Hot & Cold

You'd have to live in Eastern Idaho to call 36 degrees "hot." If you live here, you know what I am talking about.  The temp peaked at 36 yesterday afternoon and it felt downright tropical.  The temp was above 31for five full hours.  I spent the afternoon in a flannel shirt--no jacket, no warm hat.  It felt great--liberating.  The teenagers here like to wear shorts and t-shirts when it gets this hot.  I even saw a tyke in flip-flops.  The kid couldn't have been older than 3. 

What next?  Well, as I write this it is 10 degrees once again.  Typical.

Yesterday was a very productive day--lots accomplished but lots more to do.  Today will be more of the same--hours of detail work--the type of stuff that simply consumes gobs of time but simply has to get done.  First on the agenda is posting of the yurt photos.  I am not going to leave this computer until they are posted.  It's going on ten days now--that's inexcusable.

Today is the big day--The Stupor Bowl.  As usual, teh incessant hype has worn thin on me and now the actual game is anti-climatic.  This year, I'm not even interested in the ads.  A neighbor has invited us over for the typical chips and dip affair.  They are wonderful neighbors so perhaps we will mosey over for a spell.

It's a two-pot morning.  That means we are moving slowly enough to enjoy two pots of coffee.  It's also an Egg Day.  That means we get to eat lightly scrambled eggs with sauteed baby bella mushrooms smothered in swiss cheese.  This morning, we will have a bonus guest appearance by Turkey Chipotle Sausage!  Exciting morning, huh?

Are any of you auto racing fans?  Probably not.  I'm not either, really, but I do pay attention to what's happening in a pedestrian sort of way.  Afterall, I grew up a mere 70 miles from the Indy 500 track in Speedway, Indiana.  My Uncle Teddy was killed in a race car so my Mom had real mixed feelings about auto racing.  I do like to keep an eye on racing, even if it is a lazy eye.  Well, yesterday Danica Patrick finished 6th in a peripheral NASCAR event.  Normally, the media wouldn't even bother to mention an event of this type.  However, since Go Daddy Girl Danica was behind the wheel, it was a major media event.  I happen to like Danica as a race car driver, not as the Go Daddy Girl.  I have watched first hand the discrimination against female drivers over the decades.  The incredible bigotry and downright hatred spewed toward female drivers was once frightening, actually.  I think the tide is turning with Danica at the wheel.  I also think that it was a really smart move to have her drive NASCAR.  If she can place well or win at NASCAR, she's really going to woo the hearts and minds of Red Neck Middle America.  Her performance yesterday was really quite stirring and impressive.


Click here to read the best overall article I found last night about her "victory."  Danica is part of a NASCAR team owned by the biggest name in NASCAR: Earnhardt.  Kelly Earnhardt had some great quotes about Danica, including my favorite, "I was sitting in Dale Jr.'s motor home watching it and I was saying, 'Damn, girl! Damn, girl!'" Kelley Earnhardt said. "I'm ecstatic. A. We brought home a race car in one piece and finished sixth. She did a fantastic job of bringing the race car up there. She showed us she is able to drive, definitely. One time I saw her on the high side and she drove it down low and I thought, 'C'mon, let's pull off an Earnhardt and pass 18 cars in three laps and win this thing.' She did fantastic in her first stock car race, she was aggressive, didn't back off and pulled off a good finish."

I really hope that Danica can start frequently the winner's circle--it'[s really going to be a genuine milestone in the history of auto racing--one that's long overdue.