Collier State Park - Kayaking Spring Creek

5/18 Saturday

We kayaked Spring Creek despite the blustery chill in the air.  I wanted to get my new kayak in the water (and remove the labels) and our friends Fred and Karen were up for taking their canoe out.  We paddled from the boat launch, just past the logging museum, for about a mile up the creek.  The wind was up river which helped us paddle up stream to where the flow narrowed and Fred and Karen were worried about taking their canoe over the fallen logs. Also, rain was predicted so we decided to turn around.  I really wanted to see where the spring bubbles out of the ground.  That was a disappointment, but we will come back another time for a sunny paddle. 

Karen at boat launch at Spring Creek

The creek is clear with a white sandy, bottom and gentle flow.  It is surprisingly wide for being spring fed and at least 10' deep in places is my guess.  On a hot, sunny day I would have wanted to jump in to swim. 

The weather here has been a chilly, in the lower 50's during the day, overcast with showers.  We are glad we have our trailer to keep warm and dry.  Our site (B01) backs right up to the Williamson River.  The whole camp in shaded by Ponderosa Pines and there are tons of pine cones on the ground.

I took my little terrier Kodiak out for a walk before breakfast and saw a family of about six river otters swimming down stream in the Williamson River.  They all climbed out on the opposite bank for a few minutes while we watched.  I was sooo mad I didn't grab my cell phone when I headed out so I didn't get a photo. It was really fun to see them anyway.

Nairn Falls Hike

Monday we did a day trip to Nairn Falls, a few kilometers north of Whistler Village. To get to Nairn Falls you take a short, well maintained trail from a parking lot at a large campground.  The cloudy pale Green River flows frothy along the path to the falls.  The glacier melt water is icy and swift along the route.  Many cairns have been built by visitors along the way.  

The falls is several cascades through narrow rock walls and tunnels.  The water was low enough for us to see the water flowing through the tunnel. 

Later we tried two hikes, one along the Green River that was supposed to go to a swimming hole which we never found.  The other that was 2.2 K to 1 Mile lake.  The 1 Mile Lake hike was up hill most of the way and ended up at a lake next to Highway 99 at Pemberton.   The path was along a ridgeline next the highway,.  When we realized it didn't lead to a pristine mountain lake, we turned back. 

Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

Gondola to Whistler and Peak to Peak

Three of us took the gondola ride from Whistler Village to Roundhouse Lodge on Whistler mountain.  The 25 (or so) minute ride took us up the mountain to a landing on the mountain from which we could either catch the "Peak to Peak" gondola, or ride the ski lift to the peak of Whistler.  We chose to ride the Peak to Peak to Black

comb Mountain where the hiking trails are more numerous.  There is shopping and food at the ski lodges at each gondola and ski lift stop. 

Interestingly, mountain bikers ride the gondolas up to take the numerous mountain biking trails down.  It appears that many of the mountain biking trails are ski runs in the winter.  Every other gondola was filled mostly men wearing large helmets and covered in protective gear hauling their bikes up.  It looks like a challenging and fun ride down on golden dusty trails. 

The gondola ride up Whistler was in a small glass capsule just above the trees.  Below you can watch the forest for a glimpse of bears feeding on huckleberries and mountain bikers whizzing down the ski trails.  You can see the bikers paused, assessing the next downward stretch, or cruising along a gentle path before a descent. 

From Roundhouse Lodge it is a short walk over to the Peak 2 Peak lift.  It is the longest and highest lift in the world between the tops of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.  During the spectacular ride we had incomparable views of the mountains, glaciers and rivers below.   The Rendezvous Lodge on Blackcomb at the end of the Peak 2 Peak ride has glorious views from it's several outdoor seating areas. 

From there we hiked the "Alpine Walk, and Overlord Trails to a small glacial lake and back.  Views of glaciers, saw tooth mountains and blue sky made the easy hike moderate.  We only missed one corner on the trail causing us to backtrack an eighth mile or so. 

Friggin' Goals

I'm reading Linda Rolie's "Getting Back to Work" book.  It has the usual section on goal setting. I have to say I'm completely over goal setting.  I've done it.  I've done the whole Franklin Covey value and goal setting rigmarole ad nauseam.  My values and goals are established.  I know that I want to be a “writer”.  Being a writer has been my dream since I was in junior high school.  Why haven’t I done it?  I have no excuse.  Rolie’s book poses the questions below:

“What is preventing you from accomplishing your goals?  Possible responses might include “I don’t really have the skills, ability or knowledge” or “I’m afraid I might fail” or “I don’t want it badly enough to really work for it” or “I’m afraid what others might think” or “The goal is too difficult to accomplish.” 

My answer?  All of the above.   

Additionally:   I’m afraid I won’t make enough money to keep myself in the style to which I’m accustomed. 

Am I going to make a dramatic change in my life now?  Unlikely.  What would cause me to make a dramatic change in my life?  Not being able to get a job for a long time.  Maybe that’s what is in store.  In that case, I better get to work on that novel immediately.

So what else?  My other goal is simply to make money.  I want to make enough money to live well and save for retirement.  I enjoy computer work, especially data conversion.  Doing data conversion for businesses doesn’t have any socially redeeming value that I can figure out.  What good does it do anybody?  It may help a company to make more money.  To that end, it helps the employees of the company which helps the economy when those employees spend money.  That’s pretty much a stretch for socially redeeming. 

What good does a novelist do?  Entertains people and possibly provides insight into society’s problems, but mostly provides entertainment and escape.

 

Sort of Calm

I've been surprised by how calmly I’ve handled this termination experience.

Maybe it’s the “wisdom of age”:  I’ve been through job changes, either voluntarily or enforced, several times now.  I know it isn’t the end of the world.  I’ll survive one way or another with another job.  Hopefully the new job will be exciting, stimulating, and financially rewarding.  But, if not, if it ends up being just another place to bide my time until something else comes along, I can do that too.

Maybe it’s my situation:   I don’t have children at home to support.  It’s just me.  I can live cheaply.  If I have to sell my house, I won’t be happy, but it won’t be unbearable.  I should be able to get out at least what I’ve put into it.

Maybe it’s a needed change:  I was amazed at how much fun it was to change jobs last year.  I clearly and emotionally remember the joy of driving a new path to work, discovering a new community, making new friends.  After 13 years at one business, the change was intellectually and emotionally gratifying.  Unfortunately that environment at my former employer was so unstable it was difficult to bond with the business itself.  Every several months I’d think, “I’ve got to get out of here before the ax falls.”   I should have listened to my intuition.  

Maybe it's being home:  I’ve loved being home this last week.  Most people do, I suppose.  There is  so much to do, harvest the garden produce and can it.  Perform housewifely activities like hanging sheets on the line, rearranging the living room, scrubbing the floors.  I’ve worn a scarf on my head and apron most of the time.  There is time for a bike ride with friends, and to cook dinner for my granddaughter and son who are often here to eat.    The challenge is to devise a way to support myself from home. 

Maybe it's an opportunity:   It feels like an opportunity, maybe my last, to insist on an occupation that fulfills my dreams. 

Is it possible?  We’ll see. 

 

 

 

 

 

Harvest Time

No shortage of work today.  Tomorrow I start job search. 

Cooper helps Grandma pick tomatoes.

Today's work - canning and drying. 

The abundant cucumbers will be sent to food pantry.

 

Thai peppers ready to dry in the sun.

 

Cooking down for sauce

Some canned and some fresh tomatoes.

The fresh are waiting for another day.

Whew - mostly done

Terminated

Its day five.  

Time flies when you're re-orienting yourself.  I was laid-off Tuesday.  During that first sleepless night I made plans for Wednesday. 

Planned:  Update the resume, begin networking, make medical appointments, budget, workout, clean house, harvest the garden, and mow the lawn.

Accomplished?  Called career counselor!  Applied for unemployment benefits!  Yeah.  And…watched Dr. Oz:  Soaked in the tub scented by lavender and chamomile fizzy bath bomb. The bomb was a Mother’s Day gift from my granddaughter which I hadn’t had time to use.  It was relaxing and cleansing as advertised.  This might be a good side to my new status.  Following the bath, a nap was in order.    

It wasn't the most productive day.  But, I did feel better after the bath and nap.  Needless to say, I had plenty of time. 
 
Thursday morning I met with Linda Rolie, http://www.lindarolie.com.  We spent quite a bit of time discussing my feelings and ideas about the future, then she offered specific and constructive suggestions on how to improve my resume.  It was a greatly helpful session but left me completely exhausted. 

Thursday afternoon was spent looking for book shelves for my study since I think I’ll be spending quite a bit of time there and I’ve never really gotten it fixed up since I moved into my home.  My oldest son went shopping with me and we picked up two 72” mostly wood bookshelves from Fred Meyers.  The rest of the afternoon we put one of them together.  The other is still in the box.  Friday I bought a desk to go with the bookshelves which also needs to be assembled.  We’ll work on that next week, since I’ll be home, time’s no problem.

Money is.  I probably shouldn’t have bought the furniture.  Somehow it seemed imperative.  We comfort ourselves with material possessions.  I'll love my study when it's done.  And these items were inexpensive, on sale, but nice.  I worked out a budget to figure my total monthly minimum.  I’m anxious to find out how much unemployment benefits will be. 

Monday I’m working seriously on the new resume, hoping to review it with Linda later in the week and begin seriously submitting job applications.  But, I’m also wanting to investigate establishing a home business, probably web based, possibly computer programming. 

Friday, breakfast, bike ride, budgeting, lunch, shopping, dinner in downtown Medford and Next Stage Repertory Company's production of "3 Viewings" at the Craterian.  The day was over. 

Time slips by so quickly.