MTM: A walk in the woods

SuperDad likes to mix it up when it comes to our “workouts” — some days we swim, some days we take a hike, some days we do a bit of yoga.  I was especially pleased that our Friday activity was walking along a trail he discovered while mountain biking.

It was a mere 12-minute drive from our house to where we could park the car and pick up the trail.

Come walk with me under a canopy
of limbs that drip with leaves,
Along a path where footsteps are silenced,
Padded by needles of Ponderosa Pine

Tall limbs reach and bend toward one another,
Gothic arches in nature’s sanctuary
Aisles sprinkled with golden offerings,
Ebenezers raised by unknown priests

Follow this path through the woods
Your reward will be an open vista
Where trees stand at attention, waiting…
Can you hear the mountains shout and the valley echo in reply?

*Click here for a definition of an Ebenezer.

A little bird told me

It’s October, and if you don’t already know by now, that means it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I have no doubt that breast cancer has affected someone in your circle of love — be that a grandmother, sister, friend, or even you.

As I was considering what to share for Pink Saturday, I realized it was right in front of me. I’ve been wearing this necklace to church every Sunday this month because it is pink. (Those who know me will realize they hardly ever see me in pink. I much prefer red, blue, or classic black.) I’ve been surprised that no one has commented on this heishi necklace because it is a little bit unusual in my neck of the woods. It belonged to my grandmother who lived in Santa Fe for a quarter of a century. The pink bear fetishes are made of mother-of-pearl.

As seen on a local billboard:

Mammogram: It’s one photo op you don’t want to miss.

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Thanks to Aunt Snow over at Doves Today, I’ve been inspired to join in PINK SATURDAY, hosted by Beverly at the blog “How Sweet the Sound”. Let the color pink inspire you!

Golden

Acting upon Mary‘s request, I have been out taking pictures of fall color this week so that I can share them with you.

We’ve had several very cold mornings with temperatures hovering around 27 degrees Fahrenheit (-3 degrees C).

As I was taking these photographs, the leaves were steadily falling from the trees.

The shades of gold have been so brilliant that they nearly hurt my eyes to look at such beauty.

Click on any photo to enbigggen

Thankful Thursday

Today I am especially thankful for:

• an uneventful, successful colonoscopy with normal results. If you get the opportunity to take a split regimen of SUPREP instead of a large jug to drink throughout the night, take the SUPREP. Less nastiness to drink (but still plenty of water) and it will probably increase your chance of a decent night of sleep.

• a safe, caring home for my father. He has Parkinson’s and his wife (she is 82 years old) is unable to take care of him. They have found a good place for him to live, where attendants can help him back to bed when his body forgets how to walk and where health care providers can usually come to him instead of him having to travel for most appointments.

• caring friends who see through the humor and share their concern.

Mary Alice is the originator of Thankful Thursday. Sadly, she is no longer blogging, but I am grateful to her for the idea of being mindfully thankful every Thursday and not just on Thanksgiving Day.

My blog-friend Hilary has a wonderful way of sharing terrific posts with others in a regular feature called Posts of the Week.

This week she pointed me over to Suldog where Jim is promoting Thanksgiving Comes First.
I don’t have my own TCF post written yet, so please take a few minutes and read Jim’s.

Thank you.

Worry is like a rocking chair…

I’ve never been a very graceful person. I can’t rollerskate. I’m capable of tripping on dust bunnies. If I had a daughter, she would have been enrolled in ballet in an attempt to stem the genetic tide. But after talking to my dad on the phone this afternoon, it occurs to me that rollerskate rinks and dust bunnies are the least of my worries.
He fell off the toilet again yesterday.

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I saw this T-shirt in Signals catalog:

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I’m spending my evening drinking a nasty solution that endeavors to make me as clean as a whistle. (Are whistles clean? How clean?) Tomorrow I’ll be the hapless victim helpless participant in a “procedure.”  The last time I had a “procedure” was 11 years ago, and I ended up hospitalized for 5 days.   This is a different procedure, and supposedly, no sharp instruments are being used — or so my husband tells me.

MTM: On the River in Autumn

Yesterday was a beautiful day, possibly one of the last really nice days of fall, so by mid-day, SuperDad & SnakeMaster were inflating the new kayak for its maiden voyage on the river. The chosen place to park and unload happened to be about as far as possible from the van to river entry, but I do admit it was a lovely view of downtown.

While his father was inflating the kayak, SM climbed up to an old bridge abutment. Somewhere (probably still in a box packed from moving) I have a picture of his father flying a kite in this very spot. SM didn’t seem thrilled with this information, but I found it interesting.

It's a long way down to the river.

My plan was to do some walking and take photos while they paddled downstream. What a treat to discover that they were in one of my photographs!

Click on the above picture to enlarge it. Can you see them in our kayak? 

I went to meet them at a midway point, to hand off the thermos, but they had been paddling fast and already passed me!

I drove to the state park, hooked the annual pass over the rear view mirror, and hung out above the rapids where I was pretty sure they would pull out of the river.

After we hauled everything up the hill to the parking lot, we went to check out the view from the suspension bridge. The original bridge was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps; they built it off-site, then hauled it here in 2 parts. It took ten days to put it back together and span 216 feet across the river. This new bridge was built in 1998 using the original plans, which goes to show that you can  “build ’em like they used to!”

In the photo above, SnakeMaster & SuperDad are discussing the possibility of shooting the rapids in low water.  In May, they are world-class rapids and it would be a death-wish for most people to attempt.

Arboretum morning: 5 Friday photos

As you might already know, my husband has taken on a one-year commitment as my personal trainer. It’s not an easy job; the hours are long, the goal is lofty, and I can be a master complainer. He also has to meal plan and prepare healthy foods (which, sadly, do not include significant quantities of chocolate). To his credit, the meals have mostly been delightful and he is finding interesting things to do for our activities.

Today we took a walk through the arboretum in our city.

The weather was cold and damp. I was grateful for my warm hiking boots that kept the wet ground from seeping moisture onto my toes.

There wasn’t a lot of  the gorgeous fall color I’d become accustomed to when living a few hours outside our nation’s capital, but I did notice quite a bit of pink!

I’ll be out of town again for a few days next week — back to Mom’s house to help a bit more with the cleaning out. I wanted to get at least one more trip in before the mountain passes get their winter snows. It gives my husband a break, too. Being my personal trainer and chef is a full-time job!

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Thanks to Aunt Snow over at Doves Today, I’ve been inspired to join in PINK SATURDAY, hosted by Beverly at the blog “How Sweet the Sound”. Let the color pink inspire you!

Cupboard quandry

This is my kitchen soon after we moved in:

Photo above taken in doorway to garage, next to the refrigerator (weird, I know) and our makeshift pantry (below)

The tall blond wooden cupboard on the right, above? That was the only pantry. So we added some old shelves. Gorgeous, NOT. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Luckily, my mother had the perfect shelf unit [from IKEA!  shout-out to Suburban Correspondent and Jenn] and we had a nicer-looking white particle board shelf, too. (Very Important. It hides the tangle of cord behind the fridge.)

I’m hoping it makes the whole area not quite so …well, WEIRD. Because who else uses the back of their refrigerator for hanging decorations, school schedules, and doctors’ phone numbers?

New & Improved Pantry area! At least we think so...

This photoshoot interrupted by fire

Every town needs its quirks, and mine does not disappoint. There are 2 buildings in particular that defy typical, boring architecture.

Here we have literalism in advertising and the ultimate “Got Milk?” reminder.

Both were built in 1935 as retail outlets for a creamery; the last creamery outlet closed in 1979, but the buildings have stood the test of time and they are on the National Register of Historic Places.

The milk bottles are 38 feet tall and 15 feet wide at the base. They are examples of mimetic architecture, a style which creates structures depicting nonarchitectural objects (e.g., teapots, animals, and yes, milk bottles).

Not only did this particular place sell some fantastic homemade huckleberry ice cream, but I love the whimsy of these buildings, so I was doubly sad to discover that one of them was no longer quite as photogenic:

I went to photograph this milk bottle building a couple of weeks ago, only to discover that there had been a 3-alarm fire the previous week. The restaurant (also historic) to the left was completely destroyed and the ice cream & sandwich shop housed within the milk bottle has been heavily damaged. *sigh*  I can only hope that they will re-open next year, because a building this fantastic shouldn’t be left boarded up and empty.

A little of this, a little of that

[click on photo to embiggen]

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but really — when is it not busy?  Here are 5 bits and pieces of what has been going on in my life:

1.  I returned to my mother’s house, sans menfolk. I transferred ownership of her cat to my cousin, since things never did work out between Fiji and Cleopatra. I spent a couple of days helping my SIL go through stuff and prepare for an estate sale.  I cheered on my nephew in football on Wednesday evening. And I wrote yesterday about my wonderful time with Mrs. G, who lives in the same town where my mother lived.

2.  The photo above wasn’t taken on that trip, however; I took it after we dropped our college sons off at the university back in mid-August. If you click on the photo, you will see it is more than a PINK SATURDAY submission… there is a rainbow coming down from the pink clouds.

3.  Last night was the final night of classroom driver education for H-J. He still needs plenty of practice (i.e., I still wish my minivan had a brake pedal on the passenger side!) but at least we no longer have to set aside 3 hours, 3 nights per week.

4. Tonight my beloved MIL & FIL are in town for the high school football game. H-J is playing in the band and his cousin (different nephew than above) is the excellent kicker on our mediocre team. Seriously, this kid is good: he can kick a 42-yard field goal. But he prefers soccer and basketball. H-J prefers band.

5. My sister is also going to be in town tonight. I brought back her final load of belongings from our mother’s house, and she is making a 2-day round trip to pick it all up. I think it only saves her 3 hours of driving, but I was most interesting in having some time together. We have seen very little of each other since she went off to college when I was still in middle school.

That is what has been happening in my world. What news do you have to share?

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Thanks to Aunt Snow over at Doves Today, I’ve been inspired to join in PINK SATURDAY, hosted by Beverly at the blog “How Sweet the Sound”. Let the color pink inspire you!