to help other people at all times

this morning i knocked out a nasty hangover by doing 8 hard miles through the forest preserve. on my first lap around, i noticed a crew of kids and adults replacing old rotted out fence posts and rails. at first, i thought this might be a community service thing but upon rounding the next corner of the path, i saw a second crew doing the same thing. one of the adults was wearing a boy scout t-shirt.

on my second lap around, i asked the boy scout shirt if this was an eagle scout project. it was. the adult pointed out the candidate and i offered my congratulations and wished him luck.

i continued on my run and began planning out all of the things i had to do today. clean up house, clean out car, finish store budget, blah blah blah. on the third lap, i threw all of it out the window. to make a long story short, i went home, changed, and spent an absolutely gorgeous afternoon helping out a perfect stranger with his eagle project by digging post holes and hauling lumber around. it felt pretty darn good.

as i reflect on the afternoon, i notice how much i have changed since i did my project. i was a lot like this eagle candidate...always be doing the hard work. he was constantly hauling stuff around and digging. he, just like i did, will eventually learn the lesson that managing your team effectively is far more valuable than doing the grunt work. i tried to subtly tell him this but, as it was not my show, it was not my place to say anything. on several occasions, i had a hard time resisting the urge to jump into a leadership role. my how i've changed.

rise up against the man!

Dear Dominick's

I'm writing to inform of your lack of a reasonable version of dark rye bread in your vast selection of yeast enabled products. Your deli carries a remarkabley good cracked pepper pastrami and to surround it by the travesty of dough that you label "hearty rye" is an insult to the entire baking industry. Your immediate corrective action is requested.

Sincerely,


Kneading Good Bread

photog-fu

thanks to hsandhol for her exceptional photography of my boston experience. check this. my favorites:
3 - these were hung from a building undergoing construction near the finish line
7 - this was right out in front of our hotel
12 - you can see me smiling a mile away. this was at mile 25.2 and i think i'm the only one that's actually happy at this point.
16 - striking a pose for the camera. "got your tickets to the gun show?"