tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37398977765639404812024-03-12T20:50:52.145-07:00Night Owl by NatureBecause some of the best stuff happens at nightNight Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-92174290584421303722021-06-01T20:16:00.159-07:002021-06-02T22:38:31.534-07:00Meet You in the Middle<p>From a pandemic shutting down the world officially for me on March 17, 2020 to me sitting on my sofa throwing my own personal pity party to me deciding on May 20, 2020 that I needed to <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">do something to move my body again</a> to me heading out the back door to begin walking around <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/heading-toward-hatch.html">my small but deliciously lush and private backyard</a> to me having my pedometer app tell me "hey, you've walked from London to Paris!" after 135 miles to me being like "hey, I can create my own damn milestones!" to me deciding that I'll walk to Queens, New York to "visit" my friends Heidi and Kim (whom I was supposed to visit just as the world shut down) to me <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/deming-nm.html">realizing it was going to take over 2 years to get there</a> based on my backyard walking patterns to me feeling strangely sad about that (why? It's not like I was really walking there) to Kim and Heidi saying "well, we could start heading your way" to us deciding that any form of self-propelled motion could count towards us heading towards each other to us creating a Google sheet to keep track of our collective miles to us marking milestones along the way (500 miles! Crossing the Mississippi! Entering Kansas! <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/11/so-where-do-you-get-your-kicks.html">We're half-way</a>! It's your birthday! One year of walking!) and pointing out <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/11/parks-along-way.html">interesting things we were each "seeing"</a> to us saying "wouldn't it be wild if the next time we saw each other in person was at the location where we might meet up while walking virtually across the country?" to the U.S. kind of opening up based on vaccines and a decline in covid cases to all of us planning to visit family in different parts of the country this summer to us realizing "hey, holy shit, maybe we <u>can</u> meet up wherever this mythic place in the middle might be!" to us planning logistics around that possibility to us...well, to us tonight.</p><p>Tonight, exactly 1 year and 12 days after beginning our self-propelled trek towards one another, our combined mileage equals 2,422 miles, which means we've met in the middle. Of the country. Of our walking/biking/running/rowing efforts. Of the pandemic (maybe). And we now have a random location on a random road in a random part of eastern Kansas that we will drive to from opposite ends of the country, get out a few hundred feet from, and walk towards one another as a symbol of coming together and surviving this past year in a way that gave us something collectively to look forward to.<br /></p><p>We have a date. We have a time. We even have a flag, thanks to Heidi's skills as an artist. And now we have a location, too.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeP2AmTFwrK6uY4pXlMefHSQm6dJSiq5BGl7mJ1iXjKg0aJRGLu-jlEu78LclcI2YUuzdiKrsh9ogqA1XXi3FLSFixLgbWdO9z1H9sXvGaO_58jaH5Nwef0kVd1AdxhjAfrDsmKSPqSU/s1166/Meeting+in+the+middle.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1166" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJeP2AmTFwrK6uY4pXlMefHSQm6dJSiq5BGl7mJ1iXjKg0aJRGLu-jlEu78LclcI2YUuzdiKrsh9ogqA1XXi3FLSFixLgbWdO9z1H9sXvGaO_58jaH5Nwef0kVd1AdxhjAfrDsmKSPqSU/w640-h296/Meeting+in+the+middle.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Meeting in the middle, middle of nowhere, eastern Kansas, United States, North America, Planet Earth</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>I can't wait.<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-10104579733087088632021-01-01T20:04:00.000-07:002021-01-01T20:04:20.289-07:00Through New Mexico and beyond...<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.psci.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://www.psci.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2021.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image courtesy of PCSI</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>Somehow it's 2021.</p><p>While I don't expect the world to turn on a dime now that the shit show of 2020 is in the rear view mirror, I guess I do feel a sense of hope that changes -- for the better -- are coming. Perhaps incrementally, but I'll take whatever hope the new year can give to us.</p><p>So back to <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">my virtual walking journey to New York</a>. I'm again reminded that it's a good thing I'm not a professional blogger, because it's now been almost 8 weeks since I <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/11/so-where-do-you-get-your-kicks.html">last posted anything</a>. When so much time passes, I feel like the places I'm "traveling" through on my journey get short shrift because there are so many to research that it becomes a matter of quantity over quality.</p><p>And not only that, but a couple of momentous events have occurred since my last post, the most notable being that I finally stepped out of New Mexico into Texas on December 17 after crossing into it from Arizona on July 4. When you're walking diagonally across New Mexico, apparently it takes a while.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiL538np_DZ1ka2aKWneEyW1VM2fyLpf6pt7q3aGwrOvJkYtuyTCDGUybVEyh_jtLEhyphenhyphenNXaGSAqKagtwDA8AqKbTeResiLhRS7fGvlVQAVzGqvENkCpPaZ6uxCmpPZf65ZNGpAFvawNKE/s781/Through+NM+and+beyond.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="781" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiL538np_DZ1ka2aKWneEyW1VM2fyLpf6pt7q3aGwrOvJkYtuyTCDGUybVEyh_jtLEhyphenhyphenNXaGSAqKagtwDA8AqKbTeResiLhRS7fGvlVQAVzGqvENkCpPaZ6uxCmpPZf65ZNGpAFvawNKE/w369-h400/Through+NM+and+beyond.png" width="369" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Through New Mexico and beyond...</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The second momentous event occurred today, when I discovered I'd reached 700 miles. Almost all in <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/heading-toward-hatch.html">my backyard</a>. Which is less than 0.23 acres. Kinda crazy.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvjgWmj0E6IxfXpCu1Tp7ISweOFLO2apkDctAnn7FdjiXVyDmuLsruBOTo_b7QpfizIcKgRYvH5v-_S6A_kKC4jyoln8iw8GK8289k7RuflLiHjNloDTmg2I5JBSAQGap2UtHdMBJUUs/s629/700+miles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="629" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIvjgWmj0E6IxfXpCu1Tp7ISweOFLO2apkDctAnn7FdjiXVyDmuLsruBOTo_b7QpfizIcKgRYvH5v-_S6A_kKC4jyoln8iw8GK8289k7RuflLiHjNloDTmg2I5JBSAQGap2UtHdMBJUUs/w400-h209/700+miles.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">700 miles in a small space...</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>So where, in fact, have I "been" since I last posted?</p><p>Well, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuervo,_New_Mexico">Cuervo, New Mexico</a> for one. Cuervo is yet another ghost town in the long list of weird and wonderful abandoned places in this state. The town apparently tried valiantly to hang in there, but became yet another statistic when I-40 was built and cut the town in two. According to Wikipedia, Cuervo began in 1901 when the
railroad came thorough, and then really started to grow when the surrounding
land was opened to cattle ranching in 1910. The
town's population peaked in the 1940s at over 300 when <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/11/so-where-do-you-get-your-kicks.html">Route 66</a> came through. Today, though, there are just two homes
in the community that appear updated and inhabited, along with one auto
repair business, and the community's long-abandoned school building and
church appear to be undergoing restoration. <a href="https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-mexico/ghost-town-of-cuervo-nm/">This post</a> provides some photos and a more colorful narrative.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/images/NMCuervoGas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="324" height="429" src="https://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/images/NMCuervoGas.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cuervo, New Mexico (photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/newkirk.htm">The Road Wanderer</a>)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Leaving Cuervo, the next town I passed through was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newkirk,_New_Mexico">Newkirk, New Mexico</a>. According to Wikipedia, Newkirk had a whopping population of 7 people in 2010, and apparently still has its own zip code. <a href="https://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/newkirk.htm">This post</a> provides some insight into the town today, as well as a short blurb about Cuervo at the end.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/images/NMNewkirkPostOffice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="324" height="439" src="https://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/images/NMNewkirkPostOffice.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Newkirk, New Mexico, a town that's seen better days (photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.theroadwanderer.net/66NMex/newkirk.htm">The Road Wanderer</a>)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>At this point Google Maps took me on a detour off Route 66 to head north to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchas_Lake">Conchas Lake</a>, a 25-mile long <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reservoir" title="Reservoir">reservoir</a> in northeastern <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico,_United_States" title="New Mexico, United States">New Mexico</a>. The lake is created on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_River" title="Canadian River">Canadian River</a> behind <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchas_Dam" title="Conchas Dam">Conchas Dam</a>, which was completed in 1939. Apparently <a href="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/conchaslakestatepark.html">Conchas Lake</a> features "secluded coves, canyons, and sandy beaches,
excellent for camping, boating, and fishing" and is one of New Mexico’s
largest lakes.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/images/HeaderBanner_Conchas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="800" height="210" src="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/images/HeaderBanner_Conchas.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It does look quite lovely... (photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SPD/conchaslakestatepark.html">New Mexico State Parks</a>)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>After viewing the lake, I then headed southeast to meet up with Route 66 once again, this time in the town of Tucumcari, which is definitely not a ghost town, seeing as how it's the largest city on the highway between Amarillo, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. In fact, Tucumcari appears to have a number of <a href="https://visittucumcarinm.com/see/">interesting museums</a> to explore, including a <a href="https://www.mesalands.edu/community/dinosaur-museum/">dinosaur museum</a>! Oh, I am so all over that when I'm able to visit the town in real life again.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i2.wp.com/static.getmatcha.com/image/upload/s--wrpOl_q_--/f_auto,q_auto,t_rr_large_natural/hg2ykim9br0ifpor7v76.jpg?w=640&ssl=1" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="640" src="https://i2.wp.com/static.getmatcha.com/image/upload/s--wrpOl_q_--/f_auto,q_auto,t_rr_large_natural/hg2ykim9br0ifpor7v76.jpg?w=640&ssl=1" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tucumcari, New Mexico (photo courtesy of <a href="https://rockinroute66.com/kustom-kulture/7-reasons-to-stop-in-tucumcari/">Rockin' Route 66</a>)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>According to Wikipedia, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago,_Rock_Island_and_Pacific_Railroad" title="Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad">Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad</a>
built a construction camp in 1901 that eventually became Tucumcari. Originally the camp was called Ragtown, and then morphed into Six Shooter Siding due to numerous gunfights that broke out there. The camp then attained its first formal name, Douglas, but only for a short time until it grew into a permanent settlement, at which point it was renamed Tucumcari in 1908. The name was taken from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucumcari_Mountain" title="Tucumcari Mountain">Tucumcari Mountain</a>, which is situated near the community. The origin of the mountain's name is uncertain; it may have been derived from the Comanche word <i>tʉkamʉkarʉ</i>, which means 'ambush'. A 1777 burial record mentions a Comanche woman and her child captured
in a battle at Cuchuncari, which is believed to be an early version of
the name Tucumcari.
</p><p>If you read further down the Wikipedia page, there's an interesting legend surrounding the area involving <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache" title="Apache">Apache</a>
Chief Wautonomah, and a series of movies and TV shows have been filmed in the area.</p><p>Next up on my journey across New Mexico was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan,_New_Mexico">Logan</a>. There's not much on Wikipedia or elsewhere about this town; it seems the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_Dam" title="Ute Dam">Ute Dam</a>, its reservoir, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ute_Lake_State_Park" title="Ute Lake State Park">Ute Lake State Park</a> west of town are some of the main attractions. From there the last town I visited before crossing into Texas was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nara_Visa,_New_Mexico">Nara Visa</a>, an unincorporated village in far northeastern New Mexico. According to Wikipedia, in 1919 Nara Visa had eight
saloons, at least three dance halls, drugs stores, general merchandise
stores, a barber shop, butcher shops, millinery shops, auto suppliers, hotels, garages, and a bank. Sounds like a rockin' place 101 years ago -- today it's not a complete ghost town, but it does seem to be a "<a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-naravisa/">shell of its former self</a>."</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NarVisaAbt1900.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="600" src="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NarVisaAbt1900.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nara Visa around 1900 (photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-naravisa/">Legends of America</a>)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>With that I think I'll hang up the towel for the night and tackle the places I've traveled through in Texas in another post. Props to you if you're still with me at this point. In the spirit of the new year, I wish you all the best as we leave 2020 behind and look forward to better times in 2021.<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-85338513407394096972020-11-09T22:22:00.006-07:002020-11-10T11:44:33.043-07:00So where do you get your kicks?<p>Once again I seem to have fallen behind in documenting <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">my virtual trek across the country to meet up with my friends Kim and Heidi in the time of COVID</a>. Time to catch up!<br /></p>First, though, I'd like to <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/10/indigenous-peoples-day.html">acknowledge the Native lands that I've crossed</a> since leaving <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/10/duran-new-mexico.html">Duran, New Mexico</a>:<br /><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/jicarilla-apache/" target="_blank">Jicarilla Apache</a></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/kiowa/" target="_blank">[Gáuigú (Kiowa)</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/n%ca%89m%ca%89n%ca%89%ca%89-comanche/" target="_blank">Nʉmʉnʉʉ (Comanche)</a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/mescalero-apache/" target="_blank">Mescalero Apache</a></p><p>I encourage everyone to learn more about each of these Native peoples.<br /></p><p>I'll also mention that last week not only did I finally reach 500 miles <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/heading-toward-hatch.html">trekked in my backyard</a>...<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitun0QAxf_wMymRVObNyfB39dZGDhRarDnWI6Qt6M7LufENsSy6TXCakte6KKQpmFme3sB_2kEgqS2jCs1G9hiU-By7wmoev-6fpofqnYezm-ZKn5pGxWeLfNLYyvIQwjIJBYHW0oVJmE/s837/Screenshot_20201102-170529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitun0QAxf_wMymRVObNyfB39dZGDhRarDnWI6Qt6M7LufENsSy6TXCakte6KKQpmFme3sB_2kEgqS2jCs1G9hiU-By7wmoev-6fpofqnYezm-ZKn5pGxWeLfNLYyvIQwjIJBYHW0oVJmE/w344-h400/Screenshot_20201102-170529.png" width="344" /></a></div><p></p><p>...but also Heidi, Kim, and I officially reached the half-way point on <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/deming-nm.html">our virtual trek toward each other</a>, meaning collectively we've walked and biked 1,211 miles since May 20. Yay, us! Which means we're looking at at least another 5 months and 12 days (most likely longer) before we "meet" somewhere in the middle of the country. Yay, us?</p><p>While Kim and Heidi have now covered five states and are making their way across Indianapolis, I continue to make my way diagonally across the state of New Mexico, which I virtually stepped into on July 4. And everyone says everything's bigger in Texas! I'm actually looking forward to getting to Texas, since I'll finally be in another state. When will that be? Oh, who knows...(sigh).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIyF4kMkzMyN6KWPIZ8JxMLC1deNYPb0go01jebaTB2C2jv8yzRnKTWfx9mH2fj75vt9ZjuSx61Tvf-nprjGoeCHbO3HeIHPnYLGF9z9vh-NYSa7o1doHo03UFAv5udNrEgKowVsZ1XI/s450/InkedNew+Mexico+trek_LI.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="450" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIyF4kMkzMyN6KWPIZ8JxMLC1deNYPb0go01jebaTB2C2jv8yzRnKTWfx9mH2fj75vt9ZjuSx61Tvf-nprjGoeCHbO3HeIHPnYLGF9z9vh-NYSa7o1doHo03UFAv5udNrEgKowVsZ1XI/w400-h380/InkedNew+Mexico+trek_LI.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So close, and yet so far...</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Anyhoo, <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/10/corona-no-not-pandemic-new-mexico.html">New Mexico continues to be weird</a>.</p><p>Take Vaughn, for instance. Actually, on the relative scale of weirdness, Vaughn measures pretty low.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Entering_Vaughn_from_the_west%2C_NM.jpg/1024px-Entering_Vaughn_from_the_west%2C_NM.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f2/Entering_Vaughn_from_the_west%2C_NM.jpg/1024px-Entering_Vaughn_from_the_west%2C_NM.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo courtesy of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaughn,_New_Mexico">Wikipedia</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />According to Wikipedia, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaughn,_New_Mexico">Vaughn</a> was established in the early 1900s and is named after Major George W. Vaughn, a civil engineer who
was employed by the Santa Fe railroad. At the intersection of two major railroads, the town gained importance and built a large two-story <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_station" title="Train station">depot</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_roundhouse" title="Railway roundhouse">roundhouse</a>, and a Harvey House
hotel. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Harvey_Company" title="Fred Harvey Company">Harvey House</a> hotels have a pretty interesting history all their own, if you care to spend some time down that rabbit hole.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.harveyhouses.net/nauclinepix/nmvaughn.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="440" src="http://www.harveyhouses.net/nauclinepix/nmvaughn.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo courtesy of <a href="http://www.harveyhouses.net/states/newmexico/nmhouses.html">HarveyHouses.net</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>I did stumble across <a href="https://www.newmexico.org/nmmagazine/articles/post/vaughn-88049/">this poignant essay</a> about one traveler's experience in Vaughn, which I very much enjoyed reading.</p><p>About 20 miles farther up Highway 54, I passed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastura,_New_Mexico">Pastura, New Mexico</a>. Pastura is a small unincorporated community of 23 people, according to the 2010 census. According to Wikipedia it was established in 1901 as a watering spot for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_locomotive" title="Steam locomotive">steam trains</a> on the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Pacific_Railroad" title="Southern Pacific Railroad">Southern Pacific Railroad</a>. In 1903 the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Postal_Service" title="US Postal Service">US Postal Service</a> built a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_office" title="Post office">post office</a>
in Pastura in response to its growth, and in 1907, the Southern Pacific
Railroad built a 142-mile wooden pipeline from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Blanca_(New_Mexico)" title="Sierra Blanca (New Mexico)">Sierra Blanca</a> mountain range to Pastura.</p><p>But the small town began to decline when it was bypassed by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66" title="U.S. Route 66">Route 66</a>, which passed 20 miles to the north. When the steam locomotives were replaced by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_locomotive" title="Diesel locomotive">diesel locomotives</a>
in the 1940s, the railroad no longer needed to use Pastura as a
watering stop, and the town declined even further. Today the area is a
small farming community.</p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfiglP-9e3DcG_kJNrSpNg_DkqnmERV9IWrQU5p58XLmKVHAG1BktCGYwPTbGr0RaJHITtAPTHhsjNXA7sjhy-e8HAvzpdSOqnfByGtfc0rtZYY8HRShwS0D9IWf2Izy842hXy4amOQ8/s852/Chapel+de+Saint+Helen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="852" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfiglP-9e3DcG_kJNrSpNg_DkqnmERV9IWrQU5p58XLmKVHAG1BktCGYwPTbGr0RaJHITtAPTHhsjNXA7sjhy-e8HAvzpdSOqnfByGtfc0rtZYY8HRShwS0D9IWf2Izy842hXy4amOQ8/w400-h306/Chapel+de+Saint+Helen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chapel de Saint Helen in Pastura, NM (Photo courtesy of Google)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>
<p></p><p>Speaking of Route 66 and another 20 miles to the north, I've now made it to and am walking along the iconic Mother Road. In case you've missed this part of Americana for the past almost 100 years, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66">Route 66</a> was one of the original highways in the <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Highway_System" title="U.S. Highway System">U.S. Highway System</a>. US 66 was established on November 11, 1926, and became one of the most famous roads in the United States, originally running from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago" title="Chicago">Chicago</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois" title="Illinois">Illinois</a>, through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missouri" title="Missouri">Missouri</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas" title="Kansas">Kansas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma" title="Oklahoma">Oklahoma</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico" title="New Mexico">New Mexico</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" title="Arizona">Arizona</a> before ending in <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Monica" title="Santa Monica">Santa Monica</a> in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_County,_California" title="Los Angeles County, California">Los Angeles County, California</a>, covering a total of 2,448 miles. It became a pop-cultural icon in such things as the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_66_(TV_series)" title="Route 66 (TV series)">Route 66</a></i> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_series" title="Television series">television series</a>, which aired on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBS" title="CBS">CBS</a> from 1960 to 1964, and my favorite, the hit song "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/(Get_Your_Kicks_on)_Route_66" title="(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66">(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66</a>."</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/ha/ps/kr0e3vyq6psha_600.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://static.qobuz.com/images/covers/ha/ps/kr0e3vyq6psha_600.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Album cover courtesy of <a href="https://www.qobuz.com/ie-en/album/route-66-nat-king-cole/kr0e3vyq6psha">Qobuz</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><p>According to Wikipedia (again), US 66 served as a primary route for those who migrated west, especially during the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl" title="Dust Bowl">Dust Bowl</a>
of the 1930s, and the road supported the economies of the communities
through which it passed. People doing business along the route became
prosperous due to the growing popularity of the highway, and those same
people later fought to keep the highway alive in the face of the growing
threat of being bypassed by the new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_System" title="Interstate Highway System">Interstate Highway System</a>.
</p><p>Eventually it succumbed, however, and US 66 was officially <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decommissioned_highway" title="Decommissioned highway">removed</a> from the United States Highway System in 1985. But some portions (like the one I'm currently "walking") have been communally
designated a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Scenic_Byway" title="National Scenic Byway">National Scenic Byway</a>, returning the name to some maps. Some parts are also being redeveloped into <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Bicycle_Route_66" title="U.S. Bicycle Route 66">U.S. Bicycle Route 66</a>, a part of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bicycle_Route_System" title="United States Bicycle Route System">United States Bicycle Route System</a> that was developed in the 2010s. This bodes will for Heidi's, Kim's, and my combo walking-slash-bicycling adventure towards one another -- maybe we can even walk-slash-bike portions of our route in the non-virtual sense once it's safe to travel again.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.roadtripusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Route66_05_NewMexico.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="800" height="243" src="https://www.roadtripusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Route66_05_NewMexico.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p>Continuing on to <a href="https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-visit/regions/northeast/santa-rosa/">Santa Rosa</a>, this is another unexpected and interesting New Mexico town. For instance, apparently it's designated as “The Scuba Diving Capital of the Southwest” due to the Blue Hole, an 81-foot-deep natural artesian spring that—at 62 degrees—allows for year-round scuba diving. What?! Scuba diving in New Mexico?! So weird, and yet another place to I'll need to explore IRL when it's safe to do so again.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_229,q_75,w_370/https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1478042878/clients/newmexico/srosa2_a83ca484-07f7-4037-bde5-4f3b8db9c9bd.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="229" data-original-width="370" height="397" src="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_229,q_75,w_370/https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1478042878/clients/newmexico/srosa2_a83ca484-07f7-4037-bde5-4f3b8db9c9bd.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-visit/regions/northeast/santa-rosa/">New Mexico True</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>According to Wikipedia, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Rosa,_New_Mexico">Santa Rosa</a> was not the largest settlement within the region at the turn of the 20th century. But once US 66 was designated in 1926, the increase in traffic made the community a popular rest stop with motels and cafes. Santa Rosa's stretch of Route 66 is part of film history: when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Steinbeck" title="John Steinbeck">John Steinbeck</a>'s classic 1939 American novel, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath" title="The Grapes of Wrath">The Grapes of Wrath</a></i>, was made into a movie, director John Ford used Santa Rosa for the memorable train scene. Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) watches a freight train steam over the Pecos River railroad bridge, into the sunset.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://roadsidenewmexico.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/JohnSteinbeck_TheGrapesOfWrath.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="371" src="https://roadsidenewmexico.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/JohnSteinbeck_TheGrapesOfWrath.jpg" /></a></div><p></p><p>I guess this is what it would look like now...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVInk-DylCQUdG012FtWFaa98rH5rXXSfibjTkkA8NkVqVRKE7us9nT4GnJA6NOX-WP50TM5zrTcbo7DeZtr0VaOPFyJyusKvApcTx9VDw8QKFLvqo_1xuvqgTOnd7k9cCPjveXe3Y3M/s1439/Pecos+River+train.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1439" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmVInk-DylCQUdG012FtWFaa98rH5rXXSfibjTkkA8NkVqVRKE7us9nT4GnJA6NOX-WP50TM5zrTcbo7DeZtr0VaOPFyJyusKvApcTx9VDw8QKFLvqo_1xuvqgTOnd7k9cCPjveXe3Y3M/w640-h270/Pecos+River+train.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not quite a freight train steaming over the Pecos...</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCes4-LMw0VYIdCUbt-JjijOL8dl4t1qladZgdV7XPSdg5-jgftzgxQOiJzAP5m7HENaZl83IWDjaIZniEF2k38PWpXEgdNXxRBiaJ1keB3lpLBUEwqpDKFJ76S0mgj8HSpD-de0Y2exU/s1443/Pecos+River.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="1443" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCes4-LMw0VYIdCUbt-JjijOL8dl4t1qladZgdV7XPSdg5-jgftzgxQOiJzAP5m7HENaZl83IWDjaIZniEF2k38PWpXEgdNXxRBiaJ1keB3lpLBUEwqpDKFJ76S0mgj8HSpD-de0Y2exU/w640-h270/Pecos+River.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">...and the view from the other side, according to Google</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Next stop: Cuervo, New Mexico. Hey, that sounds good!<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-70827853085433936812020-11-07T12:51:00.006-07:002020-11-07T14:45:28.836-07:00PARKS along the way<p><a href="https://www.wusa9.com/elections-2020-map">So nothing's been going on this week. Nothing at all.</a></p><p>Good grief, this week generated a lot of <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">pacing in the backyard</a>. Even though I worked the full week, I've racked up 25 miles since Sunday.</p><p>But it also meant I needed to distract myself some nights, too. Which, for me, means playing boardgames. And not just boardgames, but SOLO boardgames.</p><p><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1126294/article/15110935#15110935">Yes, it's a thing</a>. A thing I found in February 2019, at which point I fell deeply down the solo boardgaming rabbit hole. Deep enough that I have an entire bookshelf filled with games, every one of which can be played in the pleasure of my own company.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrHFtYCqEfrx6CHS_D_FqEby4jweBDmSSeRFWxpLPI3eECcEFPz24KbNXLn82kbfWt8kt34LRRgTtaJOAK2UTSXNty7r80s2e0I9sMuOhC3h7fcFkrLIRpOC8E6K32tAi8pTp5J7FL4g/s2048/IMG_20200926_152528545.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1330" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrHFtYCqEfrx6CHS_D_FqEby4jweBDmSSeRFWxpLPI3eECcEFPz24KbNXLn82kbfWt8kt34LRRgTtaJOAK2UTSXNty7r80s2e0I9sMuOhC3h7fcFkrLIRpOC8E6K32tAi8pTp5J7FL4g/w416-h640/IMG_20200926_152528545.jpg" width="416" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So, uh, there might be some hiding on other shelves, too...</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I had no idea when I got into this hobby almost two years ago that I was preparing for my entertainment needs during a global pandemic. (Well played, me!) It's funny, too, that despite the fact that solo gamers prefer their own company while playing boardgames, there is, in fact, quite an active online community where we discuss solo gaming and share photos and opinions and basically obsess together about our cardboard passion. And as the pandemic continues, I've watched this community expand as people's gaming groups have been suspended and folks are looking for ways to occupy themselves. There have even been <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/utilitarian-pleasures-playing-board-games-by-yourself">articles written about solo boardgaming</a> as the hobby has taken off (which may or may not feature yours truly).<br /></p><p>In case you're wondering, our community is called the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/guild/1303">1 Player Guild</a>. Our tagline? Together, We Game Alone. Once I read that, I knew I'd found my people.<br /></p><p>So how does this tie into <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/deming-nm.html">my "walk" towards Kim and Heidi and their "walk/bike" towards me</a>? I'm glad you asked. Because it occurred to me that as we're heading toward each other, we're actually passing through or nearby some iconic places, including several of our National Parks.</p><p>Which meant it was time to play <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/266524/parks">PARKS</a>!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1898/8501/products/PARKS_Front_1800x1800.jpg?v=1604440491" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1898/8501/products/PARKS_Front_1800x1800.jpg?v=1604440491" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PARKS box cover (Photo credit: <a href="https://keymastergames.com/">Keymaster Games</a>)</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In honor of Heidi's, Kim's, and my trek to meet up somewhere in the middle of the country, I looked through the deck of National Park cards to see if I could find any that we might pass through or nearby as we head towards each other. Unfortunately a couple I really wanted to find weren't in the deck, like <a href="https://www.nps.gov/chir/index.htm">Chiricahua National Monument</a> or <a href="https://www.nps.gov/whsa/index.htm">White Sands National Park</a>, but I did find <a href="https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm">Saguaro National Park</a>, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/cave/index.htm">Carlsbad Caverns National Park</a>, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/jeff/index.htm">Gateway Arch National Park</a>, and <a href="https://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm">Cuyahoga River National Park</a>. Conveniently two in the Southwest for me, and two in the Midwest for Kim and Heidi.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGu4MeErq3vaC5USwwI72C36HKH25uzktx1PFKTe1yRBtziL-MWaD_YXud24XhBPQS6hqj2xz8IwOYR7LtP8qCFM98KRqbKsXKxUhA85O9jkLeA6mMdKXBM4RysqDMTcCm3aEQlRrJIU/s1932/IMG_20201024_162144596.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1932" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGu4MeErq3vaC5USwwI72C36HKH25uzktx1PFKTe1yRBtziL-MWaD_YXud24XhBPQS6hqj2xz8IwOYR7LtP8qCFM98KRqbKsXKxUhA85O9jkLeA6mMdKXBM4RysqDMTcCm3aEQlRrJIU/w640-h264/IMG_20201024_162144596.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">PARKS along the way</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>I decided to set up the game such that I would have the opportunity to try to visit all four of these National Parks over the course of the four seasons of the game. Sure, that's not quite playing by the rules, but hey, the beauty of solo boardgaming is being able to apply house rules to make it the game I want to play! It's only me I'm trying to please, after all.</p><p>I have to say, this is one of the more beautiful games you can bring to the table -- the artwork for each Park is absolutely gorgeous, plus the tiles and tokens are well made and provide a delightfully tactile experience (a huge plus, particularly to the solo boardgamer).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDOoelh0UYZ-hnJ49eXQT26_jjSCmD0CvpAS-eTXVRLCmT5MZ91WQQ8hkpCrhFoVOtl28XX2qJElnjyo7oKR7FbzWYs3w_m8Cg583nxFvuLvOGOy4yrY8TY5K0WK1n5tmQQIbh_4kcA4/s2048/IMG_20201024_152450555.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEDOoelh0UYZ-hnJ49eXQT26_jjSCmD0CvpAS-eTXVRLCmT5MZ91WQQ8hkpCrhFoVOtl28XX2qJElnjyo7oKR7FbzWYs3w_m8Cg583nxFvuLvOGOy4yrY8TY5K0WK1n5tmQQIbh_4kcA4/w640-h480/IMG_20201024_152450555.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKh5dQNsSLKX6NVs1hGmSzVFiURTqmEIJFQABnAo_JlypXr0PjMWOeNnxVNIKywjYQE8awV25afVFf4fOJJBDMunxv4IwsNpviNMLExsHegymH-r0N-25uTvT7rD7mw4xHuTAptzwMMw/s2048/IMG_20201024_155003299.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUKh5dQNsSLKX6NVs1hGmSzVFiURTqmEIJFQABnAo_JlypXr0PjMWOeNnxVNIKywjYQE8awV25afVFf4fOJJBDMunxv4IwsNpviNMLExsHegymH-r0N-25uTvT7rD7mw4xHuTAptzwMMw/w640-h480/IMG_20201024_155003299.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs7IlZsyeV655lJK70AWspxNwah9DGTiB9YrjtMaCb_N7f46aspEmrNaFZsxeAcm5Vi_uemzTmJaa4bWe2uk4YyKZ17ZF0JIglrvzpria8dk4opDT-CdbgaECY9QfpcBzCKC1K_xbu6s/s2048/IMG_20201024_154941837.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs7IlZsyeV655lJK70AWspxNwah9DGTiB9YrjtMaCb_N7f46aspEmrNaFZsxeAcm5Vi_uemzTmJaa4bWe2uk4YyKZ17ZF0JIglrvzpria8dk4opDT-CdbgaECY9QfpcBzCKC1K_xbu6s/w640-h480/IMG_20201024_154941837.jpg" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1WGDLX3oGiESDndsZxbaLhL7cVkFMJhHiHLthoWYneuqa179uwcpWMlDdpXbD9FQkZ7_INXPpbzj9ZFlY6SUJbRMt5VCofzDoKzBs4xFEEuBo6u7UKsYFzzbIRnKeTa14N9wRuCmbps/s2048/IMG_20201024_160610589.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1668" data-original-width="2048" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1WGDLX3oGiESDndsZxbaLhL7cVkFMJhHiHLthoWYneuqa179uwcpWMlDdpXbD9FQkZ7_INXPpbzj9ZFlY6SUJbRMt5VCofzDoKzBs4xFEEuBo6u7UKsYFzzbIRnKeTa14N9wRuCmbps/w640-h522/IMG_20201024_160610589.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>As it turned out, I managed to visit all four of the Parks I wanted to before the Park Rangers removed them from the selection and replaced them with others. So I view that as a success! Plus I somehow managed to visit Denali National Park at the end, too.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUgtOymhy5-26NTRXP4byxZMg-a0H7Cq3W0-XwkKrkp922fSmf1sDk7o-fEj86ooLWGcPJXKplFhyphenhyphent9E4oPF5DW1lgi-pNNPwFi4qphsZc-BSkNklCHjFQn_yoWyAHEGg5l_Fl3rOOuI/s2048/IMG_20201024_162255623.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRUgtOymhy5-26NTRXP4byxZMg-a0H7Cq3W0-XwkKrkp922fSmf1sDk7o-fEj86ooLWGcPJXKplFhyphenhyphent9E4oPF5DW1lgi-pNNPwFi4qphsZc-BSkNklCHjFQn_yoWyAHEGg5l_Fl3rOOuI/w640-h480/IMG_20201024_162255623.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I'm not sure how Denali National Park fits into my walking narrative...</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>All told I ended up scoring 18 points, which, when looking at the scoring conditions in the rule book, means I "missed some great Sites" and need to "Grab a map and get back out there!"<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxk49hhyYNGssTjGWL03pEeqVF81jfECZa5b8BfYQ4lYyuak8qk_hM35mcyVJL7HtEpeZsXZLQf1-s9JbXQ8CfjNrMwFV3OcDP8QcmEvHdT1tBd3EylrOD77hHoOd4mtFlLaQSM29ZnR0/s2048/IMG_20201024_162508131.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2048" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxk49hhyYNGssTjGWL03pEeqVF81jfECZa5b8BfYQ4lYyuak8qk_hM35mcyVJL7HtEpeZsXZLQf1-s9JbXQ8CfjNrMwFV3OcDP8QcmEvHdT1tBd3EylrOD77hHoOd4mtFlLaQSM29ZnR0/w400-h291/IMG_20201024_162508131.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">18 points = a less than stellar performance</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Will do! All of this I think demonstrates the beauty of solo boardgaming -- I can play as many times as I want (or stop mid-game and put it away), tweak the rules to make the game enjoyable for me, and take as much time as I desire to analyze my choices before playing my turn.<br /></p><p>Now I need to scan my shelves and figure out how to incorporate another solo game on my trek. I have a lot of space-themed games...hmm, maybe it's time to get creative with my walking narrative...<br /></p><p>P.S. The <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/277814/2020-peoples-choice-top-200-solo-games-200-1/page/1">2020 People's Choice Top 200 Solo Games (200-1)</a> just wrapped up. If you're curious to know what's popular amongst the solo-gaming crowd and read all our comments about each game, check it out!<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-84591916331724568702020-10-31T14:46:00.001-07:002020-10-31T14:50:21.472-07:00Cockateagle PSA -- Social Distancing<p>The cockateagle asks that you kindly maintain proper social distancing this Halloween, and every other non-Halloween day, thankyouverymuch.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwoQoFnRlw2JVKUCxvlqLiz3tT5a6U_53nmNetwrIILJJKrI9CFvDMi2_9grAGsjBuzSpobw4Y5CkgoqHgTSw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-12920955080838495422020-10-24T13:43:00.000-07:002020-10-24T13:43:54.380-07:00Duran, New Mexico<p>About 20 miles northeast of <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/10/corona-no-not-pandemic-new-mexico.html">Corona</a> is the town of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duran,_New_Mexico">Duran, New Mexico</a>. You know you're a child of the 80s if the first thing that comes to mind when you hear that is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTizYn3-QN0&list=LLuyiOt0py0LwrCqmFWVrxoQ&index=176">Rio</a> or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJL-lCzEXgI">Hungry Like the Wolf</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://observer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/dd-yt.jpg?resize=1536,864" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="360" src="https://observer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/05/dd-yt.jpg?resize=1536,864" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">No, not this Duran (Duran) (Photo credit: YouTube via <a href="https://observer.com/2017/05/duran-duran-rio-album-anniversary-nick-rhodes-interview/">The Observer</a>)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>According to Wikipedia, the population of Duran was 35 in 2010. So technically it's not a ghost town, although elements of abandonment are there.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_358,q_75,w_530/https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1484820475/clients/newmexico/duran_530_24720767-a781-498f-944a-875ac418c2db.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="530" src="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_358,q_75,w_530/https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1484820475/clients/newmexico/duran_530_24720767-a781-498f-944a-875ac418c2db.png" /></a></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_692,q_75,w_800/https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1484820524/clients/newmexico/duran_storefront_400_128a2eaa-5760-449f-82ec-bb894c924982.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="692" data-original-width="800" height="346" src="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_692,q_75,w_800/https://res.cloudinary.com/simpleview/image/upload/v1484820524/clients/newmexico/duran_storefront_400_128a2eaa-5760-449f-82ec-bb894c924982.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Above photos thanks to <a href="https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-visit/ghost-towns/duran/">New Mexico True</a></span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's very little else about the town on Wikipedia, but I found a fantastic blog called <a href="https://cityofdust.blogspot.com/">City of Dust</a> that <a href="https://cityofdust.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-last-hanging-crime-duran-new-mexico.html">describes the history of Duran in some detail</a>. It does such a great job, in fact, that I won't even try to summarize it here and instead encourage you to read it yourself. Suffice to say there are railroads, horses, and murder involved.</p><p>I've now walked 467 miles and over a million steps in the <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">0.23-acre postage stamp of my backyard</a>. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCpR_Z4GxvwWlOthHCa9vQ30LFaGxYv5FP1VZ8KU44ak0yZ4ptI9PH3vroenqMJ8xeN4aF6J90nhpe-dVQ0LsVdJoUQfr1P5j_H6e-nC7gMvPIFuCsHYCJ31Ho-9MWaU7ogo0bxKNbXg/s633/Screenshot_20201024-111529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="633" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCpR_Z4GxvwWlOthHCa9vQ30LFaGxYv5FP1VZ8KU44ak0yZ4ptI9PH3vroenqMJ8xeN4aF6J90nhpe-dVQ0LsVdJoUQfr1P5j_H6e-nC7gMvPIFuCsHYCJ31Ho-9MWaU7ogo0bxKNbXg/w320-h171/Screenshot_20201024-111529.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/deming-nm.html">Kim and Heidi have covered just over 700 miles through walking and biking</a>.<p>This means we're now less than 50 miles from being officially half-way through our journey to virtually meet up with each other somewhere in the middle of the country. Which, even though we're "only" half-way, might require some sort of celebration considering that if we wait until we fully complete the journey, the math indicates it'll be another 7 months before that happens. I think it's important to find and celebrate the little things right now, no?</p><p>Stay safe, everyone, and find joy where you can. I'm trying to do a better job of that myself. <br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-70639004427023955842020-10-19T20:02:00.002-07:002020-10-19T20:17:30.900-07:00He's alive! ALIVE!!<p>Surprise!</p><p>Look at that! Another post! The day after my previous post! Instead of weeks later! Yeah, I know, I'm crazy like that sometimes.</p><p>I decided to post again mainly because I thought it was time to let you all know...because I know y'all've been wondering...that Loki is (still) alive!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZADLrv2-aR5rl9I2cFKEGxvNEoFikywEpBEyEouBN0usiPQR25jI22MIa-UlmgsoMlycc1X8d4819wxfCzmaDz3iNrCJtAEfNI8Nz5AKDJxQuOvIV-ukon_tr1yxKjik3HmcvnYDiX0s/s602/pic5220635+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="602" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZADLrv2-aR5rl9I2cFKEGxvNEoFikywEpBEyEouBN0usiPQR25jI22MIa-UlmgsoMlycc1X8d4819wxfCzmaDz3iNrCJtAEfNI8Nz5AKDJxQuOvIV-ukon_tr1yxKjik3HmcvnYDiX0s/w640-h424/pic5220635+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />When last we checked in on the Cockateagle (his <span><span data-dobid="hdw">nom de guerre </span></span>because sometimes he decides he's bigger and badder than his small stature would indicate), I had just written a post about how <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2011/05/i-own-bird.html">I took him on a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters</a> the summer after I graduated college (and nearly drowned us both). That post was...uh...over 9 years ago now (!).<p></p><p>I'm happy to report that Loki is doing fine, and is now 28 years old (or rather 28-and-a-half, thankyouverymuch). His passions include bags, boxes, and being obnoxious.<br /></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7XTDAQOn0KfA4k_UOV3nyKNyET-mRez7gNAS_1xlgiEdq56W_R1L9GS74a6Q8L4-z17u-hvtReAEylr3-Q3BRMIqltAJW0NzzHlyPkUmUOkIWRBW0y76oTzoI1TXzzkzPaXAdJ0fVzU/s604/pic5220629.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="604" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR7XTDAQOn0KfA4k_UOV3nyKNyET-mRez7gNAS_1xlgiEdq56W_R1L9GS74a6Q8L4-z17u-hvtReAEylr3-Q3BRMIqltAJW0NzzHlyPkUmUOkIWRBW0y76oTzoI1TXzzkzPaXAdJ0fVzU/w640-h636/pic5220629.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg440neduNgibNrOclV5i_Z22djuFUe4lrMpDMBynE0byqGcEw8KoI45sJjk2EiqfqM0sBOwhrbcJ1qc19RvxzX5ycDF4ks4E9UgSocORHdHQbOF_lVQx4GATMNVISSXs9Q5eLOwhH_kK8/s605/pic5220628.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="605" height="634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg440neduNgibNrOclV5i_Z22djuFUe4lrMpDMBynE0byqGcEw8KoI45sJjk2EiqfqM0sBOwhrbcJ1qc19RvxzX5ycDF4ks4E9UgSocORHdHQbOF_lVQx4GATMNVISSXs9Q5eLOwhH_kK8/w640-h634/pic5220628.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>One of the things I find most endearing all these years later is when I bring him to the <a href="http://tropicalkingdom.com/">local pet store</a> to board him when I travel (remember when we could do that?), and as soon as I walk in the two guys who've been working there since I moved to Tucson in 1996 say "Loki!" Very <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXED2AVlbR0">Cheers</a>-like. I'm amazed by several things each time this happens, including that they still work there, they know Loki by name, and that I still don't know their names.<br /></p><p>Now that the Cockateagle has made an appearance again, he may show up from time to time. Depending on his mood. Stay tuned...<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-44057170498829173982020-10-18T22:47:00.005-07:002020-10-19T21:02:59.463-07:00Corona (no, not the pandemic), New Mexico<p>Okay, I think it's time I caught up on where I am on my <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">virtual walk from Tucson to NYC</a>.</p><p>When last I checked in on my journey, I had made it to <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/09/victorio-peak-and-crossing-rio-grande.html">Victorio Peak</a> in the <a href="https://www.wsmr.army.mil/Pages/home.aspx">White Sands Missile Range</a> in southern New Mexico. A long time ago in a life far far away, I remember waking up at o' dark thirty one morning during grad school to help out on an urban <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_of_prey">raptor</a> study, and seeing an ethereal blur in the sky to the east as I biked to campus.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://militarybases.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wsmr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="480" src="https://militarybases.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wsmr.jpg" width="640" /></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Was this what I saw?! (Photo credit: militarybases.com)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://militarybases.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/wsmr.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>It turns out it was some sort of rocket that was launched and subsequently shot down over the Missile Range, which happened before the time of the interwebs and so record of it is difficult to find (although the above photo seems like it might be the one), but suffice to say that White Sands Missile Range has forever been embedded in my "news of the weird" memory.</p><p>So where was I?<br /></p><p>Well, before I begin, I'd like to once again acknowledge the <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/10/indigenous-peoples-day.html">Native peoples'</a> whose lands I've crossed on this virtual journey. There's still so much for me to learn about the people who inhabited these places before I started this pandemic excursion.<br /></p><p>Technically I've now made it to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona,_New_Mexico">Corona, New Mexico</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFv7xVyjvkHRidMNBv0ffeHKas5cYp3HTXIQyM65MGmieIK9Y1GltRMQa856twtuBPQwFX8SzZREXO1GChrefZE3hT82YPzcGK0iKylmSsjyYQ0YyYnhoaTF2HucUK67naXBL3bK1iuAI/s721/Screenshot_20201018-193152.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="721" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFv7xVyjvkHRidMNBv0ffeHKas5cYp3HTXIQyM65MGmieIK9Y1GltRMQa856twtuBPQwFX8SzZREXO1GChrefZE3hT82YPzcGK0iKylmSsjyYQ0YyYnhoaTF2HucUK67naXBL3bK1iuAI/w640-h354/Screenshot_20201018-193152.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sure, if I'd walked non-stop since May 20 it would have taken 6 days and 3 hours...</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Corona? Really?! When I Googled this location, it was actually hard to find the link to the town since it's been drowned out by the status of the pandemic in New Mexico right now...sigh...</p><p>So where were we?<br /></p>After descending Victorio Peak, I passed <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Sands_Space_Harbor">White Sands Space Harbor</a> off to the east. Apparently this is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceport" title="Spaceport">spaceport</a> that was formerly used as a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_space_shuttle_landing_runways" title="List of space shuttle landing runways">Space Shuttle runway</a>, a test site for rocket research, and the primary training area used by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA" title="NASA">NASA</a> for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle" title="Space Shuttle">Space Shuttle</a> pilots practicing approaches and landings in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle_Training_Aircraft" title="Shuttle Training Aircraft">Shuttle Training Aircraft</a> and <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-38_Talon" title="T-38 Talon">T-38 Talon</a>
aircraft. With its runways, navigational aids, runway lighting, and
control facilities, it also served as a backup Shuttle landing site.<p>Well, chalk that up to another place I'll be visiting when it's safe to travel again!</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/STS-3_landing.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/STS-3_landing.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Thanks for the image, Wikipedia!</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>In other news of the weird, as I exited White Sands Missile Range and approached Oscuro, New Mexico, apparently I passed the <a href="http://wikimapia.org/3815512/Oscura-Aaf-Aux-Landing-Strip-80E0">Oscura Army Airfield</a>, the date of construction and purpose of which isn't entirely known. And not only that, but the town of <a href="https://lincolncountyhistoricalsociety.vpweb.com/oscuro-outlaws-and-graves">Oscuro, New Mexico</a>, seems to have some interesting history, too. Really, New Mexico?! The weirdness within your borders just leaves me thinking I need to spend more time exploring you.</p><p>So after leaving Oscuro, I then "walked" through <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrizozo,_New_Mexico">Carrizozo, New Mexico</a>, the county seat of Lincoln County, with a population of 996 at the 2010 census.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Carrizozo_06.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" height="427" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Carrizozo_06.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Carrizozo, New Mexico (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>According to Wikipedia:</p><p>The location of Carrizozo was selected as the site for a station on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Paso_and_Northeastern_Railway" title="El Paso and Northeastern Railway">El Paso and Northeastern Railway</a> (EP&NE) main line in 1899, which brought businesses, growing population, and
increased importance to the town of Carrizozo. The
population reached around 2,000 by 1920.</p><p>The town is about 35 miles east of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test)" title="Trinity (nuclear test)">Trinity Site</a>,
where the first nuclear bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945. Residents
reported tremors like an earthquake and, as the first major downwind
settlement, the town received a significant part of the remnants of the
mushroom cloud (resulting in some <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_contamination" title="Radioactive contamination">radioactive contamination</a> of the area, which faded quickly and does not persist today).
</p><p>Recently, the town has seen increasing focus on tourism, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_juice" title="Cherry juice">cherry cider</a> produced in the town is known nationally.</p><p>Hmm...the weirdness of New Mexico continues... <br /></p><p>About 3 miles north of Carrizozo, apparently I reached the turn-off to the <a href="https://www.newmexico.org/places-to-visit/ghost-towns/white-oaks/">"ghost town" of White Oaks</a>, one of Billy the Kid's favorite places. According to its website, White Oaks is more "cowboy/frontier than adobe Disneyland. There were no
Conquistadores bringing the word of God to the native population. It was
a frontier wild west cattle community right up until gold was
discovered... an almost pure vein going down into Baxter Mountain; then
everything changed." <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/c_fill,h_680,q_50,w_1800/v1/clients/newmexico/white_oaks_6175b65f-59e5-4489-bfcc-7508378bc2b9.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="800" height="242" src="https://assets.simpleviewinc.com/simpleview/image/upload/c_fill,h_680,q_50,w_1800/v1/clients/newmexico/white_oaks_6175b65f-59e5-4489-bfcc-7508378bc2b9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">People of White Oaks (Photo credit: www.newmexico.org)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>At the time of its heyday, White Oaks was the second largest city in New Mexico, surpassed only by Santa Fe. The town died when the local fathers tried
to sell the right of way to the expanding railroad (a big "no,
thank you," apparently) and the gold was mined out.
<p>Today, visitors can explore several historic buildings, the Cedarvale
cemetery, and the historic No Scum Allowed Saloon, recently named one
of American Cowboy Magazine's "Best Cowboy Bars in the West."</p><p>Yep, your attractive weirdness knows no bounds, New Mexico... <br /></p><p>After White Oaks, apparently another ghost town I passed by is <a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nm-ancho/">Ancho, New Mexico</a>. According to its website, the town is located about 23 miles north of Carrizozo and is a former railroad and ranching community. It was
established at the turn of the 20th century when families began to
settle the fertile valley, followed by a number of <a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-homestead/">homesteaders</a> who became the area’s first sheep and cattle ranchers. <a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/we-oldtimeminers/">Miners</a> also roamed the area of gypsum hills in search of precious metals.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ancho-Depot-500.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" src="https://www.legendsofamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Ancho-Depot-500.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Ancho Depot (Photo credit: www.legendsofamerica.com)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Ancho seemed to be doing well through 1906, when it was busy shipping plaster and brick to San Franciso after the earthquake and fire suffered by that city the same year. Beginning in 1917, however, things took a turn for the worse, and when U.S. Highway 54 was paved in 1954 and the railroad discontinued the depot
in 1959, the post office subsequently closed several years later and
the town was left with only a few people.<p></p><p>Sorry Ancho. The chiles of your same name are some of my favorites, though. <br /></p><p>I've now made it to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona,_New_Mexico">Corona, New Mexico</a>. I'm guessing they're tired of pandemic jokes at this point.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Corona_New_Mexico_Village_Hall.jpg/1024px-Corona_New_Mexico_Village_Hall.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="480" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Corona_New_Mexico_Village_Hall.jpg/1024px-Corona_New_Mexico_Village_Hall.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Corona, New Mexico (Photo credit: Wikipedia)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>According to Wikipedia, Corona is the closest populated community to a purported <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_incident" title="Roswell UFO incident">UFO crash in 1947</a>
about 30 miles to the southeast. The rancher who found the
crash first came to Corona to report it to a few residents before going
to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell,_New_Mexico" title="Roswell, New Mexico">Roswell</a> to tell officials there.</p><p>As I mentioned when I passed through <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/hatch-nm.html">Hatch, New Mexico</a>, I'm a huge fan of roadside attractions. This of course extends to ghost towns, UFOs, and aliens in any way, shape, or form. So when this damned pandemic is finally under control in the U.S. (no promises on when that will be), I'm definitely looking forward to making the trip through New Mexico to visit all of these sites. They're really not all that far from Tucson, but it's hard to express how much even that small amount of travel would mean right now.</p><p>Take care of yourselves, everyone. <br /></p><p> </p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-56792693505607499502020-10-12T16:13:00.002-07:002020-10-12T16:35:59.064-07:00Indigenous Peoples' Day<p>Wow, the <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/09/rbg.html">subject of my last post</a> really threw me for a loop. It's been hard to get back to it.</p><p>Which means I'm not sure where I am on the landscape as I <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">"walk" from Tucson to NYC</a>, although I'm somewhere between Carrizozo and Corona, New Mexico (that last location is a little on the nose).</p><p>Today, though, I want to acknowledge the Native lands I've passed through along the way to get "here." My friend E suggested I do this a while ago as I research the locations I "walk" through, and today seemed like a good day to start. Partly because today, for the first time, <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2020/10/12/why-arizona-is-recognizing-indigenous-peoples-day-this-year/5964930002/">Arizona is recognizing Indigenous Peoples' Day</a>. I hope it won't be the last. </p><p>If you haven't found it already, <a href="http://44.238.53.87/">Native Lands</a> is a website that allows you to search locations throughout the world to learn more about the Native peoples who once lived or continue to live there. The disclaimer states that the map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations, and recommends that to learn about definitive boundaries, people should contact the nations in question. Also, the map is not perfect, but rather a work in progress incorporating contributions from the community.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvzdFTZ0fHIZiecMXeB20rKjYhwintNgHWC5hdY45dXdz73SJSpOQKJMYQMamkeK15lU4Y_TNyuC4_PZ6sIpgTsj8chC8kNu74ubGvOkwNaxQQDh4PIlxF4UQeRKrLS7Fd0q82ByAzZs/s1305/NativeLands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="1305" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghvzdFTZ0fHIZiecMXeB20rKjYhwintNgHWC5hdY45dXdz73SJSpOQKJMYQMamkeK15lU4Y_TNyuC4_PZ6sIpgTsj8chC8kNu74ubGvOkwNaxQQDh4PIlxF4UQeRKrLS7Fd0q82ByAzZs/w640-h276/NativeLands.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Splash page of Native Lands</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>With that in mind, here are the lands I've crossed between Tucson and Carrizozo as I head east:</p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/tohono-oodham/" target="_blank">O’odham</a><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/papago-tohono-oodham/" target="_blank">Tohono O’odham (Papago)</a></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/sobaipuri/" target="_blank">Sobaipuri</a></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/hohokam/" target="_blank">Hohokam</a></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/chiricahua-apache/" target="_blank">Chiricahua Apache</a></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/western-apache/" target="_blank">Western Apache</a></p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/pescado/" target="_blank">Pescado</a><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/mansos/" target="_blank">Tampachoa (Mansos)</a></p><p><a href="https://native-land.ca/maps/territories/mescalero-apache/" target="_blank">Mescalero Apache</a></p><p>I encourage us all to spend some time learning more about the people who were here before us. Not just on Indigenous Peoples' Day, but every day if we can.</p><p>I hope everyone is okay.<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-49105584650505830462020-09-19T19:42:00.002-07:002020-09-20T12:40:36.437-07:00RBG<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/UChicago-Ruth-Bader-Ginsberg-RBG.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" src="https://www.scotusblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/UChicago-Ruth-Bader-Ginsberg-RBG.jpg" width="600" /></a>Ruth Bader Ginsberg.</div><p>I had no idea how much hope you gave me until you were gone.</p><p>I spent the day trying to figure out what to do with myself. Nothing seemed adequate. I tried listening to the news, which was awful. I tried listening to music, which seemed pointless. I sat inside and stared at stuff, which seemed weird. So I went outside to the backyard and stared at stuff, which was better, but did nothing to fill the void left by your passing.</p><p>So I began pacing around my backyard. Which is my <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">habit</a> now, but I had no idea how much I would need it today. I couldn't stop, because if I did, it meant that you were really gone. So I kept going.
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAF99CjjMMxCchpkZnIHcfU9OCEbruE8IQrtNwiVtSynpWdlsYHLDy_ngveUHVXb0O0SijN5WzJiQLIg-dvj1O-joi6Z3w-LTfu7hpe2AIyeI8EeQJrSX2KPEJPmgEEgZn07eHfCmQwY/s1014/Screenshot_20200919-185515.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="720" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKAF99CjjMMxCchpkZnIHcfU9OCEbruE8IQrtNwiVtSynpWdlsYHLDy_ngveUHVXb0O0SijN5WzJiQLIg-dvj1O-joi6Z3w-LTfu7hpe2AIyeI8EeQJrSX2KPEJPmgEEgZn07eHfCmQwY/s400/Screenshot_20200919-185515.png" /></a></div><p>
I still don't know what to do with myself.
So I'm following the example set by my desert tortoise, Spot.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz9yCX-jM_2TGIJNXAMohCKnFG136Z7GOKL0uyxnf7oznOSMlLDcPozasTHyLVCxsHhjZ9AUAp_n-8V2iw09A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />I don't know "where" I am on my <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/deming-nm.html">journey to meet up with Kim and Heidi</a>, but when I'm ready to face the world again I'll figure it out. It just might be a while.<p></p><p>RIP, RBG. <br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-24899272330392407492020-09-05T14:46:00.000-07:002020-09-05T14:46:44.829-07:00Victorio Peak and crossing the Rio Grande<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Victorio_Peak.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="500" height="450" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Victorio_Peak.jpg" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Victorio Peak, San Andres Mountains, New Mexico (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As soon as I left <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/hatch-nm.html">Hatch</a> I entered uncharted territory -- I'm now "exploring" parts of New Mexico that I've never been to before. <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">Maybe someday I can do it for real</a>.</p><p>Last night I reached <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorio_Peak">Victorio Peak</a> in the San Andres Mountains. According to Wikipedia, Victorio Peak was one of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorio" title="Victorio">Chief Victorio's</a> hideouts, and was the site of a battle in 1880 between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorio" title="Victorio">Victorio</a>'s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache" title="Apache">Apaches</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Army" title="United States Army">U.S. Army</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Cavalry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="9th Cavalry Regiment (United States)">Ninth Cavalry</a> "<a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Soldiers" title="Buffalo Soldiers">Buffalo Soldiers</a>." Additionally, <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_prospector" title="Gold prospector">gold prospector</a> <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Earnest_Noss" title="Milton Earnest Noss">Milton "Doc" Noss</a> claimed to have found hidden treasure inside the Mountains in the late 1930s.</p><p>Speaking of treasure, supposedly there's still a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorio_Peak_treasure">cache of gold inside of Victorio Peak</a>, which was featured in not one, but two episodes of Unsolved Mysteries in 1989 and 1990. How cool is that? I love random mysteries (along with roadside attractions). So far no gold has been recovered...as far as we know. :)</p><p>On the way here and just a few miles outside of Hatch, I crossed the <a href="https://mapcarta.com/23321030">Rio Grande River</a>. Apparently this is what it would look like if I were actually standing on the bridge:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVMTmX_Ug3rSy7ajuV81xwDchaPLubRETTVg4VgE8qNfKVjWN5z2T9MYS9d9I07qdNWUbgC6Cb5ZXNM6XbhErhCRsgpAeSIvNKwN_LEfve6dDWS2CmPT6GJz0w30CVop6KD_OSTNjWUys/s1819/Screenshot_2020-09-05+2850+E+Copper+St+to+34-08+30th+St.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="1819" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVMTmX_Ug3rSy7ajuV81xwDchaPLubRETTVg4VgE8qNfKVjWN5z2T9MYS9d9I07qdNWUbgC6Cb5ZXNM6XbhErhCRsgpAeSIvNKwN_LEfve6dDWS2CmPT6GJz0w30CVop6KD_OSTNjWUys/w625-h281/Screenshot_2020-09-05+2850+E+Copper+St+to+34-08+30th+St.jpg" width="625" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The mighty Rio Grande, or rather not so mighty in southern New Mexico (photo courtesy of Google)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Shortly after crossing the river, I went through the town of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rincon,_New_Mexico">Rincon, NM</a>. It's not a big town, just 271 residents according to the 2010 census. It's located about 20 miles south of <a href="https://www.spaceportamerica.com/">Spaceport America</a>, the "World's First Purpose-Built commercial spaceport" and the official home of Virgin Galactic, billionaire Richard Branson's venture to take tourists into suborbital space. According to Wikipedia, some Rincon residents have been skeptical that the spaceport will
generate as many jobs in the long term as supporters claimed. I guess I'm not surprised by that.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://d1titnu6se1qmv.cloudfront.net/uploads/2019/04/hero-spaceport-2048x1152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="800" height="302" src="https://d1titnu6se1qmv.cloudfront.net/uploads/2019/04/hero-spaceport-2048x1152.jpg" width="536" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Spaceport America (photo courtesy of Virgin Galactic)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I've now walked 324 miles to Kim and Heidi's 387 (which for them also includes bike rides). Once the weather cools down here in Tucson I might dust off the ol' <a href="https://www.xtracycle.com/">Xtracycle</a> and try to catch up.<br /></p><p></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-10736561622724111662020-08-29T21:02:00.000-07:002020-08-29T21:02:08.881-07:00Hatch, NM<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CtuDUOMs2gcVczEnkRzyg19u2MpjxhfaUpqjFVoDDY-m1qEIfXAkmtESmz0r-ir83KGZX6GeXpMxGBRvV6kBOnt1sb39PbAZOhqVnx5ZNrUxsSJqta7hoyCCQxar0ZHmHyLLCpRvgGY/s2048/IMG_0543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5CtuDUOMs2gcVczEnkRzyg19u2MpjxhfaUpqjFVoDDY-m1qEIfXAkmtESmz0r-ir83KGZX6GeXpMxGBRvV6kBOnt1sb39PbAZOhqVnx5ZNrUxsSJqta7hoyCCQxar0ZHmHyLLCpRvgGY/s640/IMG_0543.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A spicy welcome to Hatch</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>According to my pedometer I made made it the 281 miles from Tucson to Hatch on August 20. I'm not sure how nine days have passed without finding time to post about it, but I'll just chalk it up, like all the other weirdness nowadays, to covid (thanks, covid!).</p><p>Hatch is a pretty cool little town that I've been through a few times, so I actually have real photos to post of the sites I'd be seeing if I'd actually <a href="https://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html" target="_blank">walked there</a>.</p><p>In case you didn't know, Hatch's claim to fame is that it's the Chili Capital of the World. Each Labor Day the town (population 1,673) hosts the Hatch Chili Festival, which can host up to 30,000 visitors from around the world. I've never been to Hatch during the festival, but I did purchase a couple of jars of local salsa once that aren't available in stores (Hatch brand salsas can be found in most major urban markets in the U.S.). Let me just say that what you find locally and what's sold in stores are two very different animals -- I couldn't take more than a few teaspoons of the local stuff before I was breathing fire!</p><p>A large part of what I love about Hatch is the roadside attractions, and I say this with true affection. I love roadside attractions. Here are some that Hatch has to offer:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcGtJJ7yQ2xMo5Dfv6-_CkFv6kcwogmsQR7qFfALRcJyictcp-pnOR5zkDCf5J_V7opz_xLAG1iCqk11AxFKypvvPp_PV273gQ_0piFBOVtlguI2b3K0TI572xSM0uAyBBVLCxlGWCBw/s2048/IMG_0546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcGtJJ7yQ2xMo5Dfv6-_CkFv6kcwogmsQR7qFfALRcJyictcp-pnOR5zkDCf5J_V7opz_xLAG1iCqk11AxFKypvvPp_PV273gQ_0piFBOVtlguI2b3K0TI572xSM0uAyBBVLCxlGWCBw/s640/IMG_0546.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A chili for you, and a chili for you...everyone gets a chili!</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6tpTfreZkIvJrbcdCHfAIp14e7J6o7HWLx7LnwUdo93qX8uwpR9_OvzurrM7dPFFQhzpvJbLLeSNwV3rAci3uqAzpaeSyypn9eRsz91XDG3U8sAnW29KznLso8wjDJ51hA60RU34TvM/s2048/IMG_0551.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO6tpTfreZkIvJrbcdCHfAIp14e7J6o7HWLx7LnwUdo93qX8uwpR9_OvzurrM7dPFFQhzpvJbLLeSNwV3rAci3uqAzpaeSyypn9eRsz91XDG3U8sAnW29KznLso8wjDJ51hA60RU34TvM/s640/IMG_0551.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I don't know what's going on here, but I love it</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaTLgGysJJFdL3pXBxRswmy1LE8eM0DkOSRlxKX5VUUaWSiciKx80baXvpNsO8UwR9nebk6ehTqL50koGsulC4Q36ldGbWIPWeVwk7WvgvfGRJDVr8NBDCMWhqCV2G1OiWWAMyKwoX2s/s2048/IMG_0545.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaTLgGysJJFdL3pXBxRswmy1LE8eM0DkOSRlxKX5VUUaWSiciKx80baXvpNsO8UwR9nebk6ehTqL50koGsulC4Q36ldGbWIPWeVwk7WvgvfGRJDVr8NBDCMWhqCV2G1OiWWAMyKwoX2s/s640/IMG_0545.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Muffler Man and his Winnebago</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I think the <a href="https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/2691" target="_blank">RV Muffler Man</a> above is my favorite. If you weren't aware, <a href="https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/37422" target="_blank">Muffler Men</a> walk among us as 14 to 25-foot tall titans of fiberglass, holding anything from axes to candy canes to Winnebagos to...well, mufflers. We even have one in Tucson named <a href="https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/5876" target="_blank">Glenn Stone</a>, for the less-than-obvious reason that he's on the corner of Glenn St. and Stone Ave. I was stopped at a light the other day right next to him, and captured this amazing photo:<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrTGenzUvA2gr0lyLXAbr4BlW9biP3J5RIAazLprN02fz2isVZohp6Q3icyggxO_0MZeeKuJT_s65tLNNla4uIg-WK9eNe5tjYD8B51tx6AY2Pep-9F_aSbVI_jxnJ07AkoLe9QbBlXqs/s822/20200822103122_IMG_8719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="635" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrTGenzUvA2gr0lyLXAbr4BlW9biP3J5RIAazLprN02fz2isVZohp6Q3icyggxO_0MZeeKuJT_s65tLNNla4uIg-WK9eNe5tjYD8B51tx6AY2Pep-9F_aSbVI_jxnJ07AkoLe9QbBlXqs/s640/20200822103122_IMG_8719.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I know, I know, I framed this photo perfectly</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I thought it was cool that he was wearing a mask, if you can see it through the stoplights. Speaking of masks, our local T-Rex is also sporting one:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4-Z705u39clGv77TwkV3jkCKVFMLaNwqZ6tsHQzGj_5eCWNOgUAk8JlNlAYEIuoo2nSg6e45eV9WrhvxImJm8ssR1y9uXM6ExH78DEBRdA5ZMCqubIfYreTisVut1GRJGiOalHmKdXk/s866/20200822145114_IMG_8726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="718" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4-Z705u39clGv77TwkV3jkCKVFMLaNwqZ6tsHQzGj_5eCWNOgUAk8JlNlAYEIuoo2nSg6e45eV9WrhvxImJm8ssR1y9uXM6ExH78DEBRdA5ZMCqubIfYreTisVut1GRJGiOalHmKdXk/s640/20200822145114_IMG_8726.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's so hard to find a mask that fits when your head's the size of a small boulder</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You just never know when you might be asymptomatic, so it's good to see everyone (everything?) taking precautions.</p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-69742763266157122402020-08-10T21:53:00.003-07:002020-08-16T22:42:39.391-07:00Heading toward Hatch<p>Welp, last week was not a good walking week, meaning progress is slow on my way across New Mexico. At the moment I'm on Highway 26 about halfway between <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/deming-nm.html">Deming</a> and Hatch.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajrDRpWrRHT9L4vuPPh64arbdzrbpJXG-6WjCKqTBH_-Wupy0ZbEta85ZwZ1GfQ0I36IxMD8GsQMd91WGvRyYp-wZlnEQZb0y7Dpuddv6AsGD2PhVMwVJNmZ5DxV2bRyBR5Vbh4GzGMM/s1070/Screenshot_20200810-201346.png"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="1070" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajrDRpWrRHT9L4vuPPh64arbdzrbpJXG-6WjCKqTBH_-Wupy0ZbEta85ZwZ1GfQ0I36IxMD8GsQMd91WGvRyYp-wZlnEQZb0y7Dpuddv6AsGD2PhVMwVJNmZ5DxV2bRyBR5Vbh4GzGMM/w500-h306/Screenshot_20200810-201346.png" width="500" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVox6WkT8LP5G0g5erQGNgFnp-mU55V60VKpHKhwZ1Zz2dArjGBmq6N1xO-OIedmwqoY3ay4I1lUObGDoOwdxkXJc5JqnvyihdybBiB2D_uq6kreasLNghMNIaL-Rc9H3FytXwG1g9l4M/s713/Screenshot1_20200810-200627.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="713" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVox6WkT8LP5G0g5erQGNgFnp-mU55V60VKpHKhwZ1Zz2dArjGBmq6N1xO-OIedmwqoY3ay4I1lUObGDoOwdxkXJc5JqnvyihdybBiB2D_uq6kreasLNghMNIaL-Rc9H3FytXwG1g9l4M/w263-h120/Screenshot1_20200810-200627.png" width="263" /></a></div><p></p><p>Interestingly, this is a road I've driven many times on my way to and from Albuquerque or Santa Fe, so I can actually picture the landscape as I "walk" along. My most vivid memory is seeing raptors perched on every 3rd electrical pole or so, waiting for dinner.</p><p>Since I'm kind of in the middle of nowhere with no destination to research (I'm sure if I dug deep enough I could find out more about this stretch of highway, but I'm just not up to it at the moment), I thought I'd touch on why I don't just walk out my front door and go for a walk like a normal person instead of <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html">pacing around my backyard</a> like a caged animal.</p><p>Here's why:</p><p>Around the time Arizona started to isolate back in March, a dust devil blew through our backyard and tore off hundreds of palm fronds from this tree:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3QDjMNm24_R-dAhTlV9WaIVRpAlu3WOq371464a6jnwM7w3AUNXJfVDlQ_wP41Zv7dI4nIOEN23BF_sLXkKcp-SAIMANHVBHq_6byxq7Pj7RhundCUchdOO5z4AqCvNSySGrCjE9IZ0/s2048/IMG_20200529_172212359.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-3QDjMNm24_R-dAhTlV9WaIVRpAlu3WOq371464a6jnwM7w3AUNXJfVDlQ_wP41Zv7dI4nIOEN23BF_sLXkKcp-SAIMANHVBHq_6byxq7Pj7RhundCUchdOO5z4AqCvNSySGrCjE9IZ0/w384-h513/IMG_20200529_172212359.jpg" width="384" /></a></div><p></p><p> This led my husband to use them in this way:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jNA8yeanD4r0QujI9u4tVGqqTjwu6vwfga6GBRwsmcYAuHaXRJDHBhNtX9rJh1JJ_FtYVHtAhbkGziKFxNZvuYeBrNF8HN73NJuGFeu5f1ci21on4uBSsbbjWiXREhQcqxcXZ48014I/w513-h384/IMG_20200529_172148941.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="513" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I'm wondering about the inner tubes, too</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>While the rest of our yard looks like this:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1uL3zkb-jZPDsALssssohJS8w63pW9sUTHirUzJzR4xxcX2h2w00Pm78m4nklvnAa4BVae62biF26XrSVe9lZnBhIbzp5cjayhP6c6HCpbPKQ6YhL3yJFTf-uuksZ5gBMaWiaI_DNIk/s2048/IMG_20200421_180616364.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr1uL3zkb-jZPDsALssssohJS8w63pW9sUTHirUzJzR4xxcX2h2w00Pm78m4nklvnAa4BVae62biF26XrSVe9lZnBhIbzp5cjayhP6c6HCpbPKQ6YhL3yJFTf-uuksZ5gBMaWiaI_DNIk/w513-h384/IMG_20200421_180616364.jpg" width="513" /></a></div><p>Meaning:</p><p>a) The backyard is completely private, ergo the dress code is, shall we say, relaxed (an important consideration in 100+ degree F weather)</p><p></p><p>b) The backyard is completely private, ergo I can zone out and listen to podcasts without any worry about safety</p><p></p><p>c) The backyard is completely private, so there's no risk of running into someone with covid and no need for masks</p><p></p><p>d) The backyard is well shaded (an important consideration in 100+ degree F weather)</p><p>e) We have a stupid number of <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/08/deming-nm.html">birds</a> and <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/to-lordsburg-nm.html">lizards</a> in the backyard this year, plus rabbits, mice, rock squirrels, and our two desert tortoises, so it's a wildlife extravaganza with every lap</p><p>f) Did I mention it's completely private? Yeah, that's worth bringing up again</p><p></p><p>I figure people walk on treadmills all the time for many of the reasons above, so it's kind of the same but better I think, since I'm outside getting some vitamin D, all the while acclimating to the extreme temperatures that otherwise feel miserable if you're stuck in air conditioning all day.</p><p></p><p>It's also made me realize how lucky I am to have a yard like this -- up until the pandemic, I took it for granted and thought I might not even need a private outdoor space like our yard in favor of public outdoor spaces that we don't need to maintain. Now in full-on pandemic lockdown for almost five months, I know I'd have gone (more) crazy without it.<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-68842492094140109842020-08-01T12:24:00.003-07:002020-08-16T22:48:18.580-07:00Deming, NMLast night I made it to Deming, NM on my <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html" target="_blank">"walk" from my house to my friend Kim and Heidi's place in Queens, NY</a>, a mere 3 weeks and 61 miles after reaching <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/to-lordsburg-nm.html" target="_blank">Lordsburg, NM</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhOfekosu_z8HAcfoDxHAj_2q4E5G2reXmbUq8z1vNWNjzHCiJ6oG4DiXm20ZXQFtZgzVixMEEQPQfCTQYV8tOeelAZKDQQ94XrI2G73uirTSo1CehLqc-60amMciELez8nukxkD5PsY/s1600/Screenshot_20200801-111508.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="720" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvhOfekosu_z8HAcfoDxHAj_2q4E5G2reXmbUq8z1vNWNjzHCiJ6oG4DiXm20ZXQFtZgzVixMEEQPQfCTQYV8tOeelAZKDQQ94XrI2G73uirTSo1CehLqc-60amMciELez8nukxkD5PsY/w500-h456/Screenshot_20200801-111508.png" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lordsburg to Deming on the trail to Queens</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>Yikes. It's gonna take a long time to travel 2,423 miles at this
pace. In fact, I ran the numbers the other day and if I average 3
miles/day (which is about right), I'll arrive on their doorstep in 2.2
years. Ugh. For some reason it makes me sad thinking about how far in
the future that is, which is so weird because it's not real -- I'm not
actually walking there in real life. My brain is doing strange things
to my thoughts and emotions in the time of covid. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwtHQZi1FEw9KkmX53HQNaakOmvRCLuqNyP4AZ5FQNcLtOPI6dFTaBFO1CPcjN6lQWvyIMWzb4YJ5z_CbYoSsYD9BtQEJhM5Io1ZME7xuE1AXqo_akE0kBOK909Ja7XW2qN9M5JfUtlI/s1600/Screenshot_20200731-190443.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="720" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkwtHQZi1FEw9KkmX53HQNaakOmvRCLuqNyP4AZ5FQNcLtOPI6dFTaBFO1CPcjN6lQWvyIMWzb4YJ5z_CbYoSsYD9BtQEJhM5Io1ZME7xuE1AXqo_akE0kBOK909Ja7XW2qN9M5JfUtlI/s400/Screenshot_20200731-190443.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The stats so far</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>To boost my spirits, Kim and Heidi are now "heading" in my direction by calculating the miles they walk and bike each day, so now the new plan is to "meet" somewhere in the middle. None of us are sure where this will be, but we know that once we meet there virtually, we're going to meet there again in real life once traveling is an option again. This makes me ridiculously happy, knowing that we're making plans to see each other in the future, and even better in some random, obscure location that likely isn't a normal destination for anyone else, but it will be for us because of this experience.</p><p>So Deming. I actually have fond memories of Deming. I drove through it many times in the late 1990s as I moved from Arizona to Florida and back, with a couple of trips in between to move my partner out there and back (turns out he hated Florida, so it just wasn't going to work for us). On the final trip back to Arizona we pulled off at a park in Deming to wait out the heat of the day -- we were driving my 1972 FJ55 Land Cruiser while hauling a homemade trailer with tiny tires, and it just seemed wise to let everything cool down so we wouldn't overheat or blow a trailer tire or something. I wish I could remember the name of the park -- it was green and lovely and a relaxing place to spend some time and eat some food.</p><p>According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deming,_New_Mexico" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>, Deming is home to the Silver Spike commemorating the meeting of the Southern Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railroads in 1881, the second transcontinental railroad completed in the U.S.</p><p>The Mimbres River floods the Deming area once a decade or so.</p><p>There are numerous ancient Native American sites around Deming, and the area is rich in native pottery
artifacts, as well as beads, stone implements, stone carvings, graves,
etc.</p><p>In the late 1960s you could buy your own 1/2-acre ranchette in Deming for only $299, or up to 2 acres for $1196.</p><p>Parts of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Kingdom_of_the_Crystal_Skull" title="Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull">Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed_II" target="_blank">Creed II</a> were filmed in Deming.</p><p>Along the way I spotted these beauties in the yard within 15 minutes of each other:<br />
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllLQXFCyojvtR7688oPsF5ADU2H1pRXlRXQPGMX7Cr2PsiboittxiQNzuWNHoXpT2tstyq93D_84fGXGfwHYT1zNCikmdzVLg30hkGyTU4uy7MOxlKvhy9IMNMbdxz7SrtTLSxBDbYFU/s1600/20200711183246_IMG_8446.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhllLQXFCyojvtR7688oPsF5ADU2H1pRXlRXQPGMX7Cr2PsiboittxiQNzuWNHoXpT2tstyq93D_84fGXGfwHYT1zNCikmdzVLg30hkGyTU4uy7MOxlKvhy9IMNMbdxz7SrtTLSxBDbYFU/w500-h331/20200711183246_IMG_8446.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">An Anna's hummingbird showing off</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJNDygYHA-KB-X8anLoi9tFPvLOtNaMlIdefHcKCJAjenSbTq8UmcjwuOkMS8uuZDgE_MGg0d1lJKbQod86lTvoMfdy9iclN61avnPqYn5soWAKbfjW-v7n7qqwQx2z0MM1rVuvZ0nxI/s1600/20200711183610_IMG_8453.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMJNDygYHA-KB-X8anLoi9tFPvLOtNaMlIdefHcKCJAjenSbTq8UmcjwuOkMS8uuZDgE_MGg0d1lJKbQod86lTvoMfdy9iclN61avnPqYn5soWAKbfjW-v7n7qqwQx2z0MM1rVuvZ0nxI/w500-h333/20200711183610_IMG_8453.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A broad-billed hummingbird not to be outdone</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>I don't know if it's because we no longer have neighborhood cats patroling the neighborhood or if it's just been an incredibly productive bird year in southern Arizona, but the birds and lizards have gone crazy in the backyard. I can't even count the number of times I've almost stepped on a spiny lizard because there are so many back there.</p><p>Also, a shout out to my friend <a href="http://descendingdragon.weebly.com/about.html" target="_blank">Jarrod</a>, who reminded me that a couple of weeks ago it was he who suggested I start researching the different places I travel through on this adventure. Wow, seriously? I can't even remember a conversation from 2 weeks ago now?! Something's wrong with my brain.</p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-88845126396849978832020-07-25T21:21:00.001-07:002020-08-16T22:33:18.383-07:00To Lordsburg, NM<p>Sometime last week...two weeks ago?...seriously, time has no meaning anymore...I made it to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordsburg,_New_Mexico" target="_blank">Lordsburg, NM</a>. And by "made it" I mean I walked a total of 174 miles in my backyard, which technically speaking is the equivalent of <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2020/07/in-time-of-covid.html" target="_blank">walking from my house to Lordsburg on my way to NYC</a>.</p><p>Along the way Google took me through <a href="https://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/camping.htm" target="_blank">Saguaro National Park (East) through the Rincon Mountains</a>. I've always been interested in hiking the Rincons and it's definitely on my list, but I'm afraid inertia has gotten the better of me. So no posts about that part of my walk to NYC.</p><p>Lordsburg is a town I've been through multiple times, usually on I-10 as I pass through. One time many years ago I needed to spend the night, and, while I try to give every town the benefit of the doubt, that particular night does not shine well in my memory.</p><p>But now having "walked" through Lordsburg and Googled the town to learn more of its history, I've come to find out there's a lot I missed.</p><p>For instance, it's the birthplace of New Mexico's state song, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Fair_New_Mexico" target="_blank">O Fair New Mexico</a>.</p><p>It held as many as 1,500 Japanese Americans in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans" target="_blank">Japanese American internment camp</a> operated by the U.S. Army during World War II.</p><p>It had one of the few motels in the Southwest that would accept Black guests in the mid-20th century during the end of legal segregation.</p><p>And it's the final destination in the movie <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach_(1939_film)" target="_blank">Stagecoach</a>, starring John Wayne in his breakthrough role as the Ringo Kid.</p><p>Basically, it's complicated, like so many things are. So I'll try to give it the benefit of the doubt again when I next pass through, although at this point I'm not sure when that'll happen.</p><p>Along the way, I happened to see this handsome guy giving me the eye...</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJ2XXbQRpFhSb7g4-epAzkmXZlyh_WGfGF6nNrWoae4rwlE3tdgyIFkwnFcShRBzbMlw43yVBK4Vrawv5dB602xEhffxV-0zq0eRf20ddYqGR5Uuedh7B-dhLtWcq_69FpBXV0MWYq20/s1600/20200621111734_IMG_8418%257E2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister)" border="0" data-original-height="1069" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJ2XXbQRpFhSb7g4-epAzkmXZlyh_WGfGF6nNrWoae4rwlE3tdgyIFkwnFcShRBzbMlw43yVBK4Vrawv5dB602xEhffxV-0zq0eRf20ddYqGR5Uuedh7B-dhLtWcq_69FpBXV0MWYq20/s400/20200621111734_IMG_8418%257E2.JPG" title="Desert Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus magister)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hey...hey you. Yeah, I'm looking at you...</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>Right, so the sights I see in my backyard will soon be diverging drastically from what I'd see if I were actually walking to NYC. I'm choosing to let that go and enjoy the view.<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-28539323074136595532020-07-23T21:40:00.002-07:002020-08-16T22:38:06.955-07:00In the time of COVID<p>Hey.</p><p>Wow. Over six years since my last post. Yeah, I'm not so great at this blogging thing.</p><p>Oh well. At the moment there are more important things to think about. Like the fact the world has imploded due to COVID-19. Maybe we can have a discussion about that in a future post, but I really doubt the we'll ever be the same. I'm someone who loves to travel, but the idea of getting on a plane or being in enclosed or indoor spaces with other people right now -- or even in the near future -- just isn't going to happen.</p><p>Which brings me to why I thought I'd try to start posting again. From some of my previous posts, you may have gathered that I enjoy going to a gym to get my exercise on. In the years and months preceding COVID, that involved boxing or kickboxing or lifting weights or doing FRC under the direction of <a href="https://www.holcktraining.com/" target="_blank">Nic Holck</a>. But that's all changed.</p><p>So I've had to change, too. And what I've found now, in a strange turn of events, is that pacing figure 8s around my backyard has become my new favorite form of exercise, and, unexpectedly, a meditation.<br />
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_3E4zLOHrNdUcddwRu5-NdsNVH9-d_XicXA44l3vazyRSHTJDh32Eb_RaeXTu6wD-mjm7XZol72qfv7F-xk4s1y2Psdwkt8GHLz5l4VZ7nyrtptSXpZSauF2IsbldjCFPoBKLlEAH3s/s1600/Screenshot_20200707-202057.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="833" data-original-width="717" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl_3E4zLOHrNdUcddwRu5-NdsNVH9-d_XicXA44l3vazyRSHTJDh32Eb_RaeXTu6wD-mjm7XZol72qfv7F-xk4s1y2Psdwkt8GHLz5l4VZ7nyrtptSXpZSauF2IsbldjCFPoBKLlEAH3s/w430-h500/Screenshot_20200707-202057.png" width="430" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">What a 4.41 miles might look like in a backyard of less than 0.23 acres</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ZwdtOhVGptvEpTpRK5U-FGr5JyUNav6Rve-aoTW5d7M5o0RP_TTW5B7DMELZ1w1g9lcHAtYWtVbjRxOT__8R8xsstN-90KhMQpKwQAG-Q8XDZNdE6V6iZPwOoleH8I1481gRUpEmZEk/s1600/IMG_20200707_212118_827.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1076" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ZwdtOhVGptvEpTpRK5U-FGr5JyUNav6Rve-aoTW5d7M5o0RP_TTW5B7DMELZ1w1g9lcHAtYWtVbjRxOT__8R8xsstN-90KhMQpKwQAG-Q8XDZNdE6V6iZPwOoleH8I1481gRUpEmZEk/w500-h335/IMG_20200707_212118_827.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Or if you choose to get all satellite-imagery on it</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>65 days ago I started this pacing pattern, mainly as a way to get off my butt and move my body in some way. Since then I've paced my way to 207 miles. All in less than 0.23 acres. Friends have asked why I don't just walk out my front door and go for a walk like a normal person. That'll be the subject of a future post, because I have things to say about that.</p><p>But what I've decided to do while pacing the backyard is to "walk" from my house in Tucson to my friends Kim and Heidi's place in Queens, NY. I was supposed to have visited them in March, but...well, COVID. So because that couldn't happen, why not combine my pacing with my love of travel instead? In the virtual sense, of course.<br />
</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqDBuCoiQuNtPS8ieNOmOBsOan6yIgFa7xNeTobCd3IhikZgru4gpE7KxLivS0Izz2qcmMSBjVFNobfeAbJrZcvTRbX9lkSsYYEhQP4TvvbciRJnQkg075PDXX1HsK8dj3jjBjexrOAg/s1600/IMG_20200707_212118_829.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="988" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkqDBuCoiQuNtPS8ieNOmOBsOan6yIgFa7xNeTobCd3IhikZgru4gpE7KxLivS0Izz2qcmMSBjVFNobfeAbJrZcvTRbX9lkSsYYEhQP4TvvbciRJnQkg075PDXX1HsK8dj3jjBjexrOAg/w500-h335/IMG_20200707_212118_829.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Easy peasy, right?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>And as I'm walking, I've decided to explore the towns and places I "pass through" along the way. Almost as good as being there myself, right? And maybe I'll discover some gems to explore in the future when we all might be able to travel again.</p><p>I'm also choosing to not let these posts become so precious that I fail to post anything at all, so they won't be perfect. Instead I'd like to use them as a means to record some of what's going on in my own world right now. Not that it's any more important or special than what's going on in your world right now. So maybe it's really more of a way to keep me sane.</p><p>I hope you all are doing okay. It's a crazy time right now. Days and weeks no longer seems to have meaning.<br /></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-84695387711615924252014-03-30T18:27:00.000-07:002014-03-30T18:28:51.586-07:0012 weeks and counting<div class="mbs _5pbx userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's been 12 weeks since I crashed my
motorcycle, 12 weeks minus 1 day since I had surgery to put my knee back
together, and <span style="font-size: small;">4</span> weeks since I last wrote anything about it. For over
10 weeks I wore a leg brace, meaning I've been free from it for almost 2
weeks. Eight weeks ago I started physical therapy, 5 weeks ago I
started driving, 1 week ago I started boxing again.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemx6HllaInf-Uqvq1GrO_sSf501fjKSMCbbaLiHezOPlnWcpb3xfRhJGdat9jD4S3sNYXRMPAamHmR5HdD_sbut_yjyjRWrUFd5DXgcZ0VyZiZAgjzv0ggx_yjmM7KdPc8EGg_JpjdPc/s1600/Kneecap.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemx6HllaInf-Uqvq1GrO_sSf501fjKSMCbbaLiHezOPlnWcpb3xfRhJGdat9jD4S3sNYXRMPAamHmR5HdD_sbut_yjyjRWrUFd5DXgcZ0VyZiZAgjzv0ggx_yjmM7KdPc8EGg_JpjdPc/s1600/Kneecap.png" height="224" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kneecap at T-minus 1 day of surgery and 12 weeks later</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In a strange,
Stockholm-syndrome kind of twist, I kind of miss my leg brace. Not in
the sense of the support it gave me, but for the physical reminder it sent to me and to others that everything wasn't A-ok in the general
vicinity of my right knee. Now I'm asked more often than not "So is
your knee all healed up?" And 12 weeks ago when I was told I'd be in a
leg brace for 10 weeks, my reaction was the same: once it's off, I'll be
100% again.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> But no.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> My knee is still larger than my thigh
because the soft tissue that was ripped apart is still swollen as it
continues to heal itself. I've come to understand this could last for
up to a year. My thigh is still smaller than my knee because my muscles
atrophied (quickly) when I was be-braced and couldn't use them. I've
come to understand this can take 4–6 months to reach 80% to 90%, and up
to a full year to get back to 100%. While I used to be able to hang out
at the bottom of a squat for minutes at a time, my knee currently
doesn't bend far enough for me to do so, and I don't have the strength
to get back up. I have a 6-inch jagged scar running the width of my
knee, I can feel knots under my skin where the surgeon tied off the
plastic sutures she used to hold the 2 pieces of my kneecap together,
and some skin and facia are still stuck to my kneecap where they adhered
while my leg was stuck inside of its cage.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0bWYgsGDZu1YUXHQ4qbQ_v7wAfbsG4dxux_Ive_1LRUhc7kWu7hccYCyUtYLJLb8tTzXldtQcbnqUexFYYVYp1MeoxEyovwKzgjEv66k0HA55-0KA1L5OunxY_NyJV5exXY_EEBQcp0/s1600/Kneecap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0bWYgsGDZu1YUXHQ4qbQ_v7wAfbsG4dxux_Ive_1LRUhc7kWu7hccYCyUtYLJLb8tTzXldtQcbnqUexFYYVYp1MeoxEyovwKzgjEv66k0HA55-0KA1L5OunxY_NyJV5exXY_EEBQcp0/s1600/Kneecap.jpg" height="312" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Be-scarred knee and atrophied leg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> So no, my knee is not all healed up. And it won't be for a while.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
I seem to cycle between good weeks and bad weeks. The good ones
usually involve realizing I've made some progress—another 10 degrees of
bend, the ability to climb a step without a hand rail—which usually
comes on suddenly, like "hey, look at that, I'm an inch closer to the
floor and it doesn't hurt!" That's been interesting to watch, since I
thought the healing process would be more gradual. The bad weeks
involve trying and failing to do something I used to be able to do, or
think I should be able to do, or try doing and then finding out how much
harder it is to do than I thought it would be. I expect these weeks to
be more common now that the brace is off and I can try (and fail) to do
more. Hopefully they'll be countered by weeks when I realize that I've
tried (and succeeded in) doing something, even if it's just a little
more than last week.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> So I still find the injury and healing
process intriguing, despite the frustrating moments. I'm hoping I might
be more empathetic about both in the future, now that I'm developing an
understanding of how much time it can take to heal and how difficult it
can be. I'm happy to be walking, hoping to be running (slowly) soon,
and looking forward to hanging out in the bottom of a squat again. This
week I started hitting things (and got hit) again in boxing, and today I
pushed a sled—not the heaviest one I've pushed before, but it felt
awesome to move that sucker across the gym floor.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Tomorrow I may
hurt. And I'll likely be pissed off because of it. It's easy to take
for granted the things I could do before being injured, and it's
frustrating not to be able to do them now. But eventually I'll get
there, with enough time and practice and patience, maybe just one small
lunge or shallow squat at a time. In the meantime I'll take whatever
quarter-inch more mobility my knee will give me, and try to call it
good.</span></span></div>
Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-76513211570134699842014-03-02T09:50:00.000-07:002014-03-02T17:41:52.021-07:00Crash test dummy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mE7DUo6mNv5MWwmtXb7TUYHSn0OEegPhdOixZllF8V-rlYS6nU-7NOdXPUxz-5NyFyFeGBi9DClAnz1bQTGibLoWdKcRNbm9Fxl_H0cFTh5_qce5VvnksKgrt1q5R1_kskD2KMMuRiA/s1600/Motorcycle+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0mE7DUo6mNv5MWwmtXb7TUYHSn0OEegPhdOixZllF8V-rlYS6nU-7NOdXPUxz-5NyFyFeGBi9DClAnz1bQTGibLoWdKcRNbm9Fxl_H0cFTh5_qce5VvnksKgrt1q5R1_kskD2KMMuRiA/s1600/Motorcycle+and+me.jpg" height="320" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still in one piece</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Eight weeks ago today I crashed my motorcycle, tearing open my knee and fracturing my kneecap into mostly 2 piec<span class="text_exposed_show">es.
I was geared up as best I could be (helmet; leather jacket, boots, and
gloves; jeans), didn't hit my head, and never lost consciousness. What
I remember is my front wheel suddenly jerking to the right as I was
traveling 30</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>–</i>35 mph down the road, which caused me to low-side the bike
and slam my right knee into the ground. We both tumbled down the road
for a ways, but I managed to get away from the bike (or it from me), so
when we stopped moving, the bike was about 15 feet away from me,
still in the same lane of travel.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaz7zblC0Zio76FYOoytWisAv1wOmaykvRiX65s7TV3xGj3K0DuHzYigopd6aSVa3VxEFBpaR73BJ8c8sXX3YnSiZTNQI8InQYpqiiG-fPUFHa-rz_gn6gRXDTkTKtRQ0zwmFYTVE1S5U/s1600/Boot+skid.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaz7zblC0Zio76FYOoytWisAv1wOmaykvRiX65s7TV3xGj3K0DuHzYigopd6aSVa3VxEFBpaR73BJ8c8sXX3YnSiZTNQI8InQYpqiiG-fPUFHa-rz_gn6gRXDTkTKtRQ0zwmFYTVE1S5U/s1600/Boot+skid.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These boots were made for sliding</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">From what I could tell,
everyone around me stopped to help, calling 911, directing traffic
around me, pushing my bike off the road. Somebody grabbed my hand and
told me to squeeze as hard as I needed to (I will forever remember this
stranger). The ambulance was there within 5</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>–</i>10 minutes. I don't
remember the crash itself being that painful (maybe between a 3 and 5 on
a scale of 1</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>–</i>10, which was a question I was asked by every care
practitioner who walked by me), but later in the hospital once the drugs
and adrenaline wore off, it was awful. I discovered morphine was
my new best friend.<br /> <br /> The next morning I was in surgery for 3
hours, half the time spent removing road debris from inside my knee, the
other half to put the pieces back together and stitch me up (19
stitches). The surgeon had me walking with a walker and leg brace the
same day. I was released from the hospital 2 days later after being
doused with antibiotics to prevent infection from the open wound.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3wh5FIVCSrtiyGsLlnWhhXw-qJpc1LFa1AAy4_oIPETldh3Zf3QB2w43Vga03D4CoiaDkq95b9mMh8-FzcnDrd76kp4wSj-vGZhwv8PSz9FnaBEZrHdsoyay3xNPWNr8DKW0k4jkECQ/s1600/Here+we+go.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3wh5FIVCSrtiyGsLlnWhhXw-qJpc1LFa1AAy4_oIPETldh3Zf3QB2w43Vga03D4CoiaDkq95b9mMh8-FzcnDrd76kp4wSj-vGZhwv8PSz9FnaBEZrHdsoyay3xNPWNr8DKW0k4jkECQ/s1600/Here+we+go.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Forget the brace, those socks are sexy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Within a week I traded the walker for a cane, then gave up the cane 2
days after that. The next day I walked device-free (except for the
brace, of course) into the gym, where I've been 3</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>–</i>4 times each week
since. I started working part-time from home a week after the accident,
and have been adding more hours each week.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQpby06RfwPuLDsLw7BxJ3KpUC_KpF3cDkEfxBgXPc4eYiZac8K7gIzjYE-cTGYuD0bUwDC-9zE-CJYz4E_-RSOvOqefbaZHxuu2XrmyldUfkDi58wiC4yepYSJlFA4eh3hsmxkk4YVE/s1600/Imperial+Walker+and+me.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQpby06RfwPuLDsLw7BxJ3KpUC_KpF3cDkEfxBgXPc4eYiZac8K7gIzjYE-cTGYuD0bUwDC-9zE-CJYz4E_-RSOvOqefbaZHxuu2XrmyldUfkDi58wiC4yepYSJlFA4eh3hsmxkk4YVE/s1600/Imperial+Walker+and+me.JPG" height="320" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Johnny Walker. Or Walker, Texas Ranger. Or Imperial Walker.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">When I first
got home, trying to be human seemed to take 3 times as long as before</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>—</i></span></span>going to the bathroom, showering, getting dressed. But, as my leg
has gotten stronger, I've been able to cut the time back to something
closer to normal. Four weeks ago I was allowed to start bending
my knee 30 degrees, which meant I could finally put pants and socks and
shoes on by myself (instead of skirts and flip-flops), and pretty much
do everything by myself except drive. I started physical therapy the
same day.</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimH4RGG3FibQJbx3QuqqVzrRA2bEvUNOQenHC2UzFyD79wMIjWk1qIlxWjf89PAKC0pjwSWSBqXfjNbTV4bEsgL-FL3mWCgSnIi9XTJStCJymnSt-cFYbwxPnComB2lQxXrQqftQNMgWI/s1600/Pants+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimH4RGG3FibQJbx3QuqqVzrRA2bEvUNOQenHC2UzFyD79wMIjWk1qIlxWjf89PAKC0pjwSWSBqXfjNbTV4bEsgL-FL3mWCgSnIi9XTJStCJymnSt-cFYbwxPnComB2lQxXrQqftQNMgWI/s1600/Pants+and+me.jpg" height="320" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm wearing pants!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">The surgeon's schedule is for me to bend my knee 30
more degrees every two weeks, building up to 2 weeks at 90 degrees, at
which point I can finally become brace-free (March 19!). I've been pushing it a little, and am now past 90 degrees of bend. A couple of weeks ago when I reached 50 degrees, I discovered I could drive again.
All of our cars are manuals, so this wasn't an option until I could
fit both legs in the driver's seat.<br /> <br /> Perhaps strangely, I've found being injured unexpectedly interesting, in part because I've never been injured like
this before, so everything is new and curious, but mostly because
I've had such amazing support during the entire process, so it's been
easier than expected to be myself and do what I need and like to do. My husband has been incredible, keeping me well-fed and helping me with all the
daily tasks I couldn't do at the beginning. I don't know how anyone
could recover from an injury like this without having a retired squeeze
at home. My friends have been so generous in offering me rides to and
from the gym and happy hour. If it hadn't been for them, I would've gone
crazy not being able to get my endorphins on or hang out with people I like.
And my coach at the gym has done a fantastic job modifying all of the workouts to something that accommodates my limited mobility while still
kicking my ass. I've made peace with the AirDyne, hang muscle cleans, sit-ups, ring rows, and anything else that doesn't require a deep knee bend.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUvMnJ4EeocaBtfPKwStWWKmDdsBd2yYjtOStHQ0qlse8v2FU9t86bgGFPmt6d8vg8hA-x4c_JqIrRcc8oZlRxiT8GgmZyb23MhQbIjEbzDxKKSGDgDsEHPFZ1oYCTkdTBjIHiHip4Vc/s1600/AirDyne+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUvMnJ4EeocaBtfPKwStWWKmDdsBd2yYjtOStHQ0qlse8v2FU9t86bgGFPmt6d8vg8hA-x4c_JqIrRcc8oZlRxiT8GgmZyb23MhQbIjEbzDxKKSGDgDsEHPFZ1oYCTkdTBjIHiHip4Vc/s1600/AirDyne+and+me.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teaching that AirDyne who's boss</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQ8wX-94Ud7pe7j1lyiWE-_6rBUAvzNfbl6KaAAjucNTEtmtCxWGRZLXu2VrADslcWljK9BslGu0CkjcoFvgmyPrFhYeImwX7eo9ZYnA14FoZdA4O5J-ALdErrTuED4q5VweqedcRwVo/s1600/Ring+rows+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjQ8wX-94Ud7pe7j1lyiWE-_6rBUAvzNfbl6KaAAjucNTEtmtCxWGRZLXu2VrADslcWljK9BslGu0CkjcoFvgmyPrFhYeImwX7eo9ZYnA14FoZdA4O5J-ALdErrTuED4q5VweqedcRwVo/s1600/Ring+rows+and+me.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ring rows should be easier with an exoskeleton, but no</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"> I've also received a lot of
advice and lectures over the past 8 weeks</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>—</i>what to do or not do while
on pain medication (which I cut way back on after about 5 days and
stopped taking after 10), what to do or not do while my knee heals, what
to do or not do with my motorcycle. I appreciate that everyone's concerned
and I know they all mean well, but really, I'm done with being lectured. I've also
been told how lucky I was that I was in good shape before the accident</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>—</i>again, thanks, but if 3 years of consistently going to the gym and
lifting heavy weights constitutes luck, then I have a very different definition of
the word (who was it who said "the more I practice, the luckier I get"?). I'll chalk up the fact I was in good shape to
good fortune and hard work; the good luck part comes in with the fact it
was a Sunday with minimal traffic on what's usually a busy road in
Tucson. Sorry, I don't mean to be contrary, but I guess I have
some buttons that are easy to push after hearing or being told the same
things for the past 8 weeks</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">. I needed one paragraph to vent a little.<br /> <br />
So enough of that, moving on, we still don't know the cause of the
crash, because the two theories we've come up with don't explain all of
the details. One is that I was tapped by a car from behind, which would
explain my front wheel suddenly jerking to the right; however, this
doesn't explain the damage to my front wheel, which indicates I hit
something big (like a cinderblock or pothole). The problem with that
idea is that nobody was in front of me, just an open road on a beautiful
day, so it's hard for me to think I missed something as big as a
cinderblock (no potholes</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><i>—</i>we checked). Of course, you always hear
about car drivers who say they didn't see that motorcycle until after
they hit it, so maybe I hit another motorcycle. Other theories include something with
vampires, aliens, or a drone strike. I'm inclined to
go with a combination of all of the above.</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvAOkoTzZdlgTjCC3-hMXS1hU2asM6K_rM4CeUrdUWYDOPWLZBUzYW7FJNGAOuvDWR1o1GXqLv35CscJIw1W-hbiGdarS4ZaRcaQPr9teJIkYLekrPGMdmC0dleQIoj1NxTi31v9OTwYY/s1600/Phantom+wheel+damage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvAOkoTzZdlgTjCC3-hMXS1hU2asM6K_rM4CeUrdUWYDOPWLZBUzYW7FJNGAOuvDWR1o1GXqLv35CscJIw1W-hbiGdarS4ZaRcaQPr9teJIkYLekrPGMdmC0dleQIoj1NxTi31v9OTwYY/s1600/Phantom+wheel+damage.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phantom wheel damage</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">Ultimately, yes, I'm
extremely thankful it wasn't worse, that I was up and back to the gym
within 2 weeks of the accident, that I have such a great support system
to take care of me, and that I have a job with enough flexibility that I
can work from home. If any of those factors were different, I don't
know how things would be going right now. But fortunately all of those things <i>are</i>
there, and I feel good. Granted, I have up days and down days, but I'm looking forward to getting back to
100%, including observing the healing process along the way. I'm
looking forward to getting back on my motorcycle and riding again;
before doing so, I plan to purchase body armor specific to
motorcycling. And I've especially loved hearing everyones' stories about
their injuries (especially knee injuries) and how they healed, because I
have a new appreciation of the challenges involved with an injury and I
find your stories inspiring!</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">So thanks to all of you who have shared your
stories with me, and thanks to everyone who continues to help me as I build my way back to 2 working legs!</span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9IcQiLkmOsgMNdO1YHykKjne68fg1nfdFoy8QgrH72LSTO4y8cuOCn_XFvmQYEdUlS_UHkyqZEEdVE-4FeP5vuZzqQ8pEXna8mDjdKX6sNsF6poD2frw5dxqlzcv6jIvdl_gaKY4Hf4/s1600/Happy+hour.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD9IcQiLkmOsgMNdO1YHykKjne68fg1nfdFoy8QgrH72LSTO4y8cuOCn_XFvmQYEdUlS_UHkyqZEEdVE-4FeP5vuZzqQ8pEXna8mDjdKX6sNsF6poD2frw5dxqlzcv6jIvdl_gaKY4Hf4/s1600/Happy+hour.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks, everyone! Keep the rubber side down!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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</div>
Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-27581027982228068432013-11-14T21:07:00.001-07:002020-08-16T22:59:57.090-07:00Boba ... um ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64fi7A_fzcpwlA7J876wH_9pjkq2x4x8wlFFXx_VtCspKr5Uz0PPoiCIXU7zxKpPKl6Gwg97PjTdvJjqsWHHHuzftLK7HX6EzQMsIoGS415yVki9zao4mrMtZxiwXaMEsDJyJ079vrqc/s1600/Boba+Fetti.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64fi7A_fzcpwlA7J876wH_9pjkq2x4x8wlFFXx_VtCspKr5Uz0PPoiCIXU7zxKpPKl6Gwg97PjTdvJjqsWHHHuzftLK7HX6EzQMsIoGS415yVki9zao4mrMtZxiwXaMEsDJyJ079vrqc/w500-h370/Boba+Fetti.JPG" width="500" /></a></div>
Boba Fetts?<br />
<br />
Boba Fetti?<br />
<br />
Bobas Fett?<br />
<br />
Bobae Fett?<br />
<br />
Boba Feet? <br />
<br />
A question to haunt the intergalactic grammarian.Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-35337017553079209242013-02-10T19:51:00.000-07:002013-02-10T19:56:06.058-07:00The Ersatz Althete<span id="internal-source-marker_0.9530752313936235" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I wasn't what you'd call physically gifted or cool or a jock growing up. In fact, if you'd whispered the words </span><a href="http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/0345391802.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Douglas Adams</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> or </span><a href="http://www.geekrest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/star_trek_the_original_series.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Star Trek</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> as you walked by, or better yet </span><a href="http://www.coverbrowser.com/covers/red-sonja-1983" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Red Sonja</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, I probably would've turned to see who was carrying on an interesting conversation.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DKk91incMynfDrlWSnY0JGSz5piTOOyjNL4sUDeg_n4clHSEfNocI226qQ8yfAXdp-3gd6qz0-RoxlrsM5W-W9jnIRKJlv7wo44nn7BDnWTwrDkBbSGtrdEVmIOZTEVkFkyWhVMGtP8/s1600/Marit3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DKk91incMynfDrlWSnY0JGSz5piTOOyjNL4sUDeg_n4clHSEfNocI226qQ8yfAXdp-3gd6qz0-RoxlrsM5W-W9jnIRKJlv7wo44nn7BDnWTwrDkBbSGtrdEVmIOZTEVkFkyWhVMGtP8/s320/Marit3.jpg" title="Sci-fi/fantasy/music geek" width="176" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sci-fi-fantasy-music geek</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It
wasn't until college when the freshman 15 found me (or was it 20?), and
hearing folks tell me I looked “healthy” (we all know what that means)
during my first trip back home made me wonder if maybe staying up to
date with the </span><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7d/Newmutants10383.jpg" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">New Mutants</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and becoming </span><a href="http://www.startrek.com/page/star-trek-the-next-generation" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">TNG</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">'s
new biggest fan perhaps wasn't keeping me in the svelte shape I was
expecting. Well, I suppose soft and squishy is a shape. So sure, I was
in “a shape.” A roundish, malleable shape. A soft-shouldered,
slightly-out-of-breath shape.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Not
having excelled physically at anything more taxing than walking to the
dining hall, I had no idea how to change my shape, so the obvious choice
was to join the women's rugby team. Me, who bruises if you glance at
me the wrong way. Whose idea of tackling someone involved giving them a hug. Obviously I was destined to become one of the rugby greats.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But
I digress. Well, no, I haven't actually gressed into anything yet, so
it's hard to diverge from a topic when there isn't one to begin with.
What I mean to talk about in this post is the concept of recovery,
which all started for me as a sci-fi-fantasy geek in my late teens when I
decided to try to switch gears and be a jock. That's a really long
time ago for me now, so my memory is a little sketchy on details. I'm
pretty sure I never became a jock. I'm also pretty sure I kept up with
the latest drama in the world of </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/40498-xanth" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Xanth</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">,
because that was important. One thing I do recall, though, is that even though I started pushing my heart rate up more than 20 years ago, I
didn't really grasp the concept of recovery until about a year ago.
And in all honesty, I'm still trying to figure it out.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When
I started playing rugby, I was young. You can get away with a lot when
you're young. Probably more than you should, but damn, those are some
fun years to get away with stuff. One of the things you can do when
you're young is to absorb all sorts of information about exercise,
weight lifting, naughty lyrics, and alcohol. Well, not so much
information about alcohol, but alcohol itself. Rugby is pretty much the
perfect venue for accomplishing all of that.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEZekdcm8J5e38qDVF9GIhu6VcY_qP9BnL3MTef24BwLU-EKXvwGAgj4jwrkMXdWxsuzMaCyc0Y2wNEqyJi9FKVgb6XDYI191uYNbNMDUz2ZW3YlcmvuXDkAhS9zv3-bZ4XhY4fqlads/s1600/Rugby+days.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPEZekdcm8J5e38qDVF9GIhu6VcY_qP9BnL3MTef24BwLU-EKXvwGAgj4jwrkMXdWxsuzMaCyc0Y2wNEqyJi9FKVgb6XDYI191uYNbNMDUz2ZW3YlcmvuXDkAhS9zv3-bZ4XhY4fqlads/s320/Rugby+days.jpg" title="College rugby days" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So freakin' hot we had to forego the jerseys</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mostly
what I seemed to absorb at that time (aside from C2H5OH – geek,
remember?) was that more exercise and heavier weights were always
better. According to the broscience I heard, a little was better than
none, some was better than a little, so of course a lot was better than a
shot of tequila with a beer chaser. Days off were for the weak, or
because you had a really gnarly hangover.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">So
I entered <a href="http://www.wildcatcrossfit.com/" target="_blank">CrossFit</a> thinking that the more <a href="http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/faq.html#General0" target="_blank">WOD</a>s I did, the better I'd
get. Those PRs during those first addictive months are so startling
that it's really hard to believe that more is not necessarily better.
But at week 6, when my answer to the question of "how are you feeling?"
came back as "really, really tired," Jenny suggested that I do a
half-week, which meant only doing half the weight, or half the reps, or
half the time, for the whole week. And as timing would have it, I was
scheduled to hike the Grand Canyon the week after that, so I wouldn't
even be at the gym to win back my WOD cred.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Honestly, it felt weird. I was pretty sure regression was imminent and I'd revert back to my “healthy” shape faster than </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjgsnWtBQm0" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Superman could spin the world backward and reverse time</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.
But I did it, I scaled everything and took the next week off for
“active rest” … and a magical thing happened. I came back to CrossFit
feeling stronger and better than I did before.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHbxvLZc2xdtvFbu3v0DbAjsTwLQ-33oS4-fparzbgkO0uApRmhChXAZsBu7_asGRgan0RFdchX7-lu6zhcHkWzN6DnTJAP9oitxqmPJPU75UD7tn4_NahAOPcGwtlfbLULQDUQMP-Kk/s1600/P1000022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHbxvLZc2xdtvFbu3v0DbAjsTwLQ-33oS4-fparzbgkO0uApRmhChXAZsBu7_asGRgan0RFdchX7-lu6zhcHkWzN6DnTJAP9oitxqmPJPU75UD7tn4_NahAOPcGwtlfbLULQDUQMP-Kk/s320/P1000022.JPG" title="Active rest" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Active Grand Canyon rest</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Which
meant, of course, that I delved into researching the topic of recovery.
Because if you're an obsessed and converted geek like me, there's one
thing you're really good at, and that's research.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It
turns out everything I learned when I was young was mostly wrong, but I
could get away with it because I was … well, young, and pretty damn
lucky not to get injured. What I've come to understand – and this is
probably dead obvious to those of you who did something more active than memorize all the lines from </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/quotes" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Star Wars</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
in your younger years – is that your body does not actually get stronger during exercise, but rather after you've finished the exercise
and you take a break to let your muscles heal up from it. And not only
that, but your ability to recover from hard (a.k.a. CrossFitty) workouts
is completely dependent on everything else going on in your life, too,
like how you feed yourself, how much sleep you get, day-to-day levels of
stress … and yes, your age. (Dammit.)</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVrZvli5LHTga2igIKpWdKI94Y-nXVxMxCD1BqxmYRDBWeBZ9sO3NAPW9270RmvOQhLaDEVL5r3KP7eAouXXolWvwr_bRau46jgGXn_4ROlrT-Lq7EwTeWEO0OULhbQBsuFBPMsRMzpY/s1600/Recovery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVrZvli5LHTga2igIKpWdKI94Y-nXVxMxCD1BqxmYRDBWeBZ9sO3NAPW9270RmvOQhLaDEVL5r3KP7eAouXXolWvwr_bRau46jgGXn_4ROlrT-Lq7EwTeWEO0OULhbQBsuFBPMsRMzpY/s320/Recovery.jpg" title="Recovery head pat" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What recovery sometimes looks like -- a head pat</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The
libraries of CrossFit provide approximately one bazillion schools of
thought on recovery. A popular one among the masses is the “listening
to your body” approach, which involves being tuned in enough to realize
that if you try to increase your lifts or decrease your time at that
moment, you might hurt yourself. Ergo, take a break until you feel
ready to tackle it again.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Personally, I love this approach. I'll admit I'm </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">occasionally</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">
guilty of loading the bar with a little more than I should during heavy
cleans or deadlifts, and my back is all like, “Hey, WTF! That's 3 days
of hard time off for YOU!” Fortunately this provides the perfect excuse
to sleep in for a few days (win!), heal up (Win!), and from what I now
understand, get stronger at the same time (WIN!).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But
sometimes the siren call of the endorphin is hard to ignore, especially
on days when the workout looks fabulous because it hits all your
favorite moves (power anything!), tweaked knee or sore shoulder be
damned. In these situations, a more structured approach to recovery may
be appropriate, and it's one I'm really interested in trying more
consistently. This school of thought recommends doing a half-week every
4 weeks (even if you're feeling super peachy), and taking every 12th
week off entirely from the gym to do something you've spent all that
time at the gym training for. You know, “active rest.” Hiking the
Canyon. Strutting the beach to show off your hot CrossFit bod.
Cuddling with your squeeze. Reading the entire </span><a href="http://harrypotter.scholastic.com/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Harry Potter</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> series back-to-back. (Or </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/list/q22zEUsH3MQ/" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">watching it</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.) (Or both.)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of
course, there are infinite variations in between to try. Three days at
the gym instead of five per week. Four days instead of six. Two days
on, one or two days off. A half-week every six weeks instead of four.
There's even this</span><a href="http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/29_05_Recovery_Nextgen.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">nifty recovery point system</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, for those of you who dig on quantification methodologies.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This
is part of what I think keeps CrossFit so interesting to me – there's
always something new to try, diet details to be tweaked, extra sleep to
be had, time off to be encouraged, weight lifted or number of reps to be
increased or decreased – it takes more effort to be bored than to be
engaged. And with the added bonus of regular rest days built in for the
sake of recovery and remaining injury-free, this ersatz athlete still
has time to get her geek on, too.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anyone up for a </span><a href="http://www.hulu.com/firefly" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Firefly</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> marathon?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBlvscLb3xbuz6m_O-CuPLZr7uuCE2YiaMgKcjrePhdcaCUwSFRMKWHSB55mtSsCFP_Qk4BQZvSEdhHows1ufVNWSYIQ-HjH-FfTkHq102woPJL23sqLcSvh6C2_2DAIwdRB8hEwpymo/s1600/IMG_2401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBlvscLb3xbuz6m_O-CuPLZr7uuCE2YiaMgKcjrePhdcaCUwSFRMKWHSB55mtSsCFP_Qk4BQZvSEdhHows1ufVNWSYIQ-HjH-FfTkHq102woPJL23sqLcSvh6C2_2DAIwdRB8hEwpymo/s320/IMG_2401.JPG" title="BFFs" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BFFs</td></tr>
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<br />Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-38277871757790543002012-09-08T21:51:00.001-07:002013-01-20T02:43:23.801-07:00Stories of a wannabe frog biologist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5huJuKDXzD95j6_3wqsk91i-5WKiQMXbOCac4l0b2FpLihzuJNY7jm_rUIq6OoH7KC4AogLhItU3jc8buGMRWswu031iswDoG6k0xcw4faKxMmMTMqQGzqzCkV7AYIK2dkDRb7LQkms/s1600/IMG_2907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /></div>
Recently I spent an evening looking for leopard frogs in a lake located very near the Arizona-Mexico border. It's called <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/coronado/recreation/natureviewing/recarea/?recid=25524&actid=62" target="_blank">Peña Blanca Lake</a>. It's not a naturally-occurring lake; it's impounded, it has lots of non-native crayfish and fish, but it's still a beautiful place with enough water to float a boat.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5T3-u2blAdQZVtyHnO3TbdMG6Rqk2yV3Exrr4MCAuMxwqcCO10P81S84VEPzWnPOH2ubD3-_mwN21OKtmBUmk5n1zkGYeKK9O6KjETRfOiffhlMOnjke9EzRMqd25PGQBkjqYIZTiXE/s1600/IMG_2888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5T3-u2blAdQZVtyHnO3TbdMG6Rqk2yV3Exrr4MCAuMxwqcCO10P81S84VEPzWnPOH2ubD3-_mwN21OKtmBUmk5n1zkGYeKK9O6KjETRfOiffhlMOnjke9EzRMqd25PGQBkjqYIZTiXE/s320/IMG_2888.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to launch.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Peña Blanca Lake was drained in 2008 to remove sediment contaminated by mercury from gold and silver mining
operations in the hills around the lake, then it was allowed to refill through natural rain events. It reopened again in 2009.<br />
<br />
At the time it was drained, a lot of effort was made to eliminate bullfrogs in the lake and surrounding area. You see, <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/09/0928_040928_bullfrog.html" target="_blank">bullfrogs</a> are native to the eastern part of the U.S., but not the Southwest. And as cute and cuddly as they may be, they're actually one of the most voracious predators out there and have really taken a toll on the native frogs, fish, and snakes in this area. I have no doubt that if they had the ability to wrap their mouths around your average-sized human being, we'd no longer be at the top of the food chain.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LpXg3nUCkuo" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
Even though bullfrogs were cleared out of the lake a few years ago, they're actually evil tenacious bastards bent on world domination, which means (in the words of <a href="http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Alastor_Moody" target="_blank">Mad-Eye Moody</a>) it takes Constant Vigilance to make sure they don't move in again and eat the crap out of the native frogs that found their way back to the lake when they figured out it was no longer a death trap.<br />
<br />
So every few months a team of biologists makes its way to the lake, headlamps and frog calls in hand, to figure out what's going on. Or at least to try to.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5huJuKDXzD95j6_3wqsk91i-5WKiQMXbOCac4l0b2FpLihzuJNY7jm_rUIq6OoH7KC4AogLhItU3jc8buGMRWswu031iswDoG6k0xcw4faKxMmMTMqQGzqzCkV7AYIK2dkDRb7LQkms/s1600/IMG_2907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5huJuKDXzD95j6_3wqsk91i-5WKiQMXbOCac4l0b2FpLihzuJNY7jm_rUIq6OoH7KC4AogLhItU3jc8buGMRWswu031iswDoG6k0xcw4faKxMmMTMqQGzqzCkV7AYIK2dkDRb7LQkms/s320/IMG_2907.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Floating frog biologists.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The process involves floating around the perimeter of the lake alternately playing the calls of the two native frogs, the <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/sounds/rchiricahuensisaz8102.mp3" target="_blank">Chiricahua leopard frog</a> and the <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/sounds/ryavapaiensisaz310.mp3" target="_blank">lowland leopard frog</a>, as well as the <a href="http://www.californiaherps.com/frogs/pages/r.catesbeiana.sounds.html" target="_blank">bullfrog</a>, and shining your headlamp along the shore to see if you can glimpse the <a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6eIkWTXkXVPBUliVmexaCK49o_Nqd2XyWnyp6kOnHEB0wmrCy" target="_blank">shine</a> of their eyes.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipfcbpk6YdEtj3PWyZeW8o8UmKJAylIl1F2lmJuAW9_iDFg6C22yiOR7p0wiZ-Z_9QyNgF4df7UzY8px7pYnt7wuQRiKV8PrpJP0D3ydLE5Lvg-qWkPfVKjBPCGBfzuqQYbuA-3aws_3c/s1600/IMG_2912.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipfcbpk6YdEtj3PWyZeW8o8UmKJAylIl1F2lmJuAW9_iDFg6C22yiOR7p0wiZ-Z_9QyNgF4df7UzY8px7pYnt7wuQRiKV8PrpJP0D3ydLE5Lvg-qWkPfVKjBPCGBfzuqQYbuA-3aws_3c/s320/IMG_2912.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frog biologists in their natural habitat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
One thing you don't fully realize until you start shining a headlamp into the undergrowth is exactly how many other creatures are out there (no doubt also bent on world domination), and exactly how many of their eyes shine back at you. Like <a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSjh1ff41qvrAhYyv8x63caTruXcgUpM9qcDsKMDVwDVa__5CEh" target="_blank">spiders</a>. And <a href="https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcThoKb0GX30TeoVAk45dh89uZm1iIon56HyVV_rgM0WVAhxIPbv" target="_blank">moths</a>. And <a href="http://i983.photobucket.com/albums/ae316/jkapfer/Resize_PICT0061.jpg" target="_blank">deer</a>. And <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2Paha2kvrHGl8wwa-XYQ9OZna1-3FfeAwQMAmQWDOJ1cZp4F6u8R-oXQwh-lF3lB0LZZ9PeY5K406L8lNM1gzUkcXxdEIJx-RHfSAG-5U-v87i_S22rmik9Z1J4rXBjodb4L6M2XKt8/s1600/IMG_9726.JPG" target="_blank">leopards</a>. No, not really, there aren't any leopards in these parts. (Except in <a href="http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/arizona/images/SpeciesImages/JServoss/Amphibians/Lowland%20Leopard%20Frog%20%281%29.jpg" target="_blank">frog</a> form, of course.)<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg72UlTcp2T14E-P332oaBYhPfajCzgYDJ3ZrpupzI-OmkevI_TnCI2-9VJKp7VPokxpTHHmztZ01rtRQBhtZMDOYFoqaOI1lgrTymAqjAQ4RqSC76H7J9c90qMOvMaiGZR8Qy-VO8FG-8/s1600/IMG_2917.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg72UlTcp2T14E-P332oaBYhPfajCzgYDJ3ZrpupzI-OmkevI_TnCI2-9VJKp7VPokxpTHHmztZ01rtRQBhtZMDOYFoqaOI1lgrTymAqjAQ4RqSC76H7J9c90qMOvMaiGZR8Qy-VO8FG-8/s320/IMG_2917.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rare sighting of a frog biologist at night.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are, however, <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Return_of_the_Jaguar.html" target="_blank">jaguars</a>. Which are pretty cool. I'm guessing their eyes shine at night, too.<br />
<br />
So anyway, all of these thousands of shining eyes glittering back at you are pretty and yet creepy at the same time. Rather, they're pretty creepy.<br />
<br />
We didn't detect an over-abundance of leopard frogs in the lake that night (unless two is too many), but we also didn't detect any bullfrogs, which is always good news. The quest against those wily bastards continues, so hopefully at least a small part of Arizona will remain available for our native fauna to inhabit. Constant Vigilance!<br />
<br />
Of course, for me it's mostly an opportunity to wash the dust off my boat and float around a beautiful desert lake. I'm not sure how much I actually contribute to the cause, except maybe to get in the way. But hey, if that's enough, I'll try to do my part.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dY4ibENhSMQnLt3Ql3ZLPL_oubdW8smp_r80QBhvIIEXJ0DqOrxBz3G3554UPaosakblrPgs2Q06RQGksaWOvoig0kNRbTtZR2YFYGLv7Au7gRQ0Wi2uKBzNlVenYNLXDp6mjdtfRXc/s1600/IMG_2901.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dY4ibENhSMQnLt3Ql3ZLPL_oubdW8smp_r80QBhvIIEXJ0DqOrxBz3G3554UPaosakblrPgs2Q06RQGksaWOvoig0kNRbTtZR2YFYGLv7Au7gRQ0Wi2uKBzNlVenYNLXDp6mjdtfRXc/s320/IMG_2901.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My happy place. Wait, you want me to do something?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-41567671044963910072012-08-18T02:18:00.001-07:002012-08-18T02:28:31.429-07:00608 daysSo in my <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2012/07/one-year-ago-today-or-inconsistent.html">last post</a> I shared (probably TMI) about my experience after one year of <a href="http://www.crossfit.com/" target="_blank">CrossFit</a>.<br />
<br />
Today's post is about my experience after two years of CrossFit.<br />
<br />
Well, no, not really. It's about my experience after <a href="http://www.wildcatcrossfit.com/blog/248/608-days" target="_blank">608 days</a>, which, if you remember anything about the <a href="http://nineplanets.org/" target="_blank">planets</a> from about the 3rd grade, does not equal two Earth years.<br />
<br />
But if you happen to live on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus" target="_blank">Venus</a>, then I guess I'd have been CrossFitting for almost three years when I wrote <a href="http://www.wildcatcrossfit.com/blog/248/608-days" target="_blank">this</a>.<br />
<br />
Speaking of Venus, did anyone see the <a href="http://www.exploratorium.edu/venus/" target="_blank">Transit of Venus</a> on June 5? Seriously awesome astronomical event. If only because of the cool glasses.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eFBtS26N_2Y1SZZZ2ky3GkVhQvvfSxNDGqBHyTqAvJc9YNSt7PWt9upyionWmFpux6xsLIJKl3lcOdnjhDU2Y5RqGOSSxIO9S8d1nSSKCubjA3d1_QBexUWs6IkJTWtGfAihwtlT2yw/s1600/VenusViewers.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0eFBtS26N_2Y1SZZZ2ky3GkVhQvvfSxNDGqBHyTqAvJc9YNSt7PWt9upyionWmFpux6xsLIJKl3lcOdnjhDU2Y5RqGOSSxIO9S8d1nSSKCubjA3d1_QBexUWs6IkJTWtGfAihwtlT2yw/s320/VenusViewers.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transit of Venus viewers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
And how about that <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html" target="_blank">Curiosity Rover</a>? You know, landing on <a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/232499529721720832" target="_blank">Mars</a> and all a couple of weeks ago? That was some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QFvNhsWMU0c" target="_blank">pretty cool sh*t</a>. <br />
<br />
But back to the point.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.wildcatcrossfit.com/blog/248/608-days" target="_blank">608 days</a>.<br />
<br />
And a ridiculous picture to go with it.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-0iyLJoBq9UA7tEXoMxdG-POiYQXeDyZGbuyj0j5v4Go_U6BJJRxi0FCexUuHG_o4x_2OgnKi-vLXqzTKT3YuwVKDTY0FqHEIbP56TkNQanta8DmFMRL0F0uOiI1j7xQUL_VpbngIq8/s1600/Skinning+the+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-0iyLJoBq9UA7tEXoMxdG-POiYQXeDyZGbuyj0j5v4Go_U6BJJRxi0FCexUuHG_o4x_2OgnKi-vLXqzTKT3YuwVKDTY0FqHEIbP56TkNQanta8DmFMRL0F0uOiI1j7xQUL_VpbngIq8/s320/Skinning+the+cat.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's important to wear a nice dress and your best Chucks during a semi-formal CrossFit workout at your gym.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-68348064507509042912012-07-28T16:27:00.000-07:002012-07-29T16:43:26.176-07:00One Year Ago Today, or the Inconsistent Blogger<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Perhaps I'm not meant to be a blogger. Or at least not a very consistent one.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Part of the reason seems to be the need I feel for every post to be <a href="http://www.nightowlbynature.com/2011/05/ya-gotta-start-somewhere.html">perfect, articulate, and somewhat amusing</a>. <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/03/17/rizzo_1603_narrowweb__300x308,0.jpg" target="_blank">That bar is just too high</a> to surmount on a consistent basis, or it is if you're the one inside my head.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Another reason is that I write a lot at work, and by the time I'm home and have some time to myself, often words have left me.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">But even another reason is that a little shy of two years ago, I found this thing called <a href="http://www.crossfit.com/" target="_blank">CrossFit</a>, which not only became something that completely changed my fitness level and how I think about exercise, but unexpectedly provided a creative outlet for my mind, too.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">And so over the past year or so, I've been using the right side of my brain to express some of the changes I've felt and thoughts I've had as I've watched my body and mind evolve through my experiences at the gym. And my gym, bless it, has been kind enough to share some of these musings on their website. Below is the first of these, which I would link to if I could still find it on <a href="http://www.wildcatcrossfit.com/" target="_blank">Wildcat CrossFit</a>'s website, but it seems to have been <a href="http://www.lbto.org/images/Astronomical_Images/M1_RVB_cropped_smaller.jpg" target="_blank">lost in the ether</a> during a recent website upgrade.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">So here it is, this time with pictures ...</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYLR5O2XaiCCxCT4UpJLQ8kUlAuNYanFVjuQi_jHTyxpg4EhsyrUj5pKQ6cQ6LKDjqb8_C8gizyCIGJjUxNt0elvpSgl_hb5oxfDTyq7Nc96UWHl_U4aUAxJsWUq9PMJ9kJ8EUlzPno7g/s1600/Not+fit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYLR5O2XaiCCxCT4UpJLQ8kUlAuNYanFVjuQi_jHTyxpg4EhsyrUj5pKQ6cQ6LKDjqb8_C8gizyCIGJjUxNt0elvpSgl_hb5oxfDTyq7Nc96UWHl_U4aUAxJsWUq9PMJ9kJ8EUlzPno7g/s320/Not+fit.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">August 2010. Not fat, but not fit.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>One
Year Ago Today</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>10/11/2010
– 10/11/2011</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One
year ago today, if you'd told me that I'd willingly join a gym and be
happy about it, I'd have laughed in your face. Absolutely no way.
I'm not a joiner. Never have been, never want to be.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One
year ago today, if you'd told me that I'd look forward to working out
so much that I'd actually get up to do it before work (and on
Saturdays!), I'd have told you you're crazy. Working out is boring.
I get enough exercise biking to work, plus I like to stay up late and
sleep in.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One
year ago today, if you'd told me – with the specter of age 40
darkening my doorstep – that I could be in the best shape of my
life (including my college rugby days), I'd have said “yeah, right,
what're you smokin'?” We get older, we gain weight, we lose
muscle. The way the universe intended.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">One
year ago today, my life changed.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Today,
one year later, I can lift 100 lbs from the ground to overhead and
can jump onto something 34.5” high. (I'll get 36” yet!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today,
one year later, while I still weigh about the same, I've lost two
dress sizes. And have had to replace most of my wardrobe because of
it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today,
one year later, I practice push-ups with a 10-lb weight on my back
because I HATE PUSH-UPS. Which means I need to do more of them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today,
one year later, I'm throwing bags of citrus fertilizer into my truck
and thinking “hey, these 20-lb bags are feeling pretty light!”
And then I realize they're 40-lb bags.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today,
one year later, my husband can't keep his hands off me. (To his
credit, he's always loved my body, even when it was 25 lbs heavier
and jiggly, but now he's telling me to keep doing what I'm doing
because “hon, you're hot!”)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today,
one year later, my diet has changed (not perfect, but getting there),
my sleeping habits have changed (not perfect, but getting there),
and, holy crap, are those abs!?!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today,
one year later, I'm fit. I have muscles. I can open my own jars
(mostly). And the daily activities of life are so much easier
because CrossFit has made me strong. There's no going back, because
I've experienced both sides of the fence and this is the side I want
to be on, where the grass is greener (for the cows, of course), the
people are stronger, the food is better. Because I'm in the best
shape of my life at age 40. Because I have calluses on my hands and
am damn proud of them. Because being strong is the new black. And,
since I had to replace my wardrobe anyway, I'm all about the latest
fashion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So
thank you, Wildcat CrossFit, for the amazing community you've
generated. I'm humbled every day by all of you who sweat and yell
and push yourselves to be better, because you're pushing me to be
better at the same time. Thank you Noah, Eric, Jen, Erin, Mike, and
Kevin for the motivation you inspire though your thoughtful and
dedicated coaching. I'm constantly learning, constantly striving to
perfect my form and get stronger because of you. And thanks
especially to Jenny, who, in coaching me through my first WOD in your
backyard, with chickens pecking nearby and kids running around,
nearly made me puke but hooked me in that very moment. I think back
to where I was one year ago today, and can't believe how far I've
come since then. You've all changed my life, and I can't thank you
enough.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5M9ClPU4B8yRUpGESpm-W7m4TJkbBCOtgQ0bWU0nlLIEb-qlVmQ3QRIr9zWNmkgLha0LTpQWxCzaNo6BLcp1N17ykZL5IdRNCboWHuiq-O3uFx4DwR17juQ18EaZYByjwsy1MaDXuVc/s1600/Getting+fitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5M9ClPU4B8yRUpGESpm-W7m4TJkbBCOtgQ0bWU0nlLIEb-qlVmQ3QRIr9zWNmkgLha0LTpQWxCzaNo6BLcp1N17ykZL5IdRNCboWHuiq-O3uFx4DwR17juQ18EaZYByjwsy1MaDXuVc/s200/Getting+fitter.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">November 2011. A work in progress.</span></td></tr>
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<br /></div>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-85426762781115254672011-09-25T22:35:00.000-07:002011-09-25T22:39:42.146-07:00The dork beacon is shiningSo I can be kind of a dork sometimes. Okay, who are we kidding? More than sometimes.<br />
<br />
For instance, a few weeks ago on a perfectly good Saturday night, instead of doing something cool and date-night worthy, I was researching different ways to make note-taking interesting in a vain attempt to add a little right-brain activity into my invariably scientific and analytical left-brain job. Did I mention it was Saturday night? And that I was researching something for my job? Yeah, my dork beacon was shining brightly that night.<br />
<br />
So anyway, in my research I ran across a method of note-taking I hadn't heard of before called <a href="http://www.core77.com/blog/sketchnotes/sketchnotes_101_the_basics_of_visual_note-taking_19678.asp">Sketchnotes</a>. Essentially, it's a way of "transforming ideas into visual communication; structuring thoughts and
giving hierarchy to concepts" using just text and a
few lines, or, with more practice and creativity, some doodling. At the end of the primer it suggests one way to practice is by sketchnoting movies, which, of course, led me to think I could resurrect my date-night street cred by watching something worthy of a Saturday night, never mind the fact I was using it as an excuse to practice sketchnoting.<br />
<br />
Movie #1 turned out to be Casino Royale (with Daniel Craig, of course ... why bother otherwise?):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghf5u2kEmCK87UHBTro5x6vZQgurok9_iKxIB_E1lwLzU8L4FEmbj7HD4_3-lnmn_NTn5rsjwCfMe1w4IF1XVpQWDHRBDzPvEyak0Gkcy1wJhRH4ljXxxLs8u7xHwskd7rRFsg5SdPnyQ/s1600/Sketchnote_Casino+Royale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghf5u2kEmCK87UHBTro5x6vZQgurok9_iKxIB_E1lwLzU8L4FEmbj7HD4_3-lnmn_NTn5rsjwCfMe1w4IF1XVpQWDHRBDzPvEyak0Gkcy1wJhRH4ljXxxLs8u7xHwskd7rRFsg5SdPnyQ/s320/Sketchnote_Casino+Royale.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I know, I know ... my life-like depiction of Mr. Bond is stunning. But it turned out to be so much fun that the next night I decided to indulge my 1980s John Cusack obsession by re-watching (and sketchnoting) Better Off Dead, a true classic:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG65w_1V7FmOLfWVUTiTKtOQVXMa3VXzOPlbbAOW22gRpj7yCK043dorEYlU-yP4caLMQbwxA4AENmDw8fpoqwYosRLfPm2uqu6PuD0_Juc8pEvaBIBdKQQ-sOFPDf3bZASWh5Dtd9su0/s1600/Sketchnote_Better+Off+Dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG65w_1V7FmOLfWVUTiTKtOQVXMa3VXzOPlbbAOW22gRpj7yCK043dorEYlU-yP4caLMQbwxA4AENmDw8fpoqwYosRLfPm2uqu6PuD0_Juc8pEvaBIBdKQQ-sOFPDf3bZASWh5Dtd9su0/s320/Sketchnote_Better+Off+Dead.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I don't know exactly what it means that one sketchnoting attempt has a lot more words and the other has a lot more white space, as I'm sure the plot twists in Better Off Dead are just as complicated as Casino Royale, but there you have it. Turns out I enjoyed it so much that I've been trying to sketchnote at work during meetings and phone calls, too. Interestingly, sketchnoting makes me want to look back through my notes, which, with the added doodling and non-linear organization, end up making more sense to me than when I was just taking notes with words. Go figure.<br />
<br />
And to prove how far I've progressed in terms of my Saturday night social activity, I ended up watching another John Cusack classic last night, which shows just how far I've branched out in the past few weeks. Yeah, the dork beacon continues to shine ....<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQvUPQqs0GcW_T24qYkB3HOxwOByS5Bl48kyXE0uf_yrTsz7AG_WwJRbhmQMOiie3vGnEbZ0Jd2A0HQRq_i5P3ZLGJbCz9UhWfXIqMVK-tTDS4b7OUjyvstyNdjSKCsIMxjmMBz0mo3k/s1600/Sketchnote_The+Sure+Thing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrQvUPQqs0GcW_T24qYkB3HOxwOByS5Bl48kyXE0uf_yrTsz7AG_WwJRbhmQMOiie3vGnEbZ0Jd2A0HQRq_i5P3ZLGJbCz9UhWfXIqMVK-tTDS4b7OUjyvstyNdjSKCsIMxjmMBz0mo3k/s320/Sketchnote_The+Sure+Thing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739897776563940481.post-11807752707916559122011-05-29T14:57:00.002-07:002020-08-16T22:55:58.691-07:00What not to bring on a canoe trip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">I own a bird. A cockatiel, to be specific. I named him after Loki, the Norse god of mischief. I've had him since he was 6 weeks old -- he turned 19 this year. He's cute. (When he's not biting me.) He's got personality. (A.K.A. attitude.) He's entertaining. (When he's not chewing up my books.)</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">In short, I love him to death, but I do not recommend getting a bird as a pet. (Something else I do not recommend: naming a pet after any god of mischief, Norse or otherwise.)</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">He has, however, over the years, provided me with several blog-worthy moments (if only blogs existed 19 years ago!). There was the time he flew out the door and landed 20 feet up a tree and couldn't figure out how to get down. There was the time he flew out the door and disappeared for 2 weeks. And of course, there was the time we took an overnight canoe trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (or BWCAW, for those in the know) 19 years ago. Because, as you can imagine, a cockatiel makes for an excellent paddling companion. Such an excellent companion, in fact, that I already milked this story for money a few years ago with an article in Paddler Magazine; but hey, who am I to look a gift cow in the mouth? So this time, with feeling. And pictures. Here goes ...</span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">So 19 years ago, this was me:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVMcBwWBFDypuwkR2NMtjMkLHllrRvfpWZIBky2BjWgx8-o-VdM5AaTUDX9ldK4qoGRZQblyF4pV5LkFOfflxj_pWVF_NIoYtvfhQqbsB2-TkyrlKb-v6sIM3xLdOi7JdX5dMJWwrH7w/s1600/Me.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisVMcBwWBFDypuwkR2NMtjMkLHllrRvfpWZIBky2BjWgx8-o-VdM5AaTUDX9ldK4qoGRZQblyF4pV5LkFOfflxj_pWVF_NIoYtvfhQqbsB2-TkyrlKb-v6sIM3xLdOi7JdX5dMJWwrH7w/w355-h500/Me.jpg" width="355" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Me. Carryin' a canoe.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">And this was Loki:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dstHKAsRnWp14Asy0rnrTP_Us3JE5lK4xYsgrOFqFoScXgyyWIayLL2svuGqnB7aeGLo75b2U6VT-gA-9au0L_32wq5AkgRAcBLVUy-QWCKOoFSwBSZJAir-723jpy6yf4u5IzhCpyA/s1600/Loki.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dstHKAsRnWp14Asy0rnrTP_Us3JE5lK4xYsgrOFqFoScXgyyWIayLL2svuGqnB7aeGLo75b2U6VT-gA-9au0L_32wq5AkgRAcBLVUy-QWCKOoFSwBSZJAir-723jpy6yf4u5IzhCpyA/w500-h336/Loki.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Loki. Hangin' in a tent.</span></td></tr>
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</div><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">And this was Loki and me:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZEB9v6QlGlIYJRmnTRwHDXnkId0Z9aAIJUj-nRBJXm0oQeSXIygPDBxwFkppXCtX9Gp3Y-_QhZ4SpX8rw6VBziHiVch5g8Jvb9IOuZjqKi5Qot-10koBuRIbqOsv7P1cYIJGsPod-WBQ/s1600/Loki+and+me.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZEB9v6QlGlIYJRmnTRwHDXnkId0Z9aAIJUj-nRBJXm0oQeSXIygPDBxwFkppXCtX9Gp3Y-_QhZ4SpX8rw6VBziHiVch5g8Jvb9IOuZjqKi5Qot-10koBuRIbqOsv7P1cYIJGsPod-WBQ/w400-h390/Loki+and+me.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Loki. Hangin' on my head.</span></td></tr>
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</div><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">And this was where I worked the summer after I graduated from college:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUz2J5bvAGa49etPLByqFiUnuJHGuVGNY0olHHVnowZ79ChVOab0-VwiEeMtRDXuZm3MFTJH8nMa9ewrTOif7kbjN0eElSN56EOa4VPEQf1szDOtHApH5aVKwjCP-F5iAjMKEPXFTihMQ/s1600/Hungry+Jack+Lake.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUz2J5bvAGa49etPLByqFiUnuJHGuVGNY0olHHVnowZ79ChVOab0-VwiEeMtRDXuZm3MFTJH8nMa9ewrTOif7kbjN0eElSN56EOa4VPEQf1szDOtHApH5aVKwjCP-F5iAjMKEPXFTihMQ/w500-h358/Hungry+Jack+Lake.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A misty morning on Hungry Jack Lake.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.hjo.com/">Hungry Jack Outfitters</a> is a great outfitter, and I highly recommend them if you find yourself up the Gunflint Trail in the BWCAW. I guess I had a pretty life-changing experience working there, considering my current love of canoeing and all things water (one might wonder how I ended up in the desert, but that's for a different post). It's hard to believe that I've only been back a couple of times since then, the last time over 10 years ago. Way too long.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">So there was Loki, there was me, and there we were, ready to explore the area a few weeks after arriving. Dave and Nancy were very accommodating, letting me use a canoe and providing me with food and equipment. Plus, they didn't make any snide comments about the fact I was bringing a cockatiel with me. In retrospect, that's pretty damn accommodating, considering the comments I would've made had I had a little more perspective than my 20-some years (and now 19-years bird owner) provided me.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">Loki seemed satisfied in the bottom of the boat with some scattered seeds and a twist-tie to carry around while I figured out the finer points of the J-stroke and cross-bow draw.</span><br />
<span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRKyOR7lHmUGLgrqFoG09J0yOQKwYWS8PZiLuB0zmM5z-XN8MFyy1igUMSIOCXuhXi16KDLU6FbFpvU6MosXekkE3Libv9LW7q-cfYGwhP7_bLTTwzKB2t5wjumw7vhmxj8POyEUECkFg/s1600/Loki+in+boat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRKyOR7lHmUGLgrqFoG09J0yOQKwYWS8PZiLuB0zmM5z-XN8MFyy1igUMSIOCXuhXi16KDLU6FbFpvU6MosXekkE3Libv9LW7q-cfYGwhP7_bLTTwzKB2t5wjumw7vhmxj8POyEUECkFg/w500-h341/Loki+in+boat.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Somewhere there's a twist-tie...</span></td></tr>
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</p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">We made it across Hungry Jack Lake to the first portage, which is where the first complication reared its head. How to carry a canoe, a pack, and a bird across the portage? Since Loki was unwilling to carry anything (slacker), I tried to figure out various pack/canoe/bird, bird/pack/canoe combinations, but couldn't get anything to work except separate trips for the pack and canoe, with Loki perched on my hand each time. I decided to ignore the "WTF?" looks from the other paddlers portaging their own gear while they watched me struggle to work my way through this glitch. Yeah, whatev. Nothing weird about bringing a tropical bird on a canoe trip.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">Eventually we made it to our camp on Duncan Lake, where we threw down our gear and pitched our tent like so:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQIIGscVAf5rG2Y2AYHChP4BGie_lvtR60n2akk1E7qv-LlNzi4RKnJZIEYodnjNnWL-DPiARDwkPDycdzl7QjcuKEHhqS6nYS4Ioq77DMsFXCMBamyeBwSBcxAxRZoVOavbojBYj5sg/s1600/Loki+in+camp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRQIIGscVAf5rG2Y2AYHChP4BGie_lvtR60n2akk1E7qv-LlNzi4RKnJZIEYodnjNnWL-DPiARDwkPDycdzl7QjcuKEHhqS6nYS4Ioq77DMsFXCMBamyeBwSBcxAxRZoVOavbojBYj5sg/w500-h341/Loki+in+camp.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Loki catching some rays.</span></td></tr>
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</p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">With a few hours left until sunset, we went for a walk, read a book, listened to the wilderness ... oh, wait, that was Loki squawking, not a native bird. Some seeds and a little beef jerky later, we were both fat, fed, happy, and ready for bed. Or I guess I was. What I failed to plan for was a place for Loki to sleep that night -- the box I brought for him turned out to be big enough for his body but not his tail, and he was having none of it. So Loki's perch of choice was my head, which meant we both had a wonderful night's sleep. Every time I rolled over he'd squawk and bite my ear, which was immensely relaxing for us both.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">After about 2 minutes and 52 seconds of sleep, we awoke refreshed and ready to start back. For some reason my ear was swollen and throbbing -- not sure how that happened, maybe a spider bite or something. We packed up, pushed off, and started paddling, using a slightly more coordinated J-stroke and cross-bow draw. Since I was still trying to hone my paddling skills, I failed to notice the impending thunderstorm rolling in until the skies opened. Needless to say, my paddling skills quickly deteriorated as I frantically tried to get us to shore to wait out the storm.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">Even in my frenzied state, I noticed Loki seemed pretty unhappy about the fact he was getting soaked in the bow of the boat, so I grabbed him and threw him under my seat in a vain effort to keep him dry. Because he'd be safe there, out of the elements, content to wait until we got to shore and I could pitch something -- anything -- for us to cower under. I suppose this might've worked if he didn't have remarkable climbing abilities, which, unfortunately, were well-honed because of his clipped wings. Oh, and did I mention that my easily climbable pack was behind me in the bottom of the boat?</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">I suppose I must've heard his plaintive squawk, but as I was busy trying to get us to safety, it took about 10 seconds for the sound to register. Confused, I desperately looked under the seat, at the back of the boat, even in the bow where he had been having fun up until a few minutes ago. Finding him nowhere, I finally looked back at the water behind me.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">Let's just say that it's a good thing most birds have hollow bones, because if Loki'd had solid bones like a loon, he'd've sunk like a rock to the bottom of the lake. Of course, if he'd been a loon, he'd've had no trouble swimming, but that's beside the point. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCReY7Uz82IO_7UYcK8a8SgeqrQ7Trovp-OJLwsGCLL1lzi-H1cZAgaeyU0a38KhF_pmxE9q2GpVyZqufbNicJnP7vn7K7yGR64XL_MpwWyC5fdaUnqdM2C-5osv8_d8FY7UIxrXkzoo/s1600/Loons.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgCReY7Uz82IO_7UYcK8a8SgeqrQ7Trovp-OJLwsGCLL1lzi-H1cZAgaeyU0a38KhF_pmxE9q2GpVyZqufbNicJnP7vn7K7yGR64XL_MpwWyC5fdaUnqdM2C-5osv8_d8FY7UIxrXkzoo/w500-h473/Loons.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not Loki.</span></td></tr>
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</p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">So there he was, floating and flapping pathetically on the surface 20 feet behind me, and there I was, with limited paddling skills and bird-owner knowledge, which somehow resulted in me throwing myself over the side of the canoe, raingear and hiking-booted bedecked, keys, wallet, and camera in my pocket (note the water spots on the above photos) and flailing back to Loki to throw him on my life jacket and swim him and everything else to shore. I have no idea why I didn't think of paddling backwards, except, at this point in my paddling career, I must've unconsciously thought my swimming skills were far superior.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">He was soaked. I was soaked. He was shivering. I was shivering. We were both about to die of hypothermia, I was sure. Because if there was one thing I did not know after two months as a cockatiel-owner, it was that they can be tenacious little bastards, and, given the right circumstances, are bound to live three times as long as you thought they would. (Ahem ... I'm allowed to say this after 19 years.)</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIFtI4PnsfZMA7IkF6wdTawHYFjeDG23J3iH4oL-_mRm_JcYyrJIKM4puI0e8FxGSMwYH5fwNHGChz52uUxvtW-vho6qSx0EnFBVKPGtCv46zPcAsyJrJZOwplaOSu5p0Of4Y9eTPB9g/s1600/Soaked+cockatiel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="375" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaIFtI4PnsfZMA7IkF6wdTawHYFjeDG23J3iH4oL-_mRm_JcYyrJIKM4puI0e8FxGSMwYH5fwNHGChz52uUxvtW-vho6qSx0EnFBVKPGtCv46zPcAsyJrJZOwplaOSu5p0Of4Y9eTPB9g/w500-h375/Soaked+cockatiel.jpg" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">This is what a soaked cockatiel looks like.</span></td></tr>
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</p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">Right, so where was I? Oh yeah, we were both about to die, shivering, hypothermic, soaked to the skin. But we didn't. In fact, we made it back to the Hungry Jack dock a little while and a portage later. Dave was even there, ready to greet us. Once again, to his credit, he refrained from any comments about my weirdly swollen elephant ear, that I looked like a drowned rat, and ... oh yeah, that I had brought a BIRD with me on a Boundary Waters canoe trip (!). Again, can I recommend <a href="http://www.hjo.com/">Hungry Jack Outfitters</a> for all your BWCAW trip needs? Seriously folks, they're worth it.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">Aside from the canoe-trip-with-cockatiel debacle, I finished out the rest of my summer in the Boundary Waters, including a few more solo canoe trips (sans tropical bird) to taste even more of the land-of-10,000-lakes loveliness. What I didn't realize at the time was that my experiences there began to shape a career path that has led me to try to protect and conserve these kind of places. Places where we can explore, make mistakes, take a first solo trip, baptize our pets, and strengthen our spirits for whatever journey may lay ahead. In short, places that forever change us and never leave our hearts.</span><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;"> </span></p><p><span face="" style="font-family: "verdana", sans-serif;">Although I hear that Hungry Jack now has a no pet policy. No pets of any kind. Especially cockatiels.</span></p>Night Owlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15777129083477103983noreply@blogger.com2