Hat compendium

The hat lives on – though it is occasionally superseded by other headwear, a select phonelist of friends still receive pictures of it on my head at odd hours of the day.  Highlights from October 2010 to the present appear below.

Terrifying boat graphic.

Dawn on the new hats.

Pensive skeleton.

Scooby.

Days get shorter.

Autumn.

At the Turkey Trot.

Lights aplenty.

Horsie.

Run Like the Dickens 10k. Wearing Christmas socks. Like everyone else.

Seattle.

Snowman.

New Year Christmas holdout.

 

Pieces of Oregon

Our weeklong vacation to Oregon featured cherished time with dear friends, running at altitude, theatre, dining, drinking, wildlife, beauty, way too much time in the car, yoga, more drinking, meteor showers, giant trees, a lake in a volcano, mosquito bites, untold numbers of deer, the threat of injury and death, winding roads, the Pacific ocean, salted caramels, family, cooking, the Prince of Denmark and more. Did I photograph all of these things? No. I was having too much fun. But here are a few. Click any photo to enlarge.

Crater Lake has a little bit of everything. Alpine forest, pumice desert, and the deepest (bluest) lake in North America nestled a thousand feet below the (newish) rim of a volcano that exploded 7,000 years ago.

Stephen, Michael, John and I ran the 6.7-mile Crater Lake Rim Run (there are also 13.1 and 26.2 races in the series). It was, mercifully, mostly downhill and breathtakingly beautiful (or that may have been the altitude of 7,000 feet). It's on a Saturday in August and they close the rim road for the race for the 550 runners who participate. Rather special.

After Crater Lake we migrated to Ashland to see shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. On the dark Monday, Jim and I took a trip to the coast to visit my aunts and stopped at the redwood forest on the way back. Mind-boggling in scope, and these aren't even the so-called giant sequoias (merely the coastal redwoods). (Ignore the terrible photo.)

We were fortunate enough to see all kinds of animals on our trip: numerous deer, a pine marten, lizards, a marmot, a fleeting glimpse of a bear, foxes, and this wild turkey who came for breakfast at our rental in Talent and stayed to lunch. We spotted him later in the apple orchard chowing down alongside a doe, a buck, and two fawns.

 

The end of winter?

I thought I was retiring the hat for the year last week when I went on a run in 70-degree weather…but then this morning it was 25, so there may be a hat photo or two to come.

Ice on the lake in January

Ice on the lake in February

Inflatable snowman

The actors welcome us back

John came for Valentine's Day

Whassup doc?

I'll pose, but I won't smile.

I mean it.

Jessica the Perky

the hat

 

Have you missed the hat?

Ah, remember the hat?  It is still my winter running hat, and photos of it adorning my head are still sent to a select group of people by cell phone every time I run in it.  For the 5:30am run/yoga/runs, I do wait until I get back home.  A few selections are below.

Big snowman at Barnes School (where I do yoga Tuesdays and Thursdays)

My front door with its (leftover holiday) boxwood wreath.

Christmas in Seattle

Balaclavaclad in Michigan

Yoga mornings I run with a backpack for my mat, block and strap.

New Year's Day 5k in Chicago with Stephen!

My new Michigan running buddy, Jessica!

 

Go, Penguins.

So, my friend Mari and I were looking for a wee race to run in December, and we found a Jingle Bell 5k.  There are scores of these events across the U.S. put on by the Arthritis Foundation as fundraisers each winter.  This one was December 5 in Northville, Michigan.  Perfect!  The cause is dear to my heart, because my mom lives with arthritis, and the Jingle Bell theme – well, it called out for costumes.

So it began.

Stephen, suddenly discovering unused vacation days, was prevailed upon to join us, and we were to be a flock of three.  Then, in the eleventh hour, a crisis!  Mari had to drop out of the event.  I went on a mad scouting mission for someone to fill her fleece…and found Andy.  We left in the chilly predawn for our event.

And we emerged victorious…or at least we won the costume contest! (Click to enlarge any photo below.)

 

Is winter waning?

More of the hat.

New shoes!

Color-coordinated, am I.

Face off! (Beak off?)

Objects in mirror are larger than they appear.

 

Steinway

Took a wee trip to Chicago this weekend for my birthday.  John and Stephen and I set off for a wee 10-mile jaunt through the snowy forest preserve, where we were joined by 20 deer (who may have outnumbered the people) and my extra chin.

Dashing through the snow.

We also dined (and drank, of course) at the inimitable Fernando’s, and I took some photos of Michael’s vintage Steinway.  Played it, too!  (Click to enlarge.)