Lights

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Merry Christmas. I leave tomorrow for a little vacation in Florida with friends.

runnings

Last Minute Shopping At The Fetus

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As I headed to Wisconsin this morning for the holiday weekend, I had to make one last stop to finish my Christmas shopping. I figured a CD would be a good gift and The Electric Fetus is not only a good shopping option, but it is near my home. I was worried I would be stuck with a myriad of last minute shoppers like myself, so I tried to make it by 9 am when the stored opened. As I arrived at the Fetus close to 10 am (behind schedule as usual), I was surprised to be able to easily find a parking spot. I did my Christmas shopping, leaving with an extra CD or two for myself, and found the parking lot and street much fuller as I left. Perhaps people thought the store opened at 10 am. My friend George pointed out it could be a sign of the economy. I did find this article about local music stores completing with music downloads. The article points out The Fetus does keep up:

“At the Electric Fetus' original Minneapolis location, several new Mix & Burn stations are being installed this week -- electronic stands where customers can sample entire albums and/or compile their own unique CDs.”

I’ve always liked the store and am especially please it could help me easily complete my Christmas shopping at the last minute this year.

runnings
Once again, a small town is great for after dark running. I've had a hard time getting out for runs at noon lately and I don't like to run outside after dark in Minneapolis. Even though I made my parents around noon today, my afternoon nap put my run off until dark. But in a town of 2,500, I'll throw caution to the wind and go out in the dark.

A Lutheran Exhibit

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I just learned about an exhibit at the University of Minnesota in the Elmer L Andersen’s atrium gallery. It is “A Mighty Fortress Far from Lake Wobegon” and is about Lutheran churches in the Twin Cities and their diversity. As a Lutheran, I know there are still plenty of Garrison Keillor’s stereotypes (yes, we’re good at pot lucks), but as a resident of Minneapolis, I know there is a changing landscape of demographics. Allison Adrian, the creator of the exhibit, found a large amount of ethnic diversity in Lutheran churches while creating her dissertation on Lutheran church music in the Twin Cities. I probably won’t make it to the exhibit, which runs through Dec 29th, due to travel plans, but I found a couple articles about it. Here are some interesting bits from them:

“Between 1990 and 2000, Minnesota's foreign-born population increased 130 percent to more than 260,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Minnesota currently ranks highest in the nation for proportion of refugees to residents and second in the nation, after California, in the number of refugee arrivals.”

"As a native Minnesotan, I have always been interested in perceptions of who Minnesotans are," she says. "As an aspiring ethnomusicologist, I am interested in the ways people decide to make music. I combined these two interests when I began researching for my dissertation [and] I found a surprising amount of ethnic diversity within the Lutheran church, especially given the media's portrayal of Minnesotan Lutheranism as Scandinavian. This diversity is dramatically apparent in the worship music featured in Lutheran services around the Twin Cities."

runnings
One problem with not training for a race is I'm finding myself letting work take over. I'm skipping noon runs in favor of doing work.

Scottish Kilts

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On NPR this morning there was a story about Scottish troops with a shortage of kilts:

"Morning Edition, December 19, 2006 · Here's one more challenge for the coalition of the willing. Thousands of Scottish soldiers must deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan without their kilts. Soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland no longer wear kilts into battle. Presumably, there's no good Kevlar kilt. But troops do wear them for ceremonial occasions. And a contracting mix-up caused a shortage. There's only one kilt for every fifteen soldiers. So, for now, the troops have been ordered to share. "

A friend of mine grew up in Scotland and was in the cadets. He tells me it’s true they don't wear anything under their kilts. I would think that would make it a little harder to share.

runnings

Dominoes

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My sister and her family were in Wisconsin at my parents this weekend so I made a trip there. One of my family's favorite games is the dominoes game The Mexican Train.



runnings
One nice thing about going for a run in small town of about about 2500 is you don't have to worry much if you are out after dark.

Beer, Not Spice

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I’ve been sent to Fort Collins CO for work this week. Several people told me it’s a great town for beer so each night I’ve set out to find places to sample the local brews. Fort Collins definitely can do beer, but they’re a little confused on their spice. I first went to Coopersmith’s where I tried the Poudre Pale Ale and the Punjabi Pale Ale. However, when I asked for some pepper for my meal, they had to go into the kitchen and get me a little dish of it. Next I tried Crown Pub where I sampled 90 Shilling. I’m now a big fan and am adding it to my favorites list! However, the dish I ordered was spicy to the point I could barely eat it. And for a Minnesotan I can do spice pretty well. I may not have found great food yet, but the beer makes up for it.

runnings
Running in Colorado would be great if only it was light out longer. The hotel treadmill isn't giving me much motivation to go more than 2 miles.

Climate of Minnesota

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Since we’ve had some extreme temperatures lately (wind chills in the negatives already but a forecasted high in the 40s over the weekend), I set out to find some information on the average temperatures and snow cover in Minnesota for this time of year. I instead found a document on the National Climatic Data Center’s website describing the Climate of Minnesota:

"Temperature- Minnesota has a continental-type climate and is subject to frequent outbreaks of continental polar air throughout the year, with occasional Arctic outbreaks during the cold season. Occasional periods of prolonged heat occur during summer, particularly in the southern portion of Minnesota, when warm air pushes northward from the Gulf of Mexico and the southwestern United States."

"Mean annual temperatures range from 36 degrees Fahrenheit (° F) in the extreme north to 49 degrees along the Mississippi River in the southeast. State temperature extremes range from -60 to 114° F."

"Heavy snowfalls of greater than 4 inches are common any time from mid-November through mid-April. Heavy snowfalls with blizzard conditions affect the State on the average about two times each winter. Blizzard conditions are when visibilities are reduced to less than ¼ mile for several hours due to falling and/or blowing snow. The wind must be at least 35 mph. "

Now who wouldn’t love living here?

runnings

Participating In An Ordination

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This past weekend an ordination occurred at my church. I’ve never been to one, nor has my church hosted one in its history. It really was an incredible event. Perhaps the fact that the person being ordained is a friend of mine gives me this opinion. The gathering of a congregation, an array of pastors and bishops in a ceremony to confirm a person’s call to ministry seems like a great event. Apart from my emotions for my friend, however, I couldn’t quite explain my feelings about the experience, so I went to the ELCA’s website and looked up ordination. I found two papers, one by Thomas H. Schattauer and another by Maria Erling, which brought up the role of a congregation in an ordination.
Thomas H. Schattauer states:
"As we consider the principal relationships symbolically enacted at ordination—the person ordained, the church in its assembly, and God—we note again the thoroughly communal nature of what is taking place. The presence and participation of a local assembly is essential to the rite of ordination. Apart from a gathering of the people of God, there can be no ordination."

Maria Erling writes:
"Many would argue over whether the Lutheran reforming movement intended a complete restructuring of the church or whether it aimed instead to retain structures as long as they served to convey people to a rightly ordered faith, but all would agree that the principle interest of the reformers was to examine and foster the ways in which people came to faith, and that this lead them to concentrate their attention on the work of the ministry in congregations. Their singular focus on the workings of faith in hearers has meant that Lutherans almost exclusively place the ordained ministry in a congregational context."

I actually participated in the ceremony by helping serve communion. However, reading these articles explains a further participation of the congregation I was a part of. I think this gave me the feeling of it being an incredible event. Everyone there played a role.

Randy at the church after his ordination

Randy at the party afterwards

runnings
I ran the Reindeer Run Saturday. I think there was a negative windchill. The breakfast several of us gathered for afterwards could be the only reason I got up and braved the cold.