Have a good time!

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

1 August, 2011    “Have a good time!”

Beginning today and continuing for 13 weeks I will “have a good time” as I train for and compete in my 9th Iron distance triathlon. This year’s race, like the past three years, is the PPD Beach2Battleship Triathlon (B2B). My goal for this year’s B2B, as in every race I’ve entered since my accident on 5 April, 1988 will be to “have a good time.” “Have a good time” is always a superb strategy. It allows me to focus on enjoying myself and not worry about speed. And when I get back to work Monday after the race and people ask “how did you do?” I respond – honestly – “I had a good time!” They don’t know if that means a fast time or an enjoyable time but who cares? Unpredictable things happen in races that slow you down. Keep you from meeting your clock time goals. Flat tires, wind, whatever. You might just have a bad day. But when I focus on enjoying myself, on meeting fellow racers and spectators and volunteers and officials, when I enjoy the sights and the sounds and the scenery, when I stay in the moment – I always have a good time. I see outstanding volunteers, enthusiastic spectators, motivated athletes, deer, eagles, turtles, sunrise, sunset, stars, the moon, even when it’s cloudy it’s fun.

The day begins with a 2.4 mile swim:

Transitions to a 112 mile bike ride:


And finishes with a 26.2 mile run:

Of the 8 I have completed, my fastest took just over 14 hours. 7:00 AM start. That means I finished slightly after 9:00 PM. My slowest was last year and it took over fifteen and a half hours. I got off the course after 10:30 at night and I was freezing. I registered for this year’s race as soon as registration opened.

As I commence training today, my life will boil down to:  eat – sleep – work – train – repeat. Of course, I’ll still be walking dogs. I have to get my dog/river time. I suppose that’s training. Or recovery, etc. Speaking of recovery, ask any endurance athlete you know – the best “recovery drink” is chocolate milk.

When you train you get to drink lots of chocolate milk. It’s a superb recovery drink – seriously. Ask anybody. When was the last time you had a glass of chocolate milk? That stuff is outstanding. I mean, I can not even believe how much I like drinking chocolate milk. Of course, practically by definition I’m drinking it at the end of a hard, hot workout. So anything I drink automatically tastes more delicious. But chocolate milk is just out of this world.

Anyway. Today kicks off training. I am overjoyed. I will update sporadically as I train, but I will still be taking my river hikes. It’s going to be a fun three months. Happy August!

Posted in Endurance, Fun, People, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 8 Comments

Fun morning, fun day

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

31 July, 2011                           Fun morning, fun day

Our lovely friend and neighbor Lucy is spending a little time hiking with us; she adds a new dimension to our jaunts. I might describe her appearance as “fetching” but she’s a Lab and maybe that’s a little too cutesy. She’s enthusiastic and energetic and in addition to being lovely she is quite lively. On Thursday we got home from the river and all the dogs hopped out of the car. Without an instant’s hesitation Lucy did an about-face and hopped back in:

Lucy is not ready to go home!

She learned immediately that cars, or at least that one, lead to rivers and fun. That’s my “dog car.” If you’ve ever been in it, you will be aware even without a Lab’s keen sense of smell that lots of “river dogs” spend lots of time there. I’m fortunate to be able to devote one car to just hauling dogs back and forth from the river.

It was pretty down there on Thursday and there are a surprising amount (to me) of flowers remaining in mid summer. I’m relatively certain this is a Morning Glory:

Beautiful Morning Glory

Read that wikipedia link about them if you have interest and a moment. I learned a couple of things that surprised me. They’re an interesting plant.

Speaking of interesting, my friend and I (and the dogs) encountered this amiable toad on a rock at Pony Pasture this morning:

Possibly the most amiable toad I've encountered

I am relatively certain at least half a dozen people read these blog entries. Possibly as many as a dozen. I am certain a number of those readers are more knowledgeable than the writer. Especially in matters botanical and zoological. I encourage each of you to correct the errors you encounter. Write a response on the blog, send me an email, anything you want. I want to keep the facts straight.

I asked my friend to take a picture of me with the dogs this morning. I always do that at the beginning of the walk, when the dogs are at their wildest. They’re getting their first whiff of the river and all they want to do is go berserk. And I make them pose for a picture. Can you imagine if you were a little kid and someone asked you to do that? Wouldn’t that be awful? Anyway, that’s my excuse for the dog posing being so haphazard. It’s almost impossible to get four dogs to sit still. Mackey’s not very easy to see here, just his rear end poking out to the left.

Remarkably patient dogs

An aside about “dog whisperers.” This might get boring. I apologize. A person we met at the river this morning saw I had another dog along and said you’re a “dog whisperer.” An expression we’re all aware came along with the book/movie The Horse Whisperer. There’s another much less well-known book called The Man Who Listens to Horses by an animal training genius named Monty Roberts. This is a very important subject for me, so I apologize again if it’s boring. But think about “Horse Whisperer.” Even though it’s a soft, gentle voice, a “whisper,” think about the direction information is going. No matter how soft your voice is, whether it’s to a horse or a dog or a person, you don’t learn when you talk. You learn when you listen. We were just popping along being social when that person said that to me (about being a “dog whisperer”) so I didn’t say anything. But normally if someone tells me I’m a “dog whisperer” (I hear that from time to time) I correct them and say I’m a dog listener. That’s where the learning is. See the difference in the titles of those two books? The direction the information is going? It’s the same way with people with autism. You don’t learn a lot by talking to them. You can help them a little. But to learn, you have to listen to them. And “listening,” especially in the case of dogs or horses or the river or what have you, doesn’t mean listening to words. It means paying attention. It means being in the moment. Not letting what just happened get away. It means not ignoring things, even when they’re difficult.

Max is doing well. His surgery is Wednesday morning. Between Alex’s expert bandaging and the antibiotics his wound is healing well. One of the other dogs (“Nurse” Mackey, I suspect) was “helping” Max by pulling off his bandage (when no one was looking) and cleaning his wound for him. Mackey’s good intentions notwithstanding, it wasn’t helping. Alex suggested putting Vicks VapoRub on the bandage and now the dogs leave it alone.

The mega-dose of Benadryl Max takes each morning and each evening takes a little bit of the wind out of his sails. He relaxes and watches the river and his pals when he has a moment:

Max takes it all in

Thus ends July! I hope you’re all enjoying your summer. Have a great day,

Jay, Max, Lucy, etc., etc.

Marsh Mallow

Posted in Dogs, Flowers, Fun, People, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 6 Comments

Update

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

25 July, 2011    Update

“Update”. What an uninspired title. I’m not feeling particularly uninspired, just running in lots of different directions.

First, Max (and the rest of us), to show how well he’s doing. He has to wear that blue apron-collar to keep from chewing his bandage. It’s my understanding it itches worse than any poison ivy or mosquito bite you’ve ever had. Per pound of body weight he takes about 4x as much Benadryl as you or I would but it still itches. And he still wants to run full speed at the river!:

Hikers

That’s what I’m running in a lot of different directions about. Vet visits, supplies, etc., worrying a lot, that sort of thing. But he’s doing well. He still has to have his bandages changed every evening and Alex does a superb job. I’m so fortunate to have her here. I took him to my vet this morning to schedule surgery (a week from Wednesday) and the first thing he did was talk about how great Max’s bandage looks. That’s the second vet in a row who’s told me that!

This picture is out of chronological order; it’s from Thursday (the above picture is from Sunday). But I like the semi-monochrome sunrise, and the way the sun appears to be rising not from the sky but from the water:

Monochrome sunrise

On the same day I was able to zoom in on this damselfly. The image is not as crisp as I enjoy but it’s a neat picture:

Damselfly

A friend and I work once each week at the Positive Vibe Cafe in Stratford Hills Shopping Center. 2825 Hathaway Rd., Richmond, VA, 23225. Have a meal there some time; the name is perfect. In addition to having an extremely positive vibe, the food is outstanding. They also have a beautiful fish tank in the lobby. I tried to take a picture of it with my phone to show a friend. The tank is so clean, and I was so close, that the picture looked right “through” the tank. You can’t even see the tank at all, just this odd (and I find pleasing) illusion of fish floating in midair in the lobby:

Something fishy in the lobby

Have a great day,

Jay, Mackey, Max, Roux, assorted cats

Posted in Dogs, Fun, People, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 2 Comments

No excuse

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

I haven’t done a “real” blog entry (whatever that is) in some time. I’m having a fun (more often than not), busy (that’s part of the fun) summer. My friend Max developed an ugly lump on his chest; it’s a mast cell tumor. That’s taken up a lot of time and energy from both of us. From Alex too; she’s been a huge help. Unlike Alex or Max I’ve been kind of a basket case about it. Alex has done a superb job every twenty-four hours bandaging Max’s very un-pretty open wound. So superb that the tech at the VEC on Cary St. raved about what a fantastic job it was. And they do great work there! Alex’s sure-handed response to Max’s (and my) difficulties has brought me a lot of peace. Max too I think, but he’s been much calmer than me from the start. Currently he has to wear a wide blue collar so he’ll leave his beautiful bandage alone.

Max and I now share a hero:

We share a hero

Max was laid up for a while but is getting his strength back. He and Mackey and Roux and I went down to the river on Thursday but his wound (and his energy) wasn’t ready for a full-scale hike. So I just sat on a rock and watched the river flow by while Max lay on the ground beside me. Breathing the river air and soaking up the river energy. Mackey, always concerned, didn’t venture far. Roux, always looking for fun, ran out and played on the rocks. I got a few pictures of her I enjoyed. This one I am particularly fond of:

She doesn't look very tame!

We stopped at Starbucks on the way down. Max waited in the passenger seat. If just being cute could make you healthy, this guy would never get sick. Have you ever seen a face like this?

I think this blue collar makes me look even cuter. If such a thing is even possible.

My friend Evelyn joined us at the river on a different trip; she took his picture of the four of us together:

My posse. Isn't that a fine looking bunch of animals? Great manners too.

I see these flowers at the river every year around this time; Evelyn says they’re marsh mallows. They are always blooming on a bush right at “The Altar” (as I refer to it), a quiet little place on the river bank almost at the east end of Pony Pasture. It’s where I put Ivory’s and my other animals’ ashes after I have them cremated. So I can visit them and meditate or whatever I’m up for that day.

Marsh mallow

A train, naturally. Clark and I were down there checking them out last week. I don’t know how many locomotives CSX has; it’s in the thousands. Sequentially numbered. And last week we saw CSX locomotive #1, The Spirit of West Virginia! It’s a stock locomotive, an AC4400CW, they may have more of them than any single other type. That engine is a work horse. But only one Number 1, and only one Spirit of West Virginia. CSX has maybe a dozen “Spirt of” locomotives, mostly AC4400’s, different towns, states, etc. I am uncertain about the significance. It was the rear engine in this pair:

Spirit of West Virginia, CSX AC44CW

My tomatoes are coming in thick and fast. I planted them in the house from seeds in mid-February. Transplanted them outdoors some time when the weather got nice. Now the plants are taller than I am! And we have basil everywhere. Fresh delicious tomatoes every day, it can’t be beat:

It's hard to believe, but it tastes even better than it looks!

Things are getting back to normal. Our definition of “normal” here is kind of a moving target but lately there are fewer disruptions. So I hope to get some more blog posts up soon. In the meantime, have a great day,

Jay

Poster boy

Posted in Dogs, Flowers, Fun, People, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!), Trains | 6 Comments

There is no improving a ride like this

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

What a day to be outdoors

An incredible way to spend a few hours on an amazing Saturday. Even nicer than last Saturday. Stunning day, negligible humidity, no wind to speak of, a privilege to be outdoors. Click on the link below if you want to see the route.

There is no improving a ride like this by newfaze at Garmin Connect – Details.

Pleasant view

Posted in Endurance, Fun, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | Leave a comment

Saturday Spin, 9 July, 2011

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

My usual pleasant starting spot, Dover Church, Manakin, VA – isn’t this lovely?

Days like today are made for bike riding.

Gorgeous day to get out for a ride. Just beautiful. What a treat!

If you want to see the route, click the link below. It’s a beautiful ride. The traffic is a little sketchy for the 3 mile westbound stretch on Rte. 6 but it’s generally pleasant. The route also has a hill or two I could do without, but nothing terrible. The hills are a built-in excuse for a slow ride. As if I need one.

On this route there’s about a 5 mile stretch running generally south –> north on Cardwell Road (SR 670) from Rt. 6 (Patterson Ave.) to Rt. 250 (Broad St.). If the wind is behind you (from the south), you can really fly. If it’s in front of  you, like today, not so much. I wear a Bell “Array” helmet. In the winter, if I hold my head just right, the wind blowing across the cooling slots plays a very distinct “Edelweiss“. In summer,  like now, the prevailing wind is from a different angle, and the tune is an equally distinct “Battle Hymn of the Republic“. Does the wind play a tune in your helmet? Maybe you have to be really slow like me. Fortunately I am easily entertained. I spend a lot of time on the bike and I always look for entertaining distractions.

Saturday Spin, 9 July, 2011 by newfaze at Garmin Connect – Details.

Have a great day,

Jay

Posted in Endurance, Fun, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 2 Comments

Placeholder

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

5 July, 2011    Placeholder

This isn’t a “real” entry – there’s currently just no time. But it’s been over a week since I’ve put up a post. And I’ve had some really, really neat experiences and taken a few images I’ve enjoyed a great deal. I hope you will too. My brother Kevin had a great crowd at his house yesterday for his annual July Fourth celebration. Including my mother, my father, both my brothers, both my sisters, and three of my five nieces. But we hardly took any pictures! Maybe if someone else in the family got a good one they’ll send it my way and I can put it up in a future post.

Should I get my obligatory train image out of the way? Last week Clark and I were down at the tracks and these two big AC4400’s were just sitting there waiting for new crews. Trains are easy to photograph:

GE AC4400's - 4,400 HP

The dogs and I were down at the river one day (probably more) and this turtle was crawling out of the mud. A dragonfly was sunning itself on her back:

Turtle with hitchhiker

And of course my favorite subject:

I could stare at it non stop

Also Alex invited me to the horse races at Colonial Downs on Sunday. It was an amazing experience. I didn’t watch a lot of racing. But the people were fascinating and I enjoyed the horses:

Cooling off

But also the people. Especially this enthusiastic and patriotic man conducting the orchestra after the races but before the fireworks:

All American

My favorite image of the week (so far) is of one of the many Rose of Sharon flowers in my backyard. They bring to mind the character Rose of Sharon, a.k.a. “Rosasharn” from John Steinbeck’s Nobel Prize winning The Grapes of Wrath. She brought to mind another character from the same novel, the preacher Casy, a favorite literary character of mine. I may write more about Casy later. And about Rosasharn and Steinbeck and Grapes of Wrath. But here is the image, from my backyard:

Rosasharn, a.k.a. Rose of Sharon

I have lots more to say and write but very little time. I may get another post up very soon. I hope so! I enjoy it so much. Have a great day,

Jay

Posted in Flowers, Fun, People, Rivers, Trains | Tagged | 7 Comments

Can some mornings be more perfect than others?

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

I think not, but today was exceptional. Very pleasant, very low-key, perhaps it helped I slept in until 8:00. I took a four-hour bike ride yesterday. I’ve mentioned before what I refer to as The Happiness Cocktail™. Three ingredients: caffeine, endorphins, sunlight. Have a cup of coffee and go for a relaxing bike ride on a stunning Saturday morning and see how you feel. It is amazing. That evening a  friend and I went on the Slave Trail Walk by torchlight – seriously – and I didn’t get home until after midnight. Yikes. The walk was led and interpreted by the incomparable Ralph White of the James River Park System here in Richmond. Ralph is a gifted orator, a spell-binding speaker, a natural teacher and a well-informed historian. And keeps all the plates in the air that make up the most beautiful urban park environment imaginable. Visit soon – you owe it to yourself. The walk began at 9:00 PM which doesn’t lend itself to photography, or at least not to a photographer of my limited skills. But try the slave trail some time – it’s a fascinating and informative experience. Meeting Ralph is another fascinating and informative experience – keep your eye out for him when you’re at one of our parks.

No slave trail pictures today, but a few from our leisurely hike at Pony Pasture this morning. If you came in my house right now, you might think there is something wrong with Mackey and Max and Roux. They are sprawled and not twitching. But they’re all breathing. They went full-blast at the river from start to finish today. Including swimming. If they were athletes after a race, or gamblers, or deal-makers, they would say they “didn’t leave anything on the table.” That is a key to living right.

This is how we saw the river when we arrived:

The James this morning

A few minutes downstream:

A step or two back

The river’s ~4’ deep now and some interesting rocks are showing. These two look nice in the green reflecting off the water:

Green for the most part

No dog pictures. Who would have imagined? I took one with my cell phone that I enjoyed this morning. It’s already on fb so some of you may have seen it there. Mackey is a little farther out in the water; those are Roux’s ears sticking up. Max is sitting patiently beside me as I take this picture. He swam later:

Sunday swim

I am a sometimes omnivorous and at times voracious reader. My tastes can be peculiar and I don’t often care for the suggestions of others. And so don’t often extend my own. But my friend Grace (a.k.a. my blogging muse) recommended a book I am deeply hooked on. It’s not for everyone. The book is The Boy in the Moon and it’s written in the first person by a man named Ian Brown. Mr. Brown has a young son named Walker (current age 15 years) with a significant physical and cognitive disability. There’s an NPR interview with Mr. Brown here: NPR Interview with Ian Brown

I’m only ~1/3 through the book but I am captivated. Walker’s disability is cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome, or CFC. I am a rehabilitation counselor and my experience is primarily with people with autism, traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy, brain tumors, and cystic fibrosis. CFC is not any of those, but it has elements of each. As important is the impact Walker’s disability has on his family and on the constellation of people in his orbit. This is the passage that (so far) moves me most. Mr. Brown and his wife Johanna and Walker have visited a new doctor for the first time, Dr. Wang. So its impact is undiluted, I give you the passage in full:

“[Doctor] “Wang turned to me. “Do you have any questions?” “Just one. We rented a cottage this summer for the first time, north of Toronto. It’s a very remote place, very quiet. An island, no one around but us. Walker seems to love it. It changes him, calms him. It means a lot to me, that place, and how it changes him. Will I ever be able to explain all that to him?” Wang shook his head. “Not rationally, probably not. But”—he stopped, thought—“it sounds like he already understands it.” Another pause. “The Buddhists say the way to enlightenment, to pure being, is by getting your mind out of the way. I’m not trying to be trite, but Walker already knows how to do that. He is pure being. He may be developmentally delayed, or moderately retarded, but in that way, he’s already miles ahead of most of us.” That was the first time someone suggested Walker had a gift the rest of us didn’t.

Brown, Ian (2011). The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Journey to Understand His Extraordinary Son (p. 68). St. Martin’s Press. Kindle Edition.”

That’s what I love about my work. A lot of my guys have a lot in common with Walker. I am – we all are – working toward enlightenment. My friends know I refer to the people I work with as my “teachers.” This is why.

You may not be a Buddhist or a Christian or care for religion at all. But at least in Dr. Wang’s opinion, Walker is “miles ahead of most of us.” And doesn’t even try!

This is a picture of water going over a rock at the river. This is one of the reasons I love it:

flow

Posted in Rivers | 2 Comments

Amazing early summer ride by newfaze at Garmin Connect – Details

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

Click on the link below if you want to see my very slow but very lovely ride today. Four beautiful hours, a lazy saunter through Goochland, Louisa and Hanover counties. It’s early in the season and I’m still quite slow, but that will improve. I was just happy to be out there.

Amazing early summer ride by NEWFAZE at Garmin Connect – Details.

The first store stop: Owens Creek Corner Store, Louisa, one of my all-time favorite store stops. My bicycle leaning against the wall, a tractor waiting to fill up with diesel:

Owens Creek Corner Store - Mineral, VA

Second store stop: Kersey’s Store, Inez, VA. Or at least that’s what it says on the sign outside. I think it’s really Holly Grove, VA. Maybe even Bumpass. Whatever it’s called, it’s got great trees to sit under and be very lazy:

Kersey's Store, Bumpass, VA

Posted in Endurance, Fun | 2 Comments

Summer begins

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Jay McLaughlin

I’ve been busy (I love to be busy) and not posted in some time. I’m having enjoyable experiences and taking lots of fun pictures. Cappy, second oldest of my five excellent nieces, was in town yesterday and we got to spend a nice part of the day together. I am a person who takes pictures; Cappy is a photographer. There’s a big difference. A few pictures she took will be on this post.

I work one on one with people. Two of the people I work with were out of town this week. I was fortunate that coincided with the week of Cappy’s visit. I worked with one friend yesterday morning from 7:00 to 9:00. Then had the rest of the day to spend with Cappy! Perfect timing!

We met in the morning at Starbucks (where else) and took the dogs across the river for a pleasant hike at Pony Pasture. Dropped the dogs off at the house and headed to Lavenders Cafe, 119 E Main St., Richmond. Our lunch was superb – the food and the experience are always superb at Lavenders – plus lavender lemonade. Indescribably delicious.

My favorite place to eat and chat - and drink lavender lemonade!

It’s difficult to top Lavenders, but we took a chance and went to Crossroads Coffee and Ice Cream for dessert. Fortunately, they still had basil ice cream. The only food  that can possibly follow lavender lemonade. I mentioned basil ice cream in an earlier blog post, but I just wrote about it. I’ve been back a number of times since. When I went with a friend earlier this week, we were outside eating and there was a basil ice-cream colored Schwinn parked outside! I wonder if they plan it that way… Anyway, ice cream and matching Schwinn:

Basil ice cream - and matching Schwinn!

When Cappy and I went to Crossroads yesterday, she took this picture of me enjoying (can you tell?) more basil ice cream:

Yes, I am happy.

I’ve had lots of great hikes at the river since my last post. It’s warming up a lot and the dogs are swimming regularly. Since Max is all muscle he’s not very buoyant and stays near the edge. But boy he has such a cheerful smile. And he’s always eager, always wanting to see what comes next. Look at this handsome boy:

Smiling with anticipation.

Before we left Pony Pasture yesterday morning, I leashed the dogs up. I wanted to get them (Max, mainly) back in the car in a reasonable amount of time. My hands were full of leashes and Cappy offered to carry my camera. I didn’t even know she’d taken the lens cap off. When I got home and downloaded the pictures, I found this image:

Walking the dogs, by Cappy

I didn’t retouch that  or crop it or anything – she just took the picture and it came out that way. All her pictures have the most beautiful light, wherever she takes them. She’s a natural. And she understands composition so well. As is evident in this image.

See what I mean about the difference between a person who takes pictures (me) and a photographer (Cappy)? It would never occur to me to take a picture like that. I’d never have a vision in my mind’s eye of just how accessible and expressive it would turn out. I think I “work” a lot at taking pictures (although you may never know it) but I think for Cappy it’s automatic. My photography is formulaic where hers is intuitive. I get some pretty pictures because I see lots of pretty things. But Cappy has a knack for people and animals and light that I miss.

The shirt I wore yesterday is an old favorite, given to me by a perceptive friend years ago. This is the back:

Words to live by

PS I wanted to put pictures of Cappy in this post. But she told me she likes it better behind the camera. I like both sides.

 

Posted in Dogs, Flowers, Fun, People, Rivers, Smiles (including "dog smiles"!) | 8 Comments