I am watching the Cohen testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Wow.

Zion

     I am home from a girl's weekend away to Zion national park in SW Utah. It was an adventure even to get there due to the snowstorm....after descending to land in St. George we had to be diverted to Salt Lake City where we sat on the tarmac to wait out the worst of the storm.  We didn't get to hike much due to deep snow in places and icy and closed trails.  There was a nearby avalanche and falling ice.  It was all beautiful, and I learned more about the park to make my next trip there someday have better outcomes. There are a couple of must-do hikes I'd like to try.

     We ran the Zion half marathon outside the park on Saturday, Febr. 23rd.  It was so cold and windy.  10 degrees at the start not counting wind chill.  I'm the one in the Zion 100 year anniversary cap (and no, Jason, that is not a MAGA cap, LOL).
     We found a fantastic diner called the River Rock Roasting Company where we ate once a day.  It had great vegan meal options, pizzas, craft beers, coffees, wine, baked goods, smoothies.  I wish there was a place like that in my neighborhood! If you go there, I highly recommend it.
      Our flight was delayed on the return trip, who knows why, but it gave us time to discuss a girls weekend trip in fall of 2020, and again in 2021.

Charleigh-dog was so excited to get home from the kennel to nap on her chair.

   
   

This is too good not to share

     Great quote shared by a friend today.  I needed it.  Am tired of winter and so ready for spring.  Am coincidentally going to Zion Natl Park tomorrow.  They are predicted to get 7-11 inches of snow today and 5-9 inches tomorrow and will be very cold.  Oh, the irony.

Cross training day......

30 min. of scooping snow in 14 degree weather.  No wind, though, so it felt good.  More snow expected overnight tonight and tomorrow, but at least I am ahead of the game...LOL

I somehow injured my foot so running or bending it hurts.  Cross training is a good thing.

February is the dreariest month.  We are so ready for sunshine and spring to arrive.  Just 1 more month to go and counting.

So important in these times

Start of every race I've ever entered......

     (This looks just like my Charleigh-dog.  Wishing we were on the beach)

Look on the bright side. You can't see the dog poop anymore!

     Minus 6 degrees with a minus 15 windchill.  I don't really want to go scoop snow or walk my dog yet.  At least my antsy dog has a live wildlife show to view.

     45 min. of scooping snow.  Not a great picture because my phone steamed up, but I'm proud of accomplishing this.

     But my scooping did scare the deer to 2 doors down, which makes me sad to frighten them.  They are so beautiful.  On the plus side, it is now +10 degrees.

     The weather is very cold today with icy fog and now lots of snow.  The dentist let me postpone my appt for a week at the last minute.   I am thankful for small favors as I didn't want to go out in it.... YAY.  Plus who wants to go to the dentist even on a good day.

Motivational quotes I read today that resonate with me

A goal is just an awesome way to force growth on yourself.
                                      Deena Kastor

There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people.
                                       Bill Bowerman

Life is for participating, not for spectating.
                                        Kathrine Switzer

We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence then is not an act but a habit.
                                         Aristotle

Happiness is different from pleasure.  Happiness has something to do with struggling and enduring and accomplishing.
                                          George Sheehan

Years ago, women sat in kitchens drinking coffee and discussing life.  Today, they cover the same topics while they run.
                                           Joan Benoit Samuelson

“Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don't let worn-out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself.”
― John Bingham

"When a person trains once, nothing happens. When a person forces himself to do a thing a hundred or a thousand times, then he certainly has developed in more ways than physical.
Is it raining? That doesn't matter. Am I tired? That doesn't matter, either.
Then willpower will be no problem."
                                                  Emil Zatopec


(Regarding the weather quote, I am evidently a soft person)

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” ― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

     Mine are mostly the former......there are always more questions than answers.

     I went for a short walk without Charleigh-dog this morning.  Several people I don't recognize at all stopped to ask me if she was okay!  (She is okay).  To strangers I am now the woman with the labrador, formerly the woman with the big black dog. I'm okay with that.
     I recognize, or fail to recognize, people I don't know well in the same way.....by the dog they walk or their hair color.  I'm guessing I have some small degree of inability to recognize the nuances in faces that I don't see often (facial agnosia), causing me to rely on context or visual cues instead. I can work on remembering people's names, but faces of people I have just met are more difficult.....especially neighborhood kids I don't see often.  They grow and change so rapidly, that I need to see them around their home to know who they are.....context....except for the kids on the end of the court whose flaming red hair is a clear giveaway.
     How about you?  Have you experienced this?

 
   

I saw that. Karma

Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia. Charles M Schulz