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NOTE: flickr sometimes is slow.... if the thumbnails take a long time to load, just keep on refreshing.

[current music: gillian welch- black star (9/24/04)]

lots of travel during the past month. newport -> portland -> VA -> WV -> VA -> portland -> backpacking around mt. hood -> MI -> newport

i stayed with anne & francis before flying out to IAD. anne had just finished knitting a hat, which ended up being too big. she ended up taking it apart & then used the yarn to knit another hat. but it's been memorialized:

anne & fran

family pictures from virginia, where we had folks in from places as far as australia, france, rhode island, new jersey, michigan & of course, oregon:

me & my maman

family!

food + family = fun

computer + family = fun^2

after visiting with family in VA, i went to NCTC in Shepherdstown, WV for the USFWS Foundations training. Met some interesting folks, went to DC to meet with the DOI & national headquarters staff, sang Elvis, hung out at the social sciences lab, went through a ropes course, took the thomas-kilmann conflict mode instrument & myers-briggs type indicator tests (a short version available here. i'm an INFP. other good INFP pages are here and here.)

the foundations crew

teamwork

after the NCTC course, i spent the weekend with family in VA and then flew back to portland on sunday. stacia & leilani picked me up from PDX. we went to anne & fran's so that i could load up my pack & then we were off for a backpack trip around mt. hood. we did the 'around the mountain' trail (about 41 miles, following mostly the timberline trail & PCT), crossed numerous streams and creeks (which weren't all that bad due to the little precip this past winter), & got above treeline for significant sections. on monday, we got rained on & i got stung numerous times by wasps. otherwise, it was an excellent walk. & i have to admit: never had top ramen tasted so good as on monday night!

l & s on the trail

lenticular clouds over mt. hood

l, s & me

the evening shadow of mt. hood

mt. hood in the morning

back at timberline lodge

stacia, leilani & i finished the loop by mid-wednesday & so i spent the rest of wednesday & all of thursday in portland, visiting with anne & francis & dacey. on friday, i flew from PDX to DTW & got picked up by jess. several different social circles, lots of folks to visit, limited time.... it was a hectic weekend but i was happy to have spent time with everyone i saw :) value world, blimpy, tk wu, heirloom tomatoes, a salsa lesson, sushi.come, dancin' in the streets. some pics from a^2 (sorry, no pictures from the dumpling party yet):

tiffany & shannon

jessie

hc, joe, ro, dave & me

hc & jess flash faux gang signs

shaw & hc

four

on sunday, i took hitesh & spiro home to midland where we visited with my parents & nika, who had driven in from WI on friday. it was only an overnight visit since i had to fly out on monday & hitesh and nika had to drive back. but i'll be home again in a couple of months :)

cheers!

s plays a dulcimer

nika blows you a kiss

.....
4:31p
[current music: explosions in the sky- a song for our fathers]

saturday afternoon. i'm housesitting for d&d this weekend but right now, i'm at my apartment. i finished reading under the banner of heaven by jon krakauer this morning. i'm not always a fan of krakauer's writing style but there were some thought-provoking sections in the book about the nature of religious fanaticism (and/or genius). raenell is coming to visit this evening and i think that i might make lasagna.

while on the flight from portland to virginia, i finished reading gilead by marilynne robinson (who also wrote housekeeping, one of my favorite books). i highly recommend gilead. perhaps, after you read it, we can talk about it. but until then, i won't say anything else.