Author: rrainefiore

Slippers

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

We were in Japan for an Awakening to Presence (ATP) workshop.  This is the course work I did from 2007 to 2014.  There is a class and a public workshop in Japan and I have never been to one of their classes.  I decided it was time to go experience what it is like in Japan.  The class/workshop is done at a retreat center in the mountains near Bessho Onsen.

The ways of the retreat center and Japanese people are different than ours in many ways.  One of the things that is different is shoes.  Shoes are not used in homes.  They are not used in some restaurants, but are ok in others.  I couldn’t tell what the difference on restaurants was.  We met the Japanese assistant teachers at the train station and got in a couple of cabs with them to go up to the retreat center.  We were arriving early with them to prepare for the class/workshop which would start a day later.  I’m glad we arrived with them as it would have been more difficult to navigate the cultural differences without them.  When we got to the retreat center, we walked up a steep path to the main retreat center building.  This was the building where we would eat and sleep.  There was a large raised deck.  They put their suitcases on the deck on their sides.  Then wet towels were brought out to wipe off the wheels and bottoms of the suitcases.  I would have messed that up if they had not showed us what needed to be done.

Then you take off your shoes and put them in cubby holes.  There are around 60-100 pairs of slippers near the cubby holes.  None of them are fit for a woman.  They are all giant, but probably too small for some larger men.  They basically fit no one.  But you have to wear the slippers as you walk across the decks.  I’m not quite sure how to walk in slippers that keep falling off while carrying a newly cleaned suit case.  Then when you get to the room we are sleeping in, the bathroom or the room where we are to eat, you take the slippers off at the door and go in socks.  When you go into the bathroom, you leave your deck slippers at the door and put on bathroom slippers.  That seems like a lot of effort to me.  Then when everyone is at dinner there a ton of slippers outside of the dining room.  When you leave the dining room, the slippers you came in with are gone and you end up taking any slippers you can find.  This makes no sense to me.  Is it cleaner to wear the same slippers someone else was wearing an hour ago than to just forgo the slippers altogether?  It definitely would have been safer as I was constantly shuffling just to not toss a slipper across the deck or to face plant when one came off as I was trying to step on that foot.

I love the idea of no shoes indoors, but I’m not quite on board with deck slippers.

59339806_10217096490259568_8798819012180967424_n

Electric Bikes

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’m in Japan for an ATP workshop.  We arrived a few days early to check out the small town near where the workshop will be.  We’ve covered most of the village of Bessho Onsen on foot so far.  We were told by our Airbnb host that the town had bikes we could use for free.  There’s another section of town we could get to and explore if we had bikes.  There are some more temples we could see also.  We went down to the train station to “rent” the bikes.  They are electric bikes.  I’ve never ridden an electric bike.  They do seem to be all the rage lately so this should be fun.  This is a mountain village so it’s not flat.  The electric bikes should help with the steeper sections of journey as well.  But, of course, there is no flat open place to practice.  Nor did I have any thought that I would need practice.  I get on the bike and pedal to cross the street from the train station to the sidewalk on the other side of the street.  One half pedal rotation was like three.  I shot like a rocket across the street squeeling like an 8 year old girl.  For some reason, unexpected speed made my body think it needed to turn the handle bars sharply to the left.  I almost spun out in the middle of the street.  I managed to correct the turn just before getting to the curb.  What have I gotten myself into?  A whole afternoon of this?  Of course, the sidewalk was steep in the beginning and didn’t level off for about 15 minutes.  By the time it leveled off, I was a little more use to riding.  Starting remained a challenge most of the afternoon, though.  We got to ride through a more residential area of town which was wonderful.  I love to see neighborhoods and see how people live.   It’s fun to see what’s different and what’s the same.  It’s fun to try to imagine what it would be like to live there, where you would shop, where you would exercise, who you might know.  We went up into the hills and saw some temples.  The bikes were so helpful for climbing the small hills that would have been a huge challenge on a normal bike.  Now I want an electric bike.

Secret Balcony

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Colorado, Beautiful ThingsLeave a comment

Near the end of ski season there was a big party at the base of the ski resort.  There was a live band a people were dancing.  I met a couple new friends there for a drink.  The day was warm and the atmosphere was celebratory.   After a drink and some snacks, the people I was with were ready to go, but I wasn’t.   I was enjoying the nice afternoon and the sun.  I had run into some other friends as they came in from skiing, but I didn’t see where they went.  So, I texted one to find out if they were still hanging out around the festivities.  His response was “yea.  We are on the secret balcony, hanging out with the cops”.  Huh? I waited a few minutes expecting more information to come in, but none did.  So I asked him if was going to tell me how to get to this secret balcony.  He told me to go to the elevators past ski school and go up to 3r.  I had a heck of a time finding the elevators by ski school.  In fact, I didn’t really ever see anything that said ski school, but I hunted around the building for an elevator.  I found an elevator down a hallway that didn’t quite look like I should be in the hallway.  But, of course, if it’s a secret balcony, I guess it shouldn’t be easy to find and I shouldn’t feel quite like I’m supposed to be there.  The elevator had a 3r so I pushed it and ended up in another hallway.  At the end of the hallway looked like what might be a balcony, but no one was there.  Finally my friend poked his head out a different door.  I followed him through a room that looked like where kids might eat lunch – lots of low tables with small seats. On the other side of the room was the secret balcony.  It sat just above where the live band was.  We could look down on the crowd below.  But we had to sit on small children sized chairs.  It’s nice to know people with access to secret places.

20190420_165843

Spa Light

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I use to do ear candling more often, but over the years of living alone, have done it less often as it’s not a safe (or possible?) thing to do by yourself.  I found a place that will do it for you.  I felt like I was getting a sinus or ear infection so I decided to pay someone else to do ear candling for me.

I went into the massage office and was shown to a room.  The room was dimly lit, cozy and warm.  The soft light made you want to nap.  I laid down to wait.  The whole ceiling broke out into fluffy clouds of soft light.  Upon closer inspection, it looked like the whole ceiling was covered in lace.   When I looked around the dimly lit room, I realized the entire room was also fluffy clouds of light.  There was a large metal light in the middle of the ceiling.  It had tons of tiny holes as well as flowers cut out of the metal.  The light fell out of it in soft shapes all over the ceiling and walls.  I’m not sure if the lamp or it’s effect on the ceiling and walls was more pretty.

Tubing

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Colorado, Beautiful Things, Uncategorized1 Comment

The winter season is winding down.  The ski resort is still open, but it’s mostly slush, not snow.  It’s less crowded.  One of my friends got $5 tickets for the tubing hill at the ski resort.  And it was the last week the tubing hill would be open.  So at lunch time, three of us went tubing for an hour.

On our way to our first run we heard a little kid screaming very loudly in giant protest when his parents made him leave.  We all thought we might feel like that when it was our turn to leave, when our hour was up.

There were four tracks.  We went down a couple, taking turns before we found out we could go down all at the same time holding onto each other’s tubes.  That was a game changer.  We tried all four until we found our favorite one.  We hooked our tubes together and went down screaming and laughing like teenagers.  It was amazing how little control you had, just hold on and giggle.

This is where I live.  These are my friends.  This was my lunch break.  How wonderful.  I was sad to go, but was able to keep from screaming and crying in protest.

20190404_112607

Snowmobile Training

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Colorado, Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

There’s a guy in Search and Rescue that has caught my attention.  I know he has a snowmobile so I asked him if he wanted to go snowmobiling sometime.  He said yes.  And then asked if anyone else wanted to go.  Huh?   Oh, he didn’t get it.  I do know that my friend wants to go badly.  We are both new to Search and Rescue and in need of some snowmobiling practice/lessons.  So I mentioned her.  Next thing I know, it’s 4 of us going and it’s now a training.  I played that wrong.

I know very little about snowmobiles.  I think I was on one 17 +/- years ago and then again 25 years ago.  Plus, who gets to go snowmobiling for “training”?  So, even if it is training and not a date, it’s going to be fun.

The two guys decide that we should take 2 snowmobiles out instead of 4.  Good plan.  Richard comes up to me after the two snowmobiles are ready to go and asks who is riding with who.  Really?  He doesn’t get it.  We all ride out to a big field where the two guys get off and let us newbies practice riding.  Riding out to the field I kept imagining what it would feel like to drive a snowmobile, and even though I’ve done it before, I couldn’t even guess what it would feel like.  That in itself is such a very weird feeling to be setting out to do something you can’t even imagine feeling.  We around the field for a bit.  It took me a while to get comfortable with the speed and turning, but I got more comfortable.  I thought it might feel like floating, but it wasn’t quite like that.  It was quite a bit more effort than I expected to turn them.  Even though it didn’t feel like floating, it was fun.  We spent the rest of the afternoon trail riding.  There are so many snowmobile trails.  I think you could ride for days.

A few days later we decided to go again, but this time start at dusk.  It was three of us since the guy I like decided not to go.  He definitely doesn’t get it.  Still, it was so much fun. I got to drive the whole time.  It was super creepy which added to the fun.  The headlamps would only illuminate a small section of the trail ahead of you and the area to the sides and behind you was dark.  The headlamps would throw weird shadows which looked like animals or other things moving just off the trail.  We went up to a point where you could look out over the valley and see all the lights of Granby.  Granby isn’t that large so “all” the lights isn’t like looking at a city, but it still was fun to see and it was more lights than I would have expected.

Post blog note: It has been confirmed that at the time of snowmobiling, he did not get it.  It took until August, but now Richard is my boyfriend.  He gets it now.

1 Fox 2 Moose Day

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve lived in Grand County for six months now.  I had heard the stories of how Grand County, especially the Rocky Mountain National Park, was infested with moose, but I’ve only seen one moose.  I’ve even gone on “moose hunts” (hunting with my camera). I’ve purposely driven through the park.  I’ve gone on hikes where moose are known to be.  Where are they?

Today I went up to Monarch Lake.  People always see moose there.  Maybe I’d get lucky,  It’s late in the day – perfect moose sighting time of day.  Plus, if you were a moose, why would you want to be anywhere other than Monarch Lake?  But, I didn’t expect to see moose and I was in great need of a cardio workout since I often sit in front of my computer for days due to work.  I have walked part way around the lake before.  I usually go left around the lake, but have never done the full 4 mile loop. So, today I was going to go right around the lake just to see something different.  Maybe I would even have time to do the full loop.

As I’m driving into the parking lot, I see a grey fox off to the side.  He looks at me for a while.  I look back at him in amazement and talk to him.  I don’t think he understands what I’m saying. Then he runs off.  I’ve never seen a grey fox.  I didn’t even know there was such a thing as a grey fox.  I’ve only seen red fox.  One time in Evergreen, I saw a black fox.  That was one of the rarest and most special things I’ve ever seen.  But, here is a grey fox and it feels almost as rare and special as the black fox.  This is a good day.

I walked the short distance to the trailhead.  I turned right.  I was stopped instantly.  A mother and daughter were just standing there staring at two moose.  There was a mother and baby moose standing in the shallows of the lake eating.  They were only about 100 steps or so away from me.  Backing up back down the trail might have been the smarter thing to do, but I was rooted where I stood and couldn’t move.  So were the two people that had gotten there before me.  They were right next to the trail I had planned on taking.  There were a couple other people on the trail on the other side of the moose.  We all stood there for what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes.  I guess I’m not hiking today.  This is just a wildlife watching trip.

Then the two people on the other side of the moose gave up on waiting and decided to walk by.  They must have come withing 4 feet of the moose.  I thought, oh jeeze, this isn’t only the day I get to see moose up close, this is the day I get to see a moose trample people.  A mother moose is a terrifying thing.  Am I ready for this?  They walked by and the moose paid no attention.  I watched them for about 45 minutes total and then decided to head home.

20190510_145825

20190510_15085020190510_145409It was a 1 fox 2 moose day.  I think that’s a good day.

The Sound of Happy

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Colorado, Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

There is a very big YMCA camp near where I live.  They have cabins, lodges, horseback riding, a sledding hill, a Nordic ski center and so many other amenities.  I have gone cross country skiing there a few times.  The sledding hill is near the Nordic center.  Today it must have been part of spring break as the amount of kids on the hill was 4 times as many as I’ve seen before.  Usually, I enjoy the quiet of being out in nature or at least the sound of my skis on the snow or my jacket rustling as I move.  Today, you could hear laughter, squeals, giggling, screaming and general chatter.  It filled the air and traveled quite a distance.  If you closed your eyes you could just see the smiles on all the kids faces.  The sound of happy was everywhere.  It was such a nice change from the quiet and much better than listening to music through ear phones.

Trough Road

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The fastest route to go west of where I live is not to go down to the highway, but to travel west through a couple small towns and then west along a long dirt road (Trough Road) through the mountains.  I have taken this route a few times now to get to Snowmass Village where some of my friends live.  The first time I took the route, I just let google maps direct me and I was quite shocked when it took me down this long, steep, not very wide road for over an hour.  After looking at maps closer, I realized, this really is the quickest way.

A large storm was due to hit Denver the day I was supposed to be going to Snowmass.  My plan had been to drive to Snowmass in the evening.  The whole city of Denver was in a panic over the storm.  You would think the end of the world was coming.  Grand County got the edge of the storm.  Schools were closed and the news was covered in warnings.  At one point I looked at the traffic maps and almost every highway was closed.  I debated leaving earlier to go to Snowmass, but I was afraid to get on the highway and I was sure Trough Road would not be navigable.  Plus, the mountains had been trying to kill people with avalanches lately and I was very wary of the avalanche danger.  Many areas that haven’t had avalanches in 10 or more years were covering roads and highways.  I watched the snow plow go down my road at least 5 times during the day even though I could barely see the end of my driveway.

At one point in the early afternoon, the storm lifted a little.  The clouds were still there, but they rose a little higher in the sky.  The snow slowed and I could see the end of the driveway.  I thought, if I’m going to go, now is the time.  The hardest part of the drive was my own driveway since I didn’t shovel first.  All the roads in Grand County were cleared pretty well.  I think the county has a shortage of plumbers, but an excess of snow plowers.  As I was driving, I was wondering what Trough Road would look like.  I was wondering if there was avalanche danger or if the snow would be so thick you couldn’t drive on it.  I got to it and it looked like it had been plowed.  So, I took a chance, hoping I wouldn’t get stuck if it wasn’t plowed the whole way.

It was plowed the whole way, still covered in snow and slush, but not so deep that you couldn’t drive through it.  The clouds stayed low and threatening, but it didn’t snow any more and the wind was calm.  Everything was a monotonous grey.  I saw deer, lots of deer, crossing the street, walking down the street.  I saw some elk also.  I even saw big horn sheep, which I hardly ever see in Colorado anymore.  I only saw one truck.  It was this very quiet world in slow motion as if I was in a secret bubble hidden from the storm, hidden from other cars and other humans.  It was just a pocket of beautiful nature and me.

As I got to the end of the road and close to where I would get on the highway, the road became dry.  The clouds were even higher in the sky.  The western part of the state hardly saw any of the storm.  Instead of terrifying, Trough Road had been a tunnel of safety between the storm and the highway.

Wild Animals

On By rrainefioreIn Beautiful Things, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I miss seeing wild animals from my house.  When I lived in Evergreen, I had a fox that visited regularly.    There were lots of deer, elk every once in a while, and bear.  I saw a black fox once which was very neat.  The squirrels told me stories every day and the chip monks terrorized my house.

When I lived in Morrison, I had a bunny factory under my porch.  There were lots of deer, some rattle snakes and I even saw one bobcat.

I was excited to move to Grand County, thinking I would have even more wild animal sightings.  But so far, there haven’t been any sightings near the house.  There have been footprints in the snow in front of my office window so something has been visiting.  I can’t tell from the prints what it is, only that something small has been there.  Is it a fox, a small wild cat, or something else?  Then one day, I finally saw I white blur go running in front of my office window.  It was difficult to see since it was white on a background of white snow.  Maybe I would see it again the next day.  I did see it the next day, and the next and almost once a week.  It was the small white house dog of my next-door neighbor.  Roughly every few days he goes tearing through the neighborhood in the pure excitement of being outside and able to run.