Sunday we joined Ed, Kelly and Phoenix in celebrating Izzabella’s 2nd birthday at the Burnett Park Zoo.  It was a really hot day, but an enjoyable stroll around the zoo.  Below Kathryn, Bella, Eric and Phoenix pose – they wouldn’t let them in with the real tigers.

We entered a team into the 2007 General Clinton Canoe Regatta Grand Prix Relay with high hopes of being a contender. The General Clinton Grand Prix Relay Race uses one standard class aluminum canoe and a team of 10 paddlers to cover ~30 miles on the Susquehanna River from Oneonta to Bainbridge. There are four exchange points where the canoe pulls into a “pit stop”. The paddlers jump out, excess water is dumped from the the canoe and the new paddling team jumps in for their stretch of the race.

This is a race that I had done as a teenager in 1970 and 1971 and we submitted a team in 2005. Our 2005 team was rammed, dumped, was dead last in the 1st leg and ended up finishing 15th of 33 teams. So we had reason to believe that with some luck we could be a top ten team.

Our team was aligned thus:

We got off to a good start. We had good position on the bank – starting 12th in a lineup of 33 canoes. We made it out in front of the pack, moved up a couple of positions and cleared the chute under the bridge. I was feeling good about our place as we had moved up a couple of positions and we had a lot of space around us.

About 1/2 mile below the start the river makes a bend to the right, with the water forming a chute along the right bank and there is an overhanging tree – perfect for disaster. A team cut in front of us going right to left and we converged at the chute with a team on our right. At this juncture we got hit on the left by the team that had crossed in front of us, pushing us into the other team. They hit the tree but were just far enough ahead to get under the overhang. Kathryn and 1/2 of our canoe made it under – the stern and I did not. We dumped! AGAIN.

15 minutes later and only with the help of Race Assistants were we able to get the canoe extracted from the water, dumped and on our way again. Kathryn had lost her paddle and all the teams were long gone. We used our spare paddle and managed to catch and pass two boats before finishing our leg of the race.

At the exchange I located the team that lost a paddle and been given our floater as a replacement. Since I just paid a sizeable sum to have Mr. Gillespie repair and refinish my paddles over the winter I was glad to have it back.

Our remaining teams paddled strong, didn’t dump and we managed to finish 27th overall out of 33 teams with two teams scratching and/or not completing the race.

I really had a good time. With one or two tweaks (like staying afloat) I still feel like we could be a Top 10 (“I could’ve been a contender“). I may sneak down to Oneonta with my chain saw at some point and ensure that obstacle won’t get us again! Of course, my partner is not sure she will ever paddle that section again and it may take a few months and several intoxicating beverages to get her to agree to paddle in the race at all, but I am already planning for 2008.

On a positive note we had a good starting position due to our early entry. Next year we should focus on having our team established by early April. I thought our exchanges worked really well and considering how ad hoc we were I don’t think we lost any time. I was glad we had the rope on the back and the spare paddle.

Thoughts for 2008:

• Overcome the nasty overhanging tree/chute
• Maybe find a faster aluminum canoe. I am grateful to Dave Parson’s for loaning it to us, but he admits “it fell off a truck”
• Recruit additional team members. We can always use additional females and/or people that can paddle stern.
• Getting some of our team mates together in a canoe before the race would certainly help our synchronization, timing and performance.

I have pictures of the race at http://www.theswirl.org/trips/Splash-Bump-Beach-2007/index.html

Last October I was invited to participate in the Air National Guard’s “Bosslift” program which thanks employers for their support of the Guard and Reserves.  I was unable to fly due to inclement weather.  On Tuesday May 22 I joined 24 others riding in a KC-135 tanker plane to refuel F-16s.   The KC-135 flew up from Pittsburgh and we joined the previously deployed F-16s from the 174th over the southern Adirondacks. I was fortunate enough to sit by the left rear window (1 of 3 onboard the tanker) where I could see the F16s come in and rate their speed prior to pulling up under the tanker for fuel.

In addition to checking out the cockpit we got to lay alongside the crew flying the boom for refueling the fighter.

The tanker flew a fixed route looping over North / South / Honnedaga lakes and turning over Indian Lake.  The crew was great at providing information and answering questions.  All in all a great experience.  More pictures are viewable at http://picasaweb.google.com/mullerjim/2007_05_22BossLift

Kathryn is an avid birder and we feed the birds year round – mainly sunflower seeds and thistle seed.  We have recently put out a hummingbird feeder which was utilized within 45 minutes of setting it up.  We also put out citrus for oriole’s and have they have been consuming an orange a day.  In addition we have had male and female Rose Breasted Grosbeaks at the the sunflower feeder.
  

Saturday I mowed lawn for the 2nd time and was struck by the difference in the blossoming of the trees. The Catalpa trees are just beginning to bud whereas our Shad tree has blossomed and started to leaf out.

The Sugar Maples are fully leafed out. The Honey Locust are not.

A look along the road reveals a Basswood, Ash just starting to leaf out, two Sugar Maples, and fully leafed Red Maple tree in the background. Our Bartlett Pear tree is in full blossom.

Our Daffodils are about done with one or two exceptions.

I got back from my travel on Friday afternoon. Kathryn had taken a cute picture of Eric and Trevor taking a meal break from playing super hero.

We took a short walk across the road where Kathryn had spotted a couple of Trillum. We found another 10 or so plants. Somewhere in this walk I brushed up against a plant with a tick which took advantage of my short sleeve shirt and embedded himself into my bicep. I didn’t discover it until lunchtime on Saturday when we extracted the deeply embedded varmint with tweezers. In all my years of being outdoors this was the 1st tick that actually implanted.

Friday night we fed the fish and they were highly active. Eric and I decided that we should try fishing soon. For dinner we made our our pizza’s – a creative cooking process that is a lot of fun. Even Mr. Happy Face Pizza got eaten.

Trey got a bath over the weekend.  He has dandruff and got a bath with T-gel, a coal tar based shampoo.  The day was warm and he dried off quickly and fluffed up.  Since we are around him all the time we take his size for granted, but this is a big dog (110lbs).  We thought our other Bernese Mountain Dogs were big but they were in the 75 lb range.  This is another 30% larger.  I wish I had something alongside him for scale.

The household is definitely divided over this issue.  We have geese nesting at the pond.  The actual nest is probably 50 yards from the pond, but we have a pair of geese settled in for a summer residency.  I am not happy.  They are messy, very messy.  I observed a lone goose on the pond over the weekend and then spotted the hen sitting out in the field.  When we walked down to check the other night Kathryn took the position of “if there are eggs we leave it alone”.  Eric and Trey were just intrigued by the idea of investigating a nest.  At first I thought I was in luck – a nest but no eggs.

Both geese were on the pond and paid no attention to our investigation.  However, when we looked under the blanket of dead grass we saw four eggs. I believe the hen covers them up with grass to keep them warm when she isn’t sitting on them.

Kathryn tried to pacify me by citing all the dangers that oppose a successful hatch: coyotes, neighborhood dogs, skunks, raccoons, and crows.   (She neglected to mention John Deere tractors with mowers).  We are now resigned to playing out the saga -more to come later.

The arrival of warm, sunny spring weather prompted us to make a list of outdoor chores that was unachievable, but attempted none the less. We washed, waxed and vacuumed all three vehicles, washed house windows and put on screens, washed the dog, picked up 100 trees (White Spruce and Colorado Blue Spruce) from Oneida County Soil & Water District and planted, and planted and planted trees. On Saturday morning Trevor came to play with Eric. We packed a lunch and held a little picnic across the road. In the picture below Eric, Trevor and Kathryn enjoy a drink.

We played some silly games including the boys hammering on a tree that I was leaning against. I told Kathryn that my obituary should read “Could make 4 year olds laugh.”

We also exploited remaining snow banks for snow ball fights with the target (me) usually fleeing in a homeward direction.

We celebrated my birthday on Sunday afternoon with Ed, Kelly & Izzabella and Billie Jo & Dakota. Kathryn grilled London Broil and accompanied it with homemade muffins, snap peas and rice. The dinner was capped with Tomato Soup Cake – the birthday cake of choice for as long as I can remember! Ed & Billie Jo gave me a couple of super powered rechargeable flashlights: of 1 million and 6 million candle power. Once they are charged up we plan to perform illumination tests on distant hillsides.

The kids alternated between playing in the sand box and playing chase. Below Billie Jo, Jim, Eric,Dakota, Izzabella, Kelly and Ed pause for a picture.

On this one spring day, there will be hundreds of rallies across the country with every group saying the same thing: “Step it up, Congress! Cut Carbon 80% by 2050.” The plan is to link pictures of the protests together electronically via the web resulting in the largest protest the country has ever seen, not in numbers but in extent.  Their website shows activities that are planned around the country – use the map to find activities planned in your area.