Last Day Of The Year

A lot of firsts are happening today:

• first time ever we’re visiting Yellowstone National Park in the winter


• first time in 10 years (does that count as a first time) I flew on a propeller plane (last time was going from Ithaca to Newark with a landing in Binghamton when I was heading to South Carolina for a Tae Kwon Do tournament)


• first time ever Nick and I returned to Butte, MT (Clearly you can try to argue that that is not a first—Nick and I have visited Butte with all its mines and even had lunch there when we drove across the country in 2005. But never ever in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be back here. Little did we know that our little plane made a stop over in Butte, and during landing we took another look at the hilly little town with all its smoke stacks.


• first time ever we met a judge of BBQ tournaments… in person… (We shared a 2 hour drive from Bozeman, MT to YNP with him, and he talked the entire way.)


• first time I will not stay up to greet the New Year at midnight (since I can remember… I am sure I might have slept through it when I was younger then 3).

Pike Place Market

The last thing I want is to be a tourist in Seattle. And yet I can never resist taking a stroll through Pike Place Market. (I could never resist it even when I lived in Seattle.) So yesterday, Nick and I did just that.

Christmas Time

Being sick is no fun, but I have to admit that being sick a week before Christmas is so much better then being sick during Christmas. Waiting for the train for 2 hours in the beautiful snow storm left me feeling so drained that when the DFMC group run was cancelled, I decided to skip my long run that weekend. Not running was not enough, and by Sunday night (after spending the weekend printing tens of holiday cards) I completely lost my voice.

Another week of writing and mailing the holiday cards (well over 60), and running only 7.5 miles, and I was ready for our trip to the West Coast. Christmas in Walla Walla was lovely, relaxing and sweet as always. After a beautiful 4.5 miles run into the wheat fields on the morning of Christmas Eve I spent the day trying to help around the kitchen and waiting for the UPS truck to deliver the last of the present.

But not to worry—all the presents arrived and were wrapped in time, lots of turkey, peas and pies were consumed, and the Christmas Eve was another success. By 8 am on Christmas Day the presents “feast” began, and by 11am the sumptuous Christmas breakfast was finished. We spent the rest of the holiday socializing, and eating sweets.

(Oh, the endless variety of chocolates, nuts and dried fruit, homemade caramels, countless brownies and cookies, fudge, pies and a sheet cake… My mind spins…)

The day after Christmas Nick and I drove out into the wheat fields over the Scenic Loop. On the way back, Nick dropped me off about 5 miles away from home and I ran through the fields following Russell Creek Road back into town. Despite the wind and a little bit of snow, it was a beautiful run.

If there are no running events in Walla Walla, someone should definitely organize one. Running through the wheat fields with the snow covered foothills of the Blue Mountains in the background is unforgettable.

Today we are back on the West side of the Cascades, after blazing over Snoqualmie Pass in fear of the coming winter storm. Christmas is over, but the winter magic is not over. After a few days in Seattle, we will be heading to the Yellowstone National Park.

Animal Rights Activists Wanted

Everyone knows how to rent a movie, a car, or even some furniture for your dining room. Did you know that you can now rent a dog? If you think I have made a typo, check out FlexPetz.

FlexPetz members can borrow a dog for a couple of hours or a couple of days (late fees apply). Members can chose from a variety of breeds and sizes. Stroll the streets of New York City with an adorable puffing pug, and take a Jack Russell Terrier along for a run in the Catskills.

You all should know by now that it is not this blog’s goal to whine and complain about all things unjust in this world (e.g. MBTA), but the idea of a rented dog angers me beyond any reasonable restraint.

Clearly FlexPetz anticipated a negative response from avid dog lovers like me—their website’s FAQ section demonstrates their concern. Unfortunately I do not find their answers satisfying.

All dogs are 2-3 years old, and are either rescued or rehomed. FlexPetz “carefully [screens] each dog for social skills, temperament, interest in befriending people, and ability to easily adapt to different people.”

In other words, the dogs FlexPetz selects would be the most likely to be adopted from a shelter or a rescue organization, since an overwhelming number of rescued dogs have health or behavioral issues. It is cruel to send a dog from home to home, and especially so when this would preclude it from being adopted directly into a single family.

Indisputably, shelters euthanize dogs every day. “High-kill” shelters do it a lot sooner, depending on the available space, money and the number of dogs coming in. FlexPetz dogs get a chance to live, but at what price?

A euthanized dog does not suffer—it falls asleep. It does not suffer because it cannot understand that the prickle of a needle means that it is about to die. A dog rotating between several homes cannot avoid but to get anxious about whether its “primary carer” is abandoning it. The dog cannot be told that it is only being dropped off at a member’s house temporarily. I suppose the anxiety would ease if the rotating homes stay the same and the rotation keeps to a regular schedule, but FlexPetz does not seem to enforce any schedule on its members.

FlexPetz “[anticipates] a constant rotation of dogs being adopted by members and new dogs entering FlexPetz.” Is FlexPetz trying to spin its business as a more technologically advanced dog rescue service, where you can “test-own” the dog before adopting it? Yet FlexPetz characterizes their customers as people who “work long hours, travel frequently or have housing/jobs/activities that are not dog-friendly.” Such characteristics hardly make it likely for a member to adopt a dog. Given a choice any normal rescue organization would select against a person fitting this profile when looking for new owners.

In the end I would like to give the founders of FlexPetz credit—it is a great idea, working well to serve our fast pace lifestyle. However, we are talking about renting out live animals who are intelligent and highly sensitive, and who get easily attached to their people.

If you love dogs but your lifestyle precludes you from having one, there are plenty of better ways to interact with dogs. Consider volunteering at a local animal shelter. Take your neighbor’s dog for a walk—the neighbor might appreciate vacuuming the house without anyone attacking the vacuum cleaner. Take care of a dog while the owners are away on vacation, so that the pouch does not have to be kenneled. Whatever you do, please do not go rent a dog. You would not rent a baby, would you?

More on the MBTA Petition

Riding our regular train from Natick to Boston, in just 3 nights we collected over 150 signatures on our MBTA petition. After much deliberation on exactly who, besides MBTA, should receive the petition and the copies of the signatures, the decision has been made.

On Saturday, the petition accompanied by the signatures was sent to the following:

• Daniel Grabauskas, General Manager, MBTA
• Bernard Cohen, Secretary of Transportation
• Alice Peisch, State Representative
• Byron Rushing, State Representative
• MetroBoston
• Boston Globe

USPS expected that most likely the petition will reach the above recipients today, Monday.

Copies will also be sent to the following recipients tomorrow:

• Ed Carr, Director of the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority
• Susan Tordella, Director of the MetroWest/495 Transportation Management Association
  

Suspicious Activity in the Park

These days Fenway is a nice safe neighborhood. Yet the Back Bay Fens is still a park, and parks feel notoriously uncomfortable in the dark. Agassiz Road cuts right across the Fens and is very well lit at night. Still I would suggest you to be attentive and cautious if walking there by yourself in the evenings.

If you were carefully crossing the Fens via Agassiz Road tonight, you might have noticed a suspicious looking person wearing a long coat, slowly canvasing the bamboo growths. The pouring rain and icy road conditions would convince most people to rush home and stay there, warm and dry. A person strolling back and forth and shining a searchlight into the bamboos could be up to no good. If I noticed this character, I would try to walk on the other side of the street, just to keep my distance.

The truth is that the suspicious looking person in a long coat, shining a searchlight into the bushes, was me. Right. This morning I saw two kittens in this area, who looked too clean to be street cats. I presumed that some cruel soul dumped these poor little creatures in the park in the night. But I was late for my train, so I had to walk on, perhaps wrongly so. Tonight I went out looking for them, but of course I did not find them again. Now I can only hope that they really were street cats and thus quite well adapted to the cold.

Brioche

It seemed too cold to run when I got up this morning, so I decided to first deal with the brioche dough I had rising in the fridge since yesterday.

I baked half of the dough last night into rolls. They came out ok, but not too great. The remaining dough has doubled in size, since I last looked at it last night--an excellent sign. I split the dough into 3 parts, and rolled out each one as if I were making baguettes. I then braided the dough, and left it to proof while I went out for a run.

After the run, and a nice shower, I egg-washed the shaped dough and sat by my oven that cannot maintain constant temperature, for over 30 minutes while the bread baked. The result is yet to be checked for taste, but looks like I proofed the bread a bit too long after shaping it. Will have to work on that next time.