The Boat Race

From the Seattle Times:

Historic Oxford rowing team competes in Seattle

By Terry Wood

Special to The Seattle Times

The catchphrase is already taken, but every year an event known simply as the Boat Race renews a rowing tradition unlike any other.

It involves Oxford the marquee invitee to Saturday's 24th annual Windermere Cup on Montlake Cut — and Cambridge, two English universities separated by 84 miles.

Rowers from the schools first matched oars in 1829, a competition viewed as the world's first college athletic event. It attracted 20,000 spectators.

On April 3, Oxford and Cambridge met in the 156th Boat Race (narrowly won by Cambridge), drawing 250,000 along the River Thames and 35 percent of all BBC television viewers.

"It's hard to think of a rivalry anywhere in the world that is perhaps quite as fierce," Oxford women's coach Chris Reid said.

Opening Day: Boating Season

There is so much happening in Seattle this weekend! Don't miss the 24th Annual Windermere Cup in the Montlake Cut. 

Crew races. Dragon boat races. Naked swimmers. Water cannons. What's not to like?!

There is nothing that compares to heading down the Montlake Cut in a boat. Such an exciting event. Keep your fingers crossed for decent weather. 

More info here. 

Seattle Tilth Summer Plant Sale: May 1 & 2, 2010

Don't forget!

Goodbye Sweet Bee

According to a survey conducted by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the Agricultural Research Services, 33.8% of managed honey bee colonies were lost from Oct 2009 to April 2010.

Article after the jump.

Life List

Crossed a few things off the life list this spring:

■ Build and maintain a sod roof (Spring 2010) [still working on the growing part but I'm crossing it off because the vast majority of the initial work is completed]

■ Attend an Olympic Games (Vancouver Winter Games, February 2010) [Awesome, incredible, fantastic, overpriced]

Here are the items that I'd like to take a crack at this year (including a few new ones):

□ Learn to knit [Paging Megan. ]

□ Hike to a fire lookout and spend the night. Look for fires.Or just enjoy the view.

□ Paint a house [our house needs it, desperately]

□ Go watch a hamster race [This one has been on the list forever, thanks to Heather Fields]

□ Tour a temple in Southeast Asia [This is a big maybe. But we're going to try for the far east this year]

□ See Old Faithful in Yellowstone.

□ Swim the width of Lake Washington (approx 1 mile). Convince my dad to go with me. [the date is set. Our team is ready. I am a-practicing!]

□ Stay with Chris at the Sierra Club’s Clair Tappan Lodge near Donner Lake. A Frey family tradition.

□ Write a letter to myself to be opened in 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years. [I think I wrote the one year version. Now I just have to find it. And work on the other two]

□ Think of a place where you’d want your ashes to be spread [Yes, this is totally morbid. BUT, it came up the other day and Chris is all set to go [meaning that he has a location]. So I need to have a place too. Plus, I'm all about planning for this kind of thing. Which reminds me, it's about time to update our will. Have you updated your will lately? Including your living will? So very important, folks.]

And there you have it. The goals have been set. 

And, begin!

The Mighty Columbia

This weekend, as we were moseying west along the Columbia River, I learned that my husband can sing a mean version of the Alaska State Song. In turn, I regaled him with our Washington version: Roll On Columbia, Roll On by the famous Woodie Guthrie.

Which was great, until I googled "WA State Song" and discovered that Roll On Columbia isn't our song at all. It's some highly inferior tune called Washington My Home.

Instead, Roll on Columbia is our state folk song. Personally, I'm all for ditching WA My Home in favor of this good 'ole folksy ballad:

Roll On Columbia Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, So, Roll on, Columbia, roll on Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through. Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew. Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue, Roll on, Columbia, roll On! Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, So, Roll on, Columbia, roll on Other great rivers add power to you, Yakima, Snake, and the Klickitat, too, Sandy, Willamette, and Hood River, too; Roll on Columbia, roll On! Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Roll on, Columbia, roll on. Your power is turning our darkness to dawn, So, Roll on, Columbia, roll on

How to do Flip Turns in a Pool

In preparation for our big Lake Washington Swim, I've been heading to the pool a few times a week for some practice runs. After a month of doggy paddling, I decided the other day that I should buckle down and starting some serious training. Something besides the trusty breast stroke. And dog paddle.

Unfortunately, I find freestyle to be exceedingly boring: nothing to look at, same endless back and forth, etc. So says the girl that stared at the back of someone's head for eight years in a crew shell. Right.

Anyway, I decided that it was time to learn the flip turn. It gives me something to look forward to at the end of the lap. And prevents me from stopping to take a break in the shallow end.

The dreaded flip turn. So many scraped feet and bumped heads. And so many instances of thinking that I'd completed the turn correctly, only to find myself headed straight towards the bottom or, even worse, in somebody else's lane. Once the lifeguards decided that all the flopping and splashing wasn't an attempted drowning, they kindly began ignoring me. Which was nice. Since having an audience is the last thing I desire.

Thank god for YouTube. There is a how-to for everything, including flip turns. My goal for this week is to try and limit my windmilling arms. And keep attempting to do the flip turn at the shallow end. Which SO much more difficult. And painful.

The Pup at the Park

Slightly out of focus.

He's also slightly miffed because I wouldn't let him chase the ducks. Or the canadian geese. Or the heron. A trip to the park is barely worth the time and effort if there is no chasing allowed.

He'd rather take a nap.

Protected Reef Offers Model for Conservation

The New York Times just ran an article on Glovers Reef in Belize. We've been there a few times and it is, without a doubt, the best diving I've ever experienced, thanks to the fabulous biodiversity and unique marine geology. It's totally worth the three hour boat trip out there as the waters closer to shore are suffering from overfishing and sediment runoff.

Protected Reef Offers Model for Conservation

By ERIK OLSEN

GLOVER’S REEF, Belize — As Alex Tilley powers his 15-foot skiff over the turquoise surface, a dark form slips across the white sand floor below. “Sting ray,” Mr. Tilley says.

For the next half mile, en route to the Wildlife Conservation Society research station here at Glover’s Reef in Belize, at least half a dozen rays are spotted moving beneath the surface. To Mr. Tilley, the presence of so many rays says a lot about the state of the reef here.

“The fish populations at Glover’s are still very robust,” he said. “This is definitely one of the healthiest reefs in the region.”

Meadowbrook Pond

After a quick swim yesterday, Bailey and I strolled over to Meadowbrook Pond, the Seattle Public Utilities stormwater retention pond. Expecting to find a desolate puddle of brackish water, I was pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful park, complete with sculptures, native vegetation installations, bridges, and wildlife. 

Photoshop Actions

Playing around with Photoshop actions today...

There is SO much to learn.

Time to sign myself up for a class.

Road Trip: Washington Coast

This weekend we took a quick trip down to the Washington Coast for a little exploring. 

View WA Coast Trip in a larger map

The day was blustery and rainy as we headed south. Traffic was sparse and we left I-5 at Kelso and followed the Columbia River West. To the Coast!

We stopped along the way to read some sign boards and moseyed through Fort Columbia. 

Sacajawea 

Foremost among our activities was a trip to Chinook, Washington, where Chris' grandfather lived and worked as a fisherman and where his parents (Chris' great grandparents) lived for many years. 

Chinook (population 457), is a small fishing village, with many of the families being of Swedish decent. Chris' great-grandfather was himself an immigrant from Sweden. Judging by the number of '-stroms' that we saw on the street names and in the cemetery, he was in good company. 

The small harbor. Chris and I had a long conversation about whether we could live in such a small town. Short answer: no. 

The school

An enterprising young person, funding their education

We headed up to the large nearby town of Ilwaco, toured the museum, the harbor, and the high school. Then we headed to the cemetery (population: 3,000 souls). We were looking for Chris' great grandparents. After searching row upon row of headstones, we were getting desperate. We'd almost walked the entire cemetery and only had a few rows left. 

And then, in the very back, beneath a flowering rhododendron, next to the forest, we found them:

Chris' great grandfather, Arthur.

And his wife, Sophia, who died in childbirth, along with her son.

And the greatest surprise of all, Chris' great-great grandmother: Clara. She was one old gal: 1848 to 1944. What a treasure. A very, very good day, indeed.

After our foray into family history, we headed north to Grayland Beach State Park. 

This is what we were calling home for the night:

Yurt 114. Secluded and quiet. 

A couch, table, bed,  heater, and light. Chris calls it glamping [glamorous camping]. My parents call it credit card camping. I call it easing-into-spending-the-night-on-the-cold-hard-ground-with-only-a-thin-air mattress camping. 

For camping, it was pretty plush. But my guilt eased as soon as we turned the heater on and broke out the champagne. Life was good. 

That afternoon we strolled over to the beach for some exploring and kite flying. 

I haven't flown kites in years. 

It was so much fun. 

I stopped to admire the flora and fauna..

While Chris worked on rolling in 300 feet of string. He'd let his kite soar pretty high. 

It took a long time to rewind. 

Finally! 

Like I said: admiring the local flora and fauna. This was about as exciting as it got. 

Oh, sweet dunes. 

A good place for wind farms. 

The next morning, we took one final walk on the beach

and headed up to Westport for a quick stroll around their lighthouse. 

And some car yoga (also known as Chris-stretching-his-back). 

On our way out of town we took a nice stroll through John's River Wildlife Area

This little guy didn't really make up for the lack of elk, but well, he IS a slug. Not much of a comparison. But that's ok, it wasn't raining and the scenery was beautiful. 

Then it was back in the car to head home. A nice, quiet weekend.