Monthly Archives: October 2009

Walking among the dead

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It’s hard to believe that this is my favorite garden in Bemidji. It’s along America Avenue. Now it’s all dried up. It was just a short time ago that we were still admiring flower gardens and talking about how they wouldn’t be there much longer. We didn’t realize that it would be within a week!

In addition to dead leaves and plants, we saw a big dead bird today and a dead squirrel yesterday. We joked that we could start a dead animal of the day feature.

The raking has started, although this young woman apparently refuses to accept that winter is here early, judging by her bare legs and sandals. At least she’s wearing a coat!

We have a couple of quotes today.

I’ll do the easy one first:

Me: "Ooh, a Florida license plate!"

Bethany: "I bet he wishes he was still in Florida."

That seems to be a common thread between us; one will say "ooh, look at …" and the other will pull out a sarcastic comment.

Later, we were walking by an antique store and I was startled to look over and see a toddler standing on the other side of the door looking at us.

Me: "Oh! That boy …!"

Bethany, interrupting: "Oh! You startled me!"

Me: "By saying ‘oh!’?

Bethany: "I thought you meant it was a statue and I looked over and there was this head following us … and it scared me."

Me: "It’s a real boy … like Pinnochio!"

We weren’t the only ones getting some exercise today. These young people and their canine companion looked to be having a good time out for a jog.

And here’s a nice spot to rest if you get too much exercise. :)

After our walk, we sat in my living room and talked about food. Bethany is doing the Weight Watchers points thing. I have only vaguely embraced this, but she is being so good I think I may feel shamed into it, since we’re doing weigh-ins at my place every Friday.

I don’t know if anyone else remembers this, but before I ever heard of the Cabbage Soup Diet, Woman’s Day or Family Circle magazine (one of the two, can’t remember which) had the Peel-a-Pound Soup Diet, which I assume was similar and also had a recipe for cabbage soup, but I think it was slightly different (maybe with chicken or vegetable broth instead of tomato juice or V8 juice?) from the soup recipes for the Cabbage Soup Diet. I never followed the diet religiously, but I would make a big pot of the soup and eat it a few times a day. I’ve done the same with the Cabbage Soup Diet soup.

Unfortuntely, Bethany doesn’t like cabbage, so my idea of having this super-low-calorie lunch together after walking fell flat. Any other ideas out there for tasty soups (or whatever) that fill you up and don’t give you much for calories? We saw some soups that are zero Weight Watchers points but they didn’t really interest us. I just want something filling that will keep me from wanting to eat all night long!

Today’s How Well Do You Know Bemidji? photo:

Yesterday’s mystery photo, guessed again by Rita, was "Reproduction," the sculpture by Mitch Blessing near Wild Hare Bistro and Coffee Company. Unfortunately, I missed the top of the sculpture, which depicts the top of a shower curtain. I will try to update the photo tomorrow. Rita knows the city well.

We don’t get many comments, so to have four today was cool. (OK, one was a question by Bethany, but still.) And one was a new commenter, Sarah. Thank you for your kind words. We really enjoy writing the blog!

Toodles!

– Laurie

The streets are lovely, dark and deep (with leaves)

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Just look at this sorry state of affairs.

These are GREEN LEAVES. They are not supposed to be on the ground yet. Even the leaves don’t know what to do with this wintry weather in October. They just give up and drop off the trees.

I had hoped to get some decent fall pictures this year, and my daughter and her family were going to have pictures taken at Diamond Point Park, but at this rate, the leaves may freeze and fall off before they even bother to change color.

Oh well. At least I have my indoor basil  plants. They look like they’re sprouting. I hope to use them to make my own pesto. I’ve never grown herbs before, nor have I made pesto, so we’ll see. :)

Today, as Bethany entered my apartment, I asked her:

"How cold is it?"

Her reply:

"35. It wasn’t that long ago you were asking me how hot it was."

We haven’t been in our sweats very long, that’s for sure.

Today we met Bemidji Fire Chief Dick Sathers as he was getting gas at Cenex downtown. He said we looked a little "bummy." He’s not used to seeing Bethany in her walking clothes. I should probably mention that we don’t wear ripped-up clothes or anything. Just sweat pants and hoodies. It’s just not what Bethany usually wears to the Fire Department to get the morning reports.

Yesterday, I spoke about our poor memories. That became apparent again today when we walked by Black Cat Tattoo. Bethany wondered if it was any relation to Black Cat Creations. I said I didn’t think so, that the owner  named her gift shop after her cat, who was kind of a bad kitty.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re sitting outside my apartment and Bethany laughs and points to the Bad Cat Creations sign that I see every day. BAD, not Black. Like the BAD cat I mentioned.

"And we’ve even used it for a mystery photo!" I said.

At least the bad cat is also black.

Here is today’s How Well Do You Know Bemidji? photo:

Yesterday’s photo was the south wall of the Summit Square Apartments, in the former Bemidji Mercantile building, as correctly identified by Rita Albrecht, the city’s community development director, who writes the Bemidji Bits blog (bemidjibits.blogspot.com) and is so good at our game! She is neck and neck with former city reporter Julie (Bratvold) Liew.

So what hotel was this? Anyone know? I can’t make out the wording. I suppose I could take the picture with me on Saturday, when I cover the Beltrami County Historical Society’s “Northern Minnesota’s Myths and Mysteries” history conference at Calvary Lutheran Church, and pin down Wanda Hoyum. :)

– Laurie

Changing directions

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No, they’re not selling flocked Christmas trees yet.

Instead of walking on the trail, or walking north from downtown, we took the bike trail south toward the Pioneer. We didn’t make it quite that far, but we could see Lueken’s when we turned around.

A couple of the trees we encountered still had frost on them from last night. This may have a certain appeal in a photo, but in person, it’s just depressing.

Speaking of that tree planting along the route, this monument is tucked within the trees. We figured we’d spotlight it:

On the way back, we saw some footprints and wondered initially if they were ours, but then we noticed that they originated that led from a muddy/clayey area:

"We could be detectives," I said.

"Yeah, we would have totally cracked that case," Bethany retorted.

We have a hard time remembering our quotes. Heck, we have a hard time remembering what we were talking about five minutes earlier. As reporters, we have notebooks and recorders. We don’t have a notebook when we walk, but I usually carry my digital recorder and we’ll repeat quotes when we decide we want to remember them. But I must have not hit record properly, so I had to call Bethany to ask for help. Maybe we should give up and just record our whole conversation each day!

I always try to interact with cats I see, and this one was willing to be petted shortly after giving me this suspicious but curious glance:

I have tons of stuff to edit at work tonight, so this will be more of a pictoral history of today’s walk.

Here’s today’s How Well Do You Know Bemidji? photo:

Did you guess that yesterday’s photo was the bell at Central Elementary School?

Cross your fingers for warmer temps …

– Laurie

a winter wonderland?!

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(Singing, albeit very badly): "It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…"

Well, we bid farewell to our trail today, although we hope it is temporary. When it gets this wet and perhaps icy, I don’t think either one of us wants to walk along the trail. Neither of us is very graceful – one of us always trips on at least one rut or bump each day. And it’s fairly likely that one of us would fall on the ice and end up in Lake Bemidji.

Both of us are still a bit in shock that it is Oct. 12 and we are already wearing three layers of clothing for this walk. It’s too early for snow, darn it! Don’t get me wrong, I like snow. It’s pretty and it’s fun. But after about 4-5 months of it, I’m usually ready for spring. Well, if winter starts now, that puts four months at February – and we all know that Bemidji’s snow ain’t going nowhere until at least April!

I’m a bit crabby today. Sorry.

We do expect that this first batch of snow won’t stick around, and will, hopefully, be replaced by at least a few more fall-ish days ahead. We’re both optimistic that we have a handful of trail-walking days ahead of us.

Time will tell.

But in the meantime, we stuck today to sidewalks and streets.

 

Today’s quote, from Laurie: "I can’t believe I’m slipping in October!"

(Yeah, some of the sidewalks were a bit wet today – and while Laurie didn’t fall,  she did lose her footing. I told you we’re not graceful.)

Today was pretty uneventful other than the weather. We talked a lot about two TV shows we watch ("House" and "Heroes" – although both of us are pretty fed up with "Heroes" right now) and, of course, work. But mainly we talked about winter. Coming. Way. Too. Soon.

I haven’t quite broken out the winter boots yet. I looked at them today. But quickly shut the closet door. Laurie did, however, have on her first pair of gloves for the season. I, too, wore my first coat of the season to work today. I hate coats almost as much as I hate socks. (Yes, I’ve been wearing socks, though, for about a week now.)

Seems like I should live in Arizona, right?

No, I like winter. I like snowshoeing and sledding and making snow angels. But I’m just not ready yet. I mean, I barely got a tan this summer!

I’m sort of in Stage 1 of grief: Denial. And I’m already brainstorming my offers for Bargaining.

Maybe tomorrow I will be more accepting.

Maybe.

Here is today’s How Well do You Known Bemidji? submission.  Do you know where it is located?

 

And the answer from last Wednesday is … the "A" sign is part of the ART sign outside of the Headwaters School of Music & the Arts in downtown Bemidji:

 

Have a great day!

- Bethany

Day-off photo

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I said yesterday that we’d try to post extra photos on days we didn’t walk, so here’s one from the first day we blogged, back in June:

It’s very green, more green than it is outside now on these chilly October days.

I love these pictures of the dirt trail. It’s such a simple path, made mostly by people just walking through the woods along the lake, and kept that way by scores of other people doing the same thing.

Have a great Friday!

– Laurie

Cold Sweats

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Today was one of those days where by the end of our walk, our exposed skin was cold and our covered skin was hot and sweaty.

Bethany reminded me today of what we used to say when we started walking, back in February:

"Just wait until we have those 90-degree days."

We didn’t have many of them this summer. We had some pretty hot days (made hotter for us because were were exerting ourselves), but I don’t know if we had more than one day in the 90s. The one good thing about having a cooler summer was that we weren’t as miserably hot as we could have been.

We’re in the part of the year now where many days are really comfortable for walking, temperature-wise. Today was a little on the chilly side, but the rest of the week was pretty much perfect, albeit a bit damp. In the hot sun, there are only so many layers you can take off (and even if you could take them all of, you’d still roast). In the dead of winter, you have to bundle up so much you can barely turn your head, and you’re still cold. But in the spring and fall, the temperatures are such that you can pay more attention to the walk than the temperature.

We keep seeing more and more trees shedding their leaves and showing their fall colors. It won’t be long until the oranges, reds and yellows start dominating the green.

A few days ago, we posted a photo of a nice outdoor shelf outside a front door with plants on it (scroll down to the post with the headline "Busy Days"), but  now the owner has switched to a fall motif as she has put out pumpkins instead. I love this set of shelves. We had a nice time talking about all the things that could be set out on it. I suppose pretty glass vases probably would be a bad idea outside. :)

We have been missing occasional days this summer and fall, with vacations, work duties, illnesses and the like. Bethany will be busy Thursday, so we won’t be walking. We’re considering posting a random photo on the days we don’t walk, just so we can check in and share something nice to look at.

Our previous How Well Do You Know Bemidji? photo was the lower "D" from the "GOOD FOOD" sign outside of Harmony Foods in downtown Bemidji.

Today’s photo follows that same theme, but is, obviously, a different letter. Can you tell us where this is? The first person to post the answer gets the prize doubled. Oh, wait. There is no prize! How about just double the congratulations? :)

Stay warm!

– Laurie

We went jogging today!

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I have a feeling I might hear about this photo later. Laurie and I never check with one another when we use photos of one another in the blog. We try to pick flattering photos, but we’re rarely at work at the same time during the day, so it’s just not often possible to confer with one another about whether this particular photo is OK.

Besides, c’mon, the above photo is so fun! I wanted a picture of the gulls flying away from us, but they were so comfortable with our presence today that it took Laurie running at then – apparently with flapping arms – to get them in the air. So funny!

It also goes with today’s Quote of the Day, from me: "Avoiding the bird poop today is going to be impossible." And, yes, it was.

***

Today started off rather interestingly. We made it down Third Street, almost all of the way to Bemidji Avenue, when the camera died. So we had to go back to Laurie’s place to get more batteries. We knew it would take another 5-10 minutes I’m not actually budgeted for my lunch break, so we broke into a quick jog, OK, we didn’t run long – I hate running – but still, for us, that was pretty good!

We were pleasantly surprised today to learn that the sidewalk along Third Street has been restored. Yay! Reconstruction of Parking Lot No. 3 along the roadway prompted the closure of the sidewalk as the parking lot was torn apart and then re-made. Everything is looking super nice!
 

Sidewalk:

Parking lot:

 

 

Well, we’re off again until Wednesday. I’m out of town until late Tuesday morning and I just don’t think I’ll have time to walk that day, so we’re going to try to get back on a more regular schedule on Wednesday.

The following is our How Well Do You Know Bemidji? entry for today:

Congrats to Julie for knowing the Tail from yesterday is from the OtterTail sign on the company’s door. (If you look closely, I think you can see Laurie’s reflection as she snaps the picture.)
 

Have a nice weekend!
- Bethany

Busy days

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Yes, we walked today, but our walking keeps colliding with other things.

Yesterday, we took a day off because I was getting a root canal in Grand Forks (I have taken days off from walking that have been more fun). Today, I was running a little late coming back from my parents’ house in Erskine, so we got a late start on walking and we combined it with Bethany’s daily routine of getting law enforcement and fire reports. Above, she’s logging the reports from the fire hall.

Since it was another wet day, we skipped the dirt trail again and stayed on the sidewalks, grumbling about the wet cold and discussing ideas for low-calorie meals. (We’d love to hear any suggestions from readers.)

I wore my new Therashoes today! Last week I decided to buy a pair, but Kmart in Bemidji was out of my size. When we were in Grand Forks yesterday, my mom and I stopped at Kmart and I discovered that not only did they have my size, but they were $10 off. So I was set for $25 instead of $35. I chose black over the blinding white.

It’s funny, but they don’t seem weird anymore. Even the issue with the heel that I had when I tried them out earlier is absent, more or less. The heel-to-toe rocking motion seems to come pretty naturally. I wore them to work for a 12-hour day and my feet felt pretty good. I’m curious whether the soreness in my feet will end.

If nothing else, they probably make me 5’7", which I’ve always wanted to be. :)

I’ve always liked this collection of flowers, or rather, the shelving in which they are housed. It offers a lot of possibilities with flowers and plants. This looks like a house where you could walk out the door in the morning and get a dose of pleasant.

Of course, those plants won’t be there longer.

So much for the pleasant.

Back at my house, I got out my new harness-and-leash system I bought yesterday so we can have both of my cats outside at the same time. It turned out to be a disaster. We pored over the instructions and finally got it on little Zelda as best we could (Max was already hanging out with the old harness and leash on), but she slipped out of it and we had to apprehend her again. I might end up returning the new system, but I’ll give it another try tomorrow, I guess.

Today’s How Well Do You Know Bemidji? photo shouldn’t be too much of a stumper:

Yesterday’s photo was of the sign for Bad Cat Creations. I love that store — it has such an eclectic selection of the beautiful and the odd and a lot in between.

Just one more day left before the weekend!

– Laurie