Summer Solstice

My Dad instilled in me years ago a tradition of spending every possible waking moment of the summer solstice outdoors. I am so grateful for this, along with many other values he has taught me. Yesterday, I had a goal of "boycotting the indoors," by literally not going inside between sunup and sundown. I did not achieve my goal, but I had a perfect day nonetheless, and I wanted to share my experiences.

4:15am: Jenny's alarm went off. Jenny and Dee and I were all sleeping in Dee's gigantic bed. I am middle spoon because it seems that I sleep flat on my back and do not move during the night. I believe Dee and Jenny each gave some sort of groan in response to the alarm. I should also mention here that we had stayed up until 1am the night before, talking until our eyes would no longer stay open. Somehow, for me, my excitement level at 4:15am was about the same as on Christmas morning, so I hopped out of bed and started getting ready. I went outside to get some warm layers from my car, and the still, quiet, grayness of first light brought back memories of biking in the mornings with my dad in Pennsylvania. In my memory, I heard the snap of bike cleats clipping into pedals and the whir of wheels spinning on an empty road.

4:42am: Dee and Jenny both rallied and we sat in the kitchen while Dee made us some coffee for the road. Dee had offered to take Jenny and me to a special rock that has a 360 degree view of the mountains and Central Oregon. It consisted of a short drive and a 1-2 mile hike. We knew sun would rise at 5:22am.

5:08am: We chugged our coffee on the short drive to the trail and hopped out of the car knowing that we were pressed to make it to the viewpoint in time to catch the sun. Dee, in the lead, took off running. Reluctantly, I followed suit, and Jenny followed behind me. The coffee and lack of sleep were battling to dominate my motivation.

5:22am: We made it to the overlook just in the nick of time. My glasses were fogged up, but I could see the orange stripe on the horizon without them. Fortunately, I cooled down enough to put them back on as the sun rose in the east precisely on schedule. We cheered the sun, snapped photos of the pink mountains, laughed, and shifted some loose boulders (yikes!).

6:30am: Once we got too cold, he hiked back to the car. We drove through various parking lots along Whychus Creek looking for our friend Corey, who we thought might be camped out in the area. We stopped at Ray's for some blueberries to make blueberry pancakes, but the computers were down at the checkout stations, so the manager gave us the blueberries for free! Then we stopped at Sisters Bakery to indulge in some fresh pastries. YUM!

9:11am: After working on my apple fritter until I couldn't eat another bite, I warmed up in Dee's hot tub and then took a nap. The 3 hours of sleep and coffee/sugar combo was just not working for me. Jenny also crawled into her new sleeping bag on Dee's living room floor and passed out for a bit. 

9:56am: We woke up feeling refreshed and set out on mountain bikes with a map of Peterson's Ridge, sunscreen, and plenty of snacks and water. Dee and her son Zane headed off for Hood River in search of some rocks to climb. 

3:00pm: Jenny and I returned to Dee's house with tired legs and sore sit-bones. We had a superb, bluebird day on the trail and look forward to heading back there in our running gear!


4:30pm: Jenny had been planning on a 2-hour yoga class for the solstice (108 sun salutations) and I had a softball game at 5:30, but sitting outside with our books was feeling very tempting. However, we both decided to rally back to Bend, and we were glad we did it. Jenny had a powerful class that raised money for a great cause. My softball team, the Masterbatters, dominated our opponent 24-2. 


8:00pm: Jenny and I reunited at the base of Pilot Butte for one last hike for the day. We wanted to catch the sun set from the top of the butte at 8:53pm. Our legs were feeling fatigued, but our spirits were high. We watched the sky shift through shades of hot pink and orange behind Mt. Washington. It was beautiful, and we enjoyed seeing the sun and the mountains from a different perspective than we had that morning. We talked about what a beautiful paradise Central Oregon is, and how grateful we are to be living here!


10:00pm: I returned to Travis and Kellie's, we exchanged our stories from the day, and then we all turned in for the night. I slept so well, I am not even sure I had dreams. 


I am so grateful to have celebrated the solstice so fully, with such great people, and in such a wonderful place! I am feeling full of love, gratitude, and happiness! 


Here are a few photos from the sunrise, before I broke my camera:

Three Sisters at sunrise

Mt. Jefferson peeking out from behind Black Butte

Tam McArthur Rim and Broken Top

Here comes the sun/do-do do-do

Cleanse

Lately, I've been focusing my time and energy on taking care of myself and surrounding myself with good friends. I have been pursuing some job leads, including an interview....and then a second interview with a law firm in Bend. The reality of potentially returning to the nine-to-five world, and everything that working at a busy law firm entails, hit me like a swift kick in the gut. It's not a bad thing, but suddenly my freedom has significantly increased in value. So, I am savoring every second of it by spending my time outdoors, going to yoga, and checking things off my "I want to go explore this" list. Life is short.


Two weeks ago, at an inversion workshop at the local yoga studio, I tweaked a muscle in the middle of my back while doing a tripod headstand with splits. Ouch! Luckily, my friend Jenny, who is a massage therapist, saw the pain cross my face and did a little work on it in the parking lot. It felt much better at the time, but soon tightened up to the point that it hurt to do anything but lie flat on my back. Then Dee came to the rescue and spent 4 days with me out in the Steens Mountains and Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. Most of those 4 days were spent in various hot springs, though we took breaks to hike and look for wildflowers, sip wine, and cook delicious meals. It was a beautifully desolate land; it felt like we were on another planet, which was something we both needed at that moment. I found that when I was not sitting in a hot spring, I tended to be laying on my back staring at the sky, or laying on my stomach inspecting wildflowers. I returned to Bend feeling cleansed and refreshed, though my back was still sore.

Steens Mountains and Alvord Desert

The biggest, loveliest full moon I have ever seen.

wildflower near Hart Mtn.

 I continued on the cleansing theme with a 24-hour green juice cleanse. I made my own juice with Travis and Kellie's juicer, using romaine lettuce, chard, kale, fennel, ginger, lemon, pear, broccoli, cucumber, and celery. YUM! Although I had an active day of mountain biking and then climbing, I never felt hungry. I drank quite a bit of juice and felt that I could have kept going for a second day, but I was low on ingredients and my yogurt and cherries were speaking to me from the fridge the next morning. 

Ingredients.

My body was grateful, feeling light and energized. I continued spoiling myself with morning runs in Shevlin, midday swims in the sun at Juniper, and plenty of yoga and bike rides. I went to see Jenny at her office on Wednesday afternoon, where I dozed off and may had drooled a little as she worked out my back. I felt like I could do backflips after she was done! This feeling continued into Thursday, and I don't think I have ever felt so much like a fish in the pool. My back felt like liquid, and what was meant to be a short swim went for almost an hour nonstop.

I had been thinking that I would abstain from racing triathlons this year, mainly to save money, but also because I was getting such a late start on training. Recently, however, I have been having second thoughts ("one little triathlon wouldn't be so bad...."). I may end up signing up for the Deschutes Dash at the last minute, though my sights are truly set on ultra trail running and a full iron man in the next year or two.

Katy and me atop McKenzie Pass, one of my favorite rides in Oregon.

Things seem to be falling into place, for better or for worse. I have been valuing my "girls' nights," which usually involve Dee and Jenny, Dee's kitchen table, 2-5 dogs, and a bottle of wine or two. I have been spending most of my time in Bend at Travis and Kellie's, though I promise, Smith Rock, I haven't forgotten you....


Most of all, I have finally been learning to focus on the present moment and enjoy it to its fullest, by treating my body well, honoring myself, and showing gratitude. I will need this lesson when I re-enter the working world, whenever that may be.