Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Now my small beach town has attacking Crow's

The following is a true story, not making it up.
I was happily running along with my dog Boogie when all of a sudden this Crow swoops down at us. Scared us both to death.
I immediately got my pepper spray out and dared the little bugger to do it again.
It didn't, but I could hear it yelling at us for quite the distance.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Hey did you hear that I'm training for 50 and afraid to run?

Have you ever heard of a runner who is training for 50 miles that was fearful of running?

This is me.

The pictures are proof that I can run.



Yes, you heard me correct. I have a mental block, I guess, completely afraid to run.

The reason? For a few years now, it has been my goal to run the Mt. Hood 50 miler. I am now signed up for it, the run is scheduled for July 30th, 2011 and it will be my 2nd 50.

A few weeks ago, I pulled my hamstring, 3 days later, it went out again on a walk, well I jogged slowly for about 30 seconds. I pulled out of a difficult race coming up, the McDonald Forest 50K. It is a good decision, I know. But, according to the 50 mile training schedule, training started yesterday, Monday. It only starts out at 2. I walked it. I kept hearing in my head, try to run, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Too afraid.
I came home, complained a little on Facebook, this led to a doctor replying and a friend telling me to go on chat. Well they both helped me through it. I knew that I had to conquer this silly fear or it was going to kill me.
At first I kept walking back and forth in front of my house, pacing. I would limp around or whatever you want to call it, it wasn't running, it was strange. I wondered how many of my neighbors were watching. I then decided to go change so that I could look like a runner, at least. I started off real slowly, I mean really slowly, completely freaked out.

But then I saw 2 pennies. And I remembered an email and movie that I read and saw. The email said that when you find a penny, it means an angel is thinking of you and the movie said pennies are only good luck when they are heads up. They were heads up. I picked them up.


While I only went .78 on Monday, I did go 2 today and yes I was nervous, but not freaked out.

Hey, I'm training for 50 miles. Aren't I making progress?

Monday, March 28, 2011

Crepes For breakfast


Crepes
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)
2 eggs

Beat with hand mixer and cook just like you would a pancake, put waxed paper between them.


Filling


3 c fresh, sliced strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
8 oz cottage cheese
8 oz sour cream
1/2 c powdered sugar
10-12 dessert crepes

1. Combine strawberries and sugar. Set aside.
2. Beat cottage cheese in a blender or with an electric mixer until smooth.
Add sour cream and powdered sugar and stir well.
3. Use about 2/3 of fruit and creamy mixture to fill crepes. Fold crepes over.
4. Top with remaining fruit and creamy mixture, or top with fruit and powdered sugar.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Gift of Fear


If you haven't read the book The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker, I strongly encouraged to pick up a copy and read it, front to back, it will change your life. I'm glad that I did. Check with the library, that is where I got my copy.

This is what it's about:

Each hour, 75 women are raped in the United States, and every few seconds, a woman is beaten. Each day, 400 Americans suffer shooting injuries, and another 1,100 face criminals armed with guns. Author Gavin de Becker says victims of violent behavior usually feel a sense of fear before any threat or violence takes place. They may distrust the fear, or it may impel them to some action that saves their lives. A leading expert on predicting violent behavior, de Becker believes we can all learn to recognize these signals of the "universal code of violence," and use them as tools to help us survive. The book teaches how to identify the warning signals of a potential attacker and recommends strategies for dealing with the problem before it becomes life threatening. The case studies are gripping and suspenseful, and include tactics for dealing with similar situations.
People don't just "snap" and become violent, says de Becker, whose clients include federal government agencies, celebrities, police departments, and shelters for battered women. "There is a process as observable, and often as predictable, as water coming to a boil." Learning to predict violence is the cornerstone to preventing it. De Becker is a master of the psychology of violence, and his advice may save your life. --Joan Price

When  I lived in Oregon, I had a couple of encounters with a man as I jogged. He would normally just wave at me. But one morning, he was following me and was waiting for me to run by his car. I not only got the help of some sign holders, I called the police. The man did not have any prior records. This incident spooked me and none of my runs were ever the same. I learned to avoid the area that I saw him out. I also carried pepper spray, was always on the watch for him and I took a self defense class. Most counties have self defense classes that are free and I encourage you to look for one and take one. Below is a link for the one that I took in Washington County.

I would also encourage you to pick up the book The Gift of Fear.  

Taken from the book, there are 7 survival signals that  you need to know to be protected from violence. They are:

1.Forced teaming
Sometimes someone will say and do things to make you feel "We're in the same boat."  Or,  “We’re on the same team.” The purpose is to establish rapport and to put you at ease. Team spirit can be an excellent motivator. Sport teams, political parties, community service organizations, and neighborhoods all work best when people feel a sense of belonging with each other. It is important to notice when someone with whom you have not chosen to be connected with talks as if you are together. Be careful when people try to connect by identifying you with them as an “us” and to separate you from others who are “them”.  Remember what your relationship with this person truly is and is not.

2.Charm and niceness
People sometimes project warmth, kindness, sympathy, and humor as a way to get others to open up to them. People like this can very enjoyable, but they also might be harmful. When someone is very funny, kind and sweet, think to yourself, "This person is trying to charm me. Is being with this person what I want? Am I being charmed into accepting things that are not okay with me? Am I in a safe place if things go wrong?"  Even if someone is great to be with, notice if that person's behavior seems to change. People who were betrayed by their friends might say, "I could not believe that she/he would do this to me because we have had such good times together." Many women who were attacked say afterwards, "But he was so nice to me at first!” 

3.Too many details
When people want to persuade you, they sometimes give a lot more information than necessary. This can be because they really care about what they are saying, but it can also be because they are trying to distract you or confuse you into believing their story. It can be hard for honest people to remember that sometimes other people will make up convincing details to get you to trust them and that lots of details does not mean that someone is being truthful. Instead of getting too involved in what someone is saying, stay focused on your actual situation. Ask yourself questions like, "How well do I know this person?  Is this person’s behavior suddenly different in an uncomfortable way? Is he or she respecting my wishes?"

4.Typecasting
Understandably, most people don't like to be labeled as being uncaring, unkind, thoughtless, selfish, paranoid, unfair, misusing their power, or ignorant. Someone might deliberately use negative labels to get you to react in the opposite direction. Watch out for comments like, “You don’t care, do you?” Or, “You aren’t one of those women who think all men are bad, are you?” Or, “You probably think you are too good for someone like me.” Or, “Someone who comes from a family as well off as yours could not possibly understand what it’s like to be poor.’ Or, “This an unfair restriction on my freedom.” Or, “Telling me to stop is abusive.” Or, "You aren't being a good friend." Or, “You screwed up before and you probably will again.” Trying to prove someone wrong by changing your behavior is another way of letting what someone else says have power over you. Instead, make a conscious choice about how you are going to act depending on what the specific behavior being labeled is and what is actually going on.

5.Loan sharking
A loan shark lends one amount and then collects much, much more than was loaned. People sometimes try to build relationships by giving gifts. People sometimes are kind and want to help. There is nothing wrong with this if what they want to do is something you want and if there is no pressure for you to give more than you wish in return. If someone else approaches you and tries to do you a favor, you are not obligated to accept it nor are you obligated to give a favor back. Be aware that this could be a tactic to get close to you. When someone you don’t know says, "Here, let me help you,” and tries to do something you did not ask for or don’t really need, the safest response is to walk away and say firmly, "No thanks!"

6.The unsolicited promise
Promises are important. If you are the kind of person who keeps commitments yourself, you are likely to be reassured when someone makes a promise. However, before you trust your emotional or physical safety to someone’s promise, make sure that this person has a track record of keeping promises. Watch out for comments like, “I promise I will never let you down.” Or, “I promise I will never lie to you.” Or, “I promise I’ll leave just as soon as we get there.” Or, “I haven’t been drinking, I promise.” Or. “I’ll drive carefully, I promise.” Or, "I'll pay you back, I promise." Remember that what someone has done over time is a far better indicator of what someone will do than any kind of promise.

7.Discounting the word “no”
As successful fundraisers, negotiators, and salespeople all understand, “No” can sometimes mean “Not yet.” Asking for more information, listening to concerns, or offering other choices can lead to a good outcome for all concerned so it is important not to let “No” mean more than it actually does. As wise parents know, a child’s “No” should always be respected as a feeling but not always accepted as a choice. At the same time, intrusive or dangerous people will test the boundaries of potential victims by not listening to their “No.” If you are shy or uncertain in saying “No,” even people with good intentions might not hear you and might keep pushing your boundaries. If something is not okay with you or is potentially unsafe, it is important to be strong and clear and to have your actions match your words. "I really do not want to!” Or, “This is really not okay with me.” Or, “Go away! I don't want your help!" If you need help, if possible, pick someone out yourself and tell that person firmly and loudly that you need help instead of waiting for someone not of your choosing to offer.

Now while, I may feel like I have replaced stalkers for bears and cougars having moved, but I am guarded and always on the look out. 

Friday, March 25, 2011

See what I caught my wrotten cat doing

Yes, I caught him drinking out of my water cup that I leave on the floor next to my lazy chair. I wonder how long he has been doing this?

Friday song of the week. I think it has a good message.


"Running Out Of Time"

We are not blind
We know the truth
Still we don't stand
Still we don't choose.

We'd rather stay
So comfortable
Stuck in our world under controle.
We may not pull, the trigger but we, stand by and watch and pretend not to see.

Silence is worse, then evil done what in the world have we become?
Can't you see that...

[Chorus]
This is war,
So pick your side.
It's time to move, not time to hide.
Don't let lies, make up your mind.
Cause you will see,
We're Running Out of Time.

Tomorrow they'll come,
And one day we'll see,
The choices we make, made history.
For it's to late,
When will you stand and chose our words while you still can,
Can't you see that...

[Chorus]
This is war,
So pick your side.
It's time to move, not time to hide.
Don't let lies, make up your mind.
Cause you will see,
We're Running Out of Time.

Running Out of Time.
Running Out of Time.
Can't you see that...

[Chorus]
This is war,
So pick your side.
It's time to move, not time to hide.
Don't let lies, make up your mind.
Cause you will see,
We're Running Out of Time.

Running Out of Time!

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Illusion of Control and Freedom

Below is a scene from the 1999 film Instinct, starring Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr.




I think we are all in an illusion of how much control we really have of our lives.
I believe we are all able to make choices. We choose where we go to school, where we live, where we work, who we marry, how many kids we have, who are fiends are, what we do as extracurricular activities. 

But I think society controls all of theses choices.

If you choose to go to college, you have to fill out an application and be accepted, then you have to have tuition money and if you don't, you apply for scholarships or loans. You are asking for permission to go to the school of your choice.

Based on where you are able to go to college, this then determines where you will work.

When you are looking for work, you have to send in your resume and sell yourself to your employer in hopes they will choose you.

Based on where you work, this then determines the kind of house you are able to buy and in what neighborhood you buy it in. You of course have to get a loan from the bank to buy that house, asking permission for the $. And you think the house is yours, but if you stop making payments, you lose your house.

Same thing applies to the car you would like to buy.

You may even likely choose your spouse based on your economic status and then how many kids who can have. (Some people this does not apply to.)

Now of course as you are living you life based on the choices that you made after getting permission as you went along,  if you choose to break the rules that society has provided for you to follow, you then lose all your control and all your freedoms.
 Think about it.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The Green Stingers, a true story

Kayla loves to play soccer. She looks forward to it all year long and she is good at it. So, every year I sign her up. Normally her dad coached, but one year he was not able. So Kayla got a new coach, a husband and wife. Unfortunately, they were coaches that did not have any experience coaching at all.

I remember the first practice. It was a beautiful and very hot August evening. All the girls were very excited to be out on the field. I noticed that the coaches were having them warm up for about 20 minutes, which I thought was odd. As I was watching the team warm up, with the sweat dripping down my back, one of the girls screams and is jumping around, then another girl, then another. They were all screaming and jumping around and they were crying. They were getting stung by a swarm of bees!! The field was completely full of them! I ran out to the field along with the other parents to help get the girls off the field. In the end, all but one of those 6 players got stung by bees and most of them, more than once.

After that traumatizing event, most of the girls were nervous about returning to practice even though the team was assigned a new field.

At each practice, I would normally sit by the woman coach and we'd chat and she would always admit to me that they did not know what they were doing. I was always really annoyed by her for saying this and I would start to offer advice and it was advice that she would take and seemed grateful for. I tried to tell her that the girls really didn't need to stretch for 20 minutes and why, that the girls really didn't need a water break every 5 minutes and they really shouldn't disrupt the whole practice and take everyone on a 10 minute bathroom break.

The two coaches were also getting advice from the other players’ parents. We were a losing team and it showed on the girls faces. They were very upset. They simply were not being coached, not learning anything and not having any fun.

It wasn't until the coaches decided that for their own benefit, not the team, they wanted to have only one practice a week that I stepped up and really said something. I begged them to keep the extra practice, that if they really were unwilling that one of us will coach it.

This really upset them.

That night, the two coaches sent an email out to the team and league announcing that they were no longer going to coach the team, that they didn't realize what they were getting themselves into. They thought the parents on the team were rude and they were pulling their girls also.

This left the team with only four players, who wanted to play, but had no coach. The league almost dismantled the team. But the girls really wanted to play. One of the girls had even paid for her soccer registration herself, one had just fought off the Swine Flu. They were all upset, disappointed and couldn't understand what was going on.

I, my husband and the other player’s families fought to keep the team alive and it was a battle. The league agreed to keep the team together but said that at least one parent needed to coach. My husband and another dad agreed to coach. But, with only 4 girls on the team it was challenging. At that age, you needed 4 players on the team. I did manage to find a 5th player to add to the team. This 5th player was not able to get on a team at the start of the season, so her family was thrilled to have her play. With 5 players, the girls got a lot of playing time. They were all happy to play, but at the end of the game, they were very tired. If one was sick, that left the team with 4 players and you couldn’t substitute, they had to play the whole game. The very first game, before the 5th player was added, 2 of the girls were ill, so we had 2 players. I showed up early to the game and recruited other players from the other teams and these players were excited to help out. It meant more playing time.

Now I have always had a don't quit attitude and I know that when you quit, it not only hurts you, but if you are on a team, everyone around you. I taught this value to my girls and they lived by it, they weren't quitters.
So when these coaches decided to quit on the team and pull their 2 daughters off of the team, lying to them by saying the season was over. It was difficult for me to communicate with my daughter that quitting really is wrong, when she just witnessed grownups do it, people she looked up to.

I'll tell you what, even though the team never won a game, they were the hardest working team in the whole league. They started out not having much knowledge of the game, got stung by bees and they lost their coaches. In the end they ended the season as winners. They never complained and always had a positive attitude. I am proud of all of them.


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Injured

I've only been injured a few times since I've been running marathons and above in 2005.

I remember my 2 most painful were when I got stress fractures. The first I got after my 2nd Portland Marathon and it was because I ran too fast, I think. I was out for a good 6 weeks. The 2nd stress fracture was when I was trying to train for my first 50K and I had begun to do those back to back long runs. That was the most painful. I remember I would try to go for a walk and my leg would hurt so bad that I wanted to scream or hold on to something.

Other than that, minimal injuries.

I pulled my left hamstring about 2 years ago, trying to train for a 50K. That was a stupid decision to train for the race, a last minute decision. I don't much remember what happened after I pulled it. I know I rested and I really can't remember what I ended up doing.

Well I've gone and done it again.

I am currently training for the McDonald Forest 50K, scheduled for May 14th. I've moved to a small coastal town. The town is next to the Redwood Forest. The town also has a lot of dogs that are allowed to run lose. I've been nervous about running with my dog around town as he got attacked one day, so I've been taking him to the forest which has been scary because of the threat of cougars and bears, but it has been good for me because it is a trail and the trail has some really good hills. I wanted to run with him, it was comforting.

I really believe that I overdid it. I ran a hard 16 miles this past Friday. It was on the trail and then it went up a side trail and then I realized my daughter was at home sick and waiting for me. My husband had picked her up from school sick. I didn't know the school had called me because I didn't have a cell phone signal. So I sped it up to get back to her. Tough run.

The next day I was scheduled to run in an actual 9.3 mi race, haven't been in a 9 mi race since the Shamrock run in Portland, OR in 2005. Well yes of course I ran faster than I should have, I was strong on the hills and was going to make a good entrance. That is until I pulled my hamstring at mi 8 and it was too painful to run, so I walked back and at least 10 people ran ahead of me.

Today, I tried to go out with my dog. In a matter of 2:43 min or .15 mi, I injured it again. I had walked most of that .15,maybe slowly jogged for 30 seconds. And I mean it, it was slow, my dog was still walking.
So now I am faced with a bummer attitude, what am I going to do, besides rest. Do I need to give up the McDonald Forest 50K?

I get very emotionally attached to all my races and when I have to give them up, it's painful, it hurts.

Having moved away from my home in Oregon to California 2 months ago, I've been very emotional, running has been everything to me. I jokingly listed it as the top 3 reasons for living. You know 1.God, 2. Kids, 3. running, 4. Fringe and Law and order SVU?

I am a housewife, I don't have a career, wish I did, have been going through these huge emotional rides about moving away from the only home I've ever known, away from my family and friends.

But I can run and I believe it is a gift from above. Running really is everything.

I know I'll be able to run again.

Life is full of challenges, ups and down and I think it really is how we look at things that determines are happiness.

This is just a temporary set back and perhaps God is trying to show me something, trying to teach me something. I do wish he would find another way.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Rainbow types

I didn't write any of this, but wanted to share. Everything taken from



Rainbow Types:



Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Okologorizontalnaya arc. Known as "fiery rainbow." Colored bands arise directly to the sky as a result of light passing through ice crystals in cirrus clouds covering the sky "rainbow film." This natural phenomenon is very difficult to see, as well as ice crystals, and sunlight must be at a certain angle to each other to create the effect of "fire rainbow".

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
"The Phantom of Brokkena." In some parts of the Earth can be observed a surprising phenomenon: a man standing on a hill or mountain, behind which rises or the sun, discovers that his shadow, upavshaya the clouds, it becomes implausible great. This is because that tiny droplets of mist special bends and reflect sunlight. His name phenomenon has been named tops Brokken in Germany, where, because of the frequent fogs, you can regularly observe this effect.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Okolozenitnaya arc. Okolozenitnaya arc - this arc with the center at zenith, which is located above the Sun by about 46 °. It is seen rarely and only for a few minutes, has vivid color, shape and always parallel to the horizon. An outside observer, she recalled the smile Cheshirskogo Kota or inverted rainbow.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
"Misty" rainbow. Misty halo like a colorless rainbow. As usual rainbow, the halo formed by the refraction of light through the water crystals. However, unlike the cloud, forming a normal rainbow, fog, bearing this halo, is made up of smaller particles oxen, and light prelomlyayas in tiny droplet does not splash it.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Gloria. When exposed to light scattering effect of a (diffraction of light, previously reflected in the water crystal clouds), he came back from the clouds in the same direction, which fell, and an effect known as "Gloria". This effect can be observed only in the clouds, which are located directly in front of the viewer or below it, at a point which lies on the opposite side of the light source. Thus, Gloria can only be seen from the mountain or from the aircraft, with light sources (sun or the moon) must be located directly behind the observer. Gloria bright circles in China is also called Buddha's Light.For this photo beautiful rainbow halo surrounds the shadow of air balls, fallen to below a cloud.


Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Galo at 22?. White light circle around the sun or the moon, which arise as a result of refraction and reflection of light in the atmosphere are crystals of ice or snow, called halo. In the present atmosphere of small crystals of water, and when they form a right angle brink of a plane passing through the sun, the one who observes the effect, and the crystals in the sky becomes visible characteristic white halo surrounding the sun. So the verge reflect the rays of light within a 22 °, forming a halo. In the cold season halo formed crystals of ice and snow on the ground reflects sunlight and scatters it in different directions, forming effect called "diamond dust".

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Brighter clouds. When the sun is under a certain angle to a drop of water that make up the cloud, the droplets bends sunlight and create unusual effects of "rainbow cloud", okrashivaya it in all the colors of the rainbow. His colors are clouds and a rainbow, are required to varying wavelengths of light.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Moon arc. A dark night sky and bright moon light often give rise to a phenomenon called "lunar rainbow" - a rainbow appearing in the light of the moon. Such a rainbow located on the opposite side of the moon nebosvoda and often seem to be completely white. However, sometimes they can be seen in all beauty.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Parhelion. "Pargely" in the translation from Greek - "mock sun". This is one way halo (see paragraph 6): in heaven there is one or more additional images of the Sun, located at the same height above the horizon as the sun now. Millions of ice crystals with a vertical surface, reflecting the sun, and formed this beautiful phenomenon.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Rainbow - the most beautiful meteor. Rainbow can take many forms, common to them is a rule of color - in the sequence of the spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, blue, violet). A rainbow can be seen when the sun illuminates part of the sky and the air is saturated with moisture kapelkami, for example, during or immediately after rain. In ancient times the emergence of the rainbow in the sky attached mystical meaning. To see the rainbow was considered a good omen, to travel or go under it sulilo happiness and success. A double rainbow, as they say, brings good luck and desire to perform. The ancient Greeks believed that the rainbow - is a bridge to heaven, and the Irish felt that at the other end of the rainbow is the legendary gold Leprechaun.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
North siyanie.Svechenie observed in the sky in the polar areas, known as the northern or auroral as well as the South - the southern hemisphere). It is anticipated that this phenomenon exists also in the atmospheres of other planets such as Venus. The nature and origin of auroral - the subject of intensive research, and in this regard have been developed many theories. "Polar Lights, as scientists believe, result from the bombing of the upper atmosphere by charged particles moving to the land along the power lines of the geomagnetic field from the adjacent space, called plasma layer. Projection plasma layer along the geomagnetic power lines on the Earth's atmosphere is in the form of rings surrounding the northern meters south magnetic poles (auroral Ovaly).

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Kondensatsionny (inversion) mark. Condensation should - this white stripes left by aircraft in the sky. By its very nature, they are skondensirovannym mist, consisting of moisture, which is in the atmosphere and exhaust from the engines. Most often, these tracks short - under the influence of high temperatures, they simply evaporate. However, some of them down in the lower atmosphere, forming cirrus clouds. Environmentalists believe that transformed thus condensing traces of the aircraft have a negative impact on the climate.Thin high-altitude cirrus clouds, which are derived from modified aircraft from attack by hinder the passage of sunlight and consequently lower the temperature of the planet, unlike ordinary cirrus clouds, which can retain heat the earth.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Next exhaust gas flares. Air flow in the high atmosphere distort inversion traces of space rockets and pieces of the exhaust gases bends sunlight and colors in all traces of the color of the rainbow. Huge colored curls stretch for several kilometers across the sky before evaporate.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Pol. Polarization - is the focus of electromagnetic light wave oscillations in space. The polarization of light occurs when light under a certain angle falls on the surface, affects and is becoming polarized. Polarized light is also freely distributed in space, like a normal sunlight, but the human eye, usually unable to capture the changing colors as a result of increasing polarization effects. This image provided by wide-angle lens with a polarization filter shows an intense blue sky attached electromagnetic charge. Such a sky we can see only through a filter camera.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Star scent. Hidden naked eye "star trail" can capture on camera. This photograph was taken at night, using cameras mounted on a tripod, with a fully open lens aperture and over time extract. The photo shows the "movement" sky - a natural change of the Earth as a result of the rotation makes the stars "move". The only fixed star - Polaris, which indicates the astronomical North Pole.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Zodiacal light. Scattered light the night sky, created by sunlight reflected from interplanetary dust particles, called zodiacal light. Zodiacal light can be seen evening or morning in the west to the east.
Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Crown, or crowns - are small colored rings around the Sun, Moon or other bright objects that occur from time to time, when the light source is behind a translucent clouds. Crown occurs when light fine water kapelkami water, forming a cloud. Sometimes the crown looks like a luminous spot (or glory), surrounds the Sun (or Moon), which concludes with red ring. During eclipses the Crown is surrounded by shaded sun.

Incredible, Beautiful, Rare Rainbow.....
Twilight rays. Twilight rays - divergent beams of sunlight, which become visible through their coverage of the dust in the high layers of atmosphere. Shadows of clouds form dark stripes, and among them are distributed rays. This effect occurs when the sun is low on the horizon before sunset or after dawn.



  Home
  OpticsPOD
  What's New 
  Rays & Shadows
  Water Droplets
  
Rainbows
    Not a rainbow!
    Primary
    Secondary Bow
    A's Dark Band
    Other Orders
    Supernumeraries
    Red Bows
    Rainbow Wheel
    Dew Bow
    Sea Spray Bow
    Glass Bead Bows
    Reflection Bows
    Twinned Bows
    Cloud Bows
    Moon Bows
    Image Gallery
    Simulators

  Ice Halos
  High Atmosphere
  Links & Resources
  Search - Index



 
123456789012345678


  Rainbows 


  Rainbows take many forms.  Multiple bows, bows that cross, red bows, twinned bows, coloured fringes, dark bands, spokes and more.    Rainbow pictures and explanations here.

  Click images for individual topics




 

Spiders

So I am driving my girls to school, as I do every morning. When all of a sudden this spider is hanging in front of my face. I of course did not handle it well. I weaved a little on the road, grabbed the ice scraper and tried hitting at him, but it fell to the floor.Now to any ordinary person, this wouldn't be that bad, especially since the spider was little, but not to an arachnophobic. I have no idea where that spider ended up, could be on me as far as I know. 

I then remembered the Mazda recall because of all the spiders. Well my car is a Mazda, but wrong make and year. 
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/03/autos/mazda6_spider_recall/index.htm

But I have one question. As I was trying to find a cute photo for the story, I came upon the following picture and I just have to ask, what is that?

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Redwood Wild River Run 3-19-11

I always had a feeling that the smaller runs, meaning anything under a marathon were going to be the death of me.

I signed up for the Redwood Wild River Run 15K (9.32 mi) and ran it yesterday. I think I did more out of wanting to be social considering that I am the new runner girl in town.

When I got there I did meet a few people and gave Ultra Marathon runner Ralph Hirt a big hug. The guy is amazing,  he's 73 and still runs 100's. I also met a few other locals and met up with a facebook friend of mine that lives in Medford, John Lotts.


While John got in the front, I went towards the middle of the big line.

The race was being held in the Redwoods on a large trail that is always used by cars.

The race got started and I was doing really good, especially up the hills. I noticed that there were a lot of little kids running the race, even the 15K. It was very impressive. Well, it wasn't until mile 8 that my wonderful speed and running came to a halt. I now know that I pulled my hamstring, again. So at mile 8, I started walking back to the finish line, 10 or so runners past me up. But I held my head high, especially when people gave me the "pitty" look and said "good job, keep it up!" I did manage to run in, the last .25 mi.

I finished at 1:32, with an overall speed of 9.52. Not bad.

I do however think that I am going to be avoiding any distance under a marathon for quite awhile.

Oh and I totally missed a spot on my back with the Body Glide. Ouch. I screamed in the shower.