Spring ephemeral wildflowers

Holy wildflowers, Batman!! We haven’t had a wildflower season like this in ages. Well, we haven’t had a “normal” spring in 3 years, and the wildflowers have followed suit. In roughly chronological order, here are some of the flowers that have been taking up space in my brain and my camera, waiting to make their way into a painting.

Violet

The violets have been showy, purple and yellow this year, in carpets on the forest floor. They have been growing tall to reach the sun as the leaves have been coming out very quickly this year, with both warm spring rains and sunny days. 

Bellwort

I think this one is bellwort…I love the drooping flowers. They’re very pretty to visit on a rainy day when shedding rain drops into the soil below. 

Bluebells

Ah, bluebells. Some years they hardly make an appearance, not this year though. They are out in force, and the bumblebees seem to love them. Mostly queen bumbles and just a few new workers out this early in the season. The bumblebees are just getting new nests started. 

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Jack-in-the-Pulpit just shot up this spring. One week I didn’t even notice them, and the next there were full flowers sprouting. The leaves of the plant are often confused with poison ivy. Rest assured, it is not. They like more shade than our itch inducing ivy. Where you find one you generally don’t find the other. 

Ok, enough for today’s wildflower tour. I hope your spring is off to a good start. Until next time, have a wonderful day! 

-Laurel 

 

Broken to Birkie - I DID IT!!

    It was long (even though short for the Birkie), ugly, icy, and kind of hilarious. My knees and ankles and shins all hurt. So did my lungs, and my pride for that matter. But I finished! And other than one MEGA crash it wasn't too bad. It wasn't fast. I could not find any of my old hill climbing gears. But honestly in this year of absolutely no winter, I did the best I could and it was ok. 

    The race was 30km, 3 laps of a 10km course. The course was a ribbon of snow in the otherwise brown northwoods of WI. If you crashed too epically you would shoot off the course into trees, grass, dirt, whatever. But not snow. And people DID crash. I saw at least 3 guys pulling themselves out of the bushes, brambles, and branches. My crash was a stylish "got it, don't got it" slide that took out another racer. But hey, the hill was an ice sheet. I started laughing. I got up but had a hard time getting moving again because my feet were cramping! Skiing on ice is HARD, going uphill and downhill with your feet trying to hold onto an edge through your ski, is not a recipe for fun. Funny, yes. Fun, no. 

    You know what didn't hurt? My shoulder. HA! So there. It's done. I'm glad to move on to a new sports season. No more depressing 2.5 hour ski/pole hikes. Ugh. 

    But I did it. Yay me! Yay shoulder. And now I'm going to go relax for a bit. 

Broken to Birkie 3 -- Week 6

So...this was a big moment...

My week 6 fractureversary I was at work solo and LOOK AT THIS!! I retrieved the birds. The hawk was...difficult. He bated and that didn't feel good (jumped and tried to fly away). But the Barred owl was a much easier going floof and went easy on me. I was glad to not be doing a program. Sitting with them on my glove for more than 5 minutes was a bit much. But being back and able to work with the birds was a big plus this week. 

Also, it got stupid cold out. I skied and it was ugly. Lop-sided and things (my low back, feet, hips) started hurting. I think the recovery process kind of caught up with me and gave a little tap on the shoulder...hello, you're still healing a fracture. Try to not be stupid. Take it easier please. 

Oh I should mention. There is NO SNOW  other than short loops on manmade snow. So you're out with about 300 of your closest pals, rush hour style, on the loops, skiing the most boring, god awful windblown loops....dizzying...dizzying....loops (I can only turn left) for which we are thankful, but folks, this ain't skiing. It's about as engaging as a hamster wheel, compared to natural snow trails. 

Skiing when stupid cold is not my idea of a good time. Also I can't really classic w/o poles so that's out. Classic is my go to when it's cold and slow snow. but that wasn't going to work. So one-sided skate skiing it was. And my body just couldn't deal with the slow snow/wind/below zero windchill/lop-sided skiing. At about 45 minutes I was pretty miserable. I had to call it around an hour and go hike on the trail a bit to stew, grumble, and calm down. Or warm up? Not sure. 

I also did a long 2hr pole hike/ski walk in the past week. Below zero, but sunny! And aside from being hard on my feet, patience, and ego it was actually pretty nice. Low risk of crashing too. 

I can't just ski all the time. So this is a year end/new year project working with learning wet-not-wet watercolor. It works!! I just had to slow down and be patient drying layers between painting sessions. 

Also we got just enough snow to be able to track. Otter prints among others in this shot. 

It's been much easier to get in and out of my winter jackets lately, which is greatly appreciated with the below zero cold we've been having. 

I got out to ski on Long Lake now that the ice is solid. One thing I can THANK the super-cold for, better ice conditions. Now ice is never "safe". But this is a familiar lake, I know the trouble spots (there are few) and ice depths we're measuring around 5-6". On skis, within a few feet of shore, it was worth it to get out and actually be able to ski easy. 

But OH MY F!!! It was sooooo COLD!!! 6ºF and windchill at -15ºF. I had on windproof tights and fleece long underwear. But I felt like I went out there with NO PANTS ON!!!!! I kept looking down like WTH?! I definitely had pants on, but it just felt like the Emperor's New Clothes, on ice. Out on a lake, there is no hiding from the wind, and it was brutal.

That ski I last about 1hr 15min before I got to cold/sore/grumpy to keep going. The recovery from each session is taking me a long time. But I didn't go too hard (which is what always happens on manmade snow loops) and I did get to follow some cool tracks! 

And I was able to right V1 <--(week 6), which previously I couldn't because my shoulder hurt too much. !!!

There was a swan carcass, deer carcass, and track from fox, coyote, even otter leading up to each of these kills. 

Much respect to everything surviving out there in this deep cold. 

Oddly enough, we've not had a single skiable snowfall this winter. The pattern doesn't look good for the next 3 weeks. I'm ready for a break in the cold. But we're going right by normal to too warm. 40s?? Not normal. That will melt whatever fluff we're holding onto now. And will end lake skiing. 

I may have to retitle this Broken to No Birkie...because the snow situation is looking dire across MN and WI for the time being. 

PT is starting to add back in real strength training. Stay tuned for that. Range of motion is coming along. External rotation has been the slowest. Overhead reaching and side reaching are getting closer. Not full range but getting pretty close. So, it's happening. Just inching along. 

'Till next time, 

Laurel 

 

Broken to Birkie 2 -- week 5 update

Here's a nice sunset to look at. Actually this is from about 2:30 but it was right around the winter solstice, so the light always feels like either sunrise or sunset. I digress. 

Healing. The journey reached week 5 over the weekend. And things are beginning to get...better? they're definitely getting better. I had a 2 week hiatus from driving. That was tough. Showering, also extremely difficult. By early week 3 I took myself out for a test drive, literally, and found that I could handle it. It wasn't pretty but I am giving myself permission to do things badly. That's my theme for 2024. 

Every little thing that I'm able to do is worth celebrating. Getting my shoes/socks/pants on without wincing in pain! The first time I was able to pull my hair back! <--happened at week 3. 

Week(end) 4 I went up to the Birkie trail for a women's weekend on snow. Snow was nowhere to be found. Honestly it worked in my advantage. Yes I drove myself there! No sling. And it was wonderful to be in the company of other women, new or experienced, who were all interested in improving their xc skiing. Even in the sleet falling and icing up the trails all day, didn't matter. It was so good to get out. 

We did about an hour of drills. Then around 1 hr 40 min of ski walking/pole hiking on the birkie trail north of OO. Then lunch and followed up with 45 min or so of a strength circuit. We were freezing to the ground while trying to do abs, pushups, or planks. Yikes! A very kind new friend helped me scrape ice off my car before driving out. It took us 25 min. And the drive home was memorably bad. But I made it. 

Was it a bit too much? Yes. But it was worth it. I hiked with one pole on and one held in my hand, and enjoyed seeing the big climbs and pine trees of northern WI forests. And I was extremely grateful for the snow tires on my car on the way home. 

Here are the scans from my 4 week and 3 day follow up. You bet I'm counting the days, even hours sometimes. 

Looking pretty good here. The fracture line is fuzzy which is what you want. Callus formed and being converted to new bone tissue. 

This one you can see the line still. But the surgeon was happy overall with the progress healing at this point. PT is getting interesting. So much mobility to be gained back. And my shoulder has a long way to go. But there is progress. It's slow, but coming along. 

I've been on snow 2x. No poles, and then one pole on my good arm during my second session. There is no natural snow and the manmade conditions are...awful. No sugar coating it. It's finally getting cold enough for areas to start making snow again. I don't know that Mother Nature is going to be much help.

Last night I went out on a ski walk/trot and was able to hold a pole on my left (broken) side. I could lightly plant the pole, not much else, but I felt ok with a fairly natural swing through to recovery position. A week ago that was painful. Too much. Baby steps. It's happening. 

Thanks for reading. Until next time take care, and don't crash on your rollerskis. 

-Laurel 

 

Broken to Birkie pt 1 DUDE NOT COOL!

At the beginning of December I broke my shoulder dryland training for ski racing. Why was I dryland training? To prepare for the Birkie, snow or not. Can I actually rehab and ski the Birkie this year?

 I am not amused. I crashed on my rollerskis back on December 2nd. I broke my shoulder.

       Going down a hill I've skied many times. J even said maybe we should turn back (neither of us felt good). I'd already had a bobble. Ugh, wish I had just said yes. We went out just a little farther and turned back. 

    Then my wheel...I don't even know. It got stopped by some little stick while I'm going down hill and I SMACKED the pavement so hard! Damn that HURT!   

    So I have to walk out holding my arm, J carrying my skis and poles, and sit in a wood chip pile near the road. J has to ski all the way back to get the car. Thank goodness he doesn't crash. Then he comes to get me. And on to Tria Urgent Care we go. X-rays confirm, yes...fracture. Avulsion fracture of the proximal humerus. And so begins the long road of healing and recovery. But mostly feeling broken for the first several weeks. 

    I do not recommend rollerkskiing in December. And now a long journey begins before me. Can I rehab this in time to ski the Birkie?