Just Say No to the Taper Worm...

The taper is going as well as can be expected. I've been busy with work and other things so it's a welcome distraction from feeling like I need to bounce off the ceiling.

We took a trip up to the cabin this weekend to clear stuff out. We've decided to sell it, we aren't using it enough. We took the girls, they got a chance to hang out at their cabin hopefully before it sells. It's one of those "taper projects".

Iris knows where she is, as soon as we get over Kenosha Pass, she always goes crazy. We think it's the smell of cows, but it could be the scenery. This time there were no cows, probably too early for them to be grazing out there since the snow is not completely gone. As soon as we dropped down into South Park, she started getting excited.

On the way back the girls had to ride with all the junk we brought back from the cabin.

I was greeted by this nice piece of mail when I got home. One of those nice things about turning 50. Thanks for the pleasant reminder. Talk about the ultimate taper worm! I will have this done sometime this year, but I'm putting it off until AFTER the race.

Hedgehog: Putting Things In Perspective

We went to Como this past weekend.

It usually helps to go up there and get away from the routine and the rat race, to put things in perspective. I am very much over this hot weather. It's been hot for too long. The cooler temperatures felt so good.





Dennis is out of the boot, his foot is healed enough to go for some short hikes, so we took the girls on a short one and then just hung out at the cabin. Como rocks.

Still, I feel so unmotivated. I'm putting things into place, trying to fill the calendar with things that will help me get the lead out of my butt.

I picked out my next 5K, and it will be at sea level in LA. I got this crazy idea today when I couldn't motivate myself to run for the second day in a row, maybe I should do a week of walking. Sure, that will help the 5K time.

Signed up for my test date to take my oncology certification exam, so now I am committed. I have to study.

I have no reason to whine or snivel. I happen to know two healthy active people around my age who right now are recovering from pneumonia! One of them, a runner, was talking about how he has realized through these difficult times who his real friends are, the ones who have stuck with him despite his down time. Our conversation got me thinking about Hedgehogs.

Sometimes finding an old friend makes all the difference in the world. We lost the Hedgehog last year, it went missing despite an exhaustive search of the entire yard around the cabin last fall. But the Hedgehog turned up easily this weekend, even though he was nowhere to be found when we were here in June.

Sometimes we have to find ways to put things in perspective. When we're down and out, or just in a slump, it's important to find a silver lining. It can be an opportunity to sort through the baggage or trash from old relationships or friendships that aren't so great.

Not all old friends are as good as a long-lost Hedgehog, stinky and soggy from being left out in the rain for months or even a year. Hedgehogs just need a pass through the washing machine and they are as good as ever. Sometimes they still squeak after all they've been through.

On the other hand, or paw, there are times when we have to get rid of the toxic people from our lives, the ones who would drop you and forget about you, the ones who talk out both sides of their mouth, the ones who are so insecure with their own issues that they aren't worth the energy. Every time you're with them, it takes twice as much energy away from you just to interact with them and you leave their company wondering why you ever made the effort to get together with them in the first place?

Hedgehogs squeak, but they also listen. They don't jabber on and on and say mindless, trite things when you talk about something that's important to you. They don't claim to know how you feel, and they don't have to reply to every point you make with their own version of what they think is a similar experience.

Hedgehogs don't have codependency issues. They are content to listen and not try to fix things. They only squeak when they have something constructive to contribute, and they have a lot of empathy.

It's a good, healthy thing to do, every so often, to clean house when you realize there are things or people who drag you down. Keep the Hedgehogs, but let the energy suckers stay out in the rain.

There are times when you have to find new friends and at the same time nurture the most valuable old Hedgehogs instead of taking them for granted.

But sometimes all they need is a bath...

Schaeffer Cabin 80th Birthday

We took the opportunity to get out of town for the weekend and go up to the cabin. This year is the Schaeffer Cabin's 80th birthday.

It was originally built in 1932 on a site up Tarryall Creek about 3 miles from where it lives now, in the townsite of Como.

The girls get very excited once they smell the trees and all the mountain smells when we get near Kenosha Pass.

They start seeing cows in the pastures along the highway in South Park and they have their special "counting cows" bark.

They do know how to count, and they are very accurate. They don't stop counting until they've counted every cow.

There was a big storm moving east through Denver and we drove through it, but by the time we arrived in Como it wasn't raining anymore and we only got a few drops and some wind in the evening.

Sunday morning we slept in. I woke up early and took some pictures around sunrise, when it was still cloudy, and went back to bed. The sky was perfectly clear by mid-morning. We had coffee and took our time getting started, but then we took the girls hiking along the Gold Dust Trail below Mt. Silverheels.

We were amazed at the trees that were down from the wind this winter. One of the windowpanes on a window at the cabin got broken when the wind hurled some shingles at it from the top of the outhouse.

On the trails there were huge trees downed, the Forest Service had already been through with chainsaws and moved a lot of debris, but there were huge holes in the ground where gigantic trees had been uprooted along the trail.

South Park is one of the windier places in the universe. There have been times when we've arrrived at the cabin during the winter months to find one side completely buried under a snowdrift.

All the iris were blooming, the front of the cabin grows more of them every year. They are my favorite flower up there.

Iris, everywhere.

It was cold at night. Dennis said, "It's not a sauna" but I insisted on a fire anyway. It was in the 50s Saturday night. That's 100 degrees colder than what I'm used to!

Sunrise east of the cabin, looking across South Park toward Kenosha Pass.

Sunday morning when we went up the trail toward Silverheels, it was warm, so we chose the trails where there would be more stream crossings for the girls to drink and swim.

The mountains between Como and Breckenridge.

Trail Butts.

Isabelle isn't afraid of the troll under the bridge.

On the hike up Silverheels, there are these two old cabins.

Baby aspen leaves.

No hike with the dogs would be complete without the ultimate trail snack, doggie M&Ms.

Isabelle loves to lie down in the stream.

Boreas Mountain in the background.

Running? I did 40 miles this past week. Mostly good quality miles, decent pace, tempo run, a 5K, and plenty of strides. You'd think I'm training for one 5K, instead of 70 of them strung together in 5 days. Better to be undertrained...

A Breath of Fresh Air!

This weekend was a celebration of many things. July 5th is Isabelle's birthday, it was Fourth of July and our first Fourth of July in Como since we got the cabin 6 years ago. We didn't know it before, but now we do, that we can watch the fireworks display close-up from our futon in the cabin, through the screen door. How cool is that?

But equally it was a celebration of my new job! I am leaving ICU within the next month to work in the oncology department, in outpatient infusion. It's something I've been wanting to do for quite some time and it couldn't have happened at a better time. I found out just before leaving the house to drive up to Como for the weekend.

Sometimes waiting for change is almost as stressful as the thing you're wanting to change.

While we were in Florida a job was posted in the oncology outpatient infusion clinic for relief hours only. Those are minimal hours and I would keep my ICU job until I could get the same number of hours as I have in ICU. With the relief job, I applied, got an interview, and then heard I got it, except that there might be some real jobs like what I wanted(not relief, but guaranteed hours), soon, and if I was interested I should apply.

And it was supposed to happen soon. How soon, I didn't know. So I went into the checking the job postings 6 times a day mode, checking my email, checking for voice messages, and generally being on hyper-alert and realizing just how ready I am for this change.

After 3 weeks of touch and go, knowing I have a job in the department I want but not the job I want, but the job I want will be available, maybe soon, and then waiting for the job to materialize on the job postings, so I can apply for it, then applying, and waiting to find out if I got it, and waiting...and waiting...and waiting...

All of which went really fast in retrospect but while I was waiting it seemed like

F-O-R-E-V-E-R.

Dennis told me there is a reason I'm having to wait, that it will be a good thing.

When I didn't hear by Friday of this week, I decided I needed to just leave town for the weekend according to my original plan, to run the Leadville marathon, hang out at the cabin, and not stress about it. I packed up the car, got the Buffaloes in the back seat, and was on my last trip back into the house before locking up and leaving, when I saw the message light on the phone. I thought it might be Dennis since we just got off the phone making plans for when he followed us up to the cabin later after work.

I checked the message and it was the manager of the oncology department asking me to call her.

I did.

It was the job offer!!!

I asked if there was anything I needed to do right away, but since we were going into a holiday weekend, we decided we would work on it next week and enjoy the holiday.

So I stuck to my plans, but there was an extra reason to celebrate!

Dennis arrived at the cabin in the middle of the night. I woke up at 4:45 am and had to drive to Leadville, over an hour away.

I arrived at the Sixth Street Gym by 7 am and picked up my race packet, ate my sandwich, drank a lot of water and gatorade, and packed my pack full of warm clothes. I talked with some people I hadn't seen in ages, since I rarely come up to Leadville anymore.

Finally it was time for the start. I was blown away when I saw that they were using timing chips for the event. I can't believe this little race that started in 1992 when there were a few dozen of us, now has hundreds of runners and chip timing!

I was in tourist mode. I had my butt pack that was bigger than my butt loaded with warm clothes, food, camera, batteries, and drinks. I might as well have brought my AAA card, a credit card and a toothbrush.

I took my time, I planned to get a lot of walking in and didn't care to push it. I got plenty of miles in the past two weeks and all I needed was the vertical. I was in pedestrian mode and I had told Dennis it might be 5:00 before I got back to the cabin, because the marathon might take me 7 hours or longer.

And it did. I socialized at the aid stations, talked to old friends, more people from Leadville I haven't seen in years, people from ultras I haven't seen in months. I ran most of the first half with Dale Perry, he will be at Badwater next week crewing for Paul Grimm. Dale got to the top just ahead of me and then he pushed a little faster than I did going back, so we didn't see each other again until the finish.



On the way back I caught up to the crazy dude with Ultimate Butt, the term we use for those old Ultimate Direction packs that ride up with your shorts, exposing your cheeks to everyone running behind you. I tried to avoid him, he was chattering about who knows what. I didn't want to get stuck with Mr. U.B. because he never would have shut up and he probably could keep up with me if I tried to run ahead. So I kept him in sight, but not close enough to see the details, and with enough cushion so he couldn't recognize me if he turned around.

And there was this woman who was behind me on the way up the pass and just ahead of me on the way down. I was trying to avoid her because of her annoying voice. One of those nails on chalkboard voices. She had to be all perky and cheer for every single person on their way down the pass as we were climbing up. Squeak, squeak, squeak. Driving me crazy.

About a mile from the top I wanted to turn around and yell back at her, if you would use your breath to climb the @#$%&*! pass, you'd be done in half the time! But I didn't. I got ahead of her enough so I couldn't hear her anymore, and I talked with Pat at the aid station on top of the pass for a long time even though I was freezing, and took pictures and gave Miss Perky Squeaky Voice plenty of time to get far ahead of me. Unfortunately I caught up to her soon after the aid station at the bottom.

I think I just needed to be alone and look at the scenery. I think I was emotionally fried. My work week was pretty miserable last week, and I was so excited and hopeful about the new job that it was stressful waiting. There's always the fear that you didn't get the job. What if.

As I found things getting on my nerves I stuck close to the back of the pack and strategically passed people only if I knew I could go past them fast enough to avoid getting in a conversation.

I could feel my toes jamming into the front of my shoes on the way down. The Leadville marathon is almost all straight up or straight down, there are only a few miles where the road is fairly level, in the middle section by the mines. I was wondering how many toenails I might lose after this one, now that I have ten again, they won't last long.

I always forget just how hard this marathon is. It takes way longer than it needs to, to do 26 miles. I could get the same vertical in my back yard on Horsetooth Rock, in a lot less time, just not the altitude. I'm to the point with Leadville where I think I'm over it. I spent so much time up there in the past. I still think it's beautiful up there but I feel like I could find new places to explore.

It's really a suffer fest at this point, since I don't train for cold and I don't train for high altitude anymore. Actually though since I was going so slow I felt surprisingly good even on top of Mosquito Pass. I had no problems with my stomach or my appetite. Usually I'm queasy above 12,000 feet. This time I was just lightheaded, probably would have sounded like a Gooney Bird except I wasn't being very sociable.

I did tell one older runner I was close to the whole race, that as you get older you forget how painful it was the year before. That's why we come back. This time it took me 3 years to forget. If I go back to run it again in less time than that, I'm in trouble.

I got back to the Sixth Street Gym seven hours and thirty three minutes, long, torturous, lost in thought, but scenic hours and minutes after the start. I thanked Ken and Merilee, said goodbye to Dale and Ron, and took off for Como before Dennis started worrying.

I stopped at the KOA in Buena Vista and got a shower for $8.00 from a pipe sticking out of the wall, but at least it was warm water. I forgot how everyone up there in those campgrounds, both the visitors and the workers, all sound like they're from Texas or Arkansas. It's been a long time since my days of doing forestry work in the summers, living in the back of my truck, and coming into town once a week for a shower.





On Sunday we took the girls for a hike on the ditch trail and then went back to the cabin. The town of Como swelled to several hundred people, there was a parade with a float, and live music, booths, nasty greasy-looking food wagons, and lots of large people walking around aimlessly, holding nasty greasy-looking things, dressed in red, white, and blue.

For a town of 20 permanent residents and maybe 100 in the summer, it was a big crowd. We waited all day for the fireworks, as the sun went down it got cold and windy. For while we thought it would either rain us out or it would be too windy to have fireworks, but there was a steady stream of headlights driving into town, hundreds of cars were arriving.



The fireworks started and Isabelle got scared. Poor thing, she was trembling. We had to talk to her and comfort her the whole time. Iris didn't seem to be bothered at all. We poured some beer in Isabelle's bowl hoping she might drink it and it would calm her down, but she was too scared. Iris drank it instead and then feel asleep, snoring on the futon.

Finally it was over. We watched the stream of red tailights proceeding out of town and along Highway 285. Monday morning when we woke up, town was dead quiet again. You would never know that a thousand people and their cars were there just a few hours ago.

It was cold and windy in the morning too. We left to drive back to Fort Collins late in the morning. As soon as I got home I wrote my letter of resignation, and I'm on my way to a big, welcome, healthy, much-needed change within the next few weeks.

A BIG breath of fresh air!

Bristlecones and Buffaloes

Last weekend we went up to the cabin and took the girls hiking in the old bristlecone pine forest on Mt. Silverheels. The weather was perfect, almost too warm for being up that high, but there was water in the creek and the spring was flowing so the girls had plenty to drink and opportunities to swim.

I've been on a short vacation. I took 9 days off to get some projects done, wrap up a few loose ends with my paintings, and get out of town for some fresh air and scenery.

On the way up, we saw a cow moose in the forest, down in the thick trees about a mile away from here when we were still on the trail. Cool, but scary. Fortunately the girls didn't notice the moose. They were too busy looking up trees for the black squirrels.

This is the view from the saddle where the bristlecone pines start. You can see all the way across South Park to the tops of the Collegiate Peaks near Buena Vista.

The girls were so happy. They chased little ground squirrels and sniffed everything.



There were still a lot of wildflowers out up high even though the aspen leaves are already turning gold along Tarryall Creek.



After a perfectly clear day, the sky clouded up at sunset and we got some rain.

Anniversary Weekend

For our anniversary, we decided to go to the cabin for a long weekend. The weather has not been great lately, it's been wet and cold most of the spring, and the weekends have been rainy since March. Last year we didn't go up to the cabin much at all, I was busy training for Badwater and Dennis was busy with work. This year we want to spend a lot more time up there.

We found the Schaeffer cabin 5 years ago, when we were still living in Arizona. It has a interesting history as an old miners' cabin, originally built in 1932 and was located 3 miles up the creek from where it is now, in the townsite of Como. It was moved in 1954 and sits on two lots in town. From the front door it looks out over South Park, and on the north side of the cabin, the mountains between Como and Breckenridge including almost-14er Mt. Silverheels.

As soon as we opened the front door, the girls ran in and Iris found her favorite toy, the pink "WAHOO!" ball. The girls chased each other around the yard and through the field iris that line the front walkway. We've never been there before at the peak of the iris blooming.









No night in the mountains is complete without a thunderstorm, and it also happened to be a full moon.











The next morning, I took Iris up to the bristlecone forest on the slopes of Silverheels. Isabelle stayed at the cabin with her dad, she hurt her paw last week and was still taking it easy. By Sunday she was hiking and walking normally.










After our hike I walked around town, taking pictures, since it's been a while. One of the more interesting houses in town is the old brothel.






Como, the main street with the post office and mercantile. The Como Depot, now a restaurant and B & B, can be seen in the background.


More scenes in town.














A thunderstorm was building Saturday afternoon. All day Dennis was working on the logs and clearing some of the bushes that grow up around the cabin. He also primed the trim on the cabin so we can paint it this summer.

Looking north from the cabin, the historic marker is on the northeast corner of the logs.

Taking a break with dad.

The girls are always looking for ways to keep busy. So many things to sniff.

Iris kept a close eye on the grill.



The little red building next to the cemetery.

The old buildings in Como up the hill from the cabin.

More old houses.











It's always hard to leave. But we'll be back soon.