The Maple Syrup Run

This morning I woke up to a cold, gray, rainy day, which was not exactly what I wanted to see after a long winter in Minnesota and right before I was heading out for my 5K. I put on a pot of coffee and then took my dogs out for a walk to wake up a little bit.

5Ks (not that I have that much experience) are fun in the small town I live in. Matt and I have lived in Faribault for five years now, and many of our friends, students, and colleagues show up to run, volunteer, or cheer each other on. Today's run was at the River Bend Nature Center, and the route passed through a prairie, up several small hills, by the banks of the Straight River, and over a turtle pond (oh, and by the Minnesota Correctional Facility).

I followed Matt's advice and started out slowly, and I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I felt. There really weren't any mile markers, so I didn't have any idea how far along I was. I kept count of the number of songs I listened to, thinking that would give me an idea of how far from the end I was... and before I knew it, I could see the end. "Shake It" by Metro Station came on (thanks, Timberwolves Dancers), and I started running faster toward the finish line.

And that was it: 36 minutes and 14 seconds*. No seeing God, no stomach cramps like I remember when we ran the mile at Hyman Fine Elementary School back in Attleboro, no major personal journey milestone. Just another step forward as I try and take back this terrible creep of pounds.



* Only 22 minutes and 3 seconds off world record pace (Tirunesh Dibaba, 2008). Of course, that wasn't cross-country.

Some Days, Teaching is Really Hard

Every morning, I arrive at school about 15 minutes before the bell. One of my students depends on me to get there in time so she can get her math book and get on the bus to our other campus in time for her first period class. Usually I make it; some days, I advise her to start keeping her books elsewhere!

Today, the moment she came around the corner and caught my eye, just as I was unlocking my office door, she started to sob. Her friend, a former boyfriend of hers and a former student at our school, has been struggling with a very serious medical condition that has required multiple brain surgeries, and she had been told that he had taken a turn for the worse.

I held her for a little bit while she cried, and then she gathered her books and went to catch the bus, leaving me a little stunned in her wake.... but I too gathered my books and started my day.

5K and Pancakes, Maybe

On Sunday, I'll be jogging my first 5K since 2006. Back on that day, I literally ran the race cold, having not run anything longer than a mile since I was about 19.

This time, I'm in good shape, but I still haven't run 3.1 miles on the road in a long time... Um, since September 2006, the aforementioned 5K.

So, I've been running a mile or a mile and a half every couple days. Today, I sort of ran 3 miles on the treadmill (sort of = walked a little bit every now and then).

I don't have much to say, but if I put this in writing now, than I have to follow through and show up on Sunday. Then maybe I'll have some nonsense about a personal journey and a post-5K pancake breakfast to blog about.

Broadening the Scope

Well, I'd like to keep this blog a little more often than only when I travel, so I've decided to broaden the scope a little bit. My title "Winding Roads and Close Calls" is still relevant because my goal will always be to focus on experiences in my life that cause me to step out of my comfort zone! Maybe this will simply mean that I will write about all those food pictures I like to upload to my facebook page, but I also hope to write a little bit more about my local adventures in Minnesota, my travels back home to my beloved New England, and my virtual explorations through the books I read, the movies I see, and the plays I attend. Of course, there are those journeys that don't require any travel at all but still move you forward: when a friend pushes you to reconsider your assumptions, when the approaching birthday creates angst and hope, when a day at the office makes you want to scream and laugh, or when a quiet moment at home reminds you to appreciate things just the way they are.

Cortadito Update

Last Sunday, my friend Isabel gave me the most wonderful thank you gift. She bought me a can of Cafe Bustelo and a simple moka pot and taught me how to make cortaditos. All along, I had a Mukka Express to make cappuccinos, but I never realized how close I was to making cortaditos at home.

Isabel started by putting a whole lot of white sugar in a mug. I mean, I knew there was sugar in a cortadito, but it turns out that there is a LOT of sugar in one. When the percolator bubbled up the first bit of coffee, she poured just that first tiny bit into the sugar to make a frosting-like mixture. She said that this step creates the foamy surface of the coffee, and that the Cubans say it has to be the first drips of coffee that you use. On the side, she boiled some milk on the stove. When the coffee was done, she poured it into the sugar and mixed it vigorously to create that foamy surface. She poured a touch of milk into the coffee, leaving that perfect little milk stain on top.

And that was it. So simple. When Isabel was done, she handed me a cortadito; I hadn't had one since last summer in Miami, and hers was perfect. When Isa tasted it, however, she said, "Oh! not sweet enough for me."

And so, every morning since then, I have been trying on my own, and yesterday, I did it! My cortadito tasted perfect, but it didn't look perfect. I still haven't mastered getting that little macchia on top, as you can see below. In fact, my version looks kind of pathetic. But I won't give up. I may need to get a little hand steamer for the milk. And, I may need to go back for some extra help from Mrs. Rodriguez...