COLD WEATHER RUNNING!!!!

It was cold, by Louisiana standards, when we started our run at 5:30. My car showed 32 deg in "Downtown Vienna", but 34 by the time I got to town. I AM NOT COMPLAINING! This is so much better than the hot & humid days we endured for MONTHS! The cold helps you get started in an effort to warm up and deciding what to wear is a dilemma! Today I layered with a short sleeve dri-fit shirt under a long sleeve dri-fit. No need for another layer until it gets quite a bit colder. I did wear long pants-1 layer only- but the old legs warm up and stay warm. I also wore my new "light" gloves. Just enough to keep the cold out after the first mile or so, but not hot-like so many gloves are. The final necessity is the cotton in the ears-sort of looks like a cotton boll growing from your ear.

I am thankful for the dark while we are running, since I am sure I am a REALLY LOVELY sight! The cold tends to make my nose run, not a problem, unless my face becomes numb and I do not realize that it is running down my face. ATTRACTIVE! I also suffer from a genetic malady of roscea. I can pretty much keep it under control, except when I am out in the really cold and then it looks like Rudolph running down the road. All my problems seem to revolve around my nose, but you know we James'es are well known for our big noses. That will make a good subject for another post.

I ran 8 this morning and then walked 5. I did not get any exercise, except yard-work, yesterday, so I had to push myself today to get those miles in. It is so difficult at this stage of the training to keep yourself motivated. We have lots of REALLY hard runs left and staying on task is not easy. The long runs seem totally overwhelming and your mind tells you that you cannot do this. IT IS SO MENTAL and getting that mind right is the hardest part of the training!

Poor Camille & Adam still have no lights. I thought losing the power with snow only happened in the South. I was totally shocked to find out that they have these same problems. She is undaunted though and loving the snow. Only when you are young, would all of that sound like an adventure.

My friend, Barbara, told me I should take a writing course. I told her that I did not have time for that. She reminded me that I would not be able to run like I am now all of my life and maybe I should have another obsession in the wings waiting. Like does she think I am OCD or something??

I have a draft of the next episode in Louise's life, but am not very happy with it. Hopefully I will have it ready soon and you will be my guinea pigs again.

Have a busy end of week with our small group meeting with us tonight, our college adoptees and our friend, Cynthia, coming for dinner tomorrow night, and the kids and grands coming for the weekend. They are having a memorial service for Caroline's father here Saturday, so we have the thrill of a long overdue visit. We will have a wild and fun weekend with those boys!

SCIENTIFIC FACTS OF LIFE!

Lake Erie in March

# 1 Daughter called this morning with the sound of Christmas awe and glee in her voice. Camille & her Dad come from a long line of excitable genes that tend to increase the volume of the voice with each and every word-in order to MAKE SURE YOU HEAR THEM! The Conville's could give the British Parliament a run for their money when it comes to "out-shouting" each other. Today though when she called she had this breathy almost whispered, "Mom, guess what!" I knew by her tone the announcement that was coming since not only have I been reading the comments on her blog, but we also flipped by the Steelers game in Pittsburgh last night and saw the precipitation.

I am happy for The Jennings, but as for me and Mr. C.-WE WILL TAKE THE MILDNESS OF LA! We did have a cold? front go through last night and the wind is blowing, but the high today will be 65 degrees. I plan to to out and work in my flower beds and possibly plant some pansies. I bet all of our Yankee friends in the great frozen north are not thinking about winter flowers!

It is a scientific fact, based upon a poll of one-ME-that your blood temperature lowers with your age. This means that the cold can make you literally numb. Now our Northern friends would probably not consider the 40's cold, but when I run in these temperatures and do not have gloves, my hands become literally numb. Until I get that blood temperature back up, with a long hot shower, these appendages are of no use to me. My scientific research has the hypothesis that this is caused by a thickening of the blood in the cold temperatures. It acts on the same basis as the oil in your car-it becomes sludge and then does not flow as freely. This means, as we all understand, that it stays in one spot longer and thus the cold from your skin has longer to cool more of the blood and the vicious cycle is perpetuated. I think I will apply for a government grant to research this theory-FAR MORE RIDICULOUS THEORIES have been funded by our brilliant government.

Enjoy your Snow and cold-all of you Erie-ites. We plan to bask in the warmth of the 60's and enjoy the beauty of our still blooming plants and GREEN GREEN GREEN interspersed with the warm Fall colored leaves. We will check back with you about the first of February and remind you of this day. We will be planning Spring gardens and you, oh yes, you will be looking at the snow and frozen lake. How long does the white stay white and how long does the thrill remain? That is yet to be seen, but we look forward to a long winter of hearing all about it from the Newbie Yankees, The Jennings!

All of my work out buds are busy or gone today, so I need to walk 5-alone and lift weights. We will see if that EVER gets done! ALONE IS NOT FUN!

WILDLIFE & DOGS ON EARLY MORNING RUNS

I love the time change, but it takes an old lady some time to get the old body clock changed. The first fun thing is changing every clock in your world to the correct time. This is not as simple as it would seem since they all have to be moved back a hour. I once again have to get the instruction books out, or ask for help from someone more technically sophisticated than me (that is not hard to find). About the time you think you have all of them changed, you will find some random clock that you forgot you even had. The real trick is trying to get several clocks in the same room showing the same time. This can be more trouble than it is worth!

When running early this AM, we had a dog join us just after mile one. This is someone's pet and he has gotten out of the fence. Sonja had Bethany's dog with her so we spent the next couple of miles trying to run the stupid dog off. He was only interested in playing with "Miller" and spent the time running circles around all of us in an effort to get Miller to play. It is bad enough to be running down the road trying to not trip and fall over some random wire in the road, or pot hole hidden in the dark, but now we have to contend with this dog running between us at full speed and trying to not fall over when he hits us in the knees. I understand how the football players must feel when they see another player headed for their knees in a chop block. Sonja and Tracy finally turned around a couple of miles out so he would follow them, hopefully back to his home. This did enable us to finish our 6 miles and then walk another 4.

As we were finishing our 4 mile walk, we saw an albino squirrel. Quite a sight! When I told BC about seeing it, he said that he had seen the same squirrel, in the same yard, a few weeks back. I have always heard that squirrels were territorial, and I guess this proves it. The next time I see the lady that owns the yard, where we spotted him, I plan to ask her about him. I started wondering if he is ostracized by the normal grey squirrels, or if they treat him the same. I am really interested to see about this little squirrel and what his "squirrel life" is like. Is he treated like just another squirrel or as a "different squirrel". Are we the only species that treats those that don't "look like us", "smell like us", or "act like us" as aliens or is this a universal animal behavior?

The weather is unseasonably warm, but a cold front is on its way. I love the crunch of the leaves as I drive down the drive on the gold, yellow, red, and brown leaf carpeted asphalt. The wind is blowing at quite a clip, which means the leaves will not stick around for long, but how I enjoyed admiring them this morning while walking. What a blessing this Fall is!

ONE OF MY FAVORITE DAYS OF THE YEAR!

Redemption Day-Catch Up Day-Pay Back Day-The day I have longed for since last April-I GOT MY HOUR BACK! Only the federal government would decide that in the grand "good" of "the people", they would fool around with changing the clocks. So many years ago, in an effort to Save Energy, we began the grand social experiment of -losing an hour every Spring and having it given back to us every Fall. I don't really understand how this helps the energy problem, but I have never been a great scientific mind. I still try to sleep around 8 or so hours-in the dark-every night and the heat and cool are adjusted according to these hours of sleep as well as the lights. Some brilliant scientific mind convinced the powers to be in Washington that this would save us a ton of energy. Now let's review the facts-the factories still operate 24 hours a day, people still sleep the same number of hours, we still eat about 3 meals a day, our house still have to be cooled-heated, etc. etc. As we all know, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to talk the group in Washington into some rash idea. For some strange reason, when one is elected to office, they begin to feel smarter than the rest of us. This means they make decisions for the rest of us and don't think they should have to explain. The truth is somewhere around-they cannot explain and are slightly outraged that we dare to question their decisions. So much for this tirade-just suffice it to say that I am delighted to regain the hour they SO RUDELY took from me last Spring.

The really good thing about this change is that we will not be running in the total dark on our early morning runs. We had gotten to the point that when we finished it still was not daylight, so this will change that and hopefully we will be more visible to the early morning motorist. We ran our cutback run of 11.2 miles yesterday which was wonderful. It is great to finish and think I am not totally drained for the first half of my Saturday. The REALLY GOOD news is that we are now 9 weeks finished out of our 18 weeks of training. Of the remaining 9 weeks, 2 are tapering weeks at the end of the training, so we have 7 more hard weeks. REALLY HARD WEEKS! Larry tried to run with his injury yesterday which was a huge mistake. He is like a kid and will not listen to my better judgement, but he did stop after 2 miles and admit it was not a good idea to finish the run. We had 13 runners yesterday which looks like a parade moving down the road. I would love to know what the early morning drivers think when they pass wave after wave of runner out in the early Saturday morning cool . Probably something like, "Who in the world are all of these nuts?"

I am enjoying the beauty of Fall. There are leaves all around that are turning and in very short order falling-thus the Fall Season of the year. What a gift from God and how wonderful and beautiful are the colors that are floating all around us. We are on our way to the Fall Fling at church as our small group has duty during the festivities. I will enjoy watching all of the little kids playing the games and enjoying theirselves. HAPPY FALL!

A STORY FOR YOU!

I have often thought about writing about my mother's life, but somehow just never got around to it. I became inspired and wrote a short story about the first two years of her life. I am placing it on the blog to see what you think. It is fiction based upon fact. When I read the story to BC, he asked how I knew all of this-I know the story told by my mother, and this is an adaptation of her facts into a story. BC assured me that if it was boring, that you would quit reading and hope for a better blog tomorrow. So feel free to surf away, if I lull you into dreamland.

Overton was a sleepy Texas town built along the railroad surrounded by farms and cotton fields. The dirt road through the middle of town was bordered by the railroad on one side and the row of wooden stores and businesses on the other. The town existed to furnish the supplies and needs of the farmers that surrounded it with the merchants and professionals being the aristocracy of the town.

The Gillespie family fit into this aristocracy since Dr. Gillespie, the patriarch, was revered and loved by all of the local families. His horse and his buggy were his mobile office and the bedrooms of the town and surrounding farms the hospital. The medicines available were primitive and few, but the doctor was a fountain of book learned medicine as well as old time folk remedies. The community depended upon his care and compassion and he grieved along with the families when a patient was lost.

Dr. Gillespie’s clan included two sons and three daughters. Will A, the oldest was the heir apparent, and shared the responsibility of the family with his busy father. The three girls, Zula, Kate, and Lora were their mother’s helpers who cared for little brother, Paul as well as helped keep the household running. There was a definite division of labor and the men, including the boys, were the ultimate authority.

The family attended the local Methodist church as did most of the town’s “aristocracy”. The larger Baptist church was just around the block, but during these early years of township, the farmers and laborers were the majority of the Baptist membership.

All of the young ladies of Overton were greatly disappointed when they found that Will A. had gone to nearby Gladewater to court the daughter of the Phillips family. A proud and old family, the Phillips heralded not only from Revolutionary War veterans, Civil War veterans, but also Texas Revolution veterans. The distinction of the Texas Revolution ancestry was by far the most important badge of pride for the Phillips family.

Annalu and Will A. courted in the traditional style of the south with only chaperoned visitation until there engagement and even then someone was always nearby when the couple were together. Will A. was instantly smitten with Annalu, a beautiful whisp of a young lady with wavy, dark, hair which was swept up high on her head in beautiful waves. Never an unkind word was heard uttered by Annalu about another and her sweet reputation made her beauty almost angelic. Will A., ever the southern gentlemen, treated Annalu like a prized piece of china. Their marriage before a parlor full of family only lead to the continued reverence of Miss Annalu and thus their lives together began blissfully.

Will A. & Annalu learned early in their marriage that they were to be parents. What a proud moment, and hopefully the next Gillespie male heir would soon be coming. What a surprise when the baby came into the world a soft, round, sweet, miniature Annalu. Will A. wondered how he could have wanted anything other than this angel sent to them.

The next two years were a blur of bliss as the new family grew in love and adoration for each other. The news that another Gillespie baby was on the way was met with delight and glad anticipation of the blessing to come. Life was truly better than they ever dreamed it could be. Tomorrow seemed bright and full of promise. As for today-they savored the blessings so abundantly bestowed on the young family

II

The house was quiet with a hush that you usually hear only in a church. The occasional whisper from the long hallway or the soft fall of a footstep upon the rug covered wooden floor would creep into the dimly lit parlor, but the air was filled with the awareness of impending sorrow.

The sisters were all gathered in the parlor with the sweet, petite niece in their charge. A beautiful child with dark thick straight hair worn in a bowl cut with bangs falling just above her eyes, the niece was the precious child of their brother and sister in law. None of the sisters were married and though head strong and independent, they still held their older brother in high esteem and held close to his counsel. They all took turns reading to the child and keeping her quiet as the muffled sounds from the bedroom down the hall strained through the evening shadows.

The child’s Mother was in the process of leaving those that held her dear. Her Father had driven all over the country-side in a desperate search of a miracle, when the doctor had shared his wife’s fate. There was no miracle to be found, so they returned home to the sisters, the two year old child, and the certainty of the day that would come. The miracle of the child’s birth and the ensuing sweetness of life with her had stirred the desire for another such miracle. The day had come when the miracle to be had been announced, but the thrill of two children had soon been stilled with the tragic news of what would come.

The Father’s grief and desperation were a palatable presence in their life everyday as the day neared that they all knew was coming. How could he live with the knowledge that his precious wife that he loved more than his own life would be slipping away. What desperation he felt as he searched for anyone or anyway to stop what was rapidly approaching, but the desperation only deepened with each and every hour that passed.

The daughter, the sweet beautiful daughter was a constant reminder of her mother. When he gazed into her eyes, her mother’s eyes looked back at him. When he heard the tinkle of her laughter, her mother’s laughter echoed in his mind. Every facet of this wonderful gift from his wife reminded him of her mother. The pain of her presence was more than he could bear as his wife slipped away. He asked the sisters to keep her occupied and away from his bedside vigil. Her presence was too painful as he watched her mother slowly slip away. There would come a day when he would once again relish every moment with the sweet daughter, but for today-keep her away.

THE LAND OF STEEL MAGNOLIAS

Scene-Early morning sunrise traveling down a paved country road-looking across the bayou and black lake and seeing the profile of hundreds of eerie, but beautiful Cypress trees in the early morning shadows. Sally Fields, alone in her car-crying after losing her baby-her only daughter to complications from diabetes.

I watch "Steel Magnolias" about once a year and love it and laugh and cry every time I see it-such a great representation of women from the South. We traveled to Natchitoches last night to visit with The Thompson's and traveled down this famous road where that scene was shot on the way. A classic movie about women and the relationship they enjoy and the south. Natchitoches is the town where the movie was shot and the movie home of Sally's family has a big sign in front of it "The Steel Magnolia House". This is a historic city in its own right, but the movie brought even more fame. You pass the river front where the Easter picnic was held on Front Street. Historic buildings, beautiful architect, moss draped trees, and as many iron trellises as you will see anywhere abound in the beautiful little town. They have done a good job of keeping the Wal Mart, Lowe's, etc. etc. out of the middle of all of this "Old South" beauty. They were beginning to put up the Christmas lights for the famous "Christmas Festival" that draws 100,000 and more to the little town on the Cane River. The month of December will find Natchitoches changed from the quaint little lazy southern town into a bevy of Christmas festival activity. They have turned the lovely, local festival that you see in the movie into a month long money making feast. Money can ruin even the best of institutions.

To travel from Ruston to Natchitoches you begin your journey down 167 S which is a federal highway that is busy and well traveled. BC & I take the short cut-"through the woods" once we get to Quitman about 10 miles outside of Ruston. For the next 40 miles, until you get back to civilization about 10 miles from Natchitoches, you are in the backwoods of Louisiana. The trees hang eerily over the highway forming a tunnel of foliage and leaves turning the beautiful colors of fall. Mile upon mile with no sign of civilization. You begin to wonder why there was a need to build a road out in the middle of no where. On the way home in the deep dark that only comes miles away from civilization, you are on the constant watch for Mr. Deer who would inflict serious damage to your car if he popped out in front of you. There are pockets of houses occasionally and you see a lone house-always at the end of a dirt-single lane-road, but you mostly see TREES. No crops, no pastures, just mile upon lovely mile of the majestic beautiful trees that grow in this beautiful part of Louisiana. What a delightful trip! I even enjoyed driving home {my eyes are better in the dark}, while perched on the edge of the driver's seat, hands in the correct position, in tense anticipation of what would be around the next curve in the black on the night. Mile upon mile of curves and hills in the moonless but star filled night made for a trip home that would have equalled any tension filled movie anticipating what might be out in the pitch dark, just beyond the beams of your headlight!

"I don't know about the rest of you, Honey, but your hair is holding up great" Dolly Parton to Sally Fields in the poignant scene at the cemetery.

Only with long term friends of many decades, like The Thompson's, can you pick up just where you left off when last together, even when it was as long ago as June. What a treasure God blessed us with when he put us together all those years ago.

No activity today, Babs & I are on the way to Shreveport and to Sports Spectrum for more goo in anticipation of runs to come, as well as various other shopping stops.

A BUBBLE OFF CENTER!

Do you ever have that feeling that I am not feeling quite right? Today is one of those days as was yesterday and the night before. I feel a little like the color of this print-muted and dull. I often tell people my bio-rhythms are off. You do know about your bio-rhythms don't you? This is your physical and emotional state. If you physically are a little down and emotionally a little down, then you are at your lowest-bio-rhythm point. The days you pray for and relish when they come is when both of these hit their high points. These low days affect you and your activities for the entire period of the low. It is a struggle to run and I have to make myself do it, I don't have the high level of energy that I normally enjoy, and I'm kind of in a fog. I am thinking the physical part may have something to do with my sinus. I come from a family of allergy sufferers. Everyone in the family, except me, took allergy shots and suffered with multiple sinus infections every year. Momma used to tell me that I just sniffed and kept going. I really never thought about it a lot. I am popping the decongestants in an effort to unclog, but I am sure I will bounce back in short order. For today I feel like the character in Charlie Brown that walked around with a cloud just over and around his head. THIS TOO WILL PASS!

We are leaving at noon to go to Natchitoches to meet our dearest and oldest friends, The Thompson's. We will pick up where we left off the last time we were together and the connection will be instant. What a blessing that God has placed Mark & Barbara in our lives. I could write an entire book about our journey together during the past almost 40 year. They are two of the most precious friends one could ever ask for. So much shared life and so many days on the beach and around a table. Thank you Lord! I am looking forward to a wonderful visit and will be sad at heading back to Ruston.

As for today, I am taking my on advice and listening to my body. No physical activity-should have walked and should have lifted, but it's more important to get that bubble back to center!