Winning!

Yesterday I felt like a true winner. The day was spent rock climbing and hiking like nobody’s business and to top it off we went skinny dipping in The Rio Grande. But not just to cool off. No, we were swimming for our lives to make it to the other side of the ferocious river.

The current in The Rio Grande in this particular location in New Mexico is out of control and so strong it flushes you downstream so fast you really have to put all your effort into it to make it before you get catapulted into the little waterfalls with dangerous, sharp rocks. It was so much fun, scary, exciting and an adrenaline rush like never before crossing the river forth and back again butt naked screaming, kicking and laughing.

Having the chance to enjoy wild nature like this, to use your body, mind and instincts in completely unsophisticated manners takes you back to basics where it’s about survival and not about Hollywood gossip, 900 Dollars shoes or movie making. Being out in nature like this sharpens your senses. And I guess also your ‘common sense’. It becomes clearer what is important in life and what is perhaps not so important.

Living in Hollywood or any big city juggling a job where you have to think about your appearance and  how you look most of your waking hours I find it important to take ‘breathers’ where you do something completely out of context where Dom Perignon and Louis Vuitton is not in the equation. For me nature works. And yesterday was a special day. It was my father’s birthday and we spent it together with my 2 American/Danish/German siblings doing what we do best; being outdoors and usually in faraway locations where nobody is around because they find it unsafe.

So later yesterday evening, when we pulled into the parking lot in front of the fancy restaurant in Down Town Santa Fe I checked my reflection in the mirror and saw a big content smile. I felt like a winner. It felt effing amazing to have survived this day. I know it sounds nuts, but it was such a great sensation and I felt that I deserved this meal and the wine we were about to enjoy more than ever.

Ok, enough of my ranting. I’m about to head out into the day and to do some exploration of Santa Fe….

Outlook from White Rock. Rio Grande meandering way down in the gorge. And yes, we are climbing down there!

New Mexican nature is breathtaking…

My gorgeous brother content with the situation.

I’m not sure my running shoes are legit rock climbing shoes… Oops! PS – the smoke in the background is from the ferocious wild fire that has eaten up more than 130.000 acres of New Mexican landscape. It’s beyond sad!!! Luckily the fire is under control now.

My family under the New Moon…

Dad & Brother under sunset

Dad & sister at my dad’s birthday dinner, Down Town Santa Fe 🙂

This is what a dead forest looks like after a wild fire …. 🙁

….

Now I know what Nuclear Holocaust might look like…. A whole valley burnt to the grounds. This is not a joke people!  This crazy wild fire was caused by human stupidity… no words…. And please notice how the sky is heavy with smoke from the fire. It was practically impossible to breath in certain areas of Los Alamos and even in the valley. Just imagine how the wild life is suffering in situations like this…