mayday 2010 - sycamore rim trail

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So, the last day of the ski season was tons of fun. Snowbowl ended up extending the closing for another weekend because of the great snow base still in place. It was a little hairy at first, because they only had one chairlift turning - and it was the one that went all the way to the top of the mountain. Sure, you can get off at Midway, but on the last day? Who wants to do that? So, our first run of the day, sans warm-up on the more bunny slope-like Hart Prairie, was straight down from the top. We made it just fine, though, and throughout the rest of the day we got to see all the beautiful sights, like Sumo wrestlers, cross dressers and chickens.

...er...huh?

Fortunately, for the guys, there were plenty of cute ski bunnies dressed as fairies, butterflies, etc. at this end-of-the-season tradition as well. (And, yes, that is a bottle of ketchup standing to the left of the chicken. I didn't get his friend Mustard in the picture, but she was there...as was their mutual friend, Hot Dog. I wish I'd gotten a pic of the three of them loading the triple chair.)

So, that was big fun. But then things got a bit rough last week. We were walloped by another out-of-the-blue snowstorm, for one - and Snowbowl was already closed by that point, so it's not like we got to really enjoy it. And I guess it wasn't totally out-of-the-blue. The weather folks saw it coming, and I think it was somehow tied into the rain system that's been walloping California as well. At any rate, my body went back into Permafrost/hibernation mode, and back out came the boots for keeping our tootsies warm and the snowscraper for clearing the windshield every morning before driving the kids to the bus stop. Have I mentioned that I am SO OVER winter?

Then, my daughter's very best friend in the entire universe (VBFEU) moved to another state. The girls were born on the same day in the same hospital, though her mom and I didn't meet each other until they were in preschool. They've been pretty much joined at the hip ever since, and my heart hurts not only for my sad girl, but because I'm going to miss that cute little mug myself. I got to give VBFEU a ride on Zzari before she left (she's completely horse crazy, much like I was at that age), and I made her promise that she'd come back for more rides someday.

But then things got a little better. Friday night was cooking group night, hosted at the lovely home of one of the ladies in the group. She made these outrageous seafood enchiladas with cilantro cream sauce. The rest of us brought things like seasoned rice, a shrimp dip, an avocado salad and flan (that last one was my contribution. It's a tempermental thing, flan: Turn your back on that carmelizing sugar for just one second too long and you'll have charred goo on your hands. The caramel sauce turned out great the second time I tried it, though).

Then, yesterday, the snow and rain finally cleared off, leaving me with the perfect opportunity to dive into my outside chores. First, I planted the live Christmas tree I bought back in December. Then, I finished clearing the dead foliage from around the red hot pokers on the side of the house. I'll know how to handle those better this fall (clipping the greenery back after the blooms are done), so I don't end up with quite as much ugly dead stuff next spring. While I was doing this, one of my neighbors whistled to me from across the fence. He had told me about the divinity that is pickled eggplant (I'd taken his word for it, but I'd had my doubts), and now he had brought over a sample. Okay, have you ever eaten pickled eggplant? It really is divine. This version was from an old "secret" (not anymore) family recipe from southern Italy, and it involved cider vinegar, garlic and crushed red pepper. I can't wait to make it myself.

This morning, I got some work done and then said to heck with it and saddled up Zzari for a long ride out in the National Forest. The trail was slippery in places from the recent moisture, and there were still some patches of snow in the shady spots. But it was good for both of us to head out and stretch our legs and our brains. It was good to remember that life has a way of providing opportunities for re-balancing when things seem to tilt toward the not-much-fun side.Follow @nicole_mcinnes

both hands

For some reason, it seems like everyone I know is tired lately. What's up with that? Is it the change of seasons? The pollen in the air? All I know is we're all acting like we're about ninety years old - everyone from my kids to their teachers to our neighbors... Maybe it's not necessarily a bad thing, though. Maybe we're gathering our energy and strength for the months to come - months that are shaping up for my family to be full of baseball games and barbecues, horseback rides and hikes, visits with family and friends scattered far and wide...and let's not forget home improvement projects (which promise to be ongoing, possibly for years). But it's okay. There's not much I'd trade for our little house on our little acre, especially now that the spring bulbs are sprouting up along with the red hot pokers and new buffalo grass.

I was blessed with an awesome hike with some cool chicks down in Sedona last weekend. We did the Brin's Mesa trail, which involved a drive in to the trailhead that was shockingly reminiscent of the Indiana Jones thrill ride at Disneyland. I didn't feel like schlepping my camera along this time (which I, of course, regretted as soon as we set foot on the lovely trail and were immersed in all that wildness). The halfway point is an outcropping that affords a 360 degree view of Sedona's famed Red Rocks. Vortices and rock cairns abound, as do cacti and some surprisingly lush greenery - even a creek or two to cross. We ate lunch, sunned like lizards on the mesa for a while, and then headed back toward home, stopping at a Sedona watering hole on the way. Oh, we got some yard sales in as well. All in all, a lovely day spent with the girls.

What else? Oh, yeah. Wanna laugh and cry? See Young at Heart. I added it to my NetFlix queue on a whim, and I was so glad I did. Never seen anything else quite like it. Reminds me a bit of what Eddie V. has to say in one of my favorite Pearl Jam songs.

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Happy Easter!

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a place in the clouds, a foundation of stone

A dear friend and I hiked The Bell Trail last Friday. While downtown Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek may be chock full of fruits, nuts and flakes (just like a good gorp), the outlying areas around the various plateaus and otherwordly rock formations are nothing short of sensational. Okay, yes, you can still probably get mother nature to cleanse your chakras and/or fluff your aura by visiting one of the many vortices in the area, but if you're just looking for a good, basic day hike (as we were), then the azure Arizona sky is the limit. Here is what you see at the start of the first climb, heading toward the rock:

We found that March is a great time to make this hike, which is largely in full sun. Get too far beyond April and it's no doubt a scorcher.

Here are some lovely, hearty, trailside agave (I think). Any botanists out there who know better, feel free to correct me. 

And here's the rock as you pass right by and look up:

Our halfway point was a rushing creek fed by the intense run-off from all the melting snow up here in the high country. Not a bad place to have lunch, as we discovered:

Of course, now we're hooked and ready to do more. And I can't think of a more fitting way to celebrate the beautiful, sunny months to come here in our state of wide open spaces.

:-)

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the gnar

I am such a huge fan of spring, especially this year, when we're coming out of a record-breaking/really tough winter. But even I have to admit that there are some things I'm going to miss until that first snow falls again somewhere around the holidays later this year. I'm going to miss these views, for instance, and I feel lucky to have been able to enjoy them several times this season:

I have to say, I felt like an especially brave cookie this week when I was convinced (railroaded? Nah, I was definitely ready) to go all the way to the top of the mountain and ski down:

Up, up you go, and when you finally reach the summit of Agassiz (pronounced "Ag'-u-see" for you non-Northern Arizonans), you're at 11,500 feet. The first thing you see getting off the chair is the Ski Patrol building with all the emergency rescue equipment ready to go:

But what instills even more confidence are the signs at the entrance to the Backcountry (which is where most of the headline-making accidents and avalanches take place):

I especially love the skulls and crossbones. Who says the US Forest Service doesn't have a morbid sense of humor?

Then you turn around to look back at the lift, and you realize what you've gotten yourself into (Black Diamond, be-atches):

What, me worry? (Okay, yes, I am aware that I look like The Great Gazoo from the Flintstones, but as a horse girl, I'm a big believer in brain buckets):

Plus, how worried can a person really be when you look out across the horizon and see this? My house is somewhere over there in the distance:

So, I had a blast making it down to the lodge. The snow was a perfect combination of crunchy and soft - sort of like skiing on a mostly-frozen Slurpee. I've discovered that I don't like icy conditions and that even super deep powder can be a bit heavy for my taste. Before heading home to see the kids off the school bus, I got in one more run. This time, we decided to hit the Terrain Park, which is where the snowboarders like to play:

Not everyone was having a great day. This guy was later heard saying he thought he broke his collarbone:

But when it worked, it was beautiful:

We'll all have to say goodbye to the local ski season on April 11, which is when Snowbowl closes. But I like to think I have some improved skills under my belt for later this year.

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gettin' my bingo on

So, I turn 40 in a matter of days.

FORTY, People.

I don't know who was more in shock last week when my sister-in-law unveiled a co-pre-birthday cake for me and my big brother (whose odometer turns over this week) - we or our parents.

"I can't beLIEVE I'm going to be 40," I whined to my mom.

"I can't believe I'm going to be the mother of a 40-year-old," she replied.

Touché.

So, I wonder what the Song of my 40th year will be? It was Linkin Park's emo-hit What I've Done (a song I still love dearly) for my 39th.

Maybe I'll go with something a little more upbeat this year, something more along the lines of my general feelings on the whole turning-40-thing. I think this might do nicely:

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the end (or, spider bite - my heiny!)

And, no, a spider did not bite my heiny. In fact, a spider didn't bite me at all.

Turns out that facial tingling and swelling which I attributed to a bug bite in the last post is actually shingles. Ever gotten it? DON'T. It's a painful nightmare that first had me resembling the love child of Barbara Streisand and Quasimodo and more recently (i.e. this morning) had me looking like I'd gotten in a barfight with several sailors. I have to be cloistered away, and I'm on heavy-duty meds that give me splitting headaches on top of all the other loveliness.

This is all to say that, if you had chickenpox as a kid, the virus never fully went away; it just went dormant. Which means you are a candidate for having that nasty virus wake from its slumber when triggered by - oh, I don't know - stress, or a cold. Which is also to say that I wish I'd gotten the shingles vaccine, as I've been thinking about doing so for a few years.

So, what's the upshot? Well, for one, I'm shutting down the blog, Folks. If this nasty bout has taught me anything it's that I've been stretched way to thin for way too long, and a re-ordering of priorities is sorely in order. I'll be focusing on my kids, my peeps/fam/homeboy/homegirls, my paying gigs and my non-blog writing, all of which could use more of my attention, anyway.

It's been a good run, and I've had lots of fun blogging the ups and downs of rural life, riding, writing, etc. I'm not going to pull the blog off the Net at this point, and I may even pop in now and then to post an update or two. No promises of regular blogging, though.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Trails!Follow @nicole_mcinnes

halloween and stomach flu and spider bites, oh my!

I've been dealing with all of the above lately (some of which were fun (i.e. birthday parties and trick-or-treating) and some of which were not-so-much (i.e. the circulating stomach flu and the recent arachnidian attack on my face while I slept, resulting in swelling and numbness and general sinus-related misery). Oh, yeah, there's been major soap production in the mix as well, with more to come.

Makes me kind of long for the quietude/boredom of mid-winter snow days. Good thing various people recommend stuff like this now and then to keep my smile-o-meter in the black:



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Cranberry Fig winner!

Myrrh is the winner of the Cranberry Fig bar. Congrats, Girl!

Posting on the blog will be light for a while (heck, it HAS been light for a while already). Reasons? I'm in major soaping/work mode, and October is a major birthday month to boot. Has anyone else noticed this? I've been in birthday mode, too, for the past few weeks, and I have another party to throw this weekend - on Halloween day, no less. It should be mucho fun, though, so see all those kidlets running around in their costumes. Last weekend it was an adult's birthday party I threw, so it's time to switch gears a bit. I think we'll avoid bobbing for apples, what with the nasty swine flu season and all. We may even have snow, which would almost make it like Christmas and Halloween combined.

See ya in the shake of a black cat's tail!Follow @nicole_mcinnes

friday soap giveaway and cucumber melon winner!

Our soap winner for the Cucumber Melon bar is...(drum roll, please)...

Haley Rae - a prolific young blogger and commenter if there ever was one. Congrats, Haley! Send me your address via email, and I'll get this bar in the mail to ya.

There are only two more comments needed for the Cranberry Fig bar to find its forever home, so if you haven't commented on that giveaway, be sure to do it now!

Onward...

Today's Friday Soap Giveaway bar is Floral Fiesta!

I seem to be on a bit of a spring thing. Perhaps it's denial of the cold weather. I don't know why that would be, though, since I do love fall. Ah, well. Regardless, I've noted on the labels of these bars that they are "Ginger-Lime and Wildflower-Scented" - a pretty, heavenly blend if there ever was one. Plus, I figure we'll all be inundated with holiday-themed stuff soon enough, so why not enjoy normalcy while we still can?

To have a chance at winning this bar, leave a comment telling what you plan to do and/or be for Halloween. Happy Friday, Everyone!

:-)

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okay, Dad. time to blow out those candles...

Here's an almost-too-cute birthday video someone created, and I'm posting it here for one of the most special men in my life - my Dad! It's from him that I inherited my Scottish frugality (shall we just make it easy and call it cheapness? Actually, I have to edit this to say that, while Dad has been chided for this classic Scottish trait for decades, those closest to him know he's one of the most generous people you'll find anywhere) as well as my stubborn streak (some might call it a wide swath). I also inherited his nose and his forehead. But not the blonde hair. I didn't inherit that. I won't disclose his age as of today, but let's just say it's impressive. lol. Good thing I live far away, so he can't swat me.

I hope you had the happiest of days, Dad! Love, Nicole

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modern smokey (or maybe percy?)

Have you heard this guy? I did for the first time the other day and felt compelled to share. I love new discoveries, even if they're old for everyone else.

:-)Follow @nicole_mcinnes

the twin fire & friday soap giveaway

Last weekend, parts of the city of Williams (aka "Gateway to the Grand Canyon") were evacuated due to a prescribed forest burn that got out of control. The Twin Fire was finally contained when it reached about 1,000 acres, but it was a little dicey there for a while. Part of the price of being surrounded by National Forest is the possibility of fire danger. On the way to son's soccer game in the Old Route 66 town of Seligman, we drove through this:

...and on the way home we drove through this:

I wish I'd had my camera with me when we were in town and saw the slurry bombers flying overhead and the helicopters sucking up water from the nearby reservoir to drop on the flames. The local Williams/Grand Canyon News had some good pictures of the choppers, though. At night, the smoke was thick and heavy in the air. This was the view from my front door:

...and this was the view from the back:

Those dastardly forest fires sure do pretty up the sky.

So, on to the Friday Soap Giveaway. Fall is here in all its glory, and I don't know about you, but around here at Writer/Rider central, preparations for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and various fall birthdays are in full swing. Seems like pumpkins, cranberries, warm spices and all things orange, black and purple are constantly on my mind lately. So, here's one of my top sellers being offered for the giveaway - Cranberry Fig:

Wanna join the ranks of previous soap winners whose mail smelled reeeeeealllly good the day their bars arrived? Simply leave a comment telling me what kinds of things you'd like to see more of here on the AWAAR blog. Remember, there need to be at least six comments from different readers in order for the bar to get sent.

Happy Friday!

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falling leaves soap winner!

The winner of the Falling Leaves bar (finally!) Is Krystal! So, Krystal, if you're checking in, email me at bearkhat-at-aol-dot-com with your mailing address. Congrats! And, don't forget, People...there need to be six comments from different users on the soap giveaway post for a winner to be picked.Follow @nicole_mcinnes

at last (or, tying up the ends of a dream)

Okay, where to start. I've got a lot to say today, and I guess I finally have the time and space to say it.

So, I've mentioned before on this blog that a lot has happened in my life and in the lives of my kids in the past year-and-a-half. Big, life-changing stuff that started off feeling like everything that mattered inside and outside myself was dying and ended up being sort of that, but also something completely opposite. Yes, there have been many endings, but there have also been many beginnings - all part of Life's bigger picture, I suppose. But even as things got better in general, there were still lots of loose ends to tie up. Legal loose ends, financial loose ends, practical loose ends, emotional loose ends.

And to top it all off, my horse wasn't with me.

Doesn't sound like a big deal to most people, probably, but I've had Zzari for going on 21 years, and he's been through more good, bad and ugly with me than anyone else outside of my family and closest friends.

Then, I bought a house in the country with enough room for a horse or two. But then this little, PMS-ey tornado decided to pay us a visit after we'd only been here for about a month, taking out the horse shelter and nothing else (thankfully).

So, I decided to cowgirl up, put on my big girl panties, take the bull by the horns...I think you're following me. I decided to rebuild (well, I actually decided to have someone else rebuild for me - minor details). So, I found a contractor with a nice horse shelter portfolio and started the convo. And the morning I looked out my window just after daybreak and saw this...


...was a good morning indeed. But that wasn't the best part, not yet. It wasn't too long before the materials showed up...

...and then things really started rolling along. It still wasn't the best part, though.

Sigh. I love the sound of drills and hammers in the morning. Especially when I'm not the one trying to use them. I have been known to throw together a fairly mean chicken coop, however. Not pretty, perhaps, but mean - definitely mean.

By the way, if you live anywhere between Phoenix and Flagstaff and are in need of a horse shelter, I'll give you this guy's name along with a hearty recommendation. Anyway, the day finally came when I walked out into the horse pasture and found this waiting for me:

And it was good. But it still wasn't the best part, and it still wasn't finished. I mean, according to the county inspector it was finished, but not according to me. It still needed to have corral panels attached, which meant I had to get to work with some heavy gauge wire I had in the shed, some t-posts and a heavy t-post driver borrowed from a friend. I used my grandpa's tools during this process, because they're old, tough and American made. He even etched his name on them back in the day.

And that was almost the best part, because I loved my grandpa in a way I'll probably never love another human being. I loved the fact that he got to be a part of bringing Zzari home in some small way. He died when I was sixteen, but here he is a few years before that, spoiling my first horse, an old Appy girl named Sugar, after I'd ridden her in the local 4th of July parade:

So, I got the corral panels put up as a temporary home for Zzari until I could get some more permanent fencing put up (hopefully before winter). And not too long after that, I stepped out onto the front steps with my camera and captured this coming down the road toward home:

You know how some unemployed folks say they're "between jobs?" Well, I'm between horse trailers, so a local cowboy/farrier/all around good guy brought Zzari back to me.

And seeing that trailer coming down the road? It was sweetness itself, but it still wasn't the best part.

The next morning, just after sunrise, I opened up the back door and heard my boy whinny to me for the first time in well over a year: Mom! I'm hungry!


And that, my friends, was the best part of all.

P.S. Here's what played on the radio while I was working on this post. I borrowed the parenthetical part of the title from one of the great lines from this song.

P.P.S. I want to thank a very dear friend for welcoming Zzari into her herd and her exclusive horse spa for the past year-plus. Maiden, you're the best.

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friday soap giveaway: cucumber melon

In honor of this morning, pre-sunrise, when I went out to feed my horse (yes, my boy is home again - wheeeeeeeeee! (more about that later)) and found the first ice of the year in his water bucket, I proudly offer my most summery, warm-weathery, couldn't-be-less-winter-like soap for the Friday Soap Giveaway:

I've recently re-designed these bars after a customer requested them as part of a larger order. The fragrance is the same as always - classic Cuke/Melon combo - but the bars are now a ripe, delicious cantaloupe color with cucumber-green swirls (which, for some reason, are not registering well in the photo, even after I played around with hue and saturation in PhotoShop to get the most accurate color representation possible).

To win a bar of this little slice of warm weather, simply leave a comment for this post, telling us all about what the changing of the seasons looks like now where you live. Remember, I won't mail the bar until there are at least six comments, because I'm stubborn that way.

Oh - there aren't quite enough comments for the Falling Leaves bar yet, so be sure to go comment there, too!Follow @nicole_mcinnes