

Robert, Leo and Cheetah

I cut Robert's head off, unfortunately, when I took this picture at the coffee shop. I have been friends with Leo for the past two years, a full two-thirds of his life. When his father Robert first brought him in, Leo was just a little guy who cried until he got his way. But then I watched him learn to walk, first holding onto his dad's hand, then staggering over to the rest of us, and we became good friends. He turned three last month and has begun preschool, so I don't see him very often any more. I asked if I could take a picture of the two of them, and Leo insisted that his friend Cheetah be in the picture, too.

The coffee shop is kid friendly and has lots of toys and books that are enjoyed by the patrons' kids. Leo doesn't drink coffee but he sure enjoys the raisins and chocolate chips he begs from the staff. He has recently begun to talk in sentences and I adore reading to him or, more recently, carry on a conversation with him. In fact, I have several friends I met at this coffee shop who have become important to me. The time I spend having my coffee in a comfortable setting has led me to become a "regular." The staff know me and commiserated over my recent theft and were happy to see the iPad return.

It wasn't easy getting up this morning to catch the bus. Because it snowed heavily last night and was still snowing when I walked out the door, it was dark and forbidding. However, I knew I would be happy when I got to town and got to the coffee shop. By the time I finished my morning latte and walked the three blocks to the Y for my class, I didn't even mind the snow and messy sidewalks.

We had a couple of new people show up for our walk on Saturday, and they were wearing these shoes. Have you seen them before? I wondered how they would fare in the puddles and rain, and it turns out both of these wearers had very wet feet before we were done. At least the snow hadn't started yet. Another part of my daily routine is going out on Saturdays at 8:00am to walk with a group that walks much faster than I would on my own. We head around various parts of town, and I've learned of many trails that would have been unknown to me without going out on these walks. Then we have coffee afterwards, and I've met quite a few interesting people.

Everyone who follows this blog regularly knows about my Thursday hikes with the Senior Trailblazers. We hike rain or shine, as I've learned you must do if you want to exercise here in the Pacific Northwest. I've been living here close to four years now, and I realize that I've constructed a new life. In a conversation with my partner, I became aware of the fact that I need a temporal structure to my life, where he needs a spatial one. The need to have a schedule, places to go and things to do -- it's important to me not to simply drift along without a plan or a sense of direction.

So many years of my life were spent unquestioningly going to the office, following a schedule so that my tasks would be accomplished, and it seems I've transferred that need for structure into my life in retirement. Although nobody is going to be bent out of shape (or perhaps even notice) if I don't show up, I don't question whether I will get up, have breakfast, dress and head out for the bus so I can get to town and start my day's activities. I just do it.

The only day that has no pre-set schedule is Sunday, so it's become a free-floating day, unless it's summertime and then I go off to the Drop Zone and join my friends at play in the world of skydiving. Looking at my life and how I've designed it in retirement amazes me. I didn't plan it, but it's now part of who I am and what I do with myself.

The intellectual sense of belonging to a larger community comes from the blogosphere. I try to write something three times a week on this blog and once a week on my other one. The myriad blogs I follow are mostly written by people who stimulate my intellect and send me off in directions I would never have discovered otherwise. I look forward to comments and try to make sure that I leave a comment when a post moves me. I know how important it is to me to get feedback, so I try to be generous with my own.

And just like that, a day winds down into evening, when I spend time with my partner, watch a bit of TV or read a book. By the time I climb into bed, it's been a full day. The days pile up one after another, with the occasional blip of disruption... and then I fall back into my comfortable routine. Even though my life today seems predictable, I actually didn't know I would be enjoying myself so much in a world without a job at the center. Life is full of surprises.
:-)

My new iPad

2012-01-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

There is something to be said for ordering items a bit later than for the holidays or when an item first comes out. I found on Tuesday that my Social Security deposit would be coming to my new checking account as hoped, so I got on the internet and ordered myself a new iPad. On Friday it arrived!! Using the "ask an expert" chat feature on Apple, I asked how to restore my new iPad to have all the apps and pictures I had on my stolen one. It was easy, since I had backed it up on iTunes just two days before the theft. All I lost was the "Kindle for iPad" app I had loaded the evening before, so all I needed to do was reload it and all my books were there in the Archives folder. It was seamless. When you plug in a new iPad, it asks you if it is to be treated as new, restore from iCloud, or restore from iTunes. I was impressed.

The flowers are from Smart Guy. When I ordered the new iPad, he was happy for me, and when I came home from my workout, these pretty mums greeted me. I've been burning that candle to light up the darkness in the evenings, as I wrote about here. I'm amazed to realize that we are almost a third of the way through winter. And we are gaining more than two minutes a day to the length of each day.

Yesterday my friend Judy and I went to see The Iron Lady. Although the reviews are not stellar, it's certainly not because of Meryl Streep's performance. She is simply outstanding as Margaret Thatcher. The critics apparently are not fond of the fact that the movie concentrates too much on her later years, but I thought that was expecting the movie to have been more inclusive of her accomplishments, rather than a look at what happens to us all: no matter how famous and accomplished a person might be, by the time we get into our eighties (she's 86), we all become a shadow of our former selves. I thought the movie was wonderfully done and entertaining. I immediately got on Wikipedia (link provided above) and learned a bit more about Thatcherism. The depiction of her husband Denis in the movie (played brilliantly by Jim Broadbent) showed how a couple becomes dependent upon one another, even when one of them has passed on. The makeup artists who made Meryl age so perfectly deserve an Oscar, too. I'd love to know what you think of this one, but if she doesn't win THIS time, there's no justice. I thought she deserved it for portraying Julia Childs so brilliantly, but this portrayal is unbelievably perfect, IMHO.

I just peeked outside and saw that it's snowing! You can see the snowflakes falling in the upper left against the dark leaves. I don't know how much will actually accumulate, but right now the view from my front porch is lovely. We have been expecting this snow, and the temperature should plummet in the next couple of days before warming up just in time for our Thursday hike. I know I am being optimistic, but since I get to choose my state of mind, why not?
:-)

Bowman Bay at Deception Pass

2012-01-12T17:37:00.000-08:00

Fourteen very chilly Trailblazers drove in three cars to Bowman Bay at Deception Pass, about 30-some miles south of Bellingham, to begin our day's hike. It turned out that the slower group was also going to the same place, although they wouldn't cover as much ground as we intended to. As you can see, our day started with mostly blue skies. The other group planned to hike around six miles whereas we had set our sights for around ten miles at a faster pace. We ran into them twice. They were eleven and we were fourteen, so it was quite a sight to see when we were all together!

We hiked up to the old orchard above Pass Lake before returning to the bay to enjoy our lunch in quite a bit of sunshine, but the clouds came and went. As you can see if you look closely, I inadvertently put myself into this picture. The sun is so low at this time of year, it's not always easy to get out of the way. I wandered around the beach looking for some possible shots with the macro feature, and then I found that it functions nothing like my old camera setting. I got this picture of some rocks that washed up behind this bigger rock using the macro:

Not too bad, but also not as close as I was hoping to get. My macro feature kept moving around, depending on whether I decided to use "auto" or a specific setting. Back to the manual for me! I decided to just look down and use the auto setting to get a picture of my feet.

At least when I took this picture I didn't have to worry about the horizon. I cannot believe how many of my pictures are at least two degrees off level, almost always listing to the right. Thank heavens for the "straighten" feature in iPhoto. Without it, most of these pictures would not be displayed, since it embarrasses me to see them. In this one, I actually got almost exactly right, of the Olympic Mountains behind the promontory near us. As you can see, by this time there were way more clouds than blue sky.

We had a pretty wonderful day, actually, covering almost nine miles, depending on the GPS coordinates we used, which went all the way from 8.3 miles to 9.5. I chose to use the "almost nine miles" generic amount, and we did a fair bit of hauling ourselves up and down hills, covering 1,700 feet before the day was done. One thing I really love about this hike is that we see numerous beautiful madrone trees, which have brilliant red bark on the outside and almost chartreuse inner bark. Here's a picture to prove it.

I apparently had a smudge on my brand-new lens, which caused many of my pictures to have what seems to be a washed-out look in the upper middle quadrant. However, I was pleased that it managed to soften our faces in this picture, Holly and me, to make us look rather fabulous standing in front of the Deception Pass Bridge. This is me being shameless about wanting to put a picture of myself in this post. At least Holly is posing with me.

I found the pesky smudge on my camera while we were driving home, and I think it will not be present in any further pictures, but I won't know for sure until I've taken a few more. The main thing is that it was a rather wonderful day, and I happily await my new iPad arriving tomorrow! Life is good.
:-)

Snowy owls and camera fun

2012-01-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

Photo by Fredrick Sears

The Whatcom birding group sends around pictures and information about local birding, and members have been capturing pictures of the rare influx of snowy owls that has been going on in this area during the fall and winter. I found an article in the Seattle Times about this phenomenon that only occurs once in a great while. The article tells me they will be around here until March, when they will return to the Arctic for the breeding season. I have been enjoying seeing the wonderful pictures pour in of these magnificent birds. On January 8, Fredrick said about this picture:

Still several owls and fair number of birders on Salt Spring Road (bear left going in to Sandy Point). Owls were vocalizing a bit at eagles apparently. Enjoy.

They are so beautiful! And I don't even have to leave my home and go looking for them; I've received at least a half dozen really beautiful pictures. I have also been traveling around at various times and places and taking pictures with my new camera. Sometimes they turn out well, and sometimes, well... I need to find the right settings. This one was taken right at sunrise after I got off the bus.

I was hoping to find a setting that would capture the color in the sky, which this did, although it was much more vivid just before I started fiddling with the settings. I figured I'd better just go ahead and snap a picture. The bus station is on the left in the dark, but lightening it up enough to see detail there washed out the sky. Before heading to the coffee shop, I tried out a camera setting that is supposed to capture vivid color and is called "foliage." I looked up at a nearby tree and took this one of the leaves and berries, and it does seem to be more vivid. I'll have plenty of chances to use this particular setting, I suspect.

It makes me excited to find out all the things my new camera will do for me. It's also got a fish-eye setting and a wide angle setting. Those, plus the macro feature on this camera, are still to be tried. The good part is that things in my part of the world are beginning to settle down, back to normal.

Last thing: my Social Security showed up in my new bank account this morning, so I decided to go ahead and order myself a new iPad! A friend sent me a link with information about the iPad3 that is likely to be coming out in the spring or summer, but the new features are not anything I'm really interested in (faster processor, better camera). I was so happy with the iPad2, and I still miss it more than anything else. Soon I will be enjoying it once again. I'm smiling right now and feeling a lot of gratitude.
:-)

Kodak moments

2012-01-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

Marijka (sp?) and Marjan

I'm always looking to capture what we used to call a "Kodak moment" on film. We had a new hiker who joined us last week, another woman from Holland. She and Marjan immediately connected and I got to eavesdrop on some Dutch banter. The picture was taken with the "low light" setting and I wasn't happy with how washed out the two ladies look, compared with the red of Linda's hat and the green of the trees. I'm going to use that setting sparingly.

My very first camera was a Kodak Brownie, similar to this one, I think. It was so long ago I can only remember that it had 127 film and had to be put into the camera in the dark. I pushed that little white button to take a picture and then wind the dial until it stopped, so I wouldn't end up with two pictures on the same film. Kodak, I see, is filing for bankruptcy, since nobody ever uses film any more. They tried to make the transition to digital but nobody bought their cameras. I loved my little Brownie but I don't know where any of the pictures are that I took way back when.

I have several pictures in my possession that were taken with a Polaroid. Judging by the way the pictures look and the time this camera was manufactured, it was probably a Polaroid 800. I was around fifteen or sixteen at the time, I think. I even took a few myself, my old Brownie by then part of the distant past. I've never been very good at keeping possessions in pristine condition, or even in any condition. They just fade into oblivion. What amazes me is that when I looked at the picture of the Polaroid, I could still remember the smell of the developer as we stood around waiting impatiently for the magic picture to appear. How far we have come from those days!

I had another little point-and-shoot camera during the time I lived in Boulder and went to Peru (that was 1981), but I've no idea what it looked like or what kind it was. I do have a drawer full of old negatives that I cannot bring myself to throw out. But it does seem that all those old slides and negatives will never be used again. I wonder if those old slides can be converted to a digital format. I am unwilling to toss them, so maybe I'll find some way to preserve those old memories. When I hold them up to the light and look at the images, many of them take me back to bygone days.

Today, however, I am totally converted to digital cameras. All my pictures that were on my stolen iPad are safe on my home computer, and the most important of them I have backed up in the "cloud." Before too long I'll have even more of my treasures stored there. Who would have guessed a decade ago that Kodak moments would no longer be captured by Kodak? Or on film at all. The company will soon join Studebaker, Pan Am, and even Pontiac, the last of which was built in 2009. The times are definitely changing. Digital cameras are one change that I love!
:-)

Alger Alp

2012-01-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

Squires Lake

Today fourteen Senior Trailblazers headed south of Bellingham to hike to Squires Lake and then on up to Alger Alp, a 1,315-foot summit with a view of the town of Alger and a view of the Skagit Valley. You also get great views of Mt. Baker, I've been told. In the two other times I've hiked this, we never had any view. But the lake is lovely, and the six-mile (maybe a little more) round trip is also quite nice. Yesterday it rained and blew so hard I didn't think there would be any chance for a decent trek today, but the winds died down and although we had no view, it also only sprinkled on us now and then.

Faint in the distance you can see Samish Bay, with low clouds to show how dark it was. I had a chance to try several different settings on my new camera. The first picture was taken with a low-light setting, and the picture above with the automatic setting and using the telephoto. Not a whole lot to see, but it was fun to imagine what it will be like when there is a real view.

Taken by Diane

I just received this picture that Diane took of me taking pictures with my new camera. It also shows today's scenery, with I-5 running horizontally across the top of the scene. We could hear the traffic of the highway while we were on the summit, but the rest of the time it was very quiet and peaceful. The next picture is taken using the portrait setting on my camera, and I was more than pleased.

Holly

That setting seemed to soften the edges and give the entire picture a really nice feeling. It didn't hurt that Holly was wearing her usual red jacket, so that the red and green stood out in the low light. Very nice indeed! We saw some signs of the beaver that are active around the beaver pond. I wanted to use my macro feature, but I couldn't seem to make it work while using the low light setting at the same time. I figured it out eventually, but by then this is the best I could get.

There were plenty of signs of beaver presence like this, but we didn't see any of the actual critters. I think I should have used a different setting, as the picture is too light on the right side. But I'm in the process of learning. Look how red that bark is right underneath. Those beavers are keeping their teeth sharpened; we discussed their need to keep chewing or risk being unable to close their mouths. We stopped for lunch at the beaver pond and noticed it was raining lightly, dotting the pond with droplets. I tried to get a picture of our lunch spot, but neither picture was really good. I'll spare Peggy and not post a picture of her eating her lunch.

We headed back down to the cars in light rain. We had this kind of gravel road as well as more conventional trails to follow, making the hiking pretty easy. Our total elevation gain was around 1,300 feet up and down, so the trekking poles were helpful to save my knees on the downhill sections. Not a beautiful day, but not a terrible one, either. Any time we huddle in the cold to eat a fast lunch and hurry to get moving again, while sitting in either rain or snow, well that's not such a nice day. Today the temperature was on the warm side (in the low to mid-forties) and the light rain while we walked wasn't bothersome. All in all, a really pleasant day with good friends.
:-)

Shiny brand new year

2012-01-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

My walking friends and I met at 9:00am on New Years Day to walk around Lake Padden, the scene of the crime where my car was broken into a week earlier. Shattered glass still indicated right where I had been parked. But now that I've visited the lake and moved into the new year, I can concentrate on other things. Besides, nothing of value was in my car, and all the ladies either carried their valuables or didn't bring them in their cars, so everybody was ready to enjoy the day. We had coffee, spicy hot chocolate and lots of treats, mostly brought by Cindy, our leader, to enjoy after our walk. We started the new year surrounded by good friends.

It was overcast but extremely warm; the temperatures the past few days have been amazingly fall-like. Yesterday, January 2, it reached 58 degrees (14.4 C) here in Bellingham and a few high temperature records fell across the state. Today, however, it's windy and rainy.

I took those first two pictures with my old Canon PowerShot that got me hooked on the PowerShot line. It's one of the "A" series, and I've learned that they come in three different versions: A, Elph, and SX. My stolen camera was an SX with a 10X optical zoom. Yesterday I went to Best Buy and was excited to see a camera on sale that would give me a 12X optical zoom and 14.1 mexapixels in each picture for about the same price. My old one was 9MP, so for the same price I've now got a camera that will give me a bit more quality... and zoom-ability for the birds. I just went out on the front porch in very low light and took this picture of a downy woodpecker munching away on the suet feeder.

He's grown so accustomed to my presence that he just gave me a quick look and went back to attacking the suet. I used the 12X optical all the way out for this picture, and since it's late in the day and very cloudy, all I got was a silhouette. Next time. I'm very pleased with the camera; it's simpler to use than my previous one and about the same size or a little smaller. It's important to me to have a camera I can carry with me everywhere, rather than a huge DSLR with different lenses. I'd be weighed down and have the dickens of a time keeping everything dry in this environment.

Once I am assured that my Social Security direct deposit has been successfully transferred to my new checking account, I'll be thinking about replacing that iPad. So things are looking up and getting back to normal. I hope the same is happening in your own bright shiny new year!
:-)

Lots of good people in the world

2011-12-31T12:55:00.000-08:00

The ladies enjoying coffee after our six-mile walk

This New Year's Eve morning I went off to walk with the Fairhaven Walkers, exactly a week from the date of the smashed window and wild ride into theft, loss, and confusion. When I set out in the dark this morning to the meeting place for our walk, I stopped by the post office to check the box. I hadn't yet received a new debit card, so the money in my brand-new bank account was not accessible to me. But there at the post office was a registered letter and a helpful clerk who went and got it for me, before the post office was even officially open. That was nice of him. Inside the letter was my new debit card. How nice!

And I also found another interesting thing in my post office box: an envelope without a return address, sort of thick. Here is what it said on the back of the envelope:

"Found on Samish Way near Elks Club"

My checks! Of course this account has now been closed, so we'll just shred these checks, but some nice person found them and put two of their Forever stamps on the envelope and sent it to the post office address on my checks. Wasn't that a nice thing to do? No checks were used or taken, so I am glad to think that perhaps these thieves were looking for my credit and debit cards. The fact that they also got my iPad2 and camera were a bonus find, I suspect. (The backdrop behind the envelope is January's Parachutist, which was also in the post office box.)

When we gathered this morning at 8:00am, I told the ladies about last week's theft, because they had all been there, too, but it was me who was victimized. They listened with gasps of incredulity, because it could have been any one of them. One lady who was parked next to me saw the smashed-out window when she went to leave. Most put their purses behind the driver's seat and push them down out of sight. No more. They will all make changes in the way they handle their valuables, so this makes me very happy. Some good has already come from this.

I also bought this anti-theft device to put onto my steering wheel. Although it looks cumbersome, it's easy to take on and off. I put it onto the car when I'm parked at home, since they know my address and have a key to my car. Some people have suggested leaving no valuables in your car at a trailhead and opening the glove compartment to show any would-be thieves that there is nothing worth taking. I'm not sure how I will handle that, but now my driver's license and credit cards are on my person, not ever to be left in my car again.

My friend Teresa Evangeline has a wonderful post on her blog today, and it gives me a sense of what I want to strive for in the coming year. She calls it "In the Living Room of the World," and lists four important tenets that she has tried to follow ever since she read the book "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. I found this post especially inspiring, but anyone who follows her knows this post is not an unusual one for her. She's a real find.

So now I believe I can put this incident in my life to bed and begin anew at the turning of the new year. The walking group always ushers in the new year at Lake Padden with a celebration after a walk, so they will be meeting there tomorrow morning. My friend Peggy has offered to come pick me up if I don't feel safe leaving my car parked there, but I've thought about it and realize that I am not vulnerable now in the way I was before. All valuables will be with me and not in the car, so I'll join the celebration and put the past year behind me. I do hope that all of you will have a wonderful and joyous celebration tonight.
:-)

Stimpson Nature Reserve

2011-12-29T14:54:00.000-08:00

The Senior Trailblazers were given a short respite from the constant rain we've been having lately here in Bellingham. Sixteen of us gathered at the Senior Center under clear skies, but it was obvious that the weather would be changing soon. Fortunately we didn't have far to drive and had a very nice trail to hike on. I found this link giving some information about the Reserve:

The forest is largely undisturbed and displays characteristics of an old-growth forest, including douglas fir trees over 400 years old, a wide diversity of tree species, snags and decaying logs, and a complex architecture of canopy, understory, shrub layer, and tapestry of the forest floor.

The various trails cover around four miles, so we started out taking a 2.5-mile loop twice around, giving us just under seven miles total, with a few hills and valleys, but nothing like our usual half-mile of elevation gain and loss. It was a wonderful day, and I got to visit with my old BFF Diane, who winters in the warm climate but is here for the holidays. This picture of her and my new friend Holly shows that it was not a cold and wet day at this point.

Diane, me, Holly

Am I really that short? (Yep, dang it.) The pictures are taken with my old camera, which works just fine for the blog, but I will replace the stolen one with an even better zoom for bird pictures. You can see I look a bit tired from the ordeal of the last few days, but I am continuing to recover. I hope you will read my previous post, if you haven't already, for the important lessons of vigilance to keep you relatively safe from fraud. Lots of valuable information was left in the comments, too.

The clouds came in and the skies began to darken, as you can see here. By the time we thought about making a third time around the loop (visible in the first picture if you enlarge it), the rain was coming down pretty seriously, so we opted to head back to the Senior Center to share our lunch in a nice warm setting. We did the same thing last week, one benefit of going out on nearby hiking trails and taking shorter trips.

Peggy is standing by one of the two ponds in the Reserve, which apparently supports beaver activity, but we didn't see any evidence of them. This picture was taken just before that light rain began. No sign of the sun or wildlife, other than the runners that kept passing us by. One guy we saw zip by us several times. A wonderful place to re-create in nature. I'm happy I get to hang out with all these old folks!
:-)

Things are looking up

2011-12-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

These tulips from last spring just made me smile, as I looked for a nice picture to dress up my blog post. Hope they do the same for you. Things are indeed looking up, since today the window on my car got fixed, I have a new bank account, and the insurance claim has been completed with my insurer. Although the replacement of the window didn't meet the deductible, it feels so NICE to have my car usable (and invisible) again. I also got my driver's license renewed and drove around today in my repaired car, the first day since "it" happened last Saturday. So yes indeed, I am feeling so much better today. My insurer even paid for the cost of the stolen chocolate bar.

Last night I also slept the best I have in days. Some of my blogging friends have real difficulty sleeping, so today I am feeling much more understanding, after two nights of anxious tossing and turning. Last night, however, I turned a corner, and today my life feels like it's getting back on track. I can actually start thinking about other things. I've learned some valuable lessons. Here are a few.

This kind of theft is increasing exponentially as people get more desperate. The thieves ALWAYS fill their car with gas as their first move. A red flag is when they fill two or three cars all at once. Women are often targeted, because they carry a purse and usually leave it in the car when exercising. They watch for that. The trunk is a better option, but the police told me if I leave valuables there that I place it BEFORE arriving at my destination, so that nobody sees me open the trunk. Covering your valuables with a coat or a pillow is also a red flag to the thieves.

Women in grocery stores are a target because they leave their purses in the basket as they peruse the shelves. This is when they will walk right up and take your purse while your back is turned. The policeman told me of a woman just today who accidentally left her wallet at Home Depot, and by the time she found where it was, more than $2100 had been charged to her account.

There are two kinds of theft: property and identity. Both are felonies, but identity fraud needs to be handled separately, since police cannot take your word for what happened, your bank needs to give you a detailed report of what happened with your cards so you can make a separate fraud report. The only important thing I still have to do is to get ahold of annualcreditreport.com and use their free report to find if anybody is trying to set up new accounts in my name. They offer a free 30-day fraud alert to make sure nobody is trying to steal my identity. That's my task for this week.

What I am hoping is that my misfortune will serve to warn some of my beloved community to protect yourself from this happening to you. The biggest shock I received today when I turned in the police report is to learn that here, in Bellingham, more than 40 to 50 of these thefts happen every single day! With the police departments being cut back, there are fewer and fewer enforcement officers to follow through to catch these criminals. They get away with it, sometimes until they must feel they are entitled to our stuff. What can we do to change this scary trend?

One of the most important things I've learned in the last few days is that yes, it's a violation of my life, but move on and do not let myself become a victim of identity fraud! The number of people who have told me of their own experiences makes me realize that suspicion is a more reasonable response than trust when somebody calls, or emails, or pretends to be offering something that seems too good to be true.

If you can convince me that this is the wrong choice, I'm all ears. You will be talking to a disillusioned Pollyanna...
:-{

A better day today

2011-12-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

I just read my Christmas Eve post and really am looking for ways to move beyond the event, so I would like to give my dear blogging friends a picture from last winter, of this lovely grey jay, a gentle reminder of all the beauty in the world. The trekking poles add just enough color to the picture to make it one of my favorites.

I'm much better today, after the shock has worn off and the hemorrhaging of charges on my cards has stopped. The nice people who are allowing me to park my car in such a way that it is safe from vandalism until Tuesday afternoon (when the window will be fixed) reminds me that many people are more than willing to be helpful if asked. People also asked if they got my house key, and no they didn't; I carry a spare car key in the billfold to leave with the auto shop when work needs to be done. The rest of my keys were in my pocket. I'm thinking of having the locks changed in the car so I won't have to keep worrying about it. We'll see.

Last night I woke in the middle of the night and kept going over and over the things in my purse (it's actually a day pack that I use for a purse) and hoping I remembered all the important things. If I had been willing to learn how to download and use the "Find My iPad" software, I could have made it immediately unusable and locked it up tight. Next time, believe me. If you have one, do yourself a favor and learn about it. How much I would have loved to keep them from looking inside it.

And the final coup de grâce was this morning, Christmas morning, when I thought of the special treat I had bought myself: a chocolate bar with 88% dark chocolate. I went to get it... and remembered that it's gone, too. I sighed and gave it to the Universe along with all the rest. Ah, well.

The wind is blowing a gale outside and the birds keep getting blown off the feeder. The rain is coming down sideways, but I'm happily ensconced inside with lots of good food and great companionship. I talked with my brother today and my sister yesterday on iChat and feel a bit on the emotional side, but otherwise just fine. When I read my blogging friends' posts this morning, many of them caused tears to just stream down my face, unbidden. I welcomed them, and the gratitude for my community of dear friends continues to grow. Thank you for being part of my life.

News flash: Update to this blog, 2:38pm PST: My friend Holly (who was with me yesterday on the walk), just came to my house with her partner to bring me THIS! And she had not yet read this post:

So, I guess I was truly able to offer it up, and CiCi's revision to the Universe has made my day. I am just thrilled and feeling really and truly blessed. You might notice one of the chocolates is already eaten. :-)

Enjoy the day in whatever way brings you the most pleasure. That's what I'm doing...
:-)

Violated

2011-12-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

This morning bright and early I went for my early morning walk with the Fairhaven walking group. It was blustery and rainy at Lake Padden, but this is what I found when I returned to my car: a shattered passenger side window and the pillow that covered my purse/pack on the floor moved aside and my valuables were just gone. Inside was my wallet with credit cards, debit card, checks, and driver's license, along with sundry other things I hope I have remembered.

They also stole my iPad2 and camera, both of which I carry with me almost always. It hurts like the dickens, but the hardest part is the feeling of violation. Feeling that they are looking at my entire life story, with my home address on my license, all my cards simply... gone. Everything that tells people who I am is gone. By the time I had canceled my debit and credit cards, the thieves had gotten six separate charges on them, three on each. They filled up their car with gas, to start, then went off to buy groceries ($80), bop over to Rite Aid ($190), and a quick stop at Starbucks ($180). Figure they got gift cards or something to rack up that amount. A stop at several stores with the credit card, totaling another $350, and by the time they got to Macy's, the nice something they tried to buy for themselves for $518 was denied. I will not have to pay any of the charges, but the crying, the helpless feeling (have I remembered everything?) have not gone completely away yet. It's been six hours since I discovered it.

Having two direct deposits and having to close my checking account... all this pain will continue for weeks, if not months. I also had a key to my car in my wallet, and they know my address. Some nice neighbors have allowed me to park my car in their driveway, with their cars behind and beside mine, so that until the window can be fixed, nobody can take it. I'll get one of those bars you can place on your steering wheel, I guess, so that nobody can drive it away once it's fixed.

And it's Christmas Eve. I am determined to have a good holiday, because I just don't want them to have the satisfaction of destroying me, too. I remember long ago when my mother was robbed, heavy silver and furs all gone, she never got over it. Well, I can replace everything, and I still have a choice to make about how I deal with this misfortune.

The police tell me that this is a common occurrence at Lake Padden. It's shady and the thieves sit in cars with tinted windows, waiting to see you show up and go for a nice walk around the 2.6-mile lake. You won't be back soon. When nobody is coming, they strike quickly. They must have figured that the pillow covered something they wanted. Nothing else was touched.

I have my little camera that I used before I bought my latest one with a zoom, and I still have my iPod, which I'll use. Fortunately Smart Guy wouldn't let me put any critical passwords into my iPad, but they have my email address and are probably going through my pictures and looking for whatever they can find to use before wiping the iPad clean and selling it. This is not helping. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...
:-(

North shore of Lake Whatcom

2011-12-22T13:24:00.000-08:00

Eight of us Senior Trailblazers went out for a nice easy six-mile walk around the north shore of Lake Whatcom. Maggie took this picture of us in the sunshine at the three-mile mark. From here we walked back to our starting place, a nice, flat and easy hike. It wasn't warm, though, even with all this sun. When we started it was 27 degrees F (-5 C) and probably wasn't even above freezing by the time we got back to the cars. It didn't dampen our Christmas spirits, though, as you can tell from all the smiles.

I saw these holly leaves all frosted with ice, looking quite festive. I especially like the one towards the top that was obviously previously tasted. We started walking right around 8:30am and finished by 11:00pm, so it wasn't terribly long. Once the winter sun made it up across the nearby hills, we began to see a little sunshine, but after we turned around we went back into the shadows.

We saw more of that amazing angel hair hoarfrost, and this one (on a piece of bark held up against the light) looks like cascading waves. It's amazing that even a bit of warm breath melts this fragile ice sculpture into nothing at all. It only appears on bare bark, so the cold must pull it out of the unprotected wood.

We passed this waterfall in both directions, and on the way back some of us tried to follow a narrow trail to get a better picture, but it didn't really go anywhere, and this picture taken from the main trail is the best I was able to get. If I were to come back when it was in sunshine, I might have gotten a better shot, but it's not too bad as it is.

It was a beautiful, sunshiny day right at the Winter Solstice (which occurred last night), with long shadows mixed with dappled sun keeping the air frigid. We all headed back to the Senior Center and some of us went inside for a nice warm place to have lunch, while others went out to run errands at this busy time of the year. It is a truly lovely day outside, and I know I would not have ventured out into the cold without the impetus of joining my good friends. Wishing them, and all of you, a holiday season filled with smiles and warmth.
:-)

Lions and iCloud

2011-12-20T14:53:00.000-08:00

From WSR Photography

Well, we finally did it! Halfway, anyway. Yesterday Smart Guy uploaded Lion OS 10.7.2 onto my iMac, which I'm using right now, and onto his laptop. That way we can use it and still slip back into our comfort zone with my laptop and his iMac still on Snow Leopard. We resisted getting the new operating system because we were both pretty happy with the old one, and as anybody who has been following the drama of this new system knows, it's not exactly seamless. It's a pretty big change.

However, now that it's on here, the only thing I have to remember is that the scroll button on my mouse now works backwards. Everything seems quite a bit zippier, which is good, and I see I have two new icons in my dock: Launch Pad and Mission Control. They just seem to duplicate other things I use occasionally. Everything I need still seems to be working just fine, so I'm beginning to breathe a sign of relief. So far, so good. I haven't tried some of my apps that I use a lot, such as iPhoto and Flickr, but I can't help but think they've worked out quite a few of those bugs. My sister hasn't converted to Lion yet, because she really likes Quicken and it won't work on Lion. Smart Guy really likes his multiple desktops and thought they would be gone, from what he read, but apparently it's not true. And the brouhaha about the scroll bars missing? They are there on my iMac, so I don't see what the problem is.

But what the whole new operating system is supposed to do is give you the option to put your stuff into the iCloud. It sure sounds airy-fairy, doesn't it? The world of computers is moving so fast these days, I was afraid that if I didn't try to learn about cloud computing, I'd be hopelessly left behind. But the iCloud doesn't sound so wonderful to me. I have learned that the whole idea is to allow me to store data such as music, photos, applications, documents, bookmarks, reminders, notes, books and such and to synch email and calendars on all my devices. Since I currently have three devices (or four, if I count my unused iPod), it sounds pretty cool. The only problem is that I have to LEARN a whole bunch to use it. I'm not exactly sure I want all my pictures to show up on my iPad or laptop, and I don't yet know if I even get to choose. That would take up an awful lot of space, and it sounds a bit like a way to get Apple users to buy more powerful and more expensive machines.

But other than that, I'm pretty pleased that we are stepping into the new era of ubiquitous connectivity and computer power. Way cool!
:-)

Winter solstice

2011-12-18T15:31:00.000-08:00

From Astronomy Picture of the Day

Boy, you can sure find some strange stuff on the Internet if you go searching for something as simple as "Winter Solstice." I am sure most of you know that the first day of winter begins when one of the Earth's hemispheres experiences its longest night and shortest day of the year. When you get into higher latitudes (such as where I am at the northern 49th parallel), the days are only a few minutes longer than eight hours, and the nights... well, the nights are VERY long, it seems. But soon now, we will begin the journey back to summer's long days and short nights. That picture above was taken in Tenerife, Canary Islands, during last year's lunar eclipse that occurred on December 21. If you want to know more about the picture, I've linked the Astronomy Picture of the Day that explains it.

I don't know about you, but I find the long nights and short days to be a time to pull inside and ponder the meaning of things. This year, the Winter Solstice will occur at 10:06pm on December 21 here on the Pacific coast of the United States. If you have some time to explore the Winter Solstice link above, you'll find that all over the world in every culture and in most religions, humans have acknowledged a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, gatherings, rituals, or other celebrations around that time. I'm sure there will be plenty of them around Bellingham this coming Wednesday night. You can bet I'll be fast asleep when it comes around this year. Usually if I am awake, I mark the moment.

I've been buried in books and have laid out my knitting needles to start a new project, both things I like to do when it's dark outside. Yesterday I finished Jodi Picoult's latest book, Sing You Home, which I enjoyed immensely. My only problem with her books is that I tend to keep reading until I've finished the story, anxious to find out what happens to her characters. She also keeps you guessing right up to the end.

Our local independent bookstore here in Bellingham, Village Books, gives its clients who sign up for an account 25% off any book in the store during your birthday month. Since I forgot to take my card for the discount, I'm forced to go back for another book before the end of December. You can tell I'm really sad about that (smile). My problem when I go there is trying to leave without taking home too many books. Plus I can bring them back and turn them in for a store credit once I'm finished. Because of that, I no longer write my name inside the books and ask friends who borrow them to treat the books gently.

Surrounded by plenty to read and at least two knitting projects to choose from, I'm feeling quite ready for long midwinter nights. And I have my blogging community of friends who keep me entertained with the comings and goings of their family and friends. For those who are struggling during these long nights, I am keeping you in my heart and will light a candle to push back the dark.
:-}

Fragrance Lake and Christmas party

2011-12-15T16:36:00.000-08:00

Anonymous sign decorator

Thirteen Senior Trailblazers set out to hike the Fragrance Lake trailhead, hoping to be done by noon so that we could all attend Amy's Christmas party at 1:00pm. We started at 8:40am and got to the lake by 10:30, so Al suggested that we go "over the hill" to extend the trip; otherwise we would have been back to the cars by 11:00am. So once we got to the lake, we extended the hike by heading up before we went back down to the trail.

Several of us, including Marjan, wore our Christmas gear on the hike. The hat and earrings are definitely Christmas-inspired. The day was overcast and we started out with a bit of rain, but before we had gone more than a few miles, the rain had stopped. We were relatively warm and comfortable.

The lake behind the raindrops on the foliage pretty much showed what the hike was like today. The main thing was we hoped for a good workout before meeting at Amy's for a party, and that was what we got. Al suggested the extension, and then we missed the original trail, ending up hiking very steeply downhill before joining up at the regular trail. We covered almost six miles and considerable UP and DOWN before heading over to Amy's for the party.

Once we got to Amy's and began our party, all the difficulties of the hike faded away as we ate and drank and appreciated all our friends and family who showed up for the day. We got to visit with family members we had not met before, such as Mike's partner Miriam, as shown below.

It was wonderful to meet partners who we had only heard of second hand. (And it was all good!) At least thirty people showed up at Amy's for this solstice gathering/ end of season extravaganza. And I suspect I was not the only one who overindulged in all the food and drink we brought to share with each other.

Here you see Dorothy, Dan's wife, Steve in the middle (our sometime leader), and Gina, Norm's wife, with the ladies dressed in holiday finery. We had a great day, and now that I am writing my post, I realize how much I appreciate all the friends I've made over the past years, who now feel like family. I am truly blessed.

:-)

The joy of giving

2011-12-13T14:12:00.000-08:00

Scarves at Silk Market, Beijing

When I was in China, I wanted to bring back souvenirs for myself and my friends, and these silk scarves fit the bill perfectly. I think I must have bought, during my six excursions to China, hundreds of different scarves. They were made of silk or pashmina, mostly. (Some were nylon; I bought some pretty ones and gave all the nylon ones away.) I love the feeling of silk. To dress up my outfits at work, I would tie one of these around my neck and make a simple sweater or blouse look much dressier. If you buy several of them at a time, the cost is less than two or three dollars for each one. In China, the shop owners always quote you a very high number at first and bargain down to a fraction of the original asking price.

Dozens of these scarves have been languishing in my closet for years now. I realized recently that they had not been touched since I quit working, so I got out the trusty ironing board and pressed them, wrapped them in tissue paper, sealed the gifts with Christmas stickers, and headed out on the bus this morning.

The two ladies who serve me my latte at the coffee shop got the first of them, and they were both pleased and excited, wrapping them around their necks, looking at themselves in the mirror, obviously happy to have received them. I couldn't believe that giving such a small thing could make so many people happy! Then I went to the Y, and the woman who gives me my towel was the next recipient. She opened it and told me I made her day. By this time the smiles I had left behind me had me grinning, too.

After my workout, I headed over to the Community Food Co-op for some items to make a nice stew of ratatouille. One of my favorite counter helpers got the next one, and she was so thrilled she came around the counter and hugged me, telling me it was the perfect color (it was!) and matched what she was wearing. She asked me to tie it for her, which I did. You would have thought each gift was actually worth more than a few dollars, considering how much enjoyment everyone involved has received.

The ratatouille is now simmering on the stove, looking and smelling good, so the whole experience of today has made me definitely feel part of the 2011 Christmas spirit. In fact, I've had so much fun I'm going to rummage around and see what ELSE I can pass along. What can I rescue from the dreariness of disuse and transform into the joy of giving? I do hope your day is a good one.
:-)

Tis the season

2011-12-10T14:30:00.001-08:00

Wreathes for sale at Farmers' Market

I got up early (even for me) to dress and quietly tiptoe outside to see if I could view this morning's lunar eclipse. The moon was full here on the west coast and the eclipse was complete at just about 5:58am. I thought about going out to Bellingham Bay to see if I might capture a dramatic shot or two, but when I walked outside, the clouds and fog told me I wouldn't get much of a shot, if anything at all. And then the clouds parted as I stood on my back porch, the moon appeared in the sky, almost completely eclipsed. Although I took several shots, none of them were good, since in the dark at full zoom I couldn't hold the camera steady enough. But I watched as the last of the light left the moon, and I gazed at it in wonder. The clouds closed up and covered the moon again. It was as if the sky opened up just long enough for me to glimpse it.

After a nice walk with my usual walking group this morning, I headed over to the Farmers' Market, looking for scenes that would illustrate the season. We only have one more weekend before the Market closes until April of next year. The much-smaller Market was serenaded today by these young musicians. They had just started to play and laughed at their efforts with frozen fingers. The music was so beautiful, though, it brought tears to my eyes. If they made mistakes, I never heard them.

Since there are still plenty of vegetables, I stocked up before heading over to the Y. For some reason, I just couldn't get myself excited about swimming, so I halfheartedly used a couple of the weight machines, took a shower and went home. I like the bicep curl machine and the one called "lat pull-down." Both of them give me a nice "pump" with just a little effort, and since it IS the middle of December, I decided I deserved to bring my veggies home and stay warm and snug in my little corner of the universe for the rest of the day.

I took this picture of my car the other day when the sun was just coming up. (We haven't seen the sun today and aren't likely to.) I thought the patterns in the frost were just beautiful. Smart Guy said the shapes remind him of coronas from the sun. To me, they look like tapestry. Isn't Nature amazing?
:-)

Pine and Cedar Lakes

2011-12-08T14:42:00.001-08:00

Eight Senior Trailblazers headed up to the Pine and Cedar Trail in our usual winter stomping grounds, the Chuckanut trail system. I have loved learning about these hikes, but now I am beginning to know their good and bad points. This one heads very steeply up an old logging road for the first mile or so. I tried to get a picture that gives an idea of HOW steep. This is the best I got. The sun wasn't shining because of the fog, but we knew that eventually it was supposed to be clear.

The humidity and cold temperatures made it difficult to stay warm when we weren't moving. Once in a while the sun would break through the fog, but then it would move back in. As long as we kept going uphill, we were quite warm.

By the time we got to Cedar Lake, we saw that it is beginning to freeze over for the season. I thought this picture of the logs and the ice (and what seems to be possible sun breaks) was rather pretty. It was only 10:00am by the time we got here, so we took a loop around the lake and headed over to Pine Lake. Marjan was caught in the sunlight in this picture and a fortuitous ray of the sun centers perfectly over her head. You can see that the ice in the lake goes all the way across.

We kept seeing what we thought was a fungus growing on bare fallen branches. In the picture below, looks soft and fuzzy, doesn't it? But it's ice! It's called angel hair hoarfrost, I believe. When we tried to touch it, it melted. I took several pictures of it, but this is the clearest one I captured, and it could still be a little better. I was on the ground with my camera, using the macro feature, and by the time I finished taking several shots, I was getting cold. I just had to hope I got a decent picture.

We decided to add an extra mile or so to the hike and headed over to Raptor Ridge. It was almost lunchtime by the time we got here, and lo and behold, the SUN came out and the last of the fog left the scene. I had a chance to catch four of the group enjoying the sunshine.

Behind them, you can see the fog finally blowing away. Although it was sunny, it never got warm, so our lunch wasn't all that leisurely. There are winter days here in the Pacific Northwest when we have both, but today wasn't one of them. The nice part is that it was DRY, and that's always a plus at this time of year. In fact, my new fancy raincoat is beginning to get a reputation for being magical: it's keeping the rain away. Wouldn't that be great? No, I'm sure it will be getting a chance to show its stuff. Just not today. Before the day was over, we had covered almost eight miles and 2,300 feet up and down. A good workout.
:-)

The Way

2011-12-06T15:56:00.001-08:00

I just got home after seeing what I thought was a wonderful movie, The Way, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen's son. According to Rotten Tomatoes, which is linked above, it has an 80% freshness rating. Those who didn't like it thought it was too sentimental and pedestrian. Well, they must not know much about spiritual quests, if you ask me! I've been on a few of these myself.

The movie is about a guy, Tom Avery, played by Martin Sheen, with flashbacks and hallucinations where he sees his son Daniel (played by Emilio Estevez) that shows the relationship the two of them had. Like most fathers and sons, it was complicated. Then Daniel is killed in France on the first day of a 900-mile-long pilgrimage, the Camino de Santiago. I had heard of this before, an ancient pilgrimage to the burial site of St. James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It is also known in English as The Way of St. James. This link tells you that it has been traveled by pilgrims for more than a thousand years and has several different starting points, but they all end up in the same place. It has now been named one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.

Anyway. The movie is about Tom going off to France, where Daniel had been caught in a storm and apparently froze to death, to collect his body to bring home. When he sees Daniels's backpack and provisions for the trip, he decides to have the body cremated and walk the pilgrimage himself, with Daniel's ashes. The movie is about the journey that takes Tom from his insular world as a Southern California ophthalmologist who was estranged from his son to a pilgrim attempting to find what his son was trying to teach him about life.

On the way, he runs into three characters who are as emotionally damaged as he is himself, and they become an unwilling group traveling the Camino together. One of my favorite reviews is from Steve Persall, the Tampa Bay movie critic. His full review is here, but I give you a favorite quote:

Like any road trip movie the path is scattered with colorful characters and, in this case, vibrant culture. Estevez stated in interviews that The Wizard of Oz influenced his style, with Tom as a grouchy Dorothy and three traveling companions discovering their hearts, brains and courage.

I really loved this movie, and I am grateful that my independent theater, the Pickford, gives me the chance to see movies that don't always make it into the big theaters. This one deserves to be seen by as many people I can talk into going to see it. Believe me, I'm working on it!
:-)

Birds and birding

2011-12-03T15:29:00.001-08:00

It's funny that I never really paid much attention to the birds in Boulder. Although I would listen to them on summer mornings, I didn't ever think about feeding them. When I moved to Bellingham, into a nice little apartment with a nine-foot-wide covered front porch, I noticed some pegs that a previous tenant had installed on the side farthest from the front door. I figured they were for flowers, which is a possibility.

Some of the other nearby neighbors had bird feeders, and I enjoyed watching the birds come and go, and before I knew it, I had purchased some bird seed and scattered it on the porch. Almost immediately several birds found the seed, so I took a trip to the local Wild Bird Chalet to learn the do's and don'ts of bird feeding. There is also quite a lot of information on line, and now I'm not only hooked, I found a perfect use for those hooks on the porch: two upside-down feeders (such as the one in the top picture), two suet feeders, and a black-oil sunflower feeder hang from them. One peg is vacant because I discovered that the squirrels can reach it. The others are beyond their reach, as well as protected from the rain, so that the bird seed stays dry, an important aspect to consider here in the Pacific Northwest.

I also learned that when you feed birds, it's important to provide a water source, as they need water to digest the birdseed. And in the winter when the water freezes, it's essential to find a way to keep it from freezing up. That's the reason for the coil under the rock in the picture. It works very well, and it did make me feel much better to give them a water source that stays available, even when it gets really cold. I have a family of Northern flickers, chickadees, goldfinches, bushtits, song sparrows, nuthatches, juncos, and the ubiquitous house sparrows (which travel in huge flocks and try their best to crowd out the native species). That's why I have the upside-down feeders: sparrows are perch challenged and cannot feed on them. They are left to forage with what falls on the ground. The juncos also want what's fallen on the ground. So do the squirrels, but that's another story.

I joined the Whatcom Birds email Listserv hosted at Western Washington University that has allowed me to learn a great deal about local birds, as well as to see pictures of them for identification. Joe Meche, president of the North Cascades Audubon Society, puts lots of pictures on the site that can be downloaded to help identify birds. Other people also put pictures up that give me pleasure, such as this one from Victor Burgett:

Taken by Victor Burgett

He said in the email, "This fierce little bird was quite incensed to meet its reflection in the mirror, and spent a few minutes aggressively attacking it, quickly returning after I shooed it away initially, as I didn't want it to injure itself in the confrontation." I laughed at this description and loved the picture, hoping to use it in a post someday.

Taken by Joe Meche

At first I thought this bird was hurt, but Joe Meche explained, "I observed this Glaucous-winged Gull yesterday afternoon, getting in some serious stretching and preening in the bright sunshine on the lower creek." He captioned it "Gull Yoga," which is quite appropriate, I'd say.

I continue to learn more and more about the birds that visit me, as well as other local wildlife, including the hawks that sometimes come to check out the fat little birds that hang out on my porch. Sometimes they will even venture onto the porch themselves, wondering where their tasty treats went off to. Even though the Northern flickers are big but nowhere near as big as the hawks, the birds know the difference and make themselves scarce when a hawk shows up.

Sometimes a bird will strike my front window hard enough to knock itself out, and occasionally to kill it, although I've put reflective stickers on the window to minimize bird strikes. I take the bird and place it in nearby greenery, hoping that it will be recycled into Nature one way or the other. I love my birds, and I do realize that Nature is not always kind. But it gives me great pleasure to see them, to learn more about them, and to appreciate their winged freedom.

:-)

A rutabaga birthday

2011-12-01T15:53:00.001-08:00

Today's my birthday, and I got to spend it hiking with the Senior Trailblazers. Before we left the Senior Center to begin our hike, Al told me he had a present for me. He knows I've got a bit of a weird diet and had a difficult time deciding what might be appropriate. He handed me an orange package, which I looked into and spied these... rutabagas! I thought at first they were turnips, but upon a little research, I find I wasn't all that far off. Who gets rutabagas for a birthday present? Me! And the cute card behind them is from a friend I know from my workout class. I guess I must be pretty special to qualify for these two wonderful (and exotic) gifts.

Nine of us hiked up the north side of Stewart Mountain on a trail we call "Olsen Creek," since we pass by or tromp through a good bit of water and mud on this trail with Olsen Creek flowing nearby. Fred pointed out that we also had six women out of the nine, making another sixty-nine. The sun was supposed to be shining, but we only saw a glimpse now and then, and as we ascended, we saw our first snow. I took the picture above, thinking it would be the most we would see. And then we got to 3,000 feet and ran into LOTS of it. Fred took this picture for me, because I wanted to put it on my blog. In 2009, I got this picture in my exercise class, and did something similar last year. It makes me really happy to be doing all this at my advanced age.

After we got this picture, we had a quick lunch. As you can imagine, none of us was really warm, but I wanted to show you my lunch for the day. Because Smart Guy keeps me in great veggies, I had brussels sprouts festooned with red peppers and feta cheese. It was really sublime and looks pretty sitting here in the snow.

We did have some views, even though the sun never really came out until we were descending. Here you can see Whatcom Lake in the foreground and Bellingham Bay behind. The promised sunny skies should be here tomorrow and for a few more days, too.

When we returned to the cars, after covering around nine miles and climbing and descending around 2,500 feet of elevation, Amy, our de facto social secretary, pulled out a bunch of birthday cupcakes, a candle, and everyone sang a rousing Happy Birthday, while I took in all the love and wrapped myself in being the center of attention, my favorite place!

And now I am home with Smart Guy, drinking my well deserved glass of wine while writing this post. I know my friends will be checking to see what I've written, and my blogging friends will comment and wish me many more returns of the day. I am filled with gratitude and even a teeny bit of humility. Thank you, one and all. I am truly blessed.
:-)

Video chatting and weather forecast

2011-11-30T13:46:00.001-08:00

I asked Smart Guy to take a picture of me talking to Norma Jean on iChat today. Ever since I went to visit her in February, I've talked to her this way two or three times a week, and it seems like we are right there together. She's sitting on her back porch in sunny Florida, while I sit at my desk in sunny Bellingham. I like to use the headphones because she can hear me much better, and only my part of the conversation is able to be heard in the living room. Sometimes I think Smart Guy isn't really listening to me, but then he will chime in with a word or two, and I know he's at least partially engaged in the conversation, too.

But it's really between the two sisters. Ever since I was there after her husband Pete died in February, I can be there like this and it doesn't cost us a thing! We also occasionally use Skype or FaceTime, but the quality of iChat on our iMacs tends to be the best. I visit with her, the dogs, and with her son Peter who is staying with her for awhile. He's doing all kinds of work on the house before he intends to go off to California to seek his fortune. (He was laid off in October from his job in Michigan.)

Tomorrow I'll be hiking with the Senior Trailblazers, and we have an amazing weather forecast. I don't know what exactly is going on with this La Niña business, because we don't usually see something like this weather forecast in the first part of December:

Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining! It's going to be a great day with a bunch of great people, as usual. I've now been hiking on Thursdays with my friends for three years now, and although I keep going back on many of the same hikes, they are always an adventure. Tomorrow's post should tell the tale. Until then, I'm wishing for all good things to come your way.
:-)

My friend and mentor

2011-11-28T12:59:00.001-08:00

I kept his books and reports organized

Today I received an interesting email from Mickey, my old boss, friend, and mentor. I took this picture of him sometime back in the early 2000s sitting at his desk. It's obviously fall, looking at the trees behind him. We didn't dress up at NCAR (the National Center for Atmospheric Research), and the Senior Scientists like Mickey regularly showed up for work in t-shirts, jeans, and Birkenstocks. That big bag by the trash can was one that Mickey carried back and forth with him every day.

I worked for Mickey for almost thirty years, first as his secretary (before they were called administrative assistants) and finally ending up as his writer/editor and essentially his partner in every one of his endeavors. Together we put together many international conferences, and he gave me the opportunity to travel all over the world. We published dozens of books, and I was the person who helped Mickey put into print books and reports we could be proud of. I've written about this at length in my other blog.

Mickey shopping in Hanoi 2006

Mickey would decompress from the stress of being in the front of the room and directing the workshops (usually four days long) by shopping. He found it relaxing and would give presents away to everyone he met. I remember once standing in Bangkok's terrifically crowded Mah Boon Krong shopping center with Mickey, with hundreds of people rushing from one place to another, while he guided me unerringly to his destination, a place where we could get business cards printed up in minutes. He was in his element, and I was just simply overwhelmed.

Mickey also mentored everyone he met, not just me. Once he knew what I was good at, he took full advantage of my talents. These young Chinese students are interviewing Mickey about his work, and I believe he has continued to mentor many of them through email, sometimes for years. Mickey never forgets a friend. Today in his email, he told me of the fate of the last of our colleagues in our now-defunct office. Mickey has finally retired from the frenetic pace he kept up for decades.

I retired from my job with Mickey in March 2008. Mickey took me with him on one last trip that month, this one to Rome, where I had never been before. He had a conference to attend and asked me to go with him and take notes. (It was really because he wanted to give me a gift.) Here he is in front of the Trevi Fountain, a beautiful and ancient place that brings tourists from all over the world to throw coins into the fountain, which is supposed to ensure your return to Rome. I didn't throw one in, so I guess I'm not going back to Rome.

This man changed my life in so many ways. He taught me to believe in myself, and he showed me the world. Although I am three years younger than he, I was always rushing to keep up with him as he strode through the streets of whatever city we were in. Mickey is not only a good person, through and through, but he's the only real Citizen of the World I've ever known.

Probably the most important thing he taught me was learning to give without any thought of return. He has friends all over the world, and I know that if I ever needed anything, Mickey would bend heaven and earth to help me. The email he sent me today reminded me that my blogging friends should know about this great guy, too.
:-)

Quiet serene holiday

2011-11-25T16:25:00.001-08:00

Smart Guy took this picture of our Thanksgiving dinner, showing some of our favorite things behind me in our apartment. The triangle box contains the flag that was given to me at Chris' burial; the Chinese wall hanging with the two galloping horses; our printer on the bookcase behind me covered with a silk scarf; and salmon, salad, and a fabulous delicata squash dish spread before me. The squash turned out to be the star of the day this year. Usually I simply cut them in half and bake in a glass dish, but this year I wanted to "dress up" the vegetable for the holiday.

Without being sure how it would turn out, I sauteed several cloves of garlic that I ran through a garlic press with an entire yellow onion in a bit of olive oil. Once the onions began to get transparent, I added the sliced delicata squash, a dash of salt, and a little water. Covered the pan and turned it to simmer until the squash was done. Oh! What a great dish this was! It was so sweet that it could easily have been a dessert (which we didn't have).

The salmon, a gift from a fisherman friend, was caught this summer and flash frozen. He told me that salmon should never have a smell; if it does, it's not totally fresh. This salmon was sublime; I'll have the rest of it for dinner tonight. We also had some 100% rye bread that we could spread with a fresh basil dip. (I just made that dip up, too, with leftover fresh basil from an earlier dinner. It wasn't as wonderful as the squash, but it was pretty good.)

In traditional fashion, we left the dinner table filled to the brim, but without any wheat or dessert, we did NOT fall into the expected coma. It was a wonderful meal and we have tons of leftovers, which is also traditional in my experience. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too!
:-)

Then and now

2011-11-23T13:42:00.001-08:00

These pictures of the two of us were taken nineteen years apart. We met in 1992; when the first picture was taken I lived in Boulder and was visiting him in his San Francisco apartment. The other picture was taken last summer at Snohomish Skydiving after a jump we made together. It makes me realize that, although I still feel like that fifty-year-old version of me, I'm not there any more. I didn't have ANY gray in my hair, and Smart Guy didn't have a beard, much less a white one. I didn't wear glasses all the time like I do now, and he never went without them until he got cataract surgery. Now he could go without glasses if he didn't feel like seeing things crystal clear when driving. And I can't function without mine, whether driving or not.

It's funny how things evolve so imperceptibly you don't realize how much has changed until you compare then and now. In the first picture we didn't even live together yet, and in the second picture, those two live happily together in Bellingham. It took many years of hard work, talks and tears (mostly mine) to find the happiness that we now share. We hit some rocky shoals and turbulent waters, but today, the contentment that shapes our days could not have been imagined by those two young whippersnappers. Many of my blogging friends have been with their significant others for a lifetime. It took me many fits and starts to find the right person. I thank my lucky stars that I finally did.

I've been retired for almost four years now, and the present structure of my days simply would not allow a forty-hour-a-week job to fit in at all. It seems an impossibility to me that I accomplished so much in a week's time. That also has been an imperceptible change, once we got through the stress and strain of moving from Boulder to Bellingham. Today I worked out in my exercise class and noticed how many of the regulars are now friends of mine. Although we all came from different places, you sweat together a few times a week and before you know it, you're buddies. That's where I met my friend Judy, and we go places that our spouses are not interested in (like the opera). I am one lucky person.

My Thanksgiving will be spent with my guy, with salmon gifted to me from my fisherman friend Gene, some excellent organic delicata squash from the Farmers' Market, and a fabulous shrimp salad I'll whip up tomorrow. Our usual hangout places will be closed, giving the employees a day off, and things will start back up again on Friday. There will be no Senior Trailblazer hike, of course, and I'll sure miss it.

I am sending you, my special blogging friends, sincere wishes that your day will be filled with warmth, family, and blessings. For me, Thanksgiving 2011 gives me a chance to say THANK YOU.
:-)

Signs of the times

2011-11-19T14:07:00.001-08:00

Our Farmers' Market has dwindled down to just a few vendors, with many of them selling products for the upcoming holidays. We woke to crystal-clear blue skies this morning and a heavy frost, but nobody is complaining. I think these pretty ornaments will find some takers, and there are still a few vendors selling veggies. I realize that we are very fortunate indeed not only to have our market continue at this time of the year, but to have an amazing variety of local veggies still available. The market will continue until the last Saturday before Christmas.

People were out everywhere, enjoying the cold crisp air without a cloud in the sky. I went for my regular Saturday morning walk with the Fairhaven group. It was the largest yet, with probably two dozen women and one man all out to enjoy a six-mile walk at a very brisk pace. We started right at the corner where the Farmers' Market sets up and, after a nice coffee and company, we ended just in time for the market to open at 10:00am. I went over and got these pictures and made a purchase or two, thinking about Christmas presents. All of the cut flowers are gone, but these beautiful dried flowers caught my eye.

After spending a few minutes looking around, I headed over to the Y and got in my usual half-mile swim. It was really nice to finally have returned to my Saturday schedule. I felt like a million bucks as I headed home to have a nice lunch. I have absolutely no cravings for wheat or sugar these days, and although I'm not following any particular diet, I am definitely feeling quite virtuous.

Oh, and tomorrow I'm going to the opera with my friend Judy. We went to see Puccini's Tosca last Sunday and I really enjoyed myself. These are filmed operas, shown at our independent theater. They have a winter series called "Opera in Cinema" showing various filmed operas and ballets. Last week's was performed at the Royal Opera House in London, and we had English subtitles for the Italian. Tomorrow it will be Verdi's La Traviata. And the best part? I don't have to use opera glasses or dress up!
:-)

Chuckanut Falls and fun guys

2011-11-17T15:00:00.001-08:00

I couldn't resist the play on words in the title. This is a picture of Chuckanut Falls, my first time seeing it, with a great fun guy in the foreground. That's what we kept calling all the fungi we saw on our hike today. Ten Senior Trailblazers set out on a one-way trip using a shuttle system. We left one car at one place, drove to another and then shuttled back after we were done. It worked out quite well, and the best part is that it never really rained today! Although we didn't have any sun and it was quite cold (below 40 deg F, 4.5 C), we hiked on some parts of the Chuckanut trail system that were new to most of us. The trail going to the falls is relatively new, and we knew we were headed in the right direction when we saw this sign.

Notice all the leaves on the trail, too. Yesterday it was windy enough to get all the rest of them off the trees and onto the ground. It rained and blew all day long, so we suspected we would have a not-so-nice day, but it was more than adequate. Peggy found this one leaf that amazed me with its size. The leaf is from a large-leaf maple tree (no kidding)!

Steve led our group today, as Al had a family illness going on. I must say that, although we missed Al, Steve was a very capable leader. I could never have found my own way through all the twists and turns we went on to end up back at our single car, but he never missed a beat. He has a very droll sense of humor, so there were times when he was pulling my leg and I didn't know it. Here's a picture of our lunch stop, with Fred behind the camera.

That's Steve on the right in the blue hat, with me, Peggy and Amy having our lunch. Behind the tree on the extreme right are Marjan and Frank, and four others are not pictured. As you can see, we weren't all that warm, but believe me: any day when we are ready for rain and we get just a few sprinkles is a good one! We took a side trail to Raptor Ridge and intended to have lunch there, but there was no view and a very brisk, cold wind greeted us instead. Along the trail, Amy had the gumption to stick her hand in this hole. Who knows what animals could have been lurking in there! She actually stuck her entire head inside, looked around and declared, "it's hollow." Good thing!

All in all, it was a really good day. I would have gone even if it had been storming and raining when I left the house, because next Thursday is Thanksgiving and we will not be hiking. The dark, overcast days leave me in need of time spent outdoors, and it's always hard to make myself go unless I know I'll be in good company. Today we covered more than nine miles and almost 1,800 feet of elevation, so it was a moderate hike when we were expecting a hard one. Steve isn't nearly the slave driver that Al is!
:-)

Mood swings

2011-11-15T13:05:00.001-08:00

I wonder sometimes what causes my mood swings. On October 25, I went up in the High Country and got this picture of Iceberg Lake. I was in a good mood that day, partly because I was with my trekking friends and we were on an adventure. We didn't know if this would even be possible so late in the year, and I think it was the very next day that the road to Heather Meadows (the start of this hike) was closed for the season. If you enlarge this picture, you can see there's already a fair bit of snow on the trees, the mountains, and on the path in the foreground. Now it's probably an entirely different scene as the snow has been flying almost nonstop up there ever since.

Murr Brewster left a comment on my last blog post that got me to thinking. She said she had heard that going wheat-free can affect one's mood, and to pay close attention and let her know, since she's not "giving up my olive bread with slabs of butter for nothing." Her blog is one of my favorites, because I can count on having at least some giggles and maybe even some fall-over-laughing fits when I read it.

The weather certainly has a strong effect on my mood. I notice that walking out to the bus when it's raining hard and the gloomy skies show no signs of lifting, I'm not usually smiling and singing. One thing about this part of the country: when the sun comes out, everybody I see around me sheds their outer clothing and walks around with bare heads. The opposite happens when it's raining: dark faces obscured by hoods and rain gear are the norm. Of course, how could it be otherwise?

Three weeks wheat free now, a head cold and then an unexplained sore throat during that time, and I'm still feeling pretty sunny most of the time. It's impossible to tell what is causing what, because the sun is out right now and I'm feeling great. But our hike this Thursday is not supposed to be so nice. We were blessed with two Thursdays in a row with wonderful weather, surrounded by the days before and after filled with rain and wind. This week's hike is looking like it's going to have a bit of both, with some snowflakes possible as well.

I'll get the first good chance to see if my new expensive raincoat works as advertised. I'll be prepared, and it will also be a test to see if my good mood continues. Of course, mood swings might be much the same as the weather: how can I tell if I'm in a good mood if I don't have down days?
:-)

Rain, wind and a walk

2011-11-12T14:25:00.001-08:00

This is the view looking south from my front porch. Although it's not easy to tell from this picture, it's raining. It's been pouring now for a couple of hours, but early this morning I went out with the Fairhaven walkers (there were more than a dozen of us) all bundled up in the cold, expecting it to rain, but it didn't. In the most amazing timing ever, as I walked back to my car after our six-mile walk and well deserved coffee klatch afterwards, the rain began spattering my windshield. I wouldn't have gone this morning if the rain had already reached us. Satellite images were clear, showing the rain several hours out.

I love this group of walkers, led by Cindy. We meet at 8:00am every Saturday, rain or shine, at a place she chooses. She reminds us where we are going by email a day or two beforehand. The only time she cancels this walk is if it's icy and the footing might not be good. Most of the trails are around Bellingham, and I've been introduced to many of the beautiful places that are tucked away out of sight, some of them just a quick turn into woods from city streets. You just have to know the town as well as Cindy does. I first joined this group on the only time each year she starts the walks at 9:00am: New Years Day. On the first day of the year, several of the long-time walkers bring food, and Cindy provides coffee and hot chocolate. Here's a post about my first visit with these friends; I realized when I started writing this that it's been almost two years now since that day.

Many times during the summer I'm out skydiving with my friends in Snohomish on Saturdays, so I miss this walk, but usually I try to get my knees in the breeze on Sundays so I can join them for a four- to six-mile walk at a brisk pace. Cindy was a world class race walker years ago, and she moves her tiny little body so fast across the ground that it seems like she's standing still, zipping from the front of the group to the back time and again with her dog Luna. Today we went up some very steep hills and down again, with the trail covered with damp leaves that had recently fallen from the trees. So many of the trails are in deeply forested woodlands. When we moved here, we knew about the nearby mountains and Bellingham Bay, but these numerous urban trails were a happy surprise. Two of my Senior Trailblazers told me about this group of (mostly) women and their dogs on leash, if they choose to bring them. Today we had fourteen walkers and three dogs.

Just a quick aside before I sign off: it's been almost three weeks since I've been wheat free (and free of any added sugar) and I notice one interesting side effect: my stomach is getting flatter and my waist is beginning to reappear. And here I thought it was gone forever! Is it possible that wheat can really cause that? I haven't lost any more weight and just want to keep what I've lost from creeping back up during the winter months. I remember once long ago seeing a cartoon showing the three shapes a woman can expect to have in life, using keys on the typewriter:

) ( Young babe
| | Premenopausal but no longer young
( ) Postmenopausal old lady

Maybe it's not always true!
:-)

Lizard, Lily, and North Butte

2011-11-10T15:09:00.001-08:00

Today fourteen Senior Trailblazers headed back up to Lily Lake (we went by there last week from Chuckanut Drive), Lizard Lake, and took in the view from the North Butte of Blanchard Mountain. Although this picture is out of focus, I couldn't resist using it, showing the overcast day (part of the reason for the lack of focus) and the profusion of leaves that have fallen from the trees. We had mild weather and were expecting a warm and sunny day. That's not what happened, exactly. It was indeed much warmer than last week's hike, but we kept waiting for the sun to break through the clouds. It did happen, but not until afternoon when we were heading back.

Since we drove south toward Alger and hiked up the east side of Blanchard Mountain, we were able to visit the two lakes, with Lizard Lake our first stop. Both of these lakes look very similar to one another, but the wind had not picked up yet, and the reflection of the trees is really clear. I didn't see any lizards. After a quick stop, we then headed up to North Butte, where we would have a nice view of Samish Bay from a rock outcropping. The view is not much different from what we saw last week, but we had come at it from an entirely different angle.

Once we had climbed the rocks to reach this view, the wind had come up and it wasn't exactly warm. Although there were a few sun breaks, some of us headed down out of the wind to have our lunch. However, I took a picture of some of the group as they came up the rocks.

By the time everyone had arrived on top, nine stayed on the rock for lunch while I joined four other sensible hikers at a lower spot out of the wind. As you might notice from the gloves and warm clothing, we were not exactly basking in the rays of the sun as we had hoped. After lunch, we joined up again and headed to Lily Lake, where we saw some signs of wildlife.

Although we didn't see any beavers, we know they are somewhere nearby, probably working in the dark of night when people aren't around to bother them. This tree undoubtedly will not be standing when we see it next. I learned that beavers are required to chew down trees as their teeth continue to grow throughout their lives. (I wonder if this is true, but I believe it.) After passing by the second lake, we began our descent back to the cars. This is when the sun came out and was shining through the dense forest, making for some lovely scenes, some of which were even in focus.

By the time we returned to the trailhead, we had covered almost ten miles and 2,200 feet up and down. It made for a very nice day, and since we had little distance to drive, we were back home by 2:30 in the afternoon, and I'm sitting here looking at full sunshine through the window. There is something pretty wonderful about having so many beautiful places to visit, with good friends, on a day with no rain and only a gentle breeze.
:-)

Fall food choices

2011-11-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

Buy from Amazon here

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote on my other blog about a book that was recommended by my friend TechnoBabe, called Wheat Belly, written by a cardiologist who felt compelled to expose what he calls the reason for the massive increases in obesity and overweight in Americans over the past few decades. Nobody who pays attention to these kinds of things could fail to notice the growing numbers of really really fat people. I sure see it here in Bellingham, whereas in Boulder I rarely saw people on the street as fat as those I see around here. Of course, part of the reason for that might be linked to the winters in the Pacific Northwest: long stretches of rainy days with little to no sun.

Whatever the true reason for the increase in our waistlines, I decided to buy the book. I actually downloaded it onto my iPad2 so that I could support our local independent bookstore. (This was my first and possibly last electronic book; I really like to peruse and flip through pages that I've read without a lot of bother. Plus this book had notes in each chapter and I could not easily look them up.) I read it avidly and agreed with many things he had to say about wheat. Basically, the idea that wheat has become ubiquitous in our diets, in so many different products, is indisputable. His real premise, with which I agree, is that the wheat we ingest does not bear much resemblance to the "amber waves of grain" that we think of as wheat. It's been genetically modified in order to make it produce more at a lower cost, and all without any research on whether it is harmful to those of us who eat it. Here's a quote from p. 6, called "Wheat, the Unhealthy Whole Grain":

Of all the grains in the human diet, why only pick on wheat? Because wheat, by a considerable margin, is the dominant source of gluten protein in the human diet. Unless they're Euell Gibbons, most people don't eat much rye, barley, spelt, triticale, bulgur, kamut, or other less common gluten sources; wheat consumption overshadows consumption of other gluten-containing grains by more than a hundred to one. ... I focus on wheat because, in the vast majority of American diets, gluten exposure can be used interchangeably with wheat exposure. For that reason, I often use wheat to signify all gluten-containing grains.

Dr. Davis makes a great case for stopping the consumption of wheat. I tend to go along with what he says about it, as well as the observations he has made about all kinds of fructose sources (often hidden with esoteric sounding names) and their terrible consequences on the body when consumed in even small doses. And here I had started eating agave nectar, thinking I was doing good things for myself (not!).

Anyway, I did some research on other gluten-containing grains, such as rye, and I found out some very interesting information. For one thing, since rye has a much lower gluten content than wheat it is usually combined with wheat when used for making bread. I looked for straight rye breads and found that my local health food store does indeed carry some, but there's not much. It needs a sourdough starter if it doesn't contain any added sugars. A variety of pumpernickel is imported from Bavaria, although there is actually a 100% rye bread made locally that is hard as a rock. It's good, though, and I'm using rye as a replacement for the spelt bread I have grown so fond of at the Great Harvest Bread Company. Their spelt has lots of honey to make it rise, and I noticed that I would often crave the bread for its sweet content. One place that has lots of interesting facts about rye is Grindstone Bakery. I will continue to keep rye and brown rice in my diet, since I have no gluten issues. I asked the owner of the GHBC if they make spelt without added sugar, and he said they experimented with it, but it wasn't successful. It needs a fair amount of honey.

The reason for my endeavor into a wheat-free diet is to find out if cutting out wheat and all added sugars (other than from fresh fruit) will improve my cholesterol numbers. I was so convinced that I would be looking at great numbers after losing fifteen pounds and eating lots of healthy foods. I ate my spelt bread and sourdough wheat breads, occasional excursions into pizza when eating out with my friends, but otherwise not much wheat. I don't eat processed foods very often, but I am now thinking that I need to make an effort to keep my glycemic load to a minimum. I now check on this website (Diet and Fitness Today) to find the glycemic index and glycemic load of the various foods that I eat. In January I will again have my blood drawn to see if the numbers have improved. Oh yes, one more thing that I added: I started taking fish oil daily at my doctor's suggestion. Although I'm not going to be able to tell what might have changed my numbers, I'll know I'm on the right track if they go down. (My total cholesterol was 259, up 15 points from January of this year.)

Whew! This post got a lot longer than I wanted, but I'll stop here and release my readers to other endeavors. I do hope to hear from you about any ideas you might have about these steps I've taken.
:-)

Summer's best hikes

2011-11-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Fred asked me if I would be willing to post my favorite hikes of this past summer. Since we actually had eight extra hikes (usually on Monday) added to Thursday's regular treks into the High Country, this was quite a few to contemplate. There were no favorite hikes in June or July because of the late snowfall. The picture above was taken on our trip to Thornton Lakes on August 8th, the first of my favorites for the summer. (Each link will take you to the original post.) Special thanks to Mikey for the picture. Notice that even on that August date, there was lots of snow. This was a new hike for us.

Next comes Welcome Pass, which we did on August 18. It's kind of amazing that we chose this particular one, because in years past, just the name of this hike would cause people to stay away. The 67 switchbacks in a very short distance is part of the reason, but this year the late snowfall also caused the wildflowers to come out in breathtaking profusion. Both spring and summer wildflowers were everywhere, making it feel like we had walked into the set for The Sound of Music. (In fact we were singing and smiling all day long.) Thanks to Diane for this picture.

And then on the 25th of August, we went up Church Mountain, one of our usual trips into the High Country. Another beautiful day filled with sunshine and warmth, with amazing wildflowers yet again, this was perhaps our third attempt during the summer to reach the summit. We not only got there, but we all enjoyed this hike much more than we have in the past. It's interesting how different a hike can be from one trip to the next.

Another exciting and new (to us) hike was Stujack Pass. That's Fred trying to pull us slower hikers up the last grueling and steep switchbacks to the top of the pass. This was the fourth favorite hike we did in August. This was on the 29th, almost into September. Four of my favorites ended up being in August. Just look at those flowers in the foreground.

Although the weather wasn't as beautiful as we had on the August hikes, the trip we made up Mt. Dickerman, another first for me, was simply extraordinary. We had been warned that it is a hard hike, and we must have been ready for something much harder than it turned out to be, because we simply cruised right up. (All those extra hikes in August might have had something to do with it.) This one was on September 19. We also saw seven mountain goats!

And even though this final hike was technically during the fall (October 9th), our trip up to Hidden Lake Peaks was also stupendous. I'm running out of superlatives, and this is the final one I've chosen for the season. We have had some great hikes so far this fall, but I don't want to get too far out of the summer season for this particular post. This one was special not so much for the wildflowers (although they were still out when usually they would be completely gone), but for the amazing variety of views, weather, and a cool lookout cabin.

The other four extra hikes we had this summer were also truly great (Monte Cristo, Cow Heaven, Goat Lake, and Mt. Higgins) and I would definitely revisit some of them, but the really outstanding ones are the six I've mentioned here. It was a GREAT summer and we can only hope for one this good again.
:-)

Oyster Dome 2011

2011-11-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

There's a reason why the Senior Trailblazers set out on days like today that have a 70% chance of precipitation. Around here you can't wait for a favorable weather forecast: most days have at least some chance of rain at this time of year, and if you're lucky you can have a day like we had today. Last night it rained heavily, but this morning it had come to a stop and, although these leaves are wet, the green ferns and the trail absorbed most of it. And more never came.

The hike starts steeply uphill from the Chuckanut Highway where we parked, and doesn't let up much until you reach the top of Oyster Dome. Since the weather was fairly warm and we had no icy patches, we decided to cross this rickety bridge (one at a time) to visit the Bat Caves before heading up to the Dome for lunch. In previous years, we skipped this part of the trek because that bridge was just too scary.

Here we are looking up at Oyster Dome from the Bat Caves, where we will eventually stop for lunch, but the caves themselves didn't give me any real pictures. (Some were blurry.) But you can see the sheer rock why the Dome gives us such a good lookout over Samish Bay. Notice that sky: it's blue! And by this time we were all very warm from the uphill nature of this hard hike.

Ah, lunchtime! We've reached Oyster Dome and are getting ready to sit down and have our lunch in the sunshine as we gaze out over the Bay. But the clouds began to come in since it is, after all, November. We had a fairly quick break and headed down to Lily Lake, so that we wouldn't have to come back down over the same steep and treacherous uphill. (It adds more than two miles to the return, but it's much less steep.) Even though the picture below shows us packing up after eating our lunch, I couldn't resist including it. I really like the red pine needles in the foreground contrasting with the trees.

We had a new hiker who joined us for the first time today. Here you meet Holly, who moved to Bellingham one week ago and is looking to learn the local area. I can speak from experience that she has found the right place! She and her husband decided that they are done with the Idaho winters and since they have family in the area, moved to the "right" side of the Cascades. (That's just my opinion.)

She was busy taking a picture, but I caught her smiling at me and hope that we will be spending time getting to know her over the Bellingham winter. Today was such a beautiful day that I didn't even mind that we have left the High Country behind for the season. We are back to the Chuckanuts! Today we climbed almost 2,500 feet up and down and covered more than nine miles before we strolled back to the cars.

Fred has asked me to write a post detailing my favorite hikes of this past summer and fall. Since we had so many extra ones, courtesy of Fred and Al doing the research, I am happy to do it. The only real problem I'll have is to determine which ones I liked the most. I figure I did at least seven brand new hikes (to me at least) and with the delayed wildflowers, we had some of the most amazing flower displays late in the season I've ever witnessed. Hmmm.... processing....
:-)

November scenery

2011-11-01T12:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday as I was walking back to catch the bus home, I saw these rocks covered with autumn leaves and a spattering of raindrops. Although I will never be able to duplicate the artistry of some of my favorite blogging friends, especially Hilary over at The Smitten Image, it will not be for lack of trying. If you visit her post (I've linked it), you'll see what I mean. No false modesty here.

Today I walked by the same stones. The leaves turned brown overnight and the scene in the picture is simply gone. I'm glad I caught it when I did. Sometimes you need to take the shot, no matter how inconvenient it might be, since life just keeps right on going by. Photography, however, is one of my favorite things these days: both my own and that of others. The hikes that the Trailblazers made in the High Country this past summer and fall are all preserved in my pictures and posts, and the Chuckanuts now beckon. (Not really; the Low Country hikes are nowhere near as stupendous, but possibilities for arty shots are just as good.) I always have my camera on my backpack's waistband so it's right where I can get at it. My fellow seniors don't like to stop and admire the scenery much; they are out for the exercise.

You know you can click to enlarge, right? :-)

Yesterday I also saw this black squirrel in the blackberry bushes right off the deck of my front porch. The bushes are at least as high as I am, covered with thorns, and extend deep into the vacant lot to the south. I have no idea how he got up on top of the thicket, but there he was, snacking away on the berries. He's not a very big guy, but he's persistent. The five squirrels that sometimes are all on my porch at once (three black, two grey) fight over the scraps dropped by the birds onto the deck, and they will sometimes chase each other away. It's a regular squirrel rumble out here at times.

At the bird store the other day, where I spent too much of my money, I asked the owner what she thinks about feeding the squirrels. She's got squirrel food (corn cobs, peanuts in the shell, etc.) offered for those who want to buy it, but according to her, the squirrels propagate all too often and don't seem to need any help from humans. There would only be more of them, and neither of these varieties are native, I learned. They are immigrants from the Northeast. The only native squirrel around these parts is the Douglas squirrel, which I don't think I've ever seen. They are small and aren't necessarily urban dwellers, and they would be at a real disadvantage around here in competition with the larger squirrels.

But I was happy to capture these two pictures. I'm feeling much better, almost completely over my cold and ready to brave Thursday's Low Country hike that has, according to today's forecast, a 70% chance of rain.
:-)

Bellingham loves Halloween

2011-10-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

I went down to the Farmers' Market this morning to pick up my weekly veggies, and since Monday is Halloween and I remembered last year everybody was in costume, I hoped to find some fun pictures to share. This adorable young lady was hoping I'd take a picture of her dress, she looks so cute in it, and her mother (?) is also in costume. But I'm afraid the flower child stole my heart.

This vendor has an entire costume for a party she's attending, but this morning wore only the headdress, which I must say is quite beautiful. Obviously she's going as a unicorn; she told me she made this and is quite happy to find her horn isn't going to fall off. This morning the festive atmosphere was heightened by sunny skies (at least partly sunny) and no rain! It rained all day long yesterday and is forecast to do the same tomorrow. Sort of like our hiking group noticed, lately we've had one nice day interspersed with a not-so-nice one.

Here's an organic farmer who shares a hippie background with me, I'd say. Love her glasses! She and her partner are both in costume today. Too bad I need glasses to see; I can never wear this kind of cool eyewear because they don't fit over the ones I need to keep from bumping into things.

After Thursday's wonderful hike, I've come down with a head cold that makes me wonder if it's because I did so much last week. I skipped the walk and swim today and will go to the movies instead and sit inside. My friend Judy and I are going to see 50/50 -- everybody needs a good cry now and then, right? (For those of you who don't know the premise, it's about a 27-year-old guy who learns he has cancer. They say it's not only a tear-jerker but also humorous.) I'll wait to read the reviews (in the link above) until after I've seen the movie.
:-)

Last Goat of the season

2011-10-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth time this season we have gone up Goat Mountain. By this time of the year, we are usually relegated to the Chuckanuts (not that they are awful or anything, but once the snow flies, we stay close to home) but not this year. Although our season started out slowly, we are still able to get to the High Country. Today ten Senior Trailblazers made our way through the magical trek in the forest, with some residual morning fog still hanging around and giving us this beautiful view.

Before we had gone very far, however, the beautiful restful (although pretty darn uphill) trees were beginning to be covered with this white stuff. From this point onwards, it only got whiter and more slippery. Although we had full sunshine today, remember we are somewhere around 4,000 feet elevation in this picture, and we are headed up to around 5,500 feet. So you KNOW we are going to hit more snow.

By the time we reached the viewpoint showing Sefrit Mountain here, we could see Shuksan and Baker (our old friends) too. The blueberry bushes had a few little offerings here and there, but mostly we basked in the sunshine that warmed us as we ate our lunch. Although it was relatively warm in the sun, one of our hikers gave out before we got to this viewpoint, so we didn't dawdle but quickly went back down to join the others.

Kathy and Karen are enjoying a quick lunch before we headed back, and you can see all the fresh snow on the ground and trees behind them. It was a beautiful day, a perfect one to end the High Country season (I've said that before, haven't I?). But one thing will end today for sure: our dear friend Jonelle who first joined us on Goat Mountain on September 1 will be heading back to the desert to lead hikes there. We won't see her again until she returns in May. She's one of those "rainbirds" who head south when the weather begins to turn, but she has wiggled her way into our hearts and we'll be looking forward to her return. Blue skies and fair sailing, Jonelle!

Here she smiles along with Al, our fearless leader, with Sefrit also smiling behind them. The weather blessed us once again, and we will, as you know, be heading down to the Low Country any day now, with lots of rain in our future. But today, well, this entire week has been outstanding. Today we covered almost eight miles and 2,600 feet, to add to Tuesday's numbers, giving us more than 5,000 feet up and down, and almost sixteen miles of wilderness, adding together both treks. I'm feeling quite... accomplished!
:-)

Chain Lakes

2011-10-25T18:16:00.000-07:00

I know I said we were all done with our High Country hikes, and this was a few weeks ago. But yesterday I got an email from Al saying that, with the weather promising full sunshine on Tuesday, we should take advantage of the opportunity to get up there at least one more time before the Forest Service closes the road. We met early on this frosty morning, five of us, and headed up as far as we could go on the Mt. Baker highway to the Chain Lakes trailhead. For most of us, it was cold. Mikey hiked in shorts and t-shirt the entire way, but then again, it's Mikey.

The beginning of the hike took us past Bagley Lake, which as you can see here, is mostly frozen. We had snow and some ice underfoot, but we were prepared with Yak Trax in case we needed them (we didn't). The shadows were long, and we trekked past plenty of red-leafed blueberry bushes, some of which had ripe berries that we enjoyed. It wasn't warm, but as we toiled upwards toward Herman Saddle, we stayed very warm in the sunshine. We figured we could get to the saddle and probably would not make the entire loop, but would turn back and retrace our steps after lunch. It was pretty snowy at the Saddle, as you can see.

Here you see Al at the high point of the hike at 5,400 feet (1,650 meters). We had plenty of snow and slick spots to contend with, so we descended down a bit to a sunny spot to have lunch and thought we would turn around afterwards and head back the way we had come (just under three miles). And then while we were having lunch, a couple of women hikers who had started the hike in the opposite direction from the parking lot passed us by at right about noon. That was all it took for us to decide to attempt the loop, as we had their footprints to follow in the snow.

We headed down from the pass, with Iceberg Lake showing its beauty on the way as we headed up toward Artist Point. That road is closed, but we had the Wild Goose Trail to follow from there, which we used to get back to the cars. The Chain Lakes loop took us along a south-facing slope that displayed amazing color. If you look just above halfway in the picture below, you can see the faint trail that leads to Artist Point.

The five of us reached our car after five hours or so of splendid time in the wilderness, with almost eight miles covered, and 2,500 feet of elevation gain and loss. Tired and happy, we climbed in our car and wondered if by any chance we might have such a stellar day again on Thursday (our regular Senior Trailblazers hiking day). Between now and then, we have a good chance of rain in Bellingham and more snow in the High Country, so... we'll see. I had so many wonderful pictures that I will put a bunch more of them on the Senior Trailblazers Fall 2011 site. Enjoy! We sure did!
:-)

My Aunt Quetita

2011-10-22T14:31:00.000-07:00

My mother's older sister, Quetita, is going to be ninety next week. She sent me this picture of herself working in her garden a few years ago, when she was in her mid-eighties. I suspect she doesn't look much different today than she did then. She and her husband Jack are residing in an assisted living facility in Visalia, California. I don't get to California very often these days and haven't visited her, although my sister Norma Jean did a few years ago.

After Norma Jean found her address and phone number and sent them to me, I decided to call her. It was strange in the beginning, when a small voice said, "Hello?" I identified myself as Jan, you know, your sister's oldest daughter? "Who?" Once she finally realized who I was and I told her I wanted to send her a card to mark her birthday next week, she said disconsolately, "Oh. Yeah. I know. Ninety." She doesn't sound happy about it, but I suspect I wouldn't be either. I said that the store where I found a card also has booklets with the happenings of different years, starting with 1930. I asked her if she has some special year after 1930 that would mean something to her (thinking maybe their wedding anniversary).

"Oh, well... there's the year I had my back surgery. I was 31. You do the math."

"Well, you were born in 1921 and adding 31 years would make it 1952, right?"

"If you say so." She said this with a giggle.

"Okay. I'll find 1952 and send it to you."

"That would be nice. I don't have your address!"

"I'll send it with the card, Aunt Quetita. It's been great talking with you. Bye now."

"Bye."

We said a bit more about health concerns, but mostly it's the whole turning ninety that amazes me. Since neither of my parents made it out of their sixties, I do hope I inherited Aunt Quetita's genetic makeup, but there's no way to know. I think if my mother hadn't gotten breast cancer and then been treated with massive doses of cobalt, scarring her heart muscle, she might be alive today. Sometimes you can survive the disease but die from the treatment. But I still have one first-order relative alive who is of my parent's generation: my wonderful Aunt Quetita. I'll celebrate this most excellent milestone with real happiness!
:-)

Wildlife and Aldo Leopold

2011-10-20T13:55:00.001-07:00

Wolf_Kolmården.jpg: Daniel Mott from Stockholm, Sweden

How could I NOT have heard about Aldo Leopold before now? When I won the book from Far Side of Fifty last week (A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold), I entered a new and exciting part of the universe that I didn't know anything about. That first link will tell you everything about Leopold, but here's the short version. He was born in 1887 and lived to the age of 61; he died in 1948. The book for which he is famous was published posthumously by his son in 1949. Leopold died of a heart attack while helping a neighbor fight a wildfire.

In the early 1920s, he was assigned to hunt and kill bears, wolves, and mountain lions in New Mexico. He learned to respect these animals and came to realize their important place in the ecosystem. From that link:

In 1935 he helped found the Wilderness Society, dedicated to expanding and protecting the nation's wilderness areas. He regarded the society as "one of the focal points of a new attitude—an intelligent humility toward man's place in nature."

In the book, he talks about killing a wolf, and how it changed him. This is from pp. 138-139:

We were eating lunch on a high rimrock, at the foot of which a turbulent river elbowed the way. We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent, her breast awash in white water. When she climbed the bank toward us and shook out her tail, we realized our error: it was a wolf. A half-dozen others, evidently grown pups, sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings. What was literally a pile of wolves writhed and tumbled in the center of an open flat at the foot of our rimrock.

In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf. In a second we were pumping lead into the pack, but with more excitement than accuracy: how to aim a steep downhill shot is always confusing. When our rifles were empty, the old wolf was down, and a pup was dragging a leg into impassable slide rocks.

We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes — something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.

It took awhile, but Leopold began to realize that the integrity of the ecosystem in which we live requires wildlife. There is now an Aldo Leopold Foundation, and his children and grandchildren have become naturalists and educators. He was truly a great man. Another quote from the Wikipedia link is from Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior:

In January of 1995 I helped carry the first grey wolf into Yellowstone, where they had been eradicated by federal predator control policy only six decades earlier. Looking through the crate into her eyes, I reflected on how Aldo Leopold once took part in that policy, then eloquently challenged it. By illuminating for us how wolves play a critical role in the whole of creation, he expressed the ethic and the laws which would reintroduce them nearly a half-century after his death.

I have never seen a Grey Wolf but I have certainly heard them in the wild, and I'll bet you have, too. Thank you, Connie, for introducing me to Leopold's book. I am enjoying it immensely. She also sent me two lovely cards and said that she couldn't resist sending along a little bit of Minnesota too: both are pictures that she took, mounted on cards with included envelopes I can use to send to special people.

Raspberries and Yellow Lady Slipper

And then there's the book, a treasure indeed, that I will slip into and enjoy every second. The book is, as it says on the cover, "the classic statement of the joy and beauty found in a style of life that protects the environment." For someone who has seen only two bears (magnificent as they were) and mountain goats twice, I can attest to the feeling of majesty they impart to the wilderness. Here's a picture of the entire package I received:

I didn't go for a hike today because of the possibility of getting in to see the doctor about my allergies, which have been driving me crazy. Instead, I'm sitting here in the middle of the afternoon writing this post, and enjoying "A Sand County Almanac." I didn't realize how lucky I was, and I'm so happy to be able to share it with my blogging friends.
:-)

Rainbow Ridge

2011-10-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

Fred, Mike, Aspen, Mary, DJan, Diane, and Al

Just in case anybody thought we wouldn't take advantage of wonderful weather in the Pacific Northwest, the Senior Trailblazers did an extra-extra Monday hike today (I know it's Tuesday). Since the weather was so gorgeous, seven of us decided to make a final Monday hike, this time to Rainbow Ridge. Last week we did our "last" Monday hike on Sunday, but lest you get confused, I'll help you figure it out. All this past summer we decided to have an extra hike every other Monday, but because of weather and scheduling conflicts, we didn't follow the schedule very closely. Fred (the guy on the left) picked out some juicy hikes and we started them in July. Now it's October. Today was supposed to be a stupendous weather day and, as you can see by these pictures, we were not disappointed.

A new Trailblazer, Aspen, joined us today. Very interesting and definitely a character. That's her making a heart with her hands (I'm on the left) and Mary is kicking out her leg, inadvertently creating a mastodon. We had a lot of fun with this group today, and Aspen amazed me by hiking for the last half of the hike back down to the cars barefoot! This muddy and difficult descent was impossible for me to accomplish without shoes, I'm convinced, but my feet were rather envious when I saw her squishing the mud between her toes like a kid. She made it back to the cars without ever needing her shoes.

Aspen took this picture of me, Mary and Diane, with the beautiful backdrop of Mt. Baker behind us. The sunshine just didn't stop all day long, and it was downright warm, with me unable to test out my new jacket except when we stopped for lunch. I'm wearing it in the first picture, but I didn't really need it. While we were hiking, I had to take off clothes to stay comfortable.

The moon was setting behind these rocks, and I used my telephoto to make it larger. I was so pleased with this picture, since it's the first time I've tried to capture the moon. I'll do more of these now that I know how cool they can look. We had the moon, the sunshine, Mt. Baker, and the always beautiful Shuksan to gaze at all day. Here's Fred in front of Mt. Shuksan.

On the way home, we stopped for dinner at Annie's outside of the town of Concrete. It was a wonderful meal with good friends, and I neglected to take a picture as we chowed down our meals, but we will be back to this wonderful place again next year. We decided to rate this hike today among the top seven of the season, for obvious reasons.

Oh, and today when I got home I found a package from Far Side in my mailbox, with my prize from last week's contest, the Sand County Almanac. I'm too tired to even open it tonight, but soon I'll share it with everyone. Thanks, Connie!
:-)

Rain protection quest

2011-10-15T13:16:00.000-07:00

In the endless saga of trying to stay dry in the Pacific Northwest rain, I've just made another purchase, because these two (Fred and Diane) had an advantage over me in the second half of last week's hike: jackets made from eVent fabric. In this picture we are all dry and not wearing any rain gear, because the first half of the day was pretty darn perfect hiking weather. However, the second half was another story. I had a raincoat and poncho with me in that backpack, and before we had returned to the cars, I was drenched from one end to the other. Fred and Diane stayed relatively dry. She's wearing rain pants in this picture, which she wore from start to finish, but when the rain began she put on her eVent jacket and stayed dry. Not only from the outside rain, but she also didn't sweat so much that she got wet inside from trapped perspiration. I know, I know; this is what Gore-Tex is supposed to keep from happening, but I've never had a raincoat that really worked as advertised. The eVent fabric is designed differently, and they explain here about how we sweat. I read the specs and went to REI to purchase a very pricy raincoat.

Maybe I can try it out here in the shower to see if it works. No, I suspect I'll have plenty of chances coming up soon. This is REI's Kulshan Jacket. I had to order it from the warehouse so that I didn't have to choose the neon lime green one, the only Medium in the store. It's got a nice hood and there's enough room underneath for me to add a fleece lining. I read the reviews and most people liked it, but some weren't happy with the zipper. I mentioned that to the salesperson as I checked out, and he told me he thinks that was last year's design. The good thing about REI is if I don't like it, or if it doesn't work as advertised, I can take it back and get a full refund. Other reviews of the fabric were very positive.

I'll let you know how it works in future posts. I didn't think I would ever be anxious for more rain, but...
:-)

Bright and beautiful Lake Ann

2011-10-13T19:30:00.000-07:00

We didn't go where we were scheduled today, us Senior Trailblazers. The day dawned clear and cold, and we decided to head up to Lake Ann, which has been unavailable all year because of the late snow. But some friends had successfully reached the lake, so eight of us headed up the Mt. Baker Highway to the end of the road. We couldn't get all the way to the trailhead, so that added an extra mile to the hike, but it was worth it. Look at the clear sky! When we got to the parking lot, it was so slippery that we had to take precautions not to fall, but once we got into the sunshine, most of the ice melted away (most, not all; we had to watch every step).

This trek covers more than four miles before you reach the lake, but it's an interesting one: you start and end at the same elevation, descending almost a thousand feet from the trailhead, cross a beautiful and wet valley, and then begin a rocky ascent to Lake Ann. Here you can see the lake, and it's already frozen, mid-October. It looks like it never cleared completely all year. If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the middle of the lake has last year's snow still present. What an unusual year it's been: we saw fall colors as well as summer lupines that had just surfaced from the snow.

We had several exciting stream crossings, and sometimes we got a bit damp, but nobody got hurt. We were careful to take our time. The snow in the above picture behind the hikers is left over from last year, and it is obviously not going to melt, since this year's snow was already fresh on the trail. In the summertime, when we've done this hike before, it's so exposed to the sun that it tends to be very hot and uncomfortable as you navigate the rocks when you are gaining elevation. Today, every time we were in the sun it felt great.

This picture of Diane and me, taken by Peggy, shows our lunch spot, with two glaciers on Mt. Shuksan behind us: about even with the top of Diane's head and to the right is the Lower Curtis Glacier, and the Upper Curtis Glacier is visible just below the peaks in the middle. Several long-time hikers noticed the decrease we can see in the glaciers, just in the last decade or so. The first time I came here two years ago, I was able to hear glaciers breaking away (calving), and they are disappearing amazingly rapidly.

The eight of us spread out and sat in the brilliant sunshine, no breeze at all, and enjoyed our lunches. I was pretty tired by the time we got here, and I knew that we had another four-and-a-half miles and plenty of elevation loss and gain to travel before we reached the cars, but at this point it was a magnificent place to be, filled with laughter and camaraderie. I was happy and content as we began our descent.

If I didn't know better, looking at this picture, I'd think we were a bunch of intrepid explorers in the trackless wilderness. However, every time we weren't sure of the trail, we asked Steve, who has more experience in this environment than all of us put together. He has climbed all the peaks many times, camped here more times than I can count, and told us he was very happy to be out and about with us today. It was a bright and beautiful day, one that I will remember for a long, long time.
:-)

A little bit of everything

2011-10-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

Al sent out an email to all the Senior Trailblazers on Saturday to see if anyone might be interested in one last "extra" hike into the southern part of the North Cascades. South to us here in Bellingham, anyway. Another long day with two hours of driving to get there and two hours back, and the daylight hours getting shorter and shorter. Four of us decided that Sunday (instead of Monday) would give us the best possibility of decent weather, so we headed past Marblemount to Hidden Lake Peaks. This picture shows the tantalizing first views we got as we ascended into a meadow after climbing in mist, with occasional punctuations of sun. We were hopeful.

The higher we climbed, the more spectacular the views. We had crossed the meadow in the lower right to see some magnificent vistas. But the higher we got, the more the trail changed to rocky outcroppings, and then we saw it: where we were headed, a Forest Service lookout cabin on the tippy-top of a huge pile of rocks!

Taken with my telephoto lens, this pile of rocks looks impossible to climb, but we followed helpful cairns and wrestled with vertigo as we got closer and closer. Al took the next picture, and it was so incredibly dramatic and showed what we were dealing with that I asked him to send it to me.

On the right is the "trail" we followed to the cabin, and although the sky looks like it is clearing, we were at more than 6,000 feet of elevation (we were just below 7,000 at the summit) and looks can be deceiving at this altitude. And yes, that is a rather uncomfortable drop-off to the left. It was important to go slow and carefully. A look to the left of this picture and you could see Hidden Lake (my picture).

We were all finally at the lookout and had a quick lunch in the sheltered cabin. It's another one of those "first come first serve" places where the first group to arrive can spend the night, while others would need to descend somewhere else, like around the lake. Here's Al coming in the door:

Just after he came in to sit down, another hiking group of two entered to join us. One of them was a six-year-old kid (almost seven, he told me) with his father. He is quite an experienced hiker to have gotten up here, as we were all a little nervous about the descent and had pretty much reached our limit of our exertion, along with chills and thrills!

When we started back down, the clouds enveloped us and it began to snow. This made our descent even more harrowing and we hoped to be down off the rocks before it got worse, but as we climbed carefully downwards, it turned to rain. Before long we were all soaked, even with all our rain gear. After about an hour of this, the rain stopped and the sun tried to break through now and then. It never did, and just a half hour before we reached the car, I learned how HARD it can rain in the mountains. Reaching the car and getting warm again never felt so good.

Four soggy Trailblazers had covered nine miles and experienced clouds, mist, fog, rain, snow, exposure to the elements, being scared, being exhilarated, and around 3,500 feet of elevation gain and loss. That's why it was a "little bit of everything," but over our wonderful dinner in Marblemount, we decided we were glad we had missed out on sleet and hail. Okay, almost everything! In spite of it all, it was a great day, and I would go back in a minute... next year.
:-)

One of those unsettled days

2011-10-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

This was taken from my front porch this morning. If you compare it to this picture taken last week from almost the exact same spot, you might be able to understand why I was just SURE that the weather forecast for today (fog, then rain) was spot on. I was wrong. The sun is shining gloriously out there right now (3:00pm), but it barely made it into the sixty-degree range (15 degrees C). The sun shining through the fog gave me a good silhouette for the flicker who was dining on the suet feeder.

He's got a bit of suet in his beak. We listen for his call nowadays and keep out of sight through the window so we won't scare him when he comes for breakfast. I do love seeing all the birds who come to visit on our porch. This one (I believe he's the one) was taught how to use the feeder last year by his parent, and I tried unsuccessfully to get a picture of the two of them; he's a bit smaller than the others who visit, which is why I think he's the young one.

After deciding to skip the last swimming class but head to the Farmers' Market for some veggies and then swim afterwards, the sun came out and lifted my spirits. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and I captured this picture while waiting in line for my collards and kale.

The beauty of the fractalish cauliflower in the middle, surrounded by a pink strain of cauliflower, created a picture I couldn't resist. There was a bit of sunshine lighting up the center spiral. Now I am at home, looking out at the same front porch scene that was so foggy earlier. The brilliant sunshine makes me just the tiniest bit sorry I didn't go take my chances at Snohomish, hoping for a skydive, but today is turning out to be a very satisfying one, nevertheless.

After my purchases at the market, I walked over to the YMCA and met two of my fellow classmates in the swimming class, who were just finishing up. I got what I wanted out of the class; I now am able to keep kicking when I breathe and it will eventually become second nature. I decided that the flip turn at the end of the lane is not for me, since I'm not trying to set any records and really don't like all that water going up my nose. And I now can swim the backstroke. It was good to have a professional watch me, but all of those drills are not my style at all.

It's looking like we might be able to get together tomorrow, the Trailblazers that is, and maybe make one last "extra" hike before the snow flies. Al is suggesting possibly heading down past Marblemount and trying for Hidden Lake Peak. Sounds just right to me (9 miles and 3,300 feet elevation gain to a lookout) if the weather cooperates. Since the High Country will be closed to us until spring, and we will be spending our Thursdays hiking close to home, I hope we can do one more. Time to change the batteries in my camera...
:-)

Hannegan Pass and more

2011-10-06T17:54:00.000-07:00

We had a hard time deciding where to take the Senior Trailblazers hike today. Although Heliotrope Ridge was on the schedule, the main river has lost its bridge, so we decided to take another trek up to Hannegan Pass. We went there almost two months ago and figured it would be different enough now to make it seem entirely different. (Our August trip to Hannegan is here.) The weather forecast was for clouds in the morning, clearing to at least partly sunny by afternoon. Our first view of the valley looked very promising, as you can see from the first picture. Blue skies, clouds, and perfect hiking weather!

As we made our way to the pass following steep switchbacks, you can see that the clouds don't seem to be lifting. Fred and I went ahead to start our trek up to the pass, with the others interested in heading up that steep summit (1100 feet in a bit less than a mile from the pass) to follow after a short snack. Eleven Trailblazers were on the hike, and many would be happy with making it to the pass (an 8-mile round trip and 2,000 feet of elevation gain), having lunch, and heading back down.

Fred and I started up to the peak, but the weather didn't look like it would be clearing any time soon, and as you can see, the trail was really steep! I was going as fast as I could, but it wasn't much faster than a trudge. There was no view to pull me upwards. We then noticed that nobody was following us, so after a half hour of upward progress, making it up another 600 feet towards the summit, we had a quick lunch and turned around. When we got back to the pass, we found Al and Steve waiting for us; all the others had started back down the trail, as the temperature had dropped precipitously and there was now no sun at all. The four of us began our descent to join the others, and of course the sun began to peek out. You can see the trail (enlarge for the best view) in the sunshine below us. The sun never did come out to play.

You can see that the clouds are now lower in the valley, and we were perfectly comfortable as we headed back out of the wind and altitude. Other than the fact that the views were truncated, and after stopping for lunch everybody was cold, it was actually a beautiful day for hiking. Since Fred and I traveled an extra half mile and 600 extra feet, we covered nine miles and 2,600 feet up and down before we got back to the cars.

I stopped on the way down to take this picture, showing the red leaves and the clouds, typifying the October day we spent together on the trail. At least Fred and I got an extra mile out of it! Now I'm home enjoying my wine and getting ready to take a nice hot shower. Am I lucky or what?
:-}

Epigrams and a book review

2011-10-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

From the cover of How to Live by Henry Alford

I snagged this picture of the dog on the front cover of Henry Alford's book How to Live: A Search for Wisdom from Old People. I mentioned this book a while back, but I had bought four different books that day and was proceeding to read through a few of them. This book was started and after I got bogged down in the middle sections, I put it aside.

Yesterday, though, I finished the book and am so glad I did. The book is made up of interviews that Henry had with various elders, some famous and some not. The middle of the book is taken up with the drama of his mother divorcing his stepfather and moving into a retirement community. Although it was interesting, I was anxious to find out what the other books I had purchased were about, so I lay it aside with my place marked. I picked it up again yesterday and read avidly until the end.

After Henry had interviewed all these people, he tried to figure out some way to distill down the information he had gleaned from all his research and went in search of what he calls "elderisms," little bits of information that you don't understand or know about until you're old. He started asking seniors at senior centers across the country and got a few responses, with such wise sayings as, "To get a good look at yourself, take yourself far away." He ran into a cool lady at the Azusa Senior Center in California who calls herself "the funny-sayings lady." She faxed him a list of 24 thoughts and sayings, including "The second mouse gets the cheese," and "Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it." Henry was excited to find more aphorisms like these. Here's an excerpt from p. 245 of Henry's book:

I came across the website of a 75-year-old named Ashleigh Brilliant. (Yes, that's the name he was born with.) The author of such well-traveled chestnuts as "I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent," ... Brilliant lays claim to being history's only full-time professional published aphorist or — as Brilliant calls himself and the Library of Congress has cataloged him — epigrammatist. Asked once by the Wall Street Journal if Oscar Wilde or La Rochefoucauld didn't also qualify for such a claim, Brilliant commented, "They weren't full-time."

I had run into some of Ashleigh's work before, since he's the one who wrote those postcards called "Pot-Shots," and I have some tucked away in my memories drawer. If you check out the link in the previous paragraph, which goes to Brilliant's website, you'll have access to all 10,000 of his copyrighted epigrams, for a price of course. Although I might be at risk of getting a phone call from him, I'm going to give you a few of the epigrammatic gems I found in Henry's book.

My life has a superb cast, but I can't figure out the plot.
I feel much better, now that I've given up hope.
Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules.
If I can survive death, I can survive anything.

I learned that aphorisms, also known as epigrams or even elderisms, can lighten one's day immensely. The book was fun and revealing, and I did learn a lot about how wise and eccentric some old people are, and it's perfectly okay. It made feel that maybe I'm not such an odd duck; there are lots of old farts who make ME look normal!

:-)

Falling into fall

2011-10-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

Sigh. The flowers at the Farmers' Market all have the same look to them, since the summer bouquets are gone. Dahlias seems to be the only ones left, beautiful as they are, but when they are gone, it will be only dried bouquets (maybe a few chrysanthemums) until next spring. Fall is in the air, and many of my blogging friends are posting pictures of the riot of colors appearing in their parts of the country. Here, we are just now beginning to see the maples turn.

Yes, the title of this post was hopeful but alas, not to be. I was hoping to "fall into fall" at the Drop Zone in Snohomish this weekend, but today it's raining and tomorrow has a 40% chance of rain. So I am reluctantly thinking that the season is coming to an end. Here's the Climate Prediction Center's temperature forecast for the next 6- to 10-day period:

This is not hopeful for the next few weeks, at least in this part of the country, but it does mean that the fall colors should pop out reasonably soon. There's always an upside somewhere. The bruise from my flu shot is almost gone and my arm is no longer sore. I'm glad I got it, since everywhere I see people coughing and sneezing already, and it's only October. October! Where did YOU come from? Wasn't it just spring the other day? There's no doubt that time passes much faster when you're older, or at least it sure seems to. Only three more months left in 2011!

This is the time of year when I will be fighting to hold onto my hard-won weight loss. For whatever reason, it's when the chill in the air makes me feel cold most of the time that I begin to eat more. The fifteen pounds I lost this spring and summer will want to creep back on if I don't stay vigilant. There is a reason that the definition of the amount of weight I lost was also known in the U.K. as a "stone."

The stone is a unit of measure, abbreviation st which, when it ceased to be legal for trade in United Kingdom in 1985, was defined in British legislation as being a weight or mass equal to 14 avoirdupois pounds (about 6.35 kilograms). It was also formerly used in several Commonwealth countries. (Web definition)

Carrying it around felt like a stone, all right, and I sure don't want to add it back on. Any ideas about how to keep weight from creeping up during the winter months? Other than dieting, that is. For some reason it seems almost anathema to diet in the winter. Maybe it's time to start a knitting project to keep my idle hands out of mischief.
:-)

Park Butte

2011-09-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

Remember two weeks ago when we went up Railroad Grade? I wrote about it here. It was foggy and Jonelle, who had never been there before, had absolutely no view of beautiful Mt. Baker that you see here, although I told her what she was missing. Now she knows. I'm not sure why they call it "Railroad Grade," because it has nothing to do with a railroad but looks like it could be one from Park Butte, where we went today.

Today's hike starts out from Shreiber's Meadow, the same as two weeks ago, but today we all went up to the Park Butte overlook. This old lookout cabin is open to overnighters on a first come, first serve basis. Because of the spectacular 360-degree views, many people head up there (like we twelve Senior Trailblazers today) for a nice place to have lunch.

See the lookout? We headed up there on a trail which I suspect is clear of any snow for just a few more weeks. Although it's a steep climb, once you get there and take a look around, it's simply stunning. Here you see Diane pointing out a peak while Peggy and Jonelle dangle their feet over the edge.

I was up here once before, but it was cloudy and the view was obscured. Today I got to see why people drive more than 60 miles from Bellingham to spend the day in this part of the Cascades. We could see Mt. Baker and myriad other peaks from here that just took my breath away. Here's the view from inside the cabin, where some of us had lunch.

What a place this would be to spend the night! Several of the Trailblazers have already done that, but there are a few little problems with this idyllic picture: one, how to take a quick pee in the middle of the night? I guess if you are a guy, it's not so much of a problem. However, it made me think of getting up in a wind- or snowstorm and making my way down the steps of this lovely cabin to find a place. Nope, I'm finally too old for that. However, in daytime, knowing that I'm going to hike back down before the sun goes down, it was just wonderful.

This view of the Black Buttes, with fresh snow against the brilliant blue sky, it is just too good not to share. But there were so many wonderful views that I just can't post them all here. If you want to see more, go to the sidebar and click on my link to "Trailblazers Fall 2011." We covered seven miles and 2,400 feet of elevation today. Once we got back to the cars, our de facto social secretary Amy had made a cake (in the guise of cupcakes) to celebrate Diane's birthday, which is today. A candle in the middle of her fudge cupcakes was blown out, the requisite song was sung, we imbibed, and we headed home. It was simply a wonderful day!

Amy on left, Diane blowing out the candle

And I do want to give a heartfelt thank you to all who commented on my post asking for feedback about my blog and its direction. I have tried to keep my posts short enough to keep your interest, which seems to be working, but I will try to add a little more of my internal process. I'm so happy to see that most of you who commented are happy to let me follow my heart and won't leave me unawares. Life is good!
:-)

Tune wedgy

2011-09-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

A little dab'll do ya

I've got an earworm! I'm not sure where I first heard this term, maybe when I read Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. I even thought I had written a post about it, but apparently not. The search engine didn't find it, anyway.

If you look at the Wikipedia link in the previous paragraph, you'll find that there are several terms for a song that gets stuck in your head, and the one that made me laugh the most is "tune wedgy." But the "official" term is an earworm. It is derived from a German word, Ohrwurm, a portion of a song that continues to repeat compulsively within one's mind.

The hideous song that has been going through my own head since last night (did I dream it?) is the catchy tune that I must have heard a hundred or more times long, long ago. I haven't actually heard it again for such a long time, and it amazes me that I STILL know all the words:

Brylcreem, a little dab'll do ya
Brylcreem, you'll look so debonair.
Brylcreem, the gals will all pursue ya,
Simply rub a little in your hair!

The link also gives some tips as to how one might get rid of an earworm, which I find to be a bit dubious. I thought maybe writing about my dilemma would help; but they suggest the following:

The best way to eliminate an unwanted earworm is to simply play a different song. Supposedly, some songs are better for this purpose than others, such as the theme song to 'Gilligan's Island' or 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.

Yeah, right. Now look what I've done: I've probably caused dozens of tune wedgies in the minds of my followers. But... it's working! Now I'm hearing something else... which is being crowded out by the Brylcreem ad. A heavy conflict is going on in my brain, and I'm not sure which will win out. Why couldn't I find something else to replace it with? Ah, I've got it: I've found the ultimate tune wedgy:

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small small world

That did it! Everything else is gone now, just the repetition of that phrase, over and over and over...
:-)

Flu shots and a question

2011-09-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got my annual flu shot at Rite-Aid, using my Medicare Advantage card. Didn't cost me anything, except for one thing: I've had many flu shots and rarely remember any discomfort at the injection site, maybe a little soreness for a day or two in the general vicinity. But yesterday, it stung and itched for several minutes after the shot, as well as swelling up like I had a grape sitting under the skin. The pharmacist who injected me was obviously not happy, either. He wouldn't let me leave for fifteen minutes and got on the phone and called somebody, I don't know who. He was explaining my reaction to someone on the phone. I suspect he was wondering if I would suddenly fall on the floor with anaphylactic shock or something. But within those few minutes, the injection site returned to something resembling normal, and today all I have is a pretty spectacular bruise but normal discomfort.

Today in the swim class, we spent the entire time doing drills that we learned last week, and before the hour was over, my legs felt weak and truly spent, so I quit and have noticed how tired they seem now. Could it have been the flu shot? Or the fact that I usually swim and don't do an hour's worth of drills, or a combination of the two? Do you get a flu shot?

But that's not my question. I realized with a bit of a start the other day that my blog has become an EXERCISE and HIKING blog without me noticing. I remember asking my brother awhile back if he had read a certain post, and he gently told me he just "skims" the hiking posts. This got me to thinking about the stuff I used to write about, and what has become more prevalent.

Blogger gives me the opportunity to see what posts are the most visited in and where the visitor arrived from. This is a very interesting exercise, and I discovered that my all-time most viewed post was a movie review about Toy Story 3. This surprised me, but I learned that NONE of my hiking posts are visited much after the hike itself. They probably show up in the reader's sidebar or Google Reader if they use it, they look at the pictures and move on.

But you know, that is just what I do with most posts that are about an event in the blogger's life: I look at the pictures, read the story, and move on. I don't go back to visit that particular post again. Why would I, unless I was maybe thinking about hiking (or visiting) there myself and wanting to learn what to expect. I might think about getting some tips on Kay's 13-day-long Alaska cruise if I were going to take it myself.

This leave me with a question (the one I've been leading up to). What posts are most interesting to my readers? I find I have several posts about hiking (duh!), some about my new home town, a few contemplative ones (but I usually do that on my Eye on the Edge post on Sunday mornings), and a few movie or book reviews. Anybody willing to give me some direction? Or are you happy with the way things are?
:-)

I was wrong about Skyline

2011-09-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Uh-oh. I awoke this morning to the sound of rain drumming on the roof again. And it's Thursday, our Senior Trailblazers hiking day! I think many of our members heard the same thing and turned over and went back to sleep, because when I arrived, rain gear already on, only Al and Mike showed up. At the last minute, Marjan and Frank came to see if we might decide to go somewhere local and skip the drive before spending the day hiking in the rain. But I really wanted to go anyway, whereas Mike and Al were dubious. I said that the weather forecast said the rain would change to occasional showers and then it would be MUCH more fun than a local hike. I was wrong, as you can see from the summit shot of Al this morning. Marjan and Frank went home instead of joining us on Skyline Divide in the rain.

The flowers were as abundant as we have seen on our previous hikes this year, but we didn't get a chance to enjoy them all that much. The rain that I was SO SURE would let up was still going strong on the summit when we had the added enjoyment of high winds. Great: wind AND rain.

After conferring with my two other cohorts, we decided to get down out of the wind and have a quick lunch and then go exploring. Al had downloaded a couple of GPS coordinates to find an old abandoned mine in the neighborhood, so we headed down to the car and set out to find the old road that would take us to the Great Excelsior Mine. And guess what! We found it!

By this time the rain had pretty much stopped, and the day was much more exciting when we found this old abandoned gold mine after some bushwhacking for a mile off the road. We inspected it as much as we felt comfortable doing. As you can see, it's boarded up right inside those old uprights, and it's got warning signs to stay away and all that. We did go look through the holes to see if we could see anything, but instead we found that there is a strong breeze coming through those holes, and the air is at least 10 to 15 degrees colder than the outside air.

See the holes with the chains? Those are the ones that had the air coming through so strongly. Mike is looking inside his pack to see if he has a flashlight to see what we might see, but no luck. It was an exciting find, and it made the day well worth the drive up to Skyline Divide and a little bit of discovery to add to the day's enjoyment. On the way back down the road to the highway, we stopped to take a picture of Dead Horse Creek running into the Nooksack. It's the first major rain in a while, and I was amazed at how the white water of the creek ran into the coffee-colored Nooksack.

Our hike was a wet one, but I'm used to it by now. And I am so glad we went exploring and played in the liquid sunshine again today. That said, I am now ready for a little blue sky mixed with fluffy white clouds. The sun didn't shine anywhere near us today, but I am hopeful that tomorrow will bring a bit different weather. I had a great day, and I hope you did, too!
:-)

Wonderful Mt. Dickerman

2011-09-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

Today on our next-to-last extra Monday hike of the season, the Core Four (Al, Fred, Mike and me) set out to climb up Mt. Dickerman, one of the most popular hikes in the North Cascades, and because of its long distance from Bellingham, a new one for all of us. The event was open to every Trailblazer, but we were the only ones who made it. Two others had intended to come but weren't able to at the last minute. The hike started out in fog and mist, as it had rained very hard yesterday in the entire area. We knew that the clouds would begin to lift by noon, or that was the forecast, at least. We walked through several miles of old growth forest, seen above.

The hike ascended upwards via seventy switchbacks, which actually sounds hard but gave us a fairly moderate uphill climb through dense forest. This was our first view of the summit of Mt. Dickerman, seen here through the mist. We were about 1,000 feet below it. As we continued our climb to the summit, we passed through amazing fields of wildflowers and incredibly dense blueberry bushes, although none of them are anywhere near ripe. We also saw the incredible mountains we hoped would reveal themselves to us when we arrived at the summit, but they came and went, hiding behind the clouds, all day.

You can see the massive structure on the right known as Big Four, with hints of other mountains behind the clouds. There's nothing to be done about it, we are just going to have to return next year to get the full view of these wonderful mountains. I can't say we were at all unhappy with these dramatic scenes, though.

When we reached the summit (in the middle of the picture with lots of people standing on it), we decided to walk a short distance away to the next hill, hoping for a view of Glacier Peak, and others that were hidden behind the clouds. Instead, we were treated to another amazing view: seven mountain goats, all sunning themselves on the next hill! I used my telephoto to bring them closer, but if you enlarge the picture you will notice that at least two of them are smaller and probably babies.

This is the first wildlife we have seen this season, and it was such really exciting for us. If we had stayed with the rest of the hikers on the summit, we would have missed them. I was just pulling out my lunch when Fred jumped up and pointed at them. Suddenly we were all snapping pictures right and left, and trying to stay quiet and calm so they wouldn't go running off. Aren't they beautiful?

I asked Fred to take my picture, and you can see behind me that the clouds never cleared away completely, but they made for some wonderful and dramatic photographs. We stayed for almost an hour on the top before heading back down, hoping for more clearing. It didn't happen, so we descended on those seventy switchbacks in mostly full sunlight, tempered by the dense forest.

The fog and mist of the morning had gone away, and we were glad for the cool temperatures and filtered sunlight as we made our way back to the car. We had covered almost 4,000 feet of elevation gain and loss in just shy of nine miles. It's a beautiful place, and I can see why it's such a popular hike. I'll be back, not just to see the rest of the mountains, but because it was a magical and delightful place to be. What a day!
:-)

First swimming lesson

2011-09-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken by Amber last week. I didn't get to do THIS at all today, but instead we did drills, in my very first swimming lesson ever! It was fun, and I learned a lot, which I'll share with you. In the picture, I'm pleased to see that my right shoulder is out of the water, because it's supposed to be. It's one of the only things that I taught myself properly. The first thing Amber did is have us put on flippers. Wow! What a kick (heh) you get with those babies! And then she had us swim to the other side of the pool and back five times, using a paddle board with our heads out of the water. I felt so powerful with flippers, I felt invincible!

But then she had us swim to the other side of the pool with our heads in the water, coming up to breathe on either side, with our arms pinned to our sides!! I learned two things right off: I'm MUCH more comfortable breathing on the right side, and I stop kicking when I am breathing. Needless to say, I took on more water than I was supposed to. This took several lengths to get fairly good at. Then she had us put one arm out straight, breathing on that side, other arm pinned to my side.

What I am learning is that the crawl (or Australian crawl), which I have been doing, is the fastest way to swim, if you do it right. But I have to disconnect my head turn from my body's actions. Since I forget to kick when I breathe, it's important to return to the basics. Once I learn to kick continuously, I'll be a lot stronger. If you look at that link, there are three animations of someone doing the crawl, and I learned a lot from them, too. In short, my first lesson was very exciting, and I'll practice these techniques next time I'm in the pool.

After the swim, I went to the Farmers' Market to get some greens, and I had lunch at this new place: 22Greens. I had the Bitchen Salad, which was simply wonderful! Now I'm home and writing this post before settling down to finish my latest novel, which isn't great but I have to know what happens.
:-)

Foggy Railroad Grade

2011-09-15T17:04:00.000-07:00

Fourteen Senior Trailblazers drove the 65 miles from Bellingham to Schreiber's Meadow trailhead in a light, gentle mist to hike the Railroad Grade trail. No sign of the sun. We hoped that we would be hiking in something other than a downpour, and in that sense we were very lucky. It was only a light sprinkle when we started out, and as you can see from our clothing, it was not warm, either.

Once we reached Morovitz Meadow (seen here), we had donned our rain gear. You can see Mikey Poppins in the back with his bumbershoot, a sure sign of precipitation. We were also aware that unless something miraculous happened to clear the skies, we would not see the wonderful views that awaited us. However, I saw that if the sun had been out, the wildflowers that have only recently escaped from the snow that covered them would have been glorious. As it was, they were only moderately magnificent.

This is the trail leading to Railroad Grade, which is an interesting formation and has nothing to do with railroads. This trail leads the hiker up to a view that reveals a sheer drop-off on the other side from the retreat of the Easton Glacier many years ago. Since on this side of the meadow it is also somewhat steep, the trail goes upwards along a very narrow path. Last year we had incredible views, which you can see here. The second picture on last year's post is taken from almost the same place as this view I took today.

Even though you cannot see what is on the left side, it's very impressive. The first clue you have that something is different is the sound of Rocky Creek roaring a thousand feet below. We turned left and started to follow the trail. This is what it looked like below us today.

The fog closed in not long after I took this picture, but I started up the Grade heading up towards what is left of the once-massive glacier. However, realizing that since I had done this last year and the payoff of more incredible views had kept me going then, no such enticement was available to make me go today. Four of our intrepid group did keep going upwards, however, while the rest of us retreated to find a nice warm place out of the rain to have lunch. I got this shot of those four heading back down to join us. I don't think they went very far, either.

That's Al in front, with Mary (our newest Trailblazer on her first hike today), Frank, and Fred behind him. By the time I had finished my lunch, I realized that being damp and cold made me glad I had brought my (a) gloves, (b) fleece, and (c) raincoat. I got them all on and managed to warm up quite a lot. It took several of us by surprise, since last week it was really hot and sunny with lots of bugs, and this week it was rainy, cold, and almost bug-free.

I was almost the last person back to the cars because of these! The blueberries are beginning to ripen, and some of us stopped to pick and eat them on the way back down the trail. In a week or so, there will be so many ripe ones that some people might find it hard to continue to their destination. They were definitely the tastiest I've had this year. Some people call these huckleberries; I don't really know the difference. (Too bad it's so far to this trailhead.) We managed to hike six miles and ascend 1,700 feet of elevation. Given the hard hikes I've done the last few weeks, I realize that I don't even feel a teeny bit sore right now. Monday's hike is supposed to be one of the hardest this year, so I guess I'm as ready as I will ever be. I'm looking forward to it.
:-)

Taking the next step

2011-09-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

I just finished reading and commenting on a few of my favorite blog sites that are talking about dealing with pain, illness, stress, operations, and just recovering from grief. Yesterday my Life Partner sent me this picture, which I think he pulled off reddit or some similar place. It has continued to make me smile, every time I look at it, so I am offering it to all of you as a possible next step to take. I know I can find a waterfall somewhere, but I'll have a little difficulty blowing water out my snout, so I might skip that step.

Sometimes I think it's just fun to slip my consciousness into the skin of another creature and imagine what it would be like to be filled with joy and smiles like this beautiful elephant. If it is true that our state of mind is up to us, well then, can I choose this?

Yesterday I went to see the new movie Contagion. It was good, but it wasn't great. I didn't spend any time thinking about it after I left the theater, other than noticing all the times I touch public places that have been touched by others (like doorknobs) and thinking about how many times I bring my hands to my face without thinking. With the stellar cast of this movie, I expected more, so perhaps it was my preconceived notion that kept me from enjoying it more.

The weather has turned from unremitting sunshine to cloudy skies for the past two days. Tomorrow's hike is going to be cloudy and maybe even have some rain. But I'll be having a good time and looking forward to bringing it here to share. Until then, see if you can find some rainbows!
:-)

Mount Higgins

2011-09-13T07:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went up on the sixth Monday hike of the season, with two more left. Five of us went, those I have begun to think of as the Core Four (Al, Mike, Fred, me) plus Steve, a friend pictured above at the top point of the Mt. Higgins lookout. The hike was pretty strenuous, which I kind of expected when everything I read about it said it was "not for beginning hikers." They were right: there was plenty of exposure, both at the beginning and at the end, as you can see here, with Steve looking over a sheer cliff straight down into the Stillaquamish River Valley below.

Fred took this picture of me, and as you can see, the views were obscured by haze, mostly caused by the forest fires raging in the mountains to the west. If you enlarge the picture you can just barely make out the peaks. When I went skydiving on Sunday and went up in the airplane, at about 7,000 feet we smelled the smoke and couldn't see the mountains until we were above the haze. There are definitely picturesque mountains behind me, but they are pretty much obscured.

The hike starts at a pretty low elevation and climbs very steeply for the first mile before we entered this beautiful old growth forest. It was shady and the temperature was just about right, and the bugs were present but not terrible as I had feared. For a couple miles we walked in dappled sunlight until we began the push up the last mile, also very steep and unrelenting. We saw this lovely little cairn marking the trail at one point.

It almost looked to me like a zen garden. We still had another 2,000 feet elevation to climb from this point, but once we got to the lookout, it was really worth it. I think I'd like to come back and make this climb again when the air is clear, but until then, I'll just be happy that we had such a nice day together.

We hiked almost nine miles and climbed and descended more than 3,700 feet of elevation. This place at the top is at 4,850 feet. After our descent, which for me was harder than the ascent (my knees were really complaining by the end), we headed to a Mexican restaurant in Arlington and I enjoyed an ice-cold beer and chili relleno. All in all, a good day, and this morning after a good night's rest, I feel great! I took my last antibiotic pill this morning and believe that by Thursday's hike I should be completely well!
:-)

Swimming lessons

2011-09-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today I had a little synchronous event happen. When I went for my usual half-mile swim at the Y, I took my camera into the pool area to see if I could get the lifeguard to take a picture or two of me swimming laps, for the blog of course. He told me he couldn't, but his boss, Tish (who was standing at the end of the pool talking) might be willing to help. I went over to her and found that she was talking with Amber (who took both of these swimming pictures; thanks Amber!) after she (Amber) had just finished the first session of an adult swimming class. After speaking with them about whether I could join the class, I was told that of course I could! So starting next Saturday at 9:30am, I will be finding out how to improve my technique, as well as two things I really want to learn: how to do that cool kick turn and the backstroke.

I left the Y smiling and headed over to the Farmers' Market. Although I didn't have anything I needed to buy, I thought I might find a picture or two. I was intrigued by these white eggplant; I had to ask just to be sure that's what they are. The vendor said they are a bit sweeter than the dark ones, but apparently they are fairly common. I don't know why I've never seen them before.

The produce at the market is always spectacular, and I suspect that in a few more weeks I'll be seeing the first of the fall lineup. Our market stays open until the week before Christmas, with pumpkins and winter squash becoming more and more abundant as we move toward winter. It's hard for me to comprehend that the autumnal equinox (first day of fall) is less than two weeks away! There are still abundant flowers, especially dahlias, at the market, and this one I simply could not resist.

Its beautiful pink color and those perfect petals just took my breath away, and I wanted to share it with you. Actually, speaking of my breath, it is still a little wheezy as I still am coughing quite a lot. After a day of no improvement from the inhaler and herbs, I started the antibiotics, and now I think I'll be okay pretty soon. I can still walk, swim, skydive (tomorrow!) and write blogs, so I'm not complaining.

I almost forgot that I was nearly out of bird food, so I headed over to the Wild Bird Chalet for thirty pounds of bird seed. Meet Valerie, the owner of the Chalet, who is a great resource for any bird-related issues I might have. I am always pleased to send any business her way, since she's got the best stuff for birds I've found in Bellingham.

For someone who is supposed to be sick, I'm sure glad I haven't missed many of my regular activities. Yes, I am addicted to exercise, which is a good thing to be addicted to, right? Tomorrow I'm heading to Snohomish to join my friends for some fun, and Monday is a hike to a new place, Mt. Higgins, if all goes according to plan! I hope you have a great weekend!
:-)

What a difference a day makes

2011-09-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

From Al's Flickr site

Al took this picture last Tuesday of Mike and me amongst the flowers and brilliant blue skies of Yellow Aster Butte. I like it because it typifies to me the day we had and the reason I love to go hiking with the Senior Trailblazers. But alas, I didn't go with them today after all.

For the last month or so, I've had a persistent cough that hasn't gotten better but seems to have gotten worse as the weeks have gone by. Finally, when talking with my sister on iChat yesterday, I had to stop and cough, hack and wheeze for quite awhile. She looked at me and asked why I hadn't gone to a doctor about it, and I hemmed and hawed and said I was sure it would get better by itself. But it hasn't, and she reminded me how long I've had it. I got on the phone and made an appointment to see the doctor, but the earliest possible appointment was next Monday, and that was to see a nurse practitioner, not the doctor. Good enough.

Then it occurred to me that Monday is the hike up Mount Higgins, a new adventure for all of us, so I got on the phone, called the clinic back and said I would take ANY opening they had. (I had turned down one for today, thinking I wouldn't be available.) So guess where I went today? To see the doctor, and it is what I thought: I have bronchitis. The doctor told me that it MIGHT eventually resolve by itself, but to try this inhaler (I've never used one) and take an antibiotic. The inhaler delivers albuterol (known internationally as salbutamol), which I discovered has been misused as a performance enhancing drug. I have to say, I LOVE the Magic Box (the Internet) to learn what I am actually putting into my body. Nowhere on the insert did I learn this information. I know what side effects to watch for, but it is essentially a bronchodilator that allows the bronchial passages to relax and take in more air. Wow! Does this mean I'll be able to hike up hills with less effort? Given the expense of the drug, I don't think I'll be trying it for that. I just want to stop coughing.

Before I take the antibiotic, however, the doctor has given me the go-ahead to try the inhaler and this herbal drug called Lung Defend I got at the health food store. I think the two of them should help me beat this thing before I have to put antibiotics into my system that may or may not help. She told me that most bronchitis is caused by viral agents, not bacteria, which means I could take the antibiotic for no good reason. This mixture of herbs was recommended by the practitioner as having had good responses from several of her clients. Dr. Andert told me I can give it a couple of days but, in her words, if it doesn't begin to turn around by then, start the antibiotics. That sounds good to me!

I haven't felt sick at all, but the cough has become problematic, and I sure didn't want to end up getting REALLY sick just because of my stubbornness. Now I feel quite secure in letting the albuterol and Lung Defend do their work. Till next time!
:-)

Yellow Aster is a beaut

2011-09-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Since yesterday was a holiday, Al figured today would be a perfect day to scope out Yellow Aster Butte for the Senior Trailblazers hike on Thursday. Although it would mean I'd miss my Tuesday strength-and-tone workout, there was no doubt that I'd have a good day. It was only Al, Mike (also know as Mikey Poppins to my followers) and me, so we met at 7:30 and were on the trail by 9:00am. The air was cool and crisp, with fabulous views of Mt. Baker and Shuksan.

And flowers. The wildflowers this year just do not quit. Here you see what I think are called yellow asters and lupine, but as we climbed higher and higher, the flowers grew more profuse and varied. We started this hike in a dense forest that climbs steeply to a meadow and then traverses around to the butte. We did have to cross some snow fields, but none of them were scary (but I sure liked having my trekking poles), which was the reason we wanted to see if the whole group might be able to make this hike.

Mike is crossing the most extensive of the snow fields, and as you can see, it's pretty straightforward. He did take out his poles after crossing this one, though. This is so much more snow than I had imagined we would cross, since it is, after all, September! A month ago we would not have been able to gain the butte. One thing about all the snow, however, is the incredible profusion of wildflowers everywhere we went in August and now in September.

If you enlarge this picture, you will see several different varieties of wildflowers. Every time I looked up from the trail under my feet, the flowers and views of the peaks simply took my breath away, time and again. But once we got to the serious uphill to the top of the butte, I looked up behind Al and wondered: do I really want to do this?

Look at that trail! It doesn't even bother with switchbacks, it just continues to climb up to the top of the butte with no apologies! And yes, I climbed it, we all did. You can see that at this altitude (somewhere around 6,000 feet elevation), there are spots of foliage already beginning to turn to fall colors. We arrived at the summit at noon, for an even more incredible view. Here you can see British Columbia's mountains in the distance behind Mike and Al.

The brilliant blue sky, somewhat of a rarity for us to experience for such a long time, will still be here on Thursday. I thought that if I went on today's excursion, I might skip Thursday's trip to the same place. But one thing I have learned: there is never a reason not to head up to the High Country with such weather, such friends, and such views!

We climbed around 2,700 feet of elevation in a little more than seven miles to the top and back. We crossed some snow fields but never felt scared, had a great geology lesson about the area's fault lines from Al, and had simply a wonderful day. I guess I will probably go on Thursday, now that I've been to the top I don't need to do THAT just for fun, I can stay below that last big push and chat with those who will choose to stay and enjoy the sunshine. The light breeze kept the flies away until we began our final descent, so believe me I will NOT forget my bug spray on Thursday! Until then, have a GREAT day.
:-)

The catharsis of tears

2011-09-05T16:21:00.000-07:00

From SF Chronicle review

The last couple of days I've gotten to see a really exceptional movie AND finish a book I started last week. Both of them have given me a chance to weep; in fact, at the moment my headache is a direct result of having just finished the book. But first things first: the movie is the film adaptation of the novel Elle s'appelait Sarah (Her Name Is Sarah) by Tatiana de Rosnay. Sarah's Key is playing at our local independent theater right now, and I suspect it will not be coming to national theaters any time soon. It is set in two time periods: 1942 and 2009, depicting an event that I knew nothing about, the roundup of French Jews who were sent by the French government to death camps.

It was a very hard movie to watch, because it felt so incredibly authentic. Told through the eyes of Sarah, a ten-year-old girl who tried to save her little brother by locking him in a closet and taking the key with her when they are forced to leave, she tries everything she can think of to try to get back to her brother. Kristin Scott Thomas plays an American journalist in present-day Paris who discovers the truth and decides to find out what happened to Sarah. Mick LaSalle wrote, in his review for the SF Chronicle:

"Sarah's Key" is a mature refutation of the romantic myth of wartime France as a land of partisans and Resistance fighters, and it's especially welcome to find this in a French film. The Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, in which Jews were placed in a sports stadium under unsanitary conditions, then separated from their families and sent to death camps, is a national disgrace, an atrocity committed by France against French citizens. The movie's stern message is all the more pointed in that the investigation is done by an American, not a French, journalist.

This was decidedly not a feel-good film, but one that made me think and ponder the inhumanity, as well as the many acts of kindness, that occurred during the Holocaust. Scott Thomas and others were simply superb in their portrayals. I left the theater glad to have seen the movie and interested in reading the book. Many years ago I read numerous publications about the Holocaust in order to try to understand it, but as I have learned in my life, there is simply no way to comprehend why we humans do what we do to each other. I am reminded that these kinds of atrocities are occurring all over the world as I write this, because we apparently didn't learn anything from that horrible time. I shed many tears during and after the movie.

And the book I just finished reading that has kept me weeping through the entire last few chapters is Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper. This novel depicts some of the ethical questions that are raised by our technological ability to create "designer genes" for medical issues. Anna is conceived by her parents to be a "savior sibling" so that her umbilical cells can be used to help cure her older sister's leukemia. As it turns out, Anna decides at the age of 13 that she no longer wants to continue to give her sister bone marrow transplants and even a kidney. The book explores many of these issues and has a rather surprising ending. Picoult, in an interview from the back of the book, tells this story:

My Sister's Keeper is the first book one of my own kids has read. Kyle, who's twelve, picked it up and immediately got engrossed in it. The day he finished the book, I found him weeping on the couch. He pushed me away and went up to his room and told me that he really didn't want to see me or talk to me for a while — he was that upset. Eventually, when we did sit down to discuss it, he kept asking, "Why? Why did it have to end like that?" The answer I gave him (and you) is this: because this isn't an easy book, and you know from the first page that there are no easy answers. Medically, this ending was a realistic scenario for the family. And thematically, it was the only way to hammer home to all the characters what's truly important in life. ... I even gave a 23rd-hour call to an oncology nurse to ask if there was some other way to end the book. But finally, I came to see that if I wanted to be true to the story, this was the right conclusion.

Well, I wept my eyes out at the ending, too, and if you want to know why, you'll have to read the book yourself. So now I've shed my tears and am happily writing this post, hoping that I'll find something inspiring and uplifting to move me from my tears to a sense of gratitude for a wonderful holiday weekend, even if a bit on the wet side.
:-}

Heat wave

2011-09-03T15:19:00.000-07:00

From Climate Prediction Center

Uh, isn't this exactly the OPPOSITE of what we've been having for the entire summer? Yes, it looks like summer will be making a short visit to my part of the country. Today, September 3, seems to be the first day of a long string of warmer-than-normal as well as drier-than-normal days. Today is expected to get into the high 70s and tomorrow the low 80s. Of course, there will be plenty of people around here who just LOVE this weather, but I have already begun to hear some whining. ("It's just not normal, it's too hot!")

Usually if we have hot weather around here it happens in August, but not this year. Now it is setting up to be a super-warm September, but that's really okay since it will cool down quickly at night. The only reason why my Canadian friends can't tell what is happening to their weather from that graph is that the Climate Prediction Center (link under the above picture) stops all predictions at the border. I'm sure they will be much hotter than normal, too.

This morning's walk with the Fairhaven group took us to Zuanich Point Park at Squalicum Harbor. Several of my blogging friends have been showing me their part of the world in their posts, and it occurred to me that you might be interested in seeing what my new home town of Bellingham has to offer. I have certainly been enjoying my virtual travels. Usually the water in the harbor is nowhere near this calm and the skies have clouds, but this crystal clear morning I took a few moments to take pictures.

I turned around to snap a picture of two of the walkers who brought their dogs along. Around 15-20 of us (and half a dozen dogs) met at 8:00am and took a brisk six-mile walk from the Farmers' Market to Zuanich and back, and then we had coffee together. I left just before 10:00am (when the Market opens) so I could be sure to get my collards first thing. As I write this, Smart Guy is chopping and steaming them to provide us with some very tasty and nutritious greens for the week.

My bookshelf is full again. After having read all the others I bought a month ago, I headed down to the Village Bookstore with nine to return and left with four new ones. Actually, all but one of them were used, previously owned and half price. They place the half-price books on the shelves with the new ones, and if I get a choice I buy the used ones. The bookstore will buy them back as well, I've discovered. I'm currently ensconced in another Jodi Picoult book, this time My Sister's Keeper. I thought I had read it before, but I haven't. It was made into a movie in 2009, but somehow it escaped my notice.

Hopefully you will have a safe and delightful weekend and, if you're in the US, a nice three-day weekend! Mine has started swimmingly (a half mile, to be exact) and tomorrow more skydiving, since the weather is, for once, not an issue!
:-)

Goat Mountain Redux

2011-09-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

When we tried to climb Goat Mountain in July, or at least get to the meadows (as we did today), we didn't get very far, as you can see from this post. Lots of snow, rain and zero views greeted us five weeks ago, but today the twelve of us had abundant wildflowers, which seems to be the trend for the last few weeks.

One thing I have to say about the slow start to the summer (which is now almost over) is that the wildflowers that we saw today, September 1, are not what I would have expected to see at all on this hike. We still have spring wildflowers, like columbine, giving us awe-inspiring views such as the one above. Forest, mountains, and flowers: who could ask for more? We expected full sunshine, but the clouds kept us cool as we climbed the four miles to the high meadow. We had great views of Siefert and Shuksan, which you can see behind Linda here:

The cloudy skies also kept us from overheating as we climbed 3,000 feet to this lunch spot. It was cool once we reached this place, as the brisk wind and clouds dropped the temperature low enough that we all donned our fleece and jackets as we enjoyed our lunch. We had a brand-new member join us today, Jonelle (I hope I spelled it right), who moved to Bellingham from Seattle only a few weeks ago! She's the one here with Diane and "the boys" Mike and Fred behind her. It turns out she is an accomplished hiker, who has led many a hike before today's. We enjoyed meeting her and hope she returns!

I can't help but brag about the picture of me in front of Mt. Shuksan that Diane took today. She tells me that she should receive any royalties I might garner from the cool shot that makes me feel like a movie star! I'm putting it in here because, well, I LOVE it! It embodies my chutzpah, don't you think?

If you enlarge this picture, right about in the middle of the picture on Shuksan's flank (level with my brilliant smile), you can see Lake Price. I was amazed to see this lake, which I had never noticed (or seen) before. I heard people talking about the view of it from this vantage point, so I had to share it with you.

We headed back down to the cars, reluctantly leaving all the flowers behind but hoping for a little bit of warmth as we began to exert ourselves once again. And sure enough, not long after this picture was taken, we had the opportunity to shed our jackets as we got back into the trees and out of the wind. The hike was, as Al said, "an honest eight miles." After the tough hikes we have had the last two times, I must admit it didn't faze me. Am I getting stronger or just more accustomed to the exertion? Hard to say. In any event, it was another successful and renewing day.
:-)

Stujack Pass

2011-08-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, six of us headed up to Stujack Pass, a hike off the Mountain Loop Highway after another two-hour drive away from home. Diane and my friend Judy joined the usual four of us on our Monday adventure. None of us had been to the pass but had been given a little advice from a seasoned hiker: it is longer than the guidebooks say, and it's pretty hard. The picture above was taken on our way up from treeline to the pass, that low spot between the peaks far, far away.

The higher we climbed, however, the more spectacular the view. The first few miles of the journey were in dense forest, so we would have been in shade in any event, but when we started we were in fog. Here you can see the remnants of the fog in the valley below. That's where we started from. It continued to clear and was completely gone from this valley by early afternoon. The flowers, however, grew more and more profuse the higher we climbed.

It is impossible for me to recapture the feeling I had looking at the hillsides filled with flowers. I didn't get to look at them for too long, though, since the trail was rocky and very steep. At times it took all my attention to watch every step as I trudged upward to the pass. But we did finally make it to the top at almost 6,000 feet of elevation.

Looking back down the way we had come showed some amazing peaks, unfamiliar to me. On the left is (I think) Sloan Peak, looking like a Matterhorn from here. And then when I turned to look the other direction, I saw an old friend!

Behind the large White Chuck mountain in the foreground is Mt. Baker! And I could see that some fog was still hanging around in the valley on the left. By the time we headed back down, however, I think it had burned off everywhere.

The scenery was just amazing, but we had a long way to go before reaching our cars, and the trail was just as hard going down as it was going up, requiring me to brace myself with my trekking poles to keep from slipping on the loose dirt of the trail. The hike was advertised to be around seven or eight miles from start to finish, but we all agreed (and the GPS did too) that it was more like ten or eleven miles, and 3,800 feet elevation gain and loss. A hard hike, but a beautiful one.

I went home and showered, it was really late, but I fell into bed and now the sun is coming up on the day after, and I feel pretty good, except for some residual tiredness. The entire month of August has been beautiful and filled with some incredible journeys, many of them for the first time. Labor Day is next Monday and the equinox is right around the corner, so I'm happy to have been able to make such great memories, after a slow start to the hiking season due to the snow.
:-)

A great place to live

2011-08-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

Taken off of Al Heezen's Flickr site

As most of you know who follow my blog, we've been having fabulous weather lately. Al took this picture last Thursday of me snapping a summit shot of Diane. What a totally exceptional shot this is: the view, the perfect weather, me in my hiking gear doing what I love, and a victorious Diane. I couldn't resist sharing it.

This morning I went out with my usual Fairhaven walking group. We walked in Whatcom Falls Park, which has some great views of the falls and lots of shaded trails. Although this morning was sunny, almost all of our six-mile hike was in the shade. And I got this great shot of the falls.

While we rested for a few minutes, someone pointed out the shaft of light coming through the trees, which was visible because of the mist from the falls. It turned out to be quite an amazing picture, kind of the other side of the first one, taken on top of the Church Mountain summit. It occurred to me that this place that I have chosen to call my home is a really wonderful place to live. If you can take the many cloudy and/or rainy days during the long winters, it is an ideal location. I'm pretty sure that many of you who have suffered through the past summer heat in the midwest might agree right about now.

I also received a letter from my new chiropractor, Russ Maxwell. Not only did he do a great job on my back, he welcomed me to his office and sent me a FAN LETTER! He said,

Thank you for the wonderful review on your blog. I was truly humbled. Also thanks for not bringing a camera; I would have frozen up. :-) Your blog is very interesting and it is amazing all you have been through. You have a strong constitution!! Thank you again! --Russ

How many of us can say we have received fan mail from any of our doctors? He's pretty special, and although I am happy to wait to see him again until I actually need him, it's a comfort to know I have someone like him standing by, just in case. And a big thank you to Joy (from my exercise class) for referring me to Russ.

It just goes to show that if you find the right place for yourself, things will fall into place. Tomorrow I'll head down to Snohomish to jump out of perfectly good planes for the day, and if all goes as planned, there's yet another hike in the works for Monday. The weather looks fair and sunny as far as the eye can see. Where are my picturesque and fluffy white clouds? We are in danger of hitting 75 degrees F today!
:-)

Heavenly Church Mountain

2011-08-25T18:36:00.000-07:00

I sure did get a lot of grief from my fellow Senior Trailblazers for last Monday's post. Everyone ribbed me because of all the commenters who pointed out that I am getting JADED. Well, today was spectacular in just about every way. When four of us went up to Church Meadow in July, it was covered with snow. In that post, I showed what it had looked like the year before on the same date. As you can see from the above picture, today we were in abundant lush growth and full sun. We made it to the summit.

Ten of us headed up today, last Thursday's group plus Linda and Ward. We kept seeing fields like the one above that have only recently come out from under the snow and are filled with vistas of beautiful flowers. The difference between the flowers from today's hike and that of last week's Welcome Pass have nothing to do with abundance but everything to do with variety. In the foreground you can see huge clumps of false hellebore, nowhere near blooming, but lots of other flowers on the crest of the hill are in full bloom. We did have to cross a few snow fields, not too many, but here you can see the incredible mountain vistas that opened up to us the higher we climbed.

That is our friend Mount Baker hiding its top behind that cloud. As we gained altitude, we saw more and more breathtaking views of the surrounding peaks. It was quite hot but a light breeze helped us out now and then. Once we had left the dense forest and started hiking in the full sun, it was challenging to keep my heart rate in a safe zone.

As I looked down at the flowers, the snow, the views, I took plenty of time to take pictures and catch my breath. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but I was really happy whenever one of those clouds would give me a little respite. Once you reach the final push, there is a 100-foot scramble to the summit. I used my self timer to take this picture on the summit (Peggy and Mike skipped this part).

Al, Fred, Diane, me, Ward, Amy, Linda

You will have to forgive Diane for trying to make Fred look like he has horns. You have to watch some people all the time, and I was busy setting up the self timer so I missed it, but it's still a pretty good picture. We had a great lunch break, but the incessant sunshine was making me long for the shade of the trees at the beginning of this hike.

We headed back down to the cars, with a marvelous day behind us. We covered nine miles and climbed and descended 3,800 feet. I have to say the downhill this time was easier than the uphill climb, even though my knees still complained plenty. Now that I am home and self-medicated with a glass of wine, I'm feeling quite happy for having spent another wonderful day in the wilderness with my best buddies. And now I get to share it with YOU!
:-)

No I'm not tall

2011-08-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Al took this picture of me last week on the Welcome Pass hike. I like it because I think I look really tall, but you know, I'll never know what it feels like to be tall (I'm barely 5'3"). One of the things my partner likes to say to me when I land my parachute a little shy of the intended landing area is that I'll always land a little short. Do you think some day I might land tall? (smile)

I realize how deeply ingrained my usual routine has become: ride the bus to the Y for my 9:00 class every weekday except Thursday (when I go hiking with the Senior Trailblazers). During the summer months if the weather is fine, I go down to Snohomish to jump out of airplanes one of the two weekend days, whichever one has my friend Linny to organize the jumps. I prefer Sundays because on Saturday I can go out with the Fairhaven walking group and then have a nice long swim at the pool. Additionally, I can visit the Farmers' Market as it is only open that day. On Sunday, the Y doesn't even open until noon and the lanes are crowded.

Adding an additional hike on Mondays, as we are doing during the summer months, has disrupted my usual routine. When I showed up this morning for class, several people asked where I was on Monday. (One class is M-W-F and the other is T-Th, although I am usually elsewhere on Thursdays.) I carried my iPad to class today so I could brag about recent hikes and show pictures.

As I sit here at my iMac, I can see the nuthatches and chickadees stocking up on black oil sunflower seeds and the goldfinches at the finch feeders. Just now a Northern Flicker hopped up onto the porch and had a quick snack at the suet feeder. I love my birdies, but I am not overly fond of the house sparrows, who tend to arrive in rather dense flocks onto my porch. The flurry of wings when they leave has become an unmistakable summer background noise. They pick up and eat the finch food that falls onto the porch, since they cannot perch upside down. I've watched them try.

Nuthatch, siskins, goldfinch, chestnut-backed & black-capped chickadee
(click to enlarge)

Although the birds take a bit of time, effort and money to make sure they are never without food and clean water, they bring me an amazing amount of pleasure. All of these pictures were taken through my front porch window. It's what I see from my desk. Pretty cool, huh?
:-)

Good but not great

2011-08-22T20:42:00.000-07:00

All our hikes can't be filled with the "wow factor," I guess. Today, for our semi-weekly extracurricular Monday hike, ten Senior Trailblazers set out for Goat Lake, a LONG drive down the Mountain Loop Highway past Granite Falls. From Bellingham, I suspect the entire drive, one way, was somewhere around 130 miles. This means the hike would need to be absolutely spectacular to make the long drive worthwhile. While it was pretty wonderful, it didn't have the pizzazz of last Thursday's Welcome Pass hike, or the Thornton Lakes hike we took a few Mondays ago.

We set out on the trail by 10:00am and headed for the lake on the lower trail. There are two ways to get to the lake, one by Elliott Creek (very scenic) and the other on a higher trail that is a little longer. (We took that trail back.) We reached the lake a little after noon and found a very nice place to have our lunch.

As you can see, the lake is really quite beautiful and serene. Although the day was mostly overcast, the lake was really lovely and in a very nice setting. The rain stayed away until we were almost at the end of the hike, and then it only cooled us down a bit; nobody needed to pull out rain gear. By the end of the hike, we had covered a little more than eleven miles and around 2,000 feet of elevation gain and loss.

The falls coming down from this lake into Elliott Creek were very spectacular, but I wasn't able to get a picture that gives any justice to the scene. However, I was able to capture this shot of Al, taking a picture of the falls that at least gives a little perspective to the scene. From where he was standing, the falls roared down past him into the creek.

Trust me, the scene he is photographing is amazing, but my pictures just showed some water careening down into the creek without anything to lend perspective to show what I saw. So, this picture will have to do. Maybe the picture that Al is taking will do a better job than mine.

Afterwards, we drove to Granite Falls and had dinner at the Omega Pizza Parlor, where I indulged in a pizza and beer, as I was not one of the drivers. I'm pretty tired, I realize now, and I'm thinking that a nice hot shower and my nice warm bed will feel awfully nice. The sun has set on our day, and I learned that it rained almost all day here in Bellingham, while our rain held off, for the most part, until we were safe and dry inside our cars.

I hope you had a wonderful day, a fulfilling one that had at least a little bit of a wow factor. Now that I'm home, looking back on the day I think it was really a good one.
:-)

Interlude

2011-08-20T13:44:00.000-07:00

Some people might recognize the detail of the beautiful heirloom tomato I purchased this morning at the Farmers' Market. I couldn't help myself, but this closeup of the almost two-pound tomato was so beautiful I couldn't resist sharing it with you. Here's the whole thing:

I have no idea whether it will taste as good as it looks, but it is truly a work of art, don't you think? This is one of those days when I can bask in the smiles and sunshine that greet my eye everywhere I look. After reading the news and checking the weather this morning, I headed to the ferry terminal to walk with the Fairhaven Walkers Group along the trails in south Bellingham (also known as Fairhaven). My legs needed a little bit of exercise to work out the kinks remaining from Thursday's hike. That was what I was hoping for, anyway. I'm still quite sore.

I forgot to tell you about a funny thing that happened on our Welcome Pass hike. Since the 67 switchbacks were challenging for five of us, Fred and Mike went on ahead (armed with walkie talkies to keep us connected) and charged up while the rest of us trudged more slowly. They ran into another hiker who was heading down, and he said, "Hey, it's the Senior Trailblazers. You're Fred." He was nowhere near old enough to be known to us by age; he told them that he reads this blog. Fred said that I was behind them with the others, and if he wanted to surprise me, he could call me by name when he saw us coming up the trail. And that's exactly what he did. After a few moments of confusion (do I know you?), we chatted briefly. I didn't think to ask him where he heard about the blog, but he found it somewhere and made my day. (Dave, say hello in the comments if you feel like it, and welcome!)

After the morning walk and a quick trip to the market, I headed over to the Y to swim a half mile. The pool is open again after having been emptied, painted, and filled with fresh clear water. The difference is astounding. Since I started using the pool in April, I didn't have any idea how nice the water could be. After a shower and noticing more smiling faces, I am now home and writing a post. This interlude of a wonderful day, filled with perfect weather (it's 76 degrees and still sunny), a blog post written in a very grateful frame of mind... it's hard to ask for much more.

However, in an hour or so I'm heading off to the movies with my friend Judy to see "The Help." Tomorrow I'll spend in Snohomish jumping out of perfectly good airplanes. Not to mention the good friends I have made here in the blogosphere. The depth and breadth of my life these days fills me with several magnitudes of thankfulness.
:-)

Why is it called Welcome Pass?

2011-08-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

Mike, Diane, Amy, Peggy, Fred, me, Al

Today only seven Senior Trailblazers headed up Welcome Pass to this wonderful view, for several reasons. One, when we met this morning at the Senior Center, four people who talked with us about the difficulty of this hike decided to go instead on the easier hike to Heart Lake. I've done Welcome Pass twice before: the first time I could not walk for three days, my legs were so sore. And last year, we got to the pass on a cold foggy day, with no view. That was not what we met today!

Shuksan and flowers

This is by far the latest time in the season that we've tried this hike, and the weather could not have been more beautiful. By the time we had climbed the 67 switchbacks to the pass, the weather was not only cooperating, but the snow levels were far lower than last year's. (Of course, last year we hiked it in mid-June, not mid-August.)

The pass (below us in this picture) was still covered with snow, but bore little resemblance to what we had encountered in previous years. Today, when we hiked up this ridge to get a better view, the vista that opened itself up to us was nothing short of spectacular. The flowers were not only amazing, but the light breeze that greeted us while we sat and had our lunch was perfect: not too much, and with the sun shining I was in perfect comfort. Although it was not an easy day, by any means, we were all smiles and filled with gratitude for our beautiful day by the time we headed back down to our cars.

Here you see Al beginning our trek back down, with the view of Baker and Shuksan (and so many other peaks) so amazing that we lingered for quite awhile on this ridge. We knew we had 3,400 feet (more than 1,000 meters) of elevation to descend before we would be back to the trailhead and our cars. We started down with lots of excitement, but by the time we had only a short mile left to go, nobody was talking: we were all hoping our bodies would make it before we collapsed. I myself was wondering if my knees would continue to carry me, and I fear that if it had been just a bit longer we would have been reduced to several whimpering Trailblazers, vowing never to do this hike again.

But the views we had today carried us for quite a ways, and the flowers and vistas that I saw on the summit kept me moving forward when the going was tough on the way down. Although we only covered seven miles today, the elevation was so steep, both ways, that I think we should be allowed to add another three miles or so onto the trip! Now that I am home, looking at my pictures and sipping my wine, life feels almost back to normal. But tomorrow: will I feel like heading to the gym or not?
:-)

Babylon 5

2011-08-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

When I first met Smart Guy, he was living in San Francisco and I was living in Boulder. We met through the skydiving internet (rec.skydiving), first making contact through email, then phone calls, and finally beginning to meet one another in person in 1992. It was amazing to me to meet another person my age who would let me talk about skydiving as much as I wanted (remember I had only begun to skydive late in 1990), someone who loved backpacking and the outdoors, and who was a science fiction aficionado just like me!

He moved to Boulder in 1993, and in 1994 we were married in freefall, but that's another story. During the same time frame, J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) created the Babylon 5 universe as a television series and the new drama was first aired in January 1994. The most startling thing about the five-year-long series, to me, is that the entire story arc was conceived by Straczynski in a flash. According to that B-5 Wikipedia link above, JMS writes,

Once I had the locale, I began to populate it with characters, and sketch out directions that might be interesting. I dragged out my notes on religion, philosophy, history, sociology, psychology, science (the ones that didn't make my head explode), and started stitching together a crazy quilt pattern that eventually formed a picture. Once I had that picture in my head, once I knew what the major theme was, the rest fell into place. All at once, I saw the full five-year story in a flash, and I frantically began scribbling down notes. (1995)

The locale that JMS is talking about here is a space station set in the 23rd century, Babylon 5, populated with many alien races and with characters that I have grown to know and love as though they were family. In our first years of being married, the two of us watched the original television series in our apartment, and we looked forward to each episode with incredible anticipation. I had never seen a show like this one, and although the Star Trek series has a similar appeal, this one is deeper and more complex than anything I had seen before.

The final show, "Sleeping in Light," was first shown in November 1998, and our marriage had finally settled into something that both of us believed would continue (after a very rocky start). I still remember both of us holding hands and crying our eyes out while we watched that final episode. We watched additional TV movies and reruns of the shows for years, but that first viewing of a very special episode ending five years of struggle that resonated so deeply with our own journey, well, it was unforgettable.

Smart Guy was so taken by the series that he bought the DVD special collection, and it traveled with us in 2008 from our home in Boulder to our new home here in Bellingham. The collection sits in a special place, but we didn't take it off the shelf for years, waiting for the right time to present itself. He paid $300 for the entire set, and I see it's now half price on Amazon but still available. There is an entire website dedicated to followers of the show, "The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5." Obviously I am not the only person who believes in its continued relevance.

Well, here it is, the middle of 2011, and today we watched "Sleeping in Light" again after revisiting all 110 episodes, once each day. I have arrived in this place where I am filled again with admiration for all the wonderful people who populate the B-5 universe, and JMS for his genius in creating this marvelous story. So many of the issues he raised are even more pertinent in today's political climate, and I feel grateful that I can look forward again, probably in a few more years, to experiencing this very special tale being told to me once again. It is bittersweet for me to realize that several of the actors have died since the show was produced in the 1990s, reminding me that time moves on, and that nothing stays the same. In fact, one of the actors, Jeff Conaway, died at the end of May, while we were watching the DVDs.

Although our life together has deepened and strengthened because of our commitment to one another, sharing something like this together as we have just done is beyond priceless. If we continue on this trajectory of love and light, I have no fear of where we will be in twenty more years.
:-)

Winning bird picture

2011-08-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

Since many of my blogging buddies also follow Joan at The Retirement Chronicles, you might know that I enter her photo contest every month -- unless the month gets away from me and I forget, or unless I simply have nothing worth submitting. A year ago last May I won for "Landscapes" and in July's contest this year, I won bragging rights for this picture, with the theme "Birds," along with a cute little widget to display on my sidebar. And you can check out this link to see all the other July entries.

It actually amazed me how happy I was when Joan told me that I'd won. The thing is, the possibility of winning isn't what motivates me to enter, but to see what other people submit and how my pictures stack up next to others. Usually I can predict the eventual winner and I thought I had a pretty good chance this month. Say hello to my little Rufous hummingbird who enjoys the penstemon in the little flower box on my front porch. I think he's the same one who visits often, but there's no way to know for sure. Only a few times have I had more than one hummer at a time visit the flowers.

I'm deep into Jodi Picoult's book House Rules and stayed up way too late last night reading. If you haven't discovered her yet, she takes a controversial issue and covers it from the point of view of all the characters in the story. This one is about Asperger's Syndrome. It keeps reminding me of a wonderful book I read long ago, written from the point of view of a child with autism, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. I just loved that book, too.

It's early in the morning here on the west coast and I woke up early, even though I went to sleep later than usual, so I am able to get this post done before I leave on the bus for my daily routine. I only have a few more minutes before I dash out the door, and the bus waits for no one. Talk to you soon!
:-)

Browsers and blogging

2011-08-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

Someone on my Google+ friends put up a picture of this guy who decided to be an advertisement for Chrome. The first picture is the favicon for the Chrome browser. I use it all the time for posting, commenting, and reading stuff on line. I find that it's much less buggy than some of the other browsers, and things load a whole lot faster, too. I wish there was a way to find out what makes my posts hang, and I suspect that if I spent the time to learn more about browsers, I could.

I also use Safari occasionally, and Firefox. When I got my iPad, which comes with Safari, I downloaded something called "Atomic" hoping that it would give me better results for the platform, but no such luck. I've found that posting anything, if using my iPad, must be done in HTML mode because it doesn't support anything else. Atomic is the same. And any little window that is supposed to scroll doesn't work, which must be a function of iPad not liking Flash. Again, I could probably find all this out, but it's a really big black hole that I'm not interested in getting caught up in.

Ever since that three-day crash of Blogspot, I notice that several of my regular commenters must use the "Anonymous" button in order to comment. Since Blogspot has a really good spam filter, it usually only catches real spam, but if you do need to use Anonymous, remember to sign your name; it must look for that, since spammers always put in a live link and don't sign their comments. Frankly, when I think of all the social networks coming on line, like Google+, I wonder where we are headed in this Brave New World.

I am on Facebook and now use Google+, but I haven't ventured into Twitter or other networking sites. My brother thinks Google+ is pretty neat, and every day another person invites me to become a "friend" on there. My Facebook friend list is now over 300, but it includes skydiving friends and acquaintances, people I once worked with, family, and now people I meet in Bellingham. Oh yes, I also have quite a few friends on Facebook from the blogosphere. I really like being able to see pictures of people I no longer see in person; it reminds me that we are all changing (and aging), not just me.
:-)