It's not what you think

Rich and I love the John Denver song Country Roads. It talks about Shenandoah and the blueridge mountains which are near Harrisonburg (Richard's hometown). We argued over whether the part of the song that says "west virginia" is about the state West Virginia or if it is western Virginia. We decided to look it up. Turns out the song wasn't written by John Denver and it wasn't about Virginia or west Virginia. The guy who wrote it was writing about what he had seen in Maryland (he thought it was what West Virginia was like). He actually never even went to West Virginia. I feel a little betrayed.

calisthenics

**Prepare for a ramble**

I am a morning person. I like to wake up in the morning and start my day. On the rare occasion that I do sleep in, I feel grumpy because I have "wasted" my morning. Rich makes fun of me for falling asleep on the couch everyday and not being able to stay awake during movies, when reading a book, working on charts or while driving (don't worry I pull over and make him drive), but guess where he is right now at 9:40 am...that's right, asleep in his bed. Anyway, the point is I am a morning person and I like to get my exercise done in the morning. I usually go to the gym or go for a run and every morning at about 6 am I pass this area in the road where there is a little island. Each morning when I pass it I see this middle aged bald Indian man wearing a red shirt with a blue stripe and white pants. He is always standing in the middle of the road, near the island, doing what I thought were calisthenics (see discussion below). He is either rolling his neck or stretching his arms or doing calf raises. I support his mode of exercise, but I question his location. Why does he do it right there in the middle of the road? Maybe it has a good aura/vibe. Maybe he wants everyone to know that he is doing his exercise. Maybe he is trying to get a tan (probably not his skin is already tan and the sun isn't that bright in the morning). Maybe he likes the smell of honeysuckle that grows nearby. Maybe his neighbor smokes outside and he doesn't want to inhale the toxic fumes. I don't know, but I think he is interesting.

Discussion below: As I was running the other day thinking about this guy and how I should post about it, I was trying to figure out exactly how to label what he was doing because it isn't exactly yoga or pilates and it isn't exactly cardiovascular exercise. The word calisthenics came into my head and I thought that was a good description. I decided to look it up on Wikipedia (which I find to be a very helpful tool...even if I can't prove it is accurate). Apparently, Calisthenics is push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, squats etc. that can be done in a group to boost teamwork. hmmmm....so what he does is not calisthenics. I actually am very surprised about the definition. I really thought it was something more like stretching/yogaish. But, apparently not.

Back at'cha Heather

From Richard:

Dear Heather, on your birthday this, the 9th day of July 2009, I decided to take the high road and not tell any embarrassing stories, but mostly only because I couldn't think of any. But, it's your birthday, so I thought that writing on the blog was the best way to let everyone know that you are a quarter of a century old today! The big 2-5. I love you babycakes, you are so great and so funny (especially when you fall asleep on the couch), and so smart, and such an awesome example. Thanks, I'm glad I've been able to celebrate the last 5 birthdays with you, and I look forward to a whole lot more.

Some oldies and Goodies:

4th o July

When Rich and I told everyone at work/school that we were going to be driving 8 hours to Columbus, Ohio to watch a DC United Soccer Game, we realized that it sounded kind of crazy. Even with the really long drive we had an awesome time. We had a blast in an average midwest city. We went to a conservatory that had butterflies and Richard's favorite was the bonsai trees. We were part of the super fans that follow the team (they are an intense, strange group).

Crabtree Falls

We went on a sweet hike to Crabtree falls and had fun camping with our friends from Northern Virginia. It was BEAUTIFUL!!

Birthday Boy

In honor of Richard's Birthday I'll tell on of my favorite stories about him. When we were dating I brought Rich to my parents house for Sunday Dinner. We were eating corn on the cob and Rich said, "Isn't it funny how corn cobs are round on the outside, but square on the inside." I looked over at his corn on the cob and he had gnawed it into the shape of a square. I laughed at him, until I realized that he was serious. It took convincing from whole family and close inspection of all of our round rinds for him to believe that corn cobs were round on inside. HAHHA...how can I not love him!!