SpaceCowgirl

3/8/08

nebraska, iowa, wisconsin

it's cold out here.

and the wind is such as i have never known. even coming from boulder.

Meredith: iowa has crazy wind. its nuts. be ready. it's insane. i'm rootin' for ya. ;-) at least it will be warmer when you're here....

frozen air, even on the inside

that black floating chaos ... is a flock of birds. we seem to be crossing a migration of some sort. very beautiful. they MUST be cold. they're flying INTO the wind for some crazy reason.

i mentioned it was icy and windy right?

rest stop.

All of the fields look 110% flooded, and then frozen. seems like fun to go ice skate through the fields. seriously.

just getting into wisconsin

another full day on the road.

why does driving across the county seem so exhausting? i haven't been this tired since... might be the motion sickness. i can't ride as a passenger to save my life, especially in the backseat.

driving was tribute to grandma, who NEVER flew, didn't like to fly, and who hated to travel anywhere but Arizona. her husband, an air force pilot, felt differently. i can't count the times that she drove this very route to be with family.

today will be a big day.

3/7/08

heading east

denver to somewhere in nebraska:

papa driving

one of those places along the way ... somewhere in the middle

lovin' the scenery

lingering

ah, the highway

um...

my sissy, studying (personally, i can't do anything but look forward while in a car. i got sick just watching a movie, playing with the camera, and talking)

;-)

seems to be a lot of dirt out here. dirt and rolling hills... at least until it turns back into snow and wind of an insane nature.

rollin' further east with the family in the morning.

hoping for good coffee, somewhere. did starbucks FORGET the whole middle of the country or what?

3/2/08

it's march

so let's see. march has started off with a bang. the last ride of february (last weekend) was lovely, challenging, and ... well, cold. THIS weekend, however: i sported a mighty nice sunburn by 3pm on saturday afternoon. ohhyeah.

waking up sunday morning ...... i think it sounded something like this upon opening the shades to the window: "nnnnnnnnnnnnnnNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"

colorado in march. here comes winter!!!

so, pix from the last week or so:

tonka sez: yes, it's my house, i can decorate it however i want.

last weekend we rode a long way around evergreen. i needed more layers than i had. and the wind was slightly demoralizing. but all worth it, right? this is a small stand of water just below the last house i lived in within evergreen before i migrated to summit county after high school.

we rode by my very first school-bus-stop. i remember carrying my bag of crayons and pencils and erasers, standing in this very spot.

darling ... are you having any fun at all? ;-)

this the only pic i'm posting of the brilliant, blissful ride on saturday. it's eds pic, of course, as i felt like travelling light and not carrying a camel back, or anything but water and necessary flat-tools. i think ed was trying to capture the spring melt, the road-side dirty spring snow, the light......... really, it was one of the few times we stopped long enough to take a pic. we had a WONDERFULLY good ride on saturday.

so, while ed takes pix of the pounds and feet of snow outside, i thought i'd take pix of the fire inside ... the one in the house, and the one he lights inside of me ;-)

3/1/08

elaine c. meinerz

grandma made it to the other side last night. in peace.

10.21pm, February twenty ninth, two thousand and eight.

she left on leap year. she snuk out. like a secret.

go grandma go.

i love you.

jj

2/27/08

ten february facts + 1 kitty story

thanks, chris. (for tagging me on the 10 things i love about feb task).

i don't love feb, so this ought to prove ... worth while, eh?

ok.february.uhm.

10 FabFebFacts:

1. i love the fact that daylight savings is closer than it was a month ago (closer than a day ago, closer than an hour ago). i want the light in the afternoons. i'm striving towards march. February is almost over!

2. ok, can't lie: February is often times the best month of SNOW here. so i like the febSnow. so skiing is awesome, and i've not done much of it this February ... so i'm a slacker, because THIS February has proven to be mightySNOWfine indeed. bad jeny.

3. i like February for the same reason i hate February: no MTBtrail action here (really). i hate this for obvious reasons, but i like it because it allows me to "hide" on my bike -- riding slowly, in private, on far away roads, on the rollers .... i don't know why i like this.

4. i like the way you can tell every single day that the daylight hours are getting longer. every afternoon the light surprises and excites me, and every mornings dawn feels a little more fresh.

this is very difficult. gaaahhhh.

5. ok, here is one: i like the way tonka is afraid of the snow. ed and i only let tonka outside when we're there to supervise. sometimes, when it's snowing in earnest and the ground is pristine and white, we open the door to see if tonka will decorate the trackless snow with his purrfect little pawprints. tonka has one word for these moments: hellno. it's funny!

6. well, usually moab and February go hand in hand. but not this year.... so. does that count?

chris, you're making me feel like a pessimist. ohwait, i am. ;-) i didn't know i was such a pessimist about February.

7. i like ed drenched in February. he is fun to play with ;-)

8. i like it that both of my grandparents (on my fathers side) were born in February.

9. i like it that my sweaters are all worn-in and cozy and that i still get to wear them. i love sweaters. more than i love February.

sigh.

10. i like the sound of the word 'February'. like the look of the word 'February'. it's round, it's blue and for some really wrong reason, it feels like a cozy word.

there.

OK, now for the Kitty Story:

tonka's story told from tonka's point of view. tonka said he wanted to get out and get some exercise (he actually gained weight while on his 'diet' for the last year) ....

tonka: hey, ed ... where do you go on your ponies every day? why can't i go along?
ed: oh, you can come along! here, let's get you set up on the TiPony.

tonka: let's see, do i put all my paws here? will i fit on that little saddle? how does the pony move?

tonka: oh, wait. i don't think my front paws can hold on here while my back paws hold on to the pedal thingies way down there. is this really how it's supposed to work? something just doesn't seem right here. i don't think the 29'er is my size.

tonka: ok, ed, now i KNOW this ain't right!!!

and that was tonka's extensive foray into the world of mountain biking.

;-)

yeah.

jj

2/15/08

schmookie

ed asked me if i thought our friends thought we were that schmookie kind of couple.

my brow raised ...... 'hell yes.'

it's just so terribly awesome ;-)

just as a note: i'm one hell of a lucky woman.

thank you, ed, for the most wonderful first valentines day ------ and for the 11 months of sunrises leading up to it ;-)

awww....

awww.... x2

ed spent the evening showing me how to actually use my cameras secret weapons.

more lessons....

we were seated at the table next to the table we usually sit at (monet). tonight we were dining with (on) klimts KISS. perfecto.

our walk between dinner and the, uh, bar. ;-)

on the walk, the window was very reflective of the inner states.

sitting at the bar, facing all the bottles, with the reflection of the wall and the paintings behind us, we spent most of our time at Blue trying to capture images of this wonderful little environment. ed did better than i did, but i had good ideas ;-)

another image from behind

my spot at the table. i just liked the light

enjoy. (i sure did).

2/10/08

just another day out in the sun

it was 20 degrees out this morning when we suited up, down at buff creek. BUURR. especially considering it was near 40 when we left the house. we were all expecting to get away with knee-warmers, not 2 pair of leggin's!!!

but, 20 is what it was. so 20 is what it was.

45 miles
3,100 vert
too many layers to count ;-)

we started straight up the hill. some of us like to warm up before we start working in earnest. some of us (them) had no freaking clothes on so we utilized the climb as a way to keep people from ... freaking out.

truth be told, i was a bit worried that i wasn't feeling up for the big hoopla today. after how i felt after our mini-ride yesterday, i thought i was having issues. turns out i was wrong. not only did i make it, but i had some really wonderfully good extended moments worth of moments. i may feel slower than necessary pushing up the hills right now, but there is fire in there. and i'm hoping that the mysterious fatigue and drain from last season just simply doesn't show up this time around. darnit ;-)

needless to say, i got the job done, and i smiled 99% of the way. despite feeling inexplicably strange the last 3 miles, the recovery-drink and following meal set me so straight i feel fantastic. go figure. i feel better now than i did after our mini-ride yesterday. hum.

Thanks, guys, for the hoopla today. Much needed.

The day in pix:

ed and i awoke to the wake of tonka's busy night. above is what seems to be tonkas version of a rabbit. can you see what it really is/was?

hugos layering process.... he didn't have too many layers to start. nutcase.

john's layering process. nice manpris! he didn't have enough layers to start either. dumkopf!

steveies slow layering process. he did end up with real riding shoes. but no booties! DOH!

ed came prepared! toasty hot ;-)

anyone want to guess how many layers i had on? go ahead, try ;-)

this was the view north-ish before we pulled out of the parking lot. the cloud blocked the sun for a solid hour or so ... and it stayed darn-right cold because of it.

this is the fantabulous crew, left to right: hugo, jenyjo, johnyboy, steevie, edmund (ed and steve were having a man-friend-quarrel;-))

this was at the 'top!' (well, not ACTUALLY, but it felt like it). the sun broke out right about here. much anticipated. we started the peeling process here.