Dec
21
2006
The King Tut exhibit was a well attended event with an audio tour narrated by none other than Omar Sherif. I really enjoyed the exhibit, but felt the crowd pressing in on me. I found myself drawn to more than the glitter of gold while there. The furniture found in the tomb was really some of the most interesting art on display. The “childs chair” was pretty spectacular. Art sometimes gets elevated to a status that is too lofty. One of my best professors told me that Art is something we all do. Art is part of human existence. We live, breath and make art. Art has been made in some of the most horrific conditions in history. African slaves in the south east of the United States made a hoard of beautiful art that ranges from wooden carvings, paintings, decorate gourds, and so on. Prisoners at Birkenau and Auschwitz made art out of anything that was on hand if you can believe it. So sometimes instead of giant gold coffins blowing you away, something as mundane as a chair does make a chink in the jaded armor.
A craftsman took weeks to make a chair for a child king. The child may have sat in for a few years and then it was stored away for his tomb. That chair has more detail in it than anything I own. There are gods of Egypt on the inside and outside of the arms. The arm rests each have a lions feet at the bottom. I always wanted any house I lived in to have detail like that. My 1926 Arts and Crafts house is pretty cool, but seems vanilla by comparison to just that chair. This is probably what prompts people to build their own house, kayak, or furniture. Everything now is bought and sold, nothing is really your own. I have the same couch as 300 other yuppies. I don’t have the god’s Osiris and Ra looking over me from the back of the couch. I’d like to, but I don’t.
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Dec
20
2006
I had to bite the Pentax Optio W20 Bullet. I borrowed Deater’s camera for Wilderness State Park this year, and really liked being able to take on the water shots.
I’ve found that often I am in the best position to take a photo by being able to take my hands off my paddle. I liked the camera for the most part. The autofocus was slow, and the lens fogged up sometimes. But the majority of the time it was quick and easy to shoot.
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Dec
20
2006
Birthdays for those of us unfortunate enough to have them in December are typically a dismal affair. My wife Laura and I are two days apart. My brother is 2 years and five days before me thanks in part to the US Navy. My son Gabriel is New Years eve, and my parent’s anniversary is on the Winter Solstice. My maternal grandmother’s birthday was also the same as mine. Then there is the prophet’s birthday. So the short of all this information is that it is a jam packed month. My birthday as a kid was usually an abbreviated, if not perfunctory formality, like stopping at a red light. Now I share that anniversary brevity with Laura, my brother, and my son. I’ve had some good Birthday’s though. My twentieth was a great one with friends dancing the Russian Dance by Tom Waits, drinking Bells, and falling down stairs with Vinny. My last birthday was a good one too. I spent it with Laura in Saugatuck at the Bently Bed & Breakfast, eating good food, getting some much needed zzz’s.
This year I took a day off and raced up to Saugatuck again ironically to paddle with Doug Van Doren and Paul Fishback. I arrived at the beach a little late and tried to suit up quickly. Waves were coming in out of the NW at slow steady intervals. I was a little bummed because they were totally surfable. But I had only brought the Silhouette. The waves peaked at 4 feet and the rogue one may have tipped five. We all hopped in and started to break out. Doug and I both let the waves spin us around and swung out. I watched Doug take quick stabbing strokes in his Valkyrie and quickly gain speed until he was beyond the spilling break.
I broke out soon after and then spun about on a wave face to check on Paul’s progress.
I should say at this point that Paul has had major brain surgery and was bravely dealing with some balance issues. I saw the top of his Neoprene covered head bobbing out and then the bow of his Recluse clear the break. We started paddling north into the wind. Paul was having a little difficulty keeping up so we stopped every once in a while to allow him time to catch up. He let us know he didn’t feel up to the pace and wanted to take a break. So after a mile or two of forward progress we aimed for shore. The break here was not as steep as it was where we launched. Paul was oddly trying to head in through a more spilly spot than where I was. I held my paddle straight up in the “come to me” sign. And he paddled over and then saw the calmer landing. He started to head in, and by some strange twist of fate got nuked by a breaker. I was literally 10 feet behind him so I surfed up and threw the breaks on and side slipped in to give him a bow as I didn’t want to have him swim. He was set up to roll, but found my bow quickly. He hip flicked up. Once up he got his bearings and then was set to go in but he got hit again and his paddle was on the wrong side to brace. Over he went, and I slid in again for another bow. He came up again. I steadied him, and then said “I am clearing out, are you ready? ” He nodded he was, and I rafted off and surfed in. Paul landed with no problem after this.
We chummed about for a few minutes and decided to drop Paul at the parking lot of Oval Beach and paddle on a bit.
Paul made it back in and we headed down wind at a higher pace than I normally go at. Doug kindly slowed a bit for me as he is easily one of the fastest paddlers I’ve ever paddled with.
All in all with dim sunshine, clear cold breezes in the high 30’s, and steep waves to surf, this was one of my better Birthdays.
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Dec
13
2006
Stand at any corner in any busy urban area and eventually you see a car crash. It is the same for bike commuting. If you ride long enough, you will have a bad day. My bad day came Monday night. Biking home at 10:00 pm after working on Apple Jacks and testing all sorts of other recipe web sites, I climbed Westnedge Hill in the dark. I made it to the top with my usual aplomb. My sense of satisfaction was short lived, I was less than a block from my own home. As I was head over the handlebars pumping away towards the house. I heard a rumbling muffler and then I saw a pair of headlights coming dead at me. I panicked and aimed away from the headlights as fast as I could. I had been so absorbed in getting home that I let my guard down. And I also didn’t even see a totally black car parked on the side of the street. I was invisible to the car, and the parked car was invisible to me, until it was too late.
I impacted the compact car at about 15-20 mph with my front tire. I was flung high and to the left. I smashed out the tail light on the car with my tire and right hand. I was launched at least 10 feet and then landed right on my head. I bounced and then my face and body slowed me down.
By some stroke of luck, I was not injured seriously or killed. I have some serious scrapes on my face and general soreness over the right half of my body. My bike didn’t fare too badly either. I had to true the wheel and get some new tape for the handlebars.
My lesson learned from this is to stack the odds in my favor with lots of flashy lights, a big headlamp, and a reflective vest. Which is all stuff I should have had before, but I guess I am the biking equivalent of the yahoo who paddles out into November storms with no lifejacket, no roll, and no immersion gear. Everyone has their come to Jesus moment with fate. I’ve had mine. Time to pony up!
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