The whole family and I just returned home from Roanoke after attending the Roanoke Valley Academy of Medicine Alliance Book and Author Dinner. Their group put together a stunning fundraiser for important local organizations including Ronald McDonald House, an animal welfare group, and scholarships for local youths.


http://www.bookandauthordinner.com/book.htm

The event was a marvelous affair with a a delicious dinner, a few short talks from visiting authors (including me!) and then a book signing session.

It was a bit intimidating being up on the stage with such illustrious fellow authors.

Our emcee was Andy Gross who has written thrillers with James Patterson, and has series of his independent books, the most recent of which, 15 Seconds, is a novel about a surgeon who finds himself trapped a victim of circumstances.

http://www.andrewgrossbooks.com/index.html

Next was Steve Berry, who has written a series of international novels of intrigue, many of which feature his recurring lead man, Cotton Malone. His new book is The Columbus Affair, which probes the significance of unknown details about the famous seafarer and discoverer of America for Spain.

http://www.steveberry.org/

And a true gem of the evening was Dottie Frank and her captivating stories of early experiences as a new bestselling novelist on the book tour. Her new novel Porch Lights adds to her oeuvre exploring the pace of life in the South Carolina Low Country.

http://www.dotfrank.com/index.html

During my turn to speak, I asked how many in the audience had served in the military or were veterans, as I often do when I'm invited to benefits. As usual, I was rewarded to see hands go up at every table. It makes me feel a part of a strong and noble tradition. It also makes me feel so thankful and appreciative to be part of a country with so many who have been willing to serve.

I was able to share details about Fisher House with the group and spread the news a little more about all the great work they do for injured veterans and their family.

It is a trip we will all remember with such great weather as we roamed Roanoke through the Market Square, the Transportation museum, and the Science Museum in the Tanglewood Mall. The foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains were a majestic and colorful landscape at dawn a we hurried back to Pennsylvania so B. could make it to the Prom in time!

When Marathons Attack!

Realization is setting in: one way or another I have to get my spongy knees to go 26mi this fall! Fortunately I have a good wingman. My wingman, or rather, wingwoman, is the best I could ever wish for, my wife Meredith. She is tracking our training on her blog "When Marathons Attack!" at

http://www.whenmarathonsattack.blogspot.com

We would love to have your encouragement, comments, advice, and even jokes on our progress at that site! If you are in training for an event as well, tell us about it!

Much to do this weekend

Hello, again, hello.

Ah a weekend off, just lovely. Nothing to do today, the schedule is clear as scotch tape. I love it, but it is not always easy to do nothing. I slept enough last night. The way I know I've slept enough is because I dream, which doesn't happen too often. I've had far too many nights with little or no sleep, in the past because of work hours, recently because of bad sleep hygiene and too much late night TV. This morning's dream was a recurring one: I couldn't finish the operation. It's kind of funny, but when I finally get so worked up in the dream that I wake suddenly, all want to do is figure a way back into the dream so I can finish!

In the way of a marathon training update, Meredith and I ran a 5K race in Milton yesterday; it was a Rotary benefit to help end all global incidence of polio. It was a fun little race that criss-crossed the Susquehanna West branch in and out of Milton state park. We shuffled in comfortably at 30:30, (Edit: Correction, the time was 29:30! No reason to cheat ourselves out of that extra minute!), which didn't put us in any danger of winning. Meredith dipped into her store of luck and won a door prize of a waterproof shoulder bag. Here's a picture of Team Love Life! at the end of the race, upright and uninjured.

I was glad to make it through comfortably because I had been fighting a pinched nerve in my left arm after lifting the tandem bike onto the van too many times.

Here is an impressive photo essay by Craig Walker that won the Pulitzer Prize.

http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/12/special-project-welcome-home/26786/ 

It features veteran Scott Ostrom, who was amazingly frank and open about his PTSD, letting Mr. Walker photograph him at his most pained and vulnerable moments.

 (photo from Denver Post)

 There are so many suffering like Scott, alone, in silence, hidden. In Scott's story I see so many signs of promise and hope: he has self-awareness, he is seeking help at the VA, he is in contact with other veterans, even the fact that he has a dog is glimmer of hope.

This video tells Scott's story very clearly:

http://photos.denverpost.com/mediacenter/2011/12/special-project-welcome-home-2/26794/

What struck home most for me was Mr. Ostrom's haunting memory of an act undone, something he didn't do. I can understand the weight of a missed opportunity, never to return, even if a rational analysis of the event reveals that nothing could have changed the outcome.

There was also time this weekend to rack the most recent batch of beer after its primary fermentation. When I opened the bucket, it had a deep caramel hue, but tasted much lighter.

It is a wheat beer so that is fine with me. It had good layer of sediment at the bottom which I was able to leave behind when I siphoned it into the carboy.

I mixed in apricot puree and sealed it up for secondary fermentation for a couple more weeks.

Lastly, I got to clean out part of the barn. This winter, the Taiwan Coppolas sent us some butterflies to hatch. We nursed them through the caterpillar and chrysalis stages, and most of them were able to unfold orange and black painted wings. They were quite a bit out of season, but I tucked them into a corner of the barn for shelter, hoping they might lay some eggs.They left behind beautiful corpses; time will tell if a new generation will rise.

Please consider helping us raise money for Fisher House, a home away from home for injured veterans. The link below leads to our Team Fisher House donation page. We will be training for the Marine Corps Marathon to take place this fall.

http://www.active.com/donate/FisherHouse2012MCM/lovelife