trouble reading this blog?

Blogspot seems to be squeezing out a major brain fart right now, so don't be surprised if you're unable to read my blog (other Blogspot blogs are affected, too). I'm putting this message up in the hopes that you'll move the "Internet Explorer cannot open... Operation aborted" popup and read this text, which should be visible on your monitor.

[UPDATE: Is this a SiteMeter issue? (via Instapundit) I've removed SiteMeter for now and will replace it once the SM folks take care of their mess.]

Some interesting updates (read these once the brain fart clears up):

1. Today was a crazy day. The weather was one reason for the insanity: it started raining last night, so I had to pack the tent wet (and dirty) and haven't unrolled it yet to air (and clean) it out. The walk was characterized by simultaneous rain, wind, and sun, the latter member of that group being somewhat unexpected. I remember hearing, long ago, that on a day when it's both sunny and rainy, the Devil is kissing his wife. Heh. I would have thought that the Devil, being the Devil, would spend more time cheating on his wife.

2. I had been told that I would have to hitch a ride across the Hood River Bridge, and this was indeed the case. Many thanks to the very nice lady who drove me across.

3. After the bridge crossing, I began walking westward along Route 14 (this is in Washington, mind you; I've crossed the state line). It didn't take long before the shoulder disappeared almost completely, which was scary given the amount of traffic heading at me on that part of the road. Luckily, a dude drove past me and stopped at a pull-off; he waited patiently until I approached and asked me where I was headed. I gave him a vague idea where the Couchsurfing family's house was (it's in the town of Underwood); he very kindly drove me there, and even met the CS family. Turns out he knows one of the family's long-term house guests-- small world, eh?

4. Speaking of scary, I-84 can be scary, too. The freeway's shoulders are normally pretty wide; I generally feel safe walking on them. Occasionally, though, the shoulders will narrow to nearly nothing in the most inconvenient places, like bridges. This happened to me today as I was on the eastbound shoulder, just before Exit 63 (I was supposed to leave I-84 at Exit 64 to hit the Hood River Bridge): a small bridge appeared before me, basically an overpass, and the shoulder narrowed to nothing. I had little choice but to move rightward and uphill, which proved to be the right thing to do: I topped the rise and waded through some tall grass and onto private property-- a car repair place of some sort, with engine blocks and empty chassis all over the place. I never saw the owner and didn't feel like knocking on his door to apologize for the intrusion, so I simply hit the street in front of the shop and wandered onward into Hood River proper, still following I-84, which was visible beneath me. In fact, when I looked over at the freeway, I saw there was a pedestrian lane... but it was on the westbound side. Bad day for me to choose to walk along the eastbound side, eh?

5. Tons of grasshoppers over the past few days. A lot of the grass along I-84 was recently mown, so it all looks like an orgy of hay. In the midst of this chaos are light brown grasshoppers that leap crazily in all directions like wigged-out children fleeing a rampaging dragon. The most hilarious grasshoppers are the ones that leap so strongly that they're caught by the Gorge's strong winds and blown toward I-84's traffic. The image brings back the old riddle: "What's the last thing to go through a bug's mind when it hits your windshield?" You know the answer.

6. I made the news! Thank you, Sue Ryan, for your kind article in the Hood River News. Everyone: go take a look.

7. At my current CS residence, I had the chance to weigh myself: 256.2 pounds. Down from 297 at the beginning of this walk: a loss of 40.8 pounds. Still fat, though. As Yoda might say: Much to lose, you have. A nice, even 200 will be nice. Any bets on whether I hit that figure by the time I exit the Plains states?

8. A few things I can say about the place I'm staying at: first, this is a family that knows how to cook. Nothing but great smells emanated from that kitchen this evening; dinner was largely Indian-style, with some good ol' salad thrown in at the end, and a magnificent pie that awaits my gullet when my hosts return from an evening outing (I had promised to wait until Todd and Rachael, the parents, had come back from a First Friday celebration). Second, this is obviously a very loving family: the daughter and son, Che and Anaïs, are cheerful and energetic teens; the teenaged house guest, Shanti, is also a great guy and seems to be part of the family. Third, what's not to like about two huge, cool dogs? Fourth, everyone here is brimming with creative and intellectual energy, and we've already had some pretty intense discussions about religion, atheism, education, mycology (a subject about which I know nothing), music, various cultures, and what the future holds on both a personal and corporate level. Rachael asked me what I had learned so far on my trip; I told her I'd learned that I probably shouldn't be too cynical about people, given the sheer number of kindnesses, large and small, from which I've benefitted. It's true.

And that's your update for now. Here's hoping the Blogspot nonsense clears up soon, so you can read all this.


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