PICK OF THE WEEK: Yes, it can be a little depressing now that it's getting dark so much earlier these days, but here's a chance to use the shorter days to our advantage. The Three Rivers Park District's full moon programs no longer start after our bedtimes. With October's full moon arriving this coming weekend, a number of the parks are holding events, including telescope-viewing at Cleary Lake (starts at 5:30 p.m. Saturday), an art-by-moonlight project at Silverwood (7 p.m. Saturday) and hikes at Richardson and Lowry (6:30 p.m. Sunday both locations). Reservations are suggested. (bit.ly/2e5IYA9)

Cheat sheet: If you weren't among the 22,000 runners who participated Sunday in the Twin Cities Marathon or its 10-mile cousin, but want to sound like you were, here are some things to casually drop during morning coffee.

• Vow that before next year's race you'll train more. Seeing as you didn't train at all this year, anything you do can be defined as "more."

• Complain of DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness), which has many runners reaching for aspirin when they try to get out of bed the morning after a marathon. Don't mention that your DOMS comes from sitting through 12 hours of binge-watching "Mad Men."

• Brag that you didn't hit the wall. No, not the one Donald Trump is talking about building. It's a spot, typically about 20 miles into a marathon, where runners' energy levels suddenly plummet.

Day by day: Tired of Minnesota Nice? Saturday is the day you've been waiting for — it's national Grouch Day.

Clockwise from top left: Zoe, Oscar the Grouch, Ernie and Elmo. Forty years on, this is your mother’s “Sesame Street,” only better dressed and gentrified. Now there are green spaces, tofu and yoga.

recommended reading: Local "citizen archivists" are helping to decode secrets still buried in Civil War telegrams. Tuesday in Variety.

JEFF STRICKLER