Helen Rerun

Greetings! Shannan and I attended a lovely wedding in beautiful Dahlonega, GA. We decided to make a little get-a-way out of the occasion. So, we stayed in the faux Bavarian Village of Alpine Helen, GA. It’s a fun spot for a day trip and the home to several quaint wedding chapels. The best time of year is the annual Oktoberfest. 

When we arrived, I began having found memories of the area from previous visits. The village area is not very big at all. I believe I’ve jogged on every single street in downtown Helen. The next morning was quiet and cool. It was grand to get back on the roads, cruise along the river and weave through the shops. 

Relive Memories on the Road. Run.

Tom

Plyo in the Park

Greetings! There are lots of ways to change things up with daily exercise. For example, today I completed Extreme Plyo from Amber Calabrese’s 21 Day Fix Extreme program. I have used this workout before, but to make it fun and interesting, around 11:00 I went plyo in the park. This silly plan worked pretty well thanks to my AirPods and IPad. I also brought along a chair to hold up the IPad and set up my portable gym in the middle of a basketball court. For the record, I have jogged passed this court for years and have never seen it in use, the weeds growing in the cracks of the court offer further testament to the lack of regular play. I feel obligated to note I would never be so presumptuous to begin exercising on a court and prohibit the play of others. 

The IPad took on glare from the midmorning sun, but truthfully the movements in this plyo routine don’t allow for much time to look at the screen. In fact, four times you have to be down in plank (the pre-push-up position). You can’t see the screen for that position anyway. The plank moves made for good times on an outdoor basketball court. In years past, I have exercised in parks with video choreographed programs. Back then I carted out a portable DVD player. The entire experience was a bit odd. During this most recent occasion, a police officer watched for about 15 minutes. While pretending not to notice, I was tried to think of something clever to say if he approached. He didn’t, and I never thought of a suitable quip.

Go Plyo in the Park or Run.

Tom 

Road Side Memorials

Greetings! Across academic disciplines, many scholars agree funerary activities rank high among the oldest rites and rituals practiced by human beings. Behaviors and ceremonies linked to death vary across time and place. Marking the place of a buried person has striking similarities around the world. Yet, marking the place where someone died is not always preserved. Of course, this happens for people of import and celebrities. Yet, there is one area of marking the death location that crosses boundaries of stratification, that is the road side memorial.

Most likely you’ve all seen one, probably even today. These can be signs, stones, crosses, flowers or other material culture objects just off the roadway to mark the place where a person died in some sort of accident. Cities and states handle these private memorials in different ways.

I wonder about the person, the accident and what will become of the memorial often when I’m out jogging. I also think about how it feels for family members to have this visual reminder of a lost loved one. That sort of thing can go either way. How do they react when the memorial gets destroyed due to the elements? How often are the memorials attended for upkeep and memory sake?

Perhaps that is one of the purposes of the road side memorial, that no matter who, how or when the deceased will continue to stir thoughts and wonder for the living.

Remember. Wonder. Run.

Tom

This blog post has interesting information about states and memorial markers. 

http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com/2012/07/roadside-memorials.html

Summer Running

Greetings! It’s been a great summer of running. Since the spring, I’ve increased my monthly mileage. Even though it has rained a lot in our area, the timing worked out such that I managed not to be negatively impacted by the regular pop-up storms. Our travel schedule allowed me the opportunity to run in a number of new places. It really has been a great summer of running. The good news is our summer term just ended. Now I have a 20 day break before the fall term begins. I’ll have more options to run in the heat of the day, which I enjoy, and more time to spend on the road.

Enjoy the Summer. Run.

Tom