Leave room in your intimate space for others.
Ask the Universe for what you want.
Have close friends, you might need uppy-go.
Acknowledge your friends when you see them.
Claim your space in the world.
Make friends with all species.
When you you have exhausted your grandfather. Take a nap with him.
Enter Murphy's Law.
Stay close to your siblings.
Beau and Murphy
Enjoy time with your family,
Sing of Love.
Enya - How Can I Keep From Singing?
. “Change yourself and you have done your part in changing the world.” — Paramahansa Yogananda
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Saturday, October 11, 2014
The Wisdom of Yogi Beau
Yogi Beau |
Today's Wisdom: Choose a song for every season.
My favorite fall song that set my feet on the road to the Ski Area's of North America was White Bird by It's A Beautiful Day.
Coming Soon: Letters to a Chela (desciple, pupil)
Labels:
Rumi,
Ski Areas of North America,
White Bird,
Yogi
Friday, August 2, 2013
Aspen Summertime Blue
You know the saying, "We came here for the winters, but
we stay here for the summers." It is a point well taken. Some of the most
incredible outdoor experiences I have ever had have been in Colorado in the
summer. While I no longer live in the Vail Valley and the great expanse of the
Gore Range, I remember fondly climbing Mount Holy Cross, a fourteener there.
The many all day bike rides up Vail Pass down in the Red Cliff and into Minturn
and back to Vail, or just riding my mountain bike up to the top of Vail
(Benchmark) and traversing the trails before dropping into West Vail. Yes, I
did find lost lake up on the way to Piney Lake and no, I never could find it
again after that day. It was pure joy in the fall to bike up to the meadows
above Piney Lake and to traverse down in the late afternoon in the sunshine
into the massive stands of Aspen's with their golden leaves forming a
treacherous yellow brick road leading into the gut sucking steep downhill into
West Vail. It helped me tremendously to be surrounded by young enthusiastic
outdoors people in the summer. Although I remember leaving Vail for Aspen and
saying that I was tired of the steep enclosed Valley and the Valley Fever and
how it would be great not to be the oldest person on an outing. I do miss the view
of Vail from the top of the Gore Range or walking across the Covered Bridge on
a full moon night and listening to the rushing waters of Gore Creek heading
toward the Eagle River.
It brings me to the somewhat more sublime photo of Ajax (Aspen Mountain) and the summertime blue. I first came to Aspen for a film and screenwriters conference and made my mind up then to move back here. It was where I thought I would actively pursue my writing career. Yes I have written some great things here. All the beautiful early morning love letters to my adorable wife, which helped me to win her hand. So I suppose that must be considered my best writing although some of those were pretty steamy and did get me in trouble for leaving them in her desk at work where any of our coworkers could have found them. Yes I have managed to publish “Of Mountain and Men” my book of poetry and I have finished, “The Lure of the Mountain King and Other Stories.”
The best thing about that and my writing is that some day I will be able to say to a publisher that the Olympics come every four years to a great mountain of the world and my writing can be published in almost all the languages present at the Olympics and if I am extremely lucky my work could become the book or books read around the world. In the meantime as I work in my plumbing and heating company in Aspen I often stop and step out on the porch of one of my client’s houses and am confronted by a scene such as this photo. The beautiful greens of the grasses and evergreens against the deep blue of the Aspen sky washes away all of my worries and doubts and reminds me that my six month plan to make it to Eugene, Oregon and a lovely house on Friendly Street with a cabin up the McKenzie and a condominium at Driftwood Shores in Florence at the ocean isn’t that far out of line. I just need to get publishing my e-books. Next will be “All God’s Horses,” then “Arapahoe Basin, The Legend,” and finally, “Out of America.” Until then whenever I get the Aspen Blues I will step out side and smell the pines and gaze at the Grandeur of my office.
It brings me to the somewhat more sublime photo of Ajax (Aspen Mountain) and the summertime blue. I first came to Aspen for a film and screenwriters conference and made my mind up then to move back here. It was where I thought I would actively pursue my writing career. Yes I have written some great things here. All the beautiful early morning love letters to my adorable wife, which helped me to win her hand. So I suppose that must be considered my best writing although some of those were pretty steamy and did get me in trouble for leaving them in her desk at work where any of our coworkers could have found them. Yes I have managed to publish “Of Mountain and Men” my book of poetry and I have finished, “The Lure of the Mountain King and Other Stories.”
The best thing about that and my writing is that some day I will be able to say to a publisher that the Olympics come every four years to a great mountain of the world and my writing can be published in almost all the languages present at the Olympics and if I am extremely lucky my work could become the book or books read around the world. In the meantime as I work in my plumbing and heating company in Aspen I often stop and step out on the porch of one of my client’s houses and am confronted by a scene such as this photo. The beautiful greens of the grasses and evergreens against the deep blue of the Aspen sky washes away all of my worries and doubts and reminds me that my six month plan to make it to Eugene, Oregon and a lovely house on Friendly Street with a cabin up the McKenzie and a condominium at Driftwood Shores in Florence at the ocean isn’t that far out of line. I just need to get publishing my e-books. Next will be “All God’s Horses,” then “Arapahoe Basin, The Legend,” and finally, “Out of America.” Until then whenever I get the Aspen Blues I will step out side and smell the pines and gaze at the Grandeur of my office.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
The Last Train To The Coast
Now you know that
I have set a side my worn out Strohlz jet foamed ski boots. They were a
Christmas gift from my High School sweet heart. It has been forty years since I
decided to take a year off from the pursuit of an Engineering Degree to spend a
winter skiing in America. During those years I have watched the sunset and the
snows come to almost every major mountain range in North America and worked at
every possible job that would advance that goal. I have lived in converted
railroad box cars that were made into sleeping bunks on the desolate plains of
Wyoming, to multi-million dollar log homes on Missouri Flats in Aspen Colorado
for the sake of the next steeper run filled with that precious white gold,
powder snow.
This year as the snows and Winter Olympics come to Sochi, Russia, a place where I would have never ever dreamed of skiing nor imagined ever being able to visit, I am beginning what I hope will be the culmination of my life long dream of pursuing mountain tops. The dream is to write about them. I have recently completed a course on self-publishing e-books. After many false starts of writing and compiling a collection of short stories that are worthy of publishing, the day has arrived. The stories have been edited and assembled in a collection titled “The Lure Of The Mountain King And Other Stories.” It is my goal and dream to move forward and be able to finally tackle the greatest challenge of my life. I hope to move from being a writer as a hobby to being a writer making a living at it. Just like the obsession of pursuing the Mountain King, I am possessed by the desire to write about my time on the Mountain King, Arapahoe Basin. There have been many false starts and outright failures on my part to move toward this accomplishment. I can only equate those to the times that I spent skiing first green circle trails (easiest), then blue box trails (more difficult), then black diamond trails (most difficult), to finally climbing out of bounds all day to ski trails where there aren’t even any names or boundaries.
In their infinite wisdom grandmothers all seem to understate the obvious not only did my grandmother tell me "(Albert), word’s ... they are the key." She always said you have to crawl before you can walk. How very fitting for someone who grew up being a part of the instant gratification society, having recently lived through a “Great Recession” that turned the equity in my home, (that I was planning on using the proceeds for moving to the ocean in Oregon and walking on the beach while writing my short stories and novels), to being a commander of a submarine, (my beautiful Stonewood Grande), in Parachute, Colorado.
The greatest lesson that I have ever learned has been at the knees of my grandparents who lived through the real great depression. The lesson is to dream and if you are going to dream, why not make them big dreams. When song writers dream and write about salvation, they always seem to write about their salvation as a train. You know the great gospel songs about trains. One in particular titled “People get Ready.” The lyrics are “People get ready there's a train a - coming, you don’t need no ticket, you just get on board. All you need is faith to hear the diesel’s humming. Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the lord.” Hell, even Dylan titled an album “Slow Train Coming.” I guess that is why I titled this piece, The Last Train To The Coast. It is my last big dream to be at the ocean and writing about my life in and on the mountains.
I have started what I hope will be the very last vehicle and business to get me there. Capitol Plumbing and Heating, named after the second highest peak in Colorado. Here is to big mountains, big dreams, and walking hand in hand with my beautiful wife on a big beach next to the big ocean.
This year as the snows and Winter Olympics come to Sochi, Russia, a place where I would have never ever dreamed of skiing nor imagined ever being able to visit, I am beginning what I hope will be the culmination of my life long dream of pursuing mountain tops. The dream is to write about them. I have recently completed a course on self-publishing e-books. After many false starts of writing and compiling a collection of short stories that are worthy of publishing, the day has arrived. The stories have been edited and assembled in a collection titled “The Lure Of The Mountain King And Other Stories.” It is my goal and dream to move forward and be able to finally tackle the greatest challenge of my life. I hope to move from being a writer as a hobby to being a writer making a living at it. Just like the obsession of pursuing the Mountain King, I am possessed by the desire to write about my time on the Mountain King, Arapahoe Basin. There have been many false starts and outright failures on my part to move toward this accomplishment. I can only equate those to the times that I spent skiing first green circle trails (easiest), then blue box trails (more difficult), then black diamond trails (most difficult), to finally climbing out of bounds all day to ski trails where there aren’t even any names or boundaries.
In their infinite wisdom grandmothers all seem to understate the obvious not only did my grandmother tell me "(Albert), word’s ... they are the key." She always said you have to crawl before you can walk. How very fitting for someone who grew up being a part of the instant gratification society, having recently lived through a “Great Recession” that turned the equity in my home, (that I was planning on using the proceeds for moving to the ocean in Oregon and walking on the beach while writing my short stories and novels), to being a commander of a submarine, (my beautiful Stonewood Grande), in Parachute, Colorado.
The greatest lesson that I have ever learned has been at the knees of my grandparents who lived through the real great depression. The lesson is to dream and if you are going to dream, why not make them big dreams. When song writers dream and write about salvation, they always seem to write about their salvation as a train. You know the great gospel songs about trains. One in particular titled “People get Ready.” The lyrics are “People get ready there's a train a - coming, you don’t need no ticket, you just get on board. All you need is faith to hear the diesel’s humming. Don’t need no ticket, you just thank the lord.” Hell, even Dylan titled an album “Slow Train Coming.” I guess that is why I titled this piece, The Last Train To The Coast. It is my last big dream to be at the ocean and writing about my life in and on the mountains.
I have started what I hope will be the very last vehicle and business to get me there. Capitol Plumbing and Heating, named after the second highest peak in Colorado. Here is to big mountains, big dreams, and walking hand in hand with my beautiful wife on a big beach next to the big ocean.
Labels:
Olympics,
Ski,
Sochi Russia,
Winter Olympics,
writing
Monday, December 24, 2012
Sunday, November 18, 2012
The Razor's Thin Edge
There is a razor’s thin edge of existence in life. I
have seen it in the mountains. A place where you know if you jump into a
couloir to ski it your first few turns are the most critical. If you miss any
of them and lose your balance you will most definitely fall to your death. It
seems that the younger you are in life, the farther beyond that edge you
step. There is nothing like the
exhilaration, the adrenalin rush, the sheer thrill of pushing the envelope just
beyond that edge.
When I was twenty five and skiing at Arapahoe Basin
in Colorado the edge blurred into reality for me. Arapahoe Basin was then the
highest lift serviced mountain in America at 12,500 feet in elevation. The main
lift brought you to the top of the mountain, and you could traverse into
Lenawee Mountain and climb higher to get great powder shots. You could also
drop over the backside into Montezuma Bowl and ski incredible vertical terrain and
deep out of bounds powder, but you would have to hike out. Looking across Route
6 at the awesome Professor with its seven cornices would orient you toward
the Pallavicini, on your left and the infamous Wall, the Wall was at the same
elevation as the summit except that there was an incredible vertical drop down
from the summit with a steep incline back up to the cornice. The prevailing
winds would race across the giant top of the wall and create a massive wind
blown hanging cornice. It was always unstable and could fracture and avalanche
at any time. Often it grew to enormous proportions and would be a twenty to
thirty foot drop to the steep vertical slope below. On cold winter days it was
always more stable and provided and excellent platform for launching into thin
air before landing on the steep lower terrain. The lower terrain vertical was
such that if you were not acutely aware of bringing your arms forward and
keeping your elbows tucked in you might drag your arms on the slope behind you
throwing off your balance.
One particular winter day I took the leap of faith
and hit the deep powder successfully. I was just starting my second critical
turn when another skier, who had not seen me jump from the cornice traversed
across in front of me. I narrowly missed a collision but the tips of my skis
caught the tails of his. My skis stopped abruptly. I was launched into a tip
roll, a somersault on skis. Skiing with my bindings cranked down tight did
nothing for easy release. The motto of the day was “Deliver us from premature
release.” Every time I came back up on my skis I would again roll over and bury
my head and neck in the snow. I was sure that this time my neck would break and
I would die, or worse be paralyzed for life. This went on for what I thought
was an eternity. It was then that my right shoulder caught a boulder. My shoulder
dislocated and my ligaments and tendons were torn. It however had arrested my
forward tumbling. I was unable to move my neck and it took months for both my
shoulder and neck to heal. I said in the brashness of my youth, someday I will
get a plastic socket. Through the pain in my later years, the prospect of a
major operation does not intrigue me.
It brings me back to the fine line of
existence in life and the mountains. I had realized my mortality. I was no
longer an immortal God as I had thought in my youth. I had experienced near
death. I never again skied with such reckless abandon. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I
pushed the limit, even in my later years. I however possessed fear, a good
healthy dose of it. It is detrimental when you love and play in the mountains
to be afraid. Fear is healthy but you lose some of your edge. If you hesitate
before turning on a steep slope or performing a feat while climbing or
mountaineering it can be disastrous. I lost some of the thrill, to some degree, I had been conquered by nature instead of conquering it. I am saddened today by
it, but it is as the world is.
I feel today like I am again standing on that wind
blown cornice. I am more than twice that age now. The sky is azure blue, the
wind gently rushes through my thinning hair, the snow is deep and the sun is
shinning brightly. It is up to me to take the leap. What in the world am I
talking about?
I have always wanted to pursue my writing career, but I always chose the safer accepted route of a business career in the private sector. The thought of contacting agents and editors and publishers has come and gone often. I even tried self publishing with out any great success. Always like a giant Goliath, the fear was in front of me, taunting me, calling out my name. It is time to slay the giant.
Labels:
Arapahoe Basin,
books.,
Colorado,
ebooks,
moon,
Publishing,
skiing,
sun
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Update On Bill And Lou
Update On Bill And Lou - Rescue (Previous Post)
Just got a returned email from the folks at
Green Mountain College regarding the rescue of Bill and Lou. The contact email
addresses have been closed. Here is an update of current contact
information;
Green Mountain College
Agriculture - Farming (Bill and Lou)
2500 Killington Road Killington, VT 05751
(800) 776-6675
Green Mountain College
Agriculture - Farming (Bill and Lou)
2500 Killington Road Killington, VT 05751
Labels:
Bill,
Green Mountain College,
Killington Vermont.,
Lou,
Rescue
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