Massey wanted to feel festive yesterday, so she found herself some green and red. Then she said "woof woof woof" which loosely translates to "Happy Christmas."
She later informed Mom and Dad that we shouldn't cut the grass when its so wet.
Blog
Last Light
So, I'm not exactly sure where to begin. This actually happened back in October, but it still stings...and, thus, I've been putting off writing this blog. Unfortunately, it needs to be told (if only to pay respects). I've gone through many titles in my head... "Good Memories", "Tears", "Thank You Insurance", "Put the Thing in the Bag", "Don't Climb Tired". I decided on "Last Light", because that's what it was. It's ironical that the "last light" happened when attempting to capture "first light". Okay, enough of the intro, time to move on. Back in October, Beth went to a photography workshop in Mammoth, CA (absolutely beautiful by the way) for about a week. Since she was taking her terminal leave from the military this was easy for her. Unfortunately, for me, I had to work during the week. The rough plan was for me to drive out to meet her Friday night. Unfortunately (yes I'm using that again), I was unable to get off work early to drive out there. I ended up leaving Monterey around 7PMish. Now, I don't really remember how long the drive was (or actually is), but it's long. To make matters worse, I don't prefer to drive at night...or for that matter, long distances. But everything was going well despite being tired and making a few u-turns. That is, until I reached Yosemite.
Now, driving at night on the highway is doable, but driving through Yosemite in the dead of night...well, for me, not so much (mistake one). Nothing terrible happened except that it took forever. It's dark there–really dark. I somehow arrived safely to Mammoth after seeing several deer that looked like they thought playing chicken would be fun (making me drive slower) and learning that "speeding kills bears" (I was no where near speeding). I think it was around 1AM or 2AMish (you'll have to confirm with Beth) when I finally got there.
Beth was outside to meet me and guide me (or carry me) to the hotel room/bed. I don't remember much about this, so again, Beth may have to confirm. All I really remember was being tired and knowing that Beth was going to wake me up in a couple of hours to go shoot the sunrise. I think when my head hit the pillow, I was asleep. I'm pretty sure it was almost instantaneous...zzzzzzz.
Not being a morning person, the morning came way too early or maybe the later still early morning came too soon. I thought I had just drifted off to sleep when Beth was waking me up to go out and shoot. I dragged my feet out of bed and then down to the car–somewhere along the way I met some of the other photographers we were shooting with. Again, I think I tried to catch some sleep on the way to sunrise location (which was good).
When we finally arrived at the "first light" location, I was tired (mistake two) but feeling okay. We met up with the other photographers and then started to hike out. We followed a trail for a good distance and then, of course, because I'm me, I decided that the shot of the mountains and the valley would be better from higher up. So, off-trailing I went (mistake three). I'm somewhat of a minimalist when it comes to caring camera gear, so I have my camera slung over my shoulder and I'm carrying my tripod (mistake four). Up I continued.
I stopped a few times and then finally decided on a spot. I setup my tripod, mounted the camera and snapped a few photos. Most if not all of these shots were test shots. I was trying to get the composition the way I wanted it and mucking with long exposures. The sun was just starting to peak above the horizon when (for some dumb reason) I decided that the current spot I was at was not high enough (mistake five). Being tired and thinking that I only needed to climb about 20 more yards was my mistake. I thought, "No problem, I'll just hike a bit more up there and I'll be good." Since the sun was beginning to rise, I suppose I felt rushed (mistake six).
In a tired haste, I started climbing. However, I didn't take the camera off of the tripod like I normally do when I'm hiking (mistake seven...and perhaps the big one). I was almost to the spot I wanted to be in when it happened. I stepped on a big rock that I thought was stable...and it was...but only for a moment. Now, I've fallen before with my camera...even with the big 100-400mm on. I've always been able to keep the camera out of danger. But this time, the camera was on the tripod when the rock gave out.
Fortunately, I was okay. The photographer behind me asked if I was okay...he thought I broke my leg or something. Unfortunately, I knew immediately when I caught myself that something broke. The camera mounted on the tripod had hit the rock as I caught myself from falling...and it snapped in half. Yes, that's right, I said it snapped in half. My favorite lens of late, the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM lens was done. Cut down in her prime...by a dumb mistake. Somehow, the glass in the lens was unscathed--but the lens was in two. My camera mind you, the cheapest part of the whole system was perfectly fine (save some dust on the sensor probably).
Of all the things to break, I would have rather it have been the camera and not the lens. Bummer. So, distraught, I hike over to Beth cradling the remains of her and explained to Beth what happened and that I was going back to the car to have a nap. My morning of shooting was done. I was tired and mad at myself for being so careless...oh well. In memory of my favorite lens, here is the last photograph, the test photograph from about 15 yards from the accident, the last light.
Moment of silence...
Cut Down in Her Prime...
Fortunately, we insure our lenses and we were reimbursed for all but about $20 of the price and a filter or two.
Big Shoes to Fill...
So, I suppose, nothing was really lost in the end...only a few bucks. But it still hurts to look at her in pieces. I'm hopeful that perhaps she'll be able to be repaired someday.
Lessons Learned:
- Maybe I should put the camera in a bag.
- Don't leave the camera on the tripod and hike up a mountain.
- Don't hike and carry a camera up a mountain tired.
- Don't hike on less than three hours of sleep.
- Don't be rushed.
- Don't always try to get higher.
- ALWAYS insure your lenses.
- Make every shot count as it may be the last one.
Creekside
Free time. Its a double-edged sword. When I quit the job I'd been doing for 8 years back in September, I was overjoyed at the prospect of days upon days of free time. I made a mental list of adventures and fun projects and little tasks I wanted to spend all my awesome free time doing. It was going to be great. Then things get in the way because there's time to let them get in the way...looking for a house, buying a house, moving into a house, getting all that stuff done to make that new house a home, looking for a job, interviewing for jobs, taking the dog for a run, tracking down all of our stuff that the military seems to have misplaced somewhere between here and Lousyana, going to the laundromat because our washer and dryer are with all of that misplaced stuff, waiting for a handyman who shows up 3 hours late to install something, wine tasting, dinner with friends, etc. (I'm not complaining about the last 2, by the way, nor the dog running).
Despite all of that, the one thing I can count on nearly every day is an hour or two of solitude in Ft Ord. Our new house is a mere 3 miles from the Creekside Terrace trailhead. While the trails aren't the primo singletrack that you'll see gracing the pages some glossy mountain bike magazine, there is nearly an endless supply of dirt and open space. Some days I trail run with the dog, some days I run with Terry and the dog, other days we hike, and every now and then I get to take the mountain bike out for a good chunk of therapeutic me time. And sometimes the camera comes along.
In January I'll start a new job. My days of freedom are coming to an end. I need finish that to-do list in the next month. And I hope that my daily romps in Ft Ord don't get lost in the busy shuffle.
Bodie
A few years ago I went to the Bodie State Historic Park hidden in the hills north of Mono Lake as part of a photography workshop. Bodie is an old mining town better known today as one of the best-preserved ghost towns anywhere. When I learned that this photo workshop was going to Bodie, I wasn't happy...I was in the Eastern Sierra for the first time ever and you're taking me to a ghost town?! But as soon as I got there, I loved it. So many cool old buildings and abandoned bits and pieces of an by-gone era. I was a little sad when I had to leave that afternoon. I still have some of those Bodie photos posted on our Flickr page. Fast forward to October of this year. I was up in the Sierra doing another photo workshop (I highly recommend the Mountain High Workshops by the way), and I was very excited to hear that we were going to Bodie. But I also knew I had to challenge myself to find some unique vantage points. I had taken a lot of the obvious shots last time, and being with a group, I didn't want the exact same frames as everyone else. So I wandered around and crawled around in the grass for a bit and ultimately hiked a big hill overlooking the little town. It was tough with the harsh late-morning light, but I came away with a few I liked. Enjoy the sampling.
Special thanks to Kevin McNeal for encouraging me to find some new perspectives around town.
Market Street
Terry had the day off on Thursday, so we headed up to the Bay Area. First off was a "quick" stop at Ikea that, 4.5 hours and a full tummy of meatballs later, sufficiently filled the back of my Honda Element. Then we continued north to San Francisco. I had seen some cool night photos of the San Francisco street cars on Flickr, so the goal was to make our own cool night photos of the San Francisco street cars. It was a whole lot harder than we expected.
Here's a few I got...
And a couple from Terry...
Next time we'll be there later at night when there's less traffic, both human and gas-powered. We'll also find a better place to park that doesn't close at 7 and that doesn't charge by the minute (that's right, I said minute).
Day 313.
Today is the 313th day of 2010. As our Flickr follows have figured out, we have been doing a Photo of the Day project for 2010, and so far, we've each posted 312 photos (that's through yesterday) to our respective POTD sets on Flickr. 624 total for teamwelliver. That's a lot of photos, but that's only 1 photo per day. Sure, some days we've only taken 1 photo, but other days, we've each taken a bunch. Our Aperture library is overflowing, our hard drives are quickly filing, yet most days only get 1 single photo posted. I have other photos from those days that I like, but they tend to get orphaned, left to wilt and get lost in the shuffle of far too many photos. So today I share some of my favorites from the last week or so that didn't make my cut as the POTD. Doesn't mean I didn't like them--they just weren't "the one" for that day.
This collage was all taken with my Canon G10 point and shoot while I was hiking with the dog on a damp, foggy morning last week. If you're curious, this day's POTD can be found here.
This set is from a walk to the post office yesterday afternoon with the dog. The upper left photo here actually was my POTD from yesterday.
And finally some spiderwebs from that same damp morning as the first collage above. Again, captured with the G10 point and shoot.
My thoughts on the POTD project with just over a month and a half to go...its been fun, especially during the periods when I was living in Louisiana and Terry was living in Monterey. Its been tough to find something inspiring everyday. Some days its been hard just to find time to take a quick photo. Some days we've gotten some good stuff. On a few days we've even gotten great stuff. On other days we just take whatever is easy, especially when its 11 pm and its time for bed and we've forgotten to take a photo. Has it made us better photographers? I think so, but at the same time, I feel its polluted our pool of photos. We've posted some lower quality stuff on Flickr, thus sharing art that isn't our best work with the world. Does that matter? Who knows.
In the end what matters is that we've done something we love to do, everyday, for a whole year. We've documented us. We've documented life. We've documented our lives. Will we do it again next year? Probably not. The project will have run its course. But its been a fun little journey.
Highway 25
Last week I was putzing around on the interwebs looking for new bike routes when I found a road described as "lonely outback" and wanted to check it out. I convinced Terry that we needed to go on an exploratory photo outing to check out this scenic area along California Highway 25. He is on a quest to find a nicely-shaped, lone tree isolated by itself on one of those lovely golden California hills, so it was easy to get him to go along. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great when we started out--low clouds and spitting rain--but we didn't have anything else better to do, so the three of us (yep, the dog went, too), piled in the car and headed south down the 101 to King City and then east into some very lonely but lovely countryside, eventually looping up to Hollister. Below is a sampling of what we saw--some from me and some from Terry. Can't wait to see this area during wildflower season.
There was a rainbow even now and then, but she wasn't very bright.
The fall colors were still going strong in a few spots...
And then there was Terry's horse. As we drove along, this horse was perfectly framed under the tree, so I slammed on the brakes, Terry put on the big lens, and then the horse moved. So Terry waited...and waited...and then waited some more. He walked about a half mile back up the road hoping the horse would shift just enough so that had that great composition again, but the horse didn't cooperate. Terry finally got fed up and settled with this image.
A few black and white "prairie" shots...because I love prairie and I love black and white.
While we wandered through ditches and along fences, Massey had to wait in the car, which made her less than happy. She wanted to go play, too!
Terry had to take a pic of his girls waiting for him...
Sierra Macros
A couple of weeks ago I did the Mountain High Workshops Fall Color Workshop up in the Eastern Sierras. It was a great workshop with some incredibly talented pro-photographers for instructors. I learned a lot about landscape compositions and refining my eye to see better light and small nuances in the frame in order to make a stronger photograph. So there we are, in the awe-inspiring Sierras, full of colorful aspens and beautiful alpine lakes, and I kept taking macro shots. I can't get enough of the small details. It helped that I had the trusty Canon 180mm macro lens along in my bag...that lens does magical stuff. While everyone else was shooting the amazing landscape with their wide-angles and super wide-angles, I was tinkering in the trees with my macro. Below are a few of the better results. I have a few of my landscape shots already posted on Flickr.
Thanks for reading!
Clinton Reservoir
Back in August our families got together in Colorado. I was there to do this little mountain bike race called the Leadville Trail 100, and they all were my support crew. Unfortunately the race didn't go as planned...while the legs and lungs were sufficiently ready after 6 solid months of training, my neglected core region let me down and I missed the first time cut-off 40 miles in. Disappointing for sure, but on the bright side we all got to hang out together for a bit in Colorado.
My mom is constantly wanting family pictures. Anytime anyone gets together, she wants a photo, and normally we get too busy and forget. So, on the last evening we were all together we headed out to Clinton Reservoir and posed for a few shots.
Terry and I also got distracted by the gorgeous scenery and took a few non-family photos. There were incredible "big views" complete with wildflowers...
And there were some great "smaller scenes"...Terry is getting tired of my back-lit grass photo addiction, but I like them.
I'm loving the way these asters turned out...
Terry's dad, John, got a couple of great candids...I love the way he processed them. And my sister's white-blonde curly hair is perfect for some late afternoon backlighting.
Even Mom and Dad's cutie little Welsh Terrier named Tory enjoyed the view. (For those wondering about our dog, she's somewhere chasing birds up the mountain or attempting to summit her first 14er while we photog-ed).
I remember standing there watching the sun drop behind the far peaks for the final time during our vacation that night and getting a little sad as the last daylight of our Colorado adventure faded away. The last sunset in the mountains is always a little bittersweet.
Mornings at the Beach
We love our dog. She's great...total sweetheart who always wants to play with one of us. But she hasn't adjusted her internal clock to Pacific time just yet...she still 2 hours off in Central time. So every morning at roughly 5:45 she's had enough of stealing all the space at the end of the bed where our feet should be and is ready to start her day--which must start with a trip outside to see if the random cat is still there. Usually by 6:30 Terry groans something about "lay down Massey" and I end up taking her out. And then shortly after Terry heads out the door an hour later (and a few "is he ever coming back?" whimpers from the dog), I can't take her hyperness anymore and we have to go for a run. Today we went to the beach. The beach and the ocean are 2 very different things to this dog. The beach is endless miles of running and birds, birds, birds and sand and awesomeness. The ocean is cold and scary and that water keeps sneaking up on me and trying to get me wet and is so unawesome. Hilarious to watch. Here are a few quick snaps from this morning's stroll...since I said I would post more photos this week.
Don't worry...once I get caught up on my Flickr POTD posting today, I'll throw a few photo essays up from our 2050-mi road trip from Lousyana to Cali. And maybe some from Leadville, too. Patience my friends, patience...housewifing is hard work.
Let's Get It Started
Howdy readers (or maybe we've dwindled down to reader...hi mom). As I sit here in sunny Monterey, CA, reunited with Terry after 17 months living 2 time zones apart, and finally free of my former life as Air Force weather geek, I figured its time to catch the world up by posting some photos. Plus, the last 2 posts have come from Terry which means I've been seriously slacking. So, just one photo today but fear not--this housewife will soon have nothing more to do than take the dog to play dates and prepare cocktails and cheese plates for the hubby's return home from work each afternoon. He'll have to massage his own feet though. We stopped at the Grand Canyon on the road trip from Lousyana to California. Had I been wearing my heart rate monitor I would have been able to confirm that I was in Zone 4 while he screwed around out on the edge of the 1,000,000,000' cliff into the Canyon. But I got a cool photo.
Wednesday Night Rooftop Jams
There is this hotel just down the street from the Naval Postgraduate School...towards the wharf, but not near the wharf. Most people have probably never seen it; or if they have, they have passed it by without a second thought. Even though it is a hotel, it is more of a local place. The ground floor has a great little 3-4 seat bar. The owner is always friendly. The first time I was ever there was with my buddy Britt (class '02). He said he saw the hotel in a magazine and wanted to check it out. So, we ended up having a drink or two or three...or four. This was a couple months ago. The great part about this hotel is that you can get on the roof. I was finally able to make it last Wednesday for some live music by Britt and a couple other fellas. There was only about ten people up there that night...it was a beautiful day, but the fog rolled in late and we had to pull out the heaters. So, for the rest of the evening, I sat up there with a good friend and a few I've never met before...drank wine, snacked on cheese/crackers, listened to good music, and, of course, took pictures. A great way to spend a Wednesday night after a somewhat stressful week at work. Here are the shots from the evening (fullscreen is better too).
Skill or Luck.....Judges?
Okay, so this may be my first blog to actually be posted. I've started a few before this, but they've either fallen by the wayside or I simply just decided not to finish them. Skill or luck with today's picture of the day. After spending most of the day on iChat (my new favorite video chat program) with my dad or my mom or beth or a combination of all three, I decided I needed to get something productive done for me...and that happened to be...nothing less than going to Chipotle for a late lunch. I take my camera everywhere these days in the hopes of capturing the picture of the day well before the late late hours of the evening. After Chipotle, I planned my grocery shopping (the thing that I actually set out to do) while sitting in a warm car. It was a bit chilly today here in Monterey. I set out to Safeway in Carmel after not having taken a picture yet. I grocery [verb] (my favorite thing to do--this is laced with sarcasm) still hoping to find the picture before I get back. But, I'm too sore (another story for another day...but I helped a friend pour his sidewalk yesterday, so I'm hurting) to think creatively...thus, no picture. I finally am turning into my apartment complex and see the sun hitting some yellow flowers just right. YES!, I park grab my camera and hurry to take the picture. Unfortunately, the yellow flowers are on the ground. If you've ever poured concrete without knee-pads, then you know how much your knees ache. Man-up I tell myself (funny because I'm taking pictures of flowers). I'm kneeling, taking the pain, shooting these yellow flowers. Nothing great, but after shooting a few dozen, I'm confident that I've got the shot. Phew! I can relax the rest of the evening...maybe even finish watching the movie I started in the morning.
Now, all this sets the state for the next few shots. So, now I'm carrying my groceries walking on the sidewalk to my apartment and there is now some decent light hitting these violet flowers. A little history on these flowers. I've tried to shoot them many times...almost every time I'm walking to my apartment with my camera I think I can shoot these and get a good shot. And every time, I shoot them. And every time, the results are pure suck. Let's just say that I've shot probably over a hundred shots of these things and haven't kept one. So, not really wanting to shoot them, I succumb to my temptations (like always) and shoot them. I took about 10 shots (low for me). I don't think anything of it because I know they didn't come out and I already have my picture of the day.
So, later that evening I edit the shots from the day looking for the picture of the day. Most of the yellow flower shots are out of focus or terrible composition. I keep thinking in my head, great, another still life tonight. But............then............I get to the violet flowers and low and behold, I got one. It's not brilliant and probably not great, but it was the best one from today. And hell, I didn't even have to crop it. So, was it skill that I was able to get this shot??....judges ruling, pure luck. Hope you like it.
Minden, LA
Back in February Terry and I headed down the road to the little town of Minden, LA. Minden has a fascinating history. Founded in 1836, It was once a bustling town and home to one of the first public schools in Louisiana. It is also the county seat of Webster Parish. Like many of the small towns in Louisiana, the town has faded from a bustling railroad and lumber mill town to more of a sleepy berg, but the old buildings that survived fires and tornadoes remain. Its a pretty cool place to visit...I hope to get back over there again before I leave Louisiana for good in a couple months.
Terry on Main Street
Plain Dealing
I'm supposed to be writing a resume right now. Someone should pay me to be unproductive because I'm really, really, really good at it. It seems like any time I'm supposed to be focused and productive with something I end up opening Aperture and tinkering with photos. Too bad playing with photos is the fast track to us living in a van down by the river...otherwise I'd make it my job. This photo essay is from a little wandering I did a few weeks back. Plain Dealing is a small town straight north of Bossier City, LA. It happens to be on my long-ride training loop, and each Saturday morning when I ride through these empty streets and by the old auto garage I wonder about what must have been. It seems there is a lot of this "what must have been" around rural LA. Sad, but it does make for great photo subjects.
Enjoy. Leave a comment if you like. Hopefully with things getting a little lighter at work there will be more photo essays...let us know what you think--good, bad, or otherwise.
Spring Break, Part 2
I suppose if there's a Part 1, there should be a Part 2. While my parents were visiting the lovely state of Louisiana, we headed down to visit the cute little town of Natchitoches, the oldest town in LA that was made famous in the movie Steel Magnolias (which I've never seen). Natchitoches, which I've spelled wrong every time I've typed it so far and is somehow pronounced Nack-a-dish, is also famous for its meat pies. So after one of our morning rides we headed down through the always so interesting Louisiana countryside in search of a meat pie. As it turns out, Natchitoches is apparently a town of morning people. Arriving in this hamlet after about 3 pm will lead you to closed restaurants and empty streets. Perhaps they siesta, I'm not sure. Never the less, we wandered around oogling the French architecture and old buildings. We did find a local drive-in sort of place that had meat pies, so the trip was not a waste. My two cents--not bad, but meat pies in Australia were way better.
One last cute one of Mom and Dad.
I think they enjoyed the trip, and its always fun to spend time with them. It was probably their last trip down south, as I'll be moving back to Monterey in September! I'll have to take them to Yosemite the next time they come to visit.
Spring Break Part 1
Yes, still way behind on updating the bloggie, but progress is progress. I figured I should post about spring break before Memorial Day and the official start of summer. Did I take a spring break...no. But, my parents did come visit me over their spring break. As the long Iowa winter continued to dump 70-some inches of snow and they ran out of places to pile the white stuff around the house, Mom and Dad decided that a week in the mild spring climes of Lousyana was an improvement. The main reason the parents escaped Iowa was to get a few rides in without needing studded tires and lobster gloves. So we took a couple of rides around the seemingly endless fireroads of Barksdale AFB's East Reservation. The area makes for some nice, long gravel road rides--perfectly sampled on a cx bike.
And after every good, long ride you need an even better late-afternoon lunch at the best little bistro in Shreveport. And blackberry bread pudding for dessert.
Just Because...
My relatively pedestrian morning at work followed by a lovely lunch hour of playing with the dog slowly derailed into a large pile of suck once I returned to my big, bad cubicle for the afternoon. And that afternoon lasted well into the evening. So now its time to go to bed and I'm left trying to find something to distract my busy mind from the ridiculousness that will be my day tomorrow...wait a minute, I'm about 100 days behind on photo posting, so hey, how about one of those photo essays I have planned in the queue. Plus, I'm enjoying John Stewart's banter about the oil spill, so its not time for bed just yet. As for the photos, remember way back in January when I was stuck in Montgomery, AL for a month? No? Oh yeah, that's because I suck at updating this blog. Anyway, yes, I was in Montgomery for a month, and Terry was even with me. There's a base in AL that Air Force likes to send all of its officers to every few years to learn how to be better officers. And all of us officers go because we get to drink beer more than we normally do because there's nothing else to do but...drink beer.
Amazingly, in the less-than-desirable locale that is Montgomery we found this incredible burrito lounge. Yeah, those words don't really go together...big fatty burrito and swanky lounge wear doesn't really conjure up the best mental image, but I'm telling you, the El Rey Burrito Lounge in Montgomery is top 5 Mexican places we've every dined in...and trust me, I've eaten a lot of Mexican. This is an educated opinion. Plus, they have a beer list that is something like 200 brews long. Mmmm. Besides the tasty tortilla-wrapped delights, unbelievable salsa, and the cold beer, its a cool location in this neat old neighborhood in Montgomery called Old Cloverdale. So, if you're ever in Montgomery for some reason, go there. Eat there. Drink there. Its worth it. There's also a great little wood oven pizza place called Tomatino's just across the street if burritos and salsa so good you could drink it aren't your thing.
Enjoy the photos...and leave a comment if you like. Terry's been working his butt off sprucing this page up, so let him know what you think!
Random scene over the patio fence.
The first round.
Serious discussion.
Sign language.
From the patio.
Beer List (just clicked this one, but now I see I should have shifted because that brew in the glass is a North Coast Blue Star I think).
The street scene in Old Cloverdale.
Beer Fridge.
Ladies Room.
Snow Day
We had an uncharacteristic snowfall here in Lousyana on Thursday night. My unofficial measurement was about 4 inches on the grassy areas. I had already planned to take the day off on Friday so casually waking up that morning to a lovely blanket of white over everything was perfect. Terry laughed because I really was acting like a kid on Christmas morning, but I couldn't help it. I love fresh snow. We haven't lived anywhere that really has a true winter since we left Colorado in 2003, so waking up to a pristine white landscape made me giddy like a school girl. The snow even made Lousyana a wonderful place to be for a bit...beautiful and serene, with all the yucky red mud and brambly undergrowth hidden away under a clean sheet. We decided to build a snowman, but apparently I don't know how to build one. I guess the snow in Iowa was always too dry or blowing around to much to make many snowmen when I was growing up. Luckily Terry is some sort of snowman-building engineer, so he did most of the work to get Freddy the Snowman off the ground. I have no idea why we named him Freddy. We slapped a camera on a tripod and with my handy-dandy Canon timer remote-controller to capture our progress in 10 second intervals. Smash all those images together and you get a fun little movie...
Too bad the snow was completely gone and we were back to our usual brown yuckiness by about 1 pm. I'll get some images posted here a bit later to show off the snowiness. Also, don't forget to check out our ongoing 2010 Photo of the Day project on Flickr.
Dustbuster Du
Saturday morning me and my holiday belly headed out to the other side of Shreveport for a little event called the Dustbuster Duathlon. Pretty easy event: 1.5 mi run, 11.75 mi bike, 1.5 mi run. Here is where I would usually complain about the ridiculously chilly temps in the low 20s, but on the way to race my sister e-mailed me about being cold in Iowa and my aunt twittered about it being -24 F in Sioux Falls, so I'll keep that whining to a minimum. The whole race for me was comical at times. First, it was incredibly foggy at the venue today. There were spots where the visibility was less than arms length, I swear. So rather than warm up on the bike on the local roads in the thick fog, I figured I would just run to warm up. I set up my transition like I knew what I was doing (I definitely don't), and then went to stay warm in the car. Thinking that we started at 9, I was warming my feet and watching all the multisport-geeks out warming up. Around 8:30 I decided it was time for that one last bathroom break before getting ready (not the kind you should hold). There I was, strolling around this pecan farm looking for a bathroom, porta-potty, a large bush, anything. I find nothing, but I do hear this voice trying to yell something that sounds like "5 minutes. We're starting in 5 minutes." Wait a minute, who is starting in 5 minutes? Is there a kids race? Those people around the starting area look adult-sized. Crap!
I tried to nonchalantly jog over to the car to grab all my racing accoutrement, all the while thinking, I'm about to do this Du and I really need to doodoo. Oh well. I strapped on my number, my big ass GPS watch, my Fox mountain bike gloves, and double knotted my running shoes. I rushed over to the starting line, did my usual sizing up of the competition...they all had shoes that didn't have to be double knotted. Oh well. So there we are, in the freezing cold, getting a very detailed, turn-by-turn description of the entire route, and then we were ready for the gun. Oh wait, no, we had to take a time out to pray for the beautiful bloody freakin' freezing morning and for our safety and all that. Huh? Anyways, then we got the gun and we were off. Run run run. Not much to talk about on the first 1.5 mi part, into the transition zone sitting about 5th, unknotted my running shoe laces, threw on the SIDIs, blew Terry a kiss and out I went on my road bike sans TT bars because I couldn't find all the pieces to put them on the night before.
Now for the fun part of duathlons. Lots of men run really fast. And lost of those men can't ride a bike to save their lives. And seriously, you paid how much for that fancy schmancy Cervelo and disk wheel only to have platform pedals and old school toe clips? Did not changing your shoes really save you that much time in transition? Or do you not have the fancy speed lace running shoes? And if you can't steer your bike in a reasonably straight line, maybe you shouldn't use the aerobars just yet. At any rate, I was picking off the fast runner men for the first few miles of the bike portion, which distracted me from the fact that my legs were freezing. It was definitely cold. And still foggy. In fact, it was so cold and foggy on one portion of the bike that the water droplets collecting on my sunglasses from the fog were actually freezing, which made it a little tricky to see at times. Luckily the sun started to break through and melted all the frozen bits off. The remainder of the bike was rather uneventful...two women passed me (darn tri girls stomping out massive gears), so I think I was in 7th as I came into the transition. Terry was on the side of the road snapping photos, so I was sure to blow him another kiss...
Changed my shoes, tied my double knot again, threw my running hat back on, and out I went to finish the last 1.5 mi run. I could definitely feel my lack of bothering to break a sweat since returning from Cyclocross Nationals in Bend back in early December. The legs were heavy and still moving in pedal-like circles, but after a few steps I slid back into my running rhythm. I was happily bumbling along, made it to the turn around, and headed back toward the finish. With the sun now behind me, my shadow was visible in front of me...and then I realized that I looked like some sort of crazy Yeti with my hat all askew and some crazy 80s-style big-hair wings poking out. Good goo I looked like a hot mess. But I finished, didn't get passed by any more women, so I figured I was 7th.
After the race someone had a big vat of red beans and rice for us to eat and Terry continued to mock my insanity for running, biking, and running again in the freezing cold. I was patiently waiting for transition to open again so I could grab my bike and was hoping that the results would be posted somewhere since we were chip timed so that I could see how I finished, then we could go. I kept waiting and then finally they said that they were going to hand out awards. I just wanted to see the print out of splits and all that since I didn't think I had placed, but I stood around and listened to the awards ceremony while Terry sat in the car warming his feet. I heard the overall winner's time, and I was about 10 minutes behind her. Then they started into the age group categories...I was faster than the 20-24 winner, but the 25-29 winner smoked me. Then they announced the 30-34 second place finisher...wait a minute, I think my time was faster, maybe? Then they called my name as the 30-34 winner! Haha! I headed back to the car with my new plaque. Terry was shocked! He didn't get out of the car to take the podium pic since we both thought I was 7th and wouldn't get anything. So the winner shot had to happen in the car!
Next event on the opening race weekend of 2010: mountain bike race! Way more fun than anything involving road running and TTing on a bike.