Last Ride Before Winter - Part 9

Words and photos by Greg

I bought some skis. Some poles and boots. Cross country skis. Used, and circa 1985 or so, which is appropriate, since that's about the last time I owned cross country skis.

Trina wanted to go skiing last winter. We went once. Up the mountain on a sunny day on fresh snow with borrowed skis and borrowed boots that chewed my feet down to bloody nubs. We didn't go again.

But now I'm fully equipped and ready to ski. There's just one problem.

Here in the valley, the trend of our season continues unabated. Mostly dry conditions and sunshine, or at least sunshine-ish. Which makes it pretty hard to justify a drive up the big mountain to cold and snow when, hey, there are mountain bike trails right here near the edge of town. And we like to ride.

I was out there today. Just me and Sprocket. We rode/ran right from home, hit singletrack in about 20 minutes, and took a loop including one of my favorite chunky, flowy trails anywhere. Beautiful weather. Amazing trail. And I seemed to "have it" today in a way that made everything about the ride feel "right". Which was an extremely good way to feel on the last ride before winter.

Well, er... IF it's the last ride before winter.

Last Ride Before Winter - Part 8

This past Monday, I rode an amazing cliffside trail with a couple excellent riders, both of whom were also packing cameras. The theme of the day was maybe 50/50 ride/photograph. Or maybe even 30/70. The light was a bit softer and grayer than we'd hoped for, but we still managed to eke some fun shots out of it.

With these particular photo-geeks, there's never really any hurry, and there's never a reason not to stop and shoot. Which probably explains why we squeezed every bit of light out of the day and made it back down the perilous trail to the bottom with no more than an orange band of light remaining on the western horizon.

Yet another Last Ride Before Winter®.

Random 5

Text: Trina
Photos: Trina and Greg

Algae abstract
Algae "painting" on white bricks that sat under waterlily pots all summer



Karotenia (Greek carrot truffles)
We've been searching out adventurous and unusual recipes which will make good use of our garden carrots with their carrot-to-the-tenth-power flavor. The last one, Indian carrot and cashew payasam was amazing, rich and decadent, and this one also proved to be super yummy, unusual and intense.



Winter blossoms



Autumn leaf




River rock

Wrestle Mania Episode 1,394

Photos: Trina







PAUSE for some reassuring ear licking!





AND RESUME!

Still Autumn

Words and photos by Greg

I like to ride. Faced with the dread of cold, snow, of ice and winter, I had to get in one last ride on the mountain bike.

I think I have now been on four different "last rides" so far. The rumors of the imminent arrival of winter have been exaggerated. Trails have remained dry (or dry enough) and the temperatures have been chilly in a way that's not so noticeable with the sun shining. The actual "last ride" will have to wait until... Well, no one knows.

I was outside at my workbench grinding up fruit to go in the cranberry relish when I heard the cries of sandhill cranes from far overhead. There is a wildness to their clatter-and-shout that draws strange feelings from within me. Strange, because I'm unsure of their meaning. They seem to be the echo of a call to action. But what that action is, I don't know. Part of me wants to follow them, to move toward somewhere new or anciently familiar. Part of me wants to fiercely enjoy as much of the season's slanting light as possible. And part of me wants to hunker down inside and delve into hearty, earthy foods. And all this with an urgency that seems to be drawn from the coming winter.

It is still autumn. Time to be outside. Time to go places. Time to feast on the bounty of harvest. And there is probably still time for one more ride...



Not a sandhill crane.


Walking off the effects of feasting.


Not the cave we're hunkering down in when winter finally comes.






A fabulous ravioli we made from our garden squash and garden sage.


Last year: Trina and Sprocket taking one last ride.