Meredith Kendall's Blog, page 114
December 26, 2011
faux- Pucci
Went to Reny's and bought several pairs of suave magnifiers. That's right, reading glasses. They're bright Pucci-like colors and patterns. I can see! Hey, who're you calling old?[image error]
Sugarloaf, games
Best part of the family vacation: the games. We played board games: talked, told stories, and laughed.
We played Apples, Spoons, Cranium, and Cratan. Yeah, we sat on soft couches in front of the fireplace, drank beer, and played games. Fun times. [image error]
We played Apples, Spoons, Cranium, and Cratan. Yeah, we sat on soft couches in front of the fireplace, drank beer, and played games. Fun times. [image error]
Sugarloaf, the condo
Inside, the condo is three stories.
The living room has a cathedral ceiling, three stories high. I'm sitting on the couch, in front of the fireplace. There are bookshelves full of literature and trashy novels, a TV, tables and lamps, and posters of Swiss ski slopes.
The kitchen has everything you need: the usual dishes and appliances. There's a deck off the kitchen. From there you can watch the newbies on the bunny slope.
Sitting here I can see into the kitchen and the second and third floors. There are two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor, and steep steps, a ladder really, to the third floor. There are three twin beds tucked into a gable on the third floor. A triangular window is cut into the wall there; to allow light, heat, and smiling faces to poke through. [image error]
The living room has a cathedral ceiling, three stories high. I'm sitting on the couch, in front of the fireplace. There are bookshelves full of literature and trashy novels, a TV, tables and lamps, and posters of Swiss ski slopes.
The kitchen has everything you need: the usual dishes and appliances. There's a deck off the kitchen. From there you can watch the newbies on the bunny slope.
Sitting here I can see into the kitchen and the second and third floors. There are two bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor, and steep steps, a ladder really, to the third floor. There are three twin beds tucked into a gable on the third floor. A triangular window is cut into the wall there; to allow light, heat, and smiling faces to poke through. [image error]
Sugarloaf, the community
It's one of the older condos, well-lived in, well-loved.
Right beside the bunny slope; we can see chairlifts, the big hotel, and the main lodge. We can look uphill and see the trails, cut into the forest. We can see lots of condos, tucked into the pines.
It's a fun community. You drive to your condo and then you leave your car. Now you walk, ride, and ski everywhere you need to go. We can walk a few feet, then ski to a lift. We can ski right to the door of the condo. We can walk to shops, bars, and restaurants. We can walk around the neighborhood, admiring the homes and condos, the pond and pump station that supply some of the snow guns.
[image error]
Right beside the bunny slope; we can see chairlifts, the big hotel, and the main lodge. We can look uphill and see the trails, cut into the forest. We can see lots of condos, tucked into the pines.
It's a fun community. You drive to your condo and then you leave your car. Now you walk, ride, and ski everywhere you need to go. We can walk a few feet, then ski to a lift. We can ski right to the door of the condo. We can walk to shops, bars, and restaurants. We can walk around the neighborhood, admiring the homes and condos, the pond and pump station that supply some of the snow guns.
[image error]
Sugarloaf, Pizza
So the dog and I walked around Sugarloaf village. I marveled at the engineering. A stream ran through the village: bound by boulders, cement walls, and culverts. Small bridges arced over the stream and restaurant windows jutted over it. Chairlifts everywhere, wide rivers of white tracked down the mountain, and shuttle buses looped from parking lots to ticket windows.
I heard laughter and shouts overhead. "Look! A dog!" some children shouted.
The children. There were hordes of them, all dressed in shiny colorful pants and jackets, helmets, boots, and iridescent goggles. They came up the slope on a trailer bench, towed by a snowmobile. They whizzed down, instructors shouting, "Pizza! Pizza! Make your pizza!"
Pizza, that means point your ski tips together, digging in the inner edges. That slows you down. That's the beginner's stance. [image error]
I heard laughter and shouts overhead. "Look! A dog!" some children shouted.
The children. There were hordes of them, all dressed in shiny colorful pants and jackets, helmets, boots, and iridescent goggles. They came up the slope on a trailer bench, towed by a snowmobile. They whizzed down, instructors shouting, "Pizza! Pizza! Make your pizza!"
Pizza, that means point your ski tips together, digging in the inner edges. That slows you down. That's the beginner's stance. [image error]
Sugarloaf
We spent Christmas at a ski slope: Sugarloaf in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. I found the place on VBRO.com
- and emailed the owner. Easy.
Myrtle, my GPS, brought me right to the condo. It was dark, so I had no idea where we were in relation to the slopes. Morning came; it always does. I could see 2 chairlifts out the window, and some buildings. People dressed in bright colored puffy suits floated past our windows, heads sheathed in plastic, boards dangling from their feet. People whizzed past the deck, laughing.
A small ravine, with a stream at the bottom, separated us from the slope. I walked out the door and up the hill a few feet and found a wooden bridge across the ravine. I stepped onto the ski slope and watched people cruise by. I looked up the mountain. Snow guns blasted clouds of vapor and trails striped up to the top where the sun blazed through the arctic air. Floating metal benches hustled skiers and riders up up and up. [image error]
- and emailed the owner. Easy.
Myrtle, my GPS, brought me right to the condo. It was dark, so I had no idea where we were in relation to the slopes. Morning came; it always does. I could see 2 chairlifts out the window, and some buildings. People dressed in bright colored puffy suits floated past our windows, heads sheathed in plastic, boards dangling from their feet. People whizzed past the deck, laughing.
A small ravine, with a stream at the bottom, separated us from the slope. I walked out the door and up the hill a few feet and found a wooden bridge across the ravine. I stepped onto the ski slope and watched people cruise by. I looked up the mountain. Snow guns blasted clouds of vapor and trails striped up to the top where the sun blazed through the arctic air. Floating metal benches hustled skiers and riders up up and up. [image error]
December 23, 2011
kale
Greens. So good, so good for you.
Kale, bok choy, spinach, beet greens. I like them sauteed with garlic and olive oil. I grow my greens or buy them at the farmer's market: local, organic.
My son drinks kale juice. I went to a juice bar with him. "I go every day after work," he told me.
We walked in. An attractive young woman offered me a taste of "Ocean Breeze." I figured the attractive young women were what pulled my son into the shop. Ocean Breeze was a frothy orange sip of mango and coconut. Sublime.
He ordered kale and ginger juice with a side of wheat grass. One of the attractive young women stuffed kale and hunks of ginger into a blender. The concoction was brown and lumpy. Oh, really? "Try it," he offered. Let's just say it wasn't Ocean Breeze. This is the son who ate only ramen and cereal as a child. Then she put a chunk of grass into the blender. She handed him a shot glass of green liquid grass. I tried that too. Also not Ocean Breeze.
Kale juice. My son drinks kale juice. [image error]
Kale, bok choy, spinach, beet greens. I like them sauteed with garlic and olive oil. I grow my greens or buy them at the farmer's market: local, organic.
My son drinks kale juice. I went to a juice bar with him. "I go every day after work," he told me.
We walked in. An attractive young woman offered me a taste of "Ocean Breeze." I figured the attractive young women were what pulled my son into the shop. Ocean Breeze was a frothy orange sip of mango and coconut. Sublime.
He ordered kale and ginger juice with a side of wheat grass. One of the attractive young women stuffed kale and hunks of ginger into a blender. The concoction was brown and lumpy. Oh, really? "Try it," he offered. Let's just say it wasn't Ocean Breeze. This is the son who ate only ramen and cereal as a child. Then she put a chunk of grass into the blender. She handed him a shot glass of green liquid grass. I tried that too. Also not Ocean Breeze.
Kale juice. My son drinks kale juice. [image error]
serenity
I saw a friend in the grocery store yesterday. When she saw me she gasped and smiled. She said, "Oh good! I need me some serenity. Give me some!" She reached out her hands.
Then we compared groceries. She had kale, I had bok choy. I had smoked salmon, she said, "Oh I forgot the smoked trout." I had an assortment pack of local beer. "Oh, my husband would love that," she said.
My sons are coming. I bought grapefruit, bagels and cream cheese, and coffee. I'm going to make a stir-fry with the bok choy, garlic, tofu, cauliflower, and carrots. I took a day off from work to get ready for Christmas. I walked with the dog, picked up a couple of last minute presents, walked with the dog again, shopped for groceries, and wrapped the last things. It was 50 degrees and sunny. I did some yoga and some Reiki. I enjoyed every moment.
Now it's cold and snowing: a white Christmas. [image error]
Then we compared groceries. She had kale, I had bok choy. I had smoked salmon, she said, "Oh I forgot the smoked trout." I had an assortment pack of local beer. "Oh, my husband would love that," she said.
My sons are coming. I bought grapefruit, bagels and cream cheese, and coffee. I'm going to make a stir-fry with the bok choy, garlic, tofu, cauliflower, and carrots. I took a day off from work to get ready for Christmas. I walked with the dog, picked up a couple of last minute presents, walked with the dog again, shopped for groceries, and wrapped the last things. It was 50 degrees and sunny. I did some yoga and some Reiki. I enjoyed every moment.
Now it's cold and snowing: a white Christmas. [image error]
December 21, 2011
2012
It's kind of a crazy world these days with freakish weather, protesters rising and dictators falling, tsunami wreckage washing up on Washington beaches, seals dead of avian flu, and world economies failing. A fraction of the 1% hold most of the money and power. Many people are struggling to survive.
Scientists have created a deadly form of the avian flu. What were they thinking? Methane bubbles are effervescing from melting polar ice-hastening global warming. Global storms. There's a young mother dying of cancer, days before Christmas. There's another mother grieving for her lost son, drinking too much, and wondering how she's going to survive the pain and weight of her grief. It's raining in Maine at the end of December. Crazy changing world.
Almost 2012. What will happen? Will there be a grand transmutation of our world? Maybe people will wake up and remember, maybe they will see more clearly. Maybe it's not too late to save Earth and her inhabitants.
Me, I still hope. I hope and believe in the power of love, light, and laughter. Reiki energy is part of that power. I share Reiki with anyone who wants it, anyone who asks. I love to teach Reiki to others and to share with other practitioners. I practice self-Reiki daily. I'm hoping the power of Reiki will calm and uplift our energies in 2012.
If Reiki isn't for you, then do something similar. Meditate, pray, do yoga, dance, or climb a mountain. Hang out with best friends and family: people who make you laugh. Volunteer, donate, give back, be an activist. Make a difference in 2012.
[image error]
Scientists have created a deadly form of the avian flu. What were they thinking? Methane bubbles are effervescing from melting polar ice-hastening global warming. Global storms. There's a young mother dying of cancer, days before Christmas. There's another mother grieving for her lost son, drinking too much, and wondering how she's going to survive the pain and weight of her grief. It's raining in Maine at the end of December. Crazy changing world.
Almost 2012. What will happen? Will there be a grand transmutation of our world? Maybe people will wake up and remember, maybe they will see more clearly. Maybe it's not too late to save Earth and her inhabitants.
Me, I still hope. I hope and believe in the power of love, light, and laughter. Reiki energy is part of that power. I share Reiki with anyone who wants it, anyone who asks. I love to teach Reiki to others and to share with other practitioners. I practice self-Reiki daily. I'm hoping the power of Reiki will calm and uplift our energies in 2012.
If Reiki isn't for you, then do something similar. Meditate, pray, do yoga, dance, or climb a mountain. Hang out with best friends and family: people who make you laugh. Volunteer, donate, give back, be an activist. Make a difference in 2012.
[image error]
December 18, 2011
Monster High
Ever heard of it? I hadn't. I needed Christmas presents for my niece. Really she's my 1st-cousin-once-removed, but it's just easier to call her my niece.
She's 8 and lives in New York City. Sue, at work, told me about Monster High. Sue's granddaughter is 8 and lives in Maine. "Their hands come off," Sue told me.
So I looked. I found, bought, and wrapped.
She ripped open and shrieked with delight. "Monster High!"
We spent the evening assembling and dressing monsters. Not just hands; their heads, arms, and legs come off. Hair too. Their parts are interchangeable. They have trendy clothes: glitter, mini-skirts, and way high heels. They have impossibly long thin limbs and glossy black tresses with pink streaks. They also have fangs and fins. Other than that, they're like Barbies.
I filled a Christmas stocking with a Charlie Brown's Christmas DVD, goldfish crackers, and candy. Oh, I got her a shiny pink wig too, sequined gloves, and patent leather heels. She loved it all, and I loved her excitement. [image error]
She's 8 and lives in New York City. Sue, at work, told me about Monster High. Sue's granddaughter is 8 and lives in Maine. "Their hands come off," Sue told me.
So I looked. I found, bought, and wrapped.
She ripped open and shrieked with delight. "Monster High!"
We spent the evening assembling and dressing monsters. Not just hands; their heads, arms, and legs come off. Hair too. Their parts are interchangeable. They have trendy clothes: glitter, mini-skirts, and way high heels. They have impossibly long thin limbs and glossy black tresses with pink streaks. They also have fangs and fins. Other than that, they're like Barbies.
I filled a Christmas stocking with a Charlie Brown's Christmas DVD, goldfish crackers, and candy. Oh, I got her a shiny pink wig too, sequined gloves, and patent leather heels. She loved it all, and I loved her excitement. [image error]
