18 months since lock down, with vaccines in hand, it's not necessarily good.
TCM is still going to run the marathon. To protect us and prevent crowding, they made pack pick up one day instead of two. Because that makes sense.
Meanwhile we're running out of hospital beds, kids
are back in school spreading COVID and RSV, and we're waiting for flu
season.
This made things real for me like no other.
How the Mississippi River should look at Coon Rapids Dam (this is normal flow, not flood stage)
How the Mississippi River looks today, in the worst drought since 1988, and the worst drought in the modern history of how droughts are recorded.
When someone asks me what it's like to live to this point in a global pandemic, this is what I'mma show them.
I have questions for YouTube about why CC autogenerates to Dutch though.
We're having a very real drought here in Minnesota. The rest of the country is at flood stage of almost everything. Here's pics taken in the same place at Sherburne Wildlife Refuge, at the side of the road on the same stopping point. One was taken April 28 and the other was taken July 1 this year.
Water is so low.
Well, we needed one that was super close today. That or the activity at the state park had to be swimming. Those were my conditions. We picked close so that we could go early. Why did we need to go early? And how is that a thing either one of us would've picked? Because the high today was projected to be around 100* and that was just not our thing.
We parked near the swimming beach. This was not necessarily the WRONG place to park, but it meant that most of our walk was not on Pike Island. But, I got to see a part of the park I'd never seen before, so I thought that was legit.
This turned out to be much more fun than I expected. I was like "we'll just go so we can get to 8 parks, right?" I wound up enjoying myself and was glad to get out before the heat. When I came home I ran my mile and watered my garden. Then I hid inside in the a/c the rest of the day. This heat is no joke.
This summer we are engaging in L and L's excellent adventure.
Dungeon Master's work is doing a wellness challenge. If you visit a certain number of state parks, you are entered in a drawing for lots of goodies at the end of the summer. So she's doing the thing with state parks and I get to come along for the fun.
We picked Frontenac to start because it's one that does not require overnight planning. I'd been here once before (with my favorite nun in tow, that's a story all it's own) but I didn't remember much. Dungeon Master talked to the rangers and identified a route for us. All in all we walked about three miles, up and down hills, through prairies and forests, and saw all kinds of overlooks. I identified half the plants in the park (not) and re-learned that blood root is bad for you. (I learned this via google.)
After the park we headed in to Red Wing to see the big boot and grab some food. The boot was fun, as always. The food was meh but the server was super sweet, so it was ultimately a nice time. We also went up to Memorial Park (the big look out) in Red Wing.
In a surprise move, when I got home, I went out and got all of the plants. I went big on perennials this year, with only one small flat of begonias. I also went big on herbs, and re-potted my shishito peppers.
Morning: well, it rained all night and it was raining in the morning too. I woke up and had coffee and did crosswords with Dad. Around 10:30, I headed over to Skyline. One last feast? After 'brunch' I finished reading the book I'd gotten Dad and I for Father's Day, so I could leave it here for him. And then, yo, I napped hard.
Afternoon: We took a family trip to the compost bin. Which I remain super happy for because it means Mom will walk every day or almost every day. To compost her food waste.
The big event: I taught a dear friend who thinks she's anti-technology (but is really a late adopter) how to turn on her iPad. Then I discovered the whole damn world was wrong when they told her how easy it'd be. Because yo, she doesn't have an email address or an Apple ID. It takes a minute and technical knowledge to set that shit up. But, yo, we got it done. And as a thank you, she showed me where some of the very very few living cicadas are that have emerged already. I took pictures.
Evening: I did laundry and pretended I don't have to go somewhere else tomorrow. I've been here almost long enough to think I belong here. That was the longest vacation I've had probably since moving to Minnesota. (Not including the moments of not working and looking for work.) It was kind of amazing. Anyone else who gets the chance to take two weeks off, I highly recommend you do it.
This may have accidentally been my most favorite day of the trip so far.
Morning: Ok, this wasn't my favorite part because I woke up with a RAGING headache. (Thanks hormones.) I had coffee, ibuprofen, and a second sleep. During Second Sleep, I dreamed of teaching college level social work classes and doing assessments. (Why can people say and do the same things but present a different clinical picture?)
Late morning: Dad was ready to install what I am calling "Mom's compost bin". Other people are also going to compost, but this has been Mom's dream since 2008 when they moved here. We dug a trench, put the bin in place, but some "brown" in it, and I sweated up a storm. When that was all said and done...
Running: I went for a 'long' run. I meant to do a 10K for 'garmin challenge" reasons. I stopped at 4.9 miles. But for the first time in a few days, I did not poop my pants while running so I'm calling it a win. (My life is what it is.)
Afternoon: We went down to see many many of my favorite people in Kentucky. It was just the perfect afternoon of hanging out with Mom and Dad, cousins, kids, and Aunt Bonus Mom. (That should be her blog name right?) We had grilled meats and fishes for supper. Mom tried Salmon skin for the first time. It's not an acquired taste as much as an acquired psychology to try it in the first place I think. We played many card games including Euchre. There was also Harry Potter trivia. I am the MASTER at Harry Potter trivia.
Evening: Dad and I hung out on the couch and did crosswords and sometimes talked about life. Mom got frustrated at something and was all "I'm just going to do this myself, this is ridiculous" which was hilarious. (She volunteers with a national organization that apparently doesn't understand what the NASW wants before they grant social work CEUs.)
I have one day left. This trip was planned to involve more remote work and much less playing. Work politics dictated I take off all but one day instead. And yo, I can say for real now, two weeks off is more than twice as good as one week off.
Morning: I thought about getting up to run. I literally told myself "learn from yesterday". Spoiler alert: I did not. Instead I had an egg at 9am and then went to hike with Mom, and a couple other people. We hiked out at Rowe Woods (Cincinnati Nature Center) where I lived a couple summers in college working for a lady commonly known as "the bat lady" but also "Belwood". (Neither of those things are google worthy, right?) So in addition to walking around and visiting the place, we saw my old accommodations. That green cottage was way more rustic when I lived there for sure.
Afternoon: I went out for a run and felt great. I genuinely thought I could go forever until I had to poop. I also genuinely thought I was going to make it back to my house. I did not. (This is why we don't take two Imodium. Ever.) So, as soon as I got home, I um, repaired that damage and moved on with life. I hung out with Mom a while and she gardened.
Morning: I had breakfast with a different old KY friend. We visited and talked and it's like we just saw each other yesterday except I can't remember what grade her kids are in. Also, how are they freaking driving now?!?!
Afternoon: My stomach was having issues. I took Imodium. I tried to run. I did get my mile but it was not a super successful run otherwise. Let's just say there were not one but two stops in the woods. For the first time ever I called for a ride home. No one answered so I sat around and caught my breath and then made it home very gingerly. Surprised to say this was not actually the day I pooped my pants. There was a second Imodium though, which is rare.
Running: Again, pretty early in the morning I hit up the run. I didn't go quite as far today, but still had a good time.
Evening: I cooked a 'stir fry' to use up some of the rice cakes we have. I did not use them all. Sigh. Then I dealt with my stomach being in attack mode pretty much the rest of the evening, so that was awesome.
Running: Hitting my stride with this running thing. I found a "downhill" route that involves me running the downs and walking the ups, but I can get it up to four miles pretty easily.
Evening: Saw a couple of the Kentucky troupe again. One had soccer practice. So I sat with the grown up and purchased plane tickets and talked logistics for vacation. Because, yo, vacation! And then I had Skyline at like 8pm and it was lovely.
Running: Happened first thing. Because, yo, I had a big day today.
Lunch: I ate defensively because I knew what was about to happen next.
Well. I worked all day.
This was planned and on purpose, and I enjoy this part of my job. It was also the one single day I'd agreed to work remotely for sure for the whole trip. (And the only 'work' day that I kept.)
I was wiped out and exhausted most of the day. I just felt like I never really woke up. Certainly not the first day in the pandemic I felt like I was sleep walking through life.
At the end of the day, I went out and ran for a while to find my sanity. I'm not sure it worked. During my run I saw a helicopter flying over head. After the year we've had up in the Cities, I'm not a fan. Though they fly over Mom and Dad's house for very different reasons than in the Cities. They are in one of the flight paths to the small airport where a lot of helicopters and small crafts are serviced.
Running: Was first thing because of the weather. Afterwards, Mom and I jazzercised in the basement via zoom. Part of Mom's day is me dancing with her. It was fun. The instructor has an internal monologue that just comes on the outside and it was hilarious.
Brunch: I made crepes which are always a request of Mom's. We tried something new with the berries and all agreed it was better this way. Frozen berries, heated up and somewhat cooked down. No sugar or thickener, just cooked down a bit. It makes them super sweet.
Afternoon: Yo, it rained all day so I napped and read the news and watched sports with Dad. Mom broke google sheets while she was trying to do minutes for an organization she serves. So she was out of commission.
Supper: Homemade Tom Ka Gai. This was more of a "trust me, you'll like this" meal. They did like it.
Run: I'm surprised to tell you I woke up and ran, and I went 4 miles. It was a fun run actually. I focused on running the downs and walking the ups, and this route had plenty of both. Bonus, it was open and legal for me to be there the whole time as well!
Afternoon: I hung out with an old friend from high school and her family including twin preschoolers and a 2nd grader. I learned about Minecraft and other video games. I hope Grandma likes her Nintendo so she can play animal crossing. We walked around Sharon Woods. I've already told Mom and Dad this is where they're having their 50th wedding anniversary party next year. I've also told them I'm already getting pressure not to screw this one up from Dungeon Master of all places.
Evening: We hung out on a neighbor's patio and had supper. Everyone else there is in my parents generation. But we're all technically adults too, so that can be weird.
Morning: Today was Jungle Jim's day. And if you don't know Jungle Jim's, I can't quite describe it. If you've seen the YouTube videos it's both more and less of what you think it is. This time I went with an agenda which I highly recommend. Friday night supper was to be Mushroom soup and Sunday night was Tom Ka Gai so I got loads and loads of fresh ingredients.
When we got home I put in the ingredients for chicken broth in the crock pot and made the veggie salad. Everything else went in the fridge.
Lunch: Is it possible this is the first time I had goetta this trip? That doesn't seem right.
Nap: Afternoon naps have definitely been a thing this trip.
Run: I decided to head the other way on Wasson Way (towards Kroger vs Ault Park). This part of the trail is not yet paved. Today I learned this part of the trail is actually closed. I told mom she'd played a nice trick on me, like the time she sent me down Grandin Rd and told me it was flat.
Supper: Mushroom soup is awesome. As always.
Chaos Morning: Well, obviously I slept in pretty hard on this day. Mom and I took a walk in Ault Park in the morning. Spring flowers including irises and columbine are out. Hastas always look good.
Later: Mom and Dad have been dealing with a smell issue in Mom's office. A nice man named TJ who works for their property management people came over and diagnosed the smell as a dead animal, not water incursion or mold (that's it's own post). Once reasoning was explained, I understood and agreed.
Afternoon: Mom needed to work so I took a hard nap.
Supper: I'd requested Bangkok Bistro. One of my favorites. Though this time, I was trying to dissect the ingredients in the dish I like.
Run: I woke up and ran to the sun coming up in Mpls.
Travel: Captain Smiley took me to the airport. Where no one has heard of social distancing. I had the golden arches for breakfast and a fairly easy flight to Cincy. It was not 100% full but almost.
Skyline: Obviously I made a beeline for Skyline when we got home. We had drive through and took it home to game plan for the week.
Plant Nursery: In what I hope is the first of many trips, Mom and I hit up the plant nursery of her choice. It's supposed to rain on Mother's Day so we were preemptively shopping. Mom's garden this year will be pink and white. Her plants of choice include begonias, geraniums, and columbine.
Supper: We had a bonus shopping trip to Kroger because we needed mushrooms for Dad to make supper. Kroger has changed a lot. They remodeled the whole store. The footprint for the alcohol section is massively bigger (and it was not small before). Dad cooked chicken piccata. We couldn't find exactly the right mushrooms, but it was good for what it was.
Plant update
Lavender: Dead. This is not a perennial in Minnesota.
Potted strawberries and mint: Also dead. I am disappointed as I was told this shit would come back.
Hydrangea: Coming along. She got lots of water today.
Bee balm: Flourishing. If I ever don't know what to plant, I'll just get more of that.
Catalpa 1: Doing fine because her gator bag works correctly.
Catalpa 2 (southie): Also starting to grow leaves. I found the hole in the bag though.
Follow up with Southie: Mpls Park Board Forestry Service is lovely to talk with on the telephone, and they are sending someone out with a new bag eventually.
A couple of thoughts on the run streak:
I checked today. If I registered my run streak, I'd be in the top 500 streakers in the world, and the top 100 women. <i>Why don't you register?</i> I said it's the same reason I don't like putting away my clean dishes. OMG Blogger, I hate you!!!!!
Also, honestly, very very early, in the streak I started for myself, there were elliptical only workouts. So I'd need to find a different date to register for the start of the run streak, different than what I genuinely consider the start of my streak.
Second funny story: One of the blogs I love, the author was all "I don't trust running shorts on Amazon that are $15" or similar. And I'm all "you need to try a running streak". Because, yo, the running streak has taught me what clothes, and running clothes, and regular clothes actually do. And for serious, $15 shorts from Amazon are fine for many many many workouts.
Today started like any other day.
I worked. I'm seeing more people in person. I came home in the middle of the day to wrap up with phone calls, etc.
Around 3pm my phone started BLOWING UP, as did my work computer. The verdict will be announced at 3:30 or 4pm, the Governor is expected to declare a curfew and a state of emergency in Mpls, and it's okay to switch patients to telehealth tomorrow if needed. Oh, and Olive went to work in Brooklyn Center at 3pm so I was blowing up her phone with all this info telling her to go home.
Obviously, I went out to run my mile, so I could be back by 3:30pm.
I called Mom and had her watch the news with me. It was after 4pm when they announced the verdict. I was surprised on the most serious of the charges, and then super relieved as the more and more guilty verdicts came in. And then, when they cuffed him, gut punch. And so obviously I was sobbing with Mom on the phone. Captain Smiley had me come over for a minute and then I was sobbing in his arms too.
All of the emotions are everywhere.
Dungeon Master asked if I wanted to walk. I was all "I don't think I can?" and added "I can only pay attention to something for a few minutes right now. I stand up. I sit down. I do that..." And obviously five minutes later I was done with that call. Because, yo, I can only pay attention to something for a few minutes right now.
I heard AG Ellison's address. I have not heard Gov Walz address yet. I assume he's made one.
I have at least one friend downtown at that vigil and one friend at 38th and Chicago at that vigil. It's really amazing to see all these pics on tv. Everyone is kind of processing their relief, and grief and everything all at once together, which of course makes it more powerful.
This is what I'll remember from today:
Today was a super sad day.
I've talked a lot about the city of Buffalo on this blog. Some of my favorite lake spots and running spots are out there. As well as a lovely cider orchard that Dungeon Master and I hit up one time.
There was a horrific shooting at a medical clinic in Buffalo today. I will say I'm familiar with the clinic. Victims have not been named but I'm fairly certain I'm going to know either the person who was murdered or one of the critical patients. One person was shot, treated, and released. One person has died. Three are in critical condition at this time.
So, yeah. My day stopped around the time my phone blew up with people checking in with me.
I'd originally planned to actually leave my house today, run on a treadmill, and attempt a weights workout. That didn't happen. Instead, this is day 3 of my Living Room Mile streak. (That's one streak that can end any day now.) It's day 2,000 of me not seeing another human being. (Not really; it's Tuesday and it's been since Saturday?). I was so emotionally wrecked, I pretty much stopped and walked it out after I knew I'd hit my mile. That's not a thing I do too often.
I am apparently the captain of Doom Scrolling. Found that out today as well. Sigh.
We're going to try it again tomorrow. I've invited the Qat Lady over for Jazzercise and more fried squid. And Captain Smiley for squid. I don't think he's into the Jazzercise. We'll see.
Worst COVID dream ever:
Pooky Cub was a bit older and we had this game where she would see me and this run into me. (Only good part of the dream.)
So, she was in day care and day care was at a book store (Barnes N Noble?). And I saw here there, so she runs over and runs into my legs and I pick her up and we visit.
Well for some reason I wanted to take her across the street to a mall?
So, I just put her in the back seat of my car like "sit still child and don't fall over, this'll be fine". And we had fun at the mall.
But then someone was like "what the f^ck, you took a kid out of day care without telling an adult?!?! They'll be calling the parents and the police about now". And I was all "I can't tell Pooky Bear, because I shouldn't have taken her to the mall without a car seat"
So, we drove back over to Barnes N Noble. Again without a car seat. And acted like nothing happened.
Pooky Bear and the police had not been called.
But then when it was time for parent pick up, I was with Pooky Bear (?!?) Pooky Cub and I practiced making sure the staff knew we were leaving.
So, I woke up feeling like a horrible friend and not sure Pooky would ever want her kid to be around me again. I'm sorry for what dream me did!!!
Tonight, finally, My Pooky Bear and Qat Lady came over for a (COVID safe) visit.
I absolutely love it when people come to see me. If I'd gone to one of their homes tonight, yo, I would've left so early in the evening because I hate getting into a cold car and it would've been on my mind. Not an issue when I don't have to drive home, right?
We did Christmas (finally). I am the proud owner of pretty plants and pretty pots. Because these girls are my people.
For supper, we had Simple Mushroom Soup and Salt and Pepper Squid Pooky Bear helped me with the mushrooms. They both made me cut and clean the squid. (What is the difference between squid and cuttlefish? I'm pretty sure I had cuttlefish or a baby octopus.) And then Qat Lady actually dealt with frying up the squid while I made a dipping sauce for us.
Qat Lady tried Wood Ear mushrooms for the first time. She did not like the looks of them at first, but got braver and braver as the night went on. "Oh yeah; they taste okay" (which means "they don't taste as funky as they look"). I was pleasantly surprised that my super texture eater friend Pooky was totally down on the mushroom soup.
My house is much cleaner when people come to see me, btw. I spent some time today working on that, including vacuuming. But mostly, yo, I just got to hang out and visit. With people. It was lovely.
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