Winter 2015 is winding down but you wouldn’t know it by going outside. Snow and subzero temperatures last night felt more like January but nevertheless, March is only a week away and with that a quick couple of weeks to the official start of spring. This week finds me busy on several fronts, including the wrapping up of my review of the Vasque Breeze 2.0 GTX Hiking boot. Feeling kind of sad about completing that project, it was a blast and testing the boots was giving me a good excuse to get out in the great outdoors and wander around. Now I will have to make up some new reasons to get out and about.
Speaking of the article writing endeavor, it looks like I am going to get a new opportunity. The Examiner has invited me to work on a program where top examiners will be covering local events for the CBS Local website. Unlike regular articles, these will pay a flat fee and must be reviewed through the editing process. I am confident about this though as I am already familiar with the interface and have had a number of articles about the local running scene pass through the editors. So stay tuned, and we will see if I can become a famous CBS reporter!
Also trying a new once an hour oxygenation treatment to see if we can beat back Tricia’s cancer. Time consuming but the initial results look promising and we are hoping to soon start dialing back the oxygen condenser.
Have been watching the “Living With Wolves” documentary about Jim and Jamie Dutcher’s experiment with forming the Sawtooth Wolf Pack. I am absolutely captivated by the complexity and depth of feeling displayed by the wolves. Americans would do well to learn from the Nez Perce native American tribe who revered the wolf and sought to emulate the family bond and other admiral qualities of the wolf. I wish the gun toting rednecks who seek to destroy the wolf population had the humanity of wolves, including joy, affection and grief that the entire pack experiences throughout their short lives. In one particular sad segment of the show one of the pack was killed by a mountain lion and the mournful howling of the group was quite touching. Hunters, trappers and ranchers need to understand that the murder of a wolf results in hardship for the whole pack of wolves making it more, not less likely that the pack will need to turn to the easy prey of livestock instead of more difficult prey that a more effective pack could pursue. I think if more people watched this video there would be a lot less hatred of the animals and perhaps they would be placed back on the endangered list everywhere.
There was a bit of progress the other day when the Department of Fish and Game did put the wolves back on the endangered list in several states. However my joy at seeing the news was tempered by the news that a republican senator has introduced legislation to reverse the decision by the federal judge and restart the mindless slaughter. I hope the grass roots effort that resulted in the federal decision in the first place will rise up again and dissuade the republican congress from once again thumbing their nose at the people they are supposed to be representing.
