Today I took some time off work in the morning and went on a two-hour urban hike with my beastie. It was beautiful. The leaves are turning. The Fall is here. Fall is my favorite season here in Oregon since winters do not have snow. When I was living in Alaska it was winter. I loved -40F and deep snow and hoarfrost. It was like a white Candyland. But winters here are mild and half of the trees are still green (the evergreen ones of course). There are even some flowers that continue to bloom. When I moved here 7 years ago there were winter days with a freeze. Now winter temperature hardly ever goes below 50F and only sometimes is hat weather. I stopped knitting because of this. Don’t need warm fuzzy goodness anymore. Although it is still somewhat rainy which dampens my running schedule. I hate running in the rain. Even if there are just 3 drops I won’t run. Lame, I know. But life is short and already is filled with stuff you don’t like doing (work, for example) so why fill it with more activities that you don’t enjoy.
I am trying to change my running schedule and run in the mornings. It was tough at first as I love to sleep and waking up is rough. But now I love it. Hardly anyone is on the sidewalks The air is cool and I always feel like the day goes better when you start it with a run. So, yes, I am loving it.
With COVID still in full swing even though I run and walk with my dog, draw and read there is still a lot of what seems to be idle time. So every day I set myself additional tasks. It could be to bake bread, it could be a reminder to take a shower (let’s face it it is a real issue now). This week my additional task is to make borsch. It is Fall and a cup of hot soup after the last walk with the beastie is the most welcome development. I have not made it in a while so I am not sure how it would turn out but I have few new tricks up my sleeve in that department. I am going to boil marrow bones and use spicy chorizo sausage for the protein (yes, I learned it from cooking shows) for flavor instead of beef. I hope it turns out good as I always make a huge pot which is enough for the whole week. It is a good thing that the longer you leave borsch in the refrigerator the better the flavor. And of course loads of sour cream. I still have a lot of bread I baked in my freezer so it should be soup goodness combined with homemade bread goodness. Who needs Trader Joes in this case?
I do go to Trader Joes though consistently mostly for wine. However, today I received a present from the big boss of mine — the Dean of the libraries. It was a “little” present of four great bottles of wine. First, it feels great to be appreciated for all the insane work our department has done so far preparing faculty to teach online; second, yes to staying lubricated! The Dean is great and I enjoy very much working for him.
So, tonight drinking and making borsch will commence and all the worries of the world put on hold. In my book, it is a great Monday!
