fdsailor.blog-city.com — April 2005
10:50 pm - Running under the stars
The plan is simple. An "easy" run around the block. No goals, not even to run all the way (although I did). No stopwatches, no GPS, no heartrate monitors.
I am at the top of the hill, the top of the world. The world is bald, and I am running under a canopy of stars. Not a cloud in the sky. The moon is nowhere to be seen.... It is warm, one of the first true spring nights. There is no wind, and the world is asleep.
The "block" is 3.5 miles (5.5 km), round trip. The elevation change is a bit shy of 400 ft (130m). Not an easy run, if you are in a hurry. But tonight, I was trying not to be in a hurry.
I start off running west - around the block clockwise. First a gentle upwards slope, then the hill turns for its downhill stretch. Down, sometimes steeply, sometime with hesitation, the road spills downhill, like a river.
They teach you in running to not anticipate going down a hill. Wait until the gravity tugs at you, then lengthen your stride. Let the hill pull you - your job is to not let it take you too fast, as humans are not meant to travel as fast as a ball would roll down a hill.
I pass the horses -- they are both out, happy that there is no snow as they search for grass... Not too quickly now - place your heel carefully. It is dark and you don't want to let the hill win.
You start by literally running away from home, but you know all along that soon you will return. And the return is the hardest, but the most rewarding, part.
I reach the final pitch to the bottom of the hill. The steepest pitch leading to the lowest point of the run. Halfway. The easy part done. I run along the short stretch where my route touches the highway, then turn to start back home.
I pass a house with no lights on except a flickering light in the room upstairs. The room changes colors. The curtains glimmer in the light. Television.
Uphill. Ugh! Some people claim that it is easier to run uphill compared to downhill. I am not one of them. Go slowly.
Now the hill is tugging against me, challenging me to defy its will. At time I seem to almost be running in place. I hear a dog howling -- but not at the moon. Go on, go slowly, get there.
On the right night running can seem really easy. It is hard to get bored when you have the stars.
I near the top of the hill. One last stretch to go. As I head south, I can see Saturn bright overhead. The overhead world emerges from the trees. I love this part of my world. And at night, it seems like it is just mine to see.
Having finished, I will return, later, some other night.
11:18: Just normal stuff...
This weekend has been pretty normal. It has been raining LOTS. On Saturday, the Rochester area set a new record for amount of rain on this date - 4 cm in 24 hours. Yes, in other months we can have more but for early April this is a lot. Several of our sliding glass doors actually leaked (time to do some house maintenance).
G and I went skating at RIT (the "warm" rink) Saturday night - Masha was babysitting. Just since it has been a while since I have written about skating, I thought I would give a rundown on what I am doing:
- Back crossovers (still!). For some reason I hate practicing these, and sure enough I still have a long ways to go, especially 'clockwise'. Well, maybe two years from now I will have them down the the level of your average 13 year old!
- Waltz jump - this is coming along better. I actually jump now, but I hardly "float". Instead I expect I look like someone jumping that is in the process of being electrocuted - you know - stiff arms, hair standing straight up, look of fear on my face. I am always amazed when I land without killing myself, but somehow I always do. In fact I have only fallen about 3 times doing this jump. So go figure - why am I so afraid? Buzzzzzzzz......
- Half-flip - A simple move that looks better than it feels to do. A toe jump, half rotation.
- Fast forward one-foot spin - just starting to do this. Should be called the "fast death spin" - here you are spinning around so quickly you have no concept of where you are. And just lost your balance for a tenth of a second and you resemble an electric mixer pulled out of a bit of batter without turning it off first....
3:19 pm - Sitting in the office
Today is a wonderful spring day. I went for a walk over lunch (down East Avenue) and looked at all of the various flowers that are poking their heads into the world. Crocuses are in full bloom, and daffodils are ready to go next. The Siberian Squill that I await each year are out, although not in their full strength - give them one week. So all is well in the Spring world.
I am feeling a bit down today, but this is neither abnormal nor a problem. Just the way it goes sometime. But spring helps. I need to get out in the sun more often, perhaps.
My Mom moves from Florida to Lakewood this week. And not a day too late, as Lakewood got what will hopefully be their last two feet of snow this last weekend. I expect now that it is once again warm that things are pretty mushy there, however. Talk about mud season!
Poca!
5:07 PM - Just after work
This morning I stepped out in the driveway and heard several brown creepers (a small, brown invisible bird) singing overhead. Waited for a while and finally spotted on, spiraling downwards on a branch high above.
Work today was much more interesting - I actually got to use by brain and knowledge for a while, rather than primarily working on paperwork. And I found out that it is likely I will NOT have to travel to Washington (for the day - a long trip) this week. I will keep my fingers crossed.
I have a wind ensemble concert concert - a combined concert with several other local high school groups. It will be interesting to see how our university ensemble compares - we presumably have better players, but rehearse only once a week (vs. 5 times per week).
So I guess that's it - my brain is empty....
11:25 pm - Still feeling crummy
Last night for some reason my body wouldn't let me sleep - I expect I was running a low fever. I slept in, and eventually went to work. Well, I didn't make it, and came home after lunch. I slept for a couple of hours - that helped a lot. I had a 38.7 degree fever, but by evening this was gone. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be fixed.
Tomorrow morning Mr. Paddock, the principal of Masha's high school comes for breakfast. This guy is amazing - he really strives to know each of the high schools 1600 students by name, and also tries to eat breakfast with as many of the 500 seniors as is possible. Tomorrow Masha and three of her friends will join him. We are having blini and fruit.
Yumm. Now- the real question - will I be able to taste anything at 6:30 in the morning?
4:21 PM: 142 cans - a new record
OK, for the last year or so I have been buying diet soda by the case and drinking it at work. 2 cans a day. Well, you guessed it, those cans can build up. It was time to cash them in ($.05 per can deposit in NY state).
To keep things "neat", I starting packing them carefully into clear Wegman's bags - hexagonal close pack. As it turns out, that gives you two layers, 18 each. So four bags pack 144 cans (it seemed I missed 2 spots). This gives me a record refund of $7.10. All in four Wegman's bags.
OK, a very small accomplishment, but when you are me, you need to celebrate them all!
10:35 pm: Running, skating, and Saint-Saens
Yesterday I finally went running again - the spring running program had been interrupted almost 2 weeks ago when I got some respiratory illness. But the coughing had mostly gone away, so I tried a trial run.
Well, my lungs still aren't working quite properly (they hurt if I go to fast), but the 9 minute per mile pacer poodle kept me under control. All told I only ran 2.5 miles, but it is a start. Little by little.
This week the schools have spring break, so there is good ice time with no people on it. A good combination. I just got back a bit ago from 1 1/2 glorious hours with just myself and 2 other figure skaters on freshly resurfaced ice. I felt so good I even worked on backwards crossovers, which I never seem to enjoy doing. All told everything went well, although I still cannot believe I will ever get a reliable spin!
Now I am sitting at home, typing, and listening to Saint-Saens Symphony #3. Pretty mellow piece.
And tomorrow the new monitor arrives (Eizo 768) - this will be good!
10:43 - This is what's been happening...
OK, I will start with the latest news - tonight I ran 10 km nonstop!! I have never done this before, and when I started running I had planned my run for 5.5km, with an option for 8 km. When I got to the "decision point", I easily chose the 8 km option (I was not running that fast). As I approached the 8 km mark I talked myself into doing 10. When I got to 10, I stopped. In the end I had run 10 km in 53:53, or about 5:20 per km. I am proud of myself.
Obsession of the week - photo sharing web sites. Sometime later I may write details, but in summary, the one I chose is www.smugmug.com. My personal page is http://yoj.smugmug.com (for those who don't know, yoj is Russian for hedgehog). Check it out! Second place goes to www.flickr.com - very nice site, lacks a few features that maybe only I care about, but very slick indeed. And IT has a free option!
G has stopped working now (she quit Xerox) - now going to be a student for several years. Like all good students, she is still deciding on exactly what she wants to major in - probably either a Nurse Practitioner or a Physician's Assistant. Both good choices. So remember - it is never too late to change careers!
Oh, one final thing - my Eizo monitor has arrived (Eizo 768 - a 19' monitor that is very "color management" friendly). I still have not had my friend over with the monitor calibration gadget, but it already has a mode that depicts colors as printed very accurately. Now we just need to teach Photoshop the same trick!
10:53 - the great washing machine mess..
I love down pillows. I crush them, sleep on them, hug them, and occasionally use them to fend off the dog when she tries to take all of my bed space. And occasionally G and I pummel each other with them ...
Well, several of my pillows are lumpy. OK, that happens now and then. So what to do? Let's try washing one!
I know - crazy idea! But we had done it before with down comforters - take them to the commercial laundromat, put them in a huge washing machine, add soap, press the button and it gets clean. Then put it in the largest dryer you can find for about 100 years (with some tennis balls for good measure) and you get a dry, fluffy (and very warm) comforter!
Yeah - that sounds good - a warm, fluffy pillow! I can hardly wait!
So, pick me most beaten up, dirtiest, lumpiest pillow - not much to lose here! Put it in the washing machine - add the right type of soap, close the door, and come back in an hour. Yawn....
Several hours later I go to transfer it to the dryer. I open the door and get...
An absolute, wet, fuzzy MESS!
Yup, you guessed it - the dang pillow broke! And now I have a washing machine filled with, well, down! (very "past tense" down, if you get my drift!). Yuck. So I clean, and I clean, I wipe, I soak. I wash several towels to accumulate the extra down. I do it again.
... still don't know if its really fixed....
12:20 pm - Ivory-billed Woodpecker found!
My god - I can hardly believe it's true, but it seems to be. After being declared extinct with the last sighting about 60 years ago, an announcement today indicates that a bird has been found! Actually they found it a year ago (certainly ranks right up there for the birding discovery of the century) but the researchers agreed not to announce it for one year, while the habitat is protected, which apparently the Nature Conservancy has been doing in the intervening period. So today they announced and published - complete with video tape documentation.
http://www.npr.org/templates
Amazing stuff. Maybe in my lifetime I will get to see an American Condor (never extinct, but at one time only existing in zoos) and an ivory-billed woodpecker! Good reason to stay alive!
Next? The Loch Ness monster!
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