Cedar Waxwing

Today I was looking out my bedroom window and saw five birds eating crabapples. I didn't know what they were so I had to look for them in my field guide. They are Cedar Waxwing's. They didn't mind me being inside, but as soon as I went outside with my camera they moved to the other side of the tree. I had to go back inside and let them settle down then slowly work my way outside. The very end of the tail feathers look like they have been dipped in bright yellow paint. What you can't see in the picture are two red spots near their wingtips.

Canon 10D, EF-L 80-200 lens, 1/750 @ f 5.6 (I think)

"Into Thin Air"

"Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer is about the people who died on a 1996 Mt. Everest climbing expedition. There have been times in the past where I thought it would be cool to climb mountains. Mind you, I was never serious about it, but the thought did seem appealing. I have two cousins that are avid climbers. One of them has climbed Mt. Aconcagua in South America, the highest mountain outside the Himalaya's and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. He had hoped to be on an Everest team in 2000 but I lost track of him.

What I read in the book bothered me. I saw the futility of mountain climbing. While it is amazing to think about the physical abilities of climbers and their capacity to endure pain, it is futile because in order to conquer the odds there has to be many years of sacrifice. What is sacrificed is family.

In the IMAX movie "Everest", there is an extended interview with Beck Weathers, a client of Rob Hall. Weathers nearly died on Everest in 1996. He wrote a book called "Left For Dead", (the next book on my list). In his interview he said, "...when you're dying you don't think about your work or the next house you want. You think about those you hold close in your heart."

Rob Hall, one of the Everest guides who died, was chronicled in the book. Hall said that any reasonably fit person could summit Everest. I believe this brash statement spawned a generation of "peak baggers". If you have money, you can bag a peak. In 1996 dollars it would cost about $60,000 to have Rob Hall guide you for an attempt on Everest. Then you have to provide your own transportation, clothing and conditioning. In a blog about one of the climbers in the 1996 disaster one person writes "[Sandy] Pittman epitomizes for me the ignoble decline of Everest into what it is now - a meaningless symbol of what money can buy you in this world."

It was also noted in the book about some Japanese climbers who passed by two other climbers from India who were dying. In their words they said you can't have morals above 25,000 feet. This is against the grain of everything I've been taught. Had the Good Samaritan been on Everest I believe he would have stopped to help others. Had I been there and not stopped, well, it probably would have haunted me the rest of my days.

Mountain climbing is best left for those who have the ability yet at the same time have no family ties. But the conscious decision to either abandon family or to serve only yourself by not having a family of your own is without merit. Thus the futility remains. Climbing appears to be some peoples attempt to find some version of inner peace. Little do they know that peace is not found at a summit of some lofty and distant mountain, but from God.

Okay...Someone needs to turn off the snow.

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

My Memory of President Hinckley

November 1998

I was playing in the Mormon Symphony and we were preparing for the upcoming Christmas concert. Suddenly President Hinckley walked in. He told us of the importance of music in the Church and how it will play an even bigger role in the future. To prepare for that future we were to be reorganized under the Tabernacle Choir.

After his short speech he was invited to conduct the symphony. We started to play Handel's Messiah. It's a good thing we knew the music well enough to ignore the conductor as he was waving the baton aimlessly in the air. After the final note was played he put the baton down and said, "Whew! I'm glad that's over! I didn't know that song was that long. I was running out of things to do!"

Why a glider?

I've had a lot of people ask why I want to fly a plane without an engine. This is a question that cannot be answered that easily. Do you remember a long time ago in elementary school? I'm talking about an eon ago. You could order books from The Weekly Reader. My Mom said I could order two books. I already had one picked out so I frantically searched for another. I found something about airplanes so I told her that's what I wanted. It turned out to be about sailplanes. Destiny?

Later while in high school I got involved in model aviation, specifically free flight. My dad saw the poor performing models we had built and decided to build from scratch and fly a plane from his youth. I believe it was either a Buzzard Bombshell or Miss America. It really was better than kit built junk. Then I met Bill Gieskieng, a local model airplane nut and eternal tinkerer, who introduced me to some high-powered free flight planes. I was hooked when I saw the long wings.

Years later after I joined the Air Force I wanted to build free flight planes but didn't have a suitable flying area for a plane with no controls. So I got into radio control gliders. I bought an Aquila Grande, a plane with an enormous 124 inch wingspan. I enjoyed countless quiet flights with no engines, fuel residue, or propellers to cut my fingers.

Fast forward a bunch of years...

In February 2004 Peggy gave me an introductory flight in a power plane at the local airport. It was nice but way too short. I considered learning how to fly but secretly longed for something with long wings.

In September 2005 I got an introductory ride in a glider at the airport in Mountain Green, Utah. I had never realized how dynamic the air is and I was hooked on the fact that a pilot can harness this upward energy and convert it to distance and speed. I knew this is what I wanted.

Now I have my Private Pilot Glider license and I can tell you that there is nothing more serene than looking down at the earth from which you have outraced gravity, knowing you got there by your wit, skill, and by the power from long wings at your side. A quiet whistle of wind slips by the vent in the canopy, you can feel your heart beat. Soaring birds come to see what this big white bird has found for a thermal.

That is why I fly sailplanes.

Christmas came early in 2007

December 2007 is a time to remember. As an early Christmas present Peggy sent me to Florida so I could could finish my pilot's license. It was an incredible adventure; 35 flights in 7 days. My instructor, Jan Driessen, was by far the best instructor for me. He gave me confidence and helped me to look beyond my self-imposed limitations. I also have to give credit to Knut Kjenslie (the owner of Seminole-Lake Gliderport and my flight examiner) and Jim Gager (another instructor) for giving me an experience that I will never forget. I also have to give credit to Wiley, the tow pilot. He always knew where to take me to find a thermal. Watching Wiley land the tow plane was also a treat. More often that not he would slip to a landing and made it look all so easy.

Knut shook my hand after and congratulated me after my check ride. I was excited to be done but the reality of the moment didn't sink in. I told my instructor, Jan, that I had passed. He wasn't content with a handshake but gave me a big hug and said, "I knew you could do it!" The next day I was on my way to the Orlando airport when it struck me, "I'm a pilot...I really am a pilot!" More than once on the flight home I pulled out my logbook and looked at my new license just to make sure it was real and that Knut didn't use some magic disappearing ink.

The last 6 weeks have dragged by as I wait for winter to end... HA! It has just barely started. The warm Florida weather spoiled me and I long to pull my plane out of its trailer to take her on the maiden flight with me as her pilot.

Summer storm at Snowbird, Utah

On September 10, 2005 a powerful storm blew through the area. Although I had stood on this spot hundreds of times over the years I had never seen anything like this. I was still getting used to my then new Canon 10d camera. Without thinking I just started shooting.

My Sailplane

Pik-20B

Span - 15 meters (49.2 ft.)

Seats - 1

Glide Ratio - 40:1

"Alligator Rock"

I found this rock formation while on a hike with friends Chuck Leaghty and Kim Groll on 10 Oct 2005. At first I was struck by the angle of the rock, then later realized that it looked like an alligator.