I went to the wrong coffee shop this morning before meeting with a new graphic designer connection through Julia. Needless to say, I was running late when I finally got myself from the Purple Onion to Spyhouse on Nicollet. Today was a day of excellent random interactions. The cashier at the Purple Onion talked with me about Canoecopia and her idea for a non-profit organization. I got the baristas to transfer my coffee from a mug to a to go cup and ran out the door on my way across town. Made it to Spyhouse maybe 15 minutes late. My meeting with Patricia should go down in the personal record books as the most awkward professional interaction of my young adult life. I walked up and for some reason I didn’t go to shake her hand, which was out for a hand shake, right away and instead I sort of moved for a hug and then quickly snapped out of the fog I was in and shook her hand. I have no idea why my knee jerk reaction was to hug this stranger but I’m glad I didn’t follow through with that one. We sit down and what I should have said was, “we want to pay you to design for us every once in a while, I’ll send you a portfolio of past projects; now what else are you interested in?” Instead of doing that, I floundered around and filled the conversation with fluff for 10 minutes and then got the point across. Despite/because of this social blunder I felt more prepared for the next time I meet someone, like this Wednesday when I meet with Massoud. Having bad experiences socially helps me to re-gauge my social abilities when I’ve been either comfortable in situations or simply not interacting with people for a long time. From this meeting I went over to Nina’s cafe and bookstore in St. Paul. There I sat and ate the mixto sandwich. I was approached by a middle aged man with a healthy tan and weathered hands. He launched into a spirited conversation on the beautiful weather we were having and how this coffee shop is his favorite in the city. I thought he was fantastic and engaged him in a jubilant exchange of pleasantries. Got to talking about my move from DC and how he grew up in St. Paul and photographed the 1980’s olympic hockey team as they paraded through the streets of St. Paul/Minneapolis. He left for a bit and came back with three framed photos of some hockey players and their gold medals. All in all that was a great interaction. Then Natalie and Anna showed up and we sat together to work on things for wild river academy.
Kelsey came over to eat dinner with Mike. Kelsey and I connected through her interest in the organization Ultimate Peace which works with Israeli and Palestinian high school students; they teach the students the sport while also teaching them to accept one another. It sounds like a great organization and ultimate, being rooted in sportsmanship, is the perfect sport for bringing people together. I plan on attending an organizational meeting regarding the group Bid for Peace, an off shoot and partner of Ultimate Peace. Bid for Peace is organizing a fundraising event for the Ultimate Frisbee US Open being held in Blaine, MN this 2014 fourth of July weekend (more info coming in future posts). I talked about using adventure education for my Ice Age Trail run. Some ideas I was throwing around: students weigh in on what I should do, where I should go, what silly costume I should wear, where I run to train, how I train, talk about physiology and the impact running this much continuously has on the body. I’m not sure how I’m going to reach out for this run, I just know that I will.
Groggily crawled out of bed to a slow morning. Cracking eggs and frying vegetables for breakfast. Working with Liz at the breakfast nook for an hour or two. Liz heads out and I get down to Canoecopia correspondence. I reached out to Keen which is doing a clean river campaign so that could bode well for Wild River Academy. I reached out to Thule, they’re a big car rack company, who knows maybe they will help us. Reached out to Sven at Outdoor Research for a potential Ice Age Trail sponsorship. When I think about camp hammocks my first thought is not that I could use one for over 20 days but when I did some research I may have decided that it would be preferable to a tent. A hammock packs down smaller and lighter, can be put up with ease, and could potentially be a better wind and rain stop than a tent. I have no experience sleeping in camp hammocks and want to try some out before I make a final decision; I also have a lot of time before April 1, 2015.
I put on my running clothes and wasted time on the internet trying to relax before running. I relaxed into the run and a block later slipped on some ice and ate it on the sidewalk. Icy uncertainty combined with slushy, minimal friction to culminate in a physically and mentally demanding run. Running on the soft, forgiving snow increases the repetition of my footfalls while forcing my ankles to engage and strengthen. I find this running to be mentally frustrating but rewarding because it forces me to relax into the run and accept the slow going. At almost my halfway point I hear a crow cawing above and in front of me, it sounded like an angry cawing, so I look up and see a crow chasing a great horned owl. With the frozen Mississippi River as a backdrop, I watched the owl alight on a branch and the crow looks on from another tree. After a couple moments, the crow swoops and the owl takes flight back the way I came. I decide this is a sign and turn to follow the owl, as does the crow. I arrived back at home and immediately ran to the bathroom to poop. I don’t think these poops in timely proximity to my runs have anything to do with the food I’m eating so much as my system re-accustoming itself to running. Every time I go a while without running and then start again my system “cleanses” and I poop a lot. That being said, I am cutting cereal and milk from my diet as a test. I know, I know, what a traitor to the name sake of this blog, but I’m really more committed to what cereal represents rather than the cereal itself.
I took a shower and debated the pros and cons of riding my bike to meet Massoud Amin at the University of Minnesota McNamara Alumni Center. I decided to walk.My meeting with Massoud today was a connection through my Dad. Walking over to the McNamara building I could feel my leg muscles contracting with every step as they processed the run from earlier. I meet Massoud in this room that looks, feels, and sounds like a cathedral: all wooden, angled ceiling with juts and geometric shapes on the walls. Massoud and I took a leisurely stroll in the crisp, afternoon sunlight to a Starbucks where we purchased coffee to go and rambled back to his office. I met with a man in his office who had a definitive passion for the Boundary Waters. He told a story about how he found his “happy place” (reference to meditation) on a trip with a friend where he pushes his canoe off on his own for the day and steps on an island. On this island he feels totally alone, as if he were the first human being to set foot there. In my chest I can feel the wonderment he felt that day. Massoud and I proceeded to his office where we talked about leadership, ourselves, management, and education. I left with promises of future meetings and a feeling that I had met someone whom I would look to for advice, partnership, and encouragement.
I didn’t end up taking out my bike with its new fenders but tomorrow morning the meeting at the Nicollet will be biked to. Now it’s my left foot’s turn to be sore from a run. Now I’m journaling for hours on end and will most likely read Game of Thrones until 1 am. Game of Thrones is good but I find it tediously political and overly involved at times. I’m maybe 75% through the book. This last quarter will determine my commitment level for reading the other books in George R.R. Martin’s series.
thecereallife 