TACKLE Grandchildren Time

There is nothing more precious than grandchildren.  They melt your heart with a glance or a smirk.  They make you feel wealthy, especially in the "toy section" of the store.  When you hang out with these little innocent wide eyed wonders, you feel like a kid again.  Visiting the Gillis Farm, NC with an almost 2 year old grandson made these simple things seem amazing to the Pop Pop and Nannie:

                                                                               

    

A tractor with its humongous tires.

A pumpkin too big to carry.

A ride on Pop Pop's shoulders to grab the colorful fall leaves.

The graceful daddy long-legger spider climbing up a stick to tickle a little hand.

The "uh-oh" when the horsey did a "do do".   

The grandson sneaking his carrot snacks to the baby bunnies.

The grandson sneaking his cheese crackers to the hungry chickens.

The grandson throwing his cookies to the Canadian Geese.

The grandson pointing to ice cream for a snack.  (The packed snacks have mysteriously disappeared.)

The heavy sigh and the heavy lids during the car ride home to see Mommy and Daddy.

Nannie and Pop Pop were pooped too.

Darn! why do we have to live 6 hours away from this sweet bundle of joy! 

          

      

TACKLE Sack Lunches



   My Aunt sent me this story to read.  It brought a few tears to my eyes.

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought. Sack Lunches   Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to  Afghanistan.    After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time... As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch.  'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks.  I'll wait till we get to base.'  His friend agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch.   I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill.  'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq   ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.' Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class.  'This is your thanks.'   After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room.  A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.   Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand.  With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.'  I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.   Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.   When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!   Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base.  It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'   Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...   A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The  United States of America    ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

Remember to thank the women and men in uniform for their service to their country! 

TACKLE Parent Pride

You go girl(s)!  The kids are making me burst with pride!
 
The Airman has completed training in Texas and is now waiting for her next trip to Arizona.  Alaska is her final destination.  She is tired of the sweltering heat and is looking forward to some chill.

She is in the Intel career field, so training was a challenge, but she did it!   The sad part is that we couldn't be there to cheer for her victory.   Way to go Airman!!! 

Theory

The Designer of my crew called with the news that she helped design her company's ad in the current editions of the magazines: Vogue, V, and Dazed and Confused.  The ad is placed in the prized front section of Vogue.  Awesome job!

 

I own a few classic pieces from Theory.  Fashion that fits great and is timeless.   I like to window shop online.  Listed below are my favorites from Theory.







Cool.  Crushed velvet, silk, blazers, red, fur, leather, corduroy, and platform heels for my list.  Hint, hint... Christmas is only 81 days away.   The Airman will be home for the holiday.  I bet she would like to get out of her uniform and into a Theory piece.  Well, on second thought...she is more of a Forever 21 girl: 



   

TACKLE a Walk to Remember

My spouse and I forfeited our Friday date night to just hang out at home.  I insisted on a stroll at dusk.  My muscles were finally recovered from our climb on Old Rag Mountain a few days ago.  A walk would be a good stretch.  

Since it was near dark, we walked on the too narrow sidewalk instead of the street.  Conversation was flying about the weekly events.  Family weekly rehash:  a car was towed, no one was hurt in a car accident, my spouse landed a new job contract, I hired another employee, one daughter's computer was infected with a virus, one daughter's plan to move to Alaska,  my son and his family are moving to SC and one daughter's possible move to London.   Just when I was getting worked up about the kids moving so far away, I ended up in the grass staring at the night sky screaming in pain.     

It had been five years since I had an injury to my ankles.  I thought I was on a roll.  While chatting, I stepped off the sidewalk awkwardly and lost my balance.  I felt something pop and snap in my ankle.  It felt like a dislocation.  I put my foot straight up in the air and manipulated the ankle area while cursing like a sailor from the intense pain.

I couldn't believe it!  I recently hiked Old Rag Mountain climbing on boulders, rocks and cliffs without any lower extremity mishaps and I injure my ankle while walking near my house.

Lake Jackson VFD ambulance arrived in minutes to rescue me and my poor spouse who appeared to be flabbergasted by my Exorcist-like behavior.  The crew took my vitals and then lifted me into the ambulance.  I saw my spouse wave his camera phone through the glass doors. He was getting the car to meet me at the hospital.  Alone, well with about six crewmembers,  I groaned and got teary eyed thinking about the inconvenience of this injury to me, my family and the ambulance crew.  I am sure there were heart attacks to prevent, but I was seriously crippled and in scale nine pain.

The ER was packed, in fact, near record breaking, according to the Admittance Department.  Great!  It was going to be a long night.   I whispered a comment about having great insurance to the nurse and she smiled. 

Hanging out on a gurney, I noticed my toenail polish looked bad.  My spouse refused to run out and buy nail polish for a touch up.  He also refused to turn off the blinding overhead fluorescent lights in the hospital room.

Two hours later, with an X-ray with no fracture, I was crutching out with a splinted ankle swelled to the size of an orange, a skinned knee and a shattered dream of running in the morning.       

My spouse and I had only been married close to two years.  He mentioned that he had never been with me during an injury.  My kids have endured the past experiences of my pains.  They all sent sympathy texts to my spouse for getting stuck with the injured mom.  Hours later, after my grumpy demands of ice bags, drinks, books and pillows, he understood.  I popped a pain pill and went to La La land for a few hours of sleep.

Laid up for a weekend was good for me.  I worked on homework, hobbled to a birthday party and slept in on Sunday.  The worst experience was going to the dreaded DMV for a handicap pass for my car.  I needed it to survive classes at college where you park miles away.  The DMV had no sympathy for struggling customers.  No drive up windows, automatic doors or priority service are offered to injured or handicapped customers.  The clerk even yelled at me for leaning on the counter and told me to get in line!
It does make you see the world through different eyes when you are injured.  Some people are helpful, but others are rude and impatient.



My daughter and I played artist.  Her face painting is awesome!

 The best time was relaxing and painting with my daughter.  I have not done a craft-like activity in years.  But we enjoyed sharing paint and brushes and creating our two inspiring paintings.  We were inspired by some paintings we found on tumblr, a great site for art.  This injury was a way to be forced to slow down to relax and smell the roses.
    

TACKLE Old Rag Mountain in Virginia

My spouse has hiked 600 miles on the Appalachian Trail that extends from Maine to Georgia.  If you agree to go backpacking in the mountains with an Appalachian Trail (AT) section hiker, be prepared for some interesting experiences.

1.  We showed up at Old Rag Mountain parking lot ($15) at the ungodly hour of 5:30 AM for our day of exercising.  It was dark, cold and scary.  I had one microscopic flashlight,  hot coffee and an overactive imagination.  I thought a bear would attack us any minute.

2.  After fighting off spider webs on the dim, steep switch backs on Ridge Trail, we emerged to sunlight where my spouse announced the beginning of the infamous "very challenging rocks".   Flat, Old Rag Granite (dated 1.2 billion years old by geologists) was stretched along the trail.  This looked manageable to me.  I was in for a surprise. 

3.  My spouse had hiked Old Rag Mountain ten times, so he was in charge.   I assumed that we arrived at the top of Old Rag when I saw this view.  This was only the first of many gorgeous scenes of the Blue Ridge Mountains.   I had a long way to go.

  

4.  The fall weather was bringing the change in leaf color.  In October, the trails would be packed with spectators admiring foliage in full splendor. 

Wildlife put on a show with deer frolicking to the sound of woodpeckers tapping on trees.  We even stumbled upon a pigeon bobbing along the granite.   

5.  In the Fall of 2000, Shenandoah National Park had the largest fire in its history.  Today, there is evidence of nature regenerating.  

6.  The trail transitioned from a dirt path to a blaze directed scramble of rocks and boulders of granite and basalt.  At this point, I regretted not bringing gloves.  Rock climbing was now on the agenda.

7.  Techniques in hiking include sliding down the sides of boulders and sliding through intrusive basalt dike formations that fractures in a staircase pattern.

8.  Another hiking technique includes the squat, a necessity to maneuver under the low hanging ledges.  I now understood the meaning of the "very challenging rocks" in the trail.  I was getting a little claustrophobic.  I am physically active in my daily life, however, my muscles were not prepared for this workout.

                                                                  

                                

9.  Three hours later, I was starting to think I made a mistake.  My spouse is an experienced hiker and this trail was tough.  There was no turning back.  I had to suck it up and get to the summit of Old Rag Mountain.

10.  It took three and one half hours to reach the top of the mountain.  I only had one skinned elbow, raw hands, a bruised knee and two slight panic attacks.  One feeling of anxiety struck me when I felt stranded at the base of a wall of granite.  The second hit me when I had to jump over a bottomless hole to get to the next boulder.  

 11.  It was sunny and warm until we reached the top where it was chilly.  This is our view at 3,291 feet.  Visability is zero because we were in a cloud.  We ate a snack and planned our descent down the mountain.   We had not seen one soul since we left the parking lot.   Suddenly, we heard voices.  Three men in their sixties appeared and told me about the "easy" Saddle Trail down the mountain.  My angels had rescued me.  My spouse balked at the wimpy trail, however, it would be a new one for him, so he agreed. 

12.  It wasn't that easy, but no boulders the size of my house to climb.  I could deal with this trail. 

13.  The Saddle Trail had pleasant surprises like the Old Rag Shelter, a protective area for hikers caught in bad weather. 

14.  Connecting bridges, streams and waterfalls led us back to our parking lot.

15.  Colorful shelf fungus grabbed our attention as we continued along the Weakley Hollow Fire Road.

16.  Old Rag Mountain was once the local sight of a small mountain community.  Shenandoah National Park was established in 1935, resulting in the relocation of this community.  Any signs of human activity should remain undisturbed.

Finally back at the parking lot.  A long, exhausting day and our daughters were probably still in bed.  It was a  great experience but I would not recommend the Ridge Trail to young children.  You should be healthy and in good physical condition to get to the top of Old Rag Mountain on this trail.  The Saddle Trail is a good alternative and was very scenic.