Spring Break in the Jemez mountians...

A 4-day weekend...., a log cabin in the Jemez mountains, gorgeous alpine terrain, natural hot springs, ....
That combined with an abundance of french pastries (breakfast, lunch or desert anybody?) and obviously great company.....???!!!

Plenty of highlights but here's one of them:

We decided we wanted to enjoy the San Antonio Hot Springs but were trying to avoid running into too many people enjoying the same luxury of soaking in the natural hot tubs in great scenery.... So we left at about 4.30 am, hiked 2 hours by moonlight in time to enjoy a beautiful sunrise over the mountains whilst soaking in the springs in below freezing weather, surrounded by snow....
When I was taking a relaxing morning nap floating in the pools, Doug was plotting the rest of the hike back to civilization.... This included climbing up to the mountain ridge off trail and bushwhacking our way back... The amazing views, a praline-sugar-high and the sound of crushed snow underneath our hiking boots more than made up for the "temporary uncertainty" of trail/direction... ;-)
We did make it back to town safely for the very anticipated panini lunch -did not have to melt snow for water or plan the next night shelter- and relaxed the rest of the day.

Unfortunately my camera battery gave me some trouble at the hot spring site but this cleared up later...







Fashion in true balance to sun protection ;-)....

Update on life ...

It has been a few weeks coming... There is a reason I haven't updated my blog quite as regularly and religiously as the previous months... No, I'm not struck by illness, immobility, computer challenges or too much work.... There is a wonderfully positive reason for my lack of writing: I have met a kind soul named Doug and have been spending much of my free time enjoying his company!!!!!!!

I am smiling even more than the past few months -really, that is possible!!!-, the bounce in my step since entering New Mexico is just a little more energetic, the days look even more rosier and brighter than before....




LIFE JUST REALLY IS GOOD!!!

A life of meaning and purpose...

I came across this on a friend's website and it truly resonated with me...

The Invitation
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
Canadian Teacher and Author

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dreams
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your
fingers and toes
without cautioning us to
be careful
be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand on the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after a night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Can life get any better?

Well, where do I start? I think this is the longest I've gone without any postings....Oops... I'll do better again... promise...

It is hard to describe the high lights of an all-round amazingly fabulous weekend... It's like the flip side of moms telling their kids not to stick their tongues out or frown as their faces might stay like that for the rest of their lives... Well, I think my face has taken on a permanent smile....

An almost full weekend in Santa Fe;

- hiking up through the packed snow to Raven's ridge (11.000 feet I think) with the most amazing views of the surrounding area's, enjoying a peaceful meditative nap on top of the ridge before snow shoeing (or skipping, sliding and falling ;-) ) down in the fresh snow, off trail, between the trees back to the ski basin... just -barely- before sunset...
- riding a bike through Santa Fe, I did discover that mountain biking will never be my activity of choice (I am very happy both colar bones are still intact and there were no summersaults over the handlebars ;-)... but just riding through town was great and made me think of so many places in Europe where this is a real way of life... (or at least a way of picking up fresh pastries ;-) )...


Views from Raven's Ridge





And than there was carrot cake and apple pie.....(Well, it was more like a basket of delicious fresh apples wrapped in fresh pastry with a generous caramel topping...), great dinner, wood burning fire place, ......


Yes, it really was this dark when we got down from the trail.... Santa Fe by night...

Sandy's visit....

To make up for the trials and tribulations of last week, I had an absolutely wonderful weekend with my friend Sandy visiting from St. Louis. She is a devoted mother, lawyer turned artist, writer, an OT and PT packet deal, motivator, philosopher, business owner, great friend and conversationalist, visionary, iconoclast ( ;-) ).... The world needs more of her!!!!



We had a weekend filled with laughter, deep conversations, problem solving sessions of any possible issues of the world or either of us,... in between very tasty meals, shopping sprees at the cute art shops and galleries in Madrid and Santa Fe, a visit to O'keefe's museum and resource library and a beautiful drive along the Turkoise trail....
Monday morning came 'round way too soon....



Some intersting finds along the Turkoise trail....

Oh what a week....

Monday, I had a "sucky' day at work. No need to explain beyond "junior high attitudes". I tried to raise above it and went into work with a positive attitude on Tuesday..... I was pretty successful until I was about to go home and found my purse without wallet. It was stolen out of the locked hatch above my desk. All gone: credit and debit cards, cash, MO drivers license, library cards, store cards, credit card receipts,... all GONE!!! The worst feeling really; I just wanted to quit the job right there and then and get the hell out of Albuquerque never to set foot in the place again.... Luckily, that lasted all of about 30 minutes! I had to meet with security and risk management (an obvious inside job), I cancelled my cards and security went through trash cans and searched the hospital grounds..... I must have looked pretty pathetic, lost and sad because people started to give me cash to get through the days to come... I collected over $300 in less than 30 mins.... Good to know I do have skills beyond PT and if the going gets tough, I could always go into a second career as a professional panhandler...

I had to take Wednesday off to take care of stuff and very naively thought the MO driver's license bureau were really as friendly and efficient as they initially appeared. I found out later that was a magical illusion but I guess helpful at the time... I will eventually get things organized but it's going to take significantly more phone calls, faxes, letters, and frustrations than I had initially thought and hoped...

2 years ago...

Two years ago tonight, I was putting the last few items in my big duffel bag... Ready to leave for the-Tanzania-trip-of-a-lifetime tomorrow morning..... It's hard to believe it has been 2 years....!

Another week gone by...

This really was a week without too much to report; Work is unchanged, I feel comfortable and certainly don't dislike it but there is very little interaction apart from some of my patients. It's a good experience in the sense that it's all part of my decision making process for what to do professionally and where to go more long term.... So I'm running with it and am making the best of it.

I went to a interfaith "meditation for world peace" event yesterday afternoon and meditated in a huge hall with glass walls on the West side of ABQ overlooking the Rio Grande and the Sandia's... Very powerful! I met some nice people who will be organizing a silent 5 day retreat in April that I'm considering signing up for...

Today I hiked 14 miles along the Rio Grande river. It's pretty much a flat trail and I'm still tired!?!?! I'd better get in shape fast: I've agreed to join Traci in the Bataan Death March marathon hike over the Organ Mountains at the end of March. From what I hear it's called "death march" for a good reason.... So I'm spinning tomorrow, running Tuesday, stair climbing Wednesday,... That's the plan anyway, we'll see what will expire!!!!

Sunday hiking

I tried another buddhist meditation place this morning. There is a meditation center not far from my apartment that offers "prayers for world peace" meditation every Sunday morning. I went and the place was deserted. The same thing happened when I went to the Tulerosa meditation place in Alamogordo. Is the web that outdated? I did go to a meditation group last Thursday which was really good so I'm planning to keep that going....

During all my trips to NM in the past, I had never made it West of the Rio Grande to Petroglyph National Monument. Today was the day... The way it's described in the brochure is: "The silent volcanic boulders are yearning to speak to those willing to listen." Geologically the volcano's last erupted about 150.000 years ago. The petroglyphs images were made about 400 to 700 years ago with some likely more than 3000 years old. The pueblo elders believe the petroglyphs themselves choose when and to whom they reveal themselves...

I ended up hiking for more than 3 hours; the weather was great, it felt like spring with 62 degrees!!

Google maps and old town

Those were the focus of my Saturday. Playing around on Google maps on Saturday morning, I re-discovered the feature of calculating distances by just clicking on map points. So I clicked and clicked and clicked and plenty of time later came up with a nice 7 mile run exploring my new neighborhood. I hadn't run in quite a while so the only demand I put upon myself was that I wasn't allowed to stop. So I wouldn't say I ran 7 miles, I think I plodded 7 miles but it's a start again.... I'm sure I'll pick up speed soon....

In the afternoon I played tourist and visited old town. I really did enjoy browsing around the cute little art stores. I barely stopped myself from buying a necklace and some great photography art. I came home just with a pair of long inseam jeans.... I also did check out the new REI on my way back and had my first dinner at "the flying star", around the corner from my apartment, I have a feeling it was the first of many to come...