Baby, It's Cold Outside!

How cold? I am in my office camped out by the radiator trying to thaw out. Luckily, my keyboard has an extra long cord, so I can type from over here. After thunder showers last night I woke up this morning to an icey world. Everything was glazed in crystal and sparkled in the sunlight. It was beautiful. As I stepped out of my apartment building I took in a breath of crisp air and seeing how the parking lot resembled more of an ice rink, I had to channel Michelle Kwan, pre-injury, to make it over to my car. I gave myself a 5.5. Wasn't a perfect effort since I did spill my tea a little but I inadvertantly slid on my last step to the car door which turned out rather graceful.

My car was frozen shut. As I was circling the car fighting each door I looked up to my elderly neighbor's window and she was perched on her chair waving. I bet she was getting quite the chuckle. After multiple trips for hot water (since I spilled a quater of it everytime I had to manage that ice), I finally got it open and started up. As I was driving down 496 (Olds Hwy) I heard a wind noise that didn't make sense when suddenly my passenger-side door flew open. I nearly last my purse and lunch as a gush of cold air wipped in taking me totally off guard. I few people honked at me because maybe they didn't realize my passenger door flew open or something. Luckily I have freakishly long arms and was able to reach accross the seat and hold the door till I could pull off and slam it shut. Whew!

Drove the rest of the way into work paranoid that my other doors were suddenly going to break loose. When I pulled into the parking lot, ironically enough the driver's side door had frozen shut (from all the hot water freezing after I got in) and I had to push it open. Now my left shoulder is killing me! Uhg!

To sum up: Me and Ice are fighting!

A Night with the Grinch

I went to see Seusical the Musical this weekend to see an amusing performance by my cousin as one of the Whos of Whoville, (That's him on the right!) Beside the fact that Aaron made a pretty funny Grinch and I never knew he could sing that low, the show reminded me of my childhood love of the Dr. Seuss stories. As you get older and distance yourself from the old Dr. Seuss books, you forget what simple, important lessons he taught us through satire and humor. For example, "The Lorax" is a parable of the short-sighted exploitation of natural resources. There is also the popular Horton the Elephant, featured in the musical, that trumpeted, "I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant is faithful one hundred percent." and "...a person's a person no matter how small."

So thanks Dr. Seuss for The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Sam I Am, Butter Battle Book, You're Only Old Once, Yertle the Turtle, Cat in the Hat, and all the others. You sparked imagination and creativity in countless number of children through the years. My childhood without his simple rhymes of outlandish names and places in the magical stories is inconceivable.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Oh, the Places You'll Go!

"You're off to great places! Today is the day!

Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!"

Lessons from the Grizzly Man

Last weekend I watched the documentary on the Discovery Channel called "Grizzly Man". It documents the thriteen summers Timothy Treadwell spent out living in the Alaskan wildlife preserve with Grizzly Bears up to his death in 2003. I recomend this film for the simple fact that Tredwell managed to capture some spectacular footage of the wildlife in Alaska as well as some great scenic views of Alaska.

The human aspect of this movie, Tredwell, however, appears to be a complicated man. His dynamic alone is a bit of an enigma. I did not doubt his affection for the bears but he at times seems naive. For example in one scene he is sitting beside a dead fox and mourning. He crying about the cruelty of life which suprized me because being an ecologist I would assume he has an understanding it as being nature's way. In an other scenes he gets full of rage as he spews a tirade about the unfairness of the local park service and the pouching problem. His behavior borders on manic at times, but then I wonder who wouldn't be after living in that much solitude of the Grizzly Maze.

This leads me to consider what the "Grizzly Man" has taught me:

1) That which is in nature and is free is meant to be in nature and remain free.

2) If you don't respect nature, it's not going to repect you. And when nature doesn't repect you, it will hunt you down and kill you.

3) Grizzly Bears = 500-1,500 lbs and brains operate on instinct.....I'm not saying they are big and dumb, but naming them, petting them and saying "I love you" over and over again is not going to change the fact that you are looking pretty tasty when there is a drought and a food shortage.

4) When all alone in the Grizzly Maze, even grown men need teddy bears.

5) Would the Crocodile Hunter measure up in the wilds of Alaska?

Perhaps Tredwell's death at the hand or rather the paw of his obsession was inevitable. If anything, he did accomplish his ultimate goal which was to bring about more awareness for these treasures in the Alaska wild.