In honor of the day....L'Chaim

Election Day

What have YOU done?

I found this list and thought I'd answer. If you'd like to comment with your own answers, or ask questions, please do; or share the list on your own blog.

01. Start your own blog -- Yes
02. Sleep under the stars -- Yes, truly under the stars, along Highway 1 on the Pacific ocean on the beach.
03. Play in a band -- No
04. Visit Hawaii -- No
05. Watch a meteor shower -- Yes
06. Give more than you can afford to charity -- No
07. Go to Disneyworld -- Yes but only once when I was a kid
08. Climb a mountain -- No. I've been ON some big ones skiing or hiking, but not actually climbing a mountain
09. Hold a praying mantis -- Yes
10. Sing a solo -- No, just a solo part in a duet or choral number
11. Bungee jump -- No, but I did hang by my hair off a cliff (caught in a metal rack while rapelling) for over an hour
12. Visit Paris -- Yes
13. Watch a lightning storm at sea -- Yes
14. Teach yourself an art technique -- Yes
15. Adopt a child -- No, but I did have an exchange student for a year
16. Eat sushi -- No
17. Walk to the top of the Statue of Liberty -- No
18. Grow your own vegetables -- Yes
19. See the Mona Lisa in France -- Yes
20. Sleep on an overnight train -- Yes
21. Have a pillow fight -- Yes
22. Hitch hike -- Yes, in Greece with three children
23. Look at the rings of Saturn through a telescope -- Yes
24. Build a snow fort -- No
25. Hold a lamb -- No
26. Climb to the top of a lighthouse -- Yes
27. Run a Marathon -- No
28. Ride in a gondola in Venice -- Yes. Well, it was more a water taxi than a gondola, but let's not be technical!
29. See a total eclipse -- Yes
30. Watch a sunrise or sunset -- Yes
31. Hit a home run -- No
32. Go on a cruise -- Yes
33. See Niagara Falls in person -- No
34. Visit the birthplace of your ancestors -- Yes, in a general sort of way. We went to Scotland, but not to a specific town or anything.
35. Visit an Amish community -- Yes
36. Teach yourself a new language -- No
37. Have enough money to be truly satisfied -- Yes
38. See the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person -- No
39. Go rock climbing -- Yes, although it was the rapelling I was there for, not the climbing
40. See Michelangelo's David -- Yes
41. Sing karaoke in public -- No
42. See Old Faithful geyser erupt in person -- No
43. Buy a stranger a meal at a restaurant -- Yes
44. Visit Africa -- Yes
45. Walk on a beach by moonlight -- Yes
46. Ride in a helicopter -- No
47. Have your portrait painted -- No, but I've painted the portraits of others!
48. Go deep sea fishing -- No
49. See the Sistine Chapel in person -- Yes
50. Go to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris -- Yes
51. Go scuba diving or snorkeling -- Yes in Bermuda and Mexico
52. Kiss in the rain -- Yes
53. Play in the mud -- Hmmm. Not that I remember.
54. Watch a movie at a drive-in theater -- No
55. Be in a movie -- No
56. Visit the Great Wall of China -- No
57. Start a business -- No
58. Take a martial arts class -- No. I don't think yoga counts as "martial". :-)
59. Visit Russia -- Yes
60. Serve meals at a soup kitchen -- Yes
61. Sell Girl Scout cookies -- Yes
62. Go whale watching -- No
63. Get or send flowers for no reason -- Yes
64. Donate blood, platelets or plasma -- No. My needle phobia precludes this.
65. Go sky diving -- No
66. Visit a Nazi Concentration Camp -- No. But my dad liberated one.
67. Adopt a pet from a rescue shelter -- Yes
68. Pilot an airplane -- No
69. Save a favorite childhood toy -- No
70. Visit the Lincoln Memorial -- Yes
71. Eat Caviar -- Yes
72. Make a quilt -- Yes
73. Stand in Times Square -- Yes
74. Tour the Everglades -- No
75. Visit the Viet Nam Memorial -- Yes
76. See the Changing of the Guard in London -- Yes
77. Drive a race car -- No
78. Ride on a speeding motorcycle -- Yes
79. See the Grand Canyon in person -- Yes
80. Publish a book -- No
81. Visit the Vatican -- Yes. Saw the pope too (John Paul II)
82. Buy a brand new car -- Yes
83. Walk in Jerusalem -- Yes
84. Have your picture in the newspaper -- Yes
85. Read the entire Bible -- Yes
86. Visit the White House -- Yes
87. Kill and prepare an animal for eating -- I guess if you count fishing with my grandfather, I did the killing thing. But the preparing? No.
88. Hike the Appalachian Trail -- No
89. Save someone's life -- No
90. Sit on a jury -- No, I was called for jury duty but never sat on a jury
91. Meet someone famous -- Yes, mostly politicians. Billy Graham.
92. Join a book club --Yes
93. Own an iPod -- Yes
94. Have a Facebook page -- Yes
95. See the Alamo in person -- No
96. Swim in the Great Salt Lake -- No, but I did swim in the Dead Sea
97. Cross country snow ski -- No
98. Hold a snake -- Yes
99. See DaVinci’s Starry Night in person -- Yes. Well I saw Van Gogh's Starry Night. I don't think I've heard of DaVinci's Starry Night! :-)
100. Read an entire book in one day -- Yes

The Runner's Prayer

This was taken at the state crosscountry championships, which we won! Zeus proved to be a lucky mascot!

I'm just wonderin'

The newspaper headline today says that marijuana was found in a restricted area at the nuclear power plant. It sure gives me a great feeling.

This is my view recently of the same power plant from the air. If I could get this close, what's to keep terrorists from doing so? Especially if all the Homer Simpsons working below are high?

...And that makes me a Great Aunt!

And my parents are now great-grandparents, with the arrival of this sweet little girl.

Adventure Racing

South Kakkalacky looks pretty darn lovely

I was the support "team" ("team"=1 woman and a dog) for Bill's adventure race this past weekend. The race ran through the most rugged terrain in South Carolina, and some of the loveliest. I love that in 30-40 minutes I can be in the midst of such beautiful scenery, or in a few hours be at the beach.

Election thoughts

Savannah

I didn't take many pictures, so you're stuck with some lame ones. But I spent a few days in Savannah at a conference. I love that the Savannah School of Art and Design has taken 70+ old buildings around the city and has restored them for campus space.



This is an interior shot of the cathedral there. For a colony that didn't allow Catholics when it was formed, Georgia has made progress! The cathedral is beautiful.

Scuba certification

For Clark's birthday he got scuba lessons. He spent the better part of four days at it, finally learning to regulate the pressure in his ears, and got his 60' certification.

...And they're off!

Mackenzie has been running crosscountry this year for the first time. He's learning, as a senior, that he's pretty fast. He's hoping to get to a sub-19 time. It's a rugged course and he's working hard. It's keeping him in shape for basketball, but I think he's enjoying it on its own. Grayson was a fast runner too, though he'd be beat now by his brother.

Rivalry

Bobby is a friend of Mackenzie's whom we love like our own. But you'd think he'd kinda GET IT that this is a Red Sox house, don't you think? I mean, it's there on the freakin' fridge for everyone to see. But he persists. If he comes to our house, you can bet he'll have some sort of Yankee paraphernalia on. But we let him in anyway, because we're just tolerant and unprejudiced like that.

US Cycling Championships

120 professional cyclists on a 115-mile course. They pass so darn fast it's really a challenge to get a good shot (at least it's hard for me, with my camera!)

Superman wears Sarah Palin pajamas

Palin fever has swept through my house and I'm now excited about a race that has not caused me to even tune in heretofore.
Just had to get that out there.
Now, I'll return to my regularly scheduled photography.

Aerial photos

My boss on Friday afternoon borrowed my camera to take some shots from above. The top photo shows our school. It is bordered to the right by I-85 North, and appears in the upper right corner of the "block" you see. The lower right corner is a CarMax, the lower left corner is a factory, and the upper left corner (new construction) is a new public high school. It's amazing how an aerial shot flattens a landscape. St. Joseph's is perched overlooking I-85 and the rest of the block on a hill that is almost undetectable from the photo.



Anyone who's blood runs orange will recognize Death Valley in the lower photo, with Littlejohn Colosseum in the foreground. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's Clemson University's stadium.

Thanks to my guest photographer Charlie for the shots!

Ubiquitous neighbors

I live in a really great city. But its unique sense of place is, as everywhere else I suppose, slowly giving way to the universally recognizable. My home is, sadly, conveniently situated a short walk from both of these. More and more, Bill and I would like to find or build a place that has a singular feel to it, away from the chain retailers and nearer to the heart of our unique city.

Last night found us having a party for Mackenzie's 17th birthday, so it's a bit draggy around the house this morning. Of course my husband is up and at it. Bill's riding with a fellow adventure racer, because he is training for a triathlon? half-iron man? adventure race? coming up soon (I can't keep all his races straight!) I'm headed to mass, and this afternoon we hope to meet up and watch the US Cycling Championships, which are being held in our city. I'll try out the new camera there.

Scuba diving

For his 15th birthday Clark got scuba diving lessons. He started yesterday. He usually makes goofy faces when he sees a camera, so I'm particularly grateful for this shot. He's grown this summer and is starting to fill out; he doesn't look like a kid anymore.

Thanks to those who gave me advice. What I ended up doing was going back to Canon. The camera I lost in the river was a Canon Powershot, and I liked it. I decided that I've tried three cameras since then -- an Olympus, a Samsung, and a Lumix -- and I haven't been happy with any, though the Samsung was pretty good. I have a Nikon manual camera that I like, and I hope to get a Nikon D80 one of these days, but for something to stick in my pocket I'm going to go with a known quantity and get a Powershot. Let's hope I don't have to return this one!

Belly dancer

Bill and I tried a Persian restaurant last night, and we were greeted at our table by a belly dancer. A bit out of our norm, but we had a nice time and the food was great.

Gearing up

Clark is working as a trainer for the fledgling football team at his school. They are beginning the program with a C team this year, so Clark and Mackenzie are too old to participate in playing. Clark will work as a trainer, and Mackenzie for his fall sport will run cross country.

I'm not sure I'm happy with the camera. I'll have to work with it more to see if it is operator error or equipment issues. But the pics seem very pixelated to me; very few of the ones I took today are even OK.

When kids get bored

This was what Clark worked on this afternoon.