Crab Camp 2008. The legendary event that takes place in Newport OR. Home to the Rogue brewery and temporarily a bunch Gila IHC's, Hotshots, friends and girlfriends. Unfortunately the seas were to rough while I was there for crabbing off the boat. Instead we opted for crabbing off the pier. If you want to know more about Crab Camp you'll just have to go next year and find out!

Brief visit to the North Cascades. Thanks to Andy who picked me up in Seattle and put me up. We tried a hike but ran into snow deeper than we wanted to post hole through. The clouds rolled in and very fully burned off during the day. However, Andy knows the area well enough to still find some good views. Next time I'll visit in the summer or fall and bag some peaks in the national park.

Seattle city streets.

Recently I traveled to Seattle to visit friends Laura and Rob. Thanks for putting me up! I walked the city for a couple days getting used to my new camera and figuring out what I need to bring to Thailand.

The cider lives on! With only one gallon of hard cider left from batch one its time to consume for Christmas. Luckily another 5 gallons are in the works. You can see in the one picture how clear the cider gets once the solids settle out.

More turning! Two more bowls complete. Just yesterday I cracked a walnut bowl in half just as I was getting ready to sand. Grandpa thinks we can fix it. I'm not as optimistic but its worth a try.

Its snowing in New York. I'm still thawing out from a jog to the YMCA.

Check out this link about President Elect Obama's stance on wildfire management.

www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/Fact_Sheet_Wildfire.pdf

Bubbles are rising! The yeast is working on making alcohol after only two days. Hard cider is almost ready to be racked. That is when I get the sludge out of the bottom of the jugs. I guess that will be time for a first taste test. With luck it will be ready for thanksgiving.

In other news... My new thing is splitting wood. Its fun and I get to use my chainsaw on occasion. Also a great time to listen to bluegrass. Its just fitting.

Other new thing: Rowing at the Pittsford rowing club. They have indoor tanks for rowing practice. Dad and I go Tuesday and Saturday.

Keep up the PT. Fire season is never far away. Run, lift, Row, bike, chop and swim.

First wood bowl! Thanks to Grandpa Feather's instruction/lathe and Dad's finishing technique its complete. It took a few hours but here it is. You can see the worm holes which create some character. The wood type is Cherry. Images of my next bowl will be posted shortly!

Hard Cider. My friends at BFA brewery inspired me to do some food science. After awkwardly buying 5 gallons of apple cider in old glass jugs I've began my own brewery. Mom Passmore who conveniently has a BS in food science has helped me get started. Thus far 2 pounds of sugar and a small amount of wine yeast have been added and mixed in too assist in the fermentation process. Will it be drinkable???

Indian Summer! The weather has been unseasonably warm so I took a ride on the Erie canal into the city. Did half day around 50 miles. I brought my camera in hopes that some subject matter would jump out. This picture was the only thing to catch my interest. Very much current event hippie graffiti.

Ian just sent me this link along with the photographs bellow. Another fire blog had a write up on this one. Check it out. Thanks calfire.blogspot.com!

http://calfire.blogspot.com/2008/10/great-blogs-gila-hotshots-wildfire.html

Short update of what I've been doing. Running to the YMCA, Taking dead trees out from the Bushnells Basin FD, turning my first wood bowl, getting a free TRD suspension on my truck, wine tasting at the Finger Lakes and riding the road bike.

Negrito fire base's new building! Hopefully I'll get one of the guys to send me pictures of the completed building. Photo credit goes to Ian Morgan. Thanks!

Cutting Room. Hit up the Union Square area to see Marye Lobb play a show at the Cutting Room. Mary's got a great voice!

E. Manhattan. Took my first Yoga class. It was awesome! Bikram Yoga is like swimming laps in a hot tub. I have a ton to learn about form still. After I get good enough at yoga it'll be time to learn how to dance...

Went to Comic Strip in E. Manhattan this evening. Great comedians there I strongly recommend it to anyone. Well, I'm off to another Yoga class, get some wings and end at Big Lebowski bowling night. Ummmm... White Russians.

Queens, NY. Fire juggling in the streets of NYC?

I'm pretty sure Jay liked our suits. How couldn't you?

Jay & Jenn's Wedding. Dan, Fiona and Chris at the reception dinner in Albany, NY

Dad on a completed walk way. I ripped logs in half to set the scrap wood beams and cross boards on.

I made Mom pose for me with Dads chainsaw.