Hawking Your Where's....

How is everyone this fine cold cold morning...there is a chill factor without there even being a wind...seems the colder it gets...the more I think of warm weather...and that lets me segue into a bubble of remembrance that popped into my pea brain this morning on the way to work...it was spring and for some reason I let my brother talk me into going and photographing a hawks nest with chicks...it was in the High Valley Ranch area north of Selah...as teens we had spent many a summer day up there hunting varmints and drinking beer...the High Valley is high desert steppes...low tuft grasses, bunch grass, sage brush, wild flowers, scrub willows...and an infinite crop of rocks to stumble over that also morph into cliffs and outcroppings...a seemingly constant wind blows across it...we drove as close to the nest as possible and still had a mile to walk to get to it...like I said it was spring...so the wild flowers were in bloom and the steppes were a riot of colors...yellows, purples, blues, gold's, reds...not mixed together but each flower species would be grouped...a patchwork quilt of color...with some intermingling on the edges...the light breeze was cool...we were wearing light jackets over long-sleeved shirts...low topped tennis shoes had me worried about sprains...the ground was littered with rocks and boulders and I have an aversion to sprains...we came to the place where the hawks nest was...we were at the top of a cliff...and after a little searching we found the nest with the chicks...the mother hawk flew off when we were trying to take pictures from above...after that we decided to look at the nest from the bottom of the cliff and started south along the top...the cliff petered out about a hundred yards on...to where we could just step off and reverse our course back to be below the nest...I stepped onto a boulder and then to the ground...at that point the distinctive sound of a rattlers warning could be heard...I do not remember moving...but instantly found myself several feet from where I heard the warning sound...my brother was still atop the boulder...we poked around a bit and found a 6" baby rattler was making the sound...now forewarned we gingerly made our way along the bottom of the cliff...trying to walk on tops of boulders where possible...as we move along the cliff face another warning sounded and we urgently looked around our feet...until I figured out that the rattling was not coming from the ground...it was coming from the cliff face...almost directly in front of me was a two inch wide crack in the cliff...and in that crack were two small rattlers letting me know that I was too close...sometimes nature just is too close for comfort...we did continue on and get a look at the nest from below...but were not happy about the low topped tennies we were wearing...we heard warnings several more times as we retreated...and were very happy to reach the place where we had originally stepped into this snake pit...the whole way back to the rig I was thinking of what could have happened if either one of us had been bitten...I guess it would have just made a story with a different ending...sorry for the detour into the mundane.

Cold Cold Heart...

It is cold here this morning...I am not a winter type person...would rather be snuggled in bed...under covers...and all that that implies...something about heat that attracts me...sun on my skin...beads of sweat rolling down my body...ice cold drink near by...sometimes when working in the yard..a kind of heat stupor overtakes me and time ceases to exist...movements are slow and deliberate...thinking is a minimalist step by step thing...Zen living...in the now...am wondering how close to heatstroke I am when this happens...but I love the way heat saturates the body...filling it with a reptilian kind of satisfaction of absorbing a form of cosmic nourishment...life...

Terminal Suspect

Nothing except work going on here...the Pacific Institute classes were interesting...a goal setting...visualizing...affirmation kind of toolset was presented to us...did not realize how much I used the visualize part (darts)...have not been good at goal setting or affirmation parts...can see the pluses...can see it making a difference in how I approach the world...most changes are meant to be internal on the self improvement scope...I am responsible for my own happiness...improve myself and improve the world around me...making this an 'all about me' concept...my shallowness embraces it...after all it is all about me...right...at least the right to pursue happiness...I am being flippant...which is a defense mechanism...but I can see a path...and do want to be happy and this does meld well with my own Zen...Buddhist...deistic...agnostic...atheistic...mélange of conflicting beliefs...which I don't think is all that different really than most other people...if they were to actually examine their witches brew of beliefs with an open mind...they too would see the conflicts and inconsistencies in their own internal dialogue...anyway...after that rambling and confusing walk through my psyche...which is neither here nor there...just a way to get to my original goal...I come to the important question...do you think these pants make my bum look too big?

Back to Work

Sometimes I think I should not take off any days from work. It seems inevitable that the time off does not refresh me or make me 'want' to go back to work. It instead makes me lazier than I already am. Going back to work becomes a burden. Taking time away from important tasks like reading, napping or just in general slothliness...sweats replacing work clothes as attire of the day...being able to opt out on the shaving routine...snacking on leftover xmas sweets...eating only food that is guaranteed to increase my roundness factor...crumbs stuck to the front of my well worn, wrinkled and stained sweatshirt could give clues to a CSI team as to my last 24 hours of slovenly behavior...all this amidst the fear of having to answer the door to a relative or friend, while looking like an escapee from a rehab facility...one of those places where you hear..."Hi, my name is Rick and I am addicted to junk food." or, "Hello, my name is Rick and my exercise routine consists of walking briskly from the couch to the refrigerator and back, but only during commercials or timeouts."...yea...one of those places...hmmmmm.....you know...maybe I should go to a rehab center...I could meet some totally screwed up pop diva...fall into some kind of mutual enabling love...marry her...then divorce her and get $20000 a week for support...Hey!...that is a great idea...after I finish this I am taking a month off...I have a plan...now where did I put those Cheetos?