New #17: Explore Wings Over the Rockies Museum

One of the most useful books I own is a tour guide to Colorado. Sure it's for the state where I live, and one might wonder what tourist information could I need at home? But filled inside are places and adventures right in my own backyard that I never would have discovered otherwise. Case in point: The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum, an amazing museum tucked away literally in the middle of Aurora's suburbia. I never would have found it by myself - but thanks to the tour book, I got a glimpse of some history, airplanes and artifacts I couldn't have imagined were nestled in Colorful Colorado.

Big smile in front of a big plane.

The museum's building itself is a part of airplane history, set inside the former Lowry Air Force Base hangar (which was later engulfed by surrounding new homes - hence the seemingly odd location). Inside the enormous room are dozens of planes of all sizes and decades parked and offering an up-close look. From a gigantic B1A Lancer bomber (yes, I had to look that up) to compact spy planes, there were all sorts of vessels to the sky that I could read about, look inside and touch.


I admit airplanes have never been very interesting to me beyond the places they can take me. I guess it's always seemed like something just boys appreciate, like trains and poking dead things with a stick. And at the museum, Ben and my dad definitely were enthralled. But I actually found it very interesting to take a look at the details of the planes, like the big bolts that held the metal slabs together to make the wings, that somehow could lift that heavy hunk of material off the ground. It's really pretty impressive. And to think one person could sit in a tiny cockpit and control that massive behemoths through the sky is even more mind boggling.


Along with looking at planes, I got to fly one myself, too. A simulation of one, at least. It was the Wright Brother's first craft, which looks kind of like a wooden hang glider. With the help of a volunteer, I laid down on my stomach in the recreation of the plane. Controlling my elevation with a pole in front of me and using my hips to steer the rudder, I watched a screen as the stimulation of my plane slowly took off from the digital ground.

Me in the airplane simulator with the encouraging volunteer by my side.

I did a really good job the first minute or so, leveling out the plane over the prairie in front of me. All that was missing was the wind in my hair and the threat I could actually crash and die. Good thing, because soon I came across a neighborhood ... which didn't go so well. Long story short, I tried to avoid a tree and crashed into the side of a building. Game over for Sarah.

Here I am flying high.

And here I am crashing.

I may not be the best pilot, but I left the museum with a new appreciation of airplanes, as well at the people who design, fly and fix them.

New #16: Yoga

I didn't think I'd like yoga one bit. It's always seemed like one of those hobbies best suited for the hippy-chic crowd, or else the kind of person who thinks running is really fun. Not me. I thought that I, an inflexible ball of tight muscles and tension, would have to wrap my legs around my neck while standing on one hand. And through it all, I figured I'd be fighting the constant urge to fart. But thankfully, after my first yoga class, I'm happy to say none of it was true.

Still, the beginning of this new wasn't easy. One of the hardest parts of getting me to yoga in the first place was that I always thought it was a little bit too cool for me, and walking into the classroom at my gym didn't help with the intimidation factor much. The lights were dimmed low, with three candles glowing near the stage. There was new age music playing in the background. And five minutes before it was set to start, there were already dozens of yogis sprawled out on their mats, some silently stretching and others seemingly sleeping. Everyone had taken off their shoes. The hippy vibes were definitely oozing - and so was my anxiety.

But then I met our instructor. I don't know if she's already reached the total peace of Nirvana, but this girl somehow put everything at easy. Once she started giving us directions, I could finally relax. And apparently, that's what yoga is all about.

We started with a meditation-like exercise, focusing on relaxing every inch of our body. With eyes closed, we made sure our shoulders were loose, our neck was straight and even that our tongue wasn't pressed to the roof our mouth. I never knew my tongue could carry tension, but it was so nice to free the little licker and let it go.

Soon, I was calm. And it was with this serenity that we began working into the yoga positions I'd been dreading. But the way we transitioned from one little move to the next, they really weren't very bad at all. Even the instructions on how to get into each new step was peaceful. In yoga, you don't press your foot to the ground. No, no. Instead, you "invite your heel to the earth." Like I said, very peaceful.

Before I knew it, we'd somehow transitioned from sitting with our legs out in front to making a plank, which is like you're ready to do a push-up. It was while holding this position that I first learned how yogis get their exercise. My usual work outs of kickboxing and treadmills are constant huffing and puffing with an elevated heart rate. But with yoga, it's more of a constant burning of the whole body that kills the calories. I never was out of breath, but even 15 minutes into class I was starting to sweat.

Not used to this kind of training, things started to get weird for me. While holding the plank position, my body began vibrating from head to toe. I could almost hear my muscles crying WTF! And I can only imagine how pathetic my jitters and gyrating must have looked. But like a true yogi, I held strong. Soon it was over and we were back to more meditating.

The entire class was very serene, even with the bouts of painful positions thrown in. Nothing was unbearable. After we were finished with various moves, I could feel a new strength in my muscles and body. It wasn't a soreness, but more of a burn that made me feel empowered and alive. Who knew yoga could hurt so good?

Toward the end, we did some more sitting, stretching and reflecting. The instructor asked us to think about what we'd gained from the class. By this point, I was so totally relaxed, content and happy, I was proud to realize I'd gained a new hobby that afternoon. I've never left a workout feeling quite as calm. It actually was comparable to leaving an hour-long massage. Seriously. So slather on some patchouli and call me a hippy, but I think yoga is something I'm definitely going to be doing more of in the future.

Namaste.

New #15: Listen to a Book on Tape (or CD)

This isn't really the first time I've ever listened to a book on tape. In fact, as kids my sister and I were a bit of book-on-tape-aholics. Whether we were driving around town or on a road trip across the country, we were more than happy sitting in the back seat listening to stories about the Care Bears and Ninja Turtles over and over and over again. Just keep flipping that tape Mom, because these 15-minute gems are never gettin' old.

To this day I don't understand what we found so amusing about listening to the same exact story not just 100 times, but 100 times in a row. As an adult, I decided it was time to see if I could rediscover some of that same allure by once again inviting a dramatic voice to read to me through my stereo. However, as a new, I decided to give chapter books a try.

I went to the library without a book in mind and decided to see what caught my eye. After a bit of browsing, it came down to "Pride and Prejudice," an ripened classic, and "Armageddon's Children," which as far as I can tell, is still fermenting its critical acclaim. Obviously, I went for tackier of the two. Some people like romance. I like post-apocalyptic suffering.

While I haven't finished "reading" the book yet (it's over 14 hours long), I am enjoying the journey of the characters during my own travels to work. It's a much different experience than curling up at home with the book in my lap, eyes glued to the page. Instead, by having the story read to me, I get to continue physically moving forward with my day during a time when I wouldn't otherwise be able to actually read a book. It's nice to let my mind wonder into the work of fiction while my own mundane drive passes by. Also, in my own sick way, I'm finding it fun to watch the scenery go by and imagine it during the end-of-life-as-we-know-it future told in the story. But that's just me. Overall, having the book read to me lets me feel like I'm doing something productive during a 20-minute drive that's usually wasted flipping through the radio.

However, I must admit the audio version of the book leaves much to be desired. There's the narrator, to start. Yeah, maybe everyone likes the sound of their own voice the best - but this guy is pretty bad. He is overly dramatic and always overacting, which is especially funny (and annoying) when he's trying to read the characters' dialogue. No matter how hard he attempts to throw his voice, this burly man can never quite convince me he's a 12-year-old girl. I'm honestly just amazed he tries.

Then there's the stuttering. Not the narrator, but the CD itself. Some listener before scratched the whole thing up, leaving me often stuck with one word being repeated eight times over before the disc can skip forward. That's never happened to me reading my own paperback - no matter how much wine I've had to drink.

And besides these minor quirks that come with the reader and technology, the idea of an audiobook just kinda feels like cheating. It's kind of like watching a book's movie and then trying to analyze the original literature. So much is laid out for you in the narrator's voice and tone. It's not the same as setting your own dramatic pace of the story, creating the characters' voices in your head and flipping through the pages one by one.

But then again, maybe I'm being overcritical. People have read to each other through the ages. And even if this person is just a digital voice playing in my stereo, it's still transforming my Point A to Point B drive into a brief journey into the author's ideas. In the end, I guess that's what books - whether read or heard - are all about.