Saturday, February 26, 2011

Bark.






i love the little details. just remember to look closely. don't miss the small picture even if you get the big one.

[the universe is wider than our views of it]

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

life outside.



today was absolutely amazing. was only 20 degrees but at the top of the mountain, i was able to fit myself behind a boulder to stay out of the wind while the hot sun made me forget (for just two seconds) that it is february. snow is starting to melt at the top of the mountains and the rocky peaks are re-surfacing. i was able to sit still for a little while just listening to nothing...have you ever heard the sound of nothing?? it's crazy.

[Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have.]

Monday, February 21, 2011

patch my clothes.



had my first Trader Joe's experience yesterday. Woah! what a busy place. i can't quite grasp what is so intriguing to people....do they even know? i have a feeling simplicity is a major player in the game. since they only offer one or two brands for each food item...it makes it so simple. no comparing prices, no reading the nutrition labels, no sorting through rotten foods and off you go! with fresh foods and veggies. i had a really fun time...came home with goat cheese and sundried tomato stuffed ravioli and mushrooms, asparagus and really awesome oats (for oatmeal in the am). simplity is awesome. and so easy.

[No man ever stood the lower in my estimation for having a patch in his clothes; yet i am sure that there is greater anxiety, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience.]

from here on out [ followed by ] means Thoreau is talking.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

No more TV.

When I first came back to the White Mountain region in September, I stayed in a place with no cable, therefore no Regis and Kelly or Today show in the morning and no Ellen or Oprah in the afternoon. But I loved it! Well, it took awhile. First waking up, I grabbed my coffee and kinda just wandered around the house from window to window, looking outside and standing in silence. It was really weird at first, all the silence, but soon I felt calmer and my brain just cleared up of "noise". I looked at the leaves blowing across the lawn, the waves of the lake brushing up on the sand and even the dust on the window-sill. I started my days quicker in the morning because I had nothing else to do. It was awesome! I now temporarily live with my dad nearby for the winter, and guess what, there is a TV. Actually two TVs. And I'm sucked back in. News shows in the morning leave me feeling like I just wasted an hour of my day. It is really hard to shut it out if you have it in front of your face staring at you. It is easy to break the morning silence with the quick press of the "on" button. I don't even really listen. I just sort of stare at it, letting the time pass, thinking of silence.

I came to a conclusion the other day. Do you ever feel that when you don't watch TV or don't go on the internet, that you are missing something or out if the loop?? Weird. When in fact, the "real" world is right in front of you, if you would just look up for a second.

I leave with a quote (I know, of course, it's Thoreau):

"Simple living is not about living in poverty or self-inflicted deprivation. Rather, it is about living an examined life -one in which you have determined what is important, or "enough", for you, disregarding the rest."

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Friday, February 4, 2011

Getting Ready.




Getting ready for the exhibition show tomorrow. Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Summited Mount Madison on February 1, 2011.



This is not my video (too cold to take one) but this shows perfectly what it was like at the top of Mt Madison yesterday. Elevation 5,367. Snow, Ice, Wind. Definitely pushed past my comfort zone but I found my new limit. This experience was absolutely AMAZING. Can't wait for the next big climb!