Still Crazy...

Here I am, 23 years into this profession, 29 years working with kids. The little darlins can still surprise me and I can still get choked up. This morning my plan was head on out right after school for a weekend in the mountains. I'm heading out in a few minutes.

Yesterday I played this kinda corny video for the kids. They really liked it. Today, my afternoon gang asked if I'd play the video again. They started singing and dancing around. It was spontaneous and sincere, not obnoxious, like you often get from middle-schoolers. It's moments like that which remind me why I got into this profession and why I'm still at it.

During the last couple of weeks I've debated whether or not to even to continue this blog. The blog's title doesn't really apply anymore. Thanks to a good talking-to from my doctor late this spring, and thanks to a few weeks this summer with a certain blonde someone who brought passion back to my life, I have lost 35 pounds, am in the process of losing many more, and have ten times more energy than I've had in over five years. It's been like waking up from a long, hazy dream. I'm no longer so interested in parking my ass in front of the computer, and after this summer, I don't think anyone besides me will read this here blog, anyway.

For some reason after our sing-along today, I felt compelled to get this down as soon as I walked through the door. This might be the last hoorah of Days of Sloth and Gluttony, if so, it's not a bad way to go out. If anyone reads this, I hope you like the video.

Happy Trails,
Ken

Symphony of Science - The Poetry of Reality (An Anthem for Science)

It's $#&@ing Fall!

Fall has arrived! School has started and the first king salmon of the season are now in the freezer.

"Best of all, he loved the fall..." Those timeless words were written by Ernest Hemingway in a eulogy to a friend who had died in a bird hunting accident. It was 1939 when Hemingway read the eulogy in the cemetery in Ketchum, Idaho. Those words have been etched in my mind and heart since I first read them when I was living in Ketchum, more than fifty years later.

Winter has the snow and winter steelhead. Spring is the return of the sun, trout fishing, and track season. Summer is two months of freedom. But fall is life at its peak. The bugs are gone, the nights are cool, the fishing is the best, and hunting season is in full force. To me, fall is the true beginning of the year, from a professional view as well as a natural one. It is the time of year when I don't want to waste a single day, minute, second.

This weekend was full of grouse hunting, deer scouting, and trout fishing over in the Methow Valley. So here's to barbecued king salmon, fresh corn on the cob, fresh peaches, grouse pesto pasta, elk steaks, and cold beer. Don't waste a second of it.

Damdovids

I was looking through pictures for the next post and thought it would be fun to put in these videos from the last Damdochax adventure. Check out "Clarity" Clint Starwalker, Aileen "The Rainbow Warrior", and of course, guiding us all, Hannah the "Damdochick." You'll want to turn up the volume for the insightful commentary.

What a Long, Strange Trip...

So I'm looking at the time on the computer, 5:00 A.M. Nope, didn't just wake up. Been awake and asleep several times over the last three days, just not for very long at any one stretch. I picked up some sort of stomach bug that's nastier than any I've had since the Pakistan trip years ago. Sweats, shivers, frequent trips to the head. Was really sweating it when I saw the long border lines yesterday. Made it home O.K.

Anyway, I didn't start this to whine about being sick, but to kind of shed a little light on the kind of summer and year it's been. I remember towards the end of last summer, asking the Good Lord for a little help in getting out of what had become a four-year rut. Careful what you wish for, right? Wait a minute, isn't the New Year's crap supposed to happen January first? Not in my line of work. After so many years in the classroom, my mental year pretty much starts September first instead of January.

Last Fall turned out to be a good rut-buster. Fly-fishing trips down the Methow and Yakima rivers with my buddy Steve were priceless (I hope he still has one more in him this fall). Hunting season was full of September grouse hunts, back-to-back Ketchum and Stanley hunts in October, and a good trip to Bonner's Ferry in November.

Spent many weekends along with the annual after-Christmas trip steelhead fishing out on the Peninsula. Finally bought a spey rod despite earlier claims of never wanting to be one of those fruity-snooties. Learning to cast the damn thing has been both fun and frustrating. But I have managed to catch some fish with it.

Spent four days in Arizona with Carew and Rodly in February. My bulging belly really became apparent and frustrating while struggling to make it up a climb that previously would have been a walk in the park. It's incredible what steep granite can do to bust up denial. Spring break in Stanley was a hell of a good time catching up with some old Idaho friends and getting some rare fishing time with Mick.

Which bring us to this summer. Which really kicked off for me with a trip to Northern B.C. I had only met the lodge owner, Hannah, twice, but she graciously accepted my offer of trading some volunteer work time for some fishing time. what an experience. They must have liked me O.K. because I was invited to come back up. In between Canada trips, it was north to Alaska to visit my buddy Doug, and spend some time with eskimo folks. What an eye-opener. The second Canada trip? Even better than the first. It really gave me a chance to establish some new friendships that will hopefully continue on.

The weight? Lost 25 pounds so far. Which is a good start, but still a long uphill battle to get back to healthy. But I'm getting there. Hunting season should account for another twenty pounds, and if this stomach crud keeps holding on, I might lose more sooner than I thought. Not worth it.

So it's back to work on Monday and the start of a new year.