Louisville Swamp

Our Sunday running group headed down to Louisville Swamp for our run today--if you've ever been to the Rennaisance Festival here in town, you 've very close to a gem of a park.  Instead of turning into the field outside of the Festival, continue down the road, where it dead ends in the Louisville Swamp parking lot.

The trail runs through oak savannah, flood plain forest, and by some great ruins of farmsteads.The Jab farmstead also doubles up as a warming hut come XC ski season.  Add to that the fact that we saw a river otter floating around in one of the

 creeks (swimming on his back, just looking at us) made it a great, great run.  

There is an 8 mile loop, but it can't be completed since a bridge is out.  Hence, a double out and back is necessary to see the whole park.  I highly recommend this trail if you are ever in the area just south of Canterbury downs.

Yes, the World has Ended

I just drank a wine that came from a screw top bottle.  No big deal.  The same wine came in a plastic bottle.  Yes, the World has officially ended.  To be fair, it was a Beaujolais Nouveau--which I'm sure that all of you know is a "fresh" wine, meant to be drunk between the 3rd Thursday of Nov and the New Year.  Nonetheless.... 

 I'm snooty. (or fancy in TX speak).  Plastic bottles of wine are just plain wrong--unless of course you sell it as a "green" thing.  Shipping less weight saves jet fuel (it does).  However, it also saves shipping costs and puts money back into the pockets of the winemaker.  I guess it is a win-win situation...

So, the wine tasted okay--buy it for the novelty.  Don't buy it for the taste.

Feeling Wimpy.

I went to the gym for the first time in a long time and lifted some weights. I'm shocked at how weak I am, particularly my right arm, which is the one I broke earlier this year. I think I need to eat my spinach.

Speaking of spinach, a new grocery store (Cub) opened right by our house. It is so convenient I don't know what to do. Being able to buy bread an deli meat mid-week is going to make lunch that much better. That, and the store is much, much nicer than most Cubs. They even have a sushi bar. Yum. Maybe.

A Little Motivation

This morning's run was awesome. The weather was great, there were little fluffy flakes of snow in the air and the sun came out for the first time in days. Add to that a great group of guys to run with and a great group of people to drink coffee with after and you can color me happy.

I've Forgotten

I've forgotten how to run. Well, at least it feels like it. A 6 mile run tonight felt like 20. It must be all the beer and hamburger I've had since Chicago. Ugh.

Armistice Day

Kurt Vonnegut was born on Armistice Day, which is today.  In one of my favorite books of all time (and one of my least favorite movies of all time), he wrote the following...

“I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day. When I was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

“It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one and another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind.

“Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ day is not.

“So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things.

“What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance.

“And all music is.”

- Breakfast of Champions , Kurt Vonnegut

Shoe Recycling

I don't know about you, but I have a bag full of old shoes that I've been waiting to recycle in some way or other.  Lucky me--the South of the River 'burbs are having a shoe recycling drive starting next week.  The details are;

Recycle Your Soles

Recycle your Shoes in Eagan, Apple Valley & Burnsville Instead of throwing shoes away, residents in Apple Valley, Burnsville and Eagan are now able to recycle their shoes during a free one-week collection coordinated by Dakota Valley Recycling. Residents will be able to drop off shoes from Monday, November 10 to Sunday, November 16 at locations in each community.  Shoes of all types, sizes and styles will be accepted. Shoes donated as part of the program are shredded by a local company, Wipers Recycling LLC, and turned into new products. Eagan  Eagan Civic Arena, 3870 Pilot Knob Road.  Daily 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Apple Valley  Apple Valley Community Center, 14603 Hayes Drive  Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.  Saturday/Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Burnsville  Burnsville City Hall, 100 Civic Center Parkway * Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Friday-Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.  *Closed Tuesday, November 11 for Veterans Day For more information please contact Dakota Valley Recycling at (651) 675-5011 or visit www.DakotaValleyRecycling.org on the internet.