It’s been a minute since we’ve had an update blog, so, as the last blog post of the year, here we are! A little something about what some of the team members have been up to.
Oriana:
I was consistently running every other day and orienteering practically every other week and was even planning to run my first half marathon by the end of the year, but today I hit my toe really hard. I’m hoping it’s just a bad bruise and not broken but that dream may be thrown out the window soon. School is going as well as it can be in this setting. My favorite teacher just went on maternity leave, which is a bit sad but she’s gonna be a great mom. Other than that, I’m just surviving 2020 how I think most people are.
Mori:
If you want to see what trainings have been available for NEOC (New England Orienteering Club) members this fall, you could just look at my attackpoint log. Except, I may have forgotten to log at all this fall… so I’ll give you a quick wrap up here.
Over the summer, there were a few trainings that members could go to. This was the first year that NEOC had offered any summer training options. All were BYOM with streamers and ranged over about a week, so people could train any time. This fall, rather then canceling all events, the club decided to adapt the BYOM format into the fall. Most planned events became trainings with streamers, but there were a few events with controls and QR codes, with one socially distant in-person event. Having courses open for a week (or more) created the opportunity to have trainings at locations without a lot of parking. Many club members (including me) got to run on maps they never had been to. I personally got to host a small training on the map I worked on with Anna this summer. Since there wasn’t much in-person post-course discussion, the club provided RouteGadget and Livelox services to allow people to compare GPS routes afterward. This winter NEOC is also planning a few more trainings — though right now we have more than foot of snow. Hope everyone is having a simply wonderful Christmas training time!
Bridget:
I have officially finished one semester of college, which feels crazy to say. It was a busy last week with multiple projects in one class and an exam in the other, but getting it all done was quite satisfying. I now have a month in which I am planning the winter trainings for NEOC, making a map for the Youth Mapping Program, and planning for moving onto campus in mid-January (it’s actually happening!!). I’ve been keeping up with training as well; my XCTF coach has given us plans for the break, I’m getting out orienteering when I can, and I’m going skiing as many times as I can while there is still snow (the weather is not looking promising though). Also been doing a lot of vegan baking: recently attempted Florentines (with which Mary and Paul would have been disappointed – they didn’t snap), and also Schichttorte (again, Mary and Paul would be disappointed – the layers didn’t show because I got scared I was going to burn it – look it up if you are confused 🙂 I’ll be trying this one again for sure though), all along with some peppermint brownies and, as always, chocolate chip cookies as well.
AJ:
Hey y’all. I’ve been in Montana these last couple months chillin with Caroline and Siri. It’s been a good time, getting to see my old teammates and friends. So here’s a quick update about what’s been going down in the Bozeman household.
When Peter and I arrived the girls were super excited to see us after we’ve not seen each other in over a year. But I was exhausted to the plane so we just quickly drove to their house, got a quick tour, then went to bed.
The next day we went on a really amazing hike in the Bridger mountains where I almost slipped and died in a ravine. But thankfully I made it back with only a mere shoulder wound. The terrain was amazing for hiking and looking at, not so much for orienteering or hiking off trail as we did. However it was still a great adventure with a lot of slippery falls and fart jokes.
We continued our stay by hiking in some more interesting places, Caroline and Siri showing us around. We walked around Hyalite lake and found a spot where our echoes would ring out for 5 seconds or more and it was amazing. We spent hours yelling into the mountains and listening to our voices bounce back from 20 different directions in an ethereal and haunting harmony.
We also hiked up to the top of Storm Castle (I think that’s what it was called) without Caroline unfortunately. But Peter, Siri, and myself made it all the way to the top and got some good photos.
Then one day we went to Yellowstone park which was damn cool but also overrated a bit. I really liked the geography of some of the rock deposits though.
There was also a good amount of playing crappy games like Hearts and Settlers of Catan, which all of us hate now. We also ate food at the place where Siri and Caroline work in downtown! (several times)
It was also Siri’s birthday on the 16th of December so we celebrated that, meeting up with our old friend Sarah Petersen who we haven’t seen in forever.
We went skiing the next day, and now I’m here writing this blog post the day before leaving for home. We are going to be opening presents tomorrow, eating breakfast together, packing, and getting ready to go to the airport.
Also Siri eats onions plain and cookies with hot sauce and thinks I’M WEIRD FIR EATING A KIWI HOLE!!!
Thanks bye
Julia:
Big news! I have a kitten now! So if you were thinking “I get it, your cat is the cutest thing on the planet, enough with the photos,” now you get to see photos of another adorable cat! I am very happy to be one cat closer to fulfilling my dream of being a crazy cat lady. The kitten is an absolute angel when she is sleepy and totally bonkers the rest of the time. She also eats everything, including spaghetti. I have plans to train her to be a pro at high fiving like my cat is but for now we are working on just sitting still for any amount of time.
And I guess since this is not actually a cat blog I should mention that BAOC had our first event since March! It was really nice to see people again and it was a very fun course with 44 controls and a map flip, designed by Dennis Wildfogel.
The all-important kitten photos:
As we reach the end of this blog post, we want to give best wishes to our graduating juniors: Julia, Thomas, and Kai. They’ve been an incredible part of this team, and will be greatly missed in the NJP shenanigans. We can’t wait to see all the amazing things you get up to in the future!!
And we wish all you readers a happy, safe holiday season and beginning of the New Year! See you all in 2021.
USA Junior Orienteering 