A Mindful Thanksgiving

Early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day, hardly a mouse is stirring in downtown Moscow.  Quietly, 24 students of yoga and one yoga instructor arrive at the Moscow Yoga Center, a locally-owned and well established downtown business.  Mat to mat, we all settled in for our practice.


Every holiday should begin this way, especially holidays that, while joyful, are also a time of stress and consumption.  I've practiced yoga for eight years, and ever so slowly, I have noticed that my mind really does settle down while I'm on the mat.  Yoga forces me to think about my body (which I almost never give a second thought otherwise) and by doing so, the daily chatter of life fades into the background.


This holiday season, I am making a concerted effort to focus on the little joys of life--putting my garden to bed, making a birthday cake for my son, knitting by a warm fire.  We have had the excitement and business of a great cyclocross season, now it's time to light a few candles in the darkness of winter and settle in with a good book!

A Snowy Conclusion to Cross Season

The Inland Northwest Cyclocross Series ended yesterday, with much fanfare and camaraderie.  Of course there are still races in Bend, OR and Nationals, but for our family, the season is over for another year.  I admit I am sad we have reached the conclusion, although my husband informed me that he was not sad he didn't need to get on his bike today to train.  

It was a lot of work, this cyclocross season.   It was a lot of work for my husband to train and compete, a lot of work to drive all around Washington and Idaho, a lot of work to figure out how to kill to two hours at the course prior to the race so that my husband could complete his pre-race routine, a lot of work to figure out how to take pictures, wrangle children, and ring cow bells simultaneously.

But it was totally worth it.

Apple orchard rows make good cyclocross courses at the next-to-last race in the series!

Just a light dusting of snow for this race--enough to ensure complete carnage.

Pumpkins line the course at Walter's Fruit Ranch

Four to five inches of new snow awaited us in Coeur d'Alene Sunday.

It's a good thing the tape is blue--all the better to see it in the snow!

Walla Walla Weekend

My husband and I had a date weekend in Walla Walla, Washington for the cyclocross races.  Walla Walla is a fun little town, recently promoted from the status of "sleepy little town" by the growing wine industry in southern Washington.   It is home to Whitman College, which also gives it a nice college town feel, except that instead of bars it is home to many, many vineyards and wineries.  It also has a very nice downtown, complete with an old fashioned Main Street Macy's store, which as far as I can tell, is one of the last Macy's in the Inland Northwest that is still, in fact, in it's original location.

The first race was on Stanger Farm.  In the Halloween weekend tradition, costumes were worn by some riders.  This year, in addition to the haunted barn and double creek crossing, the race featured a triple flyover!  Apparently the TFO took four weeks to complete, and appeared to be held together by tin roofing and rebar.  Stanger Farm is also home to many, many old bicycles and bicycles parts, which makes for the most interesting race venue from a spectator perspective.

The second day of racing was at the reservoir near Walla Walla.  This venue was much less walkable, didn't have any interesting bike memorabilia, but offered a spectacular view of the course and surrounding area from the top of the earthen dam.  I had a good time playing with my camera features while eating my lunch and waiting for the racers to come around again so that I could cheer.  The surrounding hills were really pretty and the sky was spectacular.  It had me thinking about what the area must have looked like long ago when it was still Nez Perce and Umatilla territory.  I took some pictures in black and white and sepia just to try to get an idea, but I'm sure even that is not capturing the wild essence of what it would have been like.

The prizes for the race winners!

The second and top tiers of the TFO, with the Walla Walla countryside in the background.

In the distant background, you can almost see the Blue Mountains.

The TFO!  I tried all day to get a shot of a rider on each level, but it never happened.

The haunted bike barn.

Flagging for the race.

An ivy-covered cruiser.

Rider on the TFO in the late afternoon.

Care for a cruise, anyone?

Riding into the sunset!

I wonder what Walla Walla County looked like 200 years ago.

It was such a beautiful weekend for a bike race!

My husband riding through a field at the reservoir.

My mother would call this a "cloud painting day."