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a run in the woods

a run in the woods

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i’m thinking of getting some snowshoes, if only so i can go for an easy-ish walk through the woods at st. john’s. mid-winter treadmill blahs are never easy, especially when a person knows that running through the woods is only 5 mere months away.

a run in the woods starts with a forecast. if it hasn’t been rainy lately, it’s a good day for a run in the woods. a lot of rain means a lot of the low spots on the trails are filled with muddy water. even on not-so-rainy weeks, the low spots can still be muddy and hard to navigate with the muck.

st. john’s is about 5 miles from my house, so i hop in my car and take the short drive to park outside the prep school. take the fob off my keychain and stick it in my pocket. grab the can of OFF i keep in my car and spray down my exposed limbs, clothes, and top of my head. lock the car, then walk out on the asphalt road that runs through a cavern of trees to the freeway’s walking bridge. on my right is the stone gate.

i take a moment at the edge of the woods to stretch out my hips by swinging my legs back and forth, side to side. in the springtime, the trail is covered with old leaves that survived the winter; in summer, the trail is mostly dirt, the leaves having been desiccated; and in fall, sometimes the yellow leaves are so thick on the ground, it’s hard to know where the trail is.

my headphones go in and i take off into the woods, down the hill that greets me first thing. it’s a pleasant way to start the run. it gets harder.

the first half mile of my run, the lake peeps at me through the trees – teasing me with thoughts of paddleboarding. but i carry on and the trail gets a little harder.

hills go up and down, some a little rougher than others. sometimes there are divots hidden under brush. there is a series of hills i call the goldilocks – the first starts off ok, the second is a little harder, and the third is a bear (so to speak). toward the end of my 3-mile loop, there are two sections that are similar in grade and look, and i sometimes get confused as to how much i have left. on my 5-mile loop, there is a beast of a hill. going up or down is a challenge.

the mosquitoes are a challenge. if i forget to spray down with deet, i have a swarm of bugs following me and clinging to my skin. if the deet’s been sprayed, there is still a cloud, but they tend to stay off. however, if i stop for a moment at mile two (right before goldilocks), the mosquitoes take their chance and congregate. at this point, a lot of the bug spray has sweated off, and they strike while the iron’s hot. i have a lot of bug bites in the summertime.

it’s always wonderful thing, though, to be out in the trees running through them. the critters are out there, as are other people. summer is quiet, which is nice. once school starts in the fall, there are plenty of people out on the trails. one time i was out while the ROTC was doing some sort of training, and a creepy dude wasn’t moving except for his eyes were watching me like i was a russian operative. i said hi and he barely said hi back.

on the back part of my loop past the logging clearing, you can hear the traffic on the freeway, which cuts its way through the campus’ woods. then you loop a little bit away on a causeway next to a small lake with a swamp on the other side. in the spring, the view is breathtaking, and the call of the frogs overwhelm the hum of I-94.

my most common loop is the almost-4-mile. it ends with a rough patch, where i have to work to make it up the hill that greeted me on the run so pleasantly. and it ends back at the stone gate.

sometimes i stop at the gate; sometimes i hoof it across the road to finish up 4 miles on the other side; sometimes i take it easy and run back to my car on the asphalt.

i stretch out on the grass next to my car. i always stretch, but trail running uses different leg muscles than treadmill or road running, so i make sure to spend some extra time. then i grab my beach towel that stays permanently in my car, spread it on my front seat, and get in to drive home. i always have a bottle of water with me for the drive home, and at this point, the sun is generally close to setting.

it’s always a good day for a run in the woods.

now, running in the woods at night?

that’s a different story.

2019. i’m old.

2019. i’m old.

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let’s see, 2019. let’s see what you have to offer. let’s see. (i’m avoiding the obvious “big event” happening in 2019.)

i don’t do resolutions, per se. just a nice to do list that gives me a nudge for the new year.
  1. well, what would a new year’s to-do list be without “take more photos” as number 1? i mean, it’s almost expected at this point. so, take more photos.
  2. visit the state parks i want to visit. after last year’s whirlwind visits, now i know which parks i want to go back to. i’ve got an itasca trip already planned. i’d like to head up to grand portage and actually spend time there. i also wouldn’t mind camping at blue mounds.
  3. is this the summer i perhaps run TWO half marathons? maybe! we’ll see what happens. i’m already signed up for the earth day half, and training starts in 3 weeks for that. seeing training on the horizon gives me hope that winter will come to an end.
  4. put in new floors in my house. i’ve got flooring for the entryway, which is my test subject. if that goes well, we’ll give the kitchen a go and see what happens from there. this also means i’ve got to paint my cabinets.
  5. i signed up for a yoga program through fightmaster yoga and i hope it makes me more diligent in my yoga-ing. i do yoga pretty often, but it would be great to make it a daily thing.
  6. speaking of a daily thing, remember when i blogged EVERY DAY for a year? i don’t know if i should try that again or if i should just think about it and dismiss it.
  7. do something interesting with nate – i like that on my list because it makes me think about something interesting to do with him. 2018 was a good year for doing stuff; let’s make 2019 a good year too!
  8. I GUESS I’M TURNING 40. i hope something happens for it.
YEAR IN REVIEW: 2018, the year i did stuff.

YEAR IN REVIEW: 2018, the year i did stuff.

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the year i did stuff, indeed. somehow i actually completed quite a few of my 2018 resolutions. let’s review the resolution list, shall we?

1. oh what the heck, we’re throwing take more pics on the list again. i know i’ll be taking SOME photos, so we’ll see if i can up my game a little bit.

check and check. i DID ONE BETTER on this resolution. i not only took a lot of great pics this year, but i bought a NEW CAMERA. a camera that does great in low light and has a lot more bells and whistles than i know what to do with – a canon mark III. but i am really happy with it and it was a fantastic purchase. and i didn’t die at the hands of the craigslist killer when i picked it up.

as for the pics i took, i did more astrophotography, took vacation pics, and had some fun taking pics of the cats.

2. my officemate convinced me to bring over the “do something interesting with nate” item from last year since it really wasn’t accomplished. in 2018? i KNOW i’m going to do something interesting with nate. we’re going to arizona in february for my cousin’s wedding, then we’re taking a trip up to the grand canyon and over to mesa verde. 

CHECK AGAIN. something interesting with nate! i absolutely did a few interesting things with nate! not only did we go to AZ, but we went the black hills in october and we went to a few other places as well. overall, i think nate and i did a lot of interesting things this year together.

3. this could also be a good way to check off a trip item on the list. in fact, there will be a few items on this list in 2018. i feel like this isn’t much of a list if i can’t work on them because they’re already planned. so i’m going to add something that is REALLY difficult…

GIANT CHECK. not only did i go on one trip, but i went on a LOT this year. this year was the year of travel for me. AZ, UT, CO, NM, then vegas for work, then the black hills and into wyoming this fall. and that’s just out of state. cuz i spent the majority of my traveling this year on minnesota…

4. …and possibly unattainable in 2018: visit all the MN state parks. in fact, i’m going to say right now that i’m probably going to need to push this out to 2019. but at least i’m thinking about it!

CHECK.

CHECK.

CHECK.

i visited 72 minnesota state parks and recreation areas. SEVENTY TWO. i camped at five parks, visited 18 parks over 3 days with lori, found some awesome parks to visit again, and already have a 5-day trip to itasca planned for 2019. this may have seemed unattainable when i first thought about it, but when i sat down and sketched out how it would work, visiting that many parks was definitely doable if you put your mind to it.

the best part? i saw so many parts of minnesota that even few minnesotans visit. this is a great state. get out and see it!

5. start thinking about either a BWCA trip or superior trail hike with liz. i think this will depend on her schedule. at this point i’ve got a pretty flexible schedule compared to her.

i guess i thought about this? a lot of this depends on liz at this point.

6. consider bees and chickens again. do i want that responsibility? i mean, i can’t even correctly grow brussels sprouts, and the only reason the cats get fed is because they meow in my ear.

i considered. i’m not sure if this is something that i want to do quite yet, although the bees make sense. i’ve got that field behind my house that they would quite like.

7. TURN 39 OMG WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE

well, that happened.

8. running? hmmm. ragnar is another possibility in 2018. possibly the granddad half relay with liz. one thing i wouldn’t mind doing that i’ve never done is volunteering at a race – being the water person or cheerer or something.

so! running! i did another half marathon this year and indeed ran the granddad half relay with liz (it sucked on my end). i have yet to volunteer at a race. i asked to volunteer at the lake wobegon marathon, but i guess they couldn’t use me. i did a lot of trail running out at st. john’s, starting as soon as i could in may. ragnar happened again, and while it wasn’t 90º with sweat pouring down my face, it was still miserable with trying to warm up in 40º. good grief! maybe next time it won’t be a weather extreme.

9. strive toward a more healthy lifestyle. ugh. this is so cliche with a new year. but i want to do more yoga, and i want to maybe up my speed with running. i’m not going to say “i’m going to lose 30 lbs and increase my run time by 1 minute/mile” but if i can accomplish something, that will work.

i don’t know if i did more yoga, but i do know that i ran my fastest-ever 5k this year. i think my speed sort of increased on the running front. i ended up doing two dietbets and lost 10 lbs or so total. right now i’m not feeling so healthy because i’ve been eating like a crazy person over the holidays, but i’m hoping to get back into some more reasonable eating patterns soon. AND, half marathon training starts at the end of january!

10. in conjunction with the healthy lifestyle thing is mindfulness. my anxiety levels have actually been pretty ok (i think due to work being less stressful). yoga is super good for mindfulness, and i got a great workbook from my mom that incorporates writing with mindfulness. i might also start using the headspace app again, which is a meditation app. there’s something about clearing your mind and focusing on the present. 

i did not do so well at this. while yoga is always good for mindfulness, i didn’t do so well when i wasn’t doing yoga. i’m not sure if this is something where i need to deliberately set down devices and do something else. i feel like my screen time is overwhelming.

11.continue being happy. even if the rest of this list isn’t touched, if my life is relatively happy, then i’ve accomplished all i need to accomplish for 2018. i’ll continue SUPping on lake sag, working on my garden, reading, writing occasionally, petting cats, and hanging out with nate and my fam. there’s not too much else a person can ask for out of life other than being happy. 

aw, nice job 2017 kate. i guess i can mark this as a check on my list!

visions

visions

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“while visions of sugarplums danced in their heads.”

what on earth is a sugarplum. maybe a sugared plum? not so!

last night, as is tradition, the wallaces read out loud “the night before christmas” with exaggerated sound effects. that evening, my dad said he was going to dream of sugarplums. my mom and i were wondering exactly what was a sugarplum. well, let me tell you!

a sugarplum is a comfit – a candy with a center that’s covered in hard outer sugar, not unlike an m&m, jawbreaker, or even a cadbury miniegg. in the 1600s, popular comfits were everyday seeds and nuts, like fennel, caraway, cardamom, almonds, ginger, cinnamon, anise, and even celery seeds.

they were particularly difficult to make because the sugar coating had to be gradually built up with sugar syrup with a special funnel. it went on for hours and hours, even days on end, until 30 layers of sugar were on the innards. as you can imagine, these were snakes for richie riches. now, not so difficult as they are mostly automated. and most likely do not include a plum.

AND, the word sugarplum meant more than just the candy. in the 1600s, it meant you spoke sweetly but might have a hidden agenda (passive aggressiveness?). to sugar plum in the 1700s meant to pet, fawn over. and in the 1800s, anything wonderful and desirable was “plum.” (think sugarplum fairy in the nutcracker.)

these days, the only time we hear sugarplum is in moore’s poem, and now you know what a sugar plum actually is.

in fact, you can MAKE a sugarplum if you wish. courtesy of alton brown:

6 ounces slivered almonds, toasted
4 ounces dried plums
4 ounces dried apricots
4 ounces dried figs
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon anise seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
Pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup honey
1 cup coarse sugar

  1. Put the almonds, plums, apricots, and figs into the bowl of a food processor and pulse 20 to 25 times or until the fruit and nuts are chopped into small pieces, but before the mixture becomes a ball.
  2. Combine the powdered sugar, anise seeds, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, cardamom, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Add the nut and fruit mixture and the honey and mix using gloved hands until well combined.
  3. Scoop the mixture into 1/4-ounce portions and roll into balls. If serving immediately, roll in the coarse sugar and serve. If not serving immediately, put the balls on a cooling rack and leave uncovered until ready to serve. Roll in the coarse sugar prior to serving.
  4. The Sugarplums may be stored on the cooling rack for up to a week. After a week, store in an airtight container for up to a month.

(i don’t know if i would eat this.)

december! time to blog.

december! time to blog.

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see, after i finish up kablpomo, i tend to not blog for a while. 12 blogless days. it’s like the 12 days of no blogging. 

on the first day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix.

on the second day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the third day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the fourth day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the fifth day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the sixth day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: six(ty) pages of reading!, five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the seventh day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: seven months of photos to backup, six(ty) pages of reading!, five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the eighth day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: eight trips to fill the humidifier, seven months of photos to backup, six(ty) pages of reading!, five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the ninth day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: drinking nine glasses of water after that 5 miles on the treadmill, eight trips to fill the humidifier, seven months of photos to backup, six(ty) pages of reading!, five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the tenth day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: ten trips to the bathroom after drinking nine glasses of water after that 5 miles on the treadmill, eight trips to fill the humidifier, seven months of photos to backup, six(ty) pages of reading!, five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the eleventh day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: eleven hours to decorate and bake and listen to christmas music, ten trips to the bathroom after drinking nine glasses of water after that 5 miles on the treadmill, eight trips to fill the humidifier, seven months of photos to backup, six(ty) pages of reading!, five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

on the twelfth day of no blogging, my true love gave to me: 12 days of no blogging so i guess it’s time to blog!, eleven hours to decorate and bake and listen to christmas music, ten trips to the bathroom after drinking nine glasses of water after that 5 miles on the treadmill, eight trips to fill the humidifier, seven months of photos to backup, six(ty) pages of reading!, five miles on the treadmiiiillll, four hours of darkness before bedtime that never end, three stupid cats wanting pets, time to eat dessert AND second dessert, and an extra 30 minutes to watch netflix. 

the end.

finished friday

finished friday

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well, kablpomo comes to an end on foodie friday, and i have no food pics for you. i did finally clean out all the thanksgiving food from the fridge and went grocery shopping tonight for real food. i found out that greek gods yogurt made a maple flavor, and it was on clearance at fresh thyme, so i bought two giant containers of it. it’s delicious!

i also got some pretzels and i’m going to attempt to make almond bark pretzels, which i will most likely inhale in two days.

other than that, all quiet on the food front. december starts tomorrow, which means my lindt advent calendar starts tomorrow!! that’s a little exciting. a piece of chocolate for every day in december leading up to christmas! i saw a cheese advent calendar at some grocery store i was at and i should’ve bought it.

oh, one other piece of food news i guess. tomorrow nate and i are going to anton’s to celebrate our 13th anniversary. popovers here we come!

calling squire

calling squire

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my uncle squire, my dad’s brother, was a mainstay in the wallace household while i was growing up. he was also one of three people whose phone numbers i had memorized (besides my own).

somewhere nestled in my childhood, there was a day (or more likely a few) when squire made it known that the winter months were pretty awful with no sun and how summertime daylight is just great. of course, being a nerdy family, we wallaces were well-versed on axial tilt and the solstices. so i took it upon myself to make sure squire was well aware of the daylight or lack thereof.

common scenario:

*ring* *ring*

“hello”

“hi squire, it’s kate! guess what! in 6 months, the days start getting shorter again!”

“grumble grumble grumble”

“hahahahahaha!”

or

*ring* *ring*

“hello”

“hi squire, it’s kate! guess what!  the days are getting shorter!”

“grumble grumble grumble”

“hahahahahaha!”

looking back, i am aghast at this horrible behavior. these days, i know how precious that daylight is and how it can affect a person’s mood. i was evil, evil, evil and can’t believe my parents let me get away with that! although, i did talk to my dad yesterday, lamenting that that was a nasty thing to do, and he did say that squire enjoyed it. i’m sure he enjoyed talking to his nieces and nephews on the phone, but the subject matter sure could have been a little better.

on a related note, while the darkness keeps me in a mood where i want to sleep all the time, my seasonal affective disorder has been pretty manageable the past few years. i rack it up to keeping on keeping on on the treadmill regularly over the winter. the treadmill sure is boring, but the chemicals the run releases sure do help.

on a related note to the related note, half marathon training starts in 2 months. this news is twofold: 1) waaah half marathon training on the treadmill is the boringest of boring but 2) THAT means that april is a mere 5 months away. once the training starts, i at least know the end of winter is in sight.

word wednesday: jolly log

word wednesday: jolly log

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well, since december is nearly upon us, i thought it might be an ok time to do a word wednesday on a holiday word: yule.

the olde norske word jol was just a word to describe a heathen feast, aka a party. then in swept the anglo-saxons who took the word jul and made giuli, a two-month mid-winter season for december and january.

there was a lot of feasting during these two months (what else ya gonna do in the dead of winter when it’s dark out) but not necessarily a festival. after the christians rolled in, they narrowed down yule to the 12-day nativity season (which happens AFTER dec. 25), but by the 11th century, it was replaced by christmas except in northeast england, where danes had settled.

in the 19th century, there was a revival of merrie olde england, and yule was resurrected.

now here’s where it gets kind fun. jul, the norse word, was actually borrowed from old french – jolif. jolif in modern french is joli – originally festive, or…

jolly!

that yule log is a pretty jolly log!

whoa there

whoa there

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i was going to write a post about how christmas is so rushed after thanksgiving and how it doesn’t feel like christmas and we should relish the holiday vs. explode it all over everything.

but.

i didn’t want argue with 75% of the population *EYEROLL*

*eyeroll again for good measure*

not to mention, it sure doesn’t feel like christmas to me yet. this year has just been zipping right along – like i want to know where JUNE went, not to mention that thanksgiving is now just over. so there’s that.

there’s your meme for meme monday.

******

i’m trying to convince nate to do something for his birthday/our anniversary. one option is to check out the twin cities model train museum. i guess they have a night train thing going on for a couple months, which might be cool to check out. nate is obsessed with model trains, though he doesn’t want to get any. (this opens up an argument on his part about how we have no room to put trains anywhere because he only has a corner of the house. i just smh because he knows i’d move stuff around to make room for trains. or lego. or his bottles of whiskey. or whatever it is he wants to do. hmph.)

the other option is to head up to duluth to check out the bentleyville light show, which i’ve been wanting to do for a few years now. we’d probably have to head up during the week to avoid the crowds, but i think it’d be fun.