Happy New Years!!!

blossom has happily chased her new blue frisbee for a few days now. yesterday we did gasline-powerline-tank-moose ridge-tank. a lovely loop in temperatures 0 degrees F and less. the campbell tract is generally much colder than the official temperature readings in town. today the clouds lifted so it got even colder. tough to get myself moving and out on the trails, but once i'm out i always enjoy a brisk walk in the bitter cold. i say bitter cold as that is what i have heard on the weather updates all day. it's bitter cold. sounds right. you can see blossom is frosted up! thanks bob and tanya for blossoms new frisbee. she loves it!!there are a few hills on the gasline trail. i find this is a great way to start a walk, you get warmed up. i do find that when it gets below zero you can walk and walk and never totally feel warmed up. though i must say today i was well layered and felt almost hot a few times. i do find that i am taking many of these pictures left handed. my little camera sits in my left pocket and to avoid removing both gloves i've discovered i'm mostly taking pictures left handed with this little camera. i am not left handed at all so i've been quite impressed with this newly discovered ability. your hands get cold out of the gloves for even a brief period of time. when i use the chuck it i must throw the ball quickly or it rapidly freezes into the chuck it launcher. lots of folks out on the trails these past days so i am not the only insane person who thrives on taking walks/skis and bike rides at temperatures below zero. loved all these pines all coated with our last snowfall. tennis ball. i started out yesterday with the tennis ball. it can be easy to lose in the deep snow. blossom is quite good at locating it even in very deep snow . love all the frost on her eye lashes. i must not tear up enough or work out hard enough, though today i was starting to realize that i do a hell of a lot of deep knee bends on these walks, picking up frisbees. the bikers and skiers i saw out there today were very frosted. the mens beards were coated and thier eyelashes were also coated. of course, this can backfire as well as i've seen women with frost on their chin hairs...just another reason to keep those in check i guess. on the powerline you cross this tiny creek. rio balked at it. not sure why a sane dog wouldn't want to get thier feet wet when the temperature is hovering around zero. hehe. i found another route around and spared her. my new years night was pretty uneventful. i had thoughs as to what to do. i think if it had been just up to me i would have just headed to the hockey game. the aces won in a come from behind win. i really wasn't feeling like forcing any issues on what to do. for me it's just another day and another year. as i get older the idea of fighting crowds gets less exciting. next year i should just plan on having a little pool gathering. sandra and i met up and just hit a movie. we went and saw, "we bought a zoo". it was cute. there were some strange gaps in the story though so that affected the flow of the thing. the little girl is adorable and it's worth it to go just to see her and the animals. it's a sweet story and a feel good kinda flick so it was a good choice for last night. sandra had suggested that horse movie, but i didn't want to spend new years eve bawling my eyes out. it does look good though, "war horse" i think it is. of course, i should have suggested the new release, "new years eve". that would have been fitting. we were not alone at the movie theater. at midnight i watched the various neighbors firework displays. it was again allowed that regular folk fire off fireworks within a set of guidelines.blossom loses her head retrieving her tennis ball.took several self portraits attempting to capture the frost, since i don't see myself all frosted up and it quickly melts once you get in the car.the neighborhood fireworks were way more sophisticated than the ones i remember us shooting off as kids. i was actually quite impressed with the shows around the house, and i was warm and inside my home. i kept myself busy these last 24 hours cleaning up the christmas stuff, writing a few thank you notes, prepping the calendars for the new year....cleaning more. it is amazing how clutter builds up. i cleared the counters in my tiny kitchen so now i have more space again. one of the gifts the pets got me (that is how i get gifts) was one of those cool griddlers. i'm excited to use it, but i also needed to clear the counters to find a space for it. tossed some crap out. checked stuff for expiration dates. it's trash day tomorrow. it was tough getting myself worked up to just go move my garbage can to the curb. had to layer up and even then it was freezing..okay, well below freezing. to counter the cold i had a lovely fire in the fireplace and baked cookies for tomorrows monday walk. when i stop to take pictures blossom uses the time to chew ice balls out from between her toes. some of them are quite impressive in size and i imagine quite painful as well. doesn't stop her from chasing the frisbee. i've tried booties but she doesn't like them. she seems fine without and aside from her stopping occasionally to chew em out, she does great. more frosty self portraits!there is great gramma's nose in all it's glory. thank you distant relatives for passing on your best traits. hehe. i've also noticed i'm getting to an age where i'm begining to develope jowels. so lovely. the aging process is so sneaky!! was all geared up to watch the rose parade and it took me a few minutes before i remembered that it was sunday and the rose parade never occurs on a sunday. so i will hopefully get a chance to watch tomorrow. then it may feel more like new years to me. didn't get to sleep til late last night. i'm convinced the popcorn i ate at the theater didn't agree with me. my gut was not happy and this morning when i woke it still didn't feel quite right. so i skipped the original plans of a skate/ski at westchester lagoon. will try for that later this week maybe.campbell creek today for a rovers run loop. this creek is actually a pretty good sized creek, not much showing out there anymoredid my calendar drawing again. so i'll have to get a few calendars off in the mail. hopefully, everyone enjoys them. pretty sky out there.frost on a smaller creek along the trailsun was setting as blossom and i walked today. loved all the pink everywhere.the moon was way up there. despite the cold i do love walking out in the woods. i'm so grateful that i am healthy enough to be able to get out there. also grateful that i have the life that allows me the time to get out almost daily. i can't believe how blessed i've been in my life. it didn't follow the path that i was sure it would follow. i assumed i'd get married and have kids, but none of that happened. i wasn't a girl who planned the nuptuals before i met the guy, i just didn't see myself as the spinster type i saw mocked when i was younger. it seemed so obvious why they hadn't married. of course, now i realize how judgemental everyone was of those women. it was to be feared, spinsterhood. i don't see it as a choice i made. in my mind, i never met the right guy and it's best to stay single than settle for anything less than the best choice for you. wasn't looking for perfect but it seems so often that people are. i'm well aware that if you are looking for perfect you can always find flaws in the one you are with. wouldn't mind someone who was close to perfect for me. loneliness is less about being alone and more about being surrounded by people who don't love you as you deserve to be loved. that is when you feel lonely. this life is more about adapting to change than planning ahead. i find i get more and more at peace and happy as the years pass. you just accept yourself and the life you have been gifted. you can't let one course alteration determine whether you will allow happiness into your soul. does that mean i live without hope, no. if some amazing guy showed up and we could continue forward together in happiness then that'd be cool, but you can't live your life waiting for this or that to make you happy. you find happy where you are. i'm happy where i am. watched a bit of that reality show about the coast guard in alaska. they rescue one guy and i realized i'd taken care of him at the hospital. kinda fun. 2011 wasn't bad at all. quite lovely actually. 2012 is out there, we shall see what it brings. each day is an adventure and an opportunity. back to the trailhead before it gets dark out. i drove up to the basher trailhead to see if there may be any photo ops. i took the one below. probably could have gotten out and gotten a few shots, but once i was there and the car was heating up, i think i opted out. may be a few volcano's in the distance there. anchorage below. Happy New Years to all and may all enjoy a year filled with peace and beauty and good will to all.