The Page of Rainbows

It’s been our practice lately to pull a Tarot card (currently from the Osho Zen Tarot) in the morning as a guide or question for the day. Yesterday, I pulled the Page of Rainbows, the card they call “Adventure”, the image of a little girl trundling eagerly over a rainbow-tinted hill.

Moments later, as if on cue, the Call to Adventure came tapping on Magnolia’s door. It arrived clothed as Michael, one of our new Riparian neighbors and friends. “Anybody want to go skiing?” he asked. Now, it has indeed been chilly in Chico the last few days, dipping down into the 20s at night with reports of snow up toward the Sierras. But the grass is still green here in the Sacramento Valley and there are oranges, grapefruit, and lemons on the trees. California and snow, until yesterday, still didn’t go together for me.

But here was the Page of Rainbows himself, calling me out of my erranding plans for a day of fun. And, it so happened that his partner’s ski boots fit me fine. The sun was shining. I didn’t have to call in sick to work. So why would I refuse?

We had a delightful day of skiing. Just about 45 minutes’ drive east of Chico, up in the foothills near Butte Meadows, there are great X-country trails. The snow was startlingly un-Vermont-like: dry, powdery, 10-12” deep. Michael and I skied across the meadows, his dog Sasha bounding along with us, through the big pines, up to the summit of Colby Mountain. At the top, where we stopped to eat lunch in the sun under the fire tower, Mt. Lassen loomed large and white on the horizon. Having done the long, hard work on the ascent, we zoomed happily down the slope, skiing out as the sun was setting. We drove back to our green valley home in the dark. When we got back to Riparia, I was achy and tired, but quite happy.

The adventure was the choosing, the spontaneous leap into an utterly unexpected day. Despite all our current freedom, it’s something that, surprisingly, I don’t do that often. But from now on, when the Page of Rainbows – in whatever guise he or she shows up -- calls me out to play, I hope I’ll say yes.

P.S. You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them.