i have been good this year. by which i mean i haven't been entirely abominable. i refrained from telling someone who warrants it to burn in hell. that's rather good behavior, wouldn't you agree?
i feel entitled to a lot of christmas presents this year. but, being the good and thoughtful person that i am, i will keep the list to a minimum so as to not burden you, santa.
1. the oregon 550t gps by garmin. i went on a hike to a mystery destination recently where the bushwhacking scratched up my legs pretty good. i'm thinking that if i had a gps, i could have tied it to one of my legs as a shield.
2. any book about felix candela, frei otto, or any of those old school guys who made cool stuff with concrete. please bring only the books with the pretty pictures instead of the ones with numbers and equations. because, santa, who cares about math?
3. marmot gear, notably the uber kompressor backpack and the 800 fill venus down jacket. if either citronelle or olive green is not available, please bring me both in black.
4. here's another item you could bring me in black: the canon s95. i hear it's a superb point and shoot camera. i don't know how true it is. all i care about is that it weighs a tenth of the enormous lump of coal i use called the xti.
that's all i want for christmas this year. i won't hold it against you if you don't bring everything i asked for. i might entertain the idea of telling you to go to hell, but i would never say it aloud.
that's all the christmas jg would permit in the house. the trees were deployed last week. i bought them last year during the after christmas sale at borders.
this is our first year giving each other properly wrapped presents. one each. except i get two, one from jg, and one from texas. her wrapping job alone is a present in itself. anyway, i think she sent me a diamond ring.
i achieved a fair number of milestones in 2010: passing my jedi master licensing exam, reaching the top of mt whitney, and, most important of all, catching my first fish ever!
7/25 schmee with 26 inch walleye and cousin josh on the mississippi
the rest of the year wasn't bad either. jg and i kept busy with the home improvements, making new friends, and going places. it was a good year mostly because everyone we know and love managed to stay alive. by everyone i mean you, diersen.
let the long winded recap begin!
2/14 bringing in the year of the tiger with yards of firecrackers
1/23 hanging out with matt and his peeps in mammoth
(by beginner's luck, jg and i beat everyone at cranium)
2/16 the "home improvement" guy at his finest
3/13 breakfast at the boathouse with chee and her pappa
3/13 dinner in san clemente with inlaws
3/28 "improvement" in progress
4/24 attending max+april's wedding reception in lodi
5/15 revisiting the door jg made in spring '96 at cal poly
(still in use and functional-gasp!)
5/18 almost successful attempt at being pet owner
i spent over three months trying to adopt a dog with no success. in fact, it became quite an ordeal getting jerked around by various pet shelters and sellers. my quest got suspended after we drove 240 miles to 29 palms only to find out that the dog promised to us was already sold.
6/05 volunteering stuck with paul+scott at the blue canyon trail race
6/12 attending my lovely niece's graduation at ucla
6/25 schmee got older
6/26 jg taking a dip in the santa ynez river
(on the hike back from gibraltar dam)
6/26 schmee at redrock trail head
7/03 spandex surprise
the intern broke his arm in a bike related accident right before christmas. a week later, while driving with one arm, he lost control of his car and it rolled off the road, landing in a creek. he wrote to report that, while the volvo is totaled, he is fine. alive and typing!
7/15 gilcrest the race director, directing
7/18 scott won the crazy trio race
jg got the idea of biking the back country trails from santa barbara to ojai. scott decided he could run it. the race director signed on as an aid for scott. and i was recruited to drive a cooler stocked with milk and beer to ojai and pick up the crazies.
7/18 jg took second, race director dead last
everyone survived the 25 miles in 97 degree heat. we celebrated with buffalo expensive burgers at the deer lodge.
7/18 the crazy trio
7/23 schmee forced a picture with the pilot
7/25 jg caught a 27 inch walleye
(cousin josh rocks)
7/26 leapin' jg
aitkin, minnesota
7/27 schmee with the greatest grandma in the whole world
aitkin, minnesota
7/30 max performing on command by skype
8/28 chee's brother and his lovely bride
9/04 leapin' with kids
my other lovely niece and fine nephews visited us for the labor day weekend. coolest kids i have ever known. too bad they're all left handers.
9/04 jg with team lefties
9/16 bbq at scott's
9/16 bbq eaters
9/19 heirloom tomato harvest
(the only successful crop of our 2010 square foot garden)
9/30 team whitney
10/27 goofball colleague complete with pocket protector
11/06 hiking with team bushel in big sur
11/13 "camping" with the tate clan at nira
11/13 bushwhacking adventure with paul, scott, and the indomitable emma
11/13 a burning crush from miscellaneous metals
12/12 oyster party at paul+suzie's
12/12 schmee loves suzie
12/12 the oyster eaters glowing by the firepit
suzie, jg, emmy, paul, and jon
emmy hiked whitney in august and was instrumental in my preparation for the trip. (at whitney portal campground, she left her car for five minutes and a bear promptly owned it.) funny how i didn't realize that she is a dead ringer for dr eeob until i saw her at the oyster party. i miss you, erin!
12/21 we met our old friend fred, his wife jennifer, and their small son for a picnic at shoreline park. it was a pleasant afternoon but i failed to take pictures. probably because my fingers where frozen.
orchestrated by team lefties on stearns wharf
what a year it's been! busy, but good. fantastic, even. i hope that your 2010 has been equally swell.
