Recently in outdoors Category

New post, put up over here.

Again, please don't change your URL bookmarks and stuff like that. I'm still waiting for Webmistress to point stuff in the right direction....

Snowfall begins last night, click to embiggen:

And I took a photo today:

Today's snowfall has bumped the snowfalls of 2009/2010 to the top of the record chart for all-time winter snowfalls in DC.

I had a good time on the slopes and wilds of Pennsylvania this weekend. The irony was that as the Snopocalypse IV blizzard raged on in the DC area, absolutely no snow hit central PA at the resort. Although the manufactured snow was sufficient and I got a lot of good runs in down the slopes. I had intended to go another day, but the night out on the town in Moosic proved to be too much. The locals were happy that we were all there though and there was rampant shirtlessness throughout the evening. I did not get any pictures of me on the slopes as I did not want to damage my new camera (named "My Precious"). I managed to win an award for being the "Cutest Ski Cub" of the weekend, even though I am actually a Snowboard Cub.

Last night on the ride home the roads out of Pennsylvania were OK until we got into Maryland. As we drove through the Baltimore area the highways were mostly a single lane. You could see dozens of cars off the side of the road entombed in snow. We passed one dude in an SUV with Georgia plates. No one with Georgia plates has any business driving in these conditions!

Work was canceled today, which was fine because I'm still unpacking, laundering and nursing a lingering cold. And they say more snow is still to come. OK I officially declare this winter to be ridiculous. Perhaps we'll be off work tomorrow too? I will be hitting the Refresh button on this site a lot tonight.

The bar that we went to in Moosic, PA was called the 12 Penny Saloon. For once I was not the arbiter of shirtlessness, but joined in on the fun:

While some headed to the slopes for another day of skiing, I went bowling instead. I got a few strikes but my form went downhill by the last frame:

Here's some cute scruffy German (Swedish/Dutch?) guy getting hit in the face while he sings a ballad:

Meanwhile the Swedes are off the hook, including 53 year-old Dolph Lundgren channeling Elvis, Bruce Lee and Sheila E all in one opening act.

I spoke with TJ the other day on the phone, and I'm told he's OK but otherwise very busy:

I've had the chance to follow a little bit of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell hearings and listening to some of the politicians take their ridiculous stands on the issue in order to preserve their votes just steams me up. That and the usual comparisons to gays to social ills like alcoholism and tattoos. Still, there were a few sober folks standing up for the removal of the policy, which is long overdue to be removed. It angers me that our insistence to be equal taxpaying citizens always seems to be on trial, whether it's for marriage or the ability to serve our country like other Americans.

And more figureheads are proposing criminialization of the gay within our national borders as opposed to exporting the idea to Uganda. It's almost too ridiculous to take seriously, but their statements show their true colors. They won't be happy until we're put away, and they will try to thwart any incremental steps towards equality no matter what compromises they say they'll agree to, like full marriage vs. civil partnerships. Every day it becomes more apparent that they really don't want us recognized as legitimate human beings. We will always be perceived by such people as less than they are.

Perhaps the closing of Lambda Rising after 35 years serving the gay community was premature:

It almost seems like the forces against us are more vicious and mobilized than they were when I came out in the 90s, I hope in reaction to them realizing that more good people understand that we are human beings.

Our fourth snowstorm approaches, and they say this one is gonna be a doozy. But I hope to be out of town by the time it hits, as I'll be off to the Poconos mountains near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for some snowboarding with this group. Hopefully it will go better than the last time I went on a big group outing. This time I'm gonna focus on the powder, not the meat market and maybe I'll have a better time. Sadly I'll be missing the Tom Goss (also from Wisconsin!) and Matt Alber concert here in DC. Both are mighty woofy and talented.

We've been having some odd warm hurricane-like weather lately, and when the rain broke for a bit I went outside of work to test my new camera. Since this summer I've been keeping an eye out on the strange egg sacs shown below, and for the longest time I believed that baby Republicans might emerge from the cocoons:

But reliable sources tell me that these are eggs sacs from a golden orb spider. The hole on the side indicates it has hatched. I do remember seeing the adult orb spiders in the summer in the field adjacent to the fence where I photographed the egg sacs.

In addition to the field and woods near my workplace you can also see an empty NOAA "green" building in Riverdale, Maryland, near completion. The National Center for Weather and Climate Prediction (also reported to occupy the building is NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, Air Resources Laboratory and the National Center's for Environmental Prediction) will relocate from NOAA's Suitland and Silver Spring sites. This is a 10 acre site and part of the University of Maryland M-Square development. But apparently the contracts or something have been in contention for some time. The building has been empty for months.

I had a nice hike today on the Maryland side of Great Falls, which is on the Potomac upstream from DC. The weather offered a nice break from our genuinely wintry weather, it was with good company, and the hike was a great workout too:

It's been a busy week at work as apparently we're trying to finish and start up everything now that we've returned to work from the holidays. Next time remind me to take a generous holiday break so I don't try to fool myself into finishing too many things while everyone else is away.

I hosted a friend from out of town this weekend so I missed a lot of the Mid-Atlantic Leather activities. That's OK because I was thinking about pulling back a bit anyway. Tomorrow I may try to stop by a fundraiser for a neighborhood leader in my old 'hood, who is trying to offset some legal fees incurred when he tried to get some positive things done in the neighborhood against the will of a long-time grandstander. Apparently it is better to use up city administrative time and police presence than to work for positive change in some neighborhoods.

Congrats to 'Glee' for winning a Golden Globe last night. I can't wait for more of the show when it starts up again in the spring. Here's a nice candid photo of one of the actors from the show, Matt Morrison.