Cumberland Island

Georgia is mostly landlocked. Except for a small stretch of Atlantic shoreline, that is.

The Georgia coast stretches from Savannah (just south of Hilton Head, NC) to St. Mary's (just north of Florida). Off the coast of St. Mary's lies Cumberland Island, a national park that is one of the jewels of the southeast.

I first hatched the idea of visiting the area after reading two of my favorite books: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, and The Poisonwood Bible. The first is a murder mystery cum ghost story set in Savannah, GA, better renowned for its annual St Patty's Day fete. The second, The Poisonwood Bible, opens with a journal entry by its main character, while living on an island off the coast of Georgia. I coulda sworn it was Cumberland, but I have been since corrected by my friend Matt. Turns out that Sanderling Island is fictitious: the author was more likely representing Tybee or St. Simons Island... details. Anyways...

Interesting historical reference: John Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette were married on Cumberland Island. I didn't see the church; I think it was on the far north end of the island.

We left WarmLanta on Saturday, after much consternation about the number of coolers to pack and where we were to crash that eve, since the ferry for Cumberland was due to leave at 9am on sunday. Five people in the party: me, Aryn and Matt H (two of my favorite-ist friends around here), and Shawn and JK, friends of Aryn.

The drive to Cumberland includes Savannah en route. Savannah has been on my "list" of places to visit before i leave GA, so I lobbied that we stop for dindin. Parking in Savannah? Ew, WTF? Moon River Brewery? Ah, yeah.


In one sip, Moon River comfortably took its place on my top-x list of local brews (rounding out the top of the list are Stone IPA from San Diego, Fat Tire from CO, Sprecher Amber from WI, Harpoon IPA from Boston, and Sunday River IPA from Maine, and Sweetwater here in HotLanta). Other than that, Savannah was so-so; perhaps i need to see it in daylight to appreciate its charm?

We drove on to St Mary's late Sat eve, and I mean late. We found a quiet and dark parking spot very near to the docks, and all pulled out our respective gear and crashed. I slept on the asphalt next to my Xterra. I've slept in worse places ;)

Dawn was stellar. Then the ferry ride was fun. And when we got to the island, we had four-wheeled carts available to schlep our stuff from the ferry to Sea Camp, about 0.5mi away. Damn! talk about spoiled. Note for Amy and Pat, Tom and Brenda, and those of my friends who will have munchkins within the next few years: Cumberland is *utterly* accessible camping, with running water and toilets, and a perfect deserted beach that just BEGS for the world's biggest sandcastle.

Our spot was beautiful; we were down a berm from the dunes, nestled in gnarled oak trees dripping with spanish moss (known to some as Old Man's Beard... must be a Southern thing), rising from a forest floor covered in palmettos.




























The campsite was a stone's throw from the boardwalk, which stretched for maybe 200' over the dunes to the white sand beach. Did i mention that the beach was DESERTED???? It took my breath away. The beach stretches for 17 miles, a wide expanse of sand stretching to meet the blue ocean. Empty. It reminded me of Crane's Beach, except more of it, and with warm water ;)




We played in the waves. We cooked over a roaring campfire. We slept. We hiked out to the crumbling ruins of Dungeness, a castle built on the island sometime in the 1880s. We saw wild horsies (there are about 150 roaming the island). We flew a kite. We watched the sun set from the dock on the bay side of the island. At one point, catching sunset from the Atlantic side of the island while floating in the waves and watching the pink sky reflect on the waves lapping on the beach , I felt like I was a part of the sunset.


























and no, D, there was no photoshopping of these pictures! :) Just mother nature at her best.

Several times on the trip, one or another of us remarked about how it felt like we were kids playing in the neighborhood on a Saturday. That's a pretty good Saturday, if you ask me!!

Cumberland Island is a little gem that every outdoors-loving person should see. I regret that I didn't paddle my kayak out to it, and that will happen on a future trip, for sure. Because I foresee that this is far from my last trip to this little paradise :)

Moose gained five pounds!!!!!!!

Everyone who is caretaker to a creature needs a good vet. They can be supertough to find; veterinary medicine these days is as much about drugs and profit as human medicine. If it says anything, you can currently buy insurance for your pet (and it sucks just as much as human insurance!!)

I have been exceedingly lucky to have found an excellent vet, Dr. Linton Dangar, who currently cares for my creatures Moose and Billy. Dr. Dangar has my respect for many reasons, among which are his 40 years of experience and his preference for home-remedies and conservative treatment. Some things to make you think:

- His treatment for Moose's pancreatitis last xmas was a fast, a few (six) pills, and a food switch. Worked like a charm. Alternative: MRI, biopsy, exploratory surgery.

- Moose's cancer: He counseled me to not bother with an expensive pathology report and chemotherapy; he has seen her type of cancer so many times, he already knows the prospectus. Alternative: obvious.

- Moose's nosedive in August: he gave me a straight-up and realistic assesment, and told me how I can improve her geriatric years. I can't tell you how much I love that my vet told me to feed Moose yogurt, after her antibiotics, to help her immune system. And scrambled eggs. Which Moose totally digs.

- Today's checkup: he checked out her paw, and told me to not worry about her toesie bc it's an arthritis flare (suggested ibuprofin); for her bilateral ear infection, he told me to wash her ears with Selsun Blue then do a white vinegar rinse every day for a week. I'll post how that works; as a biochemist, I can tell you right now, DUH!!!!! Of course it'll work!! Alternative: xray of foot ($$$), ear flush and meds. Having done this no less than a dozen times, I can tell you that ear infections and their purportedly requisite drugs get expensive. Vinegar. Flippin' vinegar. OMG.

And today he didn't charge me a dime for the checkup. What kind of vet does that?

Answer: A good one who is really in it for the creatures.

He has had a successful business for 40 years. Because he knows, his happy patients will refer more. As I have referred four others to him.

This is my kind of business model :)

Lake Jocassee - deep water soloing!

One of the most fun forms of climbing is deep water soloing, where you ascend a rock face directly out of a body of water, with no rope, no nothing. You climb as far as you wish, then POP! Sploosh!!

Until this past weekend, my favorite place to do this had been Summerville Lake in West Virginia, outside of the New River Gorge. Unfortunately soloing has been outlawed there. The last I heard, poaching climbing there was subject to a $1000 fine and a few days in jail. Serious bummer :(

So when my friend Bill told me about a 200' granite cliffline on the shores of Lake Jocassee, South Carolina, with a clean fall (aka deep water soloing) I was intrigued.

Access is by boat only (whee!!!! time to use Sunshine!) We took two kayaks and a canoe, four people, and one black dog. Her Highness got a new life preserver specifically for the occasion.














The camping spot was primo, right next to the cliffline up on a bluff with a perfect view of sunset over the lake.


















Soloing was fun - we did a little on Saturday, then more on Sunday. The rock quality was good. Much better than expected. Blocky incut granite, warmed by the sun, plenty of moderate climbing and traversing. Webster was the gutsy one of us, he climbed up about 30' and jumped, repeatedly :) I did a lot of climbing around, but downclimbed to about 10-15' to jump. (Some of you will recall that as a child, I couldn't muster the courage to go off the high dive in Kokomo except just once!) Hit the play button for a sample:



Note that the cliff bands are two colors, the water level is still pretty low due to the drought here in the South. That's about 25 feet. Yeah, wow.

What a fun weekend. It was a calculated risk by me, since I had final exams the four days following our trip. But everything turned out fine, I even rocked an A on PT (didn't expect that!!)

I would love to return to this place, and i'm sure at some point I will. I wish I had found it two summers ago. But for now, the weather is finally turning - it's getting too cold to spend a day swimming.

Besides, there are so many other places I need to explore before I leave Georgia. Like, for instance, Cumberland Island, which is on the southeast Georgia coast. And, on the way, Savannah......

Marietta is almost out of gas.

Finals this week yet again. Which means that I am procrastinating, reading the CNN news on the web. One of the stories featured something about a severe gas shortage in the southeast, and the city featured was........... Marietta, Georgia??

I had 1/4 of a tank, which according to my aunt and my late grandfather means it was past time to feed my truck. I also had to pick up a cartridge for my printer. So, off i went - to see what this was all about.

On my short drive (entire loop, less than seven miles) I saw eleven gas stations that were completely out of gas - including the QT across from my subdivision. I found one open Shell station and filled my tank, and I wonder if I would have been able to do that later this afternoon.

It is, of course, an interesting note that I have access to so many gas stations per square mile around here. But I'll get back to that.

No gas? No big prob for me, I have a bike to get to and from school and enough gas to get to and from work on Friday, if replenishment does not arrive. But it makes you think..... especially in the context of a potential looming depression / financial collapse of the US economy:

How is it, exactly, that we have become so very accustomed to convenience that when it is gone, we are lost? Is this what being an American is all about? In short, yes.

As for the question of whether we are dependent on foreign oil: I wonder how many people will not make it home this evening, or not be able to finish jobs that require trucks or other gas-eating transportation. I wonder if the easy availability of gas, will in fact be the nail in the coffin - why would we try to live without it, when it is so easily available?

So, I had to visit three places to pick up a printer cartridge. Microcenter was out of the model I needed, and Office Cheapo was anything but. I mean, why pay $80 for a replacement laser cartridge, when you can buy a new color printer for $28 at WalMart?

I think that pretty much embodies the problem as I see it. Me, living on student loans, driving an SUV and feeding it $4 per gallon gas, visiting three dealers of luxuries to buy an item on credit, that I want but strictly speaking don't need. Guilty as charged.

Walking through WalMart, I looked around me at all of the products on the shelves and I felt like an alien - and thought about how things were when I was a kid, how things were for my parents' generation growing up, and how things were for my grandparents. America = consumerism, and this consumerism is not counterbalanced with sufficient production, as evidenced by the state of the economy. I think Ayn Rand wrote a book about this............

Then I come home, and look around. All of my toys, all of my furniture, all of my "stuff" that I'm so not looking forward to packing up to move. How did I end up with this much? By and large, from student loans, and from the generosity of my family. And from easy availability, in a consumerist society that allows those who have not produced, to consume.

Sure as crap I need to get the hell out of school and to start producing something. Unfortunately, what I will produce is an intangible product - and a luxury, at that. In times of economic woe, the luxuries go first... If we do indeed enter into a depression, I think I am going to have a pretty hard time starting up a practice.

Good thing I have a secure job at REI to fall back on. Because sometimes I worry about the practical value of the two doctoral degrees I will soon possess.

Area 51 (the Georgia one)

Whew. I'm tired. Boards part 3 was yesterday morning, I slept most of yesterday afternoon (instead of going out to party, would you believe??). So this morning when I woke up I was feeling pretty OK. My poor Siren has not been out to play since the first day of summer, bc it is just too damned hot in Georgia to ride in the summer, unless you are on the trail at 7am, and I'm just not there. you know how i feel about mornings!

It is now mid-September in Georgia, and it's still upper 80s plus humidity. Ugh. Feel free to remind me of this next winter when I am freezing my arse off...

I got to the trailhead at about 1030. My friend Wale is trying to convince me to race with the Life U team at Dirty Spokes in a month, and i've been doing a lot of climbing lately but no biking, so i figured i'd better see if i can put in some miles, right? Well, I did, and I'll tell you, it hurt. I was in granny gear for about the last 2 miles of it. I seem to remember Doug and I predicting that the Area 51 trail would really hurt in the opposite direction? (to minimize erosion, the right-of-way direction changes daily on trails at Blanket's Creek) Oh. Yeah. Can we say, mild heat exhaustion? I nearly threw up, several times. When I got to the car, I flopped on my back and just stared at the sky. And when I tried to get up, i almost passed out. Again with, life in the south... I'm thinking i might be sore tomorrow. And I'm thinking I need to drink a lot of water for the rest of today. All in all.... what an awesome day!!!!!!!! It was good to be out again. I will look forward to hitting the trails again when the temps drop about ten degrees or so.

In other news, Moose is doing much better - still skinny, but i think she is putting on some weight, which bodes well. She still can't make it up the stairs, so I have been sleeping on the couch for a month. It's getting old. Thank goodness my chiropractor fixes the damage :)

Lab finals this week, then finals next week. I swear this program is just one exam after another. I'm so over it.

Well, one more part of Boards to go: the licensing exam. That will be in mid-November. To my surprise, I have not been assigned to take the test here in Georgia - instead, I have to fly to San Francisco to test at Life University West. Aunt C says she will fly up to SF to visit, since it's only an hour for her and she can fly first class out of Burbank :)

Funny, I swore i'd get some cleaning done this weekend. Oh well. Such is life. I guess I needed the downtime.

Ghost dresses

About a year and a half ago, I gave my high school junior and senior prom dresses to my friend Carly, who volunteers with an organization that donates occasion dresses to girls who otherwise wouldn't have them.

Carly has been my friend Tatum's roomate for a year. She very recently moved out of Tatum's apartment, and some of her stuff has been discarded in corners (ostensibly for "someone else" to pick up).

Today I went with my neighbors Aryn and Celeste to Tatum's for dinner. Aryn is Tatum's boyfriend. (Everyone following here?) We walked in the front door and I was standing in the middle of the living room when I looked up and had a very strange experience - My junior prom dress was hanging in the corner. It took me a minute to realize that yes, in fact, it was mine - because out of sight, out of mind, I had forgotten that I had given them to Carly! So I decided to have some fun: I turned to Tatum said Hm, yeah, those are mine! You can imagine the confusion.

Apparently my old prom dresses are not "cool" enough to even donate. I bet you that if I held onto them for another 5 years, the styles would come back into vogue ;) One is a Gunne Sax, the other is Laura Ashley. Oh, yeah, I can hear you ALL laughing; yes, in fact, I went to two proms wearing girly and frilly creations!!

To amuse my friends, I decided to put on a fashion show. I think it's safe to say that not a lot of nearly 35-year old women can wear dresses they wore at 16 and 17 years old. Both of them fit me better now than they did 20 years ago - since now, I have the shoulders of a climber :)

I wonder what message the universe is trying to send me, with the resurfacing of 20 year old memorabilia dresses.


We were tossing around ideas of what I should do with these dresses. Anyone got any input? Celeste suggested that I dye the floral Laura Ashley dress dark blue, since it really fits quite well and I could actually wear it again.... we also tossed around the idea of tie dye, and of making the pink one into a Halloween costume a la "Carrie."

Raven Rock

Wednesday we had round two of OSCEs, a comprehensive clinical exam required for entry into level III clinic. Most of it went OK for me, but I think I bombed one of the sections. Well, if that's the case, I will have to take the consequences and do remediation, then move on from there. The world will not end.

My friend Matt H and I took the afternoon to travel to a swimming hole in North Georgia for the afternoon, as I was done with the exam at 1130 (it started at 730am). Raven Rock is rumored to be one of the best in the region, a five-star classic. So we plugged in the GPS coordinates into my little Garmin Nuvi, and off we went.

The pool is about a 45 min hike off of a forest service road. Matt's little Mazda didn't really like it... we should have taken my trucky, oops. The setting reminds me a lot of New Hampshire, except about 20 degrees hotter! The actual pool is about 30 feet across, by about 60 feet long, of running deep water, with a backdrop of a 100' wall of metamorphic rock (yes, climbable!). Cataracts bookend it. When we arrived, a group was passing thru on whitewater rafts, tho it couldn't have been a very exciting ride, since the water level is quite low.

It was a lovely, lazy afternoon. Good therapy.

Today the heat seems to have broken. Is it possible that summer in Georgia is done? This afternoon the sky was a deep, deep blue; it was the blue I remembered looking up at as a child.

Headed out shortly to my friend Annette's 30th birthday celebration, at a bar in Midtown. I won't be there long. We don't have smoke-free bars here.

Midterms this week. The slog continues... though a faint glimmer of the end is in sight!

104 degrees

Phew. It's days like this, that I know why Southerners move so slow. Moose can't even go outside in the heat of the day, it's just miserable. Ugh.

In answer to a challenge posed to me by my friend Gregg (yes, K, there are multiple people who are silly enough to spell Greg with two g's!!) and for good amusement for many of you: here's the count of my shoes.

Casual or sandals: 8
Boots: 9
Sport-specific: 16 (climbing, hiking, running, biking, rollerblading, skiing, and a pair of hockey skates)
Heels or dress: 18 (highest: 4.75 inch. When I wear them, I am 5'11" and i love seeing over crowds! a little tippy after a drink or two tho)

not by much, but the heels win. I'd have not thought that. This is just about as funny as seeing that according to surveys, I'm right brained!! apparently there's a side of myself that i just do not express very often. Most days I wear flipflops, I have a pair of Merrell kicks for the clinic and Chacos for REI. Alas, my heels tend to be lonely :(

I need to set aside some bags for Goodwill... :) I have a lot of thinning to do before I leave HotLanta...

Kayaks, crepe myrtle, and toes

Today I took my new kayak (her name is Sunshine!!) out on Lake Acworth. It was about a 2mi paddle, pretty easygoing, bc tomorrow I'm headed to Foster's Falls to climb, and I wanted to save the arms :) I will tell ya one thing: It is hot around here. Whew. I was pretty glad when some clouds showed up and occluded the mid-day sun.

The blooming of crepe myrtle is a marker of summer in Atlanta. When they bloom, it means it's officially hot!! I think they may be somehow related to jacaranda trees (sp?) that bloom in California in late spring. I'm not really a pink person, but these are pretty nice:





















The last part of the subject line? Wednesday I was babysitting baby Zooey, who is a little over one year old. I didn't realize that I had taught her the word "toe" until Bri came home and heard Zoo say it - I guess it was her new word for the day :) A good one to learn from Aunt Amy!

Comedy of Errors

This past weekend, the last stretch of my school break, I zipped up to Boston. My primary goal was to have face-time with Dr. Stephen Franson, my chiropractor from Beverly MA, with whom I would like to "associate." An associateship is to a freshly-graduated chiropractor, what a residency is to a new MD, or a post-doctoral fellowship is to a just-minted PhD. Dr. Franson runs one of the most successful, high-volume practices in New England: his business model is a well-run ship, to say the least, and the opportunity to train in his practice would be pretty much like learning how to start up a company with Donald Trump as your personal mentor. Dr. Franson and I have been in spotty contact since I came here to Georgia (did I mention that he is the reason I decided to embark on the journey to become a chiropractor, and also the reason I am here at Life U in Atlanta?) and for the past month or so, we have been trying to set up a meeting with him. He is a busy man. He can be very difficult to connect with - i get that. So when he said that sometime the 11th or so would work, I went ahead and arranged a trip, though I had no solid date, time, or meeting place. There are very few people to whom I would extend that kind of trust.

The trip, as it turned out, was a comedy of errors - the kind of thing that you have to maintain a sense of humor about. Let's start with Wednesday, and five hours of yardwork in the mucky heat of a Georgia summer, and mild heat exhaustion / dehydration. OK, stage is set. Thursday, my flight was due to leave at 3:10 - so, still moving kinda sluggishly, I got it all together Thursday morning and left the house at 1:15, for a 20-25 min drive to the airport. (note to Dad: seeeeeeee how early??) Mid-day in Atlanta, no prob, right? Heh heh construction vehicle abandoned in the center lane of 285. Ten mile backup, right before the airport, crawling bumper to bumper. Ooooo-kay... So I finally get to the airport and scam it into the terminal thinking oh, crap, I'm so gonna miss my flight... Thankfully the flight was delayed for 2hr, due to thunderstorms. (warning bells!) That gave me enough time to backtrack to Kat's car to text her very specific directions on where it was parked, since she and Jake were due to arrive the next day and pick it up (file this fact for future reference, it becomes important).

Several more flight delays. I am now about to miss my connection, in Chicago. What's that you say? NEVER fly through Chicago in the summer on an afternoon? Oops. I look at the radar map. There are two bands of thunderstorms - one in Atlanta, the other swooping down across Minnesota towards Chi-town. Looks like it should hit... right as we land. And that it did - we zipped into O'Hairy not 5 min before all hell broke loose. The incoming front was just a wall of black. We got stuck on the tarmac for an hour, due to lightning strikes. I'm thinking, hell, I'd better decide whether to just tell them to put me on a flight tomorrow... after all, I am 80 miles south of Mike Hayward, and it's his 50th birthday (happy bday again, Mike!!) I was pretty close do doing that - but I really wanted to get to my meeting with Franson. So i decided to stick it out.

We left O'Hare at 1230 Central time. And I don't sleep on planes. Landed in Boston at 330 eastern time. (Note: my reaction to the Boston skyline was similar to a sailor's first view of land in months!) Michelle picked me up at Logan - and she will be getting a LOT of cookies for that airport run!!!!!! We get back to Chez Michelle at 430, and i'm thinking, how the hell am I gonna get it together to meet with Dr. Stephen? I am not really functional on sleep deprivation - as many of you know. I decide to check my email at Michelle's: message from Doc, he has had to shift plans around due to a funeral, is 11am ok? No prob, at least now we have a solid time and place. I go to reply... and Michelle's internet crashes. It's now dawn.

Cambridge, 9am, I am showered and about ready to scootch down the road, the phone rings. It's Franson. "Did you get my message? I was hoping we could meet at 9am here in New Hampshire." oh CRAP! Indeed, no. We rescheduled for Saturday - frustrating, but probably better, I was more likely to be functional by that time :)

Shift of plans. Like i said, the purpose of the weekend was to meet with Doc - all else was to be juggled around that. So, juggle I did.

Michelle and I headed out to Salem to have lunch with Charley, ah, Indian food in Atlanta is just not as good!! Charley decided to be really bad and play a little hooky - it was friday afternoon, after all - and we went out sailing on his 16" Hobie Cat! Conditions were just stellar:































Got back to Chez Charley, zipped back into Cambridge, and Michelle generously lent me her car so I could drive out to meet up with ACBK. Amy K and I had a lovely visit, including yummy red wine and decadent tiramisu at Bertucci's :) then I drove back into Cambridge, to prepare for Meeting with Doc, round 2.

Saturday am. Still didn't sleep well. I get ready and leave at 1045, the drive should be about 45 min and we are due to meet at 12. Except....... I forgot something very important. The Hampton Tolls. Total CF; I didn't make it to the cafe until 1230. Doc is a busy man, and has set aside an hour to meet with me, and look what I do... but wait, it gets better. I walk into the cafe and he has brought one of his kids - beautiful towheaded four-year-old, long hair. In my exhausted and traffic-addled state, I forget that his daughter Emma is less than two years old, and don't realize that the kid with him is his SON Sam. Hint: If you are trying to gain ground back after showing up 30min late for a 1hr meeting, do NOT suggest to the man's man who you're meeting with that his son looks like a girl. Bad.

It was lovely to catch up with Doc, but I didn't feel like the meeting went all that well. He knew I was looking to ask him about an associateship; unfortunately, he has a lot of really amazing projects he is digging into right now, and he is not sure where his practice is going to be headed in the near future, so he's not able to give a definitive answer to anything until October - to me, or to the other 2-3 people who have expressed interest.

I have to admit I am disappointed. In my best case scenario, I hoped to leave Boston with an offer, and to know where I will be in nine months. This will not be the case. However, the door is not shut, which was the worst-case scenario. It's simply a wait-and-see. But with such a comedy of errors surrounding my meeting with Doc, I have to wonder whether working for him is what the universe has in mind for me. There are other docs in Boston with whom I can associate, for sure. And to return to Boston is still my firm intention :) especially after the absolutely lovely time i was able to spend with a few of my peeps - I am so lucky to have a hometown to return to, that is home base to so many of my great friends.

Which brings me to the happier part of this post - Being up in Boston was wonderful, i can't wait to go home. After meeting with Doc, I drove over to Darcy and Chris' new place in Groton, MA. The pix I had seen were terrific, but Darcy hinted that they may not accurately convey the place's awesomeness, so true - Their new home abuts an expanse of greenspace, with endless opportunities for biking, hiking, snowshoeing, xc skiing... Beautiful. Darcy and Chris had arranged a late afternoon BBQ, so I got to visit with Tom and Brenda, Owen and baby Zach, and Andi and Russell.


Russell, the crazy handsome Brit, and Chris had been for a ride (i had been hoping to join them, but scheduling nixed that); Owen has grown into a recognizable human being with good taste in hats (Tom and Brenda rule!!):


Zach is so cute that he could make just about any woman want to have a kid; and Andi requested that I update my blog more often, a comment I have heard from a few of you... So ya can't curse the length o' this one!!! Darcy, the amazing woman she is, managed to find a six of my favorite beer, Stone IPA, which is DANGED hard to come by - Duuuuuude. Darcy, u so rock :) in a dozen ways!

After people exodused (ya i know, not a legal scrabble word) Darcy and Chris and I got to hang out. Their sunroom is divine:



and we watched some animated Batman shorts in their entertainment room.

I got a few short hours of shut-eye (actually four, then i had an asthma attack and decided to take a barefoot walk around the neighborhood at dawn), then hit the road at 7am for my flight, stopping by en route in Cambridge to walk Michelle's pup Billy (no longer a pup, that's for sure!!! He's taller then Moose!). I got to the airport and thought hm, why do I feel so woozy? OH! because I forgot to eat today, and because I haven't had a full night's sleep since nearly a week ago??

So it turned out that Kat and my ingenious plan to car-swap at the airport crashed and burned. Kat and Jake forgot their keys in Boston... and some other stuff. I'm not the only one who had a rough trip to Boston! Luckily I had not locked their keys in their car at the airport as we had originally tossed around :) That would have sucked. So it was pretty easy for me to get home, and I didn't have to bother anyone for airport pickup.

Moose did quite well, Celeste and Aryn took awesome care of her! I was a little worried, as this is the longest I had left her since her surgery, and she still has a tricky stomach. But she did awesome. I need to stop by the vet at some point and see how much she has put on. She might be cracking 90 pounds at this point. I'm looking forward to when it cools down around here a bit and I can walk her more - with her black fur coat, walking is at a minimum right now. But we'll get in some hiking this fall :)

It's now wednesday, and i'm still recovering. Classes have started, same crap thrown at us, a few different teachers (one, McCoy, is a real arse - his inferiority complex is evidenced well by his domineering management of the class). Looking forward to some playtime this weekend. Headed to Foster's Falls to climb with a group from Atlanta Rocks.... see, anywhere I go, I get drawn into the climbing community :) Not that I mind. At all.

checklist

phew. our three week break between quarters is already over. dangit. i was pretty productive tho. i managed to knock a bunch of stuff off of my "short" list.

- cleaned the house, top to bottom;
- finished the stone patio out back;
- did quite well in clinic: logged 65 adjustments on 20 different patients, four xrays and five accessory credits, started up two new patients, did two complete CMRs and am midway thru a third;
- set five new routes at Atlanta Rocks;
- spent some time with some climber people here in Atlanta that I've wanted to get to know better;
- finished Atlas Shrugged, and re-read the Way of the Peaceful Warrior;
- got out on my bike;
- took a trip to Boston. I got to meet with Dr. Franson briefly, and got some wonderful quality time in with friends whom I miss dearly.

i'll write a separate blog on that one within a few days :)

A few things didn't get ticked off the list tho - I didn't get out climbing in North Carolina with Webster as planned, due to REI scheduling conflicts and an injury sustained by Webster; I didn't manage to get to a swimmin' hole as planned WAH!!!; I haven't picked up new kayak yet (pictures will be forthcoming soon); and I chose to not write a new set of Norm's Notes for Biochem I, due to a philosophical issue I realized I have with spending my time creating something that I know will be plagarized and misused, and that I know I will not be properly compensated for. (Ayn Rand moment). All in all, though, I feel like i accomplished a lot.

Back to the drudgery of classes tomorrow. Show me the hoops! three more quarters of school (about nine months), and it'll be time to move on with my life...

First Day of Summer..... MUD!!!!!!

Apologies for the lack of updates of late. I've been out playing. I'd post pics, but for the most part, they are on Matt W and Matt H's cameras, and they've not burned CDs for me yet (hint, hint) Been doin' some climbing at Yonah, Foster's Falls, and Lost Wall (I led Guzzler, a 5.8!! knocked that puppy off my life list), doing some caving, which is SOOOOOOO FUN!!!!!, some kayaking with Ash and then Ryan, and today, back on my bike. I had been debating how to spend my first day of summer (pagan holiday, of course): the Muddy Buddy Atlanta was today, some friends were talking about caving again, a few people were discussing plans to take a trip to a local swimmin' hole, and then Thurs eve at Taco Mac with a bunch of REI people, my friend Doug says to me hey, ya wanna go check out the new North Loop at Blanket's Creek?

Ooooh yeah. So Doug woke me up at 830 this morning and i hauled it outta bed to collect my toys. Siren has not been out to play since January (tragedy!!!) and all of my bike stuff is therefore strewn about. Un-caffienated, I threw a bunch of stuff in my camelback, we tossed the bikes in the back of Doug's new Xterra, and off we went!

Doug flatted about 1mi into the trail, he hit a sharp rock while crossing a creek. Sssssssss. Come to find out that my tire levers were, well, not in my bag, and since the tires on his 29er were new with a wire bead, pulling them off without leverage was not possible. That'll learn me to pack without coffee. After some consternation and help from several passing riders, we got it taken care of and continued, but not before this exchange:

Doug: "Is that thunder?"
Me: "Nooooope."

The new North Loop at Blanket's is also called Area 51, the Van Michael trail. Tee hee. It's marked as an "advanced" trail, ie beginners turn back here. I, of course, assume that even without biking for 6mo, I can ride it no prob. Sorta like I always expect myself to climb 5.10 and 5.11 after a hiatus of any length. Thank goodness for muscle memory - I may not have much anaerobic capacity, but I can still handle a bike! The new trail is SCRUMPTIOUS oh my goodness DIVINE i think it is the most fun trail I have found on the east coast!!!!!!! SORBA did an absolutely *fantastic* job on the Van Michael trail, and it was worth the wait. I hate to say it but I think it's better than Tsali. Just shorter. Twisted singletrack, creek crossings, switchbacks galore, 2'wide hillside crosscuts over 20 -foot drops, hurl-inducing climbs, and jumps ALL OVER the place. Siren was very happy.

And then it got even better. Mountain biking ethics dictate that on a well-traveled trail, one should not ride in the rain - it causes too much erosion. But hey, if you're already out on the trail...

WHOOSH! Soaking rain. And you know how much I love riding in the mud. We still had about 5mi to go. My legs were nearly dead, the slightest uphill was eliciting a throbbing burn. Muck from red Georgia clay was running in rivulets down the center of the singletrack and splashing back to cover us both head to tail. The trail was nearly empty, due to the afforementioned ethical consideration.

Me: "Are you as happy as I am right now?"
Doug: "Oh yeah!!!"

I have to let you in on a little something here. Doug had a massive brain aneurysm less than three months ago. He should not be alive, by most standards. He had been out biking, and all of a sudden felt warmth in his head, and then developed what he described as "the worst headache of his life." Because it was caught early, he got treatment within the VERY short time limit for success. Doug had three surgeries (two involved removal of and then replacement of part of his cranium) and was in a coma for ten days. When he woke up, he was so weak he couldn't walk. That's some kind of hell, for someone who has hiked the AT and lives for filling his soul with fresh air.

So we fed his soul today a bit, I think. Did I mention that he is an absolute monster on the trail? Laid up for as long as he was, he still just smoked me. Given, I'm not in 100% of my best shape, but Doug is amazing.

We had post-ride burritos at Willy's and a beer, sitting on a patio on Barrett Parkway. It was a lovely way to welcome in summer.

This eve I think I will hang with the Moose. I had had tentative plans with my friend Baker to go caving again this evening (yeah, since there's no light in a cave, it really doesn't matter whether you go at night or during the day!) but his group's timeframe changed and we missed one another since Doug and I got back from riding mid-afternoon. So I decided to take a nap, now I will make some dindin, then I think I'll curl up on my sofa and read some more of Atlas Shrugged.

Oh yeah my latest quarter is over, finished finals on Thursday. Not sure yet but I think I pulled a 4.0, waiting on Jurisprudence. Moral of the story: Work hard, play harder, it'll all work out :)

an apt quote

from a series called Men in Trees. which has a great soundtrack, and occasionally a quote such as what follows, which is why when Aunt C told me that ABC had cancelled the series I was heartbroken...

"It is our responsibility to keep fighting for clarity. Because in the end, we teach people how to treat us. Which means the responsibility lies not on the shoulders of others, but on ourselves."

Ayn Rand speaks, through a pop-culture medium... truth is timeless.

oh dear

from Mike H, who again has me in stitches. His description:

You would swear this is a Monty Python skit, then you want to scream when you realize this politician is serious.

moose

I have a feeling that not a lot of people have had the relief of seeing their most beloved one turn back from the proverbial "edge". I am blessed to be able to experience that now.

Moose and I have been through a trying month. Directly when I returned from the Bahamas, it was clear to me from her chewing that Moose needed to have a growth on her leg removed promptly. (You can see the tumor fairly clearly in the third video of my last post, it was about half the size of a tennis ball and protrudes from her left hindleg) Within a few days of my return, she went under the knife. What the vet and I had assumed was a lipoma, was not. The mass had a necrotic center, which is an indicator for a fast-growing malignancy. The surgery went well: the vet noted that the tumor was encapulated, a good sign, with no involvement of the local lymph nodes or adjacent knee capsule. So, Moose got to keep her leg, and now we wait and see whether the cancer obeys capsule boundaries.

To say that Moose has been a difficult patient, is a little like saying her puppyhood was uneventful. (I can hear you laughing from here!!!) She has always been a "big chewer," as evidenced by the dozens (hundreds?) of massacred dog toys and tennis balls. This time, though, the object of her affection I mean affliction has been her leg. Keeping her away from her leg has been, well, not possible. Elizabethan collar, adhesive bandages, and crate be damned - not much can stop my pup. She has pretty much needed constant supervision - which conflicts ever-so-slightly with the fact that my school has a mandatory attendance policy, violation of which is punishable by none other than course failure (and, conveniently, the requirement to take the course again, at cost).

Moose was pretty doped up and weak after the initial surgery. Getting her home was an adventure, thankfully I have some strong friends who helped to get her in and out of my trucky. It was a rough weekend: she was lethargic at best, which was rather difficult to see, much less to feed and poop. That monday, after Moose had the surgical drains removed (not so difficult for the vet, i'm sure, since moose had them halfway out herself) the vet prescribed tranquilizers so she would sleep (or stare at the wall in a dazed stupor) rather than pick at her leg. I believe she had a reaction to the tranquilizers: the vet said to give her three tablets, every four hours; to test, I gave her one the eve we got back from drain removal, and it zonked her for 18 hours. I couldn't get her to get up in the morning. I picked her up under her armpits, and she collapsed like a rag doll. I ended up sliding rock climbing webbing under her armpits and belly so I could help her walk outside. She ate a little - kibble by kibble, it's a good thing she's a lab and catching food thrown at her is a reflex - and had a few ice cubes. Then she started to shake and her gums went gray. I actually crawled into the crate with her to try to warm her. She came around after a few hours, but I have to wonder how close that was.

Her appetite was pretty marginal in the two weeks following the surgery - the tossing food at her worked a bit, as did feeding her out of my hand, but all told she bottomed out at 80 pounds. That's 40 lb she lost since last summer. I've had four people ask me whether she's a rescue dog... I finally figured out to mix her food with white rice, and she has eaten two meals a day for the past three days. Progress.

Today she accompanied me to REI paddle demo day, she got to take a ride in a canoe, go for a short swim, and visit a whole lot of people :) She is visibly weak, moves slow and with a limp, and tires easily. The vet had to take a good chunk of muscle tissue along with the tumor, so her strength will just take a while to return. For now, it's doggy PT - lotsa walking. I look forward to when Moose can come with me up Kennesaw Mtn, or maybe hiking in NC or north Georgia. It's so hard to see her this way, especially after all of the stuff we have done together - she has always been so strong and fit.

We can't keep them forever. But she seems to be in a decent place now, and I'll go with that. I'll finish cleaning up the living room tomorrow - it has been the doggy hospital, and i've been sleeping on the couch since the surgery. Last night Moose got up the stairs, with a lot of help, and I got to sleep in my own bed!! Right now she is crashed out next to me, snoring. She looks all shiny and pretty after her bath (and no longer smells like the v-e-t). Her leg is healing nicely, at this point it just looks like a really bad skinned knee that blends into a 4" slash, the healing remnants of the incision.

So there's the update from here. Oh, and I got my part 2 scores back, I passed everything :) proud to say that my highest score was in diagnostic imaging. I worked pretty hard for that.

Off to sleep for me and the Moose.

First day of Spring!!

Yucky week. To quote my freind 'Stine, wah.

Boards are done, for now. Two "parts" down, two to go. I did as well as I could. I will find out my scores Apr 25th. Hopefully, moving onward and upward....

Today was my Soft Tissue Pathology slide exam. Purportedly the most difficult of my schooling here. The instructor projected chest xrays with various developing diseases on the screen, and we had to figure out what it came from. Fun. I only needed 1 point out of 11 to pass the class (or 3, if he is in a bad mood), so I am in OK shape - tho of course I tried to kick butt, and we'll see how that went :) Dang that drive to achieve.

Next week, mon thru thurs, is finals. We'll deal with that next week.

Today is the first day of Spring: a Pagan holiday. Last year this day found me on my bike. This year I have been a bit sick (since, oh, january?), so equinox is quieter. Rest assured, that's temporary ;)

Simple acts of kindness

So I've worked at REI for a while now. Amazingly, 3.5 years. How did that happen?

When I started work for REI up in Boston, I had just abandoned my career in biotech and was in the process of figuring out what the hell an unemployed and disillusioned biochemistry PhD was supposed to do to pay the rent. At Tom's suggestion, and with Dan Blodgett's help, I started at REI right in the middle of the xmas rush in 2004. I soon re-discovered what I had been missing in grad school, thru my semi-prestigious Harvard postdoc, and in my fast-track biotech job as a young staff scientist / enzymologist: i was lacking joy and value in work.

Working at REI, I remembered what it was like to actually enjoy a job, and to derive some sort of satisfaction from it. When I realized this, it was uber-clear to me that I had made the right decision to bail on science and biotech - I was not happy in that career, and was unlikely to be. I don't belong in a lab. Working at REI was also integral in my decision to go back to school to become a chiropractor. I know that as as chiropractor, I can actually help people. I know that I will deeply enjoy seeing my patients grow healthier, and go out and play and live a fuller life. REI has helped me to clarify my purpose: to help people be healthy, active, and happy.

This is why I have stayed with REI here at the Perimeter store in Atlanta - and every now and again, to my joy, I see the results of some influence I've had. Sometimes, someone comes in to the store grinning ear to ear about their new bike. I've also had several wonderful customers who have come in to thank me for advice on places to visit throughout the US (hell knows I've explored it, modern hippie style, to the chagrin of my parental units and my aunt) or to tell me how much they enjoy their new toys (Because, really, it's all about toys!!!). But the one described in the blog below really hit me.

http://autisticdad.blog.com/2777014/

Yes, I knew the kiddo that Tanner and I were helping was ASD, on the better-functioning end of the spectrum. He seemed like a sweet kid with a good heart and a lotta energy. So, ya take that into account and work with it. Bottom line, he's a kid looking for a bike, and Tanner and I were just helping to make that happen. The response to this has definitely made me blink, though. We helped Demetrius and his dad Jerry on Saturday. Jerry posted his blog about us on Sunday. News traveled pretty fast - by early in the workweek, the story of how Tanner and I had helped an autistic boy to find the perfect bike had been repeated at the morning huddle of every REI store in the southeast, and someone had sent the "story" to REI corporate.

Yesterday at work I found a letter in my box (HANDWRITTEN!!!!!) from Sally Jewell, the president and CEO of REI, thanking me for what we'd done. I'm not sure I've ever had more admiration for REI. I mean, we as a company do lots of good stuff - from our internal recycling programs (paper, plastic, batteries, light bulbs, cardboard), to the drive to make REI stores carbon-neutral, to the $10K grant given by every store last year to an environmental organization of its choice (anyone want to plant a tree?), or our PEAK and Leave No Trace programs designed to educate on no-impact camping and hiking - But a handwritten note to a mere peon from the CEO? That takes the cake. And disseminating the anecdote of Tanner and I helping Demetrius to find a bike? Who knows what that simple act of kindness inspired?

Holy cow, you really never know how far-reaching simple actions can be. I think Tanner and I put a lot of smiles on a lot of people's faces :)

So now, it's your turn. I challenge you: sometime in the next few days, commit a random act of kindness. Open a door for someone whose arms are full; stash a few flowers on someone's desk; bring in cookies for your co-workers (and send me some while you're at it). Make someone smile. You never know how far the ripple will spread in the pond.

Kennesaw hike

Yesterday I got a few messages from Darcy and Chris, who were at the Moat and sent me pix of snowdrifts (12') and beer (mmmmmm!!!). Made me kinda homesick.

Today, I couldn't resist the irony and the temptation to make use of the 72 degrees and sunny here in Atlanta... so I went for a hike with friends up Kennesaw Mountain, a short hike less than 15 min north of my house.



Moose did so well!!! She was tired, and we went slow, but she made it all the way to the top and back down. The hike is about 3 miles total, with an elevation gain of a bit less than 700 feet. She is no longer the young pup who hiked Moosilauke and Chocura with me, but she got it done and by the look on her face, had a fantabulous time. She is currently crashed out downstairs. I don't expect I'll be able to get her to climb the stairs for a few days!

Yeah, I should'a spent my day studying for boards. Oh well. I still have six good hours this evening.

Temperature fluctuations....

i THINK spring is here. The pattern lately is a week of 50s or 60s, then a day or two of cold (it was 24 degrees this morning and snowed the day before that) then back to warm. The snow around here is funny, it's this granular stuff. Wierd texture.

Well, at any rate, my daffodils think it's spring:

boards, part deux

To help you all feel a bit better about living in cold yucky climates (and to offset my slightly gloating last post): guess how i spent my weekend? In a review course for national boards, part two!!

8am to 5pm yesterday and today. Yes, I was in CLASS on sunday morning at 8am (where were you, you lucky dogs??). Next weekend, fri-sat-sun, same deal. Then, midterms (weeks 5 and 6 of the quarter), boards (week 9, weekend - March 14-15), and finals (weeks 10 and 11), in a quick 1-2-3. Smack, smack, smack.

Did I mention a few times already that my family's Bahamas trip, planned for the week after finals this quarter, is a GIGANTIC carrot? Because hell knows i need something to look forward to!

So what's boards review like, you wonder? Imagine being barraged with concept-based (as in, "thought" questions rather than knee-jerk responses) multiple choice questions for sixteen hours (it will be total 40 when the review class is complete) on ALL of the material you have learned in the past 2.5 years, and imagine the questions being phrased in tricky ways that make you have to qualify or disqualify each of the four options. Essay exams would have been a hell of a lot easier. Especially when you take a mildly analytical brain like mine, that is trained to find the exception to EVERY rule.

Boards part two (of four total, part 3 will be in sept, part 4 in nov) will be six exams, 100 questions each, of the same material, over two days.

My brain hurts.

not complaining

so it's early february in atlanta. can someone please tell me what these things are that are sprouting all over my yard? :)

not to gloat, but.... i just spent a while looking at online pix of a sloppy snowstorm in milwaukee. hm, shovel snow or watch daffodils grow... hm that's a tough one...

no inga, yet

sunday as i was heading for my car to meet my cousin in SC, she called and said that her daughter, my cousin Heather, wants to try to take care of Inga. so, for now, moose and billy have their peace and quiet. i have left the offer to my cousins open, so if Heather feels that she cannot handle Inga, she still has somewhere to go.

and so my trio remains as is. Moose is back to herself, even doing her little puppy-hop to greet me as i come in the front door. and her little puppy-bark when i don't feed her quickly enough! like today, when gasp, i fed Billy first. Moose did not like that. what a princess :)

Inga

I have long spoken of the idea of being caretaker to a second pup. It seems the time has come.

Inga is a 3 year old German Shepherd, raised by my cousins' stepdad Bruce. Bruce has not been well of late. Inga will be coming to Atlanta from Florida on Sunday or Monday, depending on my cousin Terri's schedule.

My house will soon have a whole lotta ears!!

oh, my neighbor who hates dogs is gonna be a bit peeved.....

It's snowing in Hot'Lanna

and you should see people on the roads. Hilarious. I'm so, so, so glad I live less than 2 miles from school. That said, it took me an hour today to drive 3 miles to my chiropractor and 3 miles back. :) i really should have ridden my bike.

It's supposed to sleet and slop and ice overnight. I'm hoping classes are cancelled, that'd be sweet!

Zooey playing with Moose and Billy

The following videos are of Baby Zooey, Brie and Seth's 6mo daughter. We had scrabble night a few weeks back and Zooey had just started to crawl... much to the chagrin of my cat. Moose, on the other hand, didn't really seem to mind :)

One reason to love Georgia

is something that many of you will be a little jealous of: lax inspection requirements for car registration.

Now, you all know that my car is safe. There's nothing *much* wrong with it, except that it eats fuses frequently when I shift into reverse. My friend Dave thinks that this may be a fairly simple problem, gunk buildup in the socket causing a short, but I just haven't gotten around to taking the light panels off yet to check - esp when swapping in a new fuse fixes the "problem" just fine (the "problem" being not a lack of reverse lights, per se, but a lack of dashboard/odometer lights, and the inability to start the car. I like to call it an anti-theft mechanism: If you REALLY want my car, you'll have to figure out how to start it when the next fuse blows!) So, yeah, nothing that's a safety issue, much, you just have to stay on top of it and keep extra fuses around.

In many other states, Mass being at the top of the list, my car easily would have failed emissions/inspection today. But not Georgia. They gave me a "pass" with a smile.

Do any of you remember in 2002, when my truck "failed" Mass inspection because the frickin windshield wipers didn't work perfectly???

So, it looks like I will be keeping my car registered in GA until I feel like fixing its little "character" issue. Well, the good thing about that is, since I was 2 months late re-registering and getting emissions inspected, the emissions test will still be valid *next* november, when I go to renew my tags. Not that I've used THAT one to my advantage before.

This brings the sum total of things that could have caused me great inconvenience had I driven north for the holidays to: very sick dog (who is now MUCH better), sloppy snowstorms en route from Detroit to Ct (which might have left me stranded in PA for xmas eve, with afforementioned sick dog), nail in tire (found that when I got home; easy to fix, but that would'a put a wrench in a 2000 mi road trip, eh?), registration expired (oops), license missing (tho fairly speaking, that may not have happened had i left earlier). As frustrating at it was to have not been able to spend some time up north in Dec and over New Years, I think it's safe to say it was for the better?

Ms Cayla Dean and the Moooonkey