Western Red Cedar's Journal

Where are you and where are you going?
Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

@Salathor - Hunting is one of the hobbies that I think I'd really enjoy, but something I probably won't honestly pick up until I finish our nomadic phase. I don't want to be a burden if I go out with friends/acquaintances, so I want to make sure I know what I'm doing. A couple of the guys are bow hunters, and pretty serious about their endeavors.

I personally think it is really worthwhile to develop a closer relationship with your food. Even if that means growing a small vegetable or herb garden. IMO, hunting and butchering animals will likely be a really valuable skill in a world with a changing climate. Slow and local food production call to me pretty strongly, but I also have very itchy feet at the moment.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

I recently found out my landlord is raising our rent by $110.00. I can't say I'm surprised. Rents have increased 30-35% in my area and the vacancy rate is at .5% which is insane. The WFH policies led to a large influx from major metro areas and California. We'll be paying $895.00 for rent soon, but that also includes water, sewer, garbage, and heat. The heating is huge in our cold winters. I read an article in the local indie paper today that described some people seeing $500 increases, and some prices doubling to over 2 grand. This is only going to lead to more homelessness, which seems to be a problem everywhere in the PNW. The large camps I see in the parks and natural areas remind me of hoovervilles from the 20's, and makes me pretty concerned for where society is at.

The strange thing about this whole dynamic is that we've been living through record temperatures and it's been smoky for the whole month of July. Our air quality index is currently worse than Mumbai or Beijing, and people are still flooding into the area. Usually it doesn't get this bad until August, but the drought and heat waves have made the wildfire season much worse. This is only going to continue, and the wildfire season will expand.

I love where I live, but I'm ready to get out in the near future. Summers here are amazing, or used to be. Now I find myself hanging out inside a hot apartment, with temperature above 100 F, because the air quality is so nasty.

I'm really glad I decided to join a gym because it gives me a cool place to go and get out of the house while it is smoky and hot. Still going strong at 5-6 days per week. My workouts are meditative at this point and an ideal release for stress.

------

On a more positive note, DW seems to be thriving lately. We went to a large market with a bunch of local artists over the weekend, and talked for hours about her making a career change that centers on her art. She is really talented, and makes a variety of cool stuff that would probably sell well. She works across a lot of mediums, and in the last couple years started designing and sewing her own outfits in a retro, Jackie Kennedy style.

The nice thing about that avenue, and FI in general, is that our stash would make it easy to go that route. It can be really challenging to make a living off of your art, but if you only need 5-10 grand per year then that really changes things. It relieves a lot of pressure.

I think I might enjoy that as well. I'm certainly not as talented as DW by a long shot, but I could see myself working with wood and finding a niche that sells well at art fairs or similar venues. I certainly have plenty of access to wood 8-) .

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Grabbing this post from @AH for reference later:
AxelHeyst wrote:
Thu Aug 19, 2021 2:12 pm
That all resonates quite a bit @WRC, thanks for writing it up.

High proficiency and even mastery is a goal for me, in certain domains. I've started seeing my life as a network of S-curves, (and then also some s-curves cluster together to form a larger Composite S-curve) and on each S-curve there's a glowing dot that represents my level of proficiency at that activity. For a small handful of S-curves, I want that dot to be near the top. There's currently only one or two curves where I'm highly proficient. For other curves, I'm probably okay with the dot being at about the midpoint/steepest part of the curve.

Also, I'm going through a process of evaluating each S-curve and deciding if I actually care about it at all. If I decide I don't, I'm intentionally dropping it. That frees up more resources for the S-curves I actually care about.

I think I have to jump on your wagon: I mostly do stuff for intrinsic reasons, and struggle primarily with willpower. Monday and Tuesday this week I returned to my timeblock planning practice and felt great about the structure and what I was accomplishing. Then, yesterday, I had a bad day. It was all the things: my ankle hurt, my surgery hurt and I'm worried about it, my energy was low, existential dread was extra high, it was too hot in the shop to work on my bike, and the catastrophes of climate change seemed to be closing in and choking off any possibility of having a good rest of my life. As a result, I went off my timeblock plan, didn't accomplish barely anything, and watched Iron Man in the middle of the afternoon. If there had been alcohol or sugar in the house, I would have had too much of it.

Today I woke up and I've just been killing it. What's the difference? I wish I knew. I think part of it is recognizing that some days are just gonna suck, and the best thing to do is to go to sleep on that day as soon as possible without doing anything too stupid so you can try again the next day.



I've gotten thrown off so many times because I didn't have a plan for when I failed. I took any slight failure as a catastrophe, as a reason to justify throwing my hands up. Cal Newport talks about how when things get crazy, the best move is to "face the productivity dragon", not to abandon your systems in despair, because that'll just make things worse. There's a certain courage, I think, that it takes to be able to both plan for failure, clearly realize it for what it is when it's happening, and brushing yourself and getting on with it. Whenever I daydream about futureAxel, he's never fucking up, he's just confidently executing and being a badass. So when I get to my future, and fuck something up, I suffer, because suffering = reality - expectations. Maybe I should incorporate handling fuckups and bad days well in my daydreams of myself.

I also think you're dead on with environmental design. This is "use your smart, weak brain to outthink your dumb, strong brain". There's two sides to environmental design for willpower: removing stuff that will cause you to do things you don't want to do, and adding stuff that will aid you in doing what you do want to do.

Smartweak Axel made sure not to buy any alcohol at the store, because he knew Strongdumb Axel would drink it even though we said "zero alcohol this week". But I'm in my parent's house at the moment, which has a dvd player and a stack of mostly crappy movies, which explains why I wasted 2 hours yesterday watching a movie I'd already seen with basically no redeeming value. Our paleolithic brains can't handle being in a candy store and not eating candy, so we gotta make sure we just don't go into candy stores. And most of our environments are insane candy stores (our phones are enough to turn us into slavering imbeciles if we aren't careful).

On the "add stuff to encourage what you want to do" side of things, if I want to read more, but I don't have a comfortable place to read books, that's a problem. I can pull an @Ego and find a nice fixer-upper antique chair at a swap and also maybe get a nice lamp, and a side table where I put my tea, and now I have an inviting reading chair. I'll inevitably read more, all things being equal. If you want to play your guitar more, it's probably better if it's out somewhere visible and inviting, all set up and ready to play, than if it's stuffed in a closet and you have to move the dining room table over and no one else can be in the house, etc. (I'm not saying that's all there is to it, just that this is one angle to evaluate.)

Accountability is also huge like you say. A technique is to commit to something that forces you to get better, practice, perform. For a while I committed to posting one piece of digital art every day, even if it sucked. I got way better and faster during that period. My first pieces were horrible, but after a few weeks, they were mostly kinda okay and every once in a while I made one that I thought was cool. But the main thing is I just got better, sharper, because of the practice.

I've gotten better at public speaking because I volunteered / said yes to speaking engagements that I wasn't ready for.

And of course, probably the main tactic is to eliminate the non-essential. It's difficult to devote yourself to something if you're also sorta devoting yourself to six other things. In the past year I've let go of serious mtb, serious climbing, vehicle-based dirtbagging, figure drawing, and a few other things. I probably have more stuff to let go of.
--
I was actually thinking about this this morning.... There's a *ton* of good thinking and writing being done about willpower and effectiveness and mastery and all that in the space of "workplace productivity". A lot of FIRE types are allergic to this sort of thing, because w*rk sux bro and Down with the Man and all that, and I get it, but also

Cal Newport, Scott Young, James Clear, David Allen, Tim Ferriss, Robert Greene, and a host of others have *gold* for anyone willing to put in the effort. The stuff on the surface is fine, some is take it and some is leave it, but once you get a couple layers deep and actually pay attention to what they're saying, there's some really profound stuff in there.

I also find that consuming material from these types is generally inspiring for me, even if I'm not getting something specific. I can throw on a Cal Newport podcast and listen to it while making breakfast, and my willpower gets a noticeable boost even if he was just rambling about fixed-schedule productivity systems for undergrads. On Monday I was reading Ambrose's book Band of Brothers, the early parts where he talks about their training in the States, and then I went out and ran up a hill, even though before reading it I was on the verge of skipping training that day.

--

An anecdote about a pitfall with accountability: I've had the experience a couple times now where accountability backfired on me. I partnered up with someone, but they almost immediately fell off, and so our check-ins fell into a pattern of them saying "damn, I didn't do it, super busy", and me saying "uh, well I did it, but yeah super hard huh?". I almost felt bad for doing what I said I was going to do, because our check-ins felt like a thing where we noted that I was Doing Better than the other guy, and that doesn't feel good to me. So I actually had pressure to slack off to not make the other person feel so bad about themselves. Tall poppy syndrome. I was better off doing my own thing in those instances.

--

That was a lot of rambling. Let me try to break it down into a process.

1) Decide there's something I want to attain a higher level in.
2) Make sure it's not heterotelic to anything else.
3) Run an "identity motivation" visualization practice on it. Visualize the kind of person it is I'm trying to become, and what my life will be like, and how it'll feel. Start talking to myself in the present tense about being good at that thing.
4) Design a program to achieve that next level, leaning heavily on Scott Young and Cal Newport for the construction of that program, while taking into mind a lot of James Clear stuff. Here's the template I use for learning project design:



5) Recently, I've been playing with having 0-2 "main focus activities", and putting everything else on a "cruise" list. And explicitly writing it out. For me, it's a way to acknowledge that I can only make rapid progress on one, maybe two things at a time, and everything else has to be in somewhat of a maintenance mode. Things can be in the focus category for as short as a day at a time, but typically I think it's better for it to be there for at least several weeks at a time, until some milestone has been reached, and then it can drop back to cruise to gestate and something else can be focused on (or a break from focus can be taken).

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

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Trip Report: Selkirk Mountains - Kaniksu National Forest

I was pleasantly surprised to make it out for my third backcountry trip of the summer last weekend. The smoke has been pretty bad, but we found a window that looked like it would work. My BIL organized it and we are starting to make a bit of a tradition for a family backpacking trip. We took out his two daughters and one of our nephews who is getting ready to move away to college in a few weeks. I introduced him to backpacking when he was 16 and has fallen in love with wilderness and the backcountry as a result.

We opted for a hike to Pyramid and Ball Lakes in the Selkirk Mountains. I've never hiked here, but it was a short-distance hike to high alpine environments. The trailhead is about 5,800 feet. The hike to Pyramid is only 1 mile, and it is 2 miles to Upper Ball Lake at 6,730 feet. The campsite at Ball Lakes offer easy access to a ridge line which you can hike for miles, and potentially summit Pyramid Peak. My BIL is really into hiking ridgelines for the views, and wanted to get his daughters on top of a mountain.

It was great carpooling in their minivan, though the last mile before the trailhead had some washouts and rocks that made navigating the road a bit wild. The drive through Bonner's Ferry, just south of Canada, is quite beautiful. Scenic farms with a backdrop of the Selkirk and Cabinet Mountains:

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I knew there was a chance of rain in the forecast, but I have pretty good rain gear so I wasn't too worried. We made it to the trailhead around 4:30 on Friday afternoon, and just as we were getting our gear ready, the rain started. We got the kids sorted out and started hiking up to the first lake. The trail was really muddy and wet after 30 minutes, but we were all in good spirits. We ran into some couples hiking down who had been picking huckleberries. They said there were loads of berries around.

We had a bit of reprieve from the rain after making it to Pyramid lake:

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We hung out here, had some snacks, played with a friendly black lab, and got prepped for the next leg of the hike (up and over the ridge on the picture above).

We had great views on the way up and stopped every few minutes when we found a good huckleberry spot. There were a couple large groups at Ball Lakes, but we snagged the last campsite large enough to accommodate three tents. The days aren't quite as long, so we moved quickly to get set up and make dinner - A delicious meal of couscous with fresh vegetables and loaded potato soup.

I noticed a few drops of rain around 7:30 or 8:00, so I quickly threw on my rain fly. Fortunately we had a few hours of dry weather to set up camp and make food. We were all pretty exhausted after the long car ride and hike in, and were in our tents before 9:00. I was asleep before 9:30, but woke up around 11:30 to some pretty strong rain, along with thunder and lightning. I opted not to worry to much, and managed to sleep well until about 7:45 the next morning.

The rain was still going strong, but my BIL had already grabbed the bear bags and was up with his kids hanging out in their tent. We decided just to stay put in our tents for the next couple of hours and see what happened with the weather. The scenery was quite beautiful, but it was clear that we were sitting in the middle of a storm that didn't look to be moving anywhere anytime soon. Although I stayed fairly dry, A lot of my gear was soaked and I had a half of inch of water in one part of my tent.

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It was a good opportunity to finish my book (The Nature Fix) and the perfect environment to do that. I got out of the tent again around 10:30. I told my BIL I didn't think it was wise to stay another night considering the weather and the state of our gear. We took our time breaking camp, with multiple cups of hot tea or coco while letting the kids stay dry in the tent. My nephew was still sleeping around 11:00 - going strong with 14 hours of sleep.

The rain mostly stopped after a continuous downpour for 12 hours, but we were still sitting in a cloud of light mist. It was probably the most relentless rain I've dealt with since one of my first backpacking trips in the Olympic National Park almost 20 years ago.

We were bummed that we couldn't stay and pick heaps of berries, or do some hiking along the ridge, but I was really impressed with everyone's positive attitude. The girls considered it a real adventure, and were planning on writing a short story about it once they got home. We had some nice views on the hike down, and took our time to enjoy the forest.

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On the ride back, we saw several major storms passing through N. Idaho. At one point, we drove through a major hail and rain storm that caused almost all of the drivers to pull off to the side of the freeway. I'd never seen anything quite like that before. We knew we made the right decision to cut the trip short, because those storms would have been brutal in the mountains. I did my best to spin the trip as a success, and it was in my mind.

Image

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mountainFrugal
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

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Calling a trip early to see the heavens open up when you make it back to the car is one of the best feelings. Calling a trip early only to see sunshine and clear skies is one of the worst. I am glad you read the weather GODS correctly. :)

theanimal
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

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Pretty area! That's great that everyone was able to manage a positive attitude. Just coming back from a rain filled trip myself and I know that attitude is not always easy to have for many, especially those who don't get out frequently.

Have you ever read Deep Survival? I'm re-reading it now and think you'd enjoy it.

Jiimmy
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

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Looks like a great place! I haven't spent much time in that area, but plan to soon.

Salathor
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Salathor »

Beautiful, and great pics. My aunt and uncle just moved to Bonner's Ferry. We're hoping to get up to the area next year.

mooretrees
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by mooretrees »

As always love the photos and the detailed notes from your trips, even the not perfect ones.

So interesting to read of your DW's potential side hustle future. I think the pressure of having to make a lot of money off of your art could potentially kill the joy of making art. Having to make 5-10K could allow for a lot of freedom and fun. Hope it works out for you both!

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

Thanks everyone! All of the active fires and smoke in the region make it easy to be grateful in the rain - even if it happens on the family camping trip. :D

@theanimal - I'm not familiar with it but will make a mental note to look for it. They don't have it through my digital library app unfortunately. One of the tough things about novice backpackers is they don't have the best gear for outdoor adventures. Having good gear really makes a difference. My nieces are still backpacking in running shoes, but my BIL doesn't want to get them nice hiking boots yet because they'll outgrow them in six months. Tennis shoes work fine in good weather, but aren't the best in inclement weather. I've got enough to support my nephew's kit, but all of the kids kind of have a mishmash of stuff we could borrow, or some of our older stuff.

@Salathor - It is a really pretty area. This hike was about 45 minutes from Bonner's Ferry, and there are loads of other options to get into the Selkirk Mountains within 30-60 minutes of Bonner's Ferry. These are great for entry-level backpacking trips, or for family day hikes. Tons of huckleberries in July and August.

@Jiimmy - Feel free to PM me if you are heading up in the area at some point and want some tips or recommendations. Lots of great boondocking spots in N. Idaho, along with some nice backcountry routes.

theanimal
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

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I backpack exclusively in running shoes ;) . They are "trail" specific but not water proof. They are far lighter and more comfortable. Up here at least backpacking in boots would be/is miserable because of all the water. On non rainy days the shoes do dry out almost completely within about 15 min of being soaked. Rainy days sometimes aren't as pleasant and require more fortitude. But yes I'd imagine it's a bit different on trails and with younger travelers. I think my fiancee would prefer an area with more trails. She has come to accept hiking with me here means wet feet :D

Western Red Cedar
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@theanimal - I met quite a few through hikers on the PCT who rocked running shoes. I also know they are fairly popular with the ultra-light backpacking crowd. I think one of the keys if you go this route is to make sure your pack is less than 30% of your weight. Ideally closer to 20%.

I find I really need the ankle and knee support from a good pair of hiking boots as I've aged. I also like dry feet on the trail.

Are you mostly bushwacking on your trips? Are the wet feet the result of a lot of river/creek fords?

Since I'm out solo a lot, I tend to stick primarily to trails. But, with all of the GPS advances it would probably be easier to to do my own thing. My BIL spent a week or two hiking along the Selkirk Crest a couple years ago. It required a lot of backtracking, navigation, and patience. I thought it was kind of a crazy trip, but it definitely flexes some different backcountry skill sets. I don't feel strongly about moving in that direction as there are so many great, long-distance trails in the PNW, but perhaps one day...

theanimal
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Yes, I've done it for the past 8 years now. They are common up here among people who do longer distance trips. Even the pack weight doesn't matter for me, I've had 70 lb + loads (I weigh ~165 lbs)..but I don't have any ankle/knee issues. Almost all the hiking here is off-trail, there are very, very few human trails. I'll take game trails (bear, moose, caribou) when available and going in a direction I want to go. Wetness results from creek/river crossings, wet ground, and wet vegetation (after rains).

It sounds like you are happy with your setup which is all that matters.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

@theanimal - Much respect! That kind of trekking requires a lot more awareness and a higher level of backcountry skills. I can't imagine enjoying a trip with a 50lb+ load, but I guess that is why they call you the animal ;)

theanimal
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Haha, thanks but I should clarify. I try to keep my pack as light as I can but when it is heavy, it doesn't seem to affect my feet when I am wearing trail runners.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Western Red Cedar »

I realized today is my one year anniversary as a forum member. Thanks to all who have offered words of encouragement, recommendations or feedback. And thanks to those who are memorializing their own journeys in their journals, because those offer insights and inspiration too.

I read back through the first couple of pages of this journal this morning. I seemed to make a lot of progress in areas that already had some momentum (financial, music, time outdoors). We've been riding the wave of the bull market over the last 12 months and it's gotten us much closer to FI than I would have imagined. FI by 40 was always a major stretch in my mind, but it is more than likely at this point unless we take the Semi ERE route (which is quite appealing). I traveled a bit further down the fermentation rabbit hole, only to realize that I barely cracked the surface after reading Noma's Guide to Fermentation. Sourdough bread, led to homemade pizzas, which led to trying to get as gourmet and creative as possible with pizza on the weekends. As with many dishes we experiment with, DW and I got to a place where our homemade pizza rivals or exceeds most places in town. Perhaps beer and wine is next in line?

I gave up my daily Spanish lessons last fall after practicing for a couple years straight. I had plateaued and decided to put it on the back burner to focus on work, exercise, and other goals. I don't feel bad about this, as I know I'll have an opportunity soon for full immersion in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia, or Argentina. It makes more sense for me to combine that goal with my passion for travel. I got really into bicycling, even though it wasn't a part of my plans for the year. It seems like a really powerful node in my personal system. A means to adventure, travel, fitness, natural areas, and all in an environmentally sustainable manner. I broke pr after pr in terms of miles cycled, but most importantly broke the mental barriers in terms of distance. I know that time, not my physical fitness, is the main limiting factor in how far I can ride. My PR this year was just over 50 miles.

The last couple of months I've spent a lot of time focusing on health and fitness. Health is wealth. I'm lifting 5-6 days per week and active everyday. As a keyboard jockey by day, it is amazing how quickly my posture has changed by strengthening my core, lats, and deltoids. Strength training is extremely valuable for my mental health. I feel more confident, and inspired to make healthier choices around nutrition. I still have some aches and pains occasionally, but building muscle, dropping fat, and cleaning up my diet will all help with that.

My biggest struggles were practicing gratitude at work, limiting my news/online consumption, too much television in the evenings, and sticking with a good/healthy morning routine (daily meditation, gratitude journal, or yoga before breakfast). It was a very challenging year for DW, but I believe she will emerge a better, stronger person and that we'll have a better marriage as a result of the adversity.

As a result of actually engaging here, rather than just lurking, I have a much better understanding of a well-designed personal system. I recognize the behaviors or patterns that don't complement (or undermine) facets of my WOG, and have a good foundation to continue refining my lifestyle to improve things.

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mountainFrugal
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Great update! Keep it going for many more years.

Western Red Cedar
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

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Thanks Mountain Frugal!

August Update:

Financial

NW - $427,822 (Increase of $11,301)

At the beginning of the year I had a rough goal of crossing the 400K benchmark. 425k was a stretch goal. It feels pretty good to to move beyond that with four months left in the year, especially because DW hasn't worked for a few months this year. For awhile, I was thinking about our finances and NW increases constantly, but I've chilled out quite a bit. All of that fixation wasn't healthy, and was likely fostering some anxiety as I was regularly focused on the future and not present in the moment.

I was a little looser with the pursestrings this month. Now that things have opened back up, DW and I have gone out to eat or purchased food/coffee 4 times this month. We had our anniversary and enjoyed a delicious sushi dinner, followed by a movie in the theaters, and ice cream for DW afterwards. I had a bunch of old friends in town for my 20 year high school reunion, so we went out a couple times and caught up.

I also went to a William Elliot Whitmore concert last weekend, and will probably be taking DW to see Billy Strings in a few weeks. All of this was money well spent. It has been great to connect the last couple of months after long periods of isolation. I never feel guilty about spending money on a concert, and usually regret when I don't see an artist I enjoy. I missed seeing Whitmore in Seattle nine years ago because it was a work night and I was tired, and was happy to correct that mistake over the weekend.

Work:

I'm proud of myself for managing work-related stress. I'm not really stressed at all lately. Working out daily probably helps a lot with this, but I've also come to the realization (years ago) that stressing about things doesn't really help anything. I can't always control my environment, but I can control how I respond to it.

I hit a bit of a funk for a week or so in August where I was extremely unproductive. I've tried to course correct this week and have made a lot more progress. I've basically needed to put my Ipad and phone in a separate room so I'm not tempted to jump online. Fortunately I don't ever use my work computer for random browsing or non work-related tasks.

I'm starting to come to a place mentally where I'm committed to making it through at least the end of the year, and probably through the first half of next year as well. After looking back at the first page of this journal, I realized I said I'd be ready to to possibly pull the plug at 450-500k. I'll likely be there if I continue working for another 9 months. It has me thinking whether I actually want to keep my ties with a sabbatical, or just cut the cord and take off. I don't need to decide anytime soon but it has been lingering in the back of my mind.

Health:

I'm still lifting 6 days a week, and usually pretty active every day. The smoke has really cleared up so DW and I make it out for an evening walk almost every night. It is great for our relationship and mental health. We've started going to some other large parks or neighborhoods to switch up the scenery, which has been really nice.

I read Permission to Feel after the glowing recommendation from @Biscuits and Gravy. I got the digital book and DW got the audiobook from our library. I checked it out to support DW, but actually found there was a lot for me to learn as well. My emotional vocabulary was extremely limited and it offered some clear guidance on how to process and manage emotions, and the feelings that would often linger for hours or days.

I've actually gained a couple pounds since starting lifting again. I'm definitely getting stronger and pushing more weight, but I've been lazy with my diet and nutrition. I could be of the mindset that I'm just gaining muscle, but the realist in me know that the issue is the lack of a caloric deficit. I'm not too worried about the number on the scale. I'm of the mindset that I'm on a long-term journey and the changes I want to see will occur with consistency and persistence.

All of the recent social activity tends to go hand-in-hand with unhealthy food and drinks. Lots of beer, whiskey, barbecue, chips, etc at these events. I'm heading off to camp at my friends property on a large river this weekend. One of our buddies will be cooking a 20 pound brisket on his Traeger. Someone else works in the grocery industry so there is always an endless supply of chips or salty snacks - my kryptonite. But, it is nice to know that I can course correct through the week and will be back in the gym to burn some of that off.

Foraging:

I made it out last weekend for a hike and chose a destination that was rumored to still have some huckleberries. I found a great patch and picked for about 90 minutes. I saw a buck and coyote just off the the road on my drive back. I also saw some massive bear tracks near the berry patches, which was pretty cool. I didn't get a huge haul (about 20 ounces), but I'm still eating off of them and have made some amazing salads with goat/sheep cheese and basil to set off the berries.

The foraging log inspired me to try to get out and look for Chanterelles this month. I've only picked Morels thus far, but would like to increase my comfort with identifying and harvesting other species. I realized after a bit of research that I regularly see Chicken of the Woods on some of my hikes.

Married2aSwabian
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Married2aSwabian »

Great update - glad you and DW are well and on track with goals. 9 months, that’s about my time frame as well … I think it sinks in a bit more when you can start counting the months!

Concerts are always a great investment. Back in the day (HS and college) it was just a little cheaper investment! We’d go see Santana, AC/DC, The Grateful Dead, Blue Oyster Cult, Rush or some other band for a ten dollar lawn seat. Since DW and I have been married, it seems we are on a once / decade concert schedule: Rolling Stones in ‘97, Genesis in ‘07 and the Eagles in ‘18. Oldies acts for sure now, with astronomical ticket prices.

Frugalchicos
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Re: Western Red Cedar's Journal

Post by Frugalchicos »

Aldi is the way to go. Straight forward and good stuff. Also, their chocolate is amazing.

I wish we could have a store closer to our home. We will have to settle for Walmart for now

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