Patterns

I went for a walk this morning along the South Fork of the Merced River here in Yosemite. 

It's hard to believe today is the last day of 2011. We had a high of 55 degrees! Goodbye to a warm December. 

As I neared the river, however, the temperature significantly dropped and I was delighted to see ice and snow! 

And such pretty patterns too. I discovered them first in the ice. Then I began looking everywhere...    

Prelude

My talented little sisters had a piano recital today. They had practiced diligently and both preformed flawlessly. As the last notes faded in a wave of applause, such beautiful smiles spread across their faces. They were proud of their accomplishment. So was I and all the rest of the family beaming from the audience. Music has always been a passion in our family, and I'm excited to see my little sisters discovering that passion for themselves. 

They are music in my life.     

Our Tree

It was one of those instances where you're working so closely with something that you don't even see what's evolving right before your very own eyes... 

The kids and I began excavating shortly after breakfast. 

The living room floor was enveloped in a couple dozen boxes and bags of various shapes and sizes. Their content was sifted, sorted, and scrutinized with the utmost severity.

 Not just any old ornament would be allowed a spot on our magnificent tree... 

Pieces were at long-last chosen and hung with the greatest of care. The last bow was tied and the lights were plugged in.

We all stepped back as stared... 

... and that's when we first saw it - our Christmas tree. 

    

I'm HOOOOOOOOOME!!!

Feels like home...

There's a place that means more to me than any other spot on earth... I struggle expressing with words the feelings I get thinking about being there. It seems the farther I go from it, the more I long to return.

My bags are packed, my ticket is printed, and my alarm is set for 3 a.m. 

I'm writing because I can't sleep.  

I find that music is often the channel through which my feelings best express themselves. A song can say more for me than most anything I could write. So this is the song I'm feeling tonight....

Books

Let me once enter a bookstore and I am lost for hours... So is a substantial portion of my wallet. 

Henry Ward Beecher once said, "Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?" 

This is when I'm so thankful for used bookstores! They are the absolute best thing ever!!! I feel like a kid in a candy shop, to use a sorely overused idiom.  

Anyhow, I came back from town this afternoon with a stack of goodies to read! We'll see how long I can make them last... 

Inspiration

Last night I had a streak of culinary inspiration when I found this recipe for a vegan pumpkin cheesecake on Post Punk Kitchen.  I kinda fudged with the recipe though, seeing how much I LOVE a tradition pie crust. I know that's not what you'd normally put a cheesecake in, but it ended up tasting more pumpkiny anyhow. Oh was it ever so yummy! Couldn't wait to let it cool for three hours in the fridge, so we dug in after about 20 minutes. lol The rest we left in the fridge to cool overnight. I'll see which way I like it better. ;)

Baking always takes soooo long...

So does cooling...

Eating, on the other hand, is far too short!

And a picture of our second snow this winter! It's mostly melted now.

It's HERE!!!

It snuck in softly last night while we were all tucked snugly in our warm beds... It cloaked everything with its gentle, white beauty and then departed.

I awoke this morning to a peaceful anticipation... Something was different... something had changed during the night. There was a white glow sifting through my window blinds as the morning sun began to reveal the surprise...

The first winter's SNOW!!! 

Student?... Teacher?...

Today in the valley I went searching for two of my students who had gone to use the bathroom and not returned after more than a sufficient amount of time had past.

I walked by some park employees who had been working outside the visitor center all morning, and who my students and I had passed by a couple times already. I found my two students chatting in the bathroom, asked them to return sometime in the near near future, and headed back to the rest of my group.

As I passed the park employees yet another time, one of them called out to me, "Hey, you lose your class?" I chuckled and said, "Well, sort of. I found them chatting in the bathroom though."

It wasn't till a few hours after the incident that the thought dawned on me, "Wait, did he think I was a student??? My students are a group of 8th graders... some of them taller than me... and we did have the class teacher and a parent along... He really wanted to know if I'd lost my class!"

Oh the joys of teaching... I love it! And that's a good questions for today... Did I lose my class? No! I was able to keep their attention nearly the entire day! Yes, today held much more success than yesterday. All in all I'd say we walked about the same distance as we did yesterday (5-6 miles?), but the kids really didn't have a clue. With the multiple, unnamed destinations the kids really couldn't be distracted by what was happening next or where we were headed... because I never told them! lol

The day was packed with one exciting revelation after the next. Little did they know all the things we would do, the places we would visit, and the miles we would walk... Inspiration Point, Bridal Veil Falls, Lower Yosemite Falls, "The Spirit of Yosemite" movie, the Yosemite Visitor Center, the Ahwahneechee village, the Yosemite Museum, the Yosemite Cemetery, the Village Store, the meadows, and finally supper at the Swinging Bridge.

 It also helped that I remembered to assign my three personal assistants - the Toast Master (this student reminds us all to drink water throughout the day), the Time Keeper (this student is responsible for answering the ever present question, "What time is it?") , and the Questions and Complaints Department (this student fields all questions and complaints, unless the question regards the topic of study... then I'll answer those). This setup is really quite effective in diffusing most trivial questions and complaints... and keeping us hydrated. ;)

So I'd say today was a great success. Besides, how can you go wrong with a day in the Valley?! This is Yosemite after all...

A thing or two

This week's Outdoor school group is mostly inner-city kids. I had my first clue as to how the week would progress when on day one a guy balked at kneeling in the gravel for fear of dirtying his jeans. Uh... outdoor school... outdoor school... in my mind this conjures certain images of feet wading through streams, knees down on the ground, hands sifting through dirt, and yes, jeans potentially getting dirty. But this concept was somewhat foreign to our lively bunch of twelve 8th graders... Yes, this week was going to be fun.

Today our topic of study was trees. We drove to Mariposa Grove for some awesome tree encounters, (mainly Giant Sequoias). Our trail of choice was a loop somewhere between 5 and 6 miles... give or take a few. I decided to use the same approach with this group that I had used with the previous weeks group - one continuous hike to Wawona Point and back with short informational/educational stops along the way and lunch at the point.   

I now know that the continuous hike plan is not the most effective for this type of group. Sweat pours, feet ach, blisters form, shoulders stoop, moral drops, and before you know it your whole crew is ready to mutiny! Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but the Point was definitely too far away to have as the only "real" destination for this bunch. Yes, there were "sub-stops" along the way, but they weren't permanent enough destinations. I could tell the general mindset was, "Get to the Point, eat lunch, get back to the vans." The destination had become a distraction rather than the motivation I had hoped it would be.

Tomorrow we'll be taking the "multiple destination" educational approach. We will have no final destination to act as a distraction all day long. Instead, we'll have a variety of destinations that go unnamed until arrived at. I'm anticipating that this will dispel most complaints and keep attention focused on the experience at hand. We'll see how it goes.       
 
This whole education thing is definitely a learning experience... hopefully the kids are taking away a thing or two as well. ;)

Cheesy Vegan

So I just found the best vegan Alfredo sauce that I've ever tasted! It's originally from this site - Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! We experimented with it in a white vegetable lasagna this weekend, and the results were exceptional. ;) Anyhow, I got to thinking about all the other yummy things you could do with this sauce. I'm considering trying it as a white mac n cheese next. Oh, and the recipe calls for white cooking wine but we didn't use it and it turned out fine. Also some people suggested adding a little lemon juice for more of a "cheesy zing." Not sure exactly what they're alluding to, but I'm going to give it a try next time I make it. ;)  

Lachesis' Amazing Alfredo Sauce1/2c Earth Balance (or a little more is fine, to taste)
2 cups soymilk (unsweetened is best)
1 package Extra firm tofu (Mori-nu.. the kind in the tetra pack, appr 12 ounces)
1-2 tbsp white cooking wine
2 tbsp onion powder
2-3 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp sea salt
1-2 tsp black pepper (to taste)
pinch of nutmeg
3-4 tbsp arrowroot or cornstarch powder (more or less, as needed.. it should be creamy and the margarine should not separate) + a little cold soy milk just to dissolve

Mix all ingredients in either in a food processor or already in saucepan with hand blender. Heat over med lo heat until hot, stirring often. whisk in arrowroot/cornstarch mixture and heat until just bubbling. do not let boil. Sauce should be thicker by now. Serve and enjoy!

El Capitan

I hiked to the top of El Cap. on Sabbath. This hike was definitely on my Yosemite to-do list, and I'd been thinking about making it a weekend backpacking trip. The nice fall weather wouldn't be around much longer, however, so I decided to sieze the opportunity when it arose... 

Friday evening I found out that I would have all of Sabbath off, so I began to brainstorm. I pulled up some trip reports online, read gear lists, got time estimates, etc. Most people were saying to give yourself a full day and get an early start. It didn't sound like a walk in the park, but it looked doable. I decided to give myself 10 hours to complete the 17 mile hike with a turn-around time of 1 p.m. if I hadn't reached the top yet. I got everything packed that night and had my clothes laid out. The goal was to pull out of camp at 7 a.m.

The next morning found me on the Yosemite Falls trail at 8:15 a.m. The weather was looking perfect and I was feeling great. After a couple hours of up-hill climbing I arrived at upper Yosemite Falls. It was 10:20 a.m. and I took the split to El. Cap. which was another 4.7 miles away. From this point on the trail mostly evens out as it follows the ridge-line. At 12:15 p.m. I arrived at the top of El Cap. or at least the highest point. It's kind of hard to decide when to stop hiking as there really isn't a cliff edge. The ground just begins sloping to a greater and greater degree until it kind-of drops off the face. I chilled up top for an hour or so, ate lunch, watched some climbers come over the edge, chatted with other hikers, etc. Then at 1:20 p.m. I began my descent. I was back at upper Yosemite Falls by 3:00 p.m. and down in the valley again by 4:20 p.m. 

All in all the trip had taken me about 8 hours to complete - 7 hrs. of hiking and 1 hr. chilling up top. I had gained and descended over 3,500 ft. and my legs were definitely feeling it. I felt pretty good about the hike however, seeing at YNP advises 6-8 hrs. just to reach the top of Yosemite falls and back - a 6.8 mile round-trip hike. ;)       

Yosemite Falls trail-head. 

Upper Yosemite Falls.

Water levels are low this time of year.

Yosemite Valley.

Another glimpse back into the Valley. 

Upper Yosemite Falls/ El Cap. trail split. 

Only 2 miles left!

"Top" of El. Capitan.

Success!

Shadows falling on Upper Yosemite Falls. 

Yosemite Village with Half Dome in the background.

The trail down.

Afternoon sun on the Valley.