Music - Food - Workout - What else is there to Life?

I've told many people that my ideal death would be to be 85 and have my heart just quit in the middle of a 300# squat.

Guess that's one way to Die Trying.

You Call Me a Bitch Like it's a Bad Thing.....

Pretty Catchy Lzzy.

Been getting the Familiar Taste of Poison lately....

And I kinda like it.

It's amazing how people marvel at the characteristics of a Simple Man.

Being honest and straightforward is kind of a rare thing these days I'm finding.

And believe it or not, after the weird looks and gasps of surprise....

It's pretty well received.

About as simple a snack or dessert as you can get.... mixed nuts with wasabi, raisins, banana with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of Vanilla Extract.

I'm not in Love....

But the Sex is Good.

Probably the reason a lot of people stay in relationships.

And not necessarily a bad thing.

I used to think that CrossFit WMD in Angleton Tx had harder workouts but the little Periods of Pain that BJ Monger and Crew put together at Praxis in Santa Fe NM are pretty special.

No comments required here.

Love this song.

Sirloin under sweet potato, avocado, grilled artichoke hearts and Fresh Basil.

I do not miss the misery of eating poorly like I used to and weighing 25# more than I do now.

Nice weather!

And nice Hang Snatch.

Praxis has Barbell Classes with personal instruction on detailed lifting techniques and Gary Dinh is a Master Coach of these Movements.

www.thepraxislab.com

25 minute AMRAP....

Conditioning - Conditioning - Conditioning!

I chased the Tall, Dark and Handsome One for 25 minutes and just couldn't catch him.... falling 13 reps short even doing Single Unders vs Double Unders.

What can I say?

I tried and Failed....

Which is a helluva lot better than Giving Up and Succeeding!

Outback Willie's Texas Chili with a New Mexico Twist

It's been really cold and it's been a while since I cooked a pot of chili....

So here goes with the ingredient list:

Organic Black Rice - I've pretty much cut rice out of my diet but I make an exception with chili and I figured if you're gonna have rice.... might as well go with some "Superfood" Rice!

Canned tomatoes and tomato sauce

Sweet Onion

Poblano Pepper

Jalapeno Peppers

Carrot Sticks

Yellow Squash

Mushrooms

Bag of TJ's Green Chiles

6 oz of Sirloin

8 oz of my world famous Ground Turkey Breast - Veggie Mix

Chili Powder

Cayenne

Salt & Pepper

Garlic and Ginger (not shown)

A cup of Black Rice, 1 cup of water, 3/4 cup of TJ's Organic Chicken broth.

Bring to a Boil and then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

Get a Cast Iron Dutch Oven on to heat.

Prep all the veggies and cube the sirloin.

Everything is seasoned BEFORE it goes in with Salt, Pepper, Chili Mix, Cayenne and my African Moroccan seasoning.

First on is the "hard" veggies.... No oil.... Saute for 5.

Next is the cubed sirloin.... 

Roll and saute for 3...

Next is the Ground Turkey Breast mix.

Roll and Brown for 3.

Then the rest of the fresh veggies.... You know the routine.... Roll and Saute for 3.

Add about 1/2 cup of Chicken Broth....

Then the Green Chiles..... Roll and heat for 5.

Looking Good Hollywood!

Add another round of chili mix and cayenne...

Then the tomatoes and tomato sauce.

Bring everything back to a boil.

And add the critical element.... couple of tablespoons of Turbinado Sugar.

I've found it cuts the acidity of the tomato juice and melds all the flavor together.

Everybody's in the Pool....

Now cover and simmer for....

Another 18 minutes which is when the rice will be done.

So at this point, everything has taken about 27 minutes.

And Voila!  

A pot of perfectly done Black Rice and a Pot of Texas - New Mexico Chili.

No Oil - Great Ingredients - Healthy Eating.

That's how a Texas Boy makes Chili in New Mexico!

Peaking in Chaos

Another snippet shared by my hiking friend describing the final stage of the Free Dance at Embody Dance in Santa Fe....

http://embodydancesantafe.org/the-dance/

When she said it, it was like my mind extrapolated the significance of the phrase into my experiences and learnings in life.

I think our tendency, our conditioning and our upbringing lead us to an aversion for chaos....

Which leads me to want to learn about it and consider it.

So what is chaos?

Well, when you delve into it a little bit.... it turns out there's a lot of chaos's....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos

If you consider Chaos (mythology) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_(mythology)

"In Greek mythology, Chaos, the primeval void, was the first thing which existed."

Holy shit... the first thing ever created.... and from Chaos everything else was created.

So No Chaos.... No Beginning.... that's pretty significant.

And then there's the Biblical chaos....

"Chaos, especially in biblical usage, a chasm or abyss" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyss_(religion)

In religion, an abyss is a bottomless pit, or also a chasm that may lead to the underworld or hell.

So like a cliff, a drop off, a void you fall off into, something to avoid - right?.... or maybe a challenge to overcome?

And then from the Scientific realm...

Randomness, a lack of intelligible pattern or combination

Which is a kind of chaos that makes sense.

So what's the point of all this chaos analysis?

Well - for one thing - speaking for myself - I learned something.  Actually I learned several things.... about the different meanings of chaos.

Chaos, in consideration of the above definitions and associations.....

Is a Beginning....

AND

An End....

and the Confusion that occurs in Between.

Kinda sounds a lot like Life to me.

Standing Alone with Everybody Else

You know it's amazing what you can learn if you just listen.

Was talking with a lady today while hiking and was asking questions, listening to the responses which led to more questions and more responses.

I love learning about other people - about their lives, their loves, their challenges, tragedies and triumphs.

It creates a community of 2.... which is the beginning of fellowship.... which is the beginning of friendship.

In the course of the conversation, she was describing a "Free Dance" class that she went to weekly at a place called Embody Dance in Santa Fe.....

http://embodydancesantafe.org/

The description of the stage progression of the 90-minute class was fascinating with my fellow hiker's admonition that the only rule was that....

You couldn't violate another person's space.

Which meant not only their physical space but the "journey" that they were experiencing by their body movements through the different dance stages - http://embodydancesantafe.org/the-dance/

No judgement, No comments, No criticisms.... just respect and acceptance.

In her continued explanation of the art of the class, my hiking companion exclaimed another one of those golden nuggets of life.

She said.....

"It's kinda like you're....

Standing Alone with Everybody Else."

And it really caught me by surprise because it kind of expressed the journey I was experiencing of late.

To be a Sole Soul in a Sea of Souls.

To Express Yourself, To Be Yourself, To be that Unique Dancer in the Different Stages of Life.

To Stand Alone in the confidence of your Movement through Life.....

In respect of the Community and Collages around You.

My own little Life Dance has been pretty solitary of late, partly because of the Peace I have found in my move to Santa Fe; but slowly evolving to becoming a member of a Community of Dancing Souls.

Respecting and Learning from the Life Experiences and Snowflake Uniqueness of Each Individual I talk to.

Will I check out the Embody Dance class?

Probably.

I think I will feel at ease there.....

Standing Alone with Everybody Else.

Sunday Snow Hike!

It's Sunday Morning!

Which means up and at 'em with coffee and a roaring fire!

And it also means it's Sunday Hike Day!

Yay!

And it's a Pot Luck Sunday Hike.... or so I was led to believe....

Which means I gotta get busy!

2 Cast Iron Skillets going with yellow squash and egg plant....

With a batch of sweet onions, poblano and red bell pepper, carrots and aspargus already cooked....

and mushrooms, Fuji apple, baked sweet potato and TJ's Sourdough Bread on deck waiting for their time in the hot seat!!!

Nothing fancy about this - just healthy cooking - No oil - just a smoking hot cast iron skillet and a generous seasoning with salt pepper, hot madras curry powder, garam masala, cumin and turmeric!

Thin sliced Fuji apples sprinkled with cinnamon.... I finished them with a touch of butter and a sprinkle of Turbinado Sugar!

And here's the Star of the Show.....

A thick slab of Sirloin seasoned the night before with Adolph's Meat Tenderizer and the same salt and pepper and African Moroccan seasoning described above and forked hard on both sides.....

Hmmm.... that sounds interesting!

Anyway.... the rule of thumb I go by is 1 minute for every 1/4" of thickness for Medium.

I put 5 minutes on one side 4 on the other and then stood it up on edge longwise for a minute each.... and then let it rest for 5.

From the way it disappeared at the top of Picacho, I'd say it was a Hit!

And there's the Gang!

Fantastic Company, Food and Snow - 

Definitely a Discovery Sunday!