Today I turned 40 years old with a bottle of champagne and my family on a summit overlooking the North Cascades. We kicked off the weekend on the Pacific Crest Trail at Harts Pass near Canada. The PCT was the first “big girl” trail I hiked after moving to Seattle in 2013. Spending time in complete silence (for hours) was a first for me. It truly changed my life. When I finally grew comfortable paying attention without immediately reacting, I was really able to listen and see life around me in a way I never had before. If someone asks what really led to the end of my career, it was an internal shift I have a hard time describing but ultimately resembles self-awareness, and it probably began on the PCT. I met several through hikers this weekend who started at the Mexico border and were almost done. I asked what they planned to do after such an accomplishment. “Go home and get back to work,” most said. At first it seems anticlimactic but I remember Trent Peterson, a young man whose story I told years ago, as he rode wild mustangs along the PCT. He used to say that the PCT is just a trail, what matters is that we slow down, pay attention and see clearly whatever path we’re on. I looked up a quote from that report to share with you all.
“This isn't to advocate for the PCT. The PCT is just a trail. Get out of the rat race and slow down. Pay attention to the little things, not just the big things, because it's the whole picture we need to be aware of," he said.
This was one of my “rest” days last week. I had to unload 4 bales of hay each weighing 100lbs. Then 6 bags of feed weighing 50lbs. At 44-years old, I love soaking up some natural light while building strength and hope to be doing it many decades from now. I think city folk call this “functional fitness”.
Keep your muscles and bones happy with the fermented cod liver/butter oil I’ve been taking for 15 years to support full body health with omega 3s and more. Go to Green Pasture and use promo code “ALISON” at checkout for 10% off. https://greenpasture.org/
Honest question: did any of y’all know training a dairy cow to be milked can be really hard? I had NO CLUE what I was getting myself into with this one! I truly thought you could just walk up to any cow and they just let you milk them. What a journey this has been. If I charged for my labor per hour what I used to make in TV news, I’d be rolling in milk money by now.
I believe one day we will be milking Maisy. For now, I’m planning to stay the course, slow and steady. Until the day we get our first gallon, I’ll be getting my butter oil from the fermented cod liver blend at Green Pasture! I just went to the dentist yesterday and got a clear check up. No cavities. Hallelujah! Use promo code “ALISON” at check out for 10% off. https://greenpasture.org/
A short clip from yesterday's show where Jared Bedke says starvation is likely in the near future. The USA beef herd is at its lowest since the 1950s as ranchers are selling off their breeding cows in large part due to drought. Bedke's family has been raising cattle in southern Idaho for several generations and he is predicting food shortages - not just beef - on the horizon. What do you think?
So if you're planning to stock up on steaks, make sure you protect your teeth with some fermented cod liver/butter oil from Green Pasture! I used to get chronic cavities and I started taking it - within months my dental health had improved and I stopped getting cavities. I was likely Vitamin D deficient. This product is fermented instead of processed using high heat, so the nutrients are preserved. Make sure to use promo code "ALISON" at check out for 10% off. https://greenpasture.org/
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/7-deadly-sins-tuesday-june-2-2026?
Happy Nuclear Family month!
Great quote:
“In his terrific book Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis cogently observed, “The essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
In The Great Sin, Lewis added, “Pride is spiritual cancer. It eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.” That was in the 1950s. Lewis was far ahead of his time. If he were still around, I would like to shake his hand.”
