Football 101

Christopher made it through his first week of two-a-day practices and, although very tired each night, he handled it like a champ. He is playing the position of wide receiver which seems to be a good fit for him because he has good hands and he can run fast. Hopefully fast enough to not get tackled. This year, the freshman team plays three scrimmage games and ten regular season games. Almost all of the games are local and I think we are at home more than away which is very convenient. The season finishes in early November - just before it gets too cold. 

I am not sure how I feel about Christopher playing football. I am very worried about him getting injured and I know that seeing him be tackled for the first time (and probably for the fiftieth time!) is going to be nerve wracking. He has grown a couple of inches in the last few months and we are continuing to try to bulk him up and put some meat on his bones so he can withstand being hit. I guess the good news is that he is definitely not the smallest player on the field and he can run fast. He has also made a lot of new friends from other middle schools and will be very comfortable when high school begins in a few weeks. 

After listening to Christopher and Kevin talk football, I realized how very little I knew about the different offensive and defensive positions and the specific responsibilities of each position.  I turned to my trusted amazon.com account and soon I will be an expert on all things football!

I reached mile 2,895 on my transcontinental run early Sunday morning and this was my spectacular view at Old Faithful - Yellowstone National Park, Teton County, Wyoming...

I am getting close enough to the end of my journey that I am beginning to think, "what next?".

My run on Sunday morning took quite an interesting turn...I set out very early Sunday with a plan to run three miles. At about mile two, I realized I was in the vicinity of a house that I had read about some time ago in The Washington Post. You can find the original article here. I decide to extend my run and see if I could find it. The house I was searching for, Squirrel Hill, located in Oakton, VA, is Fairfax County's oldest documented historic dwelling, dating to 1705. I found the photo below of the original house on-line but could not identify the photographer.

New owners recently purchased the property in and are in the process of preserving the history of the ancient house in a very unique way. An extensive renovation includes an attached three-car garage built on one end of the original house and a four-bedroom home built on the other end...the original structure is situated between the two additions. This house has a lot of history (and maybe even a ghost!) and, after reading the article way back when, I really wanted to see the piece of property and the modifications made to incorporate the old structure into the new. The article in The Washington Post includes some photographs that show the modifications and the new additions.

I had a general idea where the house was located and, after a few wrong turns (which added to my mileage!), I was happy to find it. Unfortunately, I did not have my phone with me to take any photos but plan on running in that area again this weekend and will make sure I take it along. Much progress has been made in the renovations and the house looks very different than the photo above - it was truly impressive, as was the property it was located on. Although this little expedition increased my run to 7 miles, it was worth the effort.

Have a great Tuesday!