Stick it to 'em!

I finished my first hiking stick. :-) I'm not sure what kind of wood it is, but it is beautiful and it used to smell really good and sweet! Now it smells like the spar urethane that I sealed it with. :-/

Here's the process:

1. Go to a beautiful place (i.e. Olympic National Park)

2. Fall in love with a stick. For hiking, it helps if the stick is about shoulder height and relatively straight.

3. Strip off the bark. This is easier if the branch is still alive and wet. The bark comes off in long strips. If not, use a knife to whittle the stick. Be careful not to score the wood too deeply with a knife - this will make it harder to sand later.

4. Sand the wood using a fine sand paper. P220 to start, and P400 to polish.

5. Screw a hook into the bottom of the stick and hang it up in an open ventilated area using a string. WARNING: Hanging a stick from a string in your yard may confuse your housemates and neighbors. Just tell them it is an ancient kung fu training ritual.

6. Seal the wood. I used a clear spray can of spar urethane and put on three coats.

7. Cap the bottom. I used a copper plumbing cap from the hardware store. I then drilled a hole in the bottom and used a small screw to secure the cap. You can also use a rubber cap.

this kind of looks like a penis, doesn't it? :-/

Punchbowl Falls - Should you jump?

Yesterday, my friend Jacqui and I went hiking in the Columbia River Gorge. At the recommendation of a true Oregonian (Emily), we decided to hike the 12-mile Eagle Creek trail.

The trail weaves it's way through a lush forest canyon, passing innumerable waterfalls along the way. The climax of the hike is Tunnel Falls.

As you can see, there's a tunnel carved into the rock behind the falls. You can reach out and practically touch the falls - just don't reach too far - it's a 50ft drop to the rocks below!

On the way back we stopped for a while at Punchbowl Falls

We hiked down to the ridge overlooking the falls, where we met another pair of hikers. Greg was looking over the edge contemplating the 80-ft drop to the water below. I thought about jumping for a second, but decided it wasn't worth the risk. Greg thought differently - he went for it! You can see what the jump looks like here.

Looking over that edge got me thinking about risks. How do we know when to go for it, and when to play it safe? Which risks are worth taking?

Not all risks are jumping off an 80-ft cliff into a pool of freezing cold water ( btw, I'm actually glad I didn't jump this time). Most of the risks we face everyday are not physical, they're emotional. Telling your loved ones how you truly feel is a risk a bet most of us are constantly confronting. Sharing your feelings makes you feel whole, and honest, and light. But what about the other person? What about your relationship?

Relationships and trust are built on honesty.

So, take a deep breath, stop thinking so much, and JUMP!

I think you'll be glad you did.

Women Food and God

A few weeks ago my friend Tracey sent me the book Women Food and God, by Geneen Roth. It's a self-help book. If you know Tracey, you probably know that she LOVES self-help books. Right Tabner?

Even though I'm not a woman, and I don't believe in the Judeo-Christian conception of a father god sitting on a cloud up in the sky, I do like FOOD. One out of three ain't bad. So I read the book.

All joking aside, I've had my fair share of struggles with food. I haven't shared this with a lot of people, and my food issues tend to fly under the radar because on the surface I seem like a pretty healthy guy - right? However, I'm not always so healthy. In fact, my tendency to go on eating binges got so bad in college that I sought counseling. Things have slowly but surely improved since that time, but I'm still not at peace with eating.

So, if you're someone whose ever struggled in your relationship to food - which I think is most of us - I suggest you read this book. It's good. It gave me some new perspective and ideas, and it was an easy read. I'll even send you my copy if you ask nicely.

Ok, let's talk about less serious things...

I found this rubber ducky in the park today . Is it a doctor? Is it attending a gala? I don't understand it, but I sure do like it.

I finished building my new road racing bike today, and I took it for a little spin around Yamhill County. Name suggestions welcome and encouraged.

All who wander are not lost, but we sure were!

This past Sunday, I picked up Miss Christine Fallabel at the airport. After a brief stop at Trader Joes for some supplies and a refreshing yoga class in Portland, we headed north to Olympic National Park. We arrived up at the park in the early evening, and hiked a quick mile in to a beautiful campsite at the confluence of two rivers.

The next day (July 4), we went on an epic 14 mile hike...

This is what the trail looked like!

After getting lost in the woods for a few hours and hiking up (and down) some really steep hills, we arrived at Royal Lake. Unfortunately, it was a little too cool for a swim, but the ice covering the lake was gorgeous.

The Cathedral of Nature

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity..."

— John Muir

This week, I took two days off to go tramp around in the beautiful, wild, not-so-far-away places here in Oregon.

First I headed to Saddle Mountain. When I got to the turn off, there was a big orange sign and some construction equipment blocking the way. The sign said "ROAD CLOSED". But really, like that's going to stop me! I maneuvered my car around the sign and proceeded on up the mountain. Things were going well until about three miles in, when I spotted the construction crew. Oh shit. I stopped the car short and was about to turn the car around, hoping I could make a quick getaway, when I noticed that one of the crewman was actually waving me forward, probably to scold me for ignoring the obviously clear sign.

Well, no turning back now. I sheepishly pulled the car up and rolled down the window. "Go ahead through" he said, "It's clear the rest of the way from here". With both feelings of guilt and excitement, I proceeded on.

I'm glad I risked it. The hike was beautiful and challenging. When I reached the top there was a blinding fog, which, although it blocked the view, was marvelous in itself.

the view from the Saddle Mountain trail

Just a short drive from the mountain, I arrived in Cannon Beach, where I met up with the SHP cross-country bicycle group. I helped them assemble some bicycles and we broke break together. In the morning, while they reviewed policies, I went for a long walk on the beach. Believe it or not, I do really enjoy long walks on the beach. :-)

I walked out at low tide and found a secluded spot where I was all alone. The place felt instilled with magic, and I felt a rush of liveness and beauty flow over me. There were magnificent starfish clinging to the rocks, and I collected some sand dollars along the shoreline. On the way back, the tide had come in, and I had to wade through chest deep water. No matter, it was more than worth it!

Cannon Beach, OR

When I got home, I watched some of The National Parks: America's Best Idea, by Ken Burns. The first episode highlighted the life and writings of John Muir. Muir instantly became a hero of mine because of his adventurous spirit and his spiritual experience of wild places. Dude is on point.

Alpacas and Emerson

I went for a bike ride yesterday to visit the local "erratic rock" (a boulder that was transported here thousands of years ago by glacial flows). Once I was there, I took out a pen and some Emerson and dug in. From up on the hill, I had great views of the surrounding vineyards, and in the distance I think I could see Mt. Hood. It was a lovely, peaceful afternoon.

I've only started reading Emerson's "Nature", but I already feel like we are kindred spirits. Emerson radically changed American intellectual and spiritual thought by positioning the natural world at the center as something holy. His outlook seems most closely aligned to modern-day Pagans, who can be found reveling in the changing seasons during the solstice, but also makes me think of the U.U. principle about the "interdependent web of life, of which we are a part".

Emerson also encourages us to be mindful and intentionally engaged with the world, which reminds me of one of my favorite writers, the buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. But what I really love about Emerson is his uninhibited sense of joy.

He writes, "Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear." These lines remind me of my friend Sarah Edwards, who I feel most closely embodies this sentiment.

On the way back home, I stumbled upon a virtual sea of alpacas! Pretty awesome. They were surprisingly interested in me, which I found bizzare, but also kind of sublime. Perhaps I've found my calling?

Go jump in a lake!

Today is Wednesday, so it's my day off, of course. Yesterday, I heard a couple of different cyclists talk about riding at a place called Hagg Lake. So, when I decided to go for a bike ride today I had to be Hagg Lake-bound!

The lake was about 25 miles from Mac, so I downed a bowl of granola and blueberries, hopped on my bike and hit the road. The countryside on the way to the lake was dotted with farms and a few small towns. After a couple of hours I arrived at the lake...

This is Hagg Lake. It is very nice and very hilly.

My new bike likes the lake

I took a break in one of the picnic areas. There were a couple of people fishing, but besides that it was very still and peaceful on the lakeside. I decided to cool off with a dip in the lake. Hagg Lake is cool because they permit swimming pretty much anywhere in the gigantic lake (10 miles around). I didn't have a swimsuit with me, but bike shorts are a good substitute.

Normally I would run into the water and dive in as fast as I can. It's just what I do. But today, I was really struck by the peace and calm of the lake. I walked out into the lake slowly and carefully and just stood there for a while waist-deep in the water. Listening to the wind and the birds and watching the ripples in the water was the best part of my day.