Kent

I frequently conduct business in Kent. The thought of waking up at six a.m. to drive a hundred miles was less appealing than actually doing it. I am lucky to drive through Seattle once a week so that I can appreciate the other six days of the week that I can get around by bike.

But today I need to head a bit further south to write a business plan for someone. If I must say so myself, I am rather good at business writing. And for that specific reason that I write here daily...you see business writing is rather bland an boring - sort of the physical equivalent of sitting at a desk all day. Writing here, on the other hand, can take me in any direction, like a kite dancing on the breeze, for better or for worse: rants, gratitude, joy, or just bitching about something or other.

At any rate, time to sign off and feed the machine. This image was taken from the Internet, although the weather is quite similar today as it is in the picture. I guess it's a good day.

More Oil

Yesterday was a wonderful bicycle ride out the back side of Lake Whatcom, down SR9 to Sedro Woolley, and then back up Old 99. It was a glorious day of sun and seventies, and a pesky headwind across the Skagit flats the kept my speed lower than anticipated. I still manage fifty or sixty miles. I have a friend staying with me from Michigan by was of Alaska, and I told him that Saturday's perfect weather is pretty much what we can expect all summer. Once we get through June, at least.

But I cannot stop thinking about how virtually every element of our life is reliant upon petroleum products. I've read where it takes thirty calories of energy to produce one calories of food in the U.S. agri-economy. I wonder if we will ever question at what cost this wasteful lifestyle comes to our health, environment and overall quality of life.

Although the Gulf of Mexico (and potentially the northern Atlantic Ocean) can pretty much be considered a dead body of water for the next decade (or possibly much longer - I've read more accurate description of the oil spewing from the sea floor is more in line with 850m gallons per day), there is a similar catastrophe brewing in the Athabascar. The tailings ponds are said to be the second largest damn in the world (next to the Three Gorges Dam) and it is already leaking into the Athabascar River. The Arctic Ocean is consequently the next vulnerable body of water to fall prey to our pursuit of petroleum.

Oh well, at last gasoline is still three bucks a gallon - at the pump at least. I wonder what the true price of a gallon of gasoline is?

Baker

Here is a picture from a hike a few weeks back. It was a pretty easy hike - up an old logging road that has since become a thoroughfare for hikers getting closer to the beauty. But the mountain still a long ways off, since this picture was taken with the telephoto. Living in the city (albeit a small city), one forgets about the beauty, smell and energy given off by the majestic conifers.

It was when we came upon Wells Creek Falls that I understood the appropriately named Cascades. (Actually the revelation occurred a few weeks earlier, but my embellishment sounded more romantic.)

I am glad to be able to write here and remove myself temporarily from the rigors of starting multiple companies at one time. But it is better to be busy than not. I am a grateful individual: moist, lush, vivacious Bellingham in the springtime.

But back to the salt mines at the coffee shop on Railroad. Arrgh.

Hens

Well the chickens have grown quite a bit since I last posted pictures. They all seem to be acclimating well, although there is definitely a pecking order. The older (and larger) hen is definitely the matron of the ladies. I sometimes fell as though the younger ones are being kept from their food ans sustenance, but they all seem to be in good health.

But I find them to be beautiful animals and much more intelligent than they are given credit for. They live a pretty good life, and I draw the line at eating these wonderful little birds, although I will gladly enjoy their daily offerings of eggs. The Rhode Island Reds are still laying an egg (almost) every day, while the younger ones are still in their pre-pubescent phase.

Soon enough I will need to further ramp up my egg consumption. Wonderful chickens.

BP

I usually listen to the radio for an hour or two in the morning before I begin my day. If I am luck, it is the CBC out of Vancouver; I find the caliber of their reporting to be far better than anything stateside.

Today I happened to wake up to KGMI here in Bellingham (I fell asleep listening to Coast-to-Coast AM last night) and they were reporting on the protest at the BP/AM-PM stations in town. I wonder how many people will drive their petroleum-powered vehicles to protest BP's destruction of the Gulf of Mexico in the company's pursuit of crude oil to satiate the demands of the consumers that buy fuel to drive their vehicles?

It is so easy to point the finger at someone or other. We are all to blame for this disaster, and these catastrophes will probably set the new standard as oil becomes increasingly riskier and difficult to obtain. By my calculation, the oil drawn from this giant reserve will only supply roughly 150 days worth of oil on the global market. Doesn't seem like much to be considered a giant field. The days of easy oil are indeed behind us.

Spring

Well in the absence of my writing, Spring passed me by. I was still able to enjoy it though. May days of sun, and more days of rain and clouds. There are times you need to cut the grass (what's left of it in my yard) twice a week in the height of Spring. If you don;t have time, or if the weather does not cooperate, then quite a challenge faces you when you have a reel mower. Last week I needed to cut a portion of the back with the weed trimmer, as it was just too high.

Fortunately, my neighbor cuts the front, as I traded (or gave) him things and I guess it is the other half of the trade. I am notorious for trading things but never following through on the receiving side. So I guess in actuality I am not trading things, but giving things.

After a busy, albeit productive day, thank goodness for CBC Radio Two and an easy chair.

Return

After a few months of taking time off from writing, I decided to once again post to my blog. Much has happened over the past two months - jobs, life, seasons,...

But today we are planning a hike up to an area of old-growth forest somewhere around milepost 49 on the Mt. Baker Highway. It is rainy, but that's alright. I don't have a whole lot more to say in my reintroduction of web logging.

The picture was from the Columbia River, just before passing through Astoria. We took a boat from Portland to Orcas Island a few weeks back. What fun. More later.