chamois

Despite being sick, I went ahead with my solstice party saturday. Actually Tyson did most of the prep work. He even came up with a proper picnic table. Tyson was right that the huge pile of pine tailings didn't make a ginormous fire, but rather a nicely sized one. It was an absolutely lovely evening for a bonfire. The only downside of the party was that of the people who had RSVP'd yes, all the families canceled on account of tired kids, and some of the adults on similar excuse. And most of the rest of the adults canceled in fear of the snow storm that wasn't due until midnight. The neighbors on our side of the runway showed up, and they were a hoot. I might have to have more bonfires just for them. And then two folks from work.

Not much of an update, mostly because I've been out sick for the last few days. Curling up under piles of warm blankets on the couch doesn't tend to lead to thrilling adventure stories.

One of the couples on the airport holds an anual holiday party. Last year the party was a little odd because it was right after the ice storm, so the power was out and not too many people showed up. This year there were plenty of people. One of Tyson's and my co-workers was actually there through a different connection. So there was the usual «small world» commentary. Overall, I'd say I had much more fun this time than last time. I'm starting to get to know people well enough to hold my own conversations rather than just listen to Tyson talk about airplanes.

Then today we borrowed another neighbor's tractor to haul all the logs we have been cutting down. Tyson decided it was high time I learned some red-neck skills, so he made me run the tractor. It actually turned out to be not that difficult. The main issue was trying to guess what the forks were doing out in front where I couldn't see them. We got all the logs that were not already in a pile moved into a new pile before the sun started heading down.

Then we got back home and prepared to relax for a little bit before our next party. Except that I then noticed said party started in 5 minutes. Said party is a pot luck and 30 minutes drive away. Well, the best solution I could think of was to re-heat the goodly amount of soup left over from the previous party. I hope that is not too bad of a social faux pas.

Today the first big winter storm came through. On the one hand it ment twice the comute time. But on the other hand we might actually get to go skiing this winter.

Then this evening, Tyson and I drove down to Arlington to a skiing movie fundraiser. Lots of powder and steep mountains. drool I'm ready for that snow. All I need to do is wax my skis.

Anyone got telemark ski plans for this sunday? I need to go exercise my legs that have probably turned to rubber.

Tyson's and my photos from paddling Saturday. These are generally fairly tame. I'm in a blue PFD and my new yellow dry suit.

Apparently, while I was spending 20 minutes trying to pull my pants up inside my dry suit after going pee, Tyson was busy playing in the rocks. Rene got a sequence of an impressive wave that caught Tyson.

Sunday we enjoyed the snowy landscape by chopping down some trees. We are now at the point where we can borrow the neighbor's tractor next weekend to haul the logs out.

I'm going to try to write something up before I fall asleep.

This week's schedule has been all over the place. The net result being lots of late nights at work and not so much sleep.

The weather has been balmy (70F) and sunny. So I hear other people have been having fun.

Well, my fun started on the weekend. My drysuit was ready for pickup. Conveniently someone else posted a paddle 10 minutes from the shop. And then there was the NSPN (paddling group) Christmas party.

Come 9pm friday evening, I started packing for paddling. Once that was done, I contemplated what to do for the potluck. It so happens that driving from the paddle straight to the potluck gave us and extra hour, whereas trying to go home in the middle gave us a negative hour. So that ment cooking at 11 at night. 11 at night is not the best time to discover that I had none of the ingredients for my standard potluck dishes, or pretty much any dish. I resorted to flipping through the cookbook until I found a recipe where I only had to substitute one major ingredient.

Saturday I picked up my dry suit no problem. It didn't leak on my test swim. We met up with one other guy and his son and went meandering around islands. This was Tyson's first time out in the borrowed boat. We played in a little bit of surf. Then later he played in some rocks while I tried to figure out how to pull my pants back up via the drop seat. I think there is some trick I'm missing there, like maybe a different type of underlayer.

We stopped at an island with a light house decorated in Christmas lights. We went up for the view. While we were there, the first few snow flakes started to blow by. The whole scene was really quite pretty and put me in the mood of the season a lot more than the 70 degree weather had been.

I need to figure out a better solution to keeping my hands warm. Transitioning between my dry gloves that I was using to eat lunch and my thick neoprene gloves for paddling, my hands got quite cold and they didn't warm up until we were almost all the way back. The wrist gaskets on the drysuit were not helping since they are new and haven't been stretched yet.

Back at the put in, I decided to try Tyson's loaner boat. I did a couple trick rolls. Sufficiently frozen in the head, we then took a brief jaunt around the headland to the other side of the put in. I don't know how much is real and how much psycological, but I definitely go faster in the Anas Acuta than in my boat. And there are plenty of nice boats out there faster than the Anas.

So then we mosied on south towards the party. The rate of mosying was not high as we got parked by a parade. By the time we got to the party, it was slushing slightly. I'm still getting to know the NSPN folks, although there were more names and faces I recognized this time than at the last social event. There was a mix of ski-type people who were excited at the probable snow, and die hard kayakers who could care less.

Magically, by the time we left the party, the world was white. Our kayaks were coated. And the white on the side of the road had a noticeable depth. It might be time to swap the racks on the car and head north.

Saturday morning, my folks left. Tyson and I took this time to catch up on chores and errands. And then we started working on mounting my bindings on my skis. The bindings came in 16 different pieces plus two sets of screws. Some of the pieces and screws didn't get used because we used the riser option instead. We borrowed the landlord's drill press which made it easier. But now I have a functional set of telemark skis again with bindings that make it look like I can ski much better than I actually can.

Late that afternoon, mj2q showed up. He got to witness the final fitting of the bindings. We all made a tasty fish chowder. As far as I can tell, there is no set recipe for chowder. The last two times, I have pulled out a bunch of recipes and half followed them and half followed other people's suggestions.

Since Mark was in town, I felt motivated to go out dancing. I looked up the closest contra dance — 45 minutes away. We showed up early for the lessons because Tyson had only been a few times and Mark never. This venue was particularly beginner and kid friendly. They started out with very easy dances and only got a little harder over the night. If it were just me, I'd probably go find a harder venue. But Tyson had fun. The last time I took him contra dancing, he sat out almost all the dances. This time, I think I saw him sit down once. So given a choice of no contra dancing or simple contra dancing, I think I'll go for simple.

Then after dancing, we went and visited some friends of Mark's who have a hot tub. And eventually we stumbled home.

Sunday started a little late. Once we dragged ourselves out of bed and through the shower, I convinced Mark to come on a motorcycle ride with me. I needed to take the motorcycle over to it's winter parking anyways. So Mark got to enjoy a 30 minute winding tour of rural southern NH. Unfortunately, then Mark had to run off to his next appointment.

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day out. So the best chore Tyson and I could think of was chopping more trees down on the lot. We need to be better about coordinating with the neighbors to borrow a tractor. As is, we have just been leaving the big trunk sections where they fall.

And then mid afternoon we called it quits and vegetated for the rest of the evening.

Monday morning, I left for work with bhudson in the apartment and got back in the evening with my parents at home. That was a neat trick. Then Tuesday, I got home to parents with new boots and cooked dinner. That was an even better trick. And then Wednesday, Tyson stayed home, and he and my parents worked on clearing the lot. So that day I came home to only a few trees left and homemade pizza. I could start to get used to this life.

Then Thanksgiving, we went over to Tyson's family for the big feast. It was all the usual crowd plus my parents. My parents and his parents did reasonably together, so that was good.

I started the weekend with a list of things to do and actually got most of them done. The apartment got cleaned and prepared for house guests. We chopped down and cleaned up a bunch more trees. Actually, Tyson's father came over on Saturday to help with that. Then Sunday evening, the first of the house guests, bhudson arrived. After dinner we ended up forcing him to watch some of a sea kayaking video to show him all the cool things his Mom could possibly be getting into.

Cumulative effects of the prior day and the fact that we talked about soft tissue injuries (aka disgusting bloody messes) did get to me today. I managed to not slide all the way under the table or completely break out in tears, but I definitely didn't keep my composure.

The good news is I passed (as did everyone else), and even better I have a book to take home and review since it was way too much material to internalize. The other good news is that I pretty much already have everything I need in my pack. And at that it was even a slightly stripped down pack.

Well, I finally gave in and decided to take a wilderness first aid course. The motivating factors were that the AMC was paying for it since I'm a trip leader and that Tyson was also going so I'd have some comfort if it got too gross.

So far the fisr day has been reasonable. We probably spent more time inside than normal since it was perfect hypothermia weather out — 40F and raining. Actually it wasn't much warmer inside, but at least it was dry. All the students were other AMC folk many of whom I recognise. And a bunch of us are all staying at the same hostel and did dinner together, so it's being a nice social weekend.

Now if only it will stop raining before tomorrow.

Today NESeacoast paddlers organized a dry suit demo day at a retailer up in Kennebunkport ME.

The day started out with discussions of cold water clothing, drysuit care and feeding, and differences between the models. Various people had their own annecdotes for why drysuits are good. You can paddle all year round. You can enjoy a nice paddle on a snowy day, etc. Meanwhile, I'm just thinking who the heck has time to paddle in the winter when it is ski season? And paddling when there is snow on the ground? Terrible misuse of snow!

Then we all got to try out a drysuit and take it paddling on the water. The outfitter is also a dealer of Valley Sea Kayaks, so Tyson and I managed to demo a low volume Nordkap and an Anas Acuta. The latter is a fiberglass rendition of a traditional greenland hull, but with all the modern amenities inside and on top. The Nordkap is a fairly standard British kayak.

We knew a couple of the people there, and a few more we were able to match up with their posts on the NSPN forum. But it was funny watching people's reaction to us. Apparently we have quite the reputation as the crazies in the tandem kayak. And we also got written up in the October Atlantic Coastal Kayaker from our trip where we learned greenland rolling.

I had a bunch of fun paddling the Nordkap on the way out. It wasn't fat like I had feared. And it went along quite easily. I drifted to the front of the group without even thinking about it. I got to lend my greenland paddle to Blaine, one of the guys who had read about us. I did a few rolls, and even went swimming in the drysuit. Other than an icecream headache, I was fine. Suzanne also gave me some paddling tips since I seem to have a problem with rocking the boat back and forth.

Then on the way back, I swapped with Tyson and tried the Anas Acuta which he really liked. It definitely didn't go as fast. I was now having to work to keep up with the group. It rolled easily. And it turned whenever you even raised half an eyebrow. Unfortunately I had it for the leg of the trip when we were doing less playing and more just hustling back, so the turning thing was a little annoying. However, I did notice that when I sat up and paddled with good form it went just fine.

We got back, stripped off the drysuits, and were wearing dry clothes! I really was a convert to this dry suit thing: paddle in cold water without getting cold, not have to wear lots of bulky stiff layers of clothing (I had to radically cinch up my PFD), and get back and be dry and not coated with icky salt. The only thing that cold be better is if it sliced and diced! So I looked at my wallet and looked at Tyson and marched up to the counter.

Suzanne, the rep, was convinced that Tyson and I were serious enough paddlers that there was no question whether or not we should be looking at the high end suits. (Something about our reputation preceding us?) Then I had crucial decisions like hood/no hood, front or rear zip, and radish or mango. I ended up getting the hood because it came with the wrists I liked. And I got the rear relief zipper because it seemed simpler than the front zipper.

After my trip wednesday, I had plenty of time at work, so I came home early today. It was nice to get back while it was still sunny out, and better yet with enough time to do something about it.

So Tyson and I went and approximately staked out the corners of the house. It got dark before I had a chance to sit back and contemplate it. It didn't end up quite where I had been thinking it had. So it's a little closer to an old road, but I don't think that's an issue. The plan is to double check our work sunday, and the start chopping down trees.

Work decided to send me down to NJ for the day yesterday. I'll skip the details, but needless to say it wasn't my idea of thrilling. On the plane ride back at 7:30pm packed with business travelers, the flight attendant started out with «can we pretend to have your attention for the safety briefing.» Further comments included «if you don't like our service tonight, this aircraft is equiped with six emergency exits.» And finally with the oxygen masks, since we were flying out of Philadelphia, we were encouraged to put our own masks on first before helping any kids or Yankies fans.

Tyson picked me up from the airport, drove me home, and presented me with a wonderful apple crisp he'd made.

I have another reason to look forward to having my own house. The timer on the kitchen stove is rather finiky. And a couple of times it has gone off while Tyson or I were cooking when neither of us could remember starting it. Well, this morning, it decided to go off at 3:30 AM. I think I'll list that as a feature to avoid in future stoves.

Sunday, I went off to Portland to have lunch and hang out with Fred. It was really a beautiful day for walking in the coastal parks. It's too bad that I have this list of friends I'd like to hang out with more, but they are all a long drive away.

And then I came home and finished off the weekend with a lovely evening with Tyson.

I got to co-lead another AMC rock climbing trip today. The forecast was for an even chance of rain. We moved the cliff to a closer cliff so if it got rained out it wouldn't be a big deal. A bunch of folks canceled. And my co-leader came down sick and bailed. So that left myself, Tyson, Thor, and two other folks and a misty, humid day.

Well, it never actually rained on us. The rock was very slimy and in places sopping wet. So it felt a bit more like caving than rock climbing. But it did give us different sorts of challenges to work on. I didn't do a single climb clean. But perseverance got me up all of them (that I started).