Sharry Miller

Valdez Early Spring

Liquid sunshine drips Chickadees sing in concert Valdez in springtime I had great fun last weekend taking a spring creative writing workshop with Lisa Sparrell at the Whitney Museum. As we were reading various quotes about spring by assorted famous people, we decided that it would an interesting exercise to spend five minutes writing our own proverbs, aphorisms, etc. about spring in Valdez. Resisting the urge to pen a line or two about emerging dog... Read more →

Helicopter Flight to Cordova

Wow! What can I say: any flight, but especially a helicopter flight, across Prince William Sound on a sunny day is just "wow" inspiring. I had to go to Cordova for a short afternoon meeting yesterday and Alyeska generously offered to fly me and a couple of others over with their helicopter. We started with a cloudless day in Valdez and didn't encounter any significant clouds until we reached Cordova. By late afternoon, when we... Read more →

BellaOnline

For some time now I've been trying to remember to tell you about something else I do with my abundant free time (do you hear the sarcasm dripping?): I am the BellaOnline Cycling Editor. BellaOnline is a non-profit website that has volunteers writing about nearly every topic under the sun, principally by women and for women. It lays claim to being the second largest women's website with over 20 million page views per month. As... Read more →

Earth's Ten Commandments

A poster hangs in the Glacier Spirit’s cabin which seems more and more apropos every day if one considers the wars we wage around the world or the potential harm wrought by the damaged nuclear power plant in Japan. It’s also immediately appropriate to me since we’re out here in Prince William Sound this week conducting an oil spill response exercise to help ensure we’re prepared in the event of the worst…again. Earth’s Ten Commandments... Read more →

Bergy Bits

Once again, I'm travelling for work. I won't complain too much this time, though, since I get to spend a couple of days out on boats. We're travelling out on Stan Stephen's Glacier Spirit - unbelievably fast compared to our pokey little Kingfisher. I managed to get my Android hooked up as a modem for my little laptop, so I thought I'd see if I could upload a few pictures from our journey south to... Read more →

Tri Training Update - Week 10

It just doesn't seem possible that it's already been 10 weeks since I started training for this year's Alaska Women's Gold Nugget Triathlon. While I'm thrilled that I've kept it up this long, I really thought I'd be much further along by now, especially in running since that's what I've been focusing on. Ah, well, I've been saying all along that it's most important that I keep moving and I still believe that's true, so... Read more →

Laugh 'til You Cry

I wish a teleprompter existed for everyday life. The thoughts that form clearly in my mind sometimes disappear in a flash. In the microsecond it takes me to inhale so I can utter a clever zinger, it flies away. Sometimes I watch it flutter out of reach. I try to stop it, but it moves on, perhaps into a spaghetti-like region of my brain where years of snappy comebacks await rediscovery. If only it would... Read more →

Competition, Participation, or?

The word "compete," and by association "competition," has been on my mind lately. When I mention to someone that I am registered for the Alaska Women's Gold Nugget Triathlon, I never quite know how to phrase it (other that the way I just did, which sounds rather stilted). I'm not really comfortable saying that I will be competing in the race, but participating doesn't sound right either. The conundrum: what verb to use. It's probably... Read more →

Tri Training Update - Week 9

Ah, spring. Despite its vicious vagaries which bring three foot dumps of snow in April, it's good to have it finally here. I'm especially grateful for spring as I was finally really able to move my training outdoors this week. Granted, the snow made it a bit difficult for a couple of days, but I persevered. I was thrilled earlier this week on my first outdoor run from my house (as opposed to in a... Read more →

First Ride

With clouds massing over the mountains promising to make good on the blizzard forecast for the next day or two, I finally, finally got out for my first bicycle ride of the year. The day had been mostly full of bright sunshine and I just couldn't resist the temptation. It was a bit of a shakedown ride for both me and my Madeleine. I discovered last summer that her head tube had three cracks in... Read more →