Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Remembering a more gentle time

I was going through some articles I’d saved because of how they spoke to me. A piece titled The President Who Loved by Ann Patchett that appeared in the January 30, 2017 issue of Time magazine affected me even more powerfully today, although it saddened me as well.

Patchett says that love was not something she would have thought to look for in a president, but that she found that for eight years President Obama gave the American people an example of careful consideration, compassion, rigorous intelligence—and love. She misses it and wonders how she will do without it.

She reminds us that Obama gave more Presidential Medals of Freedom than any other president, saving the last one for Joe Biden, his vice president.

She points out that just like hate, love seeps in over time. She faces the new administration with fear of the future but also with gratitude for the way Obama saw the good in people, how he loved. She sees our job now as living up to the love he showed.

I watch too much news. I think I’ll spend more of my time reading words that serve to lift up rather than beat down.


Access Patchett’s complete article by googling The President Who Loved, Ann Patchett. It’s worth it.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Two special running races



The running race season has arrived with a bang!

Even though it meant getting up at 4:30 a.m., my running buddy Dave Klibbe and I journeyed to Boulder on Monday, May 27, to once again join 50,000 others to run around the town in the 41st running of the Bolder Boulder 10k. At that early hour, both of us wondered just why we were doing this, but a few hours later, we knew. You can’t help having a good time at this event so well organized and so wholeheartedly supported by its community.

On the Thursday a.m. following, I took a 6 a.m. flight to Albany, NY headed for the 41st running of Freihofers Run for Women, on June 1, another of my favorite races. This one is a 5k—I know, a long way to go to run 3.1 miles-- but I’ve gone enough times now that it is like a reunion of old friends This too, is a community event that draws 3,000 women, some of them hot shot runners from across the country. I so appreciate the fact that they keep inviting me. I think it may be because I’m there to prove that indeed, running is a lifetime sport!

I had a whole day to explore Albany the day after the race, a real treat. So many historic buildings plus a beautiful waterfront along the Hudson River.


Two special races in five days. I’m done for a while. Back to weeding the garden, painting the porch and a leisurely jog or two around the neighborhood.


Headquarters for the State University of New York

Carmen, Edie and Libby in Albany