Erin didn't finish in the top, but she finished like a Champion!

Mary Lynn and I went to another of Erin's Cross Country meets today.  It was at South Oldham County High.  The distance of this race was 3K, 2nd thru 5th Grade.

They started about 200 yards from the track, entered the track, ran one lap, exited and ran through the woods, then finished with a lap on the track. 

Erin, on left,who starts slow, fell on the track, skinned her knee, and was dead last when they exited the track.

A couple hundred yards from the track she passed her first girl and said something to her as she passed.  The girl was walking, and when Erin said something to her, she started running again.  Knowing Erin, she was encouraged her telling her that "Come on, you can do it".  I don't think she beat very many girls today, maybe a dozen or so, but she ran a good race today and is a classy runner.

Jillian, when Erin runs, is right there cheering for her and the rest of the Chance School Team.  But during the down time, she likes to read.  She'll run and play, and be best buddies with all the Chance School Cross Country Team, but when she sits down to read.....TOTAL CONCENTRATION!

Halloween Parade

Last night I marched with my son Mark in the Halloween Parade on Bardstown Road as he wore his costume he made.  All I did was hold the chain, like he was under my control.  Of course, I didn't get to see much of the rest of the parade, but I'd have to imagine that Mark was one of the biggest attractions, if not THE biggest attraction in the parade.

The Parade route was probably about a mile and a half, but I'm sure we walked at least twice that continuously going from one side of the street to the other. 

We would get calls from the people "Over here!" and "Can I get a picture?" from both sides of the street.  Mark would stop and several people would come out and Mark would put his big arms around them for a picture.  We would start lagging behind the float in front of us and would try to stay in the middle of the street and walk, wave, and try to catch up in the parade.  But it was hard to stay caught up.  People kept wanting pictures.  "Turn this way", "Can you stop for a picture?".  I heard a lot of good comments about his costume.  And, I'm sure Mark had a great time. 

When we got back to the car and mark was able to take off his costume, he was soaking wet!  It was a cool night, but in the costume and as much walking and bending over as he did, I'm sure he's tired and sore today.

The Parade was great fun.  I'm sure all the people loved Mark's Costume.  If they gave away prizes, I feel sure Mark would win first place!

I'd shoot better scores if I didn't hit the ball so many times.

I played my usual Tuesday Golf at Shawnee GC again today.  I haven't shot a good round at Shawnee in many weeks.  Today was another bad round.  I know my score doesn't seem that bad, but I know how many bad shot I hit.  I shot a 41 - 44 = 85. 

I'm just hitting way too many bad shots.  I can accept shots that aren't my best.  I know I won't always hit the perfect shot, but I shouldn't be hitting as many terrible shots as I do.  I hit 2 out of bounds today.  Seems like lately '2' out of play per round is becoming the 'norm'.  I hit a ball out of bounds off the tee on numbers 10 and 17.  My score stays fairly respectible because I hit a lot of really good shots.  So, if I can just keep those terrible shots down to just shots that are only so-so, I can have a great round.

I know why I hit them.  I don't keep my concentration on the shot I know I need.  As soon as I hit a bad shot I know my focus wasn't as it should have been.  I seem to have a hard time keeping that intense concentration on each shot for an entire round.   I know I don't play deliberate golf like a lot of people, but I have pretty good concentration when I'm over the ball.  I think that's why noises or people talking when I'm hitting just doesn't bother me like it does a lot of the people I play with.  So, I know those bad shots are just a lack of concentration on the shot at hand.

Oh well, another nice walk on a nice day.  This was my 53rd round for the year!

Gearing up for Halloween on HillCrest!

For something to do while Ben was up from Forida, we visited Hillcrest Avenue to see the Halloween decorations.  We think there were still a lot of houses that  hadn't put up their decorations, but there were many houses with them up already to make the trip worthwhile.  We could tell by all the wires run that much of these decorations would be lit up at night and some may be animated.  They were fun to look at.

This yard, to the right, had a flying saucer that had crashed, and these were the Aliens that had been thrown into the trees from the crash.

Even "Way up here in Kentucky", Ben found some banana trees.  There were 4 of them in this yard with bananas on them! Ben noted that he was sure it was impossible to grow bananas up here and wondered how in the world thay did it!  He's pointing to the bananas, right by the point of the roof.










It was fun to walk the street and see the decorations, and we are thinking about going back tonight to see how different it is when lit up.

Playing Eagle Creek GC

I played Eagle Creek GC in LaGrange today.  I played with Julie, Jit, and Mark.  The foursome behind us was Brian, Kevin, David, and David's friend.  I played well the front nine.  Actually played well the back nine except for 2 holes.  The 12th, I took an 8 after hitting my drive in the trees and topping a 3 wood.  Then, on 17, I took a 6 after hitting one in the trees.  However, I did make a 4 from the tee....except I was hitting 3 from the tee after hitting one in the trees.  But, still, an 83 is not bad at all.
Mark's back was really bothering him.  He usually beats me when we play, so I know he was hurting. 
We all played from the 'Gold' tees, except Julie, who played from the Red.  This was the first time I've played Eagle Creek this year and was really pleased with how good a condition it was in.  The greens were in very good shape, and played pretty fast, I thought.
This was a beautiful day, the Course in good condition, and the company was excellent!  I really enjoyed playing this 52nd round of the year!

Round 51 for the Year

I played my usual Thursday round of golf at Iroquois GC today.  I let a couple of holes mess up my good score.

I had a triple bogey on hole #12, then birdied 3 of the last six holes for a 37 on the back nine.  I ended up with a 42 - 37 = 79.
I hit a lot of good shots again, but can't seem to keep from letting those big numbers pop up on a couple of holes.  I had a double bogey on hole # 7, a par 3.  My handicap on Thursdays is now a 7, so I netted down to a 72.  Today, 2 people tied for low man with 69's.  So, I'm getting closer.  That 79 will probably drop my handicap down one stroke to a 6.  When I break 80, I've shot a good round.  If I can't win low man breaking 80, then I don't have enough handicap. 
I walked the 18 at Iroquois today.  That's a tough course to walk.  But, it was a very nice day, I played well, and got some exercise.  All in all, a real good day!

Docent Training - Week 6

I just completed my 6th week of Docent Training at the Louisville Zoo.  Today we covered rules and regulations, and teaching methods.  They covered a lot of how to handle difficult situations both in the classroom and on the Zoo grounds.  Most of it was common sense, but it is amazing the situations that may occur.  From dealing with people for years, I know there's no telling what some people will do or say.  Situations, everyday or emergency,  from cell phone usage, lost children, misbehaving children in class, escaped animals at Zoo, Tornado warnings, etc.  Anything unusual that my happen when teaching a class or talking to people out around the animal exhibits.

The animals I handled today:

The Prairie Kingsnake.  This little guy was about 3 feet long.  He was pretty docile.  He didn't slither around much.  Kinda just let you hold him while he kept sticking his tongue out.  Compared to the Ball Python, he was pretty skinny

Then the Greek Tortoise.  He was pretty good size.  His shell was a little smaller than a normal sized Frisbee.  The trick to holding him was to keep your hand up close enough to his front foot and far enough away from his back foot that he could't reach your hand with his legs.  He had pretty good pushing power.

The Giant Millipede was pretty neat.  He would crawl from hand to hand.  His legs felt like Velcro.

These are pictures I've Googled.  We are not allowed to take pictures because they want to control what pictures from behind the scenes, or from Class, that are shown on Facebook!

We didn't go behind the scenes of any exhibit today.  We had two of the animal trainers come in and show us how they train the animals.  That was pretty interesting. They use the same basic principles on all the animals when training.  The training of animals is mainly for easier handling and health care.   

Next week the Class will be "Understanding Food Webs/How Organisms relate to each other.