A February exit

and a predicted harsh entry to March...

I know it is still winter - really! - but don't you think this is enough. I'm ready to seriously start biking again, but there is yet again another winter storm predicted for tonight. Let's see, does that mean that the old "in like a lion, out like a lamb" prediction about the month of March will be true this year? I can always hope...

...and again - that bright pink color is an indication of yet another winter storm warning!

If anything, the weather forecast continued to degrade throughout the day. At 6pm, the weather map is even more heavily colored in the bright pink of the winter storm warning. I'd be really happy if I wake up Tuesday morning to find it was all a big joke, but I don't think that's going to happen!

Cold outside, and a cold...

Wow - I just realized that I haven't written any blog entries in the last two weeks. The reason? I feel like I've actually lost the time while I've been fighting with a really nasty winter cold. And if you don't want to hear about my battle, you'd better stop reading right now!

It started 2 1/2 weeks ago as a head cold. I loaded up on zinc and echinecea, and it disappeared within a day. That is - it tricked me into thinking that it disappeared. I headed to New York for the weekend to see my folks, and over the weekend the damn thing came back as a minor sore throat. Still not too bad. Unfortunately it just never went away, and by the middle of the week I was fighting a full-blown cold. After spending 5 days at home - 2 work days where I slept half the day and worked the other half, 2 weekend days, and 1 holiday (Presidents' Day, the one weird holiday my company is closed) - I headed back to work. But I also headed to the doctor because I just wasn't getting better. My own doctor was out, so I saw someone else in her office. And this woman turned out to be a real gem. She gave me cough syrup with coedeine, which definitely helped me get closer to a normal night's sleep, but on Tuesday it still seemed like just a cold. She made sure I knew the symptoms of a sinus infection, and told me to call if one developed. Back to work...

Wednesday I was still feeling the same, no improvement. It wasn't really worse, so I figured I'd just wait it out. In the middle of the afternoon, I got what for me was a surprise phone call - it was the doc I saw on Tuesday, calling to see if I could feel any improvement. After our conversation, she decided that my little cold had taken the next step and morphed into a sinus infection, time for antibiotics. It's Sunday now, and while I'm not totally back to what I consider normal, I feel much, much better.

What is it with winter and colds anyway? Last year I managed to get through the winter without one, but for some reason I wasn't able to avoid it this time. Do you think there is some kind of magic spell I can use to prevent the next one?

A sea of orange

... on another New York visit weekend

Dad's second surgery to remove the spot of cancer from his second lung was last Monday (the 7th). Suze was there for the surgery and again for a bit on Thursday, Neal visited on Thursday, the weekend was my planned visit - and of course Mom was with him the entire time. This second surgery was rougher than the first, at least partly because it was scheduled a short 3 weeks after the first. There's nothing like having a second major surgery before full recovery from the first... It was hard seeing him in pain, although there was visible improvement before I left on Sunday. I'm still sending lots of good wishes his way, and I'm sure your wishes will help too.

New York isn't a place that I voluntarily visit - if you haven't figured this out yet, I'm really not much of a city gal! As cities go, Boston is about my size - and New York is the home of too many people and too many cars. But this was a good weekend for a vist to New York, and I owe my dad thanks for that. Saturday was the opening day of Christo & Jeanne-Claude's exhibit "The Gates" in Central Park. I carved out the time for a couple of hour-long walks, and of course my target destination was Central Park. I arrived there Saturday morning in time to see the unfurling of some of the orange gates, and I absolutely enjoyed the spectacle.

A sea of orange marching forward.

A nice contrast - blue sky, trees in their winter state of undress, and a bright orange banner.

Interested in more photos? You can find them in my New York, February 2005 --- Christo's The Gates, plus..." photo gallery.

Thunder snow - and I missed it!

How can that be? How could I miss a weather phenomenon that comes once in a blue moon? There was snow forecast for last night and today, but the weather apparently didn't believe the forecast since our weather was steady rain. That is, it was rain until late in the afternoon when that white stuff started falling. I just checked the National Weather Service site, and saw the statement "Thunder snow occurring across Bostons western suburbs". Hmmm... I've never experienced thunder snow - and it doesn't seem to want to visit my house tonight. Hey - if it has to snow anyhow, it might as well surprise us by throwing in some thunder too!

Did I really hear that?

Listening to the radio on my way in to work... subject: the weather!

After going through the winter storm warning that is posted for tonight and tomorrow, the announcer went on to describe the forecast for the weekend. He said "the weekend will be sunny, except at night".

Did we really need that clarification? I have to admit, it did make me smile, so I'm glad his statement was a little over the edge!

A peek at spring on a midwinter's weekend

What a nice surprise - sunny days with temperatures approaching warmth! It was a good 10 degrees warmer on Saturday, 52 degrees as opposed to this afternoon's 42 degrees. But hey - it's early February and I'll happily accept either.

The weekend was forecast to be beautiful, but Friday night I decided that since the roads would likely be very messy that I wouldn't bike this weekend. At noon on Saturday with the temperature reaching for the 50's that decision just disappeared, and I headed out on my bike. Route 125 was clear, but the other roads were not. After a very short distance my bike was covered in salt and sand kicked up from the puddles I was riding through. It felt great to be riding, but by the end of the ride I felt like my bike was screaming at me! Needless to say, my first activity after returning home was to clean and re-lube the bike. My own shower waited until the bikes was done.

I was a happy cyclist, but I went to bed again thinking that I wouldn't ride on Sunday, too messy... You know what happened this morning though, don't you? Right! It was once more too nice of a day to not get on a bicycle. This time I was a bit smarter though, and I stayed on route 125. I did a couple of sections more that once - nothing like doing out and back loops on one road - so when I returned home it was with a (mostly) clean bike. This time I could just wipe the bike down before putting it away. I managed a decent early-season ride, and I didn't trash the bike once again.

I had to take a picture of my very dirty bike. This bike is purple, really! And would you want to drink from this water bottle? What a mess - but luckily I make sure that I always have a good supply of Finish Line Bike Wash, so the cleanup doesn't take too long.

It’s time to say goodbye…

...thoughts of Brandy...

Brandy has finally decided it’s time to say goodbye to all of us and to join his brother Caesar in that other world where pain and sickness is gone, and where he can have whatever treats he wants whenever he wants them. Caesar left us in early March 2004, but Brandy decided to stay with our mom and dad for a while longer. He knew that they were sad, and that they needed him to stay. For those of you not familiar with the dachshund part of the Goldberg family, Brandy and Caesar joined the family just over 14 years ago, and they’ve managed to bring smiles to all of our faces since then.

While people often thought Brandy was the quieter of the two, he actually thought that he was in charge. He would let Caesar do all of the “I want a snack, where’s the food” begging, but of course he joined in enjoying the prize. And once Caesar left us, Brandy took over that role. Brandy has been ill for a while, and he needed to eat small meals more often. He probably thought that he was really in charge because every time he asked for food he was given another small meal. In fact, the total quantity of food was very similar to what he was getting before. Because of his problems, the vet requested that he be limited to dog food, and that he not get any of his favorite people food. But permission was given for a little bit of banana every so often. Brandy did love his bananas! Toward the end he really rejected his dog food, and his vet gave Mom permission to feed Brandy some of his cherished people food – and he loved that she was cooking for him. It’s funny though – even when he was offered his mom-prepared people food during his stay at the vet’s, he really preferred his dog food there. Do you think he had his people wrapped around his tail? (No really, he doesn’t have a little finger, so he used his tail instead!)

When it came time to eat, Brandy had his own way of expressing his “hurry up and feed me” thoughts. While his human was fixing his food – and that human was usually our mom – he jumped at her legs. Jump, jump, jump… It’s a good thing he was a little dog so that he didn’t knock her over. After all, having a dog knock into the back of your legs could cause a fall, but luckily that never happened.

Bringing toys for the guys? Since there were two of them, people usually brought two toys. Of course they were shared, but somehow (after a while) Brandy would grab both – one to guard, one to chew. And he loved licking toys. His favorite was a teddy bear that by the end of Brandy’s stay with us had much of the “fur” licked off. He would lick it and lick it until he fell asleep...

And speaking of licking, he loved to lick people’s skin too. I remember when I visited during my cross-country bike trip – he greeted me with a gleam in his eyes wanted to clean the salty sweat off of my legs! Lick, lick lick...

Walking on a leash was sometimes OK with Brandy – but only if you went at the pace he was interested in at the time. There were many occasions when he walked on the outbound leg, but he convinced his walker that he needed a ride home. Being carried in someone’s arms somehow came out ahead of walking himself. He had his people well-trained, didn’t he?

Brandy spent a month at the vet’s while his Mom was in Boston with me after I had a bit of a mishap with my bike last spring. Leaving him home alone in his crate while his dad (our dad!) was at work was just too long a day for him, and the folks at the animal hospital love him too. So he didn’t spend that month alone in a cage. He came out to play with the folks that worked there, and they made sure that he had an opportunity to meet and play with some of the other (animal) residents. I sent my apologies to him for borrowing his favorite person for that length of time – and I’ve been told that he forgave me. I certainly hope so!

For the last few years he was afraid of the steps. But on one morning he forgot and managed to make it downstairs on his own. Apparently he would go down 1 or 2 stairs, then realize what he was doing and stop for a bit. One or two more...

Toward the end he spent a lot of time sleeping. He woke up often and would go looking for Mom. Once he found her, he would happily go back to sleep. And in the evenings he would happily crawl into the space next to Dad on his favorite chair in the living room. He was definitely attached to the family he lived with! In fact I remember one time when I was the only human home with Brandy and Caesar (we were all staying with Suze in King of Prussia). They were beside themselves – where were their “normal” humans? They managed to calm down as long as I stayed in the room with them. Do you think they were spoiled?

It's a sad day today; it's hard to say goodbye to someone (somedog?) who brought so much love into our lives. I'm sure that Brandy sends thanks to our mom & dad for loving him for all of these years. He loved living with them, and I'd like to believe he is still watching over both of them. (And he asked me to tell them that he is hanging out with Caesar again...)

Brandy, enjoying the sun on a shiny morning in May 2004

Memories of Caesar can be found in my March 9, 2004 River of tears… blog entry.

More pictures of Brandy & Caesar can be seen in my photo gallery titled The ‘guys’ - hey, are we really dogs? We think we're people...

No walking for me on this icy morning!

The past couple of weeks haven't been great for reaching my walking and exercising goals. Somehow the weather hasn't been cooperating, and there have also been days when I never managed to get away from my desk (or my computer). That's got to stop...

My goal for these winter months is to get in at least an hour's worth of aerobic exercise each day. Somehow I haven't been able to get myself to ride my bike on a trainer this year - I just can't stay on it long enough to get much benefit from it. I started this week by promising myself to get back to walking either before work or as an afternoon break, plus getting to the gym right after work. I'm really not a runner, but I walk at a pretty good clip so I believe I really am getting some benefit from it. It's not the same as biking outside, but there just isn't enough daylight (or warmth) for me to pull that off right now. A combination of walking and using an elliptical trainer seems to be working. But I'm still fighting to manage an hour's worth of exercise every day during the week. I'm not having any problems with adding another 1 and a half to 2 hours on each weekend day, but the weekdays are more of a battle than I'd like. This week was better than the last couple - and I'm determined that next week will be even better...

There were many beautiful snow-covered and icy branches this morning - but it was a bit too icy to support my walking habit.

A sunny February 2nd...

...the halfway point of winter

I thought today was only Groundhog's Day - which probably wasn't good since the crazy animal definitely saw shadows today, more winter to come... But then Rich pointed out that this day also marks the halfway point of winter. While I'd really like it to be spring, I guess I will have to be happy with the thought that what's left of winter will be shorter each day. The difference in the daylight is starting to be noticeable...

Today I shared my walking in the sun with the neighborhood Canada Goose. (Or is that Canada Geese?) It almost looked as if these birds were swimming through the snow. When I first saw the prints in the snow (sans birds, of course), I wondered how they were made. Wonder no more - it was many geese plodding through the snow!

It's been so cold that I now think temps in the mid 30's are warm!

We seem to have finally emerged from the deep freeze. It was a weekend with sunshine and daytime temperatures in the mid 30's (fahrenheit, that is!). My bikes were almost jumping with joy - almost because while the temperature certainly supported my winter riding habit, the roads were an absolute mess. The major roads are clear and down to dry pavement, but side roads are still snow-covered. And the sides all of the roads sport muddy-looking puddles. I could have ridden, but I really hate that gritty sound of sand and salt in the chain, and I'm afraid I would have heard that almost immediately. So yes, my wandering over the weekend was on two feet instead of two wheels.

What do you mean you can't see the sidewalk? I guess I really can't complain given that we had 33 inches of snow last weekend. The town normally plows the sidewalks - including this one - but somehow the roads took precedence. No sidewalk for me today.

No, it really wasn't a good day to sit here!

What's that funny noise?

A little earlier tonight I was looking at the SmartWool site, checking out some socks. I'd moved on to some other things, but I didn't close the window. All of a sudden I heard what I thought was a funny noise from my computer. Is something wrong? I didn't think so, but it just wasn't a normal sound. Then I discovered that the noise was generated by the SmartWool site...

I knew that this guy has a tendency to whistle, but tonight was the first time I heard him jumping up and down! Want to hear for yourself? Open the SmartWool site, click on products, look around a little bit, then just leave the window open while you do other things. If you're anything like me you should have a good laugh.

Do you know how to turn the snow off?

You don't? Neither do I!

OK, I know it's winter - but there is a lot of that white stuff out there. It seems like we've already had more than our share for the season, and while I'd like to believe that will make the winter shorter I have a feeling that there is still not an end in sight. A combination of the 30+ inches that fell over the weekend with today's 4 to 6 additional inches and the small amounts that fell earlier in the month broke the record for the snowiest January in Boston. I certainly hope there are no more monthly snowfall records broken this season - enough is enough!

The view through the windshield on my drive to work this morning. This road is two lanes with a wide shoulder - although you certainly couldn't tell that this morning. And yes, I was stopped when I took this picture!

The view along the side of route 125 in Andover. Just a little bit of snow, right?

Here's a shot to give you an idea of how much snow it out there. This stop sign is outside of the garage at my office - and it's on a post that is pretty high. It doesn't look very high today does it?

Lots of white...

...Home again, a day late

When I changed my train reservations to come home this morning after the snow instead of during the storm, I really believed that booking on the 6:20am Acela Express was a good thing. That train to Boston originated in New York, so I thought there was a good chance of it leaving Penn Station on time. Wow, was I wrong! When I arrived at the station at 6am after a brisk walk from the hotel, I found that my train was cancelled. I waited in line for a good solid half an hour to rebook on the next train, a regional train that made a large number of stops. It left NY almost an hour late, and arrived in Boston a good hour and a half late. It was a long morning... But - I'm home, and it's good to be here - in spite of there being 33 inches of snow on the ground! I'm afraid it will be here for a while too since it looks like we're in for a pretty cold week.

A good but chilly day for wandering

...an unexpected extra day in New York

I was planning to head home today, but the weather forecast for Boston today made me change my mind. Somehow arriving home and having to drive 40+ miles from the train station to my house in bad (snowy & windy) driving conditions didn't sound like the smartest move to me, and after all, plans are there to be changed.

It was a sunny but cold day here in New York, and I really wanted to get some exercise. I had access to the health club in the hotel, but you know me - I'd really rather be outside. I started the day with a walk from the hotel to Penn Station and back to change my train ticket. After that jaunt I warmed up a bit, then decided to head to Central Park. There were quite a few people there, but the thing I really enjoyed was watching the animals!

A rather chilly table for two outside the library.

This dog dressed in his fleece coat and booties was priceless. He was sitting practically at attention, watching some squirrels chase each other up and down a tree!

Is it better to walk on the ice or to swim in some very cold water? It seems the consensus here was that swimming was preferred.

Ah, this chunk of snow makes a good place to sit for a while...

The rest of the photos from my wandering afternoon can be found in my New York in sun & snow photo gallery.

Out of the hospital, into the snow

It was a snowy day for a first day out of the hospital. We spent a good chunk of time with Dad at Memorial Sloan-Kettering today, but it was to be the day of his release. A quick slippery walk from the building to a cab, then we were off on a fish-tailing ride back to the hotel. My folks stay at the Marriott East Side often enough (or maybe they just make a lasting impression on people) that we had to do a quick wander around the lobby so everyone could greet Dad on his return from the hospital. Up to the room, then Suze & I headed back out in the snow for a quick visit to the fabulous Whole Foods Market at the Time Warner Center. Yes, you're absolutely right, we did take a cab. Much as I would have liked to walk, the snow was coming down fast and furious and it seemed to be a good idea not to walk. I could have spent more time than we did wandering through that marvelous market - but we behaved (well, sort of behaved!). We picked up some munchies for the room - fruit, cheese, crackers, plus sandwiches for dinner. The first day out of the hospital with a snow storm as a plus - eating in was a much better plan than heading back out in the snow...

Brrr...

It was 1 degree out when I left the house this morning - Fahrenheit, that is. Too bad it wasn't 1 degree Celcius since that would be positively balmy in comparison!

This very cold snap is not doing much for my outdoor walking. I've been continuing to go to the gym - and I walked outside on the weekend - but this staying inside during the week is starting to get to me. It's supposed to be in the 20's today, so I'm hoping for a mid-day outside walk in addition to an after work gym session.

A hospital with room service!

Apparently the hospital that my Dad is living in this week (Memorial Sloan-Kettering) wants their patients to eat well in order to help their recovery - so they have room service. The kitchen is open until 9pm, and the patients can order food whenever they want it. A nice change from the typical hospital food.

It sounds like Dad's surgery went as well as can be expected. To the surprise of his doc, the cancer turned out to be lung cancer and not metastatic colon cancer. And the spot on the other lung looks like the same thing - that will come out after he recovers from this operation. From talking to my sister and my mom, it sounds like he's doing much better than his previous cancer surgery. I suppose that makes sense - last time he was ill from the cancer, and he had chemo prior to the surgery. This time he didn't have any symptoms at all and the problem was found during his annual CAT scan.

Dad in one of his crazy get-ups at Thanksgiving - I think the pants he was wearing were at least 25 or 30 years old! And from what my sister said, he appears to be doing something similar at the hospital. Apparently he found a strange green hat to top off his hospital gown outfit and was standing at the entrance to the floor greeting other patients!

And the answer is...

Remember my Lifesaver discussion from last week? The saga continues!

The folks at Nabisco actually answered the email that Betsi sent them last week. They answered the email, but they didn't really answer the question about how they could include - in one package - Lifesavers with almost identical colors but different flavors. Here are Betsi's comments and suggestions:

There are several quality issues here. As lime is no longer available, the watermelon and green apple are both green...being someone who strongly dislikes the watermelon, how am I supposed to tell the difference? Perhaps some sort of flavor marking on the Lifesavers that go into the variety pack could be made, or perhaps a greater distinction among the colors.

I have to hand it to the Nabisco customer support folks for responding quickly - even though they really didn't answer her question. Here's their answer:

Consumers were asked to take part in a historic event in February 2003, where they were asked to vote for the new 5 Flavors collation. In just 12 weeks a record-breaking 2.2 MILLION votes poured in, voting in Cherry, Watermelon, Pineapple, Raspberry and Blackberry. Since the launch of the new 5-Flavor collation, we have received incredible consumer feedback asking to bring Orange back to the mix. Shipping began November 2003 for the NEW Life Saver 5-flavor mix with Orange! We listened again! NEW Life Savers 5 Flavors: Cherry, Watermelon, Pineapple, Raspberry, Orange.

Oh well - at least they sent a response. And I didn't really expect even that, let alone an explanation on how to tell the flavors by color!

Polartec® Power Stretch® rocks!

What - you're advertising a product in your blog?

That wasn't really my intent, but... I have lots of thin layers that work well for cycling, and some of them tranfer very nicely to walking too. But the tights I like for riding in cold weather I really don't like for walking - Pearl Izumi AmFib tights are warm, and the front of the tights are made of a fabric that is windproof and water resistant. For some reason they feel odd to me when walking, but they don't feel odd at all when riding. So I went looking for another option, and found some tights that REI makes that are made of Malden Mills Polartec® Power Stretch®. What a fabulous fabric for keeping my legs warm and happy on my winter walks!

Even though I hoped to end the week with a bit of biking, I didn't expect that to be a real possibility, so I was pretty happy with my walking weekend. I happily ride when the temperature is in the 40s, and I can manage short rides - with a max of about 20 miles - when the temperature is in the 30s. But 20s? Well that's another story entirely. I can dress warmly enough to still be able to move when I'm walking, but cycling adds another dimension of cold. I did manage very enjoyable (fast) walks both Saturday and Sunday even though it was cold and gray both days.

The patterns in the ice skimming the tops of the many of the puddles from all of that rain fascinate me.

No, you're not imagining things - the trees are wearing collars made of ice. It appears that there was some drainage from this previously flooded area, and the unsupported ice has cracked, leaving what looks like collars around the trees.

This close-up makes it a little easier to pick out those icy collars.

New York bound

When I found out about Dad's scheduled surgery next Monday, he actually called to tell me that I didn't need to be there. It was a hard decision for me to make, but I ultimately decided that he was right since there really isn't anything I can contribute by waiting at the hospital as opposed to at home (well, at my office). I don't want my mom to be sitting and waiting alone during the surgery, but my sister is going to be there - so that's covered. If Suze couldn't be there, then I would have made sure that I was there. Can you tell that I still feel a little guilty about this?

We've been told that the hospital stay will be 5 to 7 days, and Mom & Dad will be staying in New York for several days past that time. He's booked a suite at the Marriott East Side which has a sofa bed in one room and two double beds in the other - so the current plan is that we'll all share the room. The good thing is that he is a Marriott platinum member (or something like that), so although the room isn't on the concierge level my mom will have access to the complimentary breakfast and evening snacks. Unfortunately, she's had practice within the past year of staying in a hotel to be with someone in the hospital (me! two weeks in Boston last May) - but it helps me to know that she'll have access to food without going out. And since they stay at that hotel whenever they wander to New York for a weekend, the staff there knows both of them. I'm sure that will help.

As for next week, Suze will be there Sunday through either Tuesday or Wednesday, Neal will be there for the day on Thursday, and I'm heading down on Friday. Although none of the rest of us are as sure as Dad, he's convinced that he'll be out of the hospital by next weekend. We'll see. In the meantime, we're all thinking good thoughts.

Hey Dad - Brandy said to tell you that he's sending his own good wishes to you too!