what goes down might come up

Good thing about mood swings - if I'm down, I probably won't stay down.

Man, last week was hard. I definitely had a hint of the "want to slash my wrists and bleed all over the snow" through Saturday night. But Sunday changed everything.

Sunday: high was 37 degrees! Hardly any wind! Only partly cloudy, which means some sun! Sunday is my designated day off, so I didn't do anything related work or school or tax-filing.

Get this: 37 degrees and nothing to do. We walked 5 miles round trip to the conservatory where we soaked up GREEN VIBRANT LIFE, multiple blooming ORCHIDS, and tropical HUMIDITY. It was an excessively happy rendezvous.

It made me think, "I need to go outside and run. Often. Even when it's very cold. Even when it's snowing." The outdoor exercise alone restored my inherent sense of self, the active me I've optimized since I could ambulate. It was a delicious reminder. For me, the gym hasn't been cutting it. So, I either need to submit to the mindlessness of being a hamster, or buck up and become one of those people who forms icicles on my face from running outside.

On the way home, we walked through the fairgrounds and discovered some tree trunk sculptures. I thought this was one really odd -- it's good, but due to the size limitations of a tree trunk, the sculptor could only complete the first fourth of the horse. It's so wonderful and strange!

Only in Minnesota!

I smell a pilgrimage

Having heard before I moved here about the "famous" giant stucco snowman, I've been wondering when I'd stumble across him. Today I came across a pdf file about exploring art in the suburbs that outlines a history of this snowman sculpture. I think now is a good point in my acculturation to Minnesota to finally go find him.

Just for your viewing pleasure, here's a photo stolen from his wikipedia entry:

Angry punching squirrel carved out of snow

There are squirrels everywhere in the world, but I sure have noticed that there are a disproportionate amount living in the Twin Cities. (I've seen all black ones and all white ones here, which I've never seen anywhere else before). They roam the neighborhoods in packs, attacked our Halloween pumpkins like vultures on a carcass, and for all I know probably have their own political party in the state of Minnesota.

Today L. insisted we go to the snow carving area in the fairgrounds to see snow sculptures. All of a sudden today the temperature shot up to 40 degrees, so some of the sculptures were self destructing by noon. However, this angry punching squirrel hadn't melted a tad.

It seemed so freaking funny that someone would put so much time and energy into carving a squirrel out of a block of packed snow. The squirrel is angry, but the acorns surrounding its feet are smiling. It's such a confusing scene.

Now, back to that temperature rise. It was so wonderful! I wore a spring fleece and a scarf, no hat, and no gloves. Tomorrow we're forecast for snow and 12 degrees, but today I pretended I was in California again on the coldest week of the year.