Sunday, February 1, 2009

Ahh, Fresh Air, Sunshine and 40 degrees!

We finally, finally, FINALLY had our January thaw on the 31st of January.

Yippie - eye- 0h - kai - yeah!


It has been a miserable winter for us. Long, cold, dark, snowy....bleech.

Yesterday's temperature and sunshine got people out of their houses and doldrums. The lakes were packed with runners and walkers; the ice-boarders were out in droves. Snow melted and a weird, stringy brown substance was revealed.

The City of the Lakes Loppet Luminary event was last night. It's held on Lake of the Isles. (Yes, literally ON the frozen lake). People cross-country ski or snowshoe or just walk the course, which is lined by ice luminaries.

Local ski shops and outdoor groups have tents set up and volunteers pass out hot cider, there a fire for folks to warm up by, and it is always a lot of fun to just get out.

With the warmer weather, there were a lot more participants out on the ice. Hubby and I met our friends Mary, Tom and Mary's daughter Layla. We all walked part of the course and then had coffee.



Today wasn't bad either, with temperatures in the mid-30s and more sunshine. I got out for a long walk and it was so wonderful to feel the sun on my face and to not have to wear a hat.

Training for spring marathons/half marathons and the like start this week. My band of happy running friends and I will start our training for Fargo 1/2 on Thursday. It is going to be a very rude snap back to reality to go from casual running to an actual "plan" again.

But, my jeans are very, very tight so... who knows. Maybe it will be a good thing to run more than once a week...

I'm leaving you with two last photos for the day.

I'm one of "those" people that feed the critters who happen to visit our yard. I feed the birds, the bunnies and the squirrels.

There are some who hate squirrels. "Flying rats" I believe they call them.

I happen to think they are very cute and the ones in our yard are really, really cute(and really, really fat).

My favorite of the bunch is the one that has a little kink in his tail and "lists" to the right, as if he had a stroke.

He was in the yard today and here are some pics of him devouring the core of an apple I had just finished:



4 comments:

Nat said...

I like the cute fat squirrel. He reminds me of myself in winter except substitute an apple with ice cream or something unhealthy like that! Enjoy the sun. See you soon!

Dori said...

Cool pictures! I'm glad your deep freeze is over. I could tell by your comment that you've had enough! Good luck with your training.

IronWaddler said...

Love the photos. Hoping for warmer weather.

Sunshine said...

Go Fargo Runners!!