I was out enjoying some sunshine in the courtyard at my home and came across a live sex show. I took photos.
I did not learn about the birds.
I was out enjoying some sunshine in the courtyard at my home and came across a live sex show. I took photos.
I did not learn about the birds.

Once upon a time, I mounted this steed. I was armed with nothing but a fist full of scotch. Or was it a belly full of scotch and a fist full of mostly-empty-bottle? Only Ni4ky knows. I seem to remember being accosted by a child who wanted a go on the horse. It was my go and I made sure be knew waiting would be required. Ni4ky fed the horse quarters. I guess it was a quarter horse?
Later I got lost downtown and Dylan rescued me. Then I threw 3 balls at the commodore bowling lanes. Also I slept on a bench for a while.
That was when I was young and foolish.
Now I am old and foolish.
As you may have noticed in the photos from Sunday’s adventure, I was wearing shorts and gaiters. This left a small patch of exposed knee skin between the two. That is the location where the nettles attacked. Herein, I will whine about it.
The mosquitoes and thistles were abundant too, but I think I have powers against them. My celtic lineage renders thistles to the level of “nuisance”. Also, they are simply prickly rather than being of the “inject you with multiple toxins” disposition. As for mosquitoes, I spent enumerable years living in hunnermile where the swarms carry away small children. I suspect I have been bitten by enough mosquitoes that I am classified as an official part of their food supply. It hurts when they bite, and I try to destroy them, but I inevitably get at least my share of bites. But the bites stop irritating me after the initial minute or so – I think I just learned to tune it out.
Stinging Nettles I have no such patience for. A light brush against the leaves gets you a dose of “acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT (serotonin), moroidin, leukotrienes, and possibly formic acid”. I don’t even know what that stuff is. It hurts like a bastard and keeps stinging. Washing it hurts. Touching it hurts. Insects that bite (moquitoes, black flies, horse flies, midges, etc) seem to be attracted to the welts (more like lacerations). It is rather disconcerting to look down at your leg wounds and see a family of arthropods face-down-ass-up feasting on your misfortune.
Five days on, my knee skin still has not recovered.
I’m not sad though. It’s just knee skin. I am super happy. Today I am headed into the Kootneys for a Canoeing/Hiking/Camping adventure with rad people.
That banner photo was taken at the edge of the Stein Divide on the western edge of Stein Valley Nlaka’Pamux Heritage Park. The view peers down from Van Horlick Pass to the valley that forms the headwaters for the North Stein river. When taking the photo, I was standing approximately where the green arrow is on this map.
The route in required a fair bit of bushwhacking. This was information I had in-hand before starting the journey. I do not own a machete and decided this would not be a substantial obstacle. The most abundant barrier was a tall broad leafed plant. It grew very thick in places but was reasonably easy to push through. Unfortunately it was also very good at hiding stinging nettles and thistles. This combination was a substantial barrier. I fashioned a weapon out of a section of willow tree and cut a hole where needed.
It was also gorgeous everyplace. The overgrown logging road had more than just obstacles. The wild flowers made me smile lots and being surrounded by mountains always seem to make me happy too.
From the outset I considered this adventure to be an investigation: reconnaissance to drive a future adventure. I took the following photo while exiting and I have marked it up to show some of the places visited.
Here I am fueled by lunch and ready to descend.
Boot skiing down was, in a word, rad. Some of it was super steep adding to the gnar.
I intend to revisit this place within a month on a more focused journey to the top of the mountain at the center of the top banner photo, Elf Peak.
Bob Ross is one of the coolest humans ever. He may be the only force in the universe capable of stopping channel surfers dead in their tracks.
This brilliant video commissioned by PBS takes the beautiful soft voice of that man and remixes it into melody. I was smiling broadly for three and a half minutes. Gnarly.
Yesterday I was part of a scavenger hunt. I enjoyed it.
It is documented here:
http://scavengethis.wordpress.com/
It is pre-jam season again. While making my pre-jam sandwich for breakfast I was reminded of a slightly rambly e-mail I once wrote in regards to an invitation to join some friends on a bike ride out to a bonfire (with sleepover) in New Westminster. I think there was some question about the ease of the route.

My breakfast this morning, fruits courtesy of the UBC Farm.
This is the e-mail I wrote back in March of last year.
Last night, around 1 am, I found myself feeding pepto-bismol to a goat while Sophia milked it into her mouth. Not how I expected our evening to go…
some people are cluing in that a space program is pretty much always a rad idea….
As of 7:17 pm today Mercury will be in retrograde. It will be in retrograde for just over three weeks.
Crazy and unpredictable things can happen, like Bush “winning” an election (November 2000 retrograde) or a stock market crash (October 2008 retrograde) or finding a perfectly good bagel down the back of my couch (April 2006 retrograde). These things happened because of Mercury.
During this retrograde, be the crazy you want to see in the world.