Thar She Blows

It's a little late but here is Lisa on her B-day

My God The Heat

This is the situation. It is May 18 and it is 93 degrees in Coeur d'Alene. That crazy bastard Al Gore is right! Holy crap global warming is not a myth. Previous record was 86 degrees and that was back when pioneers were burning buffalo turds on the Oregon Trail to heat up their Mormon Tea for their caffeine fix back before they had Red Bull and Diet Rock Star. Normal temps would be in the 60s-70 range and it will be back there in a few days but this is not right. Wenesday the furnace was on that night and the air conditioner kicked in by afternoon. That kind of drastic change is not good for the soul, in fact it really ticks me off to be deprived of the beautiful spring weather that I love. But I am a glass half full kinda guy and this blast of heat has really cranked up the run-off from snow melt and it might - just might make the June 1 opener on the river fishing in Idaho decent. The rivers are blown right now, big and fast moving. You can almost hear the snow melting on Lolo Peak. Stay tuned, if the global warming persists I hear Greenland is going to be great. In fact buy real estate there now, beat the rush. ( If you do buy I will need to collect the six percent, thanks)

Famous in Vegas

June 23, 2005
TASHA Larsen of Post Falls, Idaho, and her ten-month-old nephew Johnny Boden of St. George, Utah, gaze through a window in C-Gate to view a new control tower in D-Gate at McCarran International Airport. The tower opened in April as part of a $125 million expansion to the D concourse.
MATTHEW MINARD / LAS VEGAS SUN

Boo did a yahoo search for Tasha Larsen and this picture of her and Bodie came up from the Las Vegas Airport. Pretty Cool.

I Never Update Ever

I Never Update my blog ever not even a little bit.

Cruel

The spring fishing that I am used to on the Clark Fork River in Montana has not materialized. A substantial snowpack and a very wet spring has played the cruelest of jokes on me. The river in it's pre-runoff usaully fishes well with a big stone fly hatch. The stone fly in question is a called a Skwala and it a is big, hairy beautiful beast and the fish love them. Alas, the aformentioned bug is hatching and the hatch is prolific. But, and this is a big ass but, the river is a gigantic frothing dirt clod with visibility in about the two inch range. Hence, the bugs are there but the large trout cannot see the damn things and as a result cannot eat the damn things. And now the weather has got quite warm and the real runoff begins, which means the river will be blown out for all of May. Oh sure, you could find some back eddies to float some bottom hugging junk like San Juan Worms and other disgusting "flies" but the fishing would be slow and sleazy and you would look back on it with disgust. To top this all off, the rivers in Idaho are closed in May for the cutthroat spawn and so we are at point when it may become necessary to pitch a fit of rage and futility. Oh the cycles of nature are quite interesting and when they mess up my own personal enjoyment they become annoying. In a perfect world the complicated workings of nature would revolve around me and my need to fly fish. The rivers would be there for me, the trout would be mine to catch and the beer would flow like wine. It is not too much to ask after toughing out another Northwest winter. Nature is cruel, cruel indeed.

Hippie Freak

Boo has really let himself go.

My New Grandson

Jet Has Landed

We have another grandson! Born in Kanab on March 11, 6lbs 6 0z , 20 inches he sounds like a keeper. (if he was a trout he would be a fine specimen also) He was supposed to be born in St. George, but they decided to go to the Kanab hospital first because a snowstorm was hitting southern Utah. It was a good thing they did or he would have been born in Colorado City and would have had to be a polygamist and worn long sleeve shirts even in the summer. Sloan is doing fine and did the delivery old school no drugs or whiskey. For his name they are leaning toward Jet Kolin Larsen. Johnny and Jet, sounds like a couple of cool brothers - I can't wait to hold them both.

Skiing with Boo

Bryant and I decided to go skiing this last weekend. We went to Lookout Ski Resort that is on a mountain pass in the Selkirks Mountain Range. It is literally on the Idaho - Montana border with the main lift going right up the state line. Its kinda a funky smaller resort but has some good runs and a lot of snow this year. It was a great day with the sun out and not many people. (one of it's finest amenities) Bry is a pretty good skier, he has only been a few times last year and a few this year. He cruises pretty good and never wipes out, good balance for a big dude. After a morning of cruising the medium runs we went down a double diamond run. It was steep and a little icy but didn't seem to bad I got about halfway down and stopped to watch Boo. He was already down; it looked like a disaster had struck. He was sitting up facing down the slope and one ski was above him in Montana and one pole was below him in Idaho, he was trying to put his hat back on and seemed a little stunned. I was down too far to do anything to help but a guy stopped and picked up his ski and started to bring it to him. Suddenly Boo started sliding on his butt down the hill, picking up speed and spraying snow. I tried to yell at him to dig in but he just kept going lost both skis and was out of control. He finally stopped and the nice man gathered up all his stuff and brought it to him. But he couldn't stand up on the steep slope to get his skis on. I told him to just slide the rest of the way down which he did. We finally got him back together and looked up the hill at the trench he dug with his butt all the way down the run. After a few more runs I took him in the lodge for some food and hot chocolate. When we sat down I looked at him and he was as white as a ghost except for some blue lips. Everybody else in there had rosy red faces from the sun and cold. He said he hit his head pretty hard on the wipeout so I guess he had a concussion or something. I knew from experience with Ty that this would lead to mindless questions and a monotonous trip to the hospital for nothing, so we went back out and hit the slopes. It was fun! A couple days later he seems to be coming around.

Why Its Good To Be A Grandpa

Johnny Boden wishing me a happy birthday. He calls his grandpas - "papa". He got on the phone and wished me a happy birthday 4 or 5 times. He is too cool.

I had a good b-day. I got up and went cross country skiing with Farley the dog. We went to our favorite spot and saw the moose again. I skied for about 3 hours. I went back and got a massage at the Z-spa. A nice mild looking gal named Michelle worked me over like a professional wrestler. It hurt at times but felt great after. Then Tasha came over and we ordered out and had dinner and my favorite desert that Lisa makes it is not cake but a kinda of a pie thing. They gave me some great gifts, especially an I-Pod, I finally realized how damn cool these things are and wanted one to take to the gym. Every one was nice and I talked to Adam and Gordo and got emails from Andrew in Alaska and Ben in China. Of course ma and pa called and Ty, Sloan and Bodie. I might be an aging sorry ass but I have a great family - thanks guys.

43

Hear 'em singing happy birthday
Better think about the wish I make
This year gone by it's been a piece of cake.
Every day's a revolution Pull it together and it comes undone
Just one more candle and a trip around the sun.
I'm just hanging on while this old world keeps spinning
And it's good to know it's out of my control.
If there's one thing that I've learned from all this living
Is that it wouldn't change a thing if I let go.
No you never see it coming, Always wind up wondering where it went.
Only time will tell If it was time well spent
It's another revelation,
Celebrating what I should have done With these souvenirs of my trip around the sun.
I'm just hanging on while this old world keeps spinning
And it's good to know it's out of my control.
If there's one thing I have learned from all this living
Is that it wouldn't change a thing if I let go.
Yes I'll make a resolution
That I'll never make another one.
Just enjoy this ride on my Trip around the sun.

Jimmy Buffet

Words of Wisdom

This Popular Drink May Delay Aging!
Sip a glass of red wine with dinner most nights, and it may buy you a longer life as well as delay the onset of aging.
That's the word from scientists at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Italy, who have shown that red wine can actually delay the onset of aging thanks to the ingredient resveratrol. At least it works in fish, and the researchers think the findings could apply to humans as well.
Resveratrol, an organic compound found in grapes and particularly enriched in red wines such as pinot noir, is part of a group of antioxidant compounds known as polyphenols. Scientists have shown through previous studies that resveratrol can help prevent inflammation and cancer. The Italian researchers, led by Alessandro Cellerino, added resveratrol to the daily diet of 150 Nothobranchius furzeri fish, a breed that typically lives about nine weeks in captivity. The result? It not only significantly prolonged their lifespan, but also delayed the onset of age-related problems, including loss of memory and diminished muscular performance.
The fish that received a lower dose of resveratrol lived on average 33 percent longer than fish fed their normal diets, while those fed the higher dose lived more than 50 percent longer. Previous research showed a similar effect in fruit flies and worms, making resveratrol the first compound to consistently prolong life in three very different animal groups. The hope is that resveratrol could someday be used in drugs that would help prevent age-related diseases in humans. The study findings were published in the journal Current Biology.
This isn't the first research to show the anti-aging qualities of wine. Women who drink one glass wine daily tend to have sharper minds into old age than do women who abstain, reports Reuters of a large study of 12,500 nurses from Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Light to moderate drinking has also been shown to prevent heart disease and stroke.
Led by Dr. Meir Stampfer, the team found that female drinkers aged 70 to 81 were 20 percent less likely to experience a decline in their thinking skills over a two-year period than women who did not drink at all. Specifically, women who drank daily tended to have the mental agility of someone a year and a half younger than abstainers.
Just in case you have any ideas about beefing that up by imbibing more, forget it. Drinking more than one glass of wine a day didn't provide a greater cognitive benefit.

I Report - You Decide

Lunch Peak Lookout

This old fire lookout will be my vacation home for four days in July. I reserved it through the Forest Service, it sits on top of Lunch Peak in the Bitteroot Mountains near Sandpoint overlooking Lake Pend O'rielle. It is at 7,000 feet elevation which is high for this area. Most fire lookouts have been deactivated due to satellite technology and they have made these available to the public on a first come basis. I reserved it on the first day they were available and it should be fun. The road goes right to the lookout but has a gate miles down the road that is locked so it should be pretty private. It is near some trails that go to some high country lakes that should be fishing well about that time of the summer. I'll be hanging out like Ed Abbey hisself. Ty said he would try and come up then and Lisa might even spend a night or two. One thing for sure, its gonna have a great view.

Moose Deuce

I went cross country skiing again, I realize this is in danger of becoming a ski blog but I don't do much else. I went up in the mountains and took off up an old logging road and it was a good day to be skiing, about four inches of fresh snow and the conditions were good. I noticed some huge tracks going up the road and took a closer look, moose. The tracks were sinking in about a foot and there were two sets of them. I thought they looked fresh so I called Farley back and made him stay behind me and started looking ahead hoping to catch a glimpse of the aformentioned meeces. I had gone about half a mile and the tracks were were veering side to side as I could tell they were trying to get off the road, but it was a steep slope and deep snow on both sides so they couldn't. Then I saw a steaming pile of droppings and I knew I was getting close. I skied as quietly as possible and finally came around a corner and snow flew as a cow moose and a large calf took off. They were only about 25 yards away and they trotted ahead, I watched them as they headed up the road, they can really cover ground even at a trot. Finally I could see the big one head up into the trees off the road. It took me about 15 minutes to ski to where it disapeared (uphill all the way) When I got there I saw the tracks of the big one go up into the trees and the tracks of the smaller continue up the road. Hmmmm. Didn't really like this scenario. So now I was in between a cow moose and her calf on a narrow little logging road with nowhere to hide and skis on that would make me a sitting duck. Farley wouldn't be much help, he didn't seem to even notice them, and I think if they charged he would be running like hell. Oh well, I continued on up the road and kept pushing the other moose ahead of me. I would stride, breathe, look over my shoulder. I wasn't scared, but I did want to avoid getting the shit kicked out of me by a pissed off 2000 lb. mother ungulate. After a couple more miles of uphill skiing I was tired and decided to head back, downhill glide the whole way. Never did see either moose again, but I'm glad I got to watch them. I felt a little bad about seperating them so far, but it wasn't a small calf - it was almost half the size of its mother. More like a teenager - as soon as it needed some money it would find its way back to mommy.

Yoda

Do or do not there is no try.

X-Country Part Deux

The plan was for some downhill skiing but Bryant was sick so I went to plan B. Once again I loaded up the cross country skis and the dogs and went to mountains. I headed to 4th of July Pass that is east of Coeur d'Alene and found a lot fresh snow had fallen. There were a lot of snowmobile trailers parked there so I drove down a plowed road and found a turn off to a forest service road that was closed. The road had been groomed for snowmobiles so it was smooth but with a soft surface. It made the skiing smooth and easy. The road took off on a moderate uphill grade and it kept me working hard but nothing steep. I skied for a couple of miles and it was great. There was a light snow falling and it was quiet and pretty. The snow off to the side was deep and when the dogs ran out in it they disapeared from sight. I finally turned around and started down. It was perfect conditions I glided down without trouble. Nice outing, cross country skiing is great.

Lake CDA

X-Country

The early November snows that dumped two feet around our house got me wanting some cross-country skis. So in early December I went to REI in Spokane and got outfitted with some nice skis, boots, bindings and poles. I went several times near our place on the forest service trails and it was fun, the dogs loved it and I was getting some good exercise and showing some style. Then it started to rain and the snow melted, it rained off and on for about 3 weeks, real soggy out there boss.
Finally I woke up this morning and there was 5 inches of fresh snow, hot damn. I took off early for the trails but was disapointed to see there was less snow there even though is only about a mile or two away. Also there were several vehicles in the parking area which meant that there were probably people on my private trails which would not do at all. So I headed for the nearby mountains and drove until the road was closed and found a trail heading up the through the thick trees. The route was steep and I was working pretty hard and enjoying the fresh snow, it caused the trees and bushes to overhang the trail but I knocked the snow off with my poles and pushed on. The ground under the snow was still soft and muddy in places and the snow was sticking to and building up on my skis, a little irritating but going uphill it wasnt too bad. I topped out and the trail ended at a nice little creek I looked forward to the trip down.
I turned around and started down and things took a turn for the worse. The snow was still sticking to my skis and when I would knock it off I would either take off like a rocket or fall over backwards on my ass. The trail was narrow and steep and there was no way to frigging way to slow down, even if I could manage a half ass telemark turn there was no room to pull it off. So I fell and skidded myself down the mountain, grunting and cursing the whole way. I came to one steep section with a hairpin turn at the bottom right at a huge tree, I studied the route and planned my strategy and then took off my skis and walked down like a weasel. I'll spare you the rest of the descent.
At the bottom I loaded up the dogs (who had a fine outing) and surveyed the damage - a bent pole, bruises and a chapped ass. So much for the fresh snow, tomorrow me and Boo are going up to Lookout Pass Ski Resort and do some downhill skiing. Cross country sucks.

Winter

You want a prediction? I'll give you a prediction. It's going to be cold and dark and it's going to last you for the rest of your life.