| Warm Summer Weather |
Another great weekend, though very warm out! On Saturday morning I went to the barn, rode Blackjack, and spent some time talking with Larry, Jane, Renee & the mounted parkers. The rest of Saturday was kind of a lazy day except for a trip to get groceries. On Sunday morning I got up and drove to Mont Alto for orienteering. I went out first thing when I got there. It was incredibly hot and I felt like I was climbing and climbing, but overall I didn't have any problems and actually did quite well. It helped that the event was in the campus section and not in the part of the park that I find kind of creepy. After I got back I spent some time working finish, and just hanging out... it was a beautiful day to be outside. On the way home I stopped and had dinner at my parents' house... even though by the time I got there everyone else had finished eating. Then back home where I did laundry and there was a very violent thunderstorm and the cable went out. I think something got hit very close by, and then the electric and cable people were out on the street working in the middle of the night.
My only disappointment of the weekend is the bubble which developed in my compass after the event... I've had that compass the entire 14 years that I've been orienteering. I suppose it may be a sign that it's time to move to the thumb compass... unfortunately I won't have a chance to get one until fall, so I'm scrambling to try to find another of the same type I had... which seems to be no longer manufactured. |
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Monday, May 28, 2007 09:23 p.m.
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| Hibernia a Deux |
This weekend turned out to be super! First it seemed like the weather was going to be crappy and ruin everything, but in the end it all came out perfectly. On Saturday morning I met Megan & Tracy and we drove over to Hibernia for the Viking Horse ride. I got the chestnut mare Room who was been on the ride every year. We rode for about 2 hours all over the park. We also ran into Mark setting the controls for the orienteering event on Sunday so that was pretty funny. We did a lot of tolting and cantering. We hit the one flat, wide trail along a stream and were doing an awesome long tolt. After the ride was over we came back to Lancaster and I went to the store and made salad while Megan did some equine massages for clients. Then she came back over and we played with the gerbils for awhile and then left for Kelly's party. When we got there everyone sat down to watch the Preakness. We were all yelling and it was upsetting when Curlin came on to win at the last second, many of us wanted Street Sense & Calvin Borel to have the chance at the Triple Crown. After that we ate and watched some of the XC from Rolex and just had fun.
On Sunday morning it was back to Hibernia for the orienteering event. I went out on Green, and it was okay but this is the time of year I hate because there is so much undergrowth. I had slight problems on controls 3 and 13 (which should have been an easy one) but overall did well, just kind of slow compared to my last few times out. |
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Tuesday, May 22, 2007 08:54 p.m.
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| Election Triumph |
This week has been good so far... not a lot of stress. I went down and voted yesterday, even though it is pretty pointless in the primary as a Democrat in Lancaster County. There is usually only the exact number of candidates or none at all :( but I wanted to vote on the Act 1 and thankfully that did not pass because it would have meant higher taxes for me and many others. In York County it looks like things went great, finally we will be rid of the 2 Commissioners that we wanted out. Hopefully change is on the way there and the danger to private property rights has been averted.
Busy weekend coming up... I'm so excited :) Next weekend also. |
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Wednesday, May 16, 2007 11:20 p.m.
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| Busy Weekend |
It was a pretty packed weekend. On Saturday morning I went to my brother's college graduation. When we got there the tent was already mostly full. We ended up with seats near the back. The ground was not level and we were kind of down in a hole and really could not see much of anything. The ceremony was decent, the speaker was Senator Casey and I thought the speech was actually kind of depressing. The longest part was them reading all the names, which was difficult to hear because so many people were talking in the background and it kept getting louder and louder. After that I ended up going home and my parents went to my sister's Confirmation. I thought I was going to that too, but apparently it was already packed. In the evening we met more of our family and went to this restaurant called Victor's which I never knew existed. It was really good, too. And finally we ended up at home having cake.
Then today there was an orienteering meet at Rocky Ridge. I ran registration most of the time out of the back of my car because there were no picnic tables around. It was a beautiful day and an excellent turnout. I ended up not doing a course because I was feeling kind of lazy and just sitting around enjoying the day. I will get out next week so it is all good. |
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Sunday, May 13, 2007 09:36 p.m.
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| Oh Man. |
This is just one of those weeks that makes me go "NOW what?" And my time is pretty much packed full through the end of the month.
Sometimes I wonder what it must be like to live a normal boring life and actually rest. HA! |
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Wednesday, May 9, 2007 11:36 p.m.
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| Rest of the Week & MASOC |
The rest of the week after returning from West Point was pretty standard. On Wednesday we had our SEC meeting at Zia Maria, a restaurant owned by Megan's friend, which was pretty good. They had awesome crab dip but I burned my mouth eating it. We didn't really have a ton to talk about in the meeting but it was fun to go out for once. On Thursday I had my lesson, Ziggy was good and we built up to jumping a small course which I did with moderate success.
On Saturday I went to help out at MASOC which was the first time in a few years that it has not had a conflict with West Point. I arrived and helped get the awards out, then I went out and ran my Green course that was actually for today's event. That went mostly well except the controls that were back in the old overgrown camp areas. And the woods were very green and thorny which makes it harder to see and move. When I got back I helped with results and took some photos. It was amazing how fast the day seemed to go by. When I was a kid competing in it, it always seemed to last forever.
Then today, I went to the barn and rode Blackjack for a short time. It was windy and kind of cold out. The rest of the day I didn't do much except chores and things like that. |
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Sunday, May 6, 2007 09:02 p.m.
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| West Point |
Last weekend was the West Point A-meet! I had off Friday morning and I had to go to the dentist first and get my bonding re-done, which actually came out really good, but he forgot to do my filling so I have to go back AGAIN. After that I went to Donna's and we drove up to Harriman and had dinner at TGI Friday's. I had these quesidillas which were really good. Then we went up to Camp Buckner and registered and met Janet and Denny who were grilling their dinner. This year the barracks were being renovated and we couldn't stay at Buckner, so Denny got us an A-frame cabin at Lake Frederick. We drove over there and it was already dark so we just went to sleep.
In the morning I got up and went outside and we were right at the lake - it is a pretty cool camp but it is only for military and retired military people so just anybody can't stay there. We drove over to Buckner and I hopped on the bus to start. Day 1 was east of Long Mountain. The first few controls were along Turkey Hill Pond and they were fairly easy, by WP standards. I had a small parallel error on 6, and by 9 & 10 I was getting tired and not paying as much attention as I should have, but I still found everything okay and got out of the woods in decent time. However I ended up with a huge blister on the bottom of my foot, ouch! Since Donna and I couldn't go back to the camp by ourselves we hung around Buckner all day. There was a sprint in the afternoon so I was hiding under buildings and all around the place and taking photos of people running the sprint. There was a silent auction benefit for the Junior team so I bid on some things. Then there was the meet dinner, which was catered by a local pub and had a variety of delicious things in a buffet style. After that we watched a demonstration on terrestrial LIDAR which was pretty sweet. Then finally after a long day it was back to the camp to sleep.
On day 2 the morning was pretty much the same drill, just earlier. Courses were on the opposite side of the Mountain. I had a few minor problems because I seemed to be drifting to the left a lot. Overall I felt I did about the same as the first day. At least on the longest leg, usually my downfall, I felt like I planned and navigated well. I did mess up on number 10, which a lot of other people apparently did also, as it was a rock in a rocky area where there were several other controls. In fact I ended up visiting control 1 again... oops... at least then I knew where in the rocks I was. The patch job I did on my blister worked just long enough for me to run. I took longer on this day and Donna was within 3 minutes of me so she did very well. We went back to Buckner and waited for the awards. I did end up in 1st place on Brown open so that was pretty nice. Then all that was left was a drive back home. |
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Sunday, May 6, 2007 09:02 p.m.
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| jetstream |
Can you wait?
My plane will be arriving shortly
Right there at the gate
I pray that you'll be waiting right there for me
Long live love
I just can't get enough of you
I need that engine's push
It's gonna take me home to you
~New Order
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| you're beautiful |
My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.
You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.
~James Blunt
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