Discover More from This Category: Living the Dream

Livin’ the Dream: Choose to improve

November 15, 2023
  I make the first few turns and I can feel my right leg is uncooperative. My femur is initializing the turns just fine but I can feel the latency on the finish, causing the inside edge of my tip to get caught on whatever sugar snow it can find. The delay in my right…

Livin’ the Dream: Skiing brings out our best

November 14, 2023
  We did not want to miss a moment of the pregame festivities this year, so we pulled into the parking lot around 8 a.m. Barely able to sleep, we were there two hours before the lifts were scheduled to start. But we were not the only ones with our eyes on the prize, unable to…

Livin’ the Dream: Webcam anticipation 

November 1, 2023
  You could feel the air changing. Even inside the house, I knew that this morning would be different. The air was just that much thinner and my hands were cold as they lay outside my blanket. I could actually feel my fingers stiffening up and had to pull them back inside when I woke up for a…

Livin’ the Dream: Snowliage

October 25, 2023
  By Merisa Sherman     I can feel the cold air entering my nose as I take a deep breath. I dare not open my mouth, because I just brushed my teeth and it will just feel too damn cold. I am on the chairlift, my legs swinging underneath me as the chair floats…

Livin’ the Dream: Stars in a dark night sky

October 18, 2023
No matter the time of day, I love laying on my blanket in the middle of a field and staring up at the sky. While you are the one that walks through the forest to create movement, the sky appears the exact opposite. Only when you lie perfectly still can you track the movements of…

Living the Dream: Earth is a teacher, if you tune in

October 12, 2023
  A few steps beyond my front door and I am engulfed in a swarm of leaves. The wind lifts their lifeless yet multicolored selves off of the cold ground and they swirl around me. My hair flies all around me, caught up on the energy of the wind. I am part of the experience,…

Living the Dream: Foliage: Beauty before death

October 5, 2023
Oh man, do I wish autumn lasted longer. Or that the days were longer within the season. I cannot get enough of this absolutely perfect fall weather that we’ve been having. I mean, driving to work every morning I think this must be peak and then the next day is even brighter and more full…

Livin’ the Dream: A better way to get there

September 27, 2023
Ahhh, foliage. The air is crisp and clean as the humidity literally vanishes into thin air. The trees, once a vibrant shade of green, begin to mute and change, dying off before our very eyes. Once almost all the same, they now show their differences to us, the varieties within varieties, as each turns at…

Living the Dream: Drawing strength come from the forest

September 20, 2023
  Stepping into the conference room, I look down at the ring on my finger and know that I can do this. If you haven’t figured me out already, I am an introvert. I do well with one person or two, but an entire room or bar full of people sends my heart to pump…

Livin’ the Dream: Thick fog disorients into white emptiness

September 13, 2023
  This will be an adventure, I thought as I pulled into the boat launch. Well, it looked like the boat launch but there was no water to be seen anywhere. Not like that commercial where the water is drained from the ocean because a tidal wave is coming. No, a great fog had settled…

Livin’ the Dream: Walking in the woods reveals truths, connections

September 6, 2023
Walking in the woods reveals truths, connections I’ve been here many times before, but today it’s a secret adventure. I slide my foot through the ferns, trying to find a solid placement for my foot. The ground is still quite a bit muddy even though it’s been dry out lately. I find a solid bit of…

Living the Dream: Roof racks are the key to many adventures 

August 30, 2023
  My fingers move of their own accord, tightening the straps while I press the lever open. I pull just a little bit more before letting the strap fall and wrapping a backup knot. I let both straps fall into the car and shut the door, hopefully keeping the straps from flapping around and breaking…

Livin’ the Dream: The turn

August 9, 2023
  I cannot see much, just the white and yellow lines of the freeway swaying here and there around the mountains. “Coyote,” by Joni Mitchell, is stuck in my head on repeat as I watch those lines, matching the lean of our bike to the rhythm of the road. I ride 2UP (pronounced: two up), which means…

Living the Dream: Water, community ease the pain of loss

August 2, 2023
  There’s a cradling, a sense of calm that takes over you as the water moves gently beneath your boat. A soft bounce that you can feel almost immediately as you step foot into your craft and shove off from the shore. You almost don’t need to go anywhere, you can simply float in place…

Living the Dream: Barbie has always been an activist, always ahead of her time

July 26, 2023
  I knew the shape of the box. I could feel it, even though it was wrapped in the traditional Christmas paper and technically looked like all of the other boxes underneath the tree. But my sister and I, we just knew what would be in those 3-inch thick boxes. It wasn’t the right shape for…