A Green Spring....

Saying this post is late is perhaps an understatement, but as my knee convalescence drags on, I have no excuse to procrastinate further.

In sum, it was a spring of "green", although not so much because of the color.  In Arizona, despite what some people think, we do have lots of green year-round!  Many envision "hot, brown and nothing worth seeing".  But, we who know it better, know much better!  The myriad of colors -- the brilliant blue sky, the evergreens, the exposed earth basically offering you the cliff-notes of local geology. The intoxicating scents -- the mesquite, pine, cypress, their crispness, and my all-time favorite the creosote especially during monsoon season when it plumps up w/moisture.  The life, the history, the good livin',...!   I could go on and on and on about how much I still dig this place!

But, this past winter and spring, my life seemed to revolve around "green" -- my Grandmother who was the last woman on our side of the family to carry the married surname Green and the Verde River (spanish green), the latter which gives life to much of Arizona.   Per my previous post, our grandmother's final days were swift but she was super sharp til the end, and I'd had a few of my final phone chats w/her while I was walking along various spots on the Verde and she at her home in Florida.

I didn't realize the "green" connection at the time nor the awesomeness of how much they both gave so much vibrant life and brought everyone together.  She for the family, and the river for its life-sustaining water.

At the time, I'd merely been trying to find other things to do outdoors which gave me some wind in my face and still-injured-knee more time to heal...and of course to escape the "cold" of the higher elevations near home.

I spent many days paddling (stand-up paddleboard / SUP) along different sections of the river, though mainly in its dammed sections, some of AZ's best lakes.  The lakes are fantastic nuggets of the state and for the most part are quiet and unvisited in the winter/spring especially midweek.  Sheep, bald eagles, coyotes, wild donkeys, cattle and wild horses were regularly within sight, quenching their thirst from the wild and generally inaccessible river's flow.

And of course the bike.  Duh.  Since all my lil' hinge would really allow was some easy spinning, I'd scouted some long empty desert dirt roads where I could camp then just spin to my heart's content.

  

So remote in fact that sometimes I actually packed a little heat, something I rarely do.  Maybe I'd need it against some hungry mountain lion at dawn, or a bored ol' cattle rustler, or.....just felt like the right thing to do in certain locales.

However, of all those remote excursions, the only time I got a little sketched out, the heat wouldn't have been much use, sadly.  I was on my bike on an old fireroad seeking the old historic Sheeps Bridge.  The day was getting warm already and I was definitely having to pay attention to water supply versus mileage away from homebase (aka the truck).

I crested a hill and lo and behold there's big daddy rattler sprawled out across the road sunnin' himself.  I could relate, after all the sun felt great. But, he was blocking my way and wasn't going to budge.  I waited a few seconds and took the opportunity to snap some pics.  I was still a good 15-20 feet away and didn't feel too threatened.

Until. He. Got. Annoyed.  He rared his head back, giving me the ol' cockeye all while setting his rattler in full-throttle.  Instinct kicked in and I swear I felt sweatglands open in places I didn't know existed...my shins??  Wha??  So, now ol daddy simply refused to let me pass thru his sundeck.  Errr.  Rolled a few small rocks his direction which were not met kindly.  I then got mad.  I FULLY INTENDED TO FIND THAT SHEEP'S BRIDGE SO OL DADDY NEEDS TO CHILL OUT AND LET ME PASS THROUGH!   Eventually, after I told him that I was just a guest, he slithered up the bank and disappeared into the brush; I'm quite sure that when I pedaled past that I was at mock-speed, breath-held, traps fully stressed toward my ears and probably eyes squinted if not fully-closed (the same thing I do unintentionally sometimes on the dirtbike on rocky drops beyond my skill-level...ha!)  Point being, neither that little sidearm nor pepper-spray would've done much good w/ol daddy rattler.
(Oh by the way, he was the 5th snake I'd seen since sunrise.  Ah, another day in the life...)

And some other days and sections of the Verde...

 

( Fun friend TD & I playing along the northern sections of the Verde. )

( Right up against the river, a cool campsite for sure, assuming no one else is around. This night was totally unplanned. Fortunately my combo of stocked-rations and some leftover lunch was good enough for sunrise brekkie - sardines and strawberries. Yum??  )

 ( One of my now-favorite spots to set up camp now; ok well not now as it's 1 zillion degrees down that low, but come November, I'll be back! )

  

                                   

The Verde,

special chats with my grandmother,

the sun,

brilliant blue skies,

wide open space...

   ...Spring 2014.

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An Update, Some Pics, a PSA & Tribute to Repo...

Because I haven't been able to handle the suck-factor of saying over and over and over and over: "Thanks for asking, but no, I'm sorry I can't go ride/run/play/etc w/you today either because....knee...old....no there's nothing docs can do....patellar...osteo...broken bone-chips....blah blah blah", I've pretty much gone off the social grid for a while. Saying it over and over doesn't exactly reinforce optimism so I opted to just not be faced w/having to answer everyone's questions , although I really do know you/they all mean well).

So, yeah yeah yeah, all is fine, and at the end of the day, it's a grand old world out there and maybe sometimes better appreciated at a slow speed (boring! ha!).  I've got some awesome friends and family and I couldn't be better blessed/lucky in that department!!
Thanks for the invites and don't give up on me....I plan to join in again soon!  Life is good!  61+ years to go still!

So, same ol same ol....ol knee is really no better/worse than 1 week before/after surgery. $30K wasted and humility gained.  I've accepted laying off certain activities for a while, and I've been able to incorporate some hiking, some decent riding miles although mainly road (new roadbike!), the canals and fireroads and a few miles of singletrack here and there.  No real singletrack, definitely no descending.  And every few days, there've been some short "runs".  I definitely miss running the most...the freedom, the speed, the simplicity and definitely the runner's bod (and the nightly cookies)! :)

Shonny & Wild Horses @ Salt River

Donkey

 

Some canal riding down in the valley....still amazes me that this is so close to Urbania.

Schilling leading the way on a lil exploratory ride.

Hiking "Hangover" w/Turner dog and his mama Timoni.

GET STRONGER / FIX YO'SELF (PSA) . . . 

Also,  have been working on LOTS of work on STRENGTH/MOBILITY - the other reason for this post.  If you're my family reading this (or even some blog-cruiser), listen up....  

Over the past few years, I kept thinking, I run I ride I climb blah blah blah why in the heck would I need to touch weights and gain strength?!  I'm already strong!!  Why? ...well because I most likely could've avoided -- or at least postponed -- a lot of the permanent damage in my knees.

As triathletes/runners/cyclists, we hear this all the time, but most of us or like "whatever...won't happen to me, I'm invincible! I'm strong! I'm a bad-ass!"   And sometimes WE need it most, because we're always only moving in one direction...forward!  Our lateral mobility, our core strength, dynamic strength, etc is generally lacking sorely. And lord help us if we ever have to jump vertically! We further neglect what we don't use and any little idiosyncrasie is amplified and before ya know it, joints aren't tracking properly, muscles/tendons/soft-tissue/etc might get all mangled and simply trying to adapt to our bad form. Of course, this leads into a zillion topics and lessons, but I wanted to at least highlight a few steps to improving yourself ASAP!

If you're super-athletic or happy in retirement and fishing from a boat....take care of yourself, keep up your strength, your mobility,...!  At least do some basics. Use weights....they need not be supremely heavy, but use some.  And really, it's all about your FORM and ENGAGING PROPERLY.

Over the past 10 yrs, I actually thought I was doing the best things...kept 'working out' and even regularly did lots of strength yoga; but looking back, there were a lot of subtle form faults I had...more like "workarounds" that I invented.  From the outside, it looked fine, but I wasn't "engaging" what really needed to be engaged.  Form, form, form!!   Start w/your body weight for the first few weeks if that's all you can do. Then work on weights, more dynamics later.  Make iT fun, just do it.  Women in my family....this is mainly for you!!!  Either way, I feel obligated to put this out there.  I wish I'd been pressured/bullied into more of this sooner.  Yes, there's so much we should be doing, but at least start here....the absolute basics! All ya might need is a band ($5), and you can improvise w/everything else til ya get it dialed in.  You'll notice a difference after the first session or two!  Do it!    (Got questions? hit me up! I'll bombard you w/references/ videos/whatever...I want everyone healthy!  And family: next time we're all at the river-house, there shall be group sessions on the dock! :-)

LIVIN' . . . 

Ok, so after that PSA, here are some obligatory photos of the warmest/driest winter I've experienced in AZ.  For immediate selfish reasons, it's been awesome.  For the potential problems in the future (drought, summer fires, forest closures, wildlife dismay, etc.), it's really not been ideal.  Hopefully, we'll get some precip soon.

Up Mingus on the roadbike.

Went out for my first "big" day on the MTB and was just gonna stick mainly to old jeep/mining roads and play it by ear.  Had my first ever sidewall slice (actually my first flat in 4+ years) so of course I was ill-prepared and got to walk 4 miles to the "main" dirt road (was walking on it for an hour before the first truck rolled by...dusted me out), then I hitched a ride w/a local landscaper and his wife for another 20 mins on dirt then about 20 mins back into town on hardball.  I sat happily in the back w/a bunch of rakes, hoes, shovels, chainsaw, weedeater and ol caballo.  Somehow, I was still absolutely stoked about finally getting a healthy dose of sunshine and challenge, both which I've been lacking lately.

Just a mere moment before the torn sidewall. Pedaling out of that wash below, I heard pshhhhhhhh, for all of about 10 secs. When I took this pic, I thought, wow, what a gorgeous day, then...pshhhhhhh. Ha!

At least I had a good view when walking the carbon caballo.

Last time that we (me & the mtb) had to hitch a ride, I met/found one of the coolest guys all the planet.  (Not really the case on this day though, or at least I don't think so....they didn't speak much english nor I much espanol. I think they thought I was nuts.  Yeah, prolly.)

1st venture on singletrack in over a month. Some hard-earned views way up there (ie. HAB)

Back toward Mingus.

And I'd be remiss if I didn't post one more pic of Repo who lived his last day last week and was laid to rest today.  Always making us laugh, contributing to the world and living his life fully...
Respect.

Out.

Rambling...

 Looking up toward (and longing for) Four Peaks.

for those with whom i've been slack on comms recently....sorry.  no valid excuses.  just some insight....

w/this injured hinge, i'm living inside a body in which i'm not familiar, not at home.  it doesn't do what the rest of it wants to do.  it wants to sprint up a mountain, pedal over a crest, a million other things that it doesn't even yet know it wants til it gets its urge.  

but now it's just a shell that the girl inside is trying so hard not to be mad at, trying to stay loyal and thankful because that same shell -- and broken hinge -- is pretty much solely responsible for the best days of her life, biggest/hardest lessons learned in life, and surely for some of the biggest grins ever.  

the heart and soul and legs and lungs and wild eyes want to run as hard as i can, but the hinge won't have it. that little millimeter of "ouch" is a meteor-size NO!   so while i have all this time on my hands, it'd seem easy, practical actually, to just take advantage of doing other things, and perhaps to get to know someone/something new.  but it's not that easy.  i dont want someone learning this version of me.  i dont even like this version of me.  it's foreign.  it's so far out of my element and comfort zone.  it's a lot to handle up in the ol 'nogin.

spoiled i must sound, and spoiled i surely am.  my life has been about movement about freedom about doing what the body wants....and now the emergency brake is on and i dont want it to be.  time is ticking and i've got to relearn a rhythm...hopefully a temporary one in hopes that this is fixable, that I myself will be fixable.

i rely on no one but myself for contentment, for fun, for grins, for satisfaction....and right now i've let myself down.  but i can't be mad at that little worn-out hinge.  i've surely abused it, and i'm sure it's already given me, in my short lifetime, far more than most would ever dream of.  so woe is me and my spoiled rotten little pity party, haha.  i'll survive.  it's not cancer, i realize. life is not over.  but it is a big deal for me and showing myself in this light is ill-advised.  while yes, it's the real me, it's not the best me, and it's really not even a passing grade.  i'm too distracted w/HEAL HEAL HEAL...

in the interim, there's a big ol purty world outside and i need to admire it...and figure out how to either get me running on its ridgelines and/or just exploring it while letting the lil hinge heal up.

And finally, the sun setting upon Four Peaks....a special few moments of pure chance that I was able to see the sunkiss upon the peaks in the one saddle where the peaks peaked through.  A sweet ending to a sweet day....

One-Armed Sand Peddlin...

Going.
Coming.
Going again.
A thousand things on my to-do list.
A zillion things on my mind.
It's all good.
It is what it is.
Like single-handed peddlin' through a deep sandy wash.
Gotta keep the balance.
Gotta stay up right.
Keep it all together.
Keep the momentum.
Takes ya to the other side of the wash, up over the ridgeline to another fantabulous new spot...
...on the trail
...on life.

Keep it moving...and enjoy the ride!

Rest in peace, Benghazi team.


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An Inevitable Implosion...?

It was inevitable I suppose.

The news out of the Middle East is wild, and I have to say, a little exciting.  From the youth twittering like mad, to Libyan pilots defecting with the multi-billion dollar fighter jets, to even Qadafi, with his "high-fashion" (tacky) ensemble declaring his dedication to martyrdom if need be, it's compelling to keep up w/it all  -- even though I, you, we, they,... will never fully grasp it.   Am trying not to be too swayed by the media images, as I personally know how they can be misconstrued.

With such the huge and disproportionate youth population in the Middle East who has now grown-up, matured and tried to become educated, along with the underlying electricity of the movement, being fed-up w/socioeconomic challenges, and a load of issues that non-residents will ever understand, the time has come.  It was inevitable.  Can only imagine how this might trigger a (another?) spark in Iraq.  Whatever does happen there, yep, it is inevitable.

It's difficult impossible for anyone to describe it all accurately, even for those living there and personally experiencing these protests, and what many would consider a revolution(s).  It's a wave -- based of fundamental desires of the people, likely with the dynamics of a mass movement.

And it's inevitable that the US will also evolve/change/degrade/pick-the-verb at some point.  Personally, I don't see it happening in the near future.  While we have some of the brightest and most motivated citizens, en masse, we are mainly a big lot of relatively content citizens (and perhaps sorta too lazy/complacent/spoiled) for any such uprising for change these days.  Yes, things are rough in the US for many.  And some elements of our government, such as health care, the frustrating tax system maze and education system, are embarrassingly inept.  However, overall, it seems the general population is content with the luxury and freedom to eat crap from fast food restaurants and sit around watching overpaid athletes play professional sports.  I won't even get into our youth's general lack of duty-to-country urges. 

I still think that everyone, yep EVERYONE, should have to serve our country (maybe state)  for at least one year.  It doesn't have to be for the military.  It COULD for be the postal service, the forest service, etc..   Defend your country, clean up litter in your country, etc...DO SOMETHING to...
   (a) contribute to your country and your fellow citizens;
   (b) appreciate the complexities, the luxuries and the career employees; and
   (c) learn the processes. 
From there, one can later be more versed on their gripes and complaints.  But most importantly, it would provide a stronger bonding and a sharper degree of nationalism to Americans.  We'll never all agree on everything.  Why would we want to? 

So, while it's compelling to watch the waves of movement, our limited peeks into the protests rising from under the veils of these long-time regimes, and unfortunately some of the violence that's involved, I can't help but to overlay some of it on our country.  What would we do differently?  How bad would it have to be for Americans to ever uprise like this?  What will happen next?  Whatever it is, we can't forecast it nor think we understand it. 

Whatever it is, it is.  It is inevitable.  Insha Allah!