walking

We went to my Dad's last week.  It was good.  He really would like to see us every month and we are going to try.  But we live at one of the hot spots of COVID-19 right now.  We will see.  I have chosen not to coach because it is not worth my health.  I keep making face masks.  And I few other requests.  I am going to spend a lot of time at my sewing machine.  I am going to be making the same things all the time but that will be where I will be.  I will need to walk.  It helps with the anxiety.

Walking is what I like to do.  When we were at Dad's, we went for a couple walks.  The first was to Goat's Lake.  It is gorgeous.  It made me think that I was in shape.  We ended up with this view.

A couple days later we did the Excelsior Pass Trail.  It is one of those trails that I swear the National Parks, National Forests, and National Wilderness people put in place with if you can get through the first fifteen minutes you should be okay.  This was steep.  I did not feel in shape on the way up.  Gorgeous but we hit snow.  We did not get all the way.  I may want to try it in August or September.  

The biggest problem with the snow is that I am pretty sure I twisted my left knee.  I walked without moving it for a couple days and I am having to baby it now.  I should put my knee brace on but I am being stubborn.  And I do not want to be asked about it.  But it does hurt badly to walk across the house.  

I just love walking so both of these were more about going for a walk.  I never care if we get to the destination or not.  Koda Bear loves running down the trails.  Blue wants to be able to keep up but he is just not big enough.  But if I walked at his pace I would think I was in shape!  It is hard to walk in the heat of Houston after being up there.  I think I will slowly walk all the paths in the Mount Baker Wilderness.

Now, I get to figure out how to make a couple more requests.  Welder caps.  Scrub caps with room for pony tails.  Learning how to sharpen clipper blades is on my list for this month.  It could be very busy.

Went to Washington, came back to more face masks

We went to Washington to be with my Dad.  It has been about two months since I saw him.  He is doing okay enough for where life has him.  It is hard to be okay after my Mom's death.  But he likes having us.  We go different places then he normally does and there are people in the house.  I liked having my Beloved and Koda Bear with me. 

My Dad does better with boys around.  And the first day there I had food poisoning.  I slept most of the day and it was not until evening before I could really drink and eat.  Having the boys there helped or my Dad would have been very worried.  I did get checked on the whole day but most of the time I was so out of it I did not even notice.

The boys worked with my Dad on things that needed to get done.  Trees were pruned.  A tree was cut down.  The back steps were replaced.  A lot of chess was played.  School work was done.  Not very different from what happens at home.

We did get up to the mountain twice.  My Dad came up with us the first time.  He actually climbed up into the loft to sit in my rocking chair.  Watching your 91 year old father climb a ladder is scary!  I clipped back blackberries and went for a ramble with Koda Bear.

The second time we were up there more work was done.  My Dad decided not to come with us.  I worked with the scythe until my shoulders said to be careful.  The boyos weed whacked and cut down more trees.  The trees were dead or dangerous so they did need to go.  Definitely a theme of tree cutting for this trip. 

Maybe next time I can lobby for the covered picnic area we are planning.  Walls and fireplace will be included so short humans could sleep there if they wanted.  Or if we have more then just the normal count.  I am going to experiment with a rocket stove and a thermal mass bench in that space.  Being able to sit out in the snow with a warm bottom could be pretty fabulous.

While we were up in Washington, I decided I needed a hat to travel home in.  I get cold on planes.  The hat helped.  It also helped that I could crochet at my picnic table while the boyos wandered.  Lots of tramping went on.  

I found on the mountain that I did not suffer from anxiety when planes flew over.  It is part of the flight path from Canada to the US and beyond.  Which was pretty wonderful after everything that has gone on.  My lungs eased.  I could breathe easily.  It has not been true since I have gotten back.  Planes and breathing are difficult.

I got back and I had more face masks to make.  I have a feeling that it is part of the new normal.  I just read an article where Texas is the number 1 state for risk of COVID19 numbers to rise rapidly.  Second wave.  It does not surprise me at all.  More face masks.  More hand washing.  More staying at home.  Though I really wish to go surfing, camping, and walking in the mountains.  Walking helps.  For whatever reason, working on the computer is hard.  Maybe that will change.

My Mom's memorial

I am back.  I spent a total of six days, almost seven driving cross country.  The quiet was nice.

I went to my Mom's memorial.  

I could have eaten better on the road but it was too cold most of the way to cook in rest areas.  It is where I slept though I had a bed made in the Subaru.  I have had poor experiences with beds across country.  Especially some of the routes from here to there.

Everyone in the family is quiet sad.  Still really not believing that my Mom died.  She was the healthiest of everyone.  We expected her to live to 109.  She and I had walks planned.

But that is not what happened.  She actually never felt sick from the cancer but that is not true from the drugs that were given.  The drugs shortened her life.  

We had the memorial.  It was a full Episcopalian mass.  Which is what she would have wanted.  Her ashes were interned in a columbarium in the garden at the church.  The ladies of the church put on a wonderful reception.  So many people came that the sacristy, nave, and parish hall were full for the service and the reception.  And family was there.

I stayed for five more days to help out my Dad.  More cleaning happened.  Getting tasks done.  Just being there.  

I visited my Aunt and Uncle on the way home.  That was a stop in Portland that was both family and business.  I stopped for supplies for the boyos too.  Then, I stopped at a knife store.  Why not?  But, I do feel the knife I brought home was not sharp enough.  I will need to sharpen it.

I am picky when it comes to my knives.  I do cook a lot.  I cook a lot of vegetables and need to make sure I can cut them.

I am now home.  Trying to get caught up.  I am not feeling my best.  

So I am taking my time getting back into my routine.  Part of it is how much work there is for me to do. Let alone watching Blue.  I was missed by both small humans.  And one is not so small anymore!

Part of me does not feel the most creative currently.  But there is yogurt fermenting.  Bread dough rising.  A sweater almost done.  Some of the finance stuff I need to do is done.  I will do more tomorrow.  There is just not enough time in the day.  

This is definitely one of those times that it is clear that I am not anti-social but pro-solitude.  

and then off to the beach

I had just gotten back from the mountains and what did I do?  I ran off to the beach.  I was invited to a friend's beach house before we left for traveling.  I said I would try to make it.  It has been hard to be back so it was also a nice break.  I think to go more.

My friend's heart home is not right on the beach but about a block away.  You can see the Gulf of Mexico from the deck.  She had a group of women friends over since her Beloved was out of town.  It was nice.

I had a quiet place to crochet and watch the world go by.

I promised myself that I would try to get to the beach more often to just walk on it.  I have a state parks pass so I can go to that beach anytime.  I do not have to wait for the kind invitations of a friend.  

Just like most times where I have lived outside for a week, it is hard being back.  The Saharan dust is here and it feels very hot outside.  My head will get better about it.  

wedding and camping

I went to a family wedding in Monterey County, CA.  The wedding was a lovely wedding.  I actually really like Salinas where I stayed with my parents.  I did not realize how much agriculture was done there.  Lots of lettuce and cabbage families.  I had never seen an artichoke plant before.  I thought they were beautiful.  I have to admit that I wish I could grow many of the flowers I saw in yards there.

After the wedding, I headed up to Los Padres National Forest to go camping with my family.  The campground we stayed at was lovely and I feel like I need to go back.  There was just not enough time to go anywhere.  But there was a river running through and Koda Bear loved it!

He turned blue from playing in this water!  There were shivers happening.

Then, it was off to the Rocky Mountain National Park.

The view from our camp site was lovely.  We were sitting in a valley that was ringed with mountains.  We got there a day early and the campground was able to find us a spot for the night even though we needed to move the next day.

Then, it was three days of walking.  My family keeps telling me that we did not take walks but that we were on hikes.  We let Koda Bear decide when it was time to turn around and he was pretty persistent.  We did not make it to the last destinations for two of the hikes we took but we were post holing in the snow.

The above picture is of Loch Lake and it was so pretty.

This is a better picture of the view from our campground.

We made it to Emerald Lake, which was mostly covered with ice.

But I think my favorite was Mills Lake.  It reminded me a lot of the lakes in the Cascades.  It was a bit smaller and felt a bit more intimate.  We tried to hike to Black Lake from here but again, too much snow.  I was actually in pants for this hike and I was more wet then when I walked in a skirt!  Koda Bear turned us around before we got to Black Lake.  Three days of that small boy hiking was almost too much for him.  He walked with me on the way back and I have a tendency to be the slowest.  I just call myself a turtle.  I can get there, but I may be slow.

I went to the Estes Park Wool Market while we were camping there.  It was the point of the trip.  I enjoyed it.  And I saw sheep breeds I have never seen before.  Sheep the size of small cows!  It was fun.  Or at least I thought so. 

I bought a fleece, even though I did not need a fleece.  I loved the color.  And I am thinking I wish to go down the rabbit hole of making hats.  I guess I will see if I have time for that.  Next week, I start a breakfast nook that I am getting paid to build.

I would like to go back later in the summer and try all those hikes again.  At least the one to Sky Pond and Black Lake.  I would like to try them without the snow.  I was thinking August 2020.  

I am now trying to get back into the swing of things and not doing a very good job.  I keep hoping it will get better but two days in, it has not.  I really enjoy being outside that much.  Until next time, I will just keep moving forward.