Snow.....

I think Crested Butte Mountain Resort says it best on their Announcements page...

"It's another Powder Day in Crested Butte, with 15 generous new inches of snow in the last 24 hours! ....In the last seven days, we've had 21 inches of fresh snow, bringing our snow totals from this season to 344 inches- that's 28 and a half feet!"

See my previous post regarding shoveling. 

Shaka

For those of you who have been asking here is Shaka. He's now officially 6 months old and just wonderful. It's funny to see him running around like a big dog these days instead of a gangly little puppy. His favorite things to do are to climb to the top of the 6 foot plus high snow banks along the side of the road and walk up there and to wrestle with Diesel. Poor Dies, Shaka acts like the mature gentleman is his own personal chew toy and Diesel's neck is almost always wet with Shaka spit. Diesel is a good sport though and they are really the best of friends. Shaka is also turning into a bit of a retriever. I was beginning to wonder if he would ever show much interest in fetching outside but in the past month he has started to live up to his breed standard. He love chasing snowballs and will bound through the snow to find a thrown chunk of snow. He's a bit less interested in tennis balls but is coming around and I keep working with him and try and make it fun. He's got so much energy that I like to wear him out when we go on our walks and ball fetching is a sure bet so keep your fingers crossed. Size wise, I'm not sure that he's going to be as big as predicted. He's about 50 pounds now and still has some filling out to do but I doubt that he will reach the 85 pound mark. So that's the update on Shaka... my perfect golden "retriever". 

Yoga Blues

I signed up for a extended studies yoga class through Western State College. I decided that I had to due to the fact that:

1. I decided I really wanted to make an effort to commit to yoga in '08. 
   
2. The instructor is an amazing woman who's guru is B.K.S. Iyengar.
3. The course if offered at the Crested Butte Community School, right across the street from my house. 
   

My first class was last night. Holy Crap!

I've always been flexible. Really flexible, more flexible than at least 90% of the population (based on my totally nonscientific observations). Flexibility it seems in my musculature, not my pelvis and spine which apparently do not move. I've never been so sore in my life. 

My instructor, who I love, is a nazi. Imagine a very petite woman in her early 50's walking around with a smile on her face yelling, "PULL YOUR FEMURS BACK!!!! HOW CAN I TEACH YOU YOGA IF YOU CANNOT EVEN PULL YOUR FEMURS BACK!" that was heard numerous times last night as well as "NO! BEND FROM YOUR PELVIS NOT YOUR BACK... NOT YOUR BACK.... NOT YOUR BACK... NOT YOUR BACK... FLAT BACK.... BEND YOUR PELVIS". 

Now, I credit myself with fairly good body awareness but I couldn't seem to pull my femurs back far enough to satisfy her and as far a bending from my pelvis well, I've got a long way to go.

That's right I can bend down at any given moment and touch my hands flat to the floor I can even do the splits but I cannot bend from my pelvis... go figure. 

I've officially got the yoga blues guess I'll go practice my asanas and see if I feel better. 

Shoveling

It's official, this is the biggest winter I've ever known. It is snowing now; not too much just an inch every 3 hours or so but we are supposed to be getting a couple feet (or more) beginning Sunday night and continuing through Monday. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about all the snow. It's exciting certainly but the shoveling is hysterical, really. We have fairly wide paths from the road to our front door and from the back door to the garage; however, the snow banks on either side of these said paths are now at least 7 feet tall. Needless to say, all the shoveling that we do must be dumped on top of these banks. Eric has a distinct advantage having about a foot of height on me and being a former lacrosse player,he has the whole scoop and throw method down.  I've considered letting him do all the shoveling but my conscience gets the best of me and I find myself out there, right along side said vertically unchallenged person, trying to heave the snow up, up, up and over the banks while keeping a smiling face as 50% of my shovel full comes sliding back down on my feet. The best part though is the first floor windows. Yep, the windows need to be shoveled out on a regular basis this year too. Fun stuff that. Eric and I end up standing in snow up to our waists shoveling snow away from all our windows which isn't bad except for the windows that have significant shed roofs over them. Those are great. Up to your waist in snow and attempting to shovel snow up and over a bank that is a least 10 feet tall. Seriously, from my back deck one of the piles of snow is about a foot and a half away from the bottom of the deck. 

So, the snow is great. It's beautiful, it's white, it's cold, it's heavy and it's massive in quantity. I'm not sure where we will put it all when the 2 feet we are expecting comes on Sunday. So please come out and visit us; bring some good snow boots, I happen to have a few extra shovels. 

And my garage roof needs to be shoveled again and that's where the fun really starts. I won't spoil the surprise come and see for yourself. Wish me strong back and shoulders I'm going out to shovel......