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Spring: almost here

It was cold and windy yesterday morning with bits of snow, so John and I stayed home where it was nice and warm. Today started off still overcast and gloomy, but by the end of my marathon conference call this afternoon between me, my clients in Michigan, and an outsourcing firm in India, the day had cleared off and was quite wonderful for walking.

I didn't stay out very long, but long enough to walk to the small cemetery at the end of the block, and up the hill to look over the neighboring park and on down to the Cedar River. We've finally lost almost all of our snow, save for those areas mostly in deep shade. Things are just barely beginning to turn green, and the willow trees are turning faintly yellow -- the color they have just before their leaves begin to sprout. I'm hopeful next weekend we can head to the trail down by Indian Creek; we haven't been down there in more than four months.

Setting up John's new gallery

I took a day off from work to help John bring some of his work to a new gallery. He's had a long-standing relationship with the Waterloo Center for the Arts in Waterloo, Iowa. The Center is completing a massive remodeling; through the window in the back you can see some of the heavy equipment still outside. Part of the remodeling gives the Center a marvelous new space to sell artwork. The Center's director contacted John about bringing down a number of pieces and installing them before their Grand Opening in about a week.

The new gallery space has a display balcony where John's pieces look quite fantastic. You can see them looking up from the gallery space below, and just behind the balcony are floor-to-ceiling windows that give a super view of his work.

Now for the light of heart

While walking around our Co-op I spotted this fabulous collection of finger puppets created by the Unemployed Philosophers Guild. It's the Axis of Evil, starring Kim Jong Il,  Saddam Hussain, the Ayatollah, and our very own George W. Bush. It comes with its very own stage complete with radioactive curtains and biohazards. The  puppets have small magnets so they stick right on the refrigerator door. We have Eleanor Roosevelt stuck to ours, by the way.

Here's our new bad boy

When I left the Foundation at the beginning of the year I had over 50 vacation days accumulated. With that very welcome payout, I built up our bank account and purchased a few things that we've been wanting.

I have always enjoyed using elliptical trainers for aerobic workout, but we simply had no place to put one until John completed remodeling the Annex as our exercise space. On a lark at the beginning of February we headed over to one of our best suppliers of high-end gym equipment. We both fell in love with this Octane Fitness elliptical machine, and we brought one home that weekend. We've both been using it regularly for the past six weeks. If anything, I enjoy it more now than when we first got it. Using our faithful treadmill (which you see in the background) starts to bother my knees if I use it more than about three times a week. The elliptical, on the other hand, is so easy on my body that I can use it almost daily. I take advantage of the heart rate control feature: the machine monitors my pulse and adjusts the intensity of the workout to match my condition. John has loved it because it is easy on his ankle; he broke his ankle more than twenty years ago and it occasionally still acts up a bit.

Finally we're on the trail again

It's been four full months since John and I were on the trail. In late November the two of us spent a week in California. By the time we returned, Cedar Rapids was covered in half an inch of ice and over five inches of snow. Between digging out and having temperatures dip below 10 degrees, we've not spent much time outdoors for recreation.

This is what the Cedar River looks like in the early morning. We walked along the river for about five miles this last Sunday. It looks colder than it was: with no wind I was very comfortable in my good jacket and jeans.

I'm getting better mileage so it must be warming up

Finally we're starting to lose all the snow. John and I figured that we've had significant snow on the ground for over three months. For the past week, though, we've enjoyed some halfway decent weather.

So what's the connection with gas mileage? It's my hybrid vehicle. I have a Ford Escape Hybrid, which I love a lot. But it (and all the other hybrids out there) use NiCd batteries. If you have ever left a flashlight with rechargeable batteries outside at night you may have been surprised that the batteries discharged much more than you normally would expect. The same thing happens with rechargeable batteries in a hybrid vehicle. The batteries don't hold a charge when they are cold, and they don't recharge well either. From spring through fall I typically get mileage in the low 30's; once winter arrives, though, my mileage plummets into the low 20's.

A bit of spring

We headed out for an early birthday dinner for John last Thursday. After eating sushi and seaweed salad until we were stuffed we headed for home. I caught my breath when I opened the car door and looked westward. The sky was a mottled ochre with splotches of indigo. The trees rustled with a wind we'd not felt in months. And by the following day we felt Spring. It's been a long haul this Winter. We're not done yet; more snow tomorrow. But it was almost sixty today with brilliant sun.