A Homer's Travels Look Back At 2009

Another year is almost over. Tonight we'll probably go out for an early dinner before watching the Omaha fireworks show. Going through my posts from this year, I really didn't find much of a trend. I posted about the same number of posts this year as in 2008 though this year's numbers were padded by the only predominant theme: photography. As the year went by the number of pictures I've taken has slowly decreased. I guess I'm ending the year in a picture taking slump.

Let's look back at 2009, shall we:

• January started out slow as cabin fever set in early on but got better when I got out on my bike and started my WalkAbouts around the city. I ran out of magnets to post - a sure sign that we're not traveling enough. My feelings on inauguration day now seem like a premonition of the President's first year. The Wife and I started our Tai Chi class which, like all other things I have started enthusiastically, faded away into oblivion once the class was finished.
• February was the beginning of the end as I joined Facebook. I had my doubts, and I still do, but I find it hard to go a day without checking it at least once several times. We discovered a couple of favorites this month: Louis M's Burger Lust and Roller Derby. The lack of things to post about, or my lack of motivation, led me to posting pictures to fill in the month.
• March started with a wonderful day with family. The rest of the month was filled with fluff (π Day) and photographs as my posting funk continued. The only other high point of the month was going craning near Kearney. While I was there I took the picture that would later win my $250 and a possibility of a Laptop early next year.
• April entered like a lion with a late snow storm and ended with a preview of the coming summer. I finally got out and hiked a bit while out geocaching.
• May continued the photography theme with me going to a photography class. I posted more pictures, we took an art walk, and went to an awesome Joe Cocker concert. One of my travel bugs that had disappeared, reappeared, but has since disappeared once again.
• In June came the sad death of my SoFoBoMo attempt. The Omaha summer music scene came alive with a free memorial park concert and another with two classic rock bands from the 60s. We finally got out of town and went on a long driving vacation to Yellowstone, Moab, and all places in between. A blood test changed my eating and exercise habits.
• July saw me winning the second quarter Geopicting contest - the first contest I think I've ever won. Our backyard hill of death was renovated. The Wife went to an Emily Dickinson workshop. The "J" came to visit. We went to one of the Wife's favorite place in the world - Red Cloud - to visit the Willa Cather Foundation. Another birthday - another day of depression. I posted a prescient high school counselor report. The month ended with a visit to the zoo.
• August was slow - post wise - but the few things we did were totally awesome. We started with a Breeders concert and moved up to Green Day (Thanks to the "J"), one of the best concerts I've ever been to (right up there with the 2007 Eagles concert). I started posting my Mom's travelogue from our trip to Guatemala. We were visited by good friends from California. A blog friend gets engaged.
• September had Air Shows, a completed movie off our deck, our first trip to Brownville, a Brownville flea market with family, and good test scores.
• October was time for another concert, this one Gordan Lightfoot. We had an early snow that lasted only a few days. I finally finished all the This American Life podcasts I had saved up on the same day that the Best Man got hired to a new job. The month ended with what I hope will become a family event next year, the Omaha Zombie Walk.
• November was the end of Mom's Travelogue. We decided to go to Jordan next year and I started the ball rolling with a trip to AAA. We willed but I didn't. I made a display board for our magnets. I upgraded to a new computer. The month ended with a 50th anniversary party and a visit to the Haverhill Social Club.
• The year ended with me himming and hawwing about snowshoeing after a particular snow filled storm with really cold temperatures. I finally did use my show shoes on the Wabash Trace. A big Christmas snow storm ended with lower back pain.
• I managed to do 11 hikes (including my personal best of 17.4 miles) totaling 92.91 miles this year, down once again from the year before. I augmented this with 14 city WalkAbouts totaling 121.79 miles. So, I hiked and walked 214.7 miles, which is more than I hiked last year - an improvement. I also biked 240.82 miles (including my all time best of 34.8 miles). I also snowshoed 7.39 miles which, for now, includes a personal best of 4.49 miles. This year has been a year of personal bests for me at least when it comes to distances.
• I improved over the measly 9 books read last year by doubling it to 18.

Last year, when I summed up my plans for the new year, I said:

"The coming year is going to be one of preparation for me. I want to prepare myself for the 2010 Pilgrimage of Saint James. There are a couple trails including the Steamboat and Cowboy trails that should provide good training. I also intend to do more Omaha walkabouts to add miles to my legs in between bike rides."

The coming year will be a continuation of the last. I have postponed my Pilgrimage to 2011 for various reasons. I intend to do the Steamboat trail this May. I am considering doing the Cowboy Trail in July/August after I get back from our Jordan trip. We'll see what actually happens.

Watching all the retrospectives of television, the last year, not to mention the last decade, were pretty dismal. Fortunately, The Wife and I have come through relatively unscathed. Hopefully the new year, 2010, an optimistic sounding year, is better for everyone.

Here's to a Happy and Prosperous New Year for all.

May all your dreams come true in 2010.

Snowshoeing Iowa: Wabash Trace South Of Council Bluffs

The Wabash Trace Nature Trail, in the north, starts in Council Bluffs, a short 25 minutes from my home. The first segment from Council Bluffs to Mineola is paved and has a parallel horse trail. At least I think it's paved - it's hard to tell with everything under inches of snow. On Christmas eve and Christmas Day we received 14 inches of blowing snow. I figured this would mean I would have another chance to use my snowshoes before the year ran out and I was right.
The trace starts in Iowa West Foundation Trailhead Park not far from the Iowa School for the Deaf (They have some impressive buildings that I'll have to come back and photograph sometime). I was concerned that the parking lot would be unusable because of all the snow but a good Samaritan must have come in a cleared most of the parking lot.

The snow conditions on this part of the trace were quite different from those near Coin. Near Coin the snow was pristine, fluffy, and soft. My snowshoes sank in some two to three inches. On the trace near Council Bluffs there was widespread evidence of snowmobile (despite the no motorized vehicles signs) and cross-country ski tracks. This activity packed the snow down so that my snowshoes only sank an inch or so. It's a lot easier to walk on packed snow and I managed to double my speed to about 2 mph.

The part of the trace I walked on today was not that exciting. The trail parallels busy roads and farmland that detracts from nature. There are a lot of trees that provide some shelter and separation but this section is accompanied by a lot of street noise. I was hoping that I would be shoeing in snow but the light snow I drove in to get to the trailhead stopped when I started down the trace and restarted again when I got back to the car - bad timing I guess. I took a few pictures which I've added to my 2009-2013 Wabash Trace Nature Trail Hike Google Photos album.

My turn around point was a bridge and bench about 2.2 miles from the trailhead. I took time to sit on the bench to eat a snack bar. I figured that sitting while eating would reduce the chance of face planting like I did last time. I was right.

The packed snow allowed my to extend my snowshoe out to 4.49 miles with a small elevation change of 140 feet. Despite the easier going, and me dressing more appropriately for the weather, I still had a trickle of sweat running down my back when I got to the turn around point and slightly wobbly legs when I got back to the car.

There is more snow in the forecast so I expect more snowshoeing in the new year.

On a side note, my back, that was bothering me since Saturday, is getting a lot better and, wearing a back brace just in case, snowshoeing didn't aggravate it.

Book: Sarah Vowell's "The Wordy Shipmates"

I have been a fan of Sarah Vowell ever since I heard her on This American Life. I have seen her in person twice before. On the radio, and in person, she has a dry wit and a funny delivery that is helped by her squeaky voice. In these short, limited doses, Vowell can be very entertaining. In a longer, written form, say, a book, her humor doesn't quite hold its own.

Sarah Vowell's latest, "The Wordy Shipmates" is the second book of her's that I've read. The first, "Assassination Vacation", which I reviewed here, was okay. It held my interest. "The Wordy Shipmates" was tougher. The book is about the puritans who settled the Boston area. I've never considered the puritans a funny bunch. Vowell tries her best to make the subject interesting and humorous but falls short. Even reading it in her voice doesn't help - after hearing her voice, it's impossible not to hear her reading the book in your head.

The book is a little repetitive, a fact that resulted in the Wife getting bored and not finishing the book. I finished it but I have to agree that Vowell rehashes things a lot. It's like she's talking to you and is worried that you may have forgotten what she said a few minutes ago. After doing that every few minutes, it would get old and this book doing it every few pages gets old as well.

I like Sarah Vowell but I've determined that I can only handle her in small portions. When her next book comes out, I will have think long and hard before I buy it.

Not recommended unless you have a puritan fetish. This was a let down for my last book of 2009 and my 18th book of the year.

One Lift-Twist Is All It Took

While shoveling and snow blowing this morning, my back finally caught up with me. Years ago, back in college, I hurt my lower back. Once you hurt your back, it is never the same again. Every few years I would do something, often something stupid, and re-injure it. This morning I felt fine but, after my first lift-twist with a shovel full of snow, I'm now walking around like an old man.

I was and still am planning to snowshoe later this week but my lower back will probably have the final say.

Now, excuse me, but I need to go back to my Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and heating pad.

A Very White Christmas

Well Christmas finally got here after the longest Christmas Eve in history. Outside the blizzard is still blowing. We woke up at 7:30AM this morning and went out 15 minutes later to start clearing our driveway and our neighbor's driveway. We have a deal with our elderly neighbors - we clear out their driveway and sidewalks and they let us use their snow blower. So far it's been a pretty sweet deal. A snow blower really speeds things up. Here's what we had to deal with this morning:

Not the most interesting picture as, instead of red and green, everything is white and grey. Between the garage door and the street was a three to four foot drift. The Wife and I managed to knock both driveways out in about an hour and fifteen minutes. We are pretty exhausted and the thought that we will be doing it again this afternoon and tomorrow is a little depressing.

Mom was going to come over for Christmas dinner but that won't be happening due to the snow. The In-Law's Christmas will be celebrated after the New Years.

We opened presents last night. Most of my Christmas present was in help buying my new computer. I also got a camera lens cleaner, a pair of post-exercise sandals I'd heard about (they feel good on the feet), a book on identifying trees, and a pair of glove liners (they've already helped keep my hands warm this morning). All good stuff and just what I wanted.

The one I think most affected by the snow is Homer. It's hard when your bathroom is out in the blizzard and the snow's so deep you drag you G-Whizzer through the snow.

Merry Christmas To All

We're having a white Christmas Eve and an even whiter Christmas this year. Due to treacherous roads we will not be going to my Mom's tonight or to the in-laws on Saturday. Hopefully Mom will be able to join us for Christmas Dinner but it isn't looking promising. We move back to the Midwest so that we could share holidays with family and the Midwest gets in the way, figures.

I hope everyone else is having a joyous holiday with family and friends.

Merry Christmas!!!

Book: John Scalzi's "The Ghost Brigades"

The Ghost Brigades" is the sequel to John Scalzi's "Old Man's War" which I read earlier this year (Review here). Like all sequels, it doesn't quite live up to the first book but, as sequels go, it's still pretty good.

The book, as the title implies, follows the Ghost Brigades, Colonial Defense Forces special forces soldiers. The soldiers are engineered from DNA of dead volunteers that die before they can be enlisted in the regulars ranks (All volunteers are recruited from elderly people from Earth and their minds are transferred into young, genetically engineered bodies). The special force's bodies are enhanced using alien DNA and brain implants turning them into super-soldiers.

The crisis in the book was pretty obvious. I saw the potential weakness in the special forces back in the first book. This kind of diminished the reading experience somewhat but the final solution to the problem is imaginative and satisfying.

I ended up reading this book in just over three days. This kind of tells you that I liked it well enough. When I don't like a book I tend to read slow. This one I zoomed through. It could have been better but it was good enough.

If you read the first book, I recommend you read this one as well.

Nebraska Geopicting Contest - VOTE!!!

They've named the fourth quarter winner for the Nebraska Geopicting Contest. Now it's time to vote for the best. Please go to the link below and vote for my picture. My picture is displayed in the sidebar on the right and, just in case, here it is again:

Vote Here!!

Voting ends on 15 January 2010 so vote as soon as possible. Thanks to everyone who plan to vote.

Nebraska Earthquake Or Loose Nuke?

A 3.5 magnitude earthquake is not an uncommon occurrence if you live in California. A 3.5 wouldn't even generate much news and speculation really. But when a 3.5 quake hits southeast Nebraska. Well. Let the conspiracies fly.

Apparently early Thursday Morning at almost the same time as the earthquake, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper, who is also an amateur astronomer no less, saw a light in the sky. So, if you were going to explain this phenomena, what would you guess? A meteor? Lightning? Coincidence? Nuclear attack from Russia? What, you ask. A nuclear attack? Well some people are saying that the the flash of light was a particle beam weapon shooting down a Russian cruise missile headed for Offutt Air Force base (home of the Strategic Air Command). The explosion that resulted caused the earthquake.

All I have to say about this is there are a lot of crazy, ignorant, irrational, paranoid, conspiratorial, uneducated, simple minded, extremist, weird people in this world.

Snowshoeing Iowa: Wabash Trace South Of Coin

Wednesday I drove almost two hours to the small town of Coin, IA. Coin is the next to last town on the Wabash Trace. I had originally intended to head north towards Bingham. The deciding factor as to which direction I would head in was the condition of the trail - Snow Free I would consider going north towards Bingham; Snow Covered I would head south towards Blanchard, the southern most end of the trace.

What brought this choice on was a preference I have when hiking - I like to have a destination. A waterfall, a scenic view, a peak. On the Wabash Trace towns are the obvious turn around destinations. If the trace was relatively snow free then a fifteen mile hike to and from Bingham was doable. If the trace was snow covered then it would be better to save the longer hike for a snow free day in the spring. Since I'd never snowshoed before, the southerly route had two things going for it. The first is it's only 5.4 miles to Blanchard. Snowshoeing was supposed to be more rigorous than hiking and a shorter target distance was more realistic. Second, in case it was even more rigorous (which I expected), there was a geocache a mile south from the town that could serve as an alternate turn around point.

As I drove into town I passed by the trace. I couldn't see it for all the snow. I parked on main street a couple blocks from the trail and suited up. I walked down to the trail and turned south. I decided to walk the block to where the trace crossed an asphalt road. The depth of the snow, eight to ten inches, proved difficult in just my boots. I crossed the asphalt and put on my snowshoes and got my trekking poles ready.

The trace ahead of me was unmarred and pristine. I started down the trail. Initially it didn't feel that hard. The snow was soft except for the thin eighth inch crust of ice, the result of the freezing drizzle we had Sunday night.

After a short distance the undisturbed nature of the trail changed as signs of wildlife started to appear. Deer Tracks. Rabbit tracks. What I assume were goose tracks. Small dog tracks. Three-legged dog tracks ... what?!? As I approached Coin I'd passed a three legged dog. He was gone by the time I got to the trace but I found some tracks that had to be his. You could see the dog print at the bottom of the holes in the snow. There was a pattern - first a pair of tracks then a single track. One of the pair was shallow so I would guess the dog was balancing on it's right front and rear legs and using it's left front leg mostly for balance. The three-legged dog tracks (I named him Tripod in my head) accompanied me my entire way.

At the one mile point I reached a bridge (one of four in the 1.5 miles of the trace I snowshoed). I expected to find a bridge here since this was the location of the geocache I was looking for. Geocaches on the trace seem to like bridges. Makes sense since there are a lot of good, sheltered hiding places under bridges. Searching under the bridge with snowshoes on was awkward but I suspect they helped me get up and down the snow covered banks easier with the metal spikes on the bottom of the snowshoes digging in the hillside. I found "Bears On The Bridge" safely tucked up under the bridge.

I climbed up from under the bridge and considered my options. I decided to try for another mile (making the whole thing four miles) and continued down the trace. I pulled out a snack bar ... a frozen snack bar ... and ate it while I walked on. At the 1.45 mile point I reached a long bridge stretching over the Tarkio River.

I walked across the bridge and decide that I'd had enough. I turned around and started back. The way back was draining. I must have been tired as I was getting a little careless with my foot placement. I pulled out a second frozen snack bar. I took a bite or two when, SMACK, I face planted in the snow. I found out a trekking pole can't do it's job when you are holding it up off the ground with a snack bar in your hand. My left snowshoe caught on something (probably my right snowshoe) and down I went. I got back on my feet, took inventory (no damage), looked around (no one saw me), brushed the snow off my snack bar, and took another bite before I continued down the trail.

The rest of the way was uneventful. By the time I got back to my car I was tired and sweating. I'd dressed 15° warmer than I should have. I stopped for some food and drove home. I was tired ... no, exhausted when I got home. It's been a long time since I felt that weary. I guess snowshoeing was tougher than, and me not as tough as, I thought.

My total distance was about 2.9 miles with 100 ft elevation. My speed was about a third of my normal hiking speed. I guess that says it all. I added some pictures to my 2009-2013 Wabash Trace Nature Trail Hike Google Photos album.