Wintry mix

Yesterday evening I strapped on my classic skis and headed across the street to Allmendinger Park. I spent an hour or so trudging around the perimeter of the 8-acre park, laying down a nice track. There was a thin layer of fresh snow atop about 10 inches that had fallen over the weekend, so it took multiple laps for the track to firm up. Except for the SE corner of the park, where people like to let their dogs play, my fresh ski tracks, snaking around through the oaks, around the baseball diamond, and through the park's big open area, were all that had spoiled the freshly fallen blanken of snow.

Whereas yesterday's weather was ideal for skiing, with temperatures in the low-mid 20s and a lightly falling snow, this morning was cursed by temperatures in the low-mid 30s and what the meterologists have taken to calling a "wintry mix." This is simply a catch-all for slushy snow, freezing rain, and so forth. I tried skiing again this morning anyway, but it was hopeless. Besides having absolutely zero kick, on account of a misting drizzle soaking an already wet track, some joker and her dog had trampled all over my ski trail, literally walking foot-in-track for about 25% of my loop! Ah, well.

It was nice to get some more skiing in this week, after spending all day Tuesday running errands and getting ready for our Christmas trip to Minnesota and Iowa. I deposited a reimbursement check from UC Berkeley, mailed a package to Mimi in Empire, MI for Emily, and then attempted some last-minute Christmas shopping. Target was an absolute mad-house, but I managed to pick up some hooded sweatshirts that I'll convert to Zingerman's uniforms for Emily's birthday. I spent far too much time wandering around REI, browsing literally every inch of the store, before finally settled on a pair of ExOfficio underwear and a set of camp silverware for my dad. I'd hardly eaten anything all day, so I walked next door to Whole Foods and got myself a late buffet lunch, then bought taco supplies for dinner.

I picked Emily up at Zingerman's around 8:30 pm then started in on dinner. We didn't start eating until 10 pm, but the tacos and Mexican rice were excellent. We worked a little on packing before heading to bed.