sunday school

It's no secret that I am agnostic/atheist.
At 13....I told my parents that I didn't believe in religion.
No longer would I attend church.


Then...I found this.
Now I'm in church every Sunday...

photos courtesy of Fletcher Burton

fish a la tyler

the cute boy got up this morning and said we were going fishing

uh....ok?

the surf is micro
south winds coming
and...
the tyler had been somewhat neglected

sure...why the hell not
nothing like feeling like a big ol' piece of bait out in the middle of lake pacific

paddle paddle paddle paddle paddle paddle

dinner!

fine day

no early morning commute
sex
coffee/tea
toast
long walk
nude sunbathing
eagles soaring overhead
fruit
surf
sex
long walk

day half over...

swimmin stoke

School is out and swim season has begun.

The V-man competed in his first ever LCM swim meet (long course meters....50 meter pool) this past weekend. About 265 swimmers (in all) ranging in age from 5 to 18 competing.

50 meters... is a long way to swim for an 8-year-old. (some days...it's a long way to swim for a 40-year-old)

The V-man was undaunted by this.....

Saturday:

50 m. back - first (A time)
50 m. breast - second (A time)
50 m. fly - disqualified (he had it won......damn two hand touch!)

Sunday:

100 m. free - first (A time)
100 m. breast - second (B time)
100 m. back - first (A time)

side note: his times were not only faster than all of the 8 y.o.'s...but also faster than MOST of the 9, 10 & 11 y.o.'s

"A" times....qualify him for the Oregon State (10 & Under) Long Course Championships.

He kicked ass!

Not bad for a boy that once needed the threat of "calling Papa"... just to get him into the pool for practice.

enchanted forest

not much in the way of surf today
sure...the buoys say south swell
but...
the south wind is on it as well
blown out crap

so...

the cute boy & I went in search of oyster mushrooms...

bounty!

unfortunately...these beauties are about 40 feet up...

no fretting though...
we did find several...a couple pounds worth...within reach.

friday fodder...

After a visit with Red in the hospital Thursday evening....
I bailed...for the long holiday weekend.

She's doing well.
(as well as can be expected)

The wind has been nuking for days.
No surf.

So...the cuteboy & I went for a long hike.

Six miles of treasures.

Forest.
Sand.
Floral.
Tide pools.
Sea life.
Fauna.

Oyster mushrooms...
(which we harvested for very good eating)



tiny crab...

lancet...


I also found a lovely geode with seafoam crystals & a fairly new bass lure.

drinking & thinking

when
people you love
...hurt

dinner

everybody gets to eat...

Happy Mother's Day!...to all the moms out there.

cancer

FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT
FUCK FUCK FUCK

FUCK

my best girl
her double d's

mastectomy

wrong....doesn't begin to describe this

gonna go scream
several more obscenities

pillow talk...

conversations when you live almost a 100 miles apart....

me: you sleep good?

gaz: yes

you?

me: not too bad

gaz: lol

me: ;-)

8:27 AM gaz: but i could smell you on your pillow

me: ewww.....sweaty?

gaz: LOL

no

hahah

me: hee!

gaz: sweet like jasmine on a zephyr of wind

me: LOL

gaz: ;-)

8:28 AM me: funny boy today

...and some wonder why I call him cute boy.

trillium

The cuteboy (knew he) was in hot water the other day...
...so he pic'd me flowers.

Lovely....aren't they.

NO...he didn't PICK these flowers.

Picking trillium will so severely injure the flower...
that it can takes years to recover.

Lucky for him...he has a really cute smile.

divine comedy...

14000 lines

divided into 3 canticas

each consisting of 33 cantos

One...

...of my favorite poems.

Dante's journey through

the three realms of the dead.

Inferno

Purgatorio

Paradiso

It begins the night before Good Friday

and ends...

the Wednesday after Easter.

Certainly my own hell started well before Good Friday.

interesting...

that it ends....

the Wednesday after Easter.

Down there a place is that no torments try
But only darkness grieves, where the lament
Hath not the sound of wail, but is a sigh.


Party on Wayne. Party on Garth.

hey coach...

...he says & smiles
sauntering down the hall

i see this client once a year
(twice...if i'm lucky)

hands me his shoe box
...and asks
how's the pool?

then wonders when
i'm going to follow
(what he sees as)

...my passion

good question

favourite

For Daddy P....
(please forgive the phone quality camera)

date night

Friday.
I left work early...at 5:00...for a date.

A date.

Four miles of (relatively) empty trails.

Three & a half miles into my huffing & puffing...
there it was.

My favourite rhododendron...
within 5000+ acres.

Amidst the grey & green...
it absolutely glowed.

Pink.

fishing whole

many hours worked
in & out of the office
no hours surfed
two months
busy season

my one day off this week
the cuteboy took me fishing

no easy entry

In all our trips south...I hadn't surfed this reef...until this last trip.
I've watched the cute boy get it good.
But....I don't do cliffs.
Or...I should say...I'm not allowed to do cliffs...anymore.
(They don't call me grace for nothin.)

So this time....

I did the half-mile walk/paddle down from the next reef to the north.

Five of us out.
Sunny.
Excellent end to the year.

silent

knowledge
of others
has frozen
fingers

frosty

Left town with (a lot of) snow on the ground. (needed chains just to get from my street to a main thorough-fare)

Nine days of surf, sun & se.....er....vacation. (sorry dad...)

Drove home to find an inch & a half of fresh snow on the ground.

sidebar: for those of you that are "map" challenged...I am pleased to announce...that of the half dozen trips we've made to the 'cruz....we have managed to never make it out of the bay area without fucking up. It's a gift...

This was our last morning in town.
Cold & icy...despite the sun.

Gaz...getting a few last waves before the 11 & 1/2 hour drive home.

flew the coop

After almost two weeks of being house-bound with snow days
we made it out of town & south bound.
Sun.
Surf.
Grumpiness gone.

Happy New Year.

the beginning of the end...

December 31, 2007...

Started the year here....ending it here as well.
Full circle.

Here's to holding swells & warmer water.
Happy Holidays.

big dig

before...

couple hours later...

dug out
thawed out
chained up

no shovel
no help
no problem

freeloader

This...
is Freeloader.

Lou...for short.



I adopted him (about this time) 3 years ago.
We had snow, freezing rain & sub-twenty temps.
His (original) owner left him outside.

Me...being Me....couldn't stand it, so I started letting him in.
He got along well with Tug & Harley.
In fact...he made himself right at home.

Then...about a year & a half ago...he started spraying/peeing in the v-man's room.
Big mistake.
I won't tolerate that nonsense....so out he went.
Don't worry though...another neighbor started caring for him.

Imagine my surprise...when I found him scratching on my door at 6:00 a.m. the other morning.
It was freezing out...and snowing!
(fucking part-time pet owners)

So...
I let him in.
Been here since Saturday morning...
...making himself right at home.

icy

Freezing rain atop 10 inches of snow....



...make some tea & pull out the crossword.
Welcome the winter solstice.

syncro...

...in a ditch?

On a straight-away?

At least 10 inches of snow today. Prime...driving conditions.



Tow to the rescue...

oops...

beauty in the blizzard

snowing
blustery
twenty-four degrees

this spring bloomer....showed up in the fall

poppy

sometimes...

...I surf.



pic courtesy of Gaz

The Great Battle...

A little known fact in the history books...

Norse Gods fought...

for passage rights across...

The Sea of Harley.

See?....this one walks on water.
A true God.

A hard fought battle on the raging Sea of Harley...

The Sea of Harley is about to devour one of the ships...

Yeah....ok...I haven't been getting much surf lately.

four oh.....

made me dinner...

let me sleep in....'til 8

tea...

surf check...

watched the cute boy fish...and read



mushroom hunting...




afternoon nap...

a loverly birthday.


...and my world didn't implode.

Happy Hallowe'en!