April snow storms

The first part of April was spent getting settled and finding my around the upper Connecticut River valley (upper valley for short). I filed taxes (yay, TurboTax). I got snow each of the first three weeks of April. Fortunately the big storm that dropped about seven inches of rain on New York didn't deposit much frozen stuff here before it turned to rain. A nearby tree brought down some power lines with it and we didn't have power for a few hours. I got off easier than many people around here who were without power for days.

I returned to the San Francisco bay area for the latter part of April and beginning of May. I started with the third of three weekend bodywork workshops, getting certified in Active Release Techniques for Spine. It was much easier than previous ones, between simpler material and having been through two of them before. I also was pleased that after this I didn't feel like I needed any more training, just time working with people. That'll start up now that I'm back in the upper valley.

Then I had a week of visiting people, which was nice, even though it hadn't been so long since I'd seen them before I left. The last week was spent at the big interface and interaction conference (SIGCHI) that was held in San Jose. I met some interesting people, heard some interesting talks, and got to visit Google and other sites on a tour. It was a good week, and like the feeling after the bodywork seminar, it felt like time to do things rather than look for more learning. I have a few projects and possible clients for consulting work that I can pursue now, along with looking for regular work here in the upper valley.

I was a bit conflicted about leaving here for California because I wanted to start rowing on the river with the fitness class that I joined. We'd been practicing indoors in "tanks". The day before we were supposed to first go on the water was the day after the big storm, and between fast high water and lots of debris, we didn't go out. Other things happened while I was gone and I ended up not missing any time on the water, and we're supposed to go out on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to that, along with warmer days (no jacket today) and getting my bike going again.

The trees are starting to bud, so pretty soon the forests should be lush. I can't wait to be hiking in them again.