Tag Archives: fall

Amazing January

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I stepped outside on Thursday, Jan. 5, and walked into October.

Bethany was on her way to my house to go walking, and I hadn’t put my jacket on yet.  I went outside for a moment in my hoodie and was stunned by the immediate realization that my hoodie keep me plenty warm.

Wow.

We don’t get as many chances to walk as we used to, but this was the best day to do so in a long lines of unseasonably warm days.  The temp was 46 degrees when I got back home, but I later saw in a Pioneer photo that a bank thermometer had read 50 degrees. In January.

What’s really odd for me is that this is my most hated month of the year.  I normally find January to be cold, cruel and depressing.  December is cold, too, but it’s the month of  Christmas.  There are lights and music and business open houses with coffee and cider and cookies, not to mention the family and friends with whom we share the holiday season. January is when it all stops and it just becomes winter.

But this January, it’s been more like fall so far. Granted, we did get some snow Friday, but I still didn’t wear a hat or gloves. In January.

While the snow that started just after Christmas was still on the ground for our walk Thursday, a lot of it was melting, as you can see by this watery sidewalk. You can’t see it in the photo, but the melting snow was glistening all over the house; I thought at first it was the Christmas decorations shining in the sun.

The penguins look happy they finally got snow. I suppose they looked out of place at Christmas!

Bethany not only happily wore her hoodie, too, she also pushed up the sleeves. Here, we were just a few blocks from home.

Not only was it warm, it was a sunny day with blue skies and a bright sun.  It was just a great day to be outside.

Happy January! :)

Happy trail to us

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It’s been a long time, trail. It was really great to see you today. Sorry we missed your big show this fall with all the changing colors. I bet it was beautiful. It always is …

This has been a really challenging year in terms of getting out on the trail. We were majorly short-handed at work , we were working in a warehouse during a remodeling project, Bethany gave birth to her second child and I was spending much of my free time helping my elderly parents, who live an hour away.

But I don’t think we ever thought we’d miss so many days. The summer flew by, and fall got busy, and it became easy to skip walking. When we did manage to get together, we stuck to the sidewalks, usually because we didn’t have a lot of time.

It was great to get back on the dirt trail along the lake today, and a lovely day for being outside.

We even saw some green:

And here:

But what really struck me was the pink:

I’ve never seen pink berries. I told Bethany they were as pink as one of her daughter Lola’s princess dresses.

I love pockets of color where we walk, little things you never see in cars. We miss so much when we don’t stop to smell the pink berries and such.

I suppose that would mean more if I actually had stopped to smell the berries. I just don’t think berries have much of a smell. :)

 

No jackets today — we wore our red sweat pants and hoodies. Bethany got warm and took her hoodie off.

Doesn’t this look like a welcoming set of steps to go jump in the lake?

It seemed that while we’d been gone, others had trampled the earth down in the spots that were challenging for us after the bike trail was constructed. In one spot, we used to traverse the trail by a sort of “surfing” method involving some sliding and gripping trees, but that area is more accessible now. We were able to walk all the way through to the end of the trail where it comes out on the back side of the Bemidji State University campus:

We had a beautiful blue sky today, and beautiful blue water on Lake Bemidji:

The days are getting shorter and, usually, cooler. The seagulls and the Canada geese are hanging out in separate corners, probably thinking about getting out of here soon. We wish we could go, too!

But this is the taste of what we have coming, that bit of snow that is finally almost done melting.

We can’t complain too much that it’s snowing in mid-November (we’ve had at least a dusting of snow in October most years), but the longer it waits, the shorter the winter feels.

“Today reminded me just how much I miss walking every day… I totally have to do better. Just leave work.”

Bethany’s words say it all. You have to make time for things like this. When we started walking, in February 2009, it was almost a given that we would walk every day — and that was in weather where it was understandable that we might want to skip a day here and there.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to hit the trail a few more times before the snow comes back to stay.

Have a happy weekend and enjoy what is left of the fall. There’s still green grass out there!

Orange leaves? In August?

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Orange leaves are pretty, and I welcome the changing of the colors. But not in August.

In fact, I don’t really want to see yellow or orange or red until October. And I prefer no white until December, but I’m usually disappointed there.

Bethany steered me toward this tree, located on the lawn outside the post office.

“Oh no,” I said, fearing the early onset of fall, which would not be so bad if it didn’t hint at an early onset of winter.

Back at work, Anne peered over my shoulder from her desk behind me and saw the leaves.

“What is THAT?”

I think she hoped it was a file photo.

Maybe it’s just a fluke and we won’t see anymore orange until October. But I seem to remember the leaves turning early last year, too, so I won’t hold my breath.

Today we ran across a dog who wanted nothing more than to bark at us

I tried to get a picture of him, but he was super-quick.

So I got him bounding off to the left …

and the right …

and finally got this blurry pic:

Today’s walk included visits to the Fire Hall and the Law Enforcement Center.

We were talking to the guys in the Fire Hall when a call came in. It’s cool to see how fast they go from waiting for a call to answering one, as they don the gear, hop in the truck, start the siren and head out within a minute or two. I would think that to do that kind of work, it helps to have enthusiasm for excitement and an appreciation for the adrenaline rush, along with the ability to go from zero to 60 with no warning!

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

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