Just got Inked!!

So after years of procrastination, today was (unexpectedly!) finally the day I took the plunge and got my first tattoo! Yes - all those hours spent looking out of the window from my apartment in Christopher Street finally propelled the subconscious into conscious action and I found myself in Tattoo Heaven, just after midday today.  After explaining the real reason I was there was delayed peer pressure from my Mother (she'd got a tattoo there 3yrs earlier - a lower back tattoo saying "F*ck You" in Chinese characters!), the guy asked me what I was thinking of getting.  "The hell outta here" crossed my mind, but instead I replied I was looking for something pretty, discrete and feminine.  Something non-visible except to me, my gyneacologist and bikini waxer.  After looking at a gazillion non-inspiring pictures of flowers, I stumbled across a collection of Myan Tribal symbols and one in particular, Dwennimmen, really captured my attention.   

Dwennimmen is a symbol from the Akan people of Ghana, West Africa and is a symbol of strength, humility, wisdom and learning.  It derives from the geometric shape of a ram's horns  - the ram is seen as a very strong animal with graceful and magnificent horns  and, even though its horns can be used viciously and forcefully for survival, the ram normally chooses not to use them as such but to be graceful and elegant in its approach.  The strength of a ram depends not so much on the forcefulness of its horns but on the integrity of its heart.  In addition to beauty (inner and outer), Dwennimmen also signifies the necessary balance that is needed in life.  A person may be talented and gifted and may have skills and knowledge, but it is not these virtues alone that enables one to excel.  It is the creative use of these skills; the strength in mind, body and soul; and the humility that comes from understanding one's place in the universe.  It is the learning and wisdom that comes with time that enables a person to exceed his normal capabilities and excel in his endeavours (Adinkra Dictionary by W.Bruce Willis, 1998).

I can't think of anything better to have as my first tattoo.

New Life Kick-Ass Recipes

Here are a couple of my favourite recipes from my time here at New Life Hiking Spa. More can be found on their website at www.newlifediet.com. Yummy!!

Avocado Dressing
1 ripe avocado, peeled and seeded
1 clove crushed garlic
1 plum tomato, finely chopped
1 tbs. red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup skim or soy milk
1/2 cup yogurt
Dash of Cumin and/or chili powder to taste
Tamari to taste

Mix all ingredients in blender until smooth.

Chicken Sesame and Spinach Pasta Salad
6 oz. pasta twists
½ cup sesame seeds
½ cup light sesame or extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup wine vinegar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbs. sugar
¼ tsp. pepper
3 cups cold, shredded cooked chicken
½ cup finely chopped parsley
½ cup thinly sliced green onion
8 cups lightly packed torn fresh spinach (2 bunches)

Boil pasta, drain. Meanwhile, cook sesame seeds in ¼ cup oil in fry pan, stirring until golden. Cool. Stir in remaining cup oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and pepper. Pour over cooked pasta, add chicken and toss lightly. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight. To serve, add parsley, onions and spinach. Toss gently.

New Life Sundae
4 perfectly ripe bananas, sliced
Chocolate sauce
Nuts & berries

Freeze sliced bananas in a plastic bag. Remove from freezer, thaw 10 minutes then place in blender. Puree until smooth. Consistency will be like ice cream. Use a bit of vanilla yogurt or part of an unfrozen ripe banana in blender if needed. Top with chocolate sauce.

Blue Ridge Hike
Today's hike choice was another advanced one - trailhead was fairly close to the hotel, about a 5min drive away, and firstly went along the flat, through the woods and past some old logging cabins. There were only 3 of us on the hike today (we got a round of applause from all the other hikers this morning when we stepped forward to leave!) which was led by the lovely Chuckles and Drew. After our usual stretch (my calves were soooo tight!), we started our slow and steady climb uphill. I didnt bring the camera kit with me today, as i didnt want the extra weight to carry in case the climb was really strenuous, but in the end, it was actually fine and I really didnt find it horribly tough. After about half an hour, we passed by this lovely waterfall (but just had to content myself with looking at it rather than taking a piccie!) where we stopped to take a breather, before continuing up and actually reaching the top in an hour, way faster than usual!! (yey, us!) The view was OK but a bit limited vista, really, so it was more of a good hike for the exercise, rather than the scenic view from the top. We stopped just long enough for our fruit break before starting our descent again fairly quickly - it had rained for about 20mins on the way up and was threatening to do so again, so we wanted to make it back down before it started pissing it down. The rain we'd had, whilst very pleasant cos it cooled us off on the way up, made it a little slippy underfoot on the way back down, so I had to concentrate extra hard not to lose my footing!! I made it, though, with only one or two minor slippages - a distinct improvement from Patagonia!!!

Hiking the Appalachian Trail

After a quick restorative phone call to Mum (who assured me that she still did love me!) and a check of the Blackberry to allay the irrational work fears (they still need me!), it was time for breakfast and decision time - which hike to do today? I decided to bite the bullet and go for my first advanced level hike, quite a steep climb up to an overlook called Deer's Leap. There were 6 of us, plus 2 guides and we were actually hiking along part of the Appalachian Trail, which was pretty cool (apparently takes about 6 months to do the entire length!). The hike was pretty tough in places with some steep ascents but fortunately also had enough fairly flat bits so you could get your breath back. I was also lugging all my camera kit, including the tripod, as i'd been told that the view from the top was worth taking it all with me. As you can tell from the pic, the view was pretty stunning although I didnt need my tripod (ah well!) so it was a great hike to do. Fortunately we came back down a different way, so we didnt have to do The Ladder in reverse!!

Got back to the hotel around 12.30pm, took a very speedy shower before lunch before then heading off for kayaking at half one! Drove about 5miles from the hotel to this pretty little lake where we hired out individual kayaks for an hour's gentle paddling and exploring. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, perfectly warm and sunny - I took a bit of a risk and took my camera out with me to take some piccies. Alas, didnt see the loons that our guide was telling us about but there were some very cute ducklings!

After the day's exertions, was time to chill out and relax, so spent the rest of the afternoon out in the sun just reading and sunbathing. About time I started to get some decent colour on me! To round out the day, after dinner, was time for my hot stone massage with Alison - was OK but a little too light for me, but relaxing nonetheless. Then had a lovely long chat with Charles, who's now ensconced back at home after sojourning at my place and looking after the boys for me, so that was a great way to end a very enjoyable day!

Where did that come from?
Wow. Just woken up from an incredibly intense and vivid dream where I got fired from my job for no reason whatsoever. Went from indispensable to disposable with 2 days notice. I either dont dream or usually dont remember them but this one was so strong, its like a movie, as i can still replay bits in my mind. Added to that, in this dream, the loss of my job seemed to be orchestrated by my Mum and sister, and it was all very unpleasant!! I think I came out fighting in the end and decided to sue Pfizer but it was the sense of bewilderment and "but why?" that really got me. I think i need a very very long and strenuous hike today to get the residual anxiety out of my system! Either that or a very large glass of Malbec!! :-(

Peg Legs

Another chilled out day today (is it only Tuesday? time seems soooo slow out here) - managed this time to get up in time for the 7am stretch and qigong classes (helped by my room's alarm clock mysteriously going off all by itself at 6.35am! nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!). Stretch was good (no matter how much you do, you always seem to feel tight!) and Qigong was interesting, although it would have been good to know a bit more about what the sequences we were performing were supposed to be doing. I have no idea if i did it right or not - at times it all got a bit too co-ordinated for me (especially at that time of the morning!) and i lost the plot, so hopefully i didnt inadvertently do anything weird or irreperable to my Qi!!

After breakfast, time to load into the buses and head off for our hikes. I chose to do the easy intermediate hike today up Mount Peg, mainly so i could mildly amuse myself with lots of internal double-entendres and smutty thoughts (sorry, honey!). Actually, the walk was gorgeous too - quite short, only about 4.5miles or so, but with lovely views across Killington from a beautiful alpine meadow, about halfway up. Got chatting to one of the guides, a chap called Sam, and we were trying to out-nerd each other with our knowledge of camping equipment (he eventually won on account of having once given a 15min lecture on how to strip down and rebuild a MSR Whisperlite stove - I conceded graciously!) and swapped favourite campfire recipes. He also put me on to (another) outdoorsy website called http://www.moosejaw.com/ - yet another mailing list to sign up for!

Following the hike, we continued on into the town of Woodstock to eat our bagged lunch and to do some shopping. Was a very pretty little town and I found this perfect quiet spot for lunch, down the road a bit from the green, right by the river. Very contently chomped my sandwich in the sunshine, sipped my (illicit) non-fat maple latte and read yesterday's copy of the New York Times. Then did a bit of shopping and bought a few pressies before heading back to the hotel for a lazy afternoon in the sun.