September 27, 2004
Three Reasons For Sore Feet
As I can't seem to find the discipline to entertain myself and others with regular and creative updates, here's an irregular and boring update: (O7B)
new shoes (O7C)
I'm wearing (to see if they fit, or rather, don't fit in the correct way) my new pair of climbing shoes. With use they stretch and get soft, so for proper fit it is often necessary to size them down a bit and just go with the initial pain. It's been a while since I appreciated this, as the pair being replaced are so far gone as to have holes in the big toes and rips at the heels which relieve much of the pressure. No pressure is being relieved right now. It's sublime. (O7D)
consumption (O7E)
Wait, some pressure is being relieved. The oh so special pain of a brand new pair of climbing shoes brings a distance and clarity that relieves the clench of my jaw, still present from several hours in the confines of Ikea. Why does anyone yearn for an Ikea to come to their town? Oh yeah, there was lots to choose from, and sure some of it seems pretty cheap for what you get. But really, my time is worth way more than that and I'm fairly certain I'm not a sheep. And I'm not done yet: the big stuff doesn't arrive until Tuesday and who knows how long it will take to assemble. (O7F)
But there's a nice new ceiling lamp in the bedroom, and I'll replace my card table desk with a nice pine thingie that actually has some drawers when I can store stuff that somebody somewhere thinks I need to have but I'll never look at again. My clothes and books will have somewhere to go. New curtains will make it easier to walk around the house naked. (O7G)
recreation (O7H)
Two weekends in a row now: another trip to the mountains. This time to see Twin Falls. Another few weekends this will be a ritual, and thus sacrosanct and protected from unimportant things like cleaning and going to Ikea. (O7I)
Twin Falls are a series of waterfalls (two bigger, plus a few separating the upper and lower) on the south fork of the Snoqualmie River on state park land. A lovely trail takes you along the river to this, (O7J)
the lower falls. Continuing up the trail takes you to the upper falls. Beyond that the trail heads for the Iron Horse Trail (which goes across the Cascades to at least the Columbia River) where we saw a new bird: The Varied Thrush. (O7L)
Other pictures from the walk at TwinFallsTrailThumb. (O7M)
September 20, 2004
Pratt Lake Swim
As it is incumbent upon Seattle-based couples to visit nature and pose a bit as rugged paragons of health, Sabrina and I drove east and up a bit to visit the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area and take a walk. (O5B)
Our original plan was to climb to the top of Granite Mountain by way of the Granite Mountain Trail. We chose instead to take the Pratt Lake Trail which shares its start with the other. You see: as we drove to the trailhead the very nearby white fluffy things commonly called clouds in the midwest didn't get any further away. So the combination of hard uphill sweaty slog with what would usually be called rain, if it came from above, tempered our enthusiasm. (O5C)
Which is just fine because after two and half hours of mostly gentle uphill climbing, through stands of pines and across many waterfalling streams, we got a lovely view of Olallie lake: (O5D)
(More pics at PrattLakeTrailThumb) (O5F)
We then turned back, making it back down in an hour and a half, complaining of hips (me) and knees (Sabrina). I also seemed to have lost contact with my hands. (O5G)
It was both hot and cold the entire time. My ultra-modern wicking fibers were hard pressed to keep up. (O5H)
On the drive back we stopped for food at an International House of Pancakes from an alternate universe. On a scale of 1 to really freaking me out, everybody in there was at least a 3 and most tending more to the apogee. (O5I)
In the parking lot, after passing through the portal, when we rejoined with our usual universe, we saw a rainbow. (O5J)
September 14, 2004
RecentChanges
I'm writing from my new home in Seattle. I'm in the midst of miscellaneous boxes delivered by UPS and the post office. The cat, surprisingly, is comfortably asleep in Sabrina's desk chair. Sabrina will be home soon, we'll make some dinner. Je suis satisfait. (NY9)
Tomorrow I will find a climbing gym. I've been to Stone Gardens so I guess I'll go to Vertical World, do some comparing, and make a choice. Later I'll find some chums, and find my way outdoors. (NYA)
Wednesday I start a new job with SocialText, helping a merry gang make the, uh, enterprise world wiki-enabled. I'm looking forward to the learning and doing with a bunch of smart people doing interesting things. (NYB)
I got here after 5 days of driving into the sunset with Sabrina and ThomAsina?. (NYC)
GoingToSeattleThumb has all the pictures, sixty some of them. Read on for some samples with a little commentary. (NYD)
The cat was initially unimpressed with being in the car. But after she realized she wasn't going to the vet and I realized she preferred 75mph to other options, she settled in nicely: (NYE)
In fact, 75mph is better than a non-moving but filled with dogs and other weird smells Super 8 motel in Billings. Here we go cruising along, somewhere in Montana. (NYG)
In Missoula we hooked up with Frank and his friend Dawn for some nice food, excellent company and talk, lots of cats, and a tour of Frank's world. Here he reminds me of a Doonesbury cartoon as he explains why the plants right there are as they are. (NYI)
We made the push from Missoula to Seattle in one relatively quick day. We took a quick break before crossing the Columbia, gazed in wonder at its lovely gorge, and made several not terribly successful attempts at a self portrait. This one's okay: (NYK)
We drove in the rain down down down out of the Cascades, across Lake Washington, and home. (NYM)
