S.W.O.T. and friends

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Today as part of the staff retreat we had a "class" or facilitated discussion regarding this topic. It is a very easy way to identify what you have going for you as well as what's not quite working out. This is something that I feel like needs to be applied to my own life. 

I started doing this online and was several paragraphs in when I felt like what I was writing may not be something that would be interesting to the world or more honestly something that I feel comfortable sharing. And that seems to be the crux of my dilemma in someways that I am not open and deep with those around me. 

Something this exercise brought to my attention was the fact that making friends is a difficult operation. Something not to be taken lightly or something that is not easy to maintain. With the nomadic pattern that life is going in it is very rare for me to stay in one place long enough to make genuine friends... at the start o the paragraph I made a conscious choice that this was not going to turn into a lamentation. And in regards to this I cant say that I regret where I am in life. However I also see the side of me that could use a sprucing up and areas that could be utilized more. 

Thinking along these lines I have to ask what a friend really is. There are many cliched thoughts about who or what a friend should be. Looking up Friend found me this definition. Note that in the definition proper this word is treated in a very casual sense. However if we go into the history of the word there is a very deep and profound root. I would not say that everyone I call a friend my lover... that in our society would be seen as something that does not compute. Casual sex and the fact that sex in general has been marginalized to the point that it is stripped of its deeper meaning seems to give rise to the word friend having now a very shallow meaning as well. So what we really mean when we say we have friends is that we have acquaintances that we have known for a long time. 

So coming full circle once again, we seem to have this gap in our language and in our understanding of our relationship with the people around us. Can't call them friends because we don't know them that well but we also know them more that a mere acquaintance. What do we call the people around us and what does it take to get to that point with them? I don't know if I have a good answer for that question. I don't even know if I have the ability to answer the question given my comprehension of the world. So what do we surround our selves with everyday and what do we call them?

Boggle and more

To bring a change of pace is good in life. To get away, to retreat and get to know people that you talk to weekly on the phone and whose voice you know from a year of contact yet have never met. Right now I am sitting in a cabin at Camp Orkila in the San Juans. I hear the dripping in the bathroom that sounds like birds chirping as the welcome the day... although I think it is more of a mundane phenomenon like the resonance of water hitting the ceramic. Its amazing how often the little things in life are often overlooked. To some that leaky toilet may seem like an annoying sound. A problem that needs to be fixed, and in the sprit of conserving water and managing resources wisely I will take a shot at it before retiring for the night. 

So what am I doing up here in the island many miles from my own bed, curiously enough this to some extent is a mandatory retreat... which sounds worse off that it is. No arms are being twisted just highly encouraged. However, the concepts when looked at in a light way is a forced running away, retreating from what I am not sure but from what has been happening for the last several hours it is more of a running to than away from. So I guess its more of a staff advance than a staff retreat.

None the less, during the time here the game of boggle has been a point of focus among several of my colleagues. I have seen strategies and tips and trick that only true boggle players know or understand... in my case all I have to say is thank you for whoever invented the concept of spell check. But boggle may not be the entire focus of entertainment as a new day dawns and the many mysteries are brought forth.

Dead beaver on the beach

It was a truly beautiful day today and I took the opportunity to walk along the beach. Under one of the logs that have been washed up on the beach was a dead beaver. From the looks of it it appeared to be a adult female and not too ling deceased. There was no smell and the body had not bloated up as it would have had it been there for long. It might have also been the case that as the water of the sound is cold it was kept cold enough to not have it decompose. 

I am of half a mind to retrieve it and have it stuffed however as camp does not have a budget for such activities I am not sure how long I will have to store it before anything happens. Also being as it is going to be there all night I am not sure if it will even be there in the morning. Oh well we will have to wait and see.

Counting Down... wait for it... wait for it... NOW!!!

The days are slowly slipping by the the time is coming when the Spring season of camp will begin. Even now the hours roll by before the first of many groups will be coming through, learning, exploring and challenging themselves. Gone are the days of preparing and setting up. Its show-time!!!

Wonder...

Sometimes I wonder what the future holds. I realize that knowing the future may alter its outcome and create an alternate of what it should be but on the other hand if one was to see the future it would mean that all paths are fixed and that when an event is foretold all the action that lead up to it must and will happen in a given sequence. So the act of me typing this is in fact done not because i chose to do so but because it had to happen for some other future event to happen. 

There is a third alternative that might be possible. What if only specific events are set. Like a town or city on a map. Many roads may go to it through various landscapes. Some roads may take you there faster than other while some roads are more enjoyable. I would like to think that this is how time works however as I may have expounded in a previous post time is a relative constraint that we have created to give our lives a sense of boundary. 

What if we could see the future? What would we want to see? What our lives will be like in 5 years? 10 years? a hundred years? Maybe we created a work of art or wrote a moving poem, will it be still of value a thousand years from now? Maybe we are thinking on a altruistic level and want to prevent harm to others by diverting harm from them. Sure we would make the world better for them but what are the things that could go wrong? Would the creators of such instruments as the internal combustion engine have stopped their work had they known that many people would die in automobile crashes and the ensuing fumes that it put out further damage our environment. 

What would our lives have been like if someone from our past saw the future. And how many someone's are going to have this gift? Do we all get it. Or maybe the select few of whom we most certainly have to be a part of... right? To give this an even bigger twist what if you were the only person who could not? That would be a bummer! Would you depend on everyone around you to tell you what to do or live your life and let the chips fall where they may. 

Sometimes I wonder what the future holds, but, most of the time I am glad I don't have to know till I get there. Bring on the open road and roll down the windows, maybe even stop at some beautiful vista to take it all in. Because at the end of the day the only thing that is going to be certain is what road you chose and if you stopped once in a while to smell the flowers before you end up pushing them up.

Sunny Sunday

Today was one of those days that most if not all Western Washingtonians keep secret from the rest of the world. So if the rest of the world reads this it was a very rainy and gloomy day. You don't want to come here. 

I think someone else may have said this before I did because I was out and did not see too many people. Which was fine by me... sometimes its good to get away. I drove over to the Olympic peninsular and found a new spot to go fishing. Its up on the Dungeness river and the water was running about 150 cfs. It was clear and low enough to wade and wade I did. I am still getting the hang of things but for the most part I can place a fly in the general vicinity of where I want it to go as long as its not too long a cast. But I guess that comes with practice and practice I do intend to get. And as I am living in the northwest and pretty much on the water or as close to it as possible and not be in a boat I think most of my practice is going to be with a fly on the end of my line and not in a grassy field. 

Well thats the story for the weekend... another week dawn and I better get some shut eye before the dawn does come.

Fish, skunks and a good walk

The weather seems to be finally letting up and the sun did its peek-a-boo routine today. After several days of being in the office I had to get out a do a bit of fishing. Drove over to the Tolt river and after a quick check waded in with my gear. I have fished this river once before last fall and the water level was about 3 or 4 times what it was. When I checked what the flow was today on one of the sites online it told me that it was in the 600 cfs range and given that I don't have the most experience with this type of water the fishing skunk showed its face. 

To justify the trip however I was able to get a nice hike in and talk to several others who were also fishing the Tolt. I guess that Skunk was not in a discriminating mood as the other fishermen regaled me of tales of nice weather and no fish. Several who have fished more than I have also mentioned that the conditions were marginal at best. Well chalk this up to a learning experience and I did manage to get a look at some new holes, well new for me, that might prove to give me something the next time I visit. Which is going to be when the water is a lot lower. 

So that being said I wonder what I should do tomorrow. It seems that the warming weather is only going to melt more of the snow in the mountains leading to higher flows. I could do more exploring and find some new fishing spots, or stay home and catch up on some chores like cleaning the house... although cleaning the house has no... NO appeal. I guess I wont have to make that decision till the morning... and I might do some cleaning now just so that I have a excuse and  an alibi to go fishing tomorrow.

Back in my own bed

Got back from a career fair at Western and I am looking forward to my own bed. And to thinks its almost friday and the weekend. The drive there and back was not too bad. Got to meet up with a few old friends and catch up. The weather was awesome going up. Sunny and clear with the temps in the upper 40's or 50's but today it went back to the typical Northwest winter weather, there was some mention that the weekend was going to be clear so that will be something to look forward to. But to bed so that the weekend comes faster.

One down many more to go

I just got back from a shin dig in Seattle. It was a dinner and overall end to this years campaign to raise funds for kids to go to camp. I am glad it is done and I am not responsible for ferrying volunteers to Seattle for at least the next year. 

On another note, I will be heading up north tomorrow... not the north that people hope to go when they die just up to Bellingham and Western Washington University. I think I will also leave a bit early and take my time getting there. Maybe I'll have an adventure, who knows. But for now I guess I need to adventure into bed and get some sleep.

Fly line tangle

So I have been getting into fly fishing. I have for the most part always been intrigued by fishing and this seems to be an evolution in that hobby. Several weeks ago I purchased some new gear to inaugurate my commitment to the sport and also because I tend to be a bit of a gear head. As part of the package I picked up some fly line weight forward floating line in #3 weight. This to match the new 9 foot 3 weight rod. It was either the next day or not too long after that excited to try out my new gear I headed down to the beach. There was a bit of wind and not be as proficient a caster I was thinking that maybe I would be able to cast say about 30 feet. I know I have been able to launch a fly about 40 feet so taking into consideration that there was wind I was being a bit realistic... or so I thought. 

Try as I might for some reason the line would just not work. Now most weight forward lines are designed to have the forward 40 feet or so heavier and assist in the process of "loading" the rod giving it the ability to cast. However this line was not doing that. 

Going back to the shop, one of the things I asked Mell who was assisting me was to help me pick out a line while not too expensive was able to also not be too cheap and problematic for a beginner. There were two lines on the lower end one about $10.00 more than the other and he recommended this as he said that it did make the money worth it due to its additional features over the other line. 

So what was going on... I knew I was not all that bad. Even with a real cheap line I could do better. Well trying to trouble shoot I took a second look at the line which is when I discovered that rather than a weight forward line as I had expected what I had was a level line which had no weighted front section. 

Great so I dive all the way back a couple days later to exchange it for the line I actually paid for and guess what of all the lines that covered the entire section of the wall the one size that was missing was the one I wanted. Great so he called his manager and there was some hemming and hawing and time running by and in the end with me getting a bit impatient we decided that I was going to get the cheaper line and that when the new line came in Mell was going to mail it to me. Great, after I get the new line I would come back and return the cheaper line because what was I going to do with that? So I come back with the cheap line. I think I might have used it once or twice... the weather has been cold and rainy and I have been too busy at work to think about fishing. 

Anyway to bring things up to date this evening I decided to go for a drive. Its been a couple weeks and I have not received a line in the mail. I go in, Mell is not there as he works during the day or so I have been told, and after explaining to a couple people who by the way were very helpful I was able to have them find the line still in one of the boxes in the back from the new shipment and have someone bring it out to me and also spool it on. Great, Awesome, I finally have what I paid for. 

When I came home I was ready to hook up the terminal tackle and get the spool ready. I was thinking maybe even give the line a quick dressing just because I could... Thats when things get screwy. Well I pulled the line off the real and it did not feel right... in-fact I pulled off the entire fly line down to the backing off the real and guess what... Its a level line.

Now I dont know if this batch of lines were messed up at the company or that they have invented a new way of making the line heaver on one end with out changing the diameter but now I am going to have to drive all the way back there which is about two hours away to re-exchange the line again. I think I have spent more time in the shop getting my line exchanged than I have spent fishing the lines I have. This is ridiculous. 

This time I plan on going during the day time when I can talk to Mell and lets see what kind of discount or compensation I am going to get because this is nuts... Oh well live and learn!!

Going through the motions

Another week over and its getting close to the season. I am both looking forward to and also wanting to put off the approach. Well hopefully tomorrow will bring some needed distractions. Maybe go fishing or something. Another day, another week, time goes on.

The watched pot never boils

There is a old idiom that says the watched pot never boils. Time is a very interesting concept. If we could go to a rock or a tree and ask it to tell us of its life would it be similar to a story that a person would tell. 

This afternoon I was writing a story that would probably take a couple minuets to tell but was a somewhat fanciful record of the history of the Bow and arrow, some what embellished with the star for most of the story and the creator of the bow being Bob the Caveman. This story that would take only a few minuets to tell was taking be longer to write and actually spanned many centuries. So what is time?

I look back at my life and think how fast it went. The year spent in the South Pacific is but a few memories that I have in my head. I cant recall what happened for every minuet there just the "good" parts. But I was there for an entire year.

Come to think of it I don't think I could even give an accurate minuet by minuet record of today. I can tell you the "good" parts or the more significant moments. What I ate, even what I accomplished for the most parts but not every minuet. 

Thinking of the idiom of the pot came in part from an episode from Star Trek TNG. Now I do admit to being a Sci Fi fan and also a Trekkie and remember the episode where Data was trying to understand this idiom. He was using is internal chronometer or in simpler language clock to time the event. Having that internal clock allowed him to keep that log of what he did minuet by minuet and so time was something that was regular. 

Not having that internal clock and large resource for remembering I wonder how much I am forgetting and missing out on. I realize that for the most part we would rather not remember every burp we had or every time we sneezed but how do we determine what is valuable to remember and what is not. 

So the idiom being the root of this tangent, possibly to come back full circle; for what is a tangent than a deviation from a curved path. What are we doing till the pot boils? Apparently watching it does not impart any special power or in this case heat to the process what does watching do but let moments go by that do not have those significant moments that will not be counted among the "good" and fade away into oblivion. 

If that tree or rock could talk. How long would that story last? Will it only remember the time the big windstorm came or the time someone took an axe to its neighbor or maybe the time it rolled down the hill and gathered no moss;-) Or will they remember every day of their story, and take a life time to tell it because it is still happening. 

What I really want to know is what's cooking in the pot anyway? 

Boat on the bottom of the sea

So I guess now one of my favorite songs has a mascot... I guess sometime in the past a lovely 20 or so foot boat broke is mooring and drifted across the South Puget Sound. Well after many twists and turns and probably numerous adventures it finally came to rest on the beach along the spit to camp. 

This afternoon after being informed of the " bounty of the sea", Sam, Julie and I wend down to investigate. Low and behold there she lay like a beached whale slumped over and full of water. The bottom was encrusted with some fist sized mussels that looked like they had been on there for quite some time. Water sloshed inside and out and although we were able to get a line to it and tie it off to a large log on the beach it did not look like it was going to be going anywhere. 

When I went down to the beach I put on a pair of hip waders. I have had these waders for over three or four years and over time the rubber had started to get some what stiff and worn down on the inside. It was starting to give me a bit of a cramp but braving the pain I trudged on down. During the effort to get the line on the boat I had to wade out almost to the top of the waders. While I was on the boat the sneaky sea was conspiring against me and decided the time was ripe for the tide to come in. Well needless to say when I stepped back down off the boat to get back on the beach the spot I climbed aboard was not as shallow as it had been when I started. Have I mentioned that the water in the sound is ridiculously cold? Well if I had forgotten that bit of information I was certainly reminded of it when about a gallon or so of the briny brown Puget Sound rolled over the top of my waders and joined my toes in a not so welcome fashion. 

I got most of the water out of the boots before I started up the trail but I had a bit of a quandary once I got back up... the rigid rubber and the fact that I had thick cotton socks that swelled up with the water left me with two feet stuck inside. Now I am sure that old rubber boots would make a great fashion statement and had I left them on they would have had been the greatest rage to be... But I was cold and wanted to get a hot shower so I had to cut them off with the first sharp object I could find... in this case a fillet knife. Its just like getting the skin off a dead fish; except this fish was not going to be too happy if the real skin got damaged in the process... well that went over well and the epidermis was unharmed.

But being the curious type I had to check the boat out when the puddle was not up to the gunnels. That being right about now I took off to the beach bundled up with my trusty dive light. Well I pick a perfect night for a stroll. This area only has a strong wind advisory till tomorrow and the rain coming sideways was not too much of a bother. But I got out to the boat and got to take a good look at it. I guess if some rich person is reading this and looking to throw down some green to get the little lady up and running by all means go for it. The roof of the cabin is holed right where it connects to the side of the boat and is also ripped along that edge for about 3 feet... good luck with that project... I am sure this being the winter and not the type of weather you want to be out in a boat anyway if you had a big enough garage this would make a great project. 

So thats the story of the boat on the bottom of the sea... hopefully we will be able to get it moved off... or else its going to make one cool bit of structure for the sounds creatures to make their home... At high tide that is.

Quitting Time

Another day at the office and it was the usual boring day. There was a bit of tangential amusement when Sam' s sister used the words "Sea Anemone", "Llama, Llama, Llama" and "The new girl Juli" on the radio show she was DJ'ing and we were listening to. Needless to say we were amused as we were the ones that challenged her to use those words/phases and I must admit she came through with flying colors. 

In other news, its been rather overcast and gloomy today. I think is was more of a dull light that got just a bit brighter to indicate that it was day time as opposed to night. But as it is getting to be night-ish I need to get out of here and do some thing else.

A Lazy Sunday

Yeah its Superbowl Sunday and I am sure at this very moment people around the country are watching TV and festivising there way into the evening. And I, well, I am bored. Not being a fan of the sport due to the fact that I am not really familiar with it I am at camp cleaning my place and doing as much procrastinating as well as cleaning as the time will allow. I think I am going to read a book and maybe take a nap. Seems like the perfect thing to do on a lazy sunday.

First Post

It might be a sign of the times or maybe its just me catching up to an ever fleeting technological horizon. I would place my bets on the latter. 

Two interesting things happened today. The first was a visit to a Fly Fishing Expo. Being new to the craft/sport or whatever else it may be called this was an interesting opportunity to see some interesting new products, be fascinated by constructs of hair and feather being transformed into almost realistic looking creatures and pick up some tips to further my own study of this field.

The second was a trip to the Dixie BBQ. I first heard about the place during the summer of 2003 while I was studying Marine Ecology and Phycology at the WWC (Walla Walla University) Marine Biology Station on Fidalgo Island.  A couple friend of mine after a weekend in Seattle told of a place where you can meet "The Man". An intriguing concept to me as "The Man" had a home made hot sauce that was supposed to knock the socks off you. Now I like spicy food. At this very moment I have about 12 bottles of various hot sauces in my possession and I do like the fiery after burn and tingling of the lips. I had been looking forward to meeting "The Man" and here was my opportunity.  

I would not call my self a food critique. I just know what I like and know what appeals to my own tastes. If you have not had a chance to visit the Dixie BBQ I would recommend you do so and judge it for your self. To put to rest this rant, after many years of hearing about the place I had my hopes and expectations very high. The food was great, I had a beef flank BBQ sandwich and a side of beans and rice. The sandwich was good with nice chunky pieces of meat and I did get to meet "The Man".

Thats where the story takes a odd tangent. "The Man" is a somewhat wizened old guy that does not seem to have a lot of respect for his customers. Recently I heard on NPR about a grouchy restauranteur and that was part of the charm of the place... well I guess if you can call that charm more power to you. The straw that broke this camels back for me was the famous hot sauce. As is tradition the man come up to me and ask me if I wanted to try some. After I tried a drop on the end of my fork and requested more for my food he seemed to get even more grouchy and acted as if I was supposed to think this was the hottest thing I had ever encountered and run for the water... Well the fact of the matter is that being as I like spicy food it was not the hottest thing I have eaten. In my opinion Daves Insanity Sauce which can be picked up in most grocery stores well out ranks his little concoction... Oh well so much for meeting "The Man". I don't think I will be going back... The food was ok... service was passable but the hot sauce well its not all that special... 

It was good to finally meet "The Man", at least I can say I have done it. However the main point of all this is not just to rant about the hot sauce but to give me a place to put down my thoughts and the lesson for the day is dont hanker after the mythical hot sauce because something hotter might already be in your fridge.