Summery Summary

So, yes. The rumors are true: I led bike tours this summer and fell out of basic communication with most people. The tours were in Oregon - on the coast and in the Willamette Valley, where we visited farms, land trusts, experimental gardens, all kinds of "green" stuff. And, no, it wasn't a big hippie gathering on wheels. It was everybody from everywhere that U.S. customs still allows to travel (well, not quite). I got dirty. I got impressive tan lines. I got to hang out next to campfires regularly. I got to ride bikes and wear spandex all the time. It was great!
It was a unique time to provide 24/7 customer service, which was sometimes overwhelming, and quite exhausting by the end. I was living a nomadic existence and was away from my cats, but overall it was a fantastic, inspiring gig.

Two things worth special mention:

My Co-workers. Katie and Jaye are fantastic humans! I probably wouldn't have met them otherwise, and I definitely wouldn't have spent so much time with them otherwise. Thanks for being totally awesome, and being helpful when I was feeling beat.


Bikes. Bikes are incredible. I learned so much about them this summer. I can fix more than I could fix before, and the things I could fix before I can do better and faster. I am a stronger rider now. And I found a seat that doesn't make me want to cry.

Wacky things happen.

Umm... What do I do now?!?


People can be a bit overprotective of their property.


Yeah, this is a "bicycle" with six legs. And it really works. And it costs over $12,000.

An unfortunate misspelling of Slav's name on a custom plating of his dessert at The Sweet Life Patisserie in Eugene.

Books I read:

Permaculture in a Nutshell by Patrick Whitefield
A good quick intro to permaculture. Presents the ideas in an easy to understand way, even though it is written specifically for the climate of England.

Culture of Make Believe by Derrick Jensen
An anti-civilization activist who makes his argument rather well. Stories of what has been and has happened depressed, angered and mystified me while his vision of how things have been in "uncivilized" cultures and what we can hope for (if we dismantle civilization) was uplifting... though I kinda wondered if he turned the manuscript in to the publisher and they told him that he needed to give it a happy ending.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
The last one, of course. Good old Harry. Fun to read. Gripping and thrilling!!! How it all turned out... Who'd've thunkit? I could have done without the predictable content in the epilogue, but other than that it was super.

Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exuperey
Very highly acclaimed adventure memoire. I tend to agree with the bookstore owner at Cloud and Leaf in Manzanita, who placed it between the Adventure/Travel section and the Being Human section. More of a philosophical, reflective book, even though it tells the story of plane and piloting mishaps. A great contribution to outdoorsy culture. He (and his translator) has a way with words, to be sure.

Grave Matters: A Journey through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial by Mark Harris
A brief look at the "traditional" way of doing a funeral followed by anecdotes and a quick how-to for each thing from cremation to home funerals to conservation-focused cemetery burial. A topic of interest for me since we all die sooner or later and we may as well tell our families a good way of dealing with the aftermath. I liked how he integrated the anecdotes in to provide a picture of what each option "looks like" for the mourners.