Leo E Gase, a good man

My Dad lost his battle with ALS on Thursday, December 4, 2014. I cannot begin to state how important he was for me in this life as my Father, mentor, and a guy sitting on a pillar.  Larger than life but as humble as anyone I know, as many a farmer are.

He taught me by example, as he was a man of few words, the idea of color blindness as he courted and married my Mexican mom in the 60's when it was taboo and encouraged her to earn her US citizenship which she did; that one must work when necessary and play when you can; an absolute love of reading; that nature is the soul of this earth; kindness toward animals pays dividends that are imaginable (he befriended a wild turkey); to take risks in this life; and that family is the top heap while on this earth.

I would not be in the great position I am without Dad's influence in my life, nor would I be the father and husband that I am.  I cannot begin thank that wonderful man for what he has shown me simply by his actions.  I hope that I can do the same for my sons.

Leo E Gase was a very, very good man.  I miss him dearly.

A Good Run Club

I'm sitting in Miami for American Welding Society D1 Meetings and missing the late winter storm heading to Detroit. Rats!  As I sit hear listing to the planes overhead landing in Miami, I'm thinking about the Downtown Runners and Walkers who will meet on Tuesday  in the driving snow and run their 4 or 6 mile trots.  I'll sit outside in the 85 degree heat on Tuesday.

I've been so lucky to meet some unique and quite nice runners, walkers, and "fans".  A few that come to mind that have so enriched my life are Kacey, Rudy, Marcus, Lusire, Brian, and Leah.  Each one of these gems are unique and very independent in their own way and the richness that each one leads to my life is beyond anything that I could have hoped for.

Sometimes in this life a person makes a decision that alters the path in life.  Glad to say that the decision I made to run with DTRW was one of those.  So thank you Leah to prod me to pick up the writing and to the others for the smiles they bring.

Now I can't wait to heal this damaged hamstring and run again with this group.

Tomato Seeds Sprouted

The Sioux tomato seeds sprouted today.  I planted theses seeds on April 6th thinking a had slightly less than two weeks to sprout.  But to my very pleasant surprise, I saw the flat of 12 seeds had most seed with hair!  I needed this after the day I've had.  

It was quite nice to realize in the basement tonight that something so simple as sprouting tomato seeds brighten my day.  Its the joy of seeing nature change whether I'm on a trail running to watching my garden grow that caused me to allow the dirt of life of be shrugged off.  

First run of the new year

I'm planning to run the Prickly Pear 50K trail run this March and need those long runs. I simply did not want to run this morning. Perhaps the short 4 miler yesterday that taxed my lungs and lungs or the stiff west wind and 25 f temp.

After a bit of cajoling from my wife, I dressed and started the two hour trot. I wanted to turn a back after the first 1/2 mile but something my wife said pushed me. She told me in not so many words that every day can't be a perfect day to run so just go run. I don't like running in wind.

Buno Road runs west away from home so went west into the strong west wind for about 4 1/2 miles then north among the Metro Park bridle trail for a mile and back. It turned out to be a good although a slow run. The wind was awful cold going out but helpful on the return. Brush was on the bridle trail from a gas line clearing operation so I cleared it. Figured that us runners should help where we can. Overall a good run.

Lushan Buddha, near Wuxi, China

Tom Scalia, a good fella (really, he's Italian) and I traveled to the Lushan Buddha outside of Wuxi, China on a warm and very humid day on September 4, 2010. The taxi ride took about 35 minutes and was not an ordinary ride. Many times I muttered "oh crap" when the driver drove on the shoulder or opposite lane to get around someone. Getting to the Buddha was a good thing.

The Buddha was visible well before we arrived. This statue stands some 80 meters on top of a hill. The Buddha is visible on the photo adjacent to the far pole on the lower left.

The ticket area was teaming with bus groups and families. I was like any other park I've been to in the US. The park initially had a feeling of a day at the park with the trinkets and incense for sale. I found later that I was mistaken. This was a seriously faithful place from many Buddhists. The photos show a group of older tour bus folks and what appeared to be a reunion of family members. 

After getting in the park, the event that we faced was the opening of the Young Buddha show.  It was quite an event.  The music played for the guests was extremely loud and I think somewhat gaudy.  Many things I saw this day were very much "over the top".  The visual aspects were interesting and enjoyable watching the young Buddha turn, get sprayed with water, and them get closed into the lotus. 

From the young Buddha, the next stopping point was the prayer area.  This among the highlights of the visit, the other being watching the monks chant after the prayer area.  I know a little about Buddhism from reading the Dhammapada and other readings about yoga and mediation.  I was not ready for what I saw today with the prayer with the incense and at each Deity.  The prayer at the incense area was real and pervasive with the smoke permeating your cloths.  Watching the faithful today was similar to watching the faithful during my visit to the Vatican. 

The funnest part of the site was the laughing Buddha.  The bronze chubby guy is covered with little kids climbing all over this laughing guy.  Apparently tickled.  I think each of the little kids had a different expression.  I had quite a few laughs with this spot.

A building between the laughing Buddha and the stairs contained many other Deities and a very interesting religious act.  We walked in at the beginning of a Buddhist prayer involving chanting, a drum, and a bell, all by monks.  It was mesmerising. 

Then the long walk up the steps to the Lushan Buddha.  The walk was long but interesting with the panels at the landing and the view from the stairs.   A museum greeted us at the base of the Lushan Buddha.  Some interesting artifacts, some misinformation (regarding the Chinese belief of the origin of the Buddha), and some interesting grotto's. 

We attended a high production show at one of the temples.  It was an interesting building and show.  Good to see once. 

We were pestered by someone who wanted to drive the westerners back but a taxi driver was gracious and we jumped into his cab for the ride back to the city.

Happenchance

A few days after I returned from China, a client asked me to visit a project in Doha, Qatar.  Sure, I was eager to face the challange and travel to a new area so I set a trip based on time of arrival.  Had a connection in Rome.  After a 45 minute delay leaving Detroit, a long wait to get on the bus to the terminal in Rome, and a longer wait at customs, I missed my connecting flight to Doha. 

Stuck in Rome.  The next flight out was at 5:30 PM the next day and about 20 hours on the ground in some nondescript but pleasant hotel in Rome.  After trying, and no fooling but really trying, to get to the project for a Saturday meeting, the airline told me there was not a chance to leave on Friday.  So I took the bus to the nondescript hotel and signed in.  No baggage because it was on the way to Doha I was told (they fibbed, but thats a later story). 

There was really only one thing I could do after I ate and that was to figure out the train schedule and run off to the Vatican for the late afternoon and evening.  Growing up Roman Cathlioc I sometimes thought how nice it would be to see St Pete's Square and the Church.  I cannot describe the feeling I had when I actually realized that I was in Rome and on the way to the Vatican.  Never in a hundred million years I thought but now I was there.  Its not that I wear my faith on my sleeve and not that the Church has really pissed me off in the past decade, but this apparently was a big deal to me.

I made my way and finally figured out where the Vatican was and entered thround the Northern gate into the Square. I just couldn't belive that I was there.  Then I saw that I could go into the Church.  I went in the line and found myself standing amoung the most fastinating historical and faithfull spot on earth. What a feeling.  I was in a hurry becase I thought it was being closed for the evening so I did not let the faith and history seep into me.  However, the chance to even be there was more than I could ever asked for. 

The one thing that I'm disapponted in is that I was unable to call by parents while I was on the Square.  They gave me the faith and I though I could share in my excitement. 

The next day I figured I'd get up at 5:30 AM and visit the Colseuem and perhaps a few other sites before the noon check out (delayed until 1:00 PM).  The alarm went off and when I awoke at 9:00 AM, a quick brush of the teeth and off I was to figure out where to go.  It did not take much and I was in the ruins of this place.  I had about on hour on the site before the train rides back.  Litterally, I was trotting up the stairs, taking pictures along the way.  Over 150 photos to share with my family.  Then off again.

Now I'm in a business lounge in Doha waiting on a 1:30 AM flight to Milan Italy for a few days.  Who would have ever thought....

China - Transportation

Walking, wagons, wheelbarrows, bikes, electric bikes, electric motor bikes, cars, trucks, boats, subways, high speed trains but not very many planes.  I've walked a bunch, ridden in cars, a minibus, subways, and high speed trains during this past week. 

I think walking is by far the most dangerous.  The person move, not the car or bike.  The only good way to move around downtown Wuxi (Wooshe) is to walk.  The city as a new subway going in and most of the streets in the downtown area are closed.  Need to walk about the barriers erected to keep people out of the construction zone.  I enjoy this the mode of transportation the most.  Have those chance glances at many people and some want to talk.  Interesting. 

Wagons are not so common here in Wuxi, non existent in the area of Shanghai I was at, prevalent in the rural area heading toward Taizhou.  I saw more than a few of these hand driven carts in the smaller city of Taizhou. 

Bikes, electric bikes and motor bikes have a ranking all their own.  The bikes and the low class while the electric motor bikes are the high class bikes.  Silent and dangerous to the walkers.  These electric bikes are all over the place and in many ways, the only way to go any distance.  I've seen whole families ride on one bike.

Cars and buses, a polite dance to avoid damage.  The cars nose in when a slight opening shows itself only to have the offending driver honk the horn and back off.  I've never seen the American bird, the middle finger, waved at anyone.

Truck and boats take many shapes.  I see very few pickup trucks and no personnel watercraft.  The trucks are large and usually full of materials while the boats are generally like barges and always low in the water. 

The subways and trains are something that I am impressed with.  The subways are clean and safe and the trains are world class.  We traveled to and from Shanghai on a new high speed train reaching speeds of up to 300 km/hr our about 180 mph.  Very smooth and comfortable.  The photo is from a view from my seat of the interior.