Idaho, oh Idaho

Breaking news! My favorite singer songwriter is coming home to do a show in August. All of his songs seem to have something grounded in his home state of Idaho… but the one I reprinted the lyrics to below really puts it out there. I love Josh Ritter (so do Norah Jones and Joan Baez but what do they know about music?). His lyrics are poetry and resonate soundly and his voice is absolutely beautiful. He is virtually unknown in the States, but cheesy as it sounds he is huge in Ireland. It must have something to do with potatoes. Scott met him once up in Moscow and said that he was a really nice guy, I think both Scott and I wish Josh needed a drummer. Anyway, none of you out there in cyberland may care, but I can't wait to see him live. MJ and I were actually considering going to his concert Seattle. Now I'm glad we waited.

http://www.joshritter.com/

Idaho

All that love all those mistakes
What else can a poor man make?
So I gave up a life of crime
I gave it to a friend of mine
Something else was on my mind
The only ghost I'm haunted by
I hear her howling down below
Idaho oh Idaho

Wolves oh wolves oh can't you see?
Ain't no wolf can sing like me
And if it could then I suppose
He belongs in Idaho
Packs of dogs and cigarettes
For those who ain't done packing yet
My clothes are packed and I want to go
Idaho oh Idaho

Out at sea for seven years
I got your letter in Tangier
Thought that I'd been on a boat
'Til that single word you wrote
That single word it landlocked me
Turned the masts to cedar trees
And the winds to gravel roads
Idaho oh Idaho

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

I know that talking about it really doesn’t make it any better… but it is still amazingly hot ‘round here. Four days in a row we’ve been in triple digits. MJ and I went to (a really fantastic mac ‘n cheese and pork loin) dinner at my grandparent’s house last night and then headed to the hills for a run. My lungs hurt so bad from smoke or something that must be in that air and I can’t imagine how bad it must have been for Michael considering: 1. He was pulling a tire up the hill (strength training doesn’t necessarily have to happen in a gym) while I was simply running – no tire was attached to me 2. He doesn’t typically run 3. He has asthma 4. It was still about 90 degrees outside even though we waited until almost 10 pm to do it. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing we have ever done, but I think both of us are a little frustrated at being cooped up by the air conditioner and not being able to get out to do anything. I am going to take Monday off and we are going to go hiking up in the Sawtooths. It should be the perfect temperature up there. I can’t wait to get out of this valley, even if just for a weekend.

I was planning on training for a triathlon this fall, but apparently it isn’t triathlon “season.” I had no idea that they were all held in the summer, but I suppose considering the open outdoor swim portion of events this makes perfect sense. I am going to do the training anyway, maybe it will help me in my goal to complete Robie creek one of these days. I couldn’t do it last year because of bursitis in my hip so I am hoping I can get strong enough cross training with biking and swimming to do it this year. I’ll walk if I have to!

That’s all the news I have for now. I hope all is well with everyone and I am sending you all my love. -M

Update and Weekend Plans...

Have I mentioned yet how hot it is here? It’s insane… and the forecast is calling for 110 degrees on Saturday. I’ve got my company picnic that day and then the Twilight Criterium is that night. I love this bike race… this is its 20th anniversary and downtown just lights up (metaphorically) for it… it’s just one more thing to make me appreciate living in this beautiful (but really hot, have I mentioned that already?) city. Unfortunately this year the Criterium falls on the same weekend as the Art and Wine festival at Terrace Lakes. I am a little bummed to be missing that. Mom is always in rare form.
I really don’t have much else to say, I just thought I would check in. Yesterday was an exciting day jam-packed with work, fixing the toilet and grocery shopping. Today's picture is of MJ and the dogs playing in the Middle Fork of the Payette last month. I hope all is well with everyone and I am sending you my love, -M

P.S. Grandma… if you are reading this I will visit as soon as I get a free minute. I miss you and I’m so sorry I didn’t make it up there this week!

Girl's Night

(From left to right me, Wendy, Cori and Geneva)

Every Wednesday for a few years now my girlfriends and I have been getting together for dinner and drinks. I love these women and can't imagine life without them. Actually, if it wasn't for Girl's Night I never would have met MJ. Anyway... I didn't really have much to say today, so I thought I would post a picture we took a few weeks ago when we celebrated Geneva's birthday. I hope all is well. I'm getting ready to head to my yoga class and then out to dinner with the ladies.
Love to you all!

I 'Heart' Planet Earth

I don’t think it can get much hotter ‘round here. The rivers and the reservoir are full of people trying to beat the heat. The flowers in my window boxes are officially dead. The garden is barely hanging on. The thermometer is reaching three digits on a daily basis. Even with our humidity at zero you can’t walk outside without immediately needing a shower. It is miserably hot. What better time than now to go see a movie about global warming?

MJ and I went to see “An Inconvenient Truth” this weekend with a group of our friends. Everything you have heard about how frightening it is… well it’s completely true. It’s also presented in a surprisingly entertaining way. There were a couple of parts to the movie that bothered me. I like Al Gore, and I’ll admit freely that I voted for him. Some of the movie felt like he was still running for president and that annoyed me a little, especially when he kept saying that this is a moral issue and not a political one. It didn’t bother me enough to miss the message of the documentary, however. I did appreciate that he took a little responsibility in failing to effectively get his point across during all of his years in the senate and as vice president. Anyway, regardless of the politics I think everyone should see this movie and I agree with Al - we all have a responsibility to the children and future children in this world to clean up our act, and do our best to reverse the inarguable damage that we have inflicted onto this planet. The problem that was brought up by a couple of our friends when we all stood around discussing the movie afterwards is that the people that need to see this movie wont bother. It did convince me that I need to do more so maybe it will act as a reinforcer for those of us that are already belivers.

Anyway, the little window AC unit I have is now on full blast 24/7 (I buy "green power" from wind and solar sources... it's not too much more a month to do that) and we are keeping as cool as we can by sitting directly in front of it. I hope all of you are staying cool this summer, too. I promise my next post wont sound so much like a lecture from a militant enviromentalist. Lots and lots of love to you all, -M

Produce Trucks and Bunco

There isn’t much going on in my world today. I had Bunco (a dice game that twelve of my girlfriends and I get together and play on the second Thursday of each month) last night. It seemed like everyone was pregnant or trying to get pregnant. I guess since my 30^th birthday is coming up next month and all of us are around the same age that shouldn’t be too shocking, but I am really having a tough time getting used to it. For so long everyone was trying to keep from getting pregnant and I can’t keep up with who is and who isn’t anymore.

While I was there MJ decided to make dinner. I thought I would share the menu so you can all salivate with jealousy the way I did when he sent me a text message during Bunco on my phone telling me what he was making: a barbeque shrimp appetizer followed by New York strip steak marinated in a lemon-grass/ ginger/ chili oil mixture he whipped up, wasabi mashed potatoes (three different kind of potatoes, mind you), and a roasted red pepper salad with a freshly made cracked mustard balsamic vinaigrette. There’s no mystery as to which one of us does most of the cooking. Last time I made dinner it was a frozen pizza I proudly doctored up with parmesan, dried red peppers and dried oregano. Michael is simply a genius in the kitchen.

A smallish produce truck with the name “Fresh Express” on the side almost hit me this morning on my way to work. I have been commuting on my bicycle and it has been an eye-opening experience. The next time you see a cyclist on the street while you are driving please keep in mind that the person on the bike is keeping a car off of the road and give them some extra room. It may make you ten or twelve seconds later getting to your destination but I bet you can spare ten or twelve seconds. Enough of my car vs. bicycle soap box. Suffice it to say the produce truck scaring the bejebus out of me this morning was another reminder to keep appreciating each moment. It also made me appreciate the helmet that MJ bought for me and insists I wear.

These pictures are from our climb up Mt. Borah Fourth of July weekend just before the hail and lightening storm hit. I hope every one has a nice relaxing (or thrilling and exciting - whatever your desire) weekend planned. MJ and I are considering camping somewhere… it is supposed to be 101 degrees in Boise on Sunday and as much as I love living in an older house they sure do get warm! Love to you all.

We Live in a Beautiful World

I’m following Kathy’s lead and creating a blog to keep friends and family members up to date on the goings-on in my life. I’ll try to post pictures here pretty regularly.

Yesterday after spending a lot of my day at work preoccupied thinking about Teb and her amazing tenacity in her battle with melanoma I headed downtown to the yoga studio. I look forward to my class so much on Wednesday nights, both the physical challenge I feel with sunrise salutations and the relaxation poses and meditations. It really helps me to slow down and take notice of what is going on in my head each week. We sometimes do a “thousand petaled lotus” meditation where Lori, our teacher, allows each of us to take a card out of a deck that she has of words relating to different aspects of life. In the past I have had words such as compassion and education. Last night she decided to choose a word for all of us to meditate on rather than having us each pick our own. The word she picked was courage and I was immediately struck. The theme of the day. I don’t know that I could be as courageous as Tricia was in her last year of life, but I do know that I can and will learn what I can from her struggle. I will appreciate each minute to its fullest, I will love my friends and family without reservation, and I will celebrate life and being alive. It is inevitable there will be some bad days. Hopefully I will be able to keep them in perspective. After class last night I picked up some curry and rode my bike over to Albertson Park for a picnic with MJ. We watched the couples that seem to be drawn to that park walking hand in hand at twilight. We could hear the cars speed past, and see the foothills as they turned pink from the reflection of the sunset. Just as the bugs started to bite we finished our curry and got up to leave. It was a perfect evening. I hope you all are well and have had perfect evenings of your own. Namaste.

TEB - An inspiring life lived fully

The world lost an incredible woman last night. She fought an amazingly tough battle against melanoma and taught a lot of people that knew her only through an on-line community what it is to be brave and to take each minute we are given and live it mindfully. If you would like to read about her journey go here... http://www.tebstroops.org/