Sabbatical

Well, I've been writing on this thing for 2 1/2 years. Time for a break. It seems that not being able to post pictures (the USB is broken) stymies my enthusiasm to write on this thing. So, I'm going to take a sabbatical from it until either my enthusiasm returns or I get a new computer or I get this computer fixed.

Be back later.

Cheers! everyone.

Waddle

At long last, I've finally done it. Time to start running again. Or at this age, weight, level of fitness: waddling.

Angel and Abbey came along. Angel on the leash. Angel instantly recognized that this is a new activity. She didn't try to stop and sniff as she normally does. She just trotted along beside me--only asking to stop twice in order to take care of some bodily functions. Abbey was a bit more confused. I run too fast for her to trot, but too slow for her to run. She criss crossed my path, creating a doggy hazard. We only collided twice.

And so my time to the FENCE was 27 minutes and 53 seconds. Painfully slow.

Ranked 2,921,408

Back from four days of work in the Napa Valley. Hot as can be here. And quiet (the girls are gone visiting).

Since I write a whole lot about books I've read, I decided to post some of the items on Amazon. My book review ranking has climbed by 2 million spots over the last week. That doesn't take much: only two people have liked my reviews. One person didn't. (Giving me a much below average of 66 percent.)

So there are almost three million people out there who are more popular in writing reviews than I am. You can find the book reviews here.

Over the next week I hope to dig out more reviews and post them on Amazon. My goal: to break the One Million mark on the reviewer list! Oh, vanity.

A Scenario...

A short walk in the woods today with the dogs. Did the small loop. Along the way, we came across a dead mouse on the trail. How did the mouse die? Why didn't something eat it? Ants were devouring the fairly fresh corpse.

In my mind's eye, I constructed a scenario: The mouse was bit by a rattler. Before the rattler could eat the mouse, a hawk snatched the rattler. Diner became dinner. The mouse then died on the trail--only to be discovered by the ants. Oh the good fortune of those ants!

Nineteen Minutes Forty-Five Seconds...

Gosh, I miss the pictures. The USB port on this early 2000's model computer is not working. I blame the Eleven year old in this household for the problem.

Down the Canyon with the dogs today. We went half the way down to the oak tree. The temperature has turned a bit warmer. Poor Abbey, wearing her black fur coat, is getting a bit tired (and hot) with these Canyon jaunts. She just runs from shade tree to shade tree, quickly digs into the cooler dirt, lies down. Panting.

My new thing is to not stop while I hike up the steep Canyon. We hike down. Rest for five minutes. And then we climb to the "Fence" (the fence that inspired the Mother Earth News bit). No stopping allowed during the climb. I timed myself today: 19 minutes and 45 seconds to climb half the Canyon.

Of course I am in no shape to spend 12 days on the PCT next month. Looks like we shall get into shape on the trail. Lately, I've been considering taking Angel with me.

Chicken McNuggets

Back in Concow.

Did my normal hike down the canyon to the big oak tree. The dogs in tow. Saw a coyote. The coyotes have been quite active lately. Yipping and hollering at dusk---I think they celebrate when they catch dinner. Speaking of which, they managed to get another chicken: down to nine now. Chicken McNuggets for God's Canine. Coyote fastfood.

Bears and Sleeping Bags...

Visitors here the past few days. One of my favorite things to do when we have guests is to trudge down to the bottom of our canyon. Yesterday, we did that. Along the way, I was happy to see a couple piles of bear dung. Those bruins aren't extirpated yet! Despite hostilities from a couple of neighbors (a bear was shot a couple months ago by a family on a different ridge), the bear are still here.

Which leads me to that rascal dog Abbey.

I've been cleaning out our Addition, getting ready to put in a floor. While doing that, Abbey found some garden supplies that I had put within her reach. She investigated and found a bottle that must have delighted her nose. Without me seeing her, she took the bottle as her prize.

So, of course, the place to take this mystery bottle is onto our bed. Because of guests, we are using my favorite sleeping bag for a cover. Abbey plopped herself down on this sleeping bag and managed to chew the cap off the bottle.

Out came the contents: a thick sludge of the most vile, disgusting goo imaginable. This spread across the sleeping bag in a large puddle reminiscent of the Love Canal.

What was in the mystery bottle, you might ask?

Concentrated Fish Emulsion for the garden.

What is the one thing you wouldn't want to have spilled on your favorite sleeping bag in bear country? I had to think long and hard about this---and frankly---I can't think of anything else that would be worse to have spilled on your bag. I don't think I can ever sleep in the backcountry in this sleeping bag ever again. Despite washing the bag, I will never trust that the Fish Emulsion truly washed out. Bears have incredible olfactory systems: my sleeping bag is now bait.

And I'm the Kracker Jack surprise...

Coyote Counting Coup?

With some 64 days left before I begin a 140 mile Pacific Crest Trail Adventure (probably done solo this year), I took the dogs down the canyon for my training walk. Teddy, the neighbor's dog (not pictured above), usually waits in his yard for us to pass by. Then, he joins us. Today was no exception.

When we got to the turnoff to go down the Canyon, a coyote crossed my path about twenty feet in front of me. Our eyes locked and I was reminded of that famous "green fire" passage from Aldo Leopold's famous encounter with a Mexican wolf. This coyote was huge. The fur was quite thick with a grayish, reddish appearance. Just then I looked to my right: Teddy and Angel were chasing another coyote. This time Teddy managed to jump on the coyote's back before the triad ran off into the woods.

Oh, oh.

Abbey didn't run off after them as she was busy rolling in something stinky right next to me. I called Angel--and thankfully, she came running back. Eyes happy. Tongue hanging out of her mouth. Adventure!

We continued down the Canyon. Two coyotes getting that close to a man and three dogs seemed strange. I walked down to my customary this-stage-of-training-and-it-is-cold-and-raining turnaround spot. Back up the Canyon.

When we got around 75 yards from the top of the Canyon, where the coyote encounter was, I was wondering if we might see the coyotes again. The dogs were just off to my side, sniffing something, when we were charged by a coyote!

Yes, charged by a coyote!

The coyote bounded out of the woods just a few feet away and ran smack into Teddy. No biting. No snarling. Just an ambush. All three dogs were together just a few feet apart. The coyote barraged into Teddy, shocking all of them, and then turned around and ran off. Counting coup?

This time Teddy, Angel and Abbey tore after the brave coyote. I called out to them, worried that Angel and Abbey are no match for a canine that actually has to kill things in order to live.

Abbey came back first--followed by Angel just a few seconds later. Relief.

I'm thinking that the coyotes have a den near this spot--hence their efforts at luring the dogs away from the area. Coyotes, like wolves, have litters dependent upon the food supply of the area. Given the large size of the coyote that tried to lure me into the woods, I'm thinking there might be a good sized litter close by.

Rain and Jesus Radicals

Back across California last night. A walk in the rain with the dogs today. It is cold. Wet. When will this summer start?

One of the guys who went on the PCT with me last year had a piece printed on a website dedicated to "Jesus Radicals". Jason is a good guy. I appreciate his views. You can read his piece here.

Eiger Dreams

A day of chores: laundry, shopping and now grilling a leg of lamb. The lamb will be accompanied by a 2008 Charles Krug Cabernet. Plus corn on the cob and mashed potatoes. Heaven!

Finished Krakauer's Eiger Dreams last night. Mountaineering folk tend to be a little too adrenalinish for me. However, Krakauer is always a good read. This older work by him, although more immature in its scope, doesn't disappoint. Especially memorable are his chapters on being trapped in a tent and also his solo climb of the "devil's thumb" in Alaska.

The Unknown Flower

Down the canyon with the dogs. Another cold and rainy day.

Third Graders are fun. The other day Jazmine came home to say that she had to do a report on a famous person. She was given a list of names by her teacher. She chose John Muir. Atta girl!

But not even Joni could identify the flower above. Can someone save me the effort of looking through these gosh darned flower books to identify it?

Bullock's Oriole

Back from work. Looks like we have some new guests on our property. Both a male and a female Bullock's Oriole have been spending time at our bird feeder. Since these birds nest in the summer, I'm hoping they have decided to move in for the season. Bullock Orioles are considered common, but their numbers have been declining in recent years. This is a colorful bird. Beautiful. They winter in the south part of Mexico and also some Central American countries. No visas required for these avian guests.

Guest Room

Finally finished the weed whacking today. Now we are ready for the fire season. What you are looking at above is a space I cleared for a guest room. A place to throw your tent! I even cleared out all the poison oak. Nothing but the best for those who visit Concow!

I took the dogs down the canyon today. I'm getting into more summer conditioning: it was easier to climb out of the gorge. Noticeably easier.

And now, after owning this place for nearly four years (and living here for three years), we have a hot water heater on order. We decided to go with conventional propane--plans are to tie a solar hot water heater into it later. This is a "pay as you go" process. The girls, who have been taking bucket baths for three years, asked that the next project we get done was to have a luxurious shower. Joni looked at me the other day, eyes pleading, and said that it had been 1 1/2 years since she has taken a shower. She wants to go someplace and just stand in a shower and drain the hot water system.

Next week she should be able to do that.

The Cedar, State Parks and Peak Oil

Today I noticed this Cedar that survived the 2008 fire. I looked everywhere for another Cedar, but couldn't find one. The tree is burned about thirty feet up its rather large trunk. It survived.

Some bad news and some good news: California is set to close about 70 State Parks in September. 70 out of 250. State Parks are essential for outdoor recreation and outdoor education. My Mom and Dad used to load up the trailer to drag me off camping to a couple of State Parks back in Minnesota. I didn't mind; not too much anyway. Mom and Dad bribed me with soda (all I could drink) and there were other kids to hang out with and hiking trails to explore. And the beauty of the Driftless area. It made me fall in love with State Parks.

Now other kids won't get that chance to be bored at their families behest. A shame. Another blow to the Commons (I'll write about that on another post).

And now the good news: Richard Heinberg stated in a commencement speech that oil production has been flat since 2006, despite record oil prices. He sees this as an indication that oil has peaked and we will soon begin the downward slope. Good news!

You can read his speech here. He was the alternative speaker to the President of Exxon (who gave the regular commencement address at this college). It is a good read.

Climate Change: Hard Sell...

The girls made me a chocolate chip cookie, complete with strawberry/cookie dough eyes and ears.

Been walking the dogs the past couple of days. Thinking about my reading. Within the last few weeks I've read Mark Hertsgaard's book: Hot and Paul Gilding's book: The Great Disruption. I've been boning up on climate change mainly because of the backlash against it by the Republican Party.

Paul Gilding is a former Greenpeace International President turned business consultant and now professor. Essentially, his story is one of an activist who got tired of sleeping on people's couches---who found a way to make a living being a "green" consultant. He is a bit maligned in Radical Enviro circles because of his jump from Greenpeace to Du Pont. Enviros have revolving doors too.

Hertsgaard is a veteran journalist whose best book is on the Beatles. In "Hot" he takes the family angle: wondering what the world will be like for his young daughter in the year 2060?

The problem with climate change is that it is so nebulous that denial is easy. How can one get upset about sea level rise, when thus far, it has only been 2 to 3 millimeters a year? So far, we haven't paid the price of a warming climate in North America, hence, it isn't a problem. People like Gilding, Hertsgaard and McKibben are seen as Chicken Little.

Gilding's answer is that the world will move on the issue when the first major catastrophe happens. This will be more than likely an extended drought in America's bread basket. He predicts this will happen in the next ten years. He expects that a billion people will die. Cheerful.

As I write this, the Mississippi is in flood. New Orleans is threatened again. The weather is cold; we might have snow tonight. Unheard of. A swarm of F4 and F5 tornadoes ravaged the south in April while Texas is in extreme drought and had record setting fires. The bark beetle has taken out millions of acres of coniferous forest in the west.

But Gilding is right: it doesn't look like we will summon the political will to reduce CO2 in the atmosphere until the first major calamity happens. All the 350.org rallies and educational projects mean nothing until we are affected directly. That means food supply. Seeing as climate change is projected to mostly impact agriculture and forestry--that might happen sooner rather than later.

The reality is that climate change will not be seen as a problem until it is a problem. Until then, expect more of an anti-enviro backlash from those who believe that the engine of growth and the carbon economy bring the greatest amount of prosperity.

Lost Post

Blogger seems to have lost my last post about the Evening Grosbeaks...weird.

Evening Grosbeaks...

After four adventure filled days working, I drove home late last night. The last two weeks we've had a flock of Evening Grosbeaks at our bird feeder. This beautiful bird has a voracious appetite: Joni and I have to fill the feeder daily with sunflower seeds to keep these marvelous birds happy. I don't mind. I like sharing our "commons" with the birds and critters. I'm happy to work a bit to feed these lovely companions.

The Evening Grosbeak lives mostly in coniferous forests through out the United States. The only place you won't find them is the deep South (for which, we have to admire these fine birds). They've extended their range lately to many parts of the Eastern United States because of reforestation there. Whereas they've done well as a species and are considered not endangered, hardcore birders report that their numbers have been down over the last ten years. Nobody knows why or to what extent this is a problem.

The dogs and I took a reunion walk today down the canyon. Ah, home!

Training

Down the canyon with the dogs today. Time to start training for my big hike in August. I've decided to do a 140 mile segment of the Pacific Crest Trail from Donner Pass to Belden. This is a lesser traveled part of the PCT. The good thing is that there are opportunities (two of them) for burgers and beer along the way (without too much trouble). Plus the take out place at Belden has a bar and food.

Swimming Hole

Joni and I hiked down to the swimming hole today. We let the dogs swim and then bushwhacked our way back up the ridge to our home. Got a little bloodied through the bramble...

The End is Near...

Slept on a couch at the hospital last night. Couldn't get a room. A class this morning and then back to Concow. I've been driving by this sign for months (in Oroville). I finally stopped to take a photo.

It is our first 90 degree Fahrenheit day. Hot.