Buried in last week’s letter (see below) to Ellen and Reid is a hurried mention of the Bridger Wilderness. (That’s me, above, doing my pack mule imitation. But I love that country and will go as long as I am able. As age advances, my window slowly closes. I have to go now while I can.)
We will go back to Wyoming in July of this year; the full week of the 23rd through 27th to be exact. In fact, we will really be out there by Friday, July 20 to acclimate a day or so and then head into the back country on Sunday the 22nd. It will be more arduous than ’11 but not by a whole hell of a lot. Four to five hours a day on the trail, max. The ultimate goal is to be in country but the fishing is a primary draw for me.
There is worry in some quarters about another infestation of mosquitoes. The winged vampires extracted a fair dose of blood last year but that’s when the water was high and the conditions ripe for a ‘skeeter explosion. I’ve tried to prevail on Felicia and Bob that the blood suckers cannot possibly be as bad as last year, but apparently by their standards, any amount of mosquitoes won’t do. To them, the only good mosquito is a dead mosquito.
Ellen and Tim will be no-shows this year, and Reid has pretty much tapped out his vacation time on his journey to India. That doesn’t mean others (i.e. you) aren’t welcome. The door is open. But just be sure to shut it so the mosquitoes don’t get in. The more trekkers, the merrier.
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March 12, 2012
Ellen/Reid: The remainder of my spring planting took all of 5 minutes this morning. Jammed a few spinach seeds into a large pot and watered the lot. That’s the extent of getting my hands dirty. I miss a little plot of dirt to poke around in. Takes me back to the old days of black Iowa soil, raspberries and sugar snap peas. Those were the days. If there was a 6’ x 6’ chunk of good earth out back right here, right now, that would be nirvana. But since there is no ‘out back’ other than the driveway and blacktop, that will remain a dream. Still, it’s good to have something to water in the morning and fertilize on the weekends. Fun to watch stuff grow.
We broke the bike out for a couple of rides this weekend. Good to fire that mother up. I just like to get out. I suppose now that the weather should be – should be – consistently nice, the Harley will be a normal mode of transportation for us. It passed its 45,000 check up with flying colors. That, and a $500 check to the dealer, will do that for a bike. It would be fun to ride to Illinois and Minnesota sometime. That too, is a dream.
On the medical front, I had what is called a Calcium Scoring Test a few weeks ago. It’s where they pass you through a CT scanner as they try to ascertain if there is any coronary plaque build-up in and around the heart. It’s a byproduct of high cholesterol. The test is over and done within a matter of minutes and you are on your way. The results are in. It’s all good. The doc called me to say the results showed zero accumulation, which he cannot explain other than good genes. I have relayed this on to your uncle in the event he wants to discuss it with his physician. I guess as you age you worry more about that stuff. But that was a good bit of news heading into the weekend.
Ellen, I think I will self-moderate a bit on the Atkins diet. I miss a bowl of morning raisin bran topped with a banana, so I will revert to that then go carb-less the rest of the day. I think Felicia isn’t as attuned to that approach as I am, but if I omit the bread and the spuds, that’s where most of my carb problem lies. Hopefully the weight will continue to stay steady now that it’s kind of, sort of where it should be. Just saying ‘no’ to ice cream has helped more than a little bit.
My trip to Scotland to play golf at St. Andrews is likely to unravel. Steve has some new business coming in the door right about that time, and he’ll probably take a pass. Our other candidates have deferred, too. So now it’s on to the Bridger Wilderness July 23-27. It will be Tom, Troy, maybe Felicia if we can assure her there are few to no mosquitoes, and maybe a couple of others from church. I’m actually pretty excited about going back out there. John and his crew can’t go as Ellison and Sophie go back to school right about then, plus they probably had their fill of trudging and huffing and puffing last summer. Still, we’ll have a good time doing the loop, which is pretty much what Tim and Tom accomplished in about a half day last year. I can’t wait to fish again. Which reminds me, time to hit the gym if I hope to be in reasonable condition.
Reid, be sure to send me some shots from Bangalore, and point me in the right direction online to see what you have posted. I’d love to rustle a few and plunk them on my blog page. Speaking of which, I have a known blog expert coming to my class this week to answer student technical questions which are over my head. I can get the folks writing, but a huge chunk of it is the technological frontier.
Perhaps the one dream that will come true is getting an iPhone. I pledge to have something new in relatively short order so I can see pix of my new granddaughter and the pilgrimage to India. I know I’m a late adopter – by a couple of years – but that’s just the way it goes.
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