Wrap Up Warm, Wellies On

I thought you might like to see another of our favourite walks, this time down past the fishing pond and across the Great Eau to the far bank where we will meander along to the fields of Belleau.

Come on, Gran!

This river feeds into the local trout farm and has private fishing rights. It makes for a wonderful walk - or, as Harry preferred to call it today 'A Bear Hunt', with hungry trolls under all the bridges. Luckily we met neither.
In the last couple of weeks they have done a lot of tree work along here, so we wanted to see the results.

We plodged through the mud, much to Harry's delight.Past the tiny cottage with the bright red door.On around the bend in the river, until we could see Belleau in the distance.You can just see the lovelyBelleau Church Towerin the distance, with the old dovecote in the foreground.No trolls under this one!Small signs of spring everywhere.(Unfortunately I forgot my specs, so we were back to point and click, sorry)Then we found a lovely muddy puddle to wash our wellies, before going home!

Dwarf Bottlebrush "Little John"

Raven Tracks in Snow

From today's walk in the woods. I love winter for many reasons, and one of those reasons is the snow makes it easier for us to see what the animals have been up to. Today I found these raven tracks... they were in the middle of an opening in the woods, beginning with the two tracks in the lower right. Apparently this raven landed, then hopped on both feet a few times before beginning to walk. It sure was a fun find :-)

It's coming!

Did anybody else catch that sunrise this morning? The one that lit up the entire sky in various colours?


Must have been just me I guess. Yet today signals, perhaps, the arrival of something even more beautiful. Regular readers of this blog (both of you) would have noted my almost incessant whining about the heat of summer. However, the equal and opposite effect of that is that winters here are stunningly beautiful. This morning may have been the first sign of that. As I headed out to Austinville for another quick Saturday morning jaunt, I noticed the temperature (a beautiful 11 degrees C), the lowest I've had this year. I also noticed the wildflowers are coming out at last.


Not that anything else from that part of the world was lost.


(the last two just for the sake of gloating you understand).

Magical Beings

When Sam was 3 we were discussing Santa one time and he told me it didn't make any sense that a person could actually slide down a chimney with a bunch of wrapped presents. When we discussed the magic involved, he told me there wasn't any magic involved.
A few days ago he reminded me that two years before last, Morgan and I didn't get them any gifts for christmas and that santa was the one who brought them gifts that year.
Thank god for Santa.
One time the tooth fairy forgot to come. Actually, twice she forgot to come. The first time she forgot to come two nights in a row! The second time she forgot, she miraculously came the next morning during breakfast.

Now a note accompanies each tooth that is lost. A note asking a question like, how does she get from one house to the next so fast and why don't bigger teeth bring in more cash. Each note requires a signature and an answer from the tooth fairy.
This year, they each have to spend their own money on a gift for each other. Neither of them has bought anything yet. There's still lots of thinking going on. Spending their own money, of course, involves more thought.
Yesterday after school we donated some of their money to an organization for alternative energy. We had a long discussion about wind, air and electricity and how we were giving a gift to their future.
The struggle lately, is the balance. Trying to teach them that christmas isn't about receiving things, but about helping others and hanging out with friends and family and being thankful for everything we have and going for a bike ride on christmas morning, when there aren't any cars on the roads.
But of course this santa person gets in the way and he sure makes it all so damn expensive.

Anise Swallowtail Caterpillar

Anise Swallowtail in the making.

Southwick and surrounding woods

About 6 miles. 2 hrs 15 mins. A couple of showers but nothing really wet. As I got home the sun came out.





Lovely walk, with only likelihood of wandering off track right in the last half-mile or so.

Quite up and down. I parked by Southwick church and walked up to the water tower on the Glapthorn Road, but there's a fair sized lay-by at the top. Of course that puts the uphill road walk at the end.





The track starts about 100 yards past the water tower, to the right.

It runs through at least three fields of this crop - is it bamboo? Pandas next?





(I'm told this is a bio-fuel crop)



It was very windy up on the ridge, but the plants were some protection as they were taller than I am.





The hedges around had lots of blackberries.





For much of the way the path runs beside Short Wood Nature Reserve.









After about a mile or so the track comes to a metal gate leading into a large meadow, and today I was treated to the sight of these two little deer.





I was surprised when they came towards me at first, so I tried to get a shot - usual problem of the wrong lens for the job, and the splodges are raindrops! It was a joy to watch them leaping about. The wood behind the deer is part of Glapthorn Cow Pastures Nature Reserve, famous for nightingales in May, and black hairstreak butterflies in June.The cows were in the lower part of the field keeping themselves to themselves.





The track goes across to another gate, then right on a road leading to Provost Lodge. I followed the path between the two big barns and through a gate then downhill. According to my instructions it crosses a stream, but it looked as though there has been no water in the stream bed for some time. The path goes uphill to another gate, past a gap in the hedge. At the gate I went slightly diagonally left towards yet another gate. Then turn left towards an old farm building - this part of the walk is alongside a ploughed field. There is a bit of grass along the edge, but it's a bit rough in places.

At the old building (Tottenhoe Lodge) turn right and carry on going north, with a hedge on your right until you reach a wooden footbridge almost on the road.





There's a bridge which you have to cross - it brings back memories of cycling over to Suffolk almost twenty years ago, as I remember stopping here for a rest, and Harry drawing Crossway Hand Farm on the hill.





I followed the concrete track towards the farm, turning left just before it, and then along the track towards Boars Head Farm. There is woodland immediately on the right, but no public access as it's a conservation area. The track continues as a grassy path just past Boars Head Farm, going downhill and entering the wood, at its narrowest point. There is a clear path to left and right. We go to the right along a gravel track signed with a horseshoe. As I walked along here, I first heard, then saw a couple of jays - are they burying acorns already?

I followed the route straight through, past three paths to the right. The last one of these leads to Shire Hill Lodge, but the path becomes very narrow for a short distance before joining the track .

Soon there is a small plantation of fir trees on the left, and at the end a footpath cuts across the track. I turned right - it's clearly marked as a footpath, but not for horses. The path turns left after another young pine wood. When it joins a gravel track go straight on, not to the right. A little later turn right and follow this path directly to Southwick.





(If you come out of the wood and spot the Water Tower on your right, a little behind you . . . retrace your steps. If you're out of the wood you should have the trees on your right not your left!)

Spot the statue?

You arrive at the church after crossing a footbridge over a stream and following a small lane to the footpath signs and two benches.

No, it's not the leaning tower of Southwick.

Thanks to 20 Best Local Walks, by Nicholas Rudd-Jones, for this route.

Cross-training our paddling and coaching

Sharon interpreting daily marine forecasts during a wilderness trip.

This has been an unusual summer for us. Ordinarily, we spend much of the season coaching locally and at symposia around the midwest. But this year, we opted to expand our horizons, literally and figuratively.

Alec and Matt chart a course in the San Juan islands.

We spent most of July in the San Juan islands, paddling in dynamic ocean currents and coaching forBody Boat Blade International; we spent the first two weeks of August on a wilderness trip along the northeast shore of Lake Superior.

John, Sharon and Keith assess conditions on Lake Superior.

Why vary the routine? Three reasons:

• Paddling with a variety of people in a variety of environments is a great way to gain both knowledge and experience.


• Coaching with a variety of people in a variety of environmentsis a great way to challenge our creativity and develop new approaches.


• Personal paddling complements coaching. It puts everything we teach into practice and reminds us of our goal for our students: enabling them to safely paddle independently.

And besides, we've been longing to do more kayaking on the ocean and with friends!

Leon and Alec play in a slot in the rocks.

We'll devote the next few posts to reflecting on some of what we learned this summer--ideas that have affected our coaching, our paddling, our trip planning or our perspective.

Minus 5° Fahrenheit - Now That's Cold!

-5 degrees F this morning in Omaha. Windchill was -21 F. Only my toes got cold in my 35 minute ride.

I Can't Put My Arms Down!

In total from polypro baselayer and shirts, ending with fleece sweatshirt under a windbreaker shell, I had nine layers on the top. That sounds like a lot, but with the exception of the fleece, the layers are all very thin, so I didn’t look too bulky.

The bottom was AmFIB tights, polypro baselayer on top of that, then loose workout shorts and then loose workout pants.

For feet I had wool socks, handwarmers on top of the toes, then cotton socks, plastic bag corners, then sneakers. The chemical handwarmers on the feet quickly quit working, as they need air to sustain the chemical reaction.

Hands were kept warm polypro glove liners with handwarmers on the back of the hand, then Louis Garneau lobster claw gloves. My hands and fingers never felt cold.

On my head I had a fleece balaclava over head and mouth (nose exposed), then polypro balaclava over top of head and ears. I taped up the vents on my helmet. I probably could have used an extra layer on the top of the head.

Except for the cold feet, it was an exciting and refreshing ride. I don't think it would have been safe to ride any further with my feet getting cold. I'll need to develop some other foot warming strategy.

Where's The Sweat?
Here's an observation about how well the technical fabrics work (even the cheap ones). Of the nine layers, the seven closest to my skin were the technical "stay dry" fabrics. Next came the fleece, then the Vagabond shell. When undressing for my shower, the fleece was visibly damp. It's amazing to think how well those seven layers wicked away my moisture to that fleece. Wearing cottons and fleeces alone would have made for a miserable ride.
I write this, not to solicit comments or show how hardy I am, but to document what clothing works, and maybe what doesn't work. If someone else finds this information useful, then it's all worthwhile.

Boys And Dolls

Saturday, the 10 year old boy, had 2 friends over to hang out. They'd been out riding bikes down at the school and decided to come over to our house and play Lego's and hang out in the tree house.
While they were playing in the house and backyard, I was out gardening and hanging twinkly lights in the back with Morgan. When it gets nice and warm out this summer I want to drink gin and tonics under the twinkly lights in my bark yard at night.
I could see the boys most of the time as I was working, through the windows and in the yard and up in the tree house. They didn't seem to be up to anything mischievous.
Such nice boys I was thinking, while listening to the radio and humming. Such a nice day I was enjoying, twinkly lights and hummingbirds and so forth.
Later that night as I was helping Lulu and her friend Meika get ready for bed, I kept finding pieces of cut hair all around the house. Who's hair is this?
Not mine they all said.
Hmm I thought. Maybe Sam's friends. Maybe Mason or Miles cut their hair earlier today. Kinda looks like the color of Mason's hair. Hmm. I should probably call their dad tomorrow to inquire.
Later as Lulu was sliding into her bed, I heard her yelling, EWE! There's fish food all over my BED! EWE! Ewe, gross! So I went in and we vacuumed it all out and cleaned it up and changed the sheets.
Hmm, where did this fish food come from Sam?
I don't know, he said, barely looking up from his book as he was laying in bed.
Sunday morning we forgot about it. The sun came out, the play dates and parties had to be scheduled, the gardening and bike rides had to be done, the laundry was started and as I was pulling dirty socks from under Sam's bed, I found this...

... head practically shaved, lip gloss or pink chap stick or something smeared all over the face and arms with fish food stuck to it, like they'd rolled her in it.
On the ass, it says I am a bad ass and has freckled pencil dots all over it. On the front it says Rock on!

Upon further interrogation last night, I found that the process of destruction went something like this ...
As they were listening to Green Day loudly, they started to get a little rowdy. They decided to play paddle doll with the wood paddles - batting the doll between them.
After a while they got bored with that and decided the doll needed a mohawk. The 6 year old really wanted to do the styling so they let him go to town on the hair.
After a while that got boring too, so they went up onto Lulu's bed to jump around and found the chap stick. Then they decided to put some makeup on the doll and of course after that, you need to roll it around in fish food after pouring it on the bed to complete the look.
Then the doll was tied to the bed with a rubber band and stretched as far as it could go and let go a bunch to see how far it would catapult.
After a bit of another lull, the idea came up to make the doll even more wild - and they argued for a while about what should be tattooed on it. The "rock on" was a given because they all love Green Day so much, but the "i'm a bad ass" took a while longer to decide on between the two older boys.
So now, at least, I know where all the cut hair was coming from. And of course, Lulu has a few apologies coming to her from the boys.