The Superfluous Campaign 2009

Exhibit C: Making Creme Brulee with an Oxy Acetylene torch

Rana

The wetlands near my place are rife with activity, particularly later in the day. The red wing blackbirds dart this way and that and the female mallards can be heard everywhere. The cattails are starting to emerge, The fruit trees blossoming and the wild roses budding. (Begin nerdgasm) Invertebrates of all kinds can be found in moments, and Rachel and I saw a leech there recently (awesome!).

However, around sunset the life form with the greatest presence is without a doubt the frogs. The noise of their calls is DEAFENING. To get close, you have to pad silently into the main cattail pond area. Then, wait for the ones near you to decide that you are not a threat (amid the cacophony, they can hear your footsteps surprisingly well) and they will eventually return in full surround sound. Sometimes I swear it is a few decibels shy of hurting my ears. Also, even when you can hear a frog within a few feet of you, you can seldom see the sneaky little buggers.

My old Canon A540 is not equipped with the latest sound recording technology, but I took some video all the same. In a month or two the shallow ponds will be quiet and well on their way to being dried up, and those of us who frequent the boardwalk will have to wait 'til next year to hear them.

P.S. I've noticed that the Green Heron that lives in our neighbor's tree seems nice and plump these days...

An Oldy

I stumbled across some of my old backcountry ranger pictures while cleaning out my OSU storage. Summer's almost here people!

Red Rocks 2009

Some of you may be detecting a pattern here. Though I am loathe to let any sort of routine sneak into my life, going to Red Rock canyon has become sort of habit forming for me during spring break. The trip was, as it usually is, sunny and filled with some steep sport climbing, enjoyable long routes (for the most part) and many laughs.

Many aspects of this excursion were not routine. A few off the top of my head include

• I ate a lot of steak
• Except for a moment, I never set foot in Red Rocks campground (Thanks Mikey!)
• I went to a place called Cactus Joe's. They sell cactus. More at 11
• Got wicked scared on a 5.7
• I witnessed human feces get on a climbing rope on a multipitch *shudder*
• As I scrambled up the side of Mt. Wilson for 3 hours, I was impaled on yucca plants, my arms were raked by desert scrub oak and kept myself from falling by holding onto some grass only to bail at the base of the climb because it was so cold I could not feel my hands (cool view though, I'll be back)
• Ate more steak

I won't post an entire synopsis tonight, but needless to say, the trip was enjoyable. Instead I'll post pieces here and there the next month or two, not because I'm lazy (well... maybe), but it'll keep me occupied while I write a few term papers. Here's to some hard crankin' this April people!