I just got back from Lassen Volcanic National Park and it was one of the most fantastic natural experiences of my life! I'm an Eagle Scout with a lot of camping miles on the odometer so that says a lot. I've never claimed to be a scientist, but my science class of choice in high school and college was Earth Science and Lassen is certainly a one of the few living examples of that in the lower 48. On Friday, Candace and I first checked out Bumpass Hell where mud bubbled, steam rose, and the stench of sulfur spewed from the ground. The earth was a multitude of color from orange to blue and gray. The water was silver, bright blue and even black in spots. We dipped our toes for a bit in a naturally heated stream.
Saturday we did some hiking, saw a waterfall, some beautiful alpine meadows and lakes and checked out some of North America's newest rocks formed during the 1915 Lassen Volcanic eruption. The highlight of the day however was actually at night. We went to the lake to look at the stars. I don't think I have ever seen such a exquisite night sky. The stars were so bright they reflected in the hundreds off the lake's water. To describe the scene as truly amazing would hardly give it justice.
On Sunday, we hiked to Lassen peak. The views from the summit were breath taking. We could see the central valley, lakes of varying shades of blue, and the snow covered Mt Shasta. At more than 10-thousand feet it is the highest altitude either of us have hiked to. We ate lunch at the top, hung out for a bit and begrudgingly made our way back home promising ourselves a return to the Northern California woods.
Life at the store is as good as ever. One of my bosses was having difficulty with a mathematical equation today and asked me for some assistance. Now I'm the last person to proclaim superiority when it comes to advanced number crunching and problem solving. Save for the cats (and that's debatable), I'm by far the worst in my household. But I accepted the challenge and offered my assistance. You may be wondering, what is this nearly impossible brain teaser? 22-1. Yes, that is what is a dollar off of 22 dollars? HOLY *#@^! A Forest Gump quote seems appropriate to end this paragraph, "That's all I'm going to say about that."
The past week has been one of change. My buddy Tom is moving to Pittsburgh, PA. Not to be confused with Pittsburgh, CA, which is at the end of one of the BART lines. Tom's departure for the greener pastures of owning a giant T. V., actually having a married life, as well as the promise of a top notch masters and eventually a doctorate degree leaves all of us remaining in San Francisco without a token British friend to hang out with. If anyone knows someone with British accent who enjoys sports, hates tea, and isn't afraid to tackle s'more making we're taking applications. Seriously, Tom and Sandra are already missed very much and we better all get our fannies to Pittsburgh to visit.
The rest of July went something like this...the 4th, dad tries to sell the house, Keith visits, American River rafting, teaching in Fairfax, hello "in-laws", garden harvest, plan my Maine return, plane nearly crashes into WGAN, and work on next KALW story underway.
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