MACKENNA CURTIS-COLLINS coasting to a dream finish in the regional cross country championship race in Tiffin, OH Saturday, October 29th.

Last week she was wearing a boot to help heal a stress fracture in her tibia.

She got her doctor's approval to attempt this race with the admonishment to stop immediately at the sign of any pain.

She ran three warm up outings on her home course earlier in the week and did a 5 minute warm-up at the regional event...

...then went out and smashed the field of over 90 other racers with a winning margin of 11 seconds leading her team to a first place finish in the regional and a place in the state championship next weekend.

Can you see this proud, adopted grand-pa's smile?

Little Fern House

in my woods

HURRICANE FOLLOW-UP
Vero Beach, FL

It appears the Vero Beach area dodged a bullet, so to speak.  Hurricane Matthew passed near-by, off-shore as a category III storm and the only reported damage is relatively minor; downed trees and power lines and some beach erosion.

One fellow was reported to say he expected "...to find nothing left when he returned to his local mobile home park."  Instead the only evidence of the storm there was downed branches and some car-ports and awnings destroyed.

Our mobile home/RV park remains evacuated.  Stay tuned!

HURRICANE MATTHEW--
Intellicast Radar 3:15 a.m., Friday, October 7, 2016

The designator VRB in the lower left of the eye of the hurricane is Vero Beach, Florida; our winter home for the past six snow-birding seasons.  The future of that marvelous, winter diversion is very much in question at the moment of this radar image.

May God have mercy on the folks in this massive storm's path. 

 

GOD STOPPED BY THE WOODS and sprinkled crimson stardust on this young maple tree.

Now it stands quietly and enjoys its visual blessing while its neighbors remain dressed in the fading growing season's greenery.

Thanks God for what was, what is, and what is yet to be. 

COMMENTERRY--

The boys on WMAN news radio were talking the other morning about the very noticeable lack of what's-her-name's yard signs in their local listening area during this presidential election.

It's true.  While there are Trump signs everywhere I can think of two of hers.  T.w.o.

Decided to look into this on a drive to the Columbus airport today.  I took SR 13 through Bellville to Mt. Vernon, SR 661 and US 62 through Johnstown to Gahanna and on to the airport.

I passed boatloads of Trump signs.

I saw four of what's-her-name's.

In fact, they were virtually trumped (smile) by the 3 signs I saw promoting her imprisonment.

Now, this isn't exactly a scientific poll but it is revealing.  Makes one wonder about the legitimacy of the national "scientific" polls that keep describing this election as a tight race.

You don't suppose the pollsters have been manipulating the results, do you?

Nah, that couldn't possibly happen with today's high level of professionalism and journalism ethics we've come to enjoy with pollsters and major news outlets.

Or, could it?