Seven ~Kick Ass Hike

Broc and I and our friends, Christine and Phil, decided to hike up this mountain a few days ago!

Looking Glass Mountain

Looking Glass Mountain Hike is 6.2 miles and was definitely the most difficult hike I've been on so far.  A stunning February day.

Christine and I taking a short photo op break

                        Lots of switchbacks and about a half mile close to the top that was a killer.

This guy makes all my hikes fun

The view was stunning a worth the uphill a million times over

The small Looking Glass Waterfall before we got to the base was worth a photo

I will be if I keep doing these kinds of hikes!

Six ~Writer.

I was once a writer.  I wrote poems and filled dozens of journals and even won money and a trip to Washington D.C. for an essay I wrote when I was seventeen.  An old boyfriend still has the poems I gave him when we parted ways.  The journals were long ago lost or burned.  I even have a yellowed copy of a newspaper article about the essay that won those awards so long ago.

I went to college to become a journalist but discovered that while I was a pretty good writer, I was definitely not cut out for getting that interview or that fast breaking story.  I traveled down a path that involved writing reports and student progress summaries.  

  The last few years, I've had a blog where I wrote snippets about our unschooling family with a few photos thrown in.  It has been sporadic and I didn't make the time to write there very often.

 I stopped thinking of myself  as a writer but I never stopped observing and writing in my head.

Last night, I had one of those moments where it became so clear that it was not too late to begin writing again.  Patti Digh, a writer that I admire, is starting an online writing course for 37 days.  It's not in our budget.  Not even close.  

I registered anyway.  I want to write again.  I started tonight.  

Writer.

Five ~ Searching for Spring

In December, I bravely announced to the world (well to my Facebook world)..."I am going to kick winter's butt this year."  I certainly meant it.  Yet, even with a getting-through-winter toolbox the size of a football field and all those years of practice and new ideas and determination, I find myself almost to February shaking my head and saying..."What the fuck?"

I have a children's book that I used to read to Brenna and Logan called, "We're Going On a Bear Hunt."  In children's book repetitive style, it says on every other page...."We can't go over it.  We can't go under it. Oh, no!  We've got to go through it."

Those closest to me know I struggle every year with seasonal depression and while I acknowledge it, I still find myself thinking that this will be year that I don't have to go through it.

Yesterday was  a very tough day. Exhausted from no sleep, I canceled a movie date with a friend but I was determined to do ONE THING.  Just one thing.  So after staring at my new Nike Running shoes that I bought because they reminded me of the coming Spring, I put them on and laced them up and somehow convinced myself to just walk outside.  Just go out.  See if it's warm enough to walk.  

So I did.   Not too fast.  Just put one foot in front of the other.

   

I walked those two miles around the lake reminding myself that I couldn't go over it.  I couldn't go under it.  I just need to go through it the very best I could.

I know I really can kick ass when I get through it.   Sixty by Sixty will be here while I do that.  As will my family and friends.

When I came back around the lake yesterday to head back down my driveway, I noticed something that I had somehow missed seeing before I walked all the way around....

Four ~ Saying No

I said "No" to something I really wanted to do today.  Next weekend, as part of walking in a 10K, I had planned to spend two nights with some of the women I'm walking with at a retreat a bit north of Asheville.  It looks like a lovely time filled with good food, amazing women, yoga, and art.  However, my life has been filled with some major activity since the first of the year only 15 days ago.  My daughter moved into her first place away from home, we took a trip to visit family in Florida, we've had friends visiting from out of town and I've just generally been socializing much more than usual.

As an introvert and a person with some depression issues,  I've pushed myself way past what is healthy for me and I need to carve out more time for some solitude and quiet.  I really love having friends close by and having people over and visiting my family and meeting new people.  I just need to spread it out a bit.

So today, I said "no" to the weekend retreat but still "yes" to walking in the 10K.  That little "no" is my way of saying " yes" to what I need in my life which includes big chunks of time to myself.  Today, I walked around the lake by myself.  Brenna and Blake are coming over for dinner and bringing pizza to share.  Some time to myself and some time with my family is really my idea of the perfect Sunday.

Three ~ In Motion

It's been 2 Months since my birthday and starting this blog and only one post.  Seriously, what the hell??  The problem has not so much been that I haven't been doing cool things.  The problem is trying to decide if they are blog worthy and then actually writing about them.

So fresh start here today and I'll write about even the smallest of new to me things even if only a one sentence or one picture post.

I entered the Hot Chocolate 10K which is coming up on January 21. My original intent was to run but several of my friends are walking and I didn't really start training in enough time to run the whole way.  Today three of us walked around the lake by our house twice for a total of 4 miles.  6.2 miles should be easy peasy unless we have to walk it in the snow!

This week I also made the decision to get a personal trainer for some advice on designing a better fitness plan.  Next Monday at 2:00, I'm meeting up with Caitlin at the YMCA and do just that!

I'm taking those steps out of my comfort zone to meet up with friends (new and old) to walk.  I made what is a huge step for me of actually setting up the appointment for a personal training session.  I put on those yoga pants today and drove to the gym in the cold and rain for a class.  It may be snowing tomorrow but I have every intention of going to Zumba.

I love to workout....to dance....to lift weights....to do yoga.....to hike......to be in motion. I'm making the time to do just that.

Two ~ Wearing a Hat

 Here we are all dressed up in our" going to the Steeplechase Horse Race " finery.  Our friends invited us to The Carolina Cup and said to wear a hat.  We had a fabulous day and it was my first horse race of any kind.

                                          These people are a fun bunch to hang out with.

 Kelly Lovejoy's definition of a tailgating feast...Pate, Lamb Skewers, Marinated Shrimp, Carolina Cup Pie and Champagne.  Amazing.

We placed bets between our group of six and Broc and I didn't win any of them! My betting strategy was along the lines of "that's a cute name for a horse".

I've been so busy having new adventures and enjoying being with family and friends that it's been hard to find the time to post. We're finally getting a little cold weather this week so maybe that will translate into a bit more wrting. I can see that documenting may be the biggest challenge of this project.

          Here's to a fun something new! Wearing a Hat!  And going to a Fancy Horse Race.

One ~ Paying Attention

It's been a usual busy week but with a bit of time for birthday celebrations, walks around the lake with friends and plans for this new blog including preparations for some of my new adventures.  With lovely warm fall days, I've been outside frequently and found myself thinking about Frederick more than once.

Do you know Frederick?  He's the little field mouse in the story by Leo Lionni called "Frederick". When winter was not far away, all the little field mice begin their preparations gathering food for the cold season ahead.  Except for Frederick.  "Frederick, why don't you work?" they asked.  "I do work" he says.  " I gather sun rays for the cold dark winter days......I gather colors.  For Winter is gray.......I am gathering words for the winter days are long and many and we'll run out of things to say."

This year I'm taking the time to be a bit like Frederick. I'm paying attention to the changing colors and the shadows.  I'm paying attention to the squirrels outside my window scurrying around with their corn and hickory nuts up and down the trees as fast as they can go. I've been taking pictures so that when winter comes, I can pull them up on my computer to help me remember.  I'm paying attention so when that lake outside my window is frozen over I can close my eyes and feel the sun still warm on my back and recall how the beauty of  all the autumn colors would sometimes take my breath away.

Yellow makes me think of Happy and Sunshine and Big Bird and Tulips that will once again pop out of the ground in the spring. I'm paying attention to yellow and these are a few of my gatherings........

Holding on to the last bit of Summer

A walk in our neighborhood

River Arts District Dancers

"And what about the colors, Frederick?" they asked anxiously.  

   "Close your eyes again, "Frederick said.  And when he told them of the blue periwinkles, the red poppies in the yellow wheat, and the green leaves of the berry bush, they saw the colors as clearly as if they had been painted in their minds."