That's me amid the tangle of technology by my TV set as we tried to follow along with an exercise DVD today.

Until we can get back on the road, we're trying creative ways to exercise. Today was the DVD and doing crunches and weights with the exercise ball. We tried photos with the ball, but they turned out badly. We are pretty good about avoiding pictures of each other that are particularly unflattering. We discovered a photo of someone leaning back on an exercise ball makes their torso look gigantic in the foreground! We will have to be more creative. :)

I should have asked Bethany to get a photo of my cat as she kept rubbing my nose (the cat, not Bethany) while I was lying on my stomach. Apparently, Zelda was confused by the sight of us lying on the floor with our limbs askew.

Bethany is off tomorrow because she works on Saturday, but we may try to work out a bit Saturday if I'm in town.

Wednesday's "nice" mystery photo, above, was of the secondhand store Twice But Nice on Beltrami Avenue downtown.

Area Voices doesn't seem to want to accept the photo, so I will try to update later.

Have a great weekend! :)

-- Laurie

We walked as normal on Tuesday (well, "normal" being cut in half because of my knee problems), then I went to the MeritCare Walk-in Clinic. More on that later.

Bethany found us a good place to rest at RiverWood bank!

I tried to get some photos of the St. Patrick's Day display in the Goodwill window, but the reflection was too strong. It seems the only times our window pictures turn out well is when the reflection itself is as interesting as what we're taking a picture of.

I did find this very nice St. Pat's sign in a downtown window -- complete with a lucky pot o' gold -- but there was one small problem.

"What's wrong with this sign?" I asked Bethany.

She frowned for only a moment before realizing what was missing.

I guess it shows that we're always proofreading. It would be a lot easier if all the text we had to edit was big like this!

With the warmer temperatures and the rain we've had lately, there are lots of areas where there is hardly any snow at all. We don't think it will stay that way through spring, but wouldn't it be nice?

After our walk, I went to the Walk-in Clinic, where I didn't have to wait as long as I expected -- less than the hour they predicted. The doctor poked and prodded and turned and bent -- while admonishing me to relax my knee, which is hard when you're anticipating pain! :)

In the end, he said it could be the medial collateral ligament or arthritis and sent me for an X-ray and a physical therapy appointment. And he said I should probably avoid walking until I know more.

I said I'd kinda rather the MCL, because except for more severe cases, arthritis is pretty much "sucks to be you." (I suppose that's a bit harsh.)

Since I didn't write this on Tuesday night, I am covering two days.

So on to Wednesday ...

Tae-Bo for Two

Since I wasn't supposed to walk, we stayed inside today and did Tae-Bo (the regular workout) and I did what I could keep up with that didn't involve my left leg. So all the boxing stuff was fine, but no kicks.

Bethany, however, was kicking up a storm. Heck, above it looks like she's kicking Tae-Bo guru Billy Blanks in the head!

It was a good workout and we agreed that we really need to work in some upper body exercise even when we're back to our regular walking.

At left, Bethany is doing her favorite part of Tae-Bo, the cool down! It's very relaxing and has calming music.

I have to say that while I tend to balk at the idea of personal trainers (the real kind as well as the ones in Wii Fit and EA Sports Active), I like Billy Blanks in these videos. The exercise is very high-energy, but the motivation is more low-key and not in your face.

At my physical therapy appointment today, I was back to being poked and prodded and twisted and turned, this time by a physical therapist who pulled out a diagram and pointed to the MCL as a likely source of the pain on the inside of my knee. I have another appointment for Tuesday and some exercises to do and we'll see how things look then.

He didn't say not to walk, but did say to cut it down.

"Like six blocks instead of twelve?"

But it turns out it's more like three instead of six.

When we were done, I discovered my door had popped open and I couldn't find one of my cats. When I saw he was halfway up a tree and seemingly struggling to get down (the only other time he's climbed a tree, I had to get up on a chair and hold up a pillow for him to step out on), I went back inside and got the camera, but he made his way down before I could get there. Above, Max is making a run for the door. Apparently he didn't like being stuck in the tree.

Today's mystery photo is one of those times when the picture in the window actually works:

Our last entry into our How Well Do You Know Bemidji game was the sign for the Beltrami County Jail.

For Thursday, we plan to walk for a few blocks, get a few photos, and exercise indoors again. Maybe we can work on those abs!!! We could use some of the exercise ball tricks we learned when we tried the Six-Pack Abs class through the Parks and Rec's Passport to Fitness. Now all I have to do is find my second exercise ball and get some air in it.

Have a great rest of the week!

-- Laurie

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

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

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

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

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

You can't necessarily tell this from a still photo, but bundled-up Bethany is walking backward across the Irvine Avenue bridge today. She got halfway across before grumbling over the biting wind and turning around.

"I feel like there are icicles stabbing me in the cheeks," she said.

By this time, I was just looking down at the walkway and pretending we were almost back to my place (we were two blocks away).

This was one of those days where it was warmer earlier than later. We walked toward Lake Irving and it seemed relatively OK.

"Let's just walk across Lake Irving and call Anne to give us a ride home," I suggested.

Then we turned and felt the icy wind on our left.

"Just wait until we turn again," Bethany said.

A couple of blocks later, we turned, and felt the full force of the wind. It wasn't the worst winter day we've had, by a long shot, but it was pretty bitter, especially considering the mild weather we've had lately on days when we *haven't* walked.

Between work commitments, travel and sore knees, we hadn't walked since last Wednesday, when we toured the Bemidji Regional Event Center. My knee still is not doing very well; I should have probably walked about half of what we did today, because halfway through it started to get stiff.

These tracks (I don't know what they are -- we didn't look closely at them, but we did see what appeared to be rabbit tracks nearby) reminded us of the "Family Circus" comic when it would show little Billy's meandering trips through house and yard by showing a line of footprints.

Here, the tracks go up a hill:

We ended our walk today by plowing through the snow to my house, rather than walk to the street and into the parking lot. We were more concerned about getting inside than staying out of the snow.

"Well, that was less than refreshing," Bethany said as we entered my house.

The weather forecast looks colder for Wednesday but warming up for the rest of the week. So there is hope!

Our last mystery photo was of the stars on the Five Star Limousine (above) we saw on our walk in Nymore before the BREC tour.

Can you guess where this one was taken? (Hint: It was also taken in Nymore last week.)

Stay warm! :)

-- Laurie

It was a beautiful day for a walk yesterday afternoon! Which was wonderful for us, because we were, well, out walking for a fairly long time.

The Pioneer staff was invited to a tour of the Bemidji Regional Event Center at 4 p.m. Wednesday, so Laurie and I decided to meet at the BREC about 2:30 p.m. and walk in a different neighborhood than we usually do. (Sometimes, we just need a change of scenery.)

We debated beforehand: Wear two layers of sweatshirts or one? We agreed to wear two, and later, we found ourselves taking off our bulky sweatshirts due to the warm weather. It was refreshing.

The first portion of our walk was very enjoyable. We saw sights we don't see on a daily basis, like we do downtown, and we enjoyed the quiet neighborhoods.

I think our troubles began when we decided to cut through Nymore Park. See, we were far from the only people who decided to have some outdoor fun.

Well, once we got through Nymore Park, we could still see the BREC. So we flipped around another block and kept walking. We had about 40 minutes left or so before we had to report in for the tour, so we weren't worried.

At one point, we reached Roosevelt Road and crossed over to the other side. I think we both agree now that is where we made a mistake. We should have just turned back to the BREC. But, we didn't.

About 3:40, I realized that I didn't exactly know where we were, so we turned around and figured we were about 12 blocks from First Street. So we picked up the pace and began hurrying toward First Street. We came across Nymore Park and figured we were close, just as the time passed 3:50.

I stated to panic. (I have an irrational fear of being late to anything. If you ever see me at events or meetings, I am almost always 10, if not 15, minutes early, because I am absolutely terrified of being late.)

We could see the BREC behind some houses, but due to street layouts, we were not exactly going the right direction. When the clock hit 3:55, I started running (so did Laurie, who was unfortunately battling a sore knee at this point).

We crossed First Street at 3:58 p.m. and, luckily, our co-worker Anne (the official Trail Mix rescuer) was driving into the facility at that moment. She stopped and gave us a ride to our car, where we took off our hideous red sweatpants and we all bolted to the tour, getting there just in time.

Whew. We were exhausted.

Oh, by the way, I forgot to share these photos from our walk, which are cool. Growing up, our absolute favorite Christmas tree ornaments were a set of 12 glass "icicles" that were placed throughout the tree. They were beautiful and now I have the only three remaining.

Yesterday, we saw the real thing.

Beautiful.

Here's today's Puzzler: (Hint: It is part of a company's logo.)

Julie got the right answer from Monday's entry: It is the outside of the Bemidji Public Library; nice job!

(Laurie forgot to get a photo of the whole outside of the library, but you can see the reflection of nearby buildings in the window. Either way, trust me and Julie, it is the library.)

We're taking today off as I have some appointments to get to.

We should see you tomorrow!

- Bethany

I love taking these rather sad pictures of recreation equipment sitting idly by waiting for the winter to end.

There's not much to say about today except it was cold and we found stuff on the ground.

I don't know what I was thinking today, but I completely forgot to put on my nylon outer pants that I have been wearing for months. I guess it just felt so nice out that while I tested the temperature just outside my door that I didn't notice I was down to just the red sweat pants.

"It's a little nippy," Bethany said about a later as we crossed Fifteenth Street.

"A *little*???"

My legs were like blocks of ice. She wanted to make it a little farther, but I was just too cold to continue. Turning around helped by making the back of my legs as cold as the front.

We could have had lunch as we walked!

Yum, yum.

Some would have me say "nom nom nom." But I dislike the phrase "nom nom nom" almost as much as I would dislike picking this sandwich off dirty snow and eating it.

(Although it may be better than eating it off the floor even within the 5-second rule window.)

I would probably rather eat the sandwich than this pin, though, which I think is called a hat pin? No idea what it would have fallen out of, but it's kind of pretty.

Any idea what today's mystery photo is?

Our last puzzler was a real toughie ... it was the -H in U-Haul on one of the U-Hauls along Midway Drive.

Enjoy the week! (We're more than halfway through February ... yay!)

-- Laurie

Yay for us! It was officially one year ago today that Laurie and I began trekking along and through the streets, sidewalks and trails of Bemidji. We, obviously, don't do it every day, but I would say 4-5 times a week, we find time to get together over my lunch break and get some fresh air.

To celebrate, we gave each some "walkiversary" gifts today:

Can you tell what that is? Here is a close-up (a blurry close-up, mind you):

Trail mix for one-half of our Trail Mix!

So here's Laurie's gift from me:

Um, yeah, trail mix for the other half of Trail Mix!

We so did not plan that.

Great minds must think alike!

Me: "You think we spend too much time together?"

We got a big laugh out of it and then celebrated with a toast:

(In case you are wondering, that is plain old water.)

I picked up the flutes at the Dollar Tree - but I really think we could have gone without the hearts...

***

Ironically perhaps, we celebrated our "walkiversary" with a short hike today. I had some stuff to get done at work and elsewhere this afternoon, so I didn't really have a ton of time. In fact, had it been any day other than Feb. 11, I would have canceled altogether. But considering that it was a celebratory day, I figured that probably wasn't the best option.

The only really interesting site today that caught our attention was this sculpture:

Laurie recalled that the sculpture used to be located outside of the Wild Hare Bistro downtown, but now it has, apparently, a new home near the intersection of Third Street and Mississippi Avenue. Sure is cute, though.

Today's Puzzler could be a tough one.

The answer from yesterday, by the way, is that the cactus is part of the sign for Qdoba Mexican Grill. I've always wanted to try it, that and the Mi Rancho restaurant, but my husband isn't a big fan of Mexican and we've been eating at home a whole bunch lately. Still, some day...

Thanks for celebrating with us, everyone!

- Bethany

"Wanna walk?" she said, with a rather grumpy tone.

"Sure," I replied. "But it doesn't sound like YOU do."

"It's *cold*," she muttered.

It actually ended up being not so bad, though. It was 20 below zero when she went to work in the morning, but it had warmed up a bit by noon, and by the end of our walk today we were both toasty. I actually changed my Facebook status to "Laurie Swenson is hot and sweaty after walking outside." How often does one get hot and sweaty outside in early February?

Trail Mix now has a Virginia (state, not city) connection, as Carol Waxwork, whose journey (click on "The Journey" in the blog) includes a stint in North Dakota, asked to use our photo of the poor pooch who tangled with a porcupine. Check out her blog entry:

http://www.carolwallwork.com/Carol_Wallwork/Blog/Entries/2010/2/2_Winter_forest_perils.html

This window at the Boys & Girls Club of the Bemidji Area caught our eye today as we walked. It gives off a very fun and pleasant vibe!

I think this, near the Boys & Girls Club, is the longest expanse of superclean sidewalks we've seen. And Bethany pointed out that there's just a fine layer of snow there, just enough so that the surface isn't icy.

We turned around at 15th Street and America, and as we passed 13th Street, I thought I'd snap a photo of my former abode. I lived in the back in a cute, cozy place that unfortunately had a shower but no bathtub, which is why I only made it a year there. It was a really nice little apartment, but I like like living in easy walking distance of downtown and Lake Bemidji. At 13th Street, the only thing you're near is Dave's Pizza -- which in itself is a good thing!

I'm excited for tomorrow, when we celebrate one year of walking together. We thought we might go out for lunch or do some other fun thing to mark the anniversary. We might also try a different walking route, just to make it a special day.

For anyone wondering how our car troubles from Sunday's trip home from Minneapolis, I held off until today to test those waters. I already incurred a $1,300 debt Monday with a crown and two fillings (but I am now officially up to date with dental work -- yay!), so I just didn't feel like finding out what might be wrong with my car. So I waited until today to take it out to Fugate's, where I learned it was the water pump. That wasn't so bad.

So the good news is that the car trouble wasn't expensive. The bad news is that I don't get to go shopping for a new car yet. ;)

We came across someone shoveling his sidewalk in just a sweatshirt, so I guess he didn't find it all that cold outside.

Plus, the blue sky made it a really pleasant walk.

We hit a few spots of ice (one where we met someone coming the other way who was walking gingerly, so we had plenty of warning). This one was obvious because of the pretty sheen.

The bushes in front of my apartment building are pretty well snowed in. Fortunately, the parking lot has been mostly carved out from the weekend's snow.

Toward the end of our walk, I started using longer strides and noticed I was getting a better workout, so I'm going to try to do more of that. In the winter, we tend to do so much trudging that I think we don't get much of a pace going a lot of the time.

Today's mystery photo was not taken during today's walk, so don't be too confused if you can't think of anything between downtown and 15th Street.

Yesterday's puzzler was from Tamarack Court assisted living apartments.

Have a great Thursday!

-- Laurie

As much as I am not a huge fan of winter, even I can appreciate that there are few landscapes as eye-catching as those covered by a fresh, undisturbed snowfall.

It's pretty.

This scene, located outside of Havenwood Care Center, was particularly attractive, I thought, because of the icicles and birdhouses.

We didn't do too much today, other than rehashing our Minneapolis trip and talking about some TV shows that we watch.

We are planning for Thursday's big party. Yep, Thursday is our "walkiversary," where we celebrate (?) one full year of lunchtime walks and hikes throughout Bemidji. Of course, we haven't been blogging as long as one year, but we did, officially, start walking Feb. 11 of 2009.

Which is kind of hard to believe. I can't imagine that I was a willing, if not eager, to walk outdoors in the dead of February. I mean, this year's winter hasn't been that bad. Last year was cold. (Not to mention that three days before Valentine's Day is not the ideal time to

But we stuck at it. Which is impressive, I think. I mean, do I always love taking an hour (if not more) off of work to go freeze my behind off outside? No, but I do like it. I look forward to venting to Laurie and to exploring different areas of Bemidji.I like talking about how much warmer it is going to be 2-3 months from now... I like that my husband asked me in April last year, "Are you tan?"

So come Thursday, we are celebrating. I was kidding about the party - but I might bring a (gag) gift for Laurie.

We've talked about different ideas for celebrating, but nothing's stuck yet. One idea was to list our favor Quotes of the Day and let you readers vote. But we haven't gotten anything together yet. If any of you have any thoughts, let us know; I'm sure you've got better ideas than we do! :)

Today's Puzzler is...

The answer from last time is that the stained-glass window is on the back of the First Presbyterian Church at 501 Minnesota Ave. N.W.

Here's a trivia question for Trail Mix readers: This is actually the second time we've used a portion of First Presbyterian as a "How Well Do You Know Bemidji?" puzzler. Anyone remember the first?

Bemidji Pioneer reporters Laurie, Bethany and Anne kneel outside the Lab Theater in Minneapolis before lining up to see Saturday night's production of "Rent."

Just look at these happy smiling faces. Little did we know how our fortunes would turn the next day.

But more on that later. First, the good stuff:

And here we are at the door to the Lab Theater.

The road to "Rent" started last year when Bethany and I somehow got to talking about "Rent," which she loves, and which she recommended to me. She said to watch "Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway" first (a filmed version of the final performance on Broadway in 2008), so I put that in my Netflix queue, followed by "Rent" the movie.

That totally made sense, not necessarily because the play is better (many argue that it is, and I prefer it, but I like aspects of both), but because the play is the real thing -- the thing that was envisioned by creator Jonathan Larson, who died the night before the musical debuted off-Broadway in 1996. I learned that in the special features on the DVD. Until then, all I knew about "Rent" was that it was a Broadway show that Jesse L. Martin of Law & Order had been in and had left the TV show briefly to film the 2005 movie. I didn't know it was the eighth-longest running show on Broadway. I didn't know it was wonderful, filled with a mixture of heart-rending poignancy and heart-pounding energy.

The musical, rooted in Giacomo Puccini's opera "La bohème," focuses on a group of poor young New York City artists and their struggles and triumphs. It incorporates AIDS, drugs, homosexuality, poverty, homelessness and despair, as well as friendship, love and hope.

Anyway, Bethany and I happily shared our thoughts about "Rent" and ended up considering going to a Broadway tour performance in Madison in November, but our cars both sucked. (They still do; more on that will come later in this blog entry.) Then we found out fellow reporter Anne Williams also loves the show, but she had only seen the movie, so when we heard that it was coming to Minneapolis, we were thrilled to plan a trip together.

All went very well at first. We drove there in my car Saturday, in great weather, and we made great time on the way to the apartment of my friend Ben San Del, who was good enough to host us and drive us to and from the play. We had great seats at the Lab Theater (awesome theater in the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis) and we all loved the performance. I'm a little prejudiced toward the official soundtrack that usually resides in the CD player in my car, but there was some great singing on that stage Saturday night.

Bethany was smart enough to grab my camera after the production to snap this shot of the actors.

After the play, we went to a bar for a beer, then had one or two more at Ben's place and everyone went to sleep. Anne had the couch, and Bethany and I shared my inflatable queen-size air mattress in the living room. In the morning, everything looked fine outside, and we were hoping the forecasted snow would be mild for the ride home. Everyone wanted to get home in time for the Super Bowl, so we had a quick breakfast at Sunny Side Up Cafe and took off by 11.

Now, the bad stuff...

It didn't take long for things to go wrong.

Shortly before Maple Grove, I noticed the temperature gauge on my car going up, almost into the red. I had just enough time to turn onto an exit ramp. I turned the heat off, which bought some time, and took the nearest right into a motel parking lot, where I replenished my spent coolant. Since one fill of coolant had gotten me from Bemidji to Minneapolis and a little around the city, I hoped another fill would get me back to Bemidji.

No such luck. It didn't take long for the needle to start climbing again on the temperature gauge. Bethany called her stepfather in the Twin Cities for advice. He is the manager of an automotive service department, so a good person to ask. His suggestion -- which really made the difference between us being stuck and getting home -- was to switch to defrost and put the fan on medium and turn the heat up. He said that would start up an extra fan, which would keep the radiator from overheating.

That worked beautifully for a while, although we didn't really have a chance to get very warm before ... yeah, that needle again. So the only thing we could think of was to turn the heat all the way to cold.

We froze. And froze. And froze. We tried sneaking the heat up a bit, but that didn't work. I put a bunch more coolant in during a stop at a gas station in St. Cloud, where I bought two more jugs just in case, and I stopped again in Motley to check the coolant level. I didn't have to put much in for the Motley stop, because keeping it all the way to the cold side apparently kept the engine cold enough.

But it was so awful. We were all freezing, and we hadn't dressed all that warmly. We probably could have grabbed some stuff (extra hats, nylon pants, mittens, scarves, etc.) from the trunk, but it was under our suitcases, so we just decided to grin and bear it.

We did grin, too, despite ourselves. Even when the hint of wintry weather turned into snow and patches of slippery roads around Motley.

We were listening to the "Rent" soundtrack, and Bethany and I were quietly singing along to a beautiful, poignant song, sung by a victim of AIDS, that goes "Will I lose my dignity? Will someone care? Will I wake tomorrow from this nightmare?"

She started singing louder, while laughing, as she belted out "from this nightmare?"

Reporters are a little like cops and doctors in that we end up using a lot of sarcasm and dark and/or deadpan humor. We're supposed to strive for objectivity; we're here to write about exciting things and tragic things, not cheer or cry over them, even when they make us happy or sad. We expect ourselves to remain calm and present a reasonable, factual story.

So, when stuff happens, I think we're not inclined to go too crazy over it, in terms of whooping it up or getting hysterical. We just end up saying things like "it just sucks" and "my life sucks." And laughing grumpily about nightmares.

I was very happy, though, to see us getting closer and closer to Bemidji. I was driving 45-50 mph much of the way from Motley on, most of it trying to leave a little distance between us and the white car in front of us whose brake lights kept coming on. Anne and Bethany, for a while, were playing my Nintendo DSi and its Mixed Messages game, which is like Pictionary, so that kept spirits up until the DSi ran out of juice. Then all we really had was being cold.

I have no idea how cold it got in there. I mean, we're talking the cold of not having heat on PLUS the cold of blowing cold air into the car on medium fan. Our feet were like icicles. I finally grabbed a scarf from the trunk because my neck was freezing. I had a pair of gloves on, but my hands were still icy cold. I suppose we could have taken some pictures of one another in the car, but all we could think of was how cold we were.

Bemidji was a very welcome sight, and all in all we didn't make bad time, considering an overheating car, multiple stops and snowy weather. It only took us an extra hour or so. We drove past our workplace, and then I stopped at Lueken's (much to my passengers' dismay) because I needed cat litter and didn't want to take my ailing car out again. I don't know if I've ever bought something in Lueken's quite that quickly.

When we got back to my place, Bethany just started her car and left (she said it would be a treat compared to my car), but Anne let hers warm up and came into the living room, where we pulled two chairs together and sat with our feet in front of my ceramic heater. Everything but my feet warmed up relatively quickly. The feet took a while.

I'm very glad we made it all the way home, and I'm equally glad I had good company along the way. Ben, a Minneapolis comedian, suggested some dates in March when he's performing, in case we'd like to return. I don't know whose car we'd take for that.

I also don't know what's going to happen with my troubled 1999 Grand Am. It's already had the intake manifold gasket repaired last year (leaking coolant), and a new radiator several months ago (also leaking coolant). What now?

Oh, and we did get some walking in when we went to a coffee shop Saturday near Ben's apartment in Uptown. It was a nice walk -- the first time in a long time I haven't worn any outerwear except a coat. That kind of weather can come back anytime...

-- Laurie

Our walk down America Avenue brought us in touch with several dogs, including the golden retriever above who always barks madly at us (but who Bethany gets to pet now and then).

The two dogs above also barked, but not quite as vehementaly as the golden retriever.

The dog on the left (a beagle, or maybe a beagle cross? It looks a little like my neighbor's Jack Russell terrier/beagle cross) didn't bark at us. It just stood there very alertly and watched as we passed by. I think he was staring at Bethany, who was ahead of me, while I took this photo.

But conspicuously absent was the friendliest dog of all, a black lab who usually follows us for several blocks.

But we did hear someone calling out "Shadow!" so we figured that must be our canine pal's name.

Which makes plenty of sense, since he "shadows" us for blocks. :)

"This really blows," Bethany said as we embarked on this section of sidewalk.

(But we agreed later that we get a better walkout when we have to trudge though snow.")

Actually, what really blows is a snowblower, which I imagine was used for this stretch sidewalk:

"Why can't all the sidewalks be like this," Bethany said.

Maybe because everyone doesn't have snowblowers.

The sidewalk beyond had some snow on it, but just a light dusting of it. No trudging, at least!

When I was trudging through snow, my first thought was that if I owned a house, I'd almost rather live somewhere without a sidewalk so I wouldn't have to try to keep up with all the snow. Then again, I could live somewhere without snow. :)

I haven't seen this contraption before. It was going along a sidewalk in the campus of Beltrami County buildings, and the guy actually moved out of our way. Little did he know that I wanted him to keep coming right at us so I could get a photo of him on the sidewalk, but I settled for this one.

We don't just complain about the snow. We also notice pretty pictures, like this one of three bushes that reminded me of the Three Bears. The one on the left has too little snow, the one on the right has too much, and the one in the middle is just right!

We ran across this fence today. Someone really must like this song! ("Live Out Loud" by Steven Curtis Chapman"

I took the photo below just because we agreed it's a beautiful stained-glass window, but later I decided to see if people know just where it is.

Yesterday's mystery photo was of the plaque tucked in the young trees planted a few years ago on the trail along Paul Bunyan Drive. The plaque, from Bemidji Green Up, Bemidji Rotary Club and Bemidji Leads! honors the Neilsen Foundation.

We are crossing our fingers for good weather Saturday as we head to Minneapolis to see "Rent." If we have to drive slow in snowy weather, hopefully we get there in time to get a good place in line.

Have a great weekend! Check out Logging Days if you can make it!

-- Laurie

No, Laurie isn't making snow angels. She fell while walking today. So there goes the whole "we haven't fallen in how long" question that we were debating, I think, last week.

But I'm getting waaaaay ahead of myself!

First off, today was a nice day out - when you were walking the right direction anyway. One way was rather windy and cold on my face; the other direction was warm and I seemed almost overdressed. *Sigh* Minnesota winters.

Really, this have been a rather nice winter. I was telling Laurie today that, while walking, I think I've probably only worn a coat for those 2-3 weeks that it was bitter cold ... and I am still only wearing two layers of pants. (I usually wear my beautiful, red sweatpants over my work pants, but I do have a set of long underwear at work for those days where I need something more. I just haven't broken into that pile yet this season.)

***

Today, we walked along the south part of downtown today just a change of pace.

We usually have our routes pretty well set, but every now and then, something will throw us for a loop.

This afternoon, we came off of a side street with the intent of heading back to the heart of downtown.

Except the snow was a bit deeper than we're used to.

(Oh, and just for a quick second, look at the tracks below. I thought it was cute that we were making brand-new human tracks next to an animal's. (Which, by the way, I'm guessing were created by a rabbit, but since we've been proven wrong oh-so-many times before on all things nature, I don't want to say so confidently.))

Anyhow, we were trudging through deep snow when one particular step was especially deeper than anticipated and ... Laurie fell backward.

(You can scroll up to the top of this entry to again view the "after" picture.)

A few months ago, while we were on our now-infamous "we got lost" trek, Laurie and I joked around while discussing different "what would you do?" scenarios. For instance, if one of us were to, somehow, fall into Lake Bemidji: Would we first snap a picture or help the other person? I think we came to general consensus that if the other person's life was not in danger, we would take the picture first. (This was a funnier conversation than I am describing; maybe Laurie can expand later. We were debating the different scenarios and injuries we could suffer. So, if I fell into a creek, I could stand up, so I would expect Laurie to take a picture. But if I was hit by a car and was apparently gravely injured, I would hope she would call 911 first - and then take the picture.)

So, yes, Laurie fell. And, yes, I of course, helped her up. But not until after I got the shot.

***

I don't always love our walks. There are days when I would be content to stay at work typing stories. But every afternoon I'm reminded that Laurie is waiting for me, and I drag out my winter clothes and change.

Well, today was one of those days. I woke up crabby and irritable. I was nice enough to take it out on my husband, who hasn't been home since Tuesday morning due to a business trip. And then I got even crabbier because I was mad at myself for being irritable with him.

So the last thing I wanted to do was walk today.

But, Laurie was waiting.

So I dragged myself out. And it took me 5-10 minutes to perk up. Halfway through the walk, which we did today at an usually brisk pace, I felt better. By the time we returned to Laurie's, I was genuinely smiling for the first time of the day.

And that, friends, is why I actually like exercising. (Even if my waistline doesn't exactly show it. Yet. We're getting there. Slowly.)

***

The following are some interesting things we saw today.

This is a house that not only has a pretty stone exterior, but also unusual, yet attractive, trim around the windows:

This one is for Laurie, who was quite taken by the ice sculpture beneath this large pipe:

***

Lastly, there is this.

I am almost incredulous that I am going to admit to the following conversation (you'd really think Laurie and I were natural blondes...), but here goes.

If you look closely at the above picture, you will see a round, orb-like thing to the right of the picture. We were, obviously, looking at the sky. Laurie and I were debating whether that white-ish sphere was the sun or the moon.

Me: "I think it's the moon."

Pause, me looking around for another, brighter circle above us.

Me, again: "I don't know. Maybe it's the sun. I don't see where else the sun would be."

Laurie: "It's not very bright."

Me: "No it isn't."

Pause.

Laurie: "Oh, wait, we're wearing sunglasses."

And, sure enough, we removed our forgotten shades and were, in fact, quite blinded by sun.

***

Now that you've had your laugh for the day. Here's the answer to yesterday's Puzzler: The architectural feature is placed throughout an office complex located along Fifth Street.

Today's Puzzler is...

(Yes, it's a plaque on a rock. Do you know where it is located?)

Thanks for following along on our journeys!

- Bethany

This basketball hoop at Evergreen House almost looks inviting, although it would be tough to dribble in the snow and ice. You'd have to just shoot baskets.

"I don't think the ball would bounce very well," Bethany said.

I didn't notice the tennis net in the background until I got the picture on the computer. And then I saw the canoes behind that. It's a whole bevy of stuff just waiting to be used again once the winter is over.

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Passport to Six-Pack Abs?

We really liked the Six-Pack Abs class we attended Tuesday through the Parks and Recreation Passport for Fitness program. There was some hurting going on, but we got some great ideas to try at home (and I bought a bigger exercise ball that night to try some of the exercises on -- doing crunches on a ball is awesome, so much easier on the back!), and we'll probably pay to go to the class again on our own. That's the beauty of this program ... it helps people like us try out activities to see what fits best, brings in some money for the programs from the Passport sales, and brings in more money from people who elect to become regulars in the classes. Samantha Parker, special events coordinator, is doing a great job with Park and Rec and the Passport program. Next week we are considering beginning yoga and intro to cha cha.

We walked past a couple of cute kids today who were sledding on a little hill.

Apparently, the slide in the top photo hurt the kid on the left a little because as I took the photo below, I heard a bit of a wail.

I felt a little guilty walking away when there was a kid crying, but the other kid was already looking at us a bit suspiciously, so I didn't want to freak them out. We should really have Trail Mix business cards and/or brochures we could hand out so we don't look like a couple of weirdos in hoodies snooping around with a big camera.

But isn't that a sweet photo? One crying kid, another concerned one. If only we were all like that with one another. :)

I took a step to the left today to take this photo of a snowy yard and almost got run into by a bicyclist. He yelped out a warning and I gasped and jumped back, so no harm done.

Today was not the coldest of days, but the wind was pretty raw. I was ready to go home well before we got there.

It felt good to see the 4West building, which is close to my house.

Ice, Ice, Baby!

Bethany was pleased to see cleaned-off sidewalks here, but it was a hollow victory, as they were super-icy. She walked gingerly on the ice and I opted to move off the side into the snow. The ice this winter is really making for precarious walking conditions all over the place. I finally bought some ice-melt stuff last night and sprinkled it around my door, and it worked great. I even dumped my table salt on it afternoon, and that had done a little.

Today's puzzler is of the architectural type:

Two more days of work, and then our trip to Minneapolis to see "Rent"! Hopefully we will have good driving weather. Snow looks to be in our future...

-- Laurie

This is Laurie, as she cleans her TV in preparation of what's to come.

Yep, we decided to try EA Active again this afternoon instead of walking. Which figures, considering that it turned out to be a rather pleasant day outside.

I'll be honest: I actually love working out. If I could convince my body to physically move from the couch to an upright position more often than it does, I would actually work out quite a bit.

My husband, Ray, and I purchased Active just after New Year's. We've been using it pretty much daily (except for those nights when I'm covering meetings) and have seen some results.

Laurie, who tried it with me last week for the first time, gave in this past weekend and purchased her own Active, which is nice. So we broke in her copy today.

I think my biggest complaint about Active is the overly annoying trainers. The intent is good; they try to motivate you by saying "way to go" and "keep it up" and keep talking to you throughout the whole workout. But, in my opinion, they're too nice for trainers. I need someone yelling at me from the sidelines telling me to work harder rather then telling me that I'm already doing a good job.

Today's quotes:

The trainer said, following a repetition of a toning exercise, "Give each other a high five after that workout!"

Laurie: "I rolled my eyes."

Me, pausing, with a little smile, "Ray and I do that," as in actually give each other the high fives.

Laurie: "Oh. Oops."

Ray and I are super competitive, and one of the features of Active is that it lets you program your own workouts. Well, Ray made one that is 80 percent running and just sporadic arm and leg exercises. We never necessarily intend to work our rumps off, but neither of us can stand losing to the other, so each run turns into full-blown sprint races. So after each run, we always high five each other, usually to show that, yes, even though s/he beat me, we're still on speaking terms (and, well, the extra five seconds gives us some time to catch our breath again before the next run).

But I digress.

Laurie and I today did a workout that was not so cardio heavy, which was kind of disappointing to me, but we did get some really good arm workouts.

Laurie boxing.

Me doing upright rows.

Our audience.

Zelda, one of Laurie's cats, surprised Laurie twice this afternoon. She snuck up on us and, wham, jumped straight into Laurie's chest. Which was somewhat difficult to deal with considering that Laurie had a Wii remote and a resistance band in each hand. (Edit by Laurie: The first time I saw her coming at the last minute and held onto her; the second time, she came out of the blue and slid down, leaving puncture marks in my stomach. I don't know why this cat has to jump to my midsection expecting to be caught and held. Other cats jump onto your shoulder.)

We didn't take a mystery photo today, sorry.

But the answer from yesterday is that "curiosities" is from the outside of the DragonFlaire bookshop on Second Street.

Laurie and I have one more workout planned for today: 6-Pack Abs is this evening through the city of Bemidji's Passport to Fitness program. We're excited for it.

Whether we remain as excited about it come tomorrow, when our tummies are tender, remains to be seen.

Have a great day!

Bethany

Walking is getting precarious in Bemidji. Above, Bethany steps gingerly on a downtown sidewalk.

There are layers of ice all over the place, and often the ice is barely covered by the snow.

It's nothing like where my parents live, though, on Union Lake by Erskine. Their driveway is a hill, and this has been an awful year for ice on that hill. It took me literally an hour to drive up it Sunday afternoon, and the only way we could do it was to put welcome mats and rugs and carpet pieces in front of my tires. Then I drove up the hill two feet at a time. I'm not driving down that hill again until the snow is gone.

With the rain and refreezing we had earlier this winter in Bemidji, so many places have glare ice. I took two banana-peel spills last week (which I almost never do ... usually, I slip and catch myself), one walking down the outside steps from the mailbox and the other in the ice by my parking spot. I am ultra-careful outside the door, which is a total mini-skating rink.

Maybe we should walk like Hansel and Gretl and carry kitty litter or something.

Look at all that shiny snow and ice. At least we're in the short month.

We walked over the Irvine Avenue bridge today. We were coming from the Lake Irving area, chatting about our weekends (I celebrated my son's birthday with a trip to Grand Forks; Bethany celebrated beating New Super Mario Bros. on the Wii) and the bridge caught my eye.

Now, I like this bridge. I think it's a stately piece of architecture. I love the view from it, whether walking or driving. But whenever I see we're approaching it, my only thought is "incline."

I started to say something, and Bethany interjected, "You see an incline in our future?" -- a reference to a quote from last summer when we were strolling through Bemidji State University.

We remember quotes pretty well. Not when we're trying to write about them, unfortunately, but once we've commmitted them to memory (and to the blog), they stick with us.

Bethany and I are huge fans of "Rent" and will occasionally slip in a casual quote from the popular Broadway musical in our conversations, including not-so-obvious lines like "Are you ready? Hold that focus steady." It has joined "Jesus Christ Superstar" (which both of us also like) in that capacity for me; my friend Jean-Luc says he can no longer hear the phrase "That is not an answer" without the song I have drummed into his head "That is not an answer .... You're deep in trouble, friend, someone Christ, King of the Jews."

We discovered that co-worker Anne Williams also loves "Rent," so the three of us decided to go to the Minneapolis version Saturday night at the Lab Theater in Minneapolis. My friend Ben, who lives in Uptown, is not only putting us up, but is also driving us there and back, which is awesome.

We can hardly wait! I have the 2-CD soundtrack in my car, which we'll be taking there, so we can harmonize. Or something. :)

We saw these cool shirts in the window at My Best Friend's Closet downtown today. I like the black one!

My aforementioned friend Jean-Luc's parents are from Haiti (their family and friends there were not harmed by the earthquake); they moved to Montreal as young adults, well before JL was born. So the earthquake has different meaning for me than it would have a number of years ago before we became friends. Not that I wouldn't have cared ... it's just that it's a different kind of connection when you know someone personally who is affected in some way.

Daniel Critchfield, a registered nurse at North Country Regional Hospital, is about to return from Haiti after providing medical services there through International Faith Missions. It's good that he was able to help people there.

Here is today's mystery photo:

Our last puzzler was the word "Water" from the Culligan truck. Since we work with words, I guess it should come as no surprise that we have been drawn to them lately in our How Well Do You Know Bemidji photos. :)

Have a good Wednesday! :)

-- Laurie

Can't you just picture this bench in the middle of spring or summer? With the warm sun and gentle, refreshing breeze?

Instead, today, we had gusts of wind and negative temperatures.

It was back to sidewalks and streets today as we tried, again, to find our walking groove. This was the first time we've been out lunchtime walking since this past weekend's ice storms. We quickly learned to try to avoid the pretty, shiny parts of the sidewalks after both of us had a few close calls with cement.

At one point, I think we were at Beltrami Avenue and Third Street, we both stepped on ice at the same time and had an "oh no" moment.

Me: "Hey, look at us. We simultaneously slipped and slid all over the place."

Our one victory was that neither of us actually fell.

Which brought up a somewhat interesting question, from Laurie: Have we ever fallen while walking?

At first, it seemed, no. We didn't think so. But something is still nagging me about Irvine Avenue and winter last year, so I'm pretty sure I must have fallen along there sometime last year. And, we know, Laurie once fell on the trail this past summer. So did Jada. But she wasn't wearing shoes, so we excused her for that one. And, well, for her being a kid. Us adults should be able to stay upright.

We also saw this guy, who was out shoveling his sidewalks, and for that, he is one of our most favorite Bemidjians today. (There are still quite a few un-shoveled sidewalks throughout our walk and it's a source of frequent grumbling.)

***

This is a bit off-topic, and we didn't take any pictures (thank goodness), but I thought I should at least acknowledge that we did attend our first class through Bemidji's Passport to Fitness program last night. It was Zumba, a dance class.

It was very nice to be back in a group fitness class again -- I used to do all sorts of kickboxing programs in the Cities -- but I have to admit that Zumba is not really a great fit for me. Too much choreography. I can handle the steps and the arms, but the spinning and whirling this way and that was just too much for this first-timer.

Laurie, on the other hand, loved it.

I am liking the Passport program, though. I like the idea of having a mix of classes. Our only complaint is that a bulk of the classes are on Monday nights, when we both work. I can't really get out of city council meetings and Laurie really needs to be here to layout our newspaper pages.

But, hey, if that's our only complaint, then it must be a good program! :)

***

Onto the fun stuff!

Today's Puzzler is ...

And here's a hint: It is part of a slogan.

Have a great evening!

- Bethany

No boots, hats and gloves today! Bethany brought over her EA Sports Active game for the Wii; the equipment required is pictured above, along with curious cats. The spray bottle is for Little Kitty, who kept trying to attack Bethany's legs for some reason.

But first, she walked up to me and gave me that look that says "I am going to jump up on you now and you are going to catch me and hold me." Which I did. It saves on scratches.

And no, that is not my natural hair color. It's a bit much. And don't ask about the eyebrows. (They are currently brown-penciled, as I write this.)

Today, I had fleece pants and a short tank top and Bethany wore a T-shirt and shorts. We declined to take pictures; maybe next time!

Above is an explanatory video that was part of the game, which comes with a strap in which you put the Wii's nunchuck, which monitors your steps. You hold the Wii remote in your other hand. (For some activities, you hold both the nunchuck and the Wii.

I'm not very good at following along with things like this, so the game's "trainer" scolded me a lot.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I grumbled early on.

Later, it was "Shut up." I would do horribly with a trainer.

There was one arm and shoulder exercise that had a pretty good burn to it.

"Ooh, this hurts," Bethany said. "Cool!"

She is obviously more dedicated than I am. She also would do much better with a trainer than I would.

Bethany and I both own Wii Fit, but she likes EA Active Sports much better. I was tempted to buy it, too, but I'm not so sure now. I'm not very disciplined, and I have a hard time doing these things just right. On my own, I tend to exercise by just dancing, bouncing and moving around to music. I don't suppose that type of freestyle activity can be incorporated into a video game.

As for the headline "Wiiercise," I was trying to be witty ("wiitty?"). I tried "Wii stayed indoors" but that sounded lame. So I thought of "Wiiercise." It was perhaps silly to wonder if I was being original. Not only is it a term that is used by others, I also discovered there is a *dictionary* for Wii-related terms. It is called, I cringe to say, a Wiitionary. (Check it out at www.wiitionary.com.)

Tomorrow we're going to try Zumba class at Fusion Dance & Fitness Center through our Passports for Fitness. The Web site says we can burn up to 1,000 calories.

I think that just might not apply to us, as beginners, but even if it did, our reaction doesn't bode well for weight loss.

"We can eat twice as much!"

Bethany said it, but I was thinking it already.

Well, that and, how much am I going to hate this halfway through when I am ready to fall over and die?

I took this picture after we were done. I have no idea why Zelda is staring at Bethany so intently. Maybe she is bewildered by us jumping all around the living room.

Or maybe she was about to pounce on her.

We didn't get around to taking a mystery photo today, but we'll get one tomorrow as we get back to walking.

Our last puzzler was, as Jeff correctly guessed, the sash around Chief Bemidji's (Shay-now-ish-Kung) waist.

I thought we had a pretty clever pick, but that Jeff is hard to stump.

Have a great evening and a great Wednesday! It sounds like it will be cold still, so be sure to bundle up. I talked to a cashier at Target last week who said she never wears a hat, that it messes her hair up, so she puts up with frozen ears.

Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I'll take the messy hair.

-- Laurie

It's been a long time since we've been able to do this - but we walked all five days this week! Yay for us!

Today was rather chilly, not temperature-wise, but the wind was quite strong. I made the mistake, though, of wearing a coat and, of course, got warm.

Laurie and I didn't walk too far today, just down to Bemidji State University and then back downtown.

Where she did some shopping:

Laurie's granddaughter forgot her glasses at Laurie's place, so Laurie has to mail them back.

Speaking of Miss Jada, we saw this boot along the road:

No, it's not Jada's boot (at least, not to my knowledge), but she and Laurie apparently saw this boot's mate while walking last weekend on the Freedom Walk.

I was a bit late to get to Laurie's today because I was completely captivated by lily the Black Bear, who gave birth today to two bear cubs. I saw/heard the first cub just moments before I was supposed to leave for Laurie's. It was amazing.

So, today's quote, from me and Laurie: "Congratulations Lily!"

OK, we didn't exactly say that while walking, but none of our statements today was all that quotable. We were discussing plans for an upcoming trip.

We saw this closed sign in a window at a Bemidji business. I just found it a bit odd. It is really closed!

Yesterday's Puzzler answer, as "no red pants" correctly guessed is Paul Bunyan's gun (shotgun? I'm not a gun person, so forgive me. I can't tell them apart).

As Laurie said yesterday: "I guess it is Paul Bunyan's gun, so it makes sense I can't get the whole thing in the frame."

Today's Puzzler is...

Have a great weekend!

- Bethany

I'm starting from the back today, just because I felt so sorry for this poor dog.

His name is Buck, and he was obviously not having a good day.

Buck and his owner, Josh, of Cass Lake, came into Animal Care Clinic while Little Kitty and I were waiting for our appointment, which was right after today's walk.

Pet owners and clinic staff expressed sympathies for the poor dog, who seemed to be taking it pretty well.

"Looks like he kissed him," Josh quipped about the placement of the porcupine quills, which were imbedded both around and inside the dog's mouth, as well as on his front paws.

My camera batteries were dead, so I whipped out my Nintento DSi, which has a built-in camera. It doesn't take the greatest pictures, but it did OK in a pinch for this.

Doesn't your heart just go out to the poor guy?

As for Little Kitty, she was a bit ruffled over having three dogs (besides Buck) playing around near her, but at least she didn't have to get her belly shaved this time. The last time I took my cats to the vet, she had a fungal infection on her tummy and they took her away and shaved her.

That was last May, and ever since, if she gets the idea that I might be taking her somewhere, she gets this look in her eyes and runs away. So today, I was super casual and gave them some kitty treats in the kitchen before scooping her up.

All she needed was a shot today, so it went pretty well once we got in there. We'll see how she reacts from now on.

Now, back to walking.

We did a little bit of everything today, as the headline says.

Bethany and I did our regular walking down the sidewalks, some clear, some snowy, some icy, as usual. We ran across our regular friendly black dog.

Then we stopped at City Hall to get our Passports for Fitness, which is a program sponsored by the Bemidji Parks and Recreation and the Acting Living Partnership. It lets you try out a bunch of different physical fitness activities, such as yoga, kick boxing, stretching, rock climbing and a variety of others. We like the idea because, for $30 for the two of us (the passports are $20 each singly), we can try out a lot of different classes and explore what we might like to focus more specifically on. The enthusiastic Samantha Parker is behind this program.

Unfortunately, though, the passports are not available at City Hall. Somehow, even though we have ourselves written about the passport program, we forgot the passports are at the Public Works Facility.

We were done walking by that point, so we went back to my house and took Bethany's car there. After we drove up, I got out and took a photo of the lonely guy above, who is probably not too often on the list of people who stroll through downtown looking for the pieces in the Bemidji Sculpture Walk.

We bought our passports, then drove over to the Tourist Information Center to buy my ticket to the Taste of Northern Minnesota -- at which I consumed far more calories tonight than I burned walking, that's for sure. (This is one of my favorite events in Bemidji and I have gone every year, usually as a reporter, but this year reporter Anne Williams covered it, so I went with her, and just enjoyed myself while she worked.)

While we were at the Tourist Information Center, I took some photos of the Fireplace of States, which I love. It's so neat that all these places sent bricks to make this beautiful piece of history.

We also took a look at the guestbook, which we discovered that Anne and her husband, Ben, had signed last weekend.

However, they did not write a comment, so unfortunately, they cannot be part of the Quotes of the Day:

Today, someone from Talhina, Okla., wrote, “Nice people. Lovely town but cold.”

Cold? It was around 20 degrees today. Above zero, even.

Yesterday, another person –- a Bemidjiian, even! –- wrote, on a day in which the high temperature was 27, “Could it get any colder?”

Um, yes. A lot colder.

There were quite a few entries Saturday during the height of the Polar Daze celebration.

Another visitor from a warmer climate (Harrison, Ark.) wrote, simply: “COLD.”

Someone from Bemidji apparently agreed: “COLDNESS.”

But a hardier Bemidji resi-dent had a different perspective: “Warm!”

Another person from Bemidji wrote that Polar Daze rocks, but hockey also drew some love:

From Pequot Lakes: “Hockey is amazing!”

And from McGregor, Minn.:

“Hockey + horses = life.”

I love that one. I assume these are separate passions and that polo ponies aren’t taking to the ice.

Bethany said she didn't think she had ever had her picture taken with Paul and Babe.

I had to remedy that!

Here is today's mystery photo:

Yesterday's puzzler was feathers on Wanda Reise Odegard's "Niimi," the dancing Indian statue in Library Park.

We now look ahead to Friday, and hope for the best with the stormy weather that is expected.

Stay safe and warm!

-- Laurie

I took a picture of this only because I saw the butterfly flag and found myself wishing it was a "real" butterfly - and the snow would instantly melt away.

Not that I have much to complain abut at all; this winter hasn't been bad at all ... so far.

Today, Laurie and I walked along Lake Avenue and through the Bemidji State University campus. It was a pleasant day, weather-wise, but the wind had a bit of a bite to it. We were definitely warmer on the walk back to town than away from it.

We chit-chatted about upcoming plans, some work stuff and then, somehow, we found ourselves quoting "Field of Dreams."

Me: "They will come, Ray."

OK, I actually know where that came from: We were trying to remember the first name of Kevin Costner's character, and for some reason, I remember the above line. Mystery solved.

... But I still don't know how we got on the topic of "Field of Dreams" in the first place.

This was the first time in a while that we walked by BSU, so I had to snap a picture of the vehicles parking on Lake Bemidji.

I just don't understand the ice parking. I mean, I do remember how frustrating it was to walk 2-3 blocks to school because you can't get a close parking spot. But it's just a few blocks. Granted, I have a small fear of driving on ice to begin with, but I just can't imagine that it's good for the lake - or safe for the vehicles for that matter.

But, again, I'm not a "true" Bemidjian, so maybe it's just a learned acceptance.

Anyhow, that was our walk. We had a nice time.

The answer from yesterday's Puzzler is...

And today's is...

(Hint it is not a sign for a business!)

Have a great evening!

- Bethany

I was so pleased to find this photo today that it caused Bethany to comment:

"We're obsessed with berries."

She's right! We've been talking all winter, off and on, about how the berries keep hanging, but lately we've noticed many of them are losing their bright red sheen and darkening to almost black.

But in downtown Bemidji, there's still some red left, highighted by a lovely frost that's all over the trees and bushes.

This tree, discarded shortly after Christmas near my apartment building, is still looking sharp nearly a month later, especially with a new coat of frost.

Today's puzzler is another word-within-a-word ...

Yesterday's mystery photo was of the sign in front of the Beltrami County Courthouse:

Until tomorrow ...

-- Laurie