I’m currently exercising to get in good enough shape to reenlist in the Army. The daily discipline of exercise and watching what I eat has proven to be a lot tougher than I remember it being. When I get to the point I need to be I’ll go back in as an infantry mortar, like the guy in this picture was.
He’s a fitblr (someone one tumblr who posts about their fitness or lack there of experiences) chronicling his journey to getting his health back. Definitely worth following.
I had never really heard of the Freemasons until I was in the Army, when several people approached me asking if I could get them in. Apparently I have the characteristics, traits, or whatever it is that a Freemason supposedly has. Whenever I asked what or who they were people would get on edge, mysterious, vague, and nervously tell weird (senseless) stories of how bad things used to happen to soldiers who pretended to be masons, back in the early 90s. Everyone said they heard you couldn’t make rank or go very far in the military or any government job without becoming a member first. I just shrugged it off to another myth that the old timers had blown of proportion.
A few years later I read the Dan Brown books The Davinci Code, Angels and Demons, and The Lost Symbol. I loved those books, especially since the author portrayed the masons in the same way other people I knew had, mysterious, kinda scary, and very interesting.
Last year I was making small talk with my folks neighbor, a combat vet twice retired, he is full of countless stories of his past, but one of his favorite things to talk about was when he was stationed in Nürnberg, Germany, and how much fun he had when he joined the Freemasons.
I took a lot of what the guy said with a grain of salt, and forgot about his stories, until the other day when I was out on a walk and realized there actually is a masonic lodge in the area he said it is.
Only one word occupied my thoughts when I woke up this morning. Coffee! A cup or two of invigorating Colombian blend is what I needed If I wanted to get past the sleepy haze I was drifting through and out the door in time. If you follow my blog you will soon realize I have an addiction to coffee, its hard for me to not talk about coffee… Sad, but true.
Last night I had volunteered to drive my sister to the meeting point for a 5K run she wanted to do. We left early because I had never been there and we were picking up another runner on the way. If you are wondering, I did not run. I did mosey around sipping coffee as I waited for the event to be over though.
I don’t know too much about the run and to be honest I don’t really intend to write much about the run since I didn’t participate and don’t know enough about it to give an accurate account. I did notice on the registration form it was called RUN FOR AFRICA 5K here is a website with the title in the url: http://www.runforafrica.org/ I also noticed the website http://www.frontrunningsports.com/ and a large sign for Children of the Nations, I assume this is the website http://www.cotni.org/ for that organization, but cannot say for sure.
What I want to blog about is the start and finish point of this run. The activity began and ended here and it is, to be honest what I spent most of the time looking at while the run took place. It wasn’t until after the race started that I took notice of my surroundings and saw that there was actually a very interesting memorial there.
Winter Springs’ official website for the Veteran’s Memorial states:
The dedication ceremony for the Winter Springs Veterans and Military Services Memorial has been set for Veterans Day, November 11, 2008. The Memorial, currently being completed at the corner of Blumberg Boulevard and Main Street (Tuskawilla Road) in the Town Center, is the result of a 50/50 joint partnership between the City and the Rotary Club of Winter Springs that raised more than $200,000 in cash donations, donated services, and materials. According to local Architect Bill Starmer, who donated his services to design and supervise construction of the Memorial, the Winter Springs Veterans and Military Services Memorial may not be the largest, but is it going to be one of, if not the most striking in the State. “The City and Rotary challenged me to make it remarkably beautiful and reverent. I think we have accomplished both,” said Starmer.
I would say Bill Starmer achieved his goal and done a remarkable job of creating an artwork worthy of honoring those who have died. It reminded me of Sgt. Thomas, (he was in my platoon when I was in Kosovo, though we were in Iraq at the same time the next year he was serving in separate unit when his wife told us he died.) It seems unreal to think I know someone who deserves to be remembered in this way, but I do…
Here are some picture I took while I waited.
Here is a link to a video about Obelisks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFc,MWUeRePw I’m not too sure why, but every military memorial I have ever seen has at least one obelisk present. St. Augustine in particular has obelisks everywhere especially in the military graveyards there.
This guy was the first to finish the run. Look at the time, 3 miles in under 17 minutes.
Subscribe to this feed via RSS
Older Posts