Epics

The Epics are filled with many inspiring passages, This from The Aeneid comes to mind

"Recall your courage; banish gloomy fears.Some day perhaps the memory of these things shall yield delight. Through various accidents, Through many a strait of fortune, we are bound For Latium, where our fates point out to us A quiet resting place. There it's decreed Troy's kingdom shall arise again. Be firm, And keep your hearts in hope of brighter days"

If America had an epic this would have to be included from the Declaration Of Independence.

"When in the course of Human events, it becomes necessary of one people to dissolve the Political Bonds which have connected them with another, and to assure among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Natures God entitled them ,a decent respect to the opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of the ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and Happiness, Prudence, indeed will dictate that Governments are established should not be changed for light and transient causes and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are suffer-able, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpation's pursing invariably the same object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their duty to throw off such a government, and provide new Guards for their future Security."

Last Weekend, 14 March 2010

Here is my walking mileage for the last several days.

3/10/2010, 9.68 miles
3/12/2010, 5.43 miles
3/14/2010, 10.42 miles
3/15/2010, 6.25 miles
3/16/2010, 4.35 miles
YTD miles, 302.88 miles
4745.12 miles remaining on my virtual trek across the United States

Last Sunday I was back at Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park, the terrain is hilly, when walking these trails you are either ascending or descending in elevation.

The wildflowers are beginning to bloom, that is a sure sign of spring.

BOOK 19, Penelope and Odysseus talk

Book 19 opens with Odysseus and Telemachus removing all the armor in the cloister and putting it in a storeroom, on the premise it was getting soiled with soot, and the suitors could, after drinking to much wine, use them on each other. Telemachus tells Euryclea to take the maids to their room while this is being done, this she does. Athena lights the way for them, and then Telemachus goes to bed, Odysseus talks with Penelope.

First Penelope asks Odysseus where he is from and who are his parents, then she relates to him the sadness she feels over her husband. How she had to invent stratagems to deceive the suitors, weaving a shroud for her father in-law, she was good at this till she was found out by her maids. Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, relates many convincing truths that he had seen and entertained her husband years before his the way to Troy, and tells her he is convinced Odysseus will be back home by the end of this year. Penelope has her nurse Euryclea prepare a bath for Odysseus, Euryclea recognizes a scar on Odysseus’s leg and hugs, he tells her to be quiet and not tell anyone who he is, this she promises to do. Penelope tells how she wants to set up a test for the suitors, shooting an arrow though twelve axes as her husband used to do. Odysseus tells her to set up this contest.

Trip to Pullman and Yakima

Here is my walking mileage from last week

3/3/2010, 4.58 miles
3/4/2010, 9.26 miles
3/6/2010, 13.13 miles
3/9/2010, 4.8 miles
YTD mileage 266.75
4781.25 miles to go

Last weekend I drove to Pullman to visit my daughters, on Saturday my oldest daughter and I walked in The Snake River Canyon Half Marathon, it was a beautiful day.





On Sunday I drove to Yakima to visit my son, the one thing I love about Washington state is all the differnt types of terrain, Oceanside, mountains, forest, semi-arid, farmland, and all within a day's drive. Here are some photos of my drive to Yakima.





This was a new route for me, I had never driven on SR 24 before, this took me through the SADDLE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, and the HANFORD REACH NATIONAL MONUMENT. I definitely want to visit this area again.

Last Sunday & Monday

Here is my mileage for last Sunday and Monday.

2/28/2010, 12.09 miles
3/1/2010, 6.39 miles, YTD 234.98 miles
Miles left to go 4813.02

On my virtual walk across America, I have pasted Washington DC and am walking on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park, this was a towpath for boats back in the day, towards Old Town Maryland.
Sunday I was back at Cougar Mountain Regional Park, starting at the Redtown trailhead walking to the Wilderness Creek trail head, lots of elevation gain on this walk. It was a sunny day, as always I brought along my camera, here are a few photos.