Normally I don’t consider myself dull or boring but every now and then I wonder.
- Midsommer Murders – I’ve seen every episode repeatedly – but every afternoon if I am at home and have the television on, that’s what I settle on.
- State Fair. I’m not suggesting that the State Fair is boring but seriously, five or six trips every year? Clearly the repetitiveness has to be a bit of the appeal.
- A Christmas Carol. Read it every year and watch various versions repeatedly throughout the holiday season.
- Death on the Nile. Two versions that I like… I don’t want to even guess how many times I’ve watched one or the other of them. Ditto for Murder on the Orient Express (although only one acceptable version of this).
I joined the Arboretum four years ago during Pandemic – it was one place where it was easy to spend time without worrying about social distancing as well as being comforting. Since then I have gone often, including every year for the Winter Lights display. I love walking through the Arb when it’s brisk and chilly, seeing the lovely lights in shapes of flowers, snowflakes, butterflies. YA won’t come every year because the displays don’t change much.
This year, I ended up parking in the last parking lot near what I’ve always thought of as the “end” of the light tour, several little houses, all lit up and that are a magnet for kids of all ages. For some reason I decided that instead of heading up to the main building I would do the little houses first and then do the lights backwards. There were hundreds of visitors at the Arb that night and I was absolutely the only one going in that direction. A couple of times it was a little funny as I had to step aside on a path to let a glut of people pass in the opposite way.
It was a fun experience and I may do it backwards again next year… since I’m sure I’ll go again.
What’s something you can do/see over and over again?
Trail Baboon 
Columbo.
However, I recently started watching these “deep dives” into the episodes.
It’s unique.
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My housemate and I both adore Columbo! We have the complete box set and have gone through it at least twice. Right now she’s binging on the original “Law and Order,” which can get a little miasmic for me, but she loves the cleverness of the writing.
–Crow Girl
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I’ve watched Columbo so much that I can tell what episode it is before the title flashes on.
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Talk about repetition, I probably have posted this before because it’s what comes to mind whenever Columbo is mentioned. Peter Falk in the persona of Lt. Columbo roasts Frank Sinatra:
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This is hysterical!
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I like my core walking trails in Owatonna and at the River Bend Nature Center in Faribault. Three faves in O-town that I usually alternate between. One most fave at RBNC, but I do a few others for variety.
I never tire of visiting the North Shore or the BWCAW.
Our default TV show is “Big Bang Theory.” Must have watched each episode 20 times. I’m getting bored by most of the episodes, but Sandra is less reluctant to ditch it than I am.
Music go-tos are Eva Cassidy, Sam Robson, Ella, Louis Armstrong, Connie Evingson, pretty much any big band music, Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Shostakovich. Etc., etc.
Chris in Owatonna
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Do you like the trail at RBNC that goes down a steep hill then wanders along the river for a while? That’s my favorite one.
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That’s the one! Trout Lily. I usually take it to Deer, then right away veer right onto Arrowhead, to Raspberry, Cherry, cross the road, and back to the visitors center via Raccoon. Also a good ski trail other than the first big downhill on Owl down to Trout Lily.
My other “usual” trail there is up and down the trails to the north of Raccoon.
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Well, I can’t remember the names of the trails. I just know the whole place. There is a spot on the trail down by the river, I think it’s Trout Lily, where you can see a car buried in the bank on the other side of the river. It’s really well buried and hard to see at times but you can see it sticking out of the bank.
RBNC is one of the places where limestone was quarried for St. Olaf and for Shattuck St. Mary’s Schools. It’s a pale gray/white color unlike the yellowish-peach Kasota stone of the MN River valley.
I also like to walk the prairie trails up to the oak knob on the northernmost hillside, then down and all the way around to the visitor center, then back up across the restored prairie. Some quarrying was once done on that oak knob. You can see it on the west side.
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I haven’t skied there in years. That hill might be part of the reason why.
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“Boring” is in the eye of the beholder but it seems to me that you, Sherrilee, are attached to many annual rituals. Add to the ones you mentioned your trip to Fawn-Doe-Rosa, your stake-out at Aldi’s for Advent calendars, your egg decorating, and your annual parties. All fairly predictable.
Personally I have a low tolerance for repetition. I never watch television during the day and seldom alone. We have watched some movies and series a second time but, as geezers, it’s because we can’t remember a single thing about the first viewing. I sometimes reread books but generally it’s because I don’t feel I absorbed enough the first time through.
We can visit Duluth over and over. Same goes for Grand Marais. When there, we generally do the same things every time. I couldn’t count the number of times we’ve driven along the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin. When we do, we always stop at Cultural Cloth in Maiden Rock, usually poke around Stockholm a little, and get lunch and/or ice cream at Nelson’s in Nelson, WI.
I’m working on my eighth cowboy shirt, even though I don’t really need more shirts. The music I listen to comes mostly from the playlist on my phone rather than from any current music source. There are more than 1000 songs on that playlist and they play randomly but I’m seldom exposed to anything new.
Though I don’t tend to seek repetition, my (our) choices tend to stay in the same lanes. We seldom branch out dramatically. It’s no doubt a function of age but adding entirely new and unfamiliar activities to our routines often feels like too much work.
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And every now and then a ritual bites the dust. No more stalking at Aldi’s for wine advent calendars. I made the decision this past fall that I wasn’t going to do that anymore. It’s way too long of a story for right here but I am content with my decision.
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I can revisit Lake Superior again and again, forever, without tiring of it. Even though I have memorized Hwy 61 from Duluth to Grand Portage, I could drive it repeatedly without ever getting bored. I love to see Lake Superior in all its moods. Its bad moods energize me, and its calm late May days bring serenity. Whenever I am here, I see something different, even though it’s the same. I always learn and bring new treasures home in my heart.
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Great minds think alike! 🙂
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Yes. The Big Lake is an enduring treasure
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OT. Blevins on Sunday. 2 pm at Caroline’s. Julie… if you want to join us to check out our book club, you are always welcome. Shelikins at Hotmail if you need address or more info!!
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Do over and over? All those household chores…but I don’t mind unloading the dishwasher; I suspect I appreciate the order and structure of putting things away. But I sure get tired of loading it.
Being in the tractors and doing fieldwork. I look forward too it every spring. Yet, by the second day, I’m bored and wondering how long I have to do this.
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Interesting. I’d rather load the dishwasher and have somebody else unload it.
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Going out to do our walk at Prairie Island trail, or over at the Trempealeau Nat’l Wildlife Refuge, are things that provide a new experience every time. We pretty much stop doing that in the winter, but then we walk in the basement of Somsen Hall on Winona State campus, where the walls are lined with framed photographs by Craig Blacklock – and up one floor (though more traffic-y) by Jim Brandenberg. : ) A new one catches my eye almost every time, and I have to pause…
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Even well beyond when my dad was finished with his schooling requirements (Greeley, CO) my folks would go out in their later years to Estes Park, CO. They eventually found a set of cabins and had a standing reservation. I got to vacation with them several times (in one of the spare cabins), and I could do that again and again. You’ve got the Big Thompson River right across the road, Trail Ridge Mts. (or others if you want to take day trips), the touristy town of Estes Park…
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leave it to beaver
andy with little opie and barney
hitchcock
jimmy stewart marilyn monroe joan fontain cary grant gregory peck
casablanca
bogie and bacall
banff
livingston montana
orlando
cologne germany
amsterdam
hong kong shen zhen
milan
christmas movies with family
boring is so comfortable
its ok
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Better Late Than Never Baboons,
tim is correct–boring is comfortable, at least sometimes. Movies, TV shows, HGTV shows, Vikings games (I usually nap in the third quarter, certain restaurants. The list goes on and on. Cleaning house is the same thing over and over, and I just cannot do that one. The drive to Iowa to see rellies there, down 35W is boring and I have done that countless times. That peaked during my mother’s last year, but I was very glad to reduce the number of those trips.
The Arboretum is a special case though. The seasons change it, and the weather changes it with rain and sun. I rarely get tired of it. This year I want to go out for the plant show. There is a stitch and knit group that meets there January through May. I will go out for that often during that time, always gladly.
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Oh my, Husband and I are creatures of habit. Our favorite local walk is Lake Harriet (not that local since we’re in the suburbs). We’ve been doing it since we started dating, so it’s been over 45 years.
We love the North Shore and Grand Marais. My parents used to rent the same cabin near Lutsen every year. We always go to Russ Kendall’s for fish, the Grand Marais coop for granola, Caribou Cream for maple syrup, and The Angry Trout for dinner.
Outside of Minnesota, we go to Chicago a lot, once or twice during the summer for concerts at Ravinia. And even though we tell ourselves we should explore other parts of Europe, we always end up going to London.
We don’t watch TV much, but have re-watched Doctor Who and Inspector Montalbano a lot. We tend to go to the same few restaurants rather than trying something new. I guess we aren’t as adventurous as we used to be.
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We’ve re-watched some Star Trek TNG, when Husband was in rehab after the stroke – I could see more of that. We have all the seasons of Schitt’s Creek, on permanent loan from friends, that I could rewatch, I think.
And yes to old movies – when we were checking out movies from the 60s last year, most of them were almost like new.
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Oh, and As Time Goes By
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I could bake every day.
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