Turkey Trot

...Since 1990 I have annually run the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot here in Charlotte. There were 300 of us in 1990. Today's run had over 3,500 people running, walking, pushing baby strollers and strolling to the finish....This year was special because Luke and Olin joined me along with Olin's friend Philip Woodward.
...This is an 8K race. That would be 4.98 miles long. Olin shot some video along the route with commentary. Enjoy.

Just click the arrow in the lower left of the video frame. It will take a couple of seconds of buffering for the video to roll.

...Here are the rules of the run:
Rule #1 - start slow
Rule #2 - hang together until mile 4 for the camaraderie
Rule #3 - all rules are off at mile 4 and it is each person for themselves

Here's a video of Olin cooling himself off with a glass of water - over the head!


...Some good banter began at Mile 4. Olin's video below captured his "attempt" at passing the three of us. He faded.



...Here we are at the finish line. Victory is sweet.
...Now we have more room for turkey, sweet potatoes, stuffing and pecan pie!

Rock climbing on Crowders Mountain

...Our son Olin is home this week for the U.S. holiday, Thanksgiving. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas where he is stationed in the Air Force and is a navigator on a C-130 aircraft.

...Olin took up rock climbing in Arkansas and brought home some of his climbing gear.
...The weather was so nice yesterday afternoon we headed out to Crowder's Mountain 30 miles west of Charlotte for some climbing.
...The photos above and below give you some perspective as to how high the rock ledges were that Olin climbed. I made it up about a quarter of the way and then ran out of places to "get a grip".

...What a great day of being in God's creation with my son on a fall day when the leaves were a burst of yellows, reds and oranges.

...And both Olin and I survived with just a few scratches from the rocks and some sore muscles.

...We weren't on top of the mountain, but such a fun time sure made us feel like it.

Planes, boats and trolleys

...Public transportation is terrific in Japan. I always enjoying coming for a visit and seeing what unusual means I will have to use to get from Point A to Point B.

...Arrival and departure is via airplane, but from there it gets interesting. On this last trip I utilized the following forms of transportation...

...Subway usage is always an interesting experience. Gratefully they added English to some of the signs. Let me repeat, some of the signs. That means that occasionally I find myself looking at a sign with all Japanese characters and no idea what they mean. So, I resort to the method that most men save until last - ask someone for directions. ...Electric trolley cars are not only in San Fransisco. They are plentiful and inexpensive in Hiroshima, Japan. Gratefully I was riding one in the morning after rush hour traffic, so I didn't have to wrestle my luggage while finding room to stand.

...Ferry boats are plentiful to keep people moving between the islands off of Hiroshima, Japan. It was a beautiful day to be on the water as I headed back to the main land to catch my flight to Tokyo. What a way to start the day.

Japan in October

...I am so belated in blogging.

...Sorry for the delay. My mind has been caught up with so much to keep track of and do, that I lost my blogging energy.

These were the Asian Access missionaries involved in church planting in Japan. This was their fall conference, held on Etijima Island off the coast of Hiroshima, Japan.

...Hey, I had a great trip to Japan in October, visiting the missionaries of Asian Access.

...There was some excellent training on how to be a more effective personal coach with people with whom we work, co-taught by Takeshi Takazawa, pictured above.

...I had the privilege of providing an update report on the ministry as I stepped into the interim president role just days before.

...It was a full schedule for my two weeks in Japan, but I was able to see so much accomplished.