Cookies Intermission: A Walkie 'Round the Neighborhood...

We were not thrilled with these... they were movin' about in the wind, but the treats were pawesome! Besides... the rain had stopped and Ma and Pa took us to some places in our neighborhood where we'd never been - cool! New smells and peemail to read.
Unbelievable sight considering the major storm system that is gonna be here for a while. Don't know if we'll be able to see that amazing lunar event that's supposed to happen on the 21st, but we're hopin'!
Here's a collage of some of the places Ma and Pa made us pose heheh! That flash is blindin' so we closed our peepers in some of these, like the smart pups we are!
This is a cool place, just up the street from our house. Oskar's mom should dig this - snowman!
Alien eyes in the last of the leaves!
And this is where we go every year to the Halloween party! It takes a lot of treats to lure us away from here!
And this is our doggie nanny, Birgitta, our two-doors-up neighbor, who should be called Ms. Clause! Her house is totally Christmased up to the max! She gave us some goodies... well... she always does! Stay tuned for Part II of Cookies... and we want to thank everybody for the incredible cards we've received from you and thank Jazzi for her amazing Pressie exchange - what a job!

The pre-dawn chill, and a new day...

One of the things I love about cycling is the opportunity to experience things we often take for granted in all their glory. Yesterday I got my little side-trip to The Spit in the morning -- it was pleasant enough, but I still wanted more, so I got ambitious. Last night I went ahead and made today's lunch, storing it in the fridge, and did a couple of other things aiming at shaving about 15 minutes off my "getting ready for work" time this morning.

Off at 4.15am for an extra jaunt out to Hinze Dam. Normally I only do that ride after work, because I'm not quite so pressed for time then. To do it before work might have been a risk, if you can call getting home a few minutes late a risk! It didn't take me long to forget about the time concerns and just enjoy the beauty of the ride. First there was the fog around Carrara that had rolled in the night before, at around the same time I escaped from the (fortunately not very thick) smoke around the coast in the morning. I've seen this fog before, but it just seemed especially thick this morning. Then, as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared again.

Westward through Nerang, then climbing to Advancetown, marvelling in the fresh morning air, and the slight glow toward the east -- also the sheer number of stars visible from beyond the city limits! Of course, the ride across the Hinze Dam wall is always pleasant, overlooking the water with the mountains in the background. The temperature out here was 7 degrees Celcius, which is just beautiful! There is something decidedly special about rugging up in those temperatures, and feeling really alive!

Toward the East, a whole new day was beginning. As the road twisted, climbed and descended all at once toward Gilston, the glow got bigger. By Mudgeeraba I could turn the lights off, and even Robina was bearable in those conditions. I even made it home by the 6am return which I normally set for the pre-dawn rides. Now that I hadn't expected. All the preparation last night turned out to be unnecessary!

Of course, we still have to go to work, to be a cog in a big machine for eight hours, with an hour in between to catch our collective breath. The day finished in frustration, seems the fax I was trying to send to a client didn't want to go. It wasn't prudent to attempt to telephone them, they are in the UK, and there is a time difference. No e-mail address for them either. Oh well, it can wait until Monday.

Tomorrow morning at 4.15am I do it all again with Martin. Not Hinze Dam this time, Austinville. There is actually something in that particular patch of rainforest that I have a slight reaction to at this time of the year -- my arms start to itch. It doesn't seem to apply to other patches of rainforest, such as Urliup last Sunday. Mind you, with scenery like this around, it's almost worth it!

Where streamlets meander

A drive to Taylor Reservoir, Tin Cup and Cumberland Pass

It's May 20th and we havea day off so we take off to explore. We decide to drive to Taylor Park Reservoir then on to the town of Tin Cup and across the Cottonwood Pass and back home. Taylor Park Dam is located on Taylor River a tributary of the Gunnison River and was built to catch and store snow melt for irrigation of summer crops. It also provided recreational fishing. 300 men constructed it from 1935-1937. At 9300 feet they had to work in temperatures up to 40 below. It holds 106,200 acre feet of water
The backdrop of the reservoir isthesnow capped Continental Divide.


We continue on to Tin Cup and come across a couple of ghost towns.


Tin Cup got its name because one of the original prospectors carried the gold he found there out in a tin cup. It was one of the top 3 unruliest mining towns in Colorado.
There is a small store and restaurant
Once a ghost town, summer residents have restored the buildings to their original state.
Unfortunately nothing was open yet so we moved on to Cottonwood Pass at 12,126 feet above sea level.
We're getting higher up
We come across a couple of deserted mine shafts. Didn't find any gold though.
We put Tucson on the trail, but no luck.
It's getting snowier and I ask Gary if he's sure we are on the road to Cottonwood Pass and not Cumberland Pass. He is sure it's Cottonwood
I'm not so sure . .
Oops, guess it was Cumberland Pass after all. 12,200 feet but it looks like we won't make it that far!
Doesn't seem to bother Tucson at all
Hey! Don't forget me Dad!
Guess we'll be back after the snow melts!
Till Later!
Meanwhile, we keep on Trek'n
Melissa, Gary & Tucson

Praying, Scheduling, and Thinking

"To do the work that I am given to do, I am going to need to do some homework. I am going to need to do some thinking and wondering and studying about my gifts and my talents. I am going to need to be sure that what I do with my hands actually comes from and nurtures my heart. I am going to have to examine its effects upon others and how it fits into the kingdom that has already come. And I am going to have to be clear about why I am doing it and my hopes and my dreams.
To have the rest--for my spirit and my mind and my body--that is needed to live a life that does not eat me alive, I am going to have to plan the ways in which I spend my days. I am going to have to make choices about time and attention, and about habits and diets and schedules and such. I am going to have to set aside days on my calendar to go away and be silent, and days to go and listen to those who can show me the Way. I am going to have to learn what Sabbath actually means and how to live it in my life.
To participate in the community of those to whom I have been given and who have been given to me, I am going to have to identify them, identify the ones that truly are the holy communities of which I am a part. I am going to need to be sure that my time and my resources are aimed in their direction. I am going to have to be clear about my role within them.
And if I think that all of this is going to happen without my making a list or two, I am kidding myself." Taken from Living Prayer by Robert Benson
This is why I've been planning and scheduling for about a month now. I love making lists and seeing how to get the optimum results from my day.
I also have a bad habit of not sticking completely to any schedule I've made; not because I've learned to be flexible, but because I'm a rebel at heart. I don't want anyone telling me what to do; even myself. How twisted is that?
I think I've done enough scheduling and thinking. I now need to implement the schedule and cover it with prayer every day. All day.