For years I kept journals -- in composition, spiral bound, and French graph paper books. This blog is an attempt to get back to writing and documenting the world around me using photos, newspaper headlines, and other articles.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Looming 5 miles

Ever since I put my training plan up on the refrigerator, this day has been looming -- the 5 mile day.  I had tried 5 miles back in the spring or early summer.  That day I ran 3 and ran/walked the last two.  So I had never run for 5 miles before.  The distance had been on my mind all week.

This morning I headed out to the beach at 8:00.  I was happy that the day was here and that I would be trying to go that far, finally.  There was thick fog on the highway.  By the time I stopped for gas on Lafayette, it had burned off.  When I pulled into Wallis Sands parking lot, there was one other car.  It was warmer today than it has been in a while, so I was able to leave the scarf in the car.  I had my mittens with Kleenex in them, and my hat.  Off I went.

The first two miles I felt like I couldn't get my legs to turn over at a quick pace.  I dragged.  No crows said good morning from the telephone wires.  No other birds to admire.  There was a lot of traffic and I had to be alert for cars going way to fast along the curvy road.  When I came out of the woodsy area by Odiorne, a fierce head wind greeted me.  That didn't help my time any.  But my overall goal was distance and not speed today, so I didn't worry about it too much.  At least the stiff breeze cooled my down.

I felt pretty good at mile 4, where the loop ends and my car was parked.  I pressed for another 1/2 mile to Wallis Rd and then turned around.  The last 1/2 mile the wind and sun were at my back and I think I relaxed a bit and ran faster.  I made it back to my car after running 1 hour and 2 minutes or 12.30 pace.  I was pleased.

I spent a little time stretching on the beach before getting in to my car and driving south towards Jennes Beach.  There is a 6 mile loop that starts at Rye Harbor that I may run next week and I wanted to check it out.  I thought I knew which street to turn on to from 1A for that loop, but when I drove past, I wasn't sure if the turn was at Locke or Cable.  So I continued down to Jennes.  The parking lot was packed with surfers and dog walkers.  I got out, feeling better about safety in numbers and took a few pictures of the people in the water.  Crazy!  Some day I would love to take a surfing lesson, but not when the water is around 50 degrees or below.

Driving back home, all I could think about was having leftover pumpkin pie and whipped cream for breakfast dessert.  That is my favorite ritual on the day after Thanksgiving.  Forget shopping on Black Friday, give me pie!

Thanksgiving


Happy Thanksgiving.  Selim made great decorations for the holiday.  We have a new door picture, plus a table Turkey and a poster of things that he is grateful for.





We had a sweet day.  Yesterday I made the pumpkin pie, cheesecake, nut loaf and cranberry sauce.  That made the cooking today pretty simple.  At an easy pace I made a corn casserole, stuffing, roasted red and white sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy.  We were going to be joined by Eddie and Pauline, but she wasn't feeling well, so it was just family.






While I was cooking, Robert took Selim to the coast for a bird watch.  They saw loons, a long-tailed duck, seagulls, sparrows, finches, divers, and others.  Selim picked up a crab shell, piece of an old pipe, and a box full of rocks.  They had a grand adventure.

We sat down to eat just after 2:00.  The first thing I do is misjudge the size of the bowl of mashed potatoes and when setting it back down on the table, knock over Nedim's glass of sparkling cider.  Once that mess was cleaned up, we got down to serious eating.



After the main meal, Selim and Robert went out to play catch with the football in the newly paved street.  Mom and I cleaned up and then put dessert on the table.  When I went out to inform them we were eating the sweets, they had moved on to playing street tennis.  Selim is going to sleep well tonight.  The pumpkin pie was great and the big bowl of whipped cream only enhanced.




So now the house is quiet.  Selim went back to the Ashram and Nedim and I are home together.  We figured he would have more fun there since I have to go in to work tomorrow. The house feels empty, like a deflated balloon.  I am missing his constant narration of regular life. 

I have so much to be grateful for this year: the health of my family, a job I love, friends that give me a sense of community and support, and my running project.  My life is full of love, grace and laughter.  I am so lucky.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Pre-Thanksgiving

I think the menu is all set for Thursday.  Mom and Robert, Eddie and Pauline will be coming over for dinner.  I bought food to make the baked brie appetizer, chestnut soup, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roasted root veggies, green beans, nut loaf, gravy, mac and cheese.  For dessert we will have pumpkin pie and some sort of cheese cake.  I have spiced cider on hand and might make chai.  Tomorrow I'll start preparing and make the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, at least.

Even though yesterday was my eight hour day and I left at 11:00, I didn't have the best sleep last night.  Probably I drank too much high test coffee.  I didn't have the time at Dunkin Donuts for them to brew a fresh pot of decaf, so my medium was straight up caffeinated.  And Selim woke up around 1:00 coughing and blowing his nose.  I got up to get him more tissues and cough syrup.  Neither of us fell back asleep right away.

So this morning, I felt tired.  I got Selim out the door and to the school bus on time.  It was cold.  The frost was so thick that Selim asked if it had snowed last night.  After waving good bye to him, I went back home to drop off my jacket.  I went into the kitchen to look at my training plan to double check that the distance for today's run was indeed, four miles.  I stared at that plan that is held on to the refrigerator with tons of magnets, wishing that the check mark would magically appear on the workout square for today.  If I kept looking long enough, may be my legs would run of their own accord.

But no.  I grabbed some tissues and stuck them in the top part of my gloves (the part that turns them into mittens when pulled over the hand), pulled my ponytail through the intended hole in my new hat (love it!) and went back outside. 




The sun sparkled off the frost on the grass; geese honked as they flew up out of the reeds; and my feet went slap, slap, slap on the pavement.  As I went along, I was thinking / hearing Selim sing "you spin me 'round 'round baby, 'round 'round like a record player, 'round 'round..." in his best Alvin the Chipmunk voice.  That made me smile and keep going.  Luckily by the end of the run that snippet was not playing in my head any longer and my mind had emptied out and I was enjoying the landscape around me.  I heard my breath, was grateful for the strength of my lungs and legs, and found the rhythm of my feet to be pretty solid.

I came home in a time of 48.08 or 12.02 minute miles, my best time over four miles.  Not bad for a cold morning when I was so tired at the outset.



Friday, November 16, 2012

Birding

I took my 4 mile run this morning on the Wallis Sands route that I mapped out a couple of weeks ago.  It was cold this monring so I wore long running tights, a sports tank and a long sleeve shirt, hat, gloves and a scarf.  Early on as I was concentrating on getting my breath, I went along an area where there is this grass that is really high.  You can't see the marsh area behind it. 




Suddenly, I heard a loud squawk and looked up to find two crows sitting on the telephone wires.  It felt like they were saying good morning.  They made me laugh.  It was the first time that I actively wished I had an iPod or phone with a good camera so that I could have taken a picture of the two birds.  I went back after my run to see if they were still there, but they weren't.  So here is the pole, sans crows.



Right before the little bridge on 1A I had found my stride. 



I looked down to my left in the tidal area and there was a great blue heron.  Another opportunity missed.  It was so close to me and it didn't fly away as I ran over the bridge.  I felt so lucky to have been right there, up close and personal with the heron.  Majestic.  Glorious.

At the end of the four miles, I didn't feel as tired as I did the previous time I ran that route.  Progress.  I ran it 17 seconds slower, but that isn't bad considering on Tuesday I had run 4 miles.  I haven't ran that distance back to back before.  I finished up my exercise with stretches down on the sand.  I love being at the beach -- the sound of the waves, the briny smell, the way that it is the opposite of claustrophobia when standing on the shoreline, looking out at the vast ocean all the way to the horizon.   Liberating, perspective, peaceful, energizing, awesome are words I associate with the beach.  What is not to love?






When I left the beach, I went back to see if the heron was there, and it wasn't.  Of course.  But I did get a nice shot of the Wentworth Hotel.




There were two birds that posed for me: one was a seagull on a rock by the Seacoast Science Center. 




And the other was on top of a chimney.




Closer to the traffic circle with Route 1A and the road into Rye Center, there was a house with pumpkins all along their stone wall.  The past couple of times I've driven by, I didn't pull over and take a picture, but today I did.  The pumpkins were moldy and some were smashed, but the look from afar was still the same.


Monday, November 12, 2012

Questions, questions

So last night I am tucking Selim in bed when he asks me, "Mom, how do you think the Tooth Fairy got under my pillow last night?"
     "I'm not sure."
     "She is small and my pillow is big.   And where did she take my tooth?  I mean, how did she fly away with it?  Did she shrink it?  The tooth was pretty big and she is small."
     "She must be clever.  May be she had a pouch around her neck that and she could put the tooth in there."
     "Hmmm...How does she carry the money?  A quarter would be too heavy for her to carry when she is flying."
     "May be that is why she left you a dollar.  She could have folded the bill into a small square and it is pretty light."
     "Yeah, cash is much lighter than change.   She must get really tired if she has to go to a lot of houses every night...If it was raining, she would have to walk because fairies can't fly with wet wings.  Wouldn't she get tired?"
     "May be she had an umbrella.  Could she fly with an umbrella?"
     "Mom, she would have to walk.   And she has small feet.  This is a little off topic, but if we had Xfinity on Demand and had their security system, then we would have cameras over the door and we could watch her come in and fly around."
     "Does the security system have tapes, or would you have to be awake and watching?"
     "Well, if we got a tablet or an iPhone, we could watch it on there.  I don't think they keep tapes of your house. (pause)  And Santa...we could watch Santa come in!  That would be awesome!"

Then today we were driving home from the market I had the radio turned to sports talk.  It had been on for a while.  First they were talking about Phil Jackson not being re-hired by the Lakers and all the pros and cons of that coaching decision.  And then the topic of the Bears / Texans game last night -- what did we learn, if anything about either team?  And naturally, since this is sports radio, the guys are talking and interrupting each other and it is all good natured banter.  As we approached the stop light by Agway, Selim piped up with, "Do these guys ever stop arguing?"

I hadn't realized he was paying attention. 

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Veteran's Day

It seems odd to say "Happy Veteran's Day."  The happy part is what I'm referring to.  I don't remember thinking a lot about joining the military when I grew up.  There weren't veterans in the family that I new about, other than Robert's father.  So I wasn't raised hearing stories of war from a first person account.  In my house, college would be the next step after high school.  I had a few classmates who joined -- one went in the Navy and the other the Coast Guard.  But military life and appreciation wasn't something paramount in my mind.

Last summer being in DC it was hard not to be reminded on a daily basis of the wars that we have fought.  I went as many of the memorials as I could.  I went to Arlington National Cemetery more than once to walk around, and I passed by a corner of it every day on the bus to FSI.



 


I would like to think that I have a greater appreciation now, of what service and sacrifice mean.  I am grateful to those who have served our country in uniform.  I thank the family members who stay home while their loved ones are in harms way.  It cannot be an easy life.  But my life has been made easier because of the sacrifice of others.  The life of liberty I enjoy is made in part, on the backs of those in uniform.  I am in their debt.

We had breakfast with Eddie and Pauline today.  Eddie is a Veteran and I wanted to pick up the tab, but he wouldn't let me.  He said it made him happy that Selim and I joined them so he was paying.  I told him that I should be the one to get the bill as a thank you for his service.  He wouldn't let me.  Next time, I will have to be faster in reaching for the check.

I've spent some time looking through the photos from last summer.  In honor of those who have served, these are a few of my favorites:














Saturday, November 10, 2012

Haircut

Due to parent conferences on Friday, Selim didn't have school.  We took advantage and went into Portsmouth in the morning so that he could get his hair cut at his regular place.



After that we went to the sticker store and then the bakery for hot chocolate.  We haven't made our rounds downtown in a while and it felt good.

Unfortunately, Selim's teacher had to leave school before we got to have our parent conference later that morning.  We must have just missed her, as we went to the library first for the book fair and then to the classroom.  We waited outside the room for a few minutes before someone came out to tell us that she had gone home.  We will reschedule for another time.

It has been a busy week.  I've done well on my 10k training plan.  It snowed on Wednesday night into Thursday morning.  That made for a slow and slippery ride home at midnight Thursday.  It also caused a two hour delayed opening for the area schools.  I found the winter coats, which was helpful.  But the boots from last year are too small and we need to get Selim a bigger size.






I loved the way the snow look melting off my car.  It looked like fabric!





Today we went to the Jackson Landing playground.  The ice rink next door was open and we got to watch the Zamboni drive around the ice.  The afternoon light made for nice picture taking. 





And of course, I had to take one of the two of us to add to our collection.