Life of Wry

Experienced something new today. I’m gonna call it an LA thing, but I imagine it will be coming to a theater near you soon–wherever you may be.

So, my mom and I decide to go to the movies. Not much playing, so decide to see A Walk in the Woods, starring Robert Redford and Nick Nolte (and Emma Thompson and Mary Steenbergen)… so how bad could it be? It’s a hiking movie! It features the Appalachian Trail. The Smokies! I was there kind of recently; I was looking forward to the cinematography. And even if it were bad… Robert, Nick, Emma and Mary. Pros, right? I enjoy them all. So we went.

It was not very good.

But it was worth seeing because of these:

Disregard what’s up on the screen; that was a pre-movie promo. But note the chair. It’s a recliner! And it was super comfortable–ample, cushy, wide arms.

I loved it.

At this theater, for some reason, when you purchase your ticket, you also select a specific seat, and then you have to sit in it. You don’t just wander in and sit wherever you want. I can’t imagine why they do this, but it’s part of the deal. We sat in Row E, seats 1 and 2. It was a very sparsely attended film at 3:00 on a Monday. But there we were. Dutifully reclined In our assigned seats.

I also ordered a hot dog.. my first movie hot dog ever (though that’s nothing new).

There were also ushers who patrolled the theater. One told me to put my phone away when I pulled it out to snap a photo.

Whatever.

The whole experience sort of bugged mom, though she found the seats comfortable enough. Me, I’d do it again.

Using a picture taken yesterday by our friend Wes, whose black and white photography–in this case the action behind the action–always tells such a great story.

The story here: two content parents spending a warm Saturday morning in the company of funny friends–baseball loving, kid supporting parents all–watching our boys scrimmage against a fancy Bay Area private school team. Of course they’ve developed into mature, talented athletes, of course they’ve learned a thing or two about relationships, working hard, and countless other life lessons. Of course they’re sweet and funny and surprisingly manly. Of course we have no idea how they got from where they were to where they are. It’s all quite a show.

And why we’re glad to be there, and smiling inside.

And they won 14-4. Yay our guys.

Flying south to see mi mama. I’m the one waving….right side, over the wing… see me?

jk.

Flight’s delayed. I’m sitting here blogging, eating a Dos Coyotes Yucatan salad, listening to poorly delivered CNN news on the overhead TV at Gate B19. In the tech zone with three devices open and cranking. Happy enough.

Saw an amazing movie tonight, Meru. I am borrowing this gorgeous photo of Mount Meru, taken by Jimmy Chin.

This is a view of Mount Meru as seen from
Tapovon Basecamp. The Shark’s Fin is the central pillar in the
formation and the part of the mountain most obviously shaped like a
shark’s fin.

Go see this movie… for the story, sure, it’s insane, but also the photography. Good lord.

Says the film’s description:

In the high-stakes pursuit of big-wall climbing, the Shark’s Fin on Mount Meru may be the ultimate prize. Sitting 21,000 feet above the sacred Ganges River in Northern India, the mountain’s perversely stacked obstacles make it both a nightmare and an irresistible calling for some of the world’s toughest climbers. In October 2008, renowned alpinists Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk arrived in India to tackle Meru. Their planned seven-day trip quickly declined into a 20-day odyssey in sub-zero temperatures with quickly depleting food rations. Despite making it to within 100 meters of the elusive summit, their journey, like everyone before them, was not a successful one.

Until it was.

I’m not giving much away by revealing that they did, in fact, summit Meru, but it wasn’t until a few years later on their second attempt, in October 2011.

It occurs to me that I saw two of the three climbers–Jimmy Chin and Conrad Anker–at a dinner in San Francisco in what must have been just days after their successful ascent/descent of Mount Meru!  I’m kind of blown away by this. They were speaking at the annual fundraising dinner of the American Himalayan Foundation and were part of a panel, moderated by Jon Krakauer, of people who’d climbed Everest.  Since I’d been to Everest Base Camp earlier that year, I was interested in hearing them speak (lucky for me, I got an invitation!).

The guys on the panel, ranging in ages from 30-somethings to 80-somethings, were all fascinating with great stories.

Here’s a picture I took that night.. Jimmy Chin in the middle, and Conrad Anker on the right. They sure don’t look like they’ve just returned from any sort of ordeal!

And yet, as the movie clearly shows, they most certainly have!

The following year, I went again to the AHF dinner, this time with Peter. Jimmy Chin was again a speaker, this time talking about his experiences in general of being a mountaineering photographer, and specifically of filming his descent of Everest on skies. The program also featured that Sacramento kid, Alex Honold, who is known world wide for his solo, unassisted free climbs of famous walls, like El Capitan and Half Dome. No ropes. (No comment!)

These guys are a little nuts.

Back to the movie…. Besides breathtaking photography (including some surreal footage of an avalanche) and a lot of rock jock speak, there are genuinely spiritual aspects to mountain climbing and the pursuit of the world’s most dramatic and challenging peaks. The film does a great job of respecting and revering the mountain, while also honoring these guys for some seriously crazy life choices. I really loved it.

From my seat…

(That looks like a neat, swoopy peak on that range behind Anker, no?)

And here’s a view down.. you can see the other two climbers below.

Here is a good site on the making of the film.

Oh, what to write about…what to write about…

I have narrowed it down to four possibilities:

1.The Davis High School varsity baseball team played a rousing game this afternoon against Yuba City and had the most unbaseball-like outcome. Davis won by a score of… ready for this?… 19-17. THAT kind of score just never happens. My scorebook is a work of art.

2. It RAINED. It rained a little while they played, and it poured as we rode our bikes home. We were drenched by the time we got home, but it was an uncommonly exhilarating ride, not just because we were wet and it was cold, but because water actually fell from the sky and it felt like we were part of some earthly miracle.

3. I had my first experience with acupuncture today. And suction cupping. And oh my oh my oh my oh my. If half of what he said will happen happens, I am soon to be in a much happier, less painful, less restrictive place. He stuck about a dozen needles in me! I’m so blown away, so thrilled, so optimistic. How could I not write about this one?

4. And finally. Jeb, Jeb, Jeb. When candidates were asked in tonight’s republican debate (the grownup debate, not the kids’ table one) which woman they’d suggest for the $10 bill, Jeb raised a few eyebrows with his response. A good answer might have been Rosa Parks or Clara Barton–you know, famous American woman who made a difference, you know, in or for America.  Jeb’s answer was Margaret Thatcher. Yes, that Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of England. In truth, he was probably just looking for a way to pander to Reagan republicans by linking Thatcher to Reagan and thus himself to Reagan. But.. instead, I think he just linked himself to his boneheaded brother.  Looking forward to the headlines tomorrow on that one.

Anyway… too tired to write tonight. But lots of possibilities for tomorrow…

I’ve resisted the gluten thing on general principle for a long time. Firstly, I like wheat. I’ve been happily eating wheat my whole life. Probably every single day of my whole life. I mean, it’s wheat. Secondly, diet trends rub me the wrong way… for so many reasons. All the right reasons. Diet fads: boo.

I’d continue to resist gloooooten free (sorry for the drippy sarcasm), but desperate times call for desperate measures.

And, when Adele–the queen of health and nutrition–made such a compelling case yesterday for going gluten free, and assured me it will make a difference in my inflammation (Hi, I’m Kari, I am an inflammation sufferer.) (I think.), I decided it was worth a three month test.

Turns out, she’s not the only one who thinks eliminating wheat from one’s diet is the key to [many things, but especially] reducing, if not eliminating altogether, inflammation. If you go online, you’ll find more than a critical mass of knowledgable people who advocate it and websites that support it.

It just doesn’t seem smart to ignore the possibility it could work. (I’m the person who stepped into a -166 degree cryo chamber, believing that would be the key to reducing inflammation, remember? Gluten free seems maybe less traumatic… we’ll see.)

So…

Here are two things I’d bought last week that just happened to come in handy today — this, the first official, intentional gluten-free day of my life.

From Costco…

And from the Davis Food Coop…

Both were very yummy. I’m not hating this so far.

After a few trips back and forth across the fence along the southern boundary line of our property, and me running from room to room to catch a glimpse of him (as Jim, in his office, yells down the hall things like: Okay, now he’s running west along the fence, you should be able to see him in the living room!, followed by: Okay now he’s running east, try Peter’s room!), I finally nailed a shot.

I present you with Mr. Possum (as seen from my office):

Totally creeped out. I have yet to uncurl my toes.

Definitely not a possum person.

Postscript: After publishing this entry, Christine, a Facebook friend posted this picture on her wall and tagged me, as in… what’s not to love about a possum!

(And I admit, they are pretty cute.)

The caption read:

The opossum is not native to California but was introduced as a food animal from the East Coast around 1890 in Southern California and 1910 to San Jose. When originally brought here possums were kept in hutches and their meat was considered a delicacy. Later others were imported into California for their fur. Escaping possums found California a delightful place to live and breed. Possums are now thriving in all parts of California except the high Sierra and extreme desert. It is North America’s only marsupial. In pre-colonial years it mainly occupied southeastern states from the lower part of Pennsylvania to the Gulf of Mexico. It also inhabited portions of Eastern Mexico down to the Yucatan Peninsula. It has now spread to Canada in the north and eastern Colorado in the west as well as all along the Pacific seaboard. Opossums are the animal most likely to be brought into California’s wildlife rehab facilities.

Sally’s parents’ house in Calaveras county is still standing as over 65 thousand acres have burned around them.

I can’t even log onto the CalFire website. I imagine it’s jammed as people search for the latest news on a dozen or so fires burning all over the state. I’ve decided they’ll burn whether I’m updated or not, so I’m not going to add to the jam. Suffice to say, it’s a hot mother.

The surfaces inside our house are covered in a fine layer of ash from both the Butte and Valley fires. (Hmm, perhaps we shouldn’t leave the windows open at night with the whole house fan sucking cooler air in?)

Other stuff has been going on this weekend, but the fires burn in the background. The smell, the chest burn, the color of the air–all a sickening reminder.

Serena lost her bid to become the first person since 1988 to win four majors in a calendar year–quite a big deal in the tennis universe. But it’s still brown.

Peter pitched a LOVELY two innings at yesterday’s game against PG–six up, six down, three kays. But it’s still brown.

Janet came home from Australia and regaled us with stories; she is renewed and readier than ever to start a new phase of life. But it’s still brown.

Monica and Dror came for dinner, got a flat tire, unexpectedly stayed the night (as nobody–if you can imagine this–sells Nissan Leaf tires at 8:00pm on a Saturday night). But it’s still brown.

David returned from his year-long Compassion Tour full to the brim with love, gratitude and stories. But it’s still brown.

Taken out the window looking east while stuck behind a tractor on Road 102 on my way to the airport earlier this afternoon.

Brown.

Not to be dramatic, but California’s burning. The CalFire map of active fires is frightening. Hot, brittle, dusty from lack of moisture.. and the air is brown and smoky. Feels all end-timey around here. Not to be dramatic.

I just hate this.

The fire that is causing all the brown skies hereabouts is probably the big Butte fire… some 60,000+ acres, maybe 5-10% contained. Sally’s parents in Mountain Ranch are in the evacuation zone… evacuated yesterday. Holing up in Bear Valley. Awaiting news of their home… is it still standing? Has it been looted? Sickening either way.

We’re not affected directly by any of this, of course. But the anxiety is ever present–four years and counting. It’s the drought, it’s climate change, it’s the withering away of so much of California’s ecosystems. Unfathomably sad.

Feel like we’re living in a sci-fi movie about the end of the earth.

I (I’m not alone) am craving moist, wet, cool, nourishing… something, anything, in a deep, verdant green….

Instead… hot, harsh, dry, smoky.

I might be doing better in this game if it were connect three instead of connect four. As it is, Peter’s doing most of the winning.