The icicle on our front porch - first week of January
It’s been a month since we last posted. Yikes. Where did the time go? Holidays, eating, traveling to see family and friends, a bout with amoebic dysentery, more eating, welcoming the New Year, recovering from all the yuletide cheer…right, that brings us to January 18th, 2011.
What are we up to? We are in Tahoe, enthusiastically embracing winter and all the frosty fun associated with it. It is amazing to us how quickly our bodies adjusted to living in a colder climate. Days in the 20’s feel comfortable, 30’s are pretty good, and those in the 40’s or 50’s are downright warm.
Unfortunately, we have had a few too many of those warm days lately. The six-foot snow pack we enjoyed near lake level at the beginning of the month is almost gone. We can see grass. While the sight of green grass is something we will welcome in April, it’s no good for January. No snow = fewer people coming to the ski resorts = a bad season for the Tahoe economy. We need snow! Maybe it is time to do a snow dance to appease the winter mountain gods…though with our dancing skills this would likely have a deleterious effect.
What else? We are enjoying the comforts of being stationary. We cook most nights and seldom eat out. I am experimenting with lots of stews and soups, and as I write there is an enormous butternut squash baking in the oven. I am contemplating cooking Julia Child’s “Boeuf Bourguignon” for friends this weekend, mainly because I like trying to say the word “Bourguignon”. I don’t speak French, and so I often throw in a couple extra syllables or try to pronounce it with a snooty French accent. Some things are funnier at altitude.
We also ski a couple days a week. Mark grew up skiing, then switched to snowboarding in college, and is now brushing up on his ski skills again. While I could praise him for his grace and speed, I’ll quote a woman who watched with awe as Mark skied down the hill ahead of her and her two children:
“Gorgeous. Just gorgeous. Thank you.”
Really, I’m not making this up. His elegance is impressive, unless he is trying to do bumps.
I skied a few times pre-college, and then got on a board for a few years. Long story short, I’m no longer a snowboarder and am trying out the skis again. I hoped all that hiking in Nepal would help get me in shape for skiing. Not so. I limped off the snow the first two days, and then my muscles adjusted. A few friends (thanks Ethan, Rollie & Andrea!) recommended a book called Breakthrough on the New Skis, and I am finding it instructive and helpful. It has drills like “balance on one ski” and “skate on your skis”. It is fun to practice.
Our next trip – New Zealand! We head down under for six weeks, leaving mid-February. We are still figuring out our itinerary, but it will definitely include visits to Abel Tasman National Park, Akaroa, Marlborough wineries, and the fair city of Palmerston North where I lived for a year as an exchange student. We look forward to seeing the natural beauty of New Zealand, and especially to visiting with our Kiwi friends.
Other travel-related news…we are still working on our photos from Nepal and Sri Lanka. We are slackers. With almost 7,000 photos from just those two countries, it is a daunting task. And there is always something more entertaining to do, like going snowshoeing or watching Glee episodes. We uploaded a few new photos to our Flickr account in the last month though – check out our photos of Kyoto, Kathmandu and Mirissa, Sri Lanka.
And here is a photo we took last week while snowshoeing. We think these are rabbit tracks – anyone agree or disagree?
Rabbit (?) tracks in fresh snow
