I love a good love story. Check out “How We Got Engaged“, by Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier. Being in love does makes everything in life seem “extra good“.

A while back my co-workers stumbled upon the web site, “Steve, Don’t Eat It!”, where a guy eat strange foods and then writes about them (it’s pure genius, btw). The first entry was about potted meat, something I had never heard of before reading his review.

Good news, I found some potted meat at the dollar store! Three cans for a dollar. I can’t wait to try it. I’ve never knowingly eaten mechanically seperated chicken before. Other highlights from the ingredients list included “partially defatted cooked pork fatty tissue” & “partially defatted cooked beef fatty tissue”. I take both of these to mean “stuff that isn’t fit for hot dogs.” I wonder what the ingredient list looked like before the marketing department cleaned it up?

I did the Cannon Valley Trail yesterday with some co-workers. We had a great ride with very comfortable weather. I really enjoyed being able to ride with people who could challenge my biking skills without leaving me completely in the dust. I kept up with the leader from Red Wing to Cannon Falls. On the way back to Red Wing I fell behind the leader, but not enough to bruise my ego significantly. At least I had the excuse that I was on a fat tired comfort bike, instead of a skinny tired touring bike. (A poor workman blames his tools, I know, I know.)

There were some stretches of trail that had enough of a grade to keep the ride a little more interesting than the Lanesboro trail.

The winery in Cannon Falls was an interesting place to visit. We got to see the grapes being dumped into hoppers, whisked up by some sort of vacuum device, arriving in a big hopper where they were presumably crushed.

One year ago, if you would have told me that I could ride 40 miles without any problems I probably wouldn’t have believed you. Now I think I could probably do a 100 mile day if I planned it right.

I’m hoping to do one more big bike ride before the weather turns. The Grand Rounds looks like it might be a good candidate.

The leaves that kept falling on the trail underscored the inescapable fact; fall is here and winter is around the corner. I can’t live in denial any more.

Aras wrote a nice post on climbing, kayaking and life. Nice work, glad to see you posting again.

Danger doesn’t motivate me as much as it does Aras when it comes to outdoor activities. It’s not that there aren’t dangers; after all I go solo backpacking which isn’t exactly what your life insurance agent recommends. My outdoor activities are more motivated by feeling alive and discovering beauty. It does seem like I’ve gradually upped the risk level over the years, but that was more of a side effect I think. (Now Aras might disagree with this assessment since he has been in the woods with me more than a few times.)

Recently, I got an email from a blogger I don’t know.

Thanks, I’m honored.

When do I feel the most alive? It’s when I’m out sailing or hiking. I went for the annual sailing trip last weekend. We had good wind and a fast boat.

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A few months ago I found out that a number of people who attend my church, Church of the Open Door, also have blogs. I know more a few of you read this blog since you have left comments or mentioned it to me in email. I thought it might be fun to meet you all in real life and be able to place a face with a name, so I am inviting you to a casual meetup at church on September 25th between services. So far, Jan and Pearl are planning to be there. I don’t know everyone who blogs, so feel free to invite your friends in email or mention it on your own blogs, like Jan did.

If the weather is nice let’s meet at the picnic table outside the east? side towards the pond. If the weather is inclement we’ll meet inside near the coffee.

Some books are so haunting that after I’ve read them I think of life before I read the book or life after I read the book.

While sailing this last weekend I finished “Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. It was one of those books for me.

“For you a thousand times over …”

Matthew had his first day of kindergarten today. All went well. When asked about his day, he recounted a song about peanut butter and jelly. He deemed the song silly.

Tommorrow is picture day.

Right on schedule, while playing quietly where I couldn’t see them, Matthew and Elise found a pair of scissors. Then they proceeded to cut huge hanks out of their hair. I gave Matthew an emergency buzz tonight. He looks like he just got out of boot camp. Elise didn’t fare so well. I had no idea how to fix her hairdo. She’ll need professional assistance getting her stairstep bangs into shape.

I found the entire episode quite funny, but tried to act stern.

Hopefully I’ll be gone sailing for a few days.

Jan posted a link to a music video from a band called Switchfoot recently. The hook from the chorus is, “When I look at the stars I feel like myself”.

That hook perfectly describes what I feel when I sleep out under the stars after a day of sailing. Looking up at the sky the noise from everything fades, the stars come into focus and I don’t want to close my eyes — it’s too beautiful. I feel the chill in my nose and get a little deeper into my sleeping bag. I see satellites, shooting stars, ore boats on the horizon and sometimes the northern lights. The rocking of the boat eventually coaxes me to sleep. Life is beautiful.

I can’t wait.