Praying, Scheduling, and Thinking

"To do the work that I am given to do, I am going to need to do some homework. I am going to need to do some thinking and wondering and studying about my gifts and my talents. I am going to need to be sure that what I do with my hands actually comes from and nurtures my heart. I am going to have to examine its effects upon others and how it fits into the kingdom that has already come. And I am going to have to be clear about why I am doing it and my hopes and my dreams.
To have the rest--for my spirit and my mind and my body--that is needed to live a life that does not eat me alive, I am going to have to plan the ways in which I spend my days. I am going to have to make choices about time and attention, and about habits and diets and schedules and such. I am going to have to set aside days on my calendar to go away and be silent, and days to go and listen to those who can show me the Way. I am going to have to learn what Sabbath actually means and how to live it in my life.
To participate in the community of those to whom I have been given and who have been given to me, I am going to have to identify them, identify the ones that truly are the holy communities of which I am a part. I am going to need to be sure that my time and my resources are aimed in their direction. I am going to have to be clear about my role within them.
And if I think that all of this is going to happen without my making a list or two, I am kidding myself." Taken from Living Prayer by Robert Benson
This is why I've been planning and scheduling for about a month now. I love making lists and seeing how to get the optimum results from my day.
I also have a bad habit of not sticking completely to any schedule I've made; not because I've learned to be flexible, but because I'm a rebel at heart. I don't want anyone telling me what to do; even myself. How twisted is that?
I think I've done enough scheduling and thinking. I now need to implement the schedule and cover it with prayer every day. All day.

GOING QUACKERS!

Proceed with caution - don't say I haven't warned you!





Fill your brain with ducks. Write limericks about ducks and enter Knatolee's Crazy World Wide Limerick Competition.





It is free, it is fun - but it is highly addictive.





I used to have a life, now all I do is write about ducks.





http://knatolee.blogspot.com/../11/..-knatolees-world-duck-limerick.html

I guarantee you'll have fun.

Return to Huonbrook

I've had a relative shortage of 200km rides in recent months. In fact, the last 200 I had apart from the Alpine Classic was a ride to Huonbrook in October. This time I went with Martin, my regular ride partner. We had intially been lining up one of the Tweed Valley rides on dirt, but Martin only had is road bike available, so it was a return to Huonbrook.

We made a fast start down the Tweed Coast early on, taking advantage of a tailwind. I was surprised at just how quickly it all went by. Our quick start was halted, not by hitting the hills just before Mullumbimby, but by a flat tyre -- and for once it wasn't on my bike. Martin then proceeded to blow up a valve, meaning we would then have to pause in Mullumbimby and replace the tube. It was in Mullumbimby that I fell in love with a touring bike that would have cost me $1,895. I could probably pick one up cheaper -- especially as I already have many of the "extras" that came with this one. Maybe I'll just convert my hybrid.

We set off into the hills after Mullum, and for the first time I felt in control of the climb over Wilson's Creek. One day I'll do it in temperatures under 30 degrees C, but for now I'm just satisfied to have owned it. Once upon the plateau, it feels like a completely different world, one of lush greenery, rushing streams and a few other surprises. Traffic seemed higher than usual in this instance, but that wasn't unbearable. About the only downside of this ride is that a trip to Minyon Falls is about the only way to make a circuit out of it. Nevertheless, the descent back to Mullum is much quicker than the climb.


After this, it was simply a ride across to Brunswick Heads, and a series of climbs over the Burringbar hills to get home. We had lunch at the Humble Pie shop at Billinudgel, which was most notable to discover that my own celebrity seems to be spreading. A family who are cycletouring in New Zealand have apparently printed off my route map and decided to use it. That's flattering, and they seem well prepared. I just hope they're aware of the spontaneous route changes I made along the way.
After the lunch stop I had problems getting back into the grove, as the heat took effect. Our pace dropped dramatically as a result. This causes it's own problems, because the heat makes it more difficult to eat enough food get enough carbohydrates to maintain performance, and at the same time, the body probably burns twice as many in coping with the heat. By the end of the 206km, I was basically riding at a cycle-tourist's pace, and spent a lot of time sitting in front of a fan on my return home.
It's also entirely possible that I wasn't completely recovered from the Alpine Classic, but one of these days I'm going to have to learn to handle hot and humid conditions. Despite all of this, however, it was still a memorable ride. Martin and I are already talking about a 300km ride through Ballina and Evans head as a possibility. I might wait for the cooler months to try that one.

Recipe of the Week: Coq Au Riesling

I dedicate this'Recipe of the Week' toone of my loyal followers who requested this deliciousAlsatian meal. Hope you enjoy this with someone special...




COQ AU RIESLING (CHICKEN WITH RIESLING)


Various legends trace coq au vin to ancient Gaul and Julius Caesar.In Alsace, a beautiful region influenced by both French and German cuisines, a somewhat similar recipe, Coq au Riesling, is made with mostly the same components as coq au vin except the vin in the recipe is not red, but a fresh, mineral-rich Riesling.
I love the Alsatian version of coq au vin because it’s lighter, but still a classic French comfort food dish - the perfect recipe for fall! I like the creaminess of the sauce, spiked with bacon, mushrooms, shallots and parsley, poured over the traditional buttered Spätzle, a type of egg noodles that beautifully accompanies this dish.








INGREDIENTS FOR 6 SERVINGS:

· 1 chicken weighing (about 3 1/2 lbs) · 3.5 tablespoons of butter · 3 shallots · 1 clove of garlic · 2 tablespoons of cognac · 1 & 3/4 cups of Riesling · 3 cups of button mushrooms · 1 cup cubed pancetta (Italian pancetta)· I cup of fresh cream, optional · salt and pepper · fresh parsley to garnish

METHOD

1. Chop the chicken into portion-sized pieces. Brown them in a casserole dish for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, keep warm.2. Add the pancetta, chopped shallots and garlic to the dish and flambee with cognac. Add the chicken. Deglaze with the Riesling. Add the button mushrooms. Check the seasoning. Leave to cook for 40 minutes on a gentle heat.3. Remove the pieces of chicken and arrange them on a serving dish. Reduce the cooking liquid and add the cream while stirring. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve immediately.

MY ADVICE: I really love to serve this dish alongside the traditional buttered Spätzle egg noddle. As the name of the recipe suggests, a dry Riesling makes for the ideal pairing to this dish. When possible, serve the same wine used to cook the coq, otherwise serve a Riesling with a slightly fuller body and good fruit to balance the cream in the sauce. A Pinot Gris will also work quite nicely. I really enjoyed these wines while in Alsace!

(Recipe from Alsatian Cuisine by Evelyne Sevrin)

When He Just Doesn't Get Me

I ordered Desperate for my daughter who's in the middle of childrearing with six small children but thought I'd read it first. This paragraph on husbands resonated with me.

"One more example of my unhealthy expectations: I expect that my husband should "get" me. Oh this. How many of us just wish our husbands "got" us? We want them to understand us in profound ways, and then accept us with open arms. We want them to admire who we are, how we're made, and who we are becoming. We want to be known and loved.

What happens when they don't "get" us? What happens when they don't understand why we have to leave the dishwasher open all the time, or why we like Taylor Swift, or why we can't enjoy our time away if our feelings are hurt before we leave?

The "I expect" voice is a killer of joy and true contentment. My husband is not going to understand all of the inner workings of my soul. He's not always going to think I'm fabulous, and he is not always going to agree with me (he might even think I'm crazy sometimes). When we let our husbands off the hook and are content to be who we are for the glory of God and not the approval of man, life is greener and more full. I want to please my husband, and I want his unconditional love, but he's a sinner just like I am, and humans can't really give unconditional love; it's hard enough just to love.

We've got to snuff out that voice or it will burn our marriages. Find contentment in the overwhelming fact that you are perfect to God; He gets you because He made you. Live free in that truth."

Whew! That's a tall order. I confess that I've struggled with this issue for longer than I've been married; which is a long time. I'm a people pleaser, to those I truly love, in a big way. For the most part, I've let go of my real and unreal expectations, and life is surely more peaceful. But here's where I still struggle. When my husband DOES "get me" now, it doesn't mean a whole lot. I've hardened myself to not need his praise, but the fact that I've done that, I guess, really means that I truly still want it?

Human interaction is so extremely complicated. Especially when you've been with someone so long. It's impossible to unravel events, emotions, wrongs, rights, and whatever else goes into a marriage to make sense of it. So what to do? More next time and an analysis of the book What Alice Forgot.

Chalmers Church of Scotland

Interiors within the Protestant Church of Scotland are usually plain, even austere. Chalmers Church of Scotland in Port Seton is anything but. Built in 1904 in the fishing and coal mining community of Port Seton, it has become known as the 'fishermen's church' because of the elaborate stencilling of fish and waves of the sea throughout the interior, and because of the shape of the building which resembles the hull of a boat.
I discover again the limitations of my photography skills. Taking shots of the interior of the church in artificial light at the end of a dark November afternoon was a challenge too far, but I was kindly given permission to take some photos so I persevered. The shot above towards the Chancel shows some of the original fish stencilling. Apart from the local fishing connection it refers to the secret sign used by early Christians during the times of persecution. The fishing boat has no religous significance, but is a reminder of the fishing community who worshipped here.

The steps leading up to the pulpit have on one side this carving of fishermen hauling in their nets. The men each have a different expression - I'd guess they were very different characters. They remind me of the little Vikings Oliver Postgate created for his Noggin the Nog sagas. Of course as Scottish east coast fishermen they're probably in direct lineage from the Vikings.
I took other photos, but they really didn't come out. Nor did photos of the exterior, as I was buffeted by a gale force wind and driving rain.
Our daughter was part of a clarsach and song recital in the church, along with her teacher and another student. After the recital tea and home baking were laid on in the church hall, with tables set with the Women's Guild china and tartan napkins and ribbons in honour of St Andrew's Day. I longed to take a photo of the festive tables, but it wouldn't have been appropriate (i.e. people would have thought I was weird, and more importantly our daughter would have been mortified). But I did catch this shot of an embroidery made by the Guild for the centenary of the church. The strip lights in the hallway don't enhance it, but if you can ignore these it's a lovely interpretation of church life, with all the youth organisations to the right of the church building. The burning bush on the left is the symbol of the Church of Scotland.

I'm Still Here...

...but this time we're up on the 60th floor and we're outside with a view.

I am the lone woman in a sea of black suits at dinner. We talk of profitability and taxes and traveling to Asia and broken fiber optic in the ocean and how they want me to fly to Canada in the winter and Manila in the summer.
And I smile and drink my martini. I'm still here in fairyland.

Freightliner, and Allison, and Cummins, and Onan … Check

22 March

When we purchased our “gently-used” Phaeton, we had everything checked out before plunking down the purchase price. That was in May . Granted we didn’t get to use the coach much last year, but we hope to change that this camping season. So, with that in mind, we decided to get the annual inspections done on our Freightliner chassis, Cummins engine, Allison transmission, and Onan generator.

At first, we were going to take the rig to two different service centers. Then we found out that the Johnson Truck Center in Gainesville, Virginia was qualified to handle all of our inspection needs. Well, the decision became a no brainer at that point.

If you peek into the first bay, you’ll see what we saw.

We dropped the Phaeton off on the 15th. A few days later, we received the news that all was well — with the exception of a few warranty/recall items that were quickly taken care of. One part had to be ordered, so we left the rig at Johnson over the weekend. We were notified this morning that the coach was ready for pick up. All I can say is … WOW! That’s the fastest we’ve ever been in and out of a service center. And it certainly wasn’t for lack of business at Johnson; the service bays were busy with ongoing work and the yard had rows of vehicles (including a couple of RVs) waiting for their turn to be serviced.

A busy place to be sure.

“We’re RV friendly,” Jeff, the branch manager told me when I met him this afternoon. I would agree. The quality workmanship, and excellent customer service, including prompt communication, earns the Johnson Truck Center two thumbs up from us.

With the toad hooked up, we were soon on our way. Next stop — the Fannon station where we filled up on diesel at $3.87/gallon. Not bad for this area! Then, onto the storage lot, where we put the coach to bed. Now that she’s greased, lubed, and oiled, and all her fluids are topped off, the Phaeton is ready for her first outing of the season. But first, Mui has a few maintenance things he wants to take care of this weekend. And, I want to take some of the stuff we took out of the coach at the end of the last camping season back and start getting organized again. But the weekend after that we’ll definitely be going camping.

This is how you replace the water filter.

By the time we were on our way home, it was past 6:30p. With stomachs grumbling, we decided to have our weekly date-night a few days early. We could have gone someplace new, but decided to go to the Copper Canyon Grill again. This time, we shared a Caesar side salad, and split Mary Ellen’s Crabcakes. I have no idea who Mary Ellen is, but her crabcakes were delish; as were the sweet glazed carrots and orzo rice with a southwestern twist. We topped off our meal with an excellent Key Lime Pie. The dessert was rich and creamy, and very tasty, and there was enough to not only split, but also bring some of it home for tomorrow night’s dinner.

Yummmm!

Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch

We arrived at the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch trailhead mid-morning, which is an ideal time to start out for a slot canyon hike. Many (but not all) slot canyons are ideal to hike mid-day. Since very little light penetrates down into the canyons, mid-day when the sun is high can often be a good time to visit them. When we arrived at the trailhead we were a little disappointed to already see about a dozen vehicles parked there. Thankfully, though, this hike has 3 different canyons so people really get spread out and we only saw a few people along the hike.





































The 3 canyons along this hike are Spooky, Peekaboo and Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch. We hiked Spooky and Dry Fork, but opted out of Peekaboo because you literally had to climb a small cliff to get into Peekaboo and neither one of us wanted to do that. We had a blast in the other two canyons and felt like we didn't miss out on anything by not doing Peekaboo. The photo you see here was taken in Dry Fork, which was a super easy walk once we were in the canyon. The canyon bottom started out very wide and totally flat, and was sort of a gravel surface rather than sand so it was more of a stroll than a hike. After a while, though, the canyon did start to narrow and the bottom did get rougher with some rocks and small boulders that we had to step over. It was never very difficult, though. You can walk a long ways up Dry Fork, at least a mile (and probably more) but we decided to turn around after a while. We also hiked up Spooky Canyon, which was a fascinating canyon but got VERY narrow. So narrow, in fact, that I could only hike up about half of it because I couldn't fit through once it narrowed! Jessica was able to go further, so she checked out more of it.




















































Jessica and I posing for a shot in Spooky Canyon :-)

Crevasse Falls

The past weekend went by without a hitch (no 911 calls) However, no one made the summit either. The recent climbing trend has involved crevasse falls. In the past two weeks, clients, guides, and rangers have all taken spills somewhere along the Ingraham Glacier Direct or upper Disappointment Cleaver route. No one was seriously injured, but the word on the glacier is that there a number of hidden or sketchy crevasses to cross high on the mountain. The latest report says that the wands have been removed from the Ingraham Glacier Direct, and the guided climbing teams are putting a route up the DC.
The other interesting trend that is being noticed is the number of skiers vs. the number of climbers. Over the past couple of years, I've seen an increase in the number of ski mountaineers on the hill in May and June. There have been quite a few weekends where we've actually seen more skiers than climbers at the high camps! It's no surprise that skiers and boarders flock to Rainier when the conditions are good (April/May/June) but to actually observe fewer climbers is interesting.
And with that said, ski demon Sky has been at it again. On the one day of really good weather last week (Friday), he and Dave Brown stormed the Success Couloirs and made short work of the route on skies. Not to be out done, Jason Hummel posted a sweet Fuhrer Finger trip report (a bit dated, but nice images). Photo by Dave Brown

My mountain

Did you know that I actually own a mountain? I have quite legitimate claims to be the owner of Mt Nimmel in it's entirety. How? As far as I'm aware, I'm the only cyclist to ride up Mt Nimmel (apart from my riding partner Martin, and he only did it after I conned him into it), but more importantly, the wikipedia entry for Mt Nimmel is take almost word for word from a post on this blog that is almost three years old. Look it up, it's true. I only wish I could claim ownership of some of the surrounding areas, such as Little Nerang Dam:

Austinville:


And anything else I might fancy around the place:

For the moment, however, Mt Nimmel remains among my most prized possessions. I promise to take good care of it, and slaughter the 20% grades on the climb on a regular basis.

The first tumble

A new year, a new camera and a new fall. Yesterday I managed my first crash of the year at Tomewin, while riding across the top of the Macpherson Range on Glengarrie Road. It's the sort of thing that happens when you attempt to climb steep graidents on rocky dirt roads covered with a slick coating of mud. Very little damage was done, although my left hip is a little stiff today, and the surroundings in the Garden of Eden provided more than enough compensation.

Evidently Martin and I hadn't had enough flooded creek crossings from the day before, as we first headed toward Urliup. Much to my surprise (especially as the lost bet cost me an inner tube), only one causeway was under. Another surprise in the early stages was just how quickly the wildflowers have taken over Urliup after the flood. It's not an area known for them, but the freakish downpour may have created just the right conditions.

A punishing climb to the summit of Tomewin followed -- the punishing nature of the climb owing as much to the muggy conditions as the gradient. It was followed by the now obligatory detour along the Garden of Eden Road, before returning to the Eastern side of the range for the ridgetop ride across the top. The muddy conditions made for difficult going, and I had several near misses before "the crash". Nevertheless, I found the motivation to continue as we watched some rain approach.
The rain held off until we descended the switchbacks of the Zig-zag road, before creating a slick surface for the final descent into Bilambil (how convenient). Martin managed to pick up a flat on the way to the bakery and a welcome food stop (that still leaves me in front 3-1 however) -- a large piece of glass was responsible, and he'll probably need to replace the tyre. The final stretch through the last 30-odd km of suburbia was uninspiring, but at least a tailwind made it pass quickly. In the end we both agreed that it was one of the hardest 100km rides we've had in a while, but every minute was worth the effort.

Winter, dry, both or none?

Obviously, the dry tooling route I did on the CIC cascades under the Ben Nevis north face last week was going to provoke a bit of debate. In my mind it’s perfectly suited to climbing in this style and it’s no threat to the traditional Scottish winter routes because it’s so clearly different from them. It did make me wince when I saw UKclimbing.com include a Scottish winter grade in their headline reporting the route. I didn’t give it a Scottish grade for a good reason! I should have seen that coming I guess, although it was hard to foresee that a casual comment by me comparing it to a similar piece of climbing terrain with a winter grade would mean folk would then take this one as a winter route. A bit like saying an E8 trad route has 7c+ climbing - it’s still different from a bolted 7c+! This seemed to fuel a bit of debate about how it related to the traditional winter climbing game. To me, it’s totally clear the route is a tooling route, not a Scottish winter route. Clear and simple.

Some folk argued that maybe it should be left alone in case it dilutes the Scottish winter conditions ethic. I personally don’t agree with this. My feeling is that a one size fits all ethic for anything climbed is unnecessarily simplistic. It’s a shame not to climb that crack just because it doesn’t get rimed up. It’s an excellent climb.
More so than any other climbing discipline, Scottish winter climbing seems to be awful scared of losing what we have. Of course it’s special and worth defending. Perhaps because I like going for the steepest routes I’ve spent more than my fair share of days walking in and turning on my heel because the project is not white enough. It’s natural to resist any changes (even if they are only additions) to the status quo, but not always good. Balanced against the fear of losing what we have must be a fear of losing what we could have. To me, the diversity of British climbing has always been it’s greatest asset. A strict and narrow focus on what can be climbed with tools is a strength in upholding a strong ethic, but a weakness in undermining the diversity of climbs that can be done. I just don’t see that the threat to the Scottish conditions ethic is real. Rather than diminished over the years I have been a climber, I feel it has strengthened. The ethic is so strong, it has room to accept some ‘outliers’. However, that is of course just an opinion of one and may be outweighed by those of others, which is no problem. If other folk thought the tooling route was a good idea, very few have come out and said so.



Winter condition or not? What do you think?



A further interesting twist came when the other new route I wrote about (The Snotter) was questioned for not being in winter condition. I must say that took me seriously by surprise. I’ve done plenty of mixed routes that were on the borderline, but it didn’t enter my head that this one wasn’t in good condition. Simon Richardson wrote a particularly below the belt post on his blog which is here. For some reason he didn’t mention my name in it, and is was a little weird that he wrote such strong words and then reported another new route of mine in the very next post. Anyway, the reason it took me so by surprise was the focus on the section of overhanging wall to get between the ice grooves below and the hanging icicle above. I deliberately went on the route because the recent sunny conditions has been good for helping the grooves below the icicles to become iced. In the 55 metre crux pitch, around 47 metres was climbed on water ice, with 6 metres crossing a grossly overhanging wall underneath the roof to get to the icicle. The 30 metres of grooves below the roof were climbed on ice, initially stepped iced slabby ledges, then a thin ice smeared rib and groove, apart from a few hooks on the right of the ice. Once on the icicle, there was a long section (15 metres at least) before the angle even started to lie back.The downside of this mix of conditions was that the overhanging wall itself was pretty dry. My thinking was that this is par for the course for this type of route. The sun helps more ice form, but at the expense of the rime. My interpretation (which may be ‘wrong’ if such a judgement can truly be made) of Scottish winter conditions is that basically the route must be wintery in appearance. If it was nearly all dry mixed with a little ice, it would be outside that definition and I would have come back another time. But the reality was the pitch was nearly all ice with a short section of dry rock.
A central view in my own new route climbing has always been that I don’t want it to be at the expense of anyone else, even if I don’t agree with their position or motives. Clearly, some folk feel that way. So I have taken away my blog post about the routes and recommend that folk forget about them, if that is what they want to do. They still exist of course, in my memory as great days out and two of the most fun climbs I’ve done in a while. Nothing more ultimately matters. Anyone else is welcome to climb them as first ascents if they feel those ascents are more worthy.

Canyonlands National Park

If you like the canyon country but the thought of the insane crowds at the Grand Canyon turns your stomach, then Canyonlands National Park is for you! Featuring canyon vistas no less impressive than those of the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands is a heavenly park. Near Moab, Utah the park is easily accessible by car. However, if you want to fully appreciate this park (something I have yet to do) you need to spend at least a few days here and explore the park away from the main road. Canyonlands is a vast park with many things to see, but it takes time to see them and appreciate them. On my next trip to the southwest I hope to spend at least a few days here.

Above: These 2 images are actually from Dead Horse Point State Park, a short detour along the same road that brings you into Canyonlands. Dead Horse Point is a beautiful place with impressive canyon views to both the east and the west, making it a fantastic location for either sunrise or sunset shooting.

(Above and below: A sampling of some of the views available from the main park road.)