Oh Dear ...

... I keep checking my blog to see if there's anything new on it.

Day Three Hundred and Seventy-Two

See how those towers look like they are very high in the air? That's because they ARE very high in the air. One hundred and ninety feet to be exact.

And see those cables hanging down from the towers? You can't see this in the picture because my camera couldn't get the whole thing in the shot at once, but they are attached to a two-person seat, and they are STRETCHY. Two hundred and fifty feet in the air, that kind of stretchy.

(And - this delights me no end - for my non-American readers, that's about 58 meters and 76 meters respectively. Hurrah for readers in Canada, England and Australia!)

I went on this in order to fulfill Item #88 at the Oregon State Fair earlier this month, and Boo got very brave all of a sudden and decided to go with me. She ended up a little shellshocked, and needed ice cream to recuperate.


I thought about it, but I really couldn't face food until later the next day. I did fine on the ride itself, with the exception of the last few feet of the first explosive upswing. As we slowed near the top of our upward trajectory but still kept going UP, there was a sick-making moment where I thought, "No, this really is far enough, thank you, down now, WAIT not around in circles AUUUGGGHHHH!!!" Other than that though, it was quite a bit of fun. We truly could see for miles, and this was a view of the city I certainly had never had before.

Now, I'm not saying I'm getting old or anything, but I think that was probably a one-time shot. I had a good time, but my equilibrium isn't quite as steel-plated as it once was, and I felt slightly cross-eyed for the entire next week. (Although that may have had something to do with going on the swings immediately afterwards. In case you were wondering - BAD IDEA.)

Fortunately, my memory's not what it used to be either, so as long as I don't re-read this post, I can go on it again next year! Wheee!

Day Three Hundred and Seventy

Attempt #2 at spending 15 minutes a day outside for 100 consecutive days (Item #63):

I had a lovely picnic at the park.

I took my kids into the back yard on a nice day and insisted that we all read books! I know! Torture!

I went on many walks, in all sorts of weather.

I actually dusted off my bike and went for a ride, and remembered why I don't ride much. (It has to do with my butt muscles. Don't ask.)

I played a game of croquet with the rest of the pit orchestra (the first one I've ever played in, very fun!) for a local production of "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat." I am not very good at croquet, it turns out.

I browsed through the outdoor market in front of the health food store and bought some perfectly delicious organic Brandywine tomatoes. (With a name like Brandywine, how can a Tolkien buff resist?!)

I helped with some impromptu decorating at the park for Buddy's friend's birthday party.

I sat outside on the back porch at night, read books and enjoyed the night air.

I cleaned out my car, with a vacuum cleaner and everything!

I took Boo for a brisk morning walk, which was quite fun and I should do it more often.

I took a hike with my mom down by the Puget Sound in Washington State.

I took lots and lots of pictures at the Capitol Building in Olympia, WA.

I watched Buddy do his best at the Cub Scout Olympics.

I took Boo and Buddy all over the World Beat Festival in downtown Salem, and we ate a little too much fair food.

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And then I forgot about it, and now I have to start over. I promise I'm not starting this over multiple times because I like having to be outside every day ... although that's tempting now that I think about it. Hmmm.

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Six

I just realized that today is the first anniversary of this blog! I'd do a progress report, but it's getting late and I am tired. So, here is another one of my road pictures, just because I like them. Thank you for coming on this long walk with me!

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-three

I have lost one of my regular readers, and my heart is aching. You'll be missed, Mike. I was thinking about having my next 101 Things project include "sign up to be an organ donor", but I think I'll go do that now instead. A donated kidney gave you a few more years to hang around and make very funny sarcastic remarks, and I'm so glad I had those years to get to know you.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Five

I have a new camera now, although it is not, alas, in fulfillment of Item #2 since that requires a few more dollars than I have in my penny jar at the moment. This one will work, I think, but it is giving me fits so I'll have to wait on posting any items that involve pictures.

In the meantime, I'll catch up on a new item I started: #7, read five biographies.

The first one I read was It Doesn't Take a Hero: The Autobiography of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf (Bantam, 2009). I was fascinated by the story of the man, of course, but I was equally pleased to find that the book filled many hazy gaps in my understanding of the conflicts in Vietnam and the Middle East. Schwarzkopf's grasp of (and clear communication of) the cultural differences between Eastern and Western culture was incredibly helpful in allowing the reader to understand subtleties of the conflicts that don't quite fit in the World Events section of the newspaper. His dry wit sparkled through in many places, and I realize that he is probably a very entertaining man to talk to in person. More than anything, I came away from the book with a renewed appreciation for what soldiers go through on a daily basis.

Today I finished the second on my list, Helen Keller: The Story of My Life (Penguin Books, 2002). Her autobiography begins with her earliest memories and concludes at the time of writing, her second year of college. Some of the stories of her early life were familiar from the Childcraft Encyclopedia set my parents had when I was a child, but I had not realized until reading the full autobiography that Keller was in fact an amazingly educated woman. She writes of "seeing" Shakespeare plays (by having an observer spell the dialogue into her hand) after having studied them herself, reading German philosophers in the original language, her travails with learning to speak French (by putting her hands on the lips and throat of her French teacher) - can you imagine? Speak French! A woman who has never heard the language spoken and has to learn each word, each phrase, each turn of syllable with her hands. I can't fathom the determination it must have required. And I had a bad enough time with geometry without having to use bent bits of wire to "draw" the problems and remember every label of the angles and lines in my head.

Her love of learning is evident in every line of the book, and it inspired me with the desire to read more, write more, and just pay more attention to life generally. My favorite quote is an eloquent expression of the exasperation all writers must feel at some time:

"It seems to me that the great difficulty of writing is to make the language of the educated mind express our confused ideas, half feelings, half thoughts, when we are little more than bundles of instinctive tendencies. Trying to write is very much like trying to put a Chinese puzzle together. We have a pattern in mind which we wish to work out in words; but the words will not fit the spaces, or, if they do, they will not match the design. But we keep on trying because we know that others have succeeded, and we are not willing to acknowledge defeat."

I am thoroughly looking forward to reading more of these - there is as much variety among autobiographies as there is among people, which is to say all the variety in the world.

Day Something

Did you know it is very hard to do a photoblog if you lose your camera?