Gotta Love Live Music

The Friends of the Library held a fundraiser tonight at Busters, and a friend and co-worker filled in at drums. Good job, Mike!

Here's to live music everywhere! I forgot how much I enjoyed it...

Hidden Among Us

I just spent the last hour talking with and listening to two men in our church who work with the homeless ministry, and I'm trying to digest what I've just heard.

They described streets and whole neighborhoods of homeless shanties in Lexington--where they congregated, who all was helping serve the homeless, and what issues they face. One man was on staff with the church, but the other was an engineer by day who spends his weekends among the homeless, even leading a church under a bridge downtown.

They talked about mental illness, the challenges of getting transient patients medicine, and how even after doing due diligence in how they give money and resources to those in need, these two street-wise men still get taken and see their gifts resold for money. With smiles they described double-checking doors to make sure none of their men didn't unlock one so they could sneak back into a church or meeting place after the all left. One told how hard it is to identify and get help to homeless women; they are often leary of shelters, having been taken advantage of by the largely male homeless subculture. They were both excited to get a few recently-purchased tents into the hands of a few men they knew were seeping in the elements.

I was most amazed that they seemed to know all the same people--that the network of those helping meet needs is so small in a city of a quarter million people. I think I need to know more about a problem that has seemingly hidden in plane sight from me all these years...

It's A Filling!

Born Nov 2 at 12:26 pm. Papa and filling are resting comfortably...

Cape Carteret Vacation, Day 3

Day 3 was very relaxed--I spent the afternoon at the beach, reading The Language of God by Francis Collins.

The one big highlight was Herman getting his bath that morning...


Love that dog...

Cape Carteret Vacation, Day 2

Day 2 was a day of exercise.  I was still sore from the marathon, so I wanted to walk around and see some of the goings on at the beach.  We drove down to the Emerald Isle beach and took a walk out on the peer.



The 'spot' were running.  No being a fisherman, I didn't know exactly what this means, but I found out later that spot are little bluegill-like fish that school in the thousands.  They run the gauntlet between the ICW and the ocean at certain times of year, and the fisherman line up boat after boat to pull them from the water as fast as they can put their lines in.  It was fun to go up to a random person and ask, "Are the spot runnin'?" and have a conversation like I know what I'm talking about, though!


While we were there, we saw someone catch this black drum...at least that's what they said it was.


From the lookout station above the end of the peer...




The water was so clear and still you could see amazingly deep.  I think this is a skate, but we weren't sure.


I've never been a fisherman, but I admire the determination.  It was fun to be around when something was on someone's line; everyone seemed to get excited and root for one another.  I guess I wasn't expecting it, but it was cool to see.

Cape Carteret Vacation, Day 1

We hit the ground running on day 1 with a quick trip to Harker's Island and (hopefully) Cape Lookout lighthouse. My aunt Sharry and I had tried this trip last year, but the water was too rough and the ferries weren't running. It was my one "must do" item on the vacation list.

The weather was amazing, so we stopped in Beaufort to walk around and check out all the big boats.




Next, we grabbed a burger at the Royal James' Cafe downtown.




I sneaked a few pictures of its unique ambiance with my phone ...




When we got to Harker's Island, we bought our tickets to the Calico Jack's Ferry and sat down to enjoy the great weather. This momma dog was kind enough to let me pass the time giving her head a scratch.


The captain of the ferry got us going...


...while Momma Dog kept watch. Notice how her ears are blown back by the wind.


The ferry captain wasn't sure the Shackleford horses would be out since the tide was high, but we saw several. These are wild horses that have lived on the Shackleford banks for generations. Contrary to popular belief, no one *really* knows where they came from. But during hurricanes and violent weather, the older horses form a circle around the younger ones like a wagon train and protect them from the strong winds. Amazing.




And despite efforts to control the population with birth control...well...nothing is 100% effective. This little guy is only a few months old.


After a few minutes watching the horses, we turned south and continued on to the Cape Lookout lighthouse. The diamond pattern is unique to Cape Lookout (other lighthouses have spirals, stripes, etc.), and since the white diamonds face West-East and the black diamonds face North-South, an approaching captain can easily get his bearing during the day. (At night, the various lighthouses each have their own period for their blinking light, helping identify them from one another.)


We spent the rest of our time there walking on the beach. I got to put my Hobbit feet in the ocean for the first time this trip.




In all it was a great first day!

Thanks, Columbus!

Today I finished the Columbus Marathon in 3:43:13, a personal best in my third (and probably last) marathon.

I was originally going to run Chicago last weekend, but it filled up before I got around to registering. Now I'm glad it did, because I was really impressed with how well Columbus was organized.

There were a bunch of aid/water stations, and the volunteers were amazing--cheering and encouraging everyone. The organizers printed runners' first names on the bib above the number, and it made a big difference; it's always cool to hear perfect strangers cheer you on by name!

At the finish, there was a lot of great food (and FREE MASSAGES...see earlier post), and I had two volunteers come up to me out of the blue to offer to help--one was making sure I was OK and lead me to the massage table and one let me into the finish area (where I took this picture) to cheer and wait for my friends to finish. It was really impressive how they could be so servant-oriented with 15,000 people in need.

Thanks again, Columbus, for enabling me to end my marathon career on a high note.