Well folks, here we still are, at home waiting for all the scientists (I do believe in science) in the world to come up with a way to control Covid -19. Unfortunately, my attempts to drum and strum my angst away hasn’t really been enough, but happily, being outdoors has. My afternoon outing is the highlight of my day, and social distancing is a breeze in our mountain landscape. I like to consider it my “Geography of Hope” a term coined by one of my favorite authors, Wallace Stegner in his famous Wilderness Letter, written in 1969 in support of land preservation. What has made it even better, is the…

Well, Senior Rippers, we are certainly in a different place than we were the last time I wrote Take the Plunge. While the world outside my window still seems innocent enough, and snowshoeing is still permissible in our new world of Social Distancing, my advice to you this week is consider learning to play the drum, or any other instrument that you have lying around your home for that matter. The fact that music can heal the heart and soul is fact. “Rhythm” in Greek means to flow, and the power of dance is palpable to all humans. For example, have you ever seen a toddler dance bare naked after…

Please don’t think for a second, that I mean a polar bear dip on a frozen morning. I’m a life-long swimmer, but outdoor swimming in the winter requires a heated pool. The kind of plunge that I am advocating for is one on snowshoes. Let me explain. A recent Saturday found me, along with 21 Senior Rippers and 2 dogs, at a trailhead in the Uinta Mountains as part of an organized trip through The Park City Mountain Sports Club, an all volunteer group of like-interested Parkites. It had been several days since the last snow fall so there were tracks up an old Mine Trail, the sky was blue,…

Admit it, you knew this blog was coming after last week’s love letter to coffee. I think it is only fair that tea be considered as a part of a Senior Ripper’s day. I, for one, treasure my morning cup of Joe but after that I am a tea girl, through and through. The varieties of tea seem endless and my tea drawer is full of many of them, but I never really knew what kind of tea was best for me and how to brew it properly. It was time to find out. Coincidently, my favorite NPR interviewer, Terry Gross, conducted an interview just this week with Michael Pollan…