An Uplifting Proposal

Last weekend I went camping with some friends. This was way out in a secluded area that required 4 wheel drive to get to. The canyon area we went to was rugged and dry. The seclusion was nice in that we could fill the canyon with music without disturbing anyone.

How does one fill a canyon with music? Well, it takes a number of very large speakers and a huge generator that is towed behind a truck. That is quite the determined effort.

My journey began earlier in the week when Barry, who has been a great friend for over 10 years, said that he was going to propose to Maja, that is was a secret, and that he would like me to be there. Of course I said yes!

The week was already busy. Tori was in a school play of "Little Shop Of Horrors." We saw that Wednesday. Thursday was my birthday. We went to see Cirque Du Sole with Barry, Maja, and Mike. Front row seats were awesome. And I quickly packed on Friday and met Barry to carpool to Eastern Washington. Which I was corrected by Paul at work that Wenachee is "Central Washington." He is from Spokane. I said that people on the west side of the Cascade consider everything on the east side Eastern Washington.

Saturday I was not awake for long when I kept looking up at the hillside and the top of the canyon wall. I glanced over at Maja and said I really want to climb that. She said, "I'll go with you." "Right now?" "Yes" So we grabbed some water changed into better shoes and pants and headed on up.

The journey was challenging steep slopes, loose dirt, and loose rocks. But the views were outstanding. As was the company. Though I was chuckling on the inside when she was talking about how much she liked Barry. Little did she know what Sunday morning would bring.

When we reached the top and rested a bit, I wanted to walk down something more gradual. As we followed the ridge line down into a gully, Maja was the first to spot large bones of a leg. Probably a dear or cow. We walked onward she remarked at what a startling find that was. A few steps later she stopped dead in her tracks. When I caught up, I saw it too. It was a dear skull, antlers, and spine laid out straight and bleach white and bone dry.

Yeah, that was amazing to see. We decided that the skull and antlers would make an excellent addition to the camp. Walking the rest of the way down was now a little bit trickier. As we approached camp Maja held the antlers over her head. It was indeed a fabulous find.

Later that day we took another hike down into the canyon further. Barry lead us to a spot where the rushing water had carved a large bowl into the rock. Walking back we found a shorter path to the road. There we met a cowboy names Ron who was on an ATV. We managed to fit 7 of us on the ATV and got a ride all the way back to camp.

Early the next morning as the sun was rising we prepared for another journey up the canyon side. I was definitely more tired this time around and it felt like the canyon rim was much further up there.

I settled in on the edge of the cliff. Barry led Maja over to an adjacent area of the cliff. He walked away from her and returned with a dozen roses. A little while later I glanced over to see her looking down with her jaw dropped. And a little while after than Barry looked over and said we could all cheer now. Which we did.

Maja was a bit shocked and was glowing. As was Barry, who then removed a huge bottle of Champagne from his backpack. We enjoyed the tasty bubbles while Maja told us how she was amazed that we all knew and she hadn't heard a thing.

Barry and I have been through a lot together. Having done probably 500 skydives face-to-face our non-verbal communication is amazing. We have each grown so much and shared so many travels and experiences. It was an honor and pleasure to be there when he began this new part of his life.

Peace and Love to you both Barry and Maja

Campus Bike

I have been busy this first couple weeks back at Microsoft. Since starting have had several meetings a day to connect and reconnect with people and groups. In trying to get more dome in less time, I have been trying to reduce the time it takes to get to meetings between buildings.

I can walk briskly to most campus buildings within 20 minutes. If I ask for a shuttle, will wait about 10 minutes and ride for about 10 minutes. So, it still takes about 20 minutes. If I drive, I can spend 5 minutes to walk to my car, drive out of the garage, and across campus, 5 minutes to find a parking space, and 5 minutes to walk out of the garage into the other building.

Even with the hassles, driving is quite often faster than walking or shuttles, and is therefore still a popular choice for cross campus meetings.

Trying another avenue, I have purchased a cheap bike, helmet, and lock at Fred Meyer and rode it to my office to leave. Now I have a bike ready for immediate use to shuttle between buildings even if I drove to work.

I estimate that I can save 30 minutes for each cross campus meeting, or about 1 to 20 hours per week. This makes it easy to justify the cost of the bike. There are also health benefits and ecological benefits to riding over taking the shuttle. On really hot days and during heavy rain, walking is less viable. (Walking 20 minutes in the rain is very different than riding 5 minutes.)

I will post about this again when I have been using the bike for a while.