On Saturday, it was Mer’s turn to be in charge, and although the day was spitting rain on and off, she decided (with my backing) to try some new parks. So, we headed north to a Cleveland Metro Park. Cleveland has a long string of continuous parks around the edge of the city, and they are collectively called “The Emerald Necklace” since they sort of look like that on a map. We headed to one of these parks, in the the southeastern part of the “necklace”; the individual park is known as the Bedford Reservation, and it’s comprised of a large main park and a couple of small satellite parks.

We headed to one of the small satellite parks first. We found it first because we stumbled across it because the main road of the town was closed, and we happened across the smaller park while finding our way around an unmarked detour. That was just as well, since we could easily do the entire smaller park in an hour or so. The smaller park, called the Viaduct Park, is a very cool area that used to be a tall railroad overpass over a small river. After the viaduct was built, later engineers channeled the river through a huge tunnel, and filled in the area around the viaduct with fill dirt. The rail lines moved to this new land, and the viaduct eventually became the literal high point of a park that opened about ten years ago.

The park has paved paths, and information boards that explained how this river area used to be used for industry, which included a night-only power plant that powered street lights. There are few remains of the older buildings, but a few foundations still exist, and the tunnels that channeled river water around for power still exist, and the larger one that powered a flour mill can actually be walked though (albeit you have to bend over). The entire park is very pretty, and it has a small but picturesque falls near the old mills. It rained a little bit while we were at the park, but only for a short time, and then the rain went away. It was not even enough to get us wet, so the park tour turned out to be a good idea.

After we had explored the Viaduct Park, we made our way to the much larger main park of Bedford Reservation. The park is huge – we estimated it was about six miles long, before it spilled over into the next Metro Park. It is a beautiful park, with horse trails, paved bike trails, and several picnic areas. We drove through the park to get an overview, and along the way I saw a sign for Bridal Veil Falls. I had heard about these small falls that resemble a bridal veil as they cascade over rocks, but had never been able to find it. I violated a rule about our days, and suggested we stop to see it even though it was Mer’s day (I’m not supposed to make suggestions on Mer’s day, and vice versa). She good-naturedly agreed, and we parked the car and walked into the woods. The falls were about a half mile into the woods, and were a little disappointing since the river was so low. I suspect they are at their best in the spring with the run-off of melting snows. Still, it is a pretty place to walk.

After making our way back to the car, we continued along the road until I saw a sing for a scenic overlook, and I pulled over (I’m really not very good at obeying the Mer’s-day rules). The overlook was situated over the entire river valley, but was mostly covered in by foliage. I expect it is spectacular in the late fall, and I’ll need to try to remember to go back in the fall. We drove a little bit further on, but then Mer wanted us to turn around because we still had a graduation party to go to.

We left the main park, but made a quick detour to another remote park, Forbes Farm. Forbes Farm used to be a working farm, but had gone under for some reason (the park does not explain why), and nature had reclaimed most of the site. There are still a couple of foundations around, and the park has a short (half-mile or so) paved trail that meanders through the trees. It is a pretty spot, and the park looks to be geared toward school-aged children since there are many information placards around the site.

We headed south to the party. It was a fun set-up, with a tent, a big yard, and a bouncy house. We stayed for some time, as several other teachers showed up while we were there, and we had a great time getting caught up with them. The food was excellent, and we had a fun time watching various students play corn hole. It was a good grad party.

We finally headed home, and Mer decided she wanted to watch a movie version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. I had gotten it for her some months ago, and so we settled in to watch it. It was very well done, and I am glad we own it. The only slightly odd bit was that the filmmakers decided to take the main male lead, Prospero, and make it into a woman’s role, Prospera. It worked well, but I did not see any artistic value to the change, so I’m not sure why the change was made (other than that the actress playing Prospera was excellent).

In finishing the weekend, we did also have another graduation party on Sunday; this one was a joint party for two girls, one of whom Meredith had taught, and I actually knew the other one of them fairly well. That always makes a party more fun for me. There was a burrito bar and a sundae bar, and the house overlooked a large pond, and the evening was very nice, so we had a good time. We did not see any other teachers, but we had a long talk with the father of one of the girls, while I ate too much food. I’ve always been a sucker for a sundae bar.

Last Thursday, I broke my once-a-year golf tradition to try spring golf with my colleagues Phil and RT, and Phil’s friend Jack. We went to the par-three golf course that is part of the much larger Brandywine course. Phil’s friend Jack is the resident golf pro at the course, even though he is in his late 70s. He is a very funny man, and was very kind to me, even as poorly as I play golf.

I do love Brandywine’s par-three course. It runs along the Cuyahoga River and the national park, and is just as pretty as can be. I like Phil and enjoy his company, and RT is a stitch. We had a very good time. And Jack even allowed us to play a full eighteen holes, and it was free, which was very nice of the course to let us do that. I played okay, but mostly I enjoyed the scenery and the fellowship, and I look forward to my fall outing.

Monday was Memorial Day, and so I had the day off. Mer had agreed to let me be in charge, so we headed back up to Cleveland, to the east side, to the University Circle area. Even though it was a really warm day, I wanted to show Mer the Cleveland Cultural Gardens that I had seen the week before while walking that section of the Cleveland Marathon.

We parked near the Cleveland Museum of Art, which is normally closed on Mondays, but was open for the holiday. We decided to use the restrooms, and as we entered the museum, we ran into a CVCA family. So we chatted with them for a short while before we headed off toward the gardens.

Or so I thought. We walked for the better part of a mile, and we saw the Chinese cultural garden, but no others. We finally found a map and figured out I had led us in the wrong direction. We turned around and walked back to the museum, and I thought about leaving since it was getting so hot. I decided to press on, and I’m glad we did.

The Clevleland Cultural Gardens are a series of gardens in a long, narrow park that borders either side of a winding north-south road. The gardens were installed and are maintained by various ethnic groups in Cleveland to highlight the home countries. The gardens go on for over a mile, on both sides of the road, and even up a hill above the road for some of the way.

There are many countries we saw, but we were probably most impressed by the Irish garden, which was the very first one we saw. It was well kept and spacious, and there were busts of famous Irish people and a Celtic cross made of stone and grass that was over fifty feet long, occupying most of the garden. We also liked the Hungarian garden very much, which was on two levels and had busts of famous Hungarians and quotations from them.

Most of the gardens were interesting, and we saw them all. A few were lame, sadly led by the English garden, which was not laid out as a formal English garden, and was designated as English solely by the Union Jack and one bust of Shakespeare.

We had an interesting chat with a man who lived in the area, and we found out that the gardens are sometimes vandalized, and some of the busts are stolen. That made me sad; it is such a great little park that it seems as if even the vandals should respect it. Some of the parks date back to the late 1930s, and should be left intact.

I may suggest we go back sometime in the fall, to see the colors change and so we could be less hot. We managed okay for most of the walk, but I have to admit that the last mile or so back to the car was a bit of a slog.

On Sunday, CVCA had graduation at The Chapel in Green. Mer is required to go, and since she has to be there, I like to go as well. I like the pre-ceremony mingling with students, former students, and teachers very much. The actual ceremony has fine moments as well; four students gave speeches this year, and I knew three of the students pretty well, and the speeches they gave were excellent.

Graduation is always a little weird, for both me and Mer. We spend multiple years getting to know these students, and sometimes getting very close to them. Then, they move on and we cycle back to CVCA for another year. It is natural, but still disquieting.

After graduation, Mer and I had been invited to supper by a family who had five children go through Mer’s classes over the years, with this year being the graduation of the youngest. Normally, I would have loved to go, but I had a mild migraine going on, and I did not feel up to it. My friend Craig gave me a ride home, and Mer was still able to go with the family, where she had a nice time and some good food at Carrabba’s.

Saturday was Mer’s day, and she started the day out with a graduation party. It was a party for one of Mer’s students whom I had not known, but that does happen every year. I always think that since Mer only has about forty seniors, I should recognize all of them. The party was a fine one, in a hall next to a church, with great comfort food and about five different kinds of dessert. Yum.

In the evening, Mer took me up to Cleveland, to Playhouse Square. She took me to a theater we did not even know existed – a small theater downstairs, under the large Allen Theater. It looked as if it used to be an old bar. It was now set up as a very small theater that could seat about thirty or forty people. We were there to see two one-act plays, to which I was looking forward, as theaters rarely put on one-acts.

The first play was Elegy for a Lady, by Arthur Miller. It told the story of a man who comes into a store staffed by a woman. The man is looking for a gift to give to his mistress, who he thinks is dying. The play unfolds details pretty slowly, and the language is vague enough to allow multiple interpretations of the action. I thought it possible (but not necessarily likely) that the play could be straightforward, or that it could all be happening in the mind of the man, or even that the man and woman were the lovers being discussed, but could not bring themselves to talk openly about the woman dying. It was not so compelling as Death of a Salesman or as The Crucible, but I still enjoyed the play quite a bit.

I’m afraid I cannot say the same for the second one-act. It was called Three Women and was by the poet Sylvia Plath. After the play, Mer explained to me it was about three women who had been pregnant:  one had a miscarriage, one had a normal birth, and one had to give the child up for adoption. The language was very dense, and the stories were interwoven with lots of overlap, and even though I really tried to stay with the play, I finally gave up on it about halfway through and just waited for it to be over. It was a fine piece of art, I expect, but not all art speaks to all people.

Last Friday, Mer made arrangements to meet a former student, Sarah, for supper at Friday’s. Sarah had also been in my school Irish dancing club, so I know her pretty well, and I was delighted to catch up with her again.

Sarah had just graduated from college, with a major in International Studies and a minor in Arabic. She wants to work in a position that has contact with the Middle East, and she spent a semester in Jordan. She has a good handle on all of the changes that have been going on with the Arab Spring, and so it was a fascinating conversation with her.

One fun thing that was different was that during supper, a young man going to Kent State came over to make a balloon animal for Sarah, which he made into a flower. We gave him a few bucks to help him, since it is how he is putting himself through college. I do suspect that he may have been influenced by the pretty blonde 22-year-old sitting at our table. Just a guess.

It came out during supper that Sarah had not yet seen The Avengers, and since Mer had not seen the movie yet either, I proposed we should go see it. Both Mer and Sarah were willing, and we found it was playing nearby at a convenient time. So I got a chance to see it again, and I still enjoyed it. Mer and Sarah expressed appreciation for it. In fact, at some point in the movie, when all these huge-armed men were running around on the screen, Mer started absentmindedly stroking my bicep. I expect she was reminded of me. At least I took it that way.

On Wednesday, I had what is likely to be my last official Connections outings with the guys. Connections is CVCA’s program of matching eight to twelve students with an adult, and we met once a week for the last two years. I like to do things with the guys outside of school as well, and so I organized one last outing. I met three of the eight guys up in western Cleveland to go for supper and games at Dave and Buster’s. Dave and Buster’s is a restaurant and huge arcade that caters to adults, although minors are allowed until 9:00 p.m.

The guys said it was okay that Mer could come along, so I had her company as well. So there was a party of five of us – me, Mer, Jon, Alec, and Nate. We met at 6:30, and had a very good and leisurely meal that lasted a little over an hour. We then headed into the game room.

The nice thing about Wednesdays at Dave and Buster’s is that it is half-price game night, and we got a $20 game card with each of our meals, so we were pretty well set for the evening. The guys jumped to the various first-person shooting games, and Mer and I tried a racing game before she gravitated to a six-player trivia game where you could win tickets that can be redeemed for prizes. Mer did pretty well at the trivia game, although she said she did better at answering the questions when she was not officially playing. I suspect that is typical of many players, including myself.

I played various games, although I never did find one that really grabbed me. The last time I was at a Dave and Buster’s (about ten years ago), there were several unusual games that appealed to me, like a skiing game and a whitewater rafting game. I still had a good time, but did not really get hooked on any game. I did find an old copy of Donkey Kong, and discovered how badly out of practice I am on old-school games.

Mer and I “banked” our tickets for a later date (about 750 tickets, which is fairly trivial so far), and we found the guys and said our farewells. It was about 10:00, so it had been a full evening, especially with our still having school on Thursday (well, Mer and I did – the seniors had already finished). I’m hoping to stay in touch with the guys over the years, and maybe even plan some reunion get-togethers. I’ll certainly get to see them at least one more time – for graduation this upcoming Sunday.

This last winter was extremely mild here in northeast Ohio. It was so mild, it allowed me to run outside most of the winter, with the unusual result that I was in half-marathon shape (able to run 13-14 miles) coming out of February. I was pleased by that.

Meanwhile, someone posted a small poster at school suggesting that runners could run the Cleveland Marathon in late May as a way to support Don Lichi, the husband of one of our school’s Spanish teachers, and formerly an avid long-distance runner until he was diagnosed with spinal cancer last fall. The sign caught my attention because I was actually in a place in my training where I could contemplate running a May marathon. I still was not sure, but kept thinking about it. Then, a few weeks later, the wife of one of our Bible teachers was diagnosed with cancer. I had also been praying some time for the daughter of another colleague, a CVCA graduate who had undergone several months of chemotherapy, and was now facing twelve to sixteen months of intense physical rehabilitation to learn to walk again.

So, I now had the possibility to run to support three people with strong ties to CVCA. That was too hard to ignore, so in late March, I e-mailed CVCA’s staff and some of my relatives to let them know I was going to run the Cleveland Marathon as a fundraiser for these three families. I also offered to bake desserts as an additional fundraiser for people if they preferred that method of support. In all, about $1,800 of pledges came in, so I was pretty well committed.

Last Sunday was the day of the race. I asked Mer not to come, since the Cleveland Marathon is shaped like a bow-tie or a figure eight, and as such is not a great spectator marathon. The key to good spectator marathons is easy access to different parts of the course, and with a bow-tie course, it’s hard to get from point to point because there are no shortcuts for spectators to take. I got up at 4:00 am, and was heading toward Cleveland at about 4:45. I parked the car around 5:15 about a mile from Browns Stadium, where the start line was, so that I could be assured of being able to leave after the marathon without being stuck in marathon traffic.

The pre-race was about bathrooms and battling nerves. The nerves made me want to use the bathroom a lot. Even though this was my tenth attempt at a marathon, I still get nervous for the race. The football stadium was open for bathroom use, and that was cool, as I got to see the inside the place, including getting to look down on the field. Outside the stadium, I lined up for the race around 6:30 as suggested, but I stayed seated on a curb to keep my legs fresh until pretty close to 7:00. The wheelchair division took off around 6:50, and we finally got underway at 7:00.

The day was already warm, and was going to get hot. The starting temperature was near 70, and there were no clouds to speak of. That was unfortunate, but there was nothing to be done except to drink a lot and pay attention to my body. The first two miles of the race were pretty crowded, as is the case in most big-city marathons I have run. The race started west and ran past a bluff over looking a pretty beach, and then we ran through a very swanky neighborhood. That was followed by some middle-class neighborhoods before coming back into the city across a long bridge that afforded a grand view of the skyline, which was hazy at this point (about 8:30 am). People were beginning to suffer from heat exhaustion, and from about mile ten onward, I heard many sirens. I kept drinking two or three cups of liquid at every water stop.

The half marathon split off from the full marathon downtown, for them to finish, and for us to slog on for another fourteen miles. It was just past the theater district when my favorite moment happened – I was running past a large church, and the doors were open. There was an amazing gospel singer’s voice pouring out onto the street. In front of the church were two priests in full formal vestments, cheering us on and sprinkling us with holy water. That made me smile for quite some time.

I was running well and on a good pace through miles fifteen and sixteen, but I could feel myself getting hotter. Finally, at about 17.5 miles, I started getting a few light chills, which is a sign of heat exhaustion. I did a rare (for me) smart thing and listened to my body. I decided to walk to the next water station, over a mile away, in an effort to let my body cool down. It was disappointing – I don’t like to walk during races, but it was not going to do anyone any good if I could not finish the race.

At least I had a pretty place to walk. Leaving the city was a bit tough; it was a three-mile straightaway of warehouses and offices and such, running right into the sun. At mile 17, the course turned north, and for three wonderful miles the road wended through a beautiful park, full of sculptures donated by other countries. It was lovely, and made the walking easier.

I did start running again around mile 19, and the route turned west again at mile 20, where it ran on a footpath along the lake. I was thrilled. Being that close to Lake Erie made the air a little cooler, and it was pretty. Sadly, it did not last. At mile 21, the course turned south, back into warehouses and such. The last five miles were rough. It was getting hotter, the crowd all but disappeared, and there was very little to look at. I had to walk several times from mile 22 to mile 25, but never so long as my first walk. I’m guessing that I walked 2.5 miles total for the race.

The finish was nice. The course took me downtown again, and then turned north toward the lake. The crowds packed the streets, cheering madly. The last half mile or so was all a slight downhill, so that made for a strong finish, even after such a long race. I was very glad to have finished.

I put in my third best race out of nine finishes. My best race ever was 3:28, but I knew that a repeat of that time was not likely, given the heat. I had hoped for a sub-3:45, but I finished at 3:50:11, with which I was happy enough. More importantly, I had finished the race, so I had maximized the money I had raised, which was largely pledged on a per-mile basis.

I walked back to the car after a couple of false starts that got me trapped by the marathon course. I had told Mer I would be home about 12:30, and I got home about 12:00. She had already looked up my time, so at least she knew I had finished.

We did go to a graduation party later in the day, but I’m afraid I was not much company. The party was inside because of the heat, and the house was very crowded, so I found a seat and pretty much stuck it out there. Mer made up for my social deficiencies, which was a good thing.

My stats from the race are:
26.2 miles
3:50:11
8:47/mile pace
Finished 511 out of 2634 finishers (top 20%)
Finished 406 out of 1597 men (top 26%)
Finished 64 out of 249 men ages 40-44 (top 26%)

First half: 1:46:31  — that pace would have been a 3:33:02 marathon if I could have held it.

Saturday was a mellow day. We slept in, and I wanted to take it easy because I was scheduled to run the Cleveland Marathon on Sunday. What better way to relax and take it easy than a four- or five-mile walk in the woods?

Recently, I was installing Google Earth, a program that shows you satellite images of the Earth, and I zoomed in near where we live. Someone had uploaded a picture of a row of trees bordering a trail, and it looked intriguing to me. It was on a park trail near our house, so on Saturday, I drove us over there. It was in a park to which we had been before, but when we were there last time, we had taken a trail that went to the south. This trail, the Plateau Trail, went north. I had no idea how far it went, but it turns out quite a ways – I’m guessing it was four or five miles. The trail was very pretty, and we got to see the rows of trees I had wanted to see. The shade kept us from getting too hot, and it was a very fine, if a bit long, walk.

We got home, and Mer ran some errands while I napped. When she got back, we headed off to our first graduation party of the year. It was at a house in nearby Hudson, and the family had set up tables with umbrellas for shade, so it was very comfortable. The food was excellent, although I ate conservatively so as to not risk being ill for the marathon. I did not really know anyone at the party, and I was getting nervous about the race, so I’m afraid I was probably not great company. I don’t think I was dour or rude, just quiet. Mer had a very nice time,  getting to catch up with a former student (the older sister of the graduating CVCA student). We left the party after about an hour, and went home, where I ate a chicken sub while we watched Downton Abbey. We went to bed fairly early since I had to be up at 4:00 a.m. to get ready for the race.

Last Saturday was a love-themed day. In the afternoon, Mer and I got to go to a friend’s wedding. Mer has known Megan for about thirty-five years, and Megan is an absolute sweetheart. She is especially good with kids. Megan got married to a co-worker named Joe. Joe and Megan both work at the Haven of Rest, a ministry designed to help the homeless and very poor. So, they certainly have good compatibility there!

The ceremony was fairly long, but I like long weddings. It really seems as if a wedding should be longer than fifteen minutes if you want to capture some of the personality of the people in the wedding. In the case of Megan and Joe, they had a video message to their families (played before the ceremony actually started). They had two pastors speak, gave individualized vows, and had a fairly large group of people who came up to the alter to pray for the newly married couple. It was quite touching. Mer really liked Megan’s vows, where she cited how she liked to play with Joe – to just have fun. Mer and I try to pull that off as well, so that was great.

The opening pastor did a great job of stressing the seriousness of marriage. He pointed out that when we live up to our marriage vows, God blesses us and is for us. But, when we break our marriage vows, it brings us into opposition to God, and that causes pain and grief. I had never heard that balance before at a wedding, and I thought it was wise.

There was a dessert reception in the church fellowship hall after the wedding, and I got to visit with Aunt Mary and the Bakers. There were a lot of other people from church there, and so I got so at least say hi to them as well. The desserts were excellent, and plentiful.

After the reception, I tried to swing by a friend’s house since he only lived three blocks away from the church, but he and his family were not home. We headed toward home, and on the way I swung by Zach’s house, but he also was not at home. I decided to take Mer to a restaurant on the north side of Akron for which we had seen the sign many times, but to which we had not actually been. We got there and found the place closed and for sale. I was not having too much luck this evening. We headed the rest of the way into Akron to the Spaghetti Warehouse, where we had great service but only okay food – it was not very hot for either of us. I had leftovers, so we had to drive home and then right back to Akron for the play we were seeing that night.

As is usually the case, we headed to Actors’ Summit Theater, so see their production of I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change!, a play of skits about dating, marriage, kids, and retiring. Mer and I were both pleased that it was playing on the day of a wedding. Normally, I’m not a big fan of musical reviews, but because this play was a string of skits, the songs worked for each skit, and they were thus a lot of fun. The play played off a number of stereotypes about men and women and dating, but did so in a lighthearted and funny way. I generally laughed at the two guys in the play mocking men over the two women who were poking fun at girls, so I was buying into the cultural norms, at any rate.

The first act is very funny, and the humor continues in the second act, but is toned down by some serious issues about loving in the long term and even outliving your spouse. The cast kept up a very high level of energy for the whole show, which helped carry the show along. The set was simple – almost nonexistent:  it was made up of two arches for entrances – one pink and one blue. It was a lovely way to end a day devoted to love.