Over the years, we’ve learned to travel light with just carry-on backpacks, even for month-long trips. For our Scotland hike, we’re bringing hiking poles, which must be checked. Dwight found a sturdy, 3-ply box in our building’s recycling area, which turned out to be just the right size despite my doubts. In Glasgow, we’ll swap the poles for our noise-canceling headphones and other items we won’t need on the trail, then mail the box to a post office to collect at the end of our hike.
Category: Practices
Mapping the real Rob Roy MacGregor
Later this month, we’ll hike the Rob Roy Way in Scotland. I abandoned Sir Walter Scott’s Rob Roy, irritated by the convoluted prose and historical inventions. Instead, I found a solid history book and used it, along with Wikipedia, to map out some actual locations (as blue pins) from Rob Roy’s life. Red pins mark our hotels. The Clachan Inn, once owned by his sister, is the only Rob Roy pin on our trail, so we will have to sample it.
Exploring Tokyo’s layers
Visited the Minneapolis Institute of Art to view Utagawa Hiroshige’s “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” (1856). In 2011, artist Emily Allchurch photographed some of these same locations. I’m planning a multi-day hike across Tokyo that includes remnants of Tokyo when it was Edo (pre-1868). I’m collecting materials and layering historical maps over Google Maps. The city has faced destruction more than once, yet traces of its past remain.
A bit of everything for the SHT
At Wedge Co-op’s bulk section collected small quantities of ingredients for GORP for our upcoming hikes along the Superior Hiking Trail. So far: cashews, yogurt-coated raisins, pistachios, Brazil nuts, granola, dried papaya, rice crackers, and garlic sesame sticks. GORP stands for Good Old Raisins and Peanuts, so I guess I’m taking a few liberties. We like to make different mixes, some savory, some sweeter.
Power-pole messages of hope
On 38th Street, my attention was caught by origami butterflies decorating power poles. Each pole also included an upbeat message like “In every setback there’s an opportunity for joy,” “Let gratitude be your compass in times of uncertainty,” and “Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.” Truisms, maybe, but joy, gratitude, and hope are often choices.
Kicking the can down the road
Cycled over to the university for Pluvicto infusion #2. I’m grateful I can keep buying time with new treatments that weren’t available when I was first diagnosed. For the next few days, I’ll try to maintain a safe distance from everyone, including Dwight—a distance about the wheelbase of a bicycle. I’ll show the card I’m holding if I set off a radiation detector.
Ghost trains cross here
Out cycling, I spotted this railroad crossing sign—despite no tracks on either side of the road. I turned to Reddit for reasons. The sign should stay until the track is removed and the road repaved, helping prevent mishaps (e.g., bikes or snow plows) and limiting liability. Additionally, this preserves the right of way and increases adjacent land values. Click through for more discussion.
What native speakers miss about learning English
Today I was reminded of how much native English speakers take for granted. Take the simple past tense: with words like “seemed,” “stressed,” and “added,” the “-ed” ending is pronounced differently in each case (/d/, /t/, and /ed/ respectively). Adult English Language Learners have to explicitly learn these distinctions, all while juggling their jobs and family responsibilities.
Three-eagle fly-by: a call to presence
Some moments are best experienced without a camera or preconceptions. Sitting here, I looked up from my reading just as three bald eagles from the nest across the river flew by in an arrowhead formation. I stood up and followed them with my eyes as they turned towards our building and out of sight. Earlier, while out on his run, Dwight looked up at the nest and saw two fledglings sitting together on a tree limb.
Hiking the Rob Roy Way
Next year, we’re joining two friends in the UK to hike the Rob Roy Way in Scotland. We’re thankful we can still manage a long-distance trail, even if it means more hotels (I booked nine today) due to shorter daily sections as we get older.