daily bardo

  • one third marathon.

    Sunday runday, and I continue to challenge my injury status by pushing the limits of my training distances.

    If you haven’t been following along, I’ve been (a) recovering from a knee injury, specifically an issue with my MCL which sidelined me for almost exactly six months, but (b) starting to train for the Chicago 2023 marathon in October.

    This morning I cracked yet another milestone, breaking through the 14km mark and nudging up against the one-third marathon distance. Not a real race distance, but an actual measurable mileage that makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something serious at last.

    Next step, half?

  • coffee machine.

    As much as I write here about the various tools and tricks I’ve been using to make single cup coffee using gadgets or pour overs or whatever, I still rely on my trusty drip brewer machine for about half of my coffee needs.

    My routine, for at least five days of every week (when I’m not going for a Sunday run or rushing off to work) for the last number of years has been to get up, feed the dog, and make two thirds of a pot of brewed coffee in the machine.

    I settle in for a bit and in ten minutes or so pour myself a cup.

    The machine has served me well for almost twenty years. It was a Christmas gift from my wife shortly after we were married. And technically, it still works great and probably will for as long as I own it.

    But we collect Airmiles, that Canadian rewards program that links to your credit card and mysteriously accumulates reasonably-valuable points that seem to be great for all sorts of merchandise redemption and mediocre for actually flying anywhere. And the program is having some trouble lately. So, to avoid losing everything suddenly if the program completely tanks, we cashed in about half our saved-up miles on some small appliances…

    … including a new SMEG Coffee Maker to replace my old trusty one. It hasn’t arrived yet. And I’m already feeling a little lost nostalgia for my current pal.

  • st. patrick’s day

    I don’t pause to mention every random day of note that comes along, but then I’ve got a bit of Irish blood in my veins from my maternal grandmother so I don’t mind pausing today to mention St. Patrick’s day.

    It’s been nearly four years since I visited Ireland, spending ten days in Dublin and touring a bit around the countryside. I ran a couple races there, drove up to Galway and stopped at the cliffs on the way, drank a lot of beer with a good share of Guinness, and took up a fondness for Irish whiskey.

    I can’t say I’m wearing much green today and I likely won’t be out bar hopping tonight looking for a green beer, but I may raise a glass to my ancestors later.

    Oh, and I’ll be about six months late to Chicago to see the river dyed green this year.

  • three

    It’s been three years today since the pandemic kicked down the door of my city.

    I know it came sooner to some places, later to others, but March 16th was the day, locally, we all got sent home early to distance, the day the schools went online, the day the grocery store shelves were empty, and the day I called “Day Zero” in my own personal journal.

    Three years.

    Seems like forever. Seems like yesterday. Seem like it was worth noting.

  • death and midlife.

    One thing that I’ve discovered myself to be completely ill prepared to deal with is funerals.

    I went to a handful of funerals growing up, and by that measure I count myself fortunate that the number was so few. But as the universe rolls on, we creep into midlife, I get older, my friends and family gets older, and the people I’ve surrounded myself move through our waning days, I have started to encounter death on a more regular basis.

    By that I mean that I’ve been invited to a number of funerals in 2023 already, and I’m almost embarrassed to admit I’m not sure how to deal with that.

    It sounds simple, but while some relationships are clear cut, not every circumstance I’ve encountered lately is so. The father (who I’d never met) of a casual friend. The wife (who I’d never met) of a coworker from half a decade past. Two examples, but I found myself googling funeral etiquette this morning and wondering how to approach these things.

    If it’s obvious to you, it is not to me. I’m simultaneously glad of that, and fearful of making a faux pas at a tender moment in someone’s life.