Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Happy Thanksgiving 2014!

"What shall we do for Thanksgiving?" Ping posed the question, and, just as quickly, she answered it. "We'll get everything from the Beitou Market!" Here's what it was like hunting for Thanksgiving fixings here in Beitou this morning (while maybe doing a little anticipatory "Black Friday" shopping).
Here goes Ping in search of turkey.
Mmm! DOUGHNUTS! Stay on task, Mark. Stay on task.
Turkey...turkey...wait, that's chicken!
Duck? Chicken? Whatever. Fowl enough.
Gotta have corn on the cob!
Oh, yeah! Candied yams! Hot & ready!
Are chestnuts too "Christmas-y" for Thanksgiving?
Pumpkin? No pumpkins? Is squash the same Genus?
Finally! Dessert! I'll take six of each, please.
It's the morning of "Black Friday Eve!"
Let the shopping begin!
Ping scores an early Black Friday deal...wait, they don't do
"Black Friday" here! It's a deal, nonetheless: two pretty scarves
for NT$100 (about $3.24 USD)!
So what are we having for Thanksgiving dinner tonight? Um, probably Costco pizza!!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Lost Gloves

Most likely, I was removing layers. I was a little too hot and had to pull off my waterproof shell, take off my fleece inner jacket, roll it up, cinch the stuff sack and stow it in the backpack, and then put the shell back on before I got cold again. I think I got that right. I just missed one detail.

Oxygen scarcity is deceptive. We think we're managing just fine. But sometimes, in the altitude, little things get missed.

Somewhere out there, I lost a well-worn, well-loved pair of gloves. They weren't even gloves, really, just glove liners--black, lightweight, just warm enough to ward off the chill. It's hard to explain how much they meant to me. They smelled of deep woods, rock and snow, and I was happy every time I wore them.

I'd had this particular pair for over 15 years. That's a lot of miles, a lot of elevation, a lot of effort, and a lot of exploring: the Cascades, the Wallowas, the Sawtooths, the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada...

So if I had to lose these gloves, it was only fitting that they end up beside a rocky trail, at about 15,000' in the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Back when I bought them, I had only dreamed of such places.

I'll be back--if not to this trail, then to another one. As usual, I'll bring a spare pair of gloves. That old pair is probably buried under heavy snow by now.