End of the Year Pickleball Tournament

Last week Nathan announced to me that he was going to host a pickleball tournament. I know the other wives out there will understand me when I say what that really meant was *we* were going to do a pickleball tournament. I'm so glad he did decide to do this, because it was great fun for us.



We had a great turnout! After a week full of a huge pickleball crowd, we were a little concerned we'd have so many players that it would take all day to finish. Instead we had enough people to do both a men's and women's tournament and it lasted a decent amount of time, without being all day long.



Here are the players:



Some of the action, starting with Ken and Austin. Ken always has that great smile on his face:



Regal Faye with Kim. This week is the first I've met Kim. She is a hoot. She makes the game so much more fun!





Here is Kim with Diane. Diane is a fellow South Floridian and is so cool. And she rocks at pickleball!



I've just met Kristie since we've been here too. She was on a hot streak today!



Me, and given the direction that it appears the ball is moving, I'm guessing it was not a great hit. I still get so intimidated and feel sorry for other people that they are stuck with me as their partner. And the only reason I am sharing that is because I want to give some praise to the other women that play. They are so gracious and sooooo encouraging to me. I appreciate them so much!



Look at that concentration:





Meet Donna and Barbara, who are both awesome players. And both so incredibly sweet and encouraging.





Here is another sweetheart Sheri, and lean mean winning machine Sally. Not that Sally isn't sweet, but she plays to win! I think that's the only shot I have of Sally. The rest are probably just a blur!



Wait a minute, I do have more of Sally. And here you can see the elegant Karen on the other side:



Karen looks dainty, but she can play a mean game!



Sitting on the sidelines:





You'll have to go to Austin's blog to see the men's games because I was too busy watching the women to tell you much detail about the men.

Winners: Sallie-1st, Diane-2nd and Barbara-3rd:



Mike-1st, Austin-3rd and Dave-2nd:



Way to go winners and everyone else that played. You made it tons of fun for us. We hope you had fun too!



You can see the rest of our pictures here: Pickleball Tournament

Mount Healy

After returning from Savage River, we decided to take another hike. The weather was similar to what we had left earlier in the day – cloudy skies with scattered sunshine. The trail started out easily enough leaving from the visitor center and going through the taiga forest. But this trek was more than a little strenuous with a 500 foot elevation gain in the first mile and 1200 foot gain in the second. After six weeks of no hiking, my legs and lungs were screaming “Stop!” but not wanting to admit defeat nor to be left behind by Sue and Fred, it was onward and upward.

Views like this is what makes it worth the effort! About half-way up to the top.

Sue and me on top of Mt. Healy.

The view from the top. The park entrance, Visitor Center, and Wilderness Access Center complexes are in the left foreground “beneath” the rocks.

Fred and Sue, heading back down.

A portion of the lower trail. Since the ground is frozen much of the year, the trees have shallow roots. I wonder, how many feet have trod over these roots? And yet, the tree still lives!

The top of Mt. Healy. We was up there!

While Fred and Sue fixed supper, I laid on the picnic table bench and watched the clouds pass by.

Bike Wash!

We had big plans to go skiing over the long weekend, but they were derailed by 44°F temperatures and heavy rain, even up in Maine. So instead we "washed" our bikes.

It was the Co-Habitant's crazy idea (as you have probably noticed by now, he is much more fun than I am). We had just returned from our trip and were getting ready for a quiet night at home, when he looked out the window and proposed that the rain might be a good opportunity to wash the winter crud off the Pashleys. "Let's take them around the block," he suggested.

As we raced down a road heading out of town a half hour later, it became apparent that we were on a joyride. In a downpour. In 44°F weather. In the middle of the night. The bikes were clean and shiny when we got home, and we were soaking wet and shivering. Good times! And now for some hot tea...

Cats Christmas

The dogs have been taught not to tear up anything so they didn't want to open their gifts but the cats didn't hesitate when offered the chance of opening gifts and playing in gift wrap paper.

Night Traveler

This is Trave or Tennessee Walking Horse crossed with a Shetland pony.

Oregon Inlet

While driving home from our trip, we enjoyed the scenery. I started to get emotional as we got closer to OBX. As soon as we hit the first bridge, I yelled out, "We're home".



I got really excited when we hit the Oregon Inlet, because I knew we were really close to home. I think the inlet is so beautiful. Something about the contrast of the blue water with the green and tan grass is just peaceful to me.

It has an interesting history too. From Wikipedia:



Oregon Inlet is an inlet along North Carolina's Outer Banks. It joins the Pamlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean and separates Bodie Island from Pea Island, which are connected by a 2.5 mile bridge that spans the inlet. As one of the few access points to the ocean along this stretch of coast, Oregon Inlet is a major departure point for charter fishing trips, with a nearby harbor serving as the base for many large boats that travel miles out towards the Gulf Stream almost every day. The area is also home to a U.S. Coast Guard station.



Oregon Inlet was formed when a hurricane lashed the Outer Banks in 1846, separating Bodie Island from Pea Island. One ship that rode out that storm in Pamlico Sound was named the Oregon. After the storm the crew members of this ship were the first to tell those on the mainland about the inlet's formation. Hence, it has been known as Oregon Inlet ever since.

Akin to many other inlets along the Outer Banks, Oregon Inlet moves southward due to drifting sands during tides and storms. It has moved south over two miles since 1846, averaging around 66 feet per year.

It's just beautiful, isn't it?



Living the life in North Carolina!

Earning the raspberry cheesecake

For the past two and a half years, Morrisons in Fort William have stocked a delightful looking raspberry cheesecake, placed according to the conventions of supermarket choice architecture, right in my line of sight as I head for the milk. I can’t miss it, every time.

I love raspberry cheesecake, but as a climber who isn’t naturally light enough for the grades I want to climb, I feel that I must set limits, and something like that - an out and out treat - is the most obvious target. This is why I’m two stones (28 pounds) lighter than I was at 16 years of age and can climb many grades harder too. Don’t get me wrong, I eat plenty (and I mean plenty!) when I know I’m using the energy. 

Since I first spotted it, I’ve been tempted every time I’m in there to buy it and munch it. But I didn’t. At first I thought “when I do the Ring of Steall Project, I’ll buy that cheesecake”. I sent the project, but not the cheesecake. Then, I thought, “when I finally top out on Don’t Die, I’m having that bloody cheesecake out of Morrisons”. But I didn’t. Eventually, it was “When I do Echo Wall, this time I’m definitely eating the cheesecake”, and then “when I’ve edited the film” etc. You get the picture.

I’ve picked it up at least four times, and had it in my basket and put it back twice. What’s going on here? Nothing seems to be big enough to deserve the damn cheesecake. Today I picked it up and stared at it again, and put it back, unable to think of anything I’d done that even remotely deserved to break the previous cheesecake denial.

What the hell do I have to do to earn the cheesecake?

I’ve done this more and more over the past 8 years. When I did my first E9 in 2001, I went out with my mates from Uni, got steaming drunk, went clubbing and woke up to a brain melting hangover the next afternoon. Later, when I was repeatedly throwing myself from the last move of Rhapsody, my mate Steve Gordon speculated that the only celebration worthy of doing the world’s first E11 would be to go out and take 11 E’s. We negotiated it down so that I would settle for 11 pints and he would take the 11 E’s. But when I did it, I stayed at home for three months and learnt what HTML was and built up this website.

Richard told me if I ever managed to drag myself up a 9a, we were definitely, definitely hitting the town for a hardcore night. But there was training to be done, and good conditions and bla bla.

You may ask yourself, am I going somewhere with this? The answer I’m afraid, for the moment, is not really. This post is an open question I suppose: Just what deserves the cheesecake??? 

I’ve echoed the thoughts of many others before in stressing the importance of the process of what you do and finding enjoyment in that, rather than the result at the end. So in one sense, celebration of successes is a bit meaningless. Why celebrate when the enjoyable part (the thing you are celebrating) is over. Celebrate by finding the next thing. Obviously that only counts for certain types of things - especially very individual successes like in certain types of climbing. Where things are about people sharing or collaborating, it’s different!

So maybe I’ve got my thinking the wrong way round? Is the finding of a new hard project worthy of the cheesecake, rather than the completion of it? In the next month I am going to try a project I expect to be quite a lot harder than Echo Wall. If that proves the right thing for me to dedicate myself to, should I head for Morrisons? I might have just persuaded myself…

Full disclosure: I looked at the cheesecake today not so much for me, but as I was buying food to make Claire a nice meal on her return from a trip tomorrow. Now before you accuse me of letting my own weird and eccentric ways spill over onto those around me, I should stress that after returning the cheesecake to the shelf, I bought a packet of Rice Krispies and a big pack of no less than eight Mars Bars to make Rice Krispy squares (both our favourite).

Wordless Wednesday - Not the Yellow Brick Road

Wordless Wednesday - Not the Yellow Brick Road
Terre Haute, Indiana. Summer of 1980. Digitized ...Copyright © 1980/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman.

Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center II

On Friday, October 10th, the second reincarnation of the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center was opened to the public and dedicated to the highly regarded and revered Washington State Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson. Funding for the original saucer-shaped visitor center (check out the image to the right - a distinct likeness of the old JVC and a flying saucer taking off into space) was guaranteed much to his hard-work and dedication, so it was only fitting that the new visitor center also carry his name. Peter Jackson (the son of Henry Jackson, not the director) spoke at the ceremony, highlighting his father's love of wilderness, his desire to protect our country's most precious spaces, and to create enjoyable ways for people to learn from and enjoy these amazing places throughout our country and this state. The ceremony drew big-wigs from Washington (D.C. that is), including the Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Representative Norm Dicks of Washington's Sixth Congressional District, and the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on National Parks. Other distinguished guests included local Nisqually tribal elder Zelma McCloud, National Park Service Pacific West Regional Director Jon Jarvis, the aforementioned Peter Jackson of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, Mount Rainier National Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga, an elder representative from the Consolidated tribes and bands of the Yakama Nation; yours truly of course and another famed NPS persona, Mike (Gator) Gauthier, dressed to the nine's in his class "A" uniform, and several hundred other attendees at the ceremony.

The new 'green', energy efficient JVC II is architecturally designed to match its surroundings and the historical park style, referred to as 'Park Service Rustic'. The feeling of the building when you first enter is dictated mostly by the space, due to the height of the ceiling and massive windows that line the entirety of the wall, naturally lighting the surroundings. However, it could also have something to do with the weird climber want-to-be mannequin placed high atop the climbing display. A feeling of comfort is there too. Above you are post and beam rafters, held together with cast iron fixtures and signs made from a menagerie of dark metal and wood. Overall, I was impressed and I think the sentiment was shared by most.
If you missed the grand opening, fret not, as you will have ample opportunity to view the building on weekends and most holidays, including the winter/holiday break from December 20th through January 4th. And as has been the tradition up at Paradise for many years, Ranger-led snowshoe walks will begin at the new JVC (snow permitting) on December 20th. The two public walks (12:30, 2:30) are approximately 1.5 miles in duration and last less than two hours and are moderate to strenuous. The walks are an amazing opportunity to experience the Park and Mountain in the wintertime. The adjacent photo was taken this past winter as I was returning from one of my group snowshoe walks - a beautiful view of the old JVC at sunset.
The opening of the JVC II means one more VERY important thing....re-opening our beloved Climbing Information Center (CIC) up at Paradise next summer. The CIC will function as it did before; climbing rangers staffing the desk will issue climbing permits and sell climbing passes, provide up-to-date route and snow conditions, weather forecasts, advice and as can only be expected from climbers (and NO ONE else) when they are awake and moving at 6:00 a.m. on a Saturday - perhaps some witty banter as well. See you all on the Mountain!

Thoughts on Public Transport

While I avoid public transportation in Boston, I love it in Vienna. The Wiener Linien system consists of: the U-Bahn (subway), the Straßenbahn (trams), the Schnellbahn (high speed commuter rail), and the Autobus Linien (bus routes). Together, these options cover virtually every block of greater Vienna - making public transport here as useful for traveling to work, as it is for going to the countryside.
I have given it some thought, and here are some of the factors that make Vienna's Wiener Linien system easier and more pleasant for me to use than Boston's MBTA system:

. Density of coverage: In Vienna there are transit stops everywhere. My old flat was around the corner from an UBahn station. My current flat is 1/2 block from a tram station. In Boston, I have to walk for 15 minutes from my apartment to get to a T-Stop.

. Ease of access: In Vienna, it is the passenger's responsibility to purchase tickets and to keep them on their person, but the passenger does not need to produce the ticket in order to enter a station or to hop onto a tram/bus directly. Random ticket checks with steep financial penalties function as incentives for keeping people honest. The free entry speeds everything up considerably, prevents pushing and fighting to get to the front of a queue, and makes everything feel more easy-going. I simply buy a weekly or monthly ticket, slip it into my wallet, and forget about it.

. Purchasing tickets: Even though my English is better than my German, I find Wiener Linien tickets a million times easier to purchase and use than Boston's Charlie Card.

. Atmosphere: For some reason, I find public transport in Boston more stressful and exhausting than in Vienna. Not sure what accounts for such a difference, but I definitely feel it.

The convenience of Vienna's public transport is one major reason why I seldom cycle here for transportation, and vise versa in Boston. I wonder whether cities conduct research regarding what factors make their residents more or less likely to use public transport.

Oliebollen Gebakkraam

It’s past 10PM in the Netherlands and in less than 2 hours it will be !

This afternoon I went to the centre of Utrecht to buy oliebollen for the new year’s celebration and this is what greeted me when I stepped out of Hoog Catharijne: an Oliebollen Gebakkraam with quite a long queue of customers.


In the Netherlands, oliebollen (oliebol - singular, fried doughnut balls with raisins and apple bits, usually sprinkled with powdered sugar on top) is the symbol for New Years. New Years Eve and New Years Day are not complete without oliebollen.

I bought 2 packs of oliebollen and a bottle of Prosecco (boycotting champagne this new year for a change). Hmm, I think its time to warm up the oliebollen...

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

Oliebollen and Appelbeignet, taken at work last week.