Tim December 27th, 2007

December 12th 2007

Enterprise Island in Wilhelmina Bay

Latitude 64

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Neko Harbour I

As Polar Star completed the crossing of the Drake passage, the rocking and rolling subsided as did my sea sickness. We entered the calmer Gerlache Strait early that morning. Our destination is Enterprise Island in Wilhelmina Bay and Neko Harbour, Latitude 64 32′ South, Longitude 062 20′ West.  The day was surprisingly warm at +3 C , much warmer then the -15 C temperature in Alberta, Canada when we had left, just a week ago. 

Up until this point I had been in a horizontal position in my bunk estimating the hours that remained for this crossing to be completed, so that I might feel somewhat better physically and regain my original enthusiasm for this adventure. Yellow being my current skin coloring having recovered from spring green. I am now hoping for a pleasant rosy color once we embark on the first Antarctic landing not long after breakfast.

Early that morning before the breakfast announcements on the intercom Debbie has been enthusiastically tearing the velcroed window blinds from their mooring with a more then irritating ripping sound that was not improved by my present yellowish state of mind. Ahhhh yes, Debbie is a early bird and all the more early when the sun does not set! She was beside herself with excitement and couldn’t wait to see some of the vast sights promised us. At this point we are just a week away from the longest day of the year down here. The sun just ducks down below the horizon for what seems mere minutes before beckoning us to wake yet again to enjoy the glorious sunrise. It seems a bizarre concept that I can photograph the sunset and sunrise within a hour of each other. Although as a photographer, this is of course a perfect time of the year having the sun at it’s lowest point for extended periods of time, giving us continuous and fabulous long shadowed panoramas bathed in the warm light of the evening or morning as you would have it. This warm lighting creates a wonderful contrast to the stark Cerulean blues cast by various ice chunks floating their way to eventual oblivion somewhere beyond the horizon. The play of warm and cool tones was what I was hoping for, as this to me creates wonderful visual excitement combined with the right compositions.

As I threw my feet to the floor I did a mental and physical check……was I feeling better? Hard to say, I was sitting upright, I wasn’t dizzy and disoriented…..hmmm…..time for the galley test. As I had mentioned earlier once the sea sickness subsided no amount of rocking or rolling set me off again, I was good to go! The breakfast was fantastic, as had all the meals been up to this point. The kitchen staff and chef were top notch in my book. I was never happier to be enjoying a meal.

Disembarkation

Ice Headwall

This will be the first time we have disembarked for land since leaving Ushuaia 2 days ago. There are around 20 Zodiac inflatables with 60hp Yamaha outboards ready for these twice daily excursions to shore. Once there on land we have a few different options for exploration. All of the landings are areas where there a numerous types of fauna to watch and photograph or if you choose there are hikes to some of the surrounding areas. Sometimes there are small summits to be conquered of 300 meters or so. This was my favorite exploit, a time to stretch the legs and see what is on the other side. All my life I have been enamored with the "other side" finding wonder and vastness but no answers, and yet I am still intrigued. The third option at times, is exploring via the Zodiac to some of the near bays, penguin rookeries or just shapely Ice sculptures beckoning to be recorded by the occasional photographer.  Today it was moodily calm and reflections were to be had at every turn as the zodiac slid at an idling pace through the small and ever changing passages in the "brash ice". My camera was more at my eye then at my side, this unique and tremendously abstract landscape cannot leave you without deep impressions of a land yet unaffected by human manipulations. The stark power and rhythm of the environment here envelops your very being to the point that feeling the vibrations of the land is a visceral experience.  In an effort to allow you a small sense of what we are experiencing I hope that these images will give you a feel of all that we are immersed in.

Neko Harbour II

Latitude 64

After exploring various nooks and crannies of the undulating coastlines here within Wilhelmina Bay we come upon the sunken and burned hulk of the Wreck Guvernoren, a 3400 ton Norwegian Whaling factory ship that was built in 1891 as a cargo ship and converted for the use as a factory ship in 1914. The ship caught fire and was beached in 1915 right here where we found her, half submerged but amazingly intact for the length of time at this location. Upon looking within the rusting hull you could discern the stern planks far below the surface of the water. The clarity of the sea here was amazing where seemingly there is no limit to the depths unveiled.

The Wreck Guvernoren

Wilhelmina Bay

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• Tim Schumm
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Tim December 20th, 2007

December 10th 2007

Beagle Channel and through the Drake Passage

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The first day on Polar Star was spent mostly cruising through the Beagle Channel en route For the Drake Passage. For the most part we had reasonable weather sea wise but the photo opportunities were rather dull due to the over cast skies and dull coloring. Not one to be daunted by the lack of subject matter I thought that I would practice my skills with bird shots as they were hovering about the stern of the ship and presenting me with a subject matter that I had not really been giving much energy up to this point, primarily being a landscape photographer.

Pintado Petrels

These photos posted here are not the ones with the dull background described earlier, mostly because that was the 2000 images that it took for me to get something that was reasonable to present here. It was a bit frustrating to get my eye/camera to match the challenge of capturing birds flying at speed, twisting turning and diving into the sea at the last moment. never mind the rocking of the ship on top of that. What? My horizon is not horizontal? Ha-ha I was lucky to get a bird never mind something horizontal. Never the less I am stubborn, if not a little blurry eyed after 5-6 hours of the digital learning experience. Yes, it was sunset before It all came together. After trying various settings in the menu on the Nikon D80 and 18-200mm VR lens. My percentage of success improved and I could then start to focus on getting a composition, as well as the birds in some kind of focal order.

Pintado Petrel

Giant Petrel

Giant Petrel

This last shot is Debbie’s of a Blackbrowed Albatross shot with her Nikon D70s and Nikon 70-300mm VR lens. A much better lens for the job magnification wise but just as difficult to get the proper focus in time. The auto focus on our cameras was not quite as fast as required and did a lot of searching before locking in. Doing it manually was a option but the rate of success was no better. The best choice we had was to shoot like crazy and hope for the best.

Blackbrowed Albatross                                   image by Debbie Garside

The next posting will be missing a day. It was stormy for our Drake Channel crossing and I was more horizontal then anything. Although I did try to make it to the galley for breakfast in the morning telling myself that seasickness was all in the mind and it was just a matter of focus in order to continue as before. But as god willed it I was running for the door within a minute and diving for the deck my determination awash in nausea. Debbie having sensibly worn the the seasickness patch had to deal with my "natural remedy state" for only a day before I recovered wearing my sea legs. I was never seasick again throughout the rest of the journey.

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• Tim Schumm
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Tim December 19th, 2007

December 9th ,2007

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The Polar Star leaves promptly in the morning from Ushuaia, registering us into our cabins and lofting our back packs and luggage via the dock hoist on to the upper deck to be delivered to our assigned cabins. The morning is a day of broken skies displaying spot lights of sun on the surrounding mountains. We are excited with all the hustle and bustle around us on all the various levels of the ship’s decks. Having never been on a seafaring ship of this size, all of it was new and filled with anticipation as well as thoughts of the possible rough seas to come while crossing the infamous Drake Passage. As a child I had read many a seafaring story expressing the serious nature of the environment that we were entertaining to venture into. Stories of sailors sailing single handed into the Straits of Magellan and rolling over several times braking their masts and lashing them on to their decks in huge waves trying as they might to enter the Pacific currents just west of our current position of safety here in the port of Ushuaia. Having just heard via the news and many concerned emails from friends and family that a ship of similar size and stature was sunk just a week before our disembarking, did not quell the queasiness in my stomach.

Right from the start though, my mind was set somewhat at ease by the confident jovial nature of the staff. With smiling faces and suntanned heads as they ushered us through the daily goings on with efficiency and cheer. I was glad to see that the staff was well picked although slightly eccentric, even though I had only just a first impression as of this time. They seemed to be well versed in a variety of disciplines, well suited to the environment to which we were destined. In fact one of the expedition staff claimed that this was his working holiday away from his usual profession of biology and that this was a great way to see aspects of animal and marine life that would be far more costly by any other means. And while looking after the needs and concerns of the paying customers was just as interesting to him and fulfilling in a way that the home employment may not have been.

This type of excursion was not the type ventured into by the dull and boring. It was filled with adventure types, spanning all ages and with a vast collective knowledge that made these trips interesting for the staff as much as for the customers. As the stories of interesting lives unfolded at dinner times , various hikes or on some of the sometimes wild white knuckled Zodiac rides to shore, I was astounded by the huge and consummate level of traveling knowledge ensconced on board. These were my kinda folks!

Some images to wet your appetite for the stories yet to come………..

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• Tim Schumm
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Connie December 9th, 2007

ACDSee Pro 2 & ACDSee 10 can be used to add a white or black border to a photo. If you’d like to get creative & nest the borders, that is possible too. This tutorial shows how to change the color of the border also.

Special thanks to JD for explaining how to do this! I just added the steps here.

This would be much easier in ACDSee Photo Editor. (If you’d like to a tutorial for that, let me know).

1. Click on the thumbnail of the photo that you’d like to put a frame around.

2. Under the Palette icon, Choose Edit Mode

3. Click on Selections on left & the window below opens.

4. Click on Marquee. Make the inside selection. Try to keep it even all around.

5. If you need to do it again, click on Clear & redo it. When satisfied, click on Invert.

6. Click on Done (on bottom left).

7. Click on Exposure.

8a. To make a black border, click on the top right & drag it down the right side to bottom.

8b. To make a white or colored border:

Click on the top right of the line & drag it to the left along the top as shown.

9. Click on Done.

10. On left side, choose Color

11. Under the RGB tab, move the sliders to adjust the color of the border.

12. Click on Done.

Now repeat from Step 3 on to create a black border.

(You can add as many borders as you’d like, just work towards outside.)

When you get to Step 8 use 8a.

Click Done. Click on Finished.

Close window on top right & Save as new file to protect original.

If you use this tutorial, please link to your creative work! I’d love to see it.

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• ACDSee 10 , ACDSee Pro 2 , ACDSee Tutorials
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Tim December 6th, 2007

Dec 04-07 2007

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After driving for 4 1/2 hours from Punta Arenas, Chile on mostly good roads we arrived at our Hosteria ( Hosteria Lago del Torre) in Torres del Pine National Park at around midnight. The last 2 hours on a windy washboard road that jarred my teeth from their lodgings. Although we knew we were driving though some of the most dramatic landscape on this planet we would have to wait like children at Christmas till the early morning to get a true sense of where we had arrived. For the most part the final 30 minutes were a bit stressful, in part due to the unknown extreme windiness of the road exposed to the extreme, and with parts descending into unforeseen depths just inches from our tires as well as the frequent startled rabbits racing the headlights for safer land in front of the car…..get out of the way!! go left, go right, but not the same direction as us! There were plenty of the flatter versions of rabbit from previous unconcerned Chileans driving at side slipping speeds far in front of us. Debbie was white knuckled with concern in the passenger seat for the rabbits or any other unknown being to invade our headlights. This putting all the more pressure on me and my purported “male” driving skills. Now being in South America ,it is all the more important to maintain the fragile male macho perspective intact! Having grown up with a “Liberated” mother from the 60’s I was not sure I was ready to accept this new and weighty responsibility.

Upon arriving at our Hosteria they were waiting for us with kind patience for our tardiness and lack of adequate Spanish. We were shown to a cabin complete with fireplace and super bed with absolute cheeriness. I would have slept in a cave at this point being soooo tired that the toothpicks holding my eyes open were straining at the sheer weight of my exhaustion.

The next morning was met with the inevitable winds, moody skies and imminent rain. But we could see just enough of the famed mountains to inspire a exploratory drive through most of the park seeking out the best vantage points photographically speaking. This way when the weather turned for the better, we will have scoped out the best vistas ahead of time in order to proceed to them without delay, the light here being short and fugitive at the best of times.

During this drive we came across many types of wildlife seemingly unconcerned with our presence……”Great” said Debbie! She is the long lens ( Nikon 70 - 300mm VR ) animal buff and was in total excitement with the Guanacos grazing near the roadside.

Most of my first days shots were not very impressive partly due to the lack of light but also my adjusting to the area and how to present the perspective impact of the terrain before us. The next day was a different story and the following images are an example of the mutable dramatic moodiness surrounding us on all sides. It was hard to know where to focus.

Windy is the word when thinking of our few days in Torres del Paine National Park. Or in my mind it was like living in a tornado for most of the time. Except for a few hours one morning when the day started in dead calm only to render stronger wind and rain then previously experienced. You had to be conscious of topping any rise where the compression of the airflow came to a maximum and getting blown on your keester was a real concern. I do not use a tripod and am a big fan of hand held shots. I am not sure if a tripod would have been of benefit here anyway unless you had 30lbs of sandbags to anchor it down. The sheer weight and size of tripods has always been daunting, I just didn’t want to be limited as to the distance and speed of my travels by having that extra encumbrance on my back. So where necessary as in situations like this, where the wind vibrated your very teeth I optioned for less depth of field for some extra shutter speed to get as clear a shot as possible. I was also feeling my way in the timing of the shot, waiting for a slight lull in the gusts to click the shutter and holding my breath like a sharp shooter. Shooting numerous times the same composition helps as well, just in case. I was asked in one of the earliest posting whether I was processing these images before posting here.

The answer is yes, I do but mostly I try to keep it simple by adjusting the levels, saturation, sharpening and compositional cropping. Mostly if it is to much work I just go to the next shot. My idea is to shoot lots and get something good in the grouping mostly composing on instinct and long established patterns of habit from shooting 400-700 shots per session. I used to bracket all my shots + and - one stop but after a year of bracketing with the D80 I have a pretty good idea of the result of the image and manage to abstain from bracketing now and saving space on my SDHC card and a lot less images to process later in the day. Also the “Highlights” window on the LCD screen of the Nikon D80 lets me know when the shot is over exposed. Being under exposed is not as much of a problem and with the ND filters I mentioned before the camera has less of a spectrum of light to deal with making post processing a breeze.

Yesterday while we were searching for the ultimate wind blown trees to use as fore ground imagery, Debbie came across an Orchid that she has since found to be of a rare type nestled in the grass slightly out of reach of the horrendous winds. To be specific it is a Porcelain or Magellan Orchid. She has been a Orchid fan for years and has a keen eye for the floral world in our meanderings. Here is a shot of it below. Let us know if you have any other info on this amazing flower we would be keen to know more.

Porcelain Orchid

We are as I write this, in the process of packing and on our way from Chile, Patagonia deep in Torres del Paine National Park and off to the Antarctic via Ushuaia, Argentina. So in our haste I will for the moment just post a few shots from the last few days and come back to fill this posting with a little more description once we get a lull in the daily events.

For those of you that are interested I am traveling with 2 Nikon D80 bodies and 2 lens, a Nikon 12-24mm and a Nikon 18 - 200mm VR which seem to fill all my traveling needs weight wise as well as functionally. I am also using various Lee Filters. All of them are Lee 4×6 .3 .6 and .9 ND GH Filters. I have doubles of everything, to factor in the screw up factor. In the past while traveling I have found that things go wrong no matter the preplanning so it is best to blow the wad so to speak and double up on most things if possible. This includes 2 laptops and extra hard drives. Well my suit cases are beckoning and I need to run. Check back for more images in the next few days as the landscape here is unbelievably beautiful and I am biting at the bit to get it posted.

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• Tim Schumm
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Tim December 4th, 2007

December 1st-3rd

Flying from Calgary, Alberta, Canada to Buenos Aries, Argentina is a big transition at this time of the year. One minute I am wearing long johns underneath my jeans in -15C weather driving through polka dot inspired snow storms in the early morning. where even with Low beam headlights attempting to pierce the depth of the ensuing clouds of swirling white, we could barely see 20 yards in front of us. With Jaws gritted we reach the Airport and wished Debbie’s second in command, Elaine, a better experience in driving back to the ranch. Surprisingly everything was on time at the airport and we embarked on the Continental jet for a 14 hour journey southeast to a land of summer humidity and drastic temperature differences, in stark contrast to the Canadian winter that we had just left.

Argentina, for the photographers reading this blog, has a atmospheric light that contrasts Canada, having a dusty humid warmth that creates glowing images. Even when on the cool side of the spectrum the warmth of light shows through. Canada has a much crisper cleaner type of light inspiring a Fuji type of film experience. The blues and greens being more prominent for the most part then in Argentina.

Most of the last 3 days spent in Buenos Aires was business for Debbie. Being a professional Equestrian, she is on a quest for quality horses to ship home and sell to various clients. Argentina has a plethora of just about every type, size and style of horse, you just have to know what agent to contact and what services that you will need in order to exact the most efficient use of the time allotted. Once we are processed through the maze of the customs of Argentina at the International airport, Julio, ( Debbie’s agent ) picks us up, waiting with anticipation of the days events to come. Driving here in Buenos Aires is not something I would advice for the faint of heart. In fact being a passenger is not much better, except that you have your hands free to allow for the proper positions of clasped appendages for the prayer position. I imagine there are rules of the road down here, but for the life of me it isn’t discernable to me. As far as I can see they waste a lot of money painting lines on the roads that are ignored totally, never mind the signs. It seems that the main rule is to weave left and right as it seems fit to the driver using your side view mirrors as distance gauges from the car next to you. That is if you even have side view mirrors. Some only held on by a local type of duct tape it seems. Speed is another factor in allotting maximum fear for the visiting tourist, such as ourselves. Despite regular postings of "suggested" speed limits, it seems that here too they are wasting plenty of money in the posting any type of regulations. The real rules seems go as fast as your car will allow with the slowest on the right side of the road, leaving the speediest of them to attempt the sound barrier on the left, flashing their headlights and honking for those that dare occupy this lane at anything below 140km/hr. The fact that the roads are in various states of repair doesn’t seem to discourage the speeders. It is only a challenge to swerve with the right rhythm to avoid for the most part the deepest of pot holes and with little groans when the avoidance was off a hair. The bottom of the vehicle takes yet another bashing of the type only a Canadian 4×4 truck would attempt. Yup, this is a white knuckle and drool inducing carnival ride for those that want to see any part of this phenomenal country. I constantly remind myself that Julio is close to 45 years old and has no apparent scars as far as i can discern and that he has been driving like this since …..well, a long time. And that as percentages go we will likely survive this ordeal intact. Never the less Debbie huddles in the back seat, feigning kindness in offering me the front. She has wisdom of experience and at the same time I bluster up a macho demeanor that is not very deep, acting as if I drive this way at home and that hey, he could have gone up the sidewalk over there and saved a second or two for our immanent arrival at the prospective destination. Fortunately today we were spared somewhat by staying in the city to view a timely horse jumping event in Buenos Aires, that was being held not to far from the airport.

Thereby allowing a slower exposure to the ensuing rally of daily traffic for at least one more day before heading out to the distant breeding farms in the outlying areas of the city. Mostly hitting the maximum speed for these diesel powered sewing machines. Truly they are camouflaged formula one vehicles that look like the Ford Escorts of North America, with numerous small dents throughout to attest to their true ability at not getting entangled into anything major accident wise, with the tin armored representation of the skills of the machoistic driver.

During the last three days I was struck by the stark contrast of experience, first being in the downtown core mingling with Buenos Aire’s Equestrian elite, dressed in a manner I have personally never experienced. I, representing the plebeian state of mind of my culture and avoiding such conformities ally with the simple statuesque manner of the rural ranch life. Many of these people have homes that are basic with exquisite styling bringing out the rugged and practical aspect of life closer to nature. Simple in a way that is to my liking and for the most part not really doing without many of the things that we have all grown accustomed to. Mostly the homes and Villas are constructed of hand formed reddish brick and mortar applied in a loose fashion that maintains a feel consistent with the rustic atmosphere experienced out there, with dusty skies billowing warm hues against the cobalt skies and rows of Spanish style willows breaking the pool table flatness of the pampas. As you expand your vision into the distant horizons you perceive groupings of curious looking wild binocular eyed horses always looking out for something out of the norm to tentatively experience.

Once Julio and the gauchos ( South American Cowboys ) determine which herd is of interest, another gnarled gaucho leaps with enthusiasm onto his sheepskin saddle and kicks a fury of intent into the ribs of his mount, speeding as if he were on Ruta 28 ( highway 28 ) and that there are no gopher holes out there to be engaged. His progress expressed in a trailing cloud of umber dust, angled like a arrow towards the prospective herd. Rounding up the two year olds was a seemingly easy venture, as they were corralled in mere minutes allowing for the practiced eye of Debbie and Julio to pick out the best of the lot for further inspection and possible sale. Excitement was hanging in the humidity, as was the fog like dust clouds and silhouettes of wildness mussed the earth with Debbie in the fray maneuvering and cajoling her way through the reactionary mass of anticipation, to extract the one, the unmistakable chosen one.

To me they all kind of look the same but Debbie’s long practiced eye picks out nuances that seem mystical. Far beyond my blunt experience of sight, she sees a twist of foot or lightness of trot meaning the world to a professional. Me, I am glad to be able to perceive the difference in color never mind the apparent gender difference. Never the less I am caught up in the prospector like excitement of finding that nugget of gold, only needing polishing to bring out the  jewelers dream in equine beauty.

Next….Chile, Patagonia. In Torres del Paine National Park

Popularity: 51% [?]

• Tim Schumm
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Connie December 2nd, 2007

Tis the season for sharing the joy of ACDSee products with family & friends.

There are three sales to choose from:

• Buy ACDSee Pro 2 for $129.99 and get Naneu Pro Media Wallet and a second licensed ACDSee Pro 2 on CD
• Buy the ACDSee Bundle of ACDSee Photo Manager and Photo Editor for the regular price of $79.99 and you will receive free a second licensed ACDSee Photo Manager on CD and the Four Seasons Digital Scrapbook Kits CD.
• Buy 1 copy of ACDSee Photo Manager and a receive a second licensed ACDSee Photo Manager on CD, along with a 1GB Sandisk SD card for $59.99.

Click here for more details & to order.

Please leave a comment if you have questions.

Popularity: 36% [?]

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Tim December 1st, 2007

Prior to embarking on this momentous adventure. First to Argentina,(Buenos Aires), then Chile (Torres Del Paine Nat. Park)

Patagonia

and finally Antarctica for the final 11 days. I experienced a bit of pre-trip karma, mostly due to my lack of caution with what I was eating during my expedition planning. Well really it all started before my actual planning. In fact I was in the process of moving my home from glorious Victoria, B.C. Canada to a much less wet environment but no less dramatic landscape south of Calgary, Alberta. Actually to a small town with one main street called Black Diamond. I think I picked that town for 2 reasons. Firstly my girlfriend lives close by on a ranch slightly north of there and secondly because once I rolled the name of that town through my mind It just stuck like maple syrup to the top of my mouth leaving a sweet taste…..yeah it was a cool name, bringing to mind six shooters, saloons and ten gallon hats with huge silver belt buckles gleaming in my eye. Yeah…..I couldn’t wait to tell Ma that I was moving to Black Diamond!

Now the moving day, crazy as it may seem, was only a few days before flying south across half of the Earth towards Antarctica, many things needed to happen with the precision of a Swiss watch. One fowl up and the whole preplanning stack of cards collapses and and the mind starts to fray with the expectant headaches of the ensuing tension when things go awry. Having traveled enough, I know this tends to happen no matter what the planning and you just have to bite the bullet and forge on, trying to maintain all the relationships around you and keep things friendly, despite the hardened jaw and icicle eyes. Nothing like traveling with someone else to truly test your commitment to one another, as these things are inevitable in my experience. So, once we got into the big 35 foot U Haul truck to drive across British Columbia and up the feared Rogers Pass into the Canadian Rockies, driving with crossed fingers hoping that the weather was going to hold. Who in the hell moves to Alberta in the winter, was screaming through my mind! We kept on driving & listening to the radio weather reports expecting the worst….like 2 feet of fresh snow on Rogers Pass, or worse, freezing rain on the descent from Rogers pass….ahhh….hell, freezing rain anywhere would be nightmare enough in a grouchy old U Haul truck. I mean who needs to see the back end of your truck going down hill and start to pass you as the huge canyons of endless space on either side of the road drawing me ever closer like the vortex of my blender screaming for my attention. These are the fears ringing in my mind driving east, starting at the crack of dawn to get a head start on what was to be a long day. As it turned out my fears were averted by the clear skies and full moon night. Never had I seen the mountains with more clarity of dry roads and deerless roadside ditches. We could have almost driven without the headlights it was so bright. As a photographer it was tough not to stop every 2 minutes to shoot prospective compositions, lit by the moon.

Banff Nat. Park

But we had a longer term goal, the mountains of the Rockies would have to wait. Black Diamond was beckoning, as was the trip south. Our schedule would brook no dawdling even for a perfect night through Banff National Park. So you wonder what was all this talk of Karma? Things seem to be going along smoothly. And so I thought. In fact I couldn’t really believe that all had gone so well up until this point. Truth be told, I was even getting cocky! Well that night we pulled into Debbie’s farm ( my Girlfriend)

Tim and Debbie

just north of Black Diamond to stay the night , as my place has yet to be set up and her bed being more comfortable then all my past and future futons stacked one on top of the other. Ahhhh yes, a good meal and a soundless sleep. Having just come from my now ex downtown Victoria apartment I was looking forward to the howling of coyotes and the snorting of dusty muzzled horses winding me into a deep sleep. Now here was the smallest of miscalculations, so small that I only briefly considered it. And I have been kicking myself for a week since. Being slightly cheap with some things and overly extravagant with others I chose to be cheap when looking into my old refrigerator in Victoria and seeing that whole chicken sitting there, waiting to be consumed……but not yet I said to myself. It would be good to have at the end of the trip when we get to Debbie’s place at the end of the day. Not having a cooler available I reasoned that yes, it was cold enough outside and the chicken should fair well through the trip in the back of the U Haul truck. That evening we looked forward to this easy meal of chicken and whatever else struck our fancy once we got home. Being quite late on our final destination of Debbie’s ranch the other part of the meal ended up being a simpler meal of spaghetti and of course the chicken! It hadn’t taken more then a hour since consuming the famed chicken and spaghetti meal and i was turning shades of white, shivering and shaking like a autumn leaf in the chinook winds. Yup, got me a bout of food poisoning. Man I felt dumb, I even considered the possibility prior to eating but discarded the possibility not thinking how this could affect future events leading to my soon to be embarked on trip. But I will leave that for future postings, it being much to late now too type with any sort of decent coherent cognition.

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• Tim Schumm
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