DC Spinster

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Been Running?

In case you're wondering if I have been running since I got back from my summer vacation a month ago, you're not the only one. I have been wondering too.

Clearly there was no running in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. But what's my excuse since I got back?

I been running some, but not much. In all of July I ran 52.7 miles, and only one race (my monthly noontime 3K dash around the Tidal Basin). That's it. My one long run was ten miles of sightseeing I did along the Mall with a visiting RBFer.

When I'm not running much I cheat and get in my five times running per week by running solitary miles. I can always fit those in. Six of my "runs" in July were of the solitary mile variety. Although they were all under eight minutes, only one was under seven minutes, my desired goal.

Why the slackard month? Life is complicated. That's the sum total of my wisdom after 56 years.

I came back from my "trip of a lifetime" down the Grand Canyon and running suddenly seemed less important. I took greater pleasure in writing about the trip than in running on the roadways. All of my running buddies have moved away or gotten hurt. The ten-mile training program I direct for my club has started up and that keeps me busy, basically running with novices. I realize that people see me as a Johnny-One-Note, a running nut, so I have been working on being more variegated.

Yeah, my running currently sucks. I think life is intruding. It's either that or advancing age.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

My Mother's Older Sister

Good bye Aunt Betty. I'll miss you.

I remember visiting you as a boy at your work in Denver at the local Selective Service Board, and you giving me as a gag a mock Selective Service letter that started out with "Greetings." I used it a few years later as proof of age to purchase beer on Staten Island when I came home one weekend from boarding school. Those were simpler times. (Below: Aunt Betty bought me dinner in Denver in September. And she bought herself a drink.)

Thanks for helping me out when I went off to college in Boulder by giving me a place to stay in Denver whenever I needed it. Thanks for helping me out with Jimmy when he was a baby. Thanks for coming to visit me in Nantucket, Louisville, and Falls Church.

I loved visiting with you and Uncle Bob in Parachute in August 2001 with my three boys, the last time I ever had my sons all together with me. I loved visiting you last September in Denver, and in February in Parachute where you lived by yourself. Thanks for taking me out to lunch then. I hope you chuckled over the funny birthday card I sent you the next month for your 91st birthday. (Above: The view outside Aunt Betty's door in Parachute. How about you? Got view?)

My life was better for knowing you. We had a lot of fun together. I could always count on you. I loved you. (Right: You wouldn't believe how much fun you can have with a 90-year old. Love Peter.)

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Grand Canyon, Day Eight of eight.

The Grand Canyon trip is over. Eight days in THE natural wonder of the world, with friends from 35 years ago. Incredible experiences. I am a terrible picture-snapper. So I have given you eight posts of photos snapped by my friends, much better picture-takers than me. If you don't take your own trip down the Canyon, shame on you! My freshman college roommate Jimmy (he's the one acting like a sumo wrestler in the photo below) was the glue that held the Sewell Hall Rafters together. He bridged all the differences. He said wisely at the onset, "Everyone is the same, only more so." Brilliant. In the photo below, I can see every person's personality shine forth for the camera--it's uncanny--but maybe you hadda be there and get to know these folks. Trip of a lifetime? Oh yeah. The company is the Arizona River Runners. The American heroes are Travis, Lindsay, Julie and Kelly, in the second picture below.

Photo credit Dennis.

Scotty, beam us up! Photo credit Jimmy.

Barry. Photo credit Jimmy.

Giving Birth. Photo credit Dennis.

Lake Mead. Photo credit John.

Thanks, Travis, Lindsay & Julie. Any one of you could share a foxhole with me. Photo credit Barry.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Grand Canyon, Day Seven

Photo credit Jimmy.

Photo credit Barry.

Stairway to Heaven. Photo credit Barry.

Photo credit Barry.

Photo credit Dennis.

Photo credit Harrie.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Grand Canyon, Day Six

Day Six in the Grand Canyon: Running one of North America's most ferocious rapids, Lava Falls, waving goodbye to eight party members, a boat-to-boat running water fight, leaping off a cliff into the Colorado River and...

Vulcan's Anvil, the neck of an ancient volcano thrusting up into the river. Photo credit Barry.

Am I ever going to blog about running again? Photo credit Harrie.

A willow grows out of a crevice in a boulder in the river. Photo credit Barry.

We are not the first. Photo credit Dennis.

Andy, the musical prodigy. He & Barry played 60s river and traveling songs every night. A twenty-something that actually liked hanging with fifty-somethings, he was there with his Dad, CJ, over whom he kept a watchful, loving eye. In the background is Diamond Peak. Photo credit Harrie.

Dennis. Photo credit Dennis.

Evening comes to the Canyon. Photo credit Dennis.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Grand Canyon, Day Five

On Day Five in the Grand Canyon, our party was down to thirty due to the tragic emergency that happened on the fourth evening. We would spend the fifth day on a long ride down the Colorado River to a campsite where we could get to a commercial helicopter landing pad the next morning by 8:30. There eight more passengers would leave. We would finish the eight-day trip with eighteen passengers plus four boatmen on the two rafts.