Do you ever have one of those days where you just don't want to get out of bed? When you finally get out of bed, you wonder why you ever thought getting up was a good idea. Part of this ennui had to do with the bright shining moon streaming through my window and poking me in the eyeball at 4:30 this morning. Even with the eye mask, I had a hard time going back to sleep. Plus, my brain kept telling me that I should take advantage of the brilliant moon to take an early walk with the dogs. Um... 4:30 am is a little early, even for me. I told my brain to shut up. So there.
When I dragged myself downstairs, I decided to have a bowl of cereal. Yeah. The container was almost empty and I had to get a new box. The new box was so full that I overfilled my bowl. Then, when I tried to scoop some of the extra cereal back into the container, it spilled everywhere. So I called the dogs in to eat the cereal, but they missed a flake, and I stepped on it with my new bedroom slippers... you can imagine the rest. There is a line of Uncle Willie's from The Philadelphia Story which says, "Awww... this is one of those days that the pages of history teach us are best spent lying in bed." I think that is appropriate, don't you?
At some point, I mentioned to Brian that we ought to go for a walk in Forest Park, an amazing city part in Portland. (Yes, this is yet another reason we decided to move to this city - and after 2 1/2 months, we still had not gone!) What was I thinking? I went back to bed and pulled the covers over my eyes. Brian came up with the dogs and they used brute force (dog kisses) to make me get up. Cruel! Fine. I got up, got dressed, got my hiking boots out of the closet where they had sat unused for months, and came downstairs. Whew. I was already tired.
We got over to the park without mishap and started walking on Leif Ericson trail. This "trail" was a road built back in the early 1900's when the city planners mistakenly thought they could build houses on that very steep part of the world. After a couple of slides, they turned the road into a trail, and eventually it became part of one of the greatest city parks on earth. It was very easy walking, even though the trail was super soggy (strange, since it hadn't rained in over a week) and very busy. I wanted an easy walk, since merely getting out of bed was so hard today, and this trail fit the bill.
We somehow missed the turn off to make the 2-3 mile hike, and when we got to the next trail crossing, we could either take the loop or turn around. I took one look at the steep upwards trail for the loop and turned around. After about 10 steps, I groaned and turned back around to take the hill. Brian was confused, as, obviously, was I. See, it is just that I've wanted to go hiking in Forest Park since we got here and I hadn't been yet. I knew the uphill path was prettier and more interesting than the Leif Garret (oops, Ericson) path, so we really needed to take it. The whole day had been like that - making the right decision, even though I had no desire to do so. It WAS the right decision, though, because the hike got to be really fun after that.
About half way up the hill, I had to stop and take off my fleece because I was so hot. We switched dogs at that point. I had Katy up until that time (sweet and good dog), and Brian had Buckley (crazy, pulling like mad dog). Once I had the over-drive pup, the sun came out, the birds sang, and I started to fly up that hill. Seriously, that 28 pound dog has some mad pulling skills. The next 2 miles went by in about 20 minutes. Even with all the hills (both up and down), switchbacks, people and other dogs, nothing phased the pulling machine. Eventually, the trail got pretty darned steep going downhill and I had to take Katy back so I didn't fall on my face. We ended up back in the parking lot feeling pretty darned great about our hike and loving life.
After the hike, we went home for a quick shower, then out to find some good fish and chips. I know... but I haven't had any since that awful experience a couple of weeks ago and it was time. We went to a brew pub and found some mighty good fish, the chips were merely so-so. I got a beautiful side salad instead of the coleslaw and was pretty happy. Then, I decided to break convention and get some dessert. We ordered a chocolate chip brownie, a la mode. Serendipity was looking out for me today. When the dessert came, the brownie was the color of German chocolate cake, with the same texture and cloying sweetness. Bleh! I like German chocolate, but I wanted a brownie. If I was going to break my no-ordering-dessert-streak, I was NOT going to do it on some less-than, wanna-be dessert. So, go me, I didn't eat it.
For dinner, I made some beautiful navy bean, kale, butternut squash soup. I used a cup of chicken broth and some carrots, onion and spices to give it depth. It really needed Italian sausage, but that was out. When I got ready to serve it, I realized that I was in no way hungry. When I checked in with Brian, I found out that he was still full from lunch as well. Marty enjoyed her soup by herself. Sorry! Now I'm typing up my blog, wondering if I will ever be hungry again. (Picture me pulling a turnip out of the ground as I say this in my best Scarlott O'Hara voice). At this point, the verdict is out. However, if I do get hungry, I have some awesome soup to enjoy.
Well, that is my day. Be happy and healthy!
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