Words written, words said, words heard and words read.

It is sometimes very interesting the power of words. It has the ability to build up and break down, it can leave you feeling like your mind just opened up a new city complex with added parking and at other times you are lost in a jungle of unknown things closing in on you sapping the very glimmer of that known space you hold on to. Words, nothing but little squiggles on paper or in this digital age on the screen. How is it that these almost insignificant parts of our very existence can have such a great impact on us?

Words like Love, Hate, Loneliness, Passion have such strong emotional ties with the human race that sometimes the very words themselves become unable to describe. Take the word "Love". What does this really mean? We say that we love someone from the 'bottom of our hearts', but all you are going to find there is blood and guts.

What is love anyway? There are actions that we associate with love. But are the actions what the word describes? We say its a feeling. A way of describing how a person feels toward someone or something. But then what is this "feeling"that we are describing? Are we just using one word to replace the other.

What is a 'feeling'? To quote the wikipedia article on this "Feeling is the nominalization of "to feel" ". How does a word encapsulate what a feeling is? We often use words to describe feelings that in the first place we cannot themselves describe. Words are often seen as symbols that carry a message. When you understand the meaning you are rewarded with a bit of information that may or may not both lead you to the retrieval of the information stored in the next set of squiggly symbols and sometimes to a message that is greater than the sum of all the parts.

Words such funny things. They say so much but at the same time so little. A word in context can convey information and out of context simply be another squiggle or sound that passes along with time like water under a bridge.

Just another day

Finally got my printer set up and have most of my gear stored away. I have been looking through some of the images I made over the past couple weeks and I think there are a few that have potential. And now that I have things setup I should be doing a bit more printing than what I have been doing.

Its amazing sometimes how time flies. Its july already and the summer is rolling on its way. Sometimes I feel like I get much accomplished and at other times it amazes me how little gets done even though I am staying busy. I have been wanting to sit out in the sun and read a book for the past couple days but so far have not found the time for it.

But not all time is spent in work. I spent the evening driving the boat and tending it while several of my colleagues went diving this afternoon. Not the most difficult of tasks and I always enjoy time spent on the water. Well, the evening draws on and I still need to finish reading and preparing for tomorrow. A few more hours till I get to rest my head.

Summer escapades

Its been a while since I last published anything and now that I have some time I feel compelled to do so. Summer on the coast, being out here has been a opportunity to relax and also spend time in refection of things scientific and philosophical.

Over the last week or so I have had the opportunity to experience some of the best that the Washington coast has to offer. Warm sunny days, clear cool nights, days filled with exploration and discovery. Looking out over the Puget sound the sight and sounds of waves crashing on the beach while in the background songs of sparrows echo over the sounds of the wind whistling in the pines do give a feeling a relaxation and solitude.

I also have been quite privileged to visit some extraordinary places. Yesterday my class went out to Protection Island. This is a National Wildlife Refuge which however is closed to the general public. I had the opportunity to go on the island and take part in an annual census counting the nest sites for the Glaucous winged gull. It was quite the interesting experience walking among the colony counting the nest sites. I was able to see a number of nests with eggs, a few with chicks already hatched and a few with the eggs just in the process of hatching.

And while there were many upsides to this event there was the downside as well. Gulls tend to fly above you as you walk through the colony and as they do sometimes you become the recipient of white or greenish grey - depending on the gulls diet - substances that in the warm sun does dry relatively fast. However the experience as a whole was more valuable and fun that this distraction did not mar the overall enjoyment.

Once again this afternoon I am expecting to head out on a boat to do some additional counting as part of the class. Not a bad way to spend the summer.

Aggrandizing automobile acquisition...

I have been on the look for a Jeep Grand Cherokee for the last couple days. Not that this was a spur of the moment decision to own one but one that I have had for quite some time. Several years ago I was bitten with the Jeep bug and since then and after the loss of my last Jeep I have been always keeping one eye at each one that passed me. 

Well having spent the last week doing much reading online about the pro's and con's of each model, year, and other relevant information in addition to spending countless hours looking at the ads online I located a 2000 JGC Laredo. Well I contacted the seller who lived about a two hour drive away and after some juggling of schedules figured out a time to meet. 

This morning, after kidnapping a friend who I shanghaied into helping me in return for dinner at Olive Garden we did the two hour trek. During the course of the drive up we had a couple rescheduling events of the location... not a big deal since we were going in that general direction anyway. And after a disappointing discovery that on a day that was sunny and hot Mc Donald's was out of ice-cream we met the bungling seller. He was a nice enough guy, things were not all roses and bunny rabbits for him, but he rolled with the punches. 

Common sense dictates that if you post your vehicle as being for sale then certain protocol is followed when you meet a prospective buyer. To put this in a more readable format let us list the following...

1. Give the vehicle a wash - yes we know that that is not the general state of things that speed down the highway squashing the unsuspecting bug but at least spray the outside off. 

2a. Take your crap out of the back seat and trunk - So you like to go fishing... cool so do I... but I am not here to meet you to go fishing.

2b. Have you heard of a marvelous invention called a vacuum... yeah....

3. Bring the paperwork with you - generally if someone says that they are coming to buy something they don't want to have to follow you back to your house and then stand around for another half an hour till you clean your car.... 

4. Have your papers in order - it is quite acceptable in this day and age to be a co-owner of things that may need a second person to sign off on... but get the other person to sign off on something you are going to sell so that we don't have to track them down where they work and disrupt their day so that we can get a signature that could have been easily taken care of over the dinner table the night before.

5. Once the transaction is finalized and its time to hand over the keys don't do the Oops-by-the-way-I-lost-the-spare-so-here-is-some-money-back-to-take-care-of-it. Thats just ghetto! 

All in all quite a interesting afternoon. But I cant complain. I did get my Jeep. I spent less that the average price which is nice because this might herald the acquisition of a new camera lens... fingers crossed...

5 AM Tuesday Morning

You have been studying all night. Looking out the window you see the first pink and yellow streaks of the dawning day. The birds are starting to call out in melodious notes. In the distance you hear the crow of a rooster, an unusual sound in suburbia but only very slightly. Its 5 AM, you have an exam in about 7 hours. 

This morning as I contemplated the events that were unfolding before me I was left with a single choice. A choice so clear that to not choose it would be unthinkable. What do you do at 5 am once the studying is done. You go fishing. Yes that soothing pastime where your mind and body connect with nature as your sprit is lifted like the rising sun. 

I cant say that I had any luck in the catching department but I did spend a good hour chatting with Sam. A retired gentleman who was also at the lake casting a line. Sam was an interesting chap. A Native American from the montana area who has been living in this area for the last couple decades. He has had an interesting life. Battling the corporate giants for his rights. The proud bearer of multiple scars from operations undergone for various injuries. At times pleading, then cursing and even encouraging the fish to take his offered morsels so that he might reel them in and have them for lunch. 

Its now 7:45 AM on a tuesday morning. The exam is still a few more hours away. What should I do next...

The running of the...

One of the most famous of all runs is The Running of the Bulls. This event which takes place in several countries, Spain being the most famous of the lot, has spawned off many similar and varied events and sometimes sub cultures. And even though the Walla Walla Valley may not be the center of the Universe it too has its own "run" that is more than a passing fad. 

On Saturday the 16th of May, under blue skies and warming weather the 12th annual running of the ducks also known as the Ducky Derby took place. Organized by the Exchange Club of Walla Walla this event raises funds to promote a safe and secure environment for children of the area.

                                                              

This event was well attended and with over $20,000 in prizes to be won, it was a nail biter. The ducks, 16000 strong took to the water like they were made for it. Overcoming the swirling rapids of Mill Creek, still swelled from the high water coming down from the snow packs high up in the Blue Mountains, the ducks bravely sallied forth. Along the way there were more obstacles; rocks, reeds and twigs, reached out from the banks to snag the unsuspecting ducks. It was a perilous affair.

And yet the winning duck, the brave warrior, unencumbered by the thought of 15,999 others chasing close on its tail, navigated the pools, eddies and tumbling water to arrive triumphantly at the finish tube.

As I was looking back at this event I was compelled to muse on other runners. As mentioned earlier the Bulls may be famous, however when it come to Just Plain Wacky... well, events like The Running of the Santa's, The Running of the Brides and even The Running of the Nudes take the cake. Well you be the judge... and next time go running your self. Who knows it might become a fad in your neighborhood.

Midnight madness

It has become almost a tradition, if one is able to create a tradition in just one month. Thursday nights at the movies. May it would seem is the month for the grand releases. Starting off with the movie Wolverine, Star-trek, Angels and Demons among others to come the movie industry seems to be getting all the pieces right. 

Last night was somewhat of an exception. Not in the fact that I did not attend, but in the fact that not many other people did. It may be that in this time of economic hardship viewers have to choose between watching a movie or putting bread on the table. In any case opening night, midnight showing of Angels and Demons found me with prime seating and no jostling in lines. 

Well that just leave another 6 more days before the next one comes out which from the previews is going to be an epic continuation of the saga. Too bad the governator could not make a comeback.