Is bicycling in the mountains a paradox? Riding uphill (Olde Stage Road) from 5400’ to 6087’ with 15% grade at one spot (my speed barely registering on the bicycle computer) and then losing all the elevation within minutes as I squeeze the brakes tightly to keep below 30 mph and avoid gravel (and near-certain spill) …
I waited patiently for darkness to fall, hoping to catch the super moon on the first night after its incredible luminescence. Instead, the sun became the dominant prelude, the first act over-powering the waiting symphony of the moon shining proudly at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth. The backdrop of the Rocky …
“We’re not in Kansas any more, Toto!” Monday evening sky in Lincoln, Nebraska. Although my plane landed in Nebraska, my car rental reservation was for Kansas City, Kansas. A nice man straightened me out (given the small airport and no one else in line, he seemed pleased to help). My internal navigation system (no GPS …
My stomach muscles tighten as I slip into the pool, never quite knowing what the temperature will be. Today, it is refreshing and cool, a sharp contrast to the looming ninety degree weather. The laps slowly slip one after another, the bubbles tracing the movement of my lingering fingers deep beneath me, following my arm …
We didn’t intend to hike the Barr Trail up Pike’s Peak in Manitou Springs, CO, today. We tried a few years ago but severe thunder/lightening/rain forced us to turn around about 8 miles up the peak trail. [That weekend, my son and a friend ran the Ascent Half Marathon, 13.1 grueling miles to the peak …
When we started the hike this morning at the base of the Flatiron Mountains, we didn’t see the sign warning us that part of Saddle Rock trail was damaged in last fall’s floods AND that a ladder was necessary to connect the trail AND that we might want to consider this as we chose a …
I was barely five when I insisted my father take off the training wheels on my fat-tired bicycle. How else could I keep up with Anne and Janet, Dennis and Willie in the neighborhood? I was no longer attached to wobbly wheels, no longer left behind, no longer the kid sister. I was powerful, I …
I wake at 4:00 a.m. in anticipation of a walk along Cottonwood Road. Although the sun rises almost an hour and a half earlier here in Walla Walla than in Austin, my current home, it’s dark. The heavy rain from the night before has ended and the sun, in its glory, rises steadily without any …
The sun rises an hour and a half earlier in Walla Walla than Austin. Early morning walk on Cottonwood Road, sun peeking between the Blue Mountains and the grey/white clouds. The wheat almost all golden but for a few remaining green stalks. Lavender and red poppies burst along side the road. An occasional farmer in …
To my son, Christopher, and his lovely bride, Kate [on the occasion of their marriage ceremony, June 7, 2014 at Milford Marsh Nature Center] : Last fall, when Christopher and I were discussing marriage, I thought of the letter that his great-grandfather had written to his soon-to-be bride more than 100 years ago. Forrest always …