Hills

Lake Oswego... it has them.

Originally, the place looked like a dream come true. Open Google Maps on your browser, zoom in... and Wow! Trails, trails, and more trails. Not those half-hearted trails you see meekly following the shoulder of a main thoroughfare. These are real trails.

Unfortunately, they're a bit more real than I would like. Lake Oswego sits on the slopes of Mt. Sylvania, a dormant shield volcano with a peak elevation of 978 feet. And--wouldn't you know it--our new apartment is near the peak.

Fun times.

I won't complain, because--after all--dedicated running trails are rare and a treat, no matter how steep they are. And these trails are prime strength training material. In 20 minutes, I get the same workout as running 60 minutes on the flat. No kidding.

Unfortunately, my fiance--who has begun building a running habit--will have to deal with them too, and soon. While these hills are intimidating to me, they're bound to have debilitating consequences for her. We may have to compromise.

Fortunately, hills (especially Lake Oswego Hills) are the master of compromise.

A downhill says, "run me for fitness"

A flat says, "jog me for fitness".

An uphill says, "walk me for fitness".

Lake Oswego says, "crawl me for fitness".

So, you see, by merely walking in our neighborhood, we'll achieve a level of fitness we never could have achieved in our respective former neighborhoods. By running, we're bound to get our names printed in Demigod Running Magazine. Fame and fortune will follow.

Okay, not really, but you get the idea.

Now, I won't deny that running must have a measure of fun, otherwise you won't do it. Also, I won't deny that running hills isn't technically 'fun', at least--not in the truest sense of the word. Fortunately, even though the Boring Lava Fields (no, really, that's what they're called) are steep and intimidating, they aren't all encompassing. There are flat alternatives. They just require a bit of driving.

Exhibit A: The Springwater Corridor

It's a dedicated multi-use path, with reasonable contours (both in the horizontal and the vertical). And... it's only 6.3 miles away from our apartment.

So, you see? All that worry, it was for naught. Running we can do. Walking we can do. Even crawling we can cope with. And Lake Oswego? It'll suffice for all three.

Until next time,
- Daniel

Moving

It's probably true that people who switch homes regularly have less clutter than those who don't. That is to say, if you buy something, you'll (at least subconsciously) be thinking about what it would mean to move it from point A to point B.

So, consider getting a Queen-size bed instead of a King (or that California King they had in the mattress store down the street).

Similarly, people who live in smaller houses have less clutter than those who live in larger houses. This is a simple extrapolation of Parkinson's Law that "work expands to fill the time allotted to complete it".

If you haven't guessed, I will be moving in the near future. Tomorrow, to be precise. Fortunately, it's not a long-distance move (which would be tiring), or a household-of-ten move (which would be back-breaking and tiring). This hop is a short one, and it's just the two of us.

Two of us?

Okay--so, I'm not just moving. I'm also getting married. Perhaps I should have led off with that. I'm living in a new apartment as of tomorrow, and my wife will be joining me after our wedding and honeymoon.

I'll elaborate later, I promise.

All that said, moving two people into the same house is not nearly as intimidating as it sounds. First off, single people rarely own large houses with lots of stuff in them. Second, they are resistant to things like pulled muscles and wrenched ligaments. As long as they don't get a particularly ornery dresser dropped on them, they'll probably be fine.

Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from here (from a clutter perspective, anyway). As soon as you have somebody close to buy things for, you tend to do that very thing. And as soon as you have kids… well…

But maybe a cluttered home can still be a happy home. And maybe you can compensate by not moving as often. And when you do have to move, maybe it's okay to give part of your gold mine to Goodwill.

In fact, maybe clutter doesn't matter much at all. And maybe I should be blogging on more consequential topics. Hey... you know... I bet marriage qualifies as consequential. ;-)

...

Spontaneous inspiration. It's a wonderful thing.

Until next time,

- Daniel