Happy Birthday, Beautiful Beth

Today is Beth's birthday. She is on my mind often when I'm training, and especially much today while I went for my bike ride, then for a walk in Schmitz Park not far from Beth and Kevin's house. It was a beautiful, clear afternoon, a day Beth would have enjoyed spending outside, especially because it wasn't too cold. Beth was a non-fan of cold weather, and always chilly, wearing turtlenecks and scarves in May.

I was always amused by the fact that someone could be born on the winter solstice and dislike the cold so much. Apparently, though, it was not always this way. When she was a little girl living in Chicago, she was always the last one to come in from playing in the snow. She loved the cold and snow so much that her family nicknamed her "Bear," a name that stuck throughout her life.

I miss Beth a lot today, and it's also nice to pause from the holiday frenzy and soak up some nice memories of my friend. Here she is on a camping trip:


Now there's someone who knows how to eat in style while camping!

I'll be back soon with more training updates (note that I went for a bike ride today. Free wheel hub replaced and all is well with my bike.) Today, though, let's all (and by all, I mean the three people who read this blog) drink a toast to Beth. Happy winter solstice to you all. I'll take whatever Mama Nature has to dish out this winter -- bike rides in the sleet, runs in the snow, dark and windy and soggy. Bring it. I can take it. I've got a bear by my side.