October 29, 2010

Touching Something Relevant


This week I reached down and touched the murky water of the Tennessee River. Where I stood, it so happens, was within eyesight of where a fierce tornado had touched down just the night before. But as I stood under the grey sky in this southern town, it wasn’t the weather I was thinking of.

Whenever I travel for work—which is a lot these days—I always try to make time to run. If I’m lucky I run to something. Nothing glamorous or famous. Just something relevant. Like a river, an ocean, a mountain, even an historic site. History and nature are all around us. They lay, I think, humbly and in waiting for us to notice them. History for sure, because history is only there for us when we want it to be.

It must be so, at least on this day, because as I leaned down to touch the river, I knew there was a story in it. But what was it? At that moment it didn’t matter, I was just enjoying being there while standing at its shore.

As I stood there I remembered visiting Gettysburg many years ago. The stories of what took place on that battlefield—gruesome stories—were difficult to hear. But there is one story I’ll never forget. It’s a story about how soldiers from both the Confederate Army and the Union Army, bloodied from the daily battles, some near death, would gather at night on opposite sides of a narrow creek, and they would wash their wounds, at peace with each other.

The place I was standing, it so happens, was part of one of the most critical battlefields of the civil war, the battle of Chattanooga. A battle that claimed more than 12,000 casualties and was the beginning of the end of the confederacy. I wonder, now, how many men could have washed their wounds on the shore where I stood?

Sometimes just touching the water can be relevant.

October 22, 2010

The Rebirth of Saltwater Website


Tradition. Pride. Friendship. Commitment.  These are the values of Saltwater, a 32 mile run from the ocean to the top of Saddleback Mt (5,600'+).  This is the rebirth or our website.  Enjoy.  Click here to go to new Saltwater website.  Please leave you comments!

October 14, 2010

Women and Boston. Unfair Advantage?

What do you girls and boys think?  Today's Wall Street Journal ran a story you should be interested in.   The question is should women get a 30 minute advantage to qualify for the Boston Marathon?  That has been the handicap to date, but is it unfair?  Now that Boston is filling up so quickly, some are saying this is unfair!  What do you think?

Click here for the link.  Please come back to this blog to leave your comments!

   

October 13, 2010

My First Barefoot Run


It's official. My first go-with-the-latest-trend barefoot run is now in the book. It was only 5 miles, with 3 on the beach and 2 on concrete. Yes, you read that correctly, concrete. All I'm going to say at this point is that I'm no "barefoot Ted" or vibram junkie, just a curious old school runner sniffing around the latest craze.

Since I just finished 5 minutes ago I'm going to have to wait to see how My feet feel tomorrow. Wait. This just in...my right big toe is feeling kind of raw.

Time for a beer.

October 4, 2010

Lightning Strikes. Not Once, but....

It’s usually the simple things—the white clouds on the horizon, the crisp red branch of the Manzanita, the amber sky of the setting sun—that nature reveals to us.  But once in a while, if you’re in the right place at the right time, she can reveal much more.  

It was around 2:30 am Saturday morning when I woke.  My heart was racing and my breath was short.  I must have been dehydrated, I thought, so I downed some water and waited to fall back to sleep.  But my heart was still active, and the darkened room lit up as I lay waiting.  But what was I waiting for?  Another flash, then another.  Finally I get up and walked out to the balcony.  Before me unfolds one of those rare moments.
A tropical depression, unusual this late in the year, was moving up the coast off southern California.  My wife and I were celebrating our 13th anniversary on the island of Catalina. I was standing on the balcony overlooking the pitch black ocean. Lightning pierced the darkness with brilliant bolts that made my hair stand on end.  One, two, three bolts.  Then multiples of that.  We stood there for two hours watching as the storm moved closer.  A fishing boat, anchored just off the shore, made a run to the mainland as the lightning closed in.


Fortunately I brought my SLR and tripod on the trip to capture some of the scenery.  For those interested I caught the lightening by setting the shutter speed to 20 to 30 seconds with the aperture set high, around 24, for maximum depth of field.  I kept shooting in the general direction of the storm and got a couple right on the money. 

Hope you enjoy the pics cause I really enjoyed taking them! 


Oh yea, I almost forgot.  I got a couple of great runs in on the Island as well! 




Tropical System The Day Before -- Humid! 
Hey, its our 13th!
Pre Fish Tour