2018 venture vermont: learn to tie three knots, working edition

yeah, i know they put "learn to tie new knots" in two different columns, but i am trying real hard to become expert in knots both for myself and as part of my girl scout work.

there are a number of craft projects that are traditional to camp that require knotting, but more importantly, there are a lot of things you can do in life if only you know how to tie five or six important knots.

if you go shopping and need to haul something on the top of your car, you'll always be prepared if you know some basic knots. if you're outdoors and a storm blows up, if you have a tarp and some rope you're sheltered.

and maybe in your modern life you can get by without them, but i firmly believe that having some practical skills make people feel competent in a world that is sometimes threatening.

i have this friend who so far declines to learn proper knots, deciding to get on with some overhand knots or not-really-hitches. we were hauling some recreational gear up a hill on sleds and i did mine up with a bowline and a girth hitch, a turn or two, and a trucker hitch. i got my sled up the hill and then turned around to help carry the stuff that fell off my friend's sled, because of course while she had managed to tie the sled and the things on it together, she had not used friction or opposing forces to keep her stuff ON the sled, so it became a matter of the things falling off and dragging behind in the snow.

the more you learn about how knots work, the more you begin to appreciate some of the more specialized knots.

plus if the venture challenge wants you to learn NEW knots every year, you have to branch out.

so for this year:

often when you tie a knot you put in what's called a stopper knot at the end just in case. this is especially important if you're supporting the weight of anything important. you just put a knot in the end of the rope to keep the loose end from sliding through in case the knot loosens.

there are a lot of different stopper knots; a lot of times a simple overhand knot will do just fine. sometimes you need something a little beefier or want something a little fancier looking, so i learned to tie a new stopper knot.

this is a double figure eight. (ABOK #523)

even people who have never tied a bowline know that a bowline is a thing, because it's an awesome knot. it's strong, it's pretty simple, and it comes untied pretty well even after having been under load. but you need to be at the end of a rope to tie a bowline.

or do you?

because you can tie a bowline on a bight (ABOK #1081) and use the two strands of the loop as one, or you can use them as two rigid loops, provided the pull on each is roughly alike.

this is a good knot in general if you need a loop somewhere in the middle of the rope, but it is a dandy emergency rescue harness.  modern rescue equipment has webbing and buckles, but in a pinch this will do, as it

did on sailing vessels back in the day. to use it for a rescue harness, the injured person (if conscious) put a leg through each loop and hangs onto the standing end. if unconscious, a single hitch would be placed around the chest and under the armpits. it wouldn't be comfy, but it could be done in a hurry and sometimes that's what counts.

and if you've ever tried to throw a rope over a tree limb to hang a bear bag or pitch a tarp, or if you want to toss something in the water with a rock to weight it down, you may have realized that you can't just put a loop on it and expect it to work.

this is why we have the killeg hitch (ABOK #271). it consists of a timber hitch and a half hitch and it will hold the rock as long as it's under load.

you may be tempted to swing your rock around indoors after you have learned to tie it, and your knot may hold (mine did) but it's still a stupid thing to do, just in case.

2018 venture vermont: put together a picnic using local ingredients

awright, so i had to go to the richmond market to pick up a thing for a party and it was a nice day and i hadn't had lunch so i picked up some things for a picnic. i admit, i splurged a little.

because due diligence. venture challenge. ten points.

here's my bounty:

my original intent was to make some kind of sandwich or put the ingredients together in some fashion, but in truth each thing was so delicious on its own that i just sat in the shade and ate bits of things one by one.

one ripe red tomato. delicious. from jericho settlers' farm.
multicolored carrots from pete's greens. sweet and crunchy.
grafton village cheese truffle cheddar, fancier than my usual, but what the heck?
backcountry loaf from running stone bread; a small and heavy little loaf that's gluten-free and whole grain.

i'm not a GF person, but the heaviness and whole grain-ness of the loaf appealed to me for this lunch and some others this week. plus you can freeze the loaf. it's very filling and satisfying. i tried to eat a slice with tomato and one with cheese, but the flavors in each thing warranted being eaten all by itself, so i did that.

the honey in my water bottle honey-and-vinegar is from settlement farm apiary in underhill, my favorite source of honey.

and dessert? that's a real splurge. precious and delicious little white chocolate dipped lemon shortbread from douglas sweets.

i ate alone in the shade, doing nothing but eating and being outside.

on the whole, very pleasant.

2018 venture vermont: build a fairy house

i'm thinking of really STUDYING fairy house construction.

last year i built one with some rather elaborate construction. this year i was working on something in lighter materials, maybe with some natural grass cordage but that was taking forever and a day, so i just did a little experimental jobber with a tripod loosely lashed with grasses on a stick platform with a frame of sticks claddded in pinecones and pine needles. i'm not sure how durable it will be, bu i imagine it will be warm.

because fairies like that?

anyway. location, location, location.

2018 venture vermont: identify five native plants

woohoo! i learn so much...

i am learning to become much more specific in my identifications. i used to just call an aspen an aspen and leave it at that.

here is a quaking aspen:

it's just a little sapling, but it is among friends. and probably siblings, because this is a species known for clonal reproduction.

this here is a flat-branched tree clubmoss, sometimes called a princess pine. 

once harvested for flash powder. well, you learn something every day.

i've seen these in the forest forever, but for some reason never learned their names. that now seems rude. these are canada mayflowers:

and this is common selfheal:

apparently some people consider it a lawn invasive, but i guess only if you're trying to grow grass. it's native, thanks.

and woot! it's HOPNISS!

the american groundnut is a legume, and if you know where to find it and how to dig it, you will never starve.

not starving is good.

2018 venture vermont: learn to tie two new knots (decorative edition)

this summer i learned to tie the friendship knot, which is traditional for girl scouts and girl guides. back in the old day at girl scout camp, counsleors had to wear one as part of our uniform. it is traditional to wear one tied for you by someone else.

of course, even though i knew how to tie one back then, i had long forgotten and had to learn it again.

turns out it's in the ashley book (because of COURSE it is) as #1423, the japanese bend.

and then i was in williston one day (ingress- remember, we're the RESISTANCE!!) and i happened to have been at the grave of governor chittenden and although i have looked at his monument many a time, on this particular day the west side of it caught my attention:

i decided to learn how to tie the knots on it. i figured it couldn't be that hard. the one in the center is a square knot. but the one on the sides, well, that took a little bit of puzzling out for me and after some happy hours i was able to both tie them AND to identify them according to ashley.

the side knots are carrick bends (ABOK 1428) and are traditionally used as decorative knots for "trumpet cords and military braids".

when i tried to tie them by looking at the picture, at first i tied them and then went to pull them tight without paying attention to the dressing and of course it fell apart and i was ready to blame the sculptor for not really understanding how to represent an actual knot.

knots are fussy in that when you tie some of them, it's not just the pattern of loops and bights and overs and unders, but as you pull it tight you have to preserve the PLACEMENT of each strand else the whole thing spills and you just get a tangle.

this is called "dressing" the knot.

those knots on the monument are properly dressed, but not pulled tight. because ornamental.

so here's my carrick bend, dressed, but not pulled tight:

this is what it looks like pulled tight:

and here's the series of three knots more or less how they appear on the monument. it takes four cords.

2018 venture vermont: learn to identify two noxious plants

first, you have to find out what plants are designated noxious. the state is very helpful that way.

noxious plants are not that hard to find.

my two i learned this year are yellow iris...

and norway maple.

yellow iris is pretty easy to identify, but norway maple looks a lot like a maple tree. we're about maple trees in vermont, particularly sugar maples, which apparently  norway maples can displace.

i identified this one as a norway maple with the help of my brand new forest trees of maine but as far as i understand, the big tells are a leaf wider than it is long and a leaf stem that exudes milky sap when broken.

2018 venture vermont: cook a meal over a fire

often when i camp alone i just can't be bothered to make a fire. it takes too long, and is more work than i like.

but i had some company on some of my campsites, which means WE COOKED SOME MEALS.

here are some highlights:

foil packet fajitas (vegetarian): chickpeas, diced potatoes, onion, peppers, sliced carrots with fajita sauce and fire-toasted tortillas. roasted sweet corn.

pudgie pies: pie-iron cooked crescent dough with filling made of sweet cherries and almond paste.

steak fry: seared beef cubed and cooked in bacon fat with potatoes, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers.

THE PINEAPPLE OF FRIENDSHIP: whole roasted pineapple.

2018 venture vermont: keep a nature journal

what a coincidence! i was already keeping an outdoor journal, but then i have to keep one as part of my practice for my Vermont Master Naturalist Program, so awesome all around.

here are a couple of pages from this week.

2018 venture vermont: build a campfire

here's one of many.

2018 venture vermont: create your own version of s'mores

i'm not a s'mores girl. usually they're done with hershey chocolate, which tastes bitter in my mouth, and i could do without the graham cracker.

but i had company out at my campsite, and we made some nonstandard s'mores.

this one is toasted marshmallow, chocolate, and almond pie filling. extremely deliciousthisthis

this one is fire-roasted pineapple with toasted marshmallow. yeah, bay-bee

2018 venture vermont: make a picture with rocks

we made a turtle.

2018 venture vermont: climb a tree

this one is always hard for me, because no complete rotator cuffs and i'm heavy.

so if i'm going to be climbing a tree, i have to find one that lets me push more with my legs than pull up with my arms.

FOUND ONE!!

2018 venture vermont: tell stories around a campfire

often when people are telling campfire stories, those are folkloric pieces, often involving ghosts.

i'm not into ghosts at my campfire, and although i have told my share of jack tales at campfires, my favorite stories are the ones told by people about things that happened to them, often at camps.

this summer i have had several occasions to tell one of my favorite camp stories: the pixie party.

a long time ago (as these things often begin), in my very first time at girl scout camp, on the last night of session, after we were all asleep in our beds, our counselors got us up and dressed IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT (it was probably only nine or ten o'clock) and walked us out to a fire ring we had NEVER SEEN, way out in the MIDDLE OF THE FOREST (it was probably one just outside our unit that we had never noticed and made unfamiliar by darkness) where the counselors of camp (the coolest ones) were all there, dressed in weird clothes with sparkles and fairy wings and they talked in little high voices and called each other by strange names and they performed comic skits we had never seen and sang silly songs we had never heard and they called it THE PIXIE PARTY!

and then it was over. our counselors took us back to our tents and put us to bed and in the morning they DENIED EVERYTHING.

"can you teach us that song you sang last night?"
"we didn't sing any songs last night."
"don't you remember? the pixie party?"
"were you out of your tents last night?"

--

hats off to you, young women who performed this thing, because it is forty five years later and i still remember that party and i STILL haven't learned those songs and i STILL haven't given up hoping that i will discover them and learn them and pass them along.

2018 venture vermont: pick up litter on your road or in your town

i'm going to define "my town" liberally, because i define my home rather broadly: i pay my taxes in bolton, by the seat of my soul is a large chunk of land comprising west bolton, jonesville, ricker mountain, and the waterbury reservoir.

i live on the waterbury reservoir on average three months out of a year, and my daily transportation when i am living there is by boat on the reservoir.

when i am there i try to perform some service to that land and that water. usually i pick up at least one bag of trash.

a lot of things get left out there, and a lot of things that get left elsewhere wash up after floods.

normal: single sandals

unusual: playground equipment

gross: pee bottles.

seriously. if you are squeamish about peeing in the lake or the woods, why would you pee in a plastic bottle, seal it up, and toss it out for someone else to find? seriously? there is no shortage of places to pee out here. and yet i picked up at least three full pee bottles.

ewwww. people, don't be gross.

also, don't buy or use styrofoam coolers. that never ends well.

Vermont Master Naturalist: application

this is probably the most exciting thing of the summer.

if you have known me for longer than ten minutes, you know that i love to grab my junior naturalist bag full of field guides and stuff and head out to play JUNIOR naturalist, because while i have interest and some knowledge, i have no credentials or anything.

but then i heard about this thing through the senior center (and yes, i am old enough for that AND it is a hoppin' place): the VERMONT MASTER NATURALIST  program.

when i found out about it, i was only five days out from the application deadline, and i don't live in the town that the program is for, but i live close by, and have an affinity with the town, so i wrote to ask the nice lady if i might be eligible and she said you are SO eligible; here are the applications for the programs in richmond and williston. pick one.

so i started just filling out the application without even thinking, figuring i could go back and edit and make it pretty. i ended up not editing.


here are some excerpts from my application:

if you could spend a day in the field learning about one aspect of the natural landscape, what would you choose and why?

Geology! it's the aspect i have the hardest time wrapping my head around in self-guided study, and it's the bedrock (pun intended) on which everything is built. seriously, i want to be able to understand all those pretty geological maps. i'm that lady who hangs a u-ie to pull up behind university geology field trips to ask if i can tag along.

why are you interested in the Vermont Master Naturalist Richmond Program?

because back in the '70s i fell in love with jonesville. because robbins mountain was the first mountain after camel's hump and mount mansfield i learned to name. [...] because- what? i'm sorry- i'm sure there exist people who aren't into it, but i heard about this program and i was all, like, HOSE ME DOWN!! this is for me! a comprehensive local natural history program?!? sign me right up!

2018 venture vermont: go for a hike (summit)

the 25th of may this year was opening day of the mountain trail at vermont state parks, so i decided to celebrate by going up mount mansfield.

it had been a long time since the last time i'd attempted the hike because knees and lupus, but i did it.

i probably won't be in a rush to do it again.

it's lovely, but i'm creaky.

um, i was out.

yeah, i just up and went camping without so much as a by your-leave.

you probably expected as much.

it's 28 days later and i have so many exciting things to tell you and some not exciting things.

but anyway, i'm back at the big tent with the stairs and the hard sides.

i have to think about it that way for a few days. it helps ease the shock.

2018 venture vermont: attend a state park interpretive program

last year i tried to go to the HERE BE DRAGONFLIES program at little river state park, but i wasn't reading a current schedule, so i missed it and instead turned up for demystifying mushrooms, which wasn't such a bad thing because i also like mushrooms.

this past saturday i went up to get the HERE BE DRAGONFLIES program, and although we didn't catch much, i did learn some things. i learned how to properly use a bug net, and i learned what some of the better field guides are.

plus brian is always interesting.

life wisdom

forced choice fun

recently the CDC picked me for their random health survey.

first question out of the gate: are you male, female, or transgender?

whoops, sorry. not going to answer that one. if the question had been "what's your gender?" i'd have answered it, because you can answer that question with any description of your gender you like. most people are STILL going to say male or female, but it doesn't force nonbinary folk into choosing the least uncomfortable box to wedge themselves into.

the nice lady explained to me WHY i have to answer that question, which boils down to many of the questions are gender specific.

and i said thanks. i understand that, but i don't support survey forms that force people into those three categories.

and she explained it again, and asked me the question again.

and i said yes, i understand, but i am not going to answer that question.

and she responded that she had no other choice but to conclude the interview.

and then called me "miss", which i think is kind of a breach of manners since i had chosen not to answer the gender question.

if you simply ask me my gender, i say female.

if you give me a multiple choice where people who are nonbinary are not free to say whatever they want, i will decline to answer.

statistically, there are going to be so many people who identify as either male or female that unless we all get involved and decide not to "other" our nonbinary friends, nothing's going to change for them.

2018 venture vermont: create your own outdoor scavenger hunt

often i do not have the audience for whom to create a scavenger hunt.

but this summer since i was working at the Scout Camp, when we needed one for a friday all-camp activity,  i was ALL OVER that puppy.

the challenge was making it hard enough to be fun, but easy enough so that the littlest of our girls could succeed. philosophically, Girl Scouts are more about discovery and cooperation than we are about competition against each other, so our goal was to have every group be able to complete the hunt.

here's my scoresheet:

Scavenger Hunt

Basic (everybody)

Something rough

Two brown things

Something squishy

Something that crinkles

A pine cone

A toothed leaf

A round rock

Two different kinds of leaves

A white flower

Birch bark (found on the ground!)

Three pieces of litter

A piece of tinder

Somebody left handed

Two people born in the same month

Somebody who has been a counselor at a different camp

Somebody who can make a stop cut

Everyone on your team standing on one foot at the same time

Advanced (older girls)

Two different kinds of pine cone

A stick with beetle markings

A compound leaf

Two plants that are edible

A feather

An orange flower

Somebody who has fired a cannon

Somebody who has been to europe

A gold award scout

Somebody who can make a V cut

Everyone on your team jumps off the ground at the same time.

2018 venture vermont: go kayaking on a lake or pond

here's me kayaking on lake champlain:

i paddled from the sandbar fishing access to the bike ferry and down to the railroad bridge and back. 12 miles.

this is me on waterbury reservoir:

because i have been out in the sun every day at this point, protecting myself from sunburn requires hat, gloves, and a bandana OVER MY FACE even though i'm just going out for ice.

makes me look BAD, though.

little dudes

yesterday i showed you the hiking stick i made for badPanda.

here are some little dudes i carved as practice faces.

the fun thing about this is that i carved them on sticks and left them hiding in trees all around a campsite on the res.

2018 venture vermont: whittle a cooking or hiking stick

last year "decorate your own hiking stick" was on the challenge and that's when i took up carving hiking sticks.

recently my friend TheBadPanda aksed for a hiking stick, so i carved one for him.

this is the face part.

2018 venture vermont: do two hours of volunteering

i'll see your two hours and raise you.

ok, so i have a girl scout troop. that puts me over two hours on a monthly basis. but then i volunteered to go to camp farnsworth to help instruct skills week, so add a lot of hours on top of that.

and then i left there to go directly to my scout troop's end-of-year camping trip (our first two night trip ever!) and then i had to go out onto the res to hold a site for a camp trip.

when i got home from that, i went up to the local girl scout day camp to have a meeting with the assistant director of outdoor program to debrief the trip and somehow accidentally stayed to work as a volunteer for the ENTIRE FOUR WEEKS camp was in session.

there are no photos of me doing any of that (because policy), but i can supply a reference from the girl scouts of the green and white mountains upon request.

things nobody needs

check out this interview. go ahead, i'll wait.

they actually make it sound like this "dumb watch" is a device that will make your life better.

what does it do, you ask? well, it sits on your wrist and reminds you not to look at your phone so much.

it does not even tell time.

and these two men talk about the dumbwatch as if $275 is a reasonable amount of money to spend for a bracelet that reminds you not to check your phone so much, because of course people with money to burn don't understand how to turn their phones off or put them away for a while.

it's not that hard, people. you just, uh, don't look at your phone.

i swear, it works.

2018 venture vermont: sign up for inaturalist and use it to find five species new to you

last year they had us sign up for a thing that was way less useful. i mean it was pretty, but it was more like suggestions of places to go rather than a comprehensive usable trove of information you might be looking for.

but i digress.

this year i am all over this new thing, inaturalist.

i am all over this thing. not only can you use it to identify species new to you, but you can use it for citizen science reporting and you can use it to help other people learn species you know.

i am experimenting with using it to create a field guide.

it also manages your lists.

i am learning so much.

and getting that "research-grade" banner on one of your observations is like crack. i spend hours there.

i am way over five species new to me, but here are some of my favorites:

northern rough winged swallow
wild sarsaparilla
acanthocephala terminalis
stream bluet
black swallowtail

seriously. i'd never seen a black swallowtail before.

range

so since i was accidentally working at the girl scout day camp, i thought it would be cool to become certified as an archery instructor.

a level one archery instructor doesn't have to be a pro archer; they just have to know how to set up a range, give the safety commands, and teach beginning archers how to hold a bow, load an arrow, and fire.

i feel i should actually take range practice so i can become a competent archer, so yesterday since i was in the neighborhood i stopped by the range and shot seventy arrows or so.

i only thwanged my arm with the bowstring once this time, which is an improvement, and also i remembered to SHUT MY DOMINANT EYE before shooting, which improves my aim a lot.

ordinarily one wold not shut one's dominant eye, but i am right handed and left eye dominant, so there was an issue with aiming. i was progressing, but slowly.

then i decided to try closing my dominant eye, and THWACK. arrow after arrow goes into the target, if not the bullseye.

that is a very satisfying sound.

i shot until my aim started falling off due to fatigue and then cleaned up the range and went home.

camp is over. i'm going camping.

holy honk, that was an intense four weeks.

today i sept until nine, rolled out of bed and spent a while finding clothes to wear.

i am going to need to play  the let's-pretend-an-adult-lives-here game and maybe pick up after myself, becuase even just picking up my own trash would be a big improvement.

pretty much for four weeks i have been waking up, throwing on clothes, coming home, showering, and getting into bed.

dirty laundry? on the floor where i took it off.
dirty dishes? on a flat surface near where i ate the food.
trash? wherever it happens to be.

time to clean up.

volunteers

today i traded on my enormous popularity at camp and went and asked for a small detail of volunteers to CLEAN THE OUTHOUSE.

they were all like "ME! ME!!!"

so i took four of them and taught them how to use a broom properly. i taught them how to scrub a sink.

the actual toilet cleaning part had to be done by me because according to policy, only adults may clean toilets (because pathogens and imperfect handwashing in children?) and for some reason they wanted to watch me clean the toilets.

"what do you do to do that?" they asked.
"you can come see.  it's not a secret."

and so a small group of tourists followed me from stall to stall.

and then when we got back to main camp girls were coming up to me asking if i will let them be on outhouse detail tomorrow.

HIGH-larious.

the sensible explanation is that i have no actual supervisory duties. i don't have to line them up or get them from place to place. i just come and instruct all the fun things. and often i am taking a small group and teaching them something new, or just in general paying attention on a small scale to them.

my theory here is that no matter the chore, it is individual attention and personalized instruction and they like that.

plus they got to come to flag circle at the end of day and report that they cleaned the outhouse and they VOLUNTEERED, so they got to take pride in being good citizens.

tea paty

i don't have any pictures (because policy) but this is what i did yesterday:

i took six small parties of girls (a half dozen in each, maybe?) to the various habitats on the camp property and we gathered all manner of edible leaves and twigs and berries.

we looked at animal sign. we talked about foraging guidelines.we learned how to crush up plantain, mullein and jewleweed and use the juice to ease bug bite discomfort.

we sorted out our leaves and berries and with help from one girl who was quick to volunteer, i set up a camp stove to boil water.

i poured tea. the counselors helped the girls make little finger sandwiches with gathered leaves on brown bread with cream cheese. popular sandwich fixin': mustard greens.

after the tea was poured, i cut up and fried some milkweed pods, which blew some girls' minds.

and now i am tired.

i wish the campers knew

that i will learn that they do not like cucumber and that their mom does not know this way before i learn their names.

that when i ask them if they have ever done a skill, there's no shame in saying "no". it just tells me to start instruction at the beginning.

that in discussions about behavior, i have more respect for an admission of a behavior that may need changing than i do for wide eyed passivity.

this happened.

i came home from camping with the girl scouts from the resident camp and came home to unpack and unwind and then i had a meeting monday with a nice lady from the council and now suddenly it appears i am in charge of things over at the day camp, like instruction with cutting tools (mostly knife instruction) and flag ceremonies.

because teaching little children proper flag etiquette takes TIME and the actual counselors are busy with supervisory duties.

when you are working with very young children you are faced with having to seriously discuss that the color guard does not wear cat masks and may not carry that special stick and pinecone combination no matter how much they love the stick and pinecone.

yes, the color guard includes that little girl wearing a sparkly princess dress.

but by golly, she can fold a flag.

gear review: anker powerport solar lite

first up: i do not receive products from manufacturers nor any other compensation for my reviews.

ok, so last december my stepmother got me one of these things as a gift. i've seen a solar charger or two, but those mostly only worked as a trickle charger you had to charge up in an outlet anyway.

i am heavy on device use when camping: i like to keep abreast of the weather forecast (because even though i can read the weather pretty well, modern forecasting gives you much more detailed information that can really help you plan your day with regard to safety and shelter.)

and i love apps that help me identify plants and critters, and apps that help me report on biodiversity. i'm a big fan of citizen science and it turns out that biologists are making great use of apps like ebird and inaturalist to gather information about species range, which changes too fast these days for printed guides to keep up with.

you used to have to be a bona fide scientist to do this science, but now anybody who can use a field guide and has a phone can help do real science, which is cool.

and i am now off topic, which will not surprise you if you have ever read anything by me.

so anyway, i am a heavy device user. my phone seriously cuts down on the number of actual books i have to carry with me while camping. so i need to keep it charged.

i have some very fine battery packs, but they have their limitations and they do run out.

enter the powerport solar lite. i used mine for the first time this week, on days when there was strong sun for only part of the day. i was able to get full charges on two devices, which goes a long way.

i'm very pleased with it. it has a sturdy, durable feel, and you can leave it out or even tie it to your pack (tiedown loops provided).

and it just works.

2018 venture vermont: take a swimming lesson

i thought i wasn't going to get this one, because i know how to swim.

but recently (you know this unless you just walked in) i took lifeguard training, and i think that counts as a swim lesson.

i learned to swim to a distressed swimmer for rescue. i learned how to swim while towing another person. i learned how to escape a distressed swimmer who tries to grab onto you.

i think that all counts as a swimming lesson.

there are no pictures of it, but i can furnish my brand new shiny lifeguard card upon request.

tab time

my browser is clogged with things i saw and want to share with you.

the world is terrible:

bullied students told to stop being part of the problem, as if they do not already wish to be involved in this problem.

it sucks that we even need this.

and rape jokes, are still a thing, but for the time being you can watch cameron esposito's show of that name for free. you should totally do it. i promise you will not regret it.

but also the world is amazing:

there have always been awesome people. read about one woman here.

and there's this. (full disclosure: the wrier of that post is a friend of mine)

and besides libraries, there's architecture.



and candy.




and music.


isn't that lovely?

2018 Venture Vermont: visit a (state) park that is new to you

whoa.

i was thinking that i would have a look at the park finder and pick one i'd never been to, but i was up on thetford hill and apparently there's a state park there.

i did not even know that was a thing.

so i went.

thetford hill state park.

who knew?

ze frank

recently i watched this video:



maybe you're already a fan of ze frank; maybe not. i am. i have run across his games and videos and projects of different sorts from a lot of corners of the internets.

then last month i saw his 2010 TED talk, which i recommend you watch right to the end.

so

so then because he talked about it in his TED talk, i went back to his website and played with some of his toys. here are some of the ones i like especially:

animated kaleidoscope
string spin
memory game

and if you like, here's his whole catalog. go ahead, dive deep.

are you sure you're registered?

i'm generally a fan of the supremes, but sometimes their latest thing is a flop.

like that whole "states can go ahead and purge voter rolls of people they wish weren't registered" thing.

there's a piece of crap.

do yourself a favor. do me a favor. do the whole planet a solid: check if you are registered to vote. you cannot count on being registered even if you OUGHT to be. you can use this tool if you don't mind them sending you emails.

me, i LOVE being on political mailing lists, because it gives me great pleasure to ask democratic leaning organizations to take me off of their lists because as a progressive i'm not having any of their neo-liberal shit, but that's just me.

lifeguard

ok, so my scout troop decided in the spring that in early summer we should go on a two night campout. TWO NIGHTS! this is a big deal in the life of a scout troop.

the campground we chose has a pool. the girls were SO EXCITED ABOUT THAT.

but it is a swim at your own risk pool.

concurrently, i started going to trainings because even though i have a boatload of outdoor skills and knowledge, i lacked appropriate certifications to take girl scouts out to do things because someone at the council has to put a stamp of approval on you which i do not think is a bad thing.

when leaders just make up safety stuff, you get wide variations and conflicting procedures and that's just begging for trouble.

anyway, if you have a lot of skills, the training are more of a skill check and a making sure you're on the same procedural page.

but there is a little bit of a bottleneck since the MERGER (nope, not going into it here) and there are not enough opportunities for adult training in my area which is a problem because nobody ever starts taking a hatful of outdoor trainings to get certified to take scouts out on activities they haven't asked to do yet.

what is more likely to happen is the girls learn that a thing is possible, ask to do it, the adults check into the needed certifications, and then learn that not only do they not have the requisite training, but they can't get it right away.

and i was at one of these trainings shooting my mouth off about this training bottleneck, and there are two kinds of people who complain: people who complain about things, and people who complain and offer to be part of the solution.

so all of a sudden i'm piling on certs which can be expensive, but if you're an INSTRUCTOR at a week of training you can take any courses being offered for free in return for your work, which is how i could afford to become a lifeguard just because my troop wanted to go swimming.

it was mentally and physically taxing and i came away from the in pool training with the worst sunburn i have had since my youth on account of usually i swim in long sleeves and long pants and SHOES because i get sunburned through clothes but you can't afford to be wearing all that much stuff during your lifeguard training.

and then during our camping trip everybody could go in the pool except me, because why yes, that would have required a lifeguard and i was the only one.

ten year olds do not really have an appreciation for what you go through so they can have an awesome weekend.

totally worth it.

totally.

bourdain

i keep crying a little over anthony bourdain.

i'm not sure why. i am not usually this sad over celebrity deaths, even celebrity suicides.

i wasn't even that huge a fan; i don't watch much teevee anymore but i used to like to watch him sometimes.

you've probably seen a lot of travel shows and food shows and food travel shows, just like i have. there was a trend for a while of being kind of snarky, and bourdain certainly had snark. he sort of WAS snark.

but when he was offered hospitality, when people made him food or showed him their lives, he was grateful and respectful.

world class restaurants, holes in the wall, waffle house.

he loved what he loved.

the world is sadder and poorer without him.

current events

in  a couple of weeks i'm going to try to be lifeguard certified.

i've always been a strong swimmer, if not a stylish one.

so i thought tonight i would go down and swim in the river against the current for a little while. first off, that water is COLD. it might be uncomfortably warm out, but the river is still cold.

also, the water has been high even though may was a little drier than usual.

and tonight there were scattered heavy rains.

none fell on me, but in the hour i was in the river i felt definite fluctuations of current strength.

near the end i became frightened because it was too strong to maintain footing against, and then i got out and then when i could see up the road i could see a locally heavy downpour maybe a half mile upstream.

grackle crisis

today i was trying to sit on my porch to work on a carving, but there was a grackle crisis.

it seems there is a grackle nest in the tree in front of my house.

because a little one, not yet ready to fly, seems to have stepped out of the nest and was hiding in my bushes.

and crying piteously for food.

...which nobody would bring it because i was sitting there.

so the parents and assorted other grackles sat in trees making a racket and the little baby sat in my bushes wailing and the other fledglings in the nest heard their sibling and also set to wailing so i decided today was not my day to sit on the porch and apparently now the little one is being fed under my bushes and only occasionally cries to be fed.

that little guy is now MOTIVATED to learn to fly.

hope is that thing with feathers.

stuff to play with

i am done with my sewing project. these days i am also practicing guitar, which is a thing i have not done in a long time.

here's a thing i spent a while playing with this morning. i hope you will like it. headphones recommended, or at least good speakers.

then i wasted some more time taking some intelligence tests. i turns out i'm moderately smart.

and for no particular reason, this:

day twelve

today is day twelve of Sewing The Jacket. it's going to be nice, though, and i will probably not have to do a large scale jacket sewing for the rest of my life. i'm planning on making some adjustments here and there as i may acquire new patches that i like better or are more important, but for the most part, i am not looking to get a lot more patches.


these two are my most recent additons:

they're earned from adult training. i think older scouts can also earn these but the real importance is for adults because you have to be certified in these things to take your scouts camping.

well. that was a nice little break. i have to return to the sewing.

duct tape thimble

i don't own a thimble.

and today is day nine of the sewing project. and by "day nine",  i mean it is my primary activity. this is partly because the fabric is stiff and the patches are hard and partly because i'm fussy and need to do everything so it goes on straight and partly because i am sucky at sewing so it takes me a long time to do simple tasks.

these days i have also been doing laundry, picking up after myself, cooking meals, and doing dishes. also cleaning up after the monumental mess i left myself in the month of april.

and also working out a little.

in short, i am trying to get my stuff together.

and then i will go camping.

and here is my thimble.

closing tabs. again

i was going to write you a real post today, but i just have too many tabs open.

i will tell you that i am on day seven of a sewing project that i mean to tell you about later, but it's camping season, holy honk, so we'll see how that goes.

anyway, while i'm sitting here sewing, i am looking at a lot of interwebs.

and now i have tabs i want to close.

i'm a musician by training and trade, and more specifically a composer, so how we translate different ideas into music is always of interest to me. here's an interesting concept where a guy does this with maps.




i was sick for the month of april and at some point i just needed food i could unwrap and eat without getting out of my hammock. enter bars. there are a lot of bars on the market, but someone gave me an Rx bar and i was like WOW. this thing totally makes me feel like i have eaten food and yet it's not too much trouble to eat and i don't feel sick afterward.

but they're expensive. so i was interested to see a recipe for a facsimile thereof. i haven't tried them yet, but it's on my list, especially because camping food.

i think this here video of what goes on backstage at the met is cool.




here's a map that explains a lot of the hostility for education in red states.

and while we're at it, take a look at an interactive explainer/simulator on the challenges of getting a child an appropriate education in the chicago public schools.


you probably need to be cheered up now.




and if that didn't work, try this:

do. not. yield.

stuff, stuff, and more stuff.

my house looks like some untidy person has been living here but not picking up after themselves. if you look carefully the untidy person can't be bothered to load the dishwasher or pick up random food wrappers, but yet all the camping gear is neatly maintained and stowed.

my excuse of course is that even in my month of sickness i managed to prepare for scout meetings and go camping because dammit, one is a responsibility and the other, well, if all i'm going to do is lie in a hammock and read and cough, i may as well be in a nice quiet forest.

i volunteered to do some girl scout trainings because we need more opportunities for girl scout trainings but that means i have to get some certifications and stuff and all sudden i'm going to be in places where one wears a patch jacket.

this is a thing where as your badges and stuff go out of date on your uniform, you still have attachment to them so you put them on a jacket and wear them around only i am not ever going to fit into the jacket i was wearing in 1976 so i bought a new jacket and am transferring all my badges and patches. even though my badges are all 1963 style, i have decided to place them on my jacket in a way reminiscent of the 1927 uniform, which i think is a cool look.

basically i'm a walking museum of girl scout memorabilia of my era.

i have a patch from the camp i'll be at in june that is older than the camp director. by a significant amount.

it's a lot of sewing, and activity i am not historically good at.

meanwhile, i was catching up on my rss feed today, and i read this thing, which i think you also should read.

amen and amen.

cough

i have been very, very busy doing something and have not been writing to you.

what thing, you may ask? coughing.

now THAT was a cold. actually, it was two colds, i'm pretty sure because is was just at that point where you think it's maybe over and you go to that festival you were supposed to go to only now in your weakened state you're exposed to the exotic germs of ALL THOSE PEOPLE and within twelve hours of your return home, you're SICK.

so here's my month of april:

sick
one girls scout field trip
sick
a festival weekend
sick
one night camping

and that brings us to the first three days of may, still sick.

ok.

now i can tell you about the interesting things.