Fishes, Fire and Four Wheels

Well...I just wanted to go with an "F" theme, but it was really only two wheels, each.
On Tuesday we went and spent a colossal fortune of $.12 each on Comet Goldfish (and a water cleaner) for our outdoor pond.
On Tuesday we had ten fish.
On Wednesday we had nine fish.
Today we have eight.
I'm hoping at least some will survive the weekend for our visitors...
I wanted to name them all "Buttons" for Pat, however, that was overruled, but one will defintely be Buttons, once they stop dying.The cats took no delight in being shown water, they refused to look in it, frantically clinging to me thinking they were about to get an outdoor bath. I thought they'd love watching the fish, but they can't get over the water. So I'm hoping to get some excitement out of Howie. The fish are fun to watch, we created a little hiding spot for them out of bricks, in case they need to protect themselves...of course that limits our viewing to watching them race for cover.

Also, we enjoyed our first real fire in our outdoor fireplace. We scrounged up the crap wood that was littering the back and side yard and made a sacrifice to the brick behemoth. It was warm and put me in the mood for marshmallows, so I broke them out and Joe scrounged for a cooking utensil. We had several toasted marshmallows via coat hanger and spent a lovely evening cleaning up the backyard and sneaking up on the fish. I derived much pleasure from the burning of a couple gallons of the fallen apples of which we probably have about 50 or 60 gallons of at this point. Plus, the sounds of sizzling and popping and the aroma were much better than the cries of Joe and the smell of burning shoelaces. Using your foot to move burning wood only seems like a good idea.

To start out the day though, we took a short loop around the Island that is quickly becoming one of my favorite places outside the city limits. It was a 12 mile road loop that was pretty much flat, which was perfect for riding one handed, as we had filled the other hand with blackberries. The smell of blackberries permeated the majority of the ride and made it irresistible to stop and pluck a few, er...many.

A sidenote from OBF...

...and reminiscing on funny quotes from Toph.

The 6 month reign of "Wildlife preserves?...what you mean like jam?" is over. At OBF a fellow beer enthusiast gave us all a little trivia when he asked if we knew which state had the fewest breweries in the U.S. Of course we guessed Utah...but we were wrong.

Mississippi, to which Toph replied, "Well, they are M-I-S-S-I-N-G Out"

Eh...it loses a little on the screen, but it's still the new champion.

Eat, Drink and be Berry

We have entered a land where fruit is plentiful and rains from the skies....Well when Joe's throwing it at my exposed back to get a paintball effect.
We set off a few days ago to seek out blackberries. Joe had a stop on the side of the road and sneak around and fill our buckets sort of plan in mind...however, most of the bushes we came by were in residential areas. So we scrapped that plan and went a beautiful U pick site where we picked and sampled the glories of marionberries, blueberries and the seasons remaining raspberries.
On our way back, we spotted a park that was surrounded by blackberry bushes, so we stopped off and grabbed some containers and went for it. There were berries everywhere. We just kept picking, I actually started to feel a bit greedy and then I started to wonder why there were so many berries present...why weren't other people picking them? Were they sprayed routinely with pesticides? Had there been some radiation exposure, or toxic waste spill? Was it against the law? Did the locals know something that we didn't? I mentioned this to Joe, so we decided to consult the state parks sign on our way out.
Door number 3 - Under state park regulations, you are not cut or destroy or pick the fruit or plants. Whoops! Suddenly I imagined a great hulking pile of abandoned blackberries at the foot of the sign from others who had made our same mistake. Our forbidden fruit however has been picked free of debris, rinsed and bagged and is residing comfortably in our freezer.

OBF

I must admit that a strong selling point for moving sooner rather than later was to be able to comfortably partake in this event. It was worth it.

I originally balked at the idea of attending more than one or two days, however, spreading many excellent beers over three of the four days of the festival was helpful in many ways. More beers, better memory retention and zero hangovers. The weather was perfect, if even a little cold towards the end of the night.

Obviously this post has been in limbo for a few days...I wanted to find my list of beers.

So notable beers (er... for me) are as follows:

- IPA's -
- Pliny the Elder (really a double) from Russian River --when they ran out on Saturday Freed actually let out a cry of anguish so loud I thought the entire tent would turn to find its source.
- Hazell Dell IPA from (you guessed it) Hazel Dell
- West Coast IPA from Green Flash - I went back for this one twice (oh yeah)

- Pales -
- Double Dry Hopped Pale from Boundary Bay
- Powderfinger Rye from Big Time

I was going to go through a few more styles...but only a few stand out so those are:

- Other -
- Ned (Flanders style Red) from Rock Bottom - had the smell of a good red wine, the most unique beer I tasted all weekend
- Sirius Ale (Imperial Cream Ale) Laguanitas

...and of course there were many beers that I have had before that I had to restrain myself from trying in the first two days so I could experience new ones:
- Summer Solstice Cream Ale from Anderson Valley (hot moving day beer)
- Hop Rod Rye from Bear Republic
- Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout from North Coast
- Proletariat Red from New Old Lompoc
- Pike IPA from Pike Brewing Co.

Alright alright, now I can recycle my list which is all messy and has stains on it from some precarious chili rice snacks...

Crime Scene

This picture is actually from the salmon hatchery on the Gorge. But it looks like a chalk outline from a murder scene...and it made me chuckle.

Colorfast?

An observation:

I noticed that the large magnet "ribbons" that people have placed on their cars have a tendency to fade.

The yellow "Support our Troops" ribbons have all faded to white. Perhaps it's a sign?

In case you were wondering...

It takes about the same amount of time to listen to the Tool album Aenima as it does to watch the apartment building across the lot try to burn itself to the ground.
Sorry I woke you Toph.

But in all seriousness the apartment building closest to us [which is across from us] had shrubbery catch fire (the day after fireworks...I just don't understand) tonight. We can't sleep. The 3 engines, 2 trucks and supplementary SUV's blaring and flashing their lights are a bit sobering. We had been playing a nice game of rummy and sharing a bottle of Viognier; the screen doors letting in all manner of apartment ambiance and I heard someone outside say something had caught on fire...we have had at least 3 false alarms in our building alone...kids pulling the alarm...blah blah blah...I stood up and saw one floor of the apartment directly across from us ablaze. I reached for the phone and Joe reached for our orange bucket. He went to stifle the fire (barefoot and boxers I might add) and I called 911. For all the bad things I've said about the loud, raucous, obnoxious apartment dwellers in our complex (who may have possibly started it--three cars sped off from the scene...cue bad mystery music) at least 5 or 6 guys rallied grabbing buckets, large bowls and locating extinguishers whether personal or apartment supplied to put out the flames. In fact I was feeling a bit silly about having called the fire department because they had calmed the 30 foot flames so well. Until the roof caught fire. Joe said it was like trick candles, watching the shrubbery go out and the wall catch on. Indeed, I had a hard time explaining to the fire department the proximity of the bushes..."how close to the building?" " ZERO FEET! The wall is about to be on fire." And so it was, Joe says the entire wall burst into flames.

So the Tool album ended an hour ago and the lights are still flashing. The flames have been quelled, the dueling chainsaws lulling us into...well, further alertness; both Joe and I were called outside to talk with the "inspector" and the wine is gone. How depressing. 8 days to go until we're out of here...and two apartments crisped. I mean really fried. I know I'm being a bit tongue and cheek but...

We had all our rain for the year in one go and now it's dry enough for whatever caused this. I have nothing nice to say about the weather and its calamity. At least everyone got out. I was so astounded that for all our false alarms no ONE had pulled the fire alarm that while I was one the phone with 911 I screamed for someone to pull the one for the building. We all like to think we did our part. Turns out 6 people called 911, that makes me happy. The last time I called 911 I got put on hold. (of course it was in Los Angeles, during rush hour, in 1997...ask Toph he was there).

Sitting in a car can be exhausting

...actually that pretty much sums it up. A few long drives and many days touring the city trying to figure out where we are (mostly me...it will take years before I can figure it out, I'm sure) and where we can live...and who will employ us.

When we weren't sitting in the car becoming one with the seats, we did have the opportunity to hang out with Andy and Michelle (who graciously gave us a guided tour and sustained us with excellent food) and to go hiking up in the Gorge area. Simply beautiful.

And given a 9-hour drive back south to reflect, I can now assess some interesting points about moving.

• Being close enough to drive to a wedding the same day it is held (good)
• Mountains... (very good)
  
• Neighborhoods and crime areas come in "pockets" (hmmmmm)
• Close proximity to good friends (very very good)
• Close proximity to good beer (very good)
  
• Being in a relaxed city where people smile and say hello as they pass you on the street (mostly good)
  
• Being in a relaxed city where returning phone calls can be done in the 11th hour (bad)
  

Pretty much everything came down to the end of the wire and the only thing that is certain is that there will be a roof over our heads. For that I am thankful.

...and blah blah blah came home and started the process of deconstructing.

there is more to say, it involves a beautiful windy wedding, a bit of interviewing, a long-awaited DVD :) (well worth it) and this past June - 2 years and counting for us.

Another knot :)

I'll take a wake up call with news like that anytime :) Congrats to Toph & Jess

In the Hog's Head

Taking advantage of the bridge from the park, we also popped into Old Town, and finally were able to sit down and have a pint at the Hog’s Head (which keeps random hours). Highlights of the brewpub included: the pints of IPA we enjoyed, the otherworldly feeling of the woody, dusty, basement setting, the dollar bills immortalized and push-pinned to the ceiling (and the two Brits with the story).

There was a couple already at the bar when we arrived who, in the best of possible worlds, were quite obviously loaded. As I was taking this picture, the female half said I had to get her dollar in the photo because there was a story behind it…She said that she had pinned it there last year when she and the gentleman with her were having a secret affair; and now she’s pinning another one up because they’re no longer a clandestine couple, but happily unattached from their formers and with each other. They spent the better part of the next half hour making fun of each others ring tone song purchases and being boisterously loud and in love. It was quite funny. (and of course...I have no idea which dollar bill it was or if it is even featured in the photo).

...and the waters receded...

After some months under water, the park and bike trail near our place has finally reached flood free status. We’ve been casually observing the water level as it has receded, passing by once or twice a week to see its progress, and were finally rewarded last weekend. We were shocked. In fact, we were so shocked that the vehicle barricade was removed that Joe almost had a head-on collision with a senior center transport shuttle on its way out of the park.

The park itself looks as though it weathered the flood quite well; it has taken on the aroma of a muddy tidal area (for those who know it…think Dyes Inlet), and the paved road looked like land in the final stages of desertification, but the grasses were lush and long and the trails clear.

Before and After:

Flooded: taken 01/12/2006

Er...not flooded: taken 05/20/2006

Not the best before and after shots, because it's been so long since I took the first ones...but you get the main idea ( (1) flooded road (2) the flood waters were up to almost 6 feet high against the park ranger building-you can still see the dirt and grime line from where the flood waters stopped on the road the and the building).

The first time we came to the park, back in November (pre-flood), I fell in love with the huge trees, so while Joe hunkered down to study in the grass, I ran around with my camera trying to capture the trees…most of my shots were done with my film SLR (black & white film) and are still in the camera (5 more shots on the roll), but I also snapped a few with the digi…mostly just enjoying the pictorial quality of Joe’s relaxed manner and the relatively quiet (for a Saturday) day.

Being felt up by the Patriot Act

I recently completed my first air journey since our trip to Thailand. I was "randomly" selected at both my entry and exit point airports for the "special search." Normally I would not be too ruffled about this, I'm not carrying any lighters or knives or shoe explosives...maybe some knitting scissors and fearsome bamboo knitting needles with ridiculous green sock tip covers (they were the only ones available at the moment I needed them and are quite silly), but seriously I just try to be friendly and let them run that stupid sensor wand over me and go on my way.

I can't really think of the last time I beeped going through the metal detectors at an airport (which, as I recall was the only way to really get you pulled to the side and security super checked...long long ago), I do believe it was when I wore my overalls once and the metal clips at the top set them off. The overalls serve as a good indication of the time period...you know, some time in the early '90's.
oh dear, how things have changed.

Because my ticket had printed a special distinction they pulled me aside immediately and grabbed my bag for me. This woman comes over to me and as she's walking up I can see that she's donning rubber exam gloves. I'm trying to be friendly and make a passing joke about the rubber gloves, to which I received a cold glare and was told that they were "for her protection." Yikes.
Then I got the legal run down.
"Would you like a private room?"
Is that really necessary?
"We're required to ask, however, this is a fully clothed search."
Thank goodness for that. No I'll just stay right here in the public eye, thanks.
"I'm going to be patting you down in areas covered by your clothes and if required some areas that are covered by your undergarments, do you understand?"
Go for it.

Apparently the outside and inside of my arms and legs did not pose a significant threat, nor did my stomach...so we never really made to first base even.

And then there was the bag search...ah I love packs, no matter how many dozens of them that come through each day security staff always seem quite baffled by them. They can't quite figure out how to open them or where all the nooks and crannies are; so although my clothing and books were subject to search, my toiletries kit was never found (I think I may have been absconding with nail clippers...shhh don't tell--on second thought I think they're allowed now anyway). They can never get stuff back in right and usually just give in and let you do it, although she did try to let me leave without my camera and my boarding pass which would have been both annoying and awkward.

A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.
- John le Carre


**Google's quote for the day.
John le Carre is the author of several books in the mystery genre, including "The Constant Gardener" which sits on my shelf, waiting for me to not be afraid to read it.

Run! Drink!

These days, even the simplest things can give me a little smile. Our apartment complex, like many, has its own pool. It is a "swim at your own risk pool," i.e.: no lifeguard etc etc. There are, however, various rules and signs to promote good behavior and to limit life-threatening incidents. Er...golly gee, thank goodness....

I think it might be time, perhaps, for a little upkeep as the faded/washed out signs seem to be bending in the other direction.

RUN!
DRINK!

Homesick

After a week hanging out in the "old haunts" I am homesick for carefree times in the ham. I am NOT, however, feeling any nostalgia for hangovers....Thankfully there are no pictures to go with that comment. I think the Beav prohibits photography in the bar anyway...maybe it's for the best.
Otherwise, it was good friends and good fun the rest of the week...we even got a hike in before Joe had to attend the conference.

Viewpoint from Fragrance Lake Hike --^

Viewpoint from Sehome Arboretum

"Tainted" Love Symbol

We've just returned from a nice long weekend in Portland...the weather was actually much better than we expected and it was a wonderful time. I had opportunity to hang with just the girls; which involved an awesome show, men in tights, a lot of walking around Portland, good food, good conversation, dancing, drinking, a sleepover and the threatening of several Frenchmen (and I didn't even cry once). After a couple of wild days, we settled down on Sunday, helping our friends to bottle beer. For those familiar with these processes please excuse the brief explanation...when bottling beer sanitation must be observed, as a result, each bottle and instrument of the bottling process must be cleaned and sanitized. Each homebrewer has their favored sanitizer and for this day we were using the time honored "iodophor;" each bottle was handplaced in the sanitizer, filled and cleared and then sent off for filling. We switched off and on the filling and the sanitizing, but in the end 150 bottles were sanitized and filled with beer and we called it a day.
The following morning when I was showering I noticed a strange gold glint coming off of my left hand and studied it more closely only to find that my wedding ring had turned a coppery color. A couple hours later it resembled the dark color of hematite. It hadn't occurred to me that my ring would have issues. It is both highly funny and slightly disturbing that my wedding band has gone chameleon, any thoughts on reclaiming the sterling silver?

Hop to it

So...last week while hanging out with the brew class I was challenged to eat a hop pellet. Not knowing that I was hazed through several years with the FFF I think my unwavering acceptance of the challenge was unexpected. Joe usually brews with whole leaf hops, so it has been awhile since I've seen the rabbit food look-alike hops...and I'm sorry to say that after a few beers that evening I can't even tell you which type it was. I am so embarrassed :) In any event, for me, pellet hops taste, (perhaps not unlike rabbit food) like imperial IPA soaked cardboard (mmmmm alpha-acids). It was a worthless if not disgusting experience, not that I couldn't handle the taste (as, under Joe's careful beer purchases, I have become a total hop-head over the past few years), but that it ruined the good taste of the fine ales I had been drinking...and it took some effort to brush it out. Be forewarned, garlic cleans up easier.

Bike & Weather...

So I haven't been biking much because I can't get used to the schizophrenic weather here. I'm used to rain and then shine or gray...not rain, shine, rain, shine, rain...in the space of an 8 hour period. So as a result...less biking, more carpooling. I was thinking today, though, how much I hate biking in the wind, so much to the point that I'd rather bike in the rain. Well, like most people I'd prefer neither, although, I find that they come together quite often. In any event, it was quite windy today and I was glad to not be biking in it. Blah Blah Blah.

Our Civilization is descending into Anarchy!

...Or maybe I've just been sitting in front of the computer playing Civ too much (as Freed seems to have noticed :) ). I just finished reading Tom Friedman's new offering, "the World is Flat" which has some fabulous stats (I especially liked that he got Dell to give him an exact readout of the assembly of his laptop computer and where each of its parts came from and where they were assembled etc) and is quite well-researched, but left me wanting a lot more. I suppose I should have just read the first part where he discusses how the world became "flat" and then set it down and called it good. He gives ten events that have caused the spread of globalization to the "four corners" of the world, a few examples are (1) the fall of the Berlin Wall, (2) the phenomena of outsourcing and (3) off-shoring, (4) the widespread use and access to the internet, (5) software improvements etc, etc. he goes on to give examples in each; of which I found the examples of Google and the implications of the fall of the Berlin wall most interesting and those about Walmart's supply chain and 9-11 the most disturbing. In the back of my mind, while Friedman is extolling the features of the flattened world I'm questioning the implications on the environment and on the large percentage of the global population that are considered "have-nots." I felt as though there were more pages to be turned at the end explaining the downside of things, but this was not that book. It was not, I believe, Friedman's aim to tell that story. However, in the latter chapters of the book he begins discussing why the flattened world has helped some tremendously and others negligibly...which is helpful, but at the conclusion of this analysis I felt as though Friedman was asking the developing countries to pull up their bootstraps and find a comparative advantage over their competitor countries. (Like getting their debt forgiven? or erasing the vestiges of colonialism? or overhauling their export sector overnight?) For example, Mexico, key trading partner in the NAFTA block and second largest exporter to the US (after Canada) for some years has been edged out by China. Friedman's recommendation? To focus on demand and create a more business friendly atmosphere; i.e.: reduce the number of days it takes to incorporate a business etc. UGH! Mexico exports many things, but over half of the exports tot he US are AGRICULTURAL products. So then I wonder how we're going to eat in a "flat world." Obviously I'm making a gross generalization while I slide down a slippery slope. Sorry about that. I've been slowly reading this book and every day I would say to Joe, I wonder when he's going to address X, I wonder when he's going to address Y or even Z? And finally I finished, completely unsatisfied, and was sitting, playing Civ on a difficult level and I keep getting picked on by the other countries...I keep giving in to their demands for spices and territory maps, because I know if I don't, they'll just send some spearmen in to kick the crap out of my fledgling cities and if I do stop developing my marketplaces or universities, or what have you, to create war units my civilization can't grow. I spend years and years just trying to keep enough units in the cities to sustain them in one turn of fighting while trying to create an arsenal on the other civilizations border meanwhile, the cost of the units overruns my treasury and so I cannot use the money to research new advances. And suddenly its all coming clear to me. or perhaps I'm just bitter.

Tech Kitty

I don't quite understand it but I love it.
Risa has an intimate relationship with my computer and printer, she hangs out up on the printer even when we're not in the room. It's not on except when we use it, so it's not producing any heat or vibration or anything...

Tilting at Windmills

At this point they came in sight of thirty, forty windmills that there are on plain, and as soon as Don Quixote saw them he said to his squire, "Fortune is arranging matters for us better than we could have shaped our desires ourselves, for look there, friend Sancho Panza, where thirty or more monstrous giants present themselves, all of whom I mean to engage in battle and slay, and with whose spoils we shall begin to make our fortunes; for this is righteous warfare, and it is God's good service to sweep so evil a breed from off the face of the earth."

--Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (Ch. 8)

What a calling, to be both crazy and to work to restore a golden age; to restore a sense of peace and happiness to the world...er through battle (of course in this case it happens to be windmills). Of course the word restoration may be too far-fetched as I cannot recall such an age in human history. A little help?

Perhaps that last bit came across as a wee bit of a downer. I just really enjoy Vonnegut's take on life, and I think that the word "used" is usually based in a negative sense, so to see it here as he describes it is a bit different. I recently read a charity book that Vonnegut did for NPR called "God Bless you Dr. Kevorkian" which is a quick book of shorts compiled from bits on NPR where he undergoes supervised near-death and interviews people from just outside the "pearly gates;" the subjects are diverse and include John Brown, Mary Shelley and Newton (and a few more). The cover shows his cartoon self on a gurney smoking a cigarette. I can't help but enjoy the dark sense of humor and commentary that it provides. I mean, c'mon, this is a man who has been saying he's going to sue the cigarette companies because he's been smoking for decades and the cigarettes haven't killed him yet (thank goodness).

"The worst thing that could happen to anybody, would be to not be used for anything by anybody."
-- Kurt Vonnegut

Working the corner has a whole new meaning...

I'm sure that this phenomena is not exclusive to where I live...however, I imagine, or at least I hope that it is not undertaken in less climate friendly areas....But I've noticed over the past few weeks that the favored mode of outdoor advertising is people dancing with signs on the street corners. It's really quite disturbing to me. I bike past them and wonder how they can stand there twisting a sign around loking like they care about the content, which is usually somthing like "senior housing" or "new apartments" and the sign is in the shape of an arrow. I can't even figure out what they're pointing at...and I know that if it was me, I would stand on the wrong corner with the arrow pointing the wrong way just to piss people off.

Too much Potter on the brain

I was watching Joe study for his weekly exam and thought to myself how wondrous it would be to study for tests with the aid of a pensieve :)
(Image courtesy of OOTP, JK Rowling)

Thailand by the days...

There is no way to go back and explain it all...plus it has almost been a month. But I want to pick out memories and jot them here, what follows is me trying to pick one photo from each day and build on it. Read on if you dare. It seems a bit foolish for me to being posting all this now, but I think maybe it will make me feel less sad that we're no longer there if I can just get it out...

Day One:
The arrival...How amazing is it to travel for some 20 or so hours halfway across the world, take the scariest taxi ride of your life, check into a nice little place in downtown Bangkok and walk down the stairs and meet your best friends in the little restaurant in the lobby? Pretty fucking cool...and as a bonus, the taxi ride has made it so I no longer fear death.

This is us on Koh San Road about an hour after arriving in Bangkok. This is, apparently, the haven for backpackers/travelers in Bangkok, it is packed with food and craft stalls and tons of people night and day. Toph introduced us to the splendor of vendor-sold fresh pineapple sprinkled with fresh chili powder and sugar. Mmmmmm....


Day Two:
Okay...I'm tempted to go with a memory of the train ride, because it was my first one, however, we also visited the Grand Palace on this day and the painstaking detail with which the Wat within was designed wins me over. We approached this architectural wonder by boat, touring the canal and making our way through the market at the pier. I was struck by the enormity of the buildings and thus the inability to find my way around. It also inhibits my ability to adequately explain the astounding beauty that it encapsulates...the gold leaf, the color, the detail in each square inch of space. I was also amazed at the multitude of different offerings based on the many belief systems that have coalesced in this area of the world. There was something for everyone, ranging from incense, to lotus flowers, to baskets of eggs and hot oil.

This is photo shows one of the 7 "pillars" that surround the main temple where the Emerald Buddha is stationed. Apparently, this particular Buddha has been moved every time the capitol has changed, Thailand (formerly Siam) is now, with Bangkok, on it's 4th capitol city.

Day Three:
Post train, we traveled into the rural areas north of Chiang Mai, my favorite thing on this particular day was our bike ride. We popped on to these lovely low-key bikes that put me in the spirit of the "Sound of Music" and rode around the backroads of the area we were staying in. We stopped off at a women's sewing cooperative where they fed us strawberry flavored Fanta (which is all the rage) and took us on a tour of their small shop and production area. There were beautiful hats, scarves, bags and more...I found some neat patchwork house slippers and I picked through dozens to bring up the biggest pair I could find to bring home for my brother. This day was truly full of many activities, we were fortunate enough to have an amazing Thai kantoke dinner, listen to local children play traditional instruments and then watch their patience with us as they tried to impart their skills upon us, each in turn taking their instrument around the group for a quick lesson. My skills with the Thai style violin are only slightly less devastating then my drumming talents.

Day Four:
This was our first day of trekking; there is obviously, so much that I'm glossing over, including our trip to the fabulous Chiang Mai night market where we encountered the spiciest food of our entire trip and more Thai goods and crafts in any other one place we visited (of course we were on a mission to find boxer shorts for Toph...every vendor...only silk boxers, who wants to hike in that?). The entire first day of our hike was so majestic, the mammoth bright green banana leaves obscuring the view of the never ending rice fields, the sudden creek or waterfall and the soft singing of our guide. What captured my imagination most was the vastness of the rice fields, not withstanding the incredible distance from the villages. Fields can be built as far as two hours away from the village that tends them. We saw small shelters dotted along the landscape to serve as day and night cover for those tending the fields. This photo is from one of the shelters.

Day Five:
This memory is pulled from our second evening, after a long day of trekking and spending some quality time around the village and also (for most) bathing in the cold creek near by. Whenever the trekking group visits this village they spend time with the young children and cook dinner for them. The requested meal this week was fried eggs and rice. So we all chipped in to buy some eggs (we left the rice to the experts) and they set us up over a fire with a wok. It was such a neat experience being in this village; it was the village that our porters were from, so we stayed with their families and enjoyed their gracious hospitality. It was quite cold in the evening here and we were glad for the long johns and our down sleeping bags (that we had lugged all over the country) this night. This is me expertly frying an egg and one of our porters, dubbed spiderman, teaching me.

Day Six:
Elephants! Oh my! I love elephants, in general. Truly, they are my favorite attraction at any zoo and though I was originally hesitant to ride them, feeling that it was abusive and was a poor way to treat wild animals (not that I prefer them behind bars in zoos or in the fucking circus or anything) I learned quite a bit beforehand that changed my mind. The elephant's habitat is being destroyed, the elephants themselves, although protected by international law are also being destroyed by poachers. What was so devastating about all of this was it was knowledge that I already had, only, now it was right in front of my face. It's easier to read about the atrocities committed against flora and fauna then to be faced with them, no joke. So cutting the story down fine, by riding the elephants we were feeding them. Our money paid for their meals and in essence, tourism was keeping the Asian Elephant alive in Thailand. Er...ecotourism if you will. There's so much more here and with this whole day, but here's a lovely picture of the baby elephant that stayed with it's mama while she gave a lively jungle tour. Interestingly enough after a few days of being in the woods and hiking through who knows what I came out realatively unscathed...put me on an elephant for an hour and I have to pick ticks off of myself. These elephants were incredible, I had no idea how agile they were or that even with their enormous bulk they would purposefully charge up and down steep hills for whatever they could get their trunks on. :)


Day Seven:
Hands down, the Chiang Mai cooking school. Of course I did receive the best massage I've ever had in the day market later this day...it was a foot massage, really a toes to knees massage that was perfect after lots of hiking. But the cooking school wins out, I didn't take a picture of my relieved feet (which everyone else should be relieved to hear). We started with a market tour where Jessica witnessed and was splashed during the brutal murder of a fish and we leaned a bit about the wonder of fresh Thai ingredients. We were then ferried back tot he school where we first watched our lovely host demonstrate how to make, first, a mainstream soup called tom yum goong (with lemongrass and shrimp) and then green curry and pad thai and finally, coconut banana cakes. After each demonstration we were sent out into the cooking area to try to remeber what we had just seen and put it into practice. It actually went a lot better than I expected. Everything was really yummy (we had a huge feast when we were done) and the cooking tools were awesome, we bought a knife from the school, that is positively fabulous, despite the fact that it made our airport security experience a wee bit of a hassle (not really, shipping it home would have cost about $25.00). I regret having not bought a wok while we were there...ti would have been worth dragging it around the rest of the trip, our wok at home is shit...as we have found out trying to replicate the recipes. We have had some success, although I would say our attempts at red cury have turned out much better than our pad thai. This picture is of the green curry with garnish (the garnish costs extra...wink wink nudge nudge) that I made.

Day Eight:
I really wanted to put the picture of us sitting around the airport waiting here...because we seemed to do a lot more waiting and transporting than anything else this day. However, after train, plane and automobile we visited the Temple of the tiger cave and some of us (meaning not me and Jess) hiked the extremely steep 1,272 steps to the top. We both tried, but for me it was the dread of coming back down the steps, it was quite vertical. A long day, and a complete turn-around from the bustling markets and local foods of Bangkok and Chiang Mai to the tourist beach areas of Krabi on Phuket. Beautiful though, that cannot be denied.
Photo of the vertical climb; no that is not my ass. This is baout where I stopped...somewhere on the 300th or 500th stair...who knows?



I think it should be noted that I started writing this blog on the 24th of January amid heckling from the peanut gallery that I "didn't really talk about our trip." I've been adding a bit everyday...It makes me feel better.

Day Nine:
The islands tour, warm, sunny and for me, tense on the speedboat ride. I've never felt uncomfortable in a speedboat until that day. I think it was just me though. This is when we realized that the rest of our trip was the beach and sun sort of thing. This photo is of the second island we went to that day, the rock outcrops such as this were everywhere and absolutely stunning. It should aslo be noted that this was the day we went snorkeling and Toph was brutally attacked by plankton :)

Day Ten:
Okay. Forget what I said about the speedboat. This was the day of the scariest boatride ever...EVER. No sun, lots of wind and rocking and waves and us being tossed about in a large form version of a longtail boat. Looking back I guess you could call it awesome, during, it was an excercise in remaining calm. I'm a total wuss. I know. It was worth it though, we ended up on the most beautiful island and had our own little bungalow and a kitchen in spitting distance that we ordered all our meals from. There was a lot of hammock"ing" and reading and drinking tea this day, it was quite windy and cool in comparison to every other day, still postively stunning however. See Photo :) This was actually taken by Toph or Jess...or with their camera anyway...

Day Eleven:
Island tour and rubber tapping, definitely the highlight, I had read about rubber tapping in Brazillian rainforests and the social and environemtnal movements there, so to actually see it put into practice here was very cool. Apparently, it is a night job...the tappers go around in late evening and cut the trees and then collect the rubber sap in the morning. We watched the rubber being flattened out by hand (or foot in this case) and then pressed to get the water out. Er...there's much more...but I feel that this is dragging out too long.

Day Twelve:
Apparently all that we were impressed about, enough to take a photo, this day was the mangroves...which as I'm sure you know are a unique and wonderful ecological phenomena that are being totally wiped out all over SouthEast Asia due to things like fish farming, logging and pollution from mining.

Day Thirteen:
Walking into the water...I do believe this was actually Dec. 25th...we spent two days on the beach in Phuket and were there to commemorate the anniversary of the Tsunami (Day Fourteen).



















Day Fifteen:
Going Home. It is bittersweet. At least we had good old Singha lager to keep us company.

This took two forevers...and I only feel mildly better. Next stop?

Someone please explain to me...

...the point of leaf blowers. I mean really.

We've reached an all time low...

Sigh.

Forecast for tomorrow...

There is a beautiful park that sits on the bike trail that is about 2 blocks from our apartment. Towering trees shade the trail and the surrounding grassy areas and now that I have some time on my hands, I thought I'd take the SLR for a trip to capture these magnificent trees. However, we noticed that the past months flooding had creeped into the park...we biked the short distance anyway to see it up close...no joke, the park, was a pond.

Well Sure!

The word "sure" is quite possibly one of the worst words within the English language that can be used as a reply to a "yes" or "no" question. "Sure" is an adjective, as in, indisputable, or careful or inevitable. However, many have used this word as an indication of yes; (Joe included) and it drives me nuts. It is such a non-committal utterance, offering what is more of a maybe than really a definitive answer or actually perhaps, just a space filler as the person answering the question has no idea what you asked them. "Would you like a bag for that?" "Sure." But why!??! It's a newspaper!
Would you like an expanded vocabulary? Sure. Drives me crazy.

2006 and the seventh plague

Joe and I spent a mostly quiet new years eve with each other and the many people who obliged us with phone conversations over the evening. The cold of suspect origin that I am hosting allowed me to do my best impression of someone who has been smoking since birth...and I'm sure that talking all night has done nothing to improve it today. But it was worth it.

On the other side of the year, I am guessing that I should get more acquainted with local events. I haven't really been living here that long so I hadn't found a good local paper or really made any attachment to the city at all. Apparently...there's a great risk of our area flooding since it's been raining every day since we got back. Not quite raining fire, but, I have never lived in an area prone to flooding before, so it all seems quite dramatic to me. The extensive coverage of the rain and "flood alert" (the potential breakdown of the levees and byways that make up the flood control system) by the paper has been headlined "Tempting Fate" a phrase that makes me want to review our renters insurance agreement.

Er...Happy 2006.

We're Home

...and I'm at a complete loss as to how to describe it in this forum...I wrote so much while we were there, to reproduce it would be too much.

Off we go into the wild blue yonder

Well we're fleeing the country for the remainder of the holiday season, by this time tomorrow we'll be far away and jet-lagged beyond all reason.

Happy Holidays. Mwhahaha.

Green Phone

I just signed up for paperless billing for our phone/dsl. I do this out of convienence and a desire to reduce all the paper that comes in the mail. The phone company thought of this too and has signed on with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant one tree for each customer that goes paperless. Cool.

It's days like these...

I sometimes miss the microwave. I want to reheat my coffee. That's all. Reheating food is easy enough in the toaster oven...but not so much on the coffee front.

Other dilemmas that make the coffee reheating seem frivolous this morning are the liters of toxic insect repellent that are now sitting on my bedroom floor. Jessica and I discussed how we felt that it was a necessary compromise, but it still irks me. I'm reading the spray bottle for treating clothes and bednets and it basically says to stay the fuck away from this kind of stuff...but here's how to lather it on to your daywear...he he he. Oh well.
One week to go...

...and the holiday season is upon us

Ugh. Holiday music at work and Christmas lights blinking out at us from the other apartment windows. I guess there could be worse things. Like Christmas songs sung by boy bands and Christina Aguilera...oh wait...

I truly do like the idea of the holidays, it's just what they've become that bothers me.

At least the lights are pretty.

This had better be worth it...

I don't care what they tell you, immunizations hurt. Not the actual shot...the little pinprick that the nurse woos you through, but the serum of the vaccine. I now remember why I have avoided this for so long. Fucking Thailand. I can't raise my arms above stomach level! It had better be worth it...and I'm sure it will.

The upside of the 2 hour wait to get our shots was that I was able to make a long list of things that we have to do before we go and to create a grocery list for the Thanksgiving holiday.

We don't have any plans for the holiday, it's bittersweet for me because, on the one hand I'm just as delighted to settle into 'hermit hood' with Joe, but on the other, I like the celebration of food and making a huge dinner at my Dad's, which I've done for at least half my life. So we've compromised by deciding to make a big dinner for the two of us and then getting creative with the leftovers for the remaining couple of weeks before we flee the country.

The past weekend has left us a bit groggy and a huge pile of clothing, knitting and other debris from the car and our traveling packs throughout the apartment. It also garnered the opportunity to trade beers, experience a wee bit of Portland, slaver over bikes and hang out with much missed friends. Ahhhhh, the west coast.

Joe's my hero

I have no idea how long it took, how many beers were consumed, or what frustrations were had...all I know is that when I got home today we had dsl up and running on our home network. HURRAY! I'm such an internet snob. I wouldn't even bother with the blog or "bucket" when we were just doing the dial-up bit. So, to point out the obvious...we've arrived, unpacked and are maintaing a fairly normal existence in our new apartment. I am commuting 8 miles roundtrip to work everyday by bike and I can't complain even one bit, it's mid-November and it was 76 degrees and sunny today, I LOVE it...plus, Joe's daily ride is 10.

For the most part we've settled in nicely and have had few issues, albeit I did commemorate our first bike ride by spectacularly losing my driver's license out my pants pocket somewhere on the 4 or 5 mile loop we did in checking out our new surroundings. So, I'll have to hang out with the DMV for a little while sometime soon. Hurray.