OK some of this is my addle pated rehashing of earlier events in june and some is actually and updating of stuff. as i'm getting ready to hit the road this week I'm not going to sweat the situation.

21 June, 2009

A very wet start to summer this year. Rumors are about which have no attributes that the forcasters are saying we will have no appriciable summer this year. Just from poorly recorded observations this may be true.

So what has happened of any consequence since my last blog entry? Not much really, there have been a few events which have been fun to participate in. time squandered & wasted, trees cut and prepared drying as fire wood, dogs and cats played with, meals eaten & beers drunks, Rivers canoed, races run, motorcycles sold and many other things done.

Still I guess I can try to elaborate some what. Two weeks ago I had joined the Group, on Saturday, for an annual canoe and raft trip down the Delaware, Now the name may not seem like much but the core of the Group has been making an annual excursion on nthe river for 20 years now. Always a fun event and never without a surprise and or a dunking or multiple dunkings. Yes a canoe when filled with water is much less stable than one that is only carrying two people and has a tendency to take on the attributes of a submarine. Dive Dive Dive.It was upon the first submergence that i lost my specticles and while my visual accuity ain't the greatest i wasn't canoing by braille either., Thankfully I always have a spare set of glasses available in my van or on my motorcycle for such possible events and was able see clearly for the drive home that evening. I would of stayed overnight for a bacchanal but I had commitments for the next day.

On Sunday, I loaded up the motorcycle & sidecar onto my trailer and took it to a flea market, i got a couple of offers on the bike and it'll be sold soon I trust. The bike has been fun but i want something more mechanically reliable and spending much less time being repaired and off the road. The 24 year old Harley Davidson is next and I've got the Kelly Blue Book prices for it and Have an idea for a starting asking price. of just over $3,000.

Monday through Friday its variations on a theme, of running and assisting with my youngest brother's parental duties by taking his autistic oldest son to a sports training activity as a form of physical therapy. On monday evenings the boy has a two hour session and I'll spend a good hour going over pipe tunes with an electronic bagpipe. But that'll be ending shortly as by Tuesday, June 23rd I'll be beginning another road trip. Hello Mississippi and points south & west.

As for last weekend,on Sunday There was the Orange County Classic 10K race in Middletown, NY. My clock time was 1:00:31 and net time was 59 minutes. OK Just under an hour in some very humid conditions. I'm glad I had the forethought to bring a dry change of clothes with me as by the time I had finished the course I was saturated with sweat even onto my socks and sneakers. Possibly the more non sequetur part of the race day happenings occured when I stopped and said hello to one of the race directors, the owner of Frank's custom shoe fitting in Middletown; who also is a Guinness record Holder for fastests runs across America. When another pedestrian runner like myself asked me it the person I spoke to was Frank Shorter the former Olymian Runner. I wouldn't recognize Frank Shorter on the streets or byways of the U.S. even if he was proceded by a brass band and advertising agency marketing hucksters handing out life size cut outs of the man. Hmmm lets string 1 + 1 together and jump to a possible answer. But Frank really is a very common name.

Saturday, it was up to the farm and dress like a modified Jason Vorhees and fire up the chain saw, Oh yes trees were going down. And they go down hard. Some are in such poor physical condition they throw off largre splinters when the hit the ground. Branches have impaled the ground so stoutly I could not roll the tree trunks using a cant pole.and would have to work carefully with the chainsaws to get where I can free and manuever log sections. Most of the trees have been cut for fire wood as disease and insect damage has been sever. But with the wetness of the late spring and summer so far we don't progress as well as we'd like as we try not to tear up the ground with the truck we carry the wood in and pull the log splitter with.

Again Monday through fireday a variation of a recurring theme and starting preparations for my road trip. New shocks and exhaust on the van along with a full servicing. Hopefully the vehicle has a few thousand more miles in her as she's passed 143,000 miles now since buying her in 2002. As for a deviation on the variation of a theme on Friday I did a 15&1/2 mile run. The long run was the opening act for my train up to run the Marine Corps marathon again this year.

As for this weekend, Well yesterday there was the Hudson Valley Volunteer Fireman's Parade in Lake George Village, NY. I saw two of my old coworkers there and said hello. I was performing with thr Fratenal Order of Police Pipes & Drums. The folks with thr P&D are way more polished performers than I am and I feel that I need much more work before i canb rise to their level of performance. But as I'm headed south this week that point is now moot and I am grateful to have had the opprotunity to of practiced with them. Biggest downside was the level of humidity during the parade yet the plus side was that the rains held off untill the buss ride back last night. a 20 hour day befor hitting the hay.

And today, Sunday the 21st I hope to deliver the motorcycle & sidecar to person who had express a very desirous interest in it. Well that pretty much should cover these past few weeks. and shortly it'll be time to shut down and disconnect the computer in preparation of the road trip. I'm glad I choose the laptop and small scanner printer setup.