Big Snow

Woke up at 9am to a foot of snow. Ate, did math practice in GRE book, took a long time to get ready to walk downtown but finally started out at 2pm. I had to fit my package in my backpack and some library stuff in a plastic bag to hand-carry. I tried hard to figure out how many layers to wear but ended up sweaty and chilled at post office in 50 minute wait. A family of five decided this would be the day to get their passport photos taken. Took one of the two clerks 15 minutes to take care of them. Finally, a third clerk came out to help people.

After the post office, I finished my walk by going to the airport gate and back. Then, I had no choice but dig out spouse's car and clear the driveway some. Spouse had earlier dug out mine enough to take it to Smith's. With one car gone, it was easier to work on the snow in the driveway. I cleared more of a path for the mailman and cleared snow from the side yard gate so I could pull the trash and recycle bins out for tomorrow night. I must have worked for an hour and then came in feeling pretty overwhelmed by everything. It wasn't until 9pm that I was done with supper and straightening up.

I wanted to snowshoe to daughter's tonight to drop off some things but snow removal operations used up my remaining energy.

I've gotten to the part of Polar Dream where the windstorm from Hades swept away all her food except for some walnuts and most of her fuel except enough to melt a pint of water a day for the remaining seven days until she gets picked up. I like how simply she has written of her adventure.

Snowy Day

I set the alarm for 8am this morning because I thought I could go out before the snow came in but the snow beat me. It was already a white world and more falling when I woke up.

Imagine my surprise when I saw my Suburu gone from the driveway! Spouse took it to be safer driving to work in the snow. A note would have been nice. I was perturbed but got over it, especially since my habit is usually to stay inside the day it snows and venture outside the next day when the storm's passed.

I really don't want to do another Leslie Sansone walking dvd though. Her dvds can get a bit boring. I'll do some resistance work dvds and maybe yoga.

I'm in the midst of breakfast-lunch. Spouse is coming home early to avoid the crush of commuters going down the Main Hill Road. Sometimes during a snow storm it has taken him an hour to get home because the Main Hill Road traffic backs up all the way down Trinity.

This is the time of year when it seems spouse is home more than at work because of all the holidays and the lab closing down for a week between Christmas and New Year's Day. It started rather early this year, though, because he's not feeling well. Still no resolution on the inflamed appendix. He sees his doctor on Thursday to talk about what to do next.

I'd like to mail a package today and go to the library and drop off some stuff to daughter. I could walk downtown late afternoon to accomplish those chores.

Blustery Day

Wind is a blowing out there. I'm going to do some exercise dvds later. I've become wimpy in my dotage! Winter storm didn't amount to much in town. The tiny amount of snow already melted but temps have stuck in the 30's.

Did a load of laundry - whee!

Spouse drove to Santa Fe to see The Day the Earth Stood Still with his work buddy. I gave him the Suburu in case he encountered ice or snow but road conditions are pretty good per a report from daughter. Daughter and family stayed in a bed and breakfast overnight in Madrid to see the Christmas lights.

Wow - Polar Dream by Helen Thayer is really good. Last night when I went to bed (at the ungodly hour of 1:30am - was still awake at 2pm and woke up at 9am), I imagined what it would be like to be in a tent with winds howling and snow piling up, threatening to collapse the tent. I don't think I've enjoyed for a long time a book like I do this one. I don't want it to end.

She does have a lot of philosophy about how to survive in the outdoors. The latest epiphany she had was that during the storm, the best way to deal with it was not to rail against it (like I do if I walk outside in a strong wind but was OK with the strong winds last night) but to accept it and not try to fight it. Not to say that you give up and die - she did have to go out in the middle of the night in the enormously strong winds and blowing snow to shovel snow off the tent so it wouldn't collapse.

There's a lot in that book that has application to ordinary, every day, indoor life. A lot of it she learned from her husky dog, Charlie, given to her by the Inuits. During the storm, she looked at Charlie who lay calmly sleeping, gathering his strength for when the storm abated and this quieted her anger at the storm that she couldn't control.

REI Blitzkrieg

Went to Santa Fe. Spouse stayed home - taking it easy. Tried out parking garage at Railyard - it's free until Christmas. Picked up orders at REI but no Gore-Tex boots yet - neutral running shoes, Spenco flat insoles to wear under orthotics, glove liner, Easton 25" men's snowshoes with "Quick Cinch Binding" (actually, I bought that in the store with the 20% off coupon code you get from REI's website - good until December 24.)

On to Walmart - returned reading glasses, bought grandson some Hanukah candy and pistachios.

Last stop was Vitamin Cottage - stocked up on LaraBars and other goodies.

At first tonight, I was unsure about walking in the gusty winds (33mph peak per weather man) but I bundled up and did 4 miles. I was so well-dresssed (5 shirts and a parka over all) that I over-heated. It's pretty warm outside right now. If we're going to get snow, it better start getting colder! The waning moon lit up the snow on the mountains. Saw 5 deers, including some bucks, near tennis court on Canyon. I like to walk down Canyon in the dark when there's a full moon.

South Side of Pajarito Mountain Bare of Snow

Walked 4 miles on FR181 today. There is still snow on it but also long stretches of mud. Didn't see much in the way of tracks except for truck tracks and people tracks. Clouds were hanging low like it's going to do something. Could see patches of sun under the heavy clouds to the northeast and to south. Except for what looks like a tiny patch of snow on the westernmost peak of Pajarito Mountain, the whole backside of the mountain is bare.

Baking Brussels sprouts right now, smothered in onion, garlic, dried mint, mirin rice wine and Range Sun Dried Tomato salad dressing. Tasted it a few minutes ago but it needs to cook more so onions soften. Smells delicious. Ate a pomegranate - yummy - while waiting for it to get done.

Article on the Valles Caldera Trust in tonight's Monitor said that Trust terminated contract with ENTRIX on business plan but that's not quite what was said at the meeting. Lucia Turner said that the business plan as delivered does not meet the original requirements in the RFP that ENTRIX contracted for and that negotiations were ongoing either to see if ENTRIX would do everything they said they would or, if not, then the Trust would re-nogotiate the contract for a lesser amount commensurate with the work ENTRIX actually completed.

Flax Seed Muffins

I ground up a bag of flax seeds this morning and made muffins with all kinds of ghastly ingredients but they taste good. I may stick to only two a day until I see how my GI system likes the flax. Ingredients included canned sweet potato puree, oat bran (now why in the world did I put in both oat bran and flax seed?), garbanzo bean flour, fennel powder, wakame (seaweed) powder, salt, olive oil and sesame gomasio.

I did a weigh-in this morning before I got dressed. If the scale is right, I weigh 146 which is fine. I must have shrunk my jeans in the dryer. Either that or else the body fats all been re-distributed around my waist.

Spouse went into work but my only work a half day again.

I'll make my breakfast smoothie soon and then go out for my daily four miles. I like to do four miles and right now, my feet are cooperating.I would have gone with one of the senior center hiking groups this morning but after going to bed at 1am last night, I slept in until 8:30am so that put a 9am hike out of the running.

I went to a Valles Caldera Trust board meeting yesterday with Dorothy. It was supposed to last from 1-4pm but didn't end until 5:22pm which meant I had to drive back in the dark. I did OK. Spouse cleaned the headlights this weekend with Plast-X, which he bought at Auto Zone. He did a good job removing some of the oxidation. (I kid that the headlights have had their cataracts removed! It improved the night-driving experience, that's for sure, although there were times between Los Alamos and Pojoaque when the white lines seemed really dim. That's due, no doubt, to my cataracts which I'm not going to remove for a while!

Kwage Mesa

Started late today - 3pm - on the Kwage Mesa Trail at the horse stables. They were getting ready for their luminaria walk tonight so I only did 3 miles round-trip because I was afraid I'd get locked inside the gates. Also, I only had an empty water bottle as I had forgotten to refill it. I did parts of exercise dvds when I got home - weight work for my shoulders and yoga abs.

As I walked, my thoughts turned to mountain lions and I thought about the Monitor article today which detailed efforts to remove the feral cattle from White Rock Canyon in Bandelier National Monument. Bandelier said the cattle were more wild than they thought and wouldn't herd. Of 11 cattle they tried to bring up the Falls Trail, they got out 4 but the rest are dead and rotting along the Falls Trail, closer to the Rio Grande. One bull had to be shot because it was threatening the cowboys and horses. They warned hikers to beware that predators like mountain lions might hang around the carcasses. After all this (failed) effort, there are still more live feral cattle roaming around. Well, maybe if the mountain lions develop a taste for beef, they'll polish off the remaining live cattle. Sounds like next time, Bandelier needs to get more experienced cowboys!

At the end of my walk, a young woman was at the trailhead with a beautiful red horse on a lead. She was letting the horse dine on juicy green grass. I bet it was a real treat for the animal!

My knee might be getting a little better. I would really like to go up the Nail Trail and out to FR2998 and back but if it snows tomorrow, I may not get to do that for a while. I'm unsure if FR2998 is full of mud right now. I'm still babying my feet somewhat until they get stronger.

Bread and Butter Route

I went out late afternoon, probably around 2pm, to walk the Perimeter Trail section that begins at the Mitchell Trailhead and goes over to the Rendija Canyon Trail. I used to jog that trail all the time - it was my all time favorite. It goes along the Rendija Canyon wash and is mostly dry year-around except when there is a great deluge. I mostly would park at Guaje Pines Cemetery and take off from there. The place was nicely wooded when I jogged it but it became toast after the Cerro Grande fire in 2000. It's still a beautiful place.

Another change is the Ponderosa subdivision. All those houses weren't there when it was my bread and butter route. I used to sit on a hillside during my after-jog stretches and imagine what a great county park could be built there.

I didn't appreciate the sight of Paul Parker's construction yard (it looks like a junkyard). It's more extensive than I thought. On the way back, I took a slightly different way and could see that the construction detritus is segmented between two different areas. Parker lives in the Ponderosa subdivision and I give him credit for fighting to save many of the houses there (including his own) during the Cerro Grande conflagration. I am surely glad, though, that I don't have a view of his junk from my kitchen window.

I heard a woodpecker, saw late afternoon scenes of beauty with parts of the mountains in shade and part in orange sunshine as the afternoon wore on.

Altogether, I saw 7 people, including 3 joggers, 1 bicyclist, 1 toddler (his father said he's scared of deer) and 3 walkers. I saw 2 dogs but none gave me any problem. I remember when I was a jogger, the dogs in that area were problematical. Dogs don't seem so interested in slow walkers!

While walking, I thought that the best legacy I can leave my daughter is to let her know that I have hiked virtually all the trails in Los Alamos County and loved every one of them. When I'm history, she can walk those same trails and know that I saw those same lovely scenes with my eyes and appreciated them with my heart and soul. The best thing that you can wish anyone is to have many happy trails!

I'm perplexed by left knee pain that is trying to develop. I have some ideas: I'm going to modify the calf stretch done with both legs at once and military straight knees that Bone suggested doing with the slant board.

Spouse not feeling so well today. That's distressing.

Chocolate Withdrawal

It's either chocolate withdrawal or lack of sleep that has put me into such a foul mood today. It doesn't help that my left leg has threatened to "lock" a few times today. I have to be more careful on the straight-leg, locked knee ten minute stretches that the Albuquerque physical therapist has prescribed. Either that or the purple orthotics did me in the last two days. They did cause some pain. The orange ones are the best.

I am so tired right now that I could practically fall asleep at the computer.

The BESC hiking group drove over to PEEC to walk on the Pueblo Bench Trails and to look at the old sewage treatment plant that has been decommissioned. Art would have gotten the group (7 people) lost except for Bill being there to lead the way. Now I know how to find the Homestead Bridge that crosses upper Pueblo Canyon. Spouse and I just didn't go far enough when we tried to find it several weeks ago. I'll drag spouse there again one day.

Mary announced to the group that she bought some snowshoes at the REI in Santa Fe. She asked if anyone else had snowshoes and I piped up that I did. Now, all we need is snow! (I'm typing with my eyes closed to rest them! I need a nap, bad!)

After the walk (only 1 1/2 miles long - I went for another round after everyone left), Natalie showed us around PEEC. We got to see Betsy the turtle swallow an earthworm that was still wriggling - sushi for turtles. Natalie says that if the Los Alamos Public School bond issue passes and the school starts renovating the high school, PEEC may not get its lease with the schools renewed in June because they'll need the space that PEEC's in during the renovations.

Had to go out with spouse after lunch to Del Norte credit union to open a certificate of deposit because my signature was needed. Afterward, he dropped me off at home and then went to the library and Smith's. I was too tired to go and, besides, I want to work on something I'm writing. I am so tired right now, though, that I think I should go sit in a chair and snooze.

Quickie Update on Spouse and Orthotics

Dr. Voltura got spouse an appointment with a surgeon in Santa Fe this morning. The surgeon advised this protocol, with a 50-50 chance of escaping an appendectomy: Take 2 weeks of a stronger Cipro and ditch the Flagyl. Spouse has to finish up his present course of antibiotics and then starts the extra strong Cipro on Thursday.

The idea is that the appendix has been festering away for about 3 months and if the surgeon operates now, it would most likely spill some of the contents into the abdominal cavity causing an infection.

If spouse waits, there's a chance the appendix will wall either heal and no operation will be necessary or it will wall off the inflamed area and make the operation safer. If an abscess does develop, the surgeon can drain it without an operation.

It sounds like spouse is in good hands. He went in to work today but may come home early if the pain bothers him when he's at the computer.

I have bunches of phone calls and need to get a package wrapped. I hope to go out late afternoon to try out the orthotics again. It's discouraging, though, that the tendon pain seems to have worsened. I have to give them a chance, though. I've cancelled physical therapy appointments for the meantime.