Tibbar Tibbar

Where to fit all those cakes?

The pack weigh-in was, of course, a little heavier than expected.  One mat weighs 3 oz more than the same mat with a patch on it.  Is one more affected by the humidity?  The blue AOPA ball cap weighs less than the blue Greenville ball cap, weighs less than the turquoise Micucci's ball cap.  The air pillow weighs half as much as the fabric pillow.  And so it goes.

My burly hiking companions will carry the lion's share of the community goods since I weigh less than last year and therefore must carry less.  Good for them!

Jun 29

The Pleasant Mountain backpack-shakedown-after-repair succeeded more than anticipated.  Thirty pounds this time, hauled up 1500 feet in 100 minutes.  No injuries, no blisters, no insect bites, no shirt fraying.  It was a hazy view at the top with one other hiker stranger wearing a black jogbra and sporting a very pale abdomen.  That and multiple belly button piercings.  She wished me a good day and ran off down the hill.  I lingered to take photos and drink the remainder of the water.

Jim asked why didn't I just cut the loops off the part of the velcro that stuck to my shirts.  A man of simple solutions.

Jun 28

Yesterday I did something that pleased me to no end.

For years my backpacking shirts have come away from their trips worn and frayed on the back shoulders. There are wide Velcro strips that help to keep the shoulder straps of my pack in place.  But the pack fits best with about 2 inches of Velcro showing, and they rub on the the shoulders.  Last year was aggravating enough to stuff hankies under the straps.

Well, yesterday I cut the Velcro strips loose from their binding, and handsewed them about 2 inches further up the straps.  And today I will climb Pleasant Mtn without feeling like a puppet, strung from the shoulders.

Jun 27

Old friends check in and catch up.  New friends appear and play jazz music or sing gospel songs.

The old pound cake holds together well in the backpack.

The new chocolate sauerkraut cake tastes like sauerkraut.

Duh.

Note to self: The blueberry muffins need more than a pinch of salt and less time in the oven.

Jun 26

The NYC pics were reviewed; so much fun in such a short time.  My flight arrived after the planned Statue of Liberty ferry departure, so I asked my Seattle friends on the ferry to get me a green sponge Liberty crown while I waited for them on land in Battery Park.

They were kind and generous enough to bring me this most meaningful souvenir.

Yesterday at the Strawberry Festival,

the rain did not deter those

intent on shortcake or cheesecake.

Today I am baking cakes as an experiment to see if they'll hold up in the backpack.  The first is an orange/lemon pound cake.  Next will be a blueberry cake.  And third, a chocolate sauerkraut cake.

Christmas in June

Today is the Strawberry Festival where one strawberry shortcake with whipped cream is worth at least 10 points plus, probably half the daily food allotment.  It was a food celebration in NYC last week; knishes, corned beef sandwiches on rye, pain au chocolate, lasagna, Big Sour Apple martinis.  So there will be more of the same weight to lose all over again.

This is a sight not seen in NYC. These hooves are awfully long and pointed for a cow.  Could this pickup be hauling a small dead moose?  I was on the way to the dump and was sure this truck would just pull in ahead of me.  But it drove on past the turnoff.  Seeing that makes it easier to control the appetite.  I hope he's not going to the Strawberry Festival.

Jun 24

Practice yesterday up Pleasant Mtn in the rain, visibility 125 feet, new boots, 10 lb pack.

It was a lark!

Today instead of meditating and jogging, I am messing about with pack items, reviewing old treks, weighing new toys, and practicing making decisions.

Jun 23

 Examining the trek path from the side and from the top, the whining begins.

Why can't we start out easy when we're carrying the heaviest loads?  Why is it so long?  Why are there three peaks to climb instead of two? Who brought this damned grill anyway?  Are we there yet?

SILENCE!

I imagine the guido yells.  He sweeps the whine out of my brain none too gently, and replaces it with one-pointed determination, good cheer, and ingenuity to find the most amusing path.  Will that be outrunning the grizzly at Grizzly Creek or watching which way the water flows on the Continental Divide?



Jun 22

Back in the quiet zone, the morning meditation behind closed eyes is flashing technicolor, JUST LIKE TIMES SQUARE!  Notice me, look at me, HEY!

But now is the time to focus on the next trip, not the last trip.  Gathering, weighing, selecting, packing.  OMG, just two weeks from now, a trek in Colorado!!

Today at airport brekkie, I said "...a backpack trip in the San Juans"  and one thought it was in Puerto Rico, while another thought Washington State.  After brekkie we went to a nursery to buy West County work gloves, since my last pair were worn out after three years of trekking, weight lifting and skiing.  Beautiful flowers, these gloves.

I wanted all four colors, but held myself to just two.

Summertime

And the livin' is easy,

from one sunset scenic

to the next;



from the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan

to Sebago Lake Maine in the Citabria

"One of these mornings

You're gonna rise up singing.

You'll spread your wings

And take to the sky."

Last Day of Spring

Dress ups at Internal Medicine Morning Report 25 years ago, before I met Jimmy.  Happy Anniversary!  Heading home from NYC today in time for a quiet sunset scenic flight at the lake.

Father's Day

Something's afoot in NY, NY.

Today we're going to brunch somewhere around Central Park, then dress up for the Spiderman matinee.  Jim says I should wear red spandex, but I will be totally satisfied with a sparkly black number made of nylon, not spandex, and some sensible shoes for all that walking afterwards.

Happy Father's Day to all you fathers out there.

Jun 18

Today we're going to Central Park to ride bicycles, then a Billy Elliot matinee on Broadway, then an evening free to find a nice little Italian restaurant, or jazz club, or walk amid the crowds in Times Square.

Jun 17

"Start spreading the news,

I'm leaving today.

I want to be a part of it -

New York, New York."

Jun 16

How odd!

A man sits on the guard rail, fishing in a culvert next to the highway where all the cars line up to wait for the green light to let them go to work (or breakfast) before 8 AM.
Jim rolls his window down and asks the man, "How's the fishing?"
The man turns, grins a toothless smile and grunts, "Just got here."

Ides of June

This morning the sun came up like a mouse, hesitant to break through the gray curtains.  Even now it keeps a veil of haze between itself and the world outside, timid to the point of shivering at the sight of water stirred by a breeze.
Some days we just want straight answers, but all we get is poetry.

Flag Day

From the water

the flag waits for the wind between the boat house and the ice house.

The fire engines load up their tanks to spray on those alongside the parade.

The wild irises wave their own flags at the fish making nests in the shallow water.

Lightning

Yesterday the closest I got to the Canadian Grand Prix race was driving by Scarborough Downs racetrack.  Unfocused.  Later the race announcers jabbered on television from a distance of an adjacent room.  The drizzle of the afternoon accompanied my run.  The rain gear needs more silicone work.

Today the calendar shows the airplane of the day, more drizzle, and raw damp.  Consecrate your own shrine.  That's a bossy voice that accompanied the writing this morning, like someone with hands on hips, challenging impatiently,  "C'mon, get on with it."  Like thunder with lightning.

Jun 12

Yet again, victory is in the form of a hot cup of coffee and a fire in the woodstove on a cold, rainy, stalled-front kind of day.  The recently past hot humid spell triggered something in the toxic mold under the stairway that makes eau de must the dominant scent of the lake house today.  A little chicken soup in the pot may counteract that.  But later.

Today I am thinking about the two signs juxtaposed yesterday at the Seaplane Seminar.  We drove instead of flew.  And at the driveway to the airport/seaplane base, these two signs:

We stayed for one lecture and a piece of coffee cake each.  The stuttering presenter drove us away, back to home, M & Ms peanuts, tortilla chips and hot buttery sandwiches.  The weigh-in scale today should be a sober and vengeful god.

Jun 11

A chickadee is making a home in the bird house above the day lilies.  The lilies smell like old butterscotch, not at all like Easter lilies.

We were able to stretch the ropes of the new hammock that took the place of the old weathered and rotten hammock yesterday, before the mosquitoes arrived and before the sunset scenic flight.
Today is the Seaplane Fly In at Naples, Maine.  Seminars, bad food, and freebies like floating key chains or flight manuals for all who arrive early.  Closing in on summertime.

Jun 10

The pieces of the hike were coming together rather messily but steadily.  Then, yesterday Moey called to say she had tickets to Billy Elliot, Spiderman and the ferry to the Statue of Liberty (the Lady).  Now a different mindset is required for packing.  Where are those sparkly sleeveless tops made of rayon?

Funny it is less worrisome to pack and hike for a week in the wilderness of Colorado than it is to spend a weekend in NYC.  Well, there's bedbugs in NYC for one thing.

Jun 9

The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

It makes national news when we in the east have high temperatures, but no mention of it at the Missouri River banks where it must be expected, and therefore not news.  I think it's just the sheer numbers of easterners who crawl out of their dens to complain loudly about the weather that makes the news and not the forebearing pioneer stock who go quietly about their business whether it's above 90 degrees or not.

Sometimes the path leads to Bull.  This might be that.

Jun 8

Breakfast day at the airport.

Supposed to be steamy today.

 The day lilies are right on time.

We're already late.