Under the circumstances, I guess my Labor Day weekend was about as good as it could have been. As nice as it was to get together with friends on Friday and Saturday nights, Katrina (please give if you can) and more specifically our administration’s handling of the situation cast something of a pall over the weekend. Which, frankly, is as it should be. Why should any of us run around without a care in the world with what’s going on a few hundred miles from where I now sit? I’ve made it a point to not discuss politics in this space, and I won’t break that commitment now, but I will say that I’ve found the media’s genuine horror at the apalling conditions of New Orleans and the surrounding vicinity one of the few signs of hope. Finally we seem to have members of the media concerned less with ratings, less with toeing the party line, and who understand that they can use their powers for good, not evil. Much as Craig Newmark has done throughout this crisis.
Forget the partisanship; hearing politicians from both sides of the aisle congratulating and thanking one another during press interviews for doing their jobs while we essentially have a war zone on our home soil was not just distastefully premature, but outrageous given the current reality. Why don’t we hold the thanks until people stop dying, until people aren’t homeless, until everyone – regardless of socioeconomic standing – is taken care of? Just a thought.
Anyway, that’s enough from me on that topic. While not brooding about the Katrina situation this weekend, I did manage to get outside to appreciate the fine weather here in Colorado. While Saturday was spent as previously discussed paying off some old debts by playing Andy Dufresne and tarring a friends roof, I did manage to fish yesterday and today. Sunday was Sawhill Ponds (got some pictures up in Flickr here), and today was a new venue – Brainard Lake State Park (Flickr set here, Lake Mitchell’s the inset picture), about an hour outside of Boulder. The latter is highly recommended [1], as the Lake Mitchell trailhead that we went up is gorgeous and not too strenuous – provided you stay on trail. Which of course we did not.
That’s the bad news about the weekend, which is the utter destruction of my feet. Begun by the absurdly dry climate out here in CO, my poor paws were almost totally finished off by bushwacking through streamside willow bushes, hiking up the rock-filled tributary streams to Lake Mitchell, and wading through set after set of stinking marshes. I’ll admit up front that my default footwear choice for the summer months – flip-flops – played a major role in this damage, but I decline full responsibility given that the venue was changed on me at the last minute. Either way, I’ve now got split calluses on both heels along with a nice mud filled puncture right on the ball of my left foot (praying that doesn’t get infected). While I’m hobbling around at the moment, I’ll survive. Not looking forward to cramming my feet into my business casual shoes later this week, however. Which brings me to travel.
I’ll be hopping the red eye from Denver to Boston Wednesday night for a Thursday-evening / Friday-day IBM conference. After some family business in Boston on Saturday, I’ll be headed straight down to NYC for a Sun conference. Net net, if you’re in Boston on Thursday or NYC Monday and want to meet up, I invite you to drop me a line. My schedule’s likely to be a mess, but if I can fit you in I will.
Otherwise, there’s a lot to cover this week. Should be busy.
[1] Under no circumstances should you stop along the way in Ward, CO, however. A stranger town you’re unlikely to find, and in the minute or so it took us to drive through we saw one rather sketchy individual roaming around the equivalent of Main St with a blowpipe at the ready. Just drive through, trust me.
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