late day foray

so, i will never be able to match ed in his quality of pictures, images, moments captured and shared. so what i lack in skill, i'm hoping to make up in ... quantity?

Thursday, 12.27.07, after a solid day of fire-side leisure:

tonka thinks this was a day well spent ;-) (my NEW ski pants seem to be his most favorite lounging spot now)

in anticipation! can't wait to get out into the cold!

ed, summiting the first of many hills -- on his new boards ;-) (and sick as can be)

moi, having a difficult time controlling the enthusiasm and excitement (really, you get to see pix of me because how else am i going to convey the explosions of energy and excitement i feel, see, AM!?!?)

just one of my favorite spots and contrasts of the day

just taken in a different way (i have to PRACTICE, yo!)

ed going up another hill... ed actually takes really wonderful action shots. i don't. so i'll have to practice ;-)

another one of my favorite spots

a tree in another one of my favorite spots

my breath, at the apex

mmmm, cozy! (it had to be right around 10 degrees, and the sun was about to get black)

reaching the car in the dark, once again! stars? or snow?

a nice warm, yummy dinner afterwards

this would be OUR table ;-)

jj

XmaspiX

because i have no words for the beauty and graciousness of the day, i'll stick with a limited set of pix:

sue's beautiful christmas tree

what should be under every tree ;-)

the cat knows where it's at (charlie)

my mother and father

my sister and her hub-a-dub-dub ;-)

my father and his most awesome wife, Sue (the hostess with the mostest)

ed, trying to explain (for me) something about camera settings

the first picture

the most lovely christmas morning in front of the fireplace, directly out of bed (thus the hair), with an excellent mug of coffee, and a wonderful pile of presents (thank you honey)

moi. exuding happiness.

can't wait for new years!!!

jj

fire. hawk. snow. peace.

our new pet, Hawk, has been watching us all morning... right outside -- gazing upon us. he's been there for at least a solid 1/2 hour so far ;-)

ed snapped this shot with my christmas present -- in an effort to try and teach me how to use a camera ;-)! I see birds in there, you? It's an omen.

the snow smells more like winter than it has yet this year. these are my first explorations at capturing the things that resonate within me ;-) this is going to be entirely way too much fun!

our christmas morning ...

all captured with my new camera!!!!!

Merry, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

jj&e

schneeflocken

;-)

jj

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DARLING!

darling, tonka and i would like to wish you a most happy and wonderful birthday.

meow, meowww, mow, meow-meiow-MEOW MEOWW-OW-MEOW-MEOOOW-Meow!!! Puuuuurrrrrrr.

with love from both our crazy little hearts,

jeny and tonka

ps: tonka would like to remind you that he was indeed once very, very little, and the runt of the litter;-)

what joy there may be in silence

Cairns bring thoughts of Jessica.

12.16.07

freezing: running around the house (completely nekkid) looking for a warm pair of hiking pants. finally warm, coffee in hand, cat calmed, bag packed, hiking pants on and a wool cozy sweater: out for a fine day starting out a little bit closer to 'early enough' this time around, out the door in search of sunshine, snow, untraveled trails, and eventual exhaustion.

and then a dare of a prolonged state of silence; taken.

'winter in frame'

Climbing, in silence, on foot, through the sugary soft, shin-deep snow; thinking about the Christmas music rolling around in the head: peppy, heightened energy. and plastered in smiles. confounding: never believed in 'Lord' or 'King' or the religion surrounding the occasion (and the lyrics). But sure liking the inspiration towards joy -- the joy that perhaps was intended. the intention of joy is enough, right now. Drop the rest and let the lightness flow.

The silence is remarkable. It's spacious, like the sky and the vast blanket of snow. Breathing is clear, and the rhythm of the walk and the breath begins to unfold.

Dreams from the previous night also unfold: driving through a forest somewhere. cooking food at the top; complicated food ending up in finger-food-bite-sized pieces. off on snowmobiles for a tour of NYC. over some water on a flat boat that was moving way too fast. up a river. into a channel. through a tunnel. and then 'they' started chasing us back. we had to retreat. back through the tunnel. and a wave was coming and it was ENORMOUS. and we had to kill whatever it was that was chasing us. we made it back through the small spaces and the large water.

and then the sun rose!

reenactment of dream #3

speaking. sooner than intended, but necessary for Connection and a cohesive, all day exchange. the known trail evolved into a new, ancient (never traveled) trail. making connections and winding into another adventure.

ed is always prepared

ed, so bright

sometimes he actually needs help diggin' out ;-)

hour 6 out found the sunset. again. this keeps happening. and it's good. and grand. and gracious. and this is a lucky thing. hours 7 and 8 in the dark, moon shadows illuminating and textured.

'tiger trees in waning daylight'

connections in the dark are good for the soul. connections in the super market are also very cool. hot showers after a day out in the cold: brilliant.

boiling soup was an accident.

wine finishes a day in the most succulent way.

cozy in fleece.

the cat says: meow. rarely.

jj

VooDooKitty

the lead up to the trail we were seeking, meandering in the heavenly light

ALL photo credits go to ed, darling;-)

brilliant weekend. massive and completely solitary hike on saturday, and a new mtbAdventure on sunday.

the good news is: power. ;-0 yummy. i can feel my legs feeling strong and they want to go and go and go. and it's been SO long since i've felt that.

we would return to this spot in a different, thoroughly winter-ized light

saturday's hike found ed and i power-traipsing through the national forest and wilderness areas we have been exploring for the past few weekends. we went up hill a LOT, and it felt smooth and dynamic getting into the rhythm of stepping UP and up and up, breathing deeply in and out, clamoring my way into the ominous, massive snow storm. true to our adventurous spirits and intentions, we found 'another' way back to the trail that would eventually lead us home and had fun in some wildly untouched nature. the best part of that section was the snow storm that started to absolutely dump massive amounts of wet, heavy snow!!! it was thick and i could hear it pelt the already existing snowy ground. it was powerful, and lovely in a serenely spooky sense. oddly, i felt right at home picking my way down the fall line, along the stream, over the endless dead-fall, ice and weighed-down grass. i need to be out in the middle of nowhere, working hard for (and being) the magic far more often. i felt alive and present and full of bright, deep energy .... i miss those places. time for more.

beginning the very satisfying ascent into a very solitary and inspiring forest

so one unexpected treat this weekend was getting to ride steves VooDoo Kitty: 1x9 29'er!!!!!!! I have NewMtbBliss!!! what a outright brilliant ride. i loved the gearing, and i loved the larger wheels!!! i felt like i was flying. we started at around 28 degrees, and i was layered in all kinds of fuzzy coziness. it warmed up to about 35, and in the climbing madness i was able to shed layers and feel winter brush my skin. (i kept thinking about the girls down south riding -- in SHORTs and tans... and thought they should come up for a visit and ride in the icy, snowy, brilliant colorado winter;-)

the voodookitty majik numbers 1x9 9er

i had expected to feel wasted tired from the previous days hike. i was wrong. the first hill appeared and i was being pulled up the hill on some kind of magic thread -- and the day did not disappoint at all. the sun was low and bright and steve and ed and i rolled thru buffalo creek hoot'n and holler'n and making merry bliss in december.

just after the little mis-hap ... right into another drainage;-)

i will admit one rather major little foible: i hit a rather poorly placed patch of ice right in the middle of my blissing out in how far i could lay the 9er voodookitty over in the corners. DOH! immediately after bending one arm backwards and slamming my knee into something sharp and hard as a rock (duh), i started sort of screaming. it HURT -- it hurt more than i can remember being hurt falling on my bike ever really before and i was terrified that i had in fact broken my arm. no worries tho! bruised knee and funky elbow and i was giggling within 10 minutes and laying the voodookitty over in the next available set of corners. ohhhyeah. i get it now;-)

steve and ed and i returned to steves place for a brilliant thanksgiving dinner!! OMG, steve -- you lucky dawg! thank beautiful wendy for me, will you!?!!?

in other news....oh wait. there is no other real news ;-) i keep dreaming about all the people in blogger land i'm debating posting my dreams just for the pure entertainment value of it....

jj

ix-neh on the ruita-freh

ed and i meandered around a relatively seldom traveled park before diving into the thanksgiving festivities. we had company:

there were a pair of them, protecting their area and basking in the sun. i liked to think that we were reflections of one another. they were quiet, seemingly at peace, and enjoying the snow and the light.

then we went to my fathers house for sue's gourmet feast (omg, and what a feast it was!)

my father and ed, both thinking no good can come when jeny has the camera

my outrageously beautiful sister and myself being our sneaky, secret-y, giggly selves (yes, she's married)

my darling, letting me sneak in a kiss for the camera;-)

i do believe that a good time was had by all. sue has more pix and i will post them if i ever get them! dinner was insanely fabulous, as was the company, as was everything (outside of my breaking sue's good dish - i'm so sorry).

our fruita plans have fallen through, as our good pals (our reason for traveling) called in 'sick' with the flu. i wish you a speedy recovery, Patti -- and HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY!!!!

i know i know i know....

ok, so it's been a while. not that anyone cares, but yeah, it's been too long -- and therefore boring. thank goodness there are so many people out there doing their amazing things to keep everyone busy and entertained (go read all the reports and trips and stories and inspirations in the 'curiosities' section -- plus all those on ed's site;-))!


the big news: i've moved to golden! i've moved out of the 1880's, 2-story , bamboo floor - granite counter top - priceless city views - and intriguing character of my 5 points 'apartment' (castle), and into a space that has walls with clean lines and defined spaces -- a space with a remarkably more grounded feel and sense -- space with tremendously gracious and delicate light -- a space that is clean and new and without ghosts -- a space in which i foresee the expansion and grounding of my life. there is good energy here, and i'm looking forward to spending some solid recovery time occupying this space.

the old house (i lived in the top 2 floors) -- yes there are ghosts here

the new house -- in the new space -- near all the t r a i l s!!!

the best part of this space is the proximity to TRAIL: out the back door, front door, side door: all i have to do is saddle the pony and go. given, i've not yet taken advantage of that opportunity and proximity, but i will. when the time is right.

Junkyard

Our pristine new home goes by the name of The Junkyard. Hillary and i stumbled onto the name at our first little house-warming/dinner party, and it seems to have stuck. Below are pictures just for pure entertainment:

the goods

dave, hil, cat, ed

practicing for the post-thanksgiving meal (or something like that)

So I've not been riding much (at all). I spent one remarkably warm, beautiful, almost powerful day out on the trail for Mateo's Great Hut Adventure, but other than that: I'm down -- down as in, wings clipped and I'm pending the recovery of energy. The day of Mateo's ride was remarkable tho! I found many moments of that magic energy that I have so missed this season. I also found many moments of complete exhaustion. It was strange, almost like the flow of energy was an ebb-and-flow, ON for one section of the trail and completely OFF the next. It was no matter tho -- because the light of the day was deep and warm and our crew rolled in bliss for hours. i've never seen buff creek in that light, actually. it was a remarkable day on the bike -- and a remarkable night celebrating with mateo, hanging out with his beautiful wife, and connecting with damn good people. (thank you, mateo!!!!!!). Goodness, that was HOW many weeks ago?

Despite the ride-less-ness of my time right now, Ed and I are headed to Fruita for a few days of delicious trail-meandering;-) I'm bringing a 29er just for fun, should I feel I can actually give up my Truth for more than a few miles. That ought to prove interesting. I'm looking forward to meeting up with Gary and Patti, my soul-people, and all will be well in our little universe.

Gratitude
Perhaps this is a predictable subject -- but no matter, it's important and worthwhile and worth the writing and exploration. I have to say that I know a list of all things I am grateful for would be extensive and quite the read. So I'll limit the written list: Right now, I have to say that I'm most grateful for the people in my life, all of whom affect me deeply, and to all of whom I wish to express my expansive love and appreciation:

edmund, darling

jo ann

j michael

sue bear

dr. douggie fresh

jessi bunny

johnE

dana, angel

xanthe, angel star

miss kitty, cat

hickory hil

morning-star dave

super cyn

tonka, shamoo

gary and patti -- bright spots in the universe

jen rockstar

aaron rockstar

jean-bean, power bunny

eb, the original sser

vroom-vroom-veronica

tony and chiapin

velveeta tom

steevie--man of his word

chaps and mar-mar

glennnnnnnnnn

frankiepoo

alotta-Todd-a and Jooles

Branalina

the LongBergs

gramps

grand-ma-ma

all of you have such a profound impact in my life -- so much so that i truly don't know how to express it. my heart is filled with love and appreciation for your presence and your magic. thank you for being and for being YOU!

a parting kiss -- for all the people here, there and everywhere (including bloggerland -- really!) -- you all rock!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jj