Watching Figure Skating

Training for the marathon won't kill me, because watching Olympic figure skating will. It is almost 11:30pm, and the men's short program is still in full swing live from Vancouver. I will not and cannot stop watching, and this is my third evening straight watching figure skating--pairs competition was on Sunday and Monday nights. Thankfully, there will be a break tomorrow--the men's long program is not until Thursday night. And it will go late into the night. While the short program is only 2 minutes and 50 seconds long, men's long program is 4 and a half minutes long!

Here are the roots of my addiction to figure skating:

Ankle Stories

The following is a slight variation of the song by the Decemberists called Red Right Ankle (if you follow the link, click on the Preview button to hear the tune).

This is the story of my poor left ankle
And how it came to meet my leg
And how it twisted as my feet got tangled
On the stairs as I fell.

And how it screamed in misery
“Oh what have you done to me!
For whatever differences our lives have been
We together make a limb.”
This is the story of my poor left ankle.



That was 5 weeks ago, and things are definitely improving. For example, I have started running for 5 minutes a day last week. Of course, it will take me a bit longer than 5 minutes (more like 4+ hours) to run the Boston Marathon. With just over 2 months left before the race I am determined to do it, and my plan is fully supported by my team's coach, my physical therapist, and of course by my dear husband. So please--no worrying!

Yosemite National Park: Staying in Curry Village

While visiting the Yosemite National Park, we stayed in a heated tent cabin in Curry Village. We chose to stay in Curry Village because of its excellent location—right in the Yosemite Valley, with beautiful views and close to many trailheads.

A “heated tent cabin” is a tarp draped over a plywood room, built on an elevated wooden platform. Our cabin had electricity and came with two windows and an opening in the door, open to the outside but covered by a tarp. Being a “heated” tent cabin, the room also had a forced air heater.

Staying in this “heated tent cabin” in Curry Village felt similar to camping, but nicer. We had beds, pillows, sheets, blankets, and clean towels every day. Unfortunately, I am just not into camping all that much. So I found it somewhat difficult to climb from under my two blankets and a sleeping bag in the middle of the night, and then put on socks, pants, fleece, coat, hat, gloves and a head lamp—all for a trip to the communal bathroom.

Black bears live in Yosemite National Park. Their proximity and their excellent sense of smell require all tent cabin guests to store their food and toiletries in the “bear locker”, and one was stationed by every tent cabin. A “bear locker” is a metal box with a deeply set, covered latch that would be impossible for a bear to reach.

After spending the night inside the bear locker in the winter, some toiletries changed their consistency. Toothpaste, for example, became a bit difficult "to chew", and applying deodorant and lotion had a rather cooling effect on the body.

At first, we did not take the food storage rules all that seriously. While we locked up our peanut butter and jam, a granola bars and a bag of cookies remained in our packs overnight. Bad idea! Next day, we discovered that bear lockers do not only protect us from bears. A little mouse went through our backpacks and enjoyed a bit of granola and cookies. Certainly we never forgot to extract all edible items from our backpacks again.

Our Trip to Yosemite National Park

After watching Ken Burns’ new documentary on National Parks in the fall, Nick and I decided to ring in 2010 in Yosemite National Park in California. Many plans were made, and many plans were changed.

Only a few days before we got to the park, Nick and I decided not to follow the original plan and go to the Ostrander Hut. The trek sounded like it would be very hard. As uncertainties amounted, we worried that the adventure might be too stressful for us to enjoy.

Our friends, Ryan and Talia successfully made the journey to and from the Ostrander Hut on snowshoes despite all of our worries, and you can read about their adventure on Ryan's blog: Day 1 and Day 2.

Day 1: Tuesday, December 29, 2009

After skiing for a few yards—their first ever attempt at cross country skiing—Ryan and Talia decided to snowshoe to the hut instead. So Nick and I explored the Glacier Point Road by ourselves, as it winded through the tall snow covered evergreens.

We enjoyed the downhills and worked up a sweat going uphill. The road was well groomed, and the snow at Badger Pass was abundant. At one point, the Merced Peak appeared on the horizon before the road turned downhill again.

We stopped for lunch when we reached the Clark Range view point. Sitting on stones on the side of the road, we enjoyed sweeping mountain views, accompanied by yummy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.


Day 2: Wednesday, December 30, 2009

All in all, we skied over 11 miles at Badger Pass. Being still quite tired the next day, we were glad we did not have to ski the distance all over again. While Ryan and Talia made their way back from the Ostrander Hut, having gotten there well before dark the previous day, Nick and I took it easy. We slept in, checked out the park’s Visitors Center, spoke to some park rangers, and did not start hiking until after lunch.

Following park rangers' suggestions, we headed for the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. As we walked away from the road, the trail quickly became steep. We huffed and puffed and peeled away our clothing layers like onions, as we climbed up the endless switchbacks. After taunting us with glimpses of its magnificence, the Half Dome finally emerged from behind the trees in all its glory--we reached the point on the trail known as Columbia Rock. The valley lay at our feet, and the Half Dome seemed to be with an arm’s reach.



We decided not to continue up the trail, and descended back into the valley instead.


Twilight was coming over the valley, and fog was rising over the Merced River as we walked across a beautiful meadow. The setting sun made the snow covered mountains sparkle with shades of pink and orange.


Day 3: Thursday, December 31, 2009


On the day of New Years Eve all four of us decided to explore the Mariposa Grove, one of very few areas where giant sequoias grow. The road there took us to the park's Southern entrance, and from there the last two miles of the road were closed for the winter. Even though the snow was scarce and icy in places, we chose to ski to the grove. We were definitely in the minority. A few other people skied to the Mariposa Grove that day, and several people were snowshoeing, but the majority of the people sadly were walking.


After slogging uphill the entire two miles, we finally reached the first giant sequoias, and giant they were. We continued up along the road, skiing past the Fallen Monarch and stopping near the Bachelor and Three Graces. The giant sequoias’ trunks looked so enormous, that they could have easily fit many of the surrounding tree trunks inside. We just stood there with our heads tilted and our mouths hanging open.

The next giant sequoia we saw, the Grizzly Giant, is the biggest giant sequoia in the Mariposa Grove, and it was amazing. Aptly named, this enormous tree looked a bit like a monster rising against the sky. Far above the ground its massive branches curved up towards the clouds—each branch thicker than any ordinary tree trunk.

Nearby stood the California Tunnel Tree, so named because in 1895 a tunnel was carved through the bottom of the tree, and cars used to drive right through it. It is amazing how this tree managed to survive, but there it still stands, still working hard on trying to heal itself.


There were more giant sequoias to see in the Upper Grove, but by then we only had about an hour of daylight left, so we decided to turn back. Our friends did not want to attempt the icy road downhill on their first day of cross country skiing, so they walked, while Nick and I tested the effectiveness of the steel edges that our “backcountry” skis had as we slid back towards the parking lot.
Since it was the New Years Eve, we stopped at the Wawona Hotel for a celebratory dinner. On our way back to Curry Village where we stayed, we stopped at the Tunnel View Point and enjoyed an amazing view of the El Capitan and the Half Dome lit up by the full moon.

Day 4: Friday, January 1, 2010

On our last full day in the park, we walked up to the Mirror Lake, and continued up the Snow Creek trail. It was very grey and cloudy, and the sheer granite wall of the Half Dome loomed ominously above us. Despite the enthusiasm of some amongst us, we turned around before reached the point on the trail from where we could see the creek.




As we hiked back down, the most amazing thing happened. Within minutes, the clouds melted away and the sun came out. The scenery transformed, and the granite and snow shined against the clear blue sky.



Day 5: Saturday, January 2, 2010

Before leaving the park on Saturday morning, we explored the Ahwahnee, the magnificent hotel built in 1927 to attract the “affluent and influential” visitors to the park. We also had just enough time to take a stroll to the bottom of Yosemite falls.

Christmas Moments

Here is the recap of our Christmas in Walla Walla this year (my tenth, no less), as seen through the photos taken by Katherine and Nat. (Thanks guys!)


There is a story behind this giant cake. While an abundance of cookies, ice cream and sheetcake is far from uncommon in Walla Walla, I have never witnessed a sheetcake this big during all my years visiting. According to Nick’s grandma Joanne, her daughter Laurie (Nick’s mom) told Joanne to order the sheetcake in full size, which she did. Of course, Laurie vehemently denies ever making such a request. Plus Nick’s grandma is notorious for her love of all things sweet and cake especially.

There is a particular point, a certain overpass over I-90 that for me marks the border line between Eastern and Western Washington. Every year as we drive under it I plan to figure out the name of the road. Yet another year goes by, and I still do not know which road it is.

There is nothing remarkable about the overpass. We have driven under many like it, and many more lie ahead. It is just another road, not even a highway. It is what lies on each side of it that seems drastically different.

Driving east along I-90 the car is still descending after going over the Cascades at the Snoqualmie Pass. Magically, the descend ends right as we drive under the overpass. The highway straightens and becomes perfectly flat. The terrain ahead is empty and desert-like. In the summer, you can see tumbleweed rolling on the side of the highway.

The opposite happens when driving west along I-90. At this overpass, the desert ends, and tall evergreen trees spring up on both sides of the highway. The engine revs as the car begins the climb into the mountains. We have left Eastern Washington behind on our way to Seattle.

Vacation So Far

I have been on vacation since last Saturday, but today marks the first day when I did not have something I absolutely had to do while at home.

Review of the week:

• Saturday--2 hour workout at the gym, pack, run over to the airport, fly to Seattle.
• Sunday--lunch with friends, stuff, stamp and close up the holiday cards.
• Monday--short run, make two toy frogs which involved ironing, cutting out and sewing the fabric, stuffing and closing up the first frog.


• Tuesday--run, lunch with friends, prepare more holiday cards for mailing while Nick drove the car, shop for clothes for our upcoming trip to Yosemite National Park, iron 12 towels (5 minutes each!), wash the towels (thankfully not by hand), stuff and close up the second frog.
• Wednesday--drive to Walla Walla, get a haircut.
• Thursday--run (in the fields!), finally mail our holiday cards, make Parker House Rolls, eat a ton of food.

And that brings me to today. I think I finally do not have any immediate tasks with a deadline hanging over me. (If I do, I have completely forgotten what they were. Hopefully they were not too important.)

We started the day by opening presents, followed by a traditional enormous brunch. Later while Nick napped, I joined a couple avid birders in the family for a short trip to look for owls near Frog Hollow Road just outside of Walla Walla.

The drive took us through the rolling fields, where we saw many pheasants. Red-tailed hawks sat on many telephone poles along the road. We were lucky--we saw two great horned owls. Nick's uncle, Nat, took some great photos of it through his telescope.