Gesundheit Day 3 - Clowning Around & Goodbyes

Sunday dawned bright & clear. A gorgeous day. Good for pictures.
But first, after breakfast, we sprinted for the costume closet in the workshop.

See us leisurely sprinting?
(and look at that light!)

photo by Anne

photo by Soozi

Some came with preliminary accessories.


Raiding the costume closet is buckets of fun, 'cause the goofier, the better.

photo by Anne


photo by ?

These are our hosts:


And the whole bunch:

photo by Elise

They (not me - I'd never do anything like that!) even tried to turn the dog into a clown,
with less than satisfying results.

photo by Anne

After our clown session, a group went off to hike up the mountain.
I didn't go because my leg still hurt.
*sniffle, whine*
I want sympathy.

But they found this cool-as-all treehouse:

photo by Anne

Back at the ranch, Elise (Mrs. Adams) came across a mouse in the library
(told you the mice enjoyed the library)
that had eaten some rat poison. She and Miera tried to nurse it back to health,
but, rat poison being what it is, that night he went to the big cheese in the sky.





This picture is now Elisa's profile picture on Facebook. Heh.

I also let their 4-year old daughter paint my fingernails. Cosmo quality, wouldn't you say?


But, as with most good things, they must end sooner or later, and ours ended sooner.
From left to right:
Wildman
Caleb (volunteer)
Elisa (Wildman's wife)
Miera (volunteer)
Anya (sp? - volunteer)
Wonderful people all. We will miss them.


And doncha know? Only a couple hours down the road, we needed some MEAT!
So we stopped & tore through some burgers like rabid hyenas. Oh my, they tasted good.
Burp . . .

Now, I will leave you with some of the scenery we were forced to gaze at during the weekend.
The sacrifices we make.




















The creek, before & after the rain:


And finally, from the trip home. You gotta love the Appalachians!

photo by Soozi








So, it's like, over a week later, and the color on my leg is finally fading.
Although now, every once in awhile, it feels like bugs are crawling on the spot that hit.
Ewwww.

Gesundheit Day 2 - A Lotta Work & A Little Play

It rained a lot throughout the night, and was still drizzling on Saturday morning,
so outdoor chores were set aside in favor of indoor chores.

Wildman had 2 big jobs for us to work on.
Keep in mind that the Adams Family hadn't been here long. There was a lot to do.

1 - Clean the library - take all the books down, dust them, and paint the walls.

2 - Work in the greenhouse.

He didn't really explain what the greenhouse entailed, or maybe I just didn't hear it,
so I had visions of happy little plants and digging in some dirt.
Kind of like being outside, right?
My hand goes up for the greenhouse, as I hate dusting.
He said that only 3 of us would fit out there (???), so I and my 2 accomplices ventured out back.

Here's the greenhouse from the outside, on the back of the farmhouse:

photo by Anne

We hadn't really taken a good look at it the day before, during our tour.
Looks so innocent, right?

Oh nooooooo!

Now, here's the deal. And here's what I didn't know when visions of those happy little plants were circling around my woefully misinformed brain. The last land manager kind of let things go, so the greenhouse, which by nature should contain green growing things, was used as a chicken coop for several years. There was nothing green in there. And the only thing growing was our apprehension, along with a possible plethora of bird flu viruses.

This is our introduction to the room of doom:


Oh, the humanity!

The WHOLE place was covered in chicken droppings, cobwebs, dead bugs, and all manner of nastiness that was kicking up some foul (fowl!) dust as we started on the work. We thought of inhaling all that dust and contracting deadly diseases which would leave our loved ones to plan our funerals in a few weeks, so the first thing we did was ask for masks.

Have you ever worn a mask for hours? It starts to stink. You can't breathe.
But, given the choice of stinky mask or pestilence, we chose the stink.

There was a pile of dirt, waist high (I kid you not), on one side of the room.

photo by Soozi

I swear to you, we found a scapula in there.
We brought it home.

The boss wanted me to take a sniff, and since I want to keep my job, I just had to, ya know?

photo by Ann

At least the pile is gone now.


While they working on the pile at the bottom, I was at the top half, clearing chicken droppings, cobwebs, dead bugs, and other nastiness that was covering absolutely everything.

It was falling on my head. AARRGGHH!

Then, we had to shovel out the top half-foot or so of dirt that was in the raised bed, as it was nothing but chicken sh*t.

Holy cow!

But, oh gee, look at the time. It was 11:00, and since I was signed up for lunch duty, I had to leave them. Shucks.
*saunters off to the kitchen grinning & whistling*

And yes, I cleaned up first. Geez. (I heard you Mom)

But what of our compadres in the library? It looked like this when we got there:




This is what it looked like when they got done with it:


Hoohoohooheeheehee. Just kidding.
This is what it looked like when they stopped for lunch.
But really, they did exactly what Wildman asked them to.
Some of the books had been used by the mice in not very nice ways,
and all the books had to come down in order to clean them & paint, which they started after lunch.

They found a snake skin. In the library.


But truthfully, we didn't have time to finish either job.
That's okay. Wildman assured us that he hadn't expected us to,
but we made a f'ntastic start, better than he expected,
(he is truly the nicest man)
and the next group of volunteers (coming in a week) would continue.

Although we learned later that one of the people that was already there finished the painting after we left.
That means he also had to put all the books back?
We're sorry Caleb.

Plus, we had that good, satisfied feeling of hard work. That's what we were here for, after all.

After lunch, we went back to our chores for awhile, then the powers-that-be decided it was time for a break.
We hiked around the lake & up to the waterfalls. Oh my!
Those pictures in my next post. Heh.

Oh, and as I was getting down off my perch in the greenhouse,
my foot slipped on the mucky bottom step and I slammed the bottom of my shin on the edge of the next step.
By evening, it was bright red & swollen.
A few days later, the color had spread down each side of my foot and across the top.
As I type this (a week later), it still has a rainbow hue.
Why did the discoloration spread to places that weren't touched?
They'll probably have to amputate soon.

After dinner, it was time for more fun & games,
although the first thing we did wasn't so much fun as it was inspiring.
Wildman showed us another video of Patch's trip to Kabul during the war.
Here is an excerpt:



It was a very powerful film.

Afterwards, time for balloon animals.
Seriously, everyone needs times to just clown around (pun intended) and act like a big kid.
We made all kinds of things out of balloons - flowers, dogs, bees, hats, octopusseses, palm trees with bananas (Wildman made that one).
And yes, he knows bananas don't grow on palm trees, but his monkey had to have something to eat.

photo by Anne


photo by Soozi


photo by Soozi


photo by Soozi


photo by Soozi

Really, being at Gesundheit is an excellent way to get in touch with your inner goof.


photo by Anne

Next - our last morning & all the scenery.

Gesundheit - The Buildings

photo by Soozi

Before I describe our activities for the rest of the weekend, let me give you a little tour of the place.
It was nothing like we expected.

Gesundheit! consists of 317 acres, 6 main buildings, 2 tents, 1 lake, 1 river, several creeks, 1 treehouse, and several waterfalls. Here's Google Earth aerial view with the main buildings marked.


Scenery on the next post, but first, the buildings.
I'll put the pictures in order of what you would see as you come to the place.
(When you see no photo credit, the picture is mine.)
As you turn off the little 1-lane road, the first thing you see is . . .

The Abandoned Barn - this was derelict & really beautiful.
We took lots of pictures, especially on Sunday when the sun was shining & the sky was blue.



photo by Soozi

The 3-Story Workshop is next.
Although, I think more fun occurs here than work.
There's a woodworking shop, a performing arts studio (with the COSTUME CLOSET!),
and a conference room.

photo by Soozi


photo by Anne




photo by Anne





Then the road winds around to the parking lot . . .


. . . and you cross a footbridge requiring significant repair (soon to be completely rebuilt) to the main compound.

The Farmhouse - the main building is old, with additions tacked on. Here are the big kitchen, dining room, small sitting room, library, greenhouse & office upstairs.
Gobs & gobs of character here.

photo by Anne












Wildman doing some caulking in the dining room.

photo by Soozi

The main living quarters are housed in the coolest of all buildings, called
The Dacha - a large multi-level house with a kitchen, living rooms, bedrooms & bathrooms, all scattered and tucked up & around stairwells. Easy to get lost.

photo by Anne


photos by Anne




photo by Soozi




photo by Soozi


photo by Soozi








Our sleeping quarters

All the handrails were smooth logs . . .


. . . and the showers all had beautiful mosaic tilework.







photo by Anne

Those are the main buildings. The others are used for meeting space or dormitories:

Can't remember the name of this one, but it was a tiny little gnome's house used for a meeting room:






The Yurts - permanent floored tents with bunches of bunk beds:



photo by Anne - and no, it's really level


photo by Soozi

Another building used as a dormitory:


And one that I have no clue about:

photo by Soozi

A view of the farmhouse & Dacha:

photo by Anne

And the message that welcomes everyone who comes for a day or a month,
in a different language on all 4 sides:

photo by Soozi

Gesundheit Day 1 - Getting There

There were 3 of us taking pictures all weekend, so I'm going to pick & choose among them.
My co-workers have given me permission to do this.
After all, fame & fortune will no doubt follow them as a result.

We set off at 8:00 am on last Friday morning - 8 women, all with different bladder schedules,
on a 6 1/2 hour drive to the wilds of West Virginia.
Once we hit the interstate, we were oohing & aahing at the fall color,

photo by Anne

but it soon turned to driving rain that lasted until we got to the mountains.


I tried to get some pictures of the color, but I was in the middle of the monster van, so it was pretty futile.
Even so, I managed this one that turned out decently.


We made it halfway before we needed a potty break, stopping in Waynesboro.
The parents of one of our party live there, and we all made a beeline for their bathrooms.
All they could do was stare, speechless, at all of us while that was going on.
While we visited for a few minutes, we looked around us. Oh my!
I have a weakness for pretty trees, so bear with me:


And weren't we stupidly excited to see this sign?

photo by Anne

We got off I64 at the quaint little mountain town of Lewisburg.
We were running early, so we killed some time driving around the pretty little town (raining again) . . .

both photos by Anne

. . . looking at its unique atmosphere,

photo by Anne

. . . and noticing the unique shops.


Since we were getting close, we tried to morph ourselves into a Gesundheit frame of mind.
This is our boss,

photo by Anne

who drove the WHOLE WAY there & back. Thank you Soozi.

So, off the interstate, we meandered our way north on Route 219 on twisty turny roads until the turnoff to Gesundheit.
That turned out to be a 1-lane mountain road,


and no sooner had someone wondered what we should do if we met another car
(seriously, the words were still hovering over heads in one of those little balloons),
then we saw this coming our way.


A game of road chicken ensued. The bus won.


And we're here!

photo by Anne

And looky, it's new!


With all the comforts of home.


Just kidding. This is what we were looking for:


It was still rainy & drizzly, so I will save the pictures of the property for tomorrow, after the rain let up.

We were greeted by Wildman Adams (Patch's brother), his wife Elisa and daughter with hugs all around.
And wouldn't you know, none of us got a picture of our first meeting with them. Oops.

They had had a full-time land manager, but Wildman & Patch decided it would be better if family was on the land.
The Adams Family moved there about 2 months ago to stay on full-time.

And no, Patch wasn't there. We missed him by 3 days.
He was there earlier for a group of about 50 medical students doing an elective on humanistic medicine,
complete with lectures, workshops, presentations, and community work.
They had been there for a month and the last of them left just hours before we got there.
There was lots of scurrying to get beds changed and bathrooms cleaned for our arrival.

Look at the pile of laundry waiting to get done. Wildman refused any help with this. Huh?


There were still a few volunteers that stayed on, including one of the medical students.
When we arrived, they were cooking dinner, complete with clown noses. We all got more hugs,


and a thorough tour of the place, but I'll save those pics for the next post.

Here is a picture of us with the Adams Family. That's Wildman in the red shirt with his wife in front of him.

photo by ?

Before I continue, let me say that, even all the food was vegetarian (but not vegan, whew!), it was really really good.
We didn't miss the meat at all
(until the drive home. heh).

After the silly people with clown noses & big knives finished cooking, we all sat down to dinner.


Afterwards, we signed up for our chores for the weekend and went over to the big building to watch a documentary,
"The Real Patch Adams".
It cleared up some of the inaccuracies of the movie and expanded on Patch's work since the end of the movie.
All that information is in the links that I have on the last post, so I won't repeat them here.

After the video, it was time for fun & games. Fun & games is very important in the life of Gesundheit.
So, someone puts him/herself into a position of their choice.
Then their partner, with eyes closed, has to try to figure out the position and replicate it.
It involved lots of touching to figure it out, and they made me promise I wouldn't post the best of those pictures.
Rats!
You would have learned a lot about all these people (if you know what I mean).
But it was pretty hilarious. Here's one of the tamer ones.


Wildman, Elisa, and everyone else there were incredibly welcoming, and we immediately felt like part of the family.
I don't think I can say I have ever been welcomed more warmly.


Tomorrow, we're put to work. After all, that's why we went.

Gesundheit!

I didn't sneeze. Did you sneeze? Didn't think so.

How many of you saw the movie "Patch Adams" with Robin Williams? Raise your hands.
one...
two...
three...
four...
you, in North Carolina, is that your hand up? yes? five...
six...
seven...
Ohio? is your hand up? no?

Okay, 7 of my 8 loyal readers have seen the movie.

So, Patch Adams is really Hunter Campbell Adams, MD,
a physician who believes in treating the soul as well as the body through joy, humor, and laughter.

In the movie, you may remember that he started a free clinic in the mountains,
and when the end credits rolled, we learned that his free hospital, The Gesundheit! Institute,
had been built and was treating patients.

WRONG!

That teensy, tiny, little inaccuracy has severely hindered fund raising efforts to build the hospital
(uh, why do I have to donate money to build a hospital that's already there, huh?)
but it raised awareness, and now Patch spends most of his time on the road and around the world teaching, clowning, raising global awareness, fundraising for the hospital, and trying to improve the accessibility of health care.

In fact, participating in his humanitarian clown missions to Russia is listed as one of the
100 Best Worldwide Vacations to Enrich Your Life.

Here is the timeline of Gesundheit!'s evolution.

And this is Patch's vision, in his words.

The Gesundheit! Institute is located in Pocohontas County, West Virginia on 317 acres and maintained by a small staff,
one of whom is Patch's brother, "Wildman" Adams.


(click on image to make it bigger)

They participate heavily in volunteerism and student internships. Volunteers? Hmmmmm . . . .

Why am I blathering on & on about all this?

Because October is National Physical Therapy Month, and that is my profession du jour.
So, what does that have to do with Patch Adams?
During our planning of PT month activities at work, the subject of Patch Adams somehow came up,
and someone (I can't remember who, although I have been blamed for it)
mentioned wouldn't it be fun to volunteer at his place in West Virginia blah blah blah.

Now, saying something like that in front of our boss is like setting a match to kindling.
She took it and ran with it like ol' Patch himself was chasing her.
So, bright & early tomorrow morning, we will all pile into a great big van and drive for hours & hours
to West Virginia to spend the weekend volunteering at Gesundheit!
We will enrich our lives.

Patch won't be there. Let's see, this weekend he will be in Malaysia, I believe.

I have no idea what we will be doing in the middle of nowhere.
We'll find out when we get there, wherever 'there' is.
But with someone named "Wildman" in charge, it oughta be fun, huh?

BREAKING NEWS:
I just went to find the link for Patch's event in Malaysia, and
it has been postponed until January!
Does that mean . . .
Could it be . . .
Will Patch come home to the mountains?

I can just see you guys glued to the edge of your seats until we all find out.
Riiiiight.

Goodbye Sweet Boy

That this little angel lived at all is a testament to the wonders of modern medicine.
That he lived as long as he did is a testament to the exceptional love and care he got at St. Mary's.

And, no matter how long - or briefly - we were blessed to have them, they leave their legacy with all of us.

Somewhere a journey begins at the end of the worldly existence we know,
Somewhere a path stretches over the stars, and rivers of memories flow.
Somewhere a silence is heard far away, and the brightness of day fills the night,
Where the trials of life are resolved into peace when a soul finds its way to the Light.

People Watching - edited & toned down a bit

SOAPBOX ALERT!!!

Recently I spent a few hours at our fair city's juvenile & domestic relations court. Even though I was called as a witness by finding a summons officially & professionally jammed in my screen door, I didn't end up having to testify. This is probably a good thing, as I can famously put my foot in my mouth on occasion, although I think (I hope) I wouldn't have blurted in this instance. But, I tell you, I was ready for it. All week, I had rehearsed how I would answer any question put to me. I was eloquent, I tell ya.

And, luckily for the young child involved, he is now back in the arms of the people who will love him & keep him safe.

But there was all that time in the waiting room. We've all been in enough waiting rooms to know that a distraction is needed. I didn't think that sitting there singing to myself was such a good idea. I believe there was another court down the hall for that kind of thing. And I didn't bring along anything to read, so I started watching the people coming & going through the lofty halls of justice. I think I even slouched down in my seat with my arms crossed so I could observe unobtrusively with lowered eyes. It was fun.

Well, I take that back. It wasn't fun. It was very disheartening & discouraging.

You: "Why?"

Me: "Because of what I saw"

You: "What did you see?"

Me: "Well, let me just tell you . . ."

I was struck, I tell you, STRUCK by seeing people appearing before a court of law who showed absolutely no respect at all for the situation they found themselves in.

I saw people who showed no respect for themselves.

I saw people who made no attempt to even try to present themselves in a positive light.

And this included some of the lawyers.

Let me elaborate:

• People who looked like they just rolled out of bed and put on whatever rags they could find. Some didn't even brush their hair. Now, I know that poverty isn't uncommon amongst the denizens of the court system, but to make no attempt to look presentable? That I don't get.
  
• Young men of all colors who looked like they just came from their gang's street corner - oversized shirts, pants halfway down their butt, underwear hanging out, swaggering down the hall.
• Women who opted to put on the tightest clothes they could find. Unfortunately, most of them had also chosen to eat the worst things they could find, so their 'ample' curves were bulging & bursting around the seams. It was kind of like not being able to stop staring at an accident scene. I was kind of ashamed of myself.
  
• Female lawyers dressed for a date instead of the courtroom, with spiked high heels.

What the hell??!!

I realize that everyone has their story. I am talking generalities here. But of all the times you would want to take a little extra effort, it seems to me that having to appear before a judge would be it. What happened to respect? Or am I such an oddball because I wouldn't dream of showing up looking like any of the above?

Wait, let me think on that . . . .

Nope, I may be odd, but I'm not THAT odd.

It was an eye-opening experience that left me pretty disgusted.

Nature Lovin', Tree Huggin' Day

A couple weeks ago, I meandered down to spend my birthday weekend at my father's place on the Outer Banks. We watched VT win their football game at the Flying Fish Cafe in Kitty Hawk, which, by the way, has very good food. But when the cost of my dinner starts going beyond about $15, my plebeian self starts to get nervous. And there's nothing there under $20, so I was getting twitchity as I looked at the menu. Although, really, num num num.

The next morning, we got up early for a nature hike in the the Kitty Hawk Woods Coastal Reserve.

We had 2 young (20's, 30's?) nature guides who, I swear, should just find a room and procreate as soon as possible. They were both smart, nice, generous, articulate, knowlegeable, funny, and gorgeous. Their children would give me serious hope for the future.

The Reserve is quiet & lovely. . .

. . . so I had more fun with the macro setting on my camera.

Now, see the old dude in the shorts & short-sleeve shirt?

That same old dude did a lot of complaining later on about bug bites, despite the plethora of bug spray that was passed around amongst the hikers. I had on long pants & long sleeves. The guides had on long pants & long sleeves. I had nothing to complain about that evening.

When I drove home later that day, I decided to take a 1 block detour to check the schedule of the Currituck Sound Ferry. It runs between Currituck County in NC & Knotts Island. Click here to see a map with the route marked.

Now, I have been traveling back & forth to the Outer Banks for better than 30 years, and I never went on that ferry. Been on the Hatteras/Ocracoke ferry plenty of times, but the one close to home? Never. It operates all year long, as the residents of Knotts Island are pretty isolated. Did I ever go? Nope. How come we seldom take advantage of the fun stuff right in our backyards?

So I pulled off the main road and - SERENDIPITY!! The ferry was there getting ready to pull out. As I looked over toward it, the ferry guy waved me to come on, so I made a spur-of-the-moment, last minute, never-to-be-regretted decision to take the scenic route home.

Oh my gosh! The sky was blue, the clouds were fluffy, the breeze was cool. Oh my gosh!

The seagulls were their usual hopeful selves, and if I had planned this ahead of time, I would have brought a loaf of bread. Next time I will, because BS wants me to do this again. With him.

Pulled into Knotts Island, and since I was the last one on, I got to be the last one off. The crew kept looking over at me wondering when I was going to get back in my car. But I was going to relish this moment and milk it as long as I could.

They weren't too thrilled with me putting off leaving the boat. Oh come on guys, I have to get a picture of this giant osprey nest . . .

Knotts Island isn't really an island. It is large, bulbous land mass dangling into the Currituck Sound off a slender land bridge arising in Virginia Beach. But I guess it qualifies because someone opened up a ditch at the end of the causeway from edge to edge. So, okay, it's a fake island.

Only the northern tip of Knotts Island is in Virginia; the bulk of it is part of Currituck County, NC. It is rural, isolated, sparsely populated, and beautiful. There are 2 wineries there, and I have been told the wine they produce isn't too shabby. I wouldn't know. I don't like wine as a general rule.

And yes, I took most of these from a moving car . . . while I was driving. I like to live on the edge.

And you know what? No matter where you go, no matter how much fun you had while you were there, no matter how much you may have wanted to stay, there's something about coming home that can't be equaled.

Doesn't matter that the trip home took twice as long because of the detour. I'll do it again.

And a Good Time Was Had By All

Why is it that every time my friend Roger is in town to shoot pictures of the sunrise, uh, there isn't one? It happened once before, and it happened again Saturday morning.

The morning of St. Mary's 21st Annual 5k Race dawned overcast & cloudy with the threat of sprinkles. Good for runners who want to stay cooler & not get toasted by the sun, but not so good for the whole incentive of a pretty run at the beach. Although the mugginess of the warm morning made for some very sweaty people (and they weren't even running).

Roger had a big ol' camera with lenses projecting out about a foot and was taking very professional pictures as a huge favor to the Home. Thank you RAD! And if you would like to read some informative & easy to understand tutorials for beginning photographers, check out his blog.

Interspersed with my volunteer duties, I took a bunch of pictures too with my bitty little Fuji point-and-shoot. And I know that my pictures will be put to shame once the pros get theirs up, but here they are anyway.

We had a little bit of peace before the hoards descended.

And then it was controlled chaos for registration, picking up race packets, getting kids into jogging strollers,
and all the other sundry things that go on before a race.

Oh, and even though our kids couldn't be there this year due to H1N1 precautions,
4 of our former kids (who grew up & left us for the adult world) were there.
It was like old home week. Those are 3 of our boys on the left.

But finally, Team Hoyt was ready for their close-up.

Okay, all ready to start, right?


The Race Coordinator from the Tidewater Striders had no sooner finished telling the racers that the road was closed & Team Hoyt would start in the left lane and runners in the right - the words still hovering in the air above her head - than we had a visitor.
Ooooh noooooo.

It really was pretty funny. But you know what? This is, in fact, an active Army base and they, like, have first dibs on the road, and since he couldn't turn around, he just kept coming.

The crowds parted and our valiant fighting men with their big boat passed through.

And . . . .


. . . they're off!





When I turned around, I saw these.
Either we have a hard-core runner who likes to batter their bare feet on the asphalt,
or . . . well, I just don't know.


If you know me, you know I'm a sucker, but the little kids who did the 1-Mile Fun Run were toooo cute.


Do you know what one of the more popular post-race refreshments was?


And, remember when I told you that Team Hoyt VB was trying to raise money for St. Mary's at the Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon last month? Well, they did it! And after having all the kids sign the big fake check . . .


. . . Trey White (leader of Team Hoyt VB) presented us with $10,000.


You gotta love these people. Well, you don't gotta, but we do. They are some wonderful folks.

Many thanks to the countless volunteers who made it a great day, the scores of runners & walkers (about 325) who made it one of our most successful races EVER, Fort Story for their excellent facilities & peaceful course & beautiful beach, the Tidewater Striders for keeping the timing straight, Team Hoyt for their tireless efforts on behalf of young people with disabilities, our many sponsors and donors who made the race a roaring success, RAD for stepping in at the last minute to take pictures when our scheduled photographer couldn't be there, and . . . did I forget anyone? If I did, it is out of stupidity and not a lack of gratitude.

But not everyone had a good time. Sigh.



Oh, and after the race, I got to race back to the Home to watch the Hokies take on Duke with my friend. It wasn't on TV but was on espn360.com, so instead of watching it on a big screen with a fuzzy picture, we got to watch it on the big, crystal clear, LCD TV that's hooked up to the internet. Whoo-hoo!


And the Hokies won! Double whoo-hoo!!

Run! Run like the wind!

Or walk like a gentle breeze, if you prefer.

I have been remiss in my responsibilities. Derelict in my duties. Mea culpa, mea culpa.
This weekend has crept up on me quicker than I thought.
But . . . uh . . . I'm gettin' old.
I forget things.
Yeah, that's it.

So, runners & walkers, MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
This Saturday is the 21st annual St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children 5k Run and 1 mile Fun Run/Walk.
Click here for more information.
And if you look very carefully, you will see me in one of those videos that are embedded on that page.
If you don't see me because you don't know what I look like, good.
Not lookin' my best, that's for sure.

But really, you'll find no better cause than our kids and no nicer location for the run.
Fort Story is beautiful this time of year. And, after the race,
you can go up the old Cape Henry Lighthouse if you want an outstanding view of the city.


You can visit the First Landing Cross right across the street for a wee history lesson.


You can go to the beach for some peace & quiet.
Which, by the way, will be practically deserted on account of it is on a very small Army base and it's autumn.


What more could you ask for, right?
What's that? You thought of something? Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot (again).

There will be BEER!

I know this post is woefully late, but you can still register on the day of the race.
So, c'mon down for the fun.
You'll feel good about yourself.