I figured I might as well keep a “not bad” thing going, and I was once again in bed before sunset last night. The result was I woke up more refreshed and rested than I had in nearly two flu-ridden weeks. It only took 13 days, but I’ll take what I can get.
Even better, I was on the trails before 7:30 AM, just as the sun was rising.
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The air was a crisp 20˚, but the sun was shining, my legs felt good, and I felt like I had some energy to spare as I lumbered around the woods looking for critters to photograph. Sadly, the critters didn’t get the memo.
Despite the cold air and the knowledge that we’re supposed to get 1 to 3″ of snow and ice tonight before things turn to thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon, things were remarkably “sping-ish.” Ducks were swimming in the river, the geese were loudly honking, birds were chirping, and even though a thin layer of ice covered the vernal pools and swamps along the trails, there was skunk cabbage sprouting. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, spring is my absolute favorite time of year!
I got 5.35 miles on my feetz and was home for breakfast by 9 AM. Not a bad way to start a Tuesday morning, and even better, given that, for the first time in days, I didn’t feel like I got hit by a truck two hours after.
THE UNRELATED HISTORY LESSON YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED, SURELY DO NOT WANT, AND I DID NOT NEED TO SHARE:
As I sat at the table eating my lunch today, I took a look at my options for late afternoon football watching. Along with some mid-week English Premier League matches is a match between German third-tier club Arminia Bielefeld and 2024 Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen in the German Cup, also known as the DFB-Pokal (the DFB-Pokal is a multi-tier tournament akin to the English FA Cup).
I, of course, have heard of Leverkusen, but I had to look up some info on Arminia Bielefeld and found their origin pretty cool.
They were founded in 1905 and take their name Arminius from the leader of the Germanic tribe Cheruscan, who defeated a Roman army in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in September 9 AD. NINE? NINE! NINE? YES, FUCKING NINE!
Beyond the history, I love this, if for no other reason than there is NO WAY IN HELL any American team’s money-grubbing owners would ever let their team be named after the leader of a tribe that fought in a battle over 2,000 years ago. Because, you know, capitalism, branding, marketing, money, etc. No, an American owner would name them “Whatever City FC” and then change their logo/branding every year in order to make money selling shit and do so risk-free because American sports run on the franchise system, not promotion and relegation like 99% of the world does.
I don’t see Arminia Bielefeld getting a victory over Leverkusen today, but then again, no one expected them to beat Bundesliga club Werder Bremen to make it to the semi-finals, either. Viel glück, die Armines!
UPDATE TO THE UNRELATED HISTORY LESSON YOU DIDN’T KNOW YOU NEEDED, SURELY DO NOT WANT, AND I DID NOT NEED TO SHARE: THEY DID IT!!!!! What a story for them! Well done!
Later.