Back to The Basics

I grew up in a small town. When I say small, I don’t mean thousands, or even hundreds of people. I mean tens. Barely. My elementary school was a tiny school with only two classrooms and was the same one my dad went to. I believe that when I started going there, there were approximately 50 kids total, split into K-3 and 4-6.

I remember my first day of school, standing there with my best friend and her strawberry shortcake lunch box, waiting for the car that would come and pick us up. Yup, we had a car, because there were only three kindergarteners and we went to school later than the older kids.

Me and My Bestie - First Day of School

My first teacher was a hippy. Well, it was 1983 and there was some carryover from the 70s, I suppose. She played the acoustical guitar for music hour. We sang Joni Mitchell, The Beatles and Anne Murray songs. I still know all the words to the Yellow Submarine. She ate something that at the time I thought was the strangest thing ever – seaweed! I now know this as sushi.  Our “Christmas” play was “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein. I played a key role; I was a branch.

The cook was named Bobbi. I will never forget her – she used to check to make sure we ate all of our lunch. We would try to trick her by spreading things out, mixing them around or flattening them down, but she was never fooled. We also used to dare each other to mix whatever was left over all together and eat it. Gross. I think this is where I developed my strong dislike of milk. Have you ever eaten mashed-potato-pizza-green bean-milk?

I looked forward to school. My best friend was there; I liked learning. I enjoyed the social interaction and the games. We built forts out of pine needles and played with our care bears. We played kick ball and steal the bacon and tag. The older kids chased the younger ones around, either trying to beat them up or kiss them. I know it sounds weird and I actually don’t remember being kissed, only being chased around with the threat of being kissed.

We used to play on the flipping bar! Remember the flipping bar? I could swing around with one leg and no hands. I think about that now and it makes my tummy hurt. I can’t believe I did that. It’s so dangerous! Do they still have the flipping bar in schools?

I have many good memories of my school days. I always looked forward to going back to school. I think back on that time and wonder: are things inherently the same now? We have so much more technology and kids are being crammed into public schools. Will kids have good memories of their school days when they are my age?

Do you have good memories of your school days? What kind of lunchbox did you have? (I had a care-bears lunchbox.) Do you have kids now? Are they excited to go back to school or do they dread it? 

This post is linked up with:

This weeks theme: Back To School

Running Amongst Mountains

Yeah, I said "amongst". Shoot me. It sounds fancier.

You have all probably watched Sound of Music, and if you have, you have heard this song a bunch of times:

"Climb every mountain, search high and low
Follow every byway, every path you know.
Climb every mountain, ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow, 'til you find your dream!"

If you haven't, Shame on You! You need to Go and watch it RIGHT NOW! 

This week, I went home for some much needed R&R and wonder of wonder, joy of joys, cooler weather. Weather I can run in without dying! Weather I, wait for it, WANT to run in. I know. Crazy, huh?

Since I started running more often (and longer distances), I have lived in the hottest, most humid places you could live in the US. Florida and Louisiana to name a couple (and the worst). And remember how I was saying in this post that sometimes I don't like to run. Well, now I see why. I have been running in the wrong places.To "find my dream" I had to go back home to the "path I know". And it was great.

The only problem about where my parents live is that there is not a very good place to run. They live right on a (scenic) highway in the middle (literally) of the mountains. So, the choices are...the highway, where there are blind curves and NO shoulder or...straight up the hill via old logging roads. So, up I went.

Oh, there IS another problem. Snakes. As you may remember in this post, the last time I went for a walk in the area, I ran into a not-so-little friend. Luckily, I know what to avoid. Unfortunately, where I was running, some of those things were unavoidable. Snakes love to hang out in all these places, so I watched my step here!!

In addition to having to be on snake lookout the entire time, the run was HARD. Luckily it was not too hot!! My total elevation gain was 1375 feet.

The mountains were brutal. The road I took was an old logging road and was not in the best condition. It was very rocky, so not only was I worried about snakes, but I also feared I would twist my ankle.

 I went pretty high!

To get to the top, there are something like 39 switchbacks. I DID NOT get to the top!

Here are a couple Google Earth Images just becuase it's kind of fun that you can see a) the road, b) all the switchbacks and c) the mountains! I made three markers (which turned out kind of small). One for the top of the mountain (~4500 ft), one for how high I ran (~3100 ft) and one for where I started (~2000 ft) What's really sad is that 4 years ago there was a massive fire on the same side of the river that I ran on and so now all the trees are burnt (these images are from 2006).

(click on each photo to enlarge)

(click on each photo to enlarge)

I miss the pines!

So to butcher paraphrase the words of the Rodgers and Hammerstein,

"I Climb every mountain, I search high and low (for snakes)
I Follow every byway switchback, every path you I know (while trying not to trip on rocks).
I Climb every mountain, I ford every stream (while waiting for a snake to jump out and bite me),
I Follow every rainbow unmaintained logging road, 'til you I find your my dream second wind!"

Can anyone tell me -- when running hills, what is the "normal" elevation gain? What is the normal procedure? I have never done hill training runs before. This one was kind of forced, and I had to take it pretty slow! And most importantly, have you seen the Sound of Music?

This post is linked up with Jill at:

Sierra Nevada!!

This post is brought to you by my home town brew, Sierra Nevada. The reason for this is...I am home! In the Sierra Nevadas! (<------- PS if you have never been to the Sierras, click this link and look to see how beautiful they are. And then come and visit. You can stay with my Mom.) 

As you are reading this, I am probably stuffing my face and hanging out with friends. So, kick back, grab a beer and join me for Kim's Grab a Beer and Look What I Did Last Week series. 

source

On Sunday Morning, I got up for a 6 am run.

Man was I glad I did, becuase THIS is a way better temperature for a run. 

(insert obligatory weekly picture of a car thermometer here)

It took this many hair dohickeys to keep my hair out of my face. 

But I ended up having a great run!

See those spikes? They are my water stops. 4 water stops, 4 spikes.

I tried to eat healthy.
This day I did good.

The last farmer's market tomato. Sad.

This day I did not. This was the day of the rodeo and...as much as I would like to blame the funnel cake, you can probably see that I had a few beers. And a glass of wine.  Just those alone were almost as much as the food calories I had that day. Eeek. AND I did not go running. Also, pay no attention to my strange meals. I was trying to clean out the fridge before going home.

Some coworkers and I went to the Current River to go tubing. On the way there we stopped at a gas station/mini mart/fishing tackle store/CASINO? Yes. Casino.

I got the nicest card from my friend which totally made my day. Also she drew this, which I think kind of looks like a butt. Yes, I am twelve. 

The time capsule item got finished (more on that later!) and wrapped and made it to California. 

I went to the rodeo. You can hear more about that HERE. 

I would like to be THAT photographer!

There was also a concert. 

This guy told me to "talk to the hand".
Step off, dude. 
I ain't playin'.

How was your week? Did you have a good one?

P-I-L-S-N-E-R

What a week. This week's title is brought to you by my brother, who was playing WWF and scored this little number. Not bad, eh?

In Missouri, this is a common sight. There's a country song where the guy talks about taking a back road and how he hopes if there is a traffic jam it's becuase of a tractor. Well, usually it is!

I did a lot of running this week.

Long Run = 7 miles

And Shopping: 

Goodwill: Banana Republic skirt = $3, Mossimo sweater = $3

Asics Running shoes: Shoe Carnival = $59.99

I also went to the Farmer's Market, which for some reason is only from 2:30 to 6:30 on Thursday. Doesn't that seem like a strange time? I mean, if you work, when do you go!? (lunch break)

I ate these in about 5 minutes.

I love tiny potatoes!

I ate the tomatoes with olive oil and salt. Yummy!

I went to Walmart to buy a suitcase and spent a half an hour looking at stuff like this. 

What are these for?

Looks like condoms, but its...golf balls!

Strange name for a golf ball.

It was HOT. I sent this picture to my boyfriend and he said, "Why are you driving so slow?" He did not mention the temperature. This does not take the heat index into consideration.

Here's where I am, in case you were wondering. I bet you didn't realize that I was so close to Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee AND Mississippi!

See the bootheel? Isn't it cute!!?

I went to the library. Has anyone read this book? It looked interesting. 

This sign cracked me up. I mean, is this a common occurrence? People forgetting? 

There was a heavy rainstorm and a casualty. Don't worry; he was rescued shortly after the wind and rain let up.

I did a little crafting. Crafting = paper cutter, glue stick, photo paper and CHOCOLATE!! 

(72% dark)

But best of all, I tried on these shorts that I bought when I lived in Sacramento (about 13 years ago) and THEY STILL FIT!!! Score!

And on that (good) note, I will end this post. 

How was your week?

This post is part of these hops:

Why I Blog

I used to send emails.

Wait, let me back up a minute. Before that, I used to make phone calls. I would arrive in a new country and I would ask in bad French where I could find a phone card (un carte telephonique! telephonique!!?) and then I would take my 5 dollar phone card and find a telephone booth where I could spend 7.8 minutes yelling into the phone to my mother (YES! I am fine! No! I don't need any money!) 

That was how people knew I was alright. Then email got more popular and THAT was how I let people know I was okay while I was traveling. At first I was a good daughter/friend/sister. I would send each person a nice little note about what I was doing in New Zealand or wherever and how fun the skydiving/hiking/people watching/sheep was/were there. I would tailor it depending on the other person's interests.

Then it got to be too much. There were too many people to write to. There was not enough time to travel! So I started this blog. If people wanted to know what I was doing, they could read it. If they didn't care, they didn't have to get my periodic emails. And I could talk about what I wanted to talk about and what I was doing. Most importantly, I would have an online journal of my trip. It was a win-win situation.

But Me, and Who I Am, is not just about travel. I am a passionate hater of bad drivers; I am a money saver;  I am a lover of cooking and eating food; I am a reader of books and a taker of photos and I run (or try to run). I realize as a person who would love to have blogging or writing be my job and be able to make money from it that this is usually more easily done if you have a niche. But I don't have a niche. I am all over the place.

I like it that way. I can say what I want and be who I really am, in life and in the internet world. There is always someone on the other side of a computer who understands what I am going through, be it a travel situation or a life crisis. I love that there is such a community out there, of runners, of readers, of bloggers...of PEOPLE.

So...why I blog? I blog to let off steam, to write, to share, to meet, to understand and to learn.

Why do you blog?

This is a Dare to Share post with the subject of: Blogger Identity. The task was to write a post that reveals, discusses, or explores who you are as a blogger.