A Delightful First Day of Spring

One of the best things my mom ever gave me was a birthday that often falls on the first day of Spring. What a dandy day for a birthday! The first day of Spring 2022 was a fine first day indeed!

Following my usual routine, I started the day with a run - but this was no humdrum ordinary run!

A glorious moonset!

 Running buddies waiting for me a few miles into the run!

Calves frolicking alongside the trail!

 

 

Curious cows (and curious Anita)! 

  Pastoral views!

 

 

To finish the run - a meetup with the dog-walking contingent of the VaughanMiller clan!

 

AND! I achieved my goal of running 70 miles the week leading up to and finishing on this day! A goal that I was none too certain that I would achieve but, much to my surprise, as the week went on my body revved up as if to say "it's about time you got back to some Real Running!" I agree! 

 

After the run, it was party prep time which my family tackled with aplomb. Sasha had a grand idea for a dessert. It was great fun to watch the gang bring the "70" dessert extravaganza all together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaking of the gang, we kept the party small but had the grand pleasure of welcoming Steve and Kitty (Kendall's brother and wife) to our home for the first time since COVID hit. What a fantastic birthday gift! Kitty is about 7 months out from a kidney and liver transplant and has had to be hyper-cautious. A couple weeks ago the doctors gave her the o.k. to go carefully out and about and, as she said yesterday, it is great to see people and to be seen! So glad they could help me celebrate my birthday!

 

 

As the day wound down, I was able to settle in with my one and only birthday gift request: my kids at my side. I am a very lucky mom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And speaking of moms - running buddy Connie capped the day with an exquisite gift. After my mom passed away, I inherited her African Violets. I am not a good plant caretaker so I gave them to Connie who is a very excellent plant caretaker. My birthday night, she texted me this photo of mom's violet. In thanks for the first-day-of-spring birthday that mom gave me, I used to send her flowers. This year, Connie sent me flowers from my mom...

...and in other news...

 Although the 70 in 70 quest has taken a lot of our attention, we have had other diversions.

For example: my favorite running watch (an old fashioned Ironman Timex) has lost its beep and the wristband is starting to wear out - so I went looking for a replacement. They're getting a bit difficult to find and I ended up ordering one through Amazon (something I don't often do). Lo and behold, it turns out it's possessed! A few weeks ago, it decided to reset itself to 12 a.m. January 1. A week or so ago, as I slept, it unfastened itself from my wrist and hid in the bedclothes. At that point I stopped wearing it for fear of what its powers might do to me, then when I took its picture today I discovered that it has decided that today, March 16, is a Sunday! What the?!?!?!?

 

Switching from creepy news to way fun news, my women's running gang came over for a spring tea earlier this month. So very fun! The opportunities for all five of us to be together are few and far between these days and it is a monumental occasion when we're all dressed up and can sit down and chat! (In the photo, I am holding a puzzle card that Anita made for me. Of course we had to put it together as soon as I opened the envelope with the 70 pieces inside!)

In running news, I got a wild hair to run 70 miles this week leading up to the first day of Spring. I believe the last time I tried such a thing was 7 years ago when I decided to run 63 miles leading up to the first day of Spring. I - and my creeky body - fully acknowledge that a chunk of age has crept up on me since that time, but then I realized that in 7 years, Mister Taz has really aged. He was all gung ho raring to go and ready to go further back in 2015 when I did this. He's still raring to go, but definitely quite interested in many a sniff or pee break along the way. That's o.k., I'm always ready for a savor the scenery or photo op break these days. The photos below are from Monday's first run (we logged 6 miles for the first run then 4.5 for a second run); since then I've gone without Taz because of the distance of each run (11 yesterday, 11.85 today).  Snow is predicted for overnight; Taz will definitely be going out with me tomorrow for some fresh snow fun.

My latest favorite Taz photo ... the silhouette that always makes me smile!

70 in 70 - Number 10 - The World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade

 

If you look at it one way, this is not exactly the first time that we have been at the World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade. However, the prior occasions were decades ago, in a different location, with different sponsors, and prior to a multi-year hiatus for the parade. Much to the delight of Boulderites, the parade was resurrected this year with a new location north of the Pearl Street Mall and with the Odd Fellows stepping up to host the event. So looking at it with fresh eyes, this was a fabulous addition to our 70 in 70 quest - a sunny afternoon of cheering and laughter as the wolfhounds, bagpapers, dancers, cruisers, and crowd favorite Patio Furniture Drill Team made their way up and back the one block stretch of downtown Boulder.

Welcome back World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade!

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

70 in 70 - Number 9 - Washi Japanese Paper Art Exhibit

 

Quoting from the Longmont Museum’s website describing the Washi exhibit: “For more than one thousand years, Japan has produced some of the world’s finest paper. Japanese paper makers still use the skills passed down through generations to create handmade paper, known as washi. It is used in painting, calligraphy, origami, and other traditional art forms.” The exhibit features the works of nine contemporary Japanese artists – all using washi to create their works “unusual in size, unexpected in texture, and do not fit our expectations of paper art.” A true statement – the works of art were like none that we had ever seen before using paper as its medium for creation.

The works on display included the extraordinarily intricate. Using scissors to cut into black paper the artist, in one piece, actually recreated Voltaire's writing connecting letters with a single fiber! (Voltaire's writing is in the photo on the left below; the photo on the right is of another piece by the same artist.)

 

 

There were works on a grand scale - sailing in the air, nestled on the ground...

 

 Sculptures all made with washi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Wall hangings - so elegant (photo of the full hanging, photo close-up of the center)

 

 And functional pieces of art! Screen panels and lamps! All paper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Extraordinary craftsmanship and artistry - all based on a technique passed down through generations of making paper by hand. Mind blowing! This 70 in 70 quest is really waking us up to the wonders of the world!