Monday, February 27, 2012
A woman Praying..."Snow Creatures"
I love this time of year when i can glide down a trail in the woods with my cross country skis and see all the amazing "snow creatures" along the way. When you get a fresh snowfall it falls and sits in the woods like creatures waiting and silent. While skiing on Sunday i spied this lovely lady praying...it was as if she was whispering to a small creature next to her with her arms spread around. A silent piece of artwork God created in the woods and i had the pleasure of seeing it. It was amazing!! I also viewed a one tree fresh with snow that resembled a work of cross stitches as the snow clung to each needle to show the design. Oh and an enormous Tortoise taking a rest on a large tree stump. Such fun to see these snow creatures....makes the skiing a real treasure hunt...more to come with each new snowfall.... You have to slow down your skiing to see them but it is worth the hunt!! yeah for Snow Creatures!!
A winter Jig Saw Puzzle of Ice
When you see Lake Michigan in winter it is like a huge jig saw puzzle of ice shapes and bubbles.....
geometrics as far as the eye can see. It is breathtaking!! I have always loved Lake Michigan, growing up so close to it from childhood on. I enjoy it in all four seasons, but winter is my favorite.
It is just unbelievable how beautiful the ice forms and reforms with the thaw and freeze of winter temps. I have posted some photos we took while flying over it last weekend to show you what i mean. See if you can find the one photo that resembles a large mouse with big feet...hehe. I often picture creatures or small communities in the ice flows....just seems like a whole different world!!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
BEST X-C SKI DAY EVER!!!
Well we trekked up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for another weekend of winter sports last weekend. The snowmobile trails were marginal (as only about 2 ft of snow so far this winter and some melting days in between), but the groomed x-c ski trails were superb!!! I had the best day of x-c skiing ever on Saturday!!
We (me, Dave and our friend Mike) started the day with our usual ski trail of about 45 min of climbing, gliding and zooming down hills listening to our favorite songs on MP3 player. I love it when praise and worship songs, Joan Baez or Anne Murray come on the flats or uphills to inspire me and then jazzy Jason Mraz or Sheryl Crow songs take me down the fast, rolling downhill sections !! Yippee!! Sheer delight ! :)
It was about 26 degrees and perfect groomed trail..iced in with fresh snow. We were the first one on the trail after the groomer went thru even though it was late morning on a Saturday. I think more skiers take the flatter trails with less hills to climb as there are some dooseys on our trail plus a long fast down hill section of hills at the end. Our trail is a glorious way to ski..glide first, then climb and then glide and then downhills...perfect!! I love that these trails were made for xc skiing( and trail bikes in summer, fall) not hiking trails converted that is why they ski so well , as they are wide enough for easy turns and groomed to perfection for best grip and glide. The other trail we ski is in the national lake shore park but it is a hiking turned ski trail and is seldom groomed well( as work on min $ budget these days with all the state parks cut in budgets )...just an alternative trail when short on time or we want a second ski time that day.
So the first trail was great!! Then we took a break for lunch in town and came back for a second trail. We took a trail we don't usually ski and it was great too. An amazing double loop downhill that almost made you fly off your skis as so fast on Saturday!!Dave is taller, heavier and has longer skis so he said he thought it was almost too fast for him....made him a bit nervous( he did have a quick fall on skate skis two yrs ago and dislocated his shoulder so he is a bit more careful now).
After our second trail of the day the guys were done but i said" i could ski all day in these conditions"!! So they said, "you go ahead we will go to town and kill some time and come back for you later". So i took a quick drink from my water bottle in the car and off i went. Yeah for more skiing in these conditions!! So off on my third trail of the day i went. I did our usual loop that we did first on Saturday as i could best judge how long it would take to ski it. My MP3 player kept me company and I flew through through the woods alone and completely content. The tracks were so fast that even with no wax skis you could practically skate on the flats while still in the tracks!!
Well i got back to the parking lot where the guys were going to pick me up and they were not there. Soooo i thought why not one more quick 4th loop!! I usually do not ski this many miles in one day but heck i felt fine and it was such excellent trail conditions so off i went. I did a shortened first loop and even tho my battery in my mp3 player gave out about half way thru the trail i skied along in the the silence in complete delight. I was back to the parking lot in no time and there were the guys waiting for me. I asked them if they had been waiting long?..they said no. I said proudly," i did a fourth loop!!"...Dave looked at Mike and said to him..."i knew it, I told you i bet she did another loop!!" They were pretty amazed i could ski 4 loops/ 8 miles in one day and i was a little proud i must admit of my endurance too. But i have to say it was because of perfect skiing conditions that i could do this...the quick track seemed to take half the effort of a normal ski loop. We did ski a loop the day before on Friday too, as we got to the U.P. Thursday eve. so that helped to get my muscles in shape. What fun... 10 miles of skiing in 2 days!! I have not done this much skiing in one day since the late 70's early 80's when we skied 250 miles a winter ,with some short 5,10 and 20 km races along the way, to get in shape for the 53 KM( 35 mile) marathon at the end of 3 of those winters! Such fun!!
But for the most part it was just glorious skiing in the best conditions-great groomed trail, sun shining and perfect temps!! Sooooo FUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!This is why i love the sport and the added bonus... it is great aerobic exercise for my body( did you know you burn more calories in x-c skiing than any other sport because it uses all your muscle groups.... can't beat that!!).
I just luv luv luv x-c skiing....38 yrs of skiing and going strong at age 59!! YIPPEE!!!!!:)
Thank you Jesus for my contiuing good health, your beauty in the woods and a silent sport to add joy to my life...such a blessing indeed!!
We (me, Dave and our friend Mike) started the day with our usual ski trail of about 45 min of climbing, gliding and zooming down hills listening to our favorite songs on MP3 player. I love it when praise and worship songs, Joan Baez or Anne Murray come on the flats or uphills to inspire me and then jazzy Jason Mraz or Sheryl Crow songs take me down the fast, rolling downhill sections !! Yippee!! Sheer delight ! :)
It was about 26 degrees and perfect groomed trail..iced in with fresh snow. We were the first one on the trail after the groomer went thru even though it was late morning on a Saturday. I think more skiers take the flatter trails with less hills to climb as there are some dooseys on our trail plus a long fast down hill section of hills at the end. Our trail is a glorious way to ski..glide first, then climb and then glide and then downhills...perfect!! I love that these trails were made for xc skiing( and trail bikes in summer, fall) not hiking trails converted that is why they ski so well , as they are wide enough for easy turns and groomed to perfection for best grip and glide. The other trail we ski is in the national lake shore park but it is a hiking turned ski trail and is seldom groomed well( as work on min $ budget these days with all the state parks cut in budgets )...just an alternative trail when short on time or we want a second ski time that day.
So the first trail was great!! Then we took a break for lunch in town and came back for a second trail. We took a trail we don't usually ski and it was great too. An amazing double loop downhill that almost made you fly off your skis as so fast on Saturday!!Dave is taller, heavier and has longer skis so he said he thought it was almost too fast for him....made him a bit nervous( he did have a quick fall on skate skis two yrs ago and dislocated his shoulder so he is a bit more careful now).
After our second trail of the day the guys were done but i said" i could ski all day in these conditions"!! So they said, "you go ahead we will go to town and kill some time and come back for you later". So i took a quick drink from my water bottle in the car and off i went. Yeah for more skiing in these conditions!! So off on my third trail of the day i went. I did our usual loop that we did first on Saturday as i could best judge how long it would take to ski it. My MP3 player kept me company and I flew through through the woods alone and completely content. The tracks were so fast that even with no wax skis you could practically skate on the flats while still in the tracks!!
Well i got back to the parking lot where the guys were going to pick me up and they were not there. Soooo i thought why not one more quick 4th loop!! I usually do not ski this many miles in one day but heck i felt fine and it was such excellent trail conditions so off i went. I did a shortened first loop and even tho my battery in my mp3 player gave out about half way thru the trail i skied along in the the silence in complete delight. I was back to the parking lot in no time and there were the guys waiting for me. I asked them if they had been waiting long?..they said no. I said proudly," i did a fourth loop!!"...Dave looked at Mike and said to him..."i knew it, I told you i bet she did another loop!!" They were pretty amazed i could ski 4 loops/ 8 miles in one day and i was a little proud i must admit of my endurance too. But i have to say it was because of perfect skiing conditions that i could do this...the quick track seemed to take half the effort of a normal ski loop. We did ski a loop the day before on Friday too, as we got to the U.P. Thursday eve. so that helped to get my muscles in shape. What fun... 10 miles of skiing in 2 days!! I have not done this much skiing in one day since the late 70's early 80's when we skied 250 miles a winter ,with some short 5,10 and 20 km races along the way, to get in shape for the 53 KM( 35 mile) marathon at the end of 3 of those winters! Such fun!!
But for the most part it was just glorious skiing in the best conditions-great groomed trail, sun shining and perfect temps!! Sooooo FUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!This is why i love the sport and the added bonus... it is great aerobic exercise for my body( did you know you burn more calories in x-c skiing than any other sport because it uses all your muscle groups.... can't beat that!!).
I just luv luv luv x-c skiing....38 yrs of skiing and going strong at age 59!! YIPPEE!!!!!:)
Thank you Jesus for my contiuing good health, your beauty in the woods and a silent sport to add joy to my life...such a blessing indeed!!
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