Year end blither with fine tusks

Let's get the easy stuff out of the way first, shall we? Michelle and I ran in Fish Creek the day after the Flash Freeze warning happened. We only got a couple cm of snow here, but worried about where we planned to run, and the roads to get there. The Nose Creek path is very open to the wind, and it's still cold. I was going to pick up Michelle and car pool there.

We changed plans thinking that running in Fish Creek would be more sheltered. Mostly that's true. Here I am modeling my new run jacket. Very warm. The only problem with the face mask is that my glasses fog up even more than usual. I should see if I can find some of that anti fog goop.

The big difference is that the change of plans means I didn't get to send the best tweet of the year. I was going to say, "Half dressed and on way to pick you up." Maybe it's just as well.

We ran along, with some minor drifts, but mostly quite good footing. Then we got here and decided to turn around.

At turnaround we did the obligatory selfie. Yes, for some reason I look like a drowning person here, but really, I'm just trying to find the button on the phone.

And the close up of the tusks that you've all been waiting for. AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!

I haven't put much of the Runmeter stuff up on my graph lately. Some of the mapping has been nuts lately, and a few times it's been pissy about emailing me the data link. I know Julie is pining for the numbers, so I thought I'd indulge her. I'm pretty pleased. This is my longest run in a very long while, probably in almost a year. My legs were getting a bit tight at the end. I've been down to stretch and roller them. Over all a pretty even pace considering the footing.

Don't fret, the AMA feature is not over yet. I'm just considering which questions to do next. Thinking about who gets the next attributed question...

Another year is drawing to a close. I often take a bit of time for reflection. Lately it seems like the yearly reflection time happens faster and faster. I'm not quite sure where to start. I know you all breathlessly read every word of every blog, hot off the press, so a recap of what I've already said would just bore you.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the year. Well, except for the cranky legs for much of it, that wasn't any fun. Mostly that seems to be over now. No races at all in 2013, but I'm hoping to get it together for a marathon in 2014. Just lately the running is good.

Work is good, doing stuff I like doing, with people that ended the year appreciating the results a lot more than at the start. In any case, they renewed my contract for another year. This is always reassuring for a contractor.

I suppose the biggest surprise in the year was pounding out 60K words in the NaNoWriMo contest. Since then I've been massaging, adding some detail, fixing things, and generally playing. I'm up to 83 K words now, though some will need to be trimmed I'm sure. It's been a lot of fun, even if Curtis resents the time my lap is occupied. You can see he isn't thrilled. Sometimes he tries to walk on the keyboard, or lie on it, and it takes a bit of doing to discourage him.

I've really enjoyed taking and showing some of my photos, and playing with some others in Snapseed. I've mused about getting a nicer camera than the iPhone. Then I remember that it's still more of a camera than what some well known photographers had to work with, and think maybe I should take some lessons. Perhaps in 2014.

Something I did do was get snowshoes, and actually get out onto them. Lots of snow out there, maybe I'll have another go tomorrow. I've wanted to do this for a long time, and finally got around to it. This is something I'm still learning, that if you want something, you have to make it happen.

Off to the mall.

Back, musing about where the mall rat kids put their clothes after arriving. Even walking from the car to the mall dressed like that would be courting frostbite. Oops, someone wants a lap.

There, Curtis has abandoned my lap, and now I can write again. Over the next couple days look for some of my pages to get rearranged to make it easier to find the novel snippets (new and old) as well as the AMA feature. Once its done I'll mention it again.

Sometimes I use this as time of year as an excuse to rant about politics, but the big story this year, topping even the thieving Harper Conservative Senators, and eminent admirable Chris Hadfield, was (gack) Rob Ford. I'm sorry, I just can't. He represents everything that is wrong with Canada and politics in general. He's a perfect example of why we shouldn't let angry old white men run for office. I still say it would be interesting to have only nice brown-skinned Muslim people run for office. Enough of that.

Some people like to talk about what they'll do in the coming year. I'm not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions. I've got things I worked on last year, and will continue to work on this year.

Lastly, I hope all my readers had a wonderful Christmas, and they are all ready to make 2014 the best year ever.