“Rounding third and heading for home…”

I just came in from running my first ever Homewood Twilight Retro 5K. It’s been a while since I’ve actually run a race. I’ve been spending more time in the doctor’s office than out on the streets logging miles recently.

I would say that I’ve become addicted to running. My first ever race was the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, South Carolina in 2002. I had a pretty decent time then considering it was my first real race (1:12). Ironically, my last real race before all of this rehab work began was the same race this year. Unlike my first experience, this one should have warned me that there were tough times ahead physically.

You could say that I started running to get the attention of a girl. In this case, it was the girl that I had already been dating for six years. I wanted to see if we could actually spend more time together since she’d decided that she wanted to look better and do something worthwhile, resulting in her running all the time and me not seeing her often as a result. I quickly realized that it was not helpful for having more quality time. Our ability to communicate was never quite there anyway, so looking back now any hopes of talking more through running with her wasn’t really realistic. I also started in part to get back in shape because I was starting to notice this extra weight showing up. I did find that it helped me get my frustrations out and helped clear my mind. That belly also started to disappear. So I’ve still kept up with it until now. The latest challenge is getting used to hills after training on flat land for so long along the coast.

Back to the race… In true retro style, I decided to run in an afro and a tie-dye shirt. I will say that when I got there I was a little concerned that I may have gone a little overboard with my costume. That was luckily proven to not be true. I’m hoping to post some shots of some of the more interesting costumes around mid-week.

My friend Sharron decided to run in a really cool looking polyester shirt, a sparkling silver hat and some pretty interesting Keds. Bets decided that she had to catch both of these sights on film and decided to make the trek to Homewood with me. It should be really easy to tell which one I am (I hope). For some reason, Bets couldn’t keep from laughing at me; I really don’t know why.

The race was a test of my knee as well. I’ve been dealing with some rehab issues. My good right knee doesn’t want to make it easy for me to run any more. The heat alone did Sharron and I in; our times reflect that. I’m figuring my newfound head of hair didn’t help much either. The knee did surprisingly well though. We did finish the race though, and we had a lot of fun doing it. Afterwards, Bets had more fun watching us attempt to do the Macarena and other dances. Part of it goes back to that taking the leap idea again. Still working on taking some other chances; I still have some time.

I’ve now spent most of the evening sipping on some iced tea enjoying the feeling from the ice rub that I have to put on after every race. Pain and all, I’m already looking at the calendar for the next one. FYI – I’m a huge baseball fan, so I end up finding ways to try to work it into a story, even if it’s only the title. This is one of the more famous lines in the game and it is placed in an area of prominence on Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, home of the Reds. It’s the sign off used by their long time radio voice and Hamilton, Ohio native Joe Nuxhall, who retired from full-time announcing duties at the end of last season after spending sixty years in the Reds organization in two memorable roles; 38 as a Hall of Fame announcer and the rest as the “Ol’ Left-hander,” the youngest person ever to pitch a MLB game (15 years).

Taking the leap

I learned a great many lessons of life while working as a front desk clerk at the Eliza Thompson House while I was taking a break from and finishing up my college career. The owner of the inn at the time was a woman named Carol Day. Her husband, Steve, had taken early retirement from Caterpillar after a career that literally took him all over the world. The inn was an opportunity for her to do something that she had always wanted to do.

The building was beautiful. It’s the oldest building standing on Jones Street in Savannah’s historic district. The walk to work every day consisted of enjoying a brick paved street draped in live oak trees covered in Spanish moss. Paints a pretty cool picture, unless it’s Halloween (lol). The inn has been under different ownership since 2001, so the best way to run into the Days is to keep an eye out for their general contracting sign on some of the current renovation projects around Savannah. Anyway, one of the cool things about working at an inn was the chance you got to connect with people, especially during our wine and cheese reception. Mrs. Day encouraged the staff to talk with the guests and to answer any questions that the guests may have. We all got to meet some pretty amazing people over the years, some famous, some not, all incredible and all making that front parlor more of a classroom than many people realized.

One of the questions that people enjoyed asking was why she chose to purchase and run a bed and breakfast. Contained within that answer is a statement that, whenever I’m awake enough to remember, has encouraged me to do some pretty interesting things. I’ll never do it justice so I’ll paraphrase as best I can: Sometimes taking a chance looks and feels like you’re about to jump off a cliff. You need to take that “leap” in order to realize that the cliff is actually a simple, shallow step. She decided that she wanted to have her own business and wanted to live somewhere else other than Illinois. Once she realized that the leap was a small hop down a step, she enjoyed herself.

The idea behind the statement is quite simple: take the chance. If you take the chance and fail, at least you’ve tried. The best example I can share in this space is that I have a terrible fear of speaking in front of groups, mainly because I’ve had a stuttering problem from childhood. I’ve gotten better about doing it as time has gone on. This could be due to the fact that my job partially depends on it. You need to be able to get over any or at least put away any fears or stereotypes as much as possible in order to be productive. It is also because I realized that if I didn’t start dealing with just getting up there and talking I’d never be able to do half of the things I wanted to. There are still times when I hold in what I really think and feel. In those cases I’m not scared anymore, I’m just using my best judgment to keep a bad situation from getting out of hand or from ruining a good thing by saying something stupid. I am more willing to take the chance and seeing where it takes me most times though.

Seems to me that a lot of people are nervous or have some reservations about taking that first jump, not realizing that many times it’s really just taking a baby step towards your ultimate goal.

Posting questions for answers seems like it could be fun. Tonight’s question: What’s the last time that you just took the chance and decided to see what would happen? I’d be interested in finding out what about it was fun, what wasn’t, etc. Let me know. Have fun.

What do you want to know?

I promised a “more info about me” post. I’ve never been really good about talking about myself seriously, thus this somewhat abnormal post. Here are some of the facts, in no particular order:

I’m 29 years old

Grew up in University Heights section of the Bronx (that’s in New York :) It's called University Heights due to New York University's presence in the community during the early part of the 20th century. At that time they maintained a campus in the neighborhood. The campus still stands as part of Bronx Community College.

Actually born in East Orange, NJ (supposedly because it was cheaper, despite the fact that both parents are nurses. Go figure.)

They’re from Trinidad & Tobago, making my brother and I first generation Americans.

He’s two years younger than I am. And yes, he is single.

Attended St. Nicholas of Tolentine Elementary School and Mt. St. Michael Academy for those “formative” years in the big city

Also attended art classes at Cooper Union and St. John’s University

I am a graduate of the Lwanga Scholars program. This program was supported by the Archdiocese of New York and provided leadership training for African American and Latin American students throughout the city. A lot of the things I learned there I use every day.

Diehard Yankees fan (Reggie Jackson and Don Mattingly rule!)

I’m a fan of the game of baseball as well. While in college, unfortunately for just one year, I got to play the one game that I enjoy more than anything else in the world. I loved every second of it.

Attended the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, GA. Earned a B.F.A. in architectural history with a minor in architecture. Ended up living there for 11 years. Some of the weirdest yet enjoyable so far in this short story.

Favorite color is blue. Or is it green?

I’ve become as avid a runner as my knees allow me to be. Good idea for a post.

Currently employed by Main Street Birmingham as their Main Street Coordinator. This means that I get to coordinate activities in those nine target districts located throughout Birmingham, AL that you’ll see listed if you click on the link in the previous sentence :)

Some of those other jobs have included freelance reporter, general manager for a historic inn along the Savannah waterfront, b&b desk clerk and administrative assistant for downtown revitalization office in Savannah.

I own two cats. Or should I say that two cats, Boomer and Ed, grant me the privilege of taking care of most of their needs.

They also grant my girlfriend, Betsy, that same privilege... when they feel like it.

Every once in a while I still attempt to play the guitar. Would help if I got the classical repaired. The twelve-string is testing the strength in my left hand.

I am a board member for Ruffner Mountain Nature Center. Check out the site.

I also serve as the Community Development VP for the Birmingham Jaycees.

Oh yeah, I also serve on the steering committee for Catalyst Birmingham. I have this problem saying NO to things sometimes.

One of the best things I don’t do that often anymore is to just get in the car and drive. Hoping to do some more now that I’ve supposedly settled into life in Birmingham. You never know what you’re going to find out there.

I love to write. That’s one of the reasons I decided to finally do a blog.

I don’t have a lot of regrets in life. I’ve had some crazy events happen so far, but there are few things that I really regret not having done.

If anyone out there knows of some interesting facts that I’ve forgotten, let me know. Or maybe you may want to let me know some more things about you. Looking forward to the doors opening. I’ll catch you on the other side.

"I'm Singing in the Rain..."

Rain has always been one of those weirder natural occurrences to me. As with most things in nature, it can either sustain us or lead to destruction. I've always viewed the destruction as providing a great opportunity for a new start, a washing away of the past and the problems associated with it allowing for a new beginning. Yesterday I was able to stand in one of the those enjoyable rainstorms. I really hadn't had the chance to do that since my first visit to Savannah nearly 13 years ago. That evening the rain continued for most of the night becoming quite heavy at times. I walked with my then new friends (none of us with umbrellas) back from the riverfront along the Savannah River, up the 250 year old cobblestone stairway near Barnard Street to the bluff of the historic district. We then decided to walk barefoot through the streets of Savannah on a Saturday night, more or less snaking our way through downtown, arriving back at the residence hall where we were to spend the next five weeks of our lives soaking wet but already with an appreciation of the city that we were being given the chance to treat as our home away from home. Once we'd given in to the fact that we were going to be soaked, it became much easier to enjoy being lost in a new town and enjoy the buildings, the trees and the squares. Wednesday's storm was not as monumental in my mind; at least I doubt it will ever be as long as that night in Savannah still immediately returns to my awareness anytime I see a downpour occur. Instead of enjoying the rainfall, I was scurrying to find the keys to my car so that I could drop off some film at a one hour photo place and get back to work. This is of course after enjoying the Rickwood Classic at Rickwood Field for the most of the early afternoon. I finally decided to enjoy the moment and slow down for a bit. I enjoyed watching the suds come out of the downspouts as I walked along the alley to get to my car in its secured parking lot. Once inside the car, I watched the drops hit the windshield, giving me a chance to enjoy the music of nature and the sounds of the city. It's something that I don't do as often as I need to. My hope with this blog is to hopefully make myself more aware of those moments that I don't take a chance to enjoy and maybe share a few with all of you. I think you'll enjoy the ride and I'm looking forward to seeing where this leads. For those that stumble across this blog, later this week I'll do the somewhat necessary introduction of myself. I'll see you on the other side.