Is it spring? Or does it just feel that way?

Beautiful scene from a webcam in Stanley, ID yesterday morning.

Hard to believe that it's around 3:30 in the afternoon on February 25 and I'm sitting in my room with the window wide open (all afternoon) dressed in my usual sweats, heat off, and I'm too warm! Memory says we always have some days like this in February, but this one seems particularly welcome. Nearby Wunderground station says it's 59.5 out there at the moment, but it seems far warmer. Sunny, no wind. Perfect day to be outside. I, of course, have not taken full advantage of that (somehow I never do these days!) but I have been out there a few times, walking around 'the block' and doing some chores. Loverly. Around the neighborhood on my walks I see lots of purple crocus and daffodils. Every now and then I get a whiff of some spectacularly perfumed plant but so far have been unable to find a flowering bush in any of the locations.

I don't know what's going on, but lately I seem to have more energy during the day than I know how to handle. Not complaining, as it's quite a welcome relief from the old lethargic status quo, but of course my mind wants to know why this is happening. Could be a lot of things: healthy food, enough exercise, fun things (my fermentation items) to fill my time, and yes -- even the loss of 20 pounds over the last year might also have something to do with it. I'd think that would be more psychological than physical, however, since this is something new and the weight loss has been slow and over a long period of time. Whatever it is, it's keeping me up and active most of the time.

All those scale fluctuations I talked about finally settled down into a nice lower number this week, including on weights and measures day yesterday, and was still lower today, rather than going back up. Hopefully, the downward trend will continue.

I took my last real carb, corn tortillas, out of the diet starting Sunday or Monday and that's when the scale started being my friend. I know I can't eat any kind of grains -- whether flour or, apparently, corn -- on a consistent basis without gaining weight, but since it was going down all year I thought the corn was maybe ok. Not! And that's ok. I can have them on occasion, but as with beer and wine and sugars and lots of other goodies, I'm happy to exclude them as long as I'm at such a low calorie intake, and settle on more nutritious foods. Not counting the occasional comfort food, such as the fish & chips last Saturday and the Newman's Own healthy pizza today, that is. Those help psychologically, and don't seem to hurt the waistline as long as I balance the calories the rest of the day.

Started an easy yoga class last Friday, will go again tomorrow. So beautifully relaxing! Not overly challenging, but still good for me. Meets at noon, which I don't like, but the alternative is evening and I really don't like that, so noon it is.  By Friday, my exercise energy has been fairly low so this is very welcome, while still giving me an hour of healthy exercise. Then, I crash all weekend!

Made some chicken stock for the freezer today. Every time I get a rotisserie chicken I save the carcass and all the bones/skin/whatever in the freezer for this purpose. It was starting to take up far too much room in there, so today seemed a good day to boil 'em down. Great for beans and soups.

Don't remember if I mentioned it, but a few weeks ago I got a bug in my bonnet to make some sriracha-style hot sauce. I expect that happened when I found out that the real sriracha is actually produced through fermentation. So -- bought the right kind of peppers, added a bunch of garlic and put it to ferment. That was almost two weeks ago. I moved it around from cooler to warmer spaces to see if I could see signs of fermentation, but no bubbles. My fermentation experts assure me that 'stuff is happening' whether or not there are bubbles. My point is that the stuff is in my room at the moment and it smells so good I can hardly stand it! Want to taste it so bad, but it has another 3 weeks left to ferment before it's ready. Aarrrrgggghhh!!

So that's my less-than-exciting life. It's working OK for me at the moment.

A nice day trip to the coast

A webcam on the coast showed bright, clear sunshine this morning, so we opted to drive over. Unfortunately for the sun aspect, we went south and the sun stayed further north. But, that's ok. We traveled along the Umpqua River Road, which is so scenic, and of course the coast is always beautiful, rain, clouds or sunshine.

I'd run a quick check on fish and chip places in Winchester Bay, where we were headed, and found this sweet little place on TripAdvisor that's actually a floating houseboat, with 4 tables inside. More outside and even a couple of auxiliary buildings with tables, although none of those were in use today since it's not exactly high season for tourism. I loved the atmosphere, the food was super. We both had plates for 'people with smaller appetites' (I was trying to somewhat stay with my calorie count), but by the time we got home, we were both wishing we had ordered the bigger plate. I had fish (local cod) and my friend had oysters (local, from Umpqua Triangle Oysters).

Then, we went on an exploration drive and ended up at a beach. It was chilly and windy, not too conducive for long beach time, but I walked out there long enough to see the beach and take a few pics. Later, I realized I'd been there before. Part of this post on my other blog.

I wasn't in the mood to pick my way through this rather typical logjam to go beyond this, but I was happy just to be this close. I really miss living on the coast!

Keep an eye on that jetty -- it'll show up in the other post from  years ago and another photo here, later. Last time, I walked out it quite a way until the rocks became so rough I didn't dare try to walk them.

Then, we drove up to the Umpqua Lighthouse and stopped to take in the view far below. It was up here that I recognized the beach from the previous trip.

Not a bad view! In the distance, in the center, there are two jetties jutting out at angles to form a triangle. Inside that triangle are oyster beds -- ergo, Umpqua Triangle Oysters! It would be cool to buy some of these fresh one of these days, bring 'em home and cook 'em.






Nice day, despite the lack of expected sunshine.

Scale wars

This old weight-loss battle continues, and I must say it's been more of a battle lately than in the past. Why? Good question. I'm having troubles staying within the new lower calorie total I'm allowed (determined by my current weight), although I'm always very close to it. But beyond that, I think it's just that the remaining fat has been there for a very long time and the body is reluctant to let it go. I've always heard the maxim about weight: last on, first off.
And that, of course, also translates to first on, last off. The longer the fat has been there, the harder it is to get rid of.

My scale has been flashing lower numbers all week, before deciding on one that's more familiar. Sometimes, however, like this morning, a nice lower number stays there. Of course, it's been going right back up the next day, so there hasn't been a lot of real downward movement. Some, thank goodness, but not as much as I'd like for 6-7 weeks of effort. I guess the good news is that I've seen this happen before during the last year, and eventually the lower number will become the norm, paving the way for still lower numbers.

Right now, with today's number, I'm getting into territory I haven't seen consistently for many years. I go back to 2004 with these numbers, although I got really serious about working out at a private health club in Corvallis that year, followed by more once I moved to Eugene, so I was more in the desirable weight category for close to 4 years. But by late 2008 it started up again and when I moved to Brookings in April of 2009 it got completely out of control, even though I was walking and hiking a lot on a daily basis. So -- all this to say that progress is happening. I hope that once I break into that old fat successfully it'll start to go away more quickly.

I am sure ready to go to some kind of maintenance calorie count, so I hope it goes away really fast! I want this to be over with, but I refuse to give up until I'm where I want to be (I don't really know where I want to be, but I'll know it when I see it).

Dills

I keep inching up my efforts and experimentation with fermentation. Addictive, and fun.

I'd expected that I'd have to wait until summer to get some of these little pickling cukes, but was surprised to find them at the big market a few days ago. I didn't buy a lot of them -- not prepared to do a lot of them right now -- but wanted to give it a try. There is enough to fill up one quart jar and part of another, which is why they ended up in the crock rather than a glass jar.

Floating in the brine isn't ideal, but I quickly found that the weights I use for kraut and kimchi do not work on roly-poly floating cukes! So, until I'm able to work something else out, I'll just stir these around often enough that everything stays clean and mold-free. They will be just fine.

They began smelling like dill pickles within a couple of hours, which was cool. Now I wait for a couple of weeks and see what I end up with. Better to experiment small the first time anyway, I've found, then use the techniques I learn for larger batches. And if they are available in the market year-round, I can make small batches year-round once I get the process down.

Row River Trail

Our weather took a change for the better yesterday -- sunshine and temps in the 60s. Quite a welcome state of events after weeks of rain!

A friend invited me to walk along the Row River Trail, which is a great biking/walking trail in Cottage Grove, south of Eugene. We've ridden our bikes there in years past but this time were just strolling along, enjoying being outside and in nature.

 The trail skirts Lake Dorena, fed by the Row River, and I was shocked to see it mostly dry because of the recent drought years. I haven't been here for years, and the lake was always wall-to-wall blue water. This was a bit sad. The good news is that we have had lots of rain, there's lots of snowpack in the mountains, and more rains are on the way, so this is probably going to fill up again soon. We hope!

And while I couldn't exactly call it pretty, I was more than a bit fascinated by the lighting and patterns in the dry -- but greening -- lake bed. The setting is wonderful, with all the green hills and quiet nature. This trail is a wonderful thing to have nearby, although I rarely think to drive down there by myself. It makes for a really nice bike ride.

Just below the picnic table where we stopped to enjoy the surroundings before returning to the car, many signs that the lake is trying to refill itself. The hillsides are running with water escaping saturated soils, and this water flows into streams and rivulets such as this one directly below us. On the other side of the lake, as we looped around in the car afterwards, the Row River itself is flowing strong and full.

It was so nice to escape this room for awhile! I get out, but rarely for more than an hour at a time. The rest of the time I'm almost trapped in this room. A nice room, to be sure, but still it's nice to do something else.

I took this week off from exercise, for several reasons. One, my knees were complaining about the hills, and two, my body is simply tired from a couple of weeks of little sleep and lots of walking/hiking. So, prudence suggested I just let it rest this week, and try to get more sleep. Not a lot of success in the sleep department, but last night was an improvement so maybe hope is on the horizon.

Rocky Mountain High

The webcam fetish continues. About all the traveling I can do these days! This webcam, which is located at the Alpine Visitor's Center on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, interests me on several levels. First, it always pretty. Beyond that, somehow or other the camera is set to click every morning just as the sun hits that notch in the mountains. Not sure how they do that, but it's cool. Different every morning, of course. Then they leave that sunrise photo up for several hours so more people are able to see it.

I visited the top of Trail Ridge back in 1983 during my 2-month Colorado bike ride. I'd been in Estes Park for a week, acclimating to the terrain and altitude before setting out on my first day of actual travel, which would take me up Trail Ridge past this spot, and it's a long, long road with lots of elevation gain. Lots! From Estes Park at 7552', to its highest point at 12,183'. The visitor's center, where this camera is, is at 11,796'. You do the math. It is the highest continuous motorway in the country. But, when the time came I had a serious feeling that I just was not yet ready to face this challenge. My legs were  used to climbing the Mayacama and eastern mountain ranges in the Napa Valley, and a week just wasn't enough to give me confidence that I could do this much climbing on my first day. So -- I took the bus up there, and felt no shame or guilt about doing so.

My bike up at the top of Trail Ridge, but looking in a different direction from the above camera. From here, it was an easy coast down the other side to a campground about 4 miles down the mountain. I had planned to go all the way down, but pulled in to check out the small campground and fell in love, set up camp and then with the bike unloaded traveled on down the hill to Grand Lake about 10 miles away to buy some groceries, since I hadn't wanted to carry that weight up the mountain (this was before chickening out!). Then, a lovely ride back up the mountain to my camp. I remember how light and lively the bike felt, freed from its 50 pounds of camping gear. I stayed up there a few days, did some hiking, before continuing on with the trip.

After this, I climbed several other major passes without benefit of motorized assistance, the highest of these being Independence Pass. This was my last major one, climbing up from Aspen at around 8000'. I didn't do it in one day, either, as this is a long, steep, narrow road filled with RVs and little or no shoulder for bikes on the downhill side -- which is way downhill in a canyon. I stopped for a couple of nights at another campground about 4 miles, I think it was, from the top. Did some more hiking. Rested the legs. I remember a tavern a few miles down the other side where I stopped for a big burger and fries, and beer. This was my usual reward after a pass, if such a thing could be easily found.

Enough reminiscing. Nowadays my cycling is mostly level, my hiking limited to more minor elevation gains and distances. This morning I had so little energy I came down the mountain next door as slowly as I'd gone up it, and that doesn't generally happen. The joys of old age. I'm just grateful that I can still go up that mountain (generally a bit faster, too) and that it's there for me to enjoy. Quiet this morning, early, in the forest. Only real sound was rushing water, as the streams are really flowing right now with all the rain we've had. Trees mossy and green, lots of big ferns on the forest floor. Really a treasure to have in my backyard.

Good, healthy yogurt

Interesting experience today with my yogurt making. Opted to try using the oven as an incubator -- turned it to a point where it didn't feel too hot. I don't have an oven thermometer, and for some reason my instant-read was not reading the oven air temp at a number that seemed right. It normally reads air temp just fine, but I felt it was too cool, so I used my hand as a judge. The oven was turned off, of course, but it holds its temp for a fair while after being turned off, so I thought it'd be ok.

Fast forward, a friend arrived for a visit so it was a couple of hours before I got back to check the yogurt. Put the instant-read into the mixture in the jar, to get an accurate reading, and it showed around 124, which is way too hot (supposedly). The max is supposed to be 115, and that's what it was when I put it into the jars. I panicked, took it out, brought it downstairs and into the un-preheated cooler, quite certain that I'd killed all the culture bacteria. Tried it in a bit, and it was down to 116. At that point I stuck a thick sweatshirt that was just out of the dryer into the cooler, atop the jars, sealed it back up.

After a little over 3 hours, curiosity led me to test it again, and lo and behold it had gone successfully from liquid to thick, creamy yogurt! I was stunned, and it's a good thing to learn, so I don't have to be so darned worried about that 115 max. I keep learning, and that's what makes it fun. Not to mention the good, healthy yogurt that goes into my fridge.

Only 4 hours sleep last night. Slept like the proverbial log from 10pm-2am, then my roomie walked around in the kitchen just long enough to get the old anxiety going, and I couldn't go back to sleep. Tired, too, from a good hour-long hilly hike yesterday. Sure wish I knew what to do about this -- I try to just accept, not get mad or anything, and I'm fine with all that. But I can't control the anxiety, and that's what's doing the damage.

Ah, well.

Good day to remember this

This stuff is good!

I have kimchi and it is good!

Yesterday, per instructions, I took a taste of the brine, and it was so delicious I wanted to eat some of the veggies too -- ASAP! So off to the kitchen, crock in hand, to unpack and put into storage jars.

And of course, set some aside in a small dish for immediate consumption. Amazing -- it's crunchy, has a nice acid tang and some heat. Really glad I didn't put more than that small amount of hot Thai chile peppers in it. All the raw garlic and ginger, plus the green onions, add to that heat as well. It's not all chile peppers.

I haven't put it in the fridge yet. Yesterday, I added more water to the jars but forgot to add more salt to the water, so this morning I drained the jars and added some salt before returning the brine to the jars. I'll let them stay out a couple more days to be sure that new brine gets the full flavor that so impressed me. Yum!

I'd call this a winner, to be sure.

Yesterday did indeed turn out to be rain free. In fact, it turned out to be bright and sunny, something that we haven't seen around here for awhile. I didn't have the energy to walk in the morning, after the poor sleep, but I went up the hill after lunch and that felt great. Always good to be in the woods, especially since I didn't encounter another human until I was almost back to the trailhead.

Not much sleep again last night, but through no fault of my roomie. I opted for two things that didn't work too well: one, I used ear plugs and for the first time actually managed to insert them properly so they stayed in, but also produced more pressure in my ears than was comfortable. Blocked out sound, though! I also took some OTC sleep aids, all around 9pm because I'd been so sleepy all evening and I hoped to be able to sleep for several hours. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I woke up after 1.5 hours, with my skin crawling. That's a side effect of the pills, one that generally doesn't happen if I don't take them too often. There is nothing to do but wait it out, which took over an hour to happen. Whine! The ear plugs came out at that point, too, because they were too uncomfortable and the house was quiet.  So -- a second night with little sleep. I'll figure a way around all this, I hope, although the best answer is one that's unattainable at the moment: live by myself!

Still, all in all a good day yesterday. A nice hike, sunshine, and kimchi. What's not to like about that?

Nostalgia and daydreams

Autumn vineyard along Silverado Trail

Have you ever let your mind wander off into thoughts of what you would do with your life if you won the lottery? I mean the Power Ball, not the average state lottery.  At times like this, when the numbers reach so high, I admit that I follow that bit of fantasy for a short while. And if you are honest, I expect most of you have done the same.

What amuses me is how my choices change from one time to the next, as my life changes during the months between the big numbers. That seems to say that even at this advanced age, the lure of seeing and experiencing new things, new parts of the world, is still strong within me. Depending upon what's currently happening in my life, I might choose to simply travel the world, or go live in Thailand for a few years, or maybe Rome, or..... a myriad of things, really.

One thing that never changes is my desire/intention to give large chunks of it to all of the Buddhist monasteries and viharas that have helped me for little or no cost. Places and people where I've made cherished friends, learned much and become a better person. And probably, I'd do the same for countless small one-person viharas scattered across the country, even those presided over by monastics I've never met, or have met only briefly. All struggle, because westerners haven't grown up in a culture where support of the monastics is a part of life, as it is in Asia.

Flowers in shopping district along Napa River

But shoot, I could do all that with a mere $100 million -- ten times that is inconceivable. Still, I let my mind follow where it will and this morning it landed back in my beloved Napa Valley. With even a fraction of a billion, I could go back there and live in paradise once more, in hedonistic luxury, fine weather, consuming fine foods and fine wine. Seems to me that would be a pretty darned good way to live out whatever is left to me in this life. Naturally, that would also leave me plenty of opportunity to explore various parts of the world as the urge arose. Seriously, of course, my future is in an inexpensive apartment here in town, and I'm firmly grounded in that.

My friend's beautiful home high in the Napa hills

Still -- the draw of St. Helena seemed strong this morning, and as I stood in the shower I let the mind wander back to my time there, curious about changes, curious about just what I could buy with that amount of money. So once I finished, I looked at real estate availability down there and found that indeed, I could buy pretty much anything I wanted. Not that I'd want a $22,000,000 estate, or a winery. I have zero interest in the trappings of billionaire life -- the big estate, the private jet, the toys (although I could certainly live happily in my best friends' fabulous estate overlooking the entire valley, so maybe I'm not so immune after all). I'd be happy with a small Victorian or craftsman, close to town but with room for a garden and chickens. That would set me back a mere million or so! And a few simple toys.

Then I hit Google maps and started looking for a place I lived for awhile when I thought I was going to marry the owner. Unfortunately, I discovered that he was a bit more reliant upon the local product that I'm comfortable with, so I gave a pass to that one. He liked to get really drunk. If we were going to a big event for the evening he'd start early, get himself primed so he could enjoy himself all evening without needing a slow start. Not my idea of fun.

But, I digress. I knew where the place was, of course, but didn't remember the name of the cross street and even using Google Earth couldn't spot it. He lived on an estate, and I don't use that word lightly. Big, rambling, beautiful Victorian house on several acres, with a barn, a guesthouse, lots of lawn and gardens, and a bunch of vines at the rear that kept him busy, as he did all the pruning and other care needed, by himself. I knew that it would be next to impossible that the house had been razed -- it was beautifully restored and utterly private. So private, in fact, that it was almost invisible from the city street. Set well back on the property, it was surrounded by lush vegetation, trees and such. I'd passed it many times wondering who lived there, and what was actually back there, before I met him. Even when he told me it was a Victorian across the street from where a mutual friend lived, I never once thought he meant that place! So it was quite a shock when he first drove me under the gate and the full property came into glorious view.

I finally found it this morning, by using street view. The arched gateway is still there, unchanged. So is all the vegetation, so that I really couldn't get a glimpse of the house itself or anything but trees and bushes. Back on Earth, though, it was pinpointed clearly. He once owned much more of the surrounding land, but sold lots off in various chunks when I knew him and apparently, more since.  The vines are gone, but the house, the barn and guesthouse are clear, as is our mutual friend's place across the street (another, less grand, Victorian, also hidden behind vegetation). I don't know if he still owns it -- although I've seen him a few times when I've been in town and it seems he told me some years back that he'd sold it. Wouldn't swear to that, however.

So that was my morning of daydreaming. Good memories, lots of nostalgia. But I'm firmly grounded in the idea that living in even a hovel (if one could be found) in the Napa Valley is not in my realistic future. Especially since I never buy lottery tickets.