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We heard snow was coming to the canyon. Robert and I decided to take advantage of our last warm day by hiking to Lake Blanche which is up Big Cottonwood Canyon. It was a beautiful day. The sun filtering down through the trees turned the reds and golds brilliant. We were on our way down when Robert stopped and said “look there is a moose.” I peeked through the bushes and there was a female moose and her yearling about 20 feet off the trail calmly eating next to the stream. I mentioned to Robert that I had just read that more people are killed by moose than any other wild animal. He then said “Oh hey, there is a bull moose.” I was just moving over to take a look when all of a sudden we heard this low moaning sound. Robert said “Oh my gosh, here he comes!” and he came crashing through the bushes at a trot right towards us. We took off running down the trail. My mind was going over “do we stop and look him in the eye?” “Do we scramble up a tree?” It didn’t matter I wasn’t going to stop until I heard the moaning stop. We ran for a long ways. When we stopped my knees were shaking. I guess he didn’t want us messing with his lady!
Lake Catherine Pass
Saturday after the bike race Robert and I headed farther up the canyon to hike the Lake Catherine trail. It was a beautiful late afternoon hike. On the way down we happened upon 3 bull moose with full racks munching on the willows.
2 of 3 moose
They really have nothing in common, but as I’m sitting here ready to write about Robert’s latest piece of art I’m making camparisons to the superbowl. What a great second half. We were rooting for the Cardinals here at our house and even though they didn’t win they sure made it an exciting game. In the fourth quarter each team was up against the wall and had to make big plays which they both accomplished. The same with Robert, he’ll have all summer to paint and will only be able to come up with one or two strong paintings. But when he has a show looming ahead, he starts to crank them out . Stress is a great thing. Robert tells me he is stressed out and I tell him it makes him a better painter, so enjoy the feeling.
Robert just completed a piece which I love. We came across this old milkhouse while we were on a bike ride last summer. It was a beautiful day, and I loved the feeling of this old building. It started as a photograph, then he sketched it several times and after adjusting the placement of the drawers to make the compositon more pleasing, he began to paint. There is a lot of thought and planning before a painting ever gets started.
"Milk House Drawers" photo and sketches
A photo of the finished painting is coming in a few days.
By the way I improved my time in the mile run by 1 1/2 minutes. YEA!!!
I like January, it is usually the month that I complete projects such as organizing my drawers, cleaning, sewing, etc. This year January has flown by and I haven’t accomplished my usual tasks. I have completed one month of boot camp though. Today is the first day that I’m not sore somewhere. Tommorrow I have to run a timed mile and see if I have improved my time from a month ago. I would rather ride my bike 100 miles in a day than run, so wish me luck!
This morning the temperature read 36 degrees and the forecast was for light snow and rain. Robert and I looked out the window and saw blue sky and dry roads so of course we looked at each other and said “Bike Ride!” Our cut off temperature for riding is usually in the 30’s but when the sun is out it always feels warmer. We are also motivated to go because we haven’t quite reached our mileage goal for the year. Off we went and it felt pretty good. We got about 3 miles away from home and dark clouds moved in. I thought we’d get in at least 15 miles before the weather changed but I was wrong. It started hailing and then turned to snow. The roads were turning white and in front of me Robert’s tires were making tracks in the snow. We turned around right then. The 3 miles back home were the slowest I’ve done in a while. It’s a little nerve wracking to be riding down hill without brakes and sunglasses that are so covered with snow that I could only see out of a small corner. We got home, spent 40 minutes cleaning and drying our bikes and as soon as we were done the sun came out. Oh well, we’ll look on the bright side. It’s December and we had a terrific riding day last Tuesday.
Tip of the Day: Listen to the forecast? They might be right!
High Country Ranch is from a day of snowshoeing. We drove past this house on our way home and had to turn around because the light was just right.
High Country Ranch
18 x 24 $125.00
7 x 10 $50.00
I’ve been thinking about “Momentum” a lot lately. It all started with a bike ride. There is a certain route that we take which has some rollers. Hill, valley, hill. The downhill into the valley helps get you half way up the next hill. I love to go down as fast as I can to see how far it will take me up the other side. Well, there was road construction (does it ever end) and I had to stop at the bottom of the valley, I lost all of my momentum to make it up the other side. It became a trudge up the little hill. Not nearly as fun. We got home from our bike ride and in the mail was a magazine named “Momentum.” That night I went to a volleyball tournament of some girls ages 12-17. The Coach had told them that they probably wouldn’t make it past the first round. They won a game, which led them to win another game. You could see the confidence growing to keep winning and they did. After a week of tournament they had won the whole thing. They had “Momentum” on their side and it kept them going win after win. How do you get “Momentum” and keep it going for you. Is it confidence? Is it hard work followed by luck which keeps you going? Is it determination? Is it having a small success which leads to more success?
Tip of the day: Webster’s dictionary definition of Momentum: a property of a moving body that determines the length of time required to bring it to rest when under the action of a constant force or moment. Keep that Momentum going.
Today coulda, shoulda, woulda been a bike riding day. The weather was warming up to the high 40’s. We decided to go at 12:00 noon when the sun was out and warm. We got delayed by little stuff. Finishing a project, getting a phone call, etc. Finally at 1:15p.m. we were ready to go. Robert went out to get his bike (I’m storing mine in the house, next to the bed so I can wake up and look at it) and his front tire was flat. Dang! While he was changing the tire I went to talk to a neighbor who was taking a walk by our house. He was finally ready and we made it halfway down the block and he had ANOTHER flat tire. Well, we only had one spare and no patch kit (which are worthless anyway). Our neighbor said that maybe someone was telling us something and we shouldn’t go. We went home and changed into walking, jogging attire but now we only had 45 minutes left to exercise. What a bummer. We have so few bike riding days left.
Tip of the Day: Keep 3 spare tubes on hand at all times. This is flat tire season.
Tommorrow: The prints are done, can’t wait to see them.
