Never Enough Time

To celebrate my Mom's birthday and my own birthday, last weekend I flew out to hike Mt. McLoughlin in Oregon with her.  It's on Mom's bucket list.

In less than a week I've flown to and fro, hiked up and down, and pretended to play catch up.

There's never enough time.

Never time enough at Mom's house.

Never time enough to do all the things I want to do.

Never time enough to do all the things I need to do.

And I don't know if there will ever be time enough to do it all again.

But we made time to check this one off the bucket list!

I met up with some hikers on the summit of the mountain and told them a Grandma was about to come up and they agreed to cheer for her as she came over the rim.  They stood up and clapped and screamed for her when she came up.

We had a hard time discerning the trail at some points.  People get lost hiking here almost every summer.  But we found our way up and then followed the strict directions from other's to stay on the ridge coming down.

The official brochure from the USDA Forest Service for climbing Mt. McLoughlin said, "You'll need to be in good physical condition, though not a "technical climb" (crampons, ice axes, or ropes are not required), climbing the mountain is more than a walk in the park.  You will be gaining nearly 4,000 feet in elevation over a span of 5.5 miles, climbing all the way over mostly rocky terrain."

I might add, the first 3 miles covers 700 vertical feet.  The last 2.5 are the remaining 3,300 feet.

There's not enough time to sit and enjoy the 360º view from atop the mountain.  (Mt. Shasta in the distance.)

I love my Momma, I'm proud of her, and I'm grateful we got to share her bucket list experience of climbing the mountain.  

And after an almost week break, I can say I'm ready to do it again....next year.

I hope there will be enough time. 

The Miracle of Human Flight

Tomorrow I'll travel what normally takes me 12 + hours by car in a matter of a few hours.  I'll be at my destination by noon.

Now that I live in the 'west' I don't travel by plane very often any more.  This will be the 3rd time since I moved to Dixie in fact.

So because of that and the fact that spent the entire 9/11 weekend watching tributes on t.v., I'm a little nervous.

It didn't help that I was awake all night last night thinking about being attacked by bears.

I really don't like animals.

But anyway, I really do like the privilege of flying.  What a great miracle.

Remember this video?  A little unorthodox, but I like it too.



See you from a chair in the sky.

Wordless Wednesday

Sublime

There are some things I never get tired of on our hikes.  Even when I've been on a particular hike several times before, each time I experience it in a different way.

Yesterday we hiked Camelback, above Gunlock.  Yes, I've been there.  Yes, I've been there as the sun was rising.  Yes, I've seen my shadow over the vortex before.  Yes, I've already scaled the Dragonback.  Yes, I've climbed the "extreme" leg of the hike.  Yes, I've seen the moose impression in the arch.  But each and every time it's been a bit different.

Yesterday was a bit unreal.  Same clear blue sky.  Same surefooted sandstone. Sameness abounds.
Except for the feel of it.  There was not even a hint of breeze.  No wind.  There is almost always air movement on Camelback, even at dawn.

When I stopped moving and held still there was absolutely no sound.  It felt like I was suspended in a vacuum.  The temperature was sublime.  Not hot, not cold.  I was enveloped and floating in perfection for one brief moment.  For a speck of time, I think I felt heaven.  Honestly.  That is the closest way I know of comparing it.  All I know is that if I could create my own heaven, it would feel the way I did then.

Heaven is sublime.

Best Bars

Good thing my sister and brother-in-law introduced me to a recipe from a book that I already had!  Last April, while festifusing (my word) at my other sister's wedding...they made these bars.  They are from the Lion House Recipe Book...and they have a boring name.  Oatmeal Fudge Bars.  Boring.  Doesn't really describe how fantasical (my word again) they really are.  That probably explains why I skipped over that recipe.  

But I've made them several times since and people FREAK over them.  Freak, I tell you.

So after playing around trying to design a Best Bars tag...a play on Best Buy...I decided to just get on and post the dang recipe and stop pretending like I have all the time in the world.

Best Bars.

1 cup margarine (I use butter)

2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 salt

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup margarine (again, I use butter)

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional...I opt out)

Grease a 9 x 13 pan, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350º.  In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar, add eggs and vanilla.  In a small bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt, add to creamed mixture.

Mix in oats.  

In heavy saucepan, mix sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, 1/4 cup butter and heat until just melted.  Add vanilla and nuts and stir in. 

Spread two-thirds of dough in prepared baking pan.  Spread with chocolate mixture.  Drop remaining dough on top by spoonfuls.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Cool, then cut into bars.  

The recipe says it makes 36...that's only if you like wimpy bars.  

These bars are slightly undercooked, which makes them even more to die for.

In fact, yesterday...all I ate all day, was BEST BARS!!!

Enjoy.

Vice Grips can be Good

I think every one has moments where they feel like spontaneously yanking out their hair.  At least I hope others do too...that's it's not just me.

I have a volunteer job at the high school this year that has left me feeling like I'm groping in the dark.  No training.  No previous experience other than my observation of others in this capacity.  The woman I work with and I have been thrown to the wolves, so to speak.  This other gal, however, did not grow up known as Oscar the Grouch....as I have heretofore recounted about myself on my blog.  She's quite a bit more perky and plucky than I.

The other morning I woke up in a panic, like my heart and head were in a vice grip.  I just didn't think I could even get out of bed. I was still reeling from a lecture I'd received the night before.  I checked my phone to turn off my alarm clock and there was a text waiting for me...a sort of greeting to the day, from my comrade at school.

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

~Wendell Berry

It's true.  I've observed that the greatest singing streams are those who have been forced within the vice grips of slot canyon walls.  The pressure of water running against stone creates the most spectacular sounds.

So this vice grip to the brain is good for me.  Complications, studying, conflicts...these are all things that have baffled me this week...but my brain is employed. I'm going to have to work at this, and that's alright folks.  I will be stronger in the end.  Don't expect me to never complain about it again though!

And just for good measure...another picture from this week's adventure at "hole in the rock"...

To remind me that I have the greatest outlet for my vice grip dilemmas...

Fresh air.

Blog Interface

What's this?  What better way to try out the 'new interface' than by testing it on a post.

I've been spending quite a bit of my time outside, obviously.

With summer coming to a close, it's time to say hello to Snow Canyon....

and unless we have a massive heat wave, good-bye to Kanarraville.

The sun is hanging low in the sky, making it dark and colder in the slots.  It hasn't helped that it's been raining heavy in the mountains and the temps have dropped. Yesterday's jaunt left us with numb feet and the shivers.  All is well that ends well though.

I'm looking forward to being reunited with this hike again next spring.  I will miss it.

In the mean time, we'll be hiking closer to home and I'll be blog interfacing.

Having a Grand Time

Hiking down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and hiking back out in 5.5 hours is an entirely different experience than just visiting the North or South Rims. Each twist and turn and vista on the trail leaves you literally gasping.  Not to mention....gasping for breath as you work your way on strenuous terrain.

The day started at nearly 9,000 feet and 47 degrees with jackets on and wishing for hot cocoa.

Within the first mile the jackets were shed.

By the time we reached the bottom at Roaring Springs, it was almost 70 degrees.

With every step of the 3,500 foot descent, I kept thinking in the back of my mind..."that's another step I'm going to have to take...up."

As grueling as it was for me, I wouldn't change a thing about that perfect day and adventure.  Perfect amounts of sun, perfect temps, perfect company of friends....with my less than perfect calves.

It was a good thing I took over 100 pictures on the way down because my concentration and desire to photograph was gone to survival mode of getting back up.

When we reached the top and started back down the mountain in our car, it was 42 degrees and we encountered patches of snow...INCHES deep on the road.  Snow.  In September.

For several days now it's been raining on our palm trees here in Dixie.  But at the higher elevations, skiffs of snow are being reported.  In September.

I would be lying if I said this hike was easy or that I wasn't sore beyond sore today.  But it was oh-so-worth it.

It was Grand.

Sparking

Creative expression is one of the ways I've kept some semblance of sanity in the last 20 years.  I think the spark to create has been obsolete for me though for the last couple of years, especially the last 12 months in particular.

One of the things that has recently helped is:  www.pickyourplum.com

I joined the mailing list and periodically I find little nuggets of artistic juice in my inbox.

A couple of weeks ago the offer was 2 pairs of unassembled earrings for $1.50.  That's right.  $1.50...so 75¢ each pair of earrings.  All I had to do was put them together.  So I dusted off my jewelry tools, that somehow managed to survive the purging of moving, and assembled the earrings.  I bought two kits, each with silver and copper colored leaves and got 4 pair of earrings.  They took 5 minutes to put together.

Little sparks...little steps.

I'm going to really get sparked in October when I go here....





to the mother homeland of creativity that is northern Utah.
Where I'll be joined by a few of my spark starved friends and we'll inspire one another and get our artistic juices flowing once again.  
I'm feeling sparky.

Wish list

Thank GOODNESS for Pinterest.  I don't know how I ever knew what to wish for before this waste-of-time website came along.

Seriously.

I'll take one of each of these....

Source: crochetconcupiscence.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

One tree cozy...
I have just the dead tree for it.

Source: perpetualkid.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Better than Russian nesting dolls...Lucha Libre style....

Source: google.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Perfect for my mornings of driving Bridger to school...with this I could take a short cut across the desert AND get great gas mileage.

Source: vi.sualize.us via Cheryl on Pinterest

Of course, everyone needs a thneed...or a crocheted Star Wars set....

Source: holytaco.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

I just gotta try this one...

And to top off the old blood sugar...

Source: thesaltypineapple.blogspot.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Bring on the homemade butterfingers.

For real.

What's on your Pinterest Wish list?

Safety in Numbers

From Wikipedia:
"Safety in numbers is the hypothesis that, by being part of a large physical group or mass, an individual is proportionally less likely to be the victim of a mishap, accident, attack or other bad event.  Some related theories also argue (and can show statistically) that mass behaviour (by becoming more predictable and "known" to other people) can reduce accident risks, such as in traffic safety - in this case, the safety effect creates an actual reduction of danger, rather than just a redistribution over a larger group.

Evidence often advanced for this position includes the flocking of birds and schooling of fish.  In both of these instances, by being part of a large group, individuals face less risk of falling victim to predators than they would if traveling alone."

This photo of the mountain lion print found on yesterday's hike, clearly illustrates why I started hiking "in numbers".

It just never gets old

Zion National Park

No matter what, a day in Zion always makes me feel good.

Septemberbringiton

It's September!

And I felt it on today's hike in the Spring Creek slot canyon.  It's still in the triple digits here in Dixie but there was something different in the breeze today.  The light is more angled.  Shadows are longer, colors are deeper and smells are richer. Several people today told me they actually opened their windows last night.

I think we've crossed over. We're all awaiting the 'cold front' that should move through this weekend leaving us with temps in the 90's.

Normally this is the time of year I start feeling excited for autumn and the holidays but dreading the impending winter. It almost gives me anxiety to have to say good-bye to the long days of sunlight knowing the days of darkness are near. I keep trying to remind myself that I need not mourn for a season that doesn't really exist here in the desert.  It's a new concept I'm still trying to wrap my brain around.

September will bring:
All three chicks under one roof for 48 hours.

Hiking on old familiar trails too long abandoned for higher elevations and cooler temps.

A little bit of time to nap after I take the carpool on early seminary mornings. Hiking will start later soon.

The anniversary of the BYU/Miami Football game, which happens to coincide with my wedding anniversary.

Another year older and wiser.

Hopefully the desire to give a darn about my appearance and using make-up for days other then Sunday.  Maybe fix my hair a time or two as well.

The ability to learn at least one new, previously unknown hike.

Lofty ideas, I know.

I hope September brings sereneness and that time will slow to a crawl.

Happy September...bring it on!