This and That

Robin post

I've just become lazy as all get-out.  Well, obsessed and lazy.  I spent most of yesterday's waking time madly refreshing the Iditarod facebook site to track the race.  By nightfall, I alternated that with refreshing all the various aurora prediction sites.  (Yes, there are quite a few.)  And checking weather sites, to make sure that if there was an aurora out there, it could be seen.  And, just to see what is happening in the world, throwing in the New York Times site and Andrew Sullivan's blog from time to time. And, of course, email and facebook.

So, when I say lazy, I just mean that I don't move. Beyond hitting keys, and clicking and scrolling with the touchpad.  It's my special brand of hyperactive lazy.

Ziggy is much lazier.   Our little JRT has gone into something close to hibernation.  She sleeps all the night and much of the day away.  Or just lies around on her spot, tending her body or watching the inaction. She isn't as enchanted with snow as she first was.  And she really prefers the warm to the cold. That said, we do go out for play with Ziggy at least once a day, no matter what the weather.  It has been cold of late (between 0-15F) so we have to bundle her up or the poor little thing is not happy, shivering and limping around.  But she hates it when she puts on her booties, too.  Oh, cruel world!

In my computer position, with Ziggy in her lazing-the-day away position.

While I obsess and Ziggy lies around, Leslie just keeps doing what she does:  exercises, writes, cooks, works the NYT's crossword, takes pictures and, yes, checks her email, facebook and—much more occasionally than I—the Iditarod site.  On most days when I am not so computer-focused, while she does the crossword, I will do a sudoku or a jigsaw or, in the latter part of the week, help her on the crossword. 

Leslie at work on the NYT's Tuesday Crossword.  I need to buy another jigsaw. The Sudoku and morning paper awaits me.

Since I have done the obsessing, I will report:

Idiatord 

Well, it has been quite a race and will conclude sometime this evening.  The three leaders have left White Mountain (where they each had a mandatory 8-hour rest) with 77 miles to go to the finish at Nome.   That said, Dallas Seavey—a 25 year-old third-generation musher—has an hour lead over Aliy Zirkle and seems strong enough within himself and with his dogs to hold the lead.  Aily is being chased by the very strong Ramey Smyth, who was 50 minutes behind at White Mountain.

The whole thing feels just like a horse race.  Aliy led most of the race, but is tiring.  Dallas held behind her, drafting along the way, but now has taken the lead.  Ramey was far, far behind for most of the race but has charged up to be in contention.  He is noted for his fast finishes but is probably too far away to take the lead.  But second is up for grabs and my guess is he will grab it. [ed note: He did not.  She came in second easily].  But you never know...  If you want to follow this final day do it here or watch the finish on the Nome cam.

Aurora

In our quest for maximum aurora watching, sleep deprivation is a necessary part.  The aurora comes out most strongly in the hours between midnight and 2:00 am, most nights.  But it can be out anytime after dark, really.  When we go to bed—generally around 9 pm—we set the alarm clock for sometime near midnight.  I am the person who rises—as Leslie has insomnia issues—to see if the sky is clear or there is an aurora.  If the night has potential, like last night, I stay up and monitor the sky (via both webcams and looking out the window).  If it is cloudy, I set the alarm for an hour later and repeat.  If the aurora is out, but weak, I wait to divine if it is getting more intense (wake Leslie?) or not (go back to bed?)

Leslie also contributes to the effort by checking every time she gets up in the night to use the restroom or let the dog out.

Most nights we have been here it was been overcast or cloudy so, whatever the aurora might be doing, we can't see it.

Last night, I woke at 12 and there was a clear aurora on the northern horizon.  A band of light green across the sky.  It was moving very slowly and wasn't very intense.  It remained like this for about 11/2 hours.  I was about to go back to bed when there was a streak overhead.  I yelled to Leslie to get up.  These things can last for just minutes or for an hour or two...In this case, we had a nice display for 30 minutes with rippling curtains.  I love those rippling curtains!  Leslie posted pictures of our views here.

And then it was really hard to go back to sleep.  Poor Leslie never did get any deep sleep the rest of the night.  I did, and am well rested, but this aurora hunting places havoc on...

Dreamlife

I just can't concentrate on the Iditarod, the aurora and remembering my dreams, it turns out.  The only thing I remember from last night's dreaming is that I was listening to the Iditarod on K-Woof.  Maybe my dreams will return now that the Iditarod is coming to the close and we had aurora-hunting success...