Hungry

Every once in a while, my wife and I decide in our meal planning that we will go to one of the U's cafeteria to have dinner.  When we planned for this while creating a menu for this week, we decided to do this today (Tuesday).  Both of us find this enjoyable, and in some ways MORE enjoyable than simply going to a restaurant, because the cafeteria is of a "self service" style where you can for a set price, select anything that is available (a sort of "buffet" style arrangement).  And, the U has a rather fun and diverse array of food from traditional American to "ethnic" foods from various cuisines.  You may take as much or as little as you would like.  And, additionally wonderful  for me, they also have a salad bar.  So, it is usually quite fun for us to go.  

I tend (as you have heard me say before) to create a salad far bigger than my head as my starter.  But at the cafeteria, I then often go and select an almost "tapas" style plate.  "Tapas" for those who may not be familiar with the term, references a Spanish style of providing small samples of various food items.  And, so I consider my dinner plate to be "Tapas-esque" in that while what I select may or may not be of a Spanish-influenced cuisine.... I like to take tiny samples of many different items.... it feels very fun..... much more so than a standard sized portion of any specific entree.  So, I am looking forward to when my wife and I can get together later in the distal regions of the afternoon.  

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I ran an especially robust 10 miles today (~16.1 km).... INDOORS on the hamster track near my home.  I did this even though it was a beautiful 60 degrees (F) (~15.5 C) this morning, because we were in the midst of a massive downpour, and I did not really want to be utterly soggy (even though I do often ENJOY running in downpours when it is VERY WARM in the middle of the Summer).  With my recent fall (tripping, from a few weeks ago, I think I wrote about it), I still often get a bit nervous with worry when I have to change to a new place to run..... and the indoor track is a bit different surface wise than outside.  So, I strived to be extra careful.  In the same vein, however, I also have to combat AGAINST my fear of falling/tripping because if I did not, I would have to give up running, which I do not want to do.  It is just hard, though, sometimes I can imagine all sorts of worst-case scenarios (falling, hitting my head, breaking a bone, and perhaps doing this somewhere where folks may not notice me for quite a while because some trails are in deeply rural locations).  But, in the same breath, I cannot live in a "bubble" either.  

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I did have a beautiful dream (THAT I REMEMBERED TOO!!!!) last night.  In this dream, I was (for some unspecified reason) living in retirement with my wife in Poland (My wife is partially of Polish heritage, perhaps that was the "why"?).  In the dream, I was struggling quite a bit because I do not know Polish (nor does my wife).... but we were navigating around and successfully setting up our apartment, etc.  We went to an antique sort of shop (or perhaps it was just a store of used items) and found a lamp we liked, and the fellow who was the shopkeep was smoking a pipe, and HE KNEW enough English we could somewhat successfully communicate.  I showed him my pipe and pipe tobacco pouch (in the pocket of my jacket, and he nodded and started trying to explain//invite me to come to the village's pipe club.  Time then spun around a bit in the dream, and I was at the club meeting, meeting folks, smoking m pipe and having a great time, even though I could not verbally communicate with many due to my lack of Polish knowledge.  But, it was a riot and was a great time.  They also enjoyed sharing shots of vodka and had beer available as well.  And I indulged in a couple of beverages as well.  It was a very pleasant dream.  

PipeTobacco