Harbingers --- Day 10/344

Walk: Presidio Pickleball

Distance: 2.3 miles, 1 hour pickle, yoga

Daffodils are here!

Still under wraps, but indications that spring is on the way are sneaking in to our still cold winter.

Mountain Memories --- Days 10/342 & 343

Walk: 1. Opera Plaza Cinema (Torn) 2. Sunday Hood

Distance: 1. 4.6 miles  2. 3 miles, small yoga

Mount Shishapangma (Tibet)

So, once upon a time Ciwt lived in the mountains where a lot of extreme, risk devouring athletes lived or came for the season.  (Then onto a place down under where winter continued).  There were many deaths.  Almost all of very young men somewhere in the mountains or back country.  The more famous, the more elite, the more the chances you were looking at one of them.  That became kind of axiomatic to Ciwt, sadly.  You just sensed they needed to keep pushing themselves, and pushing themselves all over the planet, no matter how high, how remote. And, as the 'old man of elite climbing,' (at 59) Conrad Acker, has put it - eventually 'gravity won.'

And once upon another time, Ciwt went with an adventuring boyfriend to a small village within a village in Yosemite at the base of El Capitan where several elite climbers and their families were allowed to live.  The feeling, the constant hush in the air, felt so hallowed it was difficult for Ciwt to breathe.  All those people - the climbers, their wives, their children - lived constantly near that looming rock wall with the fearful knowledge every day could be their last.  

All this and more came back yesterday when Ciwt went to Torn, a documentary by Max Lowe. the son of by far the most famous mountain climber, maybe ever, Alex Lowe.  Who was killed in an avalanche in Tibet in 1990. Max was 11.  The movie is about Alex but even more about the aftermath of Alex's death and Max's near impossible task of reconciling his father/hero's death with the fact that he had left him and his family behind (his wife and two even younger brothers). 

Not trying to be gloomy here.  Torn just triggered memories and some sort of deep fascination in Ciwt which she hasn't quite shaken. And she's feeling fortunate to have come away from mountain living in one piece.  If you are drawn to such things yourself, Ciwt encourages you to see Torn.

How Did They Do That? --- Day 10/341

Walk: Day of Reading

Distance: n/a

On the outside

Underneath

So, those puffy sleeves would have been droopy if the woman wearing them didn't have down-filled pads sewn onto her corset - or tied on to her upper arms.  And, as for those elaborate or just thick, wavy coiffures, well, most often they were were bulked up with coils of some else's hair.  Ie, they were hairpieces, a fact that pleases Ciwt.

These are just few things Ciwt learned on her designated day of reading....

Covid Company --- Day 10/340

Walk: Hood

Distance: 4.5 miles

Tawny

                                        

Puff

Cats, Books, Flowers.  Good Company.  (These are two different cats.  Promise). 

Got It! --- Day 10/339

Walk/Lope: AMC Kabuki (Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Distance: 4 miles

So Ciwt is happy to report she understood the latest Spider-Man (mostly).  And she enjoyed it.  She didn't expect the wealth of talented, famous actors or the excellent comic timing.  A little prolonged in parts but a zippy getaway.

Not Ciwt's Cuppa --- Days 10/337 & 338

Walk/Lope: 1. Hood post New Year lope  2. Hood lope

Distance:  1. 2.6 miles, small yoga  2. 4 miles, small yoga

No, this isn't a dark landscape painting from the 1900's.  It is from January 1, 2022 in darkest, windiest Belfast, Ireland.  The edifice that is barely visible in the early light and spray is Blackrock Diving Tower.  And those two figures on the right are legging it against the severe headwind to get somewhere warm after diving off that tower into the raging sea.  It's an annual tradition over there.

Ciwt says "Naw Thanks!" although she has picked up the pace of her daily walks after our local wind, cold and rain limited her time outside.  

Pug Sunday --- Day 10/336

Walk: Hood

Distance: 2.9 miles, Yoga

Ciwt is feeling a bit perplexed as she enters 2022.  But not so the pugs who came with their owners from all over the city to enjoy each other and Pug Sunday.

Welcome, 2022 --- Day 10/335

 Walk: Presidio

Distance: 4 miles