7.5 miles
lake nokomis and back
47 degrees
A big goal of 2025 achieved: I ran over to the lake and back! I think this is the first time I’ve done that this year (I’ll have to check later). Since I accomplished that goal a month early, maybe I can add another goal for December: run to the lake and back without stopping. Today I stopped to walk, but only after I had run 3.3 miles. Stopping was mostly a mental issue, although I also started speeding up too much a few times, which elevated my heart rate and made it harder to keep going.
Another beautiful day — at least to me. It was gray and brown and dull yellow. Humid. The moisture made the air cooler when I stopped to walk.
10 Things
- a roller skier, graceful and smooth in their motions and the rhythm between their legs and arms
- the path under the ford bridge was closed: tree work
- running on the grass through large piles of leaves
- the creek was very low
- only one spot on the creek was babbling as water rushed over the rocks
- 2 people walking and talking on the pedestrian bridge, reviewing/planning their Thanksgiving menu
- the dock is disconnected, part of it in the middle of the lake, the other in the grass between the path and the water
- geese in the swimming area, one of them flapping its wings furiously
- the thwack of a ball on the pickleball court (someone is always playing! do they play in the winter?)
- the very strong, unpleasant smell of weed near the 44th street parking lot
before the run
Discovered this delightful line in poets.org’s poems of the day, Egg Tooth/ Benjamin Garcia
Ears are the eyes on the sides of your head.
Ears are the eyes on the side of your head makes me think of what I read last night about echolocation from Daniel Kish (Batman) who sees through sonar.
Activating the Visual Cortex to rewire the brain
Our collaborative projects with research centers in the U.S. and around the world have led to the discovery that the echoes from FlashSonar clicks reflect off surrounding objects, sending auditory signals that activate, and are processed by the brain’s Visual Cortex.
Visioneers
Auditory signals that activate the visual cortex? Very cool. A decade ago, before my vision declined dramatically and before I knew much about vision, I would have found this statement impossibly strange, but now I know better. The brain is amazing and adaptable and its ability to compensate for faulty eyes is not surprising at all.
oops — for the second time in less than a week, I didn’t see my water glass on a table and put something down too close to it and tipped it over. Last week, water spilled all over a New Yorkers. This morning: my laptop. Boo! No more clear water glasses. Time to rely exclusively on my bright blue hydroflask.
during the run
I thought about seeing with my ears and echolocation and listening to the sharp sounds my feet made as I ran. Closed my eyes a few times while I was running to see how it felt and what I could notice. Wow — I need to work on my balance when my eyes are closed!
writing update
I have (almost) finished my manuscript, Echo // location (formerly known as girl ghost gorge and haunts before that). Also put together a chapbook out of the rock poems in it that I’m calling, Riprap which I’ll submit this week.