take itback now

another thanksgiving. another trip to albuquerque. in case you were unsure, that's in new mexico, which is one of the 50 states. believe it or not, more than one person on my account has been perplexed when informed that one does not need a passport to get into new mexico territory. travel people, travel. Geo-safari. u.s. history. map of the united states. all of these are great resources to understanding such things. my personal favorite being the Geo-safari. i freakin loved this gadget when i was in elementary school and what a better toy than one that teaches as you play with it. to this day things that i have learned from my Geo-safari have come into motion at some crucial times, like bar trivia the other week. countless state capitols, state nicknames, location of states and the list goes on. not sure where i was going with this, but just wanted to say out loud that Geo-safari was one sweet toy.

well, albuquerque was great. a lot of these good things, a few of those good things, unexpected wonderful things all makes for a nice thanksgiving break. we took a day trip to sante fe, which is probably one of my most favorite hidden cities and is the united state's oldest capitol city but Geo-safari didn't teach me that tid-bit. sante fe boasts huge amounts of culture it's intoxicating. the food is traditionally southwestern and smothered in green chile, or you can get red chile, or even go for a combo of both, which is called christmas for obvious reasons. the churches are on axis, the city takes great pride in local art and cherishes the days of georgia o'keeffe. what is it about a place that keeps you coming back for more? it is the things that are constant and never see change or the things that are always evolving and the moving parts that helps make up the whole?

i think i wanna go back to rome.

but that might be selfish. there are so many other places to go that deserve attention and admiring. i'm confused by the people who travel to a certain destination year in and year out. never considering another option for the eyes and soul. i'm assuming it fills a part of them with the longing of familiarity.

skiingneedspeople

yesterday was the first day to ski for the season. rather early if you ask any local, though no complaints here on that. i need all the practice i can get. we got picked up early and headed for Keystone, one of five mountains that we are able to ski at endlessly for the winter.

so, as i was steeping my green tea this morning i nonchalantly noted to someone at work who had asked about my weekend that i went skiing yesterday. no big deal, just a light response. soon after i realized, what a great way to fill a sunday morning and afternoon. up early, drive off into the mountains, locate some snowy hill, elevate ourselves on a whole new kind of public transportation, objectively fly down and try not to die. good news is i didn't die or launch myself over the edge, hip hip hooray. i probably should have gotten out of control at least once and had a tumultuous fall. maybe next time.

it's funny if you think about the whole process of skiing. and just to clarify: skiing also means snowboarding. it's just silly to write out both and since skiing is an older pastime than snowboarding it thus gets the privilege of being used. maybe we could make up a new word, our few options would be skiboarding or snowing [um,no] or i guess boardski. i kinda like boardski, but it sounds more like a frat boys nickname. well, you get the picture. oh gosh! wait a hot second, i did see one dangerous soul going down the slick mountains on a skateboard. no joke, this boy was on a skateboard minus the wheels and boots not even strapped in. we can call that snowskating or deathskating. anyways, back to the matter at hand, skiing. tons of people come, pile on too many clothes and entertain themselves by making a constant loop up and down the mountain. i could probably say that basketball is about a silly of a sport as it gets, or football, or even tennis even though tennis is a huge part of my childhood, most of these sports all have the same thing in common. it is all about containment and people are really trying to get after each other whether by physical beating or nailing balls at the other. kinda fun, if that's what you're into. skiing is not about any of that stuff. one of the beautiful things about skiing is that a mass of people are attempting to conquer the mountain and the natural conditions that she emits. helping each other out with technique, skillz, balance, an understanding and so on. skiing needs people, the mountain is activated when people are blazing down it, and no one would want to ski for more than 20 minutes all by themselves. so is this just a theme "to see and be seen"? not quite sure, but i do know that this great activity operates with a community of people, and all are welcome.
some words to live by when in any given week [you or i] might be climbing, playing soccer, running or skiing, understand that "the human body does not wear out with use. on the contrary, it wears down when it is not used."