I don’t feel like I’ve had a day off unless I get out in the sun and do something. Sometimes I almost work harder on my days off - skiing, hiking, biking, gardening - than I do on workdays, when I spend most of the day sitting at a keyboard. Playing outside relaxes...
Colorado
SNOW BUMS & ELITISTS – Is Skiing Still Worth It?
I had my skis tuned over the weekend, and when I picked them up on Sunday, the young woman who took my money stared at my skis with disdain and said, “Wow, those skis are old. How long have you had them?” “About seven years.” “Wow,” she repeated, and not in a tone...
PLAYING WITH FIRE – A Woman Lights her Alter Ego in Flames
When I ask my friend Amy Callahan why she became a fire dancer, her amused look seems to say, “Duh, Cara it’s fi-re!” Aloud she says, “I saw some people doing it in a nightclub and I thought it was way cool. At the time, I was into fitness competitions and...
DANCING BACK IN TIME: A Lindy Diversion Weekend
For non-professional dancers, dancing is typically an occasional social activity, but for me it is the axis on which my whole social life turns. When I’m simply listening to music, I prefer alternative and acoustic rock, but when I dance, it’s all about swing and...
MY HEART THE SUN: A Book Excerpt – by Guest Trekker Cat Kurtz
I’m excited to introduce you to a writer and adventurer who has witnessed a unique battle for women’s rights in Thailand, specifically, the rights of Buddhist nuns. Cat Kurtz is the author of My Heart the Sun, a non-fiction account of Buddhist Theravada nuns’ fight...
PICKING MY OWN FOOD: Raspberry Picking at Berry Patch Farms
The raspberry lets go of the vine with a soft tug. And another, and another. As I move down rows of bowing green bushes dangling plump rubies, the sun drills my neck with the last blast of summer. I’m reconnecting with my food, going a step farther than the farmers...
HIKING MAYHEM GULCH: Centennial Cone Park, near Golden, Colorado
I've had such a busy summer, I've grown adept at finding hikes that get me out of Denver without taking all day. It was the name of this little trail in Centennial Cone Park that grabbed me: Mayhem Gulch. The name is misleading; the trail is reasonably tame, despite...
Hikers Know: Everything Passes
I can't imagine living in Colorado and not hiking. The Rocky Mountains rise from the plains like a command: "Pay attention!" Sometimes the imperative of living get's lost in the minutiae of life’s demands. That’s when my inner voice shouts, "Forget deadlines! I need...