Saturday, December 10, 2011

Time was


Time was when we received so many Christmas cards they were layered two and three deep on a string attached near the ceiling from wall to wall. Now, as we have come midway in December to Christmas, we have four cards: one from the newspaper boy, one from the new dentist Stephen went to see a few weeks ago, one from the Obamas (with a personal letter enclosed!), and one from Matt and Gina Ellsworth--thank you Gina--great pictures! But not to worry, I will pick out some favorite leftover cards we have sent from past seasons to add to the display. And who knows what the mail will bring today?

This is what comes of living in the same city for 25 years and from all the social media possibilities. When we moved to Knoxville in 1990 (Zuckerberg was six), we were fresh from five years in Troy, New York; before that we were in Seattle for two years; and before that we each had various lives in various locations: school, missions, and work (Salt Lake City, Palo Alto, CA)--as well as home towns. Little by little, distance did its work and connections were lost.

Of course I will get a few updates from friends who write Christmas letters, and I will send out a few. (I usually wait till someone sends me one, and then respond--so low!) But now with kids basically grown, the Christmas letter is a bit boring. Kids grow wildly every year, accomplish amazing feats, and do spectacularly funny things that are fun to synthesize with a few anecdotes and well-chosen words. Adult children are still interesting I suppose, ;), but it is no longer socially acceptable to tell funny stories about them, at least not usually. The things that I think are hilarious, they don't think are quite so funny. I guess an empty nest at Christmas isn't that great. Good that Mary arrives on Tuesday.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Mad Hatter's Tea Party & Why Not Mitt?



Niall Ferguson Endorses Mitt Romney for President
Nov 28, 2011 12:00 AM EST (Newsweek 12.5.2011)
From the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street, America is angry at elites. But Mitt Romney’s business success makes him the best candidate by far.

This column is for Ted Forstmann: financier, fun lover, and philanthropist, who died on Nov. 20. But it’s not just for him. It’s to him.
Ted, I’m worried. I wish you were still around to help me get this right. The U.S. is going nuts with populism. That’s always to be expected after a big financial crisis, I know. But this is dysfunctional.
On one side, there are conservative fundamentalists—the Tea Party—who think we can turn the clock back to before the New Deal, if not further. Some of them want to get rid not just of the Federal Reserve but of most of the federal government itself. I have more sympathy with these Teapopulists than with the other lot, the motley crew who want to Occupy Wall Street (call them the Occupopulists). But when it comes to practical politics, this Tea Party has more in common with the Mad Hatter’s than Boston’s.
To begin with, they’ve created a mood in the Republican Party that makes any kind of compromise on our fiscal crisis impossible. We just saw the ignominious failure of the supercommittee, which was supposed to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit. Predictably, each party blames the other side for this flop. Either way, the consequences are dire. First, the markets are spooked, just the way they were by the partisan dogfight over the debt ceiling earlier this year. Second, the country is now on course for more drastic spending cuts in 2013, which could not only slash our defense budget in an irresponsible way but also plunge the economy back into recession.

There’s another problem. Just like the populists of a century ago, the Teapopulists are drawn compulsively to disastrous presidential wannabes. I never asked you what you thought of Mitt Romney, Ted. But I am sure you’d prefer him over the other contenders. Bachmann, Perry, Cain, Gingrich—the one thing these people have in common is that they would lose to Barack Obama next year even if the unemployment rate were twice what it is now. Their appeal to the crucial center—to the independents and the undecided—is just too low.

What’s the case against Romney? That he’s a Mormon? Ted, you were a devout Catholic, just as I am a doubting atheist. But this is America. Religion and government are separate. And we tolerate all faiths, no matter how idiosyncratic, provided they tolerate ours too. That he’s changed his mind on hot-button issues? Well, so does any intelligent person. You often did. What is this, a dogmatism contest?

Actually, the best case for Mitt Romney was just made by the other side. In an unintentionally hilarious piece, The New York Times attempted a hatchet job based on his time as the founder and CEO of Bain Capital: “After a Romney Deal, Profits and Then Layoffs.”
You’re not going to believe this, Ted. You know what this evil bastard did? Yes, that’s right. He used borrowed money to take over failing companies. And that’s not all. He fired some of the folks who worked at those companies. Wait, it gets even worse. He restored those companies to profitability. I know, I know. And—to cap it all—he made hundreds of millions of dollars doing it.
Pretty funny, isn’t it? Because that’s exactly the business model of private equity and leveraged buyouts that you pioneered. And as I was reading about Romney’s very impressive business career, I was reminded of you.
These days people like you are vilified as members of the “1 percent”—the rich elite that the Occupopulists blame for all our ills. Their remedy? Taxes that take the money you gave to great causes like the Children’s Scholarship Fund and channel it to the federal government, which has such a terrific record of managing money, after all.
In Europe these days, the answer to fiscal crisis is to put a technocrat in charge. But I think you’d agree with me, dear Ted, that what the U.S. government really needs is a private-equity guy in the White House.
Niall Ferguson’s latest book, Civilization: The West and the Rest, has just been published by Penguin Press.

Friday, November 18, 2011

picking up leaves


I was walking around the neighborhood on my usual constitutional, picking up leaves. I had passed by leaves on various other walks, but this day I started to pick up a few. Some giant-sized tulip-tree leaves had caught my attention. And then I just kept picking up various leaves because there were so many beautiful ones. And of course that got me to thinking about mother dear. And that led me to thinking how I wish I had been a better daughter, and that led me to feeling teary and nostalgic. Of course, I don't think I was a bad daughter--I had planned projects, trips, dinners, and events to take her to when she visited. And was usually supportive and complimentary--not forced, but genuine; but there were plenty simple things I could have done better. Why we don't treat our parents better, I don't know. I suppose the ingrained habit of thinking of them as there for us, prevents us from seeing them as real people (even when we have consciously come to that realization), with real feelings along with problems or odd and perhaps annoying habits, just like we have. I recently read in Paul Tournier's book, A Person Reborn, a well-put phrase how we always make allowances for ourselves, but can't quite extend the same grace to others. (Can't find the quote.)

Anyway, on around the subdivision I went, picking up more and more leaves, and wondering what on earth I would do with so many. I thought perhaps at Thanksgiving the fam could do a leaf craft, and all make pictures with the dried leaves. But would the kids want to? Stephen, no; Joyanna, probably; Elizabeth, probably--I think she has moved on to the point where she is willing to indulge me. It's a good place. A place where you accept your parents mostly for who they are and even find them somewhat endearing. I had a delightful lunch with her the other day, and she showed me the lovely new curtains in her condo; Aaron, no; Mary, yes. Not because she really loves crafts, in fact she doesn't, but because she likes to make me happy. A very strange girl that one. An angel blown down from heaven that somehow landed at my house.

I found that often the most beautiful and enticing leaves were the ones with spots of age, or a leaf disease making it brilliantly red and fabulously yellow all at the same time. Of course just when I started philosophizing about how a person's beauty sometimes comes from their trials, age, sicknesses and uniqueness as well, I would see a glowing leaf, vibrant with red orange coloring and absolutely perfect. Certainly hard to compete with that! And that made me think of a line about competition in another book I recently read, Finding God Beyond Harvard by Kelly Monroe Kullberg: "timeless values of character, ethics and truth had morphed into modern values of image, competition and success." I wondered about the "morphed" part. Are we really more shallow today than yesterday? Well, I decided, probably so. But at any rate,  I did not have to decide which leaves were the "most pretty" all were very very lovely.

On future walks, I planned before hand to NOT pick up any more leaves. Russel had been quite indulgent, helping me spread newspaper on the dining room table and then layering books on top. But enough is enough. Yet time after time, I would pick up "just one" to wave like a flower on my walk, and soon I had the whole bouquet.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Post wedding returns

Rehearsal Dinner











I know you want to see pics of the wedding, but I haven't got much yet. However, I'm sure you want to know that I returned all the pre-wedding buys that I did not use (or at least did not want) to the stores! Yes! all of them. A skirt to Dillard's--they had put a little tag on the inside label and didn't even look at my receipt to return the money to my VISA (I HAD the receipt however); I returned the shiny teal jacket and skirt to Belk--was lucky to find that receipt; returned a teal knit top to Target; returned the medium teal biker jacket (fake snake skin--I just read it's all the rage) to Stein Mart--I still have the size small; and returned a dress to Pennys! Wow amazing! Oh and I also returned the 7 dollar-store runners that Val and I  bought to Dollar Tree. We only had enough time to put up 14 pew decorations--which we already had from the rehearsal dinner. Obviously teal was the color for the wedding. Elizabeth was in a teal dress, Mary in a brown. I wore a teal jacket and brown skirt.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Dimensional roof shingles, the economy, sons, cars


So probably dimensional roof shingles have been around for a long time, and I just never noticed them. Then the big hail storm of 2011 hit and everyone in the neighborhood got new roofs (rooves?). And then we found out about dimensional shingles. Dimensional shingles are just a tad like a wood shake roof. They look way cooler than flat roofing tiles, which are soo one dimensional.

Since the big hail storm, many benefits have accrued to good ol' West Knox. For instance, in our 40-year-old subdivision (and in all of Knox County), nearly everyone got new roofs, many got new siding, or new paint, new windows, and new gutters. Now not many people in this middle-of-the-road subdivision could spring for a new roof, but since the insurance is paying--well we have revival in Foxfire. Plus, many people are doing extra stuff that is at least partially covered by the insurance. We for instance are getting a new, large, deck. The other one was small and falling down. We are also getting new paint (same color scheme--when it works stick with it) and new gutters--mostly compliments of insurance money.

In addition to breathing new life into our subdivision, which may have, without all these upgrades, gradually fallen into the lower echelons of subdivisions, we are employing droves of workers--no doubt our fair share of illegals--and buying tons of supplies from all the home stores. People can hardly beg enough to get workers to come in and do the repairs because they are all busy at other jobs. And the people who make roofing tiles are working 24/7 to keep us supplied. (We are just now, 6 months after the storm, getting the work done on our house.)

When I was considering the illegals doing a lot of the work, I thought about my own dear son, who at that time was unemployed. I couldn't imagine him in my wildest dreams up on the roof ripping off shingles in the heat and hammering on new ones, nor could I imagine any of my friends' sons who are in similar need of jobs, up there. It just wouldn't be safe. Not for the man/boy, or the roof. In addition to keeping all the construction people of Knoxville constantly busy for the last 6 months, droves of workers from other areas have come in--not all of them scrupulous. So, all that said, the storm was a great boost to the economy. And not just to the construction workers. The car industry flourished as well.

Wedding present. (Notice roof tiles in background)

First Hill: Chair Rock, or Photo Rock, as Jonathan called it

We received insurance money for Russ's car and for Stephen's which were damaged by the hail.  Stephen received about $1,300 for his '95 piece-of-junk Taurus. He decided to keep the car, or he would have got $2,100. Then a few months later, someone ran a stop sign and hit him. His car was totaled again. This time he took the $2,000 dollars. Then his parents who are way, way too nice to him, looked diligently for a car on Craigslist and found a gorgeous 2002 Mazda Tribute for $4,600. I'm not kidding, the car looks bran new. The tires are new too. Stephen had to have his friend put in a $30 part because it sometimes quit on idle--now it doesn't. So all that to say, a) Stephen did not deserve the car and boys/men who are over 21 should not live with their parents, and b) The auto repair industry came out like bandits, as did the car dealerships where everyone went to replace their hail-damaged cars.

You might be feeling sorry for the insurance companies about now. Don't. They will raise the rates, of course.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Amen!


Amen Obama, and again, I say amen!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

The Fall







Fall. I love fall. I don't love summer in the East. The temperature fell a bit this week; one morning it was actually 60 degrees when I awoke at 6:30, and a couple of times it has been 63. The humidity has fallen off a bit as well. Of course temperatures are rising for the rest of the week, but still there is reason to believe that fall will come.

I remember traveling to Virginia with the fam to see Joyce and Scott and family. I think I was in my senior year in high school. I had never in my life experienced humidity. And despite the lush greenth of the place, and the magical fireflies, I wondered why anyone would live in the Southeast. And so here I am, still wondering. ;)

So, do I deserve a prize for that top picture?

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Debt Deal's Failure










Pics: Family reunion 2011, Do you believe in magic?


The Debt Deal's Failure


By Fareed Zakaria


In narrow economic terms, the debt deal is actually not a big deal, neither as good as its advocates claim nor as terrifying as its opponents fear. The actual cut to the 2012 budget, the only budget over which this Congress has control, is $21 billion out of total expenditures of $3.7 trillion—a pittance. Everything else can and will be changed by future Congresses. What the deal does is kick tough choices down the road, this time to a congressional super­commission that will have to come up with a larger plan to reduce debt. And it does nothing to spur growth, without which the debt will expand well above projections. That’s why the usually circumspect Mohamed El- Erian, head of Pimco, the world’s largest bond fund, grades the deal somewhere between an incomplete and a fail. “Other than eliminating default risk emanating from a self-manufactured crisis,” he writes, “there is nothing good about America’s debt ceiling debacle.”


The deal’s largest impact will be political, and there it has been a disaster. The manner in which it was produced added poison to an already toxic atmosphere in Washington, making compromise even more difficult. Democrats now feel they need to mirror the Tea Party’s tactics and are becoming unyielding on any cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare. Republicans, emboldened by the success of their bullying, have closed ranks more solidly around a no-tax agenda. But the only solution to America’s debt dilemma will need to involve both cuts to entitlement programs and higher tax revenues. Even if the besmirched ratings agencies don’t downgrade America, we’ve downgraded ourselves. The system did not work.


Evidence of a working system would have been the adoption of a grand bargain almost forged between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner to reduce the budget deficit by almost $4 trillion over 10 years, a plan that might actually have been enforced, because both parties would have been invested in it, each having contributed to shaping it. The system would have worked if it had adopted some version of the Bowles-Simpson plan, which reduces the national debt by the same amount, with pain on both sides of the aisle, but in an even smarter way. This is how Congress used to work: grand bipartisan bargains to solve difficult problems with compromises by both sides. This is not nostalgia. It is how the system worked in the 1980s and ’90s to save Social Security, reform the tax code, rationalize immigration policy and close hundreds of military bases.


Instead, we have demonstrated to ourselves, the world and global markets that our political system is broken and that we are incapable of conceiving and implementing sensible public policy. What we have instead is the prospect of more late-night cliff-hangers, extreme tactics, budget guillotines, filibusters and presidential vetoes. It makes for good TV news specials, but it is a sorry picture of how the world’s leading country governs itself.


There is one silver lining. The sword of Damocles that hangs over Congress (steep reductions in defense and Medicare if the two sides can’t agree to a basket of other cuts) is supposed to make legislators act more sensibly. Actually, it might provoke something more important: a national debate on the role of government. This might well have been Obama’s calculation and his purpose in accepting the debt deal—that it would end the crisis, in which the Tea Partyers held the country’s creditworthiness hostage to their agenda, and force a broader national discussion, one he is comfortable leading. If so, such a debate is long overdue. For more than a generation, Americans have delayed it, at incalculable cost to the country.


The modern seesaw about the role of government began with Ronald Reagan, who rode to the White House in 1980 on a tide of frustration with high taxes and big government. He promised to cut both down to size. He succeeded with taxes, reducing rates across the board and closing loopholes. Although he raised taxes several times during his presidency, by the time he left office in 1989, taxes were at 18% of GDP, down from about 20%.


But what he did not do was cut spending consistently. Spending under Reagan averaged 22.4% of GDP, well above the 1971–2009 average of 20.6%. Yes, much of this was for defense, but almost everything went up during his Administration. Farm subsidies, for example, rose 140%. If you lower taxes and don’t trim expenses, there is only one way to make up the difference: by borrowing. The national debt tripled, from $712 billion in 1980 to $2 trillion in 1988.


Reagan reflected the American public’s basic preferences. We want big government but low taxes. The only way to make this work, short of magic, is debt. And government at every level—state, city and local—followed this pattern and took on ever increasing amounts of debt. In fact, because of weak accounting requirements, politicians at the state level have even resorted to a kind of budgetary magic to satisfy key constituencies. When public-sector employees want pay raises, politicians provide just modest step-ups in salary but huge increases in pension and retirement health care benefits. That way, the (fraudulent) budget numbers don’t look that bad until years later, when the politicians who did the damage have safely retired.


Over the past three decades, this pattern has persisted, with a few exceptions at the federal level. Tax hikes and spending restraint under George H.W. Bush and even more so under Bill Clinton brought the problem under control and in the late Clinton years even produced a budget surplus. Then came the George W. Bush tax cuts, expanded health care benefits and two wars—all unpaid for—without any tax increases. The result: the surplus disappeared, and by 2008, the debt had ballooned to $10 billion. The final blow was the financial crisis and recession, which meant that federal tax revenues collapsed, followed by more tax cuts and stimulus spending. The debt rose to its current $14.3 trillion.


We couldn’t be grappling with this at a worse time. Many economists believe that the economy is fragile and that it would be better not to cut spending or raise taxes at this point. It’s true. The sensible economic policy would be more stimulus now and major deficit reduction in a few years. But that kind of smart, sequenced public policy is simply beyond the reach of the American system today.


So far, the national debate has been built around the fantasy that we do not have to choose between big government and low taxes—that we can get both by cutting waste, fraud and abuse. But the money is in the big middle-class items, from Medicare to the mortgage- interest deduction. With federal taxes at 15% of GDP, a historic low, and spending at 24% of GDP, there is really no conceivable way to close the gap without increasing taxes—either raising rates or eliminating deductions and loopholes. And Republicans might find to their dismay that when forced to choose, Americans will decide that they like their government programs after all. Polls show that the public would rather raise taxes than, for example, cut Medicare. (In fact, we would have to do both.) The public may hate government in theory, but it has warm feelings about most individual government programs, from the space shuttle to Head Start to Pell Grants. This may be why Obama might be happy to have this debate in 2012 and urge a mix of cuts and increased revenues.


Whatever the outcome of the ideological debate, that outcome has to then be translated into public policy. For that to happen, we need a government that works. What the debt crisis has highlighted is that Congress—the heart of day-to-day government—is utterly and completely broken.


Can one measure this breakdown? Yes. Congress is more polarized than ever before. A National Journal study shows that, for the first time since the publication began tracking the divide 30 years ago, the most left-wing Republican is more conservative than the most right-wing Democrat. There is no overlapping set of moderates, who used to engineer congressional compromises. This polarization has resulted in paralysis. More than two years into the Obama Administration, hundreds of key positions in government remain vacant for lack of Senate confirmation. The Treasury Department had to handle the global financial crisis, recession, bank stress tests and automaker bailouts, as well as its usual duties, with about a dozen of its senior positions—almost its entire top management—vacant. Senate rules have been used, abused and twisted to allow constant delay and blockage. The filibuster, historically employed about once a decade, is now a routine procedure that allows the minority to thwart the will of the majority. In 2009, Senate Republicans filibustered a stunning 80% of major legislation. Given how the chamber is composed—two Senators per state, no matter how thinly populated—people representing just 10% of the country can block all legislation. Is that how a democracy should function?


American parties now function like European parliamentary ones, ideologically pure and with tight discipline. But we don’t have a European system. In parliamentary systems, power is united so that when, for example, the British Prime Minister’s coalition takes office, it controls the legislative branch as well as the executive. The Prime Minister is, in effect, chief legislator as well as chief executive. The ruling party gets a chance to implement its agenda, and then the public can either re-elect it or throw the bums out. The U.S. system is one of shared and overlapping powers. No one person or party is fully in control; everyone is checked and balanced. People have to cooperate for anything to get done. That is why the Tea Party’s insistence on holding the debt ceiling hostage in order to force its policies on the country—the first time the debt ceiling has been used this way—was so deeply un-American.


The strength of the Tea Party is part of a broader phenomenon: the rise of small, intensely motivated groups that have been able to capture American politics. The causes are by now familiar. The redistricting of Congress creates safe seats, so the incentive is to pander to the extremes to fend off primary challenges, rather than to work toward the center. Narrow cast media amplify strong voices at the ends of the spectrum and make politicians pay a price for any deviation from dogma. A more open and transparent Congress has meant a Congress more easily pressured by small interest groups and lobbyists. Ironically, during this period, more and more Americans identify as independents. Registered independents are at an all-time high. But that doesn’t matter. The system in Congress reflects not rule by the majority but rule by the minority— fanatical, organized minorities.


These dysfunctions have reached crisis levels at the very time the U.S. faces intense pressures from an aging population, technological change and globalization. We need smart policies in every field. We need to pare spending in areas like health care and pensions but invest in others like research and development, infrastructure and education in order to grow. In an age of budgetary limits, money needs to be spent wisely and only on projects that are effective. But in area after area—energy, immigration, infrastructure—government policy is sub optimal, a sad mixture of political payoffs and ideological positioning. Countries from Canada to Australia to Singapore implement smart policies and copy best practices from around the world. We bicker and remain paralyzed.


Some of those best practices used to be American. The world once looked at America with awe as we built the interstate highway system, created the best public education in the world, put a man on the moon and invested in the frontiers of knowledge. That is not how the world sees America today. People watched what happened over the past month and could not comprehend it. We have taken something that the world never doubted—the credibility of the U.S.—and put it into question. From now on, every time the debt ceiling has to be debated, the world will wonder, Will America honor its commitments? Will it keep its word? Will the system break down? We have taken our most precious resource, the trust of the world, and gambled with it. If, as a result of these congressional antics, interest rates on America’s debt rise by 1% —in other words, if the world asks for just a little bit more interest to lend us money—the budget deficit will rise by $1.3 trillion over 10 years. That would more than wipe out the entire 10 years of cuts proposed in the debt deal. That’s the American system at work these days.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

June is/was daily month!






My day lilies looked stupendous this year, despite the hail storm and despite the spring week of 90 degree temperatures, when I forgot to water! Of course we have had buckets and buckets of rain the past few weeks, so I really can't take much credit. Except for the fact that I go outside and visit them every morning and tell them how fabulous they look. Plus, I tell everyone in the house how beautiful they are and let them come out with me for the daily tour. I'm sure that has made a difference. (These pics look good, but other days were even better.)

Elizabeth and Aaron and friend Mera, and I all went to the Oakes daylily festival again this year. We all had $20 Groupons worth $40! Fun Fun.

Monday, June 27, 2011

New Creative Suite!



So I got the new Adobe Creative Suite. But I'll have to relearn it all. Sigh. I'll probably never upgrade again. I went from CS 2 to CS 5.5 (5.1)

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Paul Revere Ride


The Paul Revere ride revisted (by Palin). I've been meaning to post this clip for a while. John Stewart also did a sketch of her Paul Revere comments. He includes a news clip of her commenting about "trick questions" from the media. So of course John Stewart played the question that elicited her meanderings. It was something like, "So what places have you visited, what has really stood out for you?" Anyway, this clip of from the Colbert Report is pretty hysterical.

PS If you look very closely, I believe you will see a bell in Paul's right hand--or, perhaps, a tree branch. Basically the same thing.


Thursday, June 2, 2011

Dam June Cheers (pls vote)


Dear Dam Runners,

Time is running out! You had better be in serious training mode now! Here are a few cheers to learn and sing during your workouts.

We will choose a cheer and chant it before departing for the big race on Saturday morning. (nk)

1.

Who? Team Hall, hoo rahh hoo rahh
Who? Team Hall, hoo rahh hoo rahh

****************************************

2.

Hey other runners,
your luck's run out
'cause the Halls are here
to sprint and shout!

On your left! On your right!
Then we're out of sight!
Bite the wall! bite the wall!
We're the Halls!

****************************

3.

Oh Hall team runners are hard to beat
They're the perfect souls from head to feet
They've got the style the smile the winning way
When you see them you just HAVE to say

Now there's some folks I'd like to know
They've got that dam good runner pep and go
????
It's hard to beat totally awesome runners like the Halls, oh yeah!

[Could someone give me a little help here? (Val?) I can't remember all the words to the B. E. boy cheer!]

**********************************

4.

We are the Halls
We're on the ball
We run the race
We set the pace
We're the best dam runners

**********************************

Vote for your favorite cheer: 1, 2, 3, or 4
Or submit one yourself!


Cheers
Rebecca

PS Happy birthday Brad!!


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Stephen Graduates College!



Stephen graduated from the University of Tennessee on May 12 with a degree in Journalism and Electronic Media! We had a party for him and his friends. It was a happy day. Oh happy day. Now what?

Friday, May 13, 2011

That Dam May Training


Dear Dam Racers,


I apologize for being late with May’s inspirational missive. Finishing up this semester at Harvard was quite traumatic for me and Russel. But we have now recovered and are feeling much better; so is Mary.


May is a great month for training. Here are a few lines that MAY inspire you as you continue your dam training.


April is a promise that May is bound to keep.

~Hal Borland (That means you should have reached your dam goal of 4.7 miles in under an hour in May.)


He that is in a towne in May loseth his spring. ~George Herber (That means you should be in the country, Mantua, in July—that's possibly a bit of a stretch, but then stretching is important.)


"The world's favorite season is the spring. 
All things seem possible in May."
- Edwin Way Teale (That means it is possible to reach your dam goals.)


"By the time one is eighty, it is said, there is no longer a tug of war in the garden with the May flowers hauling like mad against the claims of the other months. All is at last in balance and all is serene. The gardener is usually dead, of course."
- Henry Mitchell, The Essential Earthman (That means you’re not 80 yet, so you’re not dead, and you should be doing your dam training.)


'But I must gather knots of flowers,

And buds and garlands gay,

For I'm to be Queen o' the May,

mother,
I'm to be Queen o' the May.'

-Alfred Lord Tennyson

(That means each dam racer will come in first in his or her Dam Race age group.)


"Sweet April showers
Do spring May flowers."


-Thomas Tusser, A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry, 1557

(That should really say, “April showers Do spring May dam runners.)


Is it so small a thing

To have enjoy'd the sun,

To have lived light in the spring,

To have loved,

To have thought,

To have done [run]...

- Matthew Arnold (That means tis no small thing to have prepared for the Dam Race.)



May the dam force be with you and May you stay Forever Young.


Rebecca


Pic: The May Queen preparing for the dam race. (Barefoot, of course. It's all the rage.)