July 23, 2008

In Other Sports News

This is my Mother In Law, Gail.



Last week while golfing in Michigan, she got a hole in one!

July 21, 2008

Ray and water skiing.

Ray belongs to SEAL, a local support group for amputees and their families. Ray had his leg amputated 10 years ago because of a blood clot. Several weeks ago he told me they had an outing planned at a lake and if I wanted to go I should mark it on my calendar. I asked what they were going to do and he said "water ski." My reaction was probably a simple "Huh?". The date was last Saturday.

There is a group in Alabama called Adaptive Aquatics.They go all over the country with lots of equipment to share their love of water sports with those who otherwise would not be able to participate.

There is also a local group of ski enthusiasts, The Columbus Aqua Ski Club, that provides assistance.

Another group, CAST Ministries, put this all together.

I could not possibly say enough good things about all of these groups and the results from their efforts. The local ABC/Fox news showed up and for some reason, the guy decided to focus on Ray for the story. I've looked online for a video clip, but I haven't found one. Before going there, I couldn't stop wondering how this was going to work. I used to water ski when I was younger and I know you use your legs a lot :)

They had the use of a private lake, the lake that the ski club uses, which was great because that meant they were the only boat on the lake. That takes away all of the need to watch out for other boats who would be unaware of the issues being dealt with.

Here is the news man Jason setting Ray up for his interview.Blog pics 004

Ray read to get into the water.
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There are different situations among the amputees. Some can keep their prosthetics on, some can't. Some have one prosthetic, some have two. There wasn't anyone there with two prosthetics who could not leave them on, but in that situation, they have what they call a sit ski. Ray has an electronic one, so he had to take his off and try to ski on one ski. The ski club has a person on each side and they basically lift them up. If the skier is able to get their balance, the ski club guys drift off and the skier skis solo. If they are unable to get their balance, the ski club guys stay with them. That would be hard work, but they were happy to do it, and they did it all day long to make sure everyone got a couple of turns.

Here is a link to a copyrighted picture of Ray taken by the photographer of the Adaptive Aquatics group.
Ray from the boat.

And a link to all of the pictures of the day.
Everyone.

After they all had their turn on the skis, then they took turns on the sit ski. It's not as easy as it sounds because it is still a ski, and you still have to balance yourself, but they all had fun with that after the exertion required for their first rounds.

One of the neatest things about the day was being in a group of people where prosthetics and missing limbs are the norm. Sure, family and friends are supportive of Ray and have adjusted to the difference, but here it wasn't different. That was a big deal for me so I can't imagine how it was for the amputees.

July 13, 2008

Yoga in Nature

Today my favorite Metro Park, Battelle Darby Creek, had a session of yoga in the classroom area down by the creek. I haven't done yoga before other than attending a few sessions with a friend who wanted me to go with her several years ago. Lately, I've been interested in finding out if it's something I want to do. After today's session, I felt like I had worked out plus like I'd had a massage.

Being out in nature was a real bonus. The park would like for this to be an established program with the winter sessions being held in the lodge. The leader is an instructor at Yoga on High. If this is something you'd be interested in, the next session in Saturday, August 23rd at 10am. I plan to make it there.

July 7, 2008

Lucy likes Aroma's

Aroma's web site is now up!

Lucy approves :)

Lucy at Aroma's

July 1, 2008

Catching up - Inniswood in June

I've been to Inniswood Metro Park several times, but this time with Susy I found a few things I had not seen before.

The Story Maze and the Grandfather tree. You follow the numbered squares and read the story as you walk through the maze.
The story maze
The story maze
At the end of the maze, you see this!
At the end of the maze

The treehouse looked vaguely familiar, but this time I got a close look.
Cool tree house

Unfortunately, I can't remember what this was (it's been a few weeks since I was there), but it had lots of nifty surprises nestled around it.
Old bricks
Music in the garden
Art in surprising places
Thoreau
Nifty urn/pot

Most of the blooms were a shade of purple while we were there. Can anyone tell me what this is?
I've seen them several different places, but haven't found out what they are.
What are these?

Looking out at the herb garden from the gazebo.
View of the herbs from the gazebo

This statue was kind of off of the path and somewhat hidden. I thought it was cool.
Mostly hidden statue

Finally, I really liked this tree. It seemed so vibrant to me.
I love this

Catching up - NYC

I've neglected my blog and I regret not posting about things I want to remember. One of those things is my trip to NYC in May with Shauna. It was a lot of fun. It was her first time there and she was quite taken with big city life. She had the subway system figured out by the end of the first day.

A nice view from the plane.
Nice view from the plane

Shauna on Liberty Island. It was colder than we expected, so we both had to buy sweatshirts while waiting in line. It completed the "We are tourists!" look. Although, considering how many times I was asked directions, I occasionally doubted that I looked like one. Husband said I just looked like one who had been there before :)
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Beatles clothes in The Hard Rock Cafe. Seeing this was one of those moments that cause me to just stop for a minute.
Beatle clothes

St John the Divine. We stumbled across this in search of something else. I want to go back and spend some time there sometime.
St. John the Divine

There is a set of 4 small sculptures there. Here is one of them.
At St. John the Divine

The Friends apartment building. It was fun walking around Greenwich Village to find this.
The Friends apartment building

Our celebrity sighting - Leona Lewis. Very nice and beautiful.
Leona Lewis

We saw Hairspray!
Hair Spray

The next day we went to see Curtains. We didn't know anything about it, other than it starred David Hyde Pierce. It was fun to see him.
Curtains

We got to spend and evening with Tippy and Dave, who gave us a great sampling of life in The East Village.
Tippy and Dave

The restaurant used for Seinfeld. This is what we were looking for when we discovered St. John the Divine. I had a decent burger and fries there.
Look familiar?

Me at Strawberry Fields. We had to wait a while to be able to take this picture. There was a group of high school students there who annoyed me by acting goofy all over the memorial. I was highly offended. Yes, I know I'm showing my age, but it bothered me.
Paying my respects

Lots of fun and lots of good food.

A pic of Rob

He was happy to find out that he had two black eyes.

Day 5

He is home in Montana now and he and Karen are happy to be there, among all of their friends. A full recovery is expected in 3 months.

He suggests that we call him Turtle Boy, referring to the back brace he must wear all of the time.

Day 7