Still kicking

For those of you that come by on rare occasion to see if I am still around, have no fear for Donald is here!  It is the middle of harvest at the winery. Which means grapes, interns, and lots of work.  things have been going pretty well at the job, and we shall leave it at that.  On the home front, we are not at Hazel's anymore.  Our home was sold out from under us, and we are no renting at a ranch about five miles from the winery.  Well, it is 5.5 miles, as I clocked it this afternoon.  Today was "run to work day", as Alie's car was in the shop, and mine was filled with car seats.   It was a nice run.  peaking of running,  I ran the Salinas Valley Half Marathon in August, finishing in 1:53; three minutes slower than last year.

For a bit of nuttiness, I have signed up for the Big Sur Half to be run in mid-November.  that's rig, it's harvest, and I'm training for a half, too.  I ll keep you updated as things progress.  Hope you are well, where've you are.

Cheers,
D

Hemingway of the winery

In the last few days, I have had one of my bosses call me, "The Hemingway of Paicines", the miniscule wide spot in the road where the winery is. I am not sure if this is a compliment or not. This guy likes Hemingway and Kipling, that I know. At any rate, I know that this blog, with its three followers, is not Hemingway or Kipling. So, tonight is Holy Saturday. Tonight, we Catholics enter the Easter Triduum (three days of Holy Thursday to Good Friday, to Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil). My preference would have been to go to Mass, followed by Adoration. Unfortunately, the wife was not feeling well, so I was not able to go.
At any rate, after dinner, I was watching the sun go down in the kitchen. Leo climbed up onto my leg, and we talked about the sun going down, and how it was twilight. He asked when the sun would come back up, and we talked about twilight being that part of the day after the sun goes down, but before it is dark. He told me that the dark is on his "list of things that he is scared of". I got the idea to show him the stars before he went to sleep. Sure enough, after putting pajamas on, and after doing the night time routine, the twins wanted to see the stars. I took them outside, and showed them how to find the North Star. i showed them Venus, Mars. There was a nearly full moon out tonight. I thought them their first Shakespeare: I got them to repeat, "I am as constant as the Northern Star," (Julius Caesar). After the annoyances and frustrations of the last few days, I felt like I was doing the right thing, like I was following The Plan. Too bad it took a full bottle of wine. Great way to start the Triduum, right. Now, I think I will go off onto the porch to sing one of my favorite hymns. Since no one comments on this blog, I'll tell you the title: "Pange Lingua Gloriosi", by my patron, St. Thomas Aquinas. Happy Holy Week.

NVM Results-why I have I not posted this???

So, I ran the Napa Valley Marathon on Sunday, 4 March. I did not post my race report, Lord only knows why. So, here is the skinny:

Race day was great. You could not get better weather, if you asked, begged, and pleaded for it. Chilly at about 40F at the gun (or air-raid siren, rather), with a couple wisps of cloud. The first five miles went like a breeze. Around mile 6, I met a man running his 47th, yes, 47th marathon. We chatted for the better part of the next 8 miles. We made it through the half in 1:56. I saw Alie, the kids, and family around mile 14. Shortly thereafter, the wheels fell off the cart. An ankle injury from 2 years ago reared its ugly head, and I did a walk-run the last ten or so miles. I nearly broke down in tears at mile 24. But, I saw someone I was not expecting to see: Amby Burfoot. Amby won the 1968 Boston Marathon, and was the editor-in-chief for Runner's World for many years. He was walking the course backwards. I don't know if he had run the race, and was coming back, or was just walking along those last couple mile to encourage us in. I saw him, and managed to start running a bit more again. I waved, and said "Hey, Amby". He smiled, and said, "Finish strong,". Sounds silly, but the guy helped me out a bit.

The last mile was a little surreal. We were no longer running among the vines, but were going through a couple of residential neighborhoods to get to the finish at Vintage High. Someone said, "You're doing the 0.2 now,". That fact encouraged me greatly. I crossed the road to the last straightaway in front of the high school. I was overjoyed, I started running, and thought, "Well, let's see if I can get a little out of the crowd,". I took my hat off, and started waving it over my head. The crowd roared, well, as much as about 150 people can roar on a Sunday morning. Much to my delight, Alie and kids had just arrived, and I saw my wife hold Ollie over the railing. Finish time of 4:42:46. Second fastest marathon ever (PR of 4:27 in 2005).

It was a great day. The race did not turn out as expected, but I was not terribly surprised. Before I commit to another marathon, I need to evaluate my ability to train well much better, and drop about 20#. The foot has healed, I got 3 miles in this morning, and now its time get after it again. Watch out critters, I'll be out there tomorrow morning.

Happy Palm Sunday and Happy Holy Week! We're in the 0.2 of Lent and here comes Easter!

D

Napa Valley Marathon in the AM

Ok, campers, I am running the Napa Valley Marathon. The course is Calistoga to Napa along the Silverado Trail. I am staying with the family tonight in one of the guest cottages that our company owns in Calistoga. I've got my training done; it did not go exactly as planned. So, in case any of you are wondering, here are the goals:

• "C" goal: Break 5:00 (last year's Big Sur debacle time)
• "B" goal: PR/Break 4:27.
• "A" goal: Break 4:00.

Based on my 20-miler, and my overall health, I think I can hit all three. I'll fill you in tomorrow!

St Joseph, pray for us.

St Sebastian, pray for us.

Bl. Junipero Serra, pray for us.

Donald

2011 wrap, 2012, and WENDELL

We should start with the most exciting news first. On Wednesday, 4 January 2012, my sister Sarah gave birth to her first child. Wendell David Fruit came into the world at 3:13pm, 19" long, weighing in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Wendell, Sarah, and Sean are doing well; Sarah and Wendell should come home from the hospital today. Thanks be to God!!!

2011 certainly had its high and low points. I was blessed to complete the Big Sur Marathon in May. I was offered and accepted my new job at Blossom Hill, removing a couple of hours off my commute each day. Alie and I witnessed the Solemn Vows of Br. Dominic David in April. I hit my goal for the Salinas Valley Half Marathon in August. The family sold more grapes than it did in 2010. Gabe came home from Afghanistan, and is in Monterey for the next year. I ran over 430 miles. All three of my kids are in good health, growing every day. We just had possibly the best Christmas season in recent memory. We had a great time with the family around, the kids had fun, and we had a good experience at Christmas Mass.

2011 had its crosses, too. We lost Jack, Alison's grandfather in March. I thought very highly of him; he was a good man, and one of the sharpest I have encountered. I had hoped that he would survive and enjoy a couple of good years after his wife, Vyn, passed in February of 2010. That was not to be. I lost a mentor in September, when Carol Thorup passed away. When I got my new position at Blossom Hill, I inherited her old office. I think about her everyday when I walk in to the office, some of her books on my shelf, and the picture of Thomas Jefferson on the wall.

I am looking forward to 2012. The twins will be five in May; Oliver will turn two in March. I am in training for the Napa Valley Marathon in March. I have my goals, and I think I will hit them. Bottom line is to break four hours. I plan on attending the ASEV (American Society for Enology and Viticulture) meeting in Portland in June. I may run the Salinas Valley Half again. My summer running will be dictated by how well I do at Napa.

I wrote the reading list for 2012 the other day; it includes over 10 books, and finally getting through Fr Reggie Foster's "First Experience". I am looking to be a bigger part of the team at Blossom Hill.

Pray for me, and as always, I pray for you. Happy Epiphany!
Donald

Now bring us a figgy pudding!

I would like to take a moment to wish all you you a very Blessed and Merry Christmas!!!

Very early this morning, Dad, Heidi, Sarah, Krist, Sean and I attended Midnight Mass at Immaculate Conception in Tres Pinos for the first time in a very long time. It was a beautiful experience simply to be in the presence of my sisters in a place that has a tremendous place in the history of our family.

Christmas dinner is coming in a bit, so there will be photos to come, hopefully. God bless us all!

Happy Advent

Well, campers, I'm still here. The news:

• It is cold, well, for CA. We had 26F yesterday, and 24F this morning. Brrr.
• The kids are huge. Joseph and Leo are reading more and more all the time. Their weekly preschool teacher thinks that Joseph is reading at the 2nd grade level. Wow!
• Sarah (sister) is about 8 months pregnant with Child#1. The planned name will remain the surprise to you all.
• The new windows we had in the house are working quite well. We had a 32F differential between the coldest part of the house and outside this morning. Yay!
• I am in week #3 of training for the Napa Valley Marathon. I missed the registration window for Big Sur by 2 hours back in August. So, I signed up for Napa Valley. I plan on running 10 miles after mass today.
  
• Speaking of Mass, I like the revised translation for the Mass. Our pastor has had us use the repsonses since mid summer, but hearing the new prayers is wonderful. A bit clunky at first, but we will get there. I plan on a larger post later.

More posts, more pictures coming along sometime soon.

Pax!