Kipona Canoe Races

Every year they have a Kipona festival here in Harrisburg which include some Canoe races along the shores of the Susquehanna.

Right as we got there, the girls doubles were having their last heat and Heather needed a partner, so a seasoned canoer stepped in and helped her row her way to a Bronze medal! First try!

Heather and G getting their award.

My friend, Brant, and I were hoping to place well in the Novice category, but I wasn't feeling as confident when the guys next to us looked like steroid-pumping thugs with deltoids larger than our heads. But we kept up with them up stream to the turn around point when our superior navigation skills got us turned around and heading to the finish line first place!

The winners circle with Dick Reese--the legend... who couldn't care less.

We then took breaks for some food then came back and raced raced raced. Heather raced in the women's doubles, the novice, the mixed, and war canoe (4 racers). Spencer raced in the men's doubles (x2), mixed, novice, and war canoe. We did the mixed and war canoe together.

Getting into the zone.

And the war canoe, that was fun. That was 4 people in a canoe rowing like crazy and being extra tipsy-prone which we found out as we rounded the buoy and tipped right over. It was our last race of the day and tipping over actually turned out to be the icing on the cake. SO refreshing!

Near the head of the pack right before we tipped...

Just enjoying the cool of the river while we get helped back in the boat.

Rowing the final leg after getting back in the boat. Picture the final scene of

Cool Runnings in the water with non-Jamaicans.

It was a great day of canoeing.

We soggy, victorious few.

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Kristin's Sunday post reminded me that we once shared our "favorite things" with each other. IT would be cool to do that again sometime. I'll list what we did before when we celebrated each family member, but you could redo the original anyway you want.
These were the original categories. Maybe we could also include why each one is our favorite, to increase the insights we get from each others' lists. What do you think?
Favorite historical period, book, piece of music, movie, TV program, dish, dessert, season of year, animal, flower, vacation destination, color, scripture.
And speaking of desserts, Diana came up with a winner last week when she added a handful of grandma's blackberries to her zucchini recipe. Annie loved it as did all of her office mates. Try it, you'll like it.

My favorite time of year!

It's Fall and the colors in New England are already changing. It has always been a dream of mine to be in New England to soak in the Autumn colors. And now my dream is coming true as a current resident of this place.

I took these leafy pictures at Walden Pond yesterday. My Walden has come to symbolize freedom and a retreat from the demands of a busy teacher/student schedule. (If anyone would like to donate to my business casual cause, my wardrobe is lacking in the most essential and basic items - I own tons of jeans and t-shirts). I've been at least a dozen of times to this hallowed spot of ground and skinny dipped a time or two as well. Oh to commune with nature and seize the day!

And a favorite from The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham-

"It was one man who invented the wheel. It was one man who discovered the law of gravitation. Nothing that happens is without effect. If you throw a stone in a pond the universe isn't quite the same as it was before. It's a mistake to think that those holy men of India lead useless lives. They are a shining light in the darkness. They represent an ideal that is a refreshment to their fellows; the common run may never attain it, but they respect it and it affects their lives for good. When a man becomes pure and perfect the influence of his character spreads so that they who seek truth are naturally drawn to him. It may be that if I lead the life I've planned for myself it may affect others; the effect may be no greater than the ripple caused by a stone thrown in a pond, but one ripple causes another, and that one a third; it's just possible that a few people will see that my way of life offers happiness and peace, and that they in their turn will teach what they have learnt to others."

Hey, this is my maiden voyage into a new corner of cyberspace. In fact, I just got through "talking" to Spencer on my chat space. He was impressed. I just found is little green dot on my computer screen somewhere, clicked it, and "voila," we were connected across who knows how many thousand miles. This is almost like the cold winter evening several years ago when Cody Carter let me look through his high-powered computer-generated telescope and I saw Saturn and its rings for the first time in my life. Fortuitously, it was the weekend after I had discussed Galileo's great astronomical discoveries with his improved telescope. It was one of the pivotal moments in life that changes your perspective forever. I guess this is one also. Thanks to Spence for getting it off the ground. As Wilbur once said: "I think it'll fly, Orville!"

Mom's 67th Birthday hiking to Squaw Peak

This dog wouldn't leave mom alone, and mom didn't seem to mind.

Too bad mom fell on the way down, this has been her last hike. Get better soon!

Goodbye to Summer/Dylan's 15th Birthday