Winter wonders

Took the opportunity to take Katja skiing today.

We met some of our friends on the mountain unexpectedly.

It was a great time on the mountain. A few great runs in. Lunch and a few more runs. I even tested out the Slalom course, a first for me. The weather was fickle and wet. By 3:30 out outer layers were wet and we called it a day.

Often as it is the case Katja falls asleep on the way home. So this day I again fell into my own thoughts. We passed a great many tress which had suffered fractures due to the recent ice storm. The greatest extent of the damaged trees was near Pleasant Hill. On the way up we counted among the trees 4 fallen telephone/power poles. The way back was different from the drive up in several ways. Among them there were now a number of backyard fire burning mounds of fallen branches. Evidently this practice was so well loved by those of Pleasant Hill and Springfiled that the whole valley from Dexter to Eugene was covered in a yellow haze caught below the ever dripping gray rain clouds. Breathability was noticeably affected and not for the better.

I passed one rather large burning pile and thought that it was rather odd that they didn’t cut it up for fire wood. That way at least the burning would have a purpose beyond clearing the field or yard area. At some point these trees ar seen a “excess” and rather than a limited commodity. Firewood is easy to come by. It’s cheap, maybe too cheap.

In a sense though isn’t the current situation with many of the fallen trees and limbs due to a lack of pruning? Granted we usually only have cold snaps like that once every 15 years or so in this part of the country. But when pruning isn’t done using it a similar perspective that the trees are really “excess”?

Another way that the drive differed was that on the way up Katja was reading Prince Caspian from the Chronicles of Narnia. While she knows the story well from audio books she definitely likes to read.

I asked her what one might learn from a book like Prince Caspian. To which she replied that there really isn’t much one can learn from fiction.

I said that I didn’t think that was true. In fact I thought that there was quite a bit one could learn through fiction. While it maybe not true facts or true events the kinds of decisions and scenarios one is exposed to through the narrative can influence us in indirect ways.

I asked her if she learned about morals at school. To which she replied “no”, to her recollection all discussion about right and wrong was about rules: school rules and classroom rules. Again I followed up with a question. I asked…what makes rules right or wrong? It’s about what we believe isn’t it?

Looking for two way radios for skiing

Super helpful review:

https://www.backcountry.com/explore/two-way-radios-for-backcountry-safety

Software:
https://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

Amazing Write up:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RNTTCRZQPTJH7/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08T9BCXVB

Some reviewers were saying that some radios have the same brand and ID but over the years the manufacturers have lowered the wattage output and relicensed with the FCC.

Prospective model: https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-Tri-Power-Portable-3800mAh-Earpiece/dp/B07VJ38MTW/ref=sr_1_14?c=ts&keywords=Portable%2BFRS%2BTwo-Way%2BRadios&qid=1681269841&s=electronics&sr=1-14&ts_id=912322&th=1

Sled and Tobbogan Research

I research all sorts of things... but one area I do not do enough research in is fun - especially winter fun.

With the resent 5" (or theres about) of snow in Eugene I thought I would pull a memory or two out of my past and take a look online to see if I could find any pictures. I am particularly interested in sledding. This is sorta new. Let me explain. Growing up I learned to ski. It was an individualistic sport and did not require cooperation. In contrast to the atmosphere around skiing (at least my exposure to it), sledding is much more of a social enterprise. In database terms, in stead of a one-to-one relationship (skier to skies) it is a many-to-one relationship (people to sled). Give this past I think it might be time to revisit the sled in context of the social element and re-evaluate "sledding".

Last night some students in Becky's program and I got out to a local hill and went sledding. It was a blast. Even though I am the guy in the red jacket. (permissions on video no-longer work)

Meadowbrook Sectional Toboggan

It reminded me of a sled my dad had when I was in the third grade. It was an orange. Recent internet sluthing has shown that it was likely a Meadowbrook Sectional Toboggan. There is a patent for it in google. The only picture I could find on the Internet for the make/model is below.

Long Toboggan

Long Toboggan


Folded Sled

Foldable in three sections.

Foldable sled in extended position

In extended position

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