Roseau ALS 5K

Here I am beginning the 5K in Roseau last Saturday. The main difference I can see between Holly and myself is that I look winded at the beginning of the race and Holly looks rested at the end.

I'm pretty sure it was the hottest, most humid morning of the year so far. I'm proud to say that I beat all the other old people in the race (everyone over 50). Don't misinterpret that for me being fast...

Mt. Marathon Race

After many years of trying to get a spot in the ladies race Holly finally succeeded. She was number 444 which ironically was the winning time in the men's race. The top man finished in 44 minutes and 40 seconds!







Here she is waving from the second group. There were two waves of about 150 runners in each group. The second wave started 5 or 10 minutes after the first wave.















They are off and running.












Mt. Marathon in Seward is 3022' tall and it is only? a 3 mile race. The hardest part is running the 1/2 mile plus in the streets at the bottom of the mountain.

They hike up the left trail and run fast down the right side.







After the race Holly doesn't even look winded. She wants to do it again next year!

She finished in about the middle of the pack. They have to finish in less than 3 hours to get a spot next year. She wanted to do it in less than 2 hours and would have been real happy with 1:45. She did it in 1:37!











You might be able to blow this up if you want to read more.

Warning

I'm cleaning out the garage.  For some reason I have three boxes of old Stynsberg memorabilia - photos, letters, funeral notices, patent applications, stamps etc.  Much of it is from before any of us were born.

I'm bringing them to Jose's party on Monday.  You guys (i.e. Stynsbergs) can decide what's to be done with it all.

Who knows, maybe some of those stamps are valuable?

Jose's 4th on the 4th!

You're invited to Jose's birthday party (and family get-together) on the 4th! Come at 2pm or whenever. Potluck at 5pm. We'll have the grill if you want to grill. We'll rent a tent if it looks like it will be wet. Horseshoes? Bocce ball? Croquette? Volleyball? Swing? Hike? Sit and talk? Fireworks? Bring a lawn chair and beverage. We have some lawn chairs and we'll have water and something... Please don't feel obligated to bring a gift for Jose. We'll probably do this every year for another 14 years!

A New Chapter for Jo

This is Jo when she was a student teacher.

This is Jo when she first started teaching.

This is Jo in retirement.  Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. A race well run.  Sadder but wiser.

Number One!!!

 It's a good thing Mark is retired because when it snows he removes an overwhelming 800 feet of snow.

First step: He plows his own driveway which gives him 300 feet.

Then:  he goes over to his "cabin" to add on another 325 feet.

And finally:  just for the fun of it, he goes to Christopher's house for another 175 feet.

So in one sense Mark is the winner by a long shot.  But (since I didn't win) I wonder if he isn't in fact the loser and Greg with his measly 37 feet is in truth the winner?

The distance between Mark and the rest of us lengthens even more when you consider that Minnesota averages 45 inches of snow a season and the Kenai averages 90.  If we were to factor that in then in "Minnesota Feet" Mark moves 1600 feet of snow.

Ouch!  Again. . . it's a good thing he's retired and congratulations to Mark. He is the manliest of men no matter what the method of removal is.

The Grass is Greener...

I realize we haven't totally exhausted the subject of snow removal yet, but it's Memorial Day weekend... Perhaps we should begin talking about the green stuff that's beginning to ask for hours of our lives every week.


Faith says push lawn mowers have been perfectly adequate for the last 30 years and should continue to serve us for 30 more. Riding lawn mowers may be fine ... for 85-year-old great grandmothers with large yards! Heck, she shelled out plenty for this lawn mower 10 years ago... Recently, in a weak moment, she surprised me and said she might consider allowing us to save up for a pedal mower!

Number Two

The reason Dan and Mark are still in the race is because they both do more than their own driveways.

Dan and Jo come in at number two with 450 feet.  The road going into their driveway is not maintained by the city, so Dan does his driveway, then Hill Trail Court from Hill Trail North to the end of their property line and then just for the fun of it he does Al and Veronica's driveway.

Once in awhile neighbor George does the first half of Hill Trail Court with his ATV but not often and lets not complicate things - right?

Dan has not used a shovel on his driveway since Peter turned six.

Spring

Here are a few spring photos taken in the past week or so.

Number Three

If Dean and Kurt just shoveled to their doorway, Steve would have beat them easily, but no, they shovel all the way down the hill to the shed giving them an impressive 365 foot trail.  They are, I believe, committed and dedicated shovelers through and through.

By the way a violent tornado went through the Twin Cities two days ago hitting North Minneapolis and the northwest suburbs.  I'm thinking that one of these days one of us should check with the Carlsons to see if they're goners, buried under a pile of rubble, or not.

Number Four

The three driveways done so far were all under a hundred feet.  The last four are all going to be longer than football fields!  Like that football field behind Paul and Faith's place.

When I started this I assumed Steve would be in first place, but unless I made a mistake in my calculations he's not even in the top three.  Coming in at number four is Steve at 325 feet.

Steve's preferred method of snow removal is the snowblower.  So if anyone has one to give him he'd be more than happy.  But until then he's stuck with a lousy shovel.

By the way I know it looks like the road is 20 feet east of where I put it, but that cleared area is for the power line going into his house.

Number Five

In fifth place at 75 feet are Jean and Ralph.  I'm not sure who does the snow removal in this family or what the preferred method is.  Perhaps we will be informed in a comment.

Notice that these first three are all standard urban driveways.  The ordering is primarily determined based on how much of the driveway is double wide. The final four will prove to be more complicated.

Number Six

Paul and Faith best Greg and Denise by 25 feet with  62 feet of space (meaning 62 feet long one lane wide).  Paul is a shoveler and Faith applauds his choice.

By the way Google Maps didn't spend much time in Roseau judging a. by how blurry the photos are and b. the street designations missed the actual street locations by a good 20 feet - notice how they have 7th ave ne going right through Paul's neighbor's house.

Snow

Since we are still writing about snow here are a few photos from winter that i was going to post somewhere, but kept putting it off...

Number Seven

Regarding the issue of snowblower verses shovel, one needs to consider how much snow needs to be removed.  Towards that end I checked everyone's yard with Google Sattelite and calculated the area of removal for everyone.  Today I'll present the person in seventh place.  But. . .

1. I measured each home with the zoom at 1 inch equals 100 feet.

2. I marked in yellow the areas that are one lane wide, and I marked in blue the areas that are two lanes wide.

3. I'm ignoring sidewalks

4. If you want to challenge my assumptions. . .have at it.

Okay.  Drumroll.  Number seven: Coming in at a scant 37 feet - Greg and Denise.  Greg's usual mode of removal is the shovel.

YAY FOR THE HEIDI'S!

They did it!  Heidi B's experience sounds a lot like Jo's with Peter.  A lot of concerned looks on the doctor and nurses and then all of a sudden she's being whisked away fast to the surgery room. Without modern medicine Jo and/or the baby would have died both times!  Glad everything turned out.

God's hand was on me

Thank you for your prayers for my surgery. I had the least invasive surgery that I could have had. I don't really know what the surgeon did as my head is still all wrapped up. I hope to have it removed on Wed. I had plastic surgery to repair the wound on my head. It was difficult to anticipate how involved it could have been; praise be to God for the outcome!

Ralph's mom seems to be "out of the woods". About 2 weeks ago we really didn't know if she would make it. We went to see her in Duluth while she was in ICU. She looked pretty bad. She is recovering quite well and is at what used to be Lake Haven Nursing home.

Heidi and Josh are still waiting for their baby. We call him baby "B" She is in "practice labor", that is what the dula calls it. Maybe he'll come soon, hopefully in the next day or so. She is already about a week and a half overdue.

Snow Removal System

What's all the fuss about snowblowers! Faith says our snow removal system has been perfectly adequate for the last 30 years and should continue to serve us for 30 more. Heck, she shelled out plenty for this shovel 10 years ago... if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I guess I can't argue with that logic.

Me Too

It was the dead of winter.  A bad storm was coming.  Our 25 year old snowblower was kaput.  Jo was quick to say, "I guess we have to get a new snowblower" and I grimly and soberly and in a mature fashion nodded in agreement.

You can see from the picture that it was a tough decision for me.  Afterwards I felt guilty and told Jo the snowblower would count as my birthday, anniversary and Christmas presents combined.

Leeland Hollis Quick

Heidi and John had their baby about 2:15pm Tacoma time. He was a big boy at 9lbs. 4oz. and 21 inches long. He has big hands and way more hair than grandpa. I added another photo of the Quick family. John looks like he had a harder time than Heidi ; )

When do you think Heidi B. will have her baby? I guess 4/19 at 9:29am