A kernel (the Missus and I have been on a popcorn kick lately) of thought for January’s first Friday…
Be careful out there.
-AK
Friday, January 7, 2022
Thursday, January 6, 2022
By Twilight’s Last Gleaming
On New Year's Eve, Gidg and I spent a bit of time in Manasquan participating in the Jersey Shore Running Club's Twilight Run. This year-ending two-mile fun run was shelved last year due to an earlier iteration of COVID-19. This year, it was "Omicron Be Damned!" Apparently, there were many people among the participants who considered it difficult to take seriously a virus whose name might have had it mistaken for the latest forgettable installment in Michael Bay's interminable Transformers franchise. I must confess that neither Gidg nor Yours truly were among those many people. Neither of us spent a moment longer than necessary indoors to pick up our bibs and the entirety of that time was spent masked up and as far away from others as possible.
While I participated not at all in the event’s social aspect, I did participate in the Run. I did so representing the good people of Boulder County, Colorado, including but not limited to those who share my affiliation with CU.
Although there is actual proof of me crossing the finish line (as opposed to only running 35.5% of the required distance) I did in fact complete it. It was only two miles after all. To the surprise of no one, least of all me, I did not finish first (as evidenced by this photograph taken by a photographer stationed at the finish line.
This young woman was not the only person who finished before I did. She was merely the closest one to me at race’s end.
-AK
Wednesday, January 5, 2022
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
35.5% and Beyond!
Having solved the mystery of the source of the pain in my left knee - and more importantly having crafted a plan (kinda, sorta) for keeping it in check, I am very excited to have the chance to run in the 2022 United Airlines NYC Half Marathon.
It is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 20, 2022, which does not mean of course that it shall. Margaret and I have tickets to see Sebastian Maniscalco at the NJPAC in Newark. He was "scheduled" to perform December 26, 2021. The show date is now March 23, 2022. Ah, COVID-19, thou art a a pain in the arse.
The United Airlines NYC Half begins in Brooklyn. The finish line is in Central Park. Central Park? I have not run a step inside of Central Park since 2017. I hope I recognize it when I see it.
Hell, following my flame-out in November, I simply hope to see it as opposed to, say, running only 35.5% of the course.
Simple man. Simple dream.
Enjoy your Sunday.
-AK
Monday, January 3, 2022
Until I Shall Not Be At All
Fifty-five months and counting...
I love you, Mom. Today. Tomorrow. Always.
Until I shall one day not be at all.
-AK
Sunday, January 2, 2022
Strength of the Herd
On Thursday, December 30, 2021, wildfires erupted throughout Boulder County, Colorado, packing hurricane-force winds of up to 115 miles per hour. Incredibly, they appear to have left few to (perhaps) no fatalities in their wake although at least two residents of Superior were reported "missing" by loved ones. Yet, make no mistake. Destruct and destroy they most assuredly did. The towns of Superior and Louisville bore the brunt of them and officials have estimated that up to 1,000 homes were destroyed by them.
It was approximately nine months earlier, on March 22, 2021, when the good people of Boulder, Colorado has last found themselves thrust into the national spotlight due to a tragic event. That incident prompted an immediate response of support from the community and from CU, in support of the community it serves. #BoulderStrong was born.
I first fell in love with CU as an eighteen-year-old high school senior in the Spring of 1984 when I visited Jill and Joe and, while on campus as an "accepted student", wandered into the administrative offices and plunked down cash (I think it was $50.00 back in the day) to pay my deposit to hold my place in class. I have not shaken the dust of the campus or the community off my shoes. I never intend to do so.
When you are a Buff who lives almost 2,000 miles away from Boulder, and tragedy befalls CU and /or the community, you assist however you can, including but not limited to financially. In the aftermath of the King Soopers mass shooting, among the things that I did (with the blessing of the Missus) was purchase a Boulder Strong t-shirt (or two), the sales of which went directly to benefit those affected by the event.
Suited up for JSRC Twilight Run 12/31/2021
Photo Credit: Sam
Gidg and I ran in the Jersey Shore Running Club's 2021 Twilight Run, which stepped off at 4 pm on December 31, 2021 from the Manasquan Boardwalk. Although the shirt I wore was not designed with the Marshall Fire in mind, it nevertheless seemed appropriate, in light of the circumstances. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Building upon that theme, there are a number of avenues available to those of us positioned to assist those in Boulder County to whom the Marshall Fire delivered a body blow, a roster whose number includes Mark Smith and his family. He is the Inside Linebacker Coach for the Buffs. Their home, and its contents, which Coach Smith described as "every material possession" was destroyed. Yet, Coach Smith's message concluded with an affirmation that he, his wife, and their three kids were all safe and well, and grateful to have their health.
Those avenues include but are not limited to:
- colorado.edu/buffstogether;
- buffs4life.org;
- giving.CU.edu;
- coloradogives.org;
- coloradoresponds.org; and
- boulderoem.com.
House in Fort Collins, Colorado w/a flag design I simply love
Photo Credit: AK
-AK
Saturday, January 1, 2022
Second Time the Charm?
What follows in this space today is what appeared in it at this very same time last year.
If it does not work this time, then I blame William Hickson...
Friday, January 1, 2021
1 / 1/ 21
If you are reading this, then congratulations for having made it through 2020. If at any time in the annals of recorded history three hundred sixty-six days have taken longer to complete than those we have just completed, then those who lived through that other time have my most sincere sympathies.
The irony about a new year is that while the year is new, the history we carry with us into it is not. Our life is not a dry-erase board that is wiped clean on December 31. Instead, it is a work in progress to which revisions are constantly being made. You cannot outrun your past, whether an individual, a family, or a nation. You can try simply to learn from whatever bad decisions, errors, and mistakes that occupy a piece of your past to ensure that you do not repeat them going forward. A mistake repeated over and over is a decision.
We the people of these United States find ourselves fast approaching the first anniversary of COVID-19's appearance here. Almost twelve months after its arrival, millions remain out of work, hundreds of thousands have died, countless students of all ages are still learning remotely, and we are still being directed to wear masks, wash our hands until they bleed, and socially distance ourselves from loved ones. How is it that as we begin January 2021 we find ourselves living in a nation that looks eerily like the nation we lived in way back when in April 2020?
The answer is that we did it to ourselves.
One of the late, great John Wooden's many time-tested maxims was, "If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?" It is a maxim that we ignored, and have continued to ignore, in dealing with COVID-19. In our desperation, our zeal to "get back to normal", we ignored more than simply science. We ignored common sense and logic. Tragically, we proved far too often throughout 2020 that we have not only weaponized ignorance in this country, we have weaponized politics. Instead of playing the long game and considering not simply what was in our own best interest but also the effect that acting solely in our own best interest would have on everyone else, we played a short-sighted, ignorant game.
To borrow a phrase from the Poet Laureate of New Jersey, looking out for one another, "ain't a Democrat thing or a Republican thing, it's an American thing." Here in 2021, may we all resolve to be better to one another, not simply in word (which is important) but in deed. May we resolve to stop cutting our noses to spite our faces.
The year is new. Whether it shall be happy depends upon us.
Let's resolve to do this thing, shall we?
-AK
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