The Death Meditation

I've been seeing my acupuncturist for a couple of months now. I originally went just for general wellness hoping she would guide me a little. As I hoped she was able to identify a few things we could address. Of all things, she's treating me for stress. Ha. If I am nothing else, I am one big stress ball. I run on high octane and generally don't sit down and relax during my day. One thing she told me to do is meditate more. Work on relaxing. Try to be less worked up.

This last week has been a rough one. But I'm still trying to listen to my acupuncturist and meditate more. I take yoga at my gym and my instructor started offering extended meditation after class. Just 15 minutes, so I figured it was perfect. Quick and easy.

Day 1, the extra meditation topic was death. Sweet. Rough week and all... not my favorite topic. There I am sitting on my mat in meditation as she is discussing death.

1. We are all going to die.
2. We don't know when we'll die.
3. Invest your efforts in things that are important.

I can understand her point, live life for today and spend your energy doing what matters. It was just poor timing for me. I tried to relax but of course, the tears flowed.

Perhaps it's what I needed, some form of release. But it was unexpected. And a little too public for tears if you ask me. But then again, perhaps the release I felt was a sign that the meditation I was supposed to be doing was so important. It just seemed ironic.

Freshies!!

I don't mean to brag, but the snow in the trees at Heavenly yesterday was to die for. I went up figuring I would take a couple of runs and then work for a few hours but I was quite happily mistaken.



It has been raining under 7000 feet for the last few days and 50 degrees for the last 3 weeks so everything in town has been pretty sucky. But I couldn't let myself sit on the couch all weekend. I finally got off my butt and rode up about halfway for some very unexpected turns in a foot of soft fluffy powder. Well if the mountain was that good half way up, I figured there was nothing but powder up above, so I headed up.



I was not disappointed. Although there was definitely some granite poking out it was virtually bottomless. I felt good enough to jib off some trees and skip over the visible rocks and found untracked heaven. I saw a few people but had so many beautiful turns I couldn't stop smiling.



I actually feel bad for the people who are just learning. I mean, good for me, but if they knew what they were missing...



I didn't want to jinx it until I was done but my iPod lasted the entire afternoon. I'm pretty stoked about my riding playlist this year. Here's to keeping the faith.

My Favorite Things

I would consider myself a somewhat serious outdoor enthusiast. (Half-hearted fanatic?) I also have a propensity to buy a lot of things I feel I cannot live without. Combine those tendancies and you have a sometimes hyper chick with many outdoor toys.

I used to read outdoor magazines and gear magazines and eat up the reviews about anything from skis and boards to mittens and hiking boots. But then I realized someone pays these guys to test out gear and it's probably in their best interest to find the stuff from Funding Company to be better than stuff from other companies. (The full color multi-page ads in the magazine supporting the gear that got top reviews was a big indicator.) I'm not suggesting everyone out there is reviewing unfairly, or perhaps they request ad money from top companies, but I still felt slighted when I discovered I couldn't really trust the magazines. At least not with the naivety that I once did.

Anyway, now I try to talk to people and shop around, and barring that just buy it and try it. Recently, my favorite pieces of gear are my gators and my YakTrax. I've had the gators for a year or so now, but the Yak Trax are new. I wear them both nearly every day on walks with the dog. Sadly the boots have seen better days. They're my absolute favorite and have been wonderful for many years but they could use a waterproofing treatment.

The gators are just gore-tex "sleeves" for my lower leg that cover most of my boot. They keep the top of the boot dry, keep snow from piling in, and keep my pant legs from wicking water up my leg. Very useful, especially today when I was post-holing the entire length of our hike. Really wish I had my snowshoes. But my pants were dry! Incidentally I got the gators at REI but I've never tried another brand. They tend to stay up very well and don't move around much.

The YakTrax are new to me. I got them about a month ago at the suggestion of a friend. YakTrax is a brand name for little coiled grips that stretch over the bottom of your shoe. Very useful on icy or heavily packed trails. They look somewhat silly but work really well in treacherous conditions. I already busted one, although it still works. I'm still not sure how durable they're supposed to be. I do quite a bit of hill climbing in them, I'm not sure that's really what they were intended for. Time will tell.

One thing I was not expecting is they have helped protect my knees. Rather than trying to step into existing footsteps, I can step wherever I want on more uneven surfaces. This transfers the work to my ankles and allows me to maintain better knee alignment.

I'm not sure what to get next. I have acquired a bunch of gear. Just about something for every weather condition. Maybe I'll just pray for snow.

Courduroy

Coming from the East Coast to a West Coast mountain town, there are so many new things. Fish tacos (sounds gross but they grow on you), mountains outside my backdoor, so many mountain biking trails and climbing routes I don't know where to start, and lots and lots of ski-bums. (Not that it's a bad things to be a ski-bum. I'm actually kind of jealous.)

Some things I have done here that I never did in the 3 1/2 years I lived in DC: Attended both a formal and a few semi-formal events. (I now have 5 dresses. This alone is amazing.) Not felt the desire to get out of town for some fun. Everything here is fun. Got the chance to break out things like cross-country skis and snowshoes and tromp around in the snow. And rode the mountain and sat at the beach (of the lake) in the same day. Truly unbeatable.

The one cool thing about being from the East is they very infrequently get reals snow. You tend to get very good at skiing and riding in icy, crappy, fake-snow conditions. So when you get to a real mountain, with real snow, and they have a not-so-good day, you're like SWEET!! Because a bad day in the mountains is better than the best day on the slopes back East. And you ride like a pro. Woohoo!


There's one thing about snow and ski resorts though that seems to be fairly universal. Courduroy. At night when everyone goes home, all the ski areas bring out the groomers to smooth out the bumps and moguls and make all of the trails even and consistent.


Some people would scoff at riding "groomers", the trails that the ski areas have made all smooth and nice. But your average skier pretty much sticks to the designated areas and doesn't ski in the trees or out of bounds.


I'm not saying it's the best, because powder is the best. But if you can't have powder, and you're at the mountain for first chair, one of the coolest things is riding untouched courduroy. You can pick up some speed knowing the snow is consistent and really lay out your turns. It's pretty awesome.

Jewels of Knowledge

If you're not fortunate enough to own a dog or spend much time with one, I would like to share with you something that should not go unnoticed. Dogs have some of the worst smelling gas of any animal on the planet. And when I say worst I mean room-clearing horrible.


I think everyone knows dogs pass gas. But the thing is it sneaks up on you. Not only that, but it usually comes in clusters. Just when you're all curled up on the couch watching tv, you get this cloud of odor that sort of hangs in the air. And let me tell you it is nasty. Somewhere between rotten eggs and baby diapers. Seriously foul. And then another. And another. And another. Any more? Are you sure that was it Echo?


It's the best when we have company. Dogs don't know passing gas is undesirable. It really grosses people out and they look at you like "what?" The other day we were playing Cranium with a bunch of friends and the dog insisted on standing in the middle of the circle. She just needed to be in the action. But then she decides to curl up on the couch behind a couple of people and when she relaxes, of course, she lets it all go. Fart after fart.

Someone suggested feeding her yogurt. So maybe I'll try that. Can't hurt right? As long as that doesn't give her diarrhea.

Happy New Year!