Grandma's Again

This past weekend was the 31st running of Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. My sister and I again converged on my aunt's house and the three of us volunteered to work in the medical tent for the racers. What a weekend to run a marathon!

I don't have any photos yet from my sister but once she shares them I'll post a few. On Friday we sat along the North Shore of Lake Superior watching the lake fog sweep upwards into the sky to form huge storm clouds. As they accumulated and drifted over land we were repeatedly hit with an onslaught of heavy rain. In spite of the rain though the land temp stayed in the high 70's and low 80's making for a sauna of a day. The sweltering heat and downpours were no match for the "Kahl" girls...we successively shopped are way through Duluth and feasted at Olive Garden at the request of the youngest.

Race day dawned bright and early but still sweltering. The temperature was already in the 70's by the start of the race. It was also my little sister's birthday that day so once we wished her a happy 26th we split up to work the day. My aunt and sister worked mile marker 19 and I worked the finish line tent. It was a long, hot race for a lot of runners. Even the elites were slow. My aunt and sister came to the finish tent around 2:30 in the afternoon and things were starting to slow a bit so I said my good-byes and we went to Grandma's Restaurant so the birthday girl could have her Full Monty (A Grandma's special...a three decker house club sandwich dipped in beer batter and deep fat fried). The next task was a LONG nap.

All in all it was a very good weekend. In the midst of the weekend I over half completed a 1000 piece puzzle of my aunt's and I also expanded my book collection. You'd a thunk it!


The best purchase of the stack was Agate: What Good is a Moose? Agate is a children's book written and illustrated by a Duluth authors. The watercolors are beautiful and it's a story about accepting who you are. I'll post pictures of it too.

I picked up two of Thomas Sparrow's books as well, another Northern. I added Suite Francoise since I finished The Things We Remember and enjoyed the WWII theme. My aunt bought me a novel with a big awkward moose on the cover about a small town in Alaska (the title escapes me). I finished listening to The Thirteenth Tale and The Cat Who Dropped A Bombshell too. I am now reading Eye Contact by Cammie McGovern and listened to the first CD of some Faye Kellerman novel. Good thing I have a few long weekends coming up to relax with a good book!