The Fionn algorithm

I have a new theory, that the number of times someone implies that Fionn is cute is directly proportional to how high maintenance he is on a given day. I think a corollary of this would be as sleep varies from negative to positive infinity, Fionn's crankiness similarly varies. Such is true with all youngsters I'm certain.

So a personal pledge that I made to myself outloud when Andrea was also in the room, was Fionn wouldn't change the way I spend my time, there wouldn't be a drastic variance in our lifestyles or the activities we enjoy. For the time being I can't go out to a live music session at a small venue and rock out, mostly because the noise wouldn't be good for the little Mister, but also because Oregon is very twisted in its alcohol laws and won't allow a minor (even a baby) to be in the venue after 6pm if there is alcohol served during the music. Whatever, I've seen people drinking OR brew for breakfast, and thinking I should join in.

So Fionn is now beyond his very brief "wobbly" phase simultaneous with the time of year that Andrea and I do most of our hiking. Winter in the Willamette Valley and coastal range is the best time of year for hiking as the streams wake up and mosses begin to flourish again. Sunday afternoon we hiked the Woodpecker Trail at Wm. Finlay NWR just south of Corvallis. With a light rain and cool, flatly-lit grey skies we loaded Fionn Kiko into the hiking pack for the first time. Fionn appeared fond of the the pack as his grin implies and eventually drifted off to slumber as we strode through the trees. Both  Sunday and the previous trip to Finlay we visited the refuge at dusk and were treated to the sound of resident owls hooting away at each other, their wise call-and-repeat sequence reminds of evening's onset at Higgins Lake, my home always inhabited with native birds of Northern Michigan. Besides the nesting pair of Pileated Woodpeckers who left their mark in a scattering of Jack Pine around the yard, walking through the woods near the house at Higgins Lake was the first time I interacted with an owl up close. Owl species in the area are quite large when healthy and mature, I'm pretty sure I recall the owl I spotted on a branch in the woods behind the house was half my size at that age. Like many nocturnal animals, owl's eyes are piercingly intense and feel as thought they're looking straight into your soul.