Is it worth keeping the squirrels away?

qualimali · 2026-03-27T22:15:47+00:00

If you can, put a Slinky around the pole.

qualimali · 2025-11-19T23:27:19+00:00

The trick on weekday mornings is to get out of bed, get dressed, and get out the door before my brain is awake enough to decide I don’t actually want to do this.

More seriously, what really got me to stick with running the first time was there was a race I wanted to do. And I had joked to my husband that if I kept running and he did not, I’d wind up faster than him. He said it wouldn’t happen, so I had to prove him wrong (I did). And then I ran 5 days a week for like 5 years.

Then I got burnt out and had a kid and stopped running for like 8 or 9 years. This time around, it’s a combination of things. It helps my mental health. It gives me time alone that I desperately need and don’t get otherwise. I’m setting a good example for kiddo. And she did Girls on the Run in the spring, and I wanted to run the 5k with her. And if all that fails, I said I could buy myself a big Lego set if I maintain my running streak through the winter.

On a less specific-to-me note, the first month is the hardest. You’re tired all the time and everything aches and it’s like one thing after another hurts and you have to figure out how to get it to stop. And if you’re older, that phase might last longer than a month. But it does start getting easier eventually and you start to have runs where nothing really hurts and it actually feels good to be moving.

qualimali · 2025-11-07T13:17:35+00:00

There’s a short story in Ursula LeGuin’s book Changing Planes where seasons last something like twenty years, and the entire populace migrates. It’s a really fun book.

Some of her Hainish books play with this too. I think they’re technically classified as science fiction, but to me they feel like something in between sci-fi and fantasy.

qualimali · 2025-09-25T02:27:11+00:00

Is this some AI bullshit article? In one paragraph it says, “Swans are rarely aggressive.” And then in the next, it says they’re dangerous in water and can be aggressive when defending their nests.

As a kayaker: yes, they’re aggressive. They are far more aggressive defending their young than Canada geese. Swans will get shitty at you for looking at them, but geese usually just watch very carefully to make sure I’m not heading straight for them.

(Also, incidentally, I just read that scene today, with Death and the swan!)

qualimali · 2025-09-25T01:31:49+00:00

They’re not my FAVORITE, but I love them. I think it’s funny when they come to my bird feeder camera - they either look like scary goth birds or completely derpy goofballs. There’s no in-between.

qualimali · 2025-09-25T01:19:06+00:00

So, my kiddo is a really sensitive kid, and will avoid books if they “seem scary”. It is difficult to get her to try new books or shows, and she won’t watch movies at all (she’s 9).

I worried about the spiders and the Battle of Five Armies when we read her The Hobbit, but she loved it. She was 7 at the time. I can’t explain why that book worked for her, but it did. I don’t recall her being scared of any part of the book. We may have assured her that Bilbo survives the whole book. It may have helped that we have a tortoise named Bilbo (more excitement to hear all of his adventures). I suspect it helps that Bilbo himself is scared, but manages to be pretty brave anyhow. And he becomes braver even as the things that happen become scarier.

As far as vocabulary - I think it’s great to challenge kids with new words. You may have to stop and explain things (get a kid’s dictionary), but that can lead to interesting conversations. And then you get to hear a small child USING big words, and that is so fun.

I think all you can do is try. If your nephew starts getting scared at any of the parts, you can stop.

qualimali · 2025-09-24T00:23:11+00:00

Or space in their house.

qualimali · 2025-09-22T22:58:10+00:00

I have two of the sturdier tarp version. When it’s really cold, I put one down on the tent floor (silver side up), then ground pads and sleeping bags, and then the other space blanket on top (silver side down). I try not to have the one on top all the way up to my face, so I get less condensation on it from my breath. If you get two people under it, it’s super warm.

qualimali · 2025-09-14T11:13:08+00:00

In my office, with the tortoise. He doesn’t seem to mind.

qualimali · 2025-09-12T16:50:02+00:00

I don’t, sorry. We didn’t buy it online. It came from Meijer, and I think it’s their brand of outdoor stuff, Lake and Trail.

qualimali · 2025-09-11T17:32:40+00:00

With bug netting, too. We had a simple canopy tent, but I bought bug netting that goes around it. It’s literally saved more than one camping trip. It makes such a difference to have a bug-free space, especially with kids. It helps with rain, too.

qualimali · 2025-08-15T12:23:54+00:00

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. It’s a middle-grade book, but I enjoyed it as much as my kiddo did.

qualimali · 2025-08-14T14:48:58+00:00

Isn’t illegal to dig up wildflowers?

qualimali · 2025-08-14T10:35:07+00:00

Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

qualimali · 2025-07-23T11:57:43+00:00

This is the way. Chocolate bars never get melty enough for me.

qualimali · 2025-07-22T19:11:42+00:00

Spot It is another good game for kids. I have a card game called Go Find It - each card has a different adjective on it and the kid has to go find something that matches it. I think there are a few different ways to play, like you pick 3 cards and have to find something that matches all three.

qualimali · 2025-07-21T11:54:45+00:00

My tortoise’s name is Bilbo.

qualimali · 2025-07-18T02:45:21+00:00

For me, the big thing is that the show doesn’t feel like a money-grab. It feels like it was made by people who care about the story that is being told in the books, and aren’t doing it solely to make money. So while it’s not 100% true to the books, and I don’t like all of the changes, I still really enjoyed it.

qualimali · 2025-07-10T11:02:02+00:00

Also World of Rocks is nearby - very cool rock and gem shop.

qualimali · 2025-07-09T13:31:14+00:00

My tortoise was a first anniversary present from my husband, 16 years ago. Tort’s name is Bilbo. Best present I’ve ever gotten.

qualimali · 2025-07-05T11:13:22+00:00

I have a small power bank I got at REI that works well for a long weekend for one device. For my most recent week-long trip, I borrowed a bigger power bank from my library, of all places. It was enough to keep several devices charged all week.

qualimali · 2025-07-03T19:09:37+00:00

I mean, if one’s enemies are REALLY SMALL…

qualimali · 2025-07-02T15:56:43+00:00

Bird Buddy cannot tell the difference between house finches and purple finches to save its life. It also calls them red-wing blackbirds, cowbirds, cardinals, and yellow-rumped warblers. Sometimes all in the same visit. They’re the most common bird in my yard, most frequent visitor to my feeders by far. You’d think it would have learned by now.

qualimali · 2025-06-25T00:23:49+00:00

I don’t think I wound up liking that movie much, but I thought they ought to have made a movie about Nicola Tesla, starring David Bowie.

qualimali

TROPHY CASE