These are a few of my favorite things...

This is the bridge that connects old and new, yesterday and tomorrow. It leads
to one of my favorite vantage points, a place where I can recollect and reconnect. It passes over the water, where I can see the seasonal cycle of life. It invites you...

This is the water full of leaves, from the trees where they collected sunshine and contributed to the life of the tree. These are the leaves that are not just dead leaves, they are the material settling into the water, creating compost, continuing to contribute to life. The ooze at the bottom is a gold mine. It's a collection of every life form on this island of respite.

This is the pond that I look over, where the water reflects mood, the fish create visual interest and patterns and I think about what is and what appears to be.

It's a place where family history abounds, where rural culture is exemplified, where wandering brings new adventures each time I set foot on it, regardless of how many times I've been there before.

What are your favorite things?

New Trail Yummies!

While I miss our little abode on a gravel road, where everything was always covered in gray dust, and my child could roam free at all hours of the day or night, and I could leave my bike in the yard without it being stolen, there are some definite benefits to living in the big city.  Like food.

Immense varieties of food. Slow food. Fast food. Foreign food. Food available 24/7. Food brought to my door so I never have to get out of my jammies. Heaven.

And then there's pack food. Camping food, ultralight backpacking food, bear bait, wilderness sustenance. Whatever you call it-outdoor food. Earlier this summer I expounded on the much less expensive way to feed yourself while camping or backpacking by visiting your local grocery store, rather than hitting the camp store with its high-priced packages of freeze dried spaghetti. The cheapest way to eat on the trail, which also happens to be the lightest weight food you can take, is ramen noodles, the answer to impending starvation of college students everywhere.

But now, in this land of excess and variety, I have found a middle ground. Middle weight, middle price. Middle as in priced in between the 49 cent package of ramen and the $7 package of dried spaghetti. Not cheap.
Of course, I won't give up my standby grocery store regulars of black beans, rice, tuna, and more rice. Inexpensive, complete proteins, slightly heavy on the weight side, but delicious and easy.

Now I have these little goodies to go with it. Basmati rice with veggies. The nice thing about all these packaged grains and meats is that they are precooked, and in a pinch I could eat them right from the pouch. They do taste better when they're warmed, though.

And check this one out. Lentils. I love lentils. Lentils are lovely. Lentils are life-saving. But wait, it gets better.

Snacks and goodies. I'm not knocking peanut M & M's, mind you. But at the local organic store, Native Roots Market, I found twizzler-like snacks made from real fruit puree. Oh. My. Goodness. Fiber, fruit, fun, delicious, lightweight. Genius.

And vegan 'beef' jerky.  If Philo notices a lack of beef, (which he might, he's rather fond of bovine flesh), I'll offer to buy him a steak at the end of the trail if he carries my pack.  heh heh hehe

This is meat. Lamb sticks, in lieu of beef sticks. I'm kind of proud of these, since they are made locally, in Choctaw, Oklahoma. Live local, I say. Right after I say, "pass the chocolate." Speaking of which, Native Roots Market also carries some extra good chocolate made locally by the Chickasaw Nation.

Soooo, healthy, added variety, not bad on price, a little heavy on weight, but as we consume the goods the weight in the packs decrease.

The piece' de resistance. Almond butter. With maple syrup. Dessert!! Instant energy pick me up. Something to wash down the coffee! 

Philoboy: "Nuts and maple syrup, huh? How far off do you think the bears can smell THAT?"

 I don't care. This is special.  I'll wrap the empty pouch in an alcohol-soaked wipe, put it into a ziploc, which I'll put into another ziploc sprayed with bug repellent. I AM NOT GIVING UP THE GOOD STUFF.

Philoboy: (shrugging), "Whatever. I only have to outrun you, not the bear."

Ahhh, true love.

The food looks good enough this time to lure me on when I get tired of walking, and walking, and walking. Or good enough to make me run when the bears come...

Post election ponderings

Before you jump up and shout "This is not a political blog!" here is my caveat:  You're right.  Now sit down and listen.

This is not a political blog, but everything in life is affected by politics, and we cannot hide our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn't. As women, as hunters, as heads of family we have to be aware of what's going on and speak up when it's out of balance. For the sake of keeping this as unpolitical as possible, I won't address the ridiculous law passed in Oklahoma about banning Shariah law.

Instead, I'll just talk about the woman part. The Oklahoma governor race was between two women. I agree that this is great news, but I believe it's sad that we consider this great news. Women still have not reached equality in those areas of life that have historically been considered a man's domain. 

'Outdoor women' is still a fairly new concept in the history of our country. One of my cohorts experienced this yet again when she was shopping for a hunting vest.  Read about her experience in her open letter Message to the Owner over at the WOMA site.

As the nurturers and caregivers we are often disadvantaged in our ability to devote time to leisure or special interest pursuits. It takes time to write that letter to the editor about environmental concerns, it takes time and dedication to show up weekly to lead that Scout troop on a hike, it takes time and some nerve to place yourself in those boys' clubs of hunting and shooting, and it takes time and chutzpah to push through the crowd to make an opening for women to enter comfortably into the world of outdoor pursuits.

I appreciate sites like WOMA and Women's Outdoor News dedicating time to promoting and recognizing women in these areas. I am glad that women will be leading more of our states. But I won't be satisfied until it becomes the norm that we say "the governor", and that we say "that person" hunts, with no deliniation, excitement, or amazement that "the governor", or "that person" is a woman.