Somehow, my gigs to exotic locales often seem to wind up being just far away enough from the really excellent hiking to make it impractical to attempt. Such is the case here in Boise. There are some really tempting state parks in this part of the state, but they're still a couple of hours away by car. When my hubby visited for the Easter weekend, we did manage to get a couple of hikes in. One of my hosts, Max, took us to a little trail in the foothills, where we dodged mountain bikers and joggers on the narrow and sometimes steep path.
It was about three miles, and boasted a nice view of the valley, and it was refreshing. I wouldn't mind running there.
On Easter, Max took us to the Snake River Canyon, where we didn't really hike, but rather admired the spectacular views and messed around just a little.
I could not resist climbing up this big rock. I wasn't at all sure I was going to be able to get down, but I had to give it a try!
We visited Eagle Island State Park, and hiked through what is essentially a big ol' cow pasture, dodging flooded areas from the rain-swollen Boise River.
Parts of it were quite pretty, like this little lane. But the coolest thing by far was sighting two mating pairs of falcons, including this nesting pair.
You can't see Mama in the photo, but trust me, she's in there.
We also took a drive up to Idaho City, just to see the beautiful mountain scenery. There are some ski trails there you can hike in the summer, so when Eric comes back we're going to try to go.
Meanwhile, day-to-day , the struggle continues. The two weeks' off P90X took a toll, and it's been hard to get back up to speed. But I completed Week Seven and am now halfway through Week Eight. Just plugging away. When I finish the series, the plan is to go back and do it again, with a cardio emphasis. One of my colleagues here also does P90X, and he is in great shape --- so it's inspiring to see what can be accomplished!
I haven't done a great job with food. Too many treats, too many carbs, just way too much eating out. On days when I don't eat out I really try to scale back, but I need to commit to the P90X eating plan again for a while. It's simple, practical, and was helping me keep on track. One of the tricks, I think, is to not let it throw you when you go off track. You can't spend a lot of time beating yourself up about it (although of course, you will, at least a little). The plan for my remaining time here: day to day, keep the nasty stuff out of the house, keep working out hard, and if I do go out, stick to salads.
Yesterday we ran through the opera for the first time, start to finish. It's really a fun show and I am enjoying my colleagues, both on and off the stage (off stage we get into trouble ... a little too much time spent at the Irish pub, where they now know us). This particular opera doesn't seem to have much of a standard performance practice --- there are many different versions of it and ways to interpret the characters. My character is a sort of fluttery, dramatic, somewhat snobby marquise who is very concerned with manners and position (and you find out later that she has good reason to be). Ironically, she ends up sort of paired up with the soldier who is the father figure to the title character. This is implied rather than stated outright, but at the very end of the opera, the soldier, made happy by the marquise finally unbending a little bit, declares he could just kiss her ... and then he does. Well, my colleague decided he was going to dip me. And every rehearsal, that dip has gotten a little bit deeper, until last night my head was inches off the floor. He is a big strong guy, and he didn't seem to be in any particular distress, but it took me a little off guard and I must have looked terrified because he said, "Don't worry! I'm not going to drop you!"
I wasn't worried that he would drop me. Like I said, he's a strong guy. No, I was worried about how heavy I must be. That's the kind of old tape that starts playing when you least expect it. Later, driving home, I flashed back to the very early days of my career, when for some role or other they wanted me to be on this guy's shoulders, and at the time I was just so embarrassed that I couldn't pay attention to what I was doing. This wasn't the case yesterday; but I did worry about my weight and it brought back that memory.
Sometimes, some situations, no matter how much work you've done it just doesn't seem enough. But hey --- it got me up and doing my Kenpo workout this morning, and it helped me eat healthy today. Even when I've lost a little ground, I'm in much better shape than I was three years ago. It helps me to acknowledge that this is not a straight or narrow path, and that there are plenty of switchbacks, but if I just keep moving forward I'll get where I want to go.
