Day 120: There You Go Again....

Kind of hard to see tragedy in a small, little life when a whole Gulf dies....

Took a walk with my friend R., fellow RN, fellow Psychiatric Nurse and co-conspirator. He is one of the best Psychiatric Nurses I've ever met. I steal his material...

But we were walking cause we've gone and gotten ourselves in trouble again. We needed to process. Reflect. Learn to feel good about ourselves again.

Walking is good for that...

Day 119: Looking for Mr. Backpacker...

Angel and I took a walk this morning. We are starting to train for our next big hike. In the process I am looking for a partner. I have one tentative "yes"---but seeing as his spouse is having a baby soon, that might not be good for his marital bliss.

So I posted this on Facebook:

Anybody interested in backpacking some of the ugliest parts of the Pacific Crest Trail from June 18 to the 23rd of June? I'm looking for a foolhardy, out of shape partner--who is clumsy and with unrealistic, grandiose ambitions...

No takers thus far...

So then I sent this out by e-mail to almost everyone I know, most everyone I don't know and their dogs:

Hello all,

I'm looking for a backpacking partner for June 18 to the 22nd. My foolhardy plan is to start on the Pacific Crest Trail at Belden, and then attempt to make it to the Lassen area (haven't fully researched the take out point yet). This part of the trail is our backyard. It is described as being very ugly: no views, very little water, logged over, lots of rattlers--in short, some of the worst the PCT has to offer. Which is why I want to do it!

J. and I have talked about doing it, but--seeing as he has a baby coming and all, it might be hard for him to take on this pursuit.

Anybody want to give her a try? Frankly, I am not in the best of shape. I will more than likely suffer terribly (like I did in Costa Rica)---but that is part of the charm of the experience. That which doesn't kill us (more than a possibility) makes us, well, I don't really know. But I want to find out.

Anybody interested? Or do you know someone (hopefully out of shape and with grandiose ambitions) who is? Feel free to forward this to anyone who might be interested...

Cheers!

allan

My brother wrote that he is too out of shape to do it. Otherwise, there has been a loud, resounding silence...

Any adventurous Readers out there?

Day 118: Some Words from Saint Ed...

A rainbow tonight...while Kylie and Joni watch the sunset in the rain....

A walk with Angel on this cold, rainy day. I ran across these words of Ed Abbey's while doing some morning surfing. I think it perfectly states why we get out and take these walks.

It comes from a speech to environmentalists in Missoula, Montana, and in Colorado, which was published in High Country News, (24 September 1976), under the title "Joy, Shipmates, Joy!"

"Do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast... a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards." - Edward Abbey

And so I spent the day looking for friends to take a couple backpacking trips with me. Ed was a wise man...

Day 117: Rain and the Bibs...

Raining again. Angel and I decided to "risk it" by walking through some of the burned over areas from the great fire of 2008. I'll write another day about the connection between this forest destroying, crown burning fire and climate change (which was brought to light to me by McKibben's book: Eaarth).

No, today is a day for sloggenly marching through mud and hoping to avoid some widow makers. And all of this done in my Biboveralls.

Why? Because I have to pick up the girls from school today (Joni is working late this week) and they absolutely are mortified when I show up to their school wearing my Redneck Costume. Kylie and Jazzie see me in my Bibs and do everything possible to avoid having any connection to me whatsoever. They don't make eye contact. They run to the car. They don't acknowledge me. They treat me like I'm a Black man at a Tea Party Rally!

I live for their blushes. Their total embarrassment. Their wanting to get the hell out of there before their friends see me!

And then while safely in the car, they yell at me. "Why did you wear those to our school! You look sooooooooo stuuuuuupiiiiiiid in those things!".

I always non-chalantly drive away--and then I ask them if they would like to go to Paradise, Oroville or Chico to buy some supplies?

The girls look at each other weighing the tradeoffs in their eight and ten year old heads. If they go with me, they will be with someone totally uncool; yet, if they do go with me, they might get something they like? A book. Clothes. A treat. A visit to a malt shoppe.

I am evil. I live for this...

Day 116: Reflections on Poison Oak...

Angel and I wandered off to explore this morning. My thoughts turned to Poison Oak.

You see, we had quite a few visitors over the weekend, who braved the single lane gravel road to make it up to our Homestead. One of the visitors came down with a bit of Poison Oak on his ankle the next morning.

Yesterday we had some other visitors. Since I knew that on Friday, some visitors wandered into the stuff (and had a breakout), I showed them some Poison Oak and said they should avoid it.

You would have thought I just introduced them to Hannibal Lecter!

One of the visitors tip-toed from the car to the house, asking all the way: "Did I step in any"?

Me? I kind of like this wiley plant. Whenever I get a fresh break out, I just scratch it to smithereens until the pain over comes the itch. Seems to work (but I don't advise anybody else to do this). Kylie, who at age ten gets into everything--God Bless Her---breaks out terribly from the stuff. We try all the remedies known to humankind on her.

But Kylie has learned to avoid Poison Oak. No break outs thus far this year (keep your fingers crossed).

But the fore-mentioned visitor's fear struck me. How can a little plant, that doesn't really move, snarl, bite, scratch or claw--strike such fear into a person? I told them that the best remedy I know is to avoid it (leaves of three, let it be) and to take a bath after running about in their territory (not that I take my own advice).

I sometimes wonder if that isn't the reason Thoreau took his daily wash up in Walden Pond? To ward off Poison Oak's cousin Poison Ivy that grows on the eastern part of our Country.

Back to Poison Oak. No need to be frightened. Just as there really isn't any need to be frightened of Mountain Lions (and I intentionally capitalize creatures names---a convention I wish all would adopt), Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Rattlesnakes, Bison and a multitude of other creatures that I hope we learn to live with and restore their right to private property! Yes, Animals have property rights!

With adequate caution, we can live with all of creation.

Where does this fear come from? We fear what we don't know. I don't think we will really turn the tide and create more wild space until the percentage of kids who come down with a Poison Oak rash gets to ninety percent and they learn to love and respect the plant. But I fear the kidly breakout percentage gets less and less every year, as the computer and the Xbox, Wii, Ipod, Ipad, Iphone, and Ipoison get more and more of our youngster's attention.

And what is the lesson of Poison Oak to a child? A rather good one. You see, if a child wanders into traffic, they are dead before they learn the lesson that that is something you should not wander in. But if a kid wanders into some Poison Oak, well, then they learn the lesson that there are things out there that can hurt you---but without the modern day lethality of our more uncivilized, civilized dangers!

Poison Oak can be our friend...

Day 115: The FlatFlower 30...

"I love the smell of Roundup in the morning", I told my peers as we rode past our first orchard.

I'm a part of four nurses (one pulling his special needs twenty year old son) who rode the FlatFlower 30 today. One step up from the ChildFlower (a ten mile ride). The FlatFlower was a flat (hence the name) bike ride through northern California's ode to industrial agriculture: the northern Sacramento River valley. Frankly, we had a blast!

I've never participated in a group ride like this before. You could start anytime between 6 and 9 am. Adults could choose from one of four rides: The FlatFlower 30; The FlatFlower 60; The MildFlower 65 (very hilly); and the WildFlower Century (quite hilly). We chose the easiest ride.

People go ga ga over these events. It is a whole sub-culture I've never experienced before. Most were dressed in their road racing finest. R. chose shorts (with padded bike pants under the shorts) and sandals. I chose shorts (without padding), a t-shirt and my worn out hiking boots I wore to Costa Rica. M. looked at my shoes and said: "Are you going to replace those soon?"

J. (a neo-natal ICU nurse) gets ready for the ride.

Breathe and Ride. Breathe and Ride....

They had cool signs to point the way. My coworker M. leads the way...

Taking a break to stretch....

Mt. Lassen is barely discernible in this photo...but she stood guard over us all morning...

R. at the end of the ride, after pulling his son for thirty miles...(in sandals no less!)....

M. and J. finish the ride...success!! I sprinted ahead (to show off) in order to get their photos...

Four nurses (and R's Son) at the finish. My butt was sore (maybe I will buy some of those funny looking padded pants)...

Afterwards: a really good California Cuisine type lunch and Beer!!!

Day 114: Registration....

A quick walk along the Ridge with Angel this morning. Then I drove down to Chico to register for the Chico FlatFlower 30 mile Bike Ride....

I have no problem setting my sights a bit lower. I originally had planned on doing the WildFlower Century. Then I decided that maybe I should do the MildFlower 65. Then I got sick, didn't train, got lazy and I haven't been on my bike since February.

So a couple of my peers from work decided we would do the FlatFlower 30. As the sign says above: No Hills! I'm hoping there will be a bar along the course that we can duck into. It is always more fun to combine your vices with your virtues....

Day 113: More Thoughts on Eaarth...

A short walk today: getting ready for a barbeque tonight. Spring cleaning!

I finished Mckibben's Eaarth last night. Quite good--mostly. I liked the first half of the book much better than the second half. And of the second half, I mostly liked it.

Greentangle has written of his reservations about the book. Mainly, that it is much too human centric. I agree.

A couple of other things: First, I would have liked to have seen more than a page on the role of the US military---mainly, that we cannot afford it anymore.

Secondly, I think Mckibben pooh poohs the role of big government too much. You'd think the guy was a Tea Partier!

I stand with I.F. Stone--who believed up until his death that government can make big changes--fast! Imagine a Solar Panel program modeled after the Student Loan program? Zero percent interest with twenty year terms to anyone who owns a house! That would make for a quick change!

Government still can do that most wonderful thing called "social planning". It is up to the people to make sure that this planning is done on a more Green path---and not aligned with the Corporations as it is done now.

Green social planning by the Federal Government, local food, local economies, decentralized energy, sustainable building and more space for wilderness are not mutually exclusive. The Whole is always greater than the Sum of its parts.

Days 111 and 112: Eaarth Days....

Back across California yesterday, to reunite with the Homestead. Took an evening walk with Angel--and then a more substantial one today. I couldn't figure out why the camera didn't work. Turns out you need to put new batteries in the thing now and then. So you have to settle for a picture of Angel on my deck that is in the process of being scraped. The winter rains took a toll on the deck.

Too bad the camera didn't work. The first California poppies are blooming. As are the Mariposa lilies. This past week has led to an explosion of Flora on the Ridge.

And Fauna too.

Angel caught a baby jackrabbit the other day. Luckily, Angel didn't know what to do with the thing...and the bunny escaped!

I came home to a shipment of books from Amazon. Being that it is Earth Day--I read most of Mckibben's "Eaarth" (yes, that is the correct spelling) last night. This is an important book in my view. A must read! Mckibben adopts the view that we have created a new planet, hence the new spelling. Climate change has created a whole new era; things don't look good.

More when I finish the book... Happy Earth Day!

Days 109 and 110: New Goals...

Still working in the Napa Valley. Two lazy walks through the vineyard next to the library.

On Sunday, I will be riding a bike (if they got my registration in time) in the "Flatflower" in Chico. Only a thirty mile ride, to be done without any particular training. My friends R. and M. will be joining me. R. will be pulling his twenty year old son behind him in a trailer. That should even things up a bit.

R. and I decided that we just might have to stop at every bar that we pass on this ride. Make things a bit more interesting...

And plans are being made for another major backpacking adventure in September....