Enrico's Return to Skiing

On December 22nd, Enrico had his first ski after his heart surgery last winter. He said that he felt really good about it, but it also sounded a bit traumatic, as he skied the same route where he collapsed after having multiple small strokes from the tumor on his heart flicking off materials into his bloodstream. He remembered struggling to get back over the dike and get home. There is also a lot he doesn't remember about that day. Recovery from surgery was long, and he felt good about being able to return to skiing. All the swimming he has been doing to get back in shape helped him to feel good on the trail. He liked the tracks I set for him earlier in the day and was happy when he came back. Hurray, Enrico! So glad he survived that ordeal to ski another season. 2017 has been a challenging year, but we have much to be grateful for. 

December 22, 2017: Second Ski is a Solo Ski

This is a view of Ponte's Park, which the Park District is converting to its natural prairie grass state (they used to mow the grass here). I took this photo because I like how the grasses look in the winter light. 

We got more snow--just a touch, but it came straight down without blowing around, so I was eager to get out to ski again today. In the afternoon, the clouds cleared and the sun came out, so I got my ski clothes on, laying Enrico's out on the bed, in case he was looking for them later.

I decided NOT to take Noko today. I wanted to be able to ski without stopping to really get a sense for what kind of shape I'm in this season. Also, I wanted to break a good, straight trail, which is hard when strapped to a wandering dog.

Something new this year--usually I am the only person out skiing when we first get snow and before the trails are set by Fargo Parks, but I saw five people skiing on my outing! I think skiing is becoming more popular here in Fargo-Moorhead. That is great to see.

I set a trail away from the main trail, with lots of curves and going up the dike when possible to add some length and elevation to an otherwise short, flat ski. I also discovered that I am not in very good shape this year. I think the last few weeks of the semester, which were so busy and stressful as well as illness-ridden, did me in. I gave up my weight-lifting routine and all cardio except walking the dog. Now my legs ached and my throat burned from having to breathe in much more cold air than I should because of being in bad shape. However, it was just beautiful outside and there is nothing to do but improve.

In doing some searching on Fargo Parks, I discovered this section of the trail actually has a name, Burdick Park. I noticed that more  of the remaining homeowners (others were bought out after the flood in the spring of 2004) now have "Private Property" signs marking the edge of their property on the low land by the river, so my ski trail has to meander around those property lines. The people who still have homes on this stretch of river are the ones who fought the city and refused to be bought out for flood control, so they probably feel strongly about protecting their property, but from what?
 

After skiing in a little loop around Burdick Park, I headed north again and continued all the way to the dog park before heading home. It was a longer ski than yesterday, but not even what I would call a minimal length ski, and my heart rate was pretty high the whole time. It is going to be quite the challenge to get in shape! But I'm not just here for the workout--I'm also out to enjoy the beautiful light, and the sun was on the downwards arc, which made for some really beautiful scenes. Here is the sun peaking between two trees:

I also like to see the patterns of the snow, and here is a new one to me:

After skiing, I showered and then started making cookies with my son, Alex, who is home from college at Wesleyan. We picked up gallons of milk from the store and brought the cookies over to the  Fargo South pool for the swimmers to have after their workout. 

A fateful ski that ended with a trip to the emergency room

When Enrico took the vows of marriage, he promised to be my "fateful" husband instead of "faithful," something we joke about.

On Saturday, January 14th,  2017, Enrico came back from skijoring with Noko at about 4:30pm. I was preparing food for the ski and chili feed with the NDSU Nordic Ski Club, scheduled for Sunday. I asked, "How was your ski?" and he didn't answer. I waited a bit, then asked him again. He was just standing by the side door, not coming up right away. Finally, he said, "Okay until the end."

"What happened?" I asked.
No answer.
"Did you get cold?" I glanced up, awaiting an answer. He just shook his head slowly from side to side. He was still not moving.
"Did you get hurt?" I asked.
Sill no answer, but again he shook his head from side to side.
I went down the stairs and hugged him. He was all hot and sweaty and not moving. I came back up, thinking if I gave him a moment, he would snap out of it.
He did take off the skijor belt and started to put away his hat and gloves. However, when he walked across the kitchen, I saw he was limping. He did get hurt! I thought to myself, and he is mad, and doesn't want to tell me about it.
"Are you hurt?" I asked again, following him.
He shook his head again, and very slowly said, "I feel like my right leg and right arm are disconnected from my body."
That is when I realized I needed to take action.
"How about if we go to the hospital?" I asked.
When he did not object, I then knew we had to go to the hospital. I asked him to change his shirt while I got my wallet and keys, but he just stood there, confused. I noticed he was holding his mouth funny, and then I realized we would need to go to the emergency room. Enrico might be having a stroke.
I hustled him into the car, and drove quickly to the emergency room. Fortunately, it is minutes from our house and there were no trains to wait for.
When we arrived, I hustled him inside. He was still not really talking, but he could walk better. I saw my cousin's daughter, Karissa, and asked her where to check in. She pointed the way.

By the time we were seen, Enrico was doing better, and we thought maybe the trip was unnecessary, but Enrico was still not really himself. After a couple of days of testing, the doctors found a tumor on his heart. He would have to have open heart surgery immediately. 

First Ski of 2017-18 season on Winter Solstice--December 21st

We got snow for Solstice!  I took a break from preparing for our neighborhood holiday party to go for a ski with Noko on the trails alongside the Red River of the North.

My Solstice decorations include birch poles from my friend Denise, snowflake lights, and a Halloween decoration to represent Raven, who brought light to the people. 

At first Noko was taken aback by the cold snow (it was -1F) and kept lifting up his paws, but eventually we got going. We skied to the dogpark and on the way back, he actually got into pulling for a bit. In his older middle age, he has slowed down a bit and likes to stop and be petted and praised for his pulling quite frequently.

Noko taking a break to smell the grasses on the side of the trail. 

I was thinking we would ski in the direction of the water treatment plant as well, but he balked, and when I asked him if he wanted to go home, he headed for the dike. Okay, then, just a short ski today. That was fine, as I still had a lot of party preparations to do. Also, I, too, am a bit slower in my middle age. If I get out each day, I hope to be feeling more sprightly. 

Moonlight Ski on Friday the 13th

I love to ski in the moonlight, but I am not a night person, so I miss out on it because I get sleepy in the evening. However, because we have had a couple of cold, blustery days in which my only exercise has been walking to the dog park with Noko, I was determined to catch the wave of rising temperatures this evening, and the nearly full moon (The Farmer's Almanac states the "full wolf moon" was on January 12th). I took a short nap after work and then took Noko to the dog park, so I would be ready.

After our family had dinner, Enrico and Alessandro played a flag game while they digested their food, and I talked with Max in the living room while he was playing a video game. About 8:45pm, Enrico and I got ready. The temperature was +1, and though we were happy to finally see a temperature in the plus range, it still felt pretty cold. The wind had dropped off a bit, as we hoped it would, but was still about 10 miles per hour.

My internal temperature drops in the evening, so I decided to dress a bit more warmly than I do for a day ski--thin thermal top, fleece vest, and fleece sweater; long underwear and biking pants on the bottom. I surprised Enrico with warm ski boots, that I had put on the heating register after dinner. Nice! When I went to the door, I saw that Enrico had FOUR layers on! He suggested that I add a wind jacket at least, so I did. Since Fargo finally has decent snow cover, we decided to use our new Toko classic skis that we got from Finn Sisu in the cities last winter.

We walked to the end of our block and climbed over the dike, leaving the street lights behind. The moon was pretty high in the ski by then (about 9pm), and we glided down the dike, creating new tracks in the deep snow. I wondered if we would be breaking trail the whole time, since between the new snow and the blowing snow, our previous tracks might be covered. However, as we crossed the skate trail, I thought I saw something . . . could it be? . . . Yes! Fargo Parks had groomed the classic trail!

Although visibility was great, the set tracks made the skiing by moonlight even better because we could ski by feel as well as by sight. We skied at a leisurely pace, since we were so well dressed, and within ten minutes, we were toasty warm. Our kick wax was sufficient, though we didn't have the best glide. Nevertheless, we kicked and glided, kicked and glided, finding a pace and rhythm that we could share, skiing side-by-side, not talking, just looking at the moon and stars and the shadows of the trees on the snow. 

The snow was still cold, despite the warming air temperature, so although it wasn't squeaky cold, it was still firm enough to be a bit noisy. Enrico and I talked about how to describe the sound, kind of a waaa-waaa of the skis and a yow-yow of the poles. Enrico talked about a blind man he frequently sees on campus and how he was worried about him navigating the ice on campus walkways. We wondered if he could feel with his cane when the surface was more slippery. I postulated yes, as I believed I could predict the snow conditions from the vibrations going up my pole. When we came to areas of the trail that the snow had blown over, I could feel the difference in the snow through the vibrations in my hand even if I could not see the kind of snow. I took a few photos with my iphone, but they don't show how very light it is in the moonlight. In this one, however, you can see our shadows on the trail:

We skied to the I-94 bridge and up the little hill there to Lindenwood Park parking lot, then we turned around and headed back. About halfway back, I began to feel tired, and I began yawning. A couple of times, we saw creatures run across the trail. One was a rabbit, the other longer--maybe a river otter? We did not see any other people in the river corridor that night. It was romantic--a kind of "date night" that I prefer, so on our next stop, I stepped over to Enrico's track and kissed him. He said my long hair was all white and frosty, and his beard was all frosty too. And yet, we were very warm inside.

We got back at quarter to eleven. Our children were already in bed, tired out from a week of final exams and swim practice. Now we were tired too, but in a good way and full of visions of moonlight.

Sunday Skijor with a bit of hound energy

Being a swim captain parent put a kink in my ski routine, as we had back-to-back home meets to host on Friday-Saturday, with the Saturday one being the day-long Manley Invite. I longingly looked at the clear blue sky and enticing white snow while schlepping concessions items to and from South and Davies, but was too tired to go for a night ski. Enrico went out and said it was good. The moon is waxing, and between the extra light and the set trails, he said it was good going.

On Sunday, I was eager to get out, but there was a strong wind, so I decided to wait until late afternoon when it was forecast to abate. It did, so around 4pm, I put Noko in the harness, and we headed out. He tried to be a wimp because of the cold, refusing to go after just a few hundred yards, so we turned around and went in the other direction, toward the dog park. He heard some dogs there and picked up his pace. When we got there, we found a hound dog in the park who was ready to run. I skied on the trail next to the dog park with Noko, while this dog acted like a rabbit for Noko, leading him to run hard back and forth along the dog park. It was a fun time for all.

After Noko was warmed up, we continue back south, and we got a bit further this time. We only went for about 45-50 minutes total, but it was great to get outside, and we both got pretty heated up from the effort.

NDSU's winter break is over tomorrow, so it will be harder to do the long ski outings I've done over break, but since we live so close to the trails, I should still be able to go for quick skis on a regular basis, especially as we get more light in the mornings.

I'm glad we have some real winter weather. I just love winter--getting outside in the snow is good for my soul. 

January 6 and the skiing is GREAT!

This week I have been busy skiing in a skijor trail after we received a significant snowfall the evening of January 1st. It was perfect timing, as we had just returned from a visit to my aunt and uncle's farmstead near Evansville, MN, and the next morning we awoke to several inches of new snow. I spend the morning first skiing in a ski jor trail, then snowshoeing a trail on either side of the ski track for the dog to run on (and also to offer an option to walkers, who seem to like to walk in my newly made ski trails). The next day was windy--Enrico and I went out together to re-set the tracks. I did this again the next day and yesterday, and the trail is in very good shape again. Unfortunately, when Fargo Parks plowed the bike path, they threw up a lot of dirt, grass and sticks onto the trail. I skied that in too. I've been out for 1.5-2 hours each day perfecting our little trail. I got a blister yesterday, so I will take it a bit easier today.

Today, I want to share a poem celebrating new snow. It was written by my father, Clare Duklet. He was a mechanical engineer, and in his spare time, he used to sit with one of those green engineering pads on his lap and write poetry--even though he had no training in how to do so. He just wrote about what mattered to him. He wrote this poem when we were living in Salt Lake City, and I can remember days at Alta with fresh powder, and the wonderful feeling of carving turns in the deep, fluffy stuff.

Think Powder                                                                        

Perfect crystals

whiter than milk.

Highland water

dryer than talc.

Winter’s cover,

fluffing the trees.

Seasonal change

night air freeze.

Down with the sun,

shorten the day.

Drop the snow,

nature’s way.

Dance in the deep,

turning around.

Churn up powder,

without a sound.

November 8, 1977