Disposable

Many thanks to Jeff for sending me this article, it's very interesting, and should be very alarming. I try not to get up on my little high horse all that often, mostly because people find it irritating. Just ask Special K, who gets to hear the unfiltered version. But here's something that drives me nuts. What is our fixation with disposable stuff? Yes, some things shouldn't be re-used (syringes and some other medical equipment), but the damage being done to our natural environment should really be greater than someone's aversion to doing dishes. Nothing is ever really disposable - all of this plastic crap that we so carelessly throw away because of our need for convenience doesn't really go anywhere. It stays here - maybe it goes farther away from our individual homes or places of work, but it's still here. Plastic water bottles that people don't recycle (the water quality for which really isn't even better than most US tap water. Yemen or Pakistan, it may be another story), plastic plates, cups, utensils - all of this crap. It's clogging up our landfills, our oceans, our rivers, our entire freaking planet. And because we think "hey, it's just one ___", and because a lot of what we need (food products, for example) come in plastic packaging of one kind or another we don't think of what the damage is. We don't think too much about the toxic chemicals used to make it that leach into our water, that get spewed into our air, that get into our bodies.

I had some cottage cheese for breakfast this morning. Sure, the container says it's recyclable, but most places in the US only recycle plastics #1 and #2, for a variety of reasons ranging from ease of processing to expense to the structural integrity of the plastic after its been recycled to marketability of the material. This container, like many, did not fall into that category. So I can't recycle it - so it's more plastic crap clogging up our planet. I try to avoid excess packaging when I shop, and I try to look for things that I can recycle as well. I try to reuse containers that I can't recycle, and I try to avoid plastics if possible, which it often isn't. But really, our planet is a finite resource and we should take better care of it. It's the most amazing gift we have been given, and we're continuing to exploit it like it's going out of style, despite the prevalence of corporate greenwashing.

I know I'm part of the problem, too. I'm not living in a yurt that I made of twigs in the middle of nowhere, growing my own food, and not using any electricity, fossil fuels, or toxic chemicals in my daily life. I may try to minimize my contribution to the problem, but I know I'm still part of it. So I don't want to sound holier-than-thou about all this.

And now that my blood pressure is nice and high, and I probably didn't state what I wanted to state nearly as well as I wanted to state it, I'll be off.

Idyllic

That’s really the only way I can think to describe our weekend. It was just…perfect. Many, many months ago, my friend E and I were thinking that it would be fun to surprise our respective husbands with a weekend away somewhere. So, she found the place, we booked the rooms, told our respective husbands to plan for a three-day weekend, and the plan was set in motion! Keep in mind that we made these reservations and plans in September. So this meant that we had five months to get really excited about it, to torment them with the knowledge that we knew where we were going and they didn’t, and to plan fun things to do.

So K and I both took Friday off, although I was still working when the sun came up Friday morning, so I didn’t really have the day off – just most of the daylight hours. I went for a swim that morning to stretch my tired muscles and clear my head, then we packed and were off. The weather was kind of nasty and rainy as we wound our way up 270 to 70 to 68. As we went, I started to notice ice on the trees, which gave the landscape a really beautiful, ethereal look to it. K and I were happily driving down the road, snacking on some goodies, chatting, and starting to unwind a little. The last couple weeks had felt pretty draining for me, and I was in need of some renewal. So, unbeknownst to E and me when we made these reservations way back when, the timing was absolutely perfect for me, personally. The rain gave way to some sleet and snow, which slowed our progress a little. K and I both commented on the similarities to our wedding as we climbed up into the mountains. We finally reached our destination, a beautiful B&B perched on the shore of Deep Creek Lake and almost directly across the street from Wisp ski resort. We unloaded our car and stepped into the Inn – a beautiful, Arts and Crafts-style building with a friendly staff, comfy leather chairs in the great room, and a roaring fire in the fire place. Their evening wine and hors d’oeuvres were already out for everyone to enjoy, and we were shown around the Inn and then to our room.

Standing in our room, I turned to K and squealed a teeny bit, managing to squeak out “we haven’t even left yet, and I already want to come back!”. He laughed, and when I asked if this was a good surprise, he said that yes, it definitely was. (Yay me…) We called E and G and met them downstairs a little later to head out for dinner. In the time since we’d checked in, there was a lot more snow and ice on the roads, particularly our steep little parking lot. Neither Whitey nor E&G’s car could make it out of the lot. So we decided that driving anywhere for dinner was pretty much out of the question, and began walking down the road, since we’d seen a few places on our way there that, according to the list we were given when we checked in, were less than a mile away –an easy walk. We made our way there, slipping and crunching through the snow, chattering happily all the while, looking at the people whizzing down the slopes at night. We opened the door to the Santa Fe Grill and were greeted by a blast of warm air and the smell of barbeque – there’s very little wrong with that, in my opinion.

We sat down and E and I perused the drinks menu with great interest, each deciding that a margarita would hit the spot. Unfortunately for E, she had left her purse, complete with ID, in their car. Back at the Inn. Nowhere near her 31-year-old self. And despite all of us testifying to her age, despite her insistence on pointing out every single gray hair on her head, and despite reciting her birth date the way a young child recites their times tables when they’ve really got them memorized…nothing could sway our 21-year old waitress. It was okay, she was just doing her job. We were all very understanding, but G couldn’t help but laugh every time she got her glass of water refilled. It didn’t help that when my margarita arrived, it was approximately the size of my head. I did give her a generous sip, though…

After dinner, we trotted out into the snow and the walk back felt much shorter, which made us all happy since it also felt much colder. We arrived back at the Inn and trundled up to our respective rooms. K and I filled up our huge Jacuzzi tub with some bath salts and steaming hot water, and turned on the jets – sinking into the bubbles which felt great against my back, which hasn’t quite been right since our stupid car accident. I almost fell asleep in that tub, but before we both drowned, we crawled into bed and dozed off by the fire.

I woke up in the morning to some totally sweet bed head, which prompted a quick shower before we went down for breakfast. Which, by the way, was freaking amazing. LOVED it. Creative and delicious and fresh. We looked out over the snow-covered frozen lake, and I could feel my brain renewing a little, and the stress dropping away. We went up to our respective rooms again to be lazy until our only scheduled activity for the weekend at 1:30. After napping a little and watching a movie from their DVD library, K and I brought a board game down to the great room and decided to play by the fire until E & G were ready to head down. They watched in curiosity as we wrapped up our game, then bundled up to head across the street to Wisp.

E had asked me a couple weeks ago what I thought about snow tubing. My response was that I thought it sounded sweet, so I was down for it. I asked K if he was interested, and he thought it sounded like fun, and holy crap, was it ever! Two hours of hurtling down an icy hillside on a large, inflated rubber tube is one heck of a way to spend the afternoon, if you have the time and inclination. There were two ways to get from the bottom to the top, the fastest of which was a conveyor belt that you would stand on that would pull you up the side. After we’d been there for about an hour, the guy there who was “managing” the conveyor belt and rope-tow that you could also use to get to the top asked us to hold up because there were a lot of people on the belt, and there was a weight limit.

To which I cried “Are you saying I’m fat????”

I saw a look of terror briefly flicker beneath his mirrored sunglasses before he realized that I was laughing, and then joined in the joke.

We really picked the ideal time to be there, I thought, because we had a nice, relaxed morning, we were out when the sun wasn’t its most intense, and by the time our session was ending, the sun was going down and it was starting to get cold. Our next stop was the mountain coaster, a roller coaster of sorts that winds up, down, and around the mountain. Out of deference to my back and a suspicion that roller coasters wouldn’t be good for it in its delicate state, I declined, but sent the other three on their way, promising to take pictures as they came whipping down the mountain.

Yes, I realize that it’s possible that tubing wasn’t great for my back, either. But a girl’s got to have some fun, kids.

After that, we decided to postpone our walk back to the Inn with a stop for some refreshments. E and I should have known better than to let the dudes pick, because we ended up with hot chocolate, hot dogs, and brownies. All of which were darn good, especially since it was after five and none of us had eaten since breakfast, but perhaps not the best nutritional choice (see previous posts about ripping the lining of my fat pants). Ah well – you only live once!

We went back out into the cold, but fortunately only had to jog across the street to get to the little neighborhood in which the Inn is located. Fog had started to come in over the lake as the sun was setting, and it was like drifting through something out of a movie. No more than a five minute walk, and we were back in the great room, and K had thrown several more logs on the fire to make the room nice and toasty. We were deciding on a plan of action for the evening, and determined that some time in the sauna on the top floor, followed by some relaxation in our respective Jacuzzis would be a great way to get ready for dinner. And oh, was it ever – I felt all the tension in my muscles, built up from a day of hurling myself down an icy hill on a rubber tube, melt away as I sank into the hot bubbly water.

We were all in the mood for steak and we headed out to a relatively nearby steakhouse. Dinner was tasty and filling and warm, and after we arrived back at the Inn, we decided to head up to our room and watch a movie and drink some wine. After having some more of the cookies that were always out and available for guests. These were some good cookies. And the reason I can say that with such confidence is that I had a liberal sampling. At multiple intervals. I mean, yes, they had fruit available too, and I did have a couple apples over the course of the weekend. But I had more cookies…

We turned on the gas fireplace in our room, E & G curled up in the comfy arm chairs, and K and I sat on our bed and we watched “Music and Lyrics”, a very silly, funny, fluffy little movie that was about all our brains could handle – but the 80s music videos in it are hilarious. We all drifted off to sleep at one point or the other, waking up in time for the end of the movie, and in time for E&G to trundle off to their room for our last night at the Inn.

We woke up the next morning to bright sunshine and another fantastic breakfast, and decided that we’d have a little more chill time before we had to check out. Again…that Jacuzzi is so awesome. I can even stretch out my legs in it – K and I can sit in it together and I can stretch out my legs in it. As we were checking out, I asked if anyone would mind if we sat by the fire in the great room and played games and we were told that we could stay as long as we wanted, and reminded to help ourselves to tea, coffee, cider, fruit, and of course, cookies. So we broke out “Uno” and later a new game that we were introduced to, to which we have introduced all our friends, called “Ticket to Ride” that is slowly but surely addictive. I was also coaching E on her knitting as she busily worked on a scarf for her mother in law. Special K made sure that the fire kept roaring, and we hung out for a few more hours before bundling into our cars and setting off for home.

So yeah…it was a perfect weekend, and we were sad to leave. But the good news is that we can always go back!