A Cabin on the Lake

Cathance Lake, East Machias, originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

Hannah and I rented out a cabin for a week at the end of July. It was pretty wonderful. All day spent cooking and wandering and swimming and paddling and playing with the dog. Lately I’ve not taken a lot of time to just stop and recreate, and it was incredibly refreshing.

The owner had an uncanny ability to give us confusing and misleading directions, so getting there was problematic. When we got there… the door was locked. And the key, which we were told would be easily found, well, um, not so much.

But once I managed to break in (there was an unlocked window), it couldn’t have been more idyllic. But, of course, the next thing I knew i was back in the swing of things and it hasn’t really slowed.

Scarborough ME

Scarborough ME, originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

I found that most of my beach shots looked roughly like I was trying to take pictures of mostly naked sunbathers. I wasn’t- at least not consciously, I guess.

I went to the beach one day. I got one set of sunburns all Summer. Coincidence? I think not. My mom and sister are constantly at the beach all Summer. I like it, but I have to admit (and I know this will bother them, but I prefer lakes to the ocean. I can’t honestly say why- I like the way I smell when I come home from the ocean. but i don’t really like getting salty and sunburned. I like the waves, but I feel more comfortable losing hours floating in lakes and rivers.

Either way, I have to admit I should have spent more time in the water than I have this year. I’ll figure out a way to make up for that…

Nov-adventures

Macro (Canon), originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

Okay, so one of the lenses that came with my Canon was a 2-piece macro attachment that screws onto the zoom lens. But when I take apart the 2 pieces, I get such a narrow field of focus that I can take some pretty magical photos like this leaf. I don’t exactly know why this looks so cool to me, but I think it’s pretty amazing looking.

I have to say that I took this shot in late June. And we are now entering late October. Perhaps I have forgotten just how much I like taking photos and keeping this site up to date- and looking back to see what I’ve done and where I’ve been.

This September I was teaching a WFR course at the closing Outward Bound Base up in Newry Maine. It was sad to see such a wonderful place go by the wayside… And as I sat there thinking about my last year and all of the special places I’ve been, I sent some eMails out to former sponsors… Like the one in Colorado. That’s where I was this week last year, and- thanks in no small part to that eMail- it’s where I’m headed next week! I can’t wait to breathe the thin air and smell the mountain sage.

More adventures await as I think of the course I’ll be working in Gainesville, FL, and the crazy January I have planned. But for now it’s EMT’s in New Hampshire, and WFR Re-certs.

A New Place to Hang My Hat

Home, originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

Well, there it is- I’ve moved to New Hampshire to pursue my teaching career.

Live Free Or Die. yo!

More teaching gigs have done me well, and I could not be more excited.

Back in Black

Moonshot, originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

Here’s what the Canon can do in low light. I’m very excited.

Okay. So I haven’t blogged in a ridiculously long time which suggests that I’ve probably lost any readership that I had. Having said that… I can only hope that there is a select few people who use Google Reader as I do, and will start reading me again…

Eh. Well, it’s been a long strange trip. I’ve been all over the Eastern Seaboard, Maine, New York, Mass, NH, North Carolina and Florida. And I’ll tell you all about it… More to come.

Flowers in the back yard

Flowers in the back yard, originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

I decided to get a digital SLR. I couldn’t be more excited about it and I went to a few stores and talked to a few folks- most of whom pointed me toward Canon or Nikon. But I was stubborn and thought I could get away with the Sony A200. Hey, it’s a 10.2 megapixel camera too, plus it’s way cheaper than any of the others.

I soon discovered that there was a reason why it’s cheaper- soft images. I couldn’t get anything as sharp as I wanted. I really thought it was a bummer. Here’s one of the images from the Sony. You can see, it wasn’t BAD, just not the type of image I wanted, so I decided to trade in the A200 for a Canon EOS Rebel xti. It just arrived today and I’m totally stoked!

Photos and a review to come.

Hi there!

Hi there!, originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

This little guy was hanging out on the front steps by my classroom on Sunday. I can’t honestly believe it’s already Thursday- I feel like the week should not be so far along already.

I’m in Central NH teaching a Wilderness First Responder course. I’m in a great room, at a beautiful school that’s taking care of everything from room to board, and so I have no idea what to do with myself after class. I wake up at the crack of dawn everyday and go to bed at 11:30. I just can’t seem to feel truly tired during the longest days of the year. No complaints here- it’s just a bit strange…

Memorial Day Weekend

Stratton Mt., originally uploaded by treknpaddle.

Wow.

It’s been a while. Since about Memorial Day. A lot has happened. I’ve been up and down and over and under the East Coast and now here I sit in the middle of New Hampshire, about to embark on six or seven new journeys and I’m having a blast, though I can honestly say I am so bloody excited that I have some time to go play in July. I should be working about 6 days in July. That will be the first true quiet time I’ve had in a long time.

On Memorial Day Weekend, Hannah and I went out to Borne and Stratton ponds. Aside from an abundance of black flies on Sunday evening, it was one of the most enjoyable, magnificent adventures I’ve had in years. And coming from someone who goes on adventures all the time, and someone who doesn’t particularly care for Memorial day crowds, that’s saying something.

Anyway, that Sunday, before the swarm, we wandered around Stratton Pond, stopping frequently to take photos and once for a long pause by the shore to enjoy the beauty. We ate well, slept in, and generally had a great time.

Natural Disasters

Just to put things in context, in the past 20 years in the US:

1989 San Francisco earthquake kills 68

1998 Northeastern US Ice Storm kills 35, many people without power for weeks

2001 9/11, simultaneous terrorist attacks on DC and NYC kill 2993

2005 New Orleans Hurricane Katrina kills 1836

In the past 20 years in Southeast Asia:

1989 Bangladesh, massive tornado kills 1,300

1991 Bangladesh, flooding kills 139,000

1993 India, Earthquake kills 22,000

1998 Papua New Guinea, tsunami kills 2,000

1999 India, ‘Super Cyclone’ kills 9,885

2001 India, Earthquake kills 20,000

2004 Throughout Southeast Asia, tsunami kills 229,866

2007 Bangladesh, Cyclone Sidr kills 3,500

2008 Burma, Cyclone Nargis kills at least 100,000 (numbers still coming in)

 

These numbers are incomprehensible. To anyone, I would think. I can comprehend 35 dead. That’s a tragedy, a human, terrifying tragedy. But 100 times that? 3,000 times that? The numbers lose their meaning. On Monday, there were 100,000 more people alive on the planet than there are today. How can this be?

Cyclone Nargis

The facts are there for anyone to look up all over the internet, even the American press is covering this one. Reports are sketchy. All I can do is share what I know:

Burma, the country ravaged by this storm is ruled by a military junta. A totalitarian government whose only support worldwide comes from within the government itself. The oppressed people are forced to march in government rallies for fear of being fined. Monks are shot for protesting the appalling conditions. The country is poor. There is wilderness to explore, there is money to be made in eco-tourism.

Instead, the government can’t even be bothered to give it’s citizens the heads up that a category 4+ hurricane is on its way. They knew about it- they were told. They did next to nothing. And now there are 100,000 less humans inhabiting the 24th largest country in the world.

Relief boats are waiting off the coast for the junta to let them in. People are desperately searching for potable water (the price of water had quadrupled!), and the relief is there, offshore! Who knows how long it will take to clean up this mess, or how many more people could die for lack of relief, how long the relief will sit there waiting for a despot to let them in. There is an eMail campaign to pressure Ban Ki-Moon at the UN to take action. To send him an email, please click on the following link: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1189/t/5102/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24494

I can’t expect that my words will move anyone to action, but if they do, here’s a suggestion. A woman I work with is part of the US Campaign for Burma. As an insider she had the following to say:

there are some things that you can do to help. The most important thing on the ground is the need for clean drinking water. There is an excellent organization that is on the ground providing water tablets and purifiers called Thirst Aid. I can personally verify that this is an excellent organization and all donations will go directly to people on the ground. The organization is run by two awesome Americans that have full access to Burma (they already have visas). They have worked inside Burma for a number of years and they have a well-established network to get out fresh drinking water. Here is a link to their donation page (click on the “donation” tag in the top left corner): http://ttocirrod-foundation.org/Thanks.html

I can’t believe that this is our world, the same world in which I sit in my bead and use my laptop, prepare for bed. I just don’t know how these victims, the citizens of Burma can be so punished while I am so rewarded. My hopes are with them, and I hope that one person who reads this takes action, gives money, time and spreads the word. If this is what it takes to focus the world’s attention on a country that has desperately needed help for so long, then let it not happen in vain. Blog about this! Write about this! Write a congressman, write the UN, write the president!

The people of Burma deserve better than what they got.