Feast of Vasataté

Drink up! Have some beer! Eat your fill! Today is the Holy Day of Vasataté, which means it's party time under the ocean waves.

Hopefully today the Brewmaster of the Deep won't have any fights with His lovely wife, Rénavahalasíhí, because we all want calm seas when we honor Him. But if He does get riled up, just give Him a horse and I'm sure He'll calm down.





Say "hi" to any passing seagulls, for they are Vasataté's eyes upon the shore.

Dinnertime

Two nights in a row now, I've cooked dinner.

Chunlin says she likes my food.

So does this mean I need to make dinner from now on?

I hope not, because I like her cooking better. . .

With Posts Like This, I Should Be on Twitter

Work is a lot of work, sometimes.

In Praise of the Dandelion

Why does everyone hate dandelions?

They bring color to a otherwise plain yard, just the same as the daffodils and tulips. And with the white daisies and little bluebell flowers growing wild about town, the yellow dandelions make for a nice mixture.

And then, one day, they suddenly turn into white fuzzballs. Pretty amazing, actually.

They're certainly a far cry better than the blackberry, ivy, and morning glory trying to cover and tear down every fence and house within reach! I spent several hours this weekend fighting these entropic vines. Nasty, nasty, nasty.

Blossoms o' Pink

Weren't the cherry trees supposed to bloom in March? The trees in front of my office building are blossoming now. Good thing it's sunny out so I can photograph them.

(More on flickr.)

Tax Day

We sent some more money to our Imperial Overlords this morning, along with a lot of bureaucratic paperwork (electronic).

Yay.

At least we didn't need a refund. We're pretty consistent about that.

Our First Hike in Exactly Six Months

How can we possibly be so busy that we don't go hiking for an entire six months? From October 10, when we went to Headlee Pass, to April 10, yesterday, when we did a short hike on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail (a.k.a. Iron Horse State Park), that's exactly how long it had been.

Ah well. It's time to get cracking again.

We started at Garcia Road (I-90 exit 38) and hiked east under the slopes of McClellan Butte to a little bit past the McClellan Butte trailhead.



Snow covered the ground for most of the trail, the wind howled in places, but we just bundled up and trudged on, enjoying the scenery.





This is where the trail (an old railroad line) bends tightly around some cliffs under a promontory I'd like to call Little McClellan Butte. Great views up and down the valley, but extremely windy yesterday.



Near the McClellan Butte trail, the state has a walk-in campground for a handful of tents, with picnic tables and an outhouse.



We continued a bit further, but turned back to here to eat lunch.



If next week is raining, where should we go?

More photos on flickr.

Spring Hail

How does that song go? "Have you ever seen it hail on a sunny day?"

We've got that now.

Roads are Great!

Now that the Jingcheng Expressway is complete, getting to Simatai will be much easier!

Duke vs. Butler

I must say I'm quite pleased that the final two teams in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament are two private colleges and not government-owned teams like most of the rest of the Elite Eight.

Unfortunate Synchronicity

Today is the Holy Day of Rézhíní, Goddess of Plants, for which we can all be thankful.

It is an unfortunate synchronicity, however, that today is also April Fools Day, for as I'm sure you're all aware, the lovely goddess Rézhíní was killed when Zhíanoso tricked Her brother into shooting Her with an arrow. "April fools! You're dead!"

Thankfully, She shall rise again. Just like Her plants.

Honor the River God

May your Holy Day of Zhaké be glorious and grand! May He forever protect and guide us, for He is the wisest and strongest god of all.

By the Way, I'm in Toronto This Week

I'm at a roofing seminar, learning how to apply several different roofing systems. I'm not actually in Toronto, but the suburb of Brampton. Since I don't have a rental car, I don't think I'll be getting in to town. I'll just hang out here in the hotel in the light-industrial district, across from the Walmart.

So at least I'm across from the Walmart and can thus purchase food cheaply. I ate at the hotel restaurant for dinner today and it cost almost as much as three lunches and the two previous dinners combined. I should go over there again tomorrow evening to get my dinner foodstuffs.

The oddest thing about Toronto are the squirrels. They're black. It freaks me out. When I saw one out of the corner of my eye, I thought it was a bat or a crow flying very low.

Today and tomorrow, the highs are in the teens, but Friday, the high is supposed to be zero. Egads.