The Beauty Around Us

I spent this past weekend up in Tahoe. Flew from LA into Reno and rented a car. The flight was really interesting as I was sitting next to a man who organizes adventure trips and then does a satellite feed from all these exotic locations into children's classrooms. He's been to Antarctica multiple times (including organizing a marathon there), is heading to the Amazon soon, etc. Very very cool stuff. They occasionally take a couple kids with them on their trips as well. He had been down in LA as the keynote speaker for the Magic Johnson foundation as he will be taking a couple kids from that group to the Amazon. What an amazing job to have. Not only do you get to go to all these fabulous places, you get to educate children about them too!

Drove over to Tahoe in the middle of a thunderstorm. I love thunderstorms! Thunderstorms in the mountains at sunset are even more amazing! Friday night was a bit awkward with TB which I had expected. We talked about it a bit. Wouldn't say there was any resolution to anything, but enough to be friends. Now to just teach myself that someone else’s issues are just that – someone else’s and not a reflection of me.

Saturday I met up with the Reno Hash House Harriers group in Tahoe City. We went for a run and then went to the Truckee River Access Point and started blowing up inner tubes and rafts. We spent a good 3+ hours on the river drinking beer, enjoying the sunshine, frolicking and hanging out chatting. My bumm/low back is black and blue as I think I managed to find every single rock the Truckee River has in it. The idea of lashing your inner tube to someone’s raft seems like a good idea, until none of you are paying attention, you are floating along backwards and no one bothers to say, “Oh, look out for that rock!”  Good times all the same.

Got back to my car in time to throw on a sundress and head back to South Lake. Well, Harvey’s in NV to be exact. We had tickets to the CSNY concert. I met up with TB and his friend inside. Harvey’s Amphitheatre is a gorgeous venue. I highly recommend it! You get to sit there listening to great live music and watch the sun set over the mountains. Does life get better? Yes, yes it does. You get to have a beer in your hand while watching! I would have preferred to see just CSN instead of CSNY. I was pleasantly surprised though. The show was a bit too political for my taste - I don’t pay to hear your political views. I pay to hear you sing. Still a great show and nice to see those guys on stage!

Sunday I hung out on my own at Fallen Leaf Lake. Did a little reading and soaked up some sunshine. I decided to pamper myself (hey, if I don’t do it, who’s going to?) by getting an hour and a half deep tissue massage which was wonderful minus the bruises described earlier. Headed to TB’s shop which is across the way from a sunglass shop as mine had bitten the dust the day before. He did get me an excellent deal on a couple pairs of sunglasses which was very nice of him. I said my goodbyes and headed back to Reno to catch a flight to LA.

Every time I visit Tahoe I’m reminded of just how much of a mountain girl I am. The air is crisp and clean, the water an unbelievable shade of blue and the mountains…well, the mountains always remind me just how small we really are and how insignificant the “big” problems (read that – problems we make big) truly are. Mountains are wonderful for putting life in the proper perspective, for reminding me to slow down and appreciate all the beauty that is around me. I am so blessed by having all this at my fingertips!

This was brought to you by the letter M and the number 5.