Another day, another mile

Good afternoon!

I have a strange opening for this blog today, but hang with me, it does have relevance...

My husband said to me on Sunday, "I need new pants." He was sad that of all of his jeans, only two are really wearable for work (he's one of those super lucky people who are allowed to wear jeans to work M-F; I get very jealous of this).

In response, just to be disagreeable (sometimes I argue just for fun), I told him that I only have a total of two pairs of jeans.

To which he said, "Well, how many pairs of pants do you have in all? And skirts?"

And while we never did really come to any great resolution on that particular manner, I did think of the conversation this morning while I was getting dressed. And I thought, How come I haven't worn any skirts this winter? And, considering the recent weather, I decided today to wear a skirt to work.

Five hours later, I remembered exactly why I don't wear skirts in the wintertime: Because I like having the second layer of pants while walking!

It was, I believe, 35 degrees outside while Laurie and I were walking today. I was comfortable enough, but my lower half was a bit colder than I am used to.

I guarantee that come tomorrow, unless it is magically 65 degrees, I'll have my two layers on.

***

Ha!  Ya' think someone was playing a bit of a prank on the Headwaters School of Music and the Arts!?  (The three letters usually spell "art" for those who don't quite get what I'm saying...)

This is sad, but this was really the only interesting thing we noticed today. I'm sure there was PLENTY to see and do - by the overcast sky was kinda' dreary, which probably put me in a dreary mood.

One of these days we'll both be healthy and happy and walking lots again ... just in time to complain about the heat, I'm sure. If I do, though, remind me of my cruddy moods in the wintertime. I'm the type who would ALWAYS prefer it 95-100 degrees over any temperature that begins with a "negative" or "minus" (i.e. -20, or even -1). I'd probably take 100 over 30, too, if I were to be honest.

***

The answer from Friday's Puzzler, as Bob correctly guessed, is that it's the hood ornament to a Jaguar. Which, coincidentally, used to be my favorite vehicle. These days, I'd take anything nicer than my 180,000-mile Focus.

Today's Puzzler didn't turn out too well. I tried to do what Laurie does sometimes: take letters from a word outside of a building. But mine got kind of hard to read. The letters are an I and L (as in Illinois, but that has nothing to do with the Puzzler).

Have a great night!  (I know I will! I have a Monday night off! No City Council!)

- Bethany

Posted by: trailmix on 3/08/2010 at 2:42 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, hiking, local, news, outdoors, walking

It's starting to feel like March...

Mushy roadways, slushy sidewalks ... it's beginning to feel like March.

I'm not saying the "s" word quite yet, because March is far too unpredictable. Heck, two years ago we had those three snowstorms in April (I suppose people around here will be saying that to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren just like old people in Crookston talk about that day in June when it snowed).

I'm a day late in writing this blog entry. We walked on Friday, but I got busy at work and forgot to write, and didn't remember until 11 p.m. at home. Since the photos were at work, I figured I'd wait a day and come to the office to write.

We met this sweet pooch, whose I *think* is a she. I thought her owner called her Emma, but Bethany wasn't sure if it was Emma or Emmet.

We were walking down the side of the street when she started following us, coming up to us gingerly, not sure if she wanted to be petted, but really wanting it on another level. We ended up having to grab her by the collar so a pickup could get by and then we led her across the street to her owner.

Here is Bethany obliging my request to jump on this dirty snow hill near my house, although I couldn't quite get her in the air. She does look like she's about to straighten up to do a ski jump, though. I guess this would be the bunniest bunny hill of ski jumping!

Today's mystery photo above is quite mobile. You might see it in various places around town.

Thursday's puzzler was of the showy lady's slipper on the Minnesota Nice sign downtown.

Have a great rest of the weekend! I'm heading out to watch Alice in Wonderland at the Bemidji Theater with my granddaughter.

-- Laurie

Posted by: trailmix on 3/06/2010 at 5:50 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, hiking, local, minnesota, news, outdoors, walking

And, we're back!

Yay for some warmer temperatures!

OK, I know, for most of you, you've probably been enjoying the weather since at least Saturday. But for me, my kid got ill Saturday and didn't really come out of it until this morning. Thus, I had a few unexpected days off of work  earlier this week (although I did, of course, still come in to cover city council on Monday).

So, yeah, while Laurie and I can certainly be lazy from time to time, this particular stretch of couch potato-ness can be blamed on my daughter.

But today, we managed to get together and do some downtown sidewalk walking - and thanks to the warm sun, the sidewalks were not treacherous at all! Rather, the ice/snow mix from the past few months was slushy. It was kind of welcome.

Well, it was welcome for me, anyway. Laurie, however, is still fighting off some knee pain and found the unevenness of the sidewalks difficult, so about halfway through, we began walking on the streets.

Just look at that blue sky - and the ever-growing puddles! It's nice to see standing water!

I noticed a lot of this while walking downtown:

I kept seeing caution tape on poles. And it was kind of bugging me because I couldn't figure out what it was for.

But then I saw this:

I'm guessing that the tape is another reminder to beware of pedestrians in crosswalks.

***

For some happy news for today, I offer this:

Yep, apparently Chocolates Plus is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Very cool. Laurie and I, not surprisingly, love Chocolates Plus. Granted, we both really love chocolate, so that probably goes without saying...

***

Today's Puzzler comes courtesy a downtown business sign:

***

And, yes, Rita got the correct answer from last week, where the dots were from the MPR logo:

Thanks for keeping us in mind! We've really missed walking, so we're going to try to keep it up on a more regular basis. We'll see what happens...

- Bethany

Posted by: trailmix on 3/04/2010 at 1:54 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, local, news, outdoors, walking

A visit from Flat Stanley

Today, we had a special guest as we walked: Flat Stanley.

Stanley came from Red Lake Falls, where my granddaughter, Jada, lives with her parents, Megan and Ryan.

A few years ago, I heard of Flat Stanley for the first time while watching an episode of the TV show "Third Watch," in which a police officer was propping up the paper boy in her squad car to take pictures for her son. I thought it was a made-up thing, because it sounded so strange.

It still sounds strange even though I now know it to be true. Stanley is flat because he was squished by a bulletin board, but is somehow fine. Students make their own Flat Stanleys and can send them to people all over the state ... and the country ... and even the world.

So we took Stanley around with us today. First, we stoppped at the laundromat, because Jada always likes to stop in there for a snack from the vending machine.

Then Stanley had lots of fun at Headwaters Science Center (one of Jada's favorite places to go in Bemidji).

We walked on to Lake Bemidji, where we took Stanley's picture with Paul and Babe.

At the Tourist Information Center next to the statues, Carole gave us a packet of information prepared just for Flat Stanley!

Bethany was a great helper all day long, assisting Flat Stanley so he could stay upright, so I thought I'd get her in at least one photo, as Stanley signs the guestbook!

We also walked onto the lake and enjoyed the view of fish houses, but with my bad knee we couldn't really go very far.

Flat Stanley is now sitting on my desk at work as I write this.

He got to watch the press run this afternoon of the Friday B section. Archie was nice enough to give him a boost!

Tonight Flat Stanley will watch Olympics with me and visit with my cats. Maybe we'll update the blog with a photo. But I must be careful. Jada wrote, "Make sure your cats do not get Stanley" in her letter of introduction.

Update: Here are Stanley and I being silly at my house:

For more on Flat Stanley, visit flatstanley.com.

Lest this blog all be about Stanley, I'll leave you with a thought, brought to you by the window at Explore Chiropractic downtown:

A nice bit of advice!

Today's mystery photo is one we've often considered. I think it's only fair to let you know the picture was just of the dots and that the background is a reflection. There are not colored dots floating around anywhere in Bemidji that we know of.

Yesterday's mystery photo is the Bemidji Police Department sign outside the Beltrami County Law Enforcement Center.

We will not be walking Friday, so we will wish you a wonderful weekend now. There are many things going on in Bemidji, from pond hockey and roller derby to Laddie Elwell's induction into the Northwest Minnesota Women's Hall of Fame and Doc Severinson in concert.

Whatever you do, enjoy.

-- Laurie

Posted by: trailmix on 2/25/2010 at 7:21 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, flat stanley, headwaters science center, hiking, lake bemidji, local, minnesota, news, outdoors, tourist information center, walking

a walk around the block

We didn't walk too long today as Laurie's knee is still bothering her. But we did go around a few blocks before heading back to her place to try out her new Wii game, "Just Dance." And, by try out, I mean we sat on our rumps and moved our arms around. So we saw it without really engaging in it.

Not that you probably care too much about our Wii experiences.

So I'll get back to our walk instead. We walked around the county buildings and stayed close to downtown so we were never too far from Laurie's place. It didn't take an extreme amount of time before I noticed she was limping, so we went back.

So, that's about it. We were boring today - but I promise a much more exciting entry tomorrow! We have a third party coming along with us tomorrow, but I won't spoil the surprise as to who that might be.

Today's Puzzler is...

The answer from yesterday is the logo from the Corner Bar.  

See you tomorrow!

- Bethany

Posted by: trailmix on 2/24/2010 at 1:39 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, hiking, local, news, outdoors, walking