Lee convinced me that rather than doing my laundry I should take the motorcycle out for a long ride today. She told me, "I'd be out there." So away I went.



I arrived here in the Seattle area exactly three years ago today. In an apparent coincidence I took the bike out for a very long ride to re-visit the Gorge. My route back took me through the Yakima Canyon and then into The Rainier National Park.





I took this picture of Tara at the Gorge. It is one of my favorite pictures from that trip. When I made my way across the Columbia River, I knew I would want to visit that area again once I had some experiences from beyond the Cascades. I can't say I have anything profound to say. But, I have to ask, three years later and what am I doing? I don't feel I can cut and run. I won't go back to Florida. I (hopefully) won't cook again. And it is premature for me to return to New England. I'll get back on the bike tomorrow and I'll go to work. I have to think about this more. Check out this other picture of Tara.

Read a 4 year-old's take on God. Go!

I'm going to start running again on Saturday. I've taken quite a while off for my knee. I don't feel much from it now but when knees are involved, I can't be sure. Another long run could bring it back. It looks like I'm going to breakfast tomorrow at Beth's at a ridiculous hour in the morning. We used to eat there before work every Friday before the shop moved to Mukilteo. Denny's is a poor substitute. You can't have enough punks and cigarette smoke in the morning, is what I say. Y'all have a good weekend. Venceremos!

I took a long ride around Mt. Rainier yesterday. After I pieced together this picture, I think I like the one below of Mt. St. Helens better. We were a little further away than the last visitors station and there is a nice contrast between the foliage and the gray of the wasteland. The Rainier picture was taken on either route 7 or 161. Here, distance doesn't work so well. I had to get this of Rainier because the previous day we were nearly fruitless in this quest. If there were more variation of terrain then I think it would be more impressive. I wonder when this one is going to go up? I want to be more than a state away. Yellowstone might just go too. Another continent would be advisable then.

This is a better picture.

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photo_093.jpg
Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Yup. There it is.

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photo_091.jpg
Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

Brother Jerry and his traveling partner, and wife, Judy, are visiting after their tour of Alaska. We are on our way to Mt. St. Helens today.

"Yes, the world is not a totally evil place. There are always cats in pants."

I don't know why I took this series of the bridge. What I liked were the hills in the background. I went to Issaquah for coffee and the paper, and then on to North Bend to see whether they had any work shoes for me. They didn't. It was such a beautiful day that I decided to head up Route 2 and I ended up in Skykomish. It was a perfect motorcycle day. Not being able to run has had a negative impact on me. It was nice getting out of town, if even for a short time.

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photo_089.jpg
Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

I went out for coffee today and ended up in Skykomish.

I haven't run in two weeks. I'm giving my knee enough time to hopefully fix itself. I passed on this morning's run here in Bellevue. I may go over to Greenlake today to get some new shoes. I have a list of other chores as well. Tomorrow is the Seafair half marathon I won't be running. On the positive side, I think my knee is coming along relatively well. I had some knee problems in Florida that lasted for what seemed a long, long time. I'll get more boat pictures here soon. Happy sailing.

I went down to the Wooden Boats Festival on Lake Union today.

Happy fourth. Enjoy your long weekend. If you have it, enjoy the sun. Aum Peace.

We were called to the hospital yesterday as a group for the neurologist's clinical evaluation and prognosis. Peter had suffered considerable brain damage in the bike accident. Without getting into the specifics, his quality of life even if he awoke would have been greatly diminished, to put it mildly. His wife and family made the decision to honor what they thought Peter would want and that would be to let him go without further medical intervention. That was started last night and he left his body early this morning. I'd like to thank any who sent their wishes along. Thank you.

peter in snow2

peter in snow2
Originally uploaded by nthaniel.

I run with this guy. His name is Peter. On Saturday he had a very bad accident while riding his bike. At the present time he is still unconscious at Harborview. I'd like to ask you all for some sort of prayer or thought for him and his family. Thank you.

Update: A week later, Peter is still in a coma. He is still in ICU. His condition is not good but we hope for the best. The Eastside Runners and family friends are helping the family. Be careful out there.

Here are more Nicky pictures:

He likes to attack shoes (and feet).





Victorious.

Another race this weekend. This morning it is in Fall City. It is a flat 10k. I've been taking it easy for my knee, so maybe that will prove to be my taper for the race. I want to beat 40 or at least 41 minutes. I ran that last year at Salmon Days. These things are good because they get me out of the "house". Someday I'd like to have a house. Cheers.

Update: I ran a chip time of 41:15 this morning. I didn't do as well as I had hoped but I still ran a personal best.

The Downing Street Memo has finally hit the front page. In case you weren't aware, the British intelligence explained that the "intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy," of inevitably going to war. The Brits knew this would happen, as did the left here, but more than this they saw that the Bush Administration was ill prepared, to put it mildly, for the post war period in Iraq. Criminals.

Lee has a new kitten. Here is Nikki. (I'm guessing on the spelling)



He seems to be a smart little chap and he isn't afraid of much.



And Captain is finally being civil. He looks like a walking mountain next to him.

So here was my horoscope for today:

Sagittarius
November 22 - December 20
"This isn't the moment to adhere to one particular philosophy, whatever it may be, dear Sagittarius. You may feel frustrated by your inability to figure out which path to take, but ultimately this is very good for you. Continue to search around with your little flashlight, weak as it seems to you, because this is how you are going to get solid faith back again! Best of all, it will be a faith tailored just for you!"

I'll comment on it later.

Tired. I'm not sure why. I have been busting my ass on my properties in order to keep them presentable. Maybe that is why. My knee is giving me a hard time so I took today and yesterday off from running. The second in the series of Cougar Mountain trail runs is this Saturday. This one is seven miles. Another crazy trail race. I don't know that I'd ever be really prepared for one of these.

Hey, the sun is out! It has been a wet commute on the bike the past two days.

I finally planted the verbenum I bought the other day, along with some flower seeds and a pot o' herbs. The verbenum is flanking some free geraniums I rescued from a Costco dumpster. I still have extras. I'll have oregano, basil and catnip. The plant lady at Fred Meyers thought that I was far too late in considering planting seeds. The deck won't be much good until July anyways, and by that time I should at least have some plants poking up. Giving them some potent organic fertilizer tea should help. This is good for me. I don't usually get around to doing much with the planting thing at all. I spend my days either cutting them back or killing them. Who was the moron who thought that introducing English ivy to this area would be a good idea? You'd think that with all this under and overgrowth that there would be snakes here. I'm told that they are on the other side of the Cascades, where it is dry. One of the problems with groundcover like ivy is that it gives rats a place to live. I've always liked snakes. Mmmmm. Those fangs sound delicious.