Aah... A Day Off!
Who would have thought 2 years ago that one of my nice relaxing days-off would involve waking up at 4 a.m.? But there you go, I got up at 4 this morning (OK, so I snoozed until 4:09!) and headed out to the lake, expecting to have to scull in a single for the very first time. Luckily for me, 2 of my fellow teammates could not make it to practice this morning, so our coach re-arranged the line-ups and I got to be back in an 8+, where I feel safe and secure. The weather and water were good and the workout not too strenuous.I picked up the info and forms for Row for the Cure at the boathouse on my way out and started working on the letter/posting when I got home. Within minutes of sending the letter out, I started to receive responses from friends who are extremely supportive of the event – thank you!
I brought Gander with me when I went out to run some errands. We then headed out to Lake Sammamish again so that he could run around and swim a bit. At the park, Gander met another black Lab, Duke, and they had a great time playing, wrestling and chasing each other. I also had a nice chat with Duke’s owner about the dogs and the infamous ‘Katrina’. I have not been watching the news much because one can’t escape the images of the destruction Katrina has caused. Even just listening to descriptions of the state of affairs down in the Gulf Coast on the radio was enough to bring tears to my eyes; I just can’t bear to seem it on TV.
Besides the heartbreaking stories related to the storm victims, another thing that upset me when I was listening to NPR was the suggestion by some guy from the government or some task force that due to the loss of oil rigs and oil refinery plants in the Gulf, it is now more important to tap into the oil reserve in the protected wilderness in Alaska. I think their reasoning is just wrong: the problem is not because oil production is too concentrated in a region devastated by the storm and, therefore, they should exploit other regions. The problem is that our society is too highly dependent on oil itself. This should be a motivation for all parties involved to pursue development of alternative fuels. There is not that much oil in Alaska in the big scheme of things and in the time that is needed to develop that area, a lot of progress can be made in developing technology to utilize alternative fuels – if only the effort is put into it.
Fortunately, my day ended in a more cheerful and care-free note. After going to my physical therapy session (to work on my sore back resulted from many years of poor posture), I rushed home to get ready for dinner with some friends. 6 of us went to the Attic Bistro at the Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Fall. The food and wine were excellent! We had a great time chatting, laughing and sharing stories, especially those about crazy border-crossing experience. What a wonderful way to end a nice, midweek day-off!
posted by Anne-Gigi @ 10:14 AM
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