Jungle Trek...

My last day in Thailand was spent on a jungle trek. The day started when I was picked up and loaded (squished) into the back of a truck with 11 other tourists to be driven to the mountains.

The drive was crazy as always in Thailand and I held on for dear life and prayed that we would not come to any sudden stops as there was literally nothing to keep me from flying out the back. An hour later we were in the mountains and being fed fried rice that I was too scared to eat because I didn't want food poisoning. I was a little paranoid after having gotten sick.



The other tourists were mostly from Europe and really nice. We all bonded as we tried to keep up with our tour guide in the 98 degree and extremely humid weather . We were soaked in sweat head to toe with bright red faces and reminding ourselves that we chose and paid (only $30) to be on this trip... so darn it we were gonna have a good time even if we were about to pass out from heat exhaustion.

The photo at the top is of my tour guide. He mostly just walked really fast and we followed so that we wouldn't get lost. He spoke decent English and when he found out I was from CA he started singing "welcome to the hotel California." A favorite Thai song which I heard countless times during my two week stay.

Overall the trek was a great adventure. I got to see rice paddies, small coffee plantations and visit two villages. All but one other tourist and me were on a two day trek and I have to say that at the end of the day it brought me great pleasure to know that I got to hike out of the jungle to take a refreshing shower and leave the rest to sleep on moldy blankets in a jungle village.

Merry Christmas with a dash of Thailand...

Yes, I still have some Thailand blogs up my sleeve that need to be posted. I have not forgotten. So this one is a Merry Christmas with a photo from my jungle trek and some from Chico.

I was amazed when I came across this huge poinsettia in the middle of the jungle outside of Chiang Mai. I did a little research and found that poinsettias are native to Mexico and South America. So technically it is an introduced species in Thailand but it didn't appear to be invasive as I only saw two plants while there.

It's a sunny and not so cold Christmas day in Chico, CA. Awoke at 6am when my cell phone alarm clock came on because I forgot to turn it off (oops) and thus was up early to open presents from Santa. But that worked out well as my Bro called from Thailand a little after 7am to wish us a Merry Christmas as his was ending and he was about to go to bed.

After the presents were unwrapped we watched The Christmas Story, which has become tradition thanks to me. That was followed by a rare breakfast prepared by Dad. Once the frost melted Dad and I adventured outdoors, first stopping at the Naked Lounge Cafe downtown for warm coffee before heading to the Sacramento River. There we saw 2 blue herons and 3 river otters and many more hawks and smaller birds. It has been a great Christmas thus far but next year my Bro will be here to be mean to me and say, "bah humbug" and everything will feel perfect.

Happy Holidays to All!

And Then There Was Lilly...

My brothers girlfriend, Eve, repeatedly asked me why I decided to finally visit my brother in Thailand. To which I would reply, "to meet Lilly of course." A highlight of my trip to Thailand other than seeing my brother was getting to meet Lilly for the first time. Lilly is Eve's daughter and the adorable girl that my brother is helping to raise. She is only 15 months old but is quite developed as far as her size and getting around capabilities. Due to her size Jeremy has dubbed her Lilly "Kong."

Her biggest trick is raising her hands high above her head when you ask, "where is Lilly?" This is followed by smiling for the camera, stacking blocks and doing a really cute dance. Oh, and she can say and wave bye bye. I had a great time hanging out with Lilly during my two weeks there and hope some day she will be able to come and visit me.

Krathongs... day two of Loy Krathong

Besides the fireworks and floating lanterns (post to come) there is the making and floating of the Krathongs. I love this festival! Krathongs are made out of banana stalks, banana leaves, and flowers. With the addition of incense, candles and money if you're gonna do it the right way. These floating rafts are meant to float away and take with them all of your bad luck so that you can start anew. At the same time that you're sending off your bad luck you also pray to the river God and apologize for any pollution you may be creating.

Jeremy and I made our Krathongs at the guesthouse with help from Nuy. It's still hard for me to get used to the fact that orchids are abundant here and can be used for decorations. Almost every iced drink I've purchased here has been decorated with an orchid.

We floated our Krathongs rather fast as there were some young kids near us lighting off crazy fireworks. You can hear Jeremy saying "ahhhhhhhhhhhhh" in response. We actually ran away at the end to avoid a firework mishap.

I Survived...

I'm happy to report that I'm still alive and well... probably even improved after last nights festivities. It is known by my friends that I do not enjoy fireworks. Come the 4th of July I like to grab my backpack and hightail it to the wilderness where the only things sparkling in the night sky are stars and planets.

The sound of fireworks have been fairly consistent around here for the last two days as anyone can buy them inexpensively and there is no social code as to when or where you should demonstrate your playing with fire and gunpowder capabilities. I kid you not when I say I have awoken to the sound of firecrackers both yesterday and today around 6am. Last night was THE night for fireworks of all kinds. And to get to where the most of the fireworks were being ignited I had to hop on my brothers motorcycle and drive the crazy streets of Chiang Mai to get to the river. The closer to the river we got the crazier it got. People, food, and fireworks surrounded my every step. Not a corner existed where one could hide and be safe from the noise, smells, and hazards flying through the air. As crazy as it was I was told by several people that this was the "mellow" part of the river and that everywhere else was 100 times more insane.

The faces of my brother and his friends Matt and David were filled with delight as they purchased 12 fireworks that looked like mini bombs for about $8. In the States people often buy illegal fireworks like bottle rockets. These were a entirely different level of illegal. These were a the small version what you see in professional fireworks displays. And they were awesome! Who knew I could enjoy fireworks so much? I witnessed more fireworks last night than I probably have in the entirety of my life.

Now while I couldn't let my sense of self preservation stop me from having fun, at the same time there was a constant need of awareness. It seemed many people had no idea how their fireworks worked. This led to a lot of running and dodging as things would go awry. And not only did you have to watch out for fireworks but also lanterns that people were releasing. If you release the lanterns too soon they will not float up and instead float right towards crowds and catch on fire. And then there are those people who attach fireworks to their lanterns and release them too soon. Use your imagination. Another sound of the night was from people screaming as they watched fireworks and lanterns go wrong. Fortunately I witnessed no major incidences.

This video is unfortunately shot sideways but shows lanterns floating in the sky, Krathongs floating in the river, fireworks zooming across the river and gives a sense of what it sounded like to be there.

Loy Krathong - Day One...

November 1, 2009 is the first official day of Loy Krathong this year. The festival is centered around the full moon and is three days long. Yesterday morning was spent decorating the entrance to the guesthouse with flowers. Yesterday evening was the opening cereomy which included, fireworks, a parade, a beauty pageant, floating lanterns and a large and lively night market.

Everything here is decorated and I have a feeling it is rubbing off on me. I was not able to sit back and watch as people played with flowers... i couldn't resist jumping right in

even though I had no idea of what I was doing. The people here are so nice and layed back and welcomed my attempted help.

Later in then evening we walked to the city wall where the opening ceremonies were being held. Lighted paper lanterns hung above our heads and street food was abundant. A parade of beatiful traditional Thai culture passed down the street and we enjoyed sitting and watching as people sent paper lanterns up into the sky.

There was also a surprising fireworks show as seen in this video. The fireworks were actually being launched from about 100 feet away from us. Thank goodness they all went up into the air!

I still can't believe it...

I've lived in Arcata since 2000. Since my arrival here I have met many wonderful people and have made many dear friends. During this time I have also said goodbye to too many friends. It seems an unbalanced trend in my life here in Arcata. People always moving on to better jobs and away from an expensive housing market. Well, this week marks the first time that a dear friend has returned. Tsky, A past roommate whom I've stayed in close contact with has returned. It feels like such a miracle that I keep pinching myself. Each time we see each other I can't get over the fact that if I want to I can see her tomorrow too. Or have her over next week. Unlike short visits over the past few years, I'm not preoccupied thinking about how sad I will be in a few hours to say goodbye and be separated by 7 hours of driving distance. THANK YOU UNIVERSE!!!!

Bountiful...

For the first time in a long time I have wonderful garden space and I'm having a blast with it. It is such a pleasure to come home at the end of the work day and see what goodies there are in the garden to harvest for dinner> usually more than squirrel and I can manage eating on ourown.

For weeks the snow peas have been going off. I pick them almost daily and they're still out of hand. Then there are the zucchinis... I need not say how abundant they are. But my pride and joy right now are the french beans I've been harvesting from just the 3 bushes that came up by seed and the sunflowers that I planted by seed as well. With all the warm weather we've been enjoying the last two weeks our sun gold tomatoes are actually turning gold and I'm sure they will be out of hand in a week or two.

Even with our wonderful garden I still can't resist visiting the farmer's market on Saturdays. I was there at the very end of the market today and couldn't resist buying a lug of ripe, organic tomatoes for just $10. I plan on canning the majority of them and giving away any left overs. What a deal!

Just a few more Shasta shots...

It was spring time up on the mountain with

the snow having melted and the wildflowers bursting.

And of course i can't leave out the foot photos.

More from Shasta...

A pretty rock formation about 2/3 up.

Me climbing up of course.

This is Ed getting water from the mouth

of the spring at 5:30am before we began our ascent.

I call this the dragon tree.

This is just below the fresh water spring

where we drank straight from the mountain.

Check next to something that wasn't on the list...

On July 31, 2009 I awoke at 5am to begin climbing Mt. Shasta in the hopes that I would reach the top at 14,162 feet. This climbing business was not my idea. The thought of me climbing Mt. Shasta had never occurred until Squirrel Meat got it in his head that he wanted to. So this is how it worked...

We hiked 2000 feet up to base camp, elevation 8,640 feet, right above tree line. Our camp had an incredible view of Mt. Shasta and was very near the best tasting spring water ever.

We were scheduled to get up at 3am to begin the ascent but with a failed alarm we didn't start hiking until 6am as the sun was rising. So there I was, hiking up a volcano at 6am in the morning.
My biggest fear was that I would get part way up the Mt. and not feel well due to altitude or find that I couldn't physically do it. I spent most of the day amazed that I actually was doing it and felt fine. Never out of breath and full of energy.

The climb really entailed a lot of focus and a lot of looking down as you had to be prepared to take your next step. The most tedious stretch took us 1.5 hours as we went up a slope of sand and small rocks (scree) where with each step up you would slide half a step back. This section took an incredible amount of upper body strength as you had to push yourself up with your poles to keep from sliding down. Our goal at that point was to get to mushroom rock at 12,800 ft (the orange rock).

After a break at mushroom rock we got to this horrible, horrible part with lots of larger rocks. The slope became much steeper and thus the rocks were unstable. This is where the self preservation thought became very strong as I nearly chose to stop. I would like to thank Mt. Shasta for not sending any large boulders clambering towards my soft head.

Once we got past the really scary stuff it was easy sailing across a small snow field and up to the top. To put things into perspective> base camp to the summit is the equivalent of 4.5 Empire State Buildings. Once making it to the top I was elated and overwhelmed. I think the adrenaline rush mixed with the high altitude got to me as I started feeling a bit light headed and nauseous. So we signed the register, took a few photos and started our descent.

Damn... this means that I had to go back down that really scary part that I never wanted to go up in the first place. It wasn't any easier going down. Every step created mini slides and I just hoped that they stayed mini and didn't loosen any of the larger boulders.

It took a total of 12 hours round trip. I was exhausted, happy, and not sure what to think when looking back up to the summit from base camp. I'm still not sure what to think about it.


A really BIG thanks to our team captain "Done That". Done That is an awesome friend from Arcata who has climbed Shasta several times before. His guidance was excellent and gave me the needed assurance that what we were doing wasn't completely crazy.

Would I do it again? Nope. Do I want to climb more mountains? Not really... it's just not my thing, but twist my arm. I had a great time and all, but I have a long list in need of checks that doesn't include climbing mountains.

summer mornings...

My morning routine lately has been... how should I put it?> Awesome!

Get up.
Drink some water.
Brush my teeth.
Stretch.

And while still in my robe I grab a bowl and head into the garden. With the song birds keeping me company I wander between several Tay berry brambles and spend quite a while in the raspberry patch. After filling my bowl I eye the veggies making a mental note of what needs harvesting before heading inside.

It has been plain yogurt and berries for breakfast everyday with the left over berries for a snack in the afternoon. Berrylicious heaven!

Inspiration...

I'm on a David Brower kick again. I can always use a little inspiration and he delivers a lot. This is a interview I found on Youtube that is 12 minutes in length.

Strawberry Finale...

After dancing at the revival Sunday morning at Strawberry, I spent the afternoon hiking to the Wapama Falls at Hetch Hetchy dam in Yosemite. Most of my knowledge of the Hetch Hetchy dam has come from researcing David Brower, one of my heroes, whose dieing wish was to remove the Hetch Hetchy dam and restore the valley. There is a great movement to do so with several organizations involved, including the group Restore Hetch Hetchy. Needless to say, I had a lot to ponder during this 5 mile hike.

With the previous weeks rainfall, followed by warm weather melting the High Sierra snow packs, the falls were going full force. We all got quite wet walking past and below the falls. Most people were somewhat screaming, including myself, as they ran past the falls. The screaming did not stem from the cold water drenching people but from the sense of power felt from the water rushing at you and the feeling that it just wasn't right to be standing next to and so close to that power.

Here is a video I took of one of the smaller spurts of the falls. This was the only fall tame enough for my camera to capture.


It was quite warm this day and we got thirsty on the way. (This one is for you bro)

Strawberry Part II...

Music in the morning and hiking in the afternoon.

Still Recovering from Strawberry...

I attended my first Strawberry Music Festival in Yosemite this past weekend. It was four days packed with live music, hiking, jamming and trying not to get sun burned.

It was a great work out overall. We did Michael Franti aerobics on Saturday night with all of his "let me see you jump." And, "now wave your hands. Jump. Let me hear you say woooo-oh. Now jump. Wave your hands. Shout. Jump! Jump! Wave! Jump!" Get the picture? Always a good time with Franti.



The next night we participated in Natalie McMaster-cise. With her lively fiddle playing and dance lesson there was no standing still. It was, "step - shuffle, step-shuffle, step-shuffle" for about an hour or so.

Arms and fingers were exercised at Jammin' 101, where musicians of all kinds and levels got together to play music. And our lungs were exercised as well from talking with many wonderful festival attendees, singing along with the bands and chatting it up in between.

Another group that was quite entertaining was Poor Man's Whiskey. A lively bunch of talented musicians. Here is a sample of a comedic song. It's in "ragtime" style and is about PMS.

Sunny Sunday...

Today there was a 20 piece band playing a benefit on the other side of the fence from my place in town. This meant a free show for me and Squirrel Meat who enjoyed the music while working in our garden. We also partook in some dancing as well.

Doubllium?...

Hiking through the forest today at Grizzly Creek Squirrel Meat and I came across what we have dubbed a "doubllium" as pictured on the left. As you can see it has two leaves, two petals, two sepals and two anthers. Look at the photo two posts ago and you will see a trillium with three of all the above mentioned. The petals of trilliums (and doublliums) turn pink as they begin to die.

Ahhhhhhhhhh...

Sunshine - Blue Skies - Slight Breeze - Calmness - Sweet Floral Smells - Bursting Blossoms

Spring is a funny time... I feel calm, relaxed and energized all at once. My mind often becomes entangled in confusion of whether to take a cat nap in the warm sun or get out in the garden and dig, dig, dig. I usually just try to fit it all in, but that gets difficult as my energized brain creates a longer and longer list of things "to do."

Today I started with a leisurely walk in the sunshine to redwood park . My mission was to find trilliums, and trilliums I did find!

A Visit from the Folks...

My folks came to visit for two days mid-week this week. We had a great time site seeing while reminiscing about our summer trips to the coast back when I was a kid.

Thanks for the wonderful visit and come back soon!

Happy Sunday...

I'll admit it. I have livied in Arcata for the past 9 years and have never made the trip to Strawberry Rock, near Trinidad. This is mostly due to the fact that there is a bit of bouldering involved with getting to the top. I don't mind the getting up part usually, but the getting down part is often a different story.

Thanks goodness the up and down were a breeze. During our hike up it was raining but clouds parted as we reached the tippy top to see the amazing Pacific Ocean in all its glory. By the time we got back to the trail head it was raining again.

2009 Rocks so far!

So much! So much! The new year has really started with a bang. I moved. I'm painting my entire house. My brother visited from Thailand.

From Winter 09

Tsky came for a visit and then I went to San Jose for a wonderful baby shower for Birdi and then to Half Moon Bay to visit Fuego and her family, plus other Bay area friends that I adore.

From Winter 09

Fuego and family were wonderful hosts at HMB. Marie kept me entertained with walks to the beach, reading books, dancing and watching her messy style of eating. I also got to meet Antz for the first time. He's the baby hidden behind the blanket. To show his true love he spit up on me all weekend. And special props go to LongDistance Woman for spending all day Monday visiting. She is sooooo cool!!!

From Winter 09