Past in Present
Over Christmas, I finally decided on a my one little word for 2013: present. I tend to waste so much time and energy either dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, so I entered the new year making a conscious effort to focus on what’s happening right here and now.
(Ironically, this trip report is three weeks late. Oh hush you.)
Back on New Year’s Day, the here and now was cold enough to freeze your nubbins off. JK and I drove over Snoqualmie Pass which was socked in once again, hoping to ski above the clouds on Amabilis Mountain.
It seemed to take much longer to reach the sun this time than it did on Kendall, probably due to my total ineptitude on cross-country skis, but once we made it, it was oh so glorious.
I love days like this one, where the sun is out but it’s so cold that the trees are still snowy. I usually only get one trip like a year, but this season I keep getting lucky. Mount Rainier was out along with the prominent Alpine Lakes Wilderness peaks, which made for gorgeous views. We couldn’t see Kachess Lake this time, but we can’t complain since it was replaced by a beautiful sea of clouds.
Even in our ginormous winter puffies, we were cold as the dickens, so we only sat down for a quick lunch before heading down. I was anxious about skiing down right from the start – see why I chose my one little word? – but I needn’t have worried, I only fell six times. Six times. At least they all happened on the ungroomed part of the trail, so I had relatively soft landings…and anyhow, that’s all in the past now.
January 21st, 2013 at 12:55 pm
Love your one little word for 2013 and your thoughts for choosing this word. I’m just equally guilty.
Absolutely love your pictures.
January 21st, 2013 at 2:05 pm
Good word choice.
I struggled with mine for a while but have settled on Abide.
And your photos are AMAZING!
January 21st, 2013 at 2:13 pm
PRESENT my constant theme. It’s a struggle, but in some moments I’m really there (here). Spectacular photos as usual. I did that ski trip years ago on a similar day. While I’ve not done much ski touring for years now (mostly downhill now), I did get out on skate skis for the first time yesterday on the Iron Horse Trail at Snoqualmie Pass/Hyak. A beautiful day and I can tell I’ll do it more. However, I would NOT attempt to go up and down Amabilis Mountain on skate skis!
January 21st, 2013 at 2:22 pm
Beautiful photos from your ski trip. Love your OLW too. Mine this year is Less. I need to blog about it at some point but part of Less is less feeling obligated. :)
January 21st, 2013 at 8:12 pm
I like that word – it’s similar to mine which is ‘mindfulness’. And LOVE that last photo. I keep wanting to try cross country skiing but I guess I need to wait until the kiddos are a bit bigger so we can either bring them or leave them behind for a day (or even better a weekend!)
January 22nd, 2013 at 4:04 am
You are so fortunate to get to go to places like this! Your photos are always stunnng and leave me speechless! There is so much meaning to your “one little word” for 2013 and I look forward to the “presents” you share with us each time you post photos and a story. Thank you!
January 23rd, 2013 at 11:02 am
Present has been my theme for the past year. I used to always focus on my future plans and what has already happened, but didn’t pay attention to the present. I’m getting better at not worrying so much about things and just enjoying the moment, but it’s still work.
Love your photos, as always!