10,834 Feet

No, Ornery's Wife—I will never post to this blog again.

Oh, wait.

What does one do when one is so far behind on blogging that there's no way to catch up?

This is the conundrum that has kept me away from the ol' blog for so long. And, as always, it's a silly question. Somehow I feel obligated to get down everything that has transpired since the last posting, which usually (especially during busy times) proves, to quote Stephen Fry, both difficult and impossible. It takes some distance or time or something to remind me that this is not a requirement. Call me anal retentive—you won't be the first.

So what have I been up to? Nothin'.

Hah!

Life has been busy coming at me from every direction, as it is wont to do. The boys are sprouting up at a phenomenal rate and are now Tiger Cubs (which involves a lot more selling of product than I seem to remember from Cub Scouts), Born Dancin' is tearing our house apart bit by bit and saving herself through the power of overwhelming cuteness (Joanna listed Born Dancin's "occupation" on a recent doctor visit as "toddler/destroyer"), and Joanna continues to perform amazing feats of balance in teaching home school, keeping the house in one piece despite Born Dancin's depredations, and keeping me sane. Well, sane-ish, anyway.

I've been teaching and grading with some relative dedication, though my grand plan to keep up with the work in a timely fashion has, as always, collapsed. It is a testament to some growth that it hasn't collapsed as thoroughly as usual, I suppose. And I've generally been able to give some time to writing nearly every weekday. That's been more tough this last month or so, but I am pleased it is progressing in some form. Ideally, I'll have something like a complete draft by the end of the year.

That may be tricky with NaNoWriMo coming up again in November. I really don't want to skip it, but I'm not certain I can push this novel forward on that schedule. (Though I must admit, in writing this out right now, it sounds far more possible than I would have before credited.) I have a few undertakings I'd really like to undertake, including another murder party to plan for next year (I had much hoped to write this one from scratch) and some Christmas projects. Too many things to do.

Finally, on the hiking front: I set out a couple of weekends ago for a day hike from Idyllwild to the peak of Mt. San Jacinto with a trio of others (Gandalf was one; we'll call the others Boromir and Denethor, for preference). I'd never been up there before and it was pretty fantastic. The journey was a bit over 16 miles with quite a bit of elevation gain, so I was pleased that I was able to keep up with the others. Of course, considering that the youngest of my comrades was a good fifteen years my senior, and the oldest had over thirty years on me, that may not be as impressive as it seems. They kept me hopping, I must say. It was beautiful up there, though, at nearly 11,000 feet, and the day was cold and wonderfully clear. (It was 26 degrees when we set out at 7am and about 36 degrees when we returned at 6:30pm; we had to negotiate a few patches of ice along the way.)

I took many a picture up there (including a set of 360-degree photos that would be fun to stitch together, if I could find a way to do it); here are a few:



This is our group at the peak. For those of you who have wondered what he looks like, Gandalf is the one in the shades.



One of the better vistas from the top. You don't really realize just how brown our chunk of the southwest is until it is all you can see for a few hundred miles.



Those mountains in the distance are our good old San Bernardinos—the peak is San Gorgonio with Big Bear in the distance and the Cajon Pass behind.

Really, I have to get the miles up so that I can honestly get an online hiking journal. I'm not sure if I want to go with Trail Journals or Postholer; maybe you, gentle readers, can help me decide which looks better. I have to be a long-distance hiker to get in, and I don't think I qualify yet. Plus, I need a good trail name and "Samwise" is taken. Maybe I should do a poll and take suggestions from y'all. And no, "Anal-Retentive Legalist" is not an option.

Other things have been transpiring, but I'll either save them for a more thorough treatment or keep them close to my chest. I'll try to be in here more often if any of you playing along at home are keeping score.

I've got to get to that grading. Godspeed, all.