Tag Archives: seagulls

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

Trying out the bike trail

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Bethany is back from her Black Hills vacation, which she said was too short, and we walked together today for the first time in more than a week.

It was also the first time we were able to follow the new bike trail along the lake.

Neither of us are avid bicyclists, but we recognize the value of having the bike trail connection around Lake Bemidji. Still, we have mixed feelings about the trail.

We’ve pretty much gotten over the loss of some trees, the bottom of an old stone staircase and part of the dirt trail. It was disappointing to lose those, but we understood that some things had to be sacrificed in order to work in the new bike trail.

But the most glaring disappointment today was realizing that the dirt trail now becomes a dead end, rather than transitioning with the bike trail that obliterated it. The bike trail meanders down to the former dirt trail area from Lake Street, bordered by what we assume is a temporary wood fence that will be replaced by something more else, and continues to the back side of Bemidji State University, cutting off the dirt trail.

This also means that if you’re on the dirt trail, you can’t get up onto the bike trail to continue your walk.

The dirt trail is a little hard to see in this photo, but it emerges from the trees at the top left, with the black plastic edging around it. One would have to scale the hill (harder than it looks in this photo, and we’ve done it a bunch of times) to get to the trail, and then sneak through the fence. And if the permanent fence is solid, like the chain-link fence on the other side, a hiker would have to scale the hill and backtrack along the fence to come around the other side, or turn around and go back along the dirt trail until there was a way up, or just go up early and forgo the final leg of the dirt trail.

There should be a path, or steps, from the dirt trail leading to the fence, and an opening to let hikers join the trail. Hikers, too, would like to be able to have an uninterrupted path along Lake Bemidji. It’s true we could walk on the sidewalk, but that’s more walking than hiking. The trail is most of the reason we choose to walk along the lake.

That said, we actually didn’t walk on the dirt trail today because it’s so wet. But if we had, we would have had to decide how we wanted to intersect with the bike trail. We’ll see what we do tomorrow!

Here is a scene from the lake:

And here is what happened when I tried to get in closer:

Today’s How Well Do You Know Bemidji? photo comes from a site we frequent for work:

Quote of the Day, as a smiling woman met us on the trail:

Bethany: "That was that girl who walks really fast."

I’d forgotten, as I only noticed her from behind the first time, but I remembered she left us in her dust the other time we saw her.

Happy Tuesday!

– Laurie

 

seagulls!

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The absence of seagulls this summer has tormented Laurie. OK, maybe torment is a bit strong of a word, but she has remarked several times this summer that she hadn’t seen any gulls.

Well, today, that all changed.

Laurie: The seagulls are back!

From where, we have no idea. All we know is that we have seen maybe three or four of them this summer, usually along Lake Bemidji between Bemidji State University and Diamond Point Park.

But, today, we saw about two dozen along the Lake Bemidji waterfront near the Tourist Information Center.

There were two others, maybe older kids, out near them, so maybe they were feeding the birds. But either way, we saw seagulls today. Lots of seagulls.

You can tell it was a fairly boring day when I spend several paragraphs writing about birds, but that’s how it went today. It was a typical walk.

But … (drum roll please) … we have decided to change things next week! I won’t give out too many details, but Laurie did this contest of sorts at a newspaper she used to work at and we thought we would try it online and see how it turns out. So come visit us Monday afternoon sometime! (Disclaimer: Previously described "contest" will not come with any type of tangible prize. Bragging rights, at a most.)

Wishing you all a great weekend!
- Bethany