What I'm Reading Now

A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth.

A little back story. I was in Barnes and Noble a year or so back and was perusing the staff favorites. Someone had put out this behemoth of a book called A Suitable Boy and just went on and on and on about how good it was. The thing that stood out to me the most was its sheer size - it was 1400 pages long. Epically long books can be a life-changing experience, like when I read Les Miserables in high school. You get immersed, you get attached, you miss it when it's gone - you know the drill. I made a mental note to read A Suitable Boy "some time down the road - some time when I have time to read such a tome."

Flash forward to late summer, early fall of last year.

My mom sends me newspaper clippings. Always has. It's just what she does. (In an interesting side note, my college roommate Jennifer and I had a major bonding experience when I learned that her mom was also a little freakish about sending her newspaper clippings, but I digress.) Mom sends me an editorial written by a woman who couldn't finish a book. She loved to read - read all the time in fact - but had discovered lately that she had started a number of books and hadn't been able to finish a one of them. Her fear was that Facebook status updates and tweets and even blogs, while all perfectly fine things to read, had ruined her for reading anything of any length or substance. She feared she was no longer reading fresh produce, if you will, but was only reading junk food.

Her solution? She drug out some huge favorite book from her formative years like Crime and Punishment or Little Dorrit (can't remember exactly what book it was) and forced herself to re-read it. But she didn't have to force herself for long - once she got into it, it was smooth sailing. The avid book-lover in her took over and she never even thought about giving up. She considered herself cured.

I read this little blurb about the same time I had given up reading a Pat Conroy, an Anne Rivers Siddons, and a handful of other authors so forgettable that I've already forgotten them. I had started many a book, and put down many a book, unfinished. Nothing grabbed me. So this harmless little newspaper clipping disturbed me a little.

Maybe it wasn't the books, maybe it was me. Maybe I just couldn't focus long enough to finish a book anymore. Maybe this brave new world of instant information had ruined my attention span. Maybe irreparably.

And while this disturbed me, I didn't really do much about it. I kept reading, finished some books, and put down some books too. But I kept having this nagging feeling that I really needed to read something epic. Something life changing. In short, something long.

And then I remembered A Suitable Boy. I bought it and got to reading. I'm about a third of the way in and liking it. It's set in India, and I have learned that I don't know anything at all about India. I'm enjoying discovering how little I know. And I like the characters. And the writing style.

And I especially like having a really long book, one that I enjoy, one that just sort of sits there, week after week, waiting for me to come by and enjoy it for a few minutes. It may take me a while to read it, but I'm OK with that. I'm reading it. And that's a good thing.

First Day of Spring on the AT

We had a great first day of spring! We got up early and met the scout troop for a hike on the AT across Watauga Dam. We hiked four miles, all around Watauga lake - it was a GORGEOUS day.

Boys who are planning to go on a backpacking trip over spring break had to carry 20 pounds of water in their packs as a training exercise. Ben was up for it; Daniel not so much. We gave Ben 24 bottles of water, which he carried the whole way. (When we got home, I weighed one bottle and I think he carried more like 28 pounds of water!) He was a LIMP noodle when we got done, but he managed two baseball scrimmages and a practice that afternoon, so it obviously didn't kill him!

(Why is he so tired? His pack was practically empty.)

(Ben looks a lot better than he feels at this point.)

It was a great day to be outside!

Chasing Snakes* 2010

Well folks, yesterday was the day. The day I had been training for for the past six weeks. My first ever 10K road race: The 2010 Chasing Snakes* 10K Road Race, sponsored by St. John's Episcopal Church. The race raises money for the Interfaith Hospitality Network, and sports a festive St. Patrick's Day theme.

My goal was to run half and walk half, and I mapped out the course in half-mile segments. I ran a half-mile, then walked a half-mile, ran a half-mile, walked a half-mile, for 6.2 miles. That was the plan anyway.

And I did it! I did all my training on a track, and the race was run on a fairly hilly course. So it hurt a little. And I really thought I would quit a few times. But I didn't. I did everything that I promised myself I would do. And I can't describe to you what that feels like.


Me, Mark, and Showtime before the race. Mark planned to do the 10K too, but he just came off of the DL with a sore foot - he had to be at a conference for work the very next day and didn't want to risk re-injury. He and Michelle (aka Mrs. Showtime) did the 4k Fitness Walk instead. (Mrs. Showtime is not pictured as she is the one with the camera.)


Here I am right after my big finish. 1:10:36. I finished number 281 out of 333. There were 52 people slower than me!! Mark, Ben, and Daniel were at the finish line cheering me on. (Ben and Daniel also served me water a third of way through with the scout troop as a service project.)

Showtime finished in 1:02 and came back to the 6 mile mark to encourage me to run to the end. Which I did. : )
Me and my cheerleading peeps. I think they're proud of me. Ben said he now wants to train for a road race too. Maybe we'll do a 5K and train to run the whole thing. Who knows.

Here's what I do know: It is an amazingly wonderful thing to not be able to do something, work hard, and then do it. And do it with your loving family, good friends, and even total strangers cheering you on. I encourage you to challenge yourself, some way, some how. You'll be glad you did!

*No snakes were injured in the running of this race.

Blue and Gold 2010

Friday night Pack 37 held their Blue and Gold banquet. Daniel was the man of the hour, earning the Arrow of Light, being recognized for earning every single Webelos activity badge, and last but not least, crossing over into Boy Scouts.

Mark and I got to participate in that last part as parents, and Ben as a member of the Troop the scouts are crossing over to. Three grandparents came to see the big event as well. It was a great family event!

We are very proud of both of our Boy Scouts!









Humorous anecdote - in the fifth photo, you see Daniel being welcomed by his new Troop, and a Life Scout from that Troop tying his new neckerchief. In a moment of great irony, the Life Scout was not able to tie the square knot needed for the neckchief tying. This went on several moments before the Troop leader leaned in and said "Jesus, Chris, you're a Boy Scout." Good times.