Monday, July 4

Butte to Butte- success!  Tim, Christine, Paul and I took a 6:30 shuttle to the startline and got lined up for the race that begins with a mile hill, a mile down, and then four straight.  It was clear I had recently run a half marathon, but it was a great experience and one that we think should become a tradition.  I finished with 8:46 splits.

Steelhead- for dinner and appetizers, we went to Steelhead Brewery.  We were literally offered special brownies from a guy walking down the busy street.  He came right up to our table and made the pitch.  We thought it might be funny to buy the entire batch and swap them with the brownies on the dessert table in the dining hall.

Sneakers- Robert Redford movie.  David and Dara Scholz introduced us to the greatness.

Fireworks- the Eugene Em's baseball stadium had quite the show, and we were able to watch their show along with the Springfield and Eugene fireworks; for a little while they were all at the same time!

Black Bean Chili with Chard- SERVED IN A SQUASH!

This is quintessential fall food!  I tried it this past weekend with two great friends (the kind that appreciates quaint details like scalloped edges around an acorn squash bowl and the colors of chard, kidney beans, and tomato-soaked onions). 
 

Chili:
Heat 2 T oil in large stock pot
Saute 3 cloves garlic with 2 1/2 c. onions slowly until golden, about 9 minutes
Stir in squash chunks [we skipped this part because we baked our bowls]
Add 2 T. chili powder, 2 t. cumin *other spices to try- coriander, rosemary, cinnamon
Add 3 cans beans, 1 can diced tomatoes with juices, vegetable broth, bring to boil
Stir in one small bunch of chard and simmer for 4 minutes
Season with salt and pepper
Top with your favorite chili things- cilantro, red onions, sour cream, cheddar cheese


Squash Bowls:
heat oven to 400 F.
Halve squash and rub with butter or olive oil.  Sprinkle with spices and/or brown sugar
Put halved acorn squash face down in a deep broiler sheet with about an inch of water.  Continue replenishing water every 15 minutes or so for 40-45 minutes.


Serve with homemade bread, salad, Crispin, and Amy and Emma, and you have a treat!

Half Marathon

Over the weekend, Laura B. and I trekked down to Iowa for the promised half marathon in Mason City.  Laura, Nicole, who had worked with Laura at Woodstock, her sister Amy, and I had decided this while on a 17,000 ft. mountaintop in India together.  The race was a benefit for a local Catholic school.  Nope, no connections- just wanted to run 13. 1 miles- wherever.  The weekend was too short, but a reminder of how great of a connection we had on our travels together in July. 

Because Laura and I didn't preregister, we got a shirt that was too big, a number with a great big red slash through it, NO socks, and NO sausage  (sounds like a great race pack, eh?).  We met Amy, Nicole, and Amy's roommate Aimee in our hotel and drove the course.  Some of it we had to approximate, because it was on local trails, but for the most part it looked flat, wide, and not ALL pavement.  The race highlighted what puts Mason City on the map- a start line at Music Man Square (yes, 76 trombones hanging from the ceiling), and a scenic view of the Frank Lloyd Wright house and its neighborhood replicas. 

The evening before we ordered food from an Italian joint (I opened up Nicole's race sausage)

decorated T-shirts, the caption: "From India (17,000 ft)...to Iowa (1,100 ft)." 

and hennaed our calves.  Laura created an interpretation of the course, which looked like a little paisley.

The evening was comfortable and we headed for bed, feeling "warm and puffy," around 9:00.

Race-Day:
6:45 Up and at 'em.  Breakfast.  Tried to pack in some yogurt, oatmeal, banana, boiled egg, but only a small portion of each.
7:15 Dressed in our racing finest.  Weather is cool with a small breeze, yet almost humid.  Perfect for running.
7:45 Depart for high school to catch shuttle to start line.  I sat next to a guy who smelled like a crusty bar and looked like death.  He was looking forward to running.  "Anything's gotta feel better than this hangover."
9:00 Prayer and air horn in our ears.  Vamos!
9:30 3 miles down and feeling great- starting out slow, remember?  Slow and steady...
10:00 6...feeling great.  Starting to get passed by marathoners who started an hour before us.
10:10 7...feeling great.  More than halfway.  I start to think, "I could do a full."
10:30 9...feeling great.  Lots of great neighborhood cheerers and signs.
11:00 Almost done.  I start to think, "I would not want to be doing a full today."
11:05:26 Cross the finish line accompanied by my name, big push to the end, feeling great!
11:06 Wrapped in the big aluminum foil blanket, feeling loopy and teary, jelly legs.

After finding each other post race, we showered, changed, and wore out medals to a Mexican restaurant.  The fried ice cream was perfect.

Sunday, June 13th

Last night I visited the Rangel's household for a BBQ get together of friends new and old.  The Lutherfolk began talking about forming the much-anticipated "Nordic Alumni Choir," and we spent some funny moments on dictionary.com searching for words with pronouncable Norwegian couterparts that would have something to do with our experiences.  The Rosas/Brockshus team had some good ones.


We are in need of Anna Scholtz for this project- and put the group name on hold until we have some help.  I say the next Nordic wedding that occurs, we get together and sing with as many alums as possible.


I am missing Wilderness a little bit.  It is a place that really sticks with you when you aren't near it.  For some reason, I picture staff members congregating in the entryway of Pinecliff more than any other scene.  I see the mostly nighttime activities of teeth being brushed and headlamps clicked on as clumps of staff head off to bed or start a late night game of cards.  There are other things, too, that I remember and miss.

 -the sounds of Pinecliff's lacquered benches scraping across the floor as we hungrily wait to eat.
-the feeling of packing on the night before a canoe trip; the most supreme multi-tasking I think exists.
-putting together the food for the trip and locking the red and blue Duluth packs into the locker.
-taking what feel like the same treks around Fishhook over and over and over again.
-feeling like a mother duck to the tiny (tiny) ones.
-the trip's first paddle stroke off of main dock, which starts the week-long journey from dread into pride and joyfulness and familiarity.

 

It all has a slightly dingy but happy glow about it.  Paul has been reminding me of the nostalgia of it all- and he feels it too because of his shift in perspective this year.  I hope to visit Wilderness and carry some canoes after I get back and settled from India: I'm thinking July 16th or 17th through the 23rd or 24th.
Tomorrow: visit JES, prep for Jen's wedding, and India planning!