After a whirlwind trip to Michigan, I'm back home with Jack again, and glad to be settling in. The winter season is always a bit of an overwhelming beast for me to tame: so many projects, so much time, so many ideas and plans... and so much to waste. This year I wrote up a weekly rhythm for myself - a guideline of time chunks for each day and ideas of how to use them. It's only meant to be followed loosely, and more as an inspiration when I find myself wondering what to do. I've looked at it a few times this winter, but not too often. So far, I've managed to keep myself pretty busy on my own. But I'm sure that as winter wears on I will find myself at a loss more frequently, as is usually the case.
Another struggle I have in winter is, in the midst of endless projects and homework (from which I currently have a welcome reprieve until mid-January), keeping myself active, and in good posture. They say that sitting for more than an hour at a time is problematic for your health if you don't get up and move around periodically. I also struggle with maintaining good posture while I'm sitting, and it's gotten particularly bad since I started my masters program. I have friends with watches that will buzz every hour and remind them to stand, and so I thought I should be able to find something similar. After a couple failed attempts, I think I've stumbled on a winner: Cycles - A Habit Creator is an application that I downloaded for my phone, and you can program it to give you a certain number of reminders every day for different actions. At the moment, mine is set to remind me to stand up periodically, to sit up or stand up straight often, to remind me to drink my water, and to exercise daily. Today was the first trial run and I think it went pretty well. It certainly helped to have that gentle reminder to drink or to get up and move about for a few minutes to keep me from being totally absorbed in my project. The trouble is that in order for it to work, I have to have my phone nearby throughout the day. Not something I'm particularly fond of. But I didn't find myself staring at it any more than usual, and the reminders can be responded to without opening up the phone, so it doesn't allow me to get sucked in. We'll see how long I keep using it, but so far I think it might be just the ticket!
Then there's the dishes. Long have I struggled to do them, long have they kept my desires at bay! Whatever that means... Anyhow, I've never been a fan of doing the dishes, and I've always struggled with bringing myself to do them. "Take care of them immediately, so they don't sit!" I've been told. "At least get them done before bed!" people say. "Definitely do not leave them for morning, what a terrible way to start the day!" I've heard. But I think I stumbled upon something incredibly contrary this week. I actually like doing the dishes in the morning! Honestly, standing over a hot sink is the last thing I want to do at the end of a busy day, and it often makes my back feel that much worse if it's been a sore day too. Quite by accident, I started this week by doing the dishes in the morning and listening to the news. I rather enjoyed it, so the next morning I did it on purpose. And the next. For a few days now I've gotten up in the morning and washed the dishes first thing, before even having breakfast. I turn on the news, open the curtains, and bask in the morning sunshine while I achieve my first accomplishment of the day. It feels good, and I think it will be my routine for the winter. We'll see how well it works with my life in the summertime, but for now at least it is quite pleasant.
And so we're settling in for the winter. We just had our propane refilled, and hopefully the monitor oil tank will be refilled soon as well. Not that we use much of either. So far we've kept the thermostats at 62. In the morning we turn on the two heaters (one in front and one in back), and I open all the curtains to let in the warmth of the sunshine. By ten or eleven, we turn the heaters off, and don't usually turn them on again until four o'clock or so in the early evening. Anytime I get cold, I move about, or go outside for a spell, or cover up in a blanket. And with the first real snow last night, I was able to spread out my shoveling to keep me feeling warm all day.
Here's to home, habit, and healthy routines!
Until next time!
20 December 2017
15 November 2017
Home sweet home
What a season it's been!
I got home last Thursday after a long, rainy, traffic-filled drive. Friday saw me unloading (but not unpacking), and helping Jack tidy up before his folks arrived Friday afternoon for the weekend. We spent Saturday driving them around to see Lassen National Park, Susanville, and other sites in between. All the while, 2 bushels and a peck of pomegranates were waiting in the spare room...
Once the in-laws headed out on Sunday it was time to get busy. First, we were cutting pomegranates and sorting good from bad, then soaking the good and separating the pith from the seeds, then came the juicing! We used the food mill for about 30 minutes before I asked why we weren't just using the juicer? It made for cloudier juice, as it tends to grind a lot of the seeds as well as the flesh, but it tasted just fine! Exhausted, we called it a night.
Monday was canning day. We dug around for all my canning equipment, and I got busy processing 2 gallons of juice, making and canning a quart of grenadine, freezing the foamiest parts of the juice into a pint of sorbet and 6 popsicles, while Jack helped to separate the remaining seeds so that I could dehydrate them.
Tuesday was cleaning day. So many messes needed to be cleaned up after all of this, and there's still plenty. I also got a wild hair (perhaps from the smell of woodsmoke in the chill air?) for marshmallows. Well, I figured, I'll just make them myself! Turns out I've had a couple packs of gelatin in the drawer for a long time... finally put some of it to use! I've now decided that marshmallows are easy enough to never have to buy at the store again, and I've also figured out how to make a small batch so that my biggest beef with marshmallows (buying a bag of them and never being able to finish them until long after they're rock solid) won't have to happen again. Of course, I didn't figure out how to make the small batch until after I made this one, so I'm stuck with lots of marshmallows now... which I have every intention of sharing with friends and neighbors! 'Tis the season, after all!
Now that it's Wednesday, I'm finally taking the time to focus on my homework again. I'm about 4 days behind where I wanted to be, but I'm still ahead of schedule overall, and I have every intention of making more headway over the next few days now that I'm more settled.
Of course, settled is a relative term. A week from now we'll be heading to my cousin's for Thanksgiving, and afterwards we plan to drive down to Jack's aunt and uncle in SoCal, from where I'll be boarding a plane to Michigan for a couple weeks, then a train back to NorCal. So really it'll be mid-December before I really get to catch a break and get into a winter groove. But no matter, I'm excited for the off-season, and we're happy to be home together after the summer.
And today?
We've gotten our first bit of snow!!!!!!!
Until next time!
I got home last Thursday after a long, rainy, traffic-filled drive. Friday saw me unloading (but not unpacking), and helping Jack tidy up before his folks arrived Friday afternoon for the weekend. We spent Saturday driving them around to see Lassen National Park, Susanville, and other sites in between. All the while, 2 bushels and a peck of pomegranates were waiting in the spare room...
Once the in-laws headed out on Sunday it was time to get busy. First, we were cutting pomegranates and sorting good from bad, then soaking the good and separating the pith from the seeds, then came the juicing! We used the food mill for about 30 minutes before I asked why we weren't just using the juicer? It made for cloudier juice, as it tends to grind a lot of the seeds as well as the flesh, but it tasted just fine! Exhausted, we called it a night.
Monday was canning day. We dug around for all my canning equipment, and I got busy processing 2 gallons of juice, making and canning a quart of grenadine, freezing the foamiest parts of the juice into a pint of sorbet and 6 popsicles, while Jack helped to separate the remaining seeds so that I could dehydrate them.
Tuesday was cleaning day. So many messes needed to be cleaned up after all of this, and there's still plenty. I also got a wild hair (perhaps from the smell of woodsmoke in the chill air?) for marshmallows. Well, I figured, I'll just make them myself! Turns out I've had a couple packs of gelatin in the drawer for a long time... finally put some of it to use! I've now decided that marshmallows are easy enough to never have to buy at the store again, and I've also figured out how to make a small batch so that my biggest beef with marshmallows (buying a bag of them and never being able to finish them until long after they're rock solid) won't have to happen again. Of course, I didn't figure out how to make the small batch until after I made this one, so I'm stuck with lots of marshmallows now... which I have every intention of sharing with friends and neighbors! 'Tis the season, after all!
Now that it's Wednesday, I'm finally taking the time to focus on my homework again. I'm about 4 days behind where I wanted to be, but I'm still ahead of schedule overall, and I have every intention of making more headway over the next few days now that I'm more settled.
Of course, settled is a relative term. A week from now we'll be heading to my cousin's for Thanksgiving, and afterwards we plan to drive down to Jack's aunt and uncle in SoCal, from where I'll be boarding a plane to Michigan for a couple weeks, then a train back to NorCal. So really it'll be mid-December before I really get to catch a break and get into a winter groove. But no matter, I'm excited for the off-season, and we're happy to be home together after the summer.
And today?
We've gotten our first bit of snow!!!!!!!
Until next time!
01 October 2017
Full Moon / Sunrise Summit of Lassen Peak
This is a photo blog. Jack and I got up at 4am and drove to Lassen National Park to summit Lassen Peak on September 9th. It was amazing. Cold, beautiful, an amazing play of light and shadow, color and haze, up close and far away. We made it to the 1/2-mile from the top marker before the sun truly came up in all her big, blazing glory.
After the descent, we went over to Jack's worksite to see the progress he'd made on his rock wall. He took a couple photos of me on top of it - know that the actual wall extends another several feet to the left of the photo, and the rocks were placed, chiseled, cut, on all three tiers.
Don't forget, if you click on the photos they should show up bigger on your screen. Enjoy!
10 September 2017
Another update is forthcoming...
It's been a month full of adventures and I've barely kept up with the photos, and definitely not with the stories! I'm currently uploading some 300+ photos (& videos) to my computer to sort through and come up with a post - hopefully by next week!
I am currently enjoying the end of a 4-day weekend at home, and away from smoke. No, I'm not in any danger where I'm working (at least not yet), but I've had plenty of smokey, hazy days, and being up in the Westwood area has largely been a good break for the lungs!
Last month saw plenty more hiking, backpacking, and exploring around work and home, as well as an end to the summer semester (I got an A), and the beginning of the fall semester for my masters. I am now over the halfway point in my degree program!! So exciting!!
Alright, more stories will come when I get the photos sorted this week and figure out which ones are best to post, so...
Until next time!
I am currently enjoying the end of a 4-day weekend at home, and away from smoke. No, I'm not in any danger where I'm working (at least not yet), but I've had plenty of smokey, hazy days, and being up in the Westwood area has largely been a good break for the lungs!
Last month saw plenty more hiking, backpacking, and exploring around work and home, as well as an end to the summer semester (I got an A), and the beginning of the fall semester for my masters. I am now over the halfway point in my degree program!! So exciting!!
Alright, more stories will come when I get the photos sorted this week and figure out which ones are best to post, so...
Until next time!
05 August 2017
Top Secret
On Friday the stars aligned just right for my dear friend and fellow Bodieite, Betty, to meet me at the Leavitt Meadows trailhead for a hike out to Secret Lake. Neither of us had ever been, but I have to say that this was probably one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever done. I know I say that about a lot of places, but truly - there were gorgeous vistas every way you looked, the whole trail, and you barely even had to work for them. Well, it was uphill pretty much the whole way there, but nothing crazy. What follows are some photos from along the way.
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| We went through a section of what we believe was serpentine rock - beautiful greens and blacks |
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| Betty making her way up one of the many hills |
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| View from one of the many hilltops |
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| Vista looking east towards the mountain training center and what I'm guessing is Mud Lake (settled in the upper plains on the center-right of the photo) |
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| Another vista - that largest snow patch on the right of the near mountain had a long narrow waterfall going all the way down it - so pretty! |
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| Do you see the crawdad? They were all over in this lake!! |
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| Secret Lake |
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| B-etty and Jackaldine ;) |
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| You can see the blue-green of Poore Lake through the trees at the base of the mountain |
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| Now you see the lizard... |
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| .. now you don't! |
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| Another beautiful rock - likely so sort of copper in it. There was a pile of this blue-green rock visible in the distance. |
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| Snow-capped mountains in the distance! |
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| Wyoming Paintbrush - it's pink! |
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| The West Walker River - very pretty, still very high |
28 July 2017
My first backpacking adventure (in 3 years!!!)
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| How many snow plants do you see? |
Photos from my first backpacking trip of the season - and first backpacking trip since 2014!!! Woah! It went pretty well, and I'm very sore today, but glad I went out and got to experience all of this beauty!
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| Gilia, possibly Valerian in the middle, and Wooly Mule's Ears (the big green fuzzy ones) in a meadow |
I hiked up to Boulder Lake after work on Wednesday and got to see some beautiful end-of-the-day lighting on the surrounding peaks - some of which still had snow on them!
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| My campsite |
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| Boulder Lake (and a mystery white water flower of some sort) |
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| Boulder Lake - a very warm lake for swimming, even at 7 o'clock in the morning! |
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| Mountain Bluebells - aka Sierra Spinach! Very good munching... |
The second day I hiked down from the lake and started up the other end of the trail towards Clark Fork Meadow. I had lunch at a beautiful waterfall vista.
I saw LOTS of Mariposa Lilies around, so I had to sort out a lot of unnecessary pictures. But suffice it to say that in the Bodie Hills I was used to seeing a solitary Mariposa Lily amidst the desert brush, but here I was seeing them all over and in groups of half a dozen or more! Amazing!
There were plenty of stream crossings, each its own little oasis of abundant green growth - flowers and otherwise. I saw some, like the Alpine Lily, that I may have misidentified before, and saw some that were totally new to me!
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| Sierra Penstamon (a first for me!) and one of my favorites: the Mariposa Lily |
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| Mariposa Lily and Sky Lupine |
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| Alpine Lily - redder an more erect flowers than the Leopard Lily of which I'm so fond |
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| Lewis' Monkeyflower |
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| I was below the area known as St. Mary's Pass - some beautiful peaks up there |
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| Unfortunately, the trail disappeared not long after the waterfall. This is where I decided to turn around - can you see the trail? |
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| The Clark Fork |
Thinking I had maybe gone too far from the river, I moved towards it, and found this beautiful cascade. Unfortunately, I also found that I got cliffed out and had to change out of my hiking skirt and into my hiking pants, take off my jewelry, and get serious. After hiking up and over numerous boulders like the ones you see across the river, I finally made it back to the trail (or at least the last place where I knew that I was) at this amazing campsite.
Of course, one of the perks of being off-trail is you get to take a panoramic photo like this one and know that the chances of someone else standing in the exact same spot and taking a photo are very slim.
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| A Splendid Campsite with a Great View |
Of course, one of the perks of being off-trail is you get to take a panoramic photo like this one and know that the chances of someone else standing in the exact same spot and taking a photo are very slim.
I began the hike back and saw many more beautiful things, because of course: I'm in the backcountry!
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| A real treat: close, open a little, close, open all the way! The California Tortoiseshell Butterfly - pretty sure I've not seen this one before, and that bright orange was astounding! |
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| A very inviting meadow across the Clark Fork |
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| A Corn Lily in full bloom! |
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| Small Larkspur |
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| The biggest, reddest Snow Plant ever!!! |
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| Scarlet Gilia |
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| Anderson's Thistle |
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| From top to bottom: Horse Mint, Alpine Daisies, and an Aspen sapling |
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| These orange flowers were closed when I came back down the trail, so I may never know what they really are. My best guess is Alpine Pyrrocoma |
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| A vista towards the trailhead |
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| Another new favorite: Grand Collomia! |
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| Someone trying out their new axe? Not sure what was up with this tree, but it didn't look that way on the hike in... |
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| California Coneflower - not sure if it has the same properties as the Purple Coneflower/Echinacea |
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| I was really feeling the love on this hike... 💚 |
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| My new favorite from the last hike - Checker Bloom! |
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| Back to the trailhead: the Iceberg standing above Iceberg Meadow |
Overall it was great to get out. I didn't end up staying two nights - not finding Clark Fork Meadow had me feeling like I may as well just hike all the way back out. I went somewhere around 12.5 to 13 miles over the course of two days, 4.2 of that happening on day 1. I didn't feel too bad yesterday, but this morning I am so sore! I guess I really am starting to get older... and it probably doesn't help that I haven't done anything quite like this in a few years!!! I guess the only remedy is... more backpacking!
Until next time!
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