Sunday, April 30, 2006
Shame and Disgrace!
It's April 30th, and I've done an terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad job of keeping up with my walking this month. I HAVE walked but not as much as I should have. And I haven't kept track of any of this. I WILL do better in May. I must. I've got a beach trip planned in July, and then in late August/early September I'll be returning to Alaska which is a very strenuous vacation. Gotta get into shape!
Joan's April Report
I have not done well in the marathon this month; but I am determined to report whether for good or ill.
I will make a couple of excuses: the first part of the month was occupied with lots of car trips requiring lots of sedentary time. For the last week I have been unable to put on closed shoes due to some minor toe surgery (removal of the nail from the "piggy that went to market.") That thing has been SORE!! And the doctor told me to wear only sandals for a week or two and let it heal and get a lot of air. My poor feet usually don't see the light of day often; they get cold easily, so I wear socks even to bed. So -- they have not only hurt; they have also been COLD.
Excuses aside, I logged a grand total of 17.9 miles in April - almost nine miles short of the goal. I will get a slow start next month until I can wear closed shoes and socks again, then I hope I can get the whatever-it-takes to get back into the program.
Yea for those of you who are persevering!
I will make a couple of excuses: the first part of the month was occupied with lots of car trips requiring lots of sedentary time. For the last week I have been unable to put on closed shoes due to some minor toe surgery (removal of the nail from the "piggy that went to market.") That thing has been SORE!! And the doctor told me to wear only sandals for a week or two and let it heal and get a lot of air. My poor feet usually don't see the light of day often; they get cold easily, so I wear socks even to bed. So -- they have not only hurt; they have also been COLD.
Excuses aside, I logged a grand total of 17.9 miles in April - almost nine miles short of the goal. I will get a slow start next month until I can wear closed shoes and socks again, then I hope I can get the whatever-it-takes to get back into the program.
Yea for those of you who are persevering!
Monday, April 17, 2006
Monday Update - T&S
It's been a week. Sheila and I are having a tough time remembering exactly our routes and mileage this week. I think we skipped Tuesday (I was busy recording the scripture for the Last Supper reenactment at our church) Sheila, Lillian and Daisy took a brief walk that night. We may have skipped Wednesday, as well. After the Maundy Thursday service and the Last Supper we drove over to the Library and took the Riverwalk almost all the way to the by-pass and back -- I'm guessing 3 miles total. Friday and Saturday we walked the downtown route -- about 3.6 miles each. Sunday a 45 minute walk to Ridge Ferry Park and back. About 2.2? So that's approximately 12.4 miles for the week and 38.9 for April.
I need a new digital camera. Lillian, I'm sure, would like me to stop borrowing hers so often and I want to do a collection of higher-res Riverwalk pics. There are just some gorgeous photo opportunities along the rivers.
We often meet folks we know as we walk: the Poe family on bikes at Ridge Ferry; Leigh Callan, who wanted info on a CD of The Civil War; George and Ann Pullen by the library; Ernie Studdard, a couple of times this week on Broad; David and Susan Campbell, out on a "Great Date" a while back; students, former students, and other school kids who know me even though I don't recognise them. At school, some kid will pop up about once a week to say, "I saw you walking last night, Mr. Shaw!"
I love living in Rome. Great weather, (OK, except for July and August.) Beautiful scenery. Good cultural, entertainment and sports opportunities. Close enough to Altlanta and Chattanooga to taste the big city delights occasionally. Close enough to the Pocket, Little River, Cohutta, etc. to see nature undisturbed. Shoot, we've got Marshall Forest, Blacks Bluff, and Whitmore Bluffs in or touching the city limits. Rome is small enough that you never feel anonymous, but large enough that you don't feel everyone peering into your business.
I'm feeling a little lonesome on this blog, though! Let's hear from some of the rest of you Monthly Marathoners!
I need a new digital camera. Lillian, I'm sure, would like me to stop borrowing hers so often and I want to do a collection of higher-res Riverwalk pics. There are just some gorgeous photo opportunities along the rivers.
We often meet folks we know as we walk: the Poe family on bikes at Ridge Ferry; Leigh Callan, who wanted info on a CD of The Civil War; George and Ann Pullen by the library; Ernie Studdard, a couple of times this week on Broad; David and Susan Campbell, out on a "Great Date" a while back; students, former students, and other school kids who know me even though I don't recognise them. At school, some kid will pop up about once a week to say, "I saw you walking last night, Mr. Shaw!"
I love living in Rome. Great weather, (OK, except for July and August.) Beautiful scenery. Good cultural, entertainment and sports opportunities. Close enough to Altlanta and Chattanooga to taste the big city delights occasionally. Close enough to the Pocket, Little River, Cohutta, etc. to see nature undisturbed. Shoot, we've got Marshall Forest, Blacks Bluff, and Whitmore Bluffs in or touching the city limits. Rome is small enough that you never feel anonymous, but large enough that you don't feel everyone peering into your business.
I'm feeling a little lonesome on this blog, though! Let's hear from some of the rest of you Monthly Marathoners!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Joan's Update
I have been very busy lately and haven't been home much to post my progress here or to write for Daddy's Roses. My (I probably should say "our" because Jim walked almost all of this with me) total for the month of March was 64.9 miles. Most of that was walking tours during our trip to the Mediterranean.
Since the beginning of this month, I have been home seldom and have had to spend a lot of time in the car. Most of my exercise has been acheived by going up and down to and from the attic, packing boxes and push-pulling them around and stacking them, and other moving-related activity. I spent 5 days with my daughter's family and took her 3 children for a walk every day around the block in their community for a total of 5 miles.
Terrell and Sheila are doing SO Well! Way to go, Terrell and Sheila!!! And I am really enjoying the pics Terrell is posting of their treks around town. I am jealous of their proximity to such a scenic walking route! I won't try to use the lack of one as an excuse for my lethargy, however.
I hereby promise to get off my (let's see -- what is an acceptable term here?) "couch" and get serious about the marathon again.
Since the beginning of this month, I have been home seldom and have had to spend a lot of time in the car. Most of my exercise has been acheived by going up and down to and from the attic, packing boxes and push-pulling them around and stacking them, and other moving-related activity. I spent 5 days with my daughter's family and took her 3 children for a walk every day around the block in their community for a total of 5 miles.
Terrell and Sheila are doing SO Well! Way to go, Terrell and Sheila!!! And I am really enjoying the pics Terrell is posting of their treks around town. I am jealous of their proximity to such a scenic walking route! I won't try to use the lack of one as an excuse for my lethargy, however.
I hereby promise to get off my (let's see -- what is an acceptable term here?) "couch" and get serious about the marathon again.
Monday, April 10, 2006
Terrell & Sheila, again
We are having a great time walking. My mother has a friend coming to visit and asked about what she ought to show of our dear hometown. I couldn't help but think as we strolled along the Oostanaula tonight that she couldn't go wrong taking her friend for an amble along the Riverwalk!
The swallows are entertainment enough for anyone. What frantic little graceful wonders, soaring, swooping, gliding, lighting briefly to add a fragment to a nest or feed a nestling, then off to swoop, soar, and glide again. Beautiful little birds!
The Cliff Sparrows build huge adobe cliff dwellings (above) to rival the Anasazi right there on the side of a busy modern highway bridge.
And the barn swallows with their fancy forked tails, too aloof for such a commune, build individual hanging mud huts (above) here and there farther under the bridge.
If birding's not your cup of tea, just take a gander at the pretty old buildings reflected in the water as you meander up the Oostanaula behind Broad Street up to the library and on to Ridge Ferry Park and the Chieftains Museum. Or detour on to Brioad itself and enjoy a real cup of tea at George Kastanias' Victorian Tea Room or a cup a' java at the Forrest Coffee Shop. Then check out the local history at the Floyd County History Museum on Broad.
Like machinery? Take a gander at the old Swing Bridge (Robert Redden Footbridge, above). This old railway bridge used to turn on this center column so steamboats could move up the Oostanaula. See the gears and wheels of the turntable?
Tonight we got in 4.5 miles along both sides of the river. Yesterday after church we took Daisy down t0 Heritage Park and back (2 miles). And Saturday we walked to Barron Stadium and sampled international foods at the Rome International Festival. We had a Chicken Curry Rice dish from the Indian community of South Africa, we had a beef and rice dish from Korea. Bright red chicken from India, Dulce de Leche Cake from Liberia, some wonderful Potato-Rice-Meat croquette and a Cabbage-Meat roll made by my friend Widad of Kurdistan (Iraq). While we were there we walked a mile on the football track, then across the river to the Salvation Army store on Second Avenue, where I bought two 25¢ paperbacks and a coffee cup with the Clocktower on it for 39¢. (2.5 miles) That brings our total for April to 26.5.
(I took the pictures above.)
The swallows are entertainment enough for anyone. What frantic little graceful wonders, soaring, swooping, gliding, lighting briefly to add a fragment to a nest or feed a nestling, then off to swoop, soar, and glide again. Beautiful little birds!
If birding's not your cup of tea, just take a gander at the pretty old buildings reflected in the water as you meander up the Oostanaula behind Broad Street up to the library and on to Ridge Ferry Park and the Chieftains Museum. Or detour on to Brioad itself and enjoy a real cup of tea at George Kastanias' Victorian Tea Room or a cup a' java at the Forrest Coffee Shop. Then check out the local history at the Floyd County History Museum on Broad.
Tonight we got in 4.5 miles along both sides of the river. Yesterday after church we took Daisy down t0 Heritage Park and back (2 miles). And Saturday we walked to Barron Stadium and sampled international foods at the Rome International Festival. We had a Chicken Curry Rice dish from the Indian community of South Africa, we had a beef and rice dish from Korea. Bright red chicken from India, Dulce de Leche Cake from Liberia, some wonderful Potato-Rice-Meat croquette and a Cabbage-Meat roll made by my friend Widad of Kurdistan (Iraq). While we were there we walked a mile on the football track, then across the river to the Salvation Army store on Second Avenue, where I bought two 25¢ paperbacks and a coffee cup with the Clocktower on it for 39¢. (2.5 miles) That brings our total for April to 26.5.
(I took the pictures above.)
Friday, April 07, 2006
The Barn Swallows & Cliff Swallows
The barn swallows and 
cliff swallows have returned to the bridges of the Oostanaula. They are busy building their mud homes 
under the bridges. Soon the Mama swallows will be attacking me on the riverwalk for coming too near their babies. It's fun to watch these flying insect eaters (Anything that eats mosquitoes is a friend of mine!) swooping up and down the levee, so low they seem to brush the grass, never lighting except at the nests.Monday about 4 miles. Tuesday - zip. Wednesday 4 miles again, a little over 3 miles on Thursday, Friday - zip. 17.5 for the month. Great walking weather. (Pics from Google)
Sunday, April 02, 2006
April Goals? Terrell & Sheila
We took Lillian to Jackson, Tennessee, for a tour of Lambuth University. We enjoyed the visit and managed to walk a good bit. We came back to Monteagle to spend the night and then spent much of today touring the gorgeous University of the South campus on top of the mountain at Sewanee, Tennessee. These are three pics from the web:
I wish we had taken a camera. Sewanee is a beautiful campus with scenic overlooks of long valleys including the one above that spreads beneath a huge Memorial Cross. The All Saints Chapel is resplendant with wonderful stained-glass windows depicting the history of the Christianity, the Episcopal Church in England and America (even Wesley), and the history of Sewanee itself. One window has a VW bug in the background of one scene! The campus architecture is modeled after English schools. Most profs and many students (members of the Order of Gownsmen) even wear Hogwartesque open black robes to class. We took a walk down the sidewalks from the main campus past the theology school and then along a sandy meandering path through the woods to the cross and overlook. There and back about 3 miles total.
Lil is still leaning toward attending Mercer, but we enjoyed the visits. I wore my new pedometer both days and ran up twelve and a half miles. I'm gonna arbitrarily count half of that toward my April goal.
Sheila and I have set a walking goal of matching our March 2.5 or so miles per day average.
Here's how we've done so far this year:
January - 27 miles (approx)
February - 29.5 miles
March - 74.2 miles
Year so far - 130.7
I wish we had taken a camera. Sewanee is a beautiful campus with scenic overlooks of long valleys including the one above that spreads beneath a huge Memorial Cross. The All Saints Chapel is resplendant with wonderful stained-glass windows depicting the history of the Christianity, the Episcopal Church in England and America (even Wesley), and the history of Sewanee itself. One window has a VW bug in the background of one scene! The campus architecture is modeled after English schools. Most profs and many students (members of the Order of Gownsmen) even wear Hogwartesque open black robes to class. We took a walk down the sidewalks from the main campus past the theology school and then along a sandy meandering path through the woods to the cross and overlook. There and back about 3 miles total.
Lil is still leaning toward attending Mercer, but we enjoyed the visits. I wore my new pedometer both days and ran up twelve and a half miles. I'm gonna arbitrarily count half of that toward my April goal.
Sheila and I have set a walking goal of matching our March 2.5 or so miles per day average.
Here's how we've done so far this year:
January - 27 miles (approx)
February - 29.5 miles
March - 74.2 miles
Year so far - 130.7
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