Happy new year

So, another calendar year passes and the grey hair on my head can no longer be avoided.

I turned one more year closer to 30, saw my family during a 60th anniversary party for the grandparents and went to a wedding of a good friend from high school.

In the abstract, time is passing. Friends adventure off into the world- jobs, spouses, children. Family members do the same. Other folks lose their hearing and some have more difficulty moving than they used to. Time (which really doesn't move) moves on and memories are all that remain left in its wake.

For a more "downer" post, but philosophically uplifting(?):

I am 29 and have nothing to show for it. I have memories that only I can see. I have stories which need others' ears to be heard. I have the ability to communicate in many languages but can't talk with myself about it (or at least I can't respond without being considered crazy!)

I have no Things to show for my time, less some saved-up money from previous work.

It is a bit depressing because I have grown up exposed to the idea that one must have things to show for his work. A car, a house, a kid, a spouse. Perhaps an occupation or some advanced education.

And I can think myself into a rut when I compare myself to friends and others who have Things, not NoThings. I think I am behind, I think I should take a debt to pay off, I think I am lonely without a partner.

I think and think and think... and I could be really upset. But being upset only comes from a heart that is being ignored... not from a brain that is not being listened to.

I have started to "feel" instead of think. The heart is the speaker of feelings, not the brain. The brain is for working and accomplishing tasks. But the heart is for leading my life and when it does, when I leave space for it to speak (and more importantly, space for me to listen!), when I let my brain's word-train ramble off down the track (as it always does), when I sit on the side of the track and listen to the soft murmur of my heart, I know that I am moving in the right direction.

Sometimes I have to jump on the train to gain some ground faster, but I have to get off at the right stations to make sure I shouldn't transfer. And while I am waiting, perhaps it's important to walk around the station area, get a meal or a cup of coffee and ponder for a little while. It's a good opportunity to talk with some locals about what makes them tick. How are they doing on this particular day? It's nice to have a conversation with someone who doesn't know me or my story. They want my business, I want their service and we use the fluid time to live the moment... unless they are running around all crazy like during the lunch rush!

The time train rattles on. Fortunately there is email and telephones to help us meet up in the same places at the same "official" times. And while I could go on with the abstract time train continuum discussion, and indeed I could extrapolate much more on this topic, I just got a call from Drew and we are going to talk business on the golf course.

(Actually, it's gonna look like us laughing and causing trouble while playing mini golf. That is how business is done in the environmental education field!)

Cheers,
Dave

Fotos to compliment my last post

Chef Shelby's hands at work on one of the T-day birds.

Icicles greeting visitors upon entering the Dam and Learning Center.

Tracks from the family of raccoons that live in my neighborhood.

Migrant fisherman (Bald Eagle) takes her post in a leaf-less Alder, waiting for signs from the salmon!

Almost a month since the last

So,
I haven't had time to blog... then I had time, but not my pictures. Now I've misplaced my camera with the pictures I really wanted to share.

But, I'm in Irvine at my parents' house, I spent a very relaxing birthday yesterday napping, eating and seeing friends. That was awesome and the dinner with my parents was incredible.... we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Since the 23rd of Nov, I helped work a Thanksgiving Family getaway at the learning center during which I helped run some programs for the 50 participants there. An eagle presentation, a Dam walk, a night hike, a tracking class as well as the participation in various icebreakers and social events, as well as the front desk! Concierge = me!

I finished the quarter's worth of projects and classes. I think my experience in Japan has helped me tremendously because I am focused and patiently grinding away at the never-ending work load. A little bit each day and I hit the deadlines with no real loss of sleep!

I have been working out a little bit too. Basic exercises and now basic pilates (thanks to my mother, the instructor!) and I'm ready to rock.

Speaking of rocks, last week massive amounts of debris came flying off the mountains and all over the roads as we experienced a rain-on-snow event. Lots of water, rocks, sediment load and trees covered the road, learning center parking lot and the highway. we were kinda trapped for two days! Fortunately it got cleaned up and we escaped.

I spent three days in transit- two with another student in my group, Codi and her husband, Jimmy who put (up with me/ me up) [hehehe]. We ate well and went birding and watched soccer. It was a nice way to unwind from crazy school life- seeing hawks, snow geese, trumpeter swans [loud bastards!], Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles. Then a night on Bainbridge Island with Svend and Edie, a nice couple I met at the Getaway. We spoke for hours and Edie whipped up a nice meal for us. I look forward to seeing them when I get back to the Northwest.

Now that I am 29, I feel like I have reached a milestone. 10 years since I have "been on my own" and I am still not completely out on my own. Well, I suppose I am, and now in terms of financial independence and space. But I come back to my parent's house and almost consider it home. It is comfortable and nice and I like being here... for a visit!

I'll be here for a wedding, more birthday celebrations and a huge family reunion and anniversary party. Seeing friends and family will be delightful (or not). Then whisking myself back to the cold, dark north for avalanche training and skiing before my program starts again.

Quick note on the program: It is exactly where I need to be right now. I love every single second of the studying I am doing and I am slowly settling into the Pacific Northwest also. Non-profit admin and education (through the lens of environmental and experiential approaches) is the path that seems most natural to me. There are still many options for careers and paths towards which this graduate program may direct me... but they all point towards happiness and personal satisfaction. For that I am so grateful.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a safe New Year to you.

Cheers.

It has begun!

After a Thanksgiving feast a week early, winter decided to start early also! We got pounded with really cold weather and a bunch of snow... awesome!

Icicles on the side of the road overtook live plants!

Grasses froze as the snow fell and the water cascaded down and ricocheted off of boulders to stick

The Camry (Eleanor) on the morning of Sunday, Nov 21... I put on chains to get to the ELC.

Quaint (and poorly insulated!) Diablo (H-4) house in the snow!

The entry gate to the ELC... covered in snow!

First snow...

This is a shot from November 18th in the morning. The madness began on the 17th, but this is the picture I have for now... as I write this it is 29 degrees outside and the icicles are forming on every surface I see. It's gorgeous because many of the deciduous trees are barren, allowing me to see what actually is going on around here!

Desert Southwest 3 of 3: Reflection

Has it really been three weeks since I have written on this blog? Yup. 10 days in the Desert Southwest (U.S.A.) with Hannah, Jared, Matty and Andrea.... AWESOME! Great to run that trip through one of my favorite places in the entire world. That is where the current header picture was taken.
I could write about it, but I will just post pictures instead... now that I have figured out how to deal with my lack of internet at home (again!!! ahhh).

Desert Southwest 2 of 3: Pictures

I post this picture because it is the best action shot I have ever taken. Andrea jump kicking Matt while he shoots a fireball. I never saw the outcome (whether the kick landed before the fireball was delivered.) Either way, someone won the round and moved on to play M. Bison in the finals of Street Fighter II.

At the Grand Canyon. It was completely clouded over in the AM but by 3pm we were able to see across it!

At Monument Valley. This is the Left Mitten... but a little bit too small to fit my hand.

Sunset at the Moonlight Springs ranch, where we spent an afternoon emerged in the Navajo culture... we had just begun a closing ceremony during which the medicine man blessed our students and our excursion.

One of the teachers of the school reflects a moment at the Horseshoe Bend overlook. It is 1000 feet down to the Colorado River from this point... be careful not to lose your footing on the slick sandstone. One man fell to his death in front of his family a month before we were there.

Desert Southwest 1 of 3: Pictures

The grottoes and amphitheatre at Bryce Point

Close-up of a Hoodoo

It's called, "Queen Elizabeth Rock." Can you see her holding the bouquet of flowers?

ALL-STAR CREW celebrating another great week!

The day after the madness, we spent an afternoon in Egypt... at the base of the pyramid in the Valley (of sin...)

Pictures

Two recent shots. Autumn in the North Cascades.

from October 15th. Snow dusts the tops of Pyramid Peak!

My favorite tree (shrub) on campus. A small vine maple growing amidst a forest of Alder saplings. The picture isn't as good as the real thing... the real leaves are on fire when the sun hits them briefly from 4:58~5:18 every afternoon.

Posting for its own sake

So,
No one else has posted anything recently. That's OK. But I feel as if something needs to be written. Therefore I am posting something.

And now that the cobwebs have cleared up slightly, I can add a bit more:

I have been so busy with my graduate program. I feel rather selfish and unaware of my family and friends. I am in a tiny world, in a minuscule community off into the far-flung reaches of nature in the heart of the mountains, etc. Some days are better than others but no day is really that bad! Fortunate so far I guess. It's hard to stay connected as I put in 10-12 hours a day while teaching, typing notes, keeping records and journals, being social (with my now limited capacity and ability!) and working for the institute. I don't want to let a day go by where I am not involved... except for the days when I am only resting (my Shabbat). thus, I am always tired, always busy and never engaged in the lives of my girlfriend, friends and family. I feel bad about this. I am soaking in all that I can in order to get the experience for which I came here. But it has been indeed a challenge to balance the personal life with the business/studying. I have some energy shifting to do... yet another challenge for me.

Great to see my family

So, Cousin Rachel got married last weekend. She was a gorgeous bride and her husband is a terrific guy. It was fabulous to see the Strich family members who I hadn't seen in years! It took a couple moments for us to get used to our orders and arrangements in dealing with one another (stemming from many years of history, outings, events and vacations together) and then it was wonderful as usual!

I shared a hotel room with Steven and we talked as much as we possibly could have... good times. Even Jake and Nathan were hanging out in SLO, keeping in touch with us via text. Jake's messages to Steven were slightly different than the ones Nathan was sending to his dad! Ha.

Five of the cousins:

Me, Aaron, Rachel, Jason, Steven

We were missing five and some younger newbies to the clan.

I'm looking forward to Christmas Eve, when, we will have a huge family reunion to celebrate Grandma and Saba's 60th wedding anniversary. May we all stay in good health to attend!

Spiritually cleansed

After a proper observation of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, for the first time in years, I feel ready to rock for the next year. The hardest parts will be to not curse when my sporadic wi-fi internet loses a connection and not pulverizing mosquitos that bite me.

May we all have a wonderful new year. Good Yontif.

L'Shana Tova

Happy New Year... may you have a sweet and joyous year!

-From the Author

Pictures from a wonderful week

Here are some pictures, way out of order, of a recent trip to southern California. Sawako and I enjoyed 10 days in sunny, dry weather!

Zebra at the S.D. Zoo. He was in the process of cooling down by rolling around in the dirt.

Said zebra threw himself to the ground!

Lazy afternoon nap
Rad Owl! Asian continental owl whose name I forgot, outside of the Bird Show.
Jaguar pacing around in the hot post-lunch afternoon

What are you Takin about?

The day before we had spent some time in Northern Arizona...

Grand Canyon at Sunset... my camera sucks, fortunately Sawako's is awesome!

Out of order... the Imperial Dunes on the Arizona/California border, highway 8. It is a new National Recreation Area. I am excited to check it out... NOT during the 108 degree summer though!

Another subpar Grand Canyon sunset picture

Yellow and green: Sawako poses in Oak Creek rest area, north of Sedona.

And back to the Grand Canyon. From a secret overlook that was not crowded!

Actually, from our first afternoon in the Grand Canyon

I had some other pictures to post, but I can't read my own handwriting as to the names of the files! Maybe another time I can get some waves and beaches pictures...

Twenty-two days later

I haven't had a chance to post in a long time. It was a back-to-back situation. The Final (backpacking trip) was a nine-day endeavor in the back and front country. We climbed Kerouac's Desolation Peak and saw his lookout that spied on Hozomeen. And then some driving around the east side of the N. Cascades to see other Fire Lookouts (places and people) and the fire damage from fires over the past decade. One afternoon to reset everything, then headed to SoCal.

Sawako and I had a great week together: met at LAX, saw my family- parents, grandparents, Jake, Charlie-, Laguna Beach, HUGE waves at the Wedge, La Jolla, (the S.D. Zoo and its pandas!) and the Grand Canyon... not to mention a lot of long trains, gorgeous sand dunes and 122 degree heat in southern Arizona. Gila Bend, AZ... a town NOT to be missed if you like to bake in the shade. I felt like I was being cooked; awkward but somewhat nice after a chilly western Washington summer. Dropped her off after eight days together and then caught a flight the next day. Saw Boitano after a couple years' absence and stayed the night at her parents' friend's place on Lake Samamish.

Today I drove straight to the take-out Chinese restaurant today then back to my apartment. Leisurely packed up my car, played basketball and sit to write this. It will be a slow evening... one in which I will load up on the Thai food and pizza that I will miss during my stint in Diablo... and tomorrow morning, I will drive up to Marblemount/Diablo/the North Cascades Institute. A year of living in the North Cascades (mountains) National Park begins when I move in my things during the afternoon tomorrow and get ready for Mountain School training which starts on Monday. I am excited to start this next adventure and my emotional/personal/physical batteries are fully recharged after my wonderful 10-day vacation. Let's do it!

Lost smile

Dude,
When did I get so serious? I had to rejoin that blasted facebook to remind myself that I smiled a lot in the recent years. How come all of that changed? Why haven't I been smiling? When did I forget to have fun? How come I can't "be" as much as I was.
A friend, good ole Josh, told me that I would be smiling even if my apartment burned to the ground. That is how he knows me. It brought back a flicker of memory... I think he is right. When was that and what has changed since? Why have I forgotten to smile? I am out of practice. I'd better get on that!

Disattached

and disillusioned. It finally hit me today. I am a stranger here. I cannot fit in right now. I am totally not in the picture. I feel like the movie rolls and I am a lost actor. I don't know the lines, I can't follow the scenes and I have a lousy salary. So lost. This is a weird feeling. I haven't felt this in a long time. Have I been running from it or is this a reminder? I had to write something, though I have no idea what I am even saying. A sigh.

More pictures from trips

So, my parents were in Seattle last weekend. And so were my grandparents. And though I had a camera in my pocket the entire time, I took no pictures... thus i will post the ones I have now and then post my dad's select choices at a later time. In the meantime:

the center of the known universe... in Fremont, outside of Seattle. In fact, as soon as this was discovered, the neighbourhood seceded from the city, the state and the United States. I don't know the legal ramifications, but that's what the tourist bureau reports.

The Hiram Chittenden Lock system... lets boats up and down from the Puget Sound, more specifically Shilshole (don't read this too quickly!) Bay and to Lake Washington. It made me sad to see the fish ladders that were installed as "a gateway for wild salmon to get upriver." I don't particularly think they value the "gate" installed just for them... perhaps they'd like to do it more naturally.

Lunch for Teresa, Stephanie, Nick and me when we hiked up to Cedar and Pine Lakes (25-Jul) for a test/day hike.

Said lake... with Nick in an inflatable tube on the left of the picture and Stephanie in a tube on the right. The log in the middle served for hours of entertainment including fencing matches, water and wizard battles, and a mechanic shop for lashing logs for boating opportunities.

Pictures from my graduate program

Here are some of my favorite (and only shots) from the recent field tips we have been taking this summer:

Peeping through Douglas Fir to see Mt. Baker (10781 ft, 3286 m) from the east bank Baker Lake trail.

Indian Pipe, Monotropa uniflora, on the old-growth forest floor. Connected via fungi to nearby coniferous trees, it is an indicator for wood mushrooms in the coming season (Pojar & Mackinnon, Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, p352.)

The falls that washed out the Sourdough Creek trail

Looking north on Ross Lake. Desolation Peak (6102 ft, 1860 m) in the looming foreground, home of Jack Kerouac's famed wilderness lookout (which we saw on the top left of the shoulder using binoculars). He spent the summer looking northwards toward Hozomeen Peak (jagged, further background, 8066 ft, 2459 m) and into Canada.

Nohokomeen Glacier, which lies on the west side of Jack Mountain, was seen from Ross Lake, glistening in the sun... asking for me to hike up there and take a look someday!

With Cousin Aaron, July 4th Ferry

This is a picture of the balcony from which I took my recent pictures. That is my "garden" in the background. Two tomato plants flanking a basil. They seemed pretty weak, but I stabilized them with twigs and dental floss to keep them upright. They have taken root and gotten more sun and seem stronger

Picture of my car on the Port Townsend/Keystone Ferry... heading towards Aaron's on a misty cold Sunday (July 4th) morning

A shot of the Olympics from the east. We didn't go to the ice, but it's still there!

Aaron and I pose in front of Marymere Falls

My older cousin looks at the secret falls to which we bushwhacked! No fences up there

Any notes of mention at this point? I am dealing with culture shock which is very real. My patience level is not as high as when it was before I left Japan. I am leaning on my ego and my anger to get me through some days. It's hard still with the English and American "culture" overload... so I retreat into a hermit and a mean one at that. But I recognize when this happens and then I force myself to face the uncomfortable situations I feel.

For example, many folks around here say hi to me on the street. I am not used to random people bothering me while I am walking, so I find it irritating. However, there is generally no ill will intended to me, as folks are being friendly. So I have to come to terms with being friendly on the streets instead of being able to mind my own business. Small changes. And one at a time. I am confronted often and it is rather unnerving... but it is the way of American life; something I used to be good at doing. Now, I am out of shape and without the motivation to create and work out situations that resolve themselves anyways. So, now its a matter of balancing the action with non-action.

Pix from my back balcony

I just realized that I have a lot of writing to do. In general. For a year of no blogs, to keep three separate journals for classes. And for time which has passed me by.

At sunset from my back balcony. It is a shared fire escape for four apartments, but someone has chairs out there and the emergency detector has long since been deactivated. I would care, but I spend too much time out there, reading in the sun, checking on my two tomato plants and the lowly basil that I wish could get a grip on the wind that blows through in the afternoon!

Towards Canada, some of the mountains to the north. On a clear day, you can see Mount Doom and into Mordor...

It's quite the drop... I am on the second floor, but the building goes down like four levels and is built on a hill. Nice view of Bellingham Bay though.

Sun setting over Orcas Island, or perhaps the tail of Bellingham that juts out and makes the whole thing a bay. They sort of blur together and my vision is not so sharp... but it sets over land from my vantage point.

The clouds were pervasive until July 5th! But they have disappeared for the time being and we are hoping for days with blue skies and cloudless sunsets!