What we're excited about: February edition

Feb 18

We’re a little late here, but February tends to have that effect. It’s the shortest month, the slowest month, the coldest month, but not necessarily the cruelest month.

The Olympics

Naysayers criticize the watch-ability of cross-country skiing. Hipsters pretend to love curling. Then there are the poor dogs. The Winter Olympics, plus Sochi and Putin-tics, aren’t perfect. But they’re still amazing.

Think about these story lines.

Bob Costas’s eyes

When his left eye’s volcanic redness crossed the nose threshold to ignite the right eye into an equal inferno, we knew were in for a week of “I hate subbing” Matt Lauer, which gave way to “I’m just going to be cheerful because I get to host the Olympics, after all!” Meredith Viera. Get better, Bob.

Grounded Tomato

Shaun White cut his hair…and lost his mojo? While he certainly looks better, it was a shame to see such a legend go out without a medal. And we’re not blaming the half pipe, the slush, or the strange gold hoop earring.

Plushenko!

“I am not robot” should go down as the best line of the games. Skated his heart out for the team competition, then his spine fell apart again. Probably one of the top three male figure skaters ever. And tatted-up, on top of that. We’re definitely team Yevgeny.

Retaining power

As some of you may know, when ice/snow/hard rain hits the South, we panic like Sherman was marching through. The February storm was harsh, but here at Treebird, we lost no power, experienced only mild cabin fever (alleviated by a desperate, mad dash to Target on Thursday afternoon where we stocked up on inexplicable things like charcoal face cleanser, floss, and candles), and got a lot of work done. The dogs, for their part, hated it. You win one, you lose one. That’s February’s mantra.

In closing

Our favorite time each night is precisely 8:00 pm, when the purple prose of the Olympic lead-in narrative begins. Dramatically written and expertly slow-read, we find this almost as compelling as ice dancing.

So here’s our own Olympics lead-in for a play-fight between our dogs. Imagine John Williams music, plus the perfect cadence of your favorite anchor-turned-orator.

Terriers have always loved competition—and no time more than now.

This Westie, Highland-bred and Georgia-born, has been the protector of the house for all of her five years. . . and brings a relentless bark as well as jaw-dropping jumps to all of her endeavors.

This Yorkie, on the other hand, is small yet feisty. . . and won’t back down from a bite-in-the-face competition. She also knows that cuddling, not just sprinting, could be the key to her games.