Pig Sty

Bought Bissell vacuum - $47 wonder - at Walmart Sunday. Put it together yesterday. It was laughably simple to put together - I like that. Vacuumed big livingroom today. Dust cup holds 2 quarts. It was completely full. I'll vacuum the rest of the house, maybe a room or two a day, this week. Vacuum seems really powerful - almost pushes itself - scary. Was a Consumers Digest Best Buy. Good price and plenty of positive reviews on Walmart.com.

Been going to bed around midnight but then can't go to sleep until 1:30 or 2am and then don't wake up until 9-10am. I suspect it's the Vitamin D. Why are they telling us how wonderful it is but then they don't tell us that some of us will find it impossible to take the amounts that they are recommending because of side effects/sensitivity? I'm going to try taking it before I go to bed tonight and see if that helps. I'm taking 1,200 IU a day. Once had Vitamin D tested and it was something like 21 ng/ml. That's at the low end of normal according to some and deficient according to other sources. I plan to get it tested again.

Sewed my old cloth library book bag. Didn't even notice that the handles were hanging on by strings.

Went to Family History Center in White Rock to export files from my genealogy file that don't include living people. Got there at 1:30pm and before I knew it, it was 3pm, closing time. I'll have to go back on Thursday to check if the files turned out like I want them to. I put the flash drive in our Macintosh and the files I made appear as unreadable because they are all made for a PC. Going there reminded me of when I used to spend hours there researching. Four other equally obsessed people were there.

Walked down canyon in Los Alamos Canyon, parking at the ice skating rink. Past the Omega Reactor, there is now a sign forbidding entry if you don't have permission. The creek was running. Would be interesting to go to Los Alamos Reservoir to see if it's filling with water. This may be a better plan than going to DOE Land as the weather has gotten very warm and junipers and piñons don't provide needed shade.

Slept Until 11am

But that doesn't mean I'm well rested. The crew got in from their Disneyland trip at 12:30am. I went to bed around 1am but didn't fall asleep right away.

Did load of laundry and cooked vat of short grain brown rice before leaving at 1pm to pick up Dorothy for walk down Lujan Road and up Bayo Road (translation: down Bayo Canyon Trail below stables and then across Bayo Canyon and up Bayo Bench Trail). We did our usual 1 mile an hour.

I thought Dorothy had said she'd be interviewed on KRSN today but she insists it was always next Monday so I didn't miss it after all.

Dorothy asked if I'd go on Thursday with her in search of big trees of Los Alamos County. I agreed but wish to go back to a once a week schedule next week. We're going on the Apache Springs Trail down into Frijoles Canyon where Chick Keller saw a big tree right at the bottom of the trail. That trail is very skiddy. I'll enjoy going up better than going down.

On top of everything else going on this week, spouse has invited ex-son-in-law and his new wife, along with grandson, over for the first night of Passover on Wednesday. He's handling it all and I'll help to clean up.

Daughter got promoted to administrative assistant her first day on the job which means $2 more an hour. They gave her a test, she passed and got the promotion. She's happy because it will mean less direct contact with patients (maybe none).

Grandson has recess detention all week. He and another kid were acting up during a fire drill. Daughter says she shouldn't have sent him to school today. I knew it would be a hard transition from Disneyland to Realityland! : )

My "present" from Disney was two shirts - a Grumpy (advertising Grumpy beer on the back) and a Mickey Mouse. Problem is that I said I only wanted a white character shirt and one is brown and the other is hot pink. I only wear short-sleeved shirts on summer evenings when I walk outside at night and I only wear white so I'm visible. Spouse can have the extra large brown one and daughter the large hot pink one.

Spring Snow

I walked on ski hill bypass road. Ponderosas flocked with snow were pretty. What a difference, though, from yesterday's sunny weather, blue skies, cranes burbling overhead and birds singing in trees!

WRSC hike was cancelled. I woke at 7am, looked outside, saw snow and slept in until 10am. Mary called spouse to say hike was cancelled.

Book found in library lobby non-return shelves: Shackleton's The Heart of the Antarctic: Furthest South Expedition 1907-1909.

Still wondering why hot water heater is sometimes releasing water from overflow valve on back porch.

I like The Source by Woodson Merrell. It helps to have healthy eating habits reinforced.

Book: A Mountain Year

I ended up appreciating Chris Czajkowski's book A Mountain Year: Nature Diary of a Wilderness Dweller. The book is a meditation on nature that draws you into the beauty and calmness of her world. She leaves out most of the gritty day to day details involved in the upkeep and running of her business - renting out cabins to summer tourists at her home, Nuk Tessli, in British Columbia. Behind the scenes of diary entries of her thoughtful observations on nature and with beautiful watercolors and drawings, a lot of hard work must be involved but she doesn't complain but instead distills the essence of the beauty around her into her journal.

I will be sad to end the book and leave her world. I admire that she lives there alone most of the year. She goes into the outer world for book tours and other chores such as resupply but mostly she resides at Nuk Tessli and says that she needs the solitude. She does have two dogs for company and keeps in contact with the outer world via email when her Internet connection is working. Though they are not "next door", there are neighbors in the area to help her if she needs it. Wwoofers, from the organization World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, come from around the world to live at Nuk Tessli in the summer and help her with brushing out trails and other upkeep of the grounds. She must realize that she is blessed to live her life her way.

Old Chili Line Near Ojo Caliente

The LL group hiked on the old Chili Line abandoned roadbed on BLM land just past Ojo Caliente. Mary Ann and her Colorado friend, Eloise, requested a hike that would put them about an hour closer to Colorado.

The hike started out past dumping grounds - a bad habit that northern New Mexicans have. When I asked her, Eloise said that kind of dumping doesn't happen in Colorado. She lives near Denver and she met Mary Ann, who lives in Golden, on the Colorado Mountain Club hikes.

The group of 14 people stopped for lunch after two miles and then headed back to the cars for a four mile RT hike. After six hours of sleep last night (got to bed at 12:30am), I didn't offer to drive as it sounded far and I was afraid I'd fall asleep. The country was pretty but not as pretty as the Pojoaque Badlands because it was more of a flat, open area. We did start up a ridge for a lunch spot but didn't go all the way up. At lunch, we had a view of the northern Jemez Mountains and could clearly see Pedernal's outline in the distance.

It's cold today, especially in the house, but it was fine down in the valley. If it's above 32 degrees in White Rock, our leaders wear shorts but they didn't today. One man said it was 18 degrees in White Rock!

When Mary Ann and Eloise took off for Colorado after the hike, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye because I had to visit a bush right before we got to the cars. For some dumb reason, I didn't realize that the blue SUV taking off was them and I didn't wave goodbye because I realized it too late.

Full Moon Riding High in Sky

Went to interesting Los Alamos Historical Society talk at Fuller Lodge by Ellen McGehee who works at Los Alamos National Laboratory. She gave slide show about Manhattan era (Project Y) buildings that are being restored in the Anchor Ranch, S Site, and Pajarito Site areas. One interesting factoid is that all the work that was being done at Pajarito Site has now been moved to Nevada and the lab is in the process of decommissioning Pajarito Site or TA-18. One day it will be open to the public who can then tour the Pond Cabin which is on New Mexico's State Register of Cultural Properties. It was very well attended. One glitch was that it didn't start on time because first they needed to round up a projector screen. The one they finally brought in was so small! I handily whipped out my binoculars and was able to easily see it, though, from the very back of the room!

Potrillo Canyon

Went to Potrillo Canyon today with spouse. Somehow we found our way out and avoided all the pitfalls of various confusion junctions! View of Rio Grande was spectacular! Heard cranes overhead. Saw several other hikers and dogs. One day, before it gets too hot, I want to go to Potrillo Canyon and walk every path going every which way so then maybe one day I can understand that place.

Now's a good time to do a lot of hikes in the lowlands before it gets hot so here's my hiking wish list for next two weeks - Potrillo Canyon explore; explore of trails on DOE land outside of Pajarito Acres; Ancho Rapids; Guaje Mountain; Burnt Mesa; Ponderosa Campground to Upper Crossing; and Valle Canyon. The last two are for Dorothy as she wants to know when she can tromp around for the big trees of Los Alamos County project. That's what I love about Dorothy - she always has another project that she is interested in. I'm lucky to be able to accompany her!

The symposium for poets and poetry teachers at UNM-LA was interesting. I'm not going to become a poet any time soon but I enjoyed hearing the poets - Jon Davis, Michelle Holland, Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan. Each was a fascinating individual. Jon Davis performed a poem in his alter ego persona of Chuck Calabraze that was absolutely hilarious! It was a list poem and listed all the work that men do for their family.

A very interesting woman sat down next to me at lunch. She had turned vegan after a bout with breast cancer.

I'm enjoying One Mile At a Time by Dwight Smith. I thought I would only skim it but I'm reading it all. Taking a bike trip around the United States at age 64 is certainly courageous. When I read about adventures like that, I'm envious but I would be too lonely.

I contrast that book with A Mountain Year by Chris Czajkowski which I'm also reading and I find I enjoy Dwight's better. Chris's is a very beautiful book with lovely drawings of plants and animals and a detailing of the natural world around her for a year but Dwight does a lot of philosophizing that shows his human side more. I like him for his humanness and fallibility and emotional vulnerability.

Feeling Rundown

Went on LL hike in Pojoaque Badlands, starting from dirt road that runs past El Rancho. Beautiful badlands with spectacular views of Sangres and Jemez ranges. Eleven people showed up.

I need to switch to lighter weight hiking clothes in this warm weather. I got damp from sweat and stayed that way.

Feel rundown like a cold is coming on. Too much hanging around doctor offices and hospitals. Sneezed a lot yesterday - that was a harbinger.

I'm running in and out watering the spruce tree. A lot of water is going into the street. Also, doing two loads of laundry. Making a tortilla pizza, no cheese, for supper.

Ice People and Jinja House

Two weeks in a row I've gone to Smith's in White Rock to stock up on fruit and vegetables. I'm enjoying the experience. It's giving me more variety than I would get at Vitamin Cottage.

Of my Smith's buys, today I roasted more asparagus as well as Sun Bella bagged, brown mushrooms and an eggplant. The eggplant was turned into baba ghanouj. I'll have some asparagus and mushrooms tonight along with some frozen mussels we picked up at Albertson's yesterday.

I managed to get by with only a stop at Albertson's in Santa Fe. Spouse says it's more expensive than Smith's. We did pick up some wonderfully fresh strawberries and cut up pineapple to make a strawberry-pineapple fruit salad. Spouse says he wouldn't have bought the cut up pineapple if he had realized it cost $5.99 but it was worth it!

We saw Ice People at the Screen in Santa Fe. We enjoyed it but it left lots of unanswered questions. A book to go along with the movie would be helpful. For instance, it showed two of the geology students walking around, one with a GPS and another with a backpack that had some kind of antenna rising up out of it. I assume that they were mapping but that's never explained. At one point when those two are approaching the other geology researchers, one comments that here come the moon people. What in the world does that mean?

I thought it was interesting when one of the geologist talks about how dirty you get out in the field and when you first take a shower back at McMurdo, you see these round, waxy, white balls dropping off which are the dead skin that is being removed.

After the movie, we ate a late lunch at Jinja House. I ordered two appetizers - the Tokoyo Crispy Tofu and Seasonal Vegetables Stir-Fried. It was good but next time I'll ask if they can make the tofu soft. I think they deep fat fry it even though the menu says lightly fried (which I thought meant pan-fried). I put a whole piece in my mouth when it first came to the table and it was absolutely molten inside. Spouse ordered Shaking Beef and liked it. It came with spinach, cucumber salad and fried rice.

Today we were going to hike Potrillo Canyon but I took so much time making things in the kitchen and preparing and eating breakfast-lunch that I decided to walk this evening. The weather is beautiful here so it will be very pleasant tonight.

Back Among the Living

Yesterday was stomach affliction day. I went to the doctor's office at 4pm and by the time I got done, all the ultrasound people had gone home, even from the emergency room. Los Alamos Medical Center has no ultrasound exams available in the emergency room after hours. I may get an abdominal ultrasound next week.

On the WRSC hike today, Eve told me that after hours, there is no one to read an x-ray in the emergency room. It's sent digitally to Australia and in an hour, you have the results. (I like Eve - she's human, real and will talk to you.)

The group hiked the Potrillo Canyon Trail but Mary didn't go out to the end, even though they were very close, because she had to get back early for a potluck at the senior center. After I got sick, I wasn't planning to go on the senior center hike but I woke up without the alarm at 6am and felt no stomach pains so I decided to go.

Anyway, after an afternoon and evening of stomach pains and throwing up, it's good to be back among the living again! This last happened like this in August 2008 while on vacation.