walking rino: street art with theo

I’ve got two little wildlings, Otis and Theo. We spend a lot of quality time together as a group, but it’s incredibly rare that I get to have one-on-one time with either one of them. So the other day, upon realizing that Otis had class and Theo’s school was closed, I decided to take Theo on a special adventure-- just the two of us. I toyed with the idea of journeying up to the mountains for a hike near Kenosha Pass, but then decided it would be fun to stay in the city and put on our explorer caps since we have plans to see fall foliage for the next three weekends…

Of course I had to seize the moment and catch up on some overdue appointments too, so before we took off on our local adventure, I took Theo to the doctor for a wellness check-up. In hindsight that might not have been the best way to start off our special day, for it was temporarily marred by the 4-year-old vaccination schedule. But eventually he stopped crying, and the experience led us to have an interesting conversation about viruses. It also helped us choose our word of the day: “antibodies.”

As a reward for displaying courage and good behavior (all things considered), I treated Theo to a chocolate croissant. He was amazed by its construction and started yelling, “There’s a real live chocolate bar right in the very middle of my treat? It’s real live!! Isn’t that amazing, mommy?” Oh that Theo. He’s got “a million sweet tooths” and is truly a little boy after my own heart. Not wanting to leave the coffee shop without something savory, I grabbed two spinach empandas before we set out in the direction of the RiNo Arts District…

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in instagram: chihuly and the denver botanic garden (with my trusty iPhone)

It’s been almost 7 years since I registered for a glassblowing course at Urban Glass on Fulton Street in Brooklyn. In my late-20s and early-30s, very few things could get me to rise early on the weekend, but glassblowing sure did. It was so exciting to try something new. And while it turns out that I’m actually a terrible glass blower (I thought my experience with sculpture would help, but it didn’t) it was so much fun to try.

The fruits of my glassblowing labor bore a few sad looking vessels and something that vaguely resembled an ashtray, which is not practical at all since I’m not a smoker. I also managed to salvage a sort-of mortar & pestle combo that I proudly display in our kitchen, but it was meant to be something else (which I can’t remember now).

I guess what I’m saying is this: glassblowing is incredibly difficult and just because you want things come out a certain way, doesn’t mean they will. Adding color and blowing elongated forms or elaborate shapes is no easy task. The technical precision, along with the tremendous amount of patience required to have complicated designs (or even simple ones) come to fruition, makes me appreciate the work of Dale Chihuly and his Studio even more…

Chihuly at theDenver Botanic Gardens is simply stunning. The glass pops with color and texture and the placement of the forms - largely inspired by nature - are integrated throughout the gardens and the pools.

Try and visit the garden on an overcast day, in the late afternoon. That’s when we went - the temperatures were a bit cooler and the crowds were a little bit less intense. I can’t wait to go back at night and see the sculptures when they’re illuminated.

Chihuly has inspired me…and I think it might be time to try glassblowing again. After all, it’s been 7 years and in that time most of my scars have completely faded…

Enjoy!

great sand dunes national park

“It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to point B. 


It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would always feel this way.” 


- Cheryl Strayed 

Over the past few months I've found myself craving spontaneity and adventure. My life has (increasingly) becoming too predictable: school drop-off, work, gym, play dates, naps, meal-prep and so on. We have a calendar and we have routine. Not that there's anything wrong with a little order in life (especially when one has young children), but what was happening to my adventurer-self? The girl who would board a plane to Asia or Central America because a good fare popped up? Or the girl who would hop a boat - one filled with with cattle and ranchers- just to catch a glimpse of southern Chile? Or the 20-something-me who would take the trolley to the French Quarter and do cartwheels down the street just because it was a Tuesday night? I think she was starting to vanish…

Now I know that at this stage of my life I have different responsibilities and obligations than I had a decade ago. There's a mortgage, my career, two kids, and college tuition to think of. But still, there's got to be a little room for adventure, some spontaneity, maybe even some silliness in one's life too, no? 

If you’re wondering how this ties in to Great Sand Dunes National Park, I’ll tell you. 

We had no plans to drive down. But when one of our intended guests cancelled their trip to Denver due to the flu, we seized the moment and decided to go for it. We had been talking about visiting the dunes for more than 2 years, but we always put it off. We were always making excuses (It's too far/I have too much work/I'm too tired/Maybe next year...) But not this time! We hastily secured a hotel room (there’s only one place to stay), packed a cooler (there aren’t many eating options at this point in the pre-season) and we drove south for about 3 ¾ hours. It felt good to do something  that wasn't planned months in advance. In fact, it felt great! 
So I encourage you to do something spontaneous! You won't regret it.  In the words (I'm paraphrasing here) of Dr. Scott, the paleontologist on PBS's Dinosaur Train, "Get out there! Get into nature. Have an adventure and make your own discoveries." 

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walking wednesday: florissant fossil bed national monument and ina's chipotle & rosemary roasted nuts

We've taken the kids on some pretty spectacular hikes in Colorado, but since my husband and I don’t ski or partake in winter sports (this will change next year when I take up Nordic/Cross Country), we never thought to take the boys on a winter hike in the snow or up in the higher elevations. When we do go on winter hikes, we opt for trails near and around Denver—which means that there isn’t much snow on the ground and temperatures are usually in the 50s and 60s. But this past weekend we wanted to try something new, and since the kids are getting better in the car we decided the 2 hour trip to Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument would work out well. What I didn’t realize, as I left the house dressed in a light cotton flannel, was that this hike is way up in the mountains (over 9500 feet) where it's about 20-30 degrees cooler than it is in Denver. I was obviously underdressed (thankfully the kids had extra layers in the car), so as we climbed up and up, and as we passed town after town without a suitable store to fix my little problem, I started to think this wouldn't work out so well. But we finally came upon what I'll call a larger “city”- and we spotted a Goodwill Store which I knew would have something suitable. I found what I was looking for in under 2 minutes - an “I Heart Colorado” sweatshirt with a hood! And just like that, for the low price of $3.99, I was outfitted for altitude…so we made our way to our final destination. 

Florrisant Fossil Beds National Monument contains the remains of an ancient Redwood forest dating back about 35 million years. Usually whenever I think of the Redwoods my brain immediately goes to the California coastline, but in fact millions of years ago the Colorado climate was actually much more hospitable to these ancient tress. (This would be a good time to tell you that in my pre-kids life I was an environmental lawyer and worked on a campaign to protect the Tillamook Forest in Oregon, so I tend to geek out on all things forest-related, and this trail had me jumping for joy.) Anyway, back when these enormous trees dotted the Colorado landscape, the climate was much warmer and much wetter, which meant that the habitat was perfect for forests and trees here could grow up to 230 feet high. It must have been something. The valley also saw its share of volcanic eruptions, an ever- changing landscape, and it was home to hunter-gatherers (the Paleo-Indians, the Ute and Jicarilla Apache peoples), early Pioneers and scientists. There's a lot of history here- that's what I'm trying to get at...

Unfortunately before the area was protected, much of the petrified wood was taken by tourist as trinkets and collectibles, so not much remains. But there are a few large stumps that you’ll see as you make your way through the 1 mile loop. And you can learn about the ancient fossil beds that contain the remnants of trees that no longer exist in Colorado (but some of which have modern-day relatives in Asia). 

The kids loved walking in the snow and though the temperatures were around 40-something degrees, the sun made us warm and the two little guys were real troopers and did most of the hiking themselves. Wet feet aside, it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon…

And this is what we snacked on...

Ina Garten's Chipotle & Rosemary Roasted Nuts

Courtesy of Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That?

Serves 8 to 10

These are sweet, salty, and spicy--with lots of brown sugar, maple syrup, chipotle powder, and fresh rosemary. Roasting is the process that brings out the most flavor in nuts, and serving them warm is a particularly nice touch. 

Ingredients

Vegetable oil

3 cups whole roasted unsalted cashews (14 ounces)

2 cups whole walnut halves (7 ounces)

2 cups whole pecan halves (7 ounces)

1/2 cup whole almonds (3 ounces)

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder* (I used 1 teaspoon)

4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves, divided

Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil. Combine the cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, the maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice, and chipotle powder on the sheet pan. Toss to coat the nuts evenly. Add 2 tablespoons of the rosemary and 2 teaspoons of salt and toss again.

Spread the nuts in one layer. Roast the nuts for 25 minutes, stirring twice with a large metal spatula, until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons of salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary.

Toss well and set aside at room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking as they cool. Taste for seasoning. Serve warm or cool completely and store in airtight containers at room temperature.

* Chipotle chile powder is different from ordinary chili powder- it's ground dried smoked jalapeños and has a distinctive hot, smoky, sweet flavor.