First a grandson-ism:
We watched grandson several times this past week. On New Year's Day, his Mom and step-dad went out to eat in Albuquerque to celebrate their New Year's Day anniversary. Grandson brought over a CD his Mom had given him (except he couldn't remember who had given it to him!). The album is Ocean Eyes by Owl City and he particularly likes the Fireflies track, the main reason his Mom bought it for him. We played it on the CD player as he played with his Bionicles in the little living room. As he listened to the music, he announced the title of each song and sung along with some. I was afraid it would be blaring rap music but it was quite pleasant. He's almost 9 so I presume rap music is still to come (but probably not if his Mom can help it!).
Now another:
He finally asked to use my Fitter Wobbleboard. He balanced on it like a pro and even adjusted it to the highest height. I kidded him that good balance would be essential on the hikes he'll go on with me this summer. He said he'd rather go to the Activity Center! Daughter is hoping I'll take him on one hike a week to give him some time away from the AC. I'll try but I'll need his cooperation.
I now have all the results back from my osteoporosis evaluation. I had an appointment to go to Albuquerque on New Year's Eve Day to discuss the suggested treatment plan but woke up and spouse said the roads were snow-packed and icy and it started to snow outside so I called to cancel it and now my appointment isn't until February unless there's a cancellation.
I'm low in Vitamin D, the urine NTx (Google it - I don't completely understand it myself) shows I'm losing calcium from in my urine at a higher rate than I should which translates to greater fracture risk. On the bone mass density, my hips are all right but my spine is osteoporotic.
Obviously years of walking 4 miles a day have helped my hips somewhat but the spine...I need to do a lot more back extensions to make a dent in my spinal bones.
The spinal x-ray didn't show any vertebral fractures if I'm understanding it correctly. I will need help from the doctor in interpreting completely the spinal x-ray report.
What I'm doing so far is to take more Vitamin D3 a day, double my calcium citrate intake, wear my 10 pound weight vest more religiously and develop a resistance program that focuses more closely on back exercises. I may also take a little bit more estrogen. Since I started taking the Barr generic, it seems that it's not as strong as Estrace and that may have adversely affected my bones.
The hard part is that bone only responds to shaking things up in one's physical fitness program. Bones get bored easily and unless you challenge them in new ways, they figure out that they don't need to grow any denser and in fact start losing density.
I've requested a couple of books on interlibrary loan on ways of treating osteoporosis without relying on bisphosphonates - one by Dr. Susan Brown and another by Gillian Sanson. I'm not crazy about the idea of taking so-called bone-building drugs.
After recent blood tests showing a higher than normal fasting glucose, spouse is going to try diet and exercise to control his blood sugar. He has let himself get heavier than he should be. I'm telling him to not crash diet but to try for a lifestyle change in diet and exercise.
We were going to have daughter and son-in-law over for dinner tonight but they may be backing out. They will go on a delayed honeymoon trip to New Orlean's soon and are afraid that spouse may give them a cold. He doesn't have a fever, and perhaps his sniffly symptoms are caused by the new, tighter fitting C-PAP mask which really dries the air out, but they don't want to chance getting sick and ruining their honeymoon. I already roasted some carrots, potatoes, onions and garlic. Later, we'll cook the small leg of lamb roast and I'll make a huge salad. I told them they could always come over and get plates of food to take home.
Lately I've been walking my 4 miles at night downtown. I did walk part of it yesterday with spouse on North Mesa. Lots of non-icy sidewalks to enjoy there and tremendous views of the Sangre de Cristos! This afternoon, I'll do some end-of-year chores and walk tonight again.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
Albuquerque Appointment Today
Got a bone density test. Will try to get the spinal x-rays this week although I really don't want to. Then, hopefully the bone specialist will tell me what all this means and give me options. The test results were mostly normal except for low Vitamin D (I'm upping my dose from 2000 I.U. a day to 3000) and high NTx which means I'm losing bone.
Spouse and grandson went to see the Mummy Imax film at the NM Natural History Museum while I was at the doctor's.
I walked 2.5 miles to the museum to meet them. I followed Martin Luther King which turned into Grand Avenue which turned into Marquette. I hung a right on 8th Street, crossed Lomas and then hung a left on Mountain Road. The Google Map directions were spot on. The Grand Avenue Overpass seems a big to-do about nothing except some railroad tracks underneath. Heavens - I at least expected a freeway underneath! This was a really boring part of downtown Albuquerque - City Hall, the police department, Keller and Keller's office (a personal injury lawyer who advertises a lot on TV).
We took grandson to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. I really liked it. I made a great kitchen sink salad and loved it. I accompanied it with a baked potato and ate red grapes for dessert. Grandson was happy that we let him pick what he wanted to eat and dessert too! Spouse missed meat dishes.
When we got home, there was enough daylight to finish my exercise with a 2 mile walk on the ski hill bypass route. I wore my 10 pound IronWear weight vest to strengthen my bones.
I'm reading a great book by Mark Obmascik Halfway to Heaven: My White-Knuckled and Knuckle-headed Quest for the Rocky Mountain High. He has a good sense of humor like Dan White, author of The Cactus Eaters. The book is inspiring me to climb more mountains. It's about the middle-aged, out of shape author's climbing of Colorado 14ers. I love it so far!!
Spouse and grandson went to see the Mummy Imax film at the NM Natural History Museum while I was at the doctor's.
I walked 2.5 miles to the museum to meet them. I followed Martin Luther King which turned into Grand Avenue which turned into Marquette. I hung a right on 8th Street, crossed Lomas and then hung a left on Mountain Road. The Google Map directions were spot on. The Grand Avenue Overpass seems a big to-do about nothing except some railroad tracks underneath. Heavens - I at least expected a freeway underneath! This was a really boring part of downtown Albuquerque - City Hall, the police department, Keller and Keller's office (a personal injury lawyer who advertises a lot on TV).
We took grandson to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. I really liked it. I made a great kitchen sink salad and loved it. I accompanied it with a baked potato and ate red grapes for dessert. Grandson was happy that we let him pick what he wanted to eat and dessert too! Spouse missed meat dishes.
When we got home, there was enough daylight to finish my exercise with a 2 mile walk on the ski hill bypass route. I wore my 10 pound IronWear weight vest to strengthen my bones.
I'm reading a great book by Mark Obmascik Halfway to Heaven: My White-Knuckled and Knuckle-headed Quest for the Rocky Mountain High. He has a good sense of humor like Dan White, author of The Cactus Eaters. The book is inspiring me to climb more mountains. It's about the middle-aged, out of shape author's climbing of Colorado 14ers. I love it so far!!
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Yay - Christmas is Over for Another Year!!
It's too late for me to get into all the reasons why I'm happy that Christmas is finally over for another year but I'm glad that everything was open today and we got mail!!
The outside cover of Bob Dylan's new Christmas CD, Christmas in the Heart, shows a chaste, old-fashioned couple taking a two horse sleigh ride. Then you open the CD case and there is a picture worthy of the Esquire magazines my father read of a bosomy brunette Santa's helper. Then the back of the CD case depicts the three Wise Men trekking on camel back toward the Star of Bethlehem. I like the humorous juxtaposition!!
On my walk on Camp May Road yesterday (wonderful because the ski hill was closed and the Christmas Day traffic was light) I took 39 photos, trying to capture snowy scenes for desktop pictures. Two were of snow sparkles. In the photo's shadows, the sparkles showed up as small white splotches but the sparkles washed out completely in the sunny portions. Maybe it would work to sprinkle silver glitter on the snow and just take a photo of that.
The Christmas dinner with daughter's in-laws was good. I'm not sure if anyone really liked the tabooley and rice with raisins and walnuts but spouse said that son-in-law took a second serving so that's good enough for me! He liked it at least!
I finally officially gave up on reading W. D. Wetherell's book, Yellowstone Autumn. I got about halfway through but then decided that he was too self-indulgent in his examination of his belly button lint. There are definitely enjoyable parts of the book but he drags out too much his philosophizing on his 55th birthday, his solitary Yellowstone visit, his homesickness etc.. I liked the book so much at the beginning but then he lost me. It's like he forced himself to write a book of a certain length about the experience of spending 3 weeks in Yellowstone alone for his 55th birthday but it could have easily done it in half the length and been made more interesting. I know I'm not giving any good examples to back up my judgment about this book but, then again, this isn't a book review. I'm disappointed I didn't finish it but wanted to move on to more interesting books like Karen Berger's account of her hike along the Pacific Crest Trail.
The outside cover of Bob Dylan's new Christmas CD, Christmas in the Heart, shows a chaste, old-fashioned couple taking a two horse sleigh ride. Then you open the CD case and there is a picture worthy of the Esquire magazines my father read of a bosomy brunette Santa's helper. Then the back of the CD case depicts the three Wise Men trekking on camel back toward the Star of Bethlehem. I like the humorous juxtaposition!!
On my walk on Camp May Road yesterday (wonderful because the ski hill was closed and the Christmas Day traffic was light) I took 39 photos, trying to capture snowy scenes for desktop pictures. Two were of snow sparkles. In the photo's shadows, the sparkles showed up as small white splotches but the sparkles washed out completely in the sunny portions. Maybe it would work to sprinkle silver glitter on the snow and just take a photo of that.
The Christmas dinner with daughter's in-laws was good. I'm not sure if anyone really liked the tabooley and rice with raisins and walnuts but spouse said that son-in-law took a second serving so that's good enough for me! He liked it at least!
I finally officially gave up on reading W. D. Wetherell's book, Yellowstone Autumn. I got about halfway through but then decided that he was too self-indulgent in his examination of his belly button lint. There are definitely enjoyable parts of the book but he drags out too much his philosophizing on his 55th birthday, his solitary Yellowstone visit, his homesickness etc.. I liked the book so much at the beginning but then he lost me. It's like he forced himself to write a book of a certain length about the experience of spending 3 weeks in Yellowstone alone for his 55th birthday but it could have easily done it in half the length and been made more interesting. I know I'm not giving any good examples to back up my judgment about this book but, then again, this isn't a book review. I'm disappointed I didn't finish it but wanted to move on to more interesting books like Karen Berger's account of her hike along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
On a Tear In the Kitchen Today
I made tabooley and a rice dish to take over to Christmas dinner tomorrow. The intent is twofold - to have something to eat that's vegan and to have enough to share with others if they're interested. For my own consumption at home, I also made guacamole and date balls.
Tabooley (all sorts of variant spellings): Washed and trimmed four bunches curly parsley, 2 bunches spearmint, 4 bunches green onions and 6 tomatoes. Made dressing of equal parts lemon juice, water and tahini but also added olive oil and juiced extra lemons for zing. Seasoning was black pepper. People can add salt at the table. I chopped all the veggies in the food processor and mixed everything together with bulgur that I had softened the day before. It tastes yummy!
Rice with Raisins and Walnuts: Cooked brown rice yesterday and packed it loosely in Mason jars. Today I sauteed 3 chopped red onions and 4 minced cloves garlic in olive oil with a lid on to soften them. Then I took the lid off and added raisins and chopped walnuts and sauteed some more. I put in the rice and seasonings and mixed everything up. Seasonings were a little cinnamon, a little garam masala, black pepper and lime juice. It tastes pretty good IMHO!
Guacamole: Very simple - one jar of prepared salsa, juice of one lime, two mashed avocados, minced garlic, chopped onion.
Date Balls: Pitted medjool dates and softened them in the microwave. Put in food processor the dates, a trail mix from Natural Grocers (pistachio nuts, cashews, cocoa nibs, goji berries, gold raisins), walnuts and vanilla extract and ground it until it formed lumps. It's a coarse consistency. I roll it into a ball and pop it into my mouth - very delicious!!
Today's walk was two out-and-backs on the ski hill bypass route. Too many cars but I wanted something quick so I could come back home and get cracking in the kitchen. Spouse came home early from work and thought it wise to hide out in the public library whilst I monopolized the kitchen. This is the beginning of his Christmas vacation.
I took pictures of the snowy woods along the bypass. I haven't uploaded them to the computer yet. I want some snowy desktop photos!
Peace on Earth. Goodwill toward all.
Tabooley (all sorts of variant spellings): Washed and trimmed four bunches curly parsley, 2 bunches spearmint, 4 bunches green onions and 6 tomatoes. Made dressing of equal parts lemon juice, water and tahini but also added olive oil and juiced extra lemons for zing. Seasoning was black pepper. People can add salt at the table. I chopped all the veggies in the food processor and mixed everything together with bulgur that I had softened the day before. It tastes yummy!
Rice with Raisins and Walnuts: Cooked brown rice yesterday and packed it loosely in Mason jars. Today I sauteed 3 chopped red onions and 4 minced cloves garlic in olive oil with a lid on to soften them. Then I took the lid off and added raisins and chopped walnuts and sauteed some more. I put in the rice and seasonings and mixed everything up. Seasonings were a little cinnamon, a little garam masala, black pepper and lime juice. It tastes pretty good IMHO!
Guacamole: Very simple - one jar of prepared salsa, juice of one lime, two mashed avocados, minced garlic, chopped onion.
Date Balls: Pitted medjool dates and softened them in the microwave. Put in food processor the dates, a trail mix from Natural Grocers (pistachio nuts, cashews, cocoa nibs, goji berries, gold raisins), walnuts and vanilla extract and ground it until it formed lumps. It's a coarse consistency. I roll it into a ball and pop it into my mouth - very delicious!!
Today's walk was two out-and-backs on the ski hill bypass route. Too many cars but I wanted something quick so I could come back home and get cracking in the kitchen. Spouse came home early from work and thought it wise to hide out in the public library whilst I monopolized the kitchen. This is the beginning of his Christmas vacation.
I took pictures of the snowy woods along the bypass. I haven't uploaded them to the computer yet. I want some snowy desktop photos!
Peace on Earth. Goodwill toward all.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Snowing Tonight!
Walked to first chain turnout on Camp May Road (does anyone use those chain turnouts anymore??). Mused again on bright light highlighting snow and dead grass at Memorial Corner.
As I stepped from behind bush on FR2998 (answering a call of nature on the way down), I saw a small car pulled onto the snow and ice covered forest road. A female jogger stepped out, trying to decide if she wanted to run on ice rutted FR2998. She thought I had walked on it but I confessed that I had only stopped to use a bush and was glad she was a female! I advised against running on it but don't know what she decided.
Picked up grandson at Activity Center around 2:30pm. We walked behind the AC to Ashley Pond to feed them bread heels (spouse believes these are inedible and has spent a lifetime tossing them - I freeze them) to the ducks. The ducks were out in the middle of Ashley Pond, penned in by ice but I did see an appreciative raven eyeing the bread crumbs. It looked like it was already snowing on Pajarito Mountain. Grandson wasn't much interested in throwing bread to ducks but was intensely interested in throwing stones onto the ice to see if he could break it.
We then went to the library where he scored an Internet computer and played games on the Bionicles website. The kids are only allowed a half hour on the computer but I think he got more because there was something goofy about how that particular computer tracked time. I checked one time and it said 8 minutes. Five minutes later when I checked again, it said 9 minutes. I eventually had to haul him off because another child was waiting to use it. The central machine that tracks how much time each kid has wasn't working either.
Then we went to the medical center to get his allergy shot. We were early, his Mom wasn't off work yet, so I got to sit with him in the doctor's office while he held an ice cube on his arm to numb it for the shot. He wanted me to hold the ice cube and freeze my fingers but I declined and told him he'd manage which he did. His Mom came and then had to sit in the doctor's office with him for 1/2 hour to make sure he had no reaction to the shot.
Swine flu vaccine shots are available to everyone now. I would like to try to get one.
I asked my doctor's office if my test results were in but nothing yet.
I haven't heard yet if the WI have anything planned for tomorrow. It's snowing tonight so perhaps they'll just stay home. Did they take me off the list (so eager!) because I didn't show up for the hike and birthday celebration in Santa Fe? Or do they not hike the Wednesday before Christmas? I couldn't go anyway because tomorrow, if roads are driveable, I'm going to take grandson to the movies after the holiday party at the Activity Center.
Confession: Daughter brought over some Christmas cookies, fudge and brittle that she made for spouse. I normally don't eat cookies and candy. However, in the interest of protecting the extensive (and expensive) dental work of spouse (ha, ha!!), I ate the brittle! I figure it can't kill me since I don't make a steady diet of it. It was good but a bit scary for older teeth!!
As I stepped from behind bush on FR2998 (answering a call of nature on the way down), I saw a small car pulled onto the snow and ice covered forest road. A female jogger stepped out, trying to decide if she wanted to run on ice rutted FR2998. She thought I had walked on it but I confessed that I had only stopped to use a bush and was glad she was a female! I advised against running on it but don't know what she decided.
Picked up grandson at Activity Center around 2:30pm. We walked behind the AC to Ashley Pond to feed them bread heels (spouse believes these are inedible and has spent a lifetime tossing them - I freeze them) to the ducks. The ducks were out in the middle of Ashley Pond, penned in by ice but I did see an appreciative raven eyeing the bread crumbs. It looked like it was already snowing on Pajarito Mountain. Grandson wasn't much interested in throwing bread to ducks but was intensely interested in throwing stones onto the ice to see if he could break it.
We then went to the library where he scored an Internet computer and played games on the Bionicles website. The kids are only allowed a half hour on the computer but I think he got more because there was something goofy about how that particular computer tracked time. I checked one time and it said 8 minutes. Five minutes later when I checked again, it said 9 minutes. I eventually had to haul him off because another child was waiting to use it. The central machine that tracks how much time each kid has wasn't working either.
Then we went to the medical center to get his allergy shot. We were early, his Mom wasn't off work yet, so I got to sit with him in the doctor's office while he held an ice cube on his arm to numb it for the shot. He wanted me to hold the ice cube and freeze my fingers but I declined and told him he'd manage which he did. His Mom came and then had to sit in the doctor's office with him for 1/2 hour to make sure he had no reaction to the shot.
Swine flu vaccine shots are available to everyone now. I would like to try to get one.
I asked my doctor's office if my test results were in but nothing yet.
I haven't heard yet if the WI have anything planned for tomorrow. It's snowing tonight so perhaps they'll just stay home. Did they take me off the list (so eager!) because I didn't show up for the hike and birthday celebration in Santa Fe? Or do they not hike the Wednesday before Christmas? I couldn't go anyway because tomorrow, if roads are driveable, I'm going to take grandson to the movies after the holiday party at the Activity Center.
Confession: Daughter brought over some Christmas cookies, fudge and brittle that she made for spouse. I normally don't eat cookies and candy. However, in the interest of protecting the extensive (and expensive) dental work of spouse (ha, ha!!), I ate the brittle! I figure it can't kill me since I don't make a steady diet of it. It was good but a bit scary for older teeth!!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Random
Yesterday, we went to Walmart and Sunflower Market in Santa Fe. I bought some antibiotic ointment and hydrocortisone cream for the rash on my chin. I wonder if the hypoallergenic, pierced earrings that I started wearing every day could cause a chin rash? Seems they would cause a rash near my ears if anything.
Met a Syrian guy in Sunflower. He saw me looking at the tabouli and Lebanese salads and advised me that I could make it more cheaply and better at home. He's right. I was looking for something to eat in the car on the way home. I ended up buying brown rice spicy tunacado sushi which was yummy and I can't make that at home! I'd like to hire that guy as my cook. He was buying ingredients to make stuffed koosa (squash). That's a time consuming dish.
Today, spouse and I went to the library where I loaded up on books and to Smith's where I bought some ingredients to make salads with a Middle Eastern motif. Then we walked 4 miles round-trip on the sewer treatment plant road. Road conditions were perfect.
We're invited to Perry's Grandma's for Christmas dinner. I'll bring over the salads as our contribution and for my dinner.
Tonight's dinner is swordfish steak, lobster tails, baked potato, salad and a cooked vegetable concoction of squash, onions, garlic, parsley, red chile and corn relish.
I'm discovering that even though I dearly love my MSR Denali Classic snowshoes, the bindings are less than kind to my right foot. I notice soreness in my right foot after the recent days of snowshoeing. I'll try wearing the bindings more loosely to see if that helps. I may have to buy different snowshoes if I expect to keep snowshoeing. My original foot problem ( a grab bag of posterior tibial tendon dysfunction and plantar fasciitis) began the day after a snowshoe on Martin Luther King Day.
Met a Syrian guy in Sunflower. He saw me looking at the tabouli and Lebanese salads and advised me that I could make it more cheaply and better at home. He's right. I was looking for something to eat in the car on the way home. I ended up buying brown rice spicy tunacado sushi which was yummy and I can't make that at home! I'd like to hire that guy as my cook. He was buying ingredients to make stuffed koosa (squash). That's a time consuming dish.
Today, spouse and I went to the library where I loaded up on books and to Smith's where I bought some ingredients to make salads with a Middle Eastern motif. Then we walked 4 miles round-trip on the sewer treatment plant road. Road conditions were perfect.
We're invited to Perry's Grandma's for Christmas dinner. I'll bring over the salads as our contribution and for my dinner.
Tonight's dinner is swordfish steak, lobster tails, baked potato, salad and a cooked vegetable concoction of squash, onions, garlic, parsley, red chile and corn relish.
I'm discovering that even though I dearly love my MSR Denali Classic snowshoes, the bindings are less than kind to my right foot. I notice soreness in my right foot after the recent days of snowshoeing. I'll try wearing the bindings more loosely to see if that helps. I may have to buy different snowshoes if I expect to keep snowshoeing. My original foot problem ( a grab bag of posterior tibial tendon dysfunction and plantar fasciitis) began the day after a snowshoe on Martin Luther King Day.
Friday, December 18, 2009
LANB Christmas Dinner at Senior Center
Spouse and I made our official debut today into Old Fartdom! We attended the 1:00pm seatingof the Christmas dinner put on by Los Alamos National Bank at the Betty Ehart Senior Center.
The dinner was prime rib, baked potato, huge biscuit, asparagus and some kind of cheesecake. Spouse traded asparagus for my prime rib and I readily handed over the white flour biscuit. In addition to the the asparagus spears, I ate the baked potato with broccoli that I had brought from home and what was leftover of my breakfast smoothie (apple, persimmon, frozen blackberries, herbal tea and soy milk). (I had a tuna fish sandwich in a small cooler but wasn't brave enough to take it out as it stunk of raw onions. As soon as we returned home, I demolished that!) I took my piece of pie home to freeze for grandson when he comes over next week.
There was a live band. They only played one Christmas song, though, at the very end of the dinner. I guess it doesn't matter since I don't remember what it was although I sang along with it. The song I remember was Black Velvet. I really liked that one.
We sat at a table with 3 other hikers and a married couple - both 85 - who recently were moved to Los Alamos by their children.
LANB gave every guest a 2010 weekly datebook calendar as we exited the dining room. The bank puts on the free dinner every year and gives everyone a gift.
I did my four miles on Camp May Road. I didn't start until 3:30pm. There was so much downhill traffic that I wonder if Pajarito Mountain Ski Area has opened for the season. There was some uphill traffic as well and I wondered if the late starters were going up to see the sunset or for a very late afternoon cross country ski or snowshoe.
My GPS accurately measured the distance up Camp May Road. I had begun to lose faith in it when it seemed to mis-measure the distance on Dome Road the other day.
There is one area that I call Memorial Corner where I admired the the contrast of the dried, blond grass against the very white snow. As I walked downhill, I tried to verbalize in my mind what attracted my eyes to that scene but didn't succeed to my satisfaction. Was it the way the late afternoon light highlighted the grass from the south (wheatgrass planted after the Cerro Grande fire)? Was it the particular way the grass was grouped across the snow or the tilt of the hillside? On the way down I saw other blond grass on white snow but it didn't impact my eyes as much.
The dinner was prime rib, baked potato, huge biscuit, asparagus and some kind of cheesecake. Spouse traded asparagus for my prime rib and I readily handed over the white flour biscuit. In addition to the the asparagus spears, I ate the baked potato with broccoli that I had brought from home and what was leftover of my breakfast smoothie (apple, persimmon, frozen blackberries, herbal tea and soy milk). (I had a tuna fish sandwich in a small cooler but wasn't brave enough to take it out as it stunk of raw onions. As soon as we returned home, I demolished that!) I took my piece of pie home to freeze for grandson when he comes over next week.
There was a live band. They only played one Christmas song, though, at the very end of the dinner. I guess it doesn't matter since I don't remember what it was although I sang along with it. The song I remember was Black Velvet. I really liked that one.
We sat at a table with 3 other hikers and a married couple - both 85 - who recently were moved to Los Alamos by their children.
LANB gave every guest a 2010 weekly datebook calendar as we exited the dining room. The bank puts on the free dinner every year and gives everyone a gift.
I did my four miles on Camp May Road. I didn't start until 3:30pm. There was so much downhill traffic that I wonder if Pajarito Mountain Ski Area has opened for the season. There was some uphill traffic as well and I wondered if the late starters were going up to see the sunset or for a very late afternoon cross country ski or snowshoe.
My GPS accurately measured the distance up Camp May Road. I had begun to lose faith in it when it seemed to mis-measure the distance on Dome Road the other day.
There is one area that I call Memorial Corner where I admired the the contrast of the dried, blond grass against the very white snow. As I walked downhill, I tried to verbalize in my mind what attracted my eyes to that scene but didn't succeed to my satisfaction. Was it the way the late afternoon light highlighted the grass from the south (wheatgrass planted after the Cerro Grande fire)? Was it the particular way the grass was grouped across the snow or the tilt of the hillside? On the way down I saw other blond grass on white snow but it didn't impact my eyes as much.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Pomegranate Party
Had a lovely snowshoe today on FR181 from the twin water tanks. When I started, I felt like pounding up the trail to work out some of my frustrations, due to cabin fever from the past few days of not getting out on the trail, but the up part quickly subdued me!
I enjoy breaking trail, though, if it's not too deep. My MSR Denali snowshoes are short and thus don't have much flotation so I flounder in deep snow. This was utterly perfect snow with a beautifully sunny day and blue skies. I was entranced by shadows cast on the snow by grass, pine needles and cones.
It was nice to have time today after the snowshoe to shop at Smith's. I bought olives, hummous, eggplant spread, frozen oj concentrate, bananas, green onions and pomegranates. After supper, I mushed my face in a pomegranate, greedily gulping crimson seeds - yum!
I enjoy breaking trail, though, if it's not too deep. My MSR Denali snowshoes are short and thus don't have much flotation so I flounder in deep snow. This was utterly perfect snow with a beautifully sunny day and blue skies. I was entranced by shadows cast on the snow by grass, pine needles and cones.
It was nice to have time today after the snowshoe to shop at Smith's. I bought olives, hummous, eggplant spread, frozen oj concentrate, bananas, green onions and pomegranates. After supper, I mushed my face in a pomegranate, greedily gulping crimson seeds - yum!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Frozen Steppes
It took me two hours (counting 3 bathroom stops - couldn't believe the library was open!) to walk 3 miles. It's not a pedestrian world out there. The sidewalks are piled high with snow, gusty winds blow more snow around, frostbite is a real possibility and non-icy spots are in short supply. Surprisingly, I saw more than a handful of people out walking, including one man walking his energetic, snow-loving dog!
I will skip the group snowshoe tomorrow at Cañada Bonita. Last year when I went, it was very windy as soon as we hit the meadow. I had enough wind tonight. Besides, I have to get up early Thursday and Friday so tomorrow is another slothful day of sleeping in!
I will skip the group snowshoe tomorrow at Cañada Bonita. Last year when I went, it was very windy as soon as we hit the meadow. I had enough wind tonight. Besides, I have to get up early Thursday and Friday so tomorrow is another slothful day of sleeping in!
Evil
That's how I'm feeling now. I'm looking longingly at the Rio Grande beach photo on my desktop. I like bare ground and I don't like to shovel snow.
Spouse and did some snow clearing. Spouse swept off the cars and moved them to a side road. He cleared most of the driveway and the front porch area. The shovel he used, though, is the one for pushing light snow. This was no light snow. That shovel leaves a crust of snow everywhere which will turn to ice. We need to buy another scoop shovel because that's the best for a large snow dump.
I cleared the back porch and a path to the dish antenna. Then, out front, I finished the driveway on the other side of my car which was labor intensive because the shovelfuls of snow needed to be carried to the side-yard fence and flung over. My philosophy of snow removal is more Germanic than my spouse's. I enjoy the exercise of hauling the heavy shovelfuls of snow.
I always shovel clear a path for the mailman between houses and scrape down the front porch area. Can't have the postman breaking his/her neck.
On the sidewalk, I decided a one-shovel-wide-path was good enough. This is mainly because removing what the county snow plow put all alongside the sidewalk is more than even my Germanic roots allow me to endure!
The trash and recycle bins needed sweeping off and loosening from their snowy stranglehold. It was very satisfying to scrape the ice off the outside thermometer. Now we can see the temperature - 27 degrees. Maybe it was better to leave it obstructed? Ah, it's not that bad.
The next two days will be very cold which means we'll be living with the ice and snow for a while. As Mother Nature permits, I'll hack at the ice.
I wish we could clear our driveway like our neighbor across the street, a single woman who always scrapes her driveway clean clear down to the pavement. I notice, though, that today she only scraped clean a single car space for her boyfriend's car! She accomplished that this morning during the hellacious winds which probably explains the scaled back effort!
The evil part is that I'm going to go out to exercise soon - just walking around the downtown area - and I'm afraid of falling. I get evil if I can't exercise.
Spouse and did some snow clearing. Spouse swept off the cars and moved them to a side road. He cleared most of the driveway and the front porch area. The shovel he used, though, is the one for pushing light snow. This was no light snow. That shovel leaves a crust of snow everywhere which will turn to ice. We need to buy another scoop shovel because that's the best for a large snow dump.
I cleared the back porch and a path to the dish antenna. Then, out front, I finished the driveway on the other side of my car which was labor intensive because the shovelfuls of snow needed to be carried to the side-yard fence and flung over. My philosophy of snow removal is more Germanic than my spouse's. I enjoy the exercise of hauling the heavy shovelfuls of snow.
I always shovel clear a path for the mailman between houses and scrape down the front porch area. Can't have the postman breaking his/her neck.
On the sidewalk, I decided a one-shovel-wide-path was good enough. This is mainly because removing what the county snow plow put all alongside the sidewalk is more than even my Germanic roots allow me to endure!
The trash and recycle bins needed sweeping off and loosening from their snowy stranglehold. It was very satisfying to scrape the ice off the outside thermometer. Now we can see the temperature - 27 degrees. Maybe it was better to leave it obstructed? Ah, it's not that bad.
The next two days will be very cold which means we'll be living with the ice and snow for a while. As Mother Nature permits, I'll hack at the ice.
I wish we could clear our driveway like our neighbor across the street, a single woman who always scrapes her driveway clean clear down to the pavement. I notice, though, that today she only scraped clean a single car space for her boyfriend's car! She accomplished that this morning during the hellacious winds which probably explains the scaled back effort!
The evil part is that I'm going to go out to exercise soon - just walking around the downtown area - and I'm afraid of falling. I get evil if I can't exercise.
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