This weekend I went away near Shasta and had fun with Bob, Deborah and Barb. We stayed in an ultra-comfy house perched directly on the river and lounged, ate, played Uno, ate, went birdwatching, ate, slept in late, watched the Giants get crushed on Saturday, went hiking, found a rough-skinned newt which I held (more on that later), and ate.
It was my kind of weekend.
I’m not typically a birdwatcher. In fact, I’ve never really watched birds before. (Unless you count the quail in my yard that facinates me or the barn owl that sometimes flies above my hot tub at night.) Bob and Deborah are avid birdwatchers who eat, breathe and think BIRD. Between the two of them they’ve been watching birds for 25 years or so. I went on a bird walk with these Official Birdwatchers and every couple of minutes one of them would stop and say in a hushed tone, “Far-fleckled warbler to your right” or “Mopgrass Mably up above, in the tree, left” or “Bejeezus Patchoonkie, right in front of you, on path.”
Deborah had these $1,500 binoculars (X10 power) that made bird watching so surreal. She would hand me her binocs from time to time and I would have a hard time handing them back to her. I could see the birds in such vivid, high-powered detail. I could even see the drops of rain falling on their heads.
Through Bob and Deborah’s knowledge and love of birds (and Deb’s great binoculars) I, too, fell in love with birds this weekend. This became the most unusual hike I’ve ever been on as I become so aware of avian life in the water, on the trail and in the trees. I’ve never been scuba diving but the way they paid attention to birds above land reminded me how scuba divers pay attention to life below sea. Being with these two and experiencing their love of birds first hand gave me a new perspective. I think my next hike on the trail I’ve been hiking for six years will be from a different perspective too, thanks to that bird hike over the weekend.
When we went on a (non-birdwatching) hike, Barb noticed a rough-skinned newt on the trail (we didn’t know its name at the time). I picked up the newt with my gloves. It was so cute–black skin, orange underbelly, orange eyes. Later we found out on the Internet that the toxins from the skin of a rough-skinned newt can kill 1-3 humans. A few years ago, one unlucky camper had one crawl into his coffee pot and he was dead within 15 minutes of drinking his rough-skinned newt-flavored coffee. Gross I know but I’m glad I didn’t pick up the newt with my bare hands. And I was mighty careful of my gloves after reading that. In fact, they are now sitting on my washer waiting to be washed in hot, hot water.
I took today off to work on my book and ended up spending all day in bed with my computer. I’m working on my book so I really didn’t take the day OFF OFF and in fact was very ON today. Still it felt good to not be interrupted by the business phone in order to focus. I’m nearly done with my book for business owners. After nearly 2 years of working on this book and not being able to finish the last 20% (think mountain that you are just about to climb to the top of–you know how that last little bit is a bitch? That was what I went through with my 80% completed book). I finally hired an editor/ghost writer to edit the 80% that I wrote and finish the last 20% that I haven’t written. I looked and looked for the right person and when I found her I felt my body say “YES” from deep within. This editor/ghost writer has been able to find my ‘voice’ in her edits and ghost writing. I’m happy to have found the right person to help me complete this long-awaited project. I spent at least 7 solid hours (maybe more, time is a blur after so much computer time today) reviewing the edits she’s made for my book. I only got up to eat and go to the bathroom. I ignored the phone (if you called, I’ll call you back tomorrow). I ignored my usual daily exercise. I focused. I read. I reviewed the edits. I cursed under my breath when I wanted to be done and was only on page 101 of page 162. Damn. But then -finally- I finished reviewing her edits. My book is not yet done but it’s close to being done! We are maybe at 93% completion now. Whew. It’s hard work giving birth to a book, lemme tell you.
I thought I’d get my airline ticket for my trip at some point today. However, I was so focused on my book editing and other projects that I just decided to put getting my ticket on hold until Friday (when I have a big chunk of time to be on hold to see if I can get a mileage ticket with Delta Airlines). If I can’t get a mileage ticket I’ll just pay for the darn ticket. I realize I need to get that ticket as it will spur me to take the other actions I need to take in order to prepare for my trip. I can feel time slipping away now. 3.5 months may seem like a lot of time to prepare for a 4-month trip but it’s really not. There’s a lot of travel details to take care of between now and then and I need to get my butt in gear and DO THEM. Buying the ticket will be like hiring the editor / ghost writer was for my book–it will make it real and help spur me to take the actions I need to take.
I read an article about procrastination in the New Yorker this weekend. This article talked about how humans need a deadline by which to do things otherwise most aren’t motivated to complete things. (I know that is oh-so true for me.) It also talked about how there was an experiment where people were given the choice of $100 now or $110 in 30 days. Most would choose the instant-gratification choice of $100 now. When people were given the choice of $100 in 30 days or $110 in 31 days nearly all would choose $110 in 31 days. Most of us humans don’t like to delay gratification but we might be able to delay it for 24 hours for an extra $10 bucks. I want to learn to delay gratification more. To me it is a sign of maturity. And I was very mature today as I wrote my book and focused on the task at hand instead of on my bike that was calling to me…
Me and Barb in the doorway
About Me: 
