Well, that was quite a week...

I won't lie, I'm feeling pretty worn out by this week, and that's even with the relatively happy ending in our household as of this morning.  

It was super chilly through Tuesday (with even a little snow on the ground on Monday), which of course meant that going out to vote and grab lunch (on our one kid-less day this week, after having none last week) was done in cold and a few flurries.  Our voting was quick and uneventful, and it was nice to grab some lunch out to bring home.  Lunch at home is the new date night, I guess.

The sunset on Election Night was beautiful and much needed.  

Obviously the election was the focal point of the entire week, keeping our eyes peeled on the news and trying to avoid as much of the conflict on social media as we could.  I downloaded about three new games this week alone to avoid doom-scrolling.  Based on previous posts, you can imagine that we were happy with the results that came through this morning.  I understand the stress of the folks on the other side, though--heck, we felt it deeply four years ago, and the unknowns and concerns weigh heavily.  All I can really say is that Trump's divisive nature, half-truths, and narcissistic behavior were exhausting to me, someone who has never been that into politics.  It was worse in the last nine months or so, where it seemed like we were hearing from him every day, and every speech seemed to bring a new concerning quote or lack of action.  If I felt a weight from those things, I can only imagine how it felt for people who felt threatened, ignored, or oppressed by this administration.  I don't blame them for openly celebrating their freedom from that today, and it goes so far beyond the usual presidential victory that often feels akin to a sporting event to me.  For so many people it feels like a huge moral victory, and while I don't entirely understand the mindset of the other side, I do feel for their current angst because I remember it all too well.  And I'm honestly not sure a lot of Biden supporters could have mentally gone through four more years of the same stresses (and beyond) that I was feeling.  I truly think suicides might have spiked even higher than they already have during the pandemic.  This was so much bigger than individual political issues for so many people.  I did not like what I saw for the last four years, for so many reasons.  Even if some of the legislation was fine, the tone with which it was done and the general environment around it was difficult to wrangle.  Does it cancel out removing a less helpful former president's legislation if you insult a different race in the process because of deeply seeded bias?  Quite possibly.  Does it cancel out the benefit of a travel ban from China if you take little other action and insist the coronavirus is "going away" when cases are peaking?  In my opinion, most definitely.  So, I am relieved that we at least get a new talk track, and a more sincere, humble one at that.

Anyway, back to the week.  Work was extremely busy all week, but I was productive and kept my projects moving, which felt good.  However, I felt like everything else was discombobulated.  It was one of those weeks where everything just seemed to pile up--from issues with the kids to messes everywhere I looked, from countless undone tasks to a literal eternal pile of dishes since our dishwasher is out of commission.  Maybe the political stress compounded it, but I finally made a list on my phone and started trying to work through it.  Only partial success so far, but hopefully more tomorrow.

Starting Wednesday, it was gorgeous out--not just warm, but sunny!  We're now in the midst of a full week of sunny 60s and even 70s, which is nearly unheard of in November.  I guess it almost makes up for all the 40s and rain we had in the couple weeks before Halloween, but it's just a bummer that most of the leaves aren't there to enjoy anymore.  Working from home on days like these, especially at this time of year where after work daylight is non-existent, is really nice.  Not only can you easily go out and enjoy the weather at lunch or when you need a break, but you can even take care of pesky yard tasks in full daylight during a weekday lunch, rather than spending an hour of your precious weekend.  On Wednesday and Friday I spent part of my lunch cleaning up my garden.  The cold over the weekend finally killed it off (along with most of my flowers), so I had to finally go back out and clear out the tomato plants.  The cukes died off a while ago, and the zucchini and beans came out a couple weeks ago when they stopped growing.  But the tomatoes were still producing, so I left them.  Well, once the cold killed them, I figured most would be mush.  However, when I started clearing out the fencing on Wednesday, I collected this:

Fried green tomatoes, anyone?

I finished the job on Friday and collected another couple handfuls, too.  Those plants couldn't be pulled out intact because they were so tangled in the fencing and tomato cages, but they had to be over eight feet tall!

As if this week wasn't enough already, I found out some amazing news--not ours, and definitely not ours to share--but amazing nonetheless.  That made the last couple days even more eventful!  Hopefully I can share a little here soon.  But it was just another part of a crazy, roller coaster week!

With the gorgeous weather again today, I wanted to make sure we got out in it.  After seeing the presidential results come through, I did a run this morning--my first in two months thanks to my leg/butt pain, the weather, and illness. It ended up being a bunch of intervals over three miles because I am clearly out of shape, but at least my bad leg felt better!  In the afternoon, since Jacob had to miss his game last weekend, I let Craig keep his turn in the game-watching department and Carter and I went on another adventure.  This time we went north, to the lake.  We went to Hamlin Beach State Park.  I only think of Hamlin as a couple towns over from us, but it's a solid half hour, straight north to the lake then straight west on the expressway.  But it was a lovely drive along the lake!

Carter's first priority was the playground, of course!  But at least the view from up top was beautiful!

Carter loved how the sun made the leaves look like gold! 

After the playground, we walked out on a pier.  There were tons of geese in the water nearby, audibly squawking up a storm!

There wasn't much color left, but everything was so blue today!

Erosion and high water has been a big problem in this area for a couple years now, but this spot seems pretty set with all these giant rocks!

It was a lovely, peaceful day.  Despite a bit of a breeze, the lake was very still.  

We came across a nature trail and attempted to hike it.  Carter, as usual, got in a good run.

The color wasn't what it once was, but it definitely had some late fall charm.  

Along the walk there was a long wooden walkway that went out into what I imagine was a giant bog of grasses.  It looked pretty dry in between ponds, but maybe it's wetter in summer?  I assume all of this was green a couple months ago (much like what was along the river when Carter and I went to Turning Point Park), but I'm not sure.  You could just see the lake in the distance.

Along the path we saw this amazing spot where the trees made an arch over the path.  The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was cool.

At one point we got to this pine section, and Carter was convinced that it was like something out of a horror movie!  He's right--in the movies they should not have gone in there!

But it was very serene in the middle of it!

By this point I was getting a little nervous about where we might pop out or how long the walk might end up, so once we saw this last pretty spot, I went toward what looked like a clearing.  It dropped us a bit outside the park entrance, but it left us a reasonably direct walk back in the end.  And thank goodness, because I was getting tired!

On our way back to the playground, we stopped in this one small spot that had direct access to the water.  We jumped out of the way of waves as we looked at the stones near the water.  It reminded me of Camp Pioneer, right down to the abundance of zebra mussel shells.  Some of the rocks were really pretty, though, and the lapping water was so peaceful.  

Carter had a field day finding fancy rocks, and I even found a couple tiny pieces of green glass.  It was fun seeing him collect treasures, even if it did mean we had full hands and pockets for a bit!  This is our haul.  I think the bigger ones might make it out to the garden one of these days, to hang out with the other big ones I brought home from Camp Pioneer.  Some of the smaller ones will probably end up with his panned rocks from Howe Caverns and his crystals from his fossil dig-type Christmas gift last year.

After that it was back to the playground for a bit before heading home for dinner, a movie, and a certain very important political speech.

It wasn't quite as amazing as our last outing, but it's always fun to get out in nature and get Carter away from screens for a while, especially on a gorgeous day like today.  I just like exploring new places, and seeing Carter find some fun in it was a nice bonus.  

A few more gorgeous days left, plus a day off this coming week.  Next weekend we have a family wedding, which will be fun but different with COVID...but what else is new?  Cases are on the rise so I'm hoping nothing gets in the way in the meantime.  If nothing else, we made it through the first limbo week of November relatively unscathed.  Let's see if we can keep the next couple interesting...in a good way!