K is for Kinetic Sculpture Race

 

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,000 I have written.

For a while, I wrote a Thankful Sunday post every Sunday. I would elaborate on one thing I was thankful for. On this Sunday in May in 2019, I was thankful for the good time I had at the Kinetic Sculpture Race. The races are held on the first Saturday in May every year, so it's coming up soon. I hope we can work it into our schedule again because you never know what you will see, and it's always a fun time.

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I am thankful for a fun day!

Last weekend, Ward and I went with another couple to the Kinetic Sculpture Race in Baltimore. The Kinetic Sculpture Race is one of those things that you have to experience to really understand, but I'll give it a try. It's a 14-mile race with human-powered vehicles that have to go on road, through water, through sand, and through mud. That's the kinetic part of it. The sculpture part is that all of the vehicles are sculpted and decorated, usually embracing the theme for the year. There are prizes at the end, the most coveted one being the finisher in dead middle.

Another way to describe the race is as a fun, festive, silly way to spend the day with lots of smiling people.

The day was perfect weather-wise, with overcast skies and temperatures in the 70s. It was the second time for Ward and I to attend the race so we were able to show the ropes to our friends. They were particularly interested in the engineering of the racers since they coach a kids' team that builds and races human-powered submarines.

I've heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, and in this case, that might be true. Below is a sampling of pictures to give you a taste of the day.

We arrived early so we would be able to see the vehicles up close and talk to the crew members as they put on their final touches. 

Most vehicles were based on bicycles one way or another. However, this one used a pump car like you see on railroad tracks. They individually welded and made each part of their wheels.

On the sides of this one, you can see the flotation devices it will use when it enters the water.

The theme for the race this year was Wheel-ality TV (reality TV). These are two "Real Housewives from Uranus". That's their spaceship behind them.

Each vehicle has to to through a safety check including a brake check where it has to stop on a dime. (The silver cardboard disc on the ground is the 'dime'.)

This was a Hammerhead Shark entry. It was one of several shark themes.

There were teams of all ages from kids to veteran-race adults. The teams came from schools, businesses, and groups of friends who thought it looked like it might be fun to try the race.

You got information for the day from anyone with a chicken. They could be holding a chicken or dressed like one like you see in the background.

This member of security was quite popular in his gold velveteen suit.

The opening ceremonies included the blessing of the feet of the pilots. There was also a drum corp and pom squad from a local high school, an adult chorus that sang the National Anthem and a medley of TV theme songs, the lighting of the Kenetic Torch, and silly speeches. 

After going through local neighborhoods, the race proceeded to the harbor. There contestants entered and exited the water on boat ramps on either side of a pier. This was always a touch and go situation as capsizing and errant steering happen more often than the racers would like. Some entries ended up being pulled by a rope to complete the water portion.

This entry did pretty well. BTW, the wings were done with a 3-D printer.

Always a crowd pleaser is Tic-Toc the Croc. Because of its length (35'), it had to go pretty far beyond the pier to make the turn.

Fifi, the mascot of the race, is an old hand at maneuvering through the different obstacles.

As the day went on, the crowds got larger. Here they're waiting for the next racer to enter the mud pit. After the harbor, the racers go to a park where they go through a sand pit then a mud pit.

The mud was quite a challenge for many of the teams.

We also had fun watching the kids in the mud pit
when the racers finished.

After the mud pit, we were tired, so we headed home with talk of next year's race and the team we might enter one day. So for this day of fun, I am thankful.

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Until next time...

J is for Japan

 

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,000 I have written.

Today's selection is a revisit to my J post for the 2016 A-Z Challenge. It features a story from our trip to Japan in the 1980s. I record most of our trips on my blog, and that has come in handy when I want to remember something about one of them. If others find them interesting, too, that's an added bonus.

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J is for Japan

and Just doing the best I could.

Himeji, famous for its castle, is where we
had our spaghetti dinner.

Several years ago, Miss Landers was living in Japan, and Ward and I went to visit her. Before our trip, she sent us literature* on almost every subject that would pertain to our visit. From broad subjects like religions to practical ones on how to ride the trains and use chopsticks. We studied them all and practiced what we needed.

We finally got to put all of our new knowledge to use when we arrived in Japan.  Miss Landers was a great tour guide. She took us to tourist places in cities as well as personal homes in villages. She was well integrated into the Japanese culture and gave us experiences of what the country was really like.

A few days into the trip, Ward and I decided that we were confident enough to strike out on our own. We wandered the streets of the small town we were in, looking for a place to eat. I was hoping to find something that catered to tourists, where I might have a chance to eat something other than fish and rice, because fish is not my favorite food. Luckily, it was common to have a picture menu posted in the window of a restaurant. When I saw a picture of spaghetti on one of the menus, I decided that this was the place.

I ordered spaghetti and was relieved to see it was pretty traditional — tomato sauce with noodles. I immediately dove in, showing my best chopstick skills, which I had honed by practicing for months. In fact, I was kind of proud of how I was handling the long noodles. Well, pride goeth before a fall, they say. And this time they were right.

One of many pages of chopstick
instructions I practiced.

At one point during the meal, I looked around, and the entire staff of the restaurant was standing behind me and smiling. When they saw me looking, they quickly handed me a fork. Apparently, I was not looking like a chopstick pro, I thought I was. Instead, I was the entertainment for the evening. Oh, well.

We had a few more adventures on our trip that I'll tell you about another time. But now it's time to think about the letter K.

*This trip was before you could go on the Internet and find everything you needed.

I is for Internet

  

April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,000 I have written.

Throughout the years, I have shared things about my sons, Wally and Theo — especially from their early years. Below is a poem that Theo wrote when he was in grade school about the internet. At that time, most people, including Theo, didn't have the internet at their fingertips like we do today. He had limited access on our home desktop computer. I find it interesting to read his poem and think about how much things have changed and how much things have remained the same. Also, I think you will see some of Theo's introverted tendencies in his poem.  My commentary at the end was 15 years after Theo wrote the poem. This was originally posted in February 2013.

BTW, one of the reasons I chose this post is that it's a nod to National Poetry Month this month.

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Ponderings of Theodore--the Middle Years

On the Internet

On the Internet, 

I am free to do anything I want.

There are endless possibilities.

I am anonymous.

I like to play Pogo games,

Like Word Whomp,

Turbo 21, and chess.

I am anonymous.

I can read books for free,

Study for tests,

Buy stuff, and talk to strangers.

I am anonymous.

It is a world of information,

Being shared freely,

I like to be on the Internet.

I am anonymous.

Theodore wrote that poem when he was in grade school. I think it spoke to his growing awareness of the Internet. Fast forward to today. Theodore is now in a situation where he cannot afford Internet service and has no easy access to it. His lack of it has pointed out how much I have come to rely on the World Wide Web. I tell him to look up an address to find something. Then he reminds me that he doesn't have the Internet. I tell him to look up a recipe that will fit the ingredients he has on hand. He reminds me that he doesn't have the Internet. I tell him to check his email because there is an interesting email that he should see. He reminds me that he doesn't have the Internet.

However, he's doing much better than I think I would. What's he doing? He talks to his classmates, he listens to the radio, he plays cards, and he reads. Maybe I should be without the Internet for a while to see how well I could adjust. As much as I would like to pretend that I'm not hooked to my computer, I don't think I would fare very well.

Do you think you could give up the Internet?

Until next time...

H is for Happiness

 

 April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,000 I have written.

Today, I'm sharing a post from August 2014 when I was contemplating happiness and its relationship to mindfulness. At various times, throughout the years, this has been a theme I've returned to in one way or another.

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Happiness and Mindfulness

Seems to me that there is a lot of talk these days about happiness. Whether we're happy or whether we would be happier if we only emphasized the "right" things in our lives instead of the "wrong" things. Whether we're happier today than we were in yesteryear. I think one reason* there is so much talk about happiness is that the definition is different for everyone. Also, happiness is a complex concept and one that's hard to define and measure. But despite these complexities, there are people out there who are trying to understand and define happiness in a scientific way.
 
One of these people is Matt Killingsworth. He developed a happiness app and is collecting data about people's moods and correlating them with what they are doing. From his various findings, there is one thing that is consistent across the study. People are happier when they are fully engaged in what they are doing instead of letting their minds wander. That was true even if they didn't like what they were doing at the time. Apparently, the reason for this is that when our mind wanders, it usually goes to negative places and focuses on things we are worried about. And when we're worried, we're usually not happy.

Unfortunately, I'm normal in this way. After learning about Killingsworth's research, I noticed that while I was mowing, I was spending a fair amount of time with my mind wandering to worrisome thoughts. The same thing happened later while I was taking a walk. I knew I was the worrying kind, but I didn't realize how much idle worrying I actually do.

image source

So I wondered if there was anything I could do about this. I concluded that I am going to try to practice more mindfulness. I am going to try to be fully present in whatever I am doing and not have my body busy doing something while my mind wanders off to worry. When I'm mowing, I am going to listen to the sound of the mower and notice the plants I am cutting. When I'm walking, I'm going to notice how long my stride is and how my arms are swinging. And with enough practice, maybe I won't be the typical person anymore. My thoughts will stay in the present instead of worrying about the future. And just maybe, I will finally understand what the Buddhist monks have known for a very long time--mindfulness is an important key to happiness.

(Okay, to be truthfully honest, I've gone through this phase before with only minor success. It takes a lot of work to retrain a lifetime of rapid-fire, worrisome thoughts. But I'm gonna give it a try.)

*I think another reason there is so much talk about happiness is that we are doing very well as a whole. We have our basic needs met, so we have the luxury to think about things such as whether or not we are happy.

Until next time...

G is for Girl vs. Boy

 April marks the 15th anniversary of my blog, so during the A-Z blogging challenge, I will be sharing previous posts from over 2,000 I have written.

Several years ago, I ran a series of Girls vs. Boys where I presented a scenario, and you had to guess who the girls were and who the boys were.

Here was my intro and three of the stories.

Before I had kids, I thought each child was an individual, and I didn't believe much in gender stereotypes in children. Little boys ran and jumped a lot because that was the kind of games they were taught. Little girls played with dolls because that was the kind of toys they were given. I thought that if all kids, regardless of gender, were exposed to the same things, they would have the same tendencies. (Of course, with individual differences.) Then I spent some time in the real world of kids and realized I might have been mistaken. Possibly, there were some differences between girls and boys.

I am going to share some stories with you and let you decide who you think the girls were and who the boys were.

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Wally's Birthday Party

Wally was in fifth grade and turning 11. He had a pool party for his birthday at the local YMCA with both boys and girls. After an hour of swimming, the kids had pizza and soda. However, it took forever before the refreshments could be served. We were kept waiting by one group who were in the bathroom changing and making themselves presentable. Some of the other group changed out of their wet clothes, but many did not. When they finally sat down to eat, all of the boys sat at one end of the table, and all of the girls sat at the other end. One group saw how much pizza they could get into their mouths at once and laughed as they punched each other. The other group talked about who they were “dating.”

You decide. Which were the boys and which were the girls?

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In case you had any doubts: The boys were the wet punchers, and the girls were the well-coiffed ones. It may have been peer pressure, but there was no mixing between the two. I found it very interesting that some of the boys that the girls talked about that they were dating were some of the boys who were at the party. However, the boys were clueless that they were dating anyone.

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Legos

When Theo was six, I was sitting on his bedroom floor with him, playing with Legos. One of us was building a rectangular structure that looked much like a tall building, and the other one of us was building a smaller structure that was "flying" around the room. At first, we were both concentrating on our own creations, but then Theo looked at mine and said, "You build just like a girl." He said all of the girls he had seen play with Legos had built something like I did. That surprised me, but he was quite adamant about his conclusion.

You decide: Which one of us made the building and which one of us made the flying object?
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In case you want to know: I built the building and Theo built the flying object.

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Kindergarten Suns

Wally was in kindergarten, and we were visiting on parents' night. On the wall were pictures the kids had drawn, and we noticed that several of them featured a sun wearing sunglasses. Upon further investigation, we discovered that they were all drawn by one group of kids in the class. We thought this was interesting, but didn't think much about it until Theo was in kindergarten three years later. Then we saw the same thing--sunglasses on all of the suns in the drawings of one group.

You decide. Did the boys or the girls draw the sunglasses on the suns?

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I'm not sure what it means, but the girls were the ones drawing sunglasses on the sun.

 

Until next time...