A Tale of Two Kentsburgs

This Sunday morning I went for a walk around town. Although Kentsburg, like most suburbs is a nice place to live, the town is segregated, geographically and philosophically into two towns. The dividing line is the railroad that bisects Kentsburg creating south and north neighborhoods. The southern section is dominated by old Victorian homes, churches and an antique district. The antique district has perhaps a dozen shops. Most are glamorized junk shops, but a few actually sell something a normal person might buy. A few of the old buildings are pictured below. The yellow-painted brick storefront was once a locksmith, the building caught fire a few years back and was burned-out. It was recently nicely renovated and made into a retail store. The owners sold eclectic merchandise, some old some new, mostly bric-a-brac. There wasn't enough business for them to make a profit and they have since re-located. Last night, as Jane and I were taking our daily walk, we noticed that the store was being stock with exotic items--definitely not antiques. The new owners are calling the store Thai Crossing, so I suspect the merchandise will be mostly asian imports. It is my favorite building in the antique district. My second favorite (the red building pictured below) is a used bookshop. We have occasionally shopped there and enjoy looking inside. Sometimes they have small gatherings in the evening, although I'm not sure what they do at these meetings. Just to left of the bookshop a new deli, The Big Pickle, has just opened, but it won't be around long. The town doesn't allow restaurants in north Kentsburg to sell alcoholic beverages, not even wine. So the only restaurant options in the antique district are a couple of seedy sandwich shops and now The Big Pickle. However, the menu prices for The Big Pickle are too high and there isn't a steady lunch crowd to keep them afloat.

The other building (pictured below) that has labeled across the front 'prevention of blindness' sells, as the sign by the door indicates, antiques and curiosities. Antiques and curiosities also describes the people I've seen shopping in this store.

All the buildings in the antique district are architecturally interesting, but I don't know how they stay open. That goes for the majority of the other stores (not pictured)--I just don't know who would buy the old, usually dusty objects, on their shelves.

Most of the folks in the southern neighborhoods surrounding the antique district like it this way. I think the idea is to limit the amount of traffic through their neighborhood by restricting the ability of serious business people to operate profitable stores. This sometimes leads to conflicts concerning how the Kentsburg town council wants to modernize and develop the business district into a more vibrant shopping center.

Anyway, we live on the north side of the railroad tracks. Although not comprised of Victorian homes, north Kentsburg has its' share of homes listed on the historic register. The neighborhood is a mix of old, not-so-old, and new homes. Furthermore, like many areas, home builders are beginning to buy up the existing modest homes, raze them and build huge new homes. This is easier done in our neighborhood since the existing homes are modestly priced (at least modest for this area) and there are fewer restrictions on development.

One nice aspect of where we live is the ability to walk to nearby shopping---pharmacy, barber, restaurants that those in south Kentsburg would probably have to drive to. There is also a liquor store nearby, so we have that going for us.

Happy Black Friday

Today I've been informed is Black Friday, the first big shopping day of the holiday season and indeed, we have just came back from shopping at a nearby MegaMall. So.....Happy Black Friday. Uncle Mike, who came to visit yesterday morning, went to the Home Depot to shop, Elroy is playing computer games and Jane and Judy are napping--so it's quiet now.

Reflecting on yesterday, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We ate our Thanksgiving meal early, around 1 pm, and then went to see Casino Royale--the new James Bond movie. After the movie we came back home for dessert and watched the end of the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Bucaneers game. The movie was pretty good, the new James Bond is a real hunk--Jane mentioned that I closely resemble the actor Daniel Craig who portrays Bond. So that was cool.....just kidding.

Speaking of good-looking hunks, for this year's Thanksgiving meal we had turkey breast roll stuffed with italian sausage with extra garlic, sage, rosemary and thyme (see picture at left). No parsley. This was really good; moist and juicy with interesting flavors emanating from the sausage and spices. And carving it was a snap! This was accompanied by a salad of field greens, grape tomatos and petite mozarella balls with a balsamic vinegarette, roasted garlic red-skin mashed potatos, green beans infused with orange citrus and cornbread stuffing with turkey gravey. Yum. It was pretty good, thanks go to Martha Stewart, Emeril Laggase and Rachel Ray for excellent menu ideas. This nice meal (see picture below) was complimented with a nice beaujolais nouveau that Mike brought.

This morning we got up and relaxed in the family room.

Jane was working on the computer, catching-up on some work (on the left in picture below), Mike was reading (on the right in picture below). Speaking of Mike he just got back from the Home Depot with a collection of tiles to make trivets from. Anyway, Jane had recently put up our holiday decorations--note the lights on the mantle, and the room felt very cozy. I hope my parents and everyone else had as nice a Thanksgiving.

The Point Is.......I'm Thankful

Since it's almost Thanksgiving, I've been thinking about things that I'm thankful for--good health, loving family, relative prosperity and job security. Although there's always room for improvement among each, those are the biggies. But, it also occurred to me that there's been a lot of other more modest experiences to be thankful for. Moments of less scale that happen every now-and-then that are remarkable at the time but all too often are forgotten in the day-to-day turbulence of life. I had one of those experiences Monday last week.

To start off with, Columbus Day and Veteran's Day are two of my favorite holidays. These are the two days out of the year when Jane and I have the day off, they being government holidays, but Elroy and Judy still have school---and last Monday was Veteran's Day. So Jane and I were 'home alone' and had made hot plans to do a 15 mile point-to-point (PTP) training run into DC. Training for what.....I don't know yet, but it sounded like a good idea at the time. I hadn't done a PTP in 5 years, not since I was part of the MCRRC First Time Marathon program in 2001. The idea is to run from a nearby metro stop into DC, have breakfast, then take the metro back to the car. It's a fun way to get a not always so-much-fun long training run into your schedule. So, after the kids were off to school we outfitted ourselves for the run into the city.

It's critical on PTP runs to dress appropriately with comfortable run-tested clothes, lubricate key areas to prevent chafing and pack necessary supplies: water, aspirin, candy, some paper towels (for the occasional emergency pit stop) and some extra clothes (kept dry in a zip-lock baggie) and stuff all these in a fanny pack. The extra clothes are to change into for the metro trip back to the car.

The weather was borderline chilly around the low 40s when we left the Forest Glen metro parking lot. From there we weaved our way along Rock Creek Park, skirting some dirt trails, and once past the National Zoo, pavement the rest of the way. It was a beautiful day, high blue skies and we had a very peaceful, relaxing run into the city. We came upon the C&O canal probably after about 12 miles. At this point even if you're tired you start to get excited because your getting close to the National Mall and the end of the run. We passed the Watergate Hotel (see picture at left), the Kennedy Center, a few hobos just waking up, and made a quick jaunt over to the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall.

Usually, by the time you arrive on the National Mall the tourists crowds are starting to get heavy. I remember when I was with the First Time Marathon group back in 2001, we would attract a lot of attention when we arrived on the Mall. Of course, those training runs were in August and early September and the temperatures were brutally hot and humidity was near saturating---the sight of about 150 heavily sweating, scantily clad runners of all shapes and sizes running by I'm sure was quite a sight.

Anyway, on our run, Jane and I didn't attract any attention. We took it easy the final mile or two past the World War II Memorial, which looked fabulous (see picture a right), to our destination the Old Post Office and a hearty breakfast. After a quick wash-up and change in the public restroom we chowed down on eggs, sausage and hash browns. It was good. I'm thankful for that.

Unknown Knowns

Slate has compiled a 'tongue-in-cheek' collection of Rumsfeld's poems that I find amusing. The poems are the exact words of the former defense secretary, as taken from the official transcripts on the Defense Department Web site. The poems are quite funny, my favorite is The Unknown.


The Unknown
As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know.

—Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing


I think Rumy's big problem was that he didn't recognize that there were also unknown knowns, things that we don't think we know that we actually do know. Like whether Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Moon Over Hartford High

It's about 5 PM on Saturday night as I am beginning to record my thoughts about today's State championship cross-country race. I'll admit to being a little worn-out. We got-up early to drive an hour and a half to the high school (let's call it Hartford High) hosting the State championship. Judy's team was running in the 4A division (the toughest in the State) and their race was slated to begin at 10:00 AM. The girls were pretty relaxed but for parents, the combination of a tough field of competitors and what has to be considered the States most challenging course created a "perfect storm" for generating anxiety. It was a real challenge for Jane and I, but our training paid off. In all seriousness, this was my first time at any State championship event and it was exciting. The temperature was great for spectators, but maybe a little too warm for the runners; the sky was crystal clear and the moon was hanging around. The spectators were kept in a fenced-in corral that had a good view of the race, but we were definitely kept at a distance from the runners and were not allowed anywhere near the finish line. There were a couple of amazing athelets that were very impressive to watch run this course. Judy's team had a great race finishing tenth out of the twenty teams that qualified to run at States, which was the best they had hoped for. Below is the starting sequence at the beginning of the race.

About 5 minutes before the start of the race. The girls walked to the starting line in their warm-up clothes and then lined-up for the race to start in their team uniforms.
Bang! The girls are off, fighting for position in the pack. Whereas you don't want to go out too fast, it's important to get somewhere near the front so that your not at the back of pack and spend the whole race running around all the slower runners. Not that I have had that experience.
After this picture I saw Judy a couple of times but couldn't get any good pictures, because I was too far away from the course and had a hard time picking out Judy in time to get focused. Anyway, it was a good day.

Introducing the 2007 Subaru Forester L.L.Bean Edition

With Judy and Elroy learning to drive we've been thinking lately about getting a new car. Not that the new car would be theirs (I'm just stating this for the record), but a car with an automatic transmission that would be easier for them to drive in heavy traffic. Although both are progressing at driving our current stick-shift cars, we are concerned that driving a manual introduces one more element for them to think about; Jane and I are worried that a momentary lapse while driving in heavy traffic (which is routine in our area) could be disasterous. So without any further ado, I will introduce our latest vehicle.......our first automatic transmission, totally new, 2007 Subaru Forester L.L.Bean Edition, as yet unnamed.



It is easy for me to understand Jane's attraction to this car by making a comparison between it and me. The outside is two-tone, Newport Blue Pearl and Urban Gray Metallic. I have Newport Blue Pearl eyes and the rest of me could be described as urban gray. The Forester is also described as the perfect blend of ruggedness and comfort (just like me). Equally adept at taming twisty back roads and absorbing the bumps of off-pavement trails (once again--just like me), the Forester L.L.Bean Edition combines the best attributes of an SUV and a passenger car. And it boasts a number of unique features (need I mention my unique features?), including an electronic compass on the rear-view mirror (well, I usually avoid anything having to do with my rear-view), a durable water-resistant surface on the cargo area floor and rear seatback, as well as extra-rugged floor mats that stand up to years of use. Outdoor enthusiasts will appreciate the ample cargo room (no comment)– and the self-leveling rear suspension that helps when driving with a full load (again, no comment!). Anyway, you get the picture, George is stamped all over that car. I'm sure that Jane, at least subconciously, wants to be in the driver's seat with George. Hey, maybe that will be the new name for the car....George. Below are George's instruments panels.

We're Going to The State Championship

Thursday was the Regional Cross Country Championship for the girls and boys teams. Judy and her team had a good day placing sixth overall in the girls team competition. The top six teams go on to the State Championship next Saturday. This is a real accomplishment as this particular region is the most competitive in the State. Anyway this should be a great experience for the girls.

The day before the race had been rainy and the course was slick in spots, but otherwise it was a perfect race day. The day started out a typical crisp Fall day, but with a lot of sunshine throughout the day the air was gently warmed. By the 3:00 pm start time the air was sparkling clear in anticipation.

As the teams nervously assembled at the starting line, some teams would huddle together with their coaches in the infield, probably for a last minute strategy check and pep talk. Before breaking up they would scream in unison their team ethic, "hard core" or something to that effect that would echo out over the field. Then as the race organizer delivered his final instructions to the runners, every person (parent, coach and student) standing around the starting infield become very quiet---fixed on the spectacle about to unfold. After the crack of the starter's pistol firing all hell breaks loose for the next twenty-odd minutes as the girls attack the course through the screaming throngs of supporters that surge to the sides of the course.

The course for the regionals is tough, hilly terrain. Not rolling hills but steep hills that turn your legs to jello by the time you reach the top--and the downhills are technical as well. If you're not careful it's easy to take a spill. As mentioned, Judy had a good race but did fall on one of the hills that likely cost her a few seconds. I walked back to the hilly part of the course which is back in the woods that overlooked the infield and was surprised to see many students along the course who were there to shout support for their friends and teammates. You needed friends in these woods to fend off the wildlife.

Jane! Stop This Crazy Thing!

I was just reading about the Jetsons on Wikipedia and came across this description of George Jetson:

George's personality was that of a well-meaning, caring father, who often was befuddled and stressed out by the problems of both his work and family lives. George only worked 3 hours a day and 3 days a week for a short, tyrannical boss named Cosmo G. Spacely, owner of the company Spacely Space Sprockets.....Daily life was characterized as being comically leisurely due to an incredible sophistication and number of labor saving devices. George's work day consists of pressing a single computer button (or on occasion a series of buttons) on a computer (named RUDI in the 1980s series of Jetsons episodes). Despite this, characters would often complain of travails and difficulties of living with the remaining inconveniences. George's most famous catchphrase is "Jane! Stop this crazy thing!"

Hmmm, Ironic.....Isn't it.

Walk Around Town

Last weekend I spent one day just walking around town taking pictures. That walk landed me in hot water, but that's another story for another day. Anyway, like any town, where we live (let's call it Kentsburg), has its' iconic structures and eyesores. Sometimes it hard to tell whether any given structure is one or the other, but all thngs considered I like where we live. Pictured to the left is the famous Kentsburg train station. Most of the outlying burbs have actual subway stops, but not Kentsburg. We have a train station that, although less convenient and more expensive to ride, does manage to transport a fair number of Kentsburgians downtown to their jobs. Truth be known this is a blessing in a way. Wherever a new subway stop is added to the metro system, high density townhome developments follow. Of course along with the new home development comes increased traffic congestion--which is bad enough around Kentsburg as it is.


Just across from the train station, the old cement factory has finally been torn down after more years of neglect than anyone can remember. In its place will be.......a parking lot to provide more for spaces for the train commuters. Supposedly, some type of shopping or restaurant facility will also go in at some point in time, but I'm not holding my breath. These leftover cement supports will likely become our Stonehenge or Moai cultural attraction that will one day attract a growing tourist trade. Who built them and why?

Pictured here are three scenes from the bike path I frequently run on. These are just representative pictures at various points along the path that winds alongside a sparkling creek. These pictures were taken in the late afternoon, whereas I normally run in the morning. Of course, the temple (see the golden temple spires below) is majestic even in the early morning when the little angle blowing the horn is lit-up by the rising sun. The bike path is especially pretty in the early morning as the sun is just starting to rise. That is my favorite time for running this path.