Training ... sort of

Well, is you follow the tagline of this blog I guess I should say something about "training."

So, Chris and I are set to complete the Grand Isle Half-Marathon in a little over a week and a half. The race happens in Munising, MI -- about 3 hours east of Houghton. As the name suggests, the race does indeed occur on an island. Part of the fee for participation includes a ferry ticket to get to the race site.

At this point in the game I should be trained to kick the behind of this trail race. Ha! As you well know, life happens along the way. There's also something about some kind of road being paved with the best intentions .... Let's just say this: I will run the race. Run is a subjective word and will be applied subjectively to how I approach the race.  Enough said.

It's also been warm here lately -- right now my office is 87 degrees. While it doesn't get super-warm in Houghton all that often, when it does the un-airconditioned nature of many of the buildings on campus makes life a bit icky. Alas, tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer. Joy!

Whew - I better stop typing ... I'm working up a sweat!

One year ago.........

One year ago yesterday I was in the hospital giving birth to our daughter, Katie.
One year ago yesterday was one of the worst days of my life.
One year ago yesterday was one of the best days of my life.
One year ago yesterday we left the hospital without our daughter, Katie.

On July 13 this year we went to Katie's point and visited the place where we spread her ashes. We also spent some time sitting by her rock that is placed under a small pine tree. We took her some pink roses from a rose bush in our yard. They smelled like rose-perfection.

 

We also visited the place where Mary's ashes were spread by the Copper Harbor lighthouse. Its a beautiful little field, still and full of daisies.

It ended up being an absolutely beautiful day. Not too warm - not too wavy. The big lake treated us kindly in our kayaks and rocked us gently in our sorrow. We could feel both Katie and Mary looking down on us ... smiling.

Copper Harbor holds such special meaning for us. It seems only natural that we would someday retire to this special place while we live out our days, waiting to be reunited with the ones we love.