Duke City Fit 2015 Spring web

Spring 2015

What in the Heck?

Ruggers practicing a “line out” Under a Full Moon Why not?

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Spring 2015 • Still Life WIth Picnic Table St Vrain River out of Rocky Mtn Natl Park

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Spring 2015

3

Where Have From the Publisher Ken Orth

All the Pigeons Gone?

Above: A juvenile Coopers Hawk from last fall. Notice speckled chest feathers & yellow eyes, indicative of a youngster.

Right: The nest as of this spring. It was originally built last spring. It is in a 40+ year-old ash tree, about 30 feet up directly above the sidewalk along the street in a Holiday Park residential neighborhood. It is roughly 2 to 2 1/2 feet in diameter.

Opposite page: Coopers Hawk this spring. An adult, notice the rust-colored, banded chest & reddish eyes. Same bird, but older?

Wiser?

4

I heard his “kaack”ing cry this morning through the curtained bedroom window.

The first rays of dawn skittered around the curtain, striking randomly on the blades of the ceiling fan and on the dust motes in the corner by the dirty clothes hamper.

The sun had cleared the Sandias, I know, and I wondered idly, if that is what had inspired the screeching cry. Was our Coopers Hawk the cock of the walk? Was he saluting the arrival of another day, or broadcasting forth his supremacy in his little neighborhood kingdom?

“I saw your hawk yesterday,” my neighbor mom had told me a few days before, over our respective garbage cans which we both had dutifully rolled down our driveways and parked snugly up against the curbs, directly across from each other. It was a crisp, chill springtime morning, a Monday, and we were both clad in bathrobes, hers a magenta purple and mine a midnight black.

“I saw your hawk up there by the nest,” she said, nodding her head in the direction of my next door neighbor’s tree, not wanting to point as her arms were wrapped snugly around her chest. She knew I’d written a story about the hawks last fall.

“He was on the branch right next to it,” she continued. “Didn’t look like he was working on it or anything. Just there. Screeching once in a while.”

We both looked up there for a moment, imagining a hawk on the bare branches.

It was a rather dismal scene, what with the gray sky and the bony limbs and the chill hanging in the air like a mausoleum. And the nest itself.... a ramshackle, hodgepodge of dead sticks, protruding here and there, somber and colorless, into the emptiness.

“It’s probably the same male from last year. The one who built it,” I said, remembering what our hawk expert had told me. “They return and fix it up and lure a female in. I don’t know if it’ll be the same female or not.”

That had been a few days ago. Now, this day, possibly awakened by the hawk’s kaack, it dawned upon me that the cry I’d heard had come from the general direction of the nest.

Had he spent the night up there? Or returned at the first light of day? Inquiring minds want to know.

I clambered out of bed, donned again the midnight robe, and quietly slipped out the front door. It was, as I had suspected it would be, to no avail. The hawk was not there. Our hawk is a rather skittish hawk, and is not wont to stay in one place for very long. And his cry, seemingly, is often an indication that he is about to move.

Moments later, in the kitchen now making a pot of coffee, I heard his cry again, this time from the backyard. I hustled out in time to see his slate-gray form divebombing in a long, curving arc from one tree to another, and finally I see him perched high up in a neighbor’s ponderosa pine, his back to me.

His long tail twitches...minutely....continuously, and it reminds me vaguely of Peyton Manning’s feet dancing in the pocket, ever ready to make the move.

The dark gray of his back side blends notoriously with the trunk and branches of the tree. Had I not seen him land there, I think I’d be seeing naught but the broken stub of a branch up there, if I looked up there at all.

The “kaack” again. Repeated 5 times. It seems to me that this hawk basically has 2 sentences in his repertoire: One kaack, or five. And rarely does he vary from this.

The five syllable communique seemingly is more an announcement of his arrival or presence....

“I am here.. On this branch. It is mine. As is this tree and this yard. That is all.”

Brief, staccato, and to the point. Whatever it is, this is followed by a moment or two more of silent, tail-twitching observation looking west, with the morning sun at his back. Then a solitary kaack. A kaack that may mean, “Aw, shoot, there’s nothing happening here.”

Within seconds, there is the dive-bombing exit from the tree. The long, downward arcing swoop and up again into another tree, farther away, a leafless, barren ash this time.

I love that swoosh. He, or maybe his daddy, scared the poop out of me last year when he swooped right by my head in the hot tub, so close that I swore I could hear the whoosh of his wings. I am just appreciative that he chose not to smack the back of my head with those massive talons, perhaps mistaking it for a waterlogged pigeon.

But no, his eyesight is far better than that. And he prefers, I have been told, to take his prey on the wing. Pigeons or doves cumbersomely flapping, trying to escape through the branches while he maneuvers like a jet fighter, with his stubby wings and long tail rudder. Tis a beauty to behold.

There was a scattering of white feathers in our back yard a few weeks ago, beneath our ponderosa pine, newly deposited there in the cold, cold days of late winter. It was our hawk, I’ve no doubt, plucking the feathers from a hapless pigeon... whether from up on a low branch, or down on the ground itself.

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SW Corner of 4th & Alameda Enter on 4th, Across from the Church

He is welcome to the pigeons. I occasionally hear an ad on the radio for a pest-removal service that will come to your house and remove those nasty pigeons. I think not. That is one service I need not avail myself of.

They used to hang out on the edge of my patio roof, did the pigeons. But they seem to have wised up to their vulnerability there.

Or perhaps, the ones who used to hang out there are simply no longer with us. If you know what I mean.

At any rate, they no longer sit in the numbers and make a mess around the edge of my patio. Now, strangely enough, they show up once in a while, singly or in pairs in the middle of our backyard. My wife thinks it has to do with the leftover popcorn I occasionally toss out there.

Who, me?

There was a question, back when I chatted with our hawk expert last year, about whether the hawks would migrate away in the winter. That has traditionally been their pattern. But there seems to be a growing trend away from that.

These are not your grand-daddy’s hawks. These are the millenials.

These are the kind that would carry a smart phone if they could.

They would excel at X-box video games, particularly Star-Fighter and Top Gun. They don’t do things the way their parents did. It was said they couldn’t live in the city, not with all those people around.

Pshaw.

I’ll live in the front yard and dine in the back. I’ll wake their butts up at the crack of dawn and let ‘em know that Cooper K Hawk is on the job.

The K is for killer.

And I won’t be goin’ south for the winter like a dang snow bird.

I ain’t no snow bird. I’m a hawk, and I’ll go where I please. Also, in case you didn’t notice, there’s plenty of pigeons hanging around all winter. Fat, stupid, pigeons. Probably too dumb to go south. Or too lazy.

It don’t really matter. Pigeons is pigeons. And dinner is dinner.

“Kaack, kaack, kaack, kaack, kaack.”, I hear rapid fire from somewhere over there out back.

“Cooper Flight, dawn patrol, has arrived at Mulberry Gate 3.”

“That is all.”

Spring 2015

5

?

r e g Rug About That Cover...

Ken Orth

Those guys on the cover are “ruggers.” I think. A “rugger” is anyone who plays rugby.

Or has played rugby.

“Once a rugger, always a rugger,” I was told by someone who should know… the President of the Albuquerque Rugby Club, Jason Leonard.

I guess that makes me a rugger, too. I played a few games. A long, long time ago.

Also, though I don’t think it counts in the definition of a rugger, I wear rugby shirts.

Quite often. In fact, that is how I met Jason. I was walking into a grocery store wearing my brightly colored Kiwi rugby shirt and he asked me, “Are you a rugger?”

For a brief moment, I didn’t know what he was talking about. I had never even heard the word “rugger” before, much less asked if I was one.

(For what it is worth, I have laid a carpet or two in my day and it occurred to me that this might qualify me as a rugger.)

I finally realized what he meant when he pointed at my beat-up rugby shirt. Oh! Rugby.

Wait a minute…

Rugby?

This is what ran through my mind…

As a matter of fact, you know what? I am currently actively looking for a good photo opportunity. I need an interesting shot of a person or persons doing something relatively active. Preferably adult persons. Preferably outdoors. I need this for the cover of my spring issue of Duke City Fit. Got any ideas?

I ended up going to a rugby practice and taking some pictures. On the evening of a full moon.

I love this job!

It was down at Johnson Field on the UNM campus. Johnson Field, by the way, on a Tuesday at 6 o’clock, was packed. PACKED. People and teams everywhere.

Walking onto the field, there were soccer teams there, several of them. I immediately found myself behind a soccer goal where several women were taking some SERIOUS shots at an over-worked goalie. Being a soccer goal-keeper myself, it made me want to jump in there and see how I’d fare against them. Give me your best shot. But, I’m just an old man with a camera around my neck… more of a nuisance or a distraction than anything else.

There were also people playing frisbee football. I think. Or at least warming up to do so. And it looked like bocce ball over there in the corner.

But my goal was the rugby practices.

There were 4 rugby practices. Four! One was all women, running sprints and tossing the ball as they did. One was obviously the UNM men’s team, red lobo shirts predominating. That left one of the other two in the gathering dusky darkness under the lights.

I found the ones I was looking for. The Albuquerque Rugby Club. The Aardvarks.

(Concerning the aardvark name… there are conflicting stories about how it came to be. Some say the team was named after a baby aardvark that was born in the San Diego zoo in the same year that the club was born, 1973. A founding member of the club had a clipped-out newspaper picture of the “cute” newborn aardvark on his bathroom wall.

Another legend has it that the founding members got together at one of their houses for refreshments after one of their early practices and decided that they absolutely had to come up with and agree to a mascot name BEFORE they could indulge in any of the libations. Desperately, one of the members pulled down a dictionary, flipped it open to the beginning. The first available mascot name was “aardvark”. Name approved. Let’s start drinking.)

Anyway, Aardvarks they are, and have been since 1973. The club was formed as a spinoff of the UNM rugby club which had been formed the year before. The Aardvark team was for the graduated seniors and the other players who were no longer attending UNM. To this day, forty-some years later, many of the aardvark ruggers have migrated from the lobos after their stint at UNM has come to an end.

But this is not to say “all” of them are. As a matter of fact, they had just had open tryouts for the team just a few days before my famed photo session practice. Indeed, that is kinda why Jason inquired about my rugger status in the first place. They are always on the lookout for potential new players.

You want to play?

The special thing about rugby, I was informed by more than one player, is that anybody… any body size or shape… can play. Big, little, fast, thin, slow. There is a slot amongst the 15 on the field for someone with your particular skills. And everybody gets to touch the ball. Carry the ball. Run with the ball. Pitch the ball.

It is absolutely not like football, where a select few “stars” get to touch the ball. In that regard, it is rather more like soccer. But not really, for, as Jason says about rugby: “… you are going to collide with another man from time to time.”

6

Indeed.

Rugby is running and colliding. Tackling.

Tackling, for your information Mr Photographer sir, was really first turned into a sport form by rugby. Long before football came into existence.

Tackling is an art form. In rugby, you cannot simply slam into a ball carrier to knock him down. You must make an attempt to wrap him up.

Or what?

Or it is a penalty. You will suffer a “time out” like a recalcitrant child and be put, alone, into the “sin bin” down at the end of the field. Your team, then, will play a man short for the duration of your time out. They will not be happy with this. The idea of a tackle is NOT to hurt the ball carrier, but to wrestle him to the ground. Football could learn a lot from this.

(As a matter of fact, it has and it does. Seattle Seahawks football coach Pete Carroll has famously used a rugby coach to improve upon his team’s tackling techniques. And the UNM Lobos football team is reportedly just now turning to rugby advice and videos to improve their tackling.)

So, I wandered around the field in the twilight, in the very middle of a rugby practice and I snapped pictures. I marveled at the coordination and the constant chatter. Really, they were always talking. All of them.

This chatter, I found out, is a critical part of a good rugby team. Rugby is constantly in motion, and the ball carrier is constantly looking to pitch the ball. If he can do that without having to look away from where he is going, so much the better.

It is kind of like radar. A flood of radar beeps. From all around. And the ball carrier has learned to distinguish the different voices and words. It helps, tremendously. It is vocal camaraderie taken to a whole new level. A level I didn’t even know existed.

But it does, and I was smack dab in the middle of it. I enjoyed it immensely. It reminded me vaguely of being in the high school band… of being in the midst of all that sound. Coordinated sound.

“As a matter of fact,” I was told by one of the ruggers, “Because of how much noise we make, we are sometimes jokingly referred to as the Albuquerque Boys Glee Club.”

“But not to our faces.”

The rugby club, as it turns out, is a pretty tight-knit group. They are more than just a gathering of men who occasionally play games together. They genuinely like each other. Trust each other. They socialize a lot. And they talk. More than “talk”, they communicate. It is a learned and practiced skill.

They “listen”. They have to listen. They listen or they fail.

And that is a lesson all of us should learn.

Rugby is alive and kicking in ABQ. For all ages, youth on up. The Albuquerque Aardvarks belong to the Rio Grande Rugby Union: www. ABQrugby.com and Riogranderugbyunion.com Aardvarks next home game is March 28 at Phil Chacon Park Find out about youth rugby: www.AYRU.com

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Dr Elaine Adams, DC

Sleep Sleep Sleep Insomnia and sleep disturbances can be a leading cause of back and neck pain. Tossing and turning and not sleeping contributes to the pain that many experience. When we fail to sleep any pain that we experience is exacerbated and we just get grouchy and don’t function as well as we would with just a bit of good sleep. Many conditions contribute to poor sleep, but there are some simple solutions that you can try before you resort to pharmaceutical sleep aides which can leave you groggy the next day and may even inhibit your own natural ability to fall asleep.

Sleep is critical to good health and functioning, so lack of it is a serious matter. “Sleep is one of the most important functions of the brain,” says Frederick R. Carrick, DC, PhD, president of the American Chiropractic Association’s Council on Neurology. Through it, our bodies recharge and renew for the next day’s challenges. Without this renewal, we certainly don’t function as well.

The American Chiropractic Association offers us some suggestions for improvement in our sleep hygiene. They seem simple, but if you adhere to these guidelines, you will be amazed at the improvement in the quality of your sleep.

• Exercise regularly. Exercising in the morning is best, but if you must exercise in the evening, do so at least two or three hours before bedtime. Any later, and your increased heart rate can interfere with your sleep.

• Limit your intake of caffeinated beverages such as coffee, colas and tea—try to avoid them altogether late in the day and near bedtime. In addition, for each cup of caffeinated beverages you drink each day, drink an equal amount of water.

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Spring 2015

• If you have trouble sleeping and then get thirsty, drink tap water at room temperature (cold water may disturb the digestive system).

• Eat an early dinner. Eating after 6 p.m. may interfere with sleep as your body works to digest the food you’ve eaten.

• Go to bed at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning.

The routine will help your body know when it is time to rest.

• Keep your bedroom at a cool, comfortable temperature and try to make it as dark as possible when you’re ready for bed.

Selecting a mattress is a purely personal matter. It is important that your mattress support your spine in its correct alignment, but how you achieve this goal is something that each person must decide. Some bodies are more comfortable with a softer mattress and some are more comfortable with a more firm mattress. Of course there is a bit of a disconnect if the two people sharing the bed need different types of mattresses. But manufacturers have even developed a solution for that problem.

You can get two different types of mattress or you can select a mattress that adjusts to how your body is feeling that day. But it is important that when you are selecting a mattress, you spend some time with it. You need to lie down on the mattress and make sure that it feels good to your body. The American Chiropractic Association recommends a few minutes, I think you need to lie there for at least twenty minutes and see if it is still comfortable. Don’t think that you can just sit on a mattress and make a good decision about this major purchase.

The American Chiropractic Association offers us some important facts about your mattress and how to make the choice.

• A mattress should provide uniform support from head to toe. If there are gaps between your body and your mattress (such as at the waist), you’re not getting the full support that you need.

• If you do have back pain and your mattress is too soft, you might want to firm up the support of your mattress by placing a board underneath it. But do this just until the pain goes away; such firmness is not good for “routine” sleeping.

• Every few months, turn your mattress clockwise, or upside down, so that body indentations are kept to a minimum. It’s also good to rotate the mattress frame every so often to reduce wear and tear.

• If you’re waking up uncomfortable, it may be time for a new mattress. There is no standard life span for a mattress; it all depends on the kind of usage it gets.

• Be aware that changes in your life can signal the need for a new mattress. For example, if you’ve lost or gained a lot of weight, if a medical condition has changed the way you sleep, or even if you have changed partners, it could mean that it’s time to find a new mattress that will accommodate those changes and help you sleep more soundly.

• If you’re not in the market for a new mattress, and your current mattress is too firm, you can soften it up by putting a 1- to 2-inch-thick padding on top of it - usually available at mattress and bedding stores.

Now that you have invested in that mattress, don’t forget to support your head and neck with a good pillow. There is no one pillow for every person any more than you might have one mattress for every person. The pillow must fit your body. When you lie on your side, your head and neck should remain level with your midback and lower spine. When lying on your back, your head and neck should remain level with your upper back and spine. So make sure that your neck is not at an angle when you are sleeping. If you wake up and you are sleeping with your hand under your pillow, then it means that your pillow is not supporting your head properly. Look into a better pillow with more support. You may need to look at a pillow with more firm material.

Mushy material tends to lose its shape and not support your neck after a very short time.

If you continue to have difficulty sleeping or pain when you awake, you should contact your chiropractor. Spinal problems can certainly contribute to poor sleep and then poor sleep increases the probability that you will have back pain. You may need to solve both problems to increase the likelihood that you will get that good night’s sleep. And know that when you do you are not only taking care of your spine, but you are taking good care of your brain.

7

Cashews from heaven

Ken Orth

It is a dilemma I present to you this day.

I am a cashew person. In my mind, the roasted cashew is the king of the nuts. It has a buttery flavor and a perfect texture. Just writing about ‘em makes me want some warm, roasted cashews right now. But alas and alack and woe is me... I am out of roasted cashews. Out, I say.

And to make matters even worse, I am out of raw cashews, too. If this were a restaurant, we’d be firing the manager right now. Somebody messed up in the ordering/ appropriations department. If you want to stay on with this outfit, do NOT run out of raw cashews.

They keep for an extraordinarily long time, the raw ones do, sealed up tight. So getting a lot of them when the price is right is a very viable strategy. To this end, I pay attention... the bulk raw cashews go on sale periodically at Sprouts, and that is the time to stock up. I generally try to get more than I think I’ll need. I learned this the hard way.

And even then, obviously, I didn’t learn it well enough.

But why get the “raw” cashews, I hear someone asking. The roasted, salted ones are there right beside ‘em in the very same bulk department, and they’re on sale for the very same price. It’s like I can get the roasting done for me for free. Why in the heck wouldn’t I do that? Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Whoever amongst you is asking that question, I want you to know that I was right there with you not long ago. Heck, it was such a no-brainer that I didn’t ask the question or even consider getting raw cashews. Are you crazy?

But somewhere along about 6 months ago I did a story with my naturopath health friend Dr James about the benefits of eating more whole foods and less processed foods.

In the course of that discussion it came out that roasting nuts is good... it unlocks the enzyme blockers that are built into many nuts, and allows us humans to get the full nutritional value from them.

However, the thing is, once the nuts are “unlocked”, (roasted or soaked, or both) they begin to degrade immediately and only stay fully nutritious for a few days. A week, tops.

And those “roasted” cashews there, the ones you buy in the jar or in bulk... how long ago were they roasted? Too long, probably.

Besides, Dr James assured me, you won’t believe how much better they taste if you roast them yourself. Just trust me on this. It’s not hard. Just try it.

I was skeptical. Roasted cashews were already a favorite of mine. How much better could they really be?

But, after much hemming and hawwing (they were metaphorical hems and haws), I finally got me some raw cashews and went about the business of roasting them.

In my research, I found that there are those among us who swear by soaking the raw cashews first, then roasting them. It actually (supposedly) works in a similar way to sprouting seeds, because that in essence is what you are doing. It triggers the “growth” energy within the seed. That is, after all, its whole purpose in life.

So, I soaked the seeds for a while and then slow cooked ‘em in the oven for another while, and finally roasted ‘em under the broiler for just a wee bit to crisp them up. The only part of the whole process that requires any real attention is the last broiling few minutes.

And the verdict was... HELL YES... they were the best darn cashews that I had ever had. By far! They put those preroasted cashews to shame. They’re not even in the same class.

I had no idea what I was missing.

Now though, we have a bit of a problem. I cannot go back to the pre-roasted cashews. They simply do not measure up anymore. I cannot eat them. It is kinda like the way I am with cheeseburgers, now, since I moved to New Mexico... if they don’t have green chile on ‘em, they just ain’t right. And if those cashews ain’t home-roasted... well... no thank you.

That, my friends, is the dilemma. Don’t do this if you are not ready to suffer the consequences. There is a price to pay for finally tasting a cashew the way a cashew is supposed to be tasted. It is in a class by itself. Period. You’ll never go back.

Home Roasted Cashews 1. Soak the raw cashews in salt water for two hours or more. The salt water is made with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt per cup of water. I generally use about 2 to 3 cups of raw nuts with 1 1/2 teaspoons of sea salt in 3 cups of water. I usually get busy and forget them and they soak for 3 or 4 hours.

2. Drain and let sit in a strainer/colander for 10 or 20 minutes. Or until you get too antsy to wait any longer. You may remove them to a bowl and toss with whatever seasonings you think you might like. I just use a little bit of sea salt. Do that for your first batch. Try other variations (cumin, cajan, curry?) on later batches.

3. Preheat the oven to 220o, spread the drained cashews out on a big cookie sheet and roast in the oven until dry and beginning to brown. The time depends on the soaking and size variables (or something).

It seems to take me about 2 hours more or less. Check them and stir them every half hour or so. Taste them. They are ready when they are basically dry. They won’t be “crunchy”. Just thoroughly dried.

4. Now roast them under the broiler, watching carefully and rotating a little as you can. They will brown suddenly. And burn quickly after that. I have found I like them well done. A few dark browns amongst the masses adds to the overall flavor. They are best warm, right out of the oven. Let the ones you don’t consume immediately cool down and store them in a tightly sealed jar for up to a week. But they won’t last that long. Unless you hide the jar. But don’t worry about it... they’re really very good for you.

8

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Spring 2015

9

Embudo Canyon

I s a b e l

Isabel Bearman Bucher 10

Full effort is full victory - Mahatma Gandhi The south foot of our Sandias stand in the middle of a huge open space that uplifted ten million years ago. The Old Man is 17 miles long by 8 miles wide, has a core of granite that is 1.5 billion years old. When posu gai hoo-oo - Tiwa for “where water slides down arroyo”, rose, hunched, some of that granite got spit up to its 10, 678 summit. Seas covered and lapped at its western edge, where the foothills now bear humans in houses, not caves. It wears four life zones grassland savanna to pinon/juniper to evergreen.

And, if you live at a certain angle, at about 8 am you can see an old Indian made of its rock formations who points to Albuquerque. For today, a group this writer is happy to be a part of, gathers and begins the adventure of the Embudo trail.

The road goes east on Indian School, circles around and down to the ample parking lot. Hikers exit their cars, smiling, helloing, turning to look up the wide expanse ready for this “both sides now,” challenging trek. Embudo Trail to Three Gun Springs starts out slow, flat, full of expansive vistas after the first up and pass by of the big water tank.

Heads revolve taking in the sweep of the foothills, the rills and humps of our Albuquerque open spaces. We’re glad again for this effort on behalf of the city residents. Going right, comes the narrow entry into the embudo - funnel, that dead ends into a rock face, little stream, and if you’re lucky, there’ll be a spring waterfall which you’ve got to navigate around, turning up doing the boulder grab. Challenge. Sure footing check - always slow and thoughtful. The grab-on all fours trail comes out on top then goes north towards the foot of the Sandias.

Comes now the beginning up ramble. The Horse Bypass trail joins Embudo Trail. The track is generous for this flat foot. The day is ahead and all are full of push and expectancy.

Vistas never seen before always delight this writer, an over 50 year resident, she is ever struck by nature’s way of perfect order, space, Seasonal changing color, with the effort of growing things that must adapt or die.

“Always a teacher,” she whispers out to the crisp air, thinking about some of the increasing Albuquerque building clumps, even those six and seven figure ones, crammed tight as teeth, that are such eye sores.

Connecting to the Embudo Trail, it starts it’s upward switchbacks. There’s a saddle at the top of the switch and a very faint trail goes off to Point Pass Trail, south.

“Not there,” our hike leader says. “Now it’s the up.”

To the West is an interesting clump of rocks which the group takes time to visit. The beauty of the sculpted shapes stand strong, adobe brown and tall against the cobalt blue sky. So now the tough up begins.

The trail is becoming narrow and rock strewn in a very haphazard way. Eyes need to be down now, calculating all steps for about a third of a mile. The way threads narrow, switching left to right. It’s hard and sometimes requires a hand over hand, or a big leg up and a lunge - a push or pull from another hiker. Finally, the ponderosa are above and ahead. We walk out to the intersection of Three Gun Spring Trail.

‘Life moves along like ant trails,” someone says, looking down on I-40 East. Strings of trucks, cars move cargo on destinations not a part of our ken. “I wonder who they are.

What their lives are like.”

“Not too different from ours,” someone answers. “But, they’re not as high up in life as we are.”

The group chuckles and lunch is called, now that the up is over. People find shade, tree trunks upon which to lean, spreading ponchos, unzipping packs and lunches. Some clump, some find a solitary place for thought. It’s quiet now.

The group goes pensive, as hikers are wont to do for a bit, embracing the day, the vistas, life. It’s then we memorize the trail, the panorama points, the opticals for a return perhaps

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with family, friends, kids and grands.

It’s always the bookmark for another day. And one more experience of this beautiful area gets a place in the hiker mental library. After the water and the food tune, voices return again, laced with laughter.

A mile and a half up the trail is Oso Pass, an option for another day. Our group decides not to go do the extra mile and a half here, pack, check for any garbage leaves, and begin down.

The down requires two poles, or at least one hiking stick. This writer trips and falls face flat on the decline, thankfully missing any hit with a rock in the stomach or a chin split. But the wind is smacked out, in one big huff.

“I’m OK,” I say to the waiting faces, rising, dusting pants and hands. “No harm done. Teeth in tact.”

Somebody throws a “thumbs-up,” and life moves on.

I wonder how the heck I did this, turn and replay the tape. Saw the round rock over which the right foot tripped.

Taller than anticipated. Ah, this is one tricky trail. No good for little kids, or visitors from low altitudes.

“Twenty-six hundred feet up, 13% gain,” I whisper, remembering the trail description.

Back at the cars, before the goodby’s and thank-you’s - someone reads the stats: 7.2 miles.

Spring 2015

“You can go all the way to Embudito Canyon,” the hike leader explains.

“But you gotta park another car there.”

“Another day. Start out at sunrise,” I think, glad for a future plan and another day, and for this one, with time ahead.

TRAIL INFO: . 7 miles total . 2235 elevation going up; 2586 coming down . Need hiking poles & hiking sticks . Little kids and little out of shape dogs - no. . Hiker limit 10

GETTING THERE: Indian School east to its end. Park in the large lower lot.

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Ken Orth with Bryan and Aline Alexander

Raising the

Barre “Barre workouts, that’s what we want to stress.”

So I was told when I talked with Bryan Alexander over the phone. He runs Momentum Studios and was telling me about the classes they offer over there. I was looking at a couple pictures of said workouts. Problem is, when he said “Barre”, I heard “bar”.

And when I looked at the photos, I saw “bars”. As in “parallel bars”.

Look, I’m from Nebraska. They know gymnastics out there.

My own high school won the state championship in gymnastics 7 years in a row. Some of my good friends were gymnasts. I KNOW about parallel bars. I’ve banged myself on the “p-bars”.

“No, no, no....”, he said. “Not bars. Barre.”

Bar? What, are you blind? There’s two of ‘em.

(What we have here, obviously, is a failure to communicate. It is a potential comedy routine that Laurel and Hardy could have had a field day with. Who’s on the Barre? No, he’s in the bar.

What?....)

But back to the phone conversation..... In due time, Bryan was able to straighten me out. It’s B-A-R-R-E. That is the name of the equipment. There are workouts and classes based around this. It is gaining a lot of notoriety these days. It’s in the news. It’s hot.

Whatsamatta you?

No, he didn’t say that. Bryan is too polite and professional. He didn’t even imply that. I thought it to myself. I’m getting caught flat-footed, is what I thought. It’s like when I was the last one to realize that everybody else was wearing bell-bottoms.

No, it’s not.

Anyway, I had to see this for myself. Armed with my yellow legal pad, my camera, and my oh-so-knowledgeable Husker gymnastic background, I went over there to check out these Barre bars.

Barre, as it turns out, refers to the wooden bar that was developed originally for ballet workouts, and is most commonly associated, at least visually, by me, with those mirror-lined ballet practice rooms.... a slipper-clad ballerina in tights with one foot on the ground and the other up over the barre.

(My immediate visual, for what it is worth and as much as it dates me, is a James Bond 007 movie where Kim Bassinger is a ballet star and protege of the movie’s main bad guy. She works out with the Barre amongst the mirrors, and eventually there is a battle of some kind in there. Sean Connery wins.)

Ahem.

Indeed, ballet is where the Barre originated, over 60 years ago. Traditionally, the Barre was mounted to the wall, but it has evolved as a more mobile apparatus in modern times. The twinbarred Barre.

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NOw OfferiNG BArre clAsses 7 dAys A week Over 30 Pilates & Gyrotonic classes each week Also offering private and semi-private training sessions Maximize athletic performance, rehabilitation, or overall wellness

296 • 4 080 • MOMENTUMSTUDIO.COM Aline Alexander, co-owner of Momentum Studio and Chief Instructor, has been working with the Barre method since she was a youngster learning ballet back in the 1980’s....

“We began every ballet class with Floor Barre. It was designed to prepare the body for the demands of classical ballet.”

Like the equipment, the Barre workout itself has evolved over the years. From its roots in ballet to modern dance to.... well.... to just about anybody who wants a safe but high-intensity workout. It is not just for dancers anymore.

Aline says, “Barre is suitable for anyone. We literally have ages ranging from 13 to 83 taking classes in our studio.”

Also, notably, it is not just for women.

More and more men are finding the intense, fast paced workouts to be beneficial, especially for sports like golf and tennis.

The gist of the Barre workout, and the reason for its safety and effectiveness, is that it pits your muscles against themselves and against gravity. Not against weights or springs.

It uses a combination of high repetitions of small movements and isometric contractions to work a muscle or muscle group “to fatigue”. This is immediately followed by a stretching sequence to elongate the muscles after they have been overloaded.

The fast pace and continuous flow of the workout also provides a good

Spring 2015

“cardio” aspect to the workout as well.

This is actually a fairly major factor in the overall beneficial effect of the Barre workouts. Unlike yoga and pilates, it gets the heart pumping. And a “burn”.

“We got our shake going.”, is a comment you may hear from someone holding a position until the muscle is literally shaking.

The Barre workout, of course, is not just done willy-nilly. It is designed and planned to target specific muscles and muscle groups.... arms, thighs,, glutes, abs, upper back.... working them to fatigue, releasing the built up lactic acid through stretching, sculpting and toning.

All with an emphasis on alignment and integrity of movement.

There you have it. The Barre Workout.

As a soccer goal-keeper myself, it seems like it might be particularly wellsuited to my workout needs. Heck, some of those spectacular leaping, one-handed saves up by the cross-bar are very nearly ballet-like.

Aren’t they? :) Short, quick, accurate movements are often what I need. Like tennis, I think.

Or golf.

And my son is a hockey goalie. He has similar athletic requirements. Perhaps we can talk each other into giving this Barre workout a shot. Together. One of those father-son bonding things. With burn.

Awww.

Rio Rancho 896-4700 909 36th Place SE

Albuquerque HighDesertBicycles.com

842-8260 8110 Louisiana NE

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Dynamic Fitness Lifestyle Conquering the Trials & Tribulations of ‘Weight Loss’ As thoughts of ‘Spring’ and ‘Summer’ are in the air you are either well on your way to achieving your weight loss goals or those resolutions for ‘2015’ are long forgotten!

Now, chances are if you went on a calorie restricted diet and have been focusing on the numbers looking back at you from your bathroom scale then you have already crashed and burned. Now on the other hand if you chose to make positive lifestyle changes then you are probably enjoying your new healthy lifestyle and have already dropped at least 15-25 pounds of unwanted body fat. All the while capitalizing on the many other benefits that come from making positive lifestyle changes!

As a nutritionist for nearly three decades, I’ve seen the pendulum swing back and forth repeatedly as to which “diet” works best for weight loss: ‘high protein- high fat- low carb”, “high carb- moderate protein- zero fat”, “The Cabbage Soup Diet”, “ The ____ Restaurant Diet”, etc., etc. The diet flavors of the day keep changing almost as fast as the pounds are accumulating on our society as a whole.

What it comes down to is all of the so-called diet gurus who are writing book after book promising the world to overweight individuals are just leaving these poor individuals more and more confused as to what exactly is the best way to lose weight and keep unwanted pounds off. And truth be told most diets just lead to failure in the end anyway. And one reason for these failures is because most diets are calorie restricted with a starting date and generally have an ending point leaving the dieter with nowhere to go afterward except back to their old ways.

Albert Einstein said it best; the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting to get a different response… Instead focus on changes that involve Healthy Lifestyle Modifications involving these three dynamic components: Dietary Changes, Exercising and Behavior Modification Practices!

Here are five lifestyle modifications to help get you on the road to permanent body fat loss. I have personally used these techniques, along with a plethora of others here at Designer Bodies “Dynamic Fitness Lifestyle Center” for helping my clients lose body fat once and for all.

1. Practice portion control!

As a huge advocate of portion control, I can confirm that watching how much you eat is hands down the best way to lose weight. I have been coaching my clients for years to eat structured meals in adequate portions spaced evenly throughout the day. As a result I have seen tens of thousands of pounds fall off of my clients over the years by gaining control over the portions on their plates while literally shaving hundreds if not thousands of calories daily to lose weight effortlessly.

3. Keep a Lifestyle Journal!

There is no better way to get a handle on what and how much you eat than by keeping records of exactly what you are putting into your mouth. The good news: you do not have to keep records forever. People who keep records are generally more aware of the mistakes they make and are then able to make corrections. Food records keep you true to your commitment, especially, if you have a professional conscious to hold you accountable, like me.

4. Exercise!

Most exercise helps. The key is to do what you enjoy and follow an exercise program you can stick with. Join a gym that you find comfortable and learn to perform strength training. Strength training will boost your metabolism, balances your anabolic and metabolic hormones naturally and reduces stress. There is nothing better than strength training for you overall! Lifestyle activities also add up. For example, take the stairs and walk around the block at lunch to reduce the stress of the day if you have time after eating a healthy lunch. I also advise taking advantage of the different exercises that you may enjoy as well during the different seasons: swimming outdoors in the summer, taking a walk on the beach, and possibly skiing in winter. The key is to enjoy your life and engaging in various activities that you enjoy outside the gym.

Dwain Kindelberger has been a Personal Trainer since 1981. He is a graduate of The National Academy of Sports Medicine, and is the owner of Designer Bodies Exclusive Personal Training and Nutrition Management Center.

5. Don’t stress the small stuff!

I am a big advocate of focusing on progress, not perfection. It is important to take stock of the changes you’ve made so far and look at the big picture. For example, if you need to lose 50 pounds, and already lost 10 pounds, recognize your accomplishment, instead of complaining that you have 40 more pounds to lose.

One way to recognize your progress is to try on some old clothes. Seeing that they are too loose can help you actually see your accomplishment.

There you have it, a basic outline to help you get started on your own Dynamic Fitness Lifestyle Journey!

Until next time, may all your days be full of energy and adventure!

Visit us on the web at

www.designerbodies.net

2. Mind Control!

Instead of dwelling on the foods you cannot eat, focus on what you can eat. I teach my clients that there is no restaurant that is completely off limits to most people. You can always find something healthy to eat. For example, when going to an Italian restaurant, instead of dwelling on what you shouldn’t eat, immediately look to what you can eat on the menu: gluten free pasta with veggies and fresh tomato sauce or fresh grilled fish with sautéed spinach. The key to success here is to go online and view your restaurant of choice’s menu and know what you are going to order before you arrive.

Spring 2015

The information contained in this article is not meant to treat, diagnose or cure any ailments or diseases. Please consult your physician before starting any exercise or nutrition program.

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The Arroyo of the Granite Slab (See Story page 28)

Left: I simply call this the angry bird. Perhaps from being stuck in a cholla?

It may not be a bird, though. But it is angry.

Left down: Cottonwood copper and desert curly cue. Strange bedfellows.

Below: A cholla view of a wispy fringed Sandia Crest from atop a boulder field boulder Right bottom: “The Bowl is occupied by a gnarly old juniper tree who has apparently been there for quite some time.�

Right: Contemplation. Is it time to go back down?

Honey, Who Knew?

Ken Orth with Dr Michael James

I confess… the dream was my own darn fault. I’d gone to sleep the night before drearily studying the dim screen of my laptop in what turned out to be a near endless quest. For facts, figures, knowledge.

About honey.

“Honey?”

Are you tellin’ me you stayed up late, at night, in bed, with a laptop on your lap, and you were googling ‘honey’?

You have issues, my friend.

Not the least of which was the dream I had that night. It was high-tech, latest video-card stuff. A+ graphics.

It was a bee dream. Or, I mean, it was a dream about a bee… not, uh, bee’s dream.

Perhaps you’ve seen the television commercial about some kind of new bourbon… a Jack, maybe… that features a honey bee flying around. With a helmet on. Eventually the bee dive bombs into a bottle of bourbon, and “something new” is born.

At first when I saw that ad, I mistakenly thought the “something new” was like one of those Mexican liquors with a dead worm in the bottle.

Mezcal? I thought this was going to be a bourbon with a dead bee in the bottle.

(Could they put a little helmet on it?)

I might just buy that.

(Would PETA be upset?)

But alas and alack, the “something new” was not really new, it was simply a honeyflavored bourbon. That’s all.

Boring.

Anyway, back to my dream… the bee in my dream was NOT that bee.

But it might have been his cousin.

My dream bee did not have a helmet on. My bee was not that kind of bee. It was not a stunt bee. Or a military bee. It was just a normal old ho-hum honey bee going about its flowery business on the far side of a big old mountain meadow. A way over there.

But, this being a dream and all, I had telescopic vision of some kind and I could see him as clear as the nose on your face. He looked like maybe he was humming as he bounced from flower to flower, minding his own honey bee business.

Until… well… until he looked up, finally, and saw me.

He saw me and he abandoned the flowers and he started flying straight at me. Not in a particular hurry, really, but at me. He didn’t seem angry or irritated.

He was just… coming to check me out, I guess.

The Lone Bee. He got bigger as he came closer. Bigger and closer. It was like I was watching him through a zoom camera lens.

(Maybe I was.)

I could see more and more detail as he approached. The big eyes, complex eyes. The furry body, all black and yellow. The pollen-laden legs and the blurred, blurring wings.

He wasn’t mad. He was more… determined.

(Can a bee chew his lower lip?)

He kept coming at me. Bigger and closer.

Finally, at ground zero, he dove into me!

He dove into my head!! Are you kiddin’ me?

Wham.

I woke up. Not sweaty, clammy, or shaky. I simply woke up… with the remnants of a bee dream swirling in my head.

What do you do with that?

The truth of the matter is that I was researching honey because it had come up in a recent discussion I’d had with my health-guru/naturopath/foodprotagonist Dr Michael James.

It turns out that the “honey” most of us get at the grocery store, the honey that most of us have in our cupboard, and that many of us consume out of

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those silly little plastic bears… well… I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings… but that stuff ain’t really honey.

It was honey at one time. But then it was pasteurized and processed and filtered until everything in it was destroyed and/or removed. Until all that remained was sugar.

Sugar.

That’s all that processed honey stuff is. Liquid sugar.

Everything in it that those bees had so meticulously put into it in order to make it a nourishing food source… it gets taken out.

Whoops.

But despair not, for there is an easy way to remedy this ridiculous state of affairs.

Stop with the clear, processed imposter, and switch… to RAW HONEY. That is all.

It is not wildly more expensive, but the truth is, that doesn’t matter. That other stuff is NOT honey. In nutritional value, it is more like unto thickened corn syrup with flavor.

Raw honey has a host of things in it (still in it), that make it very special nutritionally.

It is a sweetener with benefits.

Consider what raw honey is. It is a food created by bees and honed over a couple million years of evolution into a pretty sophisticated and complex fuel source. It’s got more stuff in it than you can shake a stick at… it’s got proteins and enzymes and antioxidants. It’s got a ton of vitamins and a shipload of minerals. And it’s got that something special… it is meant for the forging of new life. Healthy life. That is what it is made for. And that is what it is good at.

That is what it has been doing for a long time now.

When you think about it, there are not many foods manufactured in the natural world whose sole purpose is to be nourishment. Milk, maybe.

(Perhaps that is why the promised land was referred to as the land of milk and honey?)

“Hey, wait a minute,” I hear the little kid in the third row yelling out, “What about fruit? Apples? They’re created for food.”

And we will have to have a brief discussion, he and I, about how, quite probably, apples (and other fruits) evolved as a means for trees to get their seeds distributed over a wider area. Their edibility was a means to this end. Were the fruits distasteful or poisonous they’d have been shunned and their seed-spreading purpose defeated.

But make ‘em sweet, and hey!, we got a winner. Apples everywhere.

Everybody’s eating ‘em and tossing ‘em and my, aren’t we just spreading our seeds?

Take it a step further, then, and you mighty surmise that it also makes sense for the fruit to evolve more and more nutritional value.

If what is good for you, as a fruit tree, is for more and more of these seed-spreaders to be around to do their seed-spreading jobs, then you would prefer them to thrive. For sure. What better way to do this than to supply some extra nutrition to their diets? It’s a win, win. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.

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But I digress. Raw honey is manufactured by bees to be used as nourishment. For bees, admittedly. But it turns out that much of what makes a bee healthy (and presumably, happy), also works well for us humanoids (and presumably, bears).

Healthy and happy.

Some of the applications for raw honey may surprise you…

Scratchy throat? Especially a scratchy throat at night that is causing repetitive throat-clearing coughs. And more especially when that scratch/cough might be an early sign of what may yet become a full-blown cold.

A spoonful of raw honey will not only coat and soothe the sore throat, but it also contains some heavy-duty antiseptic abilities. It will probably knock that bug straight out.

An anecdotal study by yours truly supports this claim. A spoonful of raw honey recently stopped some scratchy throat germs in their tracks… on a night after an encounter with a “friend” who told me he’d been down with a sore-throat/cold for a couple of weeks only after he’d been talking in my face for 10 minutes. I started getting the scratchy throat symptoms that very night.

Worriedly, I racked my tired brain for remedies, and remembered Dr James comments about honey for the throat. It flat out worked. Not only was I able to sleep, but I believe I dodged a cold. Chalk one up for honey.

(Remember that you can’t chase that honey with anything. You want it to stay there on the throat for a while.)

In a related application, raw honey taken at bedtime is purported to help you sleep. A big spoonful of raw honey in a small glass of warm milk may be just the ticket. Now me, personally, I’m not overly fond of milk and since my close encounter with throat bugs, I often just take a spoonful of raw honey straight up right before bed. For what it is worth, I usually sleep pretty good, bee dreams aside.

Raw honey and apple cider vinegar mixed in water… is a classic preventative/remedial elixir from the days of

Spring 2015

yore. Or the 50’s. Whatever.

It is highly recommended by our dear Dr James as a daily drink. In fact, he goes so far as to say it should be your go-to drink. Have some around all the time, as he does. He was so emphatic about it as we discussed it, that he had to get me a bottle of my own.

Now, hold on just a minute here… I’m not real keen on the idea of drinking vinegar. But not to worry, as a rookie, I got to dilute it with more honey and/or more water. With time, as my taste buds get used to it and my body becomes less acidic, I can adjust the ratio back up.

In the meantime, though, I drank the entire 16 ounce bottle without incident or puckered-up face. It was not all that bad. And I have since added a 16-oz serving to my morning regimen about every other day.

The health benefits that may be derived from this elixir are legion… it will help fight: a) arthritis, b) high blood pressure, c) high cholesterol, d) food poisoning, e) acid reflux, f ) premature aging. It tends to make the body more alkaline (we all need this), and can be used as a natural, healthy, effective alternative to those “sports drinks”. The recipe for this drink can be found in a side box somewhere near this story.

Raw honey as a topical dressing for wounds, rashes, burns, and abrasions… is another classic application for honey from even further back in the days of yore. Like, ancient Egypt.

It also seems totally counter-intuitive. Honey on a wound?

But the fact of the matter, as we noted before about the throat, is that raw honey is a heavy duty anti-bacterial. Anti-fungal and anti-viral as well. These properties are illustrated by the fact that raw honey will keep almost indefinitely. Nothing will grow on it. Studies have shown that raw honey is a more effective treatment for burns than the traditional anti-bacterial methods.

Dr James is pretty adamant about this topic also.

Me, I’ve been more than satisfied with my use of clay powder for wounds, but I believe I will give the raw honey a shot on my next minor wound or rash flare-up.

There are more. Many more. Raw honey has been around for a long time.

The basic gist of it all, though, is to simply incorporate more honey into your diet. The easiest method, and perhaps the most effective for many of us, is to simply substitute raw honey for sugar. In your drinks. In your cooking. Instead of jelly.

Take the sugar jar out of your cupboard. Put a jar of New Mexico Raw Honey there instead. Then use it.

And hey, on that cold April day…

When the canyon winds blow and it threatens to snow.

A warm hot toddy may be right for your body…

A mug with a bit of raw honey… begin A squeezed slice of lemon, deftly tossed in Good bourbon I think, but not a whole lot Then filled to the brim with water quite hot Stir it and sip it and warm vapors send Then sit by the fire and share with a friend.

Raw Honey and Apple Cider Vinegar 2 parts raw honey 1 part organic apple cider vinegar 20 parts water You can mix up the raw honey and vinegar (2 to 1) ahead of time and store in an air-tight jar.

It will keep almost indefinitely. However, it begins to degrade when water is added. Add it to water as needed in about a 1 to 8 ratio.

Or, make it up as you go. For 16 ozs, put about 2 good teaspoons of raw honey and 1 teaspoon of apple vinegar in a 16 oz container. Fill with water, shake until honey’s disolved, and drink up.

Change the ratios to suit your taste.

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Later, when you are ready for this map

PULL OUT ENTIRE PAGE Your own Official ABQ Bike Trails map

Spring 2015

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LEGEND Multi-use Trail: Paved trail closed to auto traffic Bicycle Lane:

Portion of street with designated bike lane

One Way Bicycle Lane:

Single direction Bike lane

Bicycle Route: Cars and bikes share the road

N

Spring 2015

Bicycle Boulevard:

Shared roadway optimized for bikes

Moutain Bike Trail:

Unpaved but maintained bike trail

Roads with Wide Shoulders Arroyos Bike Overpass/Underpass

Rapid Ride Stop

Mountain Bike Trailhead

Bicycle Shop

Place of Interest

Rail Runner Station

High School

Duke City BMX

Bosque Trail Parking

Community Center

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Calendar of Events

SPRING

Events in red require preregistration or reservations

March 15 Shamrock Shuffle, 10K/KidsK, 8:30am, RioRancho Aquatic Center www.irunfit.org

Farmers Markets: www.farmersmarketsnm.org Albuquerque Downtown Growers’ Market, begins in May, Saturdays, 7 am - 12 pm , Robinson Park, 8th & Central, Gina Meyers, 252-2959 Nob Hill Growers’ Market, begins in May, Thursdays, 3 pm - 6:30 pm, Morningside Park - Lead & Morningside SE, Catherine Gordon, 934-8960 Los Ranchos Growers Market, begins in May, Saturdays, 10am-noon, 6718 Rio Grande Blvd. NW, Sue Brawley 890-2799

2015

March 14 Rio Grande Nature Center Nature Walks, Free, 10:30am, an insightful nature tour of the bosque, preregister, 344-7240 Home Composting Basics, Free, 1:303:30pm, turn food scraps and leaves into a resource. Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, For info & to register: 897-8831

March 18-20 Women of the World Poetry Slam, various places and ttimes in downtown ABQ, each day of the festival features poetry workshops, themed open mics, special nighttime events, and parties www.wowps2015.com March 19 Twilight Hike on a Full Moon Night, Free ($3 Parking), Dusk, Tentative date, Call for time & date, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 Candelaria NW, 344-7240

Corrales Growers Market, Sundays 9am-noon begins in May Recreation Center 500 Jones Rd & Corrales Rd, Bonnie Gonzalez 898-6336

Roadside Bike Maintenance, 6-8pm, by City of ABQ at Esperanza Community Bike Shop,5600 Esperanza NW,224-6668

Albuquerque Aquarium Overnighter, $30, 6-30pm to 8am next day, Sleep next to the sharks at the ABQ BioPark Aquarium! Learn about ocean species and their fascinating nighttime behavior, Education Clerk at (505) 848-7180 March 21 Do it for the Kids 5K Run, 8am, Calvary Christian Academy, 12820 Indian School Rd NE, www.active.com

March 22 Bataan Memorial Death March, 26th Annual, 7am, White Sands Missile Range, www.batannmarch.com Miles for Minds 5K, Tiguex Park www.irunfit.org

NM Volunteers for the Outdoors, Learn new skills with cool tools, “rub shoulders” with forest rangers, enjoy the camaraderie of new friends, & help to build & maintain a variety of trails. www.nmvfo.org

March 25 Hands-Only CPR Training, 10am-noon, Albuquerque Fire Academy 11500 Sunset Gardens SW, By performing HandsOnly CPR to the beat of the classic disco song “Stayin’ Alive,” you can double or even triple a victim’s chance of survival, Kevin OBrien 833-7300

Qigong in the Park, Saturdays s 9-10am: Altura Park located at Hannett and Morningside NE, Qigong practice for all, Loretta 681-1924 qigonginthepark.com Rio Grande Nature Center Bird Walks, Free, 8:30am (8am in May), Saturdays & Sundays, join a naturalist for a quiet bird walk, preregister, 344-7240

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March 20 Vernal Equinox, First Day of Spring Day and night are about same length

2015 National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, 7:30am, SW Indian Polytechnic Institute, 9169 Coors Blvd NW, contact Savannah 228-3522

Ongoing Yoga With a View, $15, 9-10:30am, Starting April 7 Every Sunday, Open Space Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, Yoga in a beautiful setting (1st class is $5) 897-8831

High Desert Bicycles Group Ride, Free, 9-10:30am every Saturday, 909 36th Place SE in Rio Rancho, bring bike (or rent one) & join the group, 896-4700

March April May

2401 Jefferson NE • Albuquerque, NM 87111 (505) 884-8012 • www.libertygym.com

March 28 5th Annual Open Space Route 66 Volunteer Cleanup, Free, 8:30am, Volunteers will do general clean up activities that protect wildlife and the landscape, bring work gloves, wear boots, and dress for the desert, Highway 333 east of Tramway 1 mile Contact 452-5200 Jim Sattler Composting Comprehensive Workshop,

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Free, 3 different sessions 9-12/1:303/3:30-4:30, classes will cover the science, art, methods, choices and benefits of various home composting methods sign up for 1,2, or all 3, 1510 Menaul Ext Blvd contact Linda Garvin 867-2582

April 3 Full Moon Run by Heart n Sole Sports, Free, 7:30pm, Kit Carson Park 1744 Kit Carson Ave NW HnS info: 884-7653 arrive early Twilight Hike on a Full Moon Night, Free ($3 Parking), Dusk, Tentative date, Call for time & date, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 Candelaria NW, 344-7240 April 4 15th Annual Open Space Spring Cleanup at East End of Copper, Free, 9am, Volunteers will do general clean up activities that protect wildlife and the landscapes of the foothills, bring work gloves, wear boots, and dress for the desert Contact: Jim Sattler 452-5213 Run Nerds Run 5K-1K, 8am, UNM Campus, Benefits scholarships for Engineering students, contact 289-1008 April 5 Open Space Bosque Wild Sunday Morning Hike, Free, 9-11am, join biologists for a guided walk into the bosque, Visitor Center 6500 Coors NW, For info & to register: 897-8831 April 8 Hands-Only CPR Training, 10am-noon, See info on March 25, Kevin OBrien 833-7300 April 10 Elvis Live on the Plaza, free, Old Town Plaza gazebo, 5-8pm, Elvis impersonators, info: James 768-3561 April 11 Rio Grande Nature Center Nature Walks, Free, 10:30am, an insightful nature tour of the bosque, preregister, 344-7240

April 12 Forever Young Race, 9am, Memorial race for Charlie Young, Placitas- 1/2 mile east of Homestead Village on NM 165, race day registration www.abqroadrunners.com (calendar) April 18 Open Space Spring Cleanup at East End of Menaul, Free, see description on April 4.. Copper Cleanup Contact: Jim Sattler 452-5213 Albuquerque Half Marathon, 8am, Alvarado Elementary School, www.irunfit.org April 24 Earth Day Celebration at Tingley Beach, Free , 10am-2pm, Join us for a celebration of Earth Day at Tingley beach with guided hikes 764-6214 April 25 Open Space Spring Cleanup Piedra Lisa Trailhead, Free, just north of Candelaria, see description on April 4... Copper Cleanup Contact: Jim Sattler 452-5213 Valles Caldera Runs - 10K/Half Marathon/Marathon, 7:30am, Valles Caldera National Preserve, popular runs on dirt roads and trails in the spectacular Valles Caldera National Preserve, this is your chance highaltitudeathletics.org Kris Kern kernkt@cybermesa.com BikeABQ’s 20th Annual Bike Swap, Free, 10am-3pm, biggest swap in NM, check-in “for sale” items on April 24-25, Sports Systems 6915 Montgomery NE, www.bikeabq.org (See ad page 23) Hula Hustle, 8am, Albuquerque Academy, Runners/Walkers get leid at our lei-ing stations, www.ncmargc.org hulahustle.blogspot.com April 26 6h Annual Safari Run & Race With Kenyans for Global Health 8K, Midtown Sports and Wellness, a wonderful collaboration with local elite Kenyan runners who run this 8 K race, ghp-usa.org 505-350-5920

Super Run, 8:30am, Balloon Fiesta Park, www.thesuperrun.com (calendar) Ellen Reavis Race for Autism, 11:30am, Balloon Fiesta Park, Contact: 332-0306 nmautismsociety.org Blacklight Bubble Party 2K-5K-Fun Run, 7:45pm, Expo New Mexico, Run, walk, or dance your way through our blacklight bubble zones www.blacklightbubbleparty.com

Spring 2015

May 1 Roadside Bike Maintenance, 6-8pm, by City of ABQ at Esperanza Community Bike Shop,5600 Esperanza NW,224-6668 May 2 141st Kentucky Derby, Roses/Horses/ Mint Juleps, www.kentuckyderby.com

May 3 30th Annual Run for the Zoo, 7am, runforthezoo.com 764-6280 May 4 Full Moon Run by Heart n Sole Sports, Free, 8pm, Kit Carson Park 1744 Kit Carson Ave NW HnS info: 884-7653 arrive early Twilight Hike on a Full Moon Night, Free ($3 Parking), Dusk, Tentative date, Call for time & date, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 Candelaria NW, 344-7240 May 9 ABQ Brew Dash, 5K & 1 mile, Balloon Fiesta Park, abqbrewdash.com 362-6047 Rio Grande Nature Center Nature Walks, Free, 10:30am, an insightful nature tour of the bosque, preregister, 344-7240 May 9-10 Herbfest at the Nature Center, Free ($3 Parking), 10am-4pm, springtime celebration of herbs, wildflowers & native plants, Rio Grande Nature Center 2901 Candelaria NW, 344-7240 May 10 Mother’s Day 5K, 9am, ABQ Academy www.adiosraceproductions.com

May 13 Hands-Only CPR Training, 10am-noon, See info on March 25, Kevin OBrien 833-7300

Albuquerque Aquarium Overnighter, $30, see info on March 20, Education Clerk at (505) 848-7180 May 16 No Boundaries Spring 5K, 8am, Acadamey Loop starting at Hoffmantown Church, Fleet Feet SPorts 315-8080 May 30 Pollys Run, 8am, ABQ Academy, 10k/5k run/walk, to keep memories of Polly Rogers and all the loved ones we have lost to pancreatic cancer alive www.irunfit.org Composting Comprehensive Workshop, Free, 3 different sessions 9-12/1:303/3:30-4:30, classes will cover the science, art, methods, choices and benefits of various home composting methods sign up for 1,2, or all 3, 1510 Menaul Ext Blvd contact Linda Garvin 867-2582 June 2 Full Moon Run by Heart n Sole Sports, Free, 8:15pm, Kit Carson Park 1744 Kit Carson Ave NW HnS info: 884-7653 arrive early

25

Dr Jason

Two Runs A Day It’s Saturday morning. You’re about to head out the door to run in the Sandia Mountain foothills for an hour when you get called into work for the day. You cut your run to 30 minutes so that you can get to work on time, thinking that perhaps you will run another 30 minutes in the evening. You ask yourself, “Is it OK to break up one run into two? Will I still get the same benefit?” Excellent question.

Running double workouts in one day might seem pretty hard core. While many competitive runners run twice per day to log a large weekly training volume, double workouts aren’t solely for elite runners.

When to Do Doubles

If you run less than 30 to 40 miles per week, it’s better to run just once per day. Running five miles all at once is better than running two miles in the morning and three miles in the evening. Longer single runs build endurance and make you a better trail runner (plus, you get to see more of the trail!).

Once your weekly mileage reaches a level at which your daily runs are averaging an hour or more and your weekend long run is 1½ to two hours, it’s better to run twice per day at least a couple of times per week as you further increase your weekly mileage rather than to extend the length of all of your runs. Of course, running twice per day takes more time out of your day and makes it more difficult to recover between runs, so you will need to factor that in too. Proper nutrition after your first run, including carbohydrates and protein, is important so you can recover quickly between runs.

Consume 200 to 400 calories of carbohydrates and protein immediately after your first run so you can recover faster, and spread your two runs at least six hours apart.

Spread the Stress

Dr. Jason Karp is one of the foremost running experts in America, 2014 recipient of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition Community Leadership award, and creator of the Run-Fit Specialist certification. He holds a Ph.D. in exercise physiology. He has more than 200 articles published in international running, coaching, and fitness magazines and is the author of five books, including Running for Women and Running a Marathon For Dummies. For his popular training programs and autographed copies of his books, go to run-fit.com. Follow Jason on Twitter @drjasonkarp and Facebook at DrJasonKarpRunFit.

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The biggest advantage of doubling up is that it allows you to increase your training load while minimizing stress on your body and reducing recovery time. Both physically and psychologically, it’s easier to run four miles in the morning and six miles in the evening than it is to run 10 miles (or even eight miles) all at once.

The only time you don’t want to run twice is on the day of your long run. Your long run should always be completed all at once, especially if you’re training for long trail races, because of the specific endurance and metabolic aspects of the long run that can only be obtained by continuous running. For example, one of the purposes of long runs is to deplete (or severely lower) muscle glycogen, your stored form of carbohydrates.

When you deplete muscle glycogen, lots of interesting adaptations occur, including the storage of more fuel in your muscles, a greater reliance on fat by your muscles and an increased capacity of your liver to make more glucose for energy. If you break up your long run, you won’t deplete your glycogen fuel tank, so you’ll miss the opportunity to make the adaptations.

Long runs also prepare your muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments to handle the stress of running on rugged trails and callous you for the psychological fatigue that accompanies running for a long period of time.

www.dukecityfit.com

Hormones

Many of the adaptations you make from training are initiated by signals from hormones, which are amplified and transmitted via signaling cascades and lead to protein synthesis. This signaling is fast, occurring within minutes of completing a workout. When you run twice per day, you get two hormonal responses and thus two opportunities for adaptation to training because you have more frequent signals for protein synthesis. Repeated hormonal responses lead to a concerted accumulation of structural and functional proteins in your muscles, like more mitochondria and enzymes, improving your aerobic fitness and enabling you to run faster.

Metabolism

If you’re interested in losing weight, running twice per day can be an effective strategy. For one thing, it allows you to raise your daily and weekly mileage, which increases the number of calories you’ll burn. Running also elevates your metabolic rate for a few hours after you stop, as your body uses fat as energy to recover and return to homeostasis, so splitting your run into two shorter runs gives you two separate elevations in your post-workout metabolic rate, which gives you two opportunities to burn more calories during the day. A study published in British Journal of Sports Medicine had women run for 50 minutes at 70-percent VO2max one day and twice for 25 minutes at the same intensity another day. Another study published in Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology had men cycle for 30 minutes at 70-percent VO2max one day and twice for 15 minutes at the same intensity another day. Both studies found that the combined increase in post-workout metabolic rate was higher after the workouts compared to a single workout.

Many of my athletes training for long races have benefited from two-a-days when running high mileage. They say it keeps their legs feeling fresh while still accumulating a lot of miles. When they run more than an hour per day, it’s harder for them to bounce back the next day for a workout. Any time I have coached a runner who runs more than 50 to 60 miles per week, he or she feels a lot better when breaking some of the runs up into two runs per day. You’ll notice a difference, too.

So, next time something unexpected happens that causes you to cut your run short, don’t fret, just break up your run into two. It may be just the double boost you need.

Strategies for Running Twice per Day • Run very easy during your morning run.

• Allow at least five hours between your workouts to recover.

• Consume about two calories of simple carbohydrates like glucose per pound of body weight (0.5 gram/pound) immediately after your first run to speed recovery. For a 150-pound runner, that means consuming about 300 calories of carbohydrates, which equals about three 8-ounce glasses of chocolate milk. Keep consuming carbs over the next few hours.

• Rehydrate after your first run by drinking 15 ounces of water or electrolyte drink per pound of body weight lost during your run.

• Start by doing two-a-days just once or twice per week, cutting the length of the single run you’d normally do by 15 minutes. Don’t do more than 10 to 11 runs per week. For example, if you normally run 60 minutes, cut that back to 45 minutes and do a second run of 30 to 40 minutes.

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27

The Roofless Grand Cathedral

Ken Orth

As seen from Commanche coming up east toward Tramway:

The “Bowl” Above the granite slab to the southeast. See a photo of it in the center spread.

Various boulder fields along the ridge above and to the south of the arroyo of the granite slab

The “Granite Slab”. It looks to be relatively close, but looks are deceiving. It takes about 45 minutes at a good clip to get up the arroyo to it.

It is known hereabouts as “The Arroyo of the Granite Slab”. Or sometimes, simply as “The Arroyo”.

“Where you goin’?,” my 16-year-old son asks me as I tie up my hiking boots at the kitchen table. It is late morning and he is just clambering out of bed while I am already moving into about phase 3 of my day.

“Up the arroyo, I think,” I answer back, glancing up at his tousled appearance as he pours himself a bowl of cereal. Knowing full well the answer I am about receive, I ask him the question anyway… “Wanna come along?”

“No. No thanks,” he says, with more graciousness than I expected out of him, fresh from bed as he is and brimful of teenage angst.

He sits down next to me at the table with his colorful, milk-sodden collage of stars, clovers, and half-moons… “I think you really need some time to talk with yourself up there.”

“Or to the rocks,” he adds, around a mouthful.

Grinning.

I wish I had a quick-fire retort, but I don’t. And the thing is, he’s kinda right. I am looking forward to a jaunt by myself, and a word or two with the desert.

Privately.

“I’ll let you know what they had to say,” I tell him as I gather up my stuff and head out the door.

“I’m sure you will.”

The Arroyo bottoms out, or ends, ... at least the wild, uncemented portion of it does, in a holding-pond amongst the last row of houses on the far east side of Albuquerque. In the northeast heights foothills. I use the term “holding-pond” loosely, for it holds little but goatheads and gravel on the uphill side of its miniature little dam.

It has long been my intention to come up here when it is actually holding water… when the monsoonal rains are pounding the Sandias. I would really like to see the “pond” and the arroyo in action. But, the logistics of that maneuver, coming up here while it is raining, have thus far exceeded my abilities.

Crossing the holding pond, I see that heavy machinery of some kind has recently plowed it up and graded it. They have moved much of the accumulated gravel and desert debris out of the way, to the sides, making it a more presentable… functional… holding pond. I don’t know how often they do this. Perhaps every spring. It is a testament, it seems, to just how much rocky, desert debris is actually washed down here with the few rainstorms that we actually get.

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It is not raining this day, though… a clear, cloudless spring day in the high desert. The sun, to the south is a sparkling jewel in a crisp field of brilliant blue. New Mexico blue. It lifts my heart just to look at it.

But, it is to the south, is the sun. And because this arroyo runs nearly straight east-west, much of it will be in shadow for most of the day, at least until the sun works its way further out to the west.

“Therefore,” I say out loud because I am slightly impressed with myself for thinking of it, “I will hike in UP on the ridge up there, rather than in the arroyo, so I can stay in the sunlight. And then work my way back out in the arroyo itself, later, when the sun is more likely to be hitting it.”

Good thinking, I congratulate myself.

And I immediately stumble over a rock because I am looking up there rather than where I am going and imbed about a half-dozen prickly-pear spines into my ankle. Right through my wool sock. Like a damn rookie.

They are a pain to get out, sitting on a rock in the arroyo bottom. At first I am annoyed at the cactus for being where it was and what it was, and I hurl a few choice invectives at it and at the desert in general. I work my way through the spines, which are particularly hard to get out, in their entirety, from the sock… there is ALWAYS some pointy bit left in there somewhere that will continue to irritate me periodically for the rest of the day, and quite possibly, again do so weeks from now when I eventually wear these socks again and find to my dismay that even washing them didn’t get the pointy thing out.

“You’re such an idiot,” I mumble to myself more than once.

As I finally finish up the spine-removing chore, wiping a couple drops of blood off my ankle, I come around to the opinion that maybe this is not such a bad thing. It

is a reminder… a wake-up call… to not get too full of myself. And to pay attention. These mountains, though not really malevolent, DO play rough. They’ll take their shots, especially if you’re not particularly alert. Given the opportunity, they will lay you out.

Going up this ridge is a prime example of this. There is not really a trail, or at least not one that I intend to follow. There is, rather, a maze of deer trails and boulder fields. Up, over, around, and through. Ever upward. A joyous, exhilarating exploration of a rocky desert world where very few have tread.

Trod.

Heck, I don’t know. None of the above. Not on this boulder. You don’t be “treading” up here. You be walking delicately when you be walking upright at all… testing each footstep for loose gravel or slippery smooth surface that might send you sliding back down whence you came.

And from the top of this boulder, down onto this rock, a long step onto that one over there, and then kinda shinny up that cleft in that big one.

Now THIS is a boulder. This big bad boy has been here for a long, long time. Its surface… its face… its skin…

Chollas to the left of me, Pricklies to the right, here I am, Yucca in the middle with you

www.dukecityfit.com

is gritty and coarse, with a thousand little protruding nardules. Like a sandpaper of the Gods. Or maybe… more like one of those stones old man Zeus had in his shower to smooth down that tough skin on his rough, old, ancient heel. He tossed it here then, a few thousand years ago when the goddess Hera moved in and he had to clean the place up.

Or maybe not.

The point is that many of these boulders are rough textured, the impurities in them wearing down at a rate that is less than the granite in which they are encased.

In sandpaper terminology, they have a very coarse grit. VERY coarse. Which is to the good, because it often provides very secure footing for rubber-soled hiking boots.

However, don’t start getting cocky about it. It is not true of all boulders. Some have worn smooth and are slipperier than snot.

Others, sometimes, LOOK like the sandpaper version, their surfaces speckled with nards, but it turns out to be a deception. A ruse, A trap. The speckles are not really imbedded in the granite like usual, but are actually more like pieces of rock, gravel, scattered about the surface.

In and of itself, this may not be a big deal. Especially if the deception is discovered, for example, when you are first climbing up onto a new boulder.

But, if the discovery is made at the receiving end of a long awkward step, or, heaven forbid, at the end of a jump of some kind, like from boulder to boulder… well… it can be a costly mistake. Your feet can shoot out from under you on the loose gravel and you go over backward.

If that “backward” happens to be over a chasm or a gap in the rocks…

“So don’t do that,” I say to myself over just such a gap, eyeballing a dubious landing spot on the far side. I glance down at my ankle and the blood spot on my sock.

“He who crawls down and walks away, lives to jump another day.”

At one point, up along the ridge, I find myself atop a particularly tall boulder in a prominent position with a sweeping view in all directions. Back down there to the west, of course, is the sprawl of the city. The Duke City. My city. There is a distinct hum emanating from it. It is not overpowering, or even particularly loud. It is just a noise, a backdrop, of energy and motion… subdued but strangely reassuring, like a childhood memory of playing in one room while my mother goes about her chores in others, humming as she goes, so that I always know she is there somewhere. Not too far away.

Sweeping my vision from the city onward to my right, I can see down into the arroyo. Bits and pieces. Different bits and pieces from different places along the ridge. Sometimes it is weird trying to juxtapose what it looks like from up here with what I remember it to be like down there.

The arroyo, I think, is rather like a Grand Cathedral. A roofless, massive, ancient Grand Cathedral. Long and ornate. I can see down into the grandeur of its grottos and stations and artifacts, even as a God might gaze down into the temples of men.

Spring 2015

I know it so very well, this cathedral.

I know it from my many jaunts up its length, my children often in tow, or leading the way, dressed in their Sunday hiking finest. Bandanas where bow ties might have been. Miniature staffs of pinon pine. And always, water. The liquid of life.

Often, the hike up the arroyo with the family was more of a pilgrimage than a hike. It was a wandering into the glory of the desert, the mountains, the world. It was awe and inspiration and more than a little bit of fear.

There are sacred places within that arroyo. Historical places. Memorials.

There, over there… “crawling rock”. A ramp-like slab of granite. We stopped there for a break, so many years ago, before we knew what it was. I had taken my infant son out of his backpack, in which I had carried him all the way up and I had put him down gingerly on the smooth granite. He was a baby. He was just past the “turning himself over” stage, but not yet to the “sitting up” stage.

It was the first time ever in his brief life that he had felt granite beneath him.

Granite warmed by the desert sun… on his hands and his arms and his chubby little legs.

There, then, in that very spot, he crawled for the first time. He crawled up that ramp. Triumphantly.

Does that make it a sacred spot?

Why, yes… yes it does.

On this day, on this journey up into the Sandias, the farthest point in for me is a formation of rocks on the ridge just above the infamous granite slab. The formation has come to be known as “The Bowl”.

It is a natural grotto. It is a roofless little cave up there on the hill. A spiritual place, the bowl is enclosed… encircled… by massive granite boulders that keep its interior forever always in shade, except when the seasonal summer sun is at its apex. Or the full moon.

The bowl is occupied by a gnarly old juniper tree who has apparently been there for quite some time. Like a grumpy hermit, ancient and twisted with time, he stands in the corner, as upright as his arthritic old limbs will allow, and he quietly watches your comings and goings with a slightly disdainful air. He does not really trust these humans, greedy and self-absorbed. And destructive. But occasionally, he welcomes the company, if it be genial and aware. At those times, if the canyon breezes blow gently enough and the pinon jays are absent, you may hear him whispering truths into the chambers. Quietly. Almost singing.

There is a sitting rock within, across from the old soldier. Strangely, when I sit on it in the coolness of the shade, it seems unnaturally warm… as if someone has been sitting here recently.

“The sun must have hit it somehow,” I mumble, looking over at the ancient one.

Is he smiling?

I hear, then, a soft whistling from without. A breeze amongst the needles of the chollas and the pinons out there?

Or… or… the gentlest of laughing flute notes? Flute notes played by a well-rested, now dancing sower of seeds as he quietly slips away.

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Continued on Next Page 30

29

The Roofless Grand Cathedral

Up and over it?...

Or around it?

What are you here for?

Continued From Page 29

I leave the bowl regretfully. But refreshed. I clean it up a little before I go, like I do the guest room of a friend’s home after I’ve stayed there a bit in my travels.

“Live long and prosper,” I say, as stoically and as logically as I can muster, patting the old tree.

I descend now, rather more reverently, back into the valley of the granite slab. Indeed… to the granite slab itself. To the very namesake, the altar if you will, of the grand cathedral.

Via the back door. The preacher’s door. Kind of like a stage door, really, where one abruptly emerges out onto the majesty of the massive monolith with very little warning.

Suddenly you are here, upon its crown, looking out over the grandeurs of the Dukedom… The angled, grey-white lines of the sunport. The long, dark lava table of the escarpment. The snow-capped peak of Mt Taylor.

It is no small task to descend the slab. (Or ascend it either, for that matter.) Whether you go around it or upon it, you will be tested. Novices are well-advised to learn its secrets by going up it first.

Our family pilgrimages, back in the day, always came to their climax at the base of the slab. It was not until the boys got older that we tackled the monolith itself, finding our way up its creased, smooth, often graveled face.

It involved much sliding. I have worn holes in the butts of innumerable pairs of shorts over the years coming down the slab. Laughingly and gleefully. Oftentimes, to scramble back up with one or both of the boys, to do it again.

Blessed be the day when you find the slab with a dusting of powdery Sandia snow, or a thin layer of ice!

But that day is not today.

I work my way down the long, grand hallways of the old arroyo. Past, through, and over its many wonders…

“Jumping rock”, “The Slide”, “The Waterfall”, “Surf rock”, “The Chutes”…

I stop, repeatedly and often, to look up at the artwork on the walls. Statues and monuments adorn them. Created, carved, and shaped from granite by the unrelenting hand of the high desert. There are hundreds of them. Thousands.

Some still in the making. Visages… animals… alien beings recognizable only to imaginative beholders. Supplicants.

Pilgrims.

Eventually I emerge back out onto the “pond” at the base of the arroyo. The sky before me glows golden and magenta.

Turning, I watch the cathedral pinken and dim back into shadow.

The Arroyo of the Granite Slab slips into darkness.

Poetry, A Step Higher I met Kenneth Gurney up at my local Flying Star Cafe.

I was sitting there, thinking about writing a story, my papers and pencils spread out on the table and a loaded clipboard in my lap.

Sometimes, I sit like that for stretches at a time in my window seat, gazing around at the dynamics of the bustling coffee shop, but not really seeing it. Where I’m actually looking is somewhere else, inside, trying to find the words. Or trying to let them find me.

Often, what comes out through that pencil and onto that yellow legal pad... is poetry. Or at least, I think it is. It has a meter to it. A beat.

And it is going somewhere, though most times I know not where.

Show me.

When I am gazing sightlessly like that, sometimes I’ll realize that I am staring at someone. Whoops. Some people don’t like that. I’ll apologize with a word or a nod and a smile and look away. Sorry about that.

But sometimes the person will smile and start a conversation. A candle in my dusky world. And that is how I met Kenneth.

30

Ken Orth

He understood, a little, I think, what was happening. He is a writer. A poet. Perhaps he gazes sightlessly sometimes, too.

We talked for a while, and eventually I gave him a copy of my latest Duke City Fit newspaper. Without hesitation, he dipped into his pack and pulled out his own book of poetry, and gave it to me.

It was not a fair trade. But if life has taught me anything, it is to go with the flow. What are the chances that the universe is going to see fit to dump a book of poetry in my lap?

We see each other from time to time at our Flying Star. He has enlightened me about the vibrant Poetry subculture that is alive and well in our fair city. And he graciously put together a fairly substantial list of poetry related events/happenings for me. And now for you.

Like home-roasted cashews and hikes up into the grand cathedral, poetry adds nutrition to my life. When the universe talks, I listen.

On the following page is one of Kenneth Gurney’s poems from his book Stump Speech. The photo is mine, from Glacier National Park.

ABQ POETRY

Premium event: The Women Of the World Poetry Slam is March 18 to 22 in Albuquerque. It will have day time and night readings all over the city as well as writing workshops and panel discussions. For information visit www.wowps2015.com Kenneth P Gurney reading from his book Stump Speech at Page One Books in Mountain Run Shopping Center, March 22 at 2pm Poetry & Beer (2nd Tuesday of every month) 7pm, at Tractor Brewing - Wells Park, 1800 4th St NW. Open mic with poetry slam.

Poetry at the Range (2nd Wednesday of every month): 7pm, The Range Cafe in Bernallilo.

Open mic with a featured reader.

South Broadway Poetry (3rd Wednesday of every month): 7pm, South Broadway Cultural Center, 1025 Broadway SE. Open mic with a featured reader.

Lobo Slam (3rd Wednesday of every month): 7pm, Winnings Coffee Shop, 111 Harvard Dr. SE. Open mic with poetry slam.

ABQ Poetry Slam : www.abqslams.org

www.dukecityfit.com

Personal I knew the way my aging legs slowed us down, but I’d been to the mountain top many times to confer with god and you made your virgin trek up these rocky slopes and slight paths more suited to bighorns and marmots.

When we arrived on the mountain top we heard a voice say, I heard you coming your breathing was so loud.

And you searched each direction for a vocal origin, but did not trust because your ears did not receive what spoke directly to your heart and mind.

The ensuing rumbling chuckle you took to be thunder from a cloudless sky.

I said, Here we are. then sat down on a snowless rock.

You looked around at everything below us and oh what a sight: the green valleys the tree-covered mountain flanks and the way snow melt formed streams that eventually found their way into rivers.

Before we started down and back to our hearth you asked nothing, said nothing, not even voiced a hello, but instead watched an eagle blot the sun several times and wondered if it was an angel.

Kenneth P. Gurney

From Stump Speech

by Kenneth P. Gurney copyright 2015 Photo by Ken Orth Duke City Fit copyright 2015

Spring 2015

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Heart & Sole Sports is New Mexico’s Premier Running Shoe Company.

Locally owned, we have been serving Albuquerque area runners since 2000.

Our staff me by a prof mbers are perso Always fi essional gait ana nally trained tting you ly in the pro sis expert. p er footw Guaran ear.

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Run/Wal s. n u F e t u r Goodie a 40-min o r d o f n e h t V n & f fles, n Dogs ery mo a v e v e R e , s s , u s k c n m i a a Jo k with Sn riends, Kids, Te ebook. r a P n o s ,F ac Kit Car s: Family nd Like Us on F l e v e L l l a a Open to r Details o f e r o t s Call

We now carry the finest in casual, comfortable, functional footwear from top makers like Chaco, Keen, and Sanita. We take the same care to get you the perfect fit in casual footwear that we have always taken with our athletic shoes. Everyday footware that is not only incredibly comfortable, but good for your feet!

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