Jonathan

The Sunday-before-last my sister-in-law and I ran half of the Detroit marathon.  Kevin got up early and drove us downtown.  It was cold and in the 30s.  Kevin let me borrow a jacket which kept me plenty warm after we started running.  It was kind of strange at the start with thousands of people packed together like sardines waiting for the run to start.  Several miles into the run, it hadn't really thinned out too much.  As we crossed the bridge into Canada, we actually had to walk briefly because there were so many people trying to run through one or two traffic lanes.  I passed Allison during a moment of high congestion and then didn't see her again as I dropped back to look for her.  That was just as well since it freed me to take it at my own pace instead of hers (faster).  Since it was my first long run, I didn't realize how much clothing would be left lying in the road as people discarded it.  I didn't walk any except briefly at the water stops to guzzle the liquid refreshment.  I slowed down quite a bit towards the end (a "competitive walker" even passed me at one point) and didn't really push it hard.  I finished about as fast as I expected (2:14).  By the way, the winner of the full marathon finished in front of me. :-)

Here are some photos:

My parents are visiting one of my sisters this weekend and apparently brought with them a stack of school artwork.  My sister didn't recognize a couple of them, so she sent me scanned images thinking they were probably mine.  They are.  I took an art class in ninth or tenth grade.  Kinda funny.

Last week I went to Germany.  I flew out of MBS Sunday afternoon, made a connection in Detroit, then to Amsterdam, then finally to Hanover, Germany.  On the Detroit to Amsterdam flight I thought I was going to watch 3:10 to Yuma and Into the Wild, but the video system wasn't working properly.  It would play for 15 or 20 seconds, pause, and then start playing again at some other point in the film.

In the Amsterdam airport there was a guy reading Stephen Colbert's book.  I spotted it by the red-tinged pages.  As I got up to board the flight to Hanover, I told him I had the book with me in my backpack but haven't started it yet.  He said it was funny, and we shared a moment.

Scott, David, and I got a car to drive from Hanover to Bomlitz.  On the drive, I tuned to an English-language radio station out of the UK.  They were talking about a father who jumped from four stories with his 6-year-old son and younger daughter.  His marriage was in the process of breaking up.  The man and his daughter survived.  The boy died of massive head trauma.  It's not like I'm not used to hearing terrible things on the news, but for some reason (probably because I was so far away from my kids at that moment) that story really got to me.  I started trying to imagine myself in a state of mind like that.  I imagined how terrifying it must have been for kids for their dad to do what he was doing.  I wondered if that guy had anyone to talk to...maybe his wife was his only friend.  Maybe there were other people who knew the state he was in but didn't know what he was capable of...and didn't reach out to him.  I was convicted by a desire to be someone who takes the time to talk to people in crisis.

It was raining in Germany and obviously hadn't just started because water was standing everywhere.  We stayed at the Hotel Forellenhof in Walsrode.  Most of the week was spent in a conference room or eating meals.  No site-seeing.  Almost no pictures.  Below is a photo of the hotel room  and of me having dinner in a hole-in-the-wall bar.

Friday afternoon we drove back to Hanover and then flew to Amsterdam.  We spent Saturday night at a hotel at the airport and then flew home the next morning.  On the flight back I watched 3:10 to Yuma, The Beach, and Balls of Fury.  All three were enjoyable, but surprisingly Balls of Fury was the best of the three.

About a week ago I bought myself a pair of black crocs after they received rave reviews from the rest of my family. Then today I see this: Bush Endorses Crocs

This weekend I did the MS 150 bike tour with my friend Eric. It was my 10th MS 150 (4 in TN, 6 in MI, plus 1 Tour de Cure in TN) and the second time that I've ridden it with Eric. We rode 100 miles on Saturday and 75 today. The most memorable moment for me was when I came dangerously close to being kicked by a horse as I rode past it this afternoon. There are plenty of ways you could imagine taking a terrible spill on the pavement during a bike tour, but as a result of a horse kick isn't one I would have considered likely. Thanks to everyone who sponsored me; I raised $605 for the MS cause. Here are a few photos: