Winter in Spring

The first of many snowmen

A winter wonderland has graced the northern half of our state since Monday. While Spring fooled me into thinking it had come, it did not the trees. Not a single bud has sprouted on any tree I can see. A few bushes and flowers on the other hand, were not so clever. My guess is they didn't make it.

It's funny that we waited for Spring to have our Winter adventure. Week before last Jess and Austin offered us free lift passes to Winter Park. We were going to a concert on Saturday, and I had to work besides. It didn't look like it would happen. Jess had never been before, so she wanted a newbie partner and Austin didn't want to babysit all day.

With work looming on Monday and but a few hours of sleep we made the two hour trek on Sunday. The roads were completely snowed over and near dead tires combined with mountain switchbacks made it more like a three and a half hour dive. With the stop for rentals we weren't on the slopes until after one. Food was the one thing missing from the day. No matter. Who needs energy to snowboard!

Both Austin and I brought our own boards and headed up the first lift we saw. Without a doubt it was the best powder I've ever been on. Fresh snow fell as we climbed in gondalas. Snow slid over our boards like moving through flour. It was simply amazing.

Sadly the lifts shut down around 4. The other three were all tuckered out, and Tanya and Jess were already at the bar before the last runs. I would have kept on past 6. Once I did stop I was dead wiped. Nice cold beer and bean nachos solved that though. The drive back was much better. We slept well that night. Little did I know boarding was just the start to an adventure I now call Snow Week.

The railing on our back porch

Four inches accumulated before ten. I prayed to be off work. My body ached. Weather.com was being retarded, which is a common occurence for its hourly forcasts. It was clear to super radar reading weather woman Tanya it would snow all night. She was going to be riding the moped if I had to go in. She prayed for my work to be canceled too.

Snow castle with tunnels and snow people

Tuesday morning there was at least 8 inches. Tuesday night it was 12. Day melt, night accumulation. Day accumulation, night freeze. It just kept coming. I dragged Tanya into it the first two days despite herself. We made snow angles and 'sledded' down the quarry hills in our backyard.

Sledding is a loose term here, because the tarp I grabbed was more like a plow and I was the mule. With the snow pushed over I could get up some speed putting her in the tarp and then running down the hill holding it. It was fun for one of us. When we had a good path she got the bright idea to try my snowboard. Brilliant!




It actually worked, is the crazy thing. I was snowboarding in my backyard! She made it down a few times. I started to make more runs. Having to haul it back up the hill adds a new element to the whole skiing endeavor. Before long we were both back inside.

Slopes down the gravel quarry in my backyard

I've been on the backyard slopes every day since. It stopped snowing three days ago, and I'm still looking at broad snow coverage, but it's melting away. Two days ago, for whatever combination of refreezing and compaction made the perfect backyard snowboarding conditions, and I took full advantage. I planned on going all night too, but it turned to ice, and I only slightly hurt myself before deciding it probably wasn't the best idea anymore.

A video of day three - perfect backyard conditions

Day 3 no snow: snow tunnel survives!

We made snowmen. I threw snowballs. Being off work all week put a hurt on my wallet, but a nice winter vacation in mid April was just what the doctor ordered. While not making snow castles I finished my second cat tree. Sadly it looks like it came from the dirty industrial sector... Generation
2.5 on the way!

For now there is a festival in the city, so we celebrate :)
Here's to it.
Seth






I leave you with a picture of what our lives were like for four days. Colorado!

(scroll over to see the whole photo)

Cattastic

To Tree or not to Tree

Work has kept me busy as a bee these past few weeks. Making sandwiches, slicing meat and cheese and taking orders. The life of a professional. Yup. Making cat trees.

The story begins long ago in a far away land called Gainesville. Strange plants with broad spiky leaves dominated the vegetation that remained green all year round. Trees had no bark nor any leave on their entire trunk. In the strange land with sandy soil a cat we shall call Simon paid homage to a tree of a different kind...

The Original

With scraps of wood found by the wayside I hammered together a place he could call his own. He lived in that tree, scratching the rope, climbing the carpet and going wild for his catnip. In Colorado it stands the test of time, but competition is on the horizon. It's much smaller and much nicer brother just entered the picture, and Simon has given his seal of approval.

Up and comer

Kitty Approval

The battle begins in earnest today. New or old? Nice or big? Only the cat can decide... May the best tree win!

The Construction Process

All screwed together

Almost there

As quickly as the Wind Blows

Life has been undergoing a particularly rapid period of flux for the past days. I've recently become a sandwich artist at a local deli / butcher / restaurant / bar. Choice City Butcher is a top notch establishment connected in all the right local circles for quality community action. And it pays. And I'm not knocking on random people's doors during dinner. Score!

Depending, I also might be a construction materials tester (career type job), a security guard, a dishwasher, a server and I just got my first acceptance letter into grad school, so maybe a scientist. Universe just put me where you want me. Lord knows the 30 or so applications I put in around town have given you enough options.

In the meantime I am counting on you video games. Keep me entertained during this winter bound lethargy and hibernation for I am unmotivated to brave the weather or do anything useful with my day. I can see the sun shining through my window thank you very much, and that is more than enough for me.

Sufficient opportunities are working through the matrix of possibility that I am content to spend the rest of today clicking away. Kill the monsters. Slay the dragons. Level so many levels!

Well over 120 hours on my PSP since Christmas - Thanks Mom :)

:)

Hills and Valleys

After day two, I had to quit my first job in Colorado. That's the quickest I've ever quit a job before. It wasn't that I couldn't perform the duties of the trade, but that it made me feel weird to do so. Knocking on  strangers doors at night. Asking them for money. The issue wasn't one I even had an opinion on, other than that given me. Fundraising was unexpectedly dreadful.  It still makes me wriggle inside just thinking about it. Strange that, I never would have thought.

As a youth I was once driven by an ambition for grassroots organizing, of having a true voice in democracy. I would have relished and indeed sought out voraciously the chance to get out and do it. My first day I raised over $90 in an hour. I felt okay. 

During the morning of the second I practiced while my stomach incessantly turned flips. I was nervous, and what an odd sensation that was. I considered myself accomplished in the ways outreach and activism, yet the thought of a second night on the battlegrounds for changing state law was abhorent. It was cold, filled with rejection and doubt, not to mention maybe even a bad idea in the first place. There had to be a better way. Nevermind the trade had supported numerous a worthy cause in the past, for me, it was like worms.

My trainer Darcy and I switched off for the first two hours of night two. I raised a few dollars. People wrote a few letters. The two hours alone, from 7 to 9 pm,  netted a swath of doubt and curiosity. I felt like I was watching my body walk the neighborhood, repeat the pitch and walk away with little, instead of actually doing it. Needless to say, it didn't work well.

The 3rd morning brought no end to the wriggling - a sensation I don't relish to encourage. Henceforth I am hereby removed from CforSe, from canvasing and the frigid air of rejection. No passion within means the flame burns thin, when genuine requests wither and no support is given. 

On the other hand, a training manuel for the skills of canvassing is a bright note. Two nights time and a clear path to avoid isn't too high a price. Perhaps some future goal will ask for the words and regiments contained therein. It appears clear to me grassroots activism says steer and veer from fundraising. Door to door. On the street.

Alas as quickly as it came, my new-found job disappears. 

Life is looking up

Housing upgrade
and income to boot!

All in due time is a piece of wisdom that has played itself out over and over in my life. Ask and ye shall receive is another one, if you are asking for the right things anyway. I have asked for a million dollars quite regularly, but it is yet to fall into my lap. Alas, knowing the right question seems as important as letting the universe bring unto you that which you need.

All that is a round a bout way to say, I got a job! I began looking at the beginning of the month, and after a few applications, a CSU career fair, and a Craigslist post for German Tutoring, I am now a canvasser for Communities for Sustainable Energy.  (CforSE)

I go door to door asking people to support us and give us money. We're trying to help fracking in the oil and gas industry be safer and less harmful to public health. Today will be my second day, and to my own great surprise, I'm nervous about it.

I can't remember the last time I was nervous about something, but knocking on peoples doors is more nerve wracking than I expected it to be, not to mention I'm still working on knowing what to say when. In any case, I did pretty good on my first day, raising $90 in an hour, but I'm attributing most of that to luck. We shall see what the day and week brings. I'm on probation for the first week, continued employment hinging on performance. Give us money!

The second great improvement to current standards is a housing upgrade of the nth degree. We moved into the other side of our country duplex, which includes nice shag carpet, real wood walls, a fireplace, a much bigger room and kitchen, upstairs and general awesomeness. Our previous living room was a concrete floor... not the most inviting.  So now, if you want to come visit, you will actually be comfortable! YAY.

For now the slow drain on savings halts, our home is inviting and comfortable, and it's damn cold outside. Go life :).

Road Trip - NOLA final day

DISCLAIMER:

Please be advised Blogger does not support retro-posting. During trans-temporal dimensional shifts in the time-space continuum Blogger got confused. The actual date is posted below
~Zen Dragon

October 26, 2012

The early bird gets the worm has always seemed a silly saying to me. Perhaps I don't understand the intricacies surrounding this particular wisdom, as its my guess a plethora of worms are available throughout the day for being eaten. In any case, I planned to get my worm on this third and final day in New Orleans, and sadly getting up early just just part of the deal.

Exploration full traveler style was on the bill, and I had a city wide bike tour planned. We would skirt the horribly pocked and disastrous roads of down town New Orleans in search of fairer ground. Our destination was Autobahn Park some five miles away from the B&B. I put my faith into trusty Google and was unsurprisingly not disappointed.

A hodgepodge of bikable streets appeared on the electronic map. With a bit of twisting and turning we could take green roads to Magazine street and that through the Garden District. What an excellent tour it turned out to be. Our grand adventure had gotten off to a rocky start, but with our last day in New Orleans I had high hopes for the very welcome and perceptible upwards shift to continue.

Riding our bikes away from the French Quarter was a godsend. A bike lane appeared amidst the towering skyscrapers of downtown. Paved streets extended west beyond the interstate overpasses and highways. We were riding with the sun shining overhead, a warm wind across our faces.

Swaths of local non tourist shops greeted us on both sides of the Magazine. Several times we stopped to backtrack and check one out, seeking the perfect lunch spot. Closing in on our destination without deciding was not a pleasing direction for my stomach. Tanya whipped out her iPhone, and we quickly retraced our steps to one we'd both noticed upon passing.

Guy's Po Boys was a dirty looking little diner with a sizable lunch crowd. No fancy signs proclaimed them. Cheap seats and tables made up the small dual ordering and eating space. It reminded me of a barber shop. It was perfect. My alligator Po Boy was to my first attempt at local cuisine like Doritos are to stale pretzels  Tanya's catfish seafood medley was probably the second best thing I'd tried yet, next to my rabbit jambalaya of course.

 With happy bellies we languidly made our way to the park intending a nice walkabout to settle us. A divided bike and walking trail greeted us. It circumvented the entire green space and was probably more than a mile long, so we took a nice languid bikeabout instead. In the park's center a large lake was broken up by several small islands.  Hundreds of geese and mallards with a few swans interspersed made their homes among them. We actually saw a few of them fighting. They were jumping and honking. It was quite amusing


The lake was ringed by some of the largest ancient oaks I've ever seen, spreading their limbs over path and waters alike. It was quite a busy place, with others enjoying the day as we did - quite the change from dirty old New Orleans. The unexpected treasure of sunshine and nature brightened my spirits as much as being somewhere and seeing something new.

I had my camera with me, and it was compelled to snap all of the vistas. A beautiful church tower with a shining steeple marked off the north end. The NOLA zoo bordered the west.

It was my intention to check out the animals, but we arrived too late. 'Going to the bathroom' we snuck inside and got a peak at some flamingos and statues of elephants. It's too bad, for the zoo looked quite promising.

We returned to lounge in the park and enjoy the grass beneath us before routing ourselves home. St. Charles street on the north end of the park was by far the best biking of the day. The streets I'd been delighted to ride upon earlier were grand only in comparrison to the wretched gravel and pot holes of the French Quarter. Here we had a smooth and dedicated bike lane. It was wonderful.



It was also the coolest street we'd biked on. Mansions bordered the north end, each decked out in its own Halloween style. Ghosts perched on the roofs. A giant spider crawled up the side of one. A wizard the size of a bus cast spells atop another. The best though was the yard full of cleverly absurd skeletons.







Each was some silly play on words. A 'Lay Z Bones' lounged in the grass. 'Murder Miss Tree' hung out with a book in a tree while 'Saturday Night Femur' struck a pose in full disco attire. NOLA certainly has its own flair, and Halloween is a good time to be there.



I decided to visit a cemetery was in order before our final return. It was sadly closed. Peeking through the wrought iron gates we saw spooky mausoleums covering the earth instead of tombstones. Something about sea level and unpleasant nature of bodies to uncover themselves... kind of like zombies I believe, rotting stench and all.

We soon found ourselves back downtown, and Cafe DuMond required our presence. Those little whatchamacallits with powdered sugar were amazing. I managed to contain it to my face a beard, a feat many of the other patrons found impossible. The coffee - meh.

Pleasantly satisfied we headed home to prepare for our final night. Tanya was going in heels, which I knew meant I would later become a piggy back service as drinking turned into drunk and her desire to be a real girl was overcome by that for her own comfort.

We didn't find too much to get into though. Bourbon St. happened for about 15 minutes. Dinner was good, if not great. Midnight soon found us on our way back to the B&B when we decided to stop into a 24/7 local bar for one last drink.

 Tanya was playing with the music box when some horrid country song came on. "I did not do that!" she proclaimed... but she had. I shoved a couple of bucks towards her so she could right her error in judgement. She redeemed herself.

We slept wonderfully that night. The bed was perfect. Breakfast cost way too much, but was equally satisfying. I purchased a new fedora hat, which I enjoy immensely. We also found our NOLA bumper sticker. That’s our souvineer from each destination. It now is in its final resting place aside my trailer, proclaiming for all to see, we are travelers.

The road would take us to the woods for a few days next. We needed to get the mess of our lives so hastily crammed into my trailer in order. A day of rest. A day of repacking. Sanity please follow from those woods and ride the rest of this journey with us. Lord knows you have been absent in large degree so far. Until then, may the road lead us.

Road Trip - Day 2

Disclaimer:

Please be advised Blogger does not support retro-posting. During trans-temporal dimensional shifts in the time-space continuum Blogger got confused. The actual date is posted below
~Zen Dragon

October 25, 2012

Rest and Recoup

The day didn't start bright and early as you might have imagined. After the turmoil of the days before, rest was much needed and in short supply. We woke up, chilled, and didn't get moving until about noon.

Day 2 proved to be more sane, if not a completely wonderful and exuberant day. Lingering concern for the enjoyable success of our road trip brought me to a coffee shop early. When asked, the cashier recommended we 'explore the city.' Wow. Thanks bud. Sitting by a sunny window I opened up my laptop and typed away some pent up anxiety. I Hoped for a day of adventure, and I planned to make it so.

The fact of the matter was we were both exhausted, even though my travelling spirit didn't want to admit it. Had I been more psychically attuned, I could have seen our sluggish start was a portent for prolonged piddling- that is to say, we didn't do much. Alas travelling spirit, you will have to reign in those horses for today.

Patina anyone?  Room includes: chipped paint, brick
foundation, warped ceiling beams and exposed wires.

In daylight we lazily experienced but a single new sight. By night some tension had faded. Recouping in New Orleans is a far cry better than doing so in Gainesville, if still frustrating. Already a day into our road trip and we were still sorting through our lives.

Courtyard

It was back to the B&B, and then into the sun. It was quite a quaint little joint. A locked courtyard protected us from wandering vagabonds. Free muffins, fruit and stuff were severed in a very green very homey breakfast area.  Quite nice.

Breakfast Area

The French Quarter offered a variety of lunch options. Shrimp Po' Boy was on the top of my list. Plain and unexciting is what I got.  I cannot recommend the large open plaza where wrought iron chairs and tables surround a stage frequented by New Orleans blues bands. While quite entertaining in of themselves the food was about as authentic as a tourist shop. Luckily Tanya and I are in the habit of sharing. It's like getting two meals for the price of one, really. Her muffolata was quite yummy, and I was happy for the bits we traded.

Being able to drink openly on the streets seemed is as good an excuse as any to start in the middle of the day. I'm not sure how it turned into a contest, but we soon both had margaritas and were arguing over who got the better one. I obviously won because mine had more alcohol. She decided she won because hers tasted better. I had to concede it did, and it was decided we both won.

Louis Armstrong Park

We shopped and we people watched, although I cannot say I bought anything, largely due to not actually wanting anything I saw. We passed some real characters and struck up a conversation with a few. Before we knew it 5 o'clock rolled around. It was beautiful, sunny and 70. We decided to have a nice bike ride. Ha!




Have you ever tried to ride a bike in New Orleans? Let me save you the trouble. Don't. At least not around the French Quarter. It was the worst street biking of my life. 15 minutes, innumerable potholes and three blocks later we were turning around. Instead of 'exploring.' Not willing to take a complete loss, I found park very close, and we tried again.


We did not escape broken sidewalks nor cracked streets, but luckily it didn't take long. It was worth the ride. Louis Armstrong Park was a myriad of roses, rolling hills and fountains. Large bridges spanned its many lakes and ponds, and a couple was getting professional photographs taken atop one. It felt good to be somewhere new, seeing something I hadn't before. It felt like the trip had really started.

We rode 'home' with the setting sun at our backs. Safely inside the B&B's courtyard and older man asked me for a wine opener. I bustled into my room, found my pocket knife and had the bottle open in a jiffy. I was rewarded with a nice full cup, which I shared with Tanya. A few beers later we were ready for dinner.

Coop's was highly recommended by the B&B receptionist, and we were not disappointed. The food was amazing! There was also a line to get in, which we somehow skipped by being cool. Two couples preceded us, yet were were seated with two professional gentlemen before either of them. "I told you I wouldn't let you down," the waitress said to them, indicating us.

"She promised to seat us with cool people," one of them said. Road trip for the win.

Conversation struck up readily, and it was quite nice to share our dinner with these strangers. While taking our drink orders I asked about specials and the waitress gave me a mouthful of fire with NOLA sass. Eyes wide I was back peddling and apologizing before I even knew what happened. Apparently specials are not part of their deal. We were soon all laughing about it though, and beer was on the way.

My jambalaya came complete with rabbit, shrimp and sausage. It was to die for. Tanya got a seafood medley creamy pasta variety pack. Also delicious. The professionals were on vacations and had a week to spend drinking, eating and merry making. They were quite impressed with our venture and enthusiastic about our plans as well. It feels good to have other people sincerely validate what you're doing.

Happy bellies make for happy people. With some bounce in our step we headed to arguably the best spot in NOLA for some low down rough and ready blues - Frenchman, the street of vagabonds, urine and music. Bars lined both sides for blocks, open doors and the sound that came from them was all the advertisement they needed.

A drink here, a drink there, we hopped from band to band. The true blue of the city, the attraction of New Orleans felt far and wide can be found on these dirty streets and dingy dark alley ways. Apparent low lives lined the cracked sidewalks, circled around barrel fires or sitting on the ground. The rough smell of alcohol was perfume for them and their city alike. Through the loud carousing of drunkards we waded and eventually ran back into our friendly professionals at the Spotted Calf.

They had filled in some of their friends on our plans, and a new wave of congratulations went around. In our newly contented state easy smiles went around with the renewed support of strangers. The band was top notch, and a crowd of two-steppers had the floor. I pulled Tanya in for a move or two before it was back to the B&B for the night.

She steered us the right way. I kept a wary eye out past the super shady park and otherwise dangerous streets. I believe I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow. Things were looking up.