the unlikely orange

 as some of you know, i have been working towards a goal i set at the beginning of 2020 of running 1000 miles in one calendar year.  today is the last day of september (what?!?), and so that means the year is 3/4 of the way complete, which means i should be right around the 750 mile marker.  however, i am doing better than that, as my 5 mile run today put me at 847 miles for the year, almost 100 miles ahead of schedule!  i am feeling great, enjoying the journey, and experiencing a real sense of accomplishment as i work towards this goal.   i have also enjoyed these little milestones along the way, just to see how far i've come.  as it turns out, 847 miles from State College (along the roads, not as the crow flies) would have me arriving in Birmingham, AL, right about now!  not too shabby!  only about 150 to go!

 oh my goodness, it's been awhile.   2020 has been happening, with a strange cast of characters including masks, ubiquitous hand sanitizer, elbow bumps, mute buttons, take out containers, and amazon boxes.   and while the months have been moving past, life has also been happening.  right under our noses.   as you may know, our family has a long tradition of making a "summer bucket list" each year, complete with items we'd like to accomplish in a summer.  some of the things are annual traditions and special events, while others are foods we want to try, or new experiences we'd like to explore.  in the past we've done our best, but we've never quite crossed all the things off our list.  this year, however, what with a distinct lack of camps and events, provided a bit more time to tick things off the list.  and we completed every item, including making our own potato chips and ice cream, and trying poutine and pavlova.  we picked blueberries, hiked many trail