So Not Ready

The morning view out my office window

OK, I was supposed to be on my way to New York now. OK, you know me, the backup plan is to be out the door 24 hours from now. OK, I'm on the drop dead plan which means I need to leave in 30 hours.

But... my head is full of sand, and I finally got a picture of the mist rising between the little hills in back of our house.

Our 40th Anniversary Party last week was a lot of fun. We enjoyed sharing with those people who were able to come!

The food for the hike is all packed. Now if only I could say the same for everything else. Wish me luck! But the day had a beautiful beginning, anyway!

Training Regiment Report

On Wednesday I hiked around my trails here for 45 minutes with 42 pounds. That is about the max weight we will each be carrying when we have full food rations and all water bottles full.

Yesterday I just did a quickie loop for Maggie with 37 pounds because then Om and I went on a bike ride- only about 8 miles, but it feels good.

Today I left home with Maggie on a leash and 45 pounds in my pack. I returned 1 hour 15 minutes later with 47.5 pounds. We walked the Scottville bypass, and I picked up 2.5 pounds of aluminum cans! So that's about 3 miles. I didn't break any speed records, but I did bend down to get all those cans. It was also pretty hot- about 80 degrees. That's good, because I always need to work myself into hiking when it's hot. It was long enough, but not so bad that I felt in pain or broken down when I got home. If I can keep up this sort of thing, I should be ready for August.

On a more artistic note, there have been some nice treats just around the house. I've found scarlet cup fungus, and yellow patches fungus for spots of color. Yesterday I found a live cicada that is somehow out of rhythm with the rest of his population. He (she?) was big and lovely with bright aqua patches where the wings met the body. I've never seen one with any color at all. I picked it up in hopes of corralling it while I got the camera, but it decided to fly away, buzzing in that odd cicada way. The wren is still hanging out trying to find a new lady love, and a cardinal is around too, nesting in the apple I think. A flicker is working hard to enlarge to hollow space that the bluebirds nested in this spring, so it won't be the right size for the bluebirds next spring. The deer and turkeys wander through the yard, and the moles and ground squirrels wander under the yard.

Got a call today from a reporter at the Grand Rapids Press. They want to do an article on my NCT hikes. The interview will be July 24th. Don't know when the article will run.

Yesterday I helped spot a hiker on the NCT at Red Bridge. So I took advantage of that opportunity to put some trail miles into my conditioning. Shamu at 37 pounds rode on my back, and Maggie at 50 pounds trotted along. We went up the big hill from Upper River Road TH to the main NCT. I believe that this is the biggest trail hill anywhere in the Manistee NF. Puff, puff. Then we hiked north for a total of 30 minutes, turned around and came back. We made it just past Pole Rd (a little over a mile of trail). So, total walking was probably under 3 miles. OK for beginnings. It didn't feel too bad, and I'm not at all sore today, but I can sure tell that to do 5 or 6 of those walks in a day I need to seriously work on this conditioning!

Hi- I don't think hardly anyone is reading this any more since I haven't posted much, but just in case, and to give me some accountability, I'm going to post a bit about preparations for the August hike.

I've managed to save enough money so that I can afford to do this. Yeah!

I'm working on the planning. This trip needs real planning because we will do the western section in the Adirondacks. This will connect our High Peaks trip (1996) hopefully all the way to Fort Stanwix at Rome, NY. I'm working on the itinerary to see if we really can do all of this. It's 150 miles.

It's been 3 years since we really did a backpacking trip so I'm getting in shape. So far I'm carrying 37 pounds for 30 minutes each day. Need to bump that up pretty rapidly, but I have a month to work on it, so I should be ok.

We (Marie and I) will get to hike a portion of the new proposed route through the Adirondacks. This includes one serious bushwack, so I'm trying to find out as much info as I can about it ahead of time. The NCTA HQ has some GPS units that they were given for volunteers to use to report trail coordinates, so I'm going to be taking one of those with the info they have pre-loaded. That should be some help... I'm a map and compass girl, but having the GPS will give me a lot of practice, and will be a nice safety net.

Confessions of an Acetylcholine Junkie

I knew I’d been craving those drug-induced highs for years. I just didn’t realize until recently what my drug of choice is. Now don’t get alarmed and call the newspaper and the police; my chemical is street legal (well, actually I don’t know that), but it’s produced naturally in the body. In fact, without it, our nerves will stop firing and stop speaking to each other. In short, we would become vegetables.

Acetylcholine (ACh) is a neurotransmitter. That means that it’s a chemical that carries nerve impulses across the gaps (synapses) between our nerve cells. Research shows that the more often we do something the less ACh is required to carry the message. As things become more familiar or habitual the pathways don’t need as much chemical stimulus.

But there’s more to it than that. It turns out that ACh also has an effect on the pleasure centers of the brain. This affects some people more than others. I’ve known for a long time that to experience something new is one of the best ways to perk me up when I’m feeling a bit blue. I’m craving an ACh fix!

Here are some of my best ACh highs of the past month.

As I stepped out the kitchen door in the slanted morning light, not only were the pink apple blossoms glowing in the low sun but their lovely, clean scent was carried to me on the soft breeze. Just then, a pair of bluebirds sailed across the yard, banking and flashing their brilliant blue backs, wings spread, against the pink of the blossoms.

We have a little house wren that is building a nest under the edge of the deck. The male builds a home he would be proud to share and then sings for all he’s worth to try to coax a lady-love to join him. For a little brown bird- just an egg-sized ball of fluff with a stubby brown tail- it’s unbelievable how much noise can emanate from that breast. He’s taken to sitting on the deck rail just outside my office window. I can see him open his thin bill, almost translucent in the bright sun, puff out his chest, and then the vibrating trill begins. He’s so loud that he’s actually awakened me a couple of mornings. I’ve tried to take his picture out the window, but he knows I’m there. One bob of his tail, a nod of his head, and he’s gone every time I turn on the camera.

I’ve been in the Upper Peninsula this week and I’ve decided that they should film the next great fantasy adventure up here. The flat tamarack marshes can look as spooky as anything New Zealand has to offer. The afternoon light was gray but bright; it had been raining all day. Beds of sphagnum moss were scattered like irregular tiles across the landscape. Newly needled tamarack practically glowed- an eerie, alien green. An occasional spindly fir shot up from the mossy plain, usually a naked bole with broken, skeleton branches and a dark, tangled topknot. Through this vast and bleak plain meandered a flat and shining river. All that was missing was a craft with high, curved prows and foreign carvings. It should be propelled by small creatures- odd, but yet enchanting and mystic. I’m sure I saw it slip around the distant bend.

Experiences like these get my ACh flowing and my pleasure centers lighting up like a laser target. Recommended prescription for you? Go outside and find your own acetylcholine high!

Haven't heard from me lately? Join the crowd. Let's see. I used to work just over one hour a day doing web site work and get about $600 a month. Lots of time for other pursuits. Now I am getting $800 a month, and working 14+ hours a day to try to be prepared enough to not look like a complete idiot when I stand in front of the next class. Just a little sleep and a couple hours of decompression time a day and that's about it folks. See you in May. I know I owe many of you more than little chatty notes.

Crunch Time

My first class as a college instructor is Thursday. I've got books spread all over two rooms, Power Point presentations in various stages of readiness, and hopefully enough time to pull it all together.

Tomorrow is pretty much non-stop orientation and meetings, but I'll have Wednesday to get things finalized, and Syllabuses turned in. Whew!

I'll let ya' know how it goes!

Making Music with a New Friend

Jason and Joan make music (The only picture anyone took was really blurry, so transforming it into "art" seemed the way to go.)

Last Thursday I had one of the most fun experiences of my life. The McClellans came over for the evening. The youngest kids wanted to play with the train set some more. Jason and Omer messed around with cameras for a while and then he and I made music together for... I have no idea how long... hours. I don’t think I remember the last time I was so completely absorbed in something. Shawn was even playing his chanter at the same time, right next to me, not the same songs, and I never even heard him. I was oblivious to the 12 extra people in the house. Blocking out other noises is not something I’m good at, at all, so this was very out of character for me. We wanted to include Shawn in our playing, but he can’t read music, so we had to give that up since I didn’t seem to have music to anything he knows. I guess the girls went downstairs and watched a movie. I was not any kind of a hostess, let alone a perfect one.

We played and played till Jason had a sore shoulder and I had a very stiff neck. Then we gave it up, not because we were tired of the activity, but our bodies needed a rest. We chose three songs that we both like and thought sounded good together and made sure we both have the music to those to practice. Patrick thinks we should do a gig at the local Italian restaurant with an open case for people to throw money. I know we’re not anywhere near that good, but it certainly went better than either of us anticipated. I’ve never played with anyone on any instrument in a duet like that... well maybe Clara and I played one or two accordion duets when we were kids. But never with a different instrument. He said he hadn’t either. We like a lot of the same kinds of music.

It helps that the accordion is not currently the subject of the derision of every person in the universe. It’s down to something like 90%. * smile * What’s the definition of perfect pitch? When you throw an accordion in the dumpster and it doesn’t touch the sides before it lands.

Seriously, if you listen to TV commercials you'll now hear accordion in quite a few of them. I’ve had several young people say "Cool!" when the find out that I play. Now there’s a reaction I’ve never encountered prior to the last few years. Kinda nice!

Josh, Omer, Steve, Joan

We had Steve home for just 32 hours for Christmas this year. It wasn't nearly long enough, but we worked hard to pack lots of fun into the time. We played all the games that the four of us very diverse beings can play together. We ate lots of yummy food, blew the diets, and then had to repent and be really good for the next few days. I forgot to take the annual photo in front of the Christmas tree, so some lady who wasn't afraid I was a terrorist used my camera to snap us at the airport at 5:30 am on December 26. At least we are all smiling in this one!

The time seems to be speeding past, and I'm not ready for my teaching duties at the college. I'm working on it, but not nearly fast enough. That has to be fixed!

Too many changes in life in too short of a time span. I guess we'll just grab 2008 by the tail and hold on!

P.S. I had a really REALLY fun experience Thursday night, but I'm holding out for a photo to put with the post, so I'll keep it a secret a little longer.

I had changed the oil in the snowblower, but hadn't put the cans away yet. Omer came upstairs and exclaimed, "I thought I'm supposed to be cutting oil out of my diet!"

See, he does have a sense of humor!

We went to Manistee tonight to hear "A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols" sung by a local group called the 16th Century Singers. It was an outstanding Christmas experience, very nearly perfect with only one major flaw.

The Lutheran church where it was presented was traditional, narrow and high. The banners and drapes on the lecterns and railings were shades of blue with gold trim- stunning against the white walls and dark wood. There was a tall, tapering Christmas tree to one side decorated thickly with white lights and white and gold ornaments in the shapes of many symbols of Christianity. The lamb and the chalice, crosses, stars, chi rho, and snowflakes.

The scripture readers were all very good and could actually make you listen to passages that we've all heard since we were two years old. The organ prelude selections were Bach, Brahms, and a piece by Alexis Chauvet that I did not know before, but I'd love to get the music for. The singers were on key and I love the complexity of the rhymes in the old English songs, and the odd musical rhythms that mark some of the old carols. The congregation got to sing along on six of the songs.

The sixteenth century costumes were fascinating, with many different styles worn by the 12 different singers.

A totally worshipful Christmas experience!

The one flaw... after the singers processed so we could see them, they all went to the balcony and sang from there so we couldn't watch them. I suppose that, too, is traditional, but c'mon.... can't we engage more than one of our senses at a time? I really wanted to be able to watch them. I know it was live music, but I feel as if I might as well have stayed home and listened to a CD.

And here's a real joke... just the perfect irony of the church. This program was first presented at Kings College, Cambridge in 1918. It was planned by Eric Milner-White, who felt that the church needed more imaginative worship. With no apparent grasp of the joke, the next sentence of the historical description in the bulletin says that from that date on the service has always begun with the same song.!

Wonderful Times Turning Acquaintances into Friends

About three years ago we met a family from Scottville when we were trying out having a booth at the Farmers' Market. We enjoyed visiting with them, and have sort of kept in touch, but nothing much beyond that.

However, this fall we've gotten to know them much better, and the past two days have been a lot of fun. They came to our place on Thursday for lunch. This was no minor accomplishment! They have 9 kids and one grandma who lives with them too. But we had a great time- everyone got enough to eat, and almost everyone got to sit on a chair that isn't broken. Afterwards the youngest three (ages 6-9) played with the train around the tree. It was really nice to see kids having fun with the trains! They explored the ornaments on the tree too. Everyone else split up into smaller groups. Omer and Pat (the dad) of course went off to talk about serious topics. Our Josh visited with the oldest son (Shawn, age 21). Some of us stayed in the living room and visited.

The 16-year-old, Jason, plays violin and he invited us to an orchestra concert at West Shore Community College that was last night. The price was right- free- so we went. Turns out that it was the premiere performance of the West Shore Symphony Orchestra. Now, this is not Grand Rapids, of course, but it was pretty cool to be at the first concert of a local live orchestra! They played an ambitious program that included several of my favorite pieces, so that was fun.

Afterwards, we went to their house for a while. Shawn plays bagpipes and penny whistles. So he and Jason played some more music for everyone (although the bagpipes inside are WOW, it's neat to see them played in real life). We all just had such a good time that I'm sure we'll be getting together again.

I posted this on xanga, Jun 14, 2005. Want to put it here too, because if you see the initials QD on a post, this is what it means.

I've decided to let the blog world in on a secret. A number of years ago things were very dark for us and I needed some little tangible thing beyond "the everlasting arms" of God to keep my head above the waters of despair. I learned that it didn't take much, but just a little something, and I needed to pay attention and make note of the fact that even one good thing had happened. I came up with a list of 6 Elements of a Quality Day, QD for short.

If any one of those things happened, I could make it through one more day. Even in those dark times there was seldom a day that one of those things did not happen I wrote my QD entries at the beginning of each journal day. I've kept the system, although it's a long time since it's been a struggle to make it from day to day, just because it always reminds me that there is something to be cheerful about. (I don't tend to be an eternal optimist... one of my mother's nicknames for me was "the little thundercloud."). I haven't faithfully noted every day's entry, but sometimes I have. It's fun to go back and see what I put down.

So here's my list, and entries will just be coded QD.
Elements of a Quality Day
     1. Experience something new
     2. Do something outside
     3. Learn something new
     4. Accomplish something
     5. Do a service for the Lord
     6. If I just feel good anyway for no particular reason (in other words, it's not a bad day if none of the above happen, but I'm not feeling down about it. To prevent the logical progression, "if none of 1-5 happen then I must be depressed.")

QD- Dec 11, 2007

Wet snow fell all afternoon, making the world into a winter wonderland. Skiing was marginal, but ok. The beauty just uplifts my spirit!

Yelping from the Sky

Today, while Maggie jogged and I skied, I heard a strange yelping from the north, and realized that it was not only moving, but that it was high overhead. I looked up to see a long arrow of Tundra Swans gliding to the south. The sky was blue with patches of high white clouds. But the birds were low, pure white except for black beaks and backward extended legs and feet. These swans fly with their necks straight out, making precise crosses in the air. They were only visible and audible for a few seconds, but they made my whole day memorable.

I haven’t posted anything very serious here yet, but I guess it’s time.

Omer continues to make great progress doing rehab. He said he was tired when he came home today, and that he had not chosen to increase his speed on the treadmill today. But remember, this is one half of the competitive duo speaking here. What that translates to is that he walked for 15 minutes at 4.0 miles per hour, and chose not to increase that to 4.2. That’s a pretty good clip for anyone, let alone a person who had a heart attack 10 weeks ago. He’s been out skiing with me a few times too. He gets frustrated because I’m better at it (believe me, I’m not that good), but I doubt that I could out ride him on a bike if we had a contest today, so it all evens out. If I could just get him to believe that, sigh...

We went to the Christmas Concert at our former church. It was a perfectly wonderful musical experience. I’m still amazed at the talent of the people there. We were warmly greeted by many people. We really miss them.

My recent good news about getting a job as adjunct faculty at West Shore Community College has been tempered by some not so good news. After eight years of doing the North Country Trail Association web site on contract, they have decided to take it into the office and do it there. That was my single biggest source of income. That will begin January 1. Although their decision was purely financial, I’m having a hard time living with it. I really loved doing that site because I knew so much about the trail and the people involved.

And of course, this throws our finances for a loop again. Now, instead of having some extra money to put on the medical bills, I’ll have enough to cover the regular expenses for Jan-May, and then I’ll be in trouble again. I’m hoping I might pick up a college class or two for the fall again, but I really am hoping that I won’t have to give up my big hike of the summer.

We think we have finally received all of the medical bills. The Ludington Hospital is considering us a charity case and so the rehab is free. We are still waiting to hear if they are going to also cover the emergency room bill there. The Muskegon Hospital was mostly covered by Medicare (thank goodness! That was $45,000.) The Cardiology Clinic admits that their formula for assistance does not work well for self-employed people, so we have to list our income as what we bring in, not what we get to keep after the expenses are paid. Pretty stupid, eh? So we only got a 15% reduction on that bill. I’m sending every place a little bit each month, but this will be a long haul to work our way out of this hole. And I thought we were already living at the bottom of the barrel.

Meanwhile, I’ve been trying hard to earn some money on line. Taking the average amount I am offered for articles on Associated Content, I can bring in $200 a month if I write 12 articles a week. But so far I haven’t been able to quite keep up that pace after I have everything else done. Here’s a fun one about that experience My Wrong-Headed Journey Into AC Land

The Shared Reviews site that some of you know about is still in Beta testing, and I’ve earned my maximum in that phase ($150) unless people who signed up under me also write reviews. After it goes live (supposedly this month) then I get paid some percentage based on how my reviews rank. I really can’t predict how much or how little that might bring in. But that $150 this month sure helped! And it’s a really nice on-line community to write with. Much nicer than AC. Some of you who are reading this did sign up under me. They have put another $10K in their beta pot, so get busy writing reviews! It was a fairly easy $150. If you want to sign up, use this link to Shared Reviews, so I get credit for you! Until it goes live, you can’t really see the reviews unless you do sign up, but I’ll be sure to give you an update when that happens. It’s actually pretty cool. Who would have thought that I could get excited about writing product reviews?

I still think my best bet for income is to expand and work on the Get Off The Couch web site. I need to get my act in gear and return to working more on that. I was going great guns before I left for the North Dakota hike, but haven’t picked up the pieces since I got home and Om had the heart attack.

So that’s what all is happening at our house. Oh yeah, Omer’s down to 134 pounds, and is wearing pants he hasn’t been able to get into for 15 years. I’m down to 117 (horray!), and will be really happy if I can lose a couple more.

Stop back here as often as you like for whatever bits of nonsense I’ve decided to share. You can leave comments here with only a Google ID. Meanwhile, I’ll email "the list" when there is something major to report.

God is good, no matter what life seems to be like. This year has been one of great change for us. I would say second only to 1990. It’s very hard to see what direction we are supposed to go. We really appreciate the kind words from many of you. Thanks!

P.S. It’s snowing again! *smile*

The International Date Line in our house

"Do you go to rehab tomorrow?" I asked Omer as I went to bed.

"No, today." He replied.

Huh? It was 3 a.m. and I was still finishing Sunday, while he was just getting up to start the paper route for Monday!

Really news from Dec 1, even though I just got it posted today.

Maggie declines to go out in the cold snow

There has been just enough snow here to have a good time outside. The temperatures have felt brutal given our warm fall, in the 20s, but it makes for great skiing snow! I’ve been out several times, and Omer has gone out twice. Of course I haven’t gotten the last mowing of the trails done yet (still hoping for some snow free December days), so I don’t dare go down any of my biggest (not very big) hills, because of the danger of catching a ski on frozen-in grass or berry canes.

The first morning of real snow Maggie asked to go outside. You can see in the photo how far my wimpy dog went! She does not like to be wet or cold. But here’s the real poser. She had already been outside that morning to come upstairs from the bedroom. So did she think that it might be different if she went out the kitchen door?

There’s A Large Mammal in the....

...pantry. OK, how come in a house that is only 15 years old there are as many mice as there were in the old house? It’s turned cold and the dirty little runners are messing up my pantry shelves. We took several cups of dog food out of a kitchen drawer this week!

...compost Pile. What on earth does Maggie think is so great about rooting around in old apple peels and broccoli stems? I don’t put any meat products in there, but she still thinks it’s great fun to stick her nose in and sample the decomposition.

...kitchen. Behind the stove to be exact. Our dear little kitty, V-8, is seventeen years old. Where does a seventeen-year-old cat sleep? Anywhere she wants. She’s losing her mind we think; acting very odd. Instead of being a seldom seen cat who had two favorite spots in the entire house, she is now trying out various locations to see which she likes best. For a while she insisted on sleeping in the kitchen sink. That was interesting, since she was a sink-sleeper as a kitten (second childhood?).

face to face with V-8

Then she took to climbing on top of a high "chimney cupboard" (a large old-fashioned dresser) and sleeping there. The only problem was that I had a large pile of mailing supplies there, and she had to climb up and down over the spare computer. She made quite a mess, but we just kept padding things and waiting for her to change her mind again. She did.

Three days ago I was in the kitchen and thought I heard a mouse behind the stove. Later I heard it again, but decided it was way too big to be a mouse. So I crawled under the microwave table and tried to paste the side of my head to the wall so I could aim an eyeball behind the stove. Guess who? I found myself starting at a little gray butt with a long tail. It’s V-8's new hidey-hole. A little disconcerting to hear something that large behind the kitchen appliances, but I’m sure she’ll change spots again soon.

...living Room. Omer is happily stringing lights on the Christmas tree.

What's better than turkey on Thanksgiving? Turkey again four days later says Josh Schuyler!

Om's new tree and Christmas PJs

Omer is happy. We got the Christmas tree yesterday. He's modeling his new Christmas PJs too. Got a tip from a friend where to buy blue spruce for $10. The shape is rather eclectic... it might win "most asymmetrical" as an award, but who will care when it's all decorated?