Steve Tilford

2009 is nearly done. I can’t say that I miss it particularly. I can’t remember a season that I have been so racked up without running into a stationary object at 60mph. It is weird, because I don’t recall being sick this whole season. Unless you classify MRSA staph as illness. So it is all because of self infliction. Not all self inflicted, but it is the same result. Hurt.

I was diagnosed by a veterinarian at the coffee shop in Hayward that I had bruised my kidneys. Then I was diagnosed by a physician that overheard our conversation and he concurred. All I need now is a dentist and witch doctor to confirm their findings. It doesn’t feel good whatever the reason. I’m kind of hoping bruised kidney and not really, really sore back. It is all bruised, but I’m thinking the kidney might heal quicker than back muscle. I’ve realized that I kind of need my back for most of my daily activities.

Tonight there has been a lot of talk about a sauna “bake off”. The problem is the the thermostat on the sauna cuts the heat off at 192 or so. There is talk of disabling the thermostat, spraying cold water on it, or just putting more water on the rocks. Another problem is that there are two Russian/Eastern Prussian’s with us, so we do have some ringers in the competition. I am pretty good in a sauna. We’ll see how disabled everyone is before the start.

We’re snowshoeing out to a distant cypress ridge in the middle of nowhere at 11 pm tonight. Making a toast under the full/blue moon at midnight with 3 different champagnes to try out. That is different types-natural, extra dry and brut, not three bottles. I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Working on getting the number up to the 220 degree Russian standard.

One of these people knows how to wax and one doesn't. You decide.

New Yesteryear flashback. This is Abbey Larsen (US Olympic Ski Team Member) putting her body where her mouth is doing 1000 situps straight. Yes, that is 1000 situps.

Albino deer at the Cable Chamber. Unfortunately he was hit by a car and ended up here. His offspring (albino) still wander the streets of Cable though.

I love fires. Especially when it is cold and snowy out. But, I can gaze at them anytime. So, here’s a little fire to start off with.

Last night nearly made it to early this morning. I think I crawled into bed around 3:30 or so. It’s amazing how much stuff you can do between 11 pm and 3:30 am. 2 hours of snowshoeing and 2 hours of laying in the sauna took up the majority of the time. Amazingly, I woke up feeling okay this morning.

The Kansans were the last men standing and the only ones to complete the snowshoe/sauna saga on New Year’s Eve. The Russians and Wisconsinites didn’t last the evening. The snowshoeing was awesome under a full moon. We didn’t even come close to having to turn on headlamps. It is strange seeing your shadows snowshoeing at night in the woods. We only made it to the cypress ridge with minutes to spare. I am a stickler for time, but it didn’t really matter. We had a few bottles of champagne to attend to before the 45 minutes back to the sauna. The sauna/snow combination eventually became a competition like a lot of other things. I can’t name an exact winner. Everyone had their moments. I’m not sure how the rules came about. It seemed like the longer one stayed buried in the snow, the more points were scored. After 30 seconds or so, it didn’t really matter how long you were down. You were pretty numb by then. I think maybe it is good for immunity training. At least that is what I was telling myself at the time.

Since I can’t use my back for much, I decided to drive back home to Topeka and hook up with Michael Aisner (Coor’s Classic promoter) who is town to see Tom Schuler’s grandmother, Ella. She is 112 years old and is 23rd on the list of oldest living people on the planet.

I went by and visited her a couple weeks ago. I helped move her out of her house into assisted living when she turned 100. Michael is drawn to stories like hers. It should be fun.

It isn’t going to be over 20 for a high for almost all of this week. But, it is 19 below 0 in Cable as I post this, so maybe 20 above is just fine. A 40 degree difference.