Where has the time gone?
I can't believe I haven't updated this journal since the final day of the Tour de France. A lot and not much have happened since.
Bele Chere was fabulous this year--saw some great bands. Tinsley Ellis rocked the house on Friday and was a tough act to follow for me. We saw Drive By Truckers and Bonerama (great horn band from NOLA) on Saturday. The fact that they charged for one stage on Saturday sucked and most of us festival veterans boycotted that show--boy, we showed them!
The first weekend in August Trout, Becky, and I went down to Panama City to scallop with Trout's family. It rained for 2 days--for the first time we've visited in years. Becky and I decided the heck with scalloping and headed for a beach in Gulf County with Cricket (our Jack Russell) on sunny Sunday. It's the only beach we know of in the panhandle to allow dogs. She loved it, and Becky and I soaked up the rays.
Trout took me to Heintooga in the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park, and we biked down from the highest campground to Cherokee on a one way dirt road--it was great, and I finally broke the 1,000 mile mark on my odometer. I also wore out my brakes on the 17 mile descent--it was beautiful and cool in the shade of the park. We had to cross the headwaters of the Oconluftee River. The water was deceptively deep and the gravel was fist sized--glad I didn't wreck.
I have been a complete slug as far as biking and fitness, since the first of July. It's been so hot and we've had so much rain. Of course, I recognize that these are both excuses; I really do plan to become that svelte model lurking inside me. The last few mornings have been cool, so I'm getting inspired again. Wish me luck.
Trout left this morning for Mississippi to volunteer his services in any capacity. He's an RN but brought his boots, brush gloves, and a hammer in order to help in any way needed. He's planning to be gone for at least a week and 2 at the most. I'll miss him but am glad he can help--the hospital has agreed to cover his normal pay without using his PTO, which is pretty cool of them. The other nurse who was going to go with him had to cancel; in the end, he left alone. He'll be fine; he's a good soul. He remembers Camille and its devastation and just felt moved to help.
School started on August 25. I've 2 great classes (Eng 12 and Eng 10) and 1 challenging class. It's a class of 29 freshmen and 20 of them are boys. It's also an inclusion class (thanks No Child Left Behind), which means a number of the students have some type of problem; I have a number of kids with serious learning disabilities in reading and 3 boys who are BED (Behaviorally and Emotionally Disabled). So far they are pretty sweet but are a wiggly, giggly, bunch of kids in desperate need of someone's love. One of them beat himself up on Friday with a padlock but had made up a story about being attacked by an unknown assailant--that's about the saddest student I've run across. He hit himself hard enough in the face to raise welts and his cheekbone looked awful. How awful must his life be to need that kind of attention--pretty awful I found out later. They make me cry.
Total bike miles 1024
Bele Chere was fabulous this year--saw some great bands. Tinsley Ellis rocked the house on Friday and was a tough act to follow for me. We saw Drive By Truckers and Bonerama (great horn band from NOLA) on Saturday. The fact that they charged for one stage on Saturday sucked and most of us festival veterans boycotted that show--boy, we showed them!
The first weekend in August Trout, Becky, and I went down to Panama City to scallop with Trout's family. It rained for 2 days--for the first time we've visited in years. Becky and I decided the heck with scalloping and headed for a beach in Gulf County with Cricket (our Jack Russell) on sunny Sunday. It's the only beach we know of in the panhandle to allow dogs. She loved it, and Becky and I soaked up the rays.
Trout took me to Heintooga in the Great Smoky Mountains Nat'l Park, and we biked down from the highest campground to Cherokee on a one way dirt road--it was great, and I finally broke the 1,000 mile mark on my odometer. I also wore out my brakes on the 17 mile descent--it was beautiful and cool in the shade of the park. We had to cross the headwaters of the Oconluftee River. The water was deceptively deep and the gravel was fist sized--glad I didn't wreck.
I have been a complete slug as far as biking and fitness, since the first of July. It's been so hot and we've had so much rain. Of course, I recognize that these are both excuses; I really do plan to become that svelte model lurking inside me. The last few mornings have been cool, so I'm getting inspired again. Wish me luck.
Trout left this morning for Mississippi to volunteer his services in any capacity. He's an RN but brought his boots, brush gloves, and a hammer in order to help in any way needed. He's planning to be gone for at least a week and 2 at the most. I'll miss him but am glad he can help--the hospital has agreed to cover his normal pay without using his PTO, which is pretty cool of them. The other nurse who was going to go with him had to cancel; in the end, he left alone. He'll be fine; he's a good soul. He remembers Camille and its devastation and just felt moved to help.
School started on August 25. I've 2 great classes (Eng 12 and Eng 10) and 1 challenging class. It's a class of 29 freshmen and 20 of them are boys. It's also an inclusion class (thanks No Child Left Behind), which means a number of the students have some type of problem; I have a number of kids with serious learning disabilities in reading and 3 boys who are BED (Behaviorally and Emotionally Disabled). So far they are pretty sweet but are a wiggly, giggly, bunch of kids in desperate need of someone's love. One of them beat himself up on Friday with a padlock but had made up a story about being attacked by an unknown assailant--that's about the saddest student I've run across. He hit himself hard enough in the face to raise welts and his cheekbone looked awful. How awful must his life be to need that kind of attention--pretty awful I found out later. They make me cry.
Total bike miles 1024