Joyfull New Year

New Year 2015

One of the biggest days of the year is New Years!  Not because everything changes in just one day... some of the things in the New Year will be a continuance of the year before, it is just another day, after all.  But, the event of the New Year as a marker in time has it's opportunities.  It is like cleaning out the refrigerator.  You clean up what is still good and put it back, you throw out what is spoiled from being there too long, and you get to start fresh.

My desire to *live mindfully* this year is my resolution.  Not the kind of "mindful" that keeps me from sleeping at night as I excessively try to solve every issue that pops into my head, whether it's my own or someone else's circumstance.  Not the kind of mindful that Just. Will. Not. Let. Go. of a topic - even though it has been hammered to death!  The kind of "mindful" I refer to is more about living in the present moment, taking note of what is actually happening, and paying attention to the tasks at hand.

Multitasking has its place, but there comes a time when multitasking becomes a habit that is - distracting.  Thoughts race ahead to what I will do or say next, or memories and replays take up so much mind-space that I am not sure how I got from one place to another in my travels.  Mindful attention will keep me from wondering what that person was trying to tell me - or wishing I had noticed more landmarks as I try to find direction to a destination for the second time.  My intent to be more mind-full will encourage me to pay attention to the trees I walk by everyday and hear the bird songs as they change with the season.  It will help me to really listen to what others are saying.

Joyful! - I am adding "joyful" to my "mindful" resolution.  Sometimes it takes an effort to live knowing true joy in a day.  This is not to say that each moment will be deliriously happy or that we have to await a windfall of joy to come our way..  Rather I will learn to claim the joy in the generic circumstances of a day, joy that I know is there for the taking.  The idea that we can change things for ourselves prompts me to look for the joy in the ordinary as I gravitate towards people and places that lay a foundation for my resolution.  I will seek experiences that make my soul sing! ... Or even just hum a little.  These little, ordinary joys will not go un-noticed because of other distractions that seem to pop up and try to overtake my emotions, leaning them toward worry and regret. I will choose JOY - even more than I do now - in 2015!

My four adult children all love to cook.  This brings me great joy to see how they inspire the people they spend their time with to have fun with meal preparation.  It becomes infectious to those who look on, not wanting to be left out of the happiness factor they notice, as the careful decisions are made during the chopping and blending of ingredients.  Three of them worked in food services (one still does) and the one that did not has recently started a food blog.  I see this "talent" as a true gift of choice - to take something as simple as preparing a meal and turn it into a ritual of joy.  I am sure this was handed down through generations but as I look around at our culture, I know this is certainly not the norm amongst most of their peers.

The point I am making is that joy can spread and grow!  It multiplies - everyone wants more joy!  How would that be if the whole world became a little more joyful?  Maybe that starts with me...

I will mindfully and joyfully choose more time outdoors!  Noticing the rhythm of nature sets up a canvas for living in the moment and choosing joy.  It is difficult to see the shooting stars or a flower blooming if one stays indoors most of the time.  All Seasons have their glory so even in Winter I will bundle up and venture out into surroundings that have so much more to show me than the confines of my own creature comforts, within the walls of my home.  The ritual to open the front door to greet the day or throw open the shutters to let sunshine stream into the kitchen are touch stones to this idea.  But taking that a little further means dressing for the weather conditions and stepping into the elements. If the weather conditions are so severe that I have to put this off, I will long for the time to get back outside knowing storms pass quickly and the sun will shine again.  It will make my whole year better to spend more time outside, I know it will!

2015 is almost here and I vow to "work on" my choice to be MINDFULLY present and to seek JOY as it happens!

I am wishing for those who find themselves reading this blog post a Joyful year full of opportunities for whatever makes your heart sing! 

Happy New Year!

Cutting the Pomegranates

Growing up in California, we were no stranger to the cutting of the pomegranate!  My Dad would meticulously cut an X into the top and bottom of the fruit, then score the skin connecting each corner of the X.

We shared a pomegranate last night.  He is 87 now.  He was happy to have me cut it and seed it so he could eat it out of a bowl with a spoon!

I recently learned that scoring it around the middle, avoiding the top and bottom where the flesh is thick and harder to split, would result in an easy way to crack it open.  Then to patiently peel away the interior layers of the flesh to break out the juicy red seeds......  Patience, still!

This method looks kinda messy - I have not tried it!



On Facebook, I ran across this posted video - now this totally makes sense!  So how many ways are there to peel a pomegranate?!

Post by haberinbizden.com.

 

Now here is a combination of all of the ways I have learned that you cut a pomegranate!

White Pines Picnic

Bike Ride in the Woods

"Time for a bike ride and picnic", I told my husband.  "Let's venture out and find a new trail."

Single Track Bike Trail

In the early days of acquiring mountain bikes, we scoured the internet for bike trails and read the reviews and ratings, looking for trails rated "easy"  and knowing not to attempt trails that are considered "difficult". Something happens along the way of adventures in general where the tendency to throw caution to the wind in the spirit of excitement makes you forget your own rules.

There are very thin lines between the different elements of wanting to have some fun. There is the reach for something new as well as finding an unknown while surprise and risk play into the equation as well. Adrenaline and how it feels is a big contributing component.  Safety issues remain in any sport, so being mindful of how much risk to take is important as one weighs all the factors of how to proceed.

"The big pencil"

We re-read the directions, veer left at the town of Arnold, go past the elementary school and turn right at the big pencil.  We looked at each other in amusement.  The big pencil!  The directions were spot on as we pulled into the parking lot at the Sierra Logging Museum with the gate to the trailhead right in front of us.  We were in the woods!  It was the perfect weather this last day of May.

Paved Road 

The paved trail started to climb - here is where we start to get our bearings, it has been a while since we had the bikes out.  Once the asphalt gave way to a dirt single track I really got excited to think we were traveling deeper into the woods.  The trail got steeper both up and down and my tires, not treaded heavily enough for this terrain started slipping all over the place in the dusty, powdery pine needles. Though we have taken mountain paths through thick woods and ridden on the pine needle covered forest floors during other rides, this slippery carpet seemed to be a combination of  fine dust and pine pollen.  We found ourselves walking the bikes a third of the time, anxious to get up to "the rim" where surely the trail would level out.

Hairpin turns and steeper climbs made it less possible to ride the trail and there was no sign of reaching an area that would suffice for the kind of riding we like to do, so we finally turned around, knowing we had to navigate through each difficulty over again in order to get back to the car.

We made it with one spill, a bent wheel, a cracked reflector and the resolve to get my tires replaced with a deeper tread,  ASAP!

I found this video of the trail, but it seems like there are a lot of uphill parts cut out!  By the way, I do not jump logs with my mountain bike like the rider featured in this video does!  The video does show how gorgeous it is along this trail!

Arnold Rim Trail from South County Ciclista on Vimeo.

White Pines Lake Picnic

Bikes back on the rack, we drove out of the parking lot (at the big pencil) and down to the White Pines Lake Picnic area to find the most charming little kayaking lake with recreational percs everywhere.  Playgrounds, Horseshoe pits, a little league field, a Disc Golf Court, a sand beach and swimming hole, and trails all around the lake.  For all the people present, it is a quiet area with lots of fishing and Kayaking, no motor boats allowed.

We will be back to this lake for sure, but next time we will try a different entrance to the Rim Trail rather than start at the top of the mountain trailhead.  It might be time to go and read the reviews again before choosing the next new trail.

White Pines Lake

Twelve Months In A Year

Time to.......

The Holiday decorations are finally put away, and with the same feeling of satisfaction that putting them up produces in early December.  "Let's get on with it" is the calling that beckons.  The year is stretched before us now and I feel myself perching on the marker of last year's transition into this.

2013 will go in my own history book as one of the most eventful years in my entire life. The lineup was evident this time last year as the calendar filled up, barely leaving gaps for all the other important stuff that happened that could not be foreseen.  The timeline of occurrences is one that most certainly will be remembered when I am older and all the memories just start running together like colors of paint spilled out of cans.  I can see myself saying, "Remember in 2013....", "I will never forget that in 2013..."  It was all somewhat crazy in a happy way.  Memorable for sure!

This year there are only a few markers on the calendar and the contrast between the two years has me wondering... There is more room for surprise this year!  Though this idea excites me, I find myself wishing to keep the calendar clean and uncluttered.

We all have the same twelve months in a year, the same 24 hours in a day.  How we spend them has a lot to do with obligation, life's circumstance, our motivation factor, and choice.  I look back on the many unfinished things that I have started: the scarf on the knitting needles, the flowerpots to be transplanted, and the room that still needs painting.  It is only a mere setback, I say to myself. Prioritizing is part of living life, after all.  The unfinished things will be there when I get back to them, knowing that the interruptions in life are a sacred opportunity to live in the moment and embrace the unknown.

Yes, we all have the same twelve months in a year....

It's time for me to start to write that book now.....