A restorative run

Every few weeks, I go for a type of a run that I describe as either "restorative" (if we are being formal) or "lollygagging" (if we are not). (The last time I wrote about this here was in mid-December.) I head out on a shorter route necessary for the window of time I have, take my camera with me and do things like tromp through knee-deep snow to look at a frozen river or get closer to a shadow that catches my eye. I give myself a few minutes to wander, without a schedule.

It's easy, easy to enjoy this wandering in the summer - but I think it's equally important (if not more so) to make time for it in the winter.

Magnificent sun dog

Today I saw my first sun dog!

If you are in Minnesota, you are probably shaking your head in disbelief and wondering how this could be true. This cold, snowy, long winter has been exceptional for sun dogs, which basically involve sunlight passing through ice crystals when the sun is low on the horizon. (You can read lots more about this phenomenon on today's MPR weather blog.)

Periodically through the winter, my Twitter feed has exploded with content about sun dogs, and every time, I've been out and about either too early or too late to see a sun dog. You can guess that this greatly displeased me.

Today, I looked at Twitter before taking Wish out for his morning walk, and once again, Minnesota was on sun dog alert. I wondered if today would be the day that I finally saw one and if I would even be able to spot it.

We trotted outside, and there was no mistaking it. I gasped.

We strolled around the neighborhood for a few brisk minutes (it was -10) and I couldn't take my eyes off it. It was a magnificent sight to start the day.

Little-bit-late Marvelous Week 5

Hi, Tuesday! Between the Super Bowl outcome and the sudden onset of a common cold, the week began on a slightly inauspicious note. But, as always, there were marvelous tidbits to celebrate, too, so that's how we'll start the week's blogging:

1) The very friend I wrote about on Saturday got engaged later that day. I am so happy for this sweet couple!

2) I signed up for another year with my garden plot over the weekend, and it has me dreaming of spring and summer and basil and lots of tomatoes.

3) Tomorrow is college football's National Signing Day. Tennessee's recruiting cycle has been so much fun to follow this year, and while there aren't likely to be too many surprises tomorrow for UT, it's still a very exciting day.

4) Speaking of football, Josh and I are well into the fifth and final season of "Friday Night Lights." I am not ready for it to be over.

5) A small triumph: I learned how to sew a button-hole over the weekend.

Any small triumphs of your own to report, Reader? Are you making any plans for the warmer months yet? And what's marvelous about the start of your week?

Ready for the game

A peek at skijoring

It's City of Lakes Loppet weekend!

Though I'm no longer doing much Nordic skiing (it was my main sport back in high school), I love, love this annual urban ski festival in Minneapolis. I volunteered last year with my friend Lindsay (we met on our high school's ski team, so this is a fun activity for us to do together), and this year, Lindsay asked if I wanted to volunteer again - this time, at the skijoring race.

Do you know about skijoring!? I knew about it in theory but had never seen a skijoring race for myself before today. It's a ski race in which the skiers are attached to their pup via a long cord, and the dog (ideally) pulls the skier along to make the pace even faster.

This is a bold statement, Reader, but I think it's my new favorite sport to spectate.

It didn't hurt that bright sun was shining at Lake Calhoun and there were hundreds (thousands?) of people (and tons of dogs) milling around the area, which also served as headquarters for the bike race, kids' races, classic skiing races, vendor village and other events going on today. (The 42K freestyle - or skate-skiing -race and a bunch of other events are tomorrow.)

It also didn't hurt that (unrelated to skijoring) our shuttle from Uptown over to Lake Calhoun was via horse!

There were 10K, 5K and 3K skijoring races, and Lindsay and I were part of the volunteer team that helped the racers line up by bib number, in rows of 10. It was sort of organized chaos, as you can imagine, and I was so impressed by the dogs. (Wish would love the sport itself but would not enjoy the crowds and the other dogs.) The dogs were excited (lots of barking at the start!) but I didn't see any squabbles (canine or human).

One highlight of the event was running into my friend Emily and her pup Doc at the start line. It was his first race!

We helped with some crowd control and then got to watch the start of the races! The leaders were fast. The dogs were having a ball.

The 10K was two laps around the lake's perimeter, which was snow-covered and groomed for both skate- and classic-skiing. I got to see Emily and Doc zoom by at the halfway point.

On our way out of the festival, Lindsay and I made sure to take a picture together (for the second year in a row, so it's officially a tradition).

January was a dismally cold month in Minnesota, and though today's temperature couldn't have been much warmer than 15 degrees or so, it was wonderful to ring in February at an event where so, so many people were out celebrating winter instead of fighting it. It was a fun and refreshing afternoon.