happy valentine's day

Happy Valentine's Day! Celebrating with Valentine's chocolate and season 2 of House of Cards. Don't worry, I won't post any spoilers. So far, I've watched episodes 1 & 2 and am going to t.r.y. to ration out the remaining 11. But episode 1? Whoa.

quotables

Abraham Lincoln was born 205 years ago today. I know President's Day isn't until Monday, but who likes postponing (or, if we're being honest, sharing) birthday celebrations? So, happy birthday, Mr. Lincoln!

Olympic-Sized Sportsmanship

Have you  been watching the Olympics? They're pretty hard to avoid -- with the Games going on in Russia, 9 hours ahead of Central Time, it almost feels as if the coverage is 24/7, even though NBC is holding back its televised coverage for prime time. I've seen a few spoilers via social media, but am still enjoying the evening coverage (even with poor Bob Costas' pink eyes). I've found a few interesting Twitter accounts to follow, and a former college classmate has a cool blog that he updates as he experiences Sochi: Olympic Rings and Other Things.

I've learned about twizzles in ice dancing, winced at crashes in the snow and on the ice, marveled at Russian skater Yulia Lipnitskaya's crazy-flexible spins, and so much more. It's hard not to empathize with the athletes and feel their joy when they succeed or their heartbreak when things don't go their way -- the cameras are right there documenting so many of these moments. It's part of the territory when you're an Olympic athlete -- you're on the world stage. 

How about Ashley Wagner's reaction when her program score in the team figure skating event was posted?  

Poor sportsmanship. Sure, disappointment happens, but you smile -- or at least keep your game face on -- and move on. Keep moving forward (one of the best pieces of advice I ever had from a horse trainer that applies to anything in life). Participation in a scored event carries with it the acknowledgment that you're being judged -- and you may not always agree with the end result. Sometimes you'll feel the process is unfair, and other times you may get a 'gift' you may not feel you deserve. It may not always be possible to keep a 'poker face' -- especially under the glare of the Olympic spotlight -- but save the outright disgust for behind closed doors. 

An athlete's reaction may be the only thing people will remember. Athletes like Wagner are out there representing our country. Remember the "McKayla Maroney is not impressed" meme from the 2012 Olympics? It blows my mind that things like this get so much attention. (I fully know I am adding to it!) 

Did you even hear about the Canadian coach who helped out a Russian skier who broke his ski in the cross-country sprint? Or that the Russian ski team helped out the German ski team when they ran into an equipment issue? Probably not. 

Let's put more focus on positive stories like those of Canadian brothers Alex and Frederic Bilodeau or U.S. biathlete Lanny Barnes. Those, to me, exemplify true Olympic spirit. 

inspiration

Tribes at the Steppenwolf Theater

I saw Tribes at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater in December -- I scored one of the few remaining seats for an American Sign Language-interpreted performance. I'm sure everyone who sees this performance walks away with a different interpretation.To me, it was a play about identity -- something I'm still molding to this day because I have one foot firmly in the hearing world and the other in the deaf community.

Playwright Nina Raine did a spectacular job highlighting how lonely it can be to be a deaf person in this hearing world -- whether it's within one's own family or among friends. No matter how well you speak and lipread, there's really only so much you can do. You end up being a step slower. A beat behind when everyone starts laughing at a joke.

Many people focus on the fact that Billy's family didn't learn any sign language, but to me, the bigger fault was that his family didn't really try and make sure Billy knew what was going on. He was isolated within his own family.

My family life was nowhere near as snarky (of course, we weren't British) or dysfunctional as Billy's family. My parents learned sign language, encouraged me to be the best person I could be, and taught me that   my deafness was just one small part of my identity, not my whole. It's a wonderful gift to give any child -- especially one with a disability -- the belief that there are no limits. And it's even more empowering when you give that child the tools to achieve his or her dreams.

Tribes won't leave you with the warm fuzzies like a Lifetime or Disney move. Billy's issue is just one of several exposed as the play explores communication. The play itself is full of language: opera, Chinese, music, writers, shelves of books, music, conversations around the dinner table. Sign language enters the picture when one Billy's girlfriend Sylvia tries to show Billy's family what a versatile, beautiful language it can be, not "broken English" as Billy's father put it.

There are many layers to this play: communication, isolation, inclusion, exclusion. At times, it was a challenge to follow all the dialogue in the play: there were three ASL interpreters signing for four hearing characters, plus two actors signing onstage. If I'd had the time to go to another performance, I would have liked to go to one of the shows with open captions. I'll probably buy the script to fill in some of the blanks and as a keepsake.

I highly recommend seeing Tribes if you can. Whether or not you have a deaf person in your family or circle of friends, you'll walk away from the play thinking about communication and how you listen to and perceive others.

Adventures in Missouri

Hello from the Ozarks! I got out of Chicago just in time to miss Chiberia 2.0. And while the temperatures here in Thomas Hollow are what the natives call "cold," it's still at least 20 degrees warmer here than up north. And there's no snow. Or ice. Plus, it was in the mid-50s Sunday -- gorgeous hiking weather.

It's a completely different landscape than my Chicago photowalks.

The Lonely Oak 

Field of Dreams

The country here is beautiful. I lived here for almost 10 years before I moved to Chicago. While I had the horses to ride, train and show, the remote location wasn't really an issue. But when I'd sold all but one horse and he died unexpectedly, leaving me horse-less for the first time in more than 30 years...it just didn't feel like "home" anymore. It's a lovely place to visit, and I have family here and some very dear friends who I miss terribly when I'm gone.

You can't beat the sunrises -- "obstructed" only by the trees...

Morning Walk

Or the sunset views:

Evening Shine

So far on this visit, I've been able to watch the bald eagles, learned the art of knife throwing, sampled some homemade beer, saw my dog kill a possum (yes, that happened), wandered around the Wal-Mart SuperCenter (it had to be done) and checked my mom out of the hospital. There will be plenty more adventures in the next few days. I'm hoping most of them will be positive ones, including bringing my uncle home.

January

A little more than a week left in January! Is it spring yet? Around here, I'm:

Hunkering down for another blast of winter. Single-digit temperatures, snowdrifts and negative wind chills are here again.

Watching season 1 of House of Cards. What took me so long to tune in?

Enjoying some new workouts at the gym and starting to see/feel results. Signed up for a few more 5ks in the next couple months.

Working on printing a collection of my favorite Instagram photos.

Eating candied ginger and trying a recipe to make a batch of homemade candied ginger. I wrote a series of articles about ginger for GoGardenGo and the craving hit. Good thing I don't write about chocolate.

Heading out on another Instagram photo walk this weekend, this time in Chicago's Chinatown!

Dreaming about where I want to travel this year. I wouldn't mind returning to Portland or somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. But a warm, sandy beach sounds fantastic right now.

Disappointed the Bluetooth keyboard I just bought isn't compatible with the Nexus 7 tablet. Looking for solutions, but pretty sure I have to wait for Google to come up with an Android update.

Reading The House Girl by Tara Conklin and Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.