Over the river and through the woods...

OSLO and the COTU arrived within about 20 minutes of their scheduled time, in spite of plane de-icing at the other end.  Winter travel can be tricky.

We headed out to the local Greek/Italian/American restaurant for supper where they each ordered their favorite meal.  (Moussaka for OSLO, shrimp for the G'daughter and chicken parmesan for the G'son.)  It is good to have them here.  Now, we just need it to stop raining.

Twas the night before the night before....

Well, either the end of the world didn't happen -- or it did, and this is just a simulation. I understand that there's some good research that gives a pretty good probability to that last one. It doesn't seem to matter -- it feels real enough.  I took advantage of that not really the end of the world day by getting an iced coffee (to go) at the Hava Java Grill.  It turns out that I can wog and drink through a straw all at the same time.  Yay, me.

With 4 bike rides and 6 power wogs under my belt since we arrived here, I can say with some certainty that I'm tired.  Other than that, here are a few observations.  I feel self conscious in Michigan about how slow I am.  Here, I feel fast.  And guilty.  Anyone not pulling an oxygen tank behind them is just showing off.  In Michigan the paths and streets are full of runners, walkers and joggers.  Here, I've seen one other person going faster than a stroll in the last 10 days.  One elderly gentleman commented early one morning that I'd better hurry or I'd miss the bus.  (??????)

The beach remains my favorite turn around point on foot.  It looks a little different every time I'm there, as beaches do.  The photo above was taken around noon today.

With all the talk of Christmas trees and Christmas bushes, I was tempted to steal a photo sent to me by a friend of her Christmas tree.  It was warm and charming, with a welcoming fire burning in a Franklin stove in the background.  Perfect for the blog.  Instead I took a picture of our funny little tabletop tree, decorated (so far) with just a pine cone.  Ah, but it's a perfect pine cone.   Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  Good cheer to all.

A Nice Way to Spend the End of Time

If the end is indeed upon us, I'd like to get in one more blog post first.  Pi will not be featured in this post, however.

The old hybrid bicycle has been working well for my recreational rides here so far. Its fat, relatively low pressure tires and steel frame absorb a lot of road vibration, and it's upright position is kind to my old bones. It's slow, but I wasn't in any hurry. Yesterday was a pretty nice day and I was happy to be spending part of it riding a bicycle. The Kiwanis maintain an attractive park with walking trails about 5 miles from here (definitely not as the crow flies). It was closed for maintenance the entire time I was here last year.  Yesterday's ride confirmed that it's now open, so I'll be exploring it again -- unless the world really does end tomorrow.

This morning's exercise was a round trip to the local beach.  Getting there on foot required that I go further than I'm accustomed to, at least so far.  I handled that by putting it on my Long, Slow calendar. (Once a week or so I like to stretch the length of my outing, usually walking part of the route and not pushing the pace at all.)   A 4 mile round trip just comfortably gets me there, and going along the beach all the way to the end by the boat landing puts it at 4.3 miles.  I'm still trying out different places to use as my turn around spot.  Tomorrow I'm thinking that I may try out the Hava Java grill -- it's a bit closer than the beach, and includes the possibility of caffeine.  A small treat for the shortest day of the year.

Well Laid Plans

Before we left Michigan I had put together an elaborate exercise plan for Florida. So far I haven't used it at all.  Many of the assumptions that I made when I put it together have turned out not to be true.  I had thought that I would walk/jog places that I don't bike here, either because of the traffic or the lack of sidewalks.  It turns out that if it isn't a good place to ride, it probably isn't good for wogging, either.  I also thought that all of the streets here were concrete, which is more jarring than the asphalt surfaces I'm used to.  They're asphalt, which is nice, since otherwise I was going to have to take up trail running.  (Think Ollies Pond Park, around and around and around.)

My newest plan is to get up early and get my power walk out of the way before the sun gets too hot. So far the earliest I've made it out the door is 8:30 am,  and -- at least by Michigan standards -- the sun is already hot.   I took this photo just down the street from here this morning. Football fans, clearly -- of different teams. But they cooperated enough to use a common theme and the same post. Or goal post.

Today's route was acceptable, though not exciting -- a mostly circular route with a diameter of about a mile -- that took me through the parking lot of the closest Walgreens and along two different waterways between here and the highway.  Another one of the assumptions in my original plan was that I couldn't bike and wog on the same day.  A short bike ride this afternoon made me question the truth of that, so I guess it's back to the drawing board.
Late Edit:

The new shoes.

Pi Miles --

The gear requirements for foot powered exercise are small -- with the most critical items being the shoes. I thought I'd left a decent pair of tennis shoes here, but they are nowhere to be found. A visit to the outlet store on the highway netted me a nice pair of gray and green Reeboks, that should serve me well.  Not overly cool, but functional,  and comfortable the first time out of the box.   Yesterday morning was gray and overcast, so none of the photos I took while I was out made the cut, and you'll have to trust me that I got close enough to the beach to see the harbor, and that was about it.  3.2 miles round trip -- close enough to pi for blogging purposes.

There was some late afternoon clearing and we got back from supper just in time for the sunset over Spring Lake.

This morning was my first time on a bike since late November.  With the help of wheels and gears, the beach seemed a lot closer than it did yesterday.  I also cycled through the neighborhoods near the house, racking up a few miles while getting reacquainted with the layout of the streets and waterways.  Bicycling specific fitness doesn't hang around if you don't bike, and I needed a nap this afternoon.

Sunrise 8:07, Sunset 5:10

That's a 9 hour and 3 minute day in Holland today. We went looking for a little more daylight, and found some.

Dec. 13, 2012	Rise	Set
Actual Time	7:09 AM EST	5:36 PM EST

That's about an hour and a half more daylight than I saw on Tuesday.  10 hours, 27 minutes.  The extra 30 degrees aren't hurting my feelings any, either.

Philosophically Challenged

Quiet has always been my sound of choice. On a bike there is always plenty to listen to -- even an expensive wheelset makes some whirring noises, whether it is the blades whispering or the sound of the tires on various types of pavement. I love those sounds. A wheelset through fallen leaves is a symphony to my ears. I've never understood those riders -- and there are many -- who plug into music while on a bike. To me they're missing one of the nicest parts of the ride.

Sooo...... Today I figured out how to work the Ipod that I inherited from the G-daughter when she graduated to the Ipod Plus a few years ago.  And I stayed to the right on the paths, and to the left on the streets, and only used one earbud.  Since the device is loaded with the G-daughter's music, I started out listening to a radio station.  Did you know Bing Crosby is still singing Christmas music?  I eventually fumbled my way through some other options, and by the time I reached mile 3.1 or so, I'd discovered the shuffle option.  It did indeed make the time go faster, though I'm still of the opinion that if you need to play music in order to endure an hour of exercise, perhaps you should find another form of exercise.  4 miles.

Visitors from the North

OSLO and her family spent the afternoon and early evening with us today. I took a couple of photos before we sat down to eat.

The wild one with the attitude and the purple streak in her hair baked up a batch of cheese biscuits for us.

It was all good, and we were sad to see them go when they headed out into the foggy, windy, rainy night.
I just recently added word verification to the comment section here.  It was getting spammed pretty regularly, so there didn't seem to be much choice.  Sorry for the inconvenience.

Semi-Circles

I can't walk 1.5 miles in roughly half of the compass points, because of this big lake that sits between Michigan and Wisconsin. I also find it hard to do a circumference, because the streets here are mostly laid out in a grid. That often leaves me with either a perimeter or if I'm creative enough, a loop.

Today's yog (that's Swedish for jog) was roughly in the form of a figure 8. I don't know the formula for the perimeter of a figure 8. I'm pretty sure it involves the use of pi, though.  Many people have taken advantage of the warmish (though dark and dampish) weather over the past few days and have gotten their Christmas decorations put up.  This snowman looks a little strange to me against the green grass and the fog filled Lake Mac.  I wandered a little further than usual, so ended up walking some -- no point over-doing this.  Too warm a day to stay inside.