Boulder and Beyond

I still haven't finished writing about the yoga workshop in Jackson, but I will get that posted as soon as I can. It is more reflective than just my journeys and want to give it the focus it deserves. For now, let me fill you in on my time since I left Wyoming.

I flew from Idaho Falls to Boise, then zipped into Denver, where Layla and her 3-year old daughter Isabela, whom I had not met before, picked me up and took me back to their house. I knew Layla and then Emmet, her husband from years ago in Telluride. Layla is an incredible pastry chef and is now quite successful with marketing and selling for Arbonne and Emmet just opend up a little Cuban sandwich and coffee cafe called "Buchi", which is a couple of blocks down the street from their Highlands house, at 2651 W. 38th Avenue. If you are in the area, stop in and get a pressed breakfast or lunch sandwich (pork seems to make an appearance in many of the items!) and a Cuban espresso or cafe con leche.

That is a photo of a shot glass of Cuban espresso, not a cool, foamy dark beer! How about THAT? You can probably guess the voltage of that little glass exceeds your expectation--I got completely wired (although I did have THREE shots over the course of our breakfast there). Emmet gets these crusty mini loaves and stuffs them with all sorts of yummy interior delights and then smooshes them in a panini thing and wraps them in white butcher paper and I can tell you they are incredible and a great price too.

There we all are, with little Isabela. She has this incredible strawberry blond hair and is one of the happiest kids I have been around, super chatty and spirited.

The night before we went out to a New Mexican place and I got cactus! Nopales. I love that--it's so primitive somehow, and I can remember the first time I ate cactus, I was camping in the desert with Swany and our dogs at the time, Teak (the wolf), Bullet (the Rottweiler) and Georgia (my chocolate lab). I think we were in Capitol Reef and I saw that all the cacti had fruited, so we ate the fruits and they tasted like watery strawberries! The nopales that we ate at the restaurant are just the thick green "pads" that have obviously been de-thorned.

Anyway, I hadn't seen Layla or Emmet for 8 years we figured out! They had been in Key West and made it through a handful of hurricanes before throwing the towel in and heading back to Colorado. It is so nice to reconnect with old friends, to find those ways you related before and embrace where they are now and the new qualities they have gained since we last roamed around Telluride, with Disco Night and DJs.

On Tuesday Layla deposited me at Kelly's townhouse in Boulder in the morning and I couldn't WAIT to get out and go for a hike so I went up this little trail that overlooks all of Boulder and about as far as you could see to the north, east and south, and the west you get a perfect view of the Continental Divide! It was sunny and warm and just right for my first day. When Kelly got home we went out for sushi and caught up! She has had her townhouse for about a year and she has great views of the Boulder Flatirons and I love her decorating style, sort of Bohemian mod.

Love those Colorado skies!

Kelly also has an incredible dog, Clio that is an unusual and not seen too often breed called Leonberger. They hail from some German town called Leonberg and as you can see, her other name is "Fuzzy." Here is the description from Wikipedia, and I have to say it is quite accurate:

According to the original purpose, the Leonberger is a large, strong, beast-like yet dainty dog. He is distinguished by his balanced build and confident calmness, yet with quite a lively, friendly temperament. Males, in particular, are powerful and strong. Leonbergers love the water and can hunt for wild salmon in their natural environment(s).

Check her out:

Now, I am going to say something here that many may feel is somewhat blasphemous, but I am going to go ahead and put it in print: After being in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the weekend, I can't help but observe that something about Colorado, in comparison, seems somehow...light. It's sunny and warm and light and people are sunny and warm and light. Wyoming had corridors of beasts, bison and moose and elk, and then huge predators hyperforaging in their wake. It just felt so much more rugged and wild and dangerous, colder and windier and just plain remote. Which I like. A lot. And then I get to breezy Colorado and I have to admit it just felt a little lightweight compared to the wilderness I had just experienced (on a very small scale) in Wyoming. And I love Colorado. A lot. And I think about the bluegrass fans and the hula hoopers and sure, I am in Boulder which has a really mild climate and lots of really aware people, but I just felt a little wistful for that sense I had in Jackson that you really are in the wild west back there and you are perhaps a few degrees closer to the food chain.

But let's get back to how great Boulder is! And the yoga--so many instructors, so little time. I went to two classes at Om Time, both taught by Tarah, whom I liked immediately and connected with her teaching style immediately, partly because (as we determined) we have a similar practice with similar challenges which meant I integrated her verbal alignments easily. We did a two hour Level 3 practice on Thursday and I got so much out of it! Lots of new poses and assists with other students, forged new territory and had a fun time to boot. I think we would be friends if I lived there. Boulder has lots of options for how to spend your money, which I have been avoiding since I am unemployed and we are facing a recession/depression that seems to be just beginning to rear its head.

Kelly and I made two killer meals, one was butternut squash gnocchi on Wednesday, and Thursday she grilled an organic pork tenderloin with a raspberry chiptole sauce, and we had kale, quinoa and roasted beets. And wine. And watched Grey's Anatomy, which was incredibly disappointing. They gotta spice that show up with more sex or potential sex and some scandal and intrigue.

Today, Friday, I rented a car and drove to Santa Fe for a weekend of yoga with John Friend. The drive was 6 hours, as predicted, but I guess I have been super spoiled from living on an island for the past 6 years, because that was a LONG 6 hours! You head south out of Denver and cross the border into New Mexico right around 3 1/2 hours and just past a charming little town called Trinidad that I stopped in long enough to know I wanted to go back, and to pee.

Right now I am in my room at the Santa Fe Residence Inn Marriott and I have to take a moment to talk about how great Marriott is, as a company to work for as well as a lodging option. If you haven't considered working for Marriott, maybe now is the time. They have fantastic associate benefits, one of which I am exercising now--killer room rates. This place is like a condo--full kitchen, fireplace, couch and king size bed, and everyone is always so helpful and friendly.

The last time I was in Santa Fe was in the summer of, god, when was it? the summer of '96? '97? Not sure, but I came down here for a Widespread Panic concert at the incredible venue Paolo Soleri. I can't seem to find a good site to link you to it, but it was named after an Italian dude who did some incredible stuff with architecture an visioning, basically. Anyway, now that I think about it, I was actually there two summers in a row for two concerts. The second I went to with Kelly's now ex-boyfriend, Mark, who is smart and fun and an incredibly talented graphic designer and that was fun, but the first one really stands out in my mind because at the time I was driving an Isuzu Trooper whose starter had decided to stop working a few months prior to our scheduled rock and roll frenzy. At the time I discovered the starter needed some assistance, it just so happened that I had a Budweiser beer bottle under the driver's seat (don't ask) and it also just so happened that a single tap with that bottle on my starter would encourage the Trooper to roar to life and I would be on my way. My memories of that particular concert in Santa Fe involve me and my companions not being able to find that magical bottle (perhaps one of use wisely decided we should clean out open containers before attending a concert in a different state?) and all of them, all guys, pushing my car across burning hot parking lots , trying to gain enough speed for me to pop the clutch and get us going again. I also sat on my Ray Bans and crushed them on that trip. AND there were forest fires, and we drove through pinon pine and sagebrush smoke through northern New Mexico on the way back to Telluride.

I caught a spectacular sunset this evening:

from outside my room. The clouds around the sun looked like molten bronze, this radiant metallic texture that framed the yolky sun as it slipped from sight. Nice way to start my yoga weekend here, yes?

I've Come Unraveled

Well, I know some of you may have been worried, but I managed to survive my 4 days of pay-per-view, room service, naps and sponge baths at the JW Marriott at Ko'Olina . It really was the key to my speedy healing process. That and the care of my ever-attentive friend, Matilda:

That's her on the left, ever radiant, several glasses of champagne away from a sunset, and me on the right, beginning my soft, slow descent into the evening and its respective slumber. Of all the Marriott brands, JW is their top-rated hotel, and this one is delightful for several reasons, but mostly because the location is about 30 minutes west of Honolulu, poised atop a disturbingly perfect man-made scalloped shore. We may have been the only ones there who were not honeymooners or Japanese.

I was the only mummy:

My 24 hours of getting approached by men came to a sudden and dramatic halt--it turns out Japanese men and 22-year old husbands having near-constant sex with the love of their lives are not distracted by the blond girl in pain. What the hell? Had I been more creative, I could have staged a "tumble" down the cascading staircase, towards the shark pools that surround the eating pavilion:

There are also giant black rays that swim around in other pools you can gaze at as you sunbathe nude on your lanai, ensconsed in hospital dressings.

It was great--every morning Matilda would tip-tap upon my door, then let herself in with my room key, "How are you, sweetie?" as she sets my latte on the bedside table and flings open the slider and the shades. We would chat for a few minutes and then off she would go, like a little hummingbird on ecstasy, flitting about the resort until darkness fell. She got to be a mom again for a few days. I couldn't have asked for a better friend. The rooms there are great, with the bathrooms almost equal in size to your sleeping quarters, as they say.

I have to make a plug for the Straub Clinic and Dr. Wong in the Vascular Department in Honolulu. They were superb. I felt cared for and confident about my procedure from the get-go and my speedy recovery was due in large part to his skill and their care. I have one less painful, bulging vein in my left leg--perhaps now I can get my foot behind my head? I will keep you posted on THAT!

But I am back on boring old Maui now, still not active enough for exercise, but when I unwrapped my leg from the 17 feet of gauze and ace bandages, I was tickled with myself and Dr. Wong to see that I suffered no bruising, just little healed-over incisions and some soreness. I will share one last sunset shot from Oahu, just to remind myself how incredible it is here.

Heavenly Honolulu!

I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think Oahu as a whole, Honolulu and especially Waikiki are somewhat underrated these days! Maybe it's because I spend all my time on Maui, which seems to have grown progressively quieter since I moved there in '02, but coming over to the big city is so much fun!



Let's remove the two obvious major drawbacks of snarled and persistent traffic, and inevitable crime, and look at how cool it is to be in a major U.S. city where you can sit on a park bench next to a dozing "camper" (homeless here in the islands), watching surfers paddle out into the numerous shore breaks, drinking your Starbucks as runners pant past you, girls in bikinis carry their surfboards past Gucci and Chanel, petite Asian girls tiptoe by in glittery heels huge sunglasses and miniature dogs on rhinestone-studded leashes, barges the size of city blocks glide into the harbor to unload pretty much everything that built pretty much everything around you, sunburned tourists from Ohio lumber onto the sand with spray-on sunscreen and--here is the clincher--this is all done, all day, every day with a climate that is remarkable consistent and perfectly delightful: clear and sunny with light trade winds and temperatures around 85 degrees. I love Waikiki!!

I am here at the Waikiki Beach Marriott:

and that is the view from my room, looking west. I am going to take a few lines here to expres just how much I have loved working for this company! Not only do they give us the best room rates, they actually ENCOURAGE it, even for our friends and family. And in the few short years I have worked for Marriott, I have to admit I have grown quite fond of staying in really nice rooms at really nice resorts for really small amounts of money. Equally as nice is staying in some really inexpensive Marriotts, for really really small amounts of money. Leaving the Marriott may have been the most difficult aspect of leaving Maui. I have a fantastic job and I work for a fantastic company. The people are unrivalled, even our bosses are cool! But that's enough about that.

I came here for SURGERY. It all went quite well, actually. I have had some hideous and painful varicose veins in my leg that I finally decided to eliminate. I figured if I was going to be on Oahu, why not use the benefits Marriott extends to me and relax around some luxurious pools for a few days while I recover? My leg is in a gigantic bandage that has draws more attention from men in the past 24 hours than I have received in the past 24 months. No kidding. Now I understand why Ted Bundy was so successful in luring women into his handcuff-equipped VW bug. Is this all it takes? All I have to do is appear to be in pain, helpless, pitiful and needy? Are you fucking kidding me? Wow.

This is it:

That is my left leg, propped up on a pillow, toes blissfully floating in a cloud of morphine and darvoset! It ain't all that bad after all...