A little bow

Reader, settle a debate: do you love tiger lilies? You know, like these?

When I was growing up, my mom had a garden full of 'em, so I do love them. But I just told Josh that, and he said that tiger lilies are scary.

"Why?" I said.

"They're tigers and they might bite me!"

Well, I approached a bunch of them tonight, and fortunately, they didn't bite me. But what I did notice - for the first time - is that just before they pop open, they look like the most perfect little bow.

See? Neat!

Pork Chop Trot race report

Yes! It's Pork Chop Trot Day!

Actually, though, I didn't consume any pork chops. They weren't quite ready to go by the time we left the race, but from what I heard, there were going to be plenty of pork chops gobbled later in the weekend at the festival (plus a mention of fresh sweet corn being served at tomorrow's town picnic, which was almost enough to make me drive right back tomorrow morning for it).

Anyway, let's start from the beginning. I was googling around for 5K and 10K races coming up, and I found a 5K with the irrestistible dual appeal of being in a community near my grandma's house and being named the Pork Chop Trot. I told my brother, who is training specifically for a one-mile race coming up, and he was up for it. Josh, my brother, Wish and I packed up this morning and headed up 94 for the festivities.

We got there just in time to check in and do a short warm-up. My brother and I were both happy to see more people milling around the start area than we expected - I think there were somewhere between 100-150 people in the race, which was a run/walk.

Here's the view of the start, at an intersection maybe 200 yards away from the packet pick-up space:

The gun whistle sounded, and we were off. For the first half-mile, there were a ton of small kids around me who had set out at the blistering pace for their little legs. They were having a blast disregarding the warnings from their parents to pace themselves, and their energy made the start a blast for me, too. (I'm still trying to curb the RUN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE mentality for the first mile myself, so I could relate.)

The first mile was a gentle downhill on a paved road followed by a left turn into a one-lane dirt road sandwiched between two cornfields, with the corn above my head. That was when the sun came out full-force and the breeze disappeared and the race got a little tougher, but even in the midst of that, I loved that section. It was so different from my normal running environment, even though it's par for the course if you're a runner in that part of Minnesota.

Then we turned onto a two-lane dirt road, and then back onto the paved road that would take us to the finish. The temperature must have climbed into the mid-70s during the race and I forgot to grab a hat or visor, so I faded a little bit more than I wanted in the full sun. But I also knew right where we were in relation to the finish line, which helped keep my energy up.  And then I saw it come into view!

Hello! Happy to see you!

Can you see the pig with little running shoes on?  That's a key detail.  I was happy with my effort today - a little ways away from my PR, but not too far.

One of my other favorite parts of the day was how well Wish did and all of the friends that he made. It seems like he must have hung out with 75 percent of the children in attendance, and he was so sweet and relaxed. Josh was alone for most of these interactions and reported that he learned a lot about the town's dog population, the local schools and the kids' race.

Wish just sat around looking like this:

And after the race, he just laid down and took in the scene:

Then I just wanted a photo with my brother, who got an age group medal for his great race. I said "How about in this little clearing?" and we went over there, and then Josh said, "You mean behind that tree?" and took a photo anyway.

Another try, please, this time in the sun:

In kind of crazy and happy news, I was the first female to finish, which has never happened to me before. (Yeep!) I got a gift certificate to a running shop and a medal, which Wish promptly wanted to try on:

I would love to come back for next year's Pork Chop Trot. The race organizers did a wonderful job, the energy was great, and I loved seeing all of the families that came out to run together or support their runners. Running this race also comes with the monster added bonus of post-race brunch at Grandma's. This, simply, was one of the nicest mornings.

Around town: July 9-13

It's Friday evening, it's storming, and I have a dog curled up next to me who is giving a paws-down to thunder.

In other news, I've been trying to squeeze most of my longer runs in before work, both because of the heat later in the day and because I wanted my evenings free for our visitors. While I will revel in the extra zzzs when cooler weather rolls around, there is an undeniable thrill in participating in as many hours of daylight in the summer possible. Minnesotans are darn good at savoring this season. They're just outside more, and that makes my miles fun because everything is so much more lively around the city this time of year.

1) No lemonade stand sightings recently, but I do like the sidewalk art.

2) There's also a sign that has sprung up at a busy St. Paul intersection to give drivers some extra help with directions to various destinations, local and far-flung.

I'd ask you to pardon the grungy lighting in that photo, but it does sort of capture how dazed and thrilled I felt at, like, 6:30 in the morning when I stumbled across it, stopped and just squinted at it for awhile. Who made this? Why did he or she put it here?

I just love it, partly because it reminds me of this project from Nat's wedding:

3) There is an elderly lady who I see once or twice per week walking her dog along one of my running routes. She says hello and then without fail adds, "Have a good day!" which is A. a sweet message early in the morning, when the day is young and B. always gives me a little spring in my step that yes, I will have a good day.

4) Finally, I ran by a beautiful garden I must have passed a thousand times but have never noticed. I remembered what Sara said once about being flattered when she saw a passerby photographing one of her flowers, so I set aside my hesitation to loiter next to someone's lawn early in the morning and snapped a photo.

What. The. Heck. Are those purple plants?  Can anyone help?  I adore them.

Oh, Reader, there are even more grand sights, but I didn't have my phone along with me on those routes to grab photos for you, so they'll just have to wait for another Around Town installment.

Now it's your turn, Reader: are there any lively sights around your neighborhood that you're enjoying this summer? You know I'd like to hear about them.

Ballpark tour

Josh's dad is in town for a visit, and we've had a great week. We've been enjoying good meals and showing him around Minneapolis and St. Paul. His dad is a big baseball fan, too, so we've been catching games together - all on TV, though. His visit coincided with the Twins on the road and then the All Star break, so unfortunately, he wasn't able to experience one of our favorite Minnesota activities: a game at Target Field.

But luckily, Josh was able to arrange for a tour that was the next best thing!

I never get tired of seeing Target Field, with or without fans packing the seats. It is an exceptionally beautiful park. In a funny way, whenever I go to Target Field, I always think about the old Metrodome, too, and the Twins that played there, who I'd watch and talk about with my dad and grandpa. My love for Twins baseball goes way back, so it's always a thrill to see the new field and to see this new era for the team unfolding.

Thus, it's understandable that we love to take visitors there, no?

We made our trip on a summer evening that would be perfecto for baseball: warm but not oppressive, with a light breeze and the sunlight streaming.

I was the bossy lady who kept making Josh and his dad pose for pictures.

And then, because that wasn't enough, I'd furtively take candids.

And then when that apparently wasn't enough, I started taking pictures of them walking when they couldn't see me at all!

The sun was just about to dip behind the stadium. We love shadows at Miles and Laurel!

Target Field is kind of sandwiched between downtown Minneapolis and the Warehouse District, so there are gorgeous old brick buildings near it.

And I like the skyline view, too!

During a week when there were major baseball-related festivities going on in Kansas City for the All-Star Game, it was so neat to see the park when it was peaceful and quiet. Josh's dad gave the tour a thumbs-up, too, so it laid the foundation very well for the next time he's in town and we can catch a game.

Plenty of seating on the floor