Senior skydiving

I had to laugh when I saw this article in the local newspaper about a 97-year-old man who made his first skydive at Skydive Snohomish where Smart Guy and I jump regularly. This picture shows me under my Stiletto 135 in the front, and him under his Stiletto 170 behind me. (A Stiletto is a style of parachute manufactured by Performance Designs; click to enlarge any picture.)

If you read that article, you'll see that the Drop Zone owner requires all customers older than 65 to get clearance from their doctor. Yesterday while we were at the DZ, I asked Tyson if he wanted one from our doctors; he smiled and said it wasn't necessary. Then I realized that we are indeed the oldest active skydivers out there.

We each made three jumps yesterday and had a great day. We both would have made another one, but the plane was temporarily suspended from operations while they checked out a possible oil leak. Even though the oil pressure and all systems looked good, the pilot and Tyson took precautions so there wouldn't be any problems with the plane. Instead of staying around (it was already 4:00 pm), we took ourselves off the load and headed home. It's always a satisfying feeling to have had those jumps and a good day playing in the sky with friends. I'm sure Linny and Christine stayed to make as many jumps as they could before the sun went down yesterday.

We have more than an hour's drive home in pretty heavy traffic, so it's not much fun to stay until the very last minute. With so many skydives under my belt, I'm no longer hungry for every last jump. Yesterday, Jennifer Kemp borrowed one of my many jumpsuits so she can make her 100th jump today using it. I would say she looks quite fetching in it, don't you think?

She still doesn't have her own jumpsuit, as they tend to cost a fair amount (around $300-$400), and I haven't used this one for years. But I still carry it around with me because it provides me with more range when I wear it; I fall more slowly in it. I am gradually populating the DZ with my jumpsuits, since my old instructor suit is being worn by Christine until hers arrives. I've got five jumpsuits and these days I only use two of them. Here's Christine:

One of the reasons I don't use this one much any more is because it's black and quite hot to wear in the heat of summer. It also has all those advertisements on it which I used to think were really cool, but these days not so much. When you're almost 68 years old, the only thing you want to advertise at the DZ is that you're still there! And active! BTW, if you're interested, I wrote a post about how I became a skydiver over on my other blog back in January. I seem to have some followers who don't know the story.
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Railroad Grade

Fourteen Senior Trailblazers headed up what to me was a new hike, Railroad Grade. Last year, we went to Park Butte, which splits off at the meadow; Park Butte goes to the left, and today we went to the right, up Railroad Grade. With a name like that, I thought an old railroad went up to a mine, but it's actually a glacial moraine, with the remnants of what was once a huge glacier (Easton Glacier) on one side with a pretty impressive drop-off, and on the other a steep hillside covered with wildflowers.

Once we had traveled somewhere around three miles or so and had gained around 2,000 feet in altitude, we came up to a view below us and suddenly, I could hear the sound of the glacial melt cascading down the ravine, with an amazing view in every direction. This railroad grade is a popular route for climbers wanting to get up to the top of Mt. Baker, and I can see why. The trail goes right to the edge of the glacier, but you need to stop before you get to it unless you are prepared with ice axes and crampons. We saw lots of people heading in the glorious sunshine up to some spot beyond where we went.

This picture looks up the trail toward the Black Buttes, hidden at present in clouds, with the edge of Mt. Baker to the right. At this point we were at 5,300 feet of elevation, and with the breeze blowing and the exposure on two sides, it was exhilarating, to say the least. Here I am with Mt. Baker behind me, the glacier on the lower flanks of the mountain.

After spending some relaxing time in the sunshine, the light breeze, with the breathtaking view, we headed back down the trail, being careful to watch our step at the treacherous spots. Mostly it was only a problem if I didn't concentrate on the trail below me; otherwise I had little difficulty with the exposure. Half of our group only came to the beginning of the grade and then headed back down.

This photo shows that most of the trail was pretty wide and easy to travel, and the spots that were only a little more than a foot wide with a drop-off on both sides were not ones where I felt comfortable stopping to take pictures! It took all my concentration now and then.

There is one stream crossing that is usually somewhat of a problem, but two young members of a trail crew had just put this temporary bridge across the stream, and we had no trouble getting across. It is not always this easy; Al was there a month ago and without this bridge it took a bit more effort to cross.

Last year, when we went to Park Butte, we hiked up to this lookout cabin, which I captured today with my telephoto lens. This link takes you to last year's hike, and the second picture on that link shows this cabin as we approached it from below. Remember, any picture can be enlarged, and suffice it to say it was a fabulous day in the sunshine, with good friends and great weather!
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Our Skytrain day

Typical shop in Chinatown, Vancouver BC

In anticipation of some friends coming to visit next month, today Smart Guy and I went over the border to Vancouver, BC, and rode the Vancouver Skytrain to Chinatown. Although the two of us have visited Vancouver in our car a time or three, it's a whole different experience when you ride the wonderful Skytrain to your destination. You are not encased in the walls of your car but are out there sitting with the populace, listening to Mandarin, Cantonese, and what I think was Portuguese on the Skytrain. Not to mention Canadian English, eh?

We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant (see above), and the view out the window shows Pender Street, unless we took a turn that I forgot. Anyway, the food was fine, but next time we will try Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant on Pender. It was closed when we wandered by, and we ended up in this place, but after checking out the menu, next time we will try Foo's.

The Skytrain was really an experience. For $6 we parked our car in the Surrey Skytrain lot, where we could leave it for up to 12 hours. We bought an all-day ticket for the Skytrain, which cost us each $7, and it includes all-day transfers up and down the line, as well as unlimited rides on any Vancouver buses. The unfortunate part for us is that by the time we wandered around Chinatown, getting lunch and taking in the sights, we didn't have much energy left over to catch a bus to, well, anywhere.

Once we returned to the Skytrain terminal, we checked to find what train we would need. At the top is our current stop, Stadium-Chinatown, and we only needed to catch an Expo line train, which would take us back to King George, the last destination on the line. We found our car easily, and after having almost six full hours on our adventure, we drove across the border with our trusty Nexus passes and headed home. It was a great day, and I want to say thank you also to Jo, a blogging friend who lives in Vancouver, for her supportive and descriptive phone conversation last night.

Our first, but not our last, Skytrain day! On another note, I ordered this light beer for lunch, which I learned to love during my trips to China. Now I'm home, needing to rest up for tomorrow's hike to the Mt. Baker High Country!
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My own Eye Catchers

I have been oohing and aahing over Hilary's pictures over at The Smitten Image. She has the most amazing eye for seeing the beauty in the everyday, the things around us all the time. I was so inspired that I grabbed my camera and headed out in the rain. Roses, actually every wet flower, are enhanced by raindrops. This next one looked to me like an eye with a tear.

When you look at the flowers in context, however, they are also really beautiful. By the time I took this last rose picture, I figured it was time to head over to the Food Co-op to score breakfasts and take them home to share with Smart Guy.

That brilliant red shows up so much better with overcast skies, too. Remember you can click any picture to enlarge and admire. Outside the store, I saw this bike stand in the rain, sans bikes, but I loved the heart and wet purple paint.

Although I took several pictures inside the store, none of them were really special, even to me (and I'm the artist!). I did, however, look up as I was leaving and see this crow dipping his beak in the rainwater coming down the spout.

While wandering around looking for pictures, a deer sprang out of the bushes at me, but by the time I grabbed the camera, turned it on and looked around, he was gone. I think I did see a few white spots on his side, but I couldn't be sure. All in all, it was a good way to start my Sunday, and I will continue to learn from Hilary how to see what is in front of me all the time.
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Yellow Aster Butte

Today, twenty Senior Trailblazers met at the Senior Center to carpool up the Mt. Baker Highway to begin our hike to Yellow Aster Butte. We had so many that we took five cars to the trailhead. Last year, almost exactly a year ago, we experienced a hailstorm on our way back down, and I wrote about it here. Today, however, the bugs were out in force but nowhere near as as bad as last year, and we had no hail. What we did have, instead, is haze from smoke, both from fires in British Columbia and also Russia, where smoke is entering the stratosphere and heading over here. You can see a slight haze in this first picture (click to enlarge), but it doesn't detract from the scenery.

In this picture, however, you can barely see our beautiful Mt. Baker because of the smoke and haze. It was really a little depressing. But the hike, up over three miles and 2,000 feet, was only tolerable because of my companions. Think of it: hiking in the heat, bugs assaulting you every few seconds, sweat dripping into your eyes, your aerobic limit almost at the limit. But I wasn't alone, I had nineteen others with me, most of whom where in the same boat as me.

One of my favorite couples: Linda and Ward, whom I affectionately refer to as the Cleavers, at our lunch spot, with a beautiful view even if a little hazy. We stopped and ate, and I felt better immediately. Some of the more ambitious of the group (only five out of twenty and I wasn't one) decided to hike up to the butte, another mile and maybe 900 feet of elevation. It looked nice, but not THAT nice.

That's the butte up there. As you can see, it was a bit of a hike from my location. I loved the clouds so I took this picture, but I had no desire to go any further. Instead, I took pictures of flowers and saw these incredible swirly things that reminded me of something from Dr. Seuss. Anybody know what they are?

So, all in all, it was a good day, around 7 miles total, especially sitting here eating my wonderful dinner prepared by Smart Guy, after a shower which washed away the bug spray, sunscreen, and sweat... and sipping a glass of wine. Life's good.
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Watching the show

All of these pictures were taken from my desk, looking out at the front porch. These sparrows are taking a bath, and if birds can have expressions, these birds are, well, happy. I can't say I appreciate these guys as much as some of my other birds, because they tend to crowd out the more well-behaved ones and hog all the sunflower seeds. House sparrows were introduced in this country during the 1850s to control insect pests. From my bird book:

Not a true sparrow, but a weaver-finch from Eurasia and northern Africa, the House Sparrow immediately began to exploit human-modified habitats after being introduced into the US. This bird has a knack for colonizing far-flung settled areas and usurping territory from native species. Many people have seen this bird cleaning up discarded scraps around fast-food restaurants.

I stopped putting out seed that was scarfed up immediately by the House Sparrows, but I sure don't want to stop supplying black-oil sunflower seed, because the delightful chickadees and nuthatches like them also.

This is a black-capped chickadee, I think. I thought with all this color it must be a chestnut-backed chickadee, but my bird book doesn't show either one exactly. He's really friendly, though, and I think if I were to sit quietly for long enough with my hand filled with seeds, he would eventually come over and take one.

You can see the nuthatch has a much shorter tail and a little longer beak. This one has a seed in his beak making it look longer than it is. I took this picture this morning, and you can see that the sunflower seeds are pretty much gone from the feeder, thanks to the unrelenting sparrow hordes. I have now put out a small amount twice daily, and when it's gone, I would love to say it's gone, but frankly, I'm such a softie I end up putting out more. But much more parsimoniously than before!

Most of the food I provide is for these goldfinches. The male is much more brightly colored, and an occasional pine siskin shows up, as well as other finches. I have two nyjer thistle socks (like this one) and an upside-down feeder that has both small chips of sunflowers mixed with the nyjer. The sparrows can't use it, though, as they cannot hang upside down like the finches, chickadees, and nuthatches.

We also have some downy woodpeckers who come to the suet feeder. I believe this is a new one, he seems smaller than the others I've seen, but he spent quite a bit of time today chomping down the suet, as well as rat-a-tatting this tree. It's amazing to think of how it must feel to bore a hole in a tree with your head!

The other birds I see often on my porch are the spotted towhee (he's there right now), the beautiful Northern Flicker, who also loves the suet feeder, and this little guy, who I think is a juvenile grosbeak, but I can't be sure. His coloring doesn't look like the pictures, but look at that beak, what else can it be?

Anyway, I am enjoying the show, and this hobby of mine has grown beyond anything I thought it would be in the beginning. I haven't seen my hummingbird around since the flowers that attracted him have finished blooming. I put up the hummingbird feeder, but I keep changing the elixer without having had a visitor. And of course, my old friend the squirrels have kept me on my toes. What a well-visited front porch I have!
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A Single Man

I discontinued my Netflix account recently, since I have not been using it enough to make it worthwhile, coupled with the fact that I now have On Demand through Comcast on my TV. It has lots of free movies, but on Saturday I rented A Single Man on their 2-day rental plan and paid $4.99 for it.

One of the reasons I wanted to see it is that Colin Firth received a Best Oscar nomination for his performance, and I know he's really talented. However, I was taken aback by this movie, since I knew very little about its premise.

Based on a novel written by Christopher Isherwood in 1964, it's about a closeted gay college professor, George, who loses Jim, his partner of 16 years, in a car crash along with their two dogs. It's not clear from the movie if they lived together, but the flashbacks make it look like they did. The time period is the early sixties. George is so devastated that he decides to kill himself, and the movie unfolds around that decision.

The first scene where George learns of the crash and that Jim's family won't let him to come to the funeral is exquisitely done, and in my opinion Colin Firth deserves the Oscar for that one scene alone. I of course went over to Rotten Tomatoes to see what "freshness" rating the movie received (86%), and I was pleased to find that most reviewers also raved about Firth's performance.  I found a review that summed it up for me, written by Ian Freer on Empire Online (the link takes you to the full review):

Firth beautifully etches a man slowly detaching from his life. Perhaps the character’s biggest moment — receiving news of Jim’s death — starts with a clipped phone call and ends with a portrait of a man in bits, Firth making the transition without a false note. A model of economy and restraint, Firth starts addicted to his broken heart and ends a man capable of seeing the beauty in the world precisely because he has given up on it. He roots George, and therefore the rest of Ford’s beautiful film, in dignity.

I have thought of the movie several times since I watched it, and especially the incredibly well crafted story of what it must have been like to be gay back then. Julianne Moore plays an old female friend, and she is also incredible in her role. The film was nominated for The Golden Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival, and Firth received an award for Best Actor at that festival. Firth also won a Golden Globe award for Best Actor, and Julianne Moore was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. It received other awards, all of which were well deserved, in my opinion.

It seems like it would be a real downer of a movie, but it wasn't. It portrayed so many aspects of life that we all must deal with: loss, grief, acceptance of self, friendships, and the many facets of love.
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