I couldn't help myself

Christine, me, and Linny at Skydive Snohomish

Even though I am still recovering from my cold, I got a call from Linny that she and Christine would be out at the Dropzone at Snohomish on Saturday and would I like to join them for a few jumps? Well, when I got the call on Friday, I was sure I wouldn't be joining them. But since I got a wonderful massage after my workout on Friday and a good night's sleep, this morning when I woke, I figured it was at least worth a trip 75 miles south for the possibility of a jump or two. After all, it has been three weeks, and the season is closing fast.

Linny was really surprised to see me, after I had left her a voice mail with a message that I would try but made no promises. This morning I felt so much better that Smart Guy and I headed to the DZ in hopes that I would be able to make at least one skydive before realizing I was really too sick. Linny got Christine and me to join her on the second load of the day for a wonderful three-way skydive that will live in my memory for a long time. I then got myself on a jump with Hank, a fun guy in our age range, and after packing and getting ready for a second jump, I found myself on a fun two-way with him that had every sign of me being completely well. But on the descent in freefall, my ears complained and when I opened my canopy, oh my, I realized it was NOT okay. Felt like an icepick in my right ear. After landing and thanking Hank for the wonderful jump, I asked Smart Guy if we could just go home.

Well, he still had to find out from Linny what the best way would be for him to wash his rig. Here she is telling him all the secret stuff about how to get it clean (Woolite, Spray-n-Wash, soaking in the bathtub). She used to wash her own rig every winter, but now it's only now and then. After hearing all the important parts, I asked if we could go home so I could hopefully recover from what was probably a bad idea. My croaky voice had returned, my ear ached, and I was so tired I couldn't even imagine why I thought I was well enough to do this.

But actually, I had two wonderful skydives to add to my memories, and now I'm home writing about it. And tomorrow I will rest, I promise! However, next week I might be able to get two hikes in before calling it a season...
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No hike today

Instead of hiking today, I am nursing a cold I seem to have picked up in the past couple of days. It started out with a very scratchy throat, cough, and a general feeling of malaise. But I did think it was getting better, and I even made plans for the hike today.

But last night, I woke several times with a very sore throat and lots of congestion, making my desire to go along on the hike with my friends seem a whole lot less appealing. Plus the possibility of rain was the clincher, seeing as it would not be a good idea to make myself sicker. So I reluctantly stayed home and thought about my usual Thursday post and what I would write about instead of posting lovely pictures of my day's journey into the mountains. Today might be the last time for our visits to the High Country, as this front might bring enough snow for us to start our hikes around town. Today is our last scheduled trip up there anyway, but if the weather cooperates we might make it one more time.

I have to reluctantly conclude that my little one-legged chickadee has been recycled, as he has not appeared in the last two days. I suspect that the fluttering wing he needed to use to compensate for the recently lost leg was enough to entice a raptor to check him out. If by some chance he does return, I will rejoice and let you know right away. But the signs are not good.

On a positive note, however, I watched the miners in Chile yesterday, being pulled out of the ground and was able to celebrate along with the rest of the world at their amazing rescue. It was horrible to contemplate them being down here for several more months. The fact that everything proceeded with such speed and competence was an inspiration to me: a situation that seems entirely hopeless can actually have a good outcome, given enough ingenuity and perseverance.

I have purchased a set of snowshoes so I can hopefully take advantage of the forecasted snow this winter. We have a moderate to strong La Niña in progress, which usually brings the Pacific Northwest more precipitation and colder temperatures during the winter. Although I am not looking forward to the moderate temperatures leaving town, I had so much fun using (and breaking!) Al's spare snowshoes that I had to buy a pair for myself. They look just like this picture, MSR Evo 22's in a nice sedate blue.

As you can see, today's snowshoes bear little resemblance to the old ones that looked to me a whole lot like a tennis racket, and using these strapped onto my regular hiking boots are very easy to use. If I have the chance to be in deep powder I'll need a pair of tails added onto them, but it's not that likely in this area. Last year we had what is affectionately known as "Cascade cement" and expect that to be more like what we'll have this year. But you never know.
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One legged chickadee

Taken from vtpeacknik's Flickr photos

I haven't yet been able to get a picture myself of my little one-legged chickadee, but he looks just like this one. I couldn't figure out what the little guy was trying to do, the past few days, fluttering his wings and huddling on the ground with the sparrows. At first I thought he had a broken wing, but he can fly just fine. Then I figured out that he has lost a leg somehow. He can drink water and hang with his one leg upside down, just like this one, eating at the upside-down feeders normally visited only by the goldfinches.

At first I thought he was trying to nest or something, fluttering over the flower box in an unusual way, until I called Smart Guy over and we watched him for awhile, realizing that he can fly just fine, eat suet and drink water out of the birdbath, too. On the ground he balances by fluttering the wing on the side where the leg is missing, which seems to have been lost recently. On a tree limb he leans onto his breast but hangs on the branch pretty well. I put some sunflower chips into the flower bed and he found the stash tonight.

It's been a difficult day bird-wise, with a very hard strike by a goldfinch on the living room window. Although I've got lots of markers as well as reflective stickers on the window, which may keep the number of strikes down, it doesn't eliminate them. The finch lay stunned on the front porch while we put barriers around it to keep the interest of predators away. I didn't have much hope, but after about an hour the bird began to look around and finally flew away. Often they have sustained brain damage and don't survive in the long term,  but I can hope it will be back at my feeders tomorrow. It is a handsome bird and there's no way for me to know it from the others.

Upon looking on the internet for information about one-legged chickadees, I found that it is a fairly common sight at feeders around the country. If you're a chickadee and you have to lose a limb, a leg is probably the easiest to adapt to. I guess I should name it (I'll say it's a male but I have no way of knowing) and wonder if "Peg Leg" is just way too obvious. Or maybe "Peggy"? I'll be watching him to see if he keeps coming around and will be putting out some extra food for him. Stay tuned.
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The Social Network

Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake) and Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg)

I went to see the new movie The Social Network yesterday. Yes, I am a member of Facebook, along with 500 million other people, it turns out. I have spent the last couple of hours reading about this fictionalized version of real people and how Facebook has become such an integral part of many people's lives in such a short time. It was created in 2004 and has made many people, notably Mark Zuckerberg, billionaires.

The movie is based on a book by Ben Mezrich, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal, which apparently doesn't have much to base its facts on other than the collaboration of Eduardo Savarin, who comes across in the movie as being pretty much shafted by Zuckerberg. But apparently that's what happened, as Savarin has now been given a very handsome settlement and has been added back onto Facebook's site as one of the co-founders, after his lawsuit against Zuckerberg.

Whatever. The movie itself is not really about Facebook, but about Mark's genius and the interplay between three people: Mark (played incredibly well by Jesse Eisenberg), Eduardo Savarin (Andrew Garfield), and Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake). If Eisenberg doesn't receive an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal, I will be really surprised. He is unforgettable in this part. When I looked up Zuckerberg on Wikipedia, I was also struck at how much they look alike. I wonder if Zuckerberg talks and acts like Eisenberg did in the movie.

Sean Parker comes across as a real slimeball and Justin Timberlake plays him masterfully. I can't believe that he is really like that, given what I've read about him, but in the movie he is pretty sleazy and a really unpleasant individual. The movie may take liberties with real people, but it sure makes for an absorbing film experience. My favorite site for reviews, Rotten Tomatoes, gives the movie a 97% freshness rating, which is amazing. Obviously I wasn't the only one who liked the movie. And I can't imagine my life without Facebook.

One reviewer, Linda Cook on the Quad City Times, says it well:

It’s incredible how Facebook has become such an integral part of the lives of millions, and at so many levels — from those who check in once a month or so to those of us (and admittedly I’m one of them) who log in a couple of times daily. And it’s fascinating how such a relatively new development now has a “historical movie” dedicated to its origins.

I find it wonderful that I can keep tabs with all my old friends in Boulder, that all of my skydiving friends and acquaintances for the last twenty years, my family members (every one of my siblings and most of their offspring are on Facebook) show me pictures of their exploits and tell me what they are doing on a regular basis. And our vocabulary has definitely changed when someone asks you to "friend" them you know they are talking about on Facebook.

If you see the movie, I'd be interested to know what you think of it. I found it worthwhile just for the entertainment value, and not having been one of those aware of the origins of the phenomenon, I was also fascinated that it managed to make writing code and computer programming exciting.
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We found our thrill

...on Blueberry Hill! Today sixteen Senior Trailblazers headed up to Canyon Ridge, which we have christened Blueberry Hill because of the incredible profusion of blueberries, which we managed to consume until our fingers and mouths had turned several shades of purple. Although they were not as sweet as last year's crop, there were so many of them! And the fall colors, as you can see here, were just outstanding.

If you enlarge this picture, you can see that the red leaves are hiding a spectacular number of blueberries, and if we had not had a destination, we would probably have made ourselves sick standing around and eating them. As it was, we tore ourselves away from the berries to obtain our high point on the ridge below. You can easily see our trail leading to the top of that hill.

I know it looks like I fiddled with the color on this picture, but I didn't. This is what we saw today. Although there were high clouds, we could see Shuksan and Baker, even if partially obscured by clouds, and the Canadian and American border peaks. We could have hiked down a short ways and found ourselves in Canada. In fact, on the way back down to our cars, we saw three Border Patrol personnel heading up the trail. When we stopped for our lunch break around noon, you can clearly see the Canadian and American border peaks in this picture.

The rounded peak in the middle of the picture is the American Border Peak, and the one to its left is the Canadian Border Peak. The border itself is between the two. Those high clouds you see here were with us for the entire day, keeping us cool but dry. The weather for the next few days is expected to be much wetter, as well as windy, so we were all pleased to have our usual Thursday hike, seeing the beautiful fall colors while staying dry. It was just great! Here we are heading back down to our cars after a wonderful day enjoying the High Country.

I have lots more pictures, some of the gorgeous Shuksan and Baker, that I'll add to my Trailblazers link on the right-hand side of this blog, but I don't promise to do it before I've had my dinner and wine. Maybe tomorrow morning before heading to the gym... It was another magnificent day with my BFFs, and there were three new (to me) Trailblazers with us today. The more I think about my choice to retire here, the more amazed I am that Bellingham is so perfect. I am truly blessed.
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When the frost is on the pumpkin

This morning after my workout, I walked to the Community Food Co-op (which I do most days) and saw their outside display of pumpkins covered with water. I assumed it was frost that had melted from the rising temperature and sunshine. But it only got down to 39 degrees (above freezing) and the dewpoint was also 39, so what I'm thinking is that this is dew, not melted frost. Oh, well, it's close enough to being frost to make me feel the changing season.

We are losing three-and-a-half minutes every day here in the uppermost left-hand corner of the United States, just a little south of Vancouver, BC. The days are now shorter than the nights, and you can feel and see the change of season everywhere. It's October, after all, and even if there wasn't frost on these guys last night, you can bet it won't be long now. I love this time of the year. The sky seems bluer in comparison to the bright leaves, and the crisp bite in the air is exhilarating.

I've got juncos returning to my porch after being gone all summer. They must be migrating south, although some stay around all winter. Maybe this is as far south as they go. They have joined my usual goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, flickers, downy woodpeckers and sparrows. I'm sorry, but to me those sparrows just have no redeeming qualities. Those people who brought them over here from overseas (to control insect pests) in the 1850s couldn't have foreseen how adaptable they are, or how quickly they would crowd out native species. I end up feeding them, too, since they don't care how I feel about them and travel around in rapacious flocks.

The other day when I was filling the black-oil sunflower seed feeder, I was getting ready to hang it back up on its peg when a nuthatch landed on the feeder inches from my face. I was still holding it. He seemed to be looking right into my eyes, showing no fear or skittishness. He waited for me to say something and I told him how much I admire him. He said, "tsip tsip tsip" to me, took a sunflower seed from right under my nose and flew off. Although I don't speak nuthatch, I think he was saying thank you.
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Halfway to Heaven

My sister Norma Jean knows that when I lived in Colorado, I had spent quite a few years climbing Fourteeners -- peaks at least 14,000 feet high -- before becoming distracted by my obsession with skydiving. She read Halfway to Heaven and told me how much she enjoyed the book. Although she has no interest in climbing any of these herself, it entertained her and retained her interest because of the great writing style of the author, Mark Obmascik. He gives a little description of himself on the book jacket as being "fat, forty-four, father of three sons, and facing a vasectomy" when he decided to try some male bonding with his son by hiking a peak together.

And then, in what he describes as a fit of insanity, he decided to try climbing all fifty-four of the Fourteeners in one year! Only a select few have accomplished the feat. The book tells of his adventures.

Some of the reviews call it a "hilarious midlife picaresque" or an "oxygen-deprived romp," or a "coming of middle-age adventure story." These descriptions are all true, and I've enjoyed the book a great deal. Obmascik's way of writing captivated me from the beginning, and since I've climbed several of these peaks myself, I was interested in finding out how he dealt with the difficulties I also faced. Climbing some of these peaks is simply dealing with hiking up several thousand feet of elevation gain while at altitude. Most start somewhere above 10,000 feet and you just grunt and sweat and keep going until you're at the summit.

Obmascik tells in his chapter on "Gravity" about one guy he climbed with who "has only six more Fourteeners to go, but they are all either hard physically, or hard technically, or simply hard both ways. Now that silver has completed its hostile takeover of his scalp, he wonders how many more hard peaks his legs can withstand." No kidding.

It's true that there are some hard and fast rules that everyone who is successful at climbing these peaks follows: you start really early, before dawn, get up to the summit before noon, and climb back down by early afternoon. In the High Country, thunderstorms are a real danger and build almost every afternoon. Most fatalities in Colorado are from falls or lightning strikes. I've been in a few sticky situations myself. On my other blog I wrote about some dumb things I did while learning the ropes.

Here in Washington state, all the hikes I do are tame in comparison to Colorado's Fourteeners, but people still die from falls and from getting lost. However, we start our hikes from somewhere around 3,000-4,000 feet and climb up to 6,000 or so, maximum. Big difference. I'm not sure how I would fare if I tried to climb Fourteeners today.

If you read about Mark's adventures in his book, you wil definitely be entertained. The Cascades, for me, are exciting enough, and beautiful, to boot. This picture was taken last Thursday on Ptarmigan Ridge, and I feel the same wonder and challenge from them today that I got from Colorado's Fourteeners thirty years ago.
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