One Great Dewdrop: seasons

Showing posts with label seasons. Show all posts

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Months of Plenty

There was plenty of summer left after we returned home!

Set up garden beds, built deer & rabbit fencing, mulched and composted, built ADK bridges over the inlet and outlet streams, and a zillion other little things:

Did some work inside the house, too:

But there was still plenty of time for wildflowers and hammocks, climbing trees and weeknight campfires:

Birthday parties and goat roasts:

Went back to work, fully embracing the fact that I really, truly, absolutely am not an indoor cat:

And to top it all off, a sport climbing "herd" trip that didn't get rained out:

The first few leaves in the back woods are turning yellow. There is a hickory directly across from my window; I can't wait for it to turn brilliant. It will. I know it will! First autumn in our home. Still finding all of the new things.

By all standards, this was an epic summer. And for the first time in long time, there's nothing big on the horizon. No Peru, no New Zealand, no trip around the world, no homelessness, no career change, no Nicaragua, no wedding, no home buying, no road tripping.

Just wildflowers and gardens, campfires and hammocks, birthday parties with funny hats and virtual candles, goats on fire, and the happy hum of my treadmill.

And slip n' slides. Definitely slip n' slides.

(Come find me, adventures!)

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

9 Degrees Farenheit

This morning, it was 9 degrees Farenheit. Almost 13 below Celsius.

On December 25, I'd wear long johns and two sweaters under my down jacket when the temps hit single digits.

On March 25? I am a honey badger who waits for the bus wearing dress slacks and a single jacket. Our home temperature has been set at 60 degrees for months. My body seriously overheats when the temps go above 70 (as in, sweating in a tank top).

Winter, I have conquered you. Now, can you leave? Please?

Unlike the ridiculously lame winter of 2011-2012, this winter was REAL (cold). Plenty of snow, plenty of sub-zero temperatures.

It was cold enough that our pond froze solid, at least 6 inches thick in some places!

skating on our pond

While we were stuck inside, Dave and I nailed (heh) our first big DIY project. In retrospect, home improvement projects should happen only in the seasons that permit use of a circular saw outdoors. Besides the insane amount of sawdust that ended up everywhere, I'm super pleased with the results and how well we worked together. In fact, we made only 1 extra trip to the hardware store, only because we purchased the wrong sized jigsaw blades.

before: broken, disintegrating, mouldy tile counter tops + no dishwasher

after: basic laminate counters + dishwasher. i don't know why the cabinets are different colors.

Once we had a dishwasher to wash huge stacks of plates, it was party time: the Third Annual Not New Year's Bash, celebrated in style, with Dave swinging around a few gentlemen monkey bars.

In between the cold and the cold, we dog-sat for a retired sled dog on his way to his retirement home in Virginia. Not so retired that he couldn't pull my lazy butt down the South Hill Rec Way a few times!

go skijor!

This winter was my first trip to Salmon River Falls. Conditions were excellent that day, so even though I was tired, I hopped on the amazing line "Mate, Spawn, & Die" - and climbed it cleanly, surprising myself.

that's actually dave climbing, but i did that, too. amazing climb.

Our one trip up to the Adirondacks this winter was a bit of a bummer. My work life has been stressful, leaving little mental energy for butt-whupping in the backcountry.

this looks how my brain feels

Dave, Chris, Nick, and I hiked Algonquin in horrible conditions; the 50 mph sustained winds were yanking me off my feet, and I wanted to be anywhere but on that mountain.

Dave, Nick, and I tried to climb Cascade Pass, but we didn't have the right equipment or beta and bailed after two short distance, long time, very cold pitches. Nasty weather and uncertainty are fun when you have the mental stamina to deal with them. I didn't.

views of the great range from the top of algonquin.
not pictured: insane wind speeds

The best part of the weekend was partaking of traditions with friends.

every. frickin. time.

So, now we're staring down spring. COME ON, SPRING!!

disgustingly grossly cute

More adventures on the way. :o)

Saturday, January 25, 2014

AAIRE Level 1 @ Mt. Washington, NH

Subtitle:

Coldest Windchill Yet?

In late January, we took the AAIRE Level 1 (Avalanche Awareness) course with Jon Tierney from Acadia Mountain Guides at Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. For anyone out there on the internets who is considering this course, here's my review...

The course had more classroom time than I expected. The Friday evening, Saturday morning, part of Saturday afternoon, and part of Sunday afternoon were in the classroom. The classroom sessions are ok - a review and discussion of the material in the manual, plus lots videos. The best part of the classroom session was this interactive route finding exercise, which is available free to the public for playing!

Saturday afternoon, we spent a few hours doing beacon practice. Modern beacons seem really simple to use, though maybe I would feel differently if I were in a rescue situation. We each practiced acting in the lead (beacon) and supporting (probe) rescue roles.

Hilarious moment: seeing Tim running toward the buried "victim," which has been a beacon hidden in a stuff sack in every other scenario... out pops Dave!

Sunday morning, we hiked up to Hermit Lake to for a basic snowpack analysis. This is the best part of the class, as you'll actually see the facets, rounds, weak layers, and other snow terms from the classroom.

The conditions were brutally cold (around 0 F), with 45 mph winds and windchills around -30F. Bring every single layer you have, not just your usual ski clothes, as you'll spend a lot of time standing around. And don't run up the hill like the college boys to show off your fitness, as you'll just sweat and get even colder. Slow n' steady wins the warmth.

Jon, the instructor, been guiding almost as long as I've been alive and literally wrote the book on a few climbing certification courses. He was personable and a pretty good teacher, though he seemed really tired during our course. Sometimes I found myself zoning out when he was telling yet another personal story, but with as much experience as he has, it's not surprising that he's seen it all.

Overall, the best part of the course was the emphasis on group dynamics and trip planning. These skills are a continual "work in progress" for Dave and I. The course spurred a lot of great discussion about how we plan our trips (or don't) and our dynamic as we balance being a married couple who climbs together, as well as climbing partners who are married to each other.

Overall, I enjoyed the course, and I think it added to my body of outdoor knowledge. The course was geared toward backcountry skiiers. Given my preferred activities, I think the most likely situations where I might encounter avalanche potential is on a slide or maybe a climb in the Adirondacks. I'm definitely NOT an expert - the course emphasizes that something like 30-40% of folks killed in slides have formal avalanche training - but at least I have a better idea of what I don't know.