Mike

My little buddy

This scruffy sparrow has been pigging out at the feeder for two days now.  It only leaves when a bigger bird, like a jay or a woodpecker, muscles in.  Even then it flutters to the nearest surface and waits until the coast is clear.  “Flutter” is the best way to describe how it flies because “flying” doesn’t come close.  Once this morning it fluttered onto the deck and into Psycho’s waiting mouth.  Fortunately for it, Psycho has no idea what to do with something that didn’t come out of a Fancy Feast can so he quickly spit it out.  My little buddy is also very tame.  Several times today it let me walk up to the feeder and stroke its back.  I’d invite it into the house for a sleepover but I don’t think Champ is as discriminating as Psycho is when it comes to dinner.

Easter Lilies

Zephranthes atamasco (also known as Atamasco Lilies or Rain Lilies)

Atamasco lilies are native to moist habitats in the southeast.  Most of Shadowmoss was originally swampy, open woods before developers drained and filled it so it's not surprising to see them blooming in yards during March and April.  These are blooming in a neighbor's yard this Easter Sunday morning.

First Moby, now Babs. I'm getting good at this.

I was outside with Champ about an hour ago waiting for him to pee again (he's still on prednisone) when a woman drove up and asked if I'd seen Babs, a young black lab. She had been watching him for her daughter and he'd wandered away.  (Yes, Babs is a he.)  I told her that I hadn't but that I would put Champ on his short leash and that we'd go looking. It took us about 5 minutes to find Babs.  Evidently he'd been on the 15th fairway and was happy to see someone, even me and Champ.  We walked him back to his house and sat in the yard until the woman returned.  Then Champ and I walked back home, flush with karma points.  We both need them.

If I've done the math right...

Allan +$14
William +$6
Me -$6
Justine -$14

31,000 people + 1 bridge = something special

I did the bridge run doubleheader today. (OK, I walked both but still...)

Justine and I did the 32nd Annual Cooper River Bridge 10K Run/Walk this morning.  Since the Ravenel Bridge opened in July 2005 anyone can run or walk over it any time, any day but there's still something special about doing it for various charities with over 30,000 of your new best friends.  (31,446 crossed the finish line today.)

A little over a mile into the race we hit the first bottleneck as the four lanes of Coleman Blvd became two lanes on the entrance ramp to the bridge.  (The second bottleneck came when we exited the bridge onto Meeting St but I don't have a photo of that.)

On the ramp.

The bridge has a dual walk/bike lane on the harbor side but we weren't allowed to walk on it today (what's up with that?) so I had to take photos through the suicide-prevention fence.  (It sort of works.  We haven't had many suicides.)  You'll notice that the cruise ship at the Port Authority passenger terminal is taller than most of the buildings in our historic downtown.  We like it that the city has such a a low skyline.

Approaching the Diamonds and the top of the bridge.

Things had thinned out as we walkers approached the finish line.

A father-daughter moment at the end of the race.

Starting in 2006 all runners and walkers got a timing chip to attach to their shoes.  Justine and I both crossed the finish line in 1:46:36 today, 2:31 better than our previous best time.  I know that isn't a great time for walking 10K but you have to remember that we were walking in a freaking crowd!

When we got back to West Ashley we stopped for our traditional post-race breakfast.  Nathan's Deli on Ashley River Rd is no more so we went to the Sunflower Café instead.  The breakfast menu is fantastic but I miss my bagel and schmear.

When we returned home Justine crashed (we'd both been up since 4 AM) but I stayed awake, barely, because I had another bridge to cross.  Today was also the 11th Annual Edgewater Park 0.1 Mile Bridge Run.  Actually 0.1 mile is an exageration.  It's closer to 100 yards.  It's a fun run over a short bridge on Wapoo Rd with the proceeds going to a local charity.  This year it's PetHelpers, our local no-kill animal shelter (and the place where I'll eventually adopt a friend for Champ).

The starting line.  Notice that the finish line tape is Charmin.  The orginizers spared no expense.

They're off!  It's a fun run but a few of these guys took it very seriously.

Like the Cooper River Bridge run, walkers bring up the rear.  Unlike the Cooper River Bridge run, the Edgewater Park walkers cross the finish line with adult beverages in hand.

"Call me when the rain ends"

Psycho hates the rain, and he's not too thrilled about thunder, so he spent most of yesterday in the back of the kitchen pantry hidden behind bags of pet food, rolls of paper towels, and other assorted crap that we keep there.

I didn't have to build an ark

The downtown streets that usually flood did flood yesterday.  Fortunately my West Ashley neighborhood didn't, although there were lots of nervous people in the Bridge Pointe condos on the other side of the lake from me.  Understandable since they had from 1 to 3 feet of water in their units back in October.  Those condos were built on what is possibly the lowest spot in Shadowmoss and they were built on slabs instead of crawl spaces which makes them even more susceptible to flooding.  Two things helped yesterday.  In October the rainfall total over about 36 hours was 5.9"  Yesterday it was only 3.9".  It also helped that the city sent crews with backhoes out after the last flood to clear debris from the miles of drainage ditches that lace Shadowmoss.  In some spots, like behind my house, they widened and deepened them a bit.  I think that the time of year helped, too.  In October there were a lot of fallen leaves on the ground which washed down streets and eventually clogged many storm sewer drains.  There were no leaves this time.

Silhouette

Are you looking at me?