Greybeards Gripes

C-C-COLD-D-D!

January has been a very cold month. (Global Warming eh?)

Average 30 day High:  25 degrees,  and these highs were usually for less than one hour in the afternoon.

Average 30 day Low: 7 degrees, with 7 nights below Zero.

Top this off with nearly continuous winds,  and we get a pretty grim wind chill factor.  (currently -6 degrees)

There have been enough snowmobile ice fishermen to need two hands to count them,  and there are a few shanties out off of Point AuGres.  River’s Edge store up town is closed,  so the only minnows available locally are those north of town,  at the NorthPort Store, (recently reopened).  There’s currently about 8 inches of snow on the river ice, and 9 or 10 inches of ice on the river.   Wish I could give a better fishing report,  but the Doc, still say’s no cold weather activities for me.

Now if I could write like this,

http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/2009/01/takeoffs-are-optional-landings-are.html

You’d have a really good story following this sentence.

Reading Brigid’s article titled, “Takeoffs are optional, landings are mandatory“,  I somehow felt a connection with this long time pilot,  even though I’ve never flown, (in a plane that is). 

“it’s got more horsepower than you’ll know what to do with and feeling the rush of air coming back,,exhilarating” ,

“This isn’t some plane that you occupy, this is a plane that becomes part of you,”,

“the choreography of brain and hands, wood and metal, that drive you towards the horizon”

These are just a few of the lines that bring back thoughts of my glory days of Enduro bike racing.   After reading the comments on the article,  (even before),  I realize that most all of the readers, associated airplanes with the article.   The mechanic’s,  the comaraderie, the one-ness with the machine, even the spirituality,  are all part of it.

For me,  it was a 90 horse power,  217 pound, two wheeled, knobby tired, two stroked, woods machine.   Be it Yamaha, or Kawasaki,  it was always a hot-rod dirtbike and a few like minded friends and family members.  

Horsepower?  For sure,  more than any sane person knew what to do with.  

Melding with the machine?  Yes,  becoming “one” with the machine,  you rocket through close packed giant trees, thick underbrush, thorns, wet knarly roots, mud, and sand,  at speeds that the average mortal would not understand,  or even believe.  (Occasionally, getting reminded of your speed, by a grazing thud of your shoulder against the rock solid surface of a tree.)

Choreography of mind, and full body?  After a long day’s ride,  you discover hundreds of muscles that you never knew you had.  Some sort of strain/pain, in every part of your body that there is a muscle,  because every muscle in your body is used and abused repeatly every half-second or so.  The faster you go,  the farther ahead you focus your attention.  You plan your route and technique, through the foward trail well before you reach it,  because if you don’t,  your reflexes aren’t nearly fast enough to make everything happen correctly.

After an hour or so out,  possibly after a crash or two,  it all starts to come together.  The throttle, the shifter,  the brakes.  The feel of the individual knobb’s on the tires,  as they grab that most important bit of soil that,  that makes the difference between T-boning a tree, and flying through a pair of tree’s 20 inchs apart, with a quick wag of the handlebars.

Speed is alway’s at the forefront.  Not, raging, blinding speed,  but smooth, confident speed.  You might have your fastest run ever through a particularly nasty piece of territory,  just before breaking into a long smooth clearing,  where you idle along in top gear, enjoying the scenery, and wildlife.  Averaging 24 miles per hour for up to 16 hours,  (the basiss for a Michigan Enduro) through the woods, swamps, sand pits, etc,  may sound somewhat tame,  but I can assure you,  it entails often pulling 75 mph through stuff that most people wouldn’t try to walk through.  

The crazy long weekends,  followed by the hours of cleaning and disassembling the bike.  Looking for wear or stress cracks.  Then lubrication and reassembling it with loving care,  after all,  this machine,  is going to be your lifeline,  in the next run.

And of course after the man/machine thing,  (or girl-machine thing), there was usually the campground.  Often no-where’s near a real campground,  but in the true, wild country of northern Michigan.  Family , friends, and food, around the campfires.  Stories of the day,  stories of past days, lubricated by an occasional beer, pot of coffee, or other form of liquid refreshment. 

Thanks Brigid,  for bringing back some of these memorys.  It’s not quite flying,  but it’s darn close. 

Ever wonder what it would look like to stand flat footed on Mars,  and look around yourself?

Loreena McKinnitt:  Nights of the Alhambra

This DVD was actually recorded in 2006,  but the music is timeless and coupled with the ancient beauty of the Alhambra,  it’s a stunning audio\visual experience led by a lady known to have one of the most beautiful female voices in the world.  Loreena  musically follows the ancient Celts across their portions of the world.   A 2hr and 20 minute piece of heaven.   A dream I’ve sheltered for quite some time,  is an episode of  Country Music Channel’s  Crossroads,  featuring  Loreena McKennitt, Amy Lee, and Allison Krauss.

Low average temperature here over the last 6 days,  MINUS 1.5 degrees.

Finding something else to do other than watch the “Coronation” on the boob-tube,  I wound up reading through the Feb. 2009 Field and Stream magazine.  Specifically the Article by Mark T. Sullivan,  “A Change in the Weather”.  This article prompted me to write the following email to the editors of Field and Stream.

“I’ve just finished reading the “A Change in the Weather” article in the Feb. 2009 issue of Field and Stream.

I’m very dissapointed to learn that Field and Stream seems to have bought into the hype, hook line and sinker.  This article tends to indicate I should question other articles I find in  Field and Stream.

I’m not a professional researcher,  but I do spend a lot of time looking at issues that pique my interest,  and those that directly affect me.   When it comes to Global Warming,  I get enough “pro-Global Warming” info from the broadcast media and the newspapers,  so a lot of my G-W research is geared toward the debunking of the myth.  (to balance my thoughts on the idea)   Not being a professional or getting paid to do it,  I usually don’t document my findings,  I use them soley to form my personal opinions.

I have no trouble what so ever finding huge amounts of documents, written by highly knowledgable people,  that feel the Global Warming issue is basically a huge MYTH, (possibly evented as a funds generating source).

Back to the article,  “2007,  the hottest year since 1880“,   I’ve read multple scientific studies to debunk this statement.   “Ice core samples showing the Earth’s carbon dioxide levels higher than in the last 650,000 years“   come on now,  I remember evidence to debunk that statement from way back in my elementary school history classes,  not to mention the study of ice core sample I read about,  that proved the Earth goes through very long cycles of heating and cooling.

“The preponderance of scientists now agreeing that climate change is real and acellerating at an alarming rate“,   The way I’ve heard it,  every day,  more and more scientists swap sides,  and at a U.N. event this year concerning Global warming,  the believer’s were in the 10’s while the debunkers,  were in the 100’s.

The majority of the article was the typical “Doom and Gloom” spread by the majority of media that support the idea and very little about what could be done to prevent these supposed trageties. (with a hunting/fishing twist)  In my personal experience so far, this winter has been the coldest one in quite a few years.   (The average low here in northern Michigan, over the last 6 days,  has worked out to minus 1.5 degrees,  (and a failed United Nations proposal to inject thousands of pounds of chemicals and tiny mirrors into the Atmosphere,  could have lowered that average to minus 30 degrees!!!!!).

All things considered,  I didn’t exactly feel that Mark T. Sullivans article,  “A Change in the Weather” , was a stellar piece of reporting.

GreyBeard
–
http://greybeard.igogg.com

“Is fear rith maith ná drochsheasamh ,
Sláinte chugat”

Or is it “Coronation”,  in either case,  I’ll not be watching any part of it on the overblown network news,  magazines, etc.

In fact,  I think,  I’ll “take my wife out to dinner” during the event.

Yeah,  I know,  I’m not doing politics any more, but this is more about respect than politics.

Take a run over to “Home on the Range” to see the rest of the below quote:

“”When our new President takes the oath of office, I hope that he truly hears those words as he speaks them from Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution:

“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” “