Day in the Life of an Idiot

 This morning Shawn had yet-another doctor's appointment. 

As I think I have previously reported, Shawn is scheduled to have full knee replacement in her right knee at the beginning of October. The surgeon basically told her to see all her specialists and get everything done before then. So, we had an appointment yesterday and another this morning at 8 am. Yesterday's appointment was to fix an ingrown toenail of hers. The knee surgeon is the sort who will cancel the surgery if there is a cat scratch on someone's body anywhere near the incision sites. So, she really needed to get that done, but then toe care necessitated us getting up SUPER early so she could soak and changed the bandage of this toe. 

I was (I think understandably) kinda b*tchy about everything. Shawn and I snipped at each other in the car for several blocks.

But, as we turned on to highway 36 to head east to the Maplewood clinic this morning, I could see a MASSIVE accident behind me on the Westbound side. There were dozens of flashing red lights. We can see the cars backing up in that direction and I think, oh boy, I hope everyone is okay, but, dang it, we'll have to take another way back. Despite all this, we arrived early at the clinic. I'm settled in, in the car, doing my Duolingo (my friend's quest this time 50 lessons over 90%!! I AM LEARNING JAPANESE, DO THEY NOT REALIZE THIS??) and, I'm not paying attention to the time, but all of a sudden Shawn texts me and says that the doctor has actually gotten caught up in the resulting traffic jam around the accident AND, somehow, the computer failed to log her in as having arrived and so she's now behind some other patients.

At this point, I could not longer hold my irritation.

First of all, my phone battery was dying, so there really wasn't much else to do besides relax and go for a walk. I didn't expect to see much of interest. Maplewood, for you out-of-towners, is a northeastern suburb. I mostly know if from one of its busier streets, which, was, in fact, where this clinic was. So, I mostly wandered the parking lots of Arby's and McDonald's and the like, until I came to a residential street, which I immediately turned down. 

About a half block down there was an AMAZING wildlife habitat. Someone had taken one of those stupidly huge suburban lots and completely transformed the entire thing into a pollinator cafe/native wildflower space. 


Image: suburban oasis

I probably stood there and watched the bees and butterflies and American goldfinches zipping around for a good, solid ten minutes. It was PARADISE. 

And, of course, that's when Shawn pinged me to let me know she was done. She was so late at this point, however, that she cancelled several meetings and I had to do the same. So, instead of rushing to work, we took the long way, I showed her the garden, and we drove to get a fancy coffee and sandwich. Because work can wait.

Slow down.

That's what the universe is telling me. 

And I'm glad I did.

 
Image: cherry blossoms at the MN Arboretum 

My friend naomikritzer and I were talking about things we would appropriate from other cultures the other day (mostly, we discussed how much better Jewish people do funerals,) and I brought up the idea of Hanami. What I like about the idea of Hanami is that people in Japan will often take time off work to just go look at flowers (specifically cherry blossoms, but if you read the Wikipedia article, you can see that it really applies to any flower.) We don't have anything like this in the US, possibly because there is no single flower that blooms everywhere in the US, since we're such a massive country. I feel like the closest we have to this kind of thing in the Midwest is leaf peeping in the fall. 

But, so Naomi and I decided to have a day of intentional flower viewing. We'd hoped that there would be enough flowering trees of some sort blooming at the Minnesota Arboretum, but, the cherry blossoms, had not entirely popped yet, alas. 

However, the tulips were in full bloom.


Image: so many tulips!

Naomi brought a picnic basket and had made us both a lovely chicken salad and so we wandered around the arboretum for a long time, checking out the tulip display and some of the other things that were in bloom. Yesterday was a very gorgeous day, with lots of sun (although it got quite warm, into the 80s F / 27 C.) 

This was my second time out at the MN Arboretum and, if you've never been, I have some advice for how best to appreciate it. My suggestion would be to go into the Welcome/Interpretive Center and get a map from the information desk. However, be warned, the maps and signage are fairly terrible. But, they always have a decent seasonal display very near the welcome center (again, ask for directions, because it's not self-evident how to get there--you need to go through the building, up the stairs/elevator, go to the right to get to the door, and once outside go left.) Near here is also the Japanese garden, which, ironically, had no cherry trees, but does have a koi pond.  I would, had I to do this again, wander these nearby gardens for awhile, and then hop back into the car and drive their "three mile road." The drive, which Naomi and I ended up doing at the end, will give you a good sense of what else there is to see in the arboretum. Then, you can decide where you might like to return to and/or hike to.  You can drive the loop as often as you like, so you could go around once just to see what there is to see and then drive it again and park at one of the official stops along the way and checkout whatever interests you. Had we done this first, Naomi and I probably would have stopped to admire the sculpture garden more, the Chinese garden, and the Rhododendron garden. As it was, we tried to walk the three mile walk (not difficult terrain and paved, but... it doesn't have great vantage points, and so) and ended up not seeing the Chinese garden from where we were.  

Anyway, that's my advice. Take it or leave it. If you are a seasoned hiker/walker the three-mile walk is really quite pleasant. I don't regret walking much of it, but I think if I go back I really want to check out the Bog Walk and some of the other less popular destinations. 


Image: pasqueflowers

 
Image: A bright yellow miniature house, its wide doors open, to reveal a free small treasure.

Shawn and I are still doing our "stupid little walks for our stupid health" pandemic walks and today we came across something unique. This Crayola yellow house bills itself as a "little free treasure" house. That's a light up key fob that I put in there because it was currently empty. I think this is such a lovely idea. In fact, Shawn and I are thinking about attaching one to our current little free library so we can slowly divest our house of all the little weird McDonald's toys and whatnot we've accumulated thanks to years of having a smol in the house. In the meantime, I put together a small box of some stuff that had been kicking around on the sunporch waiting to be moved to the attic and will take it over to this existing one over the next few days. 

Apparently, you can follow this one on Instagram under @littletreasurehouse and over on Facebook. 

What a cute idea!

 
A colorful fallen oak leaf.

On Sunday, Shawn and I decided that we wanted to go see if we could catch some fall color before it faded completely. The MN DNR color tracker told us that just south of us was at peak or just past, so we decided to take a trip down to Frontenac State Park. Frontenac State Park is just between Red Wing, Minnesota and a natural widening of the Mississippi called Lake Pepin. I have never understood, despite growing up in this area, what makes Lake Pepin a "lake." I tend to think of lakes as bodies of water that are, you know, separate from a river, or at least much, much larger than the river that feeds it? But, somehow this fat section of the Mississippi gets to technically be a lake. 

No matter how you define it, the view is gorgeous:


Image: the view atop the Frontenac State Park bluff towards Lake Pepin/the Mississippi River

Before leaving for the State Park, Shawn and I did a bit of reading in all the various books that we've collected on Minnesota state parks over the years. One of them recommended the self-guided interpretive trail and so we planned to walk that, as well as maybe the pine circle trail. I also really wanted to see the rock with a hole in it, called In-Yan-Teopa. 

We decided to drive down in our new-to-us Toyota, in order to test drive it. We are, for the first time in our lives, a two car family. There is a used car shortage and so we actually got this second car in order to hold in reserve for when our current Ford dies. I'm glad we test drove it because there was some concerning creaking that I'm going to have our mechanic look at when I take it in on Thursday, but we kind of forgot that our state park pass was actually affixed to the window of our OTHER car. So, when we got to the park, we had to stop in and get a day pass. Shawn managed to find a sweatshirt and several other things, so it was worthwhile. Plus, the ranger who was staffing the front desk was very helpful. She stamped my passport and gave us a great overview of places where we might see some good fall color.  She had just hiked everything in the last couple of days herself. 

She did also warn us, like all the books did, that there was "some elevation." I have come to understand that "some elevation" is the geological equivalent of "some weather." When Minnesotans tell you there's been some weather recently they don't mean a bit of rain, they mean a tornado ripped through yesterday. I now know that when a Minnesota park ranger tells you there is "some elevation," she means HOLY SH*T YOUR KNEES WILL KILL YOU CLIMBING ALL THOSE F*CKING STAIRS.


A blurry shot of stairs ascending the bluff.


But, so, Shawn and I took the interpretive hike, which did not have a huge amount of signage. But, it led to the lovely, flat pine circle trail which we enjoyed. It was very much Shawn's speed as it was a loop, had benches at every turn, and was under a mile. The hike back up to the picnic area, however, was where we first encountered "some elevation." This set of stairs was just one of MANY. We did get to hike along the old quarry site, which was fascinating, and there was an iron ring still pounded into the ground where a rock was going to be taken but was abandoned for some reason. 

At this point, even though we arrived fairly early (an hour or so after the park opened at 8 am), we started to encounter a lot of other hikers on the narrow trails. The trails were so narrow that we had to press up against the rock face in order to let people pass. 


This path is actually not as narrow as some, but you can see how there is just a wooden plank bridge over some areas. Now imagine that, only with the other side being a rock cliff.

The weather could not have been more perfect, however. We did see a bit of fall color here and there, too.


image: sunlight through yellows leaves

After the steep interpretive trail, Shawn tapped out. As she said several times during our walk, "Do not mistake me for a hiker," and so I left her at the picnic area with a good book (the newest Longmire) and waved goodbye as I headed off to see the rock. 

A good portion of the way out towards the rock was paved and perfectly flat. I missed a turn, however, and ended up tromping through the very busy campground (people were packing up to leave) until I found my way back to the upper bluff trail. That trail was slightly more rigorous, if only because the ground was uneven and the path narrowed significantly again. I got excited when I started to see signs for the rock...



image: a sign!!

But, I was disappointed by what I saw when I got to the observation area....


image: Yep, the uninteresting top of a rocky outcropping....

As I was staring at this very dull rock for several minutes a couple of other hikers came up and explained to me that if I wanted the view of the actual stone arch, I would have to hike down to the lower bluff trail. The ranger had been actually very clear (for a Minnesotan) that the lower bluff trail was steep "but do-able." Given that all we got for the stairs that nearly killed us was "some elevation," I figured this warning should be headed. Also, I was on my own. Shawn was waiting patiently in the picnic area, but it was after one o'clock and I still had to make my way all the way back to her. I decided that this was the view I was going to get. 

I did look it up, however, so if you're curious what I WOULD have seen, this is it::


Image. the view I should have gotten. (Yanked from the wikipedia entry on Frontenac State Park.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontenac_State_Park

We spend a good portion of our day on this little trip and it was very fun, though my knees ache a little today?  The ironic thing, of course, is that for all that walking not a mile of it counted for the Minnesota Hiking Club, because I never walked the official trail to get the password. At some point I will have to come back to log those miles, but not any time soon. Maybe I'll walk it next spring. 

Shawn brought along her old film camera, so it should be interesting to see if any of her pictures turn out. Also, as we were leaving we caught sight of trumpeter swans in the Mississippi. So, that was very nifty.

All and all, a thumbs up.

The weather has been so hot in Minneapolis/St. Paul that I'm fairly certain that a portion of my brain has melted. Today, we are expecting rain and a cooldown, but so far we've had rain... and mugginess. I am hopeful, however, for more rain and relief.

I've been getting up at 5:30 am because it's the only tolerable part of the day. I have been starting lunches super early so there is minimal prep time in the heat of the day.

This has been working? But, because I haven't been going to bed any earlier, I finally crashed. Yesterday, I ended up napping twice during the hottest parts of the day. Our house does not have central air, but we have air-conditioner units in both our bedroom and Mason's. The idea is that we suffer through the day, but can, at least, sleep at night. Yesterday, I broke and turned on our air sometime before noon and ended up keeping it on until about 5:30 am this morning. 

It's gross and I don't like it.

Today, I am pushing through a critique project I have on my docket. A former student of mine is paying for help getting a grant proposal audition piece together. You wouldn't think it would take so long to read 50 pages, but I am trying to give my student their money's worth... also, see above: brain melted, not working properly.

I also feel like I'm still recovering from the vacation?  I managed another walk, while Shawn was at PT. I made it partway around The Como Park Lake in the time that I had available. 


Image: Artistic shot through the branches of a city park's lake.

I've been gathering information on other places to try walking, but my brain has not been able to hold any thoughts thanks to the ridiculously melty heat. Yesterday, I think it topped out at 95 F / 35 C. It's telling that I've been excited to wake up and find it's only 80 F / 27 C. 

So, I don't really know what else has been going on?  I do need to haul myself and my computer to Best Buy or some other computer repair shop today or tomorrow because the camera has stopped working. The computer just doesn't think it has a camera at all? I would just forget about it and figure out a work around, but this computer is brand new. It really ought to be working as advertised still. I have done nothing to it (although there was its unfortunate arrival, if any of you recall that story.) 

Otherwise, Shawn and I started watching "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" which is a documentary about a woman who blogged about true crime... and then obsessed herself to death?  https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/michelle-mcnamara-golden-state-killer-addiction

Image: a tree on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, MN, putting on fall colors (yellow!)

Shawn and I took a short walk today along Summit Avenue. We did it partly to celebrate autumnal equinox, partly to GTFO of the house, and also because I had found a book that gives a rough "walking tour" of the Avenue and its historic houses. The book is called the AIA Guide to St. Paul's Summit Avenue & Hill District and I picked it up at the grocery store, because Kowalski's is on Summit Avenue and fancy like that.

Weirdly, it was kind of hot today, reaching a temperature of 81 F/ 27 C. So we didn't go very far, but we did see some fancy houses and we stopped and read about them, which was kind of a nice diversion.

The only other news in my life is that the class I thought was cancelled is on. I don't know where Kurtis found me three more students, but he did, and that was apparently enough to push me over the threshold into "viable." A contract arrived by 2:00 pm yesterday and the class starts at 12:01 am tomorrow. As you know, I've been working on it for over a month, but I had kind of quit after I thought I was going to be cancelled last week... and so yesterday was a lot of last minute welcome video recording, proofreading, and making sure I had all my ducks in a row--at least for the first week.

I still have gaps? But it shouldn't actually be too difficult to fill them. Besides, this way I have some flexibility about what will be taught next and students can actually give me feedback and suggestions... at least I hope they will.

Otherwise, I had a lovely wrap-up chat about FutureConSF with jiawen on Monday morning. There are still a few panels that I'd like to retrospectively watch, but the nice thing is that I believe FutureConSF is planning to keep them up indefinitely, so they will be there when I am ready for them. They might become what I watch while I'm doing dishes in the afternoon. As mentioned, I don't hate watching Zoom or YouTube so it's kind of relaxing for me and weirdly does work to make me feel connected to a larger SF community.

My friend in Canada turned me on to some art seminars, so I may check those out as well... at least as soon as I feel more done with the written materials for class.

Here is another lovely tree for you all to enjoy.


Image: Another lovely tree, this one with more oranges and reds coming through

 
Image: Void cat peeking over a purple plaid blanket.

It's difficult to get work done in these conditions. I believe this co-worker may be flirting with me. 

Yesterday was sunny, at least. Shawn and I went for a long walk around the fancy neighborhoods of St. Paul. I took a ton of house pictures again. So many, in fact, that a lady out walking with her dog and child (safely across the street from us) yelled out to ask if we were new to this area. I yelled back that we were playing tourist in our own town and that I absolutely adored the architecture of Saint Paul and that seemed to make her happy because she yelled back that "now was a good time to do that."  We later watched her go into one of the lovely houses, so I'm sure she was actually very worried that we were out casing the neighborhood. Though, how you would think we were up to no good with Shawn and I loudly blathering about dormers and other such house features, I don't know.

Mason was funny, too. He had us drop him off at the top Summit, near the Cathedral, and told us that he wanted to see if he could find his way home. He must have been walking for four hours, but I am happy to report that he did, in fact, find his way home. He loves a long, long walk, so that was good for his soul, too, I think. 

I probably won't post the house pictures here unless someone begs me.  If we go out again today, I will take more, however, because I think people who are scrolling through Facebook really need relief from coronavirus updates.

I was able to poke a bit a fiction yesterday, too, which was lovely. I didn't get a lot written, but I did commit words to page. It's kind of a break-through, honestly.

Wyrdsmiths, my writers' group, had an impromptu Google Hangout, which worked pretty well... though, like everyone, we are still working out some of the virtual hiccups. But, we got four out of six folks to join and it was lovely to hear everyone's voices again and find out how they're all coping. Turns out my phone works perfectly well for all of this, though I am still sorely in need of a new computer, as mine has a "best if used by" date of 1999.  :-/

We will probably take our government stimulus money and spend it on new computers all around.

Anyway, that's me today.  

I made a pretty amazing bread yesterday, a French boule, for dinner. The dinner was otherwise underwhelming. I had picked up some pre-made chicken Kiev from Kowalski's that I liked the spices of... but the rest of my family really didn't. However, we had baked potatoes and asparagus on the side which were darned good.


Image: smol, crusty loaf

We will at least eat like kings for the apocalypse!  Tonight, I have to pick up some cabbage during our afternoon walk, so that we can have potsickers tonight. Yum, yum!