HER OWN THRED HERE...WELCOME! feralfae, aka iloilo buchanan

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neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 3, 2013 - 02:20pm PT
hey there say, guys... and:
WELCOME to feralfae! you got your own thread here now-- sometimes your wonderful sharing is not seen by everyone, since not everyone knew doug here--and your posts and shares are so VALUABLE!

"CARRY ON" i liked how you said that, :)
you SURE had a HARD climb since that 2008 accident, you, doug, the cancer, and the recent SPINE injury manesfesting, whewwwwwww


tencity that doug would be proud of--you are so welcomed here,
and as you carry on, we will be here to cheer you onward, :

man oh man... THIS was some last few years, :O

This is feralfae's share from the
doug buchanan on the other side, thread:

Jan 3, 2013 - 07:04am PT
Thank you everyone for the get well wishes and the great notes and cards! Neebee, I know you were the brains behind this, so special thanks to you for everything. Yes, it was emergency spine surgery of a highly amusing nature.
Since many of you asked, here's the short version of the story...

Careening along the frozen expanse of the Johansen Expressway in Fairbanks, returning to HQ from last-minute shopping prior to Christmas, the rental car I was driving was struck in the driver's door by a pickup. I was the driver on the inside of the collapsed metal. After the side airbag exploded and knocked me out, and I came to, I realized that I could not move anything except my head. December 2008.

Soon, lights and noise surrounded me, as paramedics and fire people figured out how to pry off the driver's door, slip a board under my body, and slowly inch my frame on to the board, while stabilizing my head. Of course it was -23F, so we did not need to worry about conserving the A/C in any of the vehicles. Our Godson Jason, up from Montana, was in the vehicle with me, but I heroically managed to absorb most of the shock of the impact, so he was unscathed in the collision. But terribly shaken, as he held on to me while I was out and after when I went into convulsions from the airbag blow.

Doug met us at Fairbanks Memorial, where x-rays revealed that I had not broken my neck, but that I had a bit of damage to the lower spine. I was instructed to have it checked out when I got back to Montana. The rental vehicle was entirely wrecked, and was given a decent retirement to the scrap yard. I was given a brace to reduce the pain in my cracked ribs. We scrambled into the trusty Jeep and headed home to HQ.

We had a grand and glorious big bottle party, followed by more glorious parties around the neighborhood. My rib wrap was working to hold things together. I showed the Ice Tower show for everyone.

Later in December, after a delicious dinner with our friends the Foots (Feets) Doug and I went home to HQ, climbed into our bed, and snuggled up for a nice rest. A few hours later, Doug woke up in severe pain, and a few hours after that, he was at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he had emergency surgery and the diagnosis of cancer.

I put Jason on a plane home a few days later, and settled in to care for Doug, completely setting aside the "go see your spine doc when you get home" message, because here we had lots worse and immediate stuff to consider.

Fast forward through three years of chemo, doctors, surgeries, special diets, more surgeries, more chemo, lots of hope and desperation there at the last, and Doug writing out detailed instructions, leaving lots of notes, and then managing to escape his body that was no longer functioning. I held him in my arms as he left.

By that time, I was wearing a back brace full time, taking lots of pain medications, and still able to carry on. I made it through the Fairbanks Celebration in May, and was able to hang on for a couple of significant meetings arranged earlier by Doug. I headed home to Montana, driving down the AlCan, where the flooding and washed out roads impeded progress.

In WhItehorse, by now barely able to walk from the pain, I was rescued by a sister climber, who got me back to Fairbanks and on to a flight for Montana.

Arriving home, I remarked to a friend that I could finally collapse and rest. I was eating pain pills with remarkable appetite. Two weeks later, after an emergency room diagnosis of coda equina, I am rushed to emergency spine surgery, from which I am recovering with remarkable success. I plan to be back in the mountains before too long. I had a super spine surgeon, who is a runner and sometimes climber, and the best physical therapy team in the business—all people who live here so they can play in the mountains.

That's it. That's it. The whole story. I'll be in Fairbanks in the spring or early summer, as soon as these PT guys release me to go play and carry stuff. I have a design for helium balloons for carrying my pack into Rainbow. So, I'll be sure to post here before I head up to Fairbanks. For those of you in Wyoming, I will be down in the Winds later as well, hanging on the North Fork with occasional trips in to Lander. If you are in the area, let me know. You can reach me at ilo(AT)iloilojones(dot)com, just put Wyoming or Winds in the subject line.

So, okay, that's the story and update. Other news and links are available through MeansOfInquiry(dot)org, where I will post occasionally, or on the related sites you can find through that one.

Thank you all very much for your kindness, concern, and great notes. I am still sorting stuff here, and have a lot of Doug's stories that he never got uploaded, which I hope to get entered into the sites in the next few years as things settle into a new path and a new life. Thank you all very much for your love, caring, and wonderful fellowship.
Carry on.
feralfae, aka iloilo

thank you feralfae for getting in touch with all these
wonderful folks that sent you the messages...

god bless!!!

and YES!!! LET US KNOW about all your alaska treks, as well!!!!
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 3, 2013 - 02:34pm PT
hey there say, all...

we NEED the link to the doug buchanan on the other side:

http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=1745193&tn=60#msg2033195

say, feralfae... wow, i just read this again and i cried those 'tears of relief' and a few sad ones and some 'happy tears', :)

may god's grace help you on your new trail, this year...
may the ground be stable and solid and may you fulfill doug's wishes,
and have good special play time in the mountains with all your
beloved friends!

happy new though different, but soon to be speical, NEW YEAR!
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Jan 3, 2013 - 02:38pm PT
Welcome feralfae!!

Doug was a unique character here, and still missed.

Please pitch in with some good ol' Alaska news from time to time!
(I'm a Venetie, Kotzebue, Nome, Bethel, Anchorage, Eagle River boy myself.)
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Jan 3, 2013 - 02:42pm PT
Hi felafel,
never did get to meet Doug.

Welcome to the scrum.
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Jan 3, 2013 - 10:30pm PT
Hey, thank you all!
My own thread! Wow! Now, in the interest of maintaining a level of authentic entertainment, I shall begin to share some of my, ahem, adventures, preferably not of a medical nature.

Thank you all. I will endeavor to carry the banner and to provide a small portion of the writing my most Worthy Husband and Partner could do.

Thank you!
Carry on!
***<twinkles>***
feralfae
Mighty Hiker

climber
Vancouver, B.C.
Jan 3, 2013 - 10:38pm PT
Dare I say that we welcome you robustly?
Nohea

Trad climber
Living Outside the Statist Quo
Jan 3, 2013 - 11:26pm PT
Aloha Farelfae,
Glad to have you here at our virtual campfire.

Will
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Jan 4, 2013 - 05:40am PT
Wee hours bump for feralfae, and a PM I just got.

It's a funny world sometimes.....
johntp

Trad climber
socal
Jan 4, 2013 - 05:44am PT
Welcome feralfae!

What is a feralfae? Sounds scary!
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jan 4, 2013 - 08:21am PT
It's a free for all here, sister.

But it's also a pull-togther thing, kinda like sled dogs.

Shout out for Alaskans!

neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 4, 2013 - 01:01pm PT
hey there say,feralfae!

three cheers, the campfire here
will be all the richer... adventures make it brighter, for sure!

as to this quote--wonderful!!:

I will endeavor to carry the banner and to provide a small portion of the writing my most Worthy Husband and Partner could do.

:)
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Jan 4, 2013 - 04:04pm PT
Hey,
A Feral Fae Is a wild fairy, previously sort of tamed, but then, having considered her options, she decided to go back to being wild, thus feral, which means she left a university position and scooted out to Montana to play in the mountains pretty much full time. And became much more of a self-responsible anarchist, and learned more about living free.

Not scary, but certainly not scared, either. :)

Thank you all for the welcome. I will consider this the place where I can post about wild adventures, especially those where we are not sure if we survived or not, although I try to avoid those most of the time. And I may occasionally rag the government, which certainly needs as much ragging as we are able to provide through our laughter at the stupidity of war and burdensome taxation, not to mention all the entertaining encroachments on free climbers.

As I may be traveling a bit (I am also an archaeologist/anthropologist) I hope to have some good excuses to climb in various places as I explore Rock Art and remote habitation sites. I'll keep my usual notes.
Carry on!
Climb On!
feralfae
MisterE

Social climber
Jan 4, 2013 - 05:59pm PT
Welcome to the mix, feralfae, that was quite a story! Seems like you have gone through some crazy stuff, and come out the other side!

Vegasclimber

Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
Jan 4, 2013 - 06:08pm PT
Welcome Feralfae!

I am looking forward to hearing of your adventures - your style of writing is very honest and warm.

I have an interest in archeology, would love to see some pictures of sites that you have visited if you care to share.

Be well!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Jan 8, 2013 - 02:36pm PT
Thank you for all the kind and loving comments.

Most of my past archaeological files are archived at Northwestern University, University of Illinois, Illinois museums, or University of Tennessee. Some of my files are at the Center for American archaeology at Kampsville, Illinois. I was with the Center for American Archaeology at Northwestern, but also worked in a few foreign spots. I archived my records when Doug and I were packing and sorting to move to Southeast Alaska.

So now, I am figuring out where I will wander next. Maybe east of Greece, not sure. Maybe more in Egypt. Maybe more in the Highlands and Orkney Islands. Maybe Mongolia. I am pondering these options as I heal and grow stronger, and begin to figure out life without Doug. :) There is also Chile, with its marvelous iconography, which is worth studying. And if I want to stay close to Montana, there is archaeology here and in Wyoming, as well as in the Dakotas.

I have friends in the field all over the world, but for now, I am unpacking my studio, planning to get back to art-making in the next year or so, and not sure what life is going to hand me in the way of more miracles and adventures, so taking it slow right now until I finish healing on lots of levels.

So, sorry I don't have a lot of files and images, but we were sorting stuff and paring down the number of ConEx containers we would need to move from here to there. Whew!

Life is glorious, interesting, an adventure, and hands us marvelous opportunities and challenges. I am working on staying open to all the options the Universe presents, while dreaming my own big dreams and the dreams Doug left me as well.

Thank you all, I and I shall post some images and commentary here as I get things more sorted out, including myself. :)
Carry on,
feralfae

survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Jan 8, 2013 - 02:46pm PT
Thank you all for the welcome. I will consider this the place where I can post about wild adventures, especially those where we are not sure if we survived or not, although I try to avoid those most of the time.


Uh, yeah! This is the place.

Archaeology? Anthropology? You need to go to New Mexico.

Gives me an excuse to bump your thread. Here's a link to one of the most undisturbed/unvisited sites I've been to. My trip report with my son:
http://www.supertopo.com/tr/My-Hiking-Buddy-Ancient-Oceans-and-The-House-Of-The-Spirits/t10913n.html
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jan 8, 2013 - 02:58pm PT
Hellohello, Iloilo!Welcome to the world's cheesiest Taco!

Boy, neebee, you got some neat-o pals!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Feb 17, 2013 - 06:25pm PT
Okay, it has been more than a year now since Doug escaped from the insatiable demands of government bureaucrats and from his non-functioning body. As far as I know, he is doing fine. I still find the occasional note. He hid them all around before he left. Best yet, I find things he hid around our forest for me, which is totally cool.

The great report of the day is that between snow sprinkles, I made it across our ersatz balance beam today, legs trembling, but strong enough to balance me across a slow, twenty-feet walk on the log across the gully, which happened to be free of ice and snow today. This is huge. I could not walk at all 7 months ago. I could not feel my legs, even. My goal, of course, is to run across the balance log, then start climbing the trees across the gully as my legs get stronger again. Whoo hoo! I have not yet begun to use Doug's chinning bar.

Now then, about these insane government weapons laws:
Depriving any sane and peaceful woman of the right to self-defense is totally repugnant to the human rights of everyone. I mean, isn't it enough to tax us of half our grain and cattle and sheep? Does the king not have enough to eat? Is his house without heat? Still, would that excuse armed robbery?

Has he no clothes? Oh, wait, that was the other guy, that emperor who took half my grain and cattle and sheep, too, several years back, and was too stupid to put on clothing because someone bamboozled him. (All right, he just had an impossibly horrid wardrobe, but I consider that a distinction without a difference.)

So, now we have this guy who thinks we will all turn in our spears and swords? I'm not even willing to part with my atlatl. Or my blowpipe from Brazil. So, on the disarmament thing, no, thank you, I think not. Thank you all the same.

If this king. emperor, whatever he calls himself, if he needs more money, he needs to learn to ask nicely, instead of all this armed robbery and trying to take away my weapons. How many jets can he fly at once, for goodness sakes? How many limos does he need? How many chefs?

And how come they want to take my sword and bow, but they have bombs? I think that is backwards, because I never threaten or attack or kidnap or imprison or enslave them. But they do that to other humans. Peaceful ones. I actually bake cookies for people. Who in government is that kind?

Sheesh, I am keeping all my blades and bows, and especially the atlatl. (If you need to send a line across a chasm, by the way, a good old bamboo wand and atlatl made from another wand will work very well. I am sure several of you have constructed an atlatl and thrown a line on the spot many times.)

By the way, if you think the park rangers would not rescue you without a bribe (and I am kindly discounting their highly amusing incompetence) do you think paying for the prospect of their rescue "skills" will cause them to be any more proficient? Or is your not paying the initial bribe just an excuse for them to collect more bribes from you if you want to stay out of jail after not paying the initial bribe? I am trying to figure this out.

Time to go get stronger. I have mountains to visit soon.

Hey, neebee!!!

*<twinkles>*
feralfae
Nohea

Trad climber
Living Outside the Statist Quo
Feb 17, 2013 - 07:05pm PT
Viva la Liberte!

Great to hear and Aloha. This week in my AP government the topic is the bureaucracy. Wholly...can you say leviathan? While it was locke's attempt to limit the State, he failed and Hobbes showed the power lovers their dream of a social contract.

Wonderful log crossing!

Will
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Feb 17, 2013 - 07:21pm PT
Break on through to the other side.
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2013 - 08:33pm PT
hey there say, feralfae!... happy to see you here tonight!

as to this qoute:
Best yet, I find things he hid around our forest for me, which is totally cool.

wow--this is really something...
in my jake books, i had a loved hide little fun things along the trail for their loved ones, as well, and thus, after the one passed on--there was 'little bits of love' left behind...

how wonderful, dougs love for you....



keep on getting well, so welly! the body back doing what our body was meant to do:
walk, run, skip and jump... like the 'kids we are' at heart...

:)

feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Feb 17, 2013 - 08:52pm PT
Hey, neebee,
Doug might have read your books if he knew about them, you know. He had an excellent level of curiosity. It was one of our tests for each other, by the way. Curiosity. Asking and answering questions.

The best loved treasure found so far is the blue shell, one of mine made from porcelain in my studio, dozens of which we hid in trees from here to Fairbanks. It is stuck in the bark of a tree on the other side of the balance log. I have earned the right to smile at it.

My training course also has trees to climb, no joke, and rock hopping, and some nice little puffer inclines up which I carry the firewood. And Doug lift tokens of love all over the forest. I had no idea until after he escaped. It is more cool than I can talk about fully right now.

I am very well loved. No doubt about it at all. I think I live inside a shell of love energy.

Your prayers helped a lot. Your notes and love helped a lot. Every gesture, card, gift, the portrait, all the loving things you did, I know they helped to tip the balance. I have a couple of your cards out and I read them very often while I am doing exercises. :) Great incentive, your vessel analogy. I thank you ten thousand times. You are really a great Angel. Thank you.
I am truly thankful to know you.

I am thankful to all the *Angels* here who sent so much love and support this past year. Thank you more than I can say, more than those grains of sand. I'll just send you all a toss of fairy dust, hhmmmmm?
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 17, 2013 - 09:19pm PT
hey there say, ferelfae...


my arms and heart are open:

catching the love from all the 'fairy dust' you got there...


got a few more things to send you, in march...
:)

i will always picture you in your healing-woods, with doug's
trail, :)

my mom loves these kinds of stories, too, she loves the woods...
i will share this with her...

getting off line to get some chores done--hope to see you here and there, on line, thank you for sharing this post, here tonight...

meant a lot, in lots of ways...
that's why we are here...

to share life and love! :)
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Feb 17, 2013 - 10:53pm PT
Thank you nohea and Mouse,
Nohea, If you have not read Nozick's Anarchy State,and Utopia, you will enjoy it.

Mouse, that is a great image. I like the idea that if they keep climbing, eventually, their heads will touch.
Then they can figure out a better plan. :)

Take care, you two. See you around.
* < Twinkles > *
feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Mar 22, 2013 - 06:55pm PT
Greetings SuperTopo Tribe,
I send everyone good wishes from Montana, where I am watching a snow storm begin to scuttle across the Divide, riding on the stampeding wind. It is slate blue over there to the West, where the clouds are spilling down on Helena. I am still in sunshine out here.

Very Good News!
I have permission to run, to play on any and all of our equipment we had here for Playing in Shape. Some is in the forest, some is in the media room/library. They are resurfacing my track this next couple of weeks as well. Life is good.

I am mixing the paints for the new design for the rainfly. I am drawing my new banner. Our old one is folded away. I have my own banner this year.

It is Spring. Time to prepare gear for adventures, because even if I am not climbing, I WILL be in the mountains, on the waters, or in the sky. I hope to visit new places in Alaska, and then maybe return to the known paths of the Winds. There is time for both.

Two girlfriends and I have been talking about picking up a circumnavigation that was begun years ago, before our darling, magnificent, and wonderful Husbands intervened. Husbands can be an entirely excellent adventure. Definitely no complaints here. But we did not get across the Pacific to some places we wanted to go. She is in Trinidad right now, not under sail. So, we are sort of half-heartedly pondering this possibility, but I don't think any of us are very serious about it this year. Two are playing other places with their Husbands. It may be that the two married couples will put her under sail this year, or next, but it is nice to dream about Tahiti. :)

One brother suggested that we would need to be careful of pirates, three or four women alone, oh my! Maybe we should take a chap along. Maybe him. Can't you tell he is a politician? Created a scare, and then offer a solution which requires his presence, or input, or stolen money. It is so incredibly laughable. We laughed and laughed, and suggested that he go peddle his fear to someone he could scare. We know we are a superb set of humans, with excellent skills. Any one of us can outdraw and outshoot him, for goodness' sake, if we need protection.! We are all far superior cooks, and equal or better sailors. And better conversationalists, too. He has never done honest work, except maybe before he was thirty or so, and began his "career." I am laughing robustly.

Politicians: they sell you a scare, and then offer their solution. Stop feeling grateful. Laugh at them. Lean on the Tribes you have, where you can Trust people. Doug told me some stories about some politicians he knew, and we laughed and laughed at their predictable antics. They keep telling us that humans will mess up big time if left alone without politicians. They encourage us to fear each other. They try to scare us, and to set us against one another. Fling the fear back at them. Laugh at them.

Most humans on Earth manage to have voluntary, free market systems that keep us fed, clothed, shod, connected, and making a living, and there are cultures with fewer politicians that are doing it even better.

So, let us try to meet somewhere in the mountains where the Armed Ones will be not so inclined to attempt armed robbery. I am open to good suggestions, for I far prefer honest pirates to politicians and their ilk, who hide behind some sets of bureaucratic papers which I, for one, never agreed to obey.

I think I will bring our ice tower banner, too, come to think of it. :) :) I am once again laughing most robustly. (It's in the pack. We had it up in the Ice Shack, some of you will remember.)

This will be a fun year.

Are you still here?
Quit wasting your time reading this stuff, and go do something free and extraordinary, for you are made of Star and Earth stuff, and this Earth is our playground (perhaps this Solar system, huh?), as well as our responsibility, come to that. Humankind creates better when feeling happiness. Go play.

I am going. The wind is battering my sense of space, the Sun and clouds are shadow dancing, and I am going out to walk my balance logs and skip around a bit.

Go play. This is Your Life, after all, so make it an Extraordinary, Magnificent One. I certainly intend to continue doing so.
* < Be your masterpiece. > *
* < twinkles > *
feralfae


survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
Mar 22, 2013 - 07:17pm PT
Wow, what a post!!

Welcome back!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Mar 22, 2013 - 08:20pm PT
Thank you for the welcome.

Making an entrance, you know. :)

Please read it again; I changed the ending. I am laughing so much!
I am laughing most robustly, actually.

(Hello everyone. I'm still planning on Rainbow. I think I have at least one person in. Shall we let guys tag along? Or will this be just for the Sisters? I am not sure we are allowed to do that in this New Dispensation, actually. I mean, it would not be good manners. Bad form and all.)
Carry on.
:)

* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 22, 2013 - 09:26pm PT
hey there say, feralfea!


happy to see you this eve!! the snowstorm sounds exciting, as to the colors, oh my...

got some friends around the area of libby montana, they've shared a few snow stories, and CALVING stories... seems they got baby calves, dropping out, all over, :) and glad for it...


say, as to this:
Very Good News!
I have permission to run, to play on any and all of our equipment we had here for Playing in Shape. Some is in the forest, some is in the media room/library. They are resurfacing my track this next couple of weeks as well. Life is good.

I am mixing the paints for the new design for the rainfly. I am drawing my new banner. Our old one is folded away. I have my own banner this year.

It is Spring. Time to prepare gear for adventures, because even if I am not climbing, I WILL be in the mountains, on the waters, or in the sky. I hope to visit new places in Alaska, and then maybe return to the known paths of the Winds. There is time for both.


will have to go skip and jump in my dance room, now, to join in on the fun
of you being 'permitted again' for play!



happy new year, as it IS still a new year!

so glad to see that 'laughing robustly' will not die out... ;)
Captain...or Skully

climber
Mar 22, 2013 - 10:16pm PT
Feralfae rules.
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Mar 22, 2013 - 11:12pm PT
Hey neebee,
Good to see you. :) I am most happy to have my permit to play re-certified. Woo Hoo!

Our Godson Jason called a while ago: he is at a nearby ranch (we could see the cattle across the Lake) helping with calving while on Spring break from Montana Tech. There is more snow over in Butte, I hear. Jason and Doug used to solve puzzles together. Anyway, Jason said they had 53 calves today, one of them red and one tiny one that is being babied by all the ranch hands. Jason said it is about the size of a lamb, but very feisty.

So, I am back to doing some nice training moves, even if at only the Pebble 101 level. Not up to Boulders yet. But working on it. :)

Yes,it is a good day to dance, for sure. :) But then, every day is a good day to dance, is it not?

Thank you for the welcome.
Carry on.
* < twinkles > *

feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Mar 22, 2013 - 11:14pm PT
Hey Skully,
Thank you.
I only rule myself.
You rule yourself.
We all rule.
So, yes, logically, feralfae rules. :)
Carry on.
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 23, 2013 - 12:05am PT
hey there say, feralfae, yes, everyday sure is good to dance... keeps the inner self happy, too!


say, my twins buddies, they got mostly black calves, so far, from their
'mammas'...

they don't have a large place, but good sized for them, :)


well, i got to leave all the fun, for now, and go have fun in the kitchen, as:
the ol' RABBIT is loose and playing and jumping, too...

seems it EVEN dances, at times, :)

once again, soooo happy for you!!!!!

night now, to the ol' taco, 'til later perhaps, :)
or morning light, :))


johntp

Trad climber
socal
Mar 23, 2013 - 12:11am PT
I only rule myself.
You rule yourself.
We all rule.

pretty much says it.
couchmaster

climber
pdx
Mar 23, 2013 - 12:12am PT
"Women on the water with the wind"...quite a trip that would be Ferfal! Best to you and yours.

Smiling robustly here.
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Mar 28, 2013 - 12:37am PT
Rumor has it that there may be a shindig in Fairbanks on about 19 May, for all you Alaskan Alpine Club members out there. What? You have not yet declared to the Universe your allegiance to adventure and autonomy?

Go, read the website. You can Google it. It's been hacked, so links to me are gone, but we mirrored the sites before the hacking, fortunately. Maybe they will get put back up as they were sometime soon.

Just go read the Alaskan Alpine Club web site, if you have not done so. If you agree that anarchy is better than bureaucracy, you will find much to ponder there.

And I'm writing again, too .. .

Go. Be.
Have entirely too much fun and
Carry on. I am laughing most robustly right now. Life is excellent, and better every day. Cool adventures are afoot.
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Mar 28, 2013 - 12:43am PT
hey there say, feralfae...

it's been hacked?

say, i got a surprise... am sending it first week of april... it
is for to SIT in the alaskan alpine club...

you will see why :))


i love reading doug's adventure at that alaskan alpine club, :)
hope all will be well with it... :O

EDIT: AFTER reading some of those adventure, i WONDER if his folks used to worry about him, as a kid-- :))
the adventures remind me of a little kid testing the waters of anything and everything under the sun, that NOT ONLY comes a kid's way, but also to all that one finds to DO as well, when the parents are too busy to grab hold of one!

he SURE found a LOT to do! :O
nice that he shared it all with folks for the future...



hugssss, and keep on using that got-well body to get well into fun, :)
even as you are! :)

after all--spring is about to finally be sprung, :)
Lynne Leichtfuss

Sport climber
moving thru
Mar 28, 2013 - 01:06am PT
And I am doing what you say feralfae....I am following dreams. lynnie
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Mar 28, 2013 - 11:47pm PT
Hi Lynnie,
Go for it!
Follow your heart and follow your dreams.
Our hearts have beautiful dreams when we have the courage to follow them, and we travel then on some truly magnificent adventures.
Go with honor and impeccable integrity on your Path. Love and live so that you are Well-Loved, In Your Own Days.

Carry on, and * < twinkles > * of fairy dust for your journey.
feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 3, 2013 - 09:33pm PT
Hey Wyoming people!
And where is the Wyoming Alpine Club? I may drive down over Teton Pass, and have friends to visit in Jackson, when I come down later this year to Lander.
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2013 - 09:54am PT
hey there say, feralfae... my message just got ate up by invisible internet critter...

say, if you WANT to post a NEW MESSAGE as to:

going to wyoming alpine club
going to wyoming alpine club
or jackson, lander, etc, etc...


and see who jumps in... you would ge more info for that,
faster, then...

wow, hope it works out!
sounds like fun...

feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 4, 2013 - 08:56pm PT
Thanks neebee, of course that is what to do.
I will do it closer to when I am thinking of heading down there, which is not soon.
I hope all is well with you and that you are having a great day today.
Best to you,
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 4, 2013 - 09:28pm PT
hey there say, if you are still online... surprise, is in the mail now, feralfae... they said it might even get there for monday, so keep a look-see... a special ol' taco buddy here, chipped in to mail it, :)

will send a card, so you will know who, :)


:)


hope it is something that doug would love... i think it is... ;)
the alaskan alpine club wouldn't feel right without doug
'peeking over their shoulders' so to speak, ;)

:)
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 6, 2013 - 11:06pm PT
I will be watching for it, neebee, and thank you again.
Now I am excited to see what arrives!
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 9, 2013 - 02:13pm PT

Dear friend neebee,
I am crying. Thank you so much.
You have captured Doug so very well.
He was trying to get "Yooo Iloilo" typed in, and finally did. I was in Montana at the time, and we were messing with the webcam out at the Ice Towers. Finally, we got the "Yooo" one done as well. I was down here in Montana, taking photos of web cam pix while Doug was out on the ice or in the Ice Shack up in AK. We were talking on the phone and emailing back and forth during this time when I had to scoot down to Montana to do work for a client, so we stayed in touch all the time by web cam, email, and phone. Oh, we had such a wonderful life. :)

neebee, I did not see any card in the package, and I love your beautiful cards. but thank you to everyone who helped make this project happen.

The hat was made by Kate Bull who lives now of Australia and a very dear friend. Doug made the colorful jacket. The pink dye in the ice tower is my own work, before I scooted south. . We had remarkable fun. The photo was taken at the Ice Shack, which is owned by our good friend John Reeves, of Fox, Alaska, who let us come out there and play with his water on his land to make the Ice Towers. John orchestrated the projects. I wish I could remember and list all the people who played with us.

I will take the protrait to HQ when I go up, and I hope it will hang in the Great Room there. I will be taking the other portrait as well. On this new portrait, you did a wonderful and loving job of capturing Doug's eyes, his smile, and his spirit of life. Thank you so very much.

The Tefft wine is from his friend Joel Tefft's winery which we visited and later, Joel also visited us. I have a couple bottles of Tefft with the Great Blue Heron on the label in our wine cellar here in Montana. Great wine! The Chukar Cherries we picked up on our Washington State wine tour at the Chukar Cherries store. So delicious. Wow, lots of wonderful memories, and the tears are just tears of delight for our L*ve, and thankfulness for having really wonderful, loving people in my life and heart. I am incredibly blessed. Wow, cannot stop the tears. Whew.

The portrait brings back so many wonderful memories, thank you so very much. I will make sure it is properly hung in a nice place at HQ, and that is is safe to leave it there. I will write up some stories some day, over on havefunbefree.com, where there are already stories, a few.

neebee, you are a wonderful, caring, compassionate, and generous person. Most of the climbers I know are like you, thank goodness. Your loving heart and kindness show in everything you write and do. I am honored to call you friend.

Blessings and many, many "Thank You" gestures being tossed with fairy dust to you, dear one. I'll be in touch more privately, once the tears stop flowing.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
You are one special friend.
{{{hugs}}}
* < twinkles > *
feralfae

feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 9, 2013 - 02:56pm PT

Okay, here is the photo without the jabbering. This has been a really special day so far. Miraculous presents. My cardiologist offered to trade hearts and throw in some cash, because my broken heart is working very perfectly again. It was scaring everyone from about a week before Doug left until fairly recently. It is mended. I can fly without medication, drift above 8,500 feet of rocks, and keep going. WooHoo!
Okay, that is more jabbering, I know.

Hey, what are you doing reading this? Quit reading, close this screen, and go do something remarkable and beautiful.

You are here to make adventures of great entertainment and entirely too much fun.
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 10, 2013 - 05:54am PT
hey there say, freralfae...

been busy working on sticks for a trellis, and keeping the rabbit company, and had been mailing a few things, DUE to my many-times-anonymous 'mailing helpers'...

(will send a card in morning, with the very kind mailing-hero that rose to the occasion) :)

well: confession:
i just had a super cry, earlier, though no where as deep as yours, of course, but it was due to your 'jabber' that got to read by me, many times...

i love knowing the history that goes with this ice shack...
may this painting long-ever grace the alaskan apline club...
a MEMORY MARKER of doug needs to keep
'look see' at all the 'new history' that will grow there...


well, i MUST heed this wonderful advice, just posted by you:
i shall go do some 'wonderful adventure' here now, tonight...


had just done my nightly 'check in' to see how everyone is and i saw you
here...



THREE CHEERS FOR THE HEART to be heartening hearty/hardy to carry you
forth from the hearth to the hills! ...


this is wonderful:
you are getting stronger each day... it is our weakness and pains, released to god, that make us newly strong--we are less burdened and our bodies not 'injured by it' then... :)


so very happy to hear this!
:)
Captain...or Skully

climber
Apr 10, 2013 - 09:14am PT
That's an amazing painting, NeeBee. Wow. A beautiful and caring gesture, too. Damn, Words fall short, huh?
It made ME cry & I'm a crusty bastard. TFPU, both of you.
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 10, 2013 - 09:28am PT
hey there say, capt... or skully...

oh my, oh my, ohmy, again...

it made me cry, too, for quite a few reasons...

thanks for sharing, skully...
thank you very much...

ps:
i already sent feralfae a thank you very much,
for her sweet kind note, and the doug-history, there...
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Apr 10, 2013 - 10:14am PT
My compliments, feralfae.

That's a handsome guy. We understand your loss is ours as well, and we share your joy in life today, gal!!!

We're tigers all...
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 11, 2013 - 04:38pm PT
Hey, thank you everyone, Captain, Mouse, and neebee, as always, of course.

I am so touched by the love here. Thank you all so very much. It helps to heal my heart. Thank you.

Meanwhile, I am packing up the studio and some of my kitchen and dining room stuff already, carefully labeling and indexing all the cartons so I can locate stuff later when I land. Thinking of packing up the library, but not sure it is time to go quite that far, stuffing good friends in to cartons. Yikes!

The stencils and paints to paint the new designs on my old VE-24 arrived from England. I have fun projects to do between sorting things and packing. Where am I going? Not sure yet, but thought I might as well start sorting and packing. Right now, AK is #1, WY is #2, and Inverness Scotland is #3, although there are no actual mountains unless one crosses over to Europe. But I have family near Inverness. And in AK and WY.

I am feeling okay with being sort of footloose for a while, packing stuff slowly, sorting, sifting, simplifying.

And neebee, you are just the best. I will wait for your card to check in with other people who were involved, okay?

Clouds are spilling over the Divide. Snow later, and no one here to go out and lean into the wind and snow with me and laugh. But it is okay. Some days, I know Doug is smiling at me for having the courage to get ready for another adventure. I am most certainly sauntering in that direction.

Hey! Go play, stop reading this stuff and have some wonderful fun. Laugh and dance, play your flute, sing , and smile at a stranger. Go hug someone you love and tell them how beautiful their spirit shines for you. :)

I gotta go make dragonflies on my base tent. It is a day to celebrate this gift of life. :)

* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 12, 2013 - 10:35am PT
hey there say, feralfae... just posted a whole note and it disappered, due to dial up, :(

will post later, as to you neat share, just now...

see you soon, as in later this eve... :)
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 12, 2013 - 09:40pm PT
Hey neebee,
Just thank you one more time for your loving artistry on behalf of Doug. You are very kind, and there are no adequate words other than

I Thank You Most Robustly!

I'll be back on later this evening. Still doing a few more things today around the old place.
I send you lots of fairy dust.
***...*......*** (it doesn't say anything, but I'll put one up later that does)
feralfae

neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Apr 13, 2013 - 03:17pm PT
hey there say, feralfae! oh my! i am so very touched! i got a:

ROBUSTLY :)

awwww, thank you so much... :)


say, was going to say, last night:

as to the snow:

Clouds are spilling over the Divide. Snow later, and no one here to go out and lean into the wind and snow with me and laugh. But it is okay. Some days, I know Doug is smiling at me for having the courage to get ready for another adventure. I am most certainly sauntering in that direction


this is so much like the relationship of the couples in my jake books... it works so deep in the heart... i will someday send you a few of the books, when i can... you may enjoy parts, not sure if the novels are best, or the shorts stories based on the novels... (sometime there is not enough time to read novels) ... the short stories, too, give more highlight on the various situations that show 'the sparkles' ...


i been up all night sketching, so got to get my 8 hours now...

been too cold to work the yard, still, and had minor snow this morning, :O
not best for planting gardens, but great for feeling the reaction of the greatoutdoors, :))


will now read your newer post, :)
as always--happy to hear from you...
god bless!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Apr 25, 2013 - 03:43pm PT
Whether Climbing or Morphing ...

“Providence has hidden a charm in difficult undertakings which is appreciated only by those who dare to grapple with them.”
~Anne-Sophie Swetchine
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
May 21, 2013 - 02:03pm PT
Greetings fellow earthlings


Leaving soon for the far frozen north. Here are a couple images of the rainfly with the dragonflies and a couple of roses. I will add more icons as they become appropriate.

Hey, get out of here and go do something amazing and wonderful!
Off on the adventure.
feralfafe
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
May 21, 2013 - 06:44pm PT
Prepping to get out of town ...

Hey, neebee and other friends, I will post trip reports on here, too.
I have this new camera toy with me.

Off on a soft, gentle adventure, and a time to think as I travel, imagining other paths, other options, knowing where I am headed, but only imagining all the marvelous routes and pitches I can choose to be part of my journey on this new mission.

I go to finish cleaning out our home in Fairbanks.

It is time to move from there, and cherish the memories and souvenirs that I have, but not to longer dwell in that spot. It has served its purpose for Doug and me, actually. :)

I think the Club is in extraordinarily good hands, with some solid and honest leadership, some men of integrity and honor. I am ready to unhitch myself from this vessel, and let it carry itself on currents of its own choosing. :)

Doug left a wonderful legacy in this Alaskan Alpine Club ...
Scroll down the page for links to many of Doug's unhacked web sites.

... You are a member if you say you are, and may Anarchy, e.g., self-governance, continue to be spoken, toasted, and discussed within those walls, and may individual "Freedom in the Mountains!" continue to be the motto. I shall continue my membership, of course. I have a lifetime membership, and I plan to be around another 50 years or so. :) Yes, I will keep helping with Club decorating.

And I will continue to decorate my own life with beauty and love, making new patterns of energy and joy. :) I have stuff left to make, things to do, places to go, pitches to conquer, a lot more friends to find, and summits to saunter (or pee from, all things considered, but especially if standing atop significant Divides). I know you are all laughing and nodding! Lauging most robustly, I hope. :)

I go to roll up and pack the dragons fly nest.

You, all you remarkable, adventure-loving spirits, go do something wonderful and beautiful, and something you can brag about wherever Gods gather. Hey, maybe on RumDoodle. :) Or come visit at the AAC in Fairbanks. There is always room on the floor for lady and gentlemen climbers.

Grok!
I am laughing most robustly.
feralfae.com


neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - May 21, 2013 - 10:17pm PT
hey there say, farelfae... as to this quote, first:

It is time to move from there, and cherish the memories and souvenirs that I have, but not to longer dwell in that spot. It has served its purpose for Doug and me, actually. :)

I think the Club is in extraordinarily good hands, with some solid and honest leadership, some men of integrity and honor. I am ready to unhitch myself from this vessel, and let it carry itself on currents of its own choosing. :)


i surely DO understand this... each garden, that produces 'things to life on' changes, each year... you get that gut feeling when the old is done, or all has been done, for a certain 'course'... new planting, new life-trail...

the old lovely garden life, now done, kept in your heart, as to your home with doug, has changed...

now the 'basics' as to the plants that come back each year on their own--those that are 'who we are'... those are established...

now, the established, our anchor, MEETS with the new-growth of new things...


cheering you onwards...

and please do NOT FORGET to post the trip reports, we will love it!




all for now, got some 'busy' to do here...
last note:
i love your dragon fly, fly... get a few pics of you and it, in use, :)


hugs, happy alaska trip!! and prayers for a safe, prosperous as to deeds, and special new treasure trip!
:)
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
May 22, 2013 - 06:59pm PT
Thank you neebee,
I just want to know what SuperTopo did to merit so many *Angels* hanging out here. It is very nice. I love this comfortable, free market, free mind sort of anarchy among Alpinists. And among *Angels* of course. (ff points to neebee).

I will get some good photos when home is set up in Alaska.

Yes, when someone points to the images, and dares to ask, What's that?" I can say, a dragon fly. :)
I am a dragon fan. As well as a dragon fly fan.

Have good days, so glad to hear things are going well out there. Hope your weather gets better and calmer very soon. Will the robins hatch a second clutch? T

here are voilet-green swallows nesting here in the superb tree trunk bird houses Doug made. He would cut off the dead tops of the pines, you know, gear up and climb them, and later, used a ladder when he could not climb any more, but the cool part, the happy part, is that there are violet green swallows, mountain bluebirds, pygmy nuthatches, and hairy woodpeckers hatching in the forest. So great. I know Doug is laughing most robustly. Our apple trees are all in blossom.

Okay, off to snooze for a pre-dawn take-off, or something like that. Tomorrow night, I'll be sitting in a orchard near where Doug would daydream in the orchards as a little boy, near Betty's house. We are going to have a wonderful visit. :)

More from the road, or trail, or Path, or something like that...

Peace,
feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Aug 5, 2013 - 02:54pm PT
Hey, everyone.
I am going to be closing down Doug's Caring Bridge site in a few days, on 7 August, 2013, which will be the 18th month anniversary of his leaving. If any of you want to copy anything from over there, save any of the pix, or print out anything, now is the time. If any of you did not get a program from his celebration in Fairbanks last year, and want one, leave a note here and I'll check it every so often.

Neebee, in case I have not mentioned it, the portrait of Doug is hanging in the living room at HQ in Fairbanks It needs a better frame. I did not have time find a good frame from the storage shed and re-frame it, but maybe next time I am up there, I will get it done.

I will still be hanging out here sometimes, as I get back to more adventuring. This summer went for the trip to Fairbanks, a lot of rough weather, used my dragon fly tent in the rain, but did not take photos, sorry. It was a transformative trip, but coming home to a rainbow over the house warmed my heart, and now I am sanding and staining the cedar siding. Great exercise, a lot of work, and some days I am working at it solo, but if I finish two sides this year and two sides next year, that is all right.

My studio is about back in operation. My own porcelain clay body is slaking and while I have not unpacked the studio cartons from the crate intended to be unpacked in AK, I have some tools, my wheel, my kiln, and enough. I will close the Caring Bridge site on the 7th, and will be sitting down at my wheel to throw my life away in clay on the 8th. If I get tired of clay, my easel is also nearby.

I am going to watch my life move into a new future, carrying so much learning from Doug, and so blessed to have share Love with him. I'll be posting more over on Caring Bridge between now and when I close the site. If you have any quotes or stories, please share them there, so they will be a part of the book we will print.

Okay, tribe, I'll be back soon. I do intend to be back in the Winds this autumn, ceteris paribus.

* < twinkles > *
feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Aug 6, 2013 - 12:48pm PT
Here are the URLs for the narrated videos on You Tube:

Gakona
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M3nNR6UKho

Mount Moffit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SA2zFXtBBI

The Thorn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhtti9CfssE

8680
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdbtgDsKvac

Please share these around. The Ice Show will be posted to our You Tube account soon.


Peace this day.
*<twinkles>*
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 6, 2013 - 04:45pm PT
hey there say, feralfae... oh my, THANKS for letting us know...

i tried to get there twice, but dial up was stalling... :(

i never got to see it, :(


i will go try now... i wanted to so very badly...
here i go now...


edit:
oh, now i see, we have to sign up, first, :O
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Aug 6, 2013 - 11:51pm PT
neebee,
I don't think you are supposed to have to sign up.
I have asked our web person to fix it if she can.
I will let you know what I hear.
I am so sorry you cannot see them.
We will get it fixed, though.
Keep on having entirely too much fun.
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 7, 2013 - 12:54am PT
hey there say, feralfae, :)
as you can see by now, i FOUND my way in, :)
and emailed you, >:D<


i did sign up, though...
well, got work to do now, so night-night to all, :)
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Aug 8, 2013 - 03:00pm PT
Hey, neebee,
I saw that several visitors had stopped in to view the narrated climbs.
So glad you brought your loving presence over to sign Doug's Caring Bridge guest book prior to me shutting it down. Thank you so very much. {{{hugs}}}

My wheel is turning, getting the kinks out of the belt. My studio tables are all pretty much in place, and while I have no outrageous climbs or even daring adventures planned in the near future, I am happy to be here in my little studio. I feel like a hobbit home from the goblin wars, and I am going to stay very close to home and very quiet for a while, just hanging in my studio, mostly.

So, I will check in here often to see if you are around and need any help keeping us all bucked up and ready to go forward.
You are most definitely one of SuperTopo's angels, and thank you for your loving presence here.
And keep on having entirely too much fun.
(I will continue to rag the government here on occasion, from my humor desk here in Montana.)

We carry on.
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Aug 23, 2013 - 09:42am PT
Hey Neebs,
I posted over on the thread about the fire on both sides of 120. I hope you have heard from your brother and that he is fine.

I will be more in touch in a few weeks when I get back from some trips.

Much love to you and take care.
feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Aug 26, 2013 - 03:04pm PT
Hey,
Neebs, if you see this, how is your brother? Is everyone okay?

This is climbing related, sort of. Summits, anyway.

I made a Thai Moose Curry today, and wanted a great wine to have with it. Years ago, I surprised Doug with his own earth-backed, climate controlled, tile-floored, diamond-binned wine cellar for his birthday, with his own key. It is cool. :) He stocked it with lovely wines for us, now for me. Before he left, he put stickers on most of the bottles, so I would know when to drink them. Of course, I could go ask his buddy Topper. But Doug did all he could to take very good care of his wife, I am most thankful to report. Hence the "year to drink stickers" on the bottles. He was most meticulous.

Today, I am opening a 2006 Summit Lake (who does not have great memories of summit lakes???) "Emily Kestrel" Cabernet Sauvignon to serve for dinner this evening. I am carefully resting it on its side until it is decanted. Doug would approve, since there will be people from Monte Verde Cloud Forest as well as a local adventure couple.

We will be laughing most robustly as we

Carry On.

If you do not have great memories of Summit Lakes, go make some. Or do something else entirely free and beautiful as you follow your unique and magnificent heart.
* < Twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 26, 2013 - 04:38pm PT
hey there say, feralfae!! wow, happy to see you here, oh my, i love the wine-cellar adventure set up for you, by a loving husband!

that is precious, and most likely a highly unique thing, never heard of such a kindness done that way, for a wife, :)


say, i sent you an email a bit ago, so this is the happy reply...
happy to see you are ready for supper and a special time...

yes--my brother, the carpenter, not the climber, :) got out safely and with
horse, and had much helpe from many friends... he then made it to groveland,
after evacuating again from where he was with friends...

will salute your new adventure trail and your wine-trail, tonight, this early eve with a glass of 'cheap wine' , as the birds CHEEP in the back yard, :)

thanks for this wonderful share, i can just picture a trail with special trail markers, along the way saying: drink me today... and safe me for next month... better than alice in wonderland story of 'drink me'... :))


ps: edit:
i just heard this name, oddly the other night??? "Emily Kestrel"
will have to look it up... i wonder if it was on the 'northern exposure' dvd, (i had ordered some from my folks' gift money, as i loved to see the alaska set up story) ... i think it was the episode about FINE wines, was where i heard the name...


love and god bless, as you hit this 'solo' trail part of your life, though you are not really solo, when friends are near... and god is watching over...

you trail is getting set-in good and solid, i can see that, too...
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Aug 26, 2013 - 09:58pm PT
We had a lot of fun, as I wrote dates and handed Doug the stickers to put on the tops of the bottles. We both knew why, but we were still carrying on, planning future meals to have with certain bottles of the wines. Doug was a great way-shower. *:) *

Oh, Neebs, you will love this...
We had our dinner and glass of wine out on the patio, where Doug and I used to eat evenings when he was comfortable out there. Lots of cheeps! Doug made birdhouses out of log sections, so they are camo in the trees. The birds love them. I had a barn owl a few nights ago, calling from the old, wise tree where we have our bench. Very neat. It is nice to have Doug's works all around me and not be sad about it, but thankful and smiling.

Hey, I am so glad your "not the climber' brother is all right. I am so glad, even though it sounds eventful, that everyone is doing okay. Actually, I am glad for all the peaceful people and peace on Earth today. I hope the fires are quickly drenched by water. We are getting our share of smoke here on the Divide, too. Everyone here is doing rain dances and prayers. It has been a very hot summer for us, with temps in the 90s a lot of days. Hot for us.

Studio report:
My pottery wheel is turning to get the kinks out of the belt from sitting on "off" for so long. My studio table is covered with painting stuff for the present project. Now the wheel must idle a while to run the belt smooth again, which, if my timing is good, will be about the time I finish sanding and staining the house. And the rock gardens will be done. And the apples will be ripe. And it will be time to split and haul firewood for winter, "where work is play ..." (Robert Frost) :)

It is going to be a busy time 'till snow flies around here. I am enjoying all this activity, for I find that all of it -- from picking organic veggies to logging -- is part of the journey, too. We take the pitch we are given; we do the best we can while ahving entirely too much fun; then we play on. :) I am doing a lot better.

I am so glad all is well, and hope you are doing better than ever, having fun each day and always having enough love from the Universe, Creator, and everyone. I send much love to you, Neebs. I don't think I got your last email. I am still figuring out things on this new server, and some things get lost sometimes. I am sorry. But I check here often, and we will hook up on email more easily after this next week, when the system is supposed to be turnkey.

I am looking forward to clay in my hair again. :)

* < twinkles > *
feralfae

neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Aug 26, 2013 - 10:28pm PT
hey there say, feralfae! ... okay, say, i had my small glass of wine, earlier, when i came in to the kitchen, as, i was so busy painting, before
supper, that i NEVER did supper... painted right through...

am drinking a bit more of it now, but saved the rest for NOW:
i will go outside and finish with frog's cheeping now and not birds...

loved the owl story and bird houses my mom would LOVE this... will tell her, later...

yes--check in to the groveland fire thread as the week moves on,
we have not given up hope, though the fire tries to quench it all... :(


this is a nice thread for doug to 'live onward' in, after his
'supertopo debut' here, years back...

by you being here, his 'quilt square' is ever-remembered and intack...




for all the taco folks here:

hope some of you can join in and share WINE or POTTERY, :)

we have a trail-guide here, now, pressing on, for us, showing us
how it's done...

;)



see you soon, again, iloilo, god bless!!!!! and love...
out to the froggy trees now, happily NOT foggy... :)
*working on a 'secret project' art paintings now, will share later,
this one is not climber oriented, though... on of the few, that are not...
:) great story, though... for later...
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Sep 1, 2013 - 03:35pm PT
Hello Neebee,

I just got back from picking up all of last week's mail at the PO in town, and there was a box of Japanese inks (sumi) in dry block form, from a friend who found them at a garage sale or somewhere, and remembered I do Sumi-e. I am going to have more fun.
They are very neat, and I am not sure if they are Chinese or Japanese, but will know when I get them ground and begin to use them.

I hope your painting is coming along well. Oh, wait, I think you are doing more than one right now.

Everyone who has commented on the portrait of Doug that you did, which now hangs in the great room of the Club HQ in Fairbanks, comments on how well you captured the twinkle in his eyes, You really did a super job, dear friend, and thank you again.

I am working on the rock gardens this afternoon, watching the flocks of birds beginning to make their way south. Soon, the cranes of Alaska will be flying through, and the geese and ducks. I can see Lake Helena from my house, and the lake is where many migrants stop to refresh, feast, and rest before then take off for Texas, Mexico, or further.

I hope you are and all the "cheeps" are having a super day, and just wanted to tell you about my surprise gift of the ink sticks. I am going to have more fun this winter, just totally doing art all the time I can. I know you are also having fun.

Much Love and
* < twinkles > *
feralfae


neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 2, 2013 - 05:53am PT
hey there say, feralfae! wonderful to hear of your neat surprise... say, if there is those curved-characters that look slightly different than the regular chinese symbols, then it is japanese, :)

also, oh myyyyyyyyyy, i was outside painting all afternoon and did not see this, though i did stop by a few on-line here-and-theres, i did not stay anywhere long enough to see THIS, or some 'thats'...


i did my two 'secret projects' for a paino player somewhere out in calif, that does not know he will get them... i am praying that they are a 'kiss from heaven'... will explain in email, later...

have done two for climber families as well, and have three more working on too...

DID HEAR SOME CHEEPS though:

the TREE FROGS, :)) as--i am and have been, up all night cleaning house, us artist/writers, as well as you ink, potters, and etcs adventure'ess's, well:
we DO have to clean house now and then, 'specialy with critters within these ol' four walls :)


happy supertopo 'new day' as it will BE the, and now is, SECOND of sept now, :)


happy climbing to all climbers that read this...
and happy trails to the hikers...
and happy 'greatoutdoors' to all...

ps: have a card for you, but i wanted to write a long letter in it, so i did not send it yet, :O but will do, this week...
letters are soooooo much fun!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Sep 9, 2013 - 04:22pm PT
Hi neebs,
Looking forward to the letter and card, thank you.

Just sitting here today, thanking the Headmaster for my wonderful husband Doug Buchanan, and his wonderful love. I am still discovering little loving gifts around the place. So very sweet. He was a great man, a wonderful and loving husband, and an outstanding climber. Okay, maybe in some ways he was a bit extreme in the mountains, but if we are not out on the edge, we miss the view.

He was spot-on about government by initiation of force, though. Let the politicians set a good example by disarming themselves and their minions first, to show us how beneficial it is for humans. Leaders should lead by example. They exempt themselves from insurance stuff, anything they want. After all, they are the ones with the guns. I have an atlatl. But I am not trying to collect taxes from supposedly free people, either.

You know, I also have words, which are much more effective than anything else. You can change a mind with words. All you can do with a gun is make someone dead. How stupid is that?

Okay, stop reading this and go do something beautiful with your day. I may go sand and stain some more of the exterior, or something like that. I am still catching up on things from all the years of Doug being ill and all that followed. I am better.

Hey, neebs, are you going to post any photos for us later of your latest projects? Or will someone else maybe post one? Just wondering. Take care and Much Love.

* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 9, 2013 - 05:40pm PT
hey there say, feralfae... wow, happy to see you!! letter will be in the mail tomorrow, i am glad i waited, as, i have a neat photo-copy to put in it, from a gal's post, elsewhere,,, you will love it!!!

*will paint it for you some day, :)



say, this last 'secret project' i will share with you private, as it is a 'wow' kind of 'kiss from heaven' for someone, and someone that is a famous name, so i do not want to overstep by posting it...


well, also, i do have this one, for a contest that i am starting and i can share this... a hint: my daughter said it needs more hair on top, haha, but i told her i have to STILL paint the forehead, first, ;))


sideviews really DO reveal a part of us, though, that most do not see, as, when speaking, we are face to face... :))


here it is, for contest, using black, white, and their 'speical gray' ...
which each year, is a different mixture of old paints...

wow, this year, it is on the brown side, so it is almost like having browns, to,:))



can you guess what this is:
my first ever try--has a long way to go, still:




say, before i mail the letter, i will put the project-story in it, will put it in a new envelope, to hold that story, too...

>:D< thanks for asking!!! :)
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Sep 24, 2013 - 12:14pm PT
Hi neebee!
I have a beautiful card and a long letter from you here on the desk, and I will be reading and enjoying both today.

I have been out climbing around on some cliffs, scratching in some dirt, and pondering some rock art and what was probably a hunting camp, back when people sat outside their lodges and knapped a few points to go get a moose or a buffalo. It was after mammoth times, but in a place with lots of bighorn sheep, moose, deer, elk, and buffalo. I got to sit up on a ledge with a few bighorns looking at me from the next ledge over, not quite sure what the heck I was doing there. I had been up that high on the ledges once before, but this is a new generation of bighorns, I guess, so they do not remember me. You'd think there would be stories.

Doug and I often thought that surely the eagles would remember us, as we whistled to them as they flew by, below us when we would be up on high cliffs in Wyoming.

I found some great lithic scatter (worked stone, some points and lots of pressure flakes) and two sets of lodge stones (circles of stones, which had been used to hold down the edges of what a lot of people call teepees) and some nice red ochre images on a cliff face that have been protected by an overhang.

I do not have permission to post any of the sketches of photos. I had a super time visiting with people, eating elk steaks, and listening to some good sailing stories.

Now I get to go read my mail from you.

Okay, I must ask: is that a self-portrait you are doing? If so, I am looking forward to seeing the finished work. You have a lot of wonderful talent.

More later, after I get through reading and doing a day at the desk.
Much love and * < twinkles > * to you today, dear friend neebs
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Sep 24, 2013 - 10:04pm PT
hey there say, wow, you are here tonight!... back from your adventure, which i know you were on! was just not sure when to expect you back, :))

yep, they ol' self portrait... started it, as there was a :
USE OUR GRAY and blacks and white and make a painting, even up to
three, for our contest... :)

so, thought it was time to try THIS for the contest, as, i have their 'gray'
due to the birthday-paints i had ordered, THEY put in the gray, if you
ordered enough of their oils...


had not done more work, until tonight, though, :(
as i had three other for a 'surprise for someone that i don't know, but kind of know NOW' ... funny, huh? how that can be... :)
(will explain later, too long!)...

i can't wait to do it now! had to be done for oct 1st... oh my!!!

happy good supertopo eve, to you and welcome back and home!
love the adventure you had, and the live critters,as well as the elk!

will email, in a day or two, :)
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 1, 2013 - 11:39pm PT
hey there say, feralfae... here it is, the self-portrait is done, and in time for the contest and accepted!

i HAVE to add a tad more hair on the TOP though, of my head, as it was too pale painted in, :O


well, i showed it to the little one that i babysat and asked him:
"who IS this?"

and he promptly said:
YOU! :)


WHEWWWWW... if it works for a kids, it will work, :))

i usually had my hair in long braids and a cowboy hat, :))
but since i been here with a garden and yard and am painting, i been
wearing my neat flowers that i love in my hair--fake flowers and of course:


my FALSE-EYE-LASHES that i loved so, since a pre-teen and first saw a gal use them :))

they really DO help you get a decent photograph of oneself, as, your eyes are not prone to blink as much (great light shield?) :))

and the eyes show up nice in a photo...

so here it is for you:





now, that said and shared, me and perhaps a whole bunch of others are interested in your wonderful adventure...

sure hope you can post it soon!!
chomping at the the ol' bit, :)
as the saying goes, :)


hugs and god bless to you!!
your are not forgotten...

edit:
and YEP, i am MISSING some teeth, :)
got to keep it true, :)


it is called:

I SHELL, SELF-PORTRAIT
;))
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Oct 12, 2013 - 07:10pm PT
Hi Neebee!
Beautiful portrait above, and beautiful dragonflies flew into my house today, direct from you. :) {{{hugs}}}

Here I am, surviving my first cold in years, snuggled under blankets and lolling in the sun. I picked up the mail earlier while on a visitor adventure on and across the Divide. I have great company, visiting with my spirit sister SSK down from Fairbanks, on her way to Maine.

I am bushwhacking my way through this coughing and sneezing, and wanted to share these quotes, apropos of life...

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure." Helen Keller

And...
"If you want to achieve more, declare your reasons unreasonable, your excuses unexcusable . . . and get off your buts! (Author unknown but most certainly appreciated).

Those are two quotes from my topo map book I kept after "The Fall" ten years ago. Both arms in casts; not cute.

Neebs, I just got the cutest dragonfly square from you, and I am going to use it under a special item I have. Thank you.

I see you have a new email address, and I have saved it. I will write more when I am feeling better. I am talking myself out of this cold every day, and now up and waling around at least. I've been virus-proof for so long I forgot how it felt. I guess this is a lesson. :) I will figure it all our some day.

Must start our dinner preps. Much love and more in a few days when I am up and about with more energy.
* < twinkles > *
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 12, 2013 - 09:00pm PT
hey there say, feralfae! wow, and wow, again...

i love the TWO quotes you share... helen kellers...
and the 'unknown'...

it is true with humans:
we can talk ourselves out of things... (good at times, when we must debate
with many things in order to sort the good and bad, etc) but:
very bad, when we are truly being 'unreasonable' as to trying
something new... or opening ourself up to learn, or any of the etc...
as to live and adventures... we must 'do' and do it well, then,
whatever it then may be... :)


may the dragonflies of life, from god's good hand, give you
many more sparkles, on this 'leg of the journey' that you were
so fast 'plopped down upon' when doug had to pass on...


my things that changed my life so abruptly and traumatically were not
the awfuls that others have had, but they made that turningpoint,
that we all face in some ways:

we are making the TRAILS ours, now... and we are reaching summits, meadows, powerful rivers, and stimulating creeks and views we thought
we'd see, as, we never KNEW of them (due to learning other trail-savy-stuff that was then needed) ... more summits and stimulating views and hidden mountain flowers, and such to find, as we:

keep on to trail!

:)


body aches and colds, etc, MUST, somehow, trail along in our wake, as they slowly HOPEFULLY fade-fast!!!! get well soon!!!!

can only do so much, when the body is not up to par and we sure do not want it to 'go downhill' while WE ARE trying to go UPHILL! :)



hugs and god bless!!!!
it is raining, slow and steady here, this eve... the air is now, and 'fallish' and there will be more leaves, to rake from the yard, or i will
be swimming in them, come winter, :))


happy good fall season to you!

feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Oct 14, 2013 - 12:01pm PT
HI Neebee,
Thank you for the lovely card, and the coupon.
I am still taking it easy, but will be getting back to you about several things soon.
Feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Oct 14, 2013 - 02:30pm PT
Hi Neebs,
I just used the coupon to send a chocolate torte to a young man (13) in Main who is getting out of the hospital today, and his 14th birthday is Sunday, and he is a chocaholic, who loves chocolate cake, which I could get for him through the coupon. It will arrive Friday and his dad will try to hide the cake until Sunday

Thank you for the coupon, because I probably would not have bought the cake without it. Perfect timing, you are so great!
Much Love,
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 15, 2013 - 12:10am PT
hey there say, feralfae! wow, and wow again... :)

i just LOVE these special perfect-timers... >:D<


will keep him in my prayers, as well!
:)

will be glad to hear from you!
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Oct 15, 2013 - 08:54am PT
Hi Neebs,
I meant Maine, not Main.

Yes, it was one of those right on time synchronicity events.

feralfae
feralfae

Boulder climber
Montana
Nov 4, 2013 - 04:53pm PT
Hi Dear neebs,
That chocolate torte is still being talked about out in Maine.

They all loved the chocolate torte I got "on sale" with the gift coupon, thank you so much. He is now 14, and a growing teenager with a voracious appetite, pretty much eating constantly. :)

He had a great birthday and ate three pieces of cake, small ones, because it is so rich, and then had it again the next couple of days. He is the son of friends of mine, and a great young man, so I was really happy we could help make his birthday special for him!

Thank you for helping out! :)
Much Love,
feralfae
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
Topic Author's Reply - Feb 2, 2015 - 12:59am PT
hey there say, feralfae... welcome back to posting, after you've been in hospital!!

you have been missed...


happy winter wonderland to you...
and thank you very kindly for the 'help' for me to
send out some get wells, etc, to a few climbers...


also, PLEASE keep getting well...
our quilt here, needs you...


feel free to share any neat ice stuff, or winter adventures, from
you or doug, of the past, as NOW, winter is really under way...




will send you another card, soon, :)
and, make sure to visit mouse, at the flames, if you have not had a
chance, to, yet, :))
Gnome Ofthe Diabase

climber
Out Of Bed
Feb 2, 2015 - 02:55am PT
Oh my!
Hello and best wishes , as I read the above I hope you are on the mend.
I must apologize for not saying, a hart felt thank you for for noticing the blooms over
In the mouse's thread.
I am trying to grow up at the age of only just past fifty, Fred Beckey, would say why rush it ?


Just back, In from ouside - in is warm - out is very white cold Snowy!, that's it for now . . .

back . . .


The ravages of having pulled as hard as I could for forty of the fifty makes my bones sore .

Carry On! yes yes We all must carry on !! no big question mark sadly though we fade away.
that seems morose, and as I have made clear I prefer to play funny words with mouse !

See you there, in flames and flowers. Be well and smile, Smile and hum the opening to May berry R. F. D., the old TV show with Ron Howard and Andy Griffith, remember how to whistle?



not that it matters but No One Knows Me, And If they do I begg For to keep the name of the
Gnome. out of the main stream!
Thank you in advance, as to this request, it is important only in that the long roller coaster of life has left me wary.
At my most peacock like stage many found my success in love and climbing abrasive, I was a great arrogant fixture, and as well traveled to a point.( edit, say, that reads like the definition
of a Tool!)<|;+p
A look to the books though will only yield two references to me, one East, and one West.
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