Aug 27, 2014

Aug 22, 2014

8.9.14


change change change change.  that is the name of the game.  
seasons, weather, light, people, moods, ideas, beliefs.
the things that don't bend, break.  the things that don't change are overthrown.  there is no space in this world for that which cannot evolve.  

i felt like i'd gotten pretty comfortable with that fact.  death, life, evolution.  but then a big one came again, ruffled my feathers a bit,  ripped me from what i'd been clinging to and revealed to me the places i'd started to stagnate.  it's always a beneficial thing once you get through it - but fuck is it a difficult process.

so here's an update - it's been a while.  i no longer live in costa rica, residing instead in the small and absurdly charming town of lafayette, colorado.  it's the opposite side of the rockies from where i am from and grew up - which is strange.  to be on the wrong side of such a forceful landmark, in such a wild land.  

i struggled trying to get back in the swing of things - society wise.  after being off the grid, out of the country, and gypsying around it was really uncomfortable to deal with the normalcy of traffic and workweeks, and answering phones.  i never thought about this when i set out on my journey - the diffculty of returning.  i got an office job.  i quit it two weeks later.  i no longer fit in an office.  apparently after you go out to see how big the world is you can no longer shrink back into your former dimensions.  i've stood on the edge of too many cliffs overlooking too many spectacular views.  i couldn't sit at a desk and stare at a screen again.

this realization was terrifying.  along with the realization that there isn't much in the photo industry going on around here - comparatively.  not feeling ready to start shooting weddings and family portraits i turned to my other skills.  so now i teach yoga and i work on a farm. 

as with everything in life there is both good and bad and it's a tradeoff.  we have a lovely home, but i miss our costa rican home.  i have a garden.  i've hardly left town all summer.  my family is close.  my friends are far away.  i work outside.  i make a fraction of what i once did.  you get the picture - let's focus on the good because there is alot of that:

life is lovely.  i live with the person i love the most. we have our costa rican dog, who makes me happy everyday and our good spirits. i am back in my mountains - where i feel most at home and most alive and i've been exploring them all summer, probably more than i ever have.  i eat nothing but delicious, organic locally grown vegetables.  i see my dad all the time.  i have regular yoga students again and am going through the uniquely, rewarding process of building a relationship with them.  i am working on some big projects to be unfolding over the next year or so.

life - in other words - is moving right along.

i miss you.  

i found this quote today.  it seemed fitting.

"for a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone.  the shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes.  to someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction."

~cynthia occelli

8.8.14

8.7.14

Aug 21, 2014

8.6.14

after dipping a toe into the pickling pool i've decided to dive in headfirst!  marsha shared her delicious and magical dilly bean recipe with me.  it was a great success.

Aug 19, 2014

8.3.14

with such bounty around here i'm making forays into food preservation.  i used gwyneth's bread and butter pickle recipe from her cookbook "it's all good".

i love that book and recommend it.  lot's of delicious, clean eating recipes. 

Aug 16, 2014

8.2.14

bounty

i know i focus on the flowers, but my veggie garden is pretty damn gorgeous.

Aug 15, 2014

8.1.14

this was the best hike of the summer.  we got an early start and the trail to ourselves; woke up wandering through the most amazing display of wildflowers i've ever seen, came across an elk mama, made our way up towards timberline in swirling mists.  we were both silent for at least an hour - it really felt like hiking into another world.  i'm posting the most pictures so far - there are so many good ones!

What is Wilderness?

The Wilderness Act defines Wilderness as....

Aug 4, 2014

7.31.14

thriving

if you know me you know how happy this makes me.  it's come a long fucking way.

7.30.14

flowers and fennel

This corner reminds me of Terra Joy.

7.29.14

this is just a reminder: it can't be sunshine all the time.  sometimes you need the sky to darken, the clouds to crack open and the storm to come.  otherwise, nothing would grow.

7.28.14

7.27.14

volunteers

Back in the lowlands, back in the garden.

Aug 3, 2014

7.26.14

Today we got up before dawn, drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park and made our way under ominous skies, to the top of Hallett Peak - a respectable 12,713 feet.  My two favorite things about this hike were the incredible views, of which there were many, and that much of it takes you through alpine tundra.  If you've never had the chance to get up above treeline and experience this landscape I highly recommend it.  It's so strange and beautiful, like hiking to another planet.  You feel a bit lightheaded and dizzy, which adds to the surrealism of the landscape. This tundra was on the Ute and Arapahoe's migratory routes.  I can only imagine what it must have been like to travel hundreds of years ago.  Without proper shoes.

The Arapahoe called the mountain banah ah netaeux, meaning Thunder Peak, for good reason.  Even though it was windy and bitterly cold we were lucky to make it up early enough to avoid the storm that inevitably arrived.  During the summer in the Rockies you can pretty much expect an afternoon thunderstorm to hit, but today it came a bit early.  We weren't out of the woods yet (pun INTENDED) and got caught on a lower ridge line when the thunder and lightening started.  The rain quickly turned to giant, nickel sized balls of hail.  It was painful and alarming.  I wish I had photos of the downpour because besides being uncomfortable it was also really awe-inspiring and intense.  But I was too busy running down the mountain.  Russ said I looked like a bat in my poncho, fleeing the scene. 

Posting more than one today!

Aug 2, 2014

7.25.14

i had no idea but apparently hawk feathers are completely illegal to possess, sell, give, steal, beg or borrow.

obviously these aren't mine.

7.25.14


colorado; absolutely no filter, nothing at all.

7.23.14

7.22.14

i like roses.  you cut them all the way back till you think they can't possibly live.  and then a few weeks later you turn around and they're blooming again.

7.21.14

7.20.14

7.19.14

lady slipper
 
i can now add "rare orchid hunter" to my list of skills!  found this little beauty growing wild in the rockies.