Dark; Basement

Yesterday, the president stole the sun from my morning bike ride. Daylight savings this early in the season covers my favorite cherry treed street with darkness, instead of sun drenched crisp air and a petal fall that makes my wheels spin. Damn. There will be nothing but leaves by the time the light returns to that ride.

Today, I climbed down the six rungs through the circular hole in the floor to reach the crawl space basement at school. I walked West ducking my head to avoid pipes, one of which must have burst, as the building hadn't had heat for since yesterday. I exited in the main science department store room, up the rusted rungs and out into another teaching day!

The ambassador of Kale

It seems I've become an unofficial advocate for Kale.

Two weeks ago when discussing a lab on the properties of elemental oxygen I mentioned antioxidants. Antioxidants slow the aging process that occurs every time we breathe (and oxidize our cells). The secret to a long life, I told students, could only be whispered. They hushed and leaned forward on the end of their chairs.

Three words: Green. Leafy. Vegetables.

The ensuing moans and giggles are delightful. I shared a recipe for Kale Crispies (thank you Helsing Junction) both outloud and on my classpage on the web. Let them eat Kale!

Within a week I've heard the following feedback:

• "Even my little sister liked it!"--Student
• "By the way I really like kale, and my son loves it. He used to walk around saying " Kale! Kale! Kale! I love kale". It was really weird, but I was very happy that he liked it so much."--Email from the Tech Support guy in the district who observed and helped arrange my class page at the change of the semester.
• and this:
  

The note came with a gift certificate.
The gifts of getting kids to eat kale is rewarding enough.

and today's Science New York Times essentially hails my efforts for the consumption:

Nutrition: Adolescents Aren’t Eating Their Vegetables

Eat food, not nutrients

There are only a handful of writers whose every word is worth hanging on. Michael Pollan is one of those greats. I enjoy his quick style, his well researched discoveries, and his subject matter. He writes about food. More importantly, he writes about the culture of food, relationships with food, and the connection to the ecology and soil. In his most recent New York Times article, Pollan criticizes "nutrionalism", not nutrition. He offers nine suggestions for healthy eating. I've been following them for years. I'm glad he's sharing these simple and important ideas with others. I'm glad you can get a glimpse of my philosophy of living through his fine words.

Meany Lodge Weekend

Photos are here.

Otherwise a dry ride

Light lingers before five as
dusk draws crows home
to the rookery near the Arboretum,
where from McGraw street
those perched in birch trees, and on wires,
look like scattered coal buttons
from yesterday’s snowmen,
now glacial erratics on green grass
dripping into saturated soils.

It’s otherwise a dry ride home.

Snow People

Snow day number 5

Herman Saddle, Baker Backcountry

MLK weekend

As I slept in the car before dawn on the way to Mt. Baker, I was dreaming. I woke somewhere on 542 with sunrise clouds looking like flames rising out of dark peaks. Before 9 am we arrived at the Mountaineers parking area as scheduled to meet up with Kevin Steffa for our tour. After signing into the lodge we pushed off in the glorious sun. A few steps out, I broke the buckle on my skin. The lodge vice and a handy zip tie did the trick.

Deciding the difficulty of our destination was in large part due to the range of skiers in our group. My housemate Daryl and her friend Nate were newbies to the back country and had been making tele turns only a handful of times. Nick and Kevin were by all means competent. For me, the sun wasn’t the only thing casting a shadow on our destination options.

The last time I was in this area was July where I sustained a serious shoulder injury near Table Mountain. I have been back on my skis since the accident a number of times this season. I’m strong, at least physically. However, I had hesitation about Artist Point and Table Mountain proper. Plus, both Kevin and I wanted to see some new views. So we decided to head for Herman’s saddle.

The stability of the snow sang a sweet song. The styrofoamy squeak of steps and pole punches was the sure sign of consolidation. In addition, there was no wind. It was nothing but glorious. The tour was straightforward out from the Bagley Lakes flats, with only minor skinning difficulties for one member of our group due to skinny skins and lack of climbing wires on her rental gear. It was surprisingly hot in the sun. Occasionally we’d hear the loud scrape of a boarder hitting the dominant unbreakable crust beneath the 4 to 5 inches of shimmering powder. The saddle itself showed signs of wind sculpted snow revealing the ice at the surface.

From the saddle (5300’) we soaked up the sun, lounging in the sweetness of this day and the stunning views of both Shuksan and Baker. Nick and Kevin opted for an additional climb above the ridge. I led Nate and Daryl on the descent. The snow was better than I had thought given the crust. Turns were smooth, quick, and sweet. We chased the sun and shadows back into the basin.

Returning to the lodge I ran into fellow TAY’er Dave_R and his family. They’d been at the resort Sunday and we swapped condition reports, as we headed to the lifts on Monday.

I woke up this morning and it was snowing. I love snow days!

more photos