Great Balls of Fire!

What a FUN day! I got up early, got my walk in, had PANCAKES, then headed out to the airport. I ran into my old flying buddies out there who were heading down to Pueblo for lunch. They invited me to fly along, but they were ready to go and I was just getting there, so I decided to not go this time and just fly around the city. I taxi'd down to the self serve pumps for some jet fuel, topped off the tanks and then waited in line with everyone else for my take off sequence. Finally....373WD cleared for take off 1-7-left. A nice take off into the plane dotted sky and the Springtime bumps....

After I landed, I was getting ready to push my plane back into the hangar when a voice behind me about scared the doo out of me. It was my hangar neighbor, Joe. I hadn't seen him for awhile either so after he helped my push my plane in, he asked if I wanted to go flying with him...in his WW2 Sea Fury!!! I didn't hesitate, I said yes so fast it made him laugh....Strapped in, parachutes on, headsets working, briefing on what to do in an emergency...check!

And we are off! It was SO AWESOME! We were looking for a friend's grass landing strip south of Elbert. When he would turn we'd be at a 90 degree angle to the ground...YIKES! We heard his friend on the radio and he guided us to the landing strip where we did some low flyovers...I'm talking 10-15 feet off the ground. At the end of one of low passes, we went into a roll! I did the YEE HAW and felt pure exhilaration! He asked if I wanted to do some more rolls, ABSOLUTELY! So we got clearance in the air space and flew some loops, rolls and point rolls. LOVED IT!

When we landed (which was much too soon for me) he invited me to tag along back to the friends place with a few other pilots, including his son, JP. I went and it was a really fun afternoon. I had to leave about the time the chicken and Brats were coming off the grill, I hadn't planned this adventure and needed to get home to cook dinner there. What a fun day, I am still smiling....Life IS Good!

Tribute

I've put off writing this entry for a couple of weeks, partly because it is so personal to me and partly because it makes things that much more real. February 25th marked the 1 year anniversary of Susan's passing. Today while I was out for my morning walk, I knew it was time to do this. I loved Susan as my friend for a lot of reasons, amongst them:

She kept me honest
She was completely different in many ways from me, but we still had deep common ground
She was as stubborn as she was compassionate
We shared a "secret box"
She would always be there for me, even during the times I wasn't there for her
We shared the longing for...and the pain of not having...children of our own.
We also shared incredible relationships with our nieces
She understood why I was always doing something...trying to fill a hole that can never be filled
She let me be me and I her, we respected the differences and the quirks and the boundaries


Most people thought we were an odd friendship, but most didn't understand the bond that we had and still have.

I still see her rolling her eyes at me and I miss her...

This is how we roll

Out on a walk, with Sebastian in tow. He follows on the ground a lot but he likes to hitch a ride as well. For some reason it is always my left shoulder. Guess that leaves my right arm free to throw the ball for Sadie, an activity that doesn't seem to affect Sebastian in the least. Crazy Cat, Crazy Gal.

Seb and Tessie taking a break.

Still awhile until Spring

For us we still have a few weeks left, but it doesn't keep me from getting a little bit of Spring fever. It is a balmy 52 degrees here today and a little overcast. Seems like a year since Hawaii...

The good news is we will be in Hurricane for a week at the end of the month, YEA!!

North Shore Oahu and the Temple

The Hawaii Temple was closed for renovations, so we just wandered the grounds and took pictures. The beach is the start of the pipeline on the North Shore. The movie "Soul Surfer" about the young girl who lost her arm to a shark while surfing was being filmed. We couldn't get real close, but understood that Carrie Underwood is in the film. It was a fun day cruising around the island.

Back to the fish

This is really where I spent the most time. I loved every minute on the water. A couple of facts about whales... these guys are all Humpbacks. They migrate between Mexico and Alaska. They stop in Hawaii anywhere between November and May to do 2 things, have their babies and breed. There isn't any food for them in Hawaii, so they basically live off their fat storage. Whales don't mate for life, in fact they are solitary animals, they do not have pods or families that they hang out with, the exception is that female whales stay with their babies for the first year, then they both go their separate ways. When you see whales together, generally this time of year you see 3, a mom a baby and a male escort. The male is there protecting but also waiting for the female to go into heat. When that happens, she may be pursued by upto 30 males at one time. We saw some of this behavior and it was very aggressive and a little violent. Males can weigh up to 80 tons, so that is a lot of fire power in the water. The babies are about the size of a Ford Explorer, just so you get an idea of the massive size of these mamals.

One more fact, the tail or fluke is as individual as a finger print. Marine biologists in Hawaii catalogue pictures of the tails to identify returning whales. When you see the fluke come up, usually the whale is diving deep and can stay under water for up to an hour. The slapping, breaching and jumping appears to be communication, but no one really knows for sure.

New Tattoo

As with all my adventures, this one had it's moments. If you look close you will see a map of the Hawaiian islands most likely permanently scarred on my cheek and forehead. So here's what happens when a rookie tries the boogey board in the waves for the first time (who needs stinkin' lessons!) I was riding a wave like the big Kahuna, until it rolled me and rubbed my face in the sand. I left a huge chunk of my DNA in the surf at Kihei. The blessing is that I didn't break my neck or come out of it a parapalegic. I hit my head so hard I can still hear the ocean in my ears. But other than a headache and a deflated ego, I will survive to surf (or just sit on the beach) another day.

Kohola

I took these pictures yesterday. It was simply amazing! More to come but the jetlag is kicking my can tonight...

Hawaii Bound

My annual pilgrimage to Hawaii is this week and I am so ready! It is snowing today and cold. I spent this past week in Minnesota and South Dakota, freezing my tail end off. The week before in Minnesota, and the week before in Colorado in the snow. I do love winter and don't mind the cold but when you have the sunny beaches of Maui calling, it's hard not to start feeling a little homesick for Aloha.

I'll be headed first to Oahu for a few days in Honolulu, then Saturday the 20th I head to Kahalui, Maui. We stay right off the beach at KiHei. I'm going again this year with my girlfriend, Linda. Just 2 girls looking to relax, unwind and have a ton of fun. Snorkeling, swimming, whale watching, flying and taking the adventures where we can find them. I am so EXCITED!

Aloha!

Never been eaten

It's kind of funny how some things come full circle or that something said doesn't mean anything to you until you get down the road a little further. I was out walking with the dogs and Sebastian this morning when we stumbled onto a fox that had been killed, probably the night before. I wandered around looking and listening for any signs of possible pups, just in case someone needed rescuing. Not finding anything, we headed back to the house. I plan to head back out there in a little while without the dogs for some CSI work, but I've thought about it almost non-stop for the past couple of hours.

Which brings me to the full circle part....


A couple years ago after becoming "retired" I was doing a road trip with a couple of gal pals. In a suburb of Seattle we came across a physic and decided it might be fun to stop in and have her read our auras for us. She called it right on when she said it seemed like I was out of gas and a virtual "wet blanket" at that point in my life I was scraping the bottom of the bucket. She told me that she sensed a huge change in my life and stress attached to it, which would subside after an extended period of time. She also told me to take time to re-boot myself and to not worry so much about the "money" side of life and then she said...."you have always eaten and never been eaten" it made me laugh and scratch my head back then, but it struck me with the fox that a lot of others, whether they are 2 legs or 4, whether they are smarter or faster, get eaten in this world.

I have been struggling just a little bit with my decision to go back to work, but this week has made a lot of difference in how I feel about it now. I spent some time in face to face sales calls. I also got to practice and use my coaching skills with the rep I was traveling with. I realized it put me right back in the part of the work world that I love and all at once I knew that I was 100% excited to get back after it. So I know now that I won't be eaten anytime soon, and that is a good thing to know.

I am grateful.....

Sebastian

Just a quick post this morning. Lately Sebastian has been a constant outside companion. He goes on every walk with me and the dogs and is basically my shadow while I'm outside. The thing he does that makes me laugh is run up the trees like he's some kind of mountain lion or something. I'm glad he does it, with all the coyotes and preditors out here, it is a great skill to have. Anyway, just a couple of "Sebastian" shots from our walk yesterday.

Woody Woodpecker

Look how cool this guy is...and of course the Blue Jay is waiting for his turn at the feeder. I love living in the country!

The Buck stops here....

Just driving down the road yesterday....about 30 of them, 5 big bucks....awesome!

Mike and Ann (Crehan)

I have been a client at Merrill Lynch for a few years now and my account guru has been a very cool gal who is also named Ann. We have talked a lot on the phone over the years so imagine how cool it was for us to finally meet in person this psat week. Ann and her boyfriend, Mike are on a cross country adventure from Baltimore, MD to Vancouver, BC where they are working at the Winter Olypmics-awesome, right? Anyway, they popped through Colorado this week and we were fortunate enough to have a pretty decent flying day, so after a lunch at the Perfect Landing, we pulled out 373WD, aka the Whiskey Girl and went up for a spin around the valley.


After a pretty nice landing, even with the crosswind, we drove south to Castlewood Canyon. We had flown over it in the plane, but it is a pretty place to go and hike or walk around. The unfortunate part was that the wind we experienced up high in the plane, started to pick up a little bit after we touched down, so it was a little brisk, but still crystal clear and beautiful. We capped it off with hot chocolates and some great story telling. It was really fun to spend the day and I hope we get to do it again on their way back through.

Following footsteps

This one I've been mulling over for awhile, I used to like the quote about going on a path that separated in the woods and taking the least traveled fork, but today I'm wondering about following footsteps that are trodden into the other side. There just seem to be times in our lives when burdens are heavy, the air is foggy and the finish line is no where in sight. You know... it's like the dreams where you're running in slow motion or falling forever. What if those times were the exact times that there were footsteps there to follow, guiding us through the woods on a safe and proven course.


The quote I like on this subject is, "You only have to get half way through the darkness (or woods) before you are headed out the other side." It's kind of like seeing the glass half full. I think that sometimes in our little worlds we feel totally alone, like there couldn't possibly be one single person who knows how we feel or who has experienced what we are going through and maybe that's true, but enough people have gone before us and left footsteps on the path allowing us to put our feet one foot in front of the other in what I would call, small embraces. Another human being does not have to have had exactly the same experience to understand a heart that is hurting, a soul that is lost or a spirit that is in need of comfort.

I guess what I'm trying to say is there are all kinds of foot prints in the sand, on the path in the woods, all through life and sometimes we need to give in and allow the wisdom from those foot prints to guide us when it is hard to navigate fully for ourselves. Being loving is easier for most people than allowing themselves to be loved or allowing others to walk awhile in front of us creating the small embraces for us to follow. It is not a sign of weakness to need others and to say that you need love and support, in fact it is usually an honor to the person or people you request that from, at least that's the way I look at it. I have a hard time practicing what I preach, but trying.....

Simple choices

Decisions, decisions.... I go by the theory or fact that if you are indecisive or procrastinate making decisions, the decision eventually makes itself, leaving you no choice or a less desirable choice. I also subscribe to the belief that if you make a choice and feel confused or conflicted, it is probably the wrong choice. The right choice should make you feel calm and at peace. That works pretty good most of the time. But does it always? I have a couple of fairly big decisions that need to be made where it feels like the easiest decision or most peaceful is just to go about life as it is.

Launching into a change feels pretty stressful to me, but necessary. I think if I sold most everything that I have that I don't need, I could live pretty comfortably for a long time, but then some of the things that seem to make me happy I wouldn't have so what would be the point? I subconsciously worry a lot about taking care of myself, mostly I think because there most likely will come a time when I am alone in this world and will have to do that. So I think about having enough in the end. The other decision (which largely is probably making itself right now) is going back to work, I had hoped that my career/corporate days were over, but I have one little flaw that dad would refer to as having somewhat of a champange appetite that I can't support on a root beer budget. So, until I do get a few things sold, I am a working gal again - besides, I need a new washer and dryer and a few other things and my plan to work at Home Depot went up in flames when the salary wouldn't cover gas money for me.

I did re-learn something this week though and that is that there are 4 quadrants that correlate to energy levels and emotions and they are as follows:

High Positive - which is energy without tension (this is the place I would like to be....
Low Positive - which is having neither energy or tension
High Negative - Tension with energy
Low Negative - Tension without energy (total stress!)


I think I bounce a lot between Low Positive, High Positive and a little bit of High Negative, which is not where I want to be or should be. So my goal is to move it more to the High Positive quadrant. The quote for this week is "it's not the situation, it is your response to it" and a big reminder to be in control of my emotional state...looking at the situation from a different angel to find the positive spin. All this stuff comes from a book called Mentally Tough by James E. Loehr. He also has a book called The Power of Full Engagement that is excellent.


The other thing that weighs heavy on me but is a novel in itself is the topic of where to live and how to make it happen. That is a constant conflict inside me and not one that I can resolve easily. I will save it for another post, but just in case anyone thinks I don't think about it, all the time, I do, I do, I do.....

****W*A*R*N*I*N*G****

I need to bounce some stuff out here, the next couple of blogs are really just for me. I need to work through a couple of things and the best way I know how is to write it down. No need to worry, by the time anyone reads this, it will already be worked out.

FEAR-
STRESS-
DECISIONS-
MEDITATION-

What is it that cause fear-fight-flight reactions...what is the the quickest way to work through the fear and get to the other side.

What about stress, how does it sneak up on you without you realizing it is there? How do you get away from the daily stressors, like the economic situation of the world, emotions, choices that need answers, family, health, etc.

I found this quote and I really like it...True courage is like flying a kite; a contrary wind raises it higher. So true for where I am right now.

One thing that has been bothering me, is that I have been afraid to fly in the mountains. Flying over them is ok, but still makes my butt pucker. Last Friday I went with Rich, my flight instructor (CFI) to start trying to conquer my demons. I took off, flew west towards the foothills, started a nice climb up to 9,500 feet. Rich said to just follow the highway and relax. I'm doing good, we get up into the pines, skimming over the small towns, looking at the huge cabins (houses), then he says, "hang a right and fly north up the canyon." No problem, I hang a right and within seconds I'm flying up a narrow canyon, mountains and trees on both sides, my training tells me to fly one side of the canyon in case I need an escape, I then have plenty of room to turn and head back out. So I need to figure out what the winds are doing, no problem with my super-duper G1000, the winds are blowing 45 degrees off my right nose. "What does that mean," Rich asks me? It means that the updraft are going to be on the opposite side of the canyon. Wind flows around mountains like water flows around rocks in a stream. To figure out what the wind is going to do you have to look at it like water. All of a sudden the winds are shifting around as 1 canyon converges with 3 more and we are getting rocked! This is what I dread and what I fear the most. I know I will not fall out of the sky but I hate it! I hold on for what seems like an eternity, but it's getting worse, not better. I ask Rich for help and he takes the controls so I can catch my breath. It doesn't let up so he starts a climb up to 11,500 looking for smoother air, which after a few minutes we find.

But...I already feel defeated. I let it get to me and I gave in and I hate that feeling worse than the bumps. We make a big loop over a big open area called South Park and then start heading back to the airport. I finally get my nerve back and take the controls, flying us over the Hayman burn area over the last hump of mountains, down the canyon and into the Denver area. I am feeling better, but disappointed. Coming in I make a pretty good landing, still need a little work to keep the nose off the ground a little longer, but after being rattled, I'm pretty happy to find some success.

Back at the hangar, we go over the flight, I walk through it over and over. I map it, I chair fly it and I beat the heck out of myself for being a wimpy woosy. I make the commitment to Rich to fly back into the foothills every week and to fly the next few weeks with him back into the mountains, until I conquer the fear and master the art of mountain flying. I am spent....but for the past couple of days I have thought of the flight over and over again. I just wonder if there are some fears that you can't get over. I doubt it, just takes time, courage, experience and practice.

Next blog, getting over the fear of feeling like I don't have enough. You'd think I lived through the freaking depression or something, the way I worry about things.

Crossroads

Driving down the road the other day the sky was really blue and all the airplane contrails caught my eye. I had to stop and take a picture because it was a clear illustration of 2 things. The first is very simple, applies to airplanes and goes like this. People always ask me how I know where I'm going when I'm flying. There aren't any roads or street signs in the air to follow, but there is a gridlike system made up of "fixes" or "way-points" that a planes follows by GPS or radar. Where you see the plane trails in the sky intercect, that is what is happening.

The second, is a bit more personal. We all have crossroads in our lives where we have to decide which direction to go. Some people take the familiar road, drive the same route everyday and never venture down an unknown path. We always wonder why things never change when we keep doing everything the same way. It's the same as following the same route home every night, without fail it gets you to the same place.

My quest for this year is to take more unknown roads in my life, venture out a little farther, dare a little more. So far it has been very rewarding. On New Years we were invited to celebrate with a group of folks most of whom we had never met. They all live on a private airpark here in Colorado like Sky Ranch in Hurricane. At the last minute, I was thinking about how to get us out of going, but I eventually gave in and we ended up going...I'm glad we went. The people were awesome, the night was really fun and what came of that for me is that I got to know more people who not only share a love of flying with me, but many other traits and hobbies as well. The place I was going when I took the picture was to meet the UFO group. Not what you're thinking.... It is a group of the gals from the party who get together once in awhile to work on Un-Finished Objects, like knitting or needle point, or crafts or whatever you have you want to bring. The gal that hosted has a beautiful home, we sat in her sun room, overlooking the runway, watching the planes and gliders take off and land. She is also a jewelry maker, seed beads to be exact and she had some incredible pieces she had made. Her collection of beads looks a lot like mine, out of control! We'll be spending some time together learning from each other! Here is the piece I finished at the UFO gathering.

Memories of growing up

I'm not really sure who the 2 little boys are in the picture, but my hunch is that they both are Gublers. If you look down on the farm, that is the house where Ovando and Edna Gubler lived, much later than this picture, my mom and dad bought the property east of the barns from the Gublers and built a home where I would grow up with my 6 brothers and sisters. The story of my dad buying the property is pretty cool, he agreed on some ridiculously low price by today's standards and signed a note with I believe the Gubler brothers Ovando and Horatio (I could have the story a little wrong, but bear with me). The note was to be paid off over a period of a few years, but as luck would have it back then, dad was working heavy construction and making darn good money for the times. He was able to pay the note off in under 6 months, which didn't return very much interest on the note to the Gublers, which didn't make them very happy. But it made for good neighbors over the years, except for those times that our cows got out and were in with the Gubler cows and other farming catastophes like that.

But the best thing about being neighbors, was I had one of the best friends and partners in crime PGB. I can't tell you how many times we crawled over the fences between the 2 houses or how many hours we spent gabbing, spying, playing trolls, telling fortunes, playing tag and football in the street, baseball at the square or getting in trouble for playing angels and devils....the Gubler house was the gathering place for almost everyone. Gubler's front lawn was the place to be on Sunday afternoons, Saturdays, weeknights and before the bus came in the mornings. Hard to forget the little purple violets growing in the lawn or that big yellow rose bush that hung over the fence onto the sidewalk. Jamie's forts and huts, the old shed out back, the big kitchen sink, scary Aunt Mae, hot melt in your mouth doughnuts, and the blue oldsmobiles. So many times we got in trouble for playing in the hay, not getting home on time, spying on people (remember watching Tom's TV from the tree out back?) and chasing boys...talking about boys, spying on boys.....

PGB's mom Edna passed away last night, it's like a part of me is gone. So many memories of growing up and seeing her everywhere-at primary leading the music, teaching classes, setting the example, singing in the choir-at all the town functions usually in the kitchen whipping up something yummy like the sloppy joes for the 4th and 24th of July-just always there, always part of whatever was going on. She even served up the wedding cake at my first wedding reception. She is someone like Irene Allen, Anna Mae Halterman, Helen Howard that was just part of all of our growing up. She was like another mom to me, and I loved her like a mom. I will miss her, but will always be grateful for the positive influence she has been on my life. I'm sure they were rejoicing in heaven today, go with all our love Sister Gubler, you are one in a million!

Jake is the new Bachelor, Jake is a Pilot....

He would have been my pick from last season, she (the bachelorette) said he was too perfect, duh! Who doesn't love a man in uniform, (or vest and chaps), geeze louise! And of course, his plane isn't bad either. Yep I'm a closet watcher of the Bachelor and the new series starts tonight, YIPEE Ki Yi Yo!

A few weeks of pure escaping into a world of perfect dates with the perfect guy, by the way his name is Jake, now that's perfect!