A climber from my neighborhood died last week from a climbing accident, more specifically a rappelling accident. As far as I know, he's the only person I've climbed with to have died from the sport. I last saw him on February 16.

I went climbing today, the first time since he died. I've been at this long enough to be aware of the dangers involved but I felt particularly aware of them today. It didn't make it harder to climb but it made things seem especially real.

Last year my doctor told me he quit flying airplanes. He had flown for over 1000 hours without an accident and stopping would allow that good safety record to stand. I'm not quite ready to stop climbing--I'm younger than my doctor.

that moment when the pilot realizes he forgot to turn off the oven

The combination of last month's snow and last night's rain has rearranged some stuff here.

I'll need to get this tank moved somewhere else on my lot. Before the propane company can come up to do that, I'll have to fill in some mondo ruts in my driveway.

Rain is expected to continue through the rest of today. Fun times.

Do you know any dogs with middle names?

I've seen people give their dogs surnames to match their own, a gesture of acknowledging the dog as a family member. But today I learned that a friend's dog has a middle name as well.