The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Part I – The Kids' Tri

We volunteered for the Children's Triathlon. If you have never done this before, DO IT. It's hilarious. (check out www.tri4schools.com for the next Madison area entertainment)

Athletes will do some pretty weird stuff in the heat of the moment, with all the adrenaline pumping. Children take this to a whole new level. One of my co-volunteers commented that it's like watching a bunch of tiny drunk people try to do a triathlon.

It's funny too, to think how a lot of triathlete technique contradicts the values we teach children. Tying shoelaces, who needs it? Peeing your pants without breaking stride, what an achievement! And chuck those paper cups right onto the ground like a sloppy litterbug!

Not only did many of the children stop to politely finish the entire cup of water, but they also lined up single file to deposit the empties in the trash can. For a twelve minute race, you can lose a lot of time on these courtesies. As one 5 year old shuffled past, trying not to spill her cup of water, I encouraged her to "just drop it on the ground and keep running!" She stopped, carefully poured the water out on the cement, and then sprinted away with the cup clasped tightly in her fist.

My favorite was little Alex, who was perfecting the art of Dead Last. His commitment to prolonging the torture of his race (25 yd swim/1 mile bike/quarter mile run) was impressive. If you've ever tried to walk a cat, you might have some idea what his patient and humiliated mother was being subjected to as she gently tugged him forward, assuring him he was "almost there!" (she promised us that it was his idea to participate...) Alex's run technique alternated between a slow motion, stiff-legged goose-step, and Sleeping Marionette (pitched forward at the waist, with one arm limply dangling towards the ground).
While many of his peers completed the task in about 12-15 minutes, Alex managed to milk every last moment of misery, extending the race a full 40 minutes, with a dramatic finish line crawl to rival Julie Moss's tragically heroic 1982 Ironman finish.

Part II – Winning

For the adult race, I was one third of the Capital City Multisport Club relay. This is the first time I've done a relay, what fun! It's so much fun, in fact, that I don't understand why more people don't do it. I suspect it has something to do with pride, as we had to keep correcting people - No, we're not "just doing the relay," we're "Winning the Relay"

And win we did.
We beat the other relay team by over 32 minutes.

Nick had the task of swimming in the bathwater warm lake, Andrew tore up the bike course, and I was the anchor with the 10K run.
Of course, Will Smith did all three on his own, and still beat our team by 24 minutes. When I asked him how his race went, he smiled and said in his cheerful New Zealand accent, "Like taking candy from a baby!"

Well, Will may be able to outswim, outbike and outrun Team CCMC, but I'd like to point out that our swim to bike transition was 32 seconds, and his was 33. Our bike to run transition was 27 seconds, his was 28.

So, who's laughing now, Will?

Posted by kim 07/25/2011, revised 07/25/2011

Yup, I'm taking over my page now! Since 2003 i haven't done anything except a trip on my bike last summer. Well, I guess that about brings us up to date. Moving on.

My summer was spent in the wonderful little village of San Luis Obispo, nestled against the California coastal range, where i participated in an internship at the 'we're too good for Nik' Cal Poly University. Let me just say, SLO rocks! As do all the wonderful people i met there this summer, and I can't wait to return next year.

We'll cut into this little reminiscion with a recount of my last mini-backpacking trip near Sequoia National Park, so i can put in some cool pictures.

A friend from the internship and I headed out after work on friday for a weekend backpacking trip in the Sierra's. We got in late and stayed at a little walk in camp that was tucked waaay up a small winding backroad near the trailhead. This was also the only bear sighting on our trip. We awoke early to find a black bear not more than 50 yards off in the camp area. He wasn't interested in our food though, just beating up the trees around there.

Backpacking in the High Sierras

Posted by nik 08/22/2008, revised 08/22/2008

I have always been a goal-setter. Generally, when I set out to do something or to make something happen, it happens. Apparently this has been a part of my character since I was a wee lass. While I don't have a clear memory of my early years, my parents tell of a time when I was 5 years old and decided that I wanted to learn how to do 3 things: tie my shoes, whistle, and snap my fingers. I had set my deadline for the end of the week... or maybe by my birthday. I'm not quite sure, I think it depends on who's telling the story. Nevertheless, a self-imposed target date was established and was, needless to say, met with great success.

This same voracity for making desired events come to fruition is what has brought me, finalmente, to Latin America. I've been wanting to experience life and culture in this part of the world for years, and now here I am. And now that I am here, my new mission has made itself very apparent: Aprender español! I have never taken a Spanish class, and I often feel I could've sacrificed one of my useless years of French class to take a Spanish course. But such is life.

I have never had something that is so entirely the focus of every day, every interaction, every moment, as learning the Spanish language is for me now. That has become my goal, and the force of my desire to make it happen drives my self-education every day. I want to understand what my soccer teammates are telling me, I want to read Spanish novels, I want to express my opinions to those around me, I want to write fluidly about my day in a language other than my native one, I want to eavesdrop on phone conversations in the grocery store. I want to have a fully-functional grasp on this language. I want to not be an imcompetent gringa with only blank stares to offer to those who speak at me.

At the university (Universidad de San Francisco, Quito), I am enrolled in an intermediate Spanish class. Yes. Intermediate. There weren't enough students enrolled for a beginner course, so I enrolled for the intermediate level to see if I could catch up. I figured a course above my head was better than none at all, and I had faith in my determination to catch up. Well, I just turned in my first 2-page essay en español! Haha. Yep. I wrote a two-page analysis of a Spanish movie that we had to watch. And let me tell you... it took me forever to write! I'm sure the pages will have red pen all over them when I get the paper back from la profesora, but that's what I need. I'm excited to be thrown into such a challenge, and even though the learning process is slow and I still struggle to understand the simplest requests from people, I can feel improvement every day and that's what keeps me powering on.

The thing about this mission of mine is that it has no "Finish" line. I could work to improve my Spanish indefinitely. But I do have somewhat of a timeline, in that I plan on living here in Quito until about May, and I would like to have a confident conversational grasp of the language by the time I leave my current set-up. It is highly likely that I will continue traveling around Latin America after May, and if this is going to be the case, I would really like to feel comfortable living on my own devices in the language of the people around me.

So onward I go with this mission of mine, and while the progress often feels minuscule, it is progress nevertheless.

Cada día, un poco más.
Posted by Whitney 02/05/2011, revised 02/05/2011