Where the wood drake rests

It has been cold and windy here, and I have what likely (based on my symptoms, exposure, etc.) is my normal allergy-prompted springtime cold. In lieu of solo bike rides away from people, I have been taking long, solo walks away from people. On the more cold and rainy days, I've been walking around the lakes by my house. On the nicer days, I've been walking through neighborhoods and finding an isolated spot to go peek at the creek or Mississippi River. 

I try to take at least one photo per day of something that catches my eye, but couldn't do that when I walked in the dark, in the rain, the other night. It would have been improper for me to photograph the scenes I saw in people's lit up homes! Instead, I offer you the mental image of my friend Jen and I having a dance party - she was in her house with the window open and I was on her front sidewalk. 

Along Minnehaha Parkway

This reminded me of the
half mannequin I used to have
in my dorm room - a gift from
my sister's old boyfriend

My sister sent me this beautiful poem, because it captures my dad's spirit 100%. She said she is walking a ton, too. I think this is something that we picked up from my dad. I sure miss him, especially right now.

The Peace of Wild Things

  by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

https://www.minnpost.com/mnopedia/2013/10/minnehaha-falls-controversial-sculpture-hiawatha-and-minnehaha/

Idiots were crawling on the ice to get behind
the falls. Bridge included in photo for scale for non-locals.

View of Mpls across Lake Hiawatha.
We live 1/2 block from this lake (towards downtown).

Geese enjoying the thawing lake.

A few moments of calm

I spent an embarrassing amount of time yesterday and this morning reading about social distancing, and came across this: "COVID-19 gives us an opportunity to frame our fears not in the context of panic or overwhelming anxiety, but as care."

I appreciated this framing. I am a public health person who believes fervently in vaccination I am a person who thinks it is our obligation, in society, to help others in our community. Social distancing helps prevent the spread of infectious disease to vulnerable populations. 

Naturally, I also am thinking of those in my circle. Yes, I have asthma and getting sick could be bad; I'm a very healthy person, though. Sure, I did buy two bottles of Zicam as my contribution to the hoarding mentality. But I really would like the people I know who have cancer, are going through chemo or are otherwise immunocompromised, or have serious lung disease, including my close family member who meets all three of those criteria all at once, to not get sick. So, I'm distancing myself, more to not unwittingly spread any asymptomatic germs than to keep myself safe. 

I'm already pretty socially distanced, working from home. I have grown accustomed, these past two years, to finding ways to get out of the house during the evening and on the weekends. I like the framing of these weird times, though, as an opportunity. 

I should have added something for scale, so that
the size of this tiny cup can be appreciated.

To that end, I made myself a tiny hot toddy in the cutest little cup my sister-in-law Sophie gave me years ago, and sipped it as sat in the tub reading a book that my sister Molly recently sent me out of the blue. I was feeling their care and warmth as I take a pause from my regular routine to take advantage of an opportunity to help my community.

We are stubbornly hung up on a damaging idea of self-reliance.

Thwarted!

After a nice ride to St. Paul yesterday, I met up with Keisha, Alicia, and Kim this morning for a ride along the Gateway Trail, which I'd read had been cleared of all snow. There were a few icy splotches under bridges, as we expected, but on this warm sunny day we were totally perplexed when we ran into a deep, snow-turned-ice field for as long as the eye could see. 

We were coveting the horses that passed us by. (With humans on top of them.)

Photo courtesy of Keisha

Because it was still early in the ride, we decided to take the dirt road that runs parallel to the trail to see if the trail was cleared further down. We hadn't ridden too far when Alicia realized her back tire was rather squishy and soft.

We pulled over to change her flat rear tire. Of course it was the rear tire. We learned that Alicia's rack must come off her bike to get her rear wheel off. Who knew?! The value of running your finger along the inside of the tire when you can't see an obvious source of the flat (and no snakebitey pinch flat markers on the dead tube) was reinforced by our success today. 

Although it looked just like a little nick on the outside, there was a sharp thorn poking through. We couldn't get it removed but broke it off, covered it with a patch, and hoped it worked. We then realized I do not know how to use a CO2 cartridge. We then realized that I was trying to use a hand pump without having opened the valve on the tube to let the air in. Once we got THAT sorted out, it all worked out great! What a day of re-learning! 

Alicia and I made a deal; she could have
my spare tube in exchange for a cup of coffee.

When I was putting Alicia's tire back on
the rim, Keisha made me bust out loud
laughing. Alicia thought it looked like
a good stretch. It was, but it being
caused by laughter was even better.

A lot of chatting, a lot of laughs, a lot of delays; not many miles. But that's okay, especially for ride #3 of 2020. 

It also reminded me that I should check the tires on both my bikes to see what sort of state they are in after last year, since they weren't used all winter. I generally hate changing flats but today was a great day for it - not cold, not hot, no bugs, nowhere to be, a tire that slipped relatively effortlessly on the rim. 

Today is the first day of MS Awareness Week 2020. I am very grateful that I was able to be outside, moving effortlessly in the sunshine. I am confident that our fundraising efforts will someday stop MS from keeping others from doing the same. http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/GoMaggieGo

Being a human in regular old neutral-smelling times

I am reading a great book by R. Eric Thomas, called "Here for It." I am not a non-fiction person yet I seem to be reading a fair amount of non-fiction these past few years. Is that what happens when you start getting old? Anyhow, the chapter I'm reading is about the challenges of living in these times, generally, and I'm laughing about how he is juxtaposing the present against the past, when everyone stunk due to a lack of hygiene. 

Over the winter, my shoddy blogskills degraded as I mostly used this site to post some photos. The thing is, this started as a cycling blog and, well, I didn't even take my fat tire bike out once (gasp!) this winter. My visits to the gym thankfully were lacking much to report! (Although I'd love your thoughts on the crazy workout lady and the two guys who I'm pretty sure must be fraternal twins and walk in total unison on their treadmills.) Also, if you've been following along, you know there's a lot going on in my head and there's a lot happening with my family. I, the queen of TMI, decided to spare you, whoever you are, the details of my ruminations. At least at this point.

But I will share some more photos. And my excitement about getting out on my bike. Woo! 

I grant you that winter can be pretty...

View of Mpls from near my house in Feb. Not from
a wintery place? That's a frozen lake, not a field.

I helped my mom out after she had
surgery in February, but also snuck away for
a few little snowshoe adventures.

But I joined Dan on his annual visit to Dallas at the end of February, which is a tradition he started a long time ago when we realized that both of our lives are a lot better when he goes somewhere sunny in February. I won't lie that being able to walk without thinking about ice was rather liberating.

Carter and Moss - their owners are
big Vikings fans. Me? I was glad to
have their company on a bunch of walks.

We visited my cousin Sam and his
family. They live near a meadery, which
we swung by because we haven't been
to one before. Now that I outgrew
my honey allergy, this works for me.

When we came back, the weather shifted. We are now in our pre-spring phase. Melty days, colder nights, wind, and still not entirely in the clear for snowfall. I took my bike out on March 1 for my first ride of 2020. I tested out the workout data-gathering feature on the Garmin watch I convinced Jen to give me in January. I'm still figuring it all out and how it relates to my regular Garmin bike computer and to Strava, which it is apparently automatically updating (to my chagrin).

Slow pace to Clockwerks Brewery due to the fact
that there was still snow on the pedestrian
path and tons of people walking on the bike path.

Still high on my I-got-out-on-my-bike endorphins, I then headed to lovely ATL for some work meetings. It rained the whole time except the day I went home, of course. If they are ever in a drought situation again, they should just buy me a plane ticket. It rains every time I visit, regardless of season.

My room, overlooking the interstate. However,
the hotel has been giving me a room on a high
floor between the stairwell and an angled bank of
windows. Meaning that I've had no neighbors the
last 3x I stayed here.

Full wall-sized mosaic at the MSP airport. I love it.
This is my favorite part of Minneapolis, and
am glad that it is depicted in the airport.

If you know me, you know I like a good river. And that I really like confluences (conflui?). The lady on the airplane next to me must have thought that I have never been on a plane before. Actually, I never sit by a window, so I took advantage of the scenery this time.

The top left is MN, as demonstrated by the snow.
I have no idea what states we were in for the others.
Tennessee? Illinois?

On the plane, I finished listening
to this. It brought me great joy.
Maybe you'd like to read it, or
listen to it?

I got back last night and was motivated by today's beautiful weather and did some BikeMS captainesque things: put together a training schedule for my team, shared information with them about upcoming events, etc. I then took my bike for a spin, mulling over the whole time whether I screwed up something on the training schedule given the way that the weeks fall between now and the 2-day ride in June. Nonetheless, I stopped to take a photo of Fort Snelling, from St. Paul, looking across the Mississippi River. I also took photos of my bike to demonstrate how wet and sandy everything is!

The Fort, across the Mississippi River

I have these quick, snap on front and rear fender
things. They come in handy on a day like today, but
my bike still got all gross. I rode my older more
junky bike for this reason.

I came back and made a non-alcoholic
Bloody Mary. A healthy choice to counter
the fact that I ate frosting as a snack. No
wonder why my recent visit to the
doctor showed that I indeed am a
little rounder in the midsection! Let's bike!
p.s. Is it gross to put tomato juice in
a blood donation glass?

I'm really excited to ride again tomorrow and need to start thinking about my fundraising. In the meantime, I'll be grateful that we live in neutral-smelling times and that I have such consistent access to a nice shower!

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

"But still I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easy...

...I am trying to break your heart." By showing you all of the photos of our mid-January-escape-from-Minnesota-go-to-an-all-inclusive-resort-for-a-music-festival trip!

I hadn't been telling people about our planned trip to Mexico for a couple of reasons.

1. The trip was to an all-inclusive Hard Rock Resort. We try to do trips where we actually see the place we are visiting rather than isolating ourselves with a bunch of Americans. Plus: the Hard Rock?
2. Fyre Festival. Need I say more? 
3. I don't like to announce when my house might be vacant.

Well, the Hard Rock was really nice. Really great. The resort itself was pretty, the food was great, and we didn't have to worry about getting sick from the food or water. The people who work there are super nice and hard-working, and, while we were very isolated, we did leave the premises to do a short tour of some Mayan ruins. With a bunch of Americans. But we'll go back; we'll see real parts of Mexico.

I thought beforehand, "I can trust Wilco, right? They're good, down-to-earth guys." (What's the phrase for when you delusionally feel like you have a bona fide relationship with celebrities?) The company that Wilco partnered with did an amazing job of making sure that we all felt pampered and like we were attending summer camp for adults. The planning was excellent. I would go to other things they organize.

And, we've been home for a little over a week, so here we go...

We left in the aftermath of a snowstorm, and were delayed because only half of the MSP runways were open and some serious de-icing had to occur before we could take off.

You aren't supposed to take photos in the customs line,
I read after taking this photo. I liked that the area
to fill out forms was called the "filling station."
Fill 'er up.

On the bus, on the way from the airport to the hotel,
I couldn't resist comparing the weather we left
to the weather we were encountering.

The bus ride was kind of like the bus to the
start of the MS150 bike ride! Someone
handed me a beer to kick off the weekend,
and I drank it.

I don't think it is less environmentally
friendly for the Hard Rock to give you
a wrist band that works as a key compared
to the credit card-sized keys that people surely
lose in the ocean and the pool.
I confess it was sad to cut off the
Wilco Sky Blue Sky festival wrist band
when I got home.

After taking the event shuttle from the airport (they had our flight info, so they were waiting for us) to the hotel, we checked into the hotel and into the event, and stood on one of the two balconies for our room, in short-sleeved shirts - peering at the ocean in the distance.

We had a great dinner at one of the resort restaurants, and then headed over for the first two shows of the weekend: Courtney Barnett and Wilco. We skipped the after-show events so that we could rest up for the remainder of the trip. The next morning, I did an aqua spin class - - a spinning class, in a pool, overlooking the ocean. And then I swam in the ocean. Life is rough, my friends.

We had breakfast, and then went to go read on a resort beach. The beaches were pretty crowded, so we made the unintentionally fantastic decision to sit in a little shaded hut that happened to be a bar, overlooking the ocean and overlooking the swimming beach where Calexico would be playing later in the day. We were able to read, drink some yummy beverages, eat some snacks, and hear the music perfectly! In comfortable chairs and without having to worry about sunscreen.

Waiting for Calexico, who were great.
We sat here every day, actually.

At night, we went and saw Sharon Van Etten and Wilco. We skipped the late-night, post-show activities again. There were a bunch of activities we skipped during the day, too, like making musical instruments, learning about rhythm, and competing in guacamole-making and lip syncing contests.

The next morning, I ran around the grounds, halfway on and halfway off the running trail. (It wasn't well marked.) I jumped in the ocean in my running clothes like a very unfit version of Brandi Chastain and swam for a little bit. We had breakfast, snagged some seats in the shady hut bar, caught the Jeff Tweedy solo set, and left early to make sure that we got to the mezcal tasting event with two of the Wilco band members.

The mariachi band kicked things off. You'll note
that the guy singing has red smartphone in
his breast pocket. For some reason, this made me laugh.

Nels Cline comparing the mezcal he was drinking
to music. I'd love to have him come to a party.
Although I'd have to make sure to invite really
smart people. He's on a different level.

John Stirrat, the nice guy you'd imagine, trying
to engage the audience.

I'm in the official event photos, holding my final
sample of mezcal after I embarrassingly said publicly,
into a microphone, that the previous sample
was "pedestrian." Oh, what a snob!

We had a really great dinner that night with super service, and went to check out Kamasi Washington. We skipped Dr. Dogg and.... someone else, deciding to sit on our balcony instead, enjoying a cocktail in the warm, quiet air.

The next day we went to Tulum and saw some Mayan ruins. It didn't feel right, to be at ruins without my dad and Beth - who we traveled with to Peru/Macchu Picchu in 2006 and Egypt in 2009. To make myself feel slightly consoled, I texted Beth about having fond memories of our "ruinous trips." Dan made me laugh by commenting on how we had better cell coverage in Mexico than we have in Wisconsin.

Back at the resort, we watched the Autumn Defense (John Stirrat and Pat Sansone from Wilco) from our bar hut. We ate dinner on the plaza at the yummy food stands (I accidentally kept on getting in the same line as one of Jeff Tweedy's kids and was worried that he thought I was stalking him) by the main stage and saw a fantastic show by Yo La Tengo (why haven't I seen them before?!?) and, of course, Wilco, again.

We retreated to our now-dark bar hut thing on the ocean and listened to a DJ set by Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen. I walked up to the bar and the bartender said, "mezcalita?" Sadly, but awesomely, he remembered that I'd been drinking (slowly; I was never tipsy the whole trip, which I'd say is good for an all-inclusive resort!) margaritas made with mezcal. Instead, he gave me a sample of the tequila that he thinks is the best. Dan and I took a long time sipping our straight-up alcohol by the ocean (and Dan had to drink the final sip of mine) before we felt we could go to sleep before heading back to Minnesota the next day.

This guy was my favorite bartender. Dan had
whiskey; I had some good tequila. I think
he gave me a fancy glass because I'm a lady.

All in all, a total success: great music, great food, no worries, a total vacation. We booked the trip somewhat on a whim despite reservations about the cost. It was all paid off by the time we arrived in Mexico. I remember the last time I saw my dad, in May, I was telling him, Beth, and my aunt and uncle that we'd just booked the trip and were somewhat mortified. Who knew what all would happen between May and January - losing my dad, having to put our dog to sleep, and navigating the emotional stress of another family member's illness (their story to tell, not mine; and yes, "their" is a legit singular pronoun - who knew it would come in handy in this circumstance!). The trip is a good reminder that it is good sometimes to just be spontaneous and take the plunge!

Photos of the shows we saw. Upper left quadrant = night
one: Courtney Barnett and Wilco. Upper right quadrant =
day two: Calexico, Sharon Van Etten, Wilco. Lower
left quadrant = Tweedy and Kamasi Washington
with a close up of the woman who sings with Kamasi
Washington and can rock a pantsuit like no one else.
Lower right quadrant: The Autumn Defense,
Yo La Tengo, Wilco.

In addition to seeing HUGE iguanas and cute coatis, we
saw cute little agoutis near the nature-y part
surrounding the resort's small fitness trail.

At Xmas, I took a photo of myself in a tube like
this in the snow in Wisconsin. I couldn't
resist climbing in this one, too, and demanding
that my image be captured.

Tulum

Hard to see it here, but...

This is the face in the corner.
I think it is like a Hoyle playing card.

I told Dan that it was mandatory that we take
one photo together on the trip. Who knew he'd
hide his face in the shade of a cap?

Back at the resort. This made me laugh.
Mexico has lawyers, too, I see.

Is the sign really made out of sand?
It looked like it. 

The plaza area by the main stage (and, frankly, tons
of stuff at the resort) had event signage. It was cool.

That's me, on the first night. It's hard to see.

The empty stage. I liked looking at the artwork. During
the shows, you could see stars in the sky at night.
Except the one night when it rained lightly, which
was actually kind of nice

One could grow accustomed to this.

So, we're back. I realized that I have to start thinking about stuff related to my BikeMS rides and captaining my team. Now that we're shifting to February, it seems about right. One cannot simply take aqua bike classes in a pool next to the ocean every day! 

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