Fall 2011 still a sophomore ...Winter 2012 a junior...maybe...

Topping last year's program will be downright impossible...perfect subject, awesome faculty for all 3 qtrs, each quarter built upon the previous, and I accomplished 6 major goals including making a film.

This Fall I am enrolled in MediaWorks...not an easy program to get into vs. other programs you can just sign up for...Media Works required a faculty letter of recommendation and an application that looked like a request for 6 critically written essays on film, what is your artistic background to date, "tell us what film inspired you to take this course", etc...not exactly what I thought I was going to be taking...but I was accepted in the second round draft and it will enhance what I started last Spring. This Fall I have no expectations and will be heading out into the world of film/documentaries. According to the syllabus we will learn lighting, sound and sound editing, critical film review, alternative film techniques, work solo and in groups on small projects, write critical reviews and essays, and stretch our brains. I'm taking this program to round out filming skills. I want to include documentary film as a recording of environmental issues. This is a 2 quarter dance. In the Spring there are several environmental programs which will continue to enhance my efforts. Next year (2012-2013) (did I say that?) Intro to Natural Science will have faculty that have backgrounds in areas of interest.

This school year will be different and challenging in more ways than one. In advance of all her heroic efforts in support of my going back to school, a big uber thank you goes out to Marianne. Additional big thank you to my boss and my family....

If you live in the PNW and have not yet gone to the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, do it now before it starts to rain.  As you walk along the gravel path to the boardwalk look to your right at the snags. You just might catch a glimpse of the resident Kestrel.

School starts Monday September 26th...little over 2 weeks....yikes...!!!

Until then campers keep the sunscreen handy... it is not raining yet!

Preparations

It seems as if life is a series of preparations. Going towards something, or letting go of something, or of nothing that is still something. Today the sun is hiding, I look at the waiting list for the class I think I want to take and ponder the class that I am registered in..."let the universe decide" was the advice...advice I give all the time...so I am sitting looking at our misty day...thanking the maker I was able to get an acupuncture appointment earlier for my allergies...on the way home saw a Barred Owl flying down the road...thinking of school...already missing former classmates...and finally relaxing about which class is what and why and am getting ready to go where I have not gone before...lol...adventure is a marvelous activity...think I'll head to campus tomorrow and pick up that library book on the Mountaineers...

Peace out campers...

In the meantime take a walk after dinner and look around...you might see something new...

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe. John Muir (1838 - 1914)

Well my favorite quote, very zen very present, very much what I need to look at when pondering the folly of mankind...

This is a shot I took last fall on the trail below Myrtle Falls, Paradise, MORA... what you can't see in this one infinitesimal shot are the different botanical zones that meet in the area. Glacial water, volcanic rocks, flora and fauna that have evolved for eons, sub-alpine meeting alpine, clumps of trees that hunker together to provide shelter for small plants and protection from the intense winters, huckleberries the first people would come to harvest, corn lilies, hemlock, fir, marmots, pica, jays all covering one of Washingtons newest geothermal vulcan exhibits.

This image is on my desktop to remind me to look outside wherever I am and ponder how everything is connected...and I mean everything...do not exclude human kind or your neighbor or the dog or the red shafted flicker outside your window, nor the Barred Owl that hoots in the forest even during the day... go outside and sit and look at what is there within the few feet that is around you, really look...

ok campers enough wax rhapsodic, time to check the tomatoes and the kale...in the meantime, take a magnifying glass or binoculars and see a little bit closer to your world.

Peace out,

Summer interim ...

well campers it's not due to lack of time per se... more like gelling and vibing the sun to come out and play...that and a sinus infection lasting way too long...

August is upon us and I am one of the fortunate ones not to have school start till the end of September. Currently I am working with former faculty doing research and documentation (not as boring as it sounds) for his writing project. (I am not at liberty to say just yet, he is in process) Needless to say I am looking forward to getting back up to the Mountain with M even if it's just for a day...prolly after Labor Day...less crowded...maybe even camping...that would be way cool...

I am visualizing some drawing...I've even charged up the camcorder...need to get the spring film up on line....work in the vegetable garden which has thankfully produced wonderful items of delight...and the most important...practice the art of doing nothing...very zen...

Till next time, keep your bbq charcoal dry and weed something this weekend~

Peace Out...

Spring quarter slowly winding down...

After learning Final Cut Pro 7 for film editing and creating an 18 minute film for the Nisqually River Education Project... and a lesson plan for the elementary teachers...I am now on a learning curve with YouTube to upload a gazillion gig file in segments...the film was/is a success...I got full credit, even thought the TESC website has yet to record my first year transcripts...

I will post more when I get the film up and get permission to share the lesson plan with my friends who are elementary school teachers outside of the Nisqually watershed.

Love you all, still transitioning to summer, working on an internship (more details to follow), loving life, my love Marianne, my family, my friends and TESC!

Rock on campers it's Summer get out and hike!

Cheers

Spring Quarter pre-begining....

Ok campers, this week starts with Spring quarter for our program officially beginning on March 31/April 1. My team meets with our primary faculty on Friday BUT.... we meet with our project customer Sheila W. from the Nisqually River Education Project on Thursday around 1pm...both of my teammates are enjoying a well deserved break and I am hopeful that we can connect before this meeting. ;-)

I will post more about the details after both meetings.

To date I have the brainstorming drafts done, purchased my own camcorder (because I want to be able to film other projects), sent out emails to my team on meeting updates and updated my Americorps timesheet for the month.

oh yes... my grant proposal for re-imbursement funding was mostly approved...lol I was granted about 90% of my request...not bad...this will cover mileage, any overnight stays on the mountain, and materials to produce the film on DVD.

Needless to say I am very excited!

Until then DO NOT put away your rain gear or your snowshoes...it may be Spring...but it is the Northwest!

Toward the end of another quarter...

Ok, enough of really bad jokes and onto the report of the field trip to Pack Forest and snowshoeing on the trails of Mt. Rainier National Park. Let me just get off my chest that the "old wives tale" about staying out in the cold will give you one.... http://coldflu.about.com/od/cold/f/coldandweather.htm  

So the flu/cold I erupted with after snowshoeing was from my classmates, who didn't have any more choice on this than I, and not from being outside. ok...I'm done with that one...and I am getting better...

The trip was work and fun...we were able to help the Ohop Valley Project with their riparian area restoration by putting "sleaves" on newly planted vegetation, pulling scotch-broom out with giant metal pullers, and replanting sweet little noble fir trees. My winter coat still has a bit of dried mud on it...and yes it snowed on us while we were working, and freezing rain, and it was cooollllddddd......the cold/flu has subsided a bit and now I have a  sinus infection...never dull here....

At Pack Forest we had guest lecturers Tuesday evening - Mt. Rainier's Outreach Planner, Bryan Bowden and Nick Bond, Planner from Eatonville. Both work with the Nisqually River Council.  Bryan was most generous and loaned me the Carbon River Corridor Charette that his group put together as a tool to know the Carbon River Water shed better. 

They can use this data to better plan for contingencies and future restoration for the area. (I need to return it to him next week!)

On Thursday we listened to Mt. Rainier Natioanl Park Education Dept.'s Fawn Bauer, and Greenhouse Supervisor Greg Berchard (hope I spelled that right Greg). Tacoma Power (that would be a whole other blog-or a documetary) PR song and dance guy Randy Stern were earlier in the am. 

Ok to the cool stuff: 

Wednesday SNOWSHOEING! My first time and I chose the trail my instructor Lucia Harrison was leading because 1) I'm older and slower and 2) I've never snowshoed before. I used to ski when I was younger but then buggered up my knees in TaeKwonDo...another story.

We did the Cougar Rock Campground trail out of Longmire just about 4 miles round trip...I had a blast...could not keep up with the 20' somethings but I kept a steady pace, saw a golden mountain ground squirrel, multiple mini waterfalls coming out from under snow covered ravines, the Nisqually banked by wonderful scenery of snow-covered trees, fallen tree obstacles that you either went under/around/over, snow falling, sun streaming through the forest, and such quiet (the road to Paradise was closed so no car traffic!).

We ate lunch here and headed back to Longmire....

golden mountain ground squirrel track....

After I got back to Longmire I headed over to the Trail of Shaddows... I did that one in the fall and wanted to see what it looked like in the winter.

Then there were snowball fights

Friday... WOOT!!! Paradise is open...cool...actually sunny then snowy then cloudy....

Along the way we had to stop 3 times to adjust our chains on the van...the third time, I did not assist and went back to Jeff's car (he was sweeping-a hiking term) and asked if he had any history to share about this part of the mountain... we were almost to Longmire and about 150 feet back behind the speed signs on the north side of the road...Jeff told a story about Hudson.  See above.  That hoop marks the spot that Hudson is burried. Back before Mt. Rainier was a NP, the Longmires were the experts so to speak of the area. One night Hudson was tending his campfire (in the fall or winter months, ok maybe spring-snow lasts along time up here) his derringer fell out of his pocket and either landed on the ground or in the fire and went off, shooting him in a bad way, like bleeding out kinda bad way... by the time someone got to the Mrs. Longmire and they made their way back, Hudson was gone. I'm thinking it had to be winter time or Hudson had no kin,  after storing him in the shed (because it was way colder outside than in) they buried him along the road back a bit. After ward the Veterans Assoc. established the hoop as a marker. Now you may say why a marker? Well if it snows on average of 10 to 20 feet a year...it would be nice to see the marker from time to time eh?  That day there was 13 feet of recent snow....Paradise had a total of 40' as of that day...prolly more by now....Here's to you Hudson!

Back on the road to Paradise....

Well MORA had her skirt down.... this is the bottom of the Nisqually Galcier....

The trip was maybe 2 miles round trip...not bad you say until you realize its kinda vertical and making trail through 2 feet of fresh powder with short legs is not wat I called leisurely... lol

It was invigorating and I would have taken more pictures, but I had enough to do hanging onto my poles and picking my self up after sinking into the powder up to my hips and twice falling on branches or tops of trees...Yes you may say TOPS of trees we were walking on top of and besides the tops of young Mountain Hemlock, Doug. Fir and Alpine Fir....

We left between 3 and 4 not sure when, very tired...still had the drive back to campus then drive back home, dropping Chris off in Tacoma...got home at 8 pm... 

That brings us to the top of todays blog campers!  

Ok remember to check your straps on your snowshoes! And when using a water bladder in your back pack keep the hoses inside a zipped pocket...otherwize up on the glacier your tubes will freeze and you will get dehydrated...

Peace out...more to tell stay tuned...