Rain delay makes time to play

Posted Oct 27, 2006 by Mike DeWitt

Updated Oct 27, 2006 at 07:31 PM

Greetings fellow hikers!

Well the fact is that I’ve been rained in at Hurricane Lake Campgound for the past two days.  The rain has been non-stop with some heavy stuff, including tornado warnings busting down since yesterday morning and although I am amphibious, I’m not crazy about needlessly exposing my phalanx of comm. gear to the elements if I don’t have to.  I need that stuff to work.
I spent the day acquainting myself with my new laptop and helping the camp host assemble his new tree stand.  It is bow-hunting season up here and Jimmy has harvested two so far.  He’s a hunter’s hunter and owns the only pair of Treebark docksiders I’ve ever seen.  Now that’s serious camo!
It’s frustrating to look out of my quarters and see the trailhead just a few steps away.  I’m packed and ready to go, just need to get a weather break.  I’ll be joined this weekend by Clay and Chris Dutton, a couple of lads from Troop 4 in south Tampa that I Scoutmastered at the Boy Scout National Jamboree up in DC a few years ago.  They are the sons of Scott Dutton, a good buddy of mine and a fellow scout leader.  They are students at Auburn and have been sharpening their hiking edge on the Pinhoti Trail, a trans-Alabama trail that crosses Cheehaw Maountain, Alabama’s highest point.  If you ever get the chance to do Cheehaw, don’t miss it.  Great hiking and bouldering to be done there.
Although I thought for sure I’d be roughing it chow-wise, the past two days have been anything but.  Jimmy’s buddy Lyndon, a former Marine and ex-professional wrestler fried up some killer 30-count shrimp in a breading better than any I’ve ever tasted.  We gnawed on a mess of Bar-B-Q spare ribs after that. Duddin’ seem fair, does it? 
After that we hung out in Jimmy’s trailer and watched the original Walking Tall with Joe Don Baker last night.  Heck if I didn’t have to walk home, I might never leave.  I like these guys.
I also hung out with a couple of Park Rangers from the Division of Forestry yesterday, Brad Montfort and Kenny McCreless.  They gave me the skinny on Blackwater River S.F., it’s trails and the river for which the state forest is named.  Turned out this place was totally logged out when the state acquired it.  The logging company used the river – it was deep then – to float the logs to the sawmill. 
The erosion caused by the deforested land silted up the river and it’s been relatively shallow ever since.  Mother Nature, with man’s help, has recovered nicely.  It is a breathtakingly beautiful place.  Still, you have to wonder what this place would look like had it never been logged.
Probably the toughest thing has been that I’m out of touch with my family and friends. Alltel still has no towers here despite my pleas a couple of days ago.
I wonder how my wife, Claudia, and my son, Ben, are doing.  I miss Claudia’s sense of humor and her gentle ways. I fret about how her health is and constantly wonder how she’s feeling.  I miss my son, Ben, and hope he’s digging school and his new job.  I think of the kids in my Venture crew and miss all of their wide-open teenaged banter.  I miss my co-leader, Nancy Cline, my trusted and highly competent backpacking and climbing partner. 
I miss sharing a frosty beverage with Mike and Mike down at the Copper Top, and I miss Chris – the angel who brings them to us. 
The forecast calls for sunny days tomorrow, accompanied by the camaraderie of two hard-charging Eagle Scouts and a trail stretched before us like a magic green carpet.  OORAH!  Until we meet again.  I’ll write again when I find work.

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Agile Greyhound Breaks High Jump Record

Posted Oct 27, 2006 by Kristen Levine

Updated Oct 27, 2006 at 12:20 PM

Cindy, a 6-year-old greyhound, reached new heights - not just for herself, but for the whole world - this month in St. Louis.

The dog, co-owned by Kate Long of Tampa and Kathy Conroy of Miami, broke the Guinness World Record for the high jump with a 68-inch jump.

She broke the record she set in 2003 by 2 inches with the jump she made at the Purina Incredible Dog National Championships.

“She really has a natural talent,” Conroy says of Cindy, who lives in Tampa with Long. “We wanted to show that greyhounds do more than just race.”

Two other Tampa Bay area canines also made a good showing at the competition, where athletic dogs and their trainers compete in “Olympic-style” events.

Dogs from across the country compete in agility, freestyle flying disc, high jump, weave poles, hurdle racing and dog diving.

Cindy, who was adopted as a puppy from a greyhound adoption group in Hollywood, Fla, didn’t find her high-jump calling until she was 3. She was training for canine agility when her coaches at Gladewinds in Miami recognized the dog had natural jumping abilities.

In just six months, Cindy was jumping high enough to break the world record of 63 inches.

The dog also competes in agility and flying disc. And when not competing, she promotes Purina competitions, is a “spokesdog” for greyhound rescue and adoption and has appeared in commercials for Kellogg’s cereal and a Britney Spears tour in Miami.

Cindy wasn’t the only dog bringing home bragging rights for the Bay area.

Perhaps you recall Tampa’s 14 year-old Jordan Connelly and her border collie, Buc. Connelly was the youngest handler in the adult competition, earning the right to compete in agility at the nationals during the Eastern regional finals in June in St. Petersburg.

Jordan and Buc placed fourth at nationals in the large dog agility competition.

“I was so happy with how Buc did,” Jordan says. “I’d like to be in St. Louis again next year and maybe even compete in other national events.”

That’s an ambitious goal for Jordan, who plans to compete next spring with Buc and another border collie she’s training named Breeze.

When Jordan isn’t chasing dogs through the course, she’s studying rigorous courses at the Advanced Placement Scholars Program at Chamberlain High in Tampa.

Another dog that did Tampa proud is Lori Borrowman’s 4-year-old miniature apricot poodle, April.

April earned the right to compete in June, and while she lost during the first round of the weave pole competition, Borrowman is proud of her dog’s accomplishments.

“We’ve only been competing for about 2 ½ years now, and April is off to a great start,” Borrowman says.

She thinks it’s important for people to know that poodles aren’t the “fluffy-princess-on-a-pillow-top dogs” that some people think they are.

“Poodles are agile, extremely intelligent and have a great demeanor,” Borrowman explains.

Purina selected April to enter the 60-weave pole competition when it needed additional dogs to round out the contest.

“Our long-term goal is to compete in the AKC National Championships,” Borrowman says. “April has her master agility dog title, and now we’re working on her becoming a master agility dog champion.”

For information about the competitors and winners at this year’s Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Championship, go to www

.events.purina.com.

CRITTER CALENDAR
Wine For Whiskers

Join Pet Pal Rescue for its second annual wine tasting benefit from 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday at Tastings, 149 First Ave. N., St. Petersburg.

For information, go to http://www.petpal

rescue.com or call (727) 328-7738.

Stride For Strays

Lace up and leash up with the Animal Coalition of Tampa, known as ACT, for its sixth annual Stride for Strays pet walk from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 4 at Al Lopez Park in Tampa.

Pet-friendly activities include flyball, Frisbee, face painting, a pet wash and contests for best trick, pet-owner look-alike and more. There also will be festive entertainment and an amateur agility course.

To register or to get team information, go to http://www.strideforstrays.orgor call (813) 966-7766.

Adopt A Dog
Lost Angels Animal Rescue is hosting dog adoptions from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 4 at Petco, 13127 N. Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa.

Lost Angels is a nonprofit group that supports no-kill shelters. For information, call (813) 514-0595 or go to http://www.lostangelsanimalrescue.org.

Write to Kristen Levine at Fetching Communications, P.O. Box 222, Tarpon Springs FL 34688; e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or fax to (727) 934-6451.

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The First Step Is The Hardest

Posted Oct 27, 2006 by jriley

Updated Oct 27, 2006 at 12:25 PM

Here we are into week 3 of the weight loss challenge. I am going to review my accomplishments to date. Honestly this was the toughest week for me so far. I wanted to fall of the wagon repeatedly starting with Monday. I did not want to workout but I did. I am so glad I pushed through the impulse to quit. There was no particular reason. I was just tired and suffering from a lack of motivation.

I have been making small changes. Small changes in my diet. Better choices if we eat out. Slowly increasing my exercise level as I feel stronger. I have not had a drastic weight loss. Frankly, I have not been on the scale in over a week. I think I am going to avoid it for another 3 weeks and at my 6 week checkup I will see what the scale says. The great news is I am down a size in my clothes. No more XL. Hurray. I went and bought new workout clothes (to help with my motivation). If you look good you feel better.

So far I have modified my diet and truthfully hardly noticed. The true test was my children. They have yet to complain about the change in our diets. We are eating more salads, fewer carbs (the bad ones) and more fruit.

I have slowly increased my cardio. Now I am up to 2 miles a day in 30 minutes. I could barely do 1 mile 3 weeks ago.

So in to sum this up. Take it slow. The first step is the hardest but it also the beginning. When you get discourage find someone to talk to, to motivate you. You are welcome to email me if you wish at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). After all we are only human.

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Fall Is In The Air ...And On The Salad Plate

Posted Oct 27, 2006 by Janine Dorsey

Updated Oct 27, 2006 at 12:05 PM

Actually, my having a salad - albeit a delicious one! - from Marc & Didi’s has nothing to do with autumn. Except maybe the fact that it is finally sorta cool enough to make that longer walk from The News Center.

The fall leaves are a nice touch, no? Inexplicably, I found them in my TBO messenger bag in an inner pocket.  I have no recollection of putting them in there, but what a great time of year to stumble across them!

It wouldn’t have been nearly as appropriate to bust them out to decorate my cubicle in say, April.

Marty is AGAIN eating out. This time with his daughter.

So I eat alone.

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belated week 3 post

Posted Oct 26, 2006 by jriley

Updated Oct 26, 2006 at 11:37 PM

I am going to post here today, by neddie jingo!

It’s been a rough week; please excuse the lateness in posting…

So, my mom and stepdad were moving from a rental in Spring Hill to their newly built home in Brooksville last weekend. The move was such that they needed some help. I rented a pickup truck, and with my son-in-law Paul, headed off on Friday night after work to help.

Work that day was, oh, a wee bit stressful. I had no time to eat all that much. I didn’t eat till almost 11pm, after loading up a van and a pickup. I then slept on a hide-a-bed, which is certainly one item in need of some better technology. There was then not much time to eat the next day either, not till Paul and I were back on the road to Tampa, after making a 6 more loadings/unloadings. In Tampa then, a grandbaby overnighter, with all the resultant carryings-on (always fun, if tiring).

“Normally” (that is, back when I was wildly ingesting any stray calorie in sight), this sort of a weekend would have had me on the invalid list. I could have done it, and have done it, in the past, but with the result of feeling lower than a millipede’s fallen arches.

Not now.

I can’t say that that I felt just absolutely wonderful, but I had energy to spare. Hooray!

This week’s stats: weight 225 (down 2 more pounds, a total of 10 pounds down). That, by itself, would be worrying, but then…

Fat percentage: 31%! Down another percentage point! Huzzah!

I will post more frequently, including the forthcoming“Meditations on a Cheeseburger”. Coming soon, to a tbo.com blog near you!

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