The Curious Housewife

Duck Lake, Carson Pass Area, CA Yesterday was a very blessed kind of day. My hiking buddies and I enjoyed a wonderful outing up at the Carson Pass area. We hiked from the Information Station to Duck Lake (shown above), on to Lake Winnemucca and then on to Round Top Lake. The weather was perfect and the views were beautiful. Things were pretty perfect. On the return portion of our hike, however, we encountered a problem. Nearly a mile from completing the hike, we came upon four hikers. One of the hikers was in distress, draped over a rock, and suffering from a probable combination of dehydration, heat stress, some level of altitude sickness and insufficient food intake. She was responsive but not talking. The group asked us for water. Thanks to one of the ladies in my group, we had plenty of extra water to offer. We did what we could to make the hiker comfortable and stayed with the group until help arrived. Search and Rescue arrived first, assessing the situation, and then the p...

Round Top Mountain and The Three Sisters-Carson Pass area, CA This past week I went on a lovely hike up highway 88, near the Carson Pass area of California. There is still plenty of snow though much of it has melted. People are hiking, boating, kayaking, and generally enjoying the cooler weather afforded by the higher altitudes. I had a wonderful time with my hiking buddies walking up and down hills, checking out wildflowers and being rewarded at the top of the ridge with a view all the way to Lake Tahoe! At the end of the day, I was tired, happy to get home, a little keyed up but very peaceful. It was a coincidence then that the next day I happened upon this article in a magazine. The premise of the idea sounds very familiar! H ave you heard of the term ecopsychology ? I hadn't either but the idea of it is probably familiar for many people even though they may not know about the formal field of study. Ecopsychology studies the relationships between humans and the natura...

Cowell Creek, Arnold Rim Trail, Arnold, CA This last week I was on the hunt for some decaffeinated coffee. Easier said than done, apparently. For many years now we have bought our coffee at Costco. I haven't even looked at the coffee aisle in a regular grocery store in a very long time. Because of this, I have missed some important trends in the coffee industry. In a nutshell, a consumer's choices are now endless. Looking at all of the tiny little packages was nearly stupefying. I felt under equipped to choose, given my lowly BA degree. A person needs some kind of PhD in Coffeeology to even figure out what is what.  I got home from the store and wondered what the hell had happened. I did a little research and turns out it's those damn Millennials again. In an article by Forbes here  and another miscellaneous article here  it's easy to see why there are so many choices at the grocery store. Nearly gone are the larger cans of basic coffee. Replacing them...

Dehydrated "fruit and veggie" sort of roll ups It's always a struggle for me to get enough fruits and vegetables. I sneak them in where I can (muffins, smoothies, veggie spreads on toast) but I still feel like I could do better. The other day I was in the health food store, sort of just standing in the aisle staring into space. All of a sudden I refocused and realized that I was looking at the baby foods.  Oh, to be a baby again! What a beautiful assortment of packaging! I started looking at and reading the labels of these little pouches of organic fruit and vegetable mixes. It all looked so good. And healthy. Most brands had no added sodium or sugar-just fruits and vegetables. It dawned on me that these would be great snacks. Most are under 100 calories and are loaded with things like potassium, vitamin A and C, and even iron. I pictured sucking one of these down while hiking or as a pick me up in the afternoon before dinner. The thought of doing this was a little e...

Lake Hogan/Fiddleneck Boat Launch Area 1. Leg step overs 2. Modified push ups 3. Climb the stairs 4. Step up, step down 5. Hop from left to right, right to left 6. Balance walking Most mornings of the week I can be found at our local lake, taking a walk. Walking has long been my preferred form of exercise. Nothing else I have tried (hiking being an exception), has stuck. Putting one foot in front of the other and moving steadily along for about 45 minutes to an hour generally has a calming effect on my mind. My body feels better for it most of the time too. So, win-win. I mentioned hiking. It's an activity that I have come to enjoy. It's kind of odd given that it taxes my body in a way that normally I wouldn't agree to. There is just something about hiking though that I find rewarding. It is basically just walking but your body is asked to do a lot more than when you are strolling along on flat and smooth ground. Different motor ...

Taking a rest at Lake Hogan, Valley Springs, CA What is it with me and backpacks? The one pictured in the photo above is now a few months old and came from Gossamer Gear.  I purchased it during a Labor Day sale. Did I need another pack? No! My main pack is an Osprey Skimmer 30 , also purchased last year during a sale. Both packs are what is termed a "daypack" and they each serve different purposes for me. (In the interest of full disclosure, I also own a smaller hydration pack, an 18 liter child's pack from REI and three backpack "purses" from Dakine.)  In my quest for the perfect pack, I have often felt like Cinderalla with a mild case of OCD! Why all of the packs then? I think the reason has to do with a question that came up for me recently after a few discussions I had with other members of my hiking group.  When I am trying to sort something out, I tend to ask other people questions so that I can maybe find an answer myself.  Though I was initial...

My new friend! Photo by author  It has been six months now since I elected to go vegan. Switching to this way of eating has occurred gradually over the last couple of years and was prompted by a desire to eat in a way that was personally more meaningful and more healthful.  I have been treated for cancer and heart disease and so choosing a healthy plant based diet is part of my life plan in dealing with the aftermath of those conditions. Additionally, I really want to match my food choices with how I feel about animals; that they are sentient beings just like humans and that every last one of us are God's creatures, no matter how small or large or seemingly insignificant. In an overall way then, it's important for me to honor both my health and my beliefs. Veganism helps me to support both of those priorities. As with many types of lifestyle changes, the process of going vegan has been slow. It is still a work in progress. Shopping for food is problematic. Many p...