Actius luna

Today, someone attached what appears to be a luna moth cocoon to my face. 

I wore my BikeMS fleece for good luck.

Apparently, adult luna moths typically emerge in my climate in late May or early June, which is when my first two BikeMS rides are this year. I can't predict when I will emerge and be out riding regularly, but I guarantee that I will be wearing a lot of sunscreen.

The dermatologist speculated that the spot of skin cancer above my upper lip could be related to a bad burn I got there while biking, where the sunscreen sweated off. Or, it could just be the spot where my cells decided to wig out. Anyhow, no need for concern - it's all gone; there are no lasting effects, other than the thin scar I will have.

I look forward to slathering up and being warm, pedaling around my city and state, seeing all of its wonders. C'mon, spring! Let's get this baby hatched. (Also, I learned that Actius luna does *not* mean acting loony.) 

https://www.redbubble.com/people/marycapaldi/works/
12445950-luna-moth-painting?p=canvas-print

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo

If you can't beat them, join them (and pack some Band-Aids and some coffee)

**Advisory: there are some icky photos that follow, but you can scroll down further and see cool pictures of cute animals.**

You know things are getting real when you wake up and start quoting Yosemite Sam.

He was a German helping the British in a
Revolutionary War battle.
Bugs got the best of him, of course.

In this instance, "joining them" referred to reaching behind my fat tire bike, pulling out my skis for the first time in years, and doing a couple of loops at the golf course with Alison. 

It was 10 degrees when we left home, so I stuck some toe warmers on my feet, which lack circulation. It appears that the warmth of the toe warmers and skiing got my blood pumping... pumping right out of a new-blister-that-immediately-became-a-gaping-hole on the bottomish side of my toe.

I got it all cleaned up, stuck a Band-Aid on it, and then took the dog for a walk on this clear, sunny winter day. This is the scene I encountered after the walk.

My new solution ⇓

I electronically covered my icky toenails with flowers.
I am so considerate.

So, I don't know when I'll go skiing again. I guess it is a good thing that I'm taking this year off from Irish dance. That toe wouldn't do well with St. Patrick's Day performances. I will have to find more diversions to power through what's left of this winter to make it to spring.

Last weekend, one such diversion was a birdwatching trip, led by Gregg, who I met on the BikeMS Ride Across Minnesota last year. We went to a famous bog a couple of hours north of here.

We didn't find an elusive owl that we were seeking before sunrise, while pounding our coffee, but we found a bunch of other things. These were my favorites (photos pulled off the Internet).

Evening Grosbeak
The yellow was very striking on a grey winter day.
Look at his cardinal-ly beak and his little mohawk. Awww.

This is the bad*ss Shrike. Shrikes are carnivores.
They impale their prey as a cache, and also maybe to help
them tear the prey apart a bit. We saw solitary shrikes lurking
at the tops of trees, hunting, waiting. Or just watching, I dunno.

Isn't this the cutest little thing? So brown and furry.
As much as I loved the grosbeak's brightness, I love
this little Boreal Chickadee's earth tones.

My favorite thing we saw on the birdwatching trip was a mammal.

This is a photo that Gregg posted the week before our trip.
I don't know if this is the exact same Pine Marten,
but isn't he adorable? Of course, he could probably
kill me with his weasel-y teeth, but gosh he's cute.

This is the range of the marten, so I feel really
lucky that we got to see it!

My other diversions consist of looking at all the fun bike rides scheduled in the region between April and September and scheming about which ones I'll do to help me get in shape once all this snow melts. It will. I think.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo

Deathly thoughts in a salt bath

If you saw my last George Jetson post, you know that things were a little crazy for me in January and the first part of February. I managed - with the help of my friends, assorted donors, and 72 guests, of course - to pull off the trivia fundraiser event on Friday night. We raised a couple G (Gs?) for the MS Society, yo!

I didn't bike to drop off the moolah,
but I would have been accommodated!

To recover from the past 6 weeks of insanity (and ignoring the half of my brain that was saying, "you should be catching up on your work projects and making up your leave-without-pay hours to help pay for those dudes who've been jackhammering in the basement for a week"),* I went on Saturday to a salt water sensory deprivation tank.

The jury is still out on this. I think I liked it. I sure felt nice and peaceful and restored afterwards, and I think some of my aches are gone. But 90 minutes is a long time to float in a big pile of salt, even when you consider all the napping I did. However, I really had very few thoughts or stimuli in my brain for an entire 90 minutes. When I did have thoughts, in between my naps, they were:

• What if there's a fire? Will I boil? Will I know? Will they get me? Is that bathrobe nearby?
• Oh, I moved my arm and now I hear my heartbeat. I didn't hear my heartbeat before. What's my pulse? It normally is low. Is it ultralow? Is that bad? Am I dead? Do I care? 
• When you sleep in saltwater, why does it feel like you're encased in gelatin, but then you move and you're in water?
• I wonder how their filter works?

To further treat myself, I decided to ride in the woods on Sunday. We finally have good snow, and it is between 20-30 degrees (the best winter weather). My poor friend Matt went with me and learned how unskilled I am at anything other than beginner conditions. I didn't mind wiping out the few times I wiped out down by the Minnesota River. However, all the riders had made a rut and you couldn't really ride outside the rut very well but if you were in the rut and didn't stay in the rut, you'd start to fall. So, my foot was on the ground a lot, and I was too tense, so my arms got really sore, which is a weird thing to happen when you're biking. So, I called uncle and we rode to and on a boring, groomed, flat trail. It still wasn't my best showing, but at least we saw two deer close by. And then we had coffee. 

Matt told me a funny story about how I annoyed him last year, and it is still making me laugh today. We agreed that with how much time we've spent biking together over the years, it is inevitable that we will annoy each other from time to time. I really appreciate all the friends I've met through biking, and look forward to what the future holds.

This is not the boring, flat trail in the woods.
It's my boring, flat driveway.

So, trivia has helped me get a jump on my fundraising, but of course, I haven't met my goal yet. Want to help? http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo

* I just heard one basement guy use the word "keister," so I think they're feeling as done with this job as I am. I'm increasingly skeptical that they'll be done by the end of the day. Because it is essentially the end of the day. Sigh.

Jane get me off this crazy thing...

This is how I felt last week, while we were polar vortexing, as I tried to manage my regular job, my side gig, fundraiser trivia prep, bike team logistics, and captaining.

This week, I facilitated a multi-day meeting of smart, engaged local public health department leaders, researchers, and lawyers in STL. It was tiring, and I am afraid of all I need to do the next few days to catch up on work and volunteer stuff, but I am oddly calm as I sit here, delayed at the airport.

🚴‍♀️ Is it exhaustion?
🚴‍♀️ Am I recharged by the great conversation and interesting ideas?
🚴‍♀️ Am I at peace because I got to be pampered by my aunt and uncle in STL?
🚴‍♀️ Was it my mini run at the hotel this morning (until I accidentally hit the treadmill's emergency stop button)?
🚴‍♀️ Is it resignation?
🚴‍♀️ Is it my Starbucks oatmeal dinner putting me in a coma? (It sure isn't the big cup of coffee I just drank.)

Regardless of what it is, it sure is nice. I should open my laptop, but might just daydream about summer bike rides instead.

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo