Fits and Starts

So this last month or so has been really nutty.  Really nutty.  In fact, I'm not sure how time has flown by so quickly.  We have either been super busy or not doing anything at all.  No in between.  No sense of balance.  Just living it up or being up for nothing.

The push towards the summer really ramped up at both of our jobs.  Cliff's days got a lot longer and after work he frequently went to training to become an instructor for the Spencer Butte Challenge Course this summer.  On top of that he taught Saturday school, volunteered like mad at the climbing wall, and succeeded at keeping a nice workout schedule (lifting weight at the gym, running, and climbing).

The summer is really busy working in Parks and Rec.  I think this is true especially in Oregon as we have all of 12 (well maybe 10) guaranteed weeks of non-rainey weather all year so people make the most of their summers.  With this said, I start to get a little crazy this time of year. I work a lot of non-regular hours.  Plus I've been taking a Spanish class.  Additionally, up until last week, I had been swimming two to three times a week, doing stuff in the gym once a week, and I started jogging  again once a week.  I ran the Bark in the Park 5K and felt horribly slow but it was only a few seconds off my PR from last year.  Cliff and I set out to be healthier when we moved.  By gosh, it looks like we might be doing it.

 Along with all of this awesomeness of doing things comes the need to do absolutely nothing.  Seriously.  I have been napping a whole lot recently again.  I mostly blame it on my terrible allergies. I can't enjoy a sunny morning outside without ending up in a Benadryn coma for the rest of the beautiful afternoon.  There is a fair amount of sleeping going on.  While I sleep, Cliff does a lot of reading about things on the internet to decompress.  When we fall into our times of nothingness, nothing gets in our way of doing nothing.  No dish pile can get too high.  No laundry bag can get too full.  Nothing.  Which brings me to our brief dance with Netflix.

Arrested Development is one of the best shows ever made.  Hands down.  Cliff and I own all three seasons and watch them on a regular basis as it is nice to have something funny playing in the background of doing boring things like cleaning, rowing, or doing work at home.  So I think it might be an understatement to say that I was excited about the new season coming out on Netflix after so many years of being off the air.  To prepare for the event, Cliff and I downloaded our free month trial.  Kathy and Jill decided to come down for a viewing slumber party.  Think costumes, banners (like in the show), and an entirely themed menu that featured items eaten on the show (candy beans, frozen bananas, juice, Skip's Scrambles, ice cream sandwiches, club food, bangers, margaritas, etc.) .  It was glorious.  We moved the TV closer to our computer so that we could connect the two to stream the episodes on a full screen.  We did nothing but eat, drink, and eat some more for one whole day as we marathoned our way through the 15 new episodes.  Like I said, it was glorious.

But then all of the new episodes were watched.  Kathy and Jill had gone home.  It was just Cliff and I left with another two weeks of free Netflix and a whole lot of TV available to be watched. We causally decided to leave the TV in it's temporarily inconvenient spot so that we could check out a documentary or two.   This turned into three or eight more documentaries followed by binging on Dr. Who (don't even get me started on how much I love that show).  For those two weeks I substituted my allergy napping for being a couch zombie.

It was a sad yet wonderful night when I selected to cancel our free subscription.  I won't lie.  We were totally temped to pay the $8 and keep on going to finish Dr. Who and watch SciFi/documentaries/crappy TLC shows but we knew that we needed to stop.  Like I mentioned before, there are only 12 (actually 10) weeks of solid weather in Oregon and we weren't going to spend them inside in front of a TV ramshackley wired to our computer.  No sir.  We are going to live!

Otherwise, we have tired to make the most of our weekends.  I spent five hours yard saleing at a huge community garage sale (think over 150 houses) with co-workers a few weeks ago.  I learned how to haggle from a pro and came away with a mini Weber grill, air popper, two lawn chairs, four shirts, three glasses, an iphone case, a DVD of Anchorman, and a bag of fresh caramel kettle corn for only $16.  Victory.  We've also hit up Saturday Market, tried out a new hip coffee bar called The Barn Light, ran a 5K, made two new batches of sauerkraut, climbed, frolicked with Rudy, replanted the garden, BBQ'ed with friends,  processed 20-24 lbs of fresh strawberries, went to an Emerald's game, and found time to play cornhole (I'm terrible by the way) with our neighbors.  Oh and we finally managed to get all of our laundry taken care of.  Not a dirty piece of fabric in the entire house. 

The hope is that things are evening out.  I'm starting to hit my stride at work and am preparing for an exciting event season.  School is out and Cliff has a full time job for next year!  He is already working as a co-instructor for the Challenge Course and enjoying spending time with other outdoorsey cool folks.  Nice weather is here and we are enjoying out new lawn chairs and Weber grill. We are even planning on going camping this weekend with friends.  Summer is fabulous here.  We just need to figure out how to properly enjoy it.

Successful Eugene Weekend

Like most of the rest of the country, we are starting to see some serious signs of spring.  We are getting more prolonged sun (three days in fact) as opposed to just a few minutes of sun breaks every now and then.  The flowers and trees are blooming.  And people are wearing summer beach clothes despite the fact that it is only 70 degrees.  Everyone at work on Friday was talking a good game about weekend plans and I am happy to say that this weekend I/we delivered.

Saturday was a pretty big day in Eugene as it was the one that every Ducks fan has been dreaming of since the end of the Fiesta Bowl.  The Spring Game.  Part of the stadium area is under construction (some emergency exit paths) and because of this Autzen could only hold a little over 37,000 yesterday.  The game was free but you did need to bring three cans of food for FOOD for Lane County (AMAZING organization by the way you should check them out).  I went with my boss, her husband, and two year old kiddo.  We got a seat in the shade and all was well in the world.  People seemed so content  just to be back in Autzen.  It was the first time that the town saw what the Ducks looked like without Chip Kelly.  Offense played defense and it was a good time.  Plus there was lots of talk about the uniforms as...you know...it is Oregon football after all.

After the game Cliff and I went to Red Robin and redeemed our free rewards card burger!  That's right.  We eat there enough to get a free burger every six-eight months.  On the way home I heard something coming from our car.  I had to pull over on the side of the road as it sounded/felt bad.  Sure enough we had an extremely flat tire.  Really flat.  We have my Dad to thank for saving our sanity as we used an amazing gift he gave us- a portable air compressor that works by plugging into your cigarette lighter.  We pumped that puppy back up and drove to the Honda dealership where they patched it and got us on our way in less than 30 minutes.  Cliff and I were impressed how we dealt with the whole situation like adults.  No stress.  Clear thoughts.  Boom.  On the road.  Thanks Dad!

End of successful day number one.

This morning we got up at 6:00am to head down to cheer on runners for the Eugene Marathon/Half Marathon.  After everything that happened in Boston two weeks ago, I knew that I needed to be there to show my support and general faith in humanity.  We knew a few people running in the race so we came up with a solid plan to cheer folks on at the 2 mile mark then move to Hayward Field to see the finishes.   I think it is safe to say that I cried for most of the 3 hours that we cheered folks on.  I can't help it.  I love this type of thing.  

Go Alex!

Over the last two weeks I have really struggled with what happened in Boston.  My heart and mind still can't wrap around it.  I lived there for four incredibly formative years.  I walked those streets on a daily basis.  Marathon Monday is magical.  I love that city and I love the people who live there.   Marathon Monday was our favorite day and so many of my warm fuzzy memories of college and the city are attached to this celebratory event.  Since I couldn't be there to grieve with friends and colleagues, I wanted to show my support by going to my new city's marathon and being apart of the love and the joy.

2006 photo of the Boston Marathon by Steve Lewis

I love that the race ended at Hayward Field.  It is holy ground for track and field folks so I can imagine how amazing it would feel to run on the track, in front of cheering fans in the the stands, and to finish the race.  We got there early so we got cowbells (awesome).  We sat there and made lots of noise for hours.  Even Cliff!  It felt so good.  So many people were sporting their Boston Strong apparel (the shirts were created by Emerson students by the way).  Those who ran the Boston Marathon wore their bibs on their backs.  Runners sported black ribbons.  People crossed the finish line with their hands to their hearts.  The whole event was about the power of the running community.  People held hands as the finished together.  We saw several little kids triumphantly crossing the finish line.  Several ran the entire distance holding American flags.  One man pushed his disabled son in a cart the whole way.   In those final stretched we saw hard working faces, lamaze breathing, tears, and lots of smiles.  My heart was full of love and happiness.

I did learn one thing today and that is that I maybe shouldn't sit that close to a finish line ever again.  We saw quite a bit of puking, heaving, and general first aid issues.  For anyone who knows me, this is a big deal as I am phobic about you know what.  So let me be clear when I say I'm proud of how I kept my act together today as we saw quite a bit of vomit.  After the first runner got sick it became several folks jobs to run up to people after the race and give them a plastic bag to puke into.  I would die if that had to be my volunteer job.  They even had a special kind of bag for it.  See.  Oh my gosh.  The stress.

It was so sad to see people's legs/feet giving out on them so close to the end.  We saw a girl go down about 150 yards from the finish line.  A fellow runner stopped, not worried about her own time so close to the end) and help to carry/walk the injured gal across the line.  We saw quite a few people collapse upon crossing the line.  There were lots of quickly moving wheelchairs.  So emotional!  I could never be an EMT, nurse, or doctor.  I thank those solid stomached people for doing lots of good in the world.

Afterwards, Cliff and I went climbing.  Since it was sunny out no one was in the gym.  We had the whole wall to ourselves and Cliff took full advantage as he probably went up about 15 times.  I worked my first 5.8 (with lots of rests) but I'm considering it a victory.  

Rudy also got to play outside this weekend.  He isn't a big fan of the rain or mud so the winters involve lots of fetch in the house.  Rudy loves days like today when he gets to run around as we chuck tennis balls all over the yard.  (He is so stinknin' cute that he deserves two photos.)

I should also mention that because I have been outside for the past two days my allergies are ridiculous.  I'm pretty heavily medicated everyday in order for my body to combat all of the allergens that live in the world; so it is a sad, sad day when even decongestants, antihistamines, and nasal steroids can't save me from the itchy, red, inflamed, wheezy, grossness that is my life.  My face has in fact been red, blotchy, and kinda swollen all day.  It wasn't a surprise when I face planted into the couch earlier today to take an epic nap.  In fact, a Benadryl is calling me now...

End of successful day number two. 

2013 Garden Update I

This year Cliff and I are ahead of the game when it comes to getting seed into the ground.  We are going to be more successful this year!  So far here is what we have brewing in pots, on the hillside, and in the garden.


Outdoor Pots:  Right after Christmas, Cliff and I bought a ton of 50% off bulbs at Jerry's Home Improvement. We planted crocus (mix), ranunculus (red and yellow), allium (blue and white), iris, ixia, narcissus, and hyacinth.  We layered the inside the pots so that we should have some blooms spring through late summer.  I'm really excited as once they start to bloom we will be able to scatter the pots around the cottage so that we can see color from all of our windows. It seems too soon for the bulbs to be coming up but Cliff reminds me that we are quickly coming into spring.  We had so much snow last year.  it didn't feel cold enough this winter for it to already be over!  I'm hoping that some flowers are up in time for Andrea and Joe's visit.

Indoor pots:  Two or three weekends ago Cliff planted our pretty orange/red amaryllis bulb that we had bloom last year.  It looks like we didn't kill out red one from last year (despite unnecessarily storing it in the fridge over the summer) which is a relief as we were both pretty sad and worried.  He also planned our new white amaryllis. We are excited to see them both in bloom in a few weeks.  We also planned lots of basil starters this morning and put them in our mini greenhouse.  The more basil the better.  Grow little plants...grow!

The hillside:  As you all might remember we planted a ton of crocuses and daffodils last year.  See...they were really prettyhttp://lyddanesinoregon.blogspot.com/2012/05/day-4-flowers.html! Well...they are starting to come up!  This is a really crummy photo but I promise you there are four little clumps of pretty purple flowers there.  There are other little white ones starting to come up in other pockets as well.  There appear to be little baby daffodils starting to come up as well.  Our white daffodils were amazing last year.  They were so beautiful and managed to stay white and alive looking for weeks.  My fingers are crossed that we have the same luck this year.  Another hops is that my next photo of the flowers is way better...so that you can actually seem them

Lastly, we got seed into the ground today!  Over the last few weeks, Cliff and I have spend a few hours each Saturday or Sunday making a garden bed right outside of our window (as we hope this area will get more sun that our little patch last year).  It is about 12 feet long by 2 1/2 feet wide.  Today we planted: two kinds of parsley, New Zealand spinach, fennel, broccoli rabe, two kinds of chives, oakleaf lettuce, dill, more spinach, chervil, mustard greens, cilantro, tom thumb lettuce, arugula, and radishes.  In a few weeks we are also going to plant flowers (like California poppies).  Eventually (mid-May) we are going to get to tomato starters and hope that they get enough light this year.  it will be fun.  Now we just need to decide on a CSA to help round out our greens and herbs.

Happy planting to everyone and we will keep you posted on our successes and learning moments!

TrackTown 12

The Track and Field Olympic Trials have once again arrived in Eugene, Oregon.  For ten days track and field athletes gather at Hayward Field to compete to represent the US in London.  Track and field is a big deal here in Eugene.  I mean, after all we are considered Track Town USA.

Yesterday was the second day of competition and included the second day of the decathlon,  qualifying rounds of shot put, javelin, hurdles, triple jump, high jump, 800 meters, 400 meters, and the finals of women's 100 meters and 110 meter hurdles.  You can see the schedule here.  It was a great day to be at the trials.

We took advantage of the free (posh) shuttle service and arrived bright and early.  The first event started at 9:30am and to tell you the truth I was a bit surprised as there weren't a whole lot of folks at the track.  Before the first event, Cliff and I walked around the stadium, explored the festival area, and got some free goodies.  We got samples of Chobani yogurt (full size cups) and Safeway brand milk (Cliff got mocha cappuccino and I got straight up chocolate).  Side note: holy cow, I forgot how amazing chocolate milk is!  We actually got the milk because we ran on human sized hamster wheels.  The wheels helped to power the electricity (TV, music, a cellphone charging station, etc.) in the Safeway tent. 

We visited the youth area and answered Olympic trivia (well tried to anyway) and got buttons and pins.  We even got to pose as decathletes Ashton Eaton (Go Ducks!) and Trey Hardee.  But more on them later.

It has been kinda rainy the past few weeks.  In my mind the rain should be long gone.  Well, its not.  It was cool yesterday (around 60 degrees) with showers on and off all day.  No worries.  We are Oregonians.  We came prepared.  We each had on a few layers, a hat, sunglasses, and a raincoat.  We even brought plastic trash bags to keep our legs dry.  I had an awesome system of putting my bag under my coat to keep it dry and me warm.  Cliff thought it made me look pregnant.  I thought it was a good system.

It was so cool to watch all of the events.  I always enjoy watching track and field at the Olympics but to see it in real life really makes you realize how strong and fast these folks are.  It is nuts.  We were in the 4th row so we were close to the field and could easily see the competitors.  Their coaches lined the wall in front of our seats and were yelling feedback and suggestions to their athletes as the competitions went on.  The crowd was really small all through the morning events.  That seems weird to me.  Our tickets got us nine hours of events.  By gosh we were going to see it all!  So where were the other folks? 

Prepare yourself as I am just going to post a ton of photos of the events.  We were close but you still might need to look at the photo closely to see what I am actually trying to capture.  I wish I were a better photographer.  As you look through these just remember that these are my good shots!


The pole vault was really impressive.  It was starting to rain and yet the decathletes were still flinging themselves four and five meters into the air.  I snuck closer to the field so I could get a better photo of Trey Hardee getting ready to go.  Ashton Eaton won this event hands down and it helped to set him up to break the world record for the decathlon. 

Then the javelin throw started.  First we saw the javelin specialists go and then the decathletes.  On one attempt, Trey Hardee's javelin split in half as it was flying through the air.  He got to throw it again and was really happy with the results.  Apparently he just had elbow surgery about nine months ago and is amazed with his progress.  I was able to get one photo of Ashton Eaton getting ready to throw. 

 

Then it really started to rain.  I mean it was actually coming down.  Everyone in the stands pulled out their ponchos and we all just sat there watching.   At this point there was quite a bit happening on the field: the shot put, the decathlon javelin throw, the women's triple jump, and the high jump had just started.

The rain got so bad that they had to suspend events for about 20 minutes.  I'm glad as it did not look safe out there.  They had a ton of volunteers out their with leaf blowers and rolling squeegees trying to dry everything out. Cliff, Kelly (our friend), and I were all cold and wet.  Our clothes were for the most part still dry except for where our garbage bags had failed us.  I felt like a turtle.

We all were cold so we decided to get up and walk around the stadium and check out the Nike tents.  On the way I got to meet Puddles!  Awesome, right?

We ate some more free yogurt and watched the men's 800 meter heats on the large TV in the festival area.  We had sufficiently warmed up and were ready to settle back into our seats for the remaining two hours of events.  We got to see the men's 400.  LaShawn Merritt ran it in 44.78.  Nuts. 

We saw a preliminary of the men's 100 meter dash.  We also got to see the finals of the women's 100 meter dash (with this too close to call photo finish for third).  The final women's 110 meter hurdles.  The sun came out for the final 45 minutes of the day.  It was really nice.  Hayward Field really is a great venue. 

Ok, now is where I proclaim my admiration for decathletes.  Since Ashton Eaton is a Duck, we have seen quite a bit of coverage about the decathlon leading up to the games.  Apparently, decathletes are a very close knit group and they are friendly with one another.  I can understand this as they compete and stand around together for two whole days at each meet.  The guys yesterday have probably been competing with one another for years.  They would yell encouraging words at one another, help to get the rhythmic clap going for certain events, and provide an excited slap on the arm or hug when the other did well.   The final event of the decathlon was the 1500 meter run.  There was lots of pressure on Ashton Eaton. He had broken several world records over the past two days.  He had won six of the nine events and he was poised to potentially break the world record for the decathlon.  All he needed to do was shave two seconds off his best time (no pressure, right?).  The announcer kept saying this over the loud speaker.  So much pressure!  All of the other competitors were congratulating him on his amazing performance so far and you could tell they wanted to be there to see the world record broken by one of their friends.  Two guys in the pack were really great runners so they were going to be pacers for Ashton so that he could see how fast he would need to go to beat his time, win, and break the world record.  Ashton Eaton ran third until the last lap when you could see that he totally gave it his all to catch up with his pacers.  He passed the first guy with no problem but then something completely amazing happened.  The guy who was in the lead turned around to wave and cheer him past so that he could make his time.  I almost lost it.  Not only did we get to see the new crowning of the world greatest athlete but we also got to see some of the world's greatest sportsmanship.  I was incredibly proud.

After the event, all of the decathletes take a victory lap (as they made it through two days, ten events, and a whole lot of rain!).  Dan O'Brien (1996 gold metal decathlete) and Bruce Jenner (1976 gold metal decathlete) were both there to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the decathlon.  It was so impressive.  Really, you can't help but be inspired by these guys. 

Ashton Eaton had a chance to run around a bit by himself sporting a big smile and his American flag.  Side note:  he is engaged to fellow Duck and Canadian Brianne Theisen.  Brianne Theisen is currently the Canadian collegiate heptathlete with the highest score so far this year.  She will also be going to the Olympics in London. Amazing.  I bet they eat real healthy at home.  

After the events were over 99% of the people filed out of the stands.  A few of us stuck around to see the medal ceremonies for the decathlon and the women's 110 meter hurdles.  They couldn't do the ceremony for the women's 100 meter dash because at that point they still could not determine who got third (now we know that they both got third as they absolutely tied).  When the athletes arrived at the podiums, they had changed out of their regular competition outfits and into their new team USA jump suits.  Once again, I almost lost it.  So much pride. 

And then I got pooped on.  I was just standing there watching the podium ceremonies when I looked down and realized that a little bird left me a present.  When did he have time to do it?  I had a plastic bag over my lap 90% of the day to protect me from rain.  Well done little birdie.  Well done.

You can check out the rest of the results of the day here.  Best: Time: Ever.

Spring Snow

That's right, we got hit with snow on the 2nd day of spring.  We knew that the snow lines were going to be down around 500 feet so we expected maybe a dusting to an inch or so around our house.
Not even close.  Cliff got up early and woke me up to look outside.  In the dark everything looked like it was glowing.  It was so quiet out at 6:00 am.  It was really beautiful. 

In the hills we got between 9 1/2 - 10 inches.  Honestly, that amount of snow is crazy for this area.  It rarely happens.  From what we understand the city pretty much shut down for the day.  We didn't know the extent of the storm as we lost power for about 48 hours.  We were totally fine.  We have city water, a wood stove, and we used a can of evaporated milk to make chocolate show ice cream.   Good times.

The snow was the heavy wet kind so it brought down all kinds of trees and limbs.  The laurels behind our house are now all broken and bent.  In our yard alone there are probably ten trees that are damaged.  You could hear them falling all over the place.  It was like hurricane Irene all over again.  At one point I gasped when I heard/saw one fall.  My reaction really freaked Rudy out and he ran around the house barking and cowering.  Cliff told me that I needed to get it together and be brave for Rudy.  I chilled out and eventually Rudy did too.

Today was absolutely beautiful outside.  It was 60 degrees and sunny so the snow is disappearing.  So far spring has been pretty crazy.  The flowers really have no clue what to do.  Who knows what will happen next week.

A Wonderfully Odd Saturday

Yesterday morning we got up and decided to walk down the hill to get ice cream.  We have been walking places more and it has been really nice.  We wanted to check out Red Wagon Creamery as we discovered it the night before online and it sounded pretty wonderful.  They are a roving ice cream shop and they scoop at a few different places.  Originally we thought we would just be walking about 1.5 miles away.  When I check online I saw that they were in fact a little further away on Saturdays and that our trip was instead going to be 2.9 miles each way.  No problem!  No sweat.  We got on our rain jackets, hats, and put some gloves on as it was overcast and a bit chilly.

The walk into town was really nice.  We found a path through a park, walked down streets we had never been down, and commented on all the cute houses.  It was great until we got to the store.  There was a sign that said they were scooping in Springfield.  What?  They were suppose to be at Midtown!  Strike one.  After a few sad minutes of looking at their sign Cliff had a great idea.  A new brewery, Falling Sky, recently opened just a few blocks further down the road.  We had been wanting to try them out.  Sounds like a plan!  We walked a few more blocks, went inside, and consulted the menu.  Cliff noticed something funny.  They didn't have any of their beers listed on tap.  Huh?  We asked the nice guy at the counter and he explained that their first batch wouldn't be ready until this Tuesday, March 13th.  Hum.  Strike two.  I noticed that they had ice cream on their menu so I decided to try  it out.  We got their cider porter ice cream.  After all we had traveled all that way for a creamy, yummy treat.  They brought out the ice cream and it was so small!  It looked like two caramel colored golf balls in a bowl.  Cliff and I split it.  It was tasty but it just left us more hungry.  We didn't want to get anything else there as we knew we would come back later and get food and drink.  We sat at the table daydreaming about eating restaurant food.  Then we weighed our options: walk up the hill essentially with an empty stomach or travel onward to get something good to eat.  We decided to walk another mile or so to get to Little Big Burger. 

Cliff and I discovered Little Big Burger a few weeks ago.  I read about them in the Eugene Weekly as they had just opened.  It is a little chain (three in Portland and one in Eugene) that focuses on local, organic ingredients.  They have six items on their menu (hamburger, cheeseburger, veggie burger, fries, soda, and a float) plus 27 types of beer.  Their ketchup has siracha in it.  They serve the burgers on brioche buns.  They only have recycling and compost containers as nothing that they give you is trash.  Plus their food is really tasty.  Holy cow is it really tasty!   They aren't big hamburgers but they do the trick.  They are delicious.  Cliff got his burger with blue cheese and I got mine with chevre.  Amazing.  One order of their fries (with truffle oil and sea salt I might add) is more than enough for two people.  Things were looking up!

As soon as we left Little Big Burger it started to rain.  Not super hard but hard enough that my raincoat was starting to soak through.  We decided to take a totally different route back home so that we could see some different sites and walk through a fancy neighborhood.  I think we also picked the route as it passed us by Prince Puckler's Gourmet Ice Cream which is a standard in Eugene.  After all, we had come out for ice cream but we hadn't gotten our fix (the two mini scoops earlier were like an appetizer).  Stopping was a great idea as it also allowed us to get out of the rain. We split a double scoop.  One scoop chocolate oreo and one scoop mocha espresso ice cream with cinnamon.  Amazing again!

Thankfully the rain stopped for the most part as we headed back up the hill.  We walked through College Hill and oohed and ahhed over the pretty homes.  I tried to talk Cliff into going to an Open House but sadly failed.  Eugene really has a lot of character.  No matter which neighborhood you live in there is always something special and wonderful.  I like that alot about Eugene.  Besides the houses we got to see a fun painted fire hydrant.

 

We also got to see a hurling match on a field at a local high school.  I had never even heard of hurling before!  After seeing this, Cliff obviously decided to tell me all about the Gaelic games.  This is part of the reason why I like him so much.  We spent the next 20 minutes hurling our butts towards home as he talked about the different Gaelic sports.  I learned alot yesterday.  I'm sure you can imagine.

About half way home my shoes were starting to rub blisters on the backs of my heels, we both had to go to the bathroom, and we were still about 45 minutes away from home.  We tried to go down a new street and sadly we hit a dead end....a Grateful Dead End.  Thanks Eugene.

 

We pushed through and all in all we walked over 9 miles.  It was an awesome day.  It didn't go at all as we had planned but that's ok.   I think we should take long, odd-ball walks every weekend. 

Beats and Brushstrokes

Last Saturday Cliff and I left the house for a nighttime social event.  Over the past few weeks I have been reconnecting with faculty and staff from the Arts Administration Program (AAD).  It has been really wonderful.  On several occasions I've had a chance to sit, chat, and drink tea with people who really made our first years here special.  My former research advisor let me know that the Emerging Leaders in the Arts Network (ELAN) was having a fundraiser at that we should come.  And by gosh....we went!

The event was called Beats and Brushstrokes.  It was a silent auction of recycled art made from old records and record sleeves.  All of the works were made by local art-loving people.  It was at the old firehouse in the Whitaker (eclectic Eugene neighborhood) which was fun.  For a $5 cover we got two free beers from Ninkasi Brewing, pizza, Voodoo Doughnut bits, other snacks, and a chance to look at some pretty fun local art.  There was a DJ and band with an accordion.  We left early so sadly we missed the accordion fun time.  Cliff and I felt pretty cool. Or at least I did. It was really nice as the place was packed by the time that we left and the bids were starting to pick-up.  Way to go AAD and ELAN!  You make me proud.

A majority of the works started at $5 with a minimum $1 bid increase.  The one piece that Cliff and I both liked initially had a robot on it.  Apparently alot of other folks liked that one too as the first bid went directly to $25 bucks.  Welp, that meant that we were out.  I bid $6 on another record and was quickly outdone within five minutes.  Oh well.  There were quite a few records that I thought were pretty cool but one in particular was real creepy.  So creepy in fact that over the night I slowly grew to love it but couldn't bring myself to bid on it.  I just kept thinking "What would I do with it?  Where would we put it?  Ah I'm so creeped out.  I think it's watching me!  Oh I think I might like it though.  It has that folksy quality that I like. Huummm."  What do you think?  I have named it Sir Creepy Turkey Head.

In the end we left empty handed.  We had a fun night out on the town and Sir Creepy Turkey Head will forever haunt my dreams.

Happy Leap Day!

Pre's Trail

Did you know that running is big here in Eugene?  One of the many names for Eugene is Track Town USA.  Here are a few reasons why:  Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman developed what would become Nike shoes while with the University.  I'm sure you all know the story of the ruined wife's waffle iron.  The University of Oregon's Hayward Field is hallowed ground for Track and Field athletes. The Olympic Track and Field trials are routinely held here and in fact we will see world class athletes entering the area again this June for the event. Track Town Pizza is the best pizza in town (well that is beside the point but they honor all the greats with photos and posters).  There are tons of running clubs and events.  Miles upon miles of beautiful trails.  Being outside and being physically active are valued by the community.  In general, runners are everywhere.

It is hard to live in a town that is so passionate about running and not get motivated.  When we lived here before we really enjoyed running in Alton Baker Park.  There is a four mile set of running trails in the park named after Steve Prefontaine (or Pre).  Pre was a running star from Oregon that ran tack for the University in the early '70s.  At one point he held seven American records for middle-long distance events.  He is a big name around these parts and you will often see folks with his face on their t-shirts or on a poster/mural of him in local businesses.

Before he died he worked with Eugene and Springfield to create high quality running trails in Alton Baker Park (a.k.a Pre's Trail).  The trails run along the Willamette River, through grassy areas, by a small mill race, past a duck pond, by Autzen Stadium, and a happening dog park. The park is popular so you will always see people in their spandex running, walking with dogs, or strolling with a metal detector (I saw one yesterday!); but it is big enough that you don't feel like you are surrounded.  It is wonderful.   When remembering things I loved about the area I would always think back on jogging/walking on the trails. 

We went to the park yesterday because it was beautiful out.   I jogged about 2 1/2 miles and Cliff ran a little over 4 miles.  While watching others run by me I realized that I am probably one of the world's slowest and most awkward looking runners.  Oddly I'm not sad about that.  Instead I'm kinda excited about getting back out there again as I am just one of many unique Track Town residents.  If you can't run funny here then you can't run funny anywhere.

A Really Long Walk

What do Cliff and I do when we are bored?  A variety of things but this week we decided to take a really long walk.  It was Cliff's idea actually.  This fall we talked about hiking our way from our house to the top of Spencer Butte which is about 10.2 times round trip.  One day we would like to run/jog it but first we needed to hike it.  Our decision to hike the trail on Tuesday was pretty impressive for three reasons:

1) It was beautiful  out on Tuesday.  High 50's and sunny.  That's right!  It is January in Oregon and there was tons of sunshine.

2) Cliff thought about the idea, vocalized it, and we were on the road in less than 10 minutes total.

3) I have a cold.  For anyone who has been around me when I am sick you will understand that it is a victory to get me to do anything but lay on the couch and moan.  I'm not all that good at being sick. 

We left around 11:30 am with a pack stuffed with two raincoats, mittens, hats, water, and snacks.  We even took a flashlight as we didn't know how long it would take us to climb the butte and get back.  It was so enjoyable.  The weather was crisp but not too cold.  The trail wasn't too muddy.  There was just so much sunshine!  We found a good pace where we were moving quickly but still able to talk.  After about 30 minutes I could actually breathe through my nose.  Fresh air does do a body good.  There weren't a ton of people on the trails but we did see more friendly faces and dogs once we got to the last half mile before the summit.  Once we reached the top (we only had to stop once the whole 5.1 mile trip up) we could see the Three Sisters Mountains which are about 115 miles plus east of Eugene.  We have gone up Spencer a few times this fall but this was the first time that we had a really clear day.  I think one of the reasons why I love Oregon so much is that you can see snow capped mountain peaks from the Willamette Valley.  The sight of snow on mountains is so special.  I took a photo but it in no way shape or form does the view justice.

After ooohing and aahhing over the view for a few seconds we stuffed our faces with a Clif bar, dried cherries, and tortilla chips.  After another quick photo (I always have to document) we hit the trail and headed back home.  We kept guessing which body parts were going to be the sorest the next day.  All in all it took us 4.5 hours to hike the whole 10.2 mile trail.  Believe it or not we were pretty proud of the time as there is a ton of vertical gain, we stopped for a snack at the summit, and I was sick.

It was a really great day.  Sadly, Cliff came down sick the following morning so the fresh air didn't ward off my germs.  But that is ok because we have tons of Cold Season tea (it tastes horrible but it works wonders), several movies from the library, and a super cute dog to cuddle with on the floor.

What will we do next when we get bored?