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I hike Lake Isabelle yesterday! I remember last time I hiked Lake Isabelle, I thought it was one of the prettiest places I’d ever been. This time? Not so much. It’s SNOWY.

Seeing these sorts of signs at the normal parking area, and the sign at the fee station that read “Condition: packed snow”, I was concerned that I wouldn’t even be able to get to the lake!

But I was. There’s no snow to speak of, save for some wet and muddy patches that you need to hop across, until you actually reach the lake. Then, there’s snow. The trail leading to the lake was nice, though. Because of the wet winter we had, there was an abundance of streams that made for nice photos.

When you finally hit the switchbacks leading up to the lake, you’re greeted by the sight of the World’s Biggest Snowfield. Well, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but it was really snowy. The lake itself looks like a lake in Alaska with a glacier calving off into it.

So that was my hike! I neglected to bring a snack, so I was very hungry when I reached the car, and as a result, exhausted. I stopped off at a small restaurant on 72 near the Brainard Lake turnoff and had myself a piece of apple pie, because it was the only thing I could afford. It was good, though I’m no apple pie conessiur (help? how do you spell that?). I had $6 in my pocket and no credit card because I “lost” my wallet in Ben’s car this week and had to call and cancel it. Then Ben found it en route to the airport, which is good, but also slightly annoying because I’d already gone to the trouble of canceling my card … you get the picture. Welcome to the world of post-stroke stuff, where you lose things but not really and have to do a bunch of stuff to fix it and then you go hiking and get hungry and that makes you tired and you can’t buy anything but a piece of apple pie. OK, I’ll stop whining now. :)

This is probably the last hike I’ll go on before I depart at the butt crack of dawn on Friday for Wyoming, where I’ll be spending three days in the Snowy Range with the Women’s Wilderness Institute on an outdoor photography course. I picked this trip to go on because (1) we’re not hiking very far (three miles to the campsite which I think I can do!), and (2) the photography sounds cool. I’m nervous about it, though. Mostly, I need a lot of sleep. (I’ve reinforced my arsenal with some goodies like a compressible pillow and a Thermarest to up the odds of getting a good sleep, but who knows if it’ll work.) If I don’t get enough sleep, I’ll be tired the next day (duh), but it’s the kind of tiredness that wipes me out. I can’t hike on no sleep. So, wish me luck!

A good way to end the day:

We had some excitement around here yesterday: Chaco got groomed! There’s a lady in Eldora who does pet grooming at very reasonable prices, and she comes to your house! Score! Anyway, we get Chaco groomed now because his fur is so darn long and gets really tangled. There could be nests of rodents in there for all I know!

We also get his stomach shaved, to save him from the heat:

I love the following photo, when he’s getting his post-stomach-shaving bath. I was up on the deck, and he looked at me as if to say, “Help me, Mom! This SUCKS!” Little did he know that the Evil Hair Dryer was yet to come.

Bonzo also got a little trim, but not NEARLY as much as his hairy brother. They’re now both ready to enjoy the summer! :)

Today, Ben and I went hiking with Rebecca, a friend from Caltech who works at the same building I used to when I was employed by NGDC. We went to Lost Lake again, mostly because there’s no snow cover there. It was beautiful today! There were more flowers out and the sun was shining bright. (Which, as some of you know, can be rather annoying to me; I don’t know whether it’s living up at 8200′ or the strokes, but the sun drives me batty. I’ve got good sunglasses, though! :)

We endeavored to take the dogs on this hike. Actually, Ben did. They were pretty good! They did what we asked about 80% of the time. We’re aiming for around 95% (to quote Ben), but hey! we’ll take it! Here we are starting out on the hike:

The dogs were rather funny about the water. Chaco REALLY wanted to go in — he’d sit on the bank and whine at us to throw something in. However, once we threw something, he was too chicken to get in! Silly dog. Bonzo was similarly timid, but he’d eventually get wet.

I brought some dog cookies along. It’s fun to compare their reactions; Chaco is ALL ABOUT getting one, and Bonzo doesn’t really care all that much. We threw some in the water to try and entice them to get in; it didn’t really work.

Here’s Ben standing in the water with a treat, trying to get Bonzo to come get it. The picture’s good, but you really need a movie to appreciate this fully. Bonzo would stretch out as FAR as he could without falling in. God forbid he get wet!

It was a fun day! :)

There’s not much to report, but I thought I’d give you an update anyway. Monday I went to my art class, which was okay. I painted the pots I made during the spring. I had doctor’s appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday, and today I tutored. It went well! Definitely better at the beginning when I was awake, but whatcha gonna do? I went to Target beforehand and bought a baby gate to put at the top of the stairs so that Bonzo can’t disappear to the basement to poo. Tomorrow I’ve got an evaluation at CU’s Speech, Language, and Hearing Center that I really don’t want to attend. It starts at nine, which is pretty early for me, and I don’t really want any of the services that they’re offering anyway. Art class sounds good, but I can’t go when I’ve got doctor’s appointments; they’re during class, for one thing, and for another, I’m too tired.

I am officially off Lunesta, the sleeping medication. There’s a phenomenon called “rebound insomnia” associated with sleeping medications, and although Lunesta is touted as “non-habit forming”, it’s definitely not! Not in me, at least. When you stop taking it, you suddenly CANNOT sleep, and it’s worse than your sleeping problems ever were before. I laid in bed for several nights, tired and ready for sleep — or so I thought. I tossed and turned for HOURS, it seemed like. I felt like I had restless leg syndrome or something; I just couldn’t stop moving.

Anyway, now I’m finally free of it! And the terrible taste it left in my mouth, which is another good reason to be rid of it. (You go to bed with a normal tasting mouth, and you wake up with the foulest breath I’ve ever tasted/smelled. It’s disgusting.) On Monday night, I did not sleep well. I was up until 1 in the morning reading the internet, and when I finally fell asleep, it was one of those sleeps where you feel like you’re awake the whole time. When I saw Dr. Stapleton the next morning, she asked what I did when I was awake, and I said “I read the internet.” She was like, “Well, that explains it! Stop doing that!” So now, I’m leaving my laptop upstairs. :( No more surfing the web from the comfort of my bed in the morning, nor catching the last news of the night before I doze off. Also, no listening to podcasts, which is a real loss, because that’s how I used to fall asleep. BUT … it seems to be working. I’m now falling asleep! Half an hour after I go to bed! It feels amazing. I can sleep without medication! :)

Tonight, Ben’s coming home from a four-day trip! That is VERY good news. I should definitely be able to sleep tonight! Yay!

(Actually, I think the “next” quarter century starts at 25, whereas I’m turning 26, but hey! It sounds good! Thanks to my sister for the phrase :)

We actually celebrated on Saturday because Ben’s currently in Rhode Island. I miss you, sweetie! Come home and SOON, please! :) Anyway, the quilt on Kate’s lap is from Mom B. She gave me an IOU to help me make a quilt out of the batik material I got in the Bahamas! I’m looking forward to it :) Kate likes this “sample” (Mom’s words, not mine; it looks pretty darn good to me!) a lot. Keeps her warm, I guess.

The post-present scene: my Bonzai tree, “Fiscus Benjamina”, aka Benjamina, on the right; and on the top, Kate looking eagerly at my new pastels book, which tells you how to draw a chimpanzee. I guess I know what I’ll be doing in the near future! :)

On Sunday, we went to church, had some lunch in town, and then I took Chaco for a hike. We just went up to Lost Lake, a pretty easy hike of about three miles roundtrip. It’s been over a year and a half since I’ve been hiking! (First it was winter and then I had my second stroke, and Dr. Zacharias, the Boulder neurologist, told me not to hike above 10,000 feet. Suck.) I’d forgotten how good it smelled. There’s something about being on the trail that gives the air an aroma that smells *so* good.

Actually, I’d forgotten a lot about what hiking is like! For instance, I didn’t remember what a pleasure Chaco can be on his own. I let him off leash, and he didn’t bark at, growl at, or attack the other people on the trail! Astounding!

Thanks to all the well-wishes I’ve gotten from people. I’ve gotten tons of emails, and lots of phone calls! I appreciate each and every one of them. You all are awesome! :)

In response to Jen’s post … in the spirit of the game, if you’d like to play, please leave a message in the comments and I’ll send you five questions via email! Personal questions, just for you!

1) what is your favorite color and why?
Red. I like it because it’s so bright and cheery. However, as I get older, I’m starting to like orange as well. Not all oranges; some of them are like green, which can take on an “olive green” tint that looks like puke.

2) who is your favorite musical artist?
This is a hard one! I love the Indigo Girls and Rusted Root. Rusted Root has an interesting story to it; when Ben and I spent the summer in Los Alamos, he insisted to listening to them in the car, and I *hated* them. I mean HATED them. But after hearing them enough times, I started to like them, and after a few more times, I really appreciated their music! On the quieter side, I like George Winston and Enya.

3) describe the best meal you have ever had
This is easy. When I was in kindergarten, my mom promised me all the dessert I wanted if I ate my vegetables. I finished my vegetables, and then I ate and ate and ate. My mom finally cut me off, but I don’t think there was much left in our drawers anyway. I STILL remember it :)

4) what do you think is the most pressing global issue?
Climate change. In twenty years, we’re going to look back and think “W. was such an idiot!” because the effects will be so obvious. It’s something that we, the rich folks, are doing to the earth, but that poor people are going to have to pay for. *I* don’t want to be living in, say, Indonesia when the water rises a meter!

5) name your favorite thing to do
Two years ago, I would’ve said “Skiing!” I think I’ve changed, though. I’d say what I’m doing right now; sitting in bed and working on the computer when I should be up and at ‘em upstairs. We’ve started letting Bonzo sleep with us now that his peeing is more or less under control, and he’s super cuddly. He’s curled up next to me having a violent dream right now. It’s fun :)