True Colors

There was a very pretty little robin nesting outside the window of our cabin. It was very neat to watch her move in, check out the real estate, and then start her family. My family was very interested in her success and well being--though she kept a very watchful eye on us. However, a demon squirrel raided her nest after a couple weeks, and ate all her eggs. Now she is gone. . . heartbroken.

I've always liked squirrels before this, sure they can be annoying and loud, but I've found their chattering and capering about. . . cute? (Can I use that word?) Anyway, now I see them for what they are. . . thiefs and devils. I wish to hang one of those bushy little tails from the cabin window to show the robin that her children have been avenged.

On Women

This is supposed to be the other side of my post "What Makes a Man?" I am not qualified to even attempt to describe what makes a woman, so this post will be more along the lines of what a "manly" man--errr, myself--looks for in a woman.

Probably the best example of this comes from the quote that I posted at the end of "What Makes a Man," by Loius L'Amour. I guess I'll quote it again, "A strong man need wish for no more than this: a sword in the hand, a horse between his knees, and the woman he loves at the battle's end." So here we have a man, who finally returns from his war, and there she is, the woman he loves. . . waiting for him.

A man can't fight, like he must, without a woman who loves and trusts him. A woman is the foundation that a man stands on to do his battles. . . that sounds weird, I know, but remember in Rocky III? Apollo Creed is trying to re-train Rocky so he can fight the man who previously humiliated him, but Rocky lacks the fire. Why? Because he didn't have Adrian behind him. But when she gets in his corner. . .

That's the first thing that a man wants in a woman. He wants her to be in his corner, to be his number one fan and best friend, he wants her to back him up, and if she does that, her man will charge hell with a bucket of water, he'll fight till the death--for her, because of her.

Another thing that Louis L'Amour talks about (is he really the source of all this?) is a woman who can "walk beside a man rather than behind him." I interpret this in the sense that a man needs a woman who is a warrior. I use that term loosely to describe a woman who doesn't give up, no matter how tough things get; she possesses an indomitable spirit. Sometimes things just don't work out when a man tries to carve out a living (or a home, his niche in the world, or whatever) with his hands, and if things get tough, a man needs a woman to stand by him; to support him even in his failures. . . and a man will fail, time and again.

Of course, the other side of that, is that the woman needs to be a lady. . . no matter how tough the going gets. Sophisticated, intelligent, and cultured. . . she is the main influence that keeps the children from turning into animals/barbarians (though the man should not shirk his responsibilities here either). Related to this is the special sensitivity to spiritual things that women have. . . this is a special gift that is being lost in this modern era because of the destruction of gender roles.

Perhaps I am being a little too idealistic here, and maybe somewhat old fashioned, but there it is. . . A true woman, a lady, is intelligent and beautiful, sophisticated and unbreakable, and ever so devoted to the man who trusts her with. . . everything.

Here is the ideal picture of the relationship between a man and a woman :)

Yes, I admit my bias here. . . but there is so much that is beautiful in ballroom dance; it encompasses the way the relationship between a man and woman should be. The ideal in every way.

This by the way is Victor Fung and Anna Mikhed. . . I've seen them a couple times in person, and they are exquisite.

And here are Urs and Agnes just as icing on the cake.

I'm not going to try to explain the wonder of Ballroom Dance here. If you aren't familiar with it, I suggest you give it a shot.

Anyway, I don't think I talked about everything that I wanted to mention, but this is good enough for now. Hopefully I didn't come across as chauvinistic or anything. All I'm trying to say, is that a man and woman are equal in their respective spheres. There is nothing wrong with being a true lady. . . or a true man.

NPS Week 5/6 and Stuff

This is going to be a bit random.

I spent the last eight days camping and working in the wilderness. It was nice--muddy, but nice. Anyway, I shan't bore you with the details other than to add that I am sore and tired, and even after a long shower after I got back I still have dirt ground into my skin.

But here are a few things of note, and random thoughts that this latest excursion sparked:

Showers and Toilets
I have never in my life gone for eight days without some sort of cleaning ritual. Sure, my family was without running water and other societal amenities for a year, back in my younger days when we first moved into our cabin, but we compensated for that by heating water on a camp stove and bathing in a wheelbarrow. But camping in the wilderness offers no viable alternatives other than plunging into barely above freezing glacial runoff water, which I am not willing to do. So, this was the longest time I have ever gone without bathing. . . wow. Showers (and baths) are awesome! After about the fifth day, you start to have a hard time being around yourself. . . On a personal note, I do not have stinky feet, I never have. But after several days in damp leather boots, my feet did develop a nasty odor. . .

Along these same lines; toilets are awesome. Sure the porcelain may sometimes be cold, but generally they are quite comfortable and clean smelling. I like them.

In short, don't take indoor plumbing for granted.

Pain
The second day out on the trail, I developed one of the worst headaches that I have had in years. It was so bad I couldn't work, or even think. . . I tried to be a tough guy and not show my pain to the rest of the crew, but after a while I had to sit down and start punching myself in the head (don't ask me why, but the shock creates a jolt and then ebb of pain which I find preferable to straight blind pain). Anyway, I solved this problem by downing two Excedrin (which I must add, is a god-send), which I have never before done. . . usually one is enough to knock out my headaches, but this time two seemed prudent. Eventually my headache went away, and then I was high on caffeine for the rest of the day (65mg per Excedrin. . . whew!).

This got me thinking, and I realized that the worst pains that I have felt in life have been rare headaches like this one. I've sprained my ankle, broken fingers/toes/thumbs, woken in the night with a terrible wrenching stomach pain, developed water in my hip joint so that I could barely even walk, and fallen--unconscious--on a wood stove and burned my arm. . . all these pains I seem to have forgotten, but I don't forget the pain of headaches.

Headaches suck. Thankfully for me they are rare.

Wolf
At some point we were working on the trail, and a wolf passed by and watched us. We found his tracks very clearly defined in the mud, but never saw him. . . his prints were five inches across.

Alaska Rules!


I miss ballroom. . .

Part II

And continuing from my previous post:

What the heck is going on with "no child left behind?" The only thing that this accomplishes is holding the best and brightest on the level of the not best and brightest. That means that countries like Japan, India, and Germany are producing the bulk of the worlds scientists and doctors. What does America produce? Almost 70% of the world's lawyers. Does that inspire any confidence? Not that the amount of lawyers that America provides the world has anything to do with "no child left behind," but it is something else to think about. Anyway, America can't afford to let herself lose the advantage that she has. We as a country have always survived because of our creative intelligence and engineering spirit. If we lose that, I don't think that we'll survive long. . .

Conspiracy Theory. . .

I'm not a person who looks for conspiracies behind everything that happens, but I do believe in the prophesies by prophets, both ancient and modern, that indicate that secret societies will cause great damage before the second coming of Christ.

Here are a few things that are causing me some concern. . .

I don't understand the continual increase in the price of oil. It really doesn't make any sense at all. I've been reading on the Internet about speculators and unrest in Nigeria? (not really sure which African country it really was) but whatever the case, these don't seem like sufficient reasons for the obscene cost of oil right now. Also, it's not like we have a shortage of oil or anything. I was talking to a guy who works in the oil industry, and he told me that there are more than 3,000,000,000,000 barrels of known, accessible, and develop able oil in the world right now. All the world's oil use, since the beginning of oil, is somewhere around 1,000,000,000,000. He also indicated that fossil fuels regenerate faster than previously thought and said that it was possible to re-tap old oil wells for more oil. But nobody is developing any of this oil. . . Go Green!

Speaking of which, this idea to mandate ethanol production seems like a stupid and blundering political move. Food costs are skyrocketing because of it. All of the sudden it is more expensive to feed cattle (my mom paid $6 a gallon for milk yesterday), there is more corn being produced (but it goes to ethanol). . . and less wheat and whatever else. And on top of that, I've heard that the cost of producing ethanol isn't even beneficial or significantly healthier for the environment. Dumb move. . .

Global Warming! Ahhh, we're all going to die, die, die. Catastrophe! Doom! The End of Life as We Know It! Blah, blah, blah. And we were all going to die for Y2K too, and whatever else. Alarmists are all over the place, and they suck, but they seem to have more power than they deserve. Sometimes, I wish to rend them asunder.

Errr, I thought I had more things to talk about, but I must of forgotten them. But I tell you, it seems like all this is more than just happenstance. It feels like there is someone in the background pulling strings, making things as bad as possible so that they can step in and become a "savior" or something. You know, somebody wants power and all. We've all read the stories where the bad guys try to get power; evil stepmothers, plotting kings/princes/dukes, greedy wizards, and dragons; those sort of people. Some people just want power. . . and organizations too. Anyway, I'm just rambling now, but there it is. Prophecy indicates stuff like this happening. . . why are we surprised, and why are we not prepared?

Working for the NPS: Week 4

I have a couple ideas for different blog entries floating around in the convoluted depths of my mind but none of them are thought out to the point that I am ready to write about them. So, that means you get to read about me and my fabulous job. . . again.

This week I actually went out in the field for training on "Trail Layout and Design." What that really comes out to is "hiking around in the woods." Yes, I spent one day getting lectured about making good trails, then I spent the next three days wandering around in the woods looking for possible trail routes that filled the requirements that we were looking for. The area that were in was beside the Gilahina River and we were looking for a possible trail that would take us to the Chitina river about seven miles to the south, but that didn't work. We eventually decided on a loop trail that went up to a saddle between the Gilahina and Chokosna and then followed the edge of the cliffs that overlooked the two rivers until their confluence. It was beautiful country, and the trail that we eventually decided upon will be awesome--that is if the final proposal can get through the billion levels of management. One of the possible drawbacks for this trail was the obvious level of bear activity in the area. There were bear trails everywhere, and one spot that we visited (on the Chokosna side of the saddle) was an obvious feeding ground--fish skeletons and all. Our camp was also the site of a bear rub--where a bear rubs against or scratches a tree as a territorial claim. I can't say that any of the bear activity was recent or not, I saw no obvious signs, but I did track what I thought to be a bear for a way before the trail was obliterated by my companions--there were like fifteen of us.

Anyway, it was a pretty good four days of hiking/camping, though it did get cold, and it rained for the first day. Other than that, I had a blast! And we did finally encounter a a young grizzly bear when we went out to Kennicot to scout a site for a bridge, but he ignored us and just wandered up the mountain.

I wish I had a digital camera so that I could post pictures of all this. . .