Reasons To Love Mr. D's

1. The Johnsons playing live in the meat department.

73. Naan.

12. Teriyaki-flavored rice thins.

109. The homemade Wheel of Fortune featured during the holidays. Evan won four rolls of toilet paper, Gatorade, paper towels and a Skor bar in as many spins!

368. Marco Polo cheese.

2. It's locally owned and not part of a chain.

98. You can read Thanksgiving Day hand turkeys while waiting in line for the bathroom. Made from different colored crate paper, kids wrote what they're grateful for on them. One just said, "Anna" and while I know they didn't mean me, it still gave me a warm and fluttery feeling. Thankfully that feeling was not in my bladder, which I was holding at the time.

56. Agave nectar.

114. It's closer to our house than Safeway by one block.

78. Wasabi paste.

Mushing

The International Pedigree Stage Stop Dog Sled Race came through Lander to much acclaim yesterday and began Day Two of racing from South Pass this morning. The race gets its name from the fact that participants get to spend each night enjoying some local hospitality as they follow a route running south along the spine of the Rockies from Jackson Hole, Wyoming to Park City, Utah.


I have long been a fan of mushing. At nineteen years old in Montana (working on a cattle ranch outside Kalispell), I helped a local musher take his team on training runs. It was a huge adrenalin rush to try and hang onto the sled as a team of dogs tore through the woods at mock speed ahead of me. As you can imagine, I was never in control of where or how we traveled-- I was merely ballast on those early morning runs. Years later, I got to cheer on my co-worker and friend, Wendy Davis, as she schooled race after race with her team-- among other things winning this very competition in 2007.


In any case, it's a big deal around these parts to host the IPSSSDR. The sideline crowds are full of children and adults acting like kids in their enthusiasm, despite the cold. Racers hail from all over the world --mostly Canada and Scandinavia-- and handle their dynamic ensembles with astounding skill. Their dogs, for the most part, aren't the Huskie variety people generally associate with sled dog racing. They look more like strays-- lean and mean.


Pretty awesome stuff.

And so the Winter of Magic continues...

Regal Is An Underutilized Word

Katya de Grunwald captures the decadence I'm craving. I am torn between pairing Mozart or Lykke Li with a dark chocolate and caramel salt tart.

Medicinal Metaphors

I had my first real exposure to acupuncture tonight and it was wonderful. Judd's mom came highly recommended by Rathke and you know that girl is usually right as rain. Well, I left the warmth of Maureen's office for the two-block walk home feeling rejuvenated and excited to learn more about the five element theory of Chinese medicine.

Feel Good Song Of The Day

Irresistible. Irrepressible.

Laying Down Flowers

or thistles...

or kumquats...

as offerings in the new year.

New Years On The Baja

Those of you who know Roger (Orchestrator Extraordinaire of Debacles and Debauchery) will not be surprised that he put together a memorable new year's celebration here in Coyote Bay.

Ingredients?

A wheelbarrow full of expired flares...

Meat of the sea...

Meat of the sheep...

Libations of an adult persuasion...

I may be legally blind now, but it was worth it. And let it be said that our party didn't even turn heads in the neighborhood-- gotta love Mexico.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!