The Pontchatrain Flipper

Yes again Katrina shows her Ugly hand. In Lake Pontchatrain there is a lone dolphin who made his way into the huge lake with it's 26mile bridge when Katrina connected it with the gulf.He was left behind and has made his life there. But he has gotten pissed somewhat and bitten people, and they don't want to stand for that. They could move him back to the sea where he could die or swim back, and Fish and Wildlife now have to make a decision. Guess we might be edgy too if we went through Katrina, stuck out by oneself, maybe he needs a girlfriend, maybe it isn't Disney World, and he is wild. Nevertheless there are many bad effects on animals still to this day going on, and are they even getting better? The answer is behind those eyes of Boodini...

Bodie

So at Western States 100M with the final minutes ticking down into the stadium for the final 330yds comes Randy Van Dusen, along side on his final victory lap, is his partner K9 Bodie! Bodie limped along sometimes just on his three good legs and crossed the finish line, they were together side by side. Bodie had to be with his partner when Van Dusen emerged on the track,and the crowds were on their feet and roared in cheer!
 The week before Bodie had run down a car thief in Sacramento, and the perp shot Bodie in the right leg and mouth. Van Dusen then finished off the thief. Bodie almost didn't make it from the massive blood loss and complications, but pulled thru. Bodie had been in the line of duty for a couple of years and caught a Xmas burglar and searched for victims. The Two Policeman are Sacramento's Finest and they are still together because what they say is their persistence.

Absorbing

Reading seems to be taking hold. Since the debackle in Virginia where I sponged up two novels in three days, now I am relentlessly killing one after another. Everything was good until this collection of fictional short stories. For once I can read and not fully comprehend what the author is saying, and I have always been told " you know, I have no idea what the hell your writing about". But I decided that as a discipline I will read on and finish, even though.....

Squaw Valley

In a few hours 386 ultra runners will run thru the Sierras in the great Western States 100. Having received 3 buckles there it reminded me of my stay before and after in Tahoe City, the year Rick and I shared a cabin. It was his first leg of the Grand Slam that I had managed to accomplish two years prior. Two years in a row at 4am I would drive in to the start and both times I would sight a large timber wolf running by my vehicle. So needless to say, as I followed Rick in his car toward the start at the Mtn. edge that year I was wondering where was my Wolf? Just as I thought it, out some thirty yards appears a large brown bear. When we pull up to park I ask Rick if he saw the bear, he said" Oh yes sir, it was standing waving at me as I went by". I thought to myself, what omen was this? It would be a Bear of a day!

Thru an Open Window

Once all the doors are locked and all the doors are closed behind you, it's best to look for an escape thru an open window. How did one ever get in this predicament. Who would have guessed. But there is a window and now biding time and then we will spring free. Really you have to wait and wait till things gel for awhile. But I dare say there is a possibility that doing the AT or the PCT over 4200 miles of trail is definitely on Boodini's bucket list, but at our age there is only that damn window!

Every day is an Ultra

You awaken to a new day, not much different than a starting line. After your moving you may be standing atop Chinscraper at Wasatch looking down on all Salt Lake City, or maybe it's gasping with every sixth step up Hopeless Pass, and just maybe, it's one of those going round and round like the same ole same ole, at Run Like the Wind. You gather your patience as the wheels come undone and try to get a grip as the day moves on. You refuel with persistence and determination and hang in there. At the end of the day you face the decision to go on or drop. You hit the nite lights and keep on moving ahead, cause you just don't know what else you can do.

Celebration Summer

It's hot again, and now is the time to make believe that your on vacation. Just like someone let out of school for the summer. Not a care in the world, just go and have a little fun. What would it be like to take the time to hike the whole PCT or even the AT. Think of the planning, buying a bunch of cool gear, planning mail drops to support yourself along the way. After all it is the season of fun now.

Three Sunday's

Like a club run every Sunday Boodini tries not to get beaten, she must run ahead. If by glance the wheels roll closer into a faster gait we go. By the end of the 3.5 mile trek tongues are elongated and the heat take their toll. But what a time to rethink outside the box, because how much time is spent waiting for the next outing and surprise jaunt to come around, hopefully before next Sunday!

Seven Years Ago

I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that love grows from the rich loam of forgiveness; that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things. This much at least I've figured out. I know this much is true.