Road trips
Road trips relax me. Lois & I visited Nathan & Laura over Labor Day weekend. This has become an annual road trip for us; something we look forward to &, we hope, they look forward to, as well.
- Instead of driving straight-thru on FRI 9/4, like we ordinarily would do, we drove only as far as Mankato, MN, since Lois couldn't get away from her responsibilities @ CLS as early on Friday afternoon as usual, which meant we would be pulling into Eagan, MN, later than usual. This way we didn't have to drive into the cities late @ night, fight sleepiness & fatigue, & enjoy a more leisurely wake-up the next morning, since we would still make it to the kids' house by or before lunch time. Less stress for us!
- When we shared this plan w/the kids, they didn't object, so I think it must have met w/their approval, i.e., lessened their stress, as well, by letting them get to bed relatively early on FRI night & not have to worry about our late arrival.
On the other hand . . .
- Sleeping in at the hotel didn't go exactly as we had hoped. We got two early morning "wake-up calls" in the form of (a) a terrifically loud thunderstorm, starting sometime between 5:00-5:30a, with booming thunder & quite a downpour; followed by (b) a loud & profane argument, coming from Room 119--we were in Room 125--beginning sometime between 6:30-7:00a. Although it was impossible to make out all the words, it was possible to discern what sounded like an adolescent girl yelling, "I hate you! I hate you so much! You'll never know how much I hate you! Get your hands off me!" It was also possible to discern what sounded like a male adult's voice dropping many F-bombs in reply. I went down to the lobby for breakfast just in time to witness two police officers arrive, visit briefly w/the front desk clerk, then head to Room 119. After they entered the room--which was only a few doors down from the breakfast area--things got. They left after about 10 minutes, & that was the end of that.
Back to the Labor Day road trip
- Nathan & Laura took us to the Minnesota Institute of Art. I have to admit that I was skeptical. I have to admit that I lobbied, half-heartedly, for a trip to Mall of America instead. However, much to my surprise & delight, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, thanks to an exhibit of artwork, architecture, & sculpture from China, dating back as far as 6000 B.C. Pretty cool to study something that was concurrent with ancient Bible texts. It certainly satisfied the historian's lust in me, although I must admit to times when I felt at least a twinge of despair for the countless generations of people who died, having put their faith in Buddhist or Taoist relics. Now I'm inspired to learn more about Chinese history.
- Nathan took me on a brief fishing expedition on Saturday night. Notice I said "fishing," not "catching." This is typical of our fishing expeditions in the Twin Cities area. It was still nice to go fishing with my son.
- We got to worship w/them at their church on Sunday morning, & I truly enjoyed & appreciated the scriptural text, at least one of the hymns, & the pastor's message. More on that in my Theological Thursday blog post this week.
On the other hand . . .
We watched the Cornhuskers play BYU on Saturday afternoon. Yes, we saw way too many penalties by the Huskers. Yes, we saw at least one blatant late hit that SHOULD have been called on BYU. Yes, we saw two failed 3rd-&-one attempts by NU, either of which most likely would have secured the win. And, yes, we saw the Hail Mary w/one second left on the clock. Sigh. [And I forgot to bring along my extra xanax.]
Exercise
- Walking is a well-documented "treatment" to counter-attack the effect of stress. Since obtaining our dog Sammy, most days when I am at home I take him on 3 walks. At least one of those walks is a long one. This morning's walk started at 8:00a. The temperature was a brisk 50 degrees, & it felt really nice outside. I threw on a jacket & cap, wrestled Sammy into his harness & leash, & headed to Skyview Lake for the long walk. After I got back from my Meals on Wheels deliveries [SEE note below.], I took Sammy on another walk, & I will take him on his 3rd walk sometime after supper.
- I also get exercise from doing yardwork, specifically by mowing the lawn. The front lawn needs mowing, so I plan to get that done later this afternoon, especially since the temperature is staying in the 70s.
On the other hand . . .
- Sammy does not take kindly to other dogs encroaching on his territory. Hence the need for a harness attached to his leash. My late timing may have gotten us off to a bad start this morning, because we immediately encountered a man walking his dog who approached us as we made our first turn. This "couple", unfortunately, also turned & stayed pretty close behind us. When Sammy feels that he is being encroached upon, he starts panting heaving, turns around & looks back frequently to gauge just how close the other dog is getting, and, if the other creature gets too close, he starts huffing, & eventually straining hard against his leash-harness, issuing a guttural, growling, snarling sound that eventually erupts into barking. It's all I can do to restrain him, & he won't take commands from me. [ME: "Sammy. Stop! Sit!" SAMMY'S LIKELY THINKING: "Shut up! You are stupid!"] In any case, I had to stop Sammy & let the other couple pass by on the other side of the street. Yes, there was some drama, but nobody got hurt. They proceeded on the route I was going to take, but I had a Plan B route ready to go toward the lake.
- As we walked along 18th St. toward Skyview Lake, wouldn't you know it . . . Sammy suddenly stopped & turned around. You guessed it . . . a relatively short distance behind us was a lady walking her dog. I yanked on his harness, said "No! Let's go!" Miracle of miracles, he obeyed, & we walked briskly toward the entrance of the lake. Unfortunately, they kept up about the same pace behind us, so when we got to the lake, I had to detour off the path in order to get Sammy away from this intruder.
- Once this intrusion had passed safely to our north, it was back to the road. We made a few pit stops & then, you guessed it, here came another woman w/her dog. Off we went on the grass again, steering a wide berth, until we could circumvent these interlopers & pick-up the hiker-biker trail again w/o incident.
- As we exited the lake through the north neighborhood gate, Sammy pooped next to the gate post. This is good in that I was prepared with a plastic sack, which I had determined in advance did not have an opening on both ends [Last night I got caught red {or something to that effect} handed], & a puppy treat.
- The down side? I had to pick-up Sammy's "message" & walk the approximately 4 blocks home, carrying the aforementioned message in the plastic sack. I think I've mentioned before that I find this aesthetically displeasing & beneath my dignity, which, along with the multiple encounters w/other creatures, served to counter-act some of the benefits one would expect to derive from using this exercise to cope w/stress..
Coping by Eating
Not a good strategy. However, I got kudos from Nathan, Laura, & Lois on Saturday morning, when we took them out for brunch. Not only did we avoid a buffet [No thanks to me; all credit to them.], but I limited myself to scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, & toast. I avoided a heartier breakfast that would have included pancakes and biscuits & gravy.
On the other hand . . .
- I did way too much snacking while at their house & on the drive back & since we've returned home.
- According to the Norfolk Daily News (9/3/15): "Breakfast to be available all day at MacDonald's in October." [I didn't bother reading the rest of the story. Mmmm. Two sausage burritos w/mild sauce are within my carb limit!]
One more more road trip story
- Nathan & Laura took us to Ikea--my first trip to Ikea--mostly because Lois wanted to buy a chair for Rachel. I can't say that I was thrilled; on the other hand, I acknowledged that I would cooperate, since I could cross Ikea off my faux bucket list.
- Secretly, I had heard rumors that sometimes there were food samples at Ikea, so, yes, I did have an ulterior motive.
- While Nathan & the girls headed toward the furniture, I headed toward the food. To my chagrin, there were no food samples, but there were jars of ground coffee with an invitation attached to open the jars & smell the coffee.
- I was seduced by the very first jar I opened & smelled. I purchased an 8.8 oz. bag of "Kaffe hela beonor meork rost," translation "coffee whole beans dark roast. Under the Ikea label, it also noted that it was "packaged in a protective atmosphere." I could not ascertain whether it was an organically grown and/or fair trade product, but the price--$4.99--seemed reasonable to me.
- While standing in line to pay, I almost picked up a package of "pepperkaka" cookies. These were thin, ginger cookies. I resisted the temptation when I realized that my only reason for buying them would have been to pull them out of the package back at Nathan & Laura's so everyone could see that I bought "kaka" cookies. [Really mature, Paul.]
- One last Ikea story. The restrooms had those super-sonic, nuclear-powered hand-dryers. The notice next to them instructed you to drop your hands fingers first in & out of the drying units quickly & your hands were guaranteed to be dry within 12 sec. When I finished drying my hands, both drying units were in use. A little boy was using the unit I was standing behind. It was taking him much longer than 12 sec., & no doubt he was fascinated by the process. I was just beginning to feel the temptation to start counting for him--in a loud voice--"TWELVE, ELEVEN, TEN, NINE . . . " when his father said, "That's enough. Your hands are dry. Let's go." Two caveats. (1) I say that now, not really sure that I would follow-thru, especially with a small child; and (2) His dad did not have any tattoos, body-piercings, & was noticeably smaller than me.
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