Jonah and I drove about 45 minutes north of Eugene on Friday night and saw the Northern Lights for the first time. It’s the third astronomical event I’ve seen with Jonah that has been a “first” for both of us. It was a beautiful evening.
@seansharp
These past few weeks have been bumpy around here, for sure. Covid entered the house again as did other non-covid upper respiratory infections. We’re on the mend but it certainly is disruptive to life as we know it.
On campus there’s a protest going on about the Israeli / Hamas war now and yesterday I walked through the area. It’s very peaceful and is located on the quad near the library and the art museum and other buildings that have classrooms. My best guess is that it will remain that way and likely will be here until the end of Spring Term, in mid-June.
Rainbows are always cool. They force us to look up. 🙂
Rainflys are helpful in our weather of late.
This sign was posted nearby, adjacent to the protest area and I thought it relevant given all that is going on.
Today was the Eugene Marathon and Half Marathon! It is a great day in town and when you run you know people who run. I volunteered as a “course marshal,” which basically means not letting cars through onto the course. Otherwise it was all cheering for about three hours this morning. The weather was perfect for running and the enthusiasm was high. It was a fun way to start the day!
The big group of runners heading north on West Amazon . . . .
The logo has always been a favorite of mine. Fluorescent yellow/green sure made us all stand out in the morning grey, too!
I’ve been keeping score at baseball and softball games for a long time now – sometime in the 1990s. It was in the early 2000s that I made this scorebook based on a colleague’s husband’s own rendition of one. I bring it to all of my games now. The earliest game in this book from 2008. It is my own small historic chronicle of points in time in my life as I note the people I was with, the place, the weather and anything else unusual that took place during our time in the ballpark. We also went to the UO Women’s Softball game last night on campus with my daughter and a friend of hers and her dad. It was fun. Cheering from the dugouts by teammates is something I fully support.
Always keep score with a pencil.
The sun was going down contributing to some late afternoon shadows. The Ducks played the Beavers in a pitcher’s duel, with Oregon State winning 3-0.
On Sunday the 14th, I ran my third 50k trail race. This was up along the Columbia River, just east of Portland about 40 miles or so. It was named the Gorge Waterfalls because you run past several waterfalls! I’d have to say that this race was by far the most challenging and perhaps the most beautiful. As with most races, I had a game plan going into it with my goals being simply to finish under the cut-off time as well as not “bonk” nor fall. All was accomplished this time. Bonus was getting to meet people from all over the country who came out for this race, especially Austin and Jenna from Chicago. They chose a tough way to see the natural beauty of this area and to them, I tip my hat. My finish time was 8:38:04, coming in 10th place out of 17 in the 50-59 age group for men. Overall, a solid effort on my part, I felt. Current conditions: very sore. Snaps from the day below.
This photo was from the professional photographer on the course, James Holk (@jamesholk). It wouldn’t be a trail run without some walking . . .
Perhaps my favorite photo of the run. Austin and Jenna are in front of me (though we had not met by then), and the sun broke through the fog as we went up and up and up from the Columbia River to the top of the gorge, almost 2000 feet in elevation. The total elevation for this run was 5800 feet.
One of the waterfalls along the route. In this picture you can see the trail to the right, as it winds behind the falls.
For perspective, here I am running behind the falls.
This somewhat reflects the rocky trail and it was rocky! Perhaps the toughest course I have run requiring a lot of concentration with each step.
A trail marker, with burned trees in the background. The burn happened in the late summer of 2017, the Eagle Creek fire from a boy who lit fireworks while hiking in the woods. The fire burned 50,000 acres and burned for three months before it was brought under control. That said, it was a beautiful and stark place to run.
“Smile or you’re doing it wrong” is the phrase that is often stated for trail runners. It was an amazing day out there!