Magdalena Starts Kindergarten

Anna Maria packed the little girls' backpacks with their school supplies a couple weeks ago, did their paperwork a week ago and, yesterday morning at 7:30 a.m., was packing lunches. All this advance preparation, but still there were a couple hitches. Eliza's shoes were no where to be found. And Magdalena did not want to wear her sneakers. "They hurt my feet!" she said. Instead she wanted to wear her much smaller water shoes. I tried to convince Magdalena that her feet were just not used to shoes, because she's been barefoot all summer. Like Magdalena, I didn't wear shoes during the summer as a little girls. So I told her that when I was a little, my shoe-shod feet on the first day of school always felt uncomfortable until I got accustomed to shoes again. But Magdalena was adament. She also wanted to wear this dress, the same one Eliza wore on her first day of school. Alas! a rip exposed what should not be seen. Compromises were made. Magdalena wore her water shoes, and she wore shorts under her skirt. And finally they were off with smiles on their faces scurrying down their lane with Momma holding their hands, and Daddy walking backwards ahead of them and snapping photos.
Here they await the arrival of the bus. Eliza Grace held her sister's hand even as they boarded the bus, and climbed the stairs that were way too steep for Magdalena's little legs. The bus driver had a big smile on her face as she greeted the girls, "Good morning!"
Later in the day I asked Magdalena how her first day of school went. Another little boy had gotten a yellow, orange and red card for poor choices. But Magdalena was proud to have none. And she was not one of the three kindergarteners who cried on the first day of school.

Heritage 5K in Dayton, Virginia

How fitting that after a couple days in historic Washington, D.C., I'd end the week at a race sponsored by the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society in Dayton, Virginia. The 5K ran through historic buildings in Dayton, through a road with cornfields towering above my head, and then back at the historical society. I won a free one-year membership to the historical society, lunch for two at a restaurant in Bridgewater and a treasure -- the book "Where the River flows: Finding Faith in Rockingham County, Virginia 1726-1876" by Robert R. Hewitt, III.

These are "stories of remarkable courage, people who stood by the truths they held so closely. In a land of slavery, they chose to keep people free. In a land of war, they chose not to fight. In a land of devastation, they set their hands to rebuild what had been destroyed. More remarkable still are the lives that were changed --- people of every age and every station, all grasped by something beyond their natural lives. Here is the real, lasting story, a story of faith and commitment, of hope that does not disappoint. It is the story of those who live where the river flows" (quote from the jacket). It's also the story of Baptist, German Reformed, Lutheran, Mennonites, Dunkers, Presbyterians, Inspirationists, Quakers, Separatists, Moravians, people who, as far as the state was concerned, were dissenters, and at odds with the Anglican church.

I'm anxious to read this and to understand more clearly the culture of the Shenandoah Valley, a culture formed out of its history.

Tidal Basin Race 3K

Willows on the Potomac. The D.C. Road Runners hold the Tidal Basin 3k on the third Wednesday of every month beginning here on Ohio Drive which borders Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Park.

And a view of the other side of Ohio Drive and the Tidal Basin. I finished this, my 36th race for the year, in 15:35, an 8:22 pace. Considering I had just run a 4.5 mile cross country the evening before, I was ecstatic even though I only placed 48 out of 56 runners, 10th of 12 females. Those DC Road Runners are fast!

Another pre-race walk break - Viet Nam Memorial

Names of soldiers killed in action cram every inch of available space on each panel of the Viet Nam wall (above and below) and depict just one cost of that war -- human lives.

A friend (above and below) flips through an alphabetical listing of the names to see which panel contains the name of his former childhood friend (the names of those killed in action are listed according to the approximate order of their death). I remember two classmates, cousins, who lost their brother and cousin in Nam. In grade school at the time, I didn't understand their grief, nor did they. I'm not sure we ever will.

FDR

We walked through about half a dozen "rooms" that encompassed the FDR memorial. Each one had a water feature, and though they were beautiful and relaxing, I chose not to post them because of lack of space on this blog.
I chose instead to post some of FDR's quotes and this depiction of the soup lines. I fear that, in this country, an "I've got mine and I'm not going to share" attitide is taking over. News reports and statistics show that the middle class is shrinking as corporate executives draw their million- and billion-dollar salaries, but refuse to pass on raises to those who keep their corporations going. We're afraid to remove tax incentives for large corporations because we're afraid prices will soar (of course, if they did, we could at least exercise the right not to buy, and thus not to support those corporations, right?). The cost of living has been rising at nearly a 6% rate for years, but salaries have not. In reality, therefore, workers are receiving annual decreases in wages as buying power decreases. And then there's the issue of health insurance. Many who have health insurance are largely underinsured, as their 80-20 plans aren't enough to cover a major illness or their plans dictate the use of doctors who are ill equipped to meet their patients' needs.

Burke Lake Race - A D.C. Road Runners Race

Warming up for a 4.5 miler on a cross country route through trails at Burke Lake around 6 p.m. on Tuesday, August 19.
As you can see this is the Burke Lake Railroad, and I'm betting the grandchildren would have enjoyed riding this. I would have, too, but I had a race to run -- number 35 toward my goal of 50 this year.
Finish time: 42:31 (9:27 pace). I placed 48/56 overall, and was the 10th of 12 females. I felt much more confident running trails this time, and was just one second per mile than my first and best cross country race nine days ago.

Overwhelmed During a Warm-up Jog

Most runners find themselves overwhelmed during a race or near the end. Weather, injury, a near-win, an unexpected win or some other unanticipated factor combined with pouring everything into a race leads often to unfettered emotional release. But I found myself overwhelmed during a pre-race warm-up through Washington D.C. last week. We had just walked through FDR's memorial, jogged around the Tidal Basin and come upon the Reflecting Pool (above). There is the WWI memorial, Jefferson's Memorial, Washington's Monument and the Capitol. On the other side of Pool, outside of the camera's "eye", is Lincoln's Memorial. I'm old enough now that a series of television news images, and historic photos and stories flashed through my brain in rapid succession -- a line of historic presidents, VPs, and leaders who actually lived and worked right here; Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, marches on Washington, September 11, 2001, just to name a few. Combine all that history with the realization that I now stood in a place I never thought I'd ever see.
"I'm going to cry," I said.
A more accurate statement would have been, "I NEED to cry." The onslaught of unexpected emotion demanded that I just stop, breathe deep and release.

The Pacific side of the World War II memorial.

The Atlantic side of the World War II Memorial. Each smaller column has a wreath on top; and the name of one of the states and Puerto Rico are listed at random on the column below the wreath.