December 28, 2011

haiku wednesday - the what? what? washington! edition

This week's words are demolish, resolution, transform
Was my last 3WW actually in August? And is this really the last 3WW of 2011? What a year. Resolutions still yet to be made, parties to be attended, and bowl games to be won (go BEARS). But at least I can bookend the year with two 3WW entries.

demolish dissent
transform mayor into king
resolution passed


new resolution:
demolish uncertainty
transform "try" to "do"


hope demolished when
a resolution broken
transforms gold to lead

December 4, 2011

turkeys in maui

Photos! From Hawaii! Without you in them!

That's right, folks, dinner is over and a plate of cookies is on the coffee table, and... what's this? Father is setting up the movie screen and getting out the carousel slide projector... OH MY GOD it's vacation photos.

Settle down. I've hidden the ipecac, so just forget trying to pretend you're sick. There's no polite way out of this.

We flew early Saturday from San Francisco through Kona, with a layover long enough to share a half a serving of airport food for about $73, thus getting used to the price tags in Hawaii. I had not known they used the Bob & Doug metric system (double it an add thirty) for prices in Hawaii. But now I know. Here's a photo of the boys sitting in front of a statue at the Kona airport.


Then, on to Maui, only a 20 minute or so flight. We cruised over Molokini, which was cool since we planned on snorkeling there later in the week.

Getting the rental car was easy, but after driving a half mile Maria insisted we swap it because the air conditioner "wasn't cold." Seemed plenty cold to me, but we swapped anyway. Three hours later (after Costco, Sports Authority, and Safeway stops), we were on the road and arrived at our room at the resort, the Ka'anapali Beach Club, around 8 p.m. Pizza from the onsite take-out window was actually reasonably priced and tasty, so it was a good evening.

The view from our room, looking northwest from the 9th floor:


On Sunday we attended the resort's welcome presentation (90 minutes of sales pitch for different activity vendors), got shaved ice in Lahaina, and walked the Ka'napali beach walk. While the boys ate their shaved ice under this enormous Banyan tree, a bird pooped on my shoulder.


And here's a photo of one little bit of our resort, part of the lobby:


And overlooking the beach:


And the boys having dug some giant holes in the beach. Two little boys came and helped for a while.


Tuesday we drove the Road to Hana. A couple people told us not to waste our time, but most everyone else said it was a must-see. It's like six thousand miles of road without one single straight section more than fourteen inches long. And it's about as wide as a twin bed for most of the way. We made many stops and saw several gorgeous waterfalls. I won't try to tell you what to see. There are dozens of excellent guide books. Here are some photos from that day.

After a hike up an access road used by hunters. I don't think the "no trespassing" sign was for us.


Sam and me scampered up the muddy side trail to the head of this small but very pretty waterfall. This was at one of the state park rest areas.


And another waterfall. If you're staying in Ka'anapali, you really want to come over to the windward side where it's all lush and stuff.


And there's a place where you can pull off the side of the highway, and you don't even have to get out of your car to take a picture of "old Hawaii, life the way it used to be." Just like going to Jamestown or Colonial Williamsburg, only... different.


But then we got to the very coolest place. A small cove with not only a black-sand beach, but with its very own cave-tunnel.




That's the sand. Here's the cave.



The next day we went snorkeling at Molokini. We got a great discounted rate (for promising to sit through the timeshare presentation), and the boat ride was fun. The guys at Blue Water Rafting were awesome and made the excursion well worth the time and money, but the snorkeling was, quite frankly, far far far superior at Black Rock.

The day after, we hit the beach at Kihei with two families from back home that were also vacationing on Maui the same week. It was awesome to hang with them for the day (waves at Leo, Karen, Gloria, and Jeff). I'd put up a photo of us all, but I didn't get them to sign the release form. Plus, Maria would kill me. Instead, here's a very cool silhouette of Ethan:


We did the luau at the Ka'anapali Beach Club that night, and although it was much smaller than the two luaus we'd seen on Kauai back in the day, it was incredibly fun and entertaining. Intimate and casual, it was less about big production and more about storytelling and the dance. Really enjoyed the fun family that played the music. Plus, they had gorgeous harmonies. I doubt anyone who is looking for a "luau experience" would ever bother coming to this luau. But if you're staying at the resort already, and if you want a cheaper meal that is pretty good with fun entertainment and you're not looking for a big production, this is for you. I loved it. A bit campy, a bit self-effacing, and cute hula dancers with lots of ink. What's not to love?

The day after that--when are we now, Thursday? Thanksgiving!--we hung at the beach at Kapalua with Gloria and Jeff for a while, then drove down to see the fancy shmancy hotel in Waileia. We also walked along the beach walk for a bit, but we didn't make it all the way down the coast to the nude beach, which Maria particularly had her heart set on. So, sorry lads, no photos. Our Thanksgiving dinner was seafood at the Hula Grill in Lahaina. While the food was good (a bit overpriced for home but not for Maui), the view was awesome and the service friendly. Maryann finally got her Singapore Sling--she'd last had one 45 years ago when she met Gary in Oahu when he was on leave, and she was dying to have another one.


On Friday morning we had a professional photo shoot done--the fee was waived and a free 8x10, just for attending the orientation on Sunday--and the photographer, Steve, was cool. He spent an hour with us, taking all kinds of photos. Our Christmas cards are starting to look like those pretentious families that have photos of themselves from all over the world... two years ago it was London, last year it was Central Park, and this year it's Maui. Haven't thought about next year yet. Anyway, we did it up right.


Until next vacation, your intrepid correspondent signing off. Wait. Wake up. The show's over. How much did you miss? Maybe I should just start over from the beginning...


November 27, 2011

ymrotb

Mostly when I'm traveling on vacation I don't have time for sightseeing or relaxing because I'm so worried that my blog does not have enough rules. I am happy to say that recent trips have yielded a few new ones for you all to follow. Please take note.


Personally, I can't imagine the kind of heathen that might throw laundry bags down the ladder. If you are that kind of heathen, I think I might want to get to know you better.



The above proved helpful advice from TSA at the Hilo airport in Hawaii. I had to point out the sign to a woman in front of us who was about to run her twin babies through the x-ray.



That one goes without saying. I think they need to post this one in the halls of Congress.

November 7, 2011

in memory

Tony was my stepfather since before I could remember. My earliest memory is from 40 years ago, when I sometimes rode on the back of his motorcycle. One time, when climbing on, I touched my shin to the end of the exhaust pipe and had a severe burn for weeks, or months. I think I was three years old. I have other memories from that time, but I'm not sure how true they are. I remember Tony chasing one of our cats out the door with a BB gun after the Christmas tree crashed to the floor.

When I was seven years old, my mom and Tony moved away and settled in Las Vegas. He had thoughts of making his fortune gambling, but within a few years he switched to driving a cab. I think he was well suited to it--he knew the ins and outs of the city like no one else, understood people, and had the patience to sit in 115 degree heat waiting for an airport fare.

I visited from Connecticut sometimes, spending large chunks of my preteen and teenage summers in Vegas as the city grew up around them. Tony and my mom took me, my brother, and my stepbrother to Disneyland when I was maybe 11. They took us to Palm Springs, San Diego, the Grand Canyon. Tony took us into the desert--back then, the open desert started where Decatur Boulevard crossed Spring Mountain--and let us shoot his .22 rifle and his revolver at targets. He took us to the fights sometimes.

Over the past 15 years, he's been adored by my boys. He always had a new toy for them when we visited. Later, he had BB guns he taught them to shoot in the back yard. More recently, he was the dealer for many a poker tournament that ended in cheers and tears in the kitchen. All summer, my boys were planning for the next epic poker tournament we would have this Christmas when we went to visit.

Tony passed away this weekend and will be dearly missed.

November 3, 2011

writer friends, how do you self-motivate?

People (yes, literary agents are people despite the rumors) keep telling me my novel is well written but not right for them at this time. I can understand their position even when the novel seems to fit exactly with what the agents say in their "what I'm looking for" paragraphs on their web sites.

But I'm not posting a rant about the query process. That's a post I've written in my head a hundred times and will keep caged there.

Rather, I'm looking for tips on getting remotivated. Specifically, I've got an idea for a fun and exciting sequel to the novel-on-submission, but I'm having a hard time committing myself to it when the original is getting that "let's just be friends" reaction from agents. Should I look for a new idea, or should I work on that sequel anyway?

October 25, 2011

My top five strengths: #3, Connectedness

About two years ago, I did this thing called Strengths Finder 2.0 at Day Job.  In 2011 I will blog about my top strengths and perhaps about my least strengthful parts of me.


Strength #3:  Connectedness
People strong in Connectedness believe that all things are linked, that there are few true coincidences, and that all events have some sort of reason.

I'm not sure I totally buy into the "all events have a reason" thing. I don't believe there is a "reason" for things like this and this and this. But that's not really what Connectedness is about. It's not about rationalizing tragedy, whether for personal comfort or political or religious purposes.

Instead, it's more like the Tao or The Force. Or both, at the same time. That is, all things are connected in a way that we can not (yet) measure. Call it life force, collective consciousness, fate, dharma, or whatever. I'd prefer we not call it God, though, because this is not a Religious thing. Connectedness has nothing to worship, no rites or rituals, no borders or boundaries to be recognized and maintained and warred over.

Science identifies three fundamental natural forces: gravity, electromagnetism, and nuclear forces. We can calculate these physical forces, measure and predict them, use them to explain and describe the world around us. Physical properties such as mass and electrical charge, and conditions such as proximity, affect the strength of these forces. Might there not be another fundamental force that also governs attraction, repulsion, friction, and tension--among living things? We can't (yet) measure it, but I am certain of its existence.

For a long, long time I called myself an atheist. I detest organized Religion because it is a social structure that by its very nature draws a bright line between good people and everyone else. Its very purpose is to create a social discrimination. Although Religion is not the cause of every conflict through history, it has provided a very willing and capable channel through which the worst in people have be exploited. And that continues today.

Recently, however, I've come to understand that I do indeed have a faith. Some of my friends encourage me to call it God, or to recognize it as what they call God. But that's not right. Might as well substitute another name for God--Zeus, or Odin, or The Dude. They all make just as much sense, since they all rely on a manifestation that I simply don't agree with.

I am sure there is some Religion out there that has at its core the same belief that I'm failing to explain here. But I don't want to know it because then I'd have to consider myself to be of that faith, right? And that is counter to my beliefs. If everyone is connected, and if everyone is equally legitimate, then how could I possibly join a group that by its very existence implies that everyone outside the group is inferior?

I don't love everyone. I don't even like most people. There are some I can barely tolerate. But I accept everyone and try to treat them with respect, courtesy, kindness, and trust. We are all connected, and if I cause someone pain then that will come back to me at some point. Similarly, if I treat people right, that will come back to me also. I have seen this happen in all aspects of my life. And it's this belief, I think, that guides me in my interactions with others.

Although I'm far from perfect and can snap like any person does from time to time, I hope the people that really know me would say I'm even tempered, fair, generous, kind, and respectful. Because we're all made from the same stuff, and we're all relying on each other.

August 28, 2011

Glacier National Park

Back in late July, six intrepid souls boarded airplanes in four different states, all bound for Kalispell, Montana and five nights of camping. We were prepared to face the worst of hardships: Grizzly bears, deep snow, lite beer, and no showers. The boys and I took off from Oakland at 6:30 a.m. We arrived in Kalispell around 1 p.m. Three hours later we would be joined by my father, my brother, and my nephew.

Packing for five nights of camping is not that tough. Packing in order to take all that gear on airplanes is tricky. We brought everything but food, fuel, a cooler, and bear spray. All those things were easily obtained before getting to the park.

In grand Dudley tradition, our plans were... somewhat fluid. As in, we were making some of it up as we went. We had car-camping reservations our first two nights at Fish Creek near the southwestern entrance to the park. We also had a backcountry reservation for one night. The rest? Trying to get to one of the many first-come, first-served campsites. I know, right? A bit of a risk.


The trip is labeled above, A to F, in chronological order.

A: Fish Creek car camping campground
Fish Creek is near Apgar Village, a touristy yet charming little town with a ranger station, a tiny general store that has (reasonably) freshly popped popcorn, and six souvenir stores. Also a motel or two, and a little dock. Plus stunning views.

We camped our first two nights at Fish Creek, attending the ranger presentation on wildlife the second night. The rangers we spoke to throughout our whole trip were helpful, kind, informative, and delightful. I'm hoping they found us to be the same.

Anyway, pretty standard car camping as a warm-up for what was to come. Here are some photos from our time in Fish Creek and Apgar Village:




At the boat dock looking eastish, at the peaks we'll soon be visiting.

Check out the tents below. The red one is Ethan's $39.95 special from Target, a two-man rig that he shared with my nephew, Max. Later it would be tested by gale winds and heavy rain. We ended up ditching it in the dumpster rather than flying it back to California because two of the poles were broken and tiny holes were being worn into the bottom. In heavy wind, it flattens out. Literally. The fabric was hitting their faces that night.


The rest of us had reasonable tents. The bright yellow one is Sam's one-man; the dun-colored one is my one-man Big Agnes (which I totally love), and the blue one was a two-man shared by my brother and my father.



Here we are fixing dinner the first night. Foil-wrapped dinners cooked on the open fire, the perfect way to start a camping trip.


Me and da boyz at the edge of Lake McDonald, reveling in the beauty.

B: Apgar Lookout Day Hike
A short drive from Apgar Village is a reasonably strenuous day hike, Apgar Lookout is 3.3 miles each way, with an elevation gain of 1,850 feet to the summit. It meanders around the side of the hill and back in a trio of long switchbacks. The views are spectacular, but the hike itself was a little disappointing in that a fire in 2003 has left the hillside littered with fallen and standing dead trees. Still, it was a fun hike and the views were worth every step. It's a reasonably crowded trail, being so close to Apgar Village, and in fact along the way up we encountered a coworker of mine coming down. Small world. If you hike this trail, bring lots of water. There is little or no shade.

Photos!



Represent!

This guy popped up about 10 feet from where we'd sat to eat our lunch. Then he bounded away, startled. We couldn't get our cameras out in time, but I saw him again on the hike down and nabbed this photo.

Train!





See what I mean about the views? We figured we could see one of the distant peaks in Canada from here. Which I figure qualifies me to be an expert on foreign policy.

C: Going To The Sun Road, and Many Glacier Campground
Originally we planed to backpack our third night and car-camp the remaining two nights, but the campground we'd reserved was still closed for unsafe snow bridges on the trails. But the ranger hooked us up with a night at Cracker Lake instead, upon high recommendation. So we booked it for our fourth night.

So we got up early on the third day, got our backcountry permit, and watched the introductory video required of all backcountry hikers in Glacier. This video covered two primary topics: (1) the principles of Leave No Trace, and (2) the many, many ways a grizzly bear can kill you. By the end of the video, I had been convinced that no hiker had ever returned alive from the back country of Glacier because they were all eaten by bears.

With our hiking expectations set properly, we set off on the long drive across the park, aiming for Many Glacier campground. It is one of those first-come, first-served sites, so we wanted to get there early. It turned out well, and we snagged two adjacent sites and had a good evening after a great day hike.

But first, the long and terrifying Going To The Sun Road. This is a "marvel of engineering," according to the brochure, though cynical Ethan was unimpressed. This road winds along the side of the mountains, with snow melt waterfalls cascading onto, across, and next to the road. Much of the road was under construction, and it's exciting to see a monstrous dump truck bearing down on your rental SUV, threatening to squeeze you off the narrow lane and send you tumbling back down to the valley floor, hundreds of miles below. But again, the views are spectacular. And there's a visitors center at the summit, which we did not get to go into.

Photos!


The visitors center at the summit.

In the parking lot of the visitors center.

D: Grinnell Lake Day Hike
Since we scored our campsite before noon, we had all afternoon for a day hike. We chose Grinnell Lake because it was near, and it didn't have quite the elevation gain of others, but it was also highly recommended. Fairly easy hike, about 8 miles including hoofing it from the campground to the trailhead, with some up and down but mostly flat.

If you like, you can catch a boat and ferry the majority of the distance across Lake Josephine, then have a pleasant walk of less than a mile each way to get to the lake. We preferred to hike around Josephine. Once at Grinnell Lake, we all waded in the glacier water, which was somewhat colder than ice. But intensely refreshing. Along the way, we detoured to "Hidden Falls" and navigated a puny but entertaining suspension bridge. We also rubbed elbows with two or three boatloads of people who had ferried in from the hotel.

Still, another gorgeous hike. (Are you sensing a pattern here?) But we were still one day away from the main event.

Photos!
The hotel. Our trailhead for Cracker Lake the next day is behind the hotel.

The lakes were really this color. Really. Stunning.

Part of the trail traversed a raised boardwalk. Yes, that's me in the SuperDad tee, with the bear spray on my belt.

There were so many views like this that eventually I got tired of photographing them and just enjoyed them instead.

The suspension bridge was great fun for Sam, who almost pitched himself right off into the icy, swift-moving stream below.

Doesn't look dangerous, does it? Drowning is the #1 cause of death in the park. A few people drown there each year.

Grinnell Lake, with some minor wave action from the breeze. This is where we waded.


Dunking in the glacier water. Only the oldest (my dad) and youngest (Sam) on our trip did this here. Nearly all of us dunked in a mini waterfall on the next day.

Happy hikers!

E: Cracker Lake backpacking overnighter
We woke early on our fourth day to drizzles and dire predictions of downpours and thunderstorms. We were divided. This was to be our backpacking overnighter, but half of us didn't want to be stuck up in the mountain in an exposed campsite in a downpour. The other half figured we'd get wet there or get wet here,

With 6.1 miles to the campsite and a gain of 1,400 feet, we could either day hike in and out and stay in Many Glacier another night, or we could strap on our big packs and commit to camping. We got to the trailhead in overcast but dry weather, so we decided to spend the night on the mountain.

The first 1.5 miles of this trail is a muddy, slippery track covered in horse poop. It's a tourist horseriding trail along there, and it was a muddy slog. The rest of the 6.1 miles, though, was spectacular. It wound through jungle undergrowth, along lakesides, along a riverbed, and across low ridges. No matter which way you looked, the view was gorgeous.

Fresh bear scat on the trail and recent reports of a grizzly sighting (the previous day) had us on our toes. We followed the rules, made lots of noise, and kept close together. One ranger had said, "Six seems to be the magic number. We've never had a mauling of a party of six or more." My father cheerily noted we could set the record. Anyway, we never saw a bear, but I'm pretty sure he was around.

We lunched on squished PB&J again, about 2/3 of the way up.


As we neared the campsite, some hikers coming down warned us of a mountain sheep ahead, and a pair of badgers on the trail. Badgers! So we proceeded with caution. We saw the "badgers," which I thought looked more like woodchucks.

But still, badgers freak me out 6 miles from the nearest first aid, so we kept our distance. The next day we found a volunteer who told us they were actually yellow-bellied marmots. And yeah, as soon as I picked up a rock, they showed their yellow bellies and ran away.


The hike was tough. I'd never hiked quite that far with a full pack, and the boys hadn't either. But we all did just fine, and when we reached the campsite it was... spectacular. We set up tents, hung our food, pumped water, and then enjoyed an amazing dinner of top ramen and hot dogs. The campsite has only three tent sites, so the six of us shared the wilderness with another man and his son. We were essentially alone on the mountain. Except for the mountain sheep.

This site also has an old, abandoned copper mine a hundred yards up the hillside, which we explored briefly (photos below). So, all through the day the forecast had been for biblical thunderstorms, the kind that would make Noah think twice about setting up a tent in, yet the weather actually was 70 degrees and sunny. But as the sun set, we could feel the weather changing. It held up until we all went to bed (early), but overnight the winds were righteous and the lighting not so far off. Rain fell, but not terrible. It was mostly the wind. I had to restake my tent twice, and poor Ethan and Max kept having their tent flattened by epic gusts.

We survived, and the rain stopped in the morning. We broke camp and headed back down. This time we were drizzled on most of the way, which actually was pleasant in its way. But the horse track at the bottom was a mess and not that fun a way to finish our wonderful two days.

Photos!
Getting geared up for our hike in.

This is why I bought them both new backpacks last weekend. The ones they had for this trip sucked. Bu they wore them well, didn't they?

Sam is about 75 pound soaking wet. I think he carried 28 pounds in his pack.

This is the mini waterfall near Cracker Lake where most of us dunked our heads. A welcome, icy refresher after 5.5 miles of hiking with full packs!

One more of Sam. Yes, he carried his share.

And when we took a rest, he rested like a champion.

 Resting just a half mile to our tent sites. But the view and the meadow were too good to pass up.

From one of our tent sites, overlooking Cracker Lake. The blue was stunning. Just fabulous colors.

One of the sheep wanted to know who was setting up tents in his front yard.

And then he posed for us. He held that pose for at least five minutes, until all available cameras had snapped several photos.

Inside the abandoned copper mine. Ethan wanted to head deeper in (it goes back a mile, one ranger said), but I would not let him. I am a scaredy-cat that way.

Photo from the mouth of the copper mine overlooking the tent sites. Ours are the two with the colorful tents. The other gent and his son had the third site.

Cooking ramen and hot dogs! A well deserved rest in a gorgeous place.

The hike down was wetter, with lots of drizzling rain the first hour. Ethan had his pack in a garbage bag, but eventually we just took it off since it kept falling off anyway.

Water break. Rain gear deployed.

F: Rising Sun campground and hot showers!
We got back to the parking lot at the trailhead almost exactly at noon, bought some coffee and cocoa at the hotel, then drove back around to the Rising Sun campground. Another first-come, first-served campground, we weren't sure we'd find any place to stay. And, with our flights early the next afternoon, we thought maybe we should go over the pass and find something in Fish Creek again.

But we stopped in just to see if anything was available. Again, we snagged two of the last four sites, and they were adjacent. Our luck was unfathomable. Even better, the ranger told us that the visitor center/gift shop just up the road featured hot showers. $2.50 for an 8 minute token. SCORE. This was the best news all trip for me, amid a storm of good news. So we supped and repacked everything for air travel, then showered and bedded down.

Our final day we drove back to Apgar Village and dropped some of our gear off with the rangers. Our donation included two canisters of bear spray, three bottles of beer, an unopened block of jack cheese, and an ice chest. Some other stuff, too, that we couldn't bring home or didn't want to carry.

All in all, it was a trip I will remember the rest of my life. And it was just terrific to get to spend that time with my dad, my brother, my boys, and my nephew. Could not have designed a better summer vacation.