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adventures / Covid-19 / memories / Monday / photo — Comments Off
8
Mar 21

My bicep is a little sore

That didn’t go over at all how I’d pictured. I’d somehow imagined something big, more emotional, more celebratory. I am all of those things, and something approaching the direction of relieved, too — but it’s internalized.

A young woman named Emily gave me my first Covid vaccine dose today. She said she’s been at this eight days. She’s not counting how many people she’s seen, how many times she’s handed over the famous cards, answered the same questions.‬

‪I made sure she heard my “Thank you,” made sure she knew it was sincere.‬ It seemed the only feeble thing I could do, then and there. Sometimes you just want to give high fives to total strangers. It’s hard not to be excited about this.

I am not showing my whole card, because putting that online is somehow when the microchip gets activated. And my superhero powers haven’t kicked in yet, but you know I’m trying.

We stayed at the store a while, to make sure there were no side effects, which was interesting because you could overhear the excitement of others. It was nice to see and feel the optimism of others once again. We passed the time in one of our group chats, where I made a decent Spider-Man joke, and, later, a Hulk joke that didn’t land as well as I wanted it too. The Yankee made a terrific Sue Storm joke, though, and so it was worth it. We had no perceptible side effects in the minutes and hours after the shot, and still feel fine. But my arm is a little tender right at the needle spot. Small price to pay, of course.

So, one down, and come on, end of March, at which time all of those feelings will be externalized, and there will be much relief expressed in many ways — while carefully making sure to continue observing the appropriate safety measures.

Honestly, if it’s a peace-of-mind thing at first, then it can be a peace-of-mind thing for a while.

We’re charting a snow pile at the local box store. This is from Saturday, our fourth week of observation. The weather has been delightfully mild this past week, and that’s reduced this mound to a pile of dirt and debris.

This is that same pile, on Valentine’s Day, after the first snow that mattered.

Just a few days after that photo was taken we got a substantial snow event, and so this was our pile on February 21st.

And, last week, on February 28th, when you could see some obvious decline.

May it all be gone, and soon.

And the weekend helped. Saturday I stood in the shade on one side of the house and had a bit of a chill, but I stood on the other side of the house, in the sun, cleaning windows, and it felt rather grand. Yesterday it was almost t-shirt weather. So, hoping to encourage the onset of, ya know, spring, I wore a t-shirt. This was a Christmas present. Pretty awesome, right?

And it is still, mostly, autobiographical.

The cats are doing well. Phoebe has just about scratched herself out. She had a big weekend full of getting into places she shouldn’t, and being allowed in places we don’t usually let the cats explore.

That’s pretty much every day for Poseidon, though. He’s constantly everywhere. It’s really cute, in retrospect, but not so much when you’re constantly having to jockey against him and fight for position.

But it’s cute.

photo / Tuesday — Comments Off
2
Mar 21

Not to worry

I did not forget the cats yesterday. A Monday check-in with our felis domesticus siblings has become the routine, and I did not forget. (Cats have a way of not allowing you to forget them, after all.) What I did do, however, was accidentally press the publish button too quickly. And, since it seemed like I had a good as any arbitrary stopping place for that post, I just decided to leave it until today.

So here’s Phoebe, somewhere she doesn’t belong:

And, not to be outdone, here’s Poseidon, somewhere he doesn’t belong.

So, in 2,000 words worth of photographs, the cats are fine, and they are cats.

We took a walk yesterday evening and we turned back toward the house just in time to see an almost sorta dramatic sunset. It was a nice little moment after our walk.

And I didn’t see the sun today because I was in the office, and then the studio, and that’s been the extent of it. You’ll be pleased to know, however, that I don’t feel as poorly today as I did yesterday while recovering from exertion. That improvement is found, even in the sitting position, is encouraging. Perhaps by tomorrow, or Thursday, I’ll better.

I was only 8,000-plus calories down, after all, and you’re going to feel that a little bit. But, after a second day of too much lunch, and another delicious dinner today, I’m making up for it. Well, you probably don’t make up for it. And say you’re adjusting to it implies an acceptance of a permanent or at least long-term condition. My energy levels are accepting it, let’s say. So tomorrow, or Thursday, back to normal, I’m sure.

cycling / Friday / memories / Monday / photo — Comments Off
1
Mar 21

Welcome to March

It doesn’t feel like spring yet, but it’s gonna. Today, though, I’d just like to feel a bit … less. Or more. I’d like to hurt less and feel like more.

As I mentioned Friday, I had a big weekend of riding. And I’m happy to report that I toughed it out. I fueled terribly, but I survived. I think. This was my view all weekend:

It wasn’t the miles, it was the user error. And also the climbing. I could explain the fueling, but suffice it to say my caloric intake got all out of whack. And I became well aware of that reality on the way to the last climb yesterday. I told you about the Friday ride. Here you can see me in third place on the road on Saturday.

I was not in third place, but it sounds nice, doesn’t it? It wasn’t a race, to me anyway, it was just an excuse to make thousands of tiny circles with my feet, and also to get a cool aerotuck screengrab.

After Saturday’s ride featured 4,124 feet of elevation gained, Sunday was the big day of climbing. You can see even my avatar changed clothes for the bigger 33 mile, 5,617 feet gained effort.

It … hurt. Don’t let the sprint I eeked out at the mountaintop finish fool you. I was so spent I thought I was hallucinating the aurora on the iPad.

And I could barely walk when I got off the bike. (Time for new bike shoes!) After I hobbled upstairs and had a shower I started eating vegetables directly off the cookie sheet. Fueling was a problem because I wasn’t diligent about it because, at the end of the day, I’m riding a bicycle inside the house. It’s easier to be fussy about that, I realized this weekend, if you’re riding way out of town. But if the kitchen is just steps away, different story. And I’ve never really had the opportunity to climb 12,690 feet in one weekend, so I have no frame of reference for this.

It’s a big frame, and this was a great reference.

And I finished the Zwift Haute Route Challenge.

What does that mean? Absolutely nothing, but a sense of mild accomplishment. And it’s more base miles for the year.

We were looking at a giant snow mound at the local big box store.

This was the mound of our affection two weeks ago, on Valentine’s Day, after the first snow.

And here’s the same mound of our laments, a week later, as seen on February 21, after the even larger snow.

And here’s that same mound, this Saturday, on February 28th.

After a bit of weekend rain, and looking at the weather ahead this week … this thing might be gone by next Saturday. That’d be a signal almost-as-happy as returning robins and other springtime birds.

IU / photo / Thursday — Comments Off
24
Feb 21

That’s pretty much how I feel about it, too

When you think about it, with masks on you have to emote in other non-verbal ways. And most talk shows the students I know produce are so polite that there’s discussion and not a lot of dynamic interaction.

But lately I’ve come to realize that I can get a nice action shot before the cameras are rolling. There’s a checklist of things that have to take place before a show can, in fact, go on. And it takes a little time. Once you have people wearing microphones and in their seats they are rehearsing or getting last minute instructions or just chatting.

Sometimes you can pretend with that back-and-forth. This was this evening.

I don’t remember what they’re talking about here, it wasn’t critically important in the scheme of things, probably music or soundbites or something like that. A few moments after this they produced a fine show about the volleyball team. And that’ll be online tomorrow. I’ll share it then.

Otherwise, a normal busy day. It started with a dentist appointment — all good reviews! — and is going to end in a few moments with dishes and laundry and music. So, you can see, some things were accomplished. Some of it was even painless! Everything happened on time and most of all it was pleasant enough. That’s asking a lot for a Thursday, but sometimes Thursdays deliver.

adventures / Bloomington / IU / journalism / photo / television / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
24
Feb 21

And happy Wednesday to you, too

The Yankee and I had a picnic in the old K-Mart parking lot. It was a drive-thru Chick-fil-A sort of experience, best part of the day with little doubt. The parking lot is next to the restaurant, which is still all drive-thru and curbside pickup and so we got our food and moved off to eat. When I’d finished my spicy chicken sandwich I looked up through the sun roof and noticed this view:

It was a mild day here, if you actually made it outside. I seldom seem able to do that. I live under fluorescent lights in a beige and dirty-cream color office with orange carpet and no windows most of the time. If I get a different view it’s under a handful of LEDs in the studio. But to get outside is nice, to get away for a few minutes is even better. And to see more fake signs of seasonal change is a delight.

As I noted yesterday on Twitter:

So desperate for a change of seasons am I that I stand under the sun above, look upon the melting snow, and feel the mercury moving its way toward 52 and pronounce it a spring-like day.

This is sick.

— Kenny Smith (@kennysmith) February 23, 2021

And the same thing applies today. So, when I was done with my work day I went up to the top of the parking deck to watch the sky whirl by. It was a pretty good choice, I think. The stratocumulus made for some dramatic views.