Retirement River

Wow, it's been almost a year since my last post - what's happening with that!  As summer break approaches once more, it's about to become my endless summer, forever on break, for this year I'm retiring from the life of a hard working nursing instructor.  What a challenge this could be.  After taking a "Transitions" class twice, and never really deciding what to do next, I'm taking the transition plunge. 

Reflecting on this decision, I compared it to scouting a river rapid.  One day, on the Arkansas River, a group of us were scouting a particularly ominous looking rapid.  As I stood there, on the bank of the river, balancing on the steep rocks  lining the bank, I decided there's only so long you can scout a rapid - eventually you must take the raft through it.  You can scout a rapid for an hour or ten minutes - it doesn't usually matter in the end.  On that day, I looked at my trip co-leader, and said, "Let's do it", and he was in agreement - time to go for it.  We loaded up the group and headed into the rapid.  At one point during the turbulent trip most of the others in the boat thought I was going out of the raft into the river.  Funny though, I never felt that way at all through the rapid.  I felt anchored, ready and secure in my spot and never felt as if I was about to be ejected. 

While retirement will present challenges, I'm ready to transition, no matter what it may mean.  It's time to conquer another rapid and it doesn't matter if it takes ten minutes, twelve months, or five years to consider the transition - it is now. 

Summer break begins.....

Oh to be playing golf under the warm New Mexican sun in mid May. Graduation day at the college was yesterday and immediately following, there I was, at Civitan Golf Course with my good friend and president of the Western New Mexico Lunatic Fringe Golf League, Vicki.

Although Vicki wasn't able to make many of the golf classes spring semester, she showed off how great a break can be from playing golf and hitting at the driving range at least twice a week. Despite her protestations, she did great, hit straight down the fairway several times and demonstrated her accurate shots to the hole when on the green.

We played with a new friend, Jody, a former city employee who spends many days now on the golf course, usually Pinon Hills or Riverview. She coached us a bit and shared her knowledge of the rules, which we politely accepted but actually don't care too much about.

After golf, Vicki and I shared a new bottle of wine with her husband, sat on their deck and had a group therapy session, celebrating the end of the semester. Life is good when there's a future of days on the golf course, and a break from the rigors of work - hee-ha!

It's here - 2011! Time for resolutions meant to be kept

A new year has arrived as an opportunity, and I'm inspired by this new beginning to make resolutions I'll keep over the next 365 days and forever after. Most of us make resolutions each January and we know they won't be kept, but during this initial phase of the new year I'm determined to make some resolutions which will enlighten my life and make it better than it is today.

Here is a toast to getting in shape, keeping doctor's appointments, and oh, yeah, actually listening to what my physician has to say. That 10 pounds I've gained since my Dad passed away - it's about to be gone! It takes more than wishing it away and with these words I commit to more than wishes. I will do what it takes to improve my chances for being as healthy as as I can. Ageing isn't for wimps and it takes more time, energy and commitment to live a healthy lifestyle as the years rush by.

The fitness center is just a few miles away, and when I'm at work, it's only a few steps away. I can practically see the climbing wall from my office. It's a bit like Sarah Palin's international affairs expertise, however, as I've never actually been on the climbing wall, but I do walk by it daily. Zumba classes are what hold my interest, and over the last week I've gone to three. Every instructor teaches the class a little differently, but that doesn't matter because it's always an adventure in a Zumba class. I've moved parts of my body in ways they've never moved before. You call that "adding flavor" according to the instructors. Sometimes I look around at the other people in class and can't believe what we're doing. We probably look ridiculous to the people outside the workout room door, but hey, what the heck.

My resolutions this year go beyond getting into better shape physically. I'm going to work on being present in the moment, every moment, as Jon Kabat-Zinn would say. I resolve to strive for enlightenment, practicing awareness of each moment in time, and that said, not take myself too seriously at the same time. Here's another toast to making meditation practice part of my daily life.

What ever your plans and resolutions are for the new year, here's my toast to you:

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011!

Ode to St. Anthony

An incident occurred a few weeks ago that gave me a new perspective on religious symbols such as the many saints which dominate the Catholic religion's teachings. My mom and I stopped one Sunday on our route between Los Alamos and Farmington, at the spot regionally known as "The Tee pees" and also known as the casino on 550. We usually stop frequently when we travel together to give us both a break, either to walk around a bit, or to have something to eat.

The casino has a small restaurant with friendly, if not efficient, staff. It took us about 60 minutes to order, receive, and eat our burger and hot dog. It seemed like we were there quite a while and as we readied ourselves for continuing on our way, I reached into my purse for my car keys and discovered them gone! I rushed to the restroom and checked all the stalls and the top of the towel dispensing machine but, no luck. I rushed outside to my car to check whether the keys were locked inside and they weren't visible, either in the car or anywhere else in the parking lot. Panic set in as I rushed back inside to ask the security guard if anyone had found car keys. No one had and as I ran back to the restrooms to check once again, my mind raced to the next steps I might take - calling a locksmith and having him travel 100 miles to the tee pees to get my car open and a key to start it. How much would this end up costing, especially on Father's Day?

Back at the restroom a sign was posted, "Closed for cleaning", but I proceeded inside to ask the attendant if she had found car keys. She replied she hadn't and as I stepped outside into the hallway, a young woman with her daughter stood waiting. She asked if the restroom was really closed and I replied it was, I had just been inside looking for lost car keys. The woman sympathized and suggested I ask St. Anthony to return my keys. To humor her I said out loud, "St. Anthony, please help me find my car keys!" I smiled at the woman, still planning my strategy to get out of this predicament, and as I headed back outside to once again search the parking lot the security guard approached me saying, "Are you the lady who lost her keys?" What do you know, he had my car keys in his hand and he thrust them toward me, saying someone had just turned them in. I asked where they had been found and he said he didn't know, someone just dropped them off with security.

It may have been a coincidence, but a week later I tried asking St. Anthony to return a golf ball which had appeared to go into the well of a tree and once again, St. Anthony came through. After I searched and searched for the golf ball to no avail, I threw out another ball to use, then asked St. Anthony to return my ball. I looked up and noticed my original golf ball about 10 feet in back of the tree. It had only looked like the ball went into the tree's well! All this is a little spooky for a nonbeliever like myself, but today I consider St. Anthony my special friend.

On the Gunflint Trail

A few days spent at Gunflint Lodge on the Gunflint Trail in Minnesota make the hot summers in New Mexico more tolerable. Canoeing, kayaking, hiking and EATING are just a few of the activities that kept us busy during our stay at the lodge. The high temps were in the 60's - quite a difference from the high 90's and record breaking 100's I left behind in Farmington and Albuquerque. My favorite excursion during the trip included a canoe which was a replica of a birch bark canoe used by the Voyagers who settled this extreme northern landscape of Minnesota. We left the lodge in the early afternoon and our paddle captain, John, was surprised four women could maintain a powerful rhythm, propelling the canoe forward, fast and furiously. We paddled across Gunflint Lake, approached the narrows which separates the lake from Magnetic Lake, then proceeded across Magnetic Lake and on to the Magnetic River. We anchored the canoe just before the rock strewn rapids and hiked down river to view more rapids where we witnessed a group of canoeists portaging the rapid upstream. This group dragged their canoes up over the rocks and our paddle captain shook his head at their lack of proper technique. Because we were on the Canadian side of the river, we took a picture of ourselves in Canada - no passport needed!
Another totally enjoyable activity at Gunflint Lodge is eating the food and I had my fair share of Walleye on this trip - cashew encrusted, pepper coated and even a deep fried Walleye sandwich - yum! When I return to New Mexico and reality, my first impulse is to dial up Weight Watchers and try to delete the pounds put on in Minnesota. The hikes, the kayaking, the canoeing don't seem to make a difference because the food is abundant and too difficult to resist.
Another trip to Gunflint has ended and I now savor the memories and look forward to next year's trip.

The lovely, the eerie, the irritating wind

What the heck is going on here? It's been day after day, after day, of wind. The views are hazy continuously and it's impossible to get anything productive done in the yard without suffering for it later....allergies aggravated, and sinus issues developing as a result of the everlasting wind. Not a day has gone by without wind lately and I am done with it! Is this a new development from global warming? I can't say I remember the extreme wind being a part of springtime 20 years ago - was I just not noticing or is this an insidious outcome of a planet in decline?

Despite the eerie weather, spring planting has begun and the poppies are popping, the roses are blooming and the lilacs have been here and gone. Before the wind begins and when it's done, chores are accomplished, pots get planted and fence pickets get stained and sealed. It's all part of the preparation for relaxing on the patio in the heat of summer when it's too hot to play golf!

Speaking of golf, Katie and I played yesterday at Civitan, and Vicki, the NMLFGA president, joined us for a few holes after she played a round with other local members. It was quite the chilly day to start out, and after the other regular golfers departed, we felt like Civitan was our private course. The day warmed up nicely, the wind subsided, and after playing almost 15 holes, we all departed on our own paths. My own path took me to my own backyard to admire my newest poppy bloom. It's just another day in paradise.

Winter, winter, go away

Winter, winter, go away, all the golfers want to play......

After skiing yesterday, a friend and I played golf today at our favorite course, Civitan, in Farmington. What a great day - sunshine, a cool breeze, and lots of citizens on the course, playing nice together. We did as well as we usually do - and that's variable - but had a great time, par for the course!

The winter seemed unending, especially with snow storm after snow storm hitting us here in the Four Corners. Of course the weather we received can in no way compare to the rest of the country and what they experience each and every winter. However, we are a bit spoiled. When it snows, it melts - rather quickly. We can drive, we can tool around town, and NO shoveling usually occurs! This winter was a little different in terms of shoveling and my aching back knows it. We'll have lots of water coming our way this spring and summer, an unbelievable plus for us in the high desert.

Last week saw Golf I starting again, the sixth time, at least, for me. Our new instructor is Ryan, a young man going pro this year. He has many helpful suggestions and is very polite and soft spoken. We were on the driving range at Riverview Golf Course in Kirtland for Thursday's class and Ryan gave me more of a clue about how to aim the ball. I practiced his tips today and actually saw my golf ball go where I intended quite a few times - remarkable!

More to come in the weeks ahead - golf, hiking, and best of all - Spring!