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Blowing & Drifting

Life in and around Northfield, Minnesota.

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  • Antarctic Flags (Antarctica photo essay 13)
  • Drinking Glaciers (Antarctica photo essay 12)
  • The Swan’s Nest (Antarctica photo essay 11)
  • Manmade Antarctica 2 (Antarctica photo essay 10)
  • Manmade Antarctica 1 (Antarctica photo essay 9)

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RSS Snow & Gravel (my Tumblr blog about cycling on gravel and snow)

  • dfitzger: reddit: Weekend was quite rad http://4.srl/2fBZYei
  • The Arrowhead 135 ultra-marathon | Northern Wilds
  • "Tips to make your fat-biking more fun, from Duluth’s Diana McFadden" (Duluth News Tribune)

Category: narcissism

Daily Tanka: Casted

Casted
How can a tiny
Bone in a tiny finger
Need such a big cast?
Or make me so damn sleepy?
A month in this dumb getup.

Posted on July 28, 2017September 10, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, diversions, miscellany, narcissism, stupidities, summer, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Casted

Daily Tanka: Surgical Center

Surgical Center
Reduction of the
Proximal phalange on the
Left hand’s fifth finger
Percutaneous pinning
What’s your name and date of birth?

Posted on July 27, 2017September 10, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, diversions, narcissism, Northfield, photos, stupidities, summer, tanka, thing I learned todayLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Surgical Center

Daily Tanka: Country Kids

Country Kids
Hearing the bats crack
After the ball flies away
I recall making
Plans with my friends by yelling
Across the marsh – country kids

Posted on June 29, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, diversions, family, miscellany, narcissism, recollections, Upper PeninsulaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Country Kids

Daily Tanka: New Bike Race 

New Bike Race
Let’s race the new bike
Bang out a solid five laps
When my legs blow up,
Cruise the last lap, enjoying
The trees, the trail, and the bike

Posted on June 26, 2017June 29, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, cycling, diversions, Minnesota, narcissism, nature, sport, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: New Bike Race 

Daily Tanka: Lower Upper Midwest

Lower Upper Midwest
A cool, steady breeze
Betrays the high summer sun
Northfield, not da Yoop
A green lawn, not a stone beach
A corn sea, not the Big Lake

Posted on June 24, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, Minnesota, narcissism, nature, Northfield, summer, tanka, Upper PeninsulaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Lower Upper Midwest

Daily Tanka: Aches and Pains

Aches and Pains
The physical pain
Of the day after the day
After a big race
Helps the body remember
It’s aliver than it was

Posted on June 20, 2017June 22, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, cycling, narcissism, nature, sport, spring, stupidities, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Aches and Pains

Daily Tanka: Cheq Checklist

Cheq Checklist
Old school, flow, man-made
Off camber, bench cut, boardwalk
Bridge, jump, rock garden
Hairpin, buttonhook, sweeper
Logover, rockover, berm

Posted on June 17, 2017June 20, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, cycling, diversions, miscellany, narcissism, nature, photos, sport, spring, stupidities, tanka, travelingLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Cheq Checklist

Daily Tanka: TNG

TNG



Tuesday night gravel
Means facing the hot headwind, 
Soaking up the views
Into the river valley,
Then riding tailwinds back home

Posted on June 13, 2017June 15, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, cycling, diversions, Minnesota, narcissism, nature, Northfield, photos, sport, spring, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: TNG
Daily Tanka: Uncertain Terrain

Daily Tanka: Uncertain Terrain

Uncertain Terrain

A bicycle ride
Is a rite of oneness with
Certain terrain and
With uncertain terrain too.
There is value in the act.

(After John McPhee, The Survival of the Bark Canoe)

Posted on June 12, 2017June 15, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, book report, borrowed content, cycling, diversions, Minnesota, narcissism, nature, photos, reading, sport, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Uncertain Terrain

Daily Tanka: Procrastinating

Procrastinating
The simplest pleasure
Of procrastinating is
Putting off pleasures:
Finishing this book, drinking
That beer, going for a ride

Posted on June 11, 2017June 12, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, diversions, narcissism, reading, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Procrastinating

Daily Tanka: Daily Tanka

Daily Tanka
I need many lines –
Ten, fifteen, even thirty –
Filled with dozens of 
Words and syllables I hate
To write a five-line poem

Posted on June 8, 2017June 11, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, diversions, narcissism, photos, reading, stupidities, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Daily Tanka

Daily Tanka: Riotgrrravel

Riotgrrravel
A peak dad moment:
When girls’ grasp equals their reach
A 20-mile ride
Loose gravel, heat, hills, headwind
Soda, donuts, the finish.

Posted on June 3, 2017June 4, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, cycling, diversions, family, girls, Minnesota, narcissism, nature, Northfield, parenting, photos, sport, summer, tankaLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Riotgrrravel

Daily Tanka: The Get-Ahead

The Get Ahead
The get-ahead push
Before a three-day weekend 
Requires a battle
Against this Thursday’s slacking
And the next Monday’s sucking

Posted on May 26, 2017May 28, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, Carleton, narcissism, spring, tanka, thing I learned today, workLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: The Get-Ahead

Daily Tanka: Workout Regrets

Workout Regrets
Suggesting to your
Trainer that you want to do
A favorite lift
Encourages him to cause
Some deep muscular regret

Posted on May 25, 2017May 28, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, Carleton, diversions, narcissism, sport, stupidities, tanka, workLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Workout Regrets

Daily Tanka: Tankastructions

Tankastructions
Use a pencil and
Lined paper but leave blank lines.
Write a bad first line.
Strike it. Write five better lines.
Count your syllables correctly.

Posted on May 20, 2017Categories 365 for 2017, art, diversions, narcissism, tanka, thing I learned todayLeave a comment on Daily Tanka: Tankastructions

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