Tag: life

Kyle’s been wanting to get outside and do some hiking, so I agreed to go on a hike yesterday. Of course, then we had to pick a trail. Kyle wanted to hike Mount Diablo, but couldn’t understand why I balked at the 7-mile length. To explain briefly: I ruined my lower joints (ankles and knees) dancing by the time I was 17. Add in that I am in lousy physical condition, and I am not at all certain I can walk 7 miles. Of course, Kyle knows these things, but as we have never been on a hike together, he doesn’t fully understand them. I talked him down to a baby-level trail in nearby Sycamore Grove Park instead. We’ll work our way up to Mount Diablo.

We set out on the trail at 10:30 (foolishly late, as it was to be blisteringly hot), Kyle with the camera and me with my right knee and ankle all braced up. It actually wasn’t too bad in the shade, but there was precious little shade to be had. I practiced being larger than the local wildlife so it wouldn’t attack me. And it must have worked! We got home safely.

Here are some of the pics Kyle took. The first is just walking along the trail:

I loved the shape of the grass growing along the trail, and Kyle turned it into a cool silhouette:

We had to turn around early, though. On top of a hill, we came across a building foundation and stopped to rest for a bit. While Kyle was taking some pictures, I took my shoes off to assess the blister situation. My socks had been rubbing on my heels all along, and I knew my ankle brace was making the situation worse (I had already adjusted it once the best I could), so I was considering taking it off and seeing how that would work out for me. When Kyle finished up, he suggested we turn back rather than hiking another mile, considering the state my feet were in. I felt bad about cutting down his hiking experience even further, but agreed eventually that it was probably for the best. And I think it was—I have the biggest blisters on my heels I have ever had (and as a dancer, I’ve had some large ones). But who knows? Mebbe we would’ve seen something awesome in the next half mile that would’ve made it worth the pain!

The real question, of course, is why these exact same shoes didn’t cause me any problems walking around all day while we were in Florida. And we have no ideas. But it just reinforces our plan to get me some real hiking boots (at least, if I’m to accompany Kyle on these mad treks he wants to pursue!).

We got back home around 1, I think. Later on, Kyle made bread! And it was tasty.

On Friday we had walked by the Nestle Toll House Cafe (OK, I’m feeling too lazy to add the accents to those words) and saw a sign for a challenge. Eat a 48-ounce ice-cream and cookie sandwich in 48 minutes and get it for free. Josh, feeling gastronomically unstoppable after downing the 1-pound burger in Idaho, wanted to give it a go.

So you start with 2 freshly baked 9-inch chocolate-chip cookies:

Place 6 scoops of ice-cream onto one of the cookies and cover in caramel:

Add the second cookie; cover in hot-fudge and whipped cream. Notice how the cookie is actually collapsing under the weight of the hot-fudge. This is T = 0.

T = 5 minutes

T = 10 minutes

At 25 minutes things are looking pretty good.

But by 27 minutes we start to realize there might be a problem.

Josh has hit the wall. He’s holding down what he’s already eaten, but isn’t making any more progress as the clock keeps ticking.

He tries some meditation to bring his body temperature back up (he had been visibly shivering for several minutes now).

But at 43 minutes he threw in the towel. He declared the cookie to be disgusting and vowed to vomit if he had to look at it any longer (Note: he said the cookie was delicious when he started). The official weight was 10.6 ounces remaining, unfortunately short of the less-than-1-ounce required for victory.

Our conquered hero sought comfort by lying on the grass in the sun; waiting for his stomach to calm down.

Perhaps another time.

On Sunday we went to church and for lunch had a feast of steak, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and corn on the cob. Then we lounged about until dusk when we headed out to see fireworks. We grabbed a spot and played a game of Scrabble while we waited for the sun to set.

Then we watched fireworks. I was going to try to get some really neat pictures, but then decided I’d rather just watch, so this is the best you get:
That was pretty much our day.