January 25, 2011

A midday ski.

Meade and I squeezed in a lunch-hour ski break today.

P1060021



Feel free to talk about anything you want in the comments. The photography — by Meade — is just for fun. This is an open thread.

ADDED: I changed the video. This one has more of a semblance of motion.

67 comments:

Terry said...

You cannot wear a dress while CC skiing. Cannot. Worse than men in shorts. Worse even than men wearing bib coverall shorts.

Anonymous said...

Anyone else notice there were street demonstrations in Egypt today?

The Tunisia bug spreading?

Anonymous said...

But Hillary Clinton's view is that "the Egyptian government is stable...."

In other words the people and democracy be damned, the Obama administration prefers stability.

Anonymous said...

The Tunisia bug spreading?

According to Drudge, a dozen self-immolations across the Mid-East. Yes, it's spreading.

Closer to home, eleven cops shot in 24hrs. Sounds like a record(?).

Something is in the air. The world ready to snap. A real Black Swan.

PWS said...

Bend your knees.

Drop the helmet; you're not going 60 MPH down hill.

Marica said...

I think it's a skirt, not a dress!

Just curious. How long does it take you to get all decked out in that skiing skirt & skis & scarves & all?

Ann Althouse said...

"You cannot wear a dress while CC skiing. Cannot. Worse than men in shorts. Worse even than men wearing bib coverall shorts."

You don't understand the Scandinavian traditions. I was greeted upon arrival by a charming man who asked if I was Princess Inga.

virgil xenophon said...

Ann looks like a female member of a muzzie Olympic x-country ski team..that or an Amish milk-maid earnestly hustling to work.

Ditch the skirt AND the helmet..GAAK!!

Ann Althouse said...

"How long does it take you to get all decked out in that skiing skirt & skis & scarves & all?"

2 minutes.

Marica said...

"2 minutes."

I'm impressed. Clearly, you've had practice!

Ann Althouse said...

I was already wearing the skirt. I put on the jacket and then put the ski boots on in the car. The helmet takes one second to put on. Clip into the skis. Put on gloves. It's easy!

Ann Althouse said...

The skirt is actually quite functional. It adds a layer of warmth. The heat generated by your legs stays inside (because hot air rises), and the openness is comfortable. I can see how men in kilts did well in the snow.

Carl Vero said...

The President showed us a great panorama
Of the road to his re-election
Despite lofty allusions
Mirrored illusions
And feigned affection
It became quite clear
We have nothing to fear
But Obama.

What a contrast to Althouse serene
Skiing a Madison scene
That looks like an icy pond,
Not a law in sight
Though downhill she might
Encounter Newton's second.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Carl! Impressive.

madAsHell said...

Are you in the lift line at Whistler?...Vail?

Yes, I understand you are now 60, but a little vigor, and rhythm.

These aren't insults. We...okay, maybe just me... really want to see you succeed at skiing. If you aren't falling down exhausted after skiing, then you're not doing it right.

....and you should try downhill.

Downhill....I'm 18 again, and nothing can stop me.

Yeah....I'm probably gonna hit a tree.

Book a trip to Whistler! People come from around the world to ski at Whistler.

Ann Althouse said...

"If you aren't falling down exhausted after skiing, then you're not doing it right."

Ha. That's so not me. I not about getting a workout. It's purely aesthetic from my subjective point of view. I couldn't care less about athletic straining and striving.

Anonymous said...

If I were a skier, here’s where I'd go.

Wince said...

About that "grim screen capture" by Instapundit.

It reminded me of one of those tacky Commemorative Plates.

coketown said...

I went to do laundry in my apartment complex this afternoon, and in the dryer somebody had several slices of beef on one of those shoe-drying racks. I think they were trying to make jerky. When I got home, the lady with the oxygen tank (whose door says "no open flames within 50 feet of this premises") was talking with the group of smokers who stand along the ramp leading to the entrance, complaining that now all her laundry smells like raw meat.

I wasn't going to share this, but I noticed my word verification said, "worse," and I didn't want to let it go to waste.

Marica said...

OMG. I did a superlative job of staying away from the SOTU this evening (except for commentary after the fact). But what was just on Sportscenter? A mock SOTU.

Ann-- my hat's off to you. It takes me longer to dress to take the dogs on a walk in the north pasture than it does for you to dress to go skiing. And it's significantly warmer here in Mississippi!

gtt said...

Your blog is so simple, but so interesting. You're my Internet role model.

I hope that one day I'll be just as knowledgeable and interesting as you... which reminds me, I need to work on my rhetoric...

Irene said...

That was a pretty cloudy lunch hour.

Look who stopped in our yard at dusk.

Unknown said...

I like you back in skirts - and that's a new one - although the ones from last year looked clingier. And good for you using the helmet.

Glad you had a chance to get out. Looked very cold and grim.

Temperature-wise, has it warmed up from the single digits there?

Irene said...

"This is an open thread."

Not to get all deep or anything, but someone recently told me that her greatest fear about dying is not about what's coming, but rather about what she'll *miss*.

I therefore have decided to shuffle the moments that I wouldn't have missed.

Here's one nugget.

When I was in grade school, I had a somewhat geeky, but sweet, classmate. The classmate was a boy everyone liked, but about whom no one dreamed.

Our grade school was largely populated by the children of Sicilian immigrants. I was first-generation Lithuanian, so I was an odd fit. I had "lazy eye," and I wore coke-bottle glasses from the age of three onward. I did not speak English until I enrolled in kindergarten.

The awkward classmate also was from an ethnicity unusual to Sicilians. He and I were the target of many anti-northern-European bards. Bully the blondies. So we bonded in a platonic way.

In around 1967 or 1968, the classmate began puffing about an older brother who was in a rock band. He claimed the brother had cut it big. We thought this was a tall tale sculpted to impress potential friends. I remember arguing with him about whether Led Zeppelin or Cream were the better band. His inability to reach a rational conclusion in this debate led me to believe he was ignorant about music, and therefore, he was manufacturing his brother's story.

I recently learned that my classmate's brother was a member of Canned Heat and had played at Woodstock.

Thanks, Facebook.

Unknown said...

Irene said...

That was a pretty cloudy lunch hour.

Look who stopped in our yard at dusk.


We had the same thing happen a couple of nights ago. The pups, of course, wanted to run out and say, "Hello, Deer".

I've never seen deer in or neighborhood before. Now we've seen them a couple of times.

Must be a hard winter.

PS Ann, don't apologize for sleeping through the speech. A lot of commenters apparently wish they had.

Irene said...

edutcher, if one of us says, "BAMBI!!", then the dogs are all at the windows barking.

JAL said...

Meade: "Look ma! No hands!"

kurt mueller said...

Try bending your knees a little bit -- like a skater. You'll get a little more power with each push off the legs.

Wince said...

Irene said...
I recently learned that my classmate's brother was a member of Canned Heat and had played at Woodstock.

And there's nothing like having a stage jumper accost you, and then steal the cigarettes out of your shirt pocket.

JAL said...

AllenS - Look what we brought home Sunday!

Irene said...

EDH, wow.

Chip Ahoy said...

It must be hard in the woods for a 3-legged deer. I mean, being chased by all those 3-legged wolves.

MadisonMan said...

It's interesting being on the West Coast. The SOTU was done before I left afternoon meetings at the conference I was in.

I'm trying to stay on central time. I wake up at 5:30 PST each day -- which is dreadfully late in Madison, but better than nothing, I guess. The problem is that nothing is open here then!

Irene said...

Chip, the three-legged doe was asking the three-legged wolf, "Does this make me look fat?"

Chip Ahoy said...

Know what makes a nice warm après-ski treat? Pretzels right out of the oven that's what.

rcocean said...

What's the deal with the helmet? Afraid to fall down -and hit your head on snow - while going 6 MPH?

Anonymous said...

Ah, the leisure class.

Anonymous said...

Anyone else notice there were street demonstrations in Egypt today?
The Tunisia bug spreading?


It is impossible for me to stop thinking that This will not end well.

Peter

Fen said...

These are the good ole days.

Enjoy them while they last.

The Crack Emcee said...

ironrailsironweights,

It is impossible for me to stop thinking that This will not end well.

Ahh, You're Just Twisting Yourself Into Knots (Over Nothing)

Ralph L said...

What's the deal with the helmet?
Looks better than duct tape.

Tom said...

I'm sorry...the helmet ruins everything about this picture

Ralph L said...

Think of her as an alien.

AllenS said...

JAL--

Nice, you should have a lot of fun playing on a big grownup toy. I have a ROAD WARRIOR trailer just like the one you have. I put an electric winch on a platform that I welded together and mounted it on the front of the platform. Put a plastic toolbox that I bought at Walmart on the frame just behind the jack. Holds the battery and cables and some tools and the strapdowns. You can rescue skiers that have broken down. Have fun!

ricpic said...

Hey Coketown, time to start looking for a house. No more of other folks daily insanity. Whatever the sacrifice it's worth it. Take it from one who lived much of his life in apartments: there's never any getting used to it. Of course if you find other people's crap "charming" than stay in an apartment.

Hagar said...

I think those poles are a little long for you. For cross-country, they should just reach into your armpits when standing up straight on the floor. A little shorter poles, and you can keep your arms under your shoulders, elbows by your sides, and get much better purchase.

Hagar said...

And why are you wearing a helmet when cross-country skiing?

AllenS said...

And why are you wearing a helmet when cross-country skiing?

Somebody earlier mentioned Sputnik. So maybe it's about ready to fall out of the sky.

Roger J. said...

Well professor--as everyone else has noted you look like a dork--no skirt, no helmet--suggestion: running tights below the waist, underarmor top with a light fleece vest on top and if its windy a gore text parka.

Learn to skate--much more efficent, faster and more fun--diagonal stride is so yesterday.

And as I recall in the world loppet series, the american race is in wisconsin--the birkenbeiner.
a homage to the norwegian birkenbeiner

FWIW: no matter how dorky you look you are getting one of the finest workouts there is.

go for it

Hagar said...

The birkebeiner did not wear Birkenstocks.

Hagar said...

"The Future is ours to win."
but,

"Que sera, sera.
Whatever will be, will be.
The future's not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.
What will be, will be."


Wv: clutsobb - how appropriate!

Hagar said...

The brainbucket is to avoid being recognized?

kjbe said...

Ha. That's so not me. I not about getting a workout. It's purely aesthetic from my subjective point of view. I couldn't care less about athletic straining and striving.

Ha. That's so not me.

We all have fun in our own ways.

michaele said...

EDH, thanks so much for the link to the Canned Heat stuff. I had totally forgotten how much I loved their music. Now I'm typing away and listening and feeling quite "groovy".

Leland said...

Oh good, the first comment covered my issue. If shorts are wrong for men to wear, what the heck is a woman wearing a dress/skirt in snow? If this is the answer:

The skirt is actually quite functional. It adds a layer of warmth.

Let me fix it:

Shorts are actually quite functional. They remove a layer of clothing to provide cooling. The heat generated by your legs escapes (convection not impeded by insulation), and the openness is comfortable.

HT said...

I have a leak in an air mattress. I don't know where it is. Any suggestions?

JAL said...

@ AllenS

Alas, the trailer was borrowed. That's on my wish list, but one thing at a time. The guy has modified it some with some rebar hooks welded on. Ramps are short and steep. Others recommend a dove tail so it's not such a challenge to load (and unloading!)

We also got a 4' bush hog (w stump jumper), though <-- that shouldn't be a problem.

4WD :-) So yes, I could rescue CC skiiers if any came across our pastures. They won't. They would be up on the Blue Ridge Parkway which closes to vehicles in the snow.

Hagar said...

Coat it with water until you see bubbles.

HT said...

Hmmm....can't tell if you're serious or not Hagar, but thanks?

HT said...

I have a question for the lawyers. How could Loughner plead not guilty? I don't understand that. Why wouldn't the legal team just say guilty by reason of insanity or some such? Why do they want to waste time making other people show that he did it?

JAL said...

I think Leland's got the Professor. Except for the aesthetics.

Althouse is all for aesthetics and men's legs make her go "ewwww!"

Except maybe Meade's.

Except she's never seen Meade in shorts.

I need to stop now.

wv dosill
How civility wants us all to act.

Hagar said...

I am serious. If at first you don't succeed, put some dish detergent with it.
I assume this is a large enough mattress that you can't just stick it under water.

knox said...

Forget Palin! All you need is a skirt and a helmet to get the commentariat riled up.

The Musket said...

I'm just so impressed that you wear a skirt. I'm stocking up on ski pants just in case it ever snows in Dixie again.

Daniel Fielding said...

Ann- have your tried CC-skiing using the "skate" technique?

HT said...

Found the leak!

It was on the vinyl side. Now I just have to patch it, and a trip to the hardware store is in order.

Chas S. Clifton said...

Love the long skirt. (I like a "ski troopers of 1939" look myself.)

But you need to lengthen the "push" with your pole until your arm is almost straight back. Work those triceps!

WV: "rejehem." Rejehem came from Utter Pradesh and does not understand x-c skiing.