giving rise to action; staying fit and sane through running
I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon on July 22. I had run the event’s 5k and 10k last year. I did the Inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Dublin Half Marathon 5 years ago. This has been my only experience with the Rock ‘n’ Roll Series races. I’d like to do more. From my experience, I can say they are well organized events with great amenities and some really awesome bling! Read more
I decided to take a vacation last week…my first week off from the blog in almost a year! The move…as well as four airports (twice each!) in a week’s time…finally caught up to me. After spending a full week in my new Chicago apartment – trying to get as settled as I could in that short period of time – I flew back to New Jersey.
My sister was getting married in Ireland. It was an event I wouldn’t miss. When I booked the flight in January, it only made sense to fly out of JFK. That still worked out well because my daughter was back in New Jersey. And during my 30-hour layover, I was able to reconnect with a few friends with whom I hadn’t exchanged proper farewells before I left the first time. That was nice. Read more
It was when I was running every street in my little New Jersey town last summer that I began to notice the Adirondack chairs. I just figured they were a popular item that looked nice on residents’ front porches or lawns. After all, I had two plastic ones I purchased at Home Depot myself. I did estimate that the ones I was noticing were wood and a much higher quality, however.
One day after returning from one of those runs, I found an email from George Chrisafis, the high school shop teacher, telling me that my daughter’s Adirondack chair was at the school and needed to be picked up. Hmmmm. I didn’t even know she had made a chair in shop class (she never tells me anything). Although…a glimmer of a memory from Back-to-School Night? Perhaps. Read more
Fifty-one years-ago this past May, aboard an Aer Lingus 707, I arrived at JFK to meet my adoptive parents for the first time. I spent the first night in my new Northern New Jersey home…and basically, I never left.
I couldn’t wait to leave for college, but after four-years in Philadelphia, I gravitated back to northern New Jersey. My first apartment with friends was only 5 miles from the home I grew up in and the home I just moved out of, where I raised my daughter, was only 6 and half miles away. Read more