Valentine Skiing

Today was the best kind of Valentine: cross country skiing on a sunny day on perfectly groomed trails with Terry, my husband. Skiers around here are always talking about Lapham Peak as if it were a given that everyone goes there, but we never had.

No more of that. Its kettles, moraines and eskers have miles of wooded trails, perfect for Birkebeiner training, with climbs like Asthma Hill and Stairway to Heaven that leave you gasping for air and wondering if you're going to live to get to the top, and downhills like Big Slide that go on and on, making your quads beg for mercy--exactly what we were looking for with two weeks to go before heading up to Cable for Birkie weekend.

The morning sun was bright but low when we got there, and the long shadows of the trees weaving patterns across the snow on either side of the trail kept us smiling and congratulating ourselves on being outside in the woods on a beautiful winter day. Five deer leaped across the trail ahead of us, then stopped at the top of the slope to our left, looking down at us. They seemed magical, and maybe they were wondering if we were real, but a lot of people go to Lapham Peak...more likely they wondered if our presence meant there'd be anything to eat.

Human Bingo

We're playing Human Bingo at work this week. Last Tuesday C. and L. decided to try and do something about our feeble social culture--people don't seem to talk to each other much beyond the adjacent cubicle--and sent around an email asking who wanted to play. Out of 40-plus people in the building, 27 said sure.

To play, we each submitted three facts about ourselves to C. or L., who explained they'd pick one out for each person, put them in a bingo card, the players would go around and figure out who belonged to each little tidbit about a life by talking to people they wouldn't normally have reason to, and fill in the bingo squares by having the person sign their personal mini claim to notoriety.

I thought it was a great idea. I'm not an especially outgoing person, yet it's hard for me to be enthused about going to work if I don't have positive and fun relationships with the people there. But what to write about myself? The pressure was on to reveal to the world how I saw myself ! And yet...the fun of it would be to tell things people wouldn't normally know.

I decided on 1) I was born at midnight and the nurses asked my dad to pick the date of my birthday; 2) my high school graduating class had 47 people; and 3) I read about a book a week, sometimes more.

When the bingo cards were distributed yesterday, I saw C. and L. had kept in all three facts for each player. It was a revelation to read the incredibly rich collection of little pieces and insights of 27 lives! People had things like "Dad would be 100 this year if he were still alive;" I had breakfast with Charles Dickens' great great grandson;" "I got to meet Rick Springfield in the early '80s;" "I have perfect pitch, whether it's music, a vacuum, or an alarm clock;" "I have been to two professional bull riding championships in Vegas;" "I like sharks;" and, my favorite set: "I speak English yet no one understand what I am saying, I lived in six different states--seven if you count the state of denial, I was given a ticket once for 'headed in the wrong direction' and my mother agreed."

Senior Fashion Show

I'm inspired to sew something fantastic because this weekend I saw the senior fashion show at the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. The portfolios of fourteen graduating seniors, including that of my daughter's friend, Amanda, were debuted on a runway at Rapson Hall by models with attitudes of pure couture.

Every imaginable kind of outfit was shown: exquisite tailoring with unexpected twists of color and cut, dresses of fluid yet geometric shapes, fantasy evening gowns with over the top ruffles and full skirts, elegant gowns of hand painted fabric, anime-inspired characters, an androgynous dress (worn by a guy, of course), and the inevitable Lady Gaga colors and shapes.

Amanda's designs used raw fibers carded, spun, dyed and knitted into basic pieces paired with simple sewn items.

I'm someone who can hardly figure out how to use a sleeve from one pattern for another to get exactly the look I want...it was extraordinary to see a collection of over 50 garments designed and sewn from people's inspiration, imaginations, and mastery of the craft.