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| Two days after it stopped raining, water is still pouring off the trails |
Wow, ok, I'm hurtin'. It was a great day for a hike--at least, it was a sunny day for a hike and I think it even made it up to a whopping 2 or 3 degrees (around 36 or 37 degrees farenheit). I stress the sunny part. It has rained all week, and snowed, so really, snained, for most of this week. It has rained so heavily that the trails are washed out and water is still running down the footpaths as if they were rivers. Entire trees fell off the riverbanks and lay in the current. The first signs of winter are definately here--little lines of frost and snow on fallen logs, ice on the water's edge and at least in the deep shade, the mud is starting to freeze solid. 
We've been lucky. This is the longest, warmest fall I can remember. Normally it's around 5 degrees colder, and even though the snow doesn't usually stick around until at least mid-month or later, we've normally have plenty of slushy, dirty snowfalls at this point. This year, for variety, we've had rain and rain and rain. It's starting to feel like Vancouver over here.
So, anyhow, we headed back to the Seaton Trail for another long hike. And for lack of anything more imaginative, we thought we'd take turns giving each other piggybacks.
Now, that was all fine and good for Steve--I weigh all of 120 pounds. He could carry me a good 100-150 feet before needing a break (it is very uneven ground along the trail). But it was pretty interesting the other way around--he weighs 180. He'd jump up and I'd stumble backwards and then sideways, trying to get my balance before tipping forwards and starting in the proper direction. "They weeble and they wobble, but they don't fall down..." (Anyone remember those commercials from the 80's? Ok, I'm aging myself here). I'd only carry him arond 50 feet each time before stumbling. It was so challenging that as he slid off he'd have to get his footing and hold me upright at the same time. The weight was so much for me that if I bent my knees more than a little, I'd just keep going down until I was kneeling in the dirt. It was really hard work--I knew I'd be feeling it in my thighs and knees (and groin muscles), but what surprises me is how stiff my abs feel. I guess there was a lot of core muscles pulling his weight forwards in order to walk in that direction.
But damn, we had a lot of fun doing it. We're like two kids who never really grew up-- we can make anything into good, simple fun. Not so long ago, we decided to get married (second marriage for both of us) and rather than plan anything fancy (we just aren't fancy people), we decided rather spur-of-the-moment that what we really wanted was to get married on the dam that we loved to visit--the damn where we often went just to "huck sh!t in the river"--we liked to gather cut logs, ok, sometimes entire felled trees, toss them into the current and race downstream to the dam to watch them be jettied out the far side and disappear in the foam only to pop up again downstream.
I know, we're very simple idiots. But that was our wedding. And we wore jeans. Our kids were there, i-Pods and all. Our very close friend (and her sister, thank you, thank you, thank you) wanted to help out and asked what kind of flowers I wanted for the big day, and I said, "I don't know--what goes with safety yellow and concrete?" So burlap swag it was. I kid you not. She made a beautiful cd that she played through the ceremony, and you can't hear one word of it over the rush of water going through the dam. So I'm just saying, we are simple, happy people. We like to get out and just have fun, whenever, wherever.
Alright, so we hiked until we hurt, and we made a little detour in Whitevale for a craft sale where we found a lady who makes all-natural soap with coconut oil in mascarpone scent!! And it was already 2 o'clock by the time we got home and we were starving. So I took at quick look at two of Marina's Primal Cooking soup recipes, couldn't decide which one to make, and created a mixture that was a bit of both, and a bit of me, too.
Mexican Chicken Verde Soup
1 lb ground turkey or chicken
1 onion
1 carrot
2 avacadoes
1 can coconut milk (full fat)
1 1/2 c chicken stock
3 tbsp lime juice
1/4 c salsa verde
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 c coriander
salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder to taste
Heat dutch oven on medium heat. Grate/shred carrot and onion in food processor, then add to dutch oven with a bit of butter/coconut oil/bacon grease (whatever you have). Cut, peel and remove pits from avacadoes, then puree in food processor. Add coconut milk, lime juice, coriander, salsa, and hot pepper to food processor and puree until fairly smooth. Add to dutch over along with chicken stock. (Don't worry if the carrots and onion aren't done yet). Bring it all to a simmer. Meanwhile, add garlic, onion powder and cumin to ground meat and form into small meatballs (you should have around 20). Add to pot and cover, simmering, for about 20 minutes or until meat is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add grated cheddar if you eat dairy, though it does not actually need it. It is very hearty.
Serves 4.
Then I whipped up a batch of the paleo fudge on the fastpaleo website because I'm hormonal right now and there is not enough chocolate in this world to satisfy....
So there, tired, fed, and sipping on some wine now, I'm finally sitting still. For five or ten minutes. Then, who knows? I bet Steve is worried. I never let him sit still.
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