Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend - Prologue

It all started on a dark and stormy night ... 

Wait, wrong story ...

It actually started during the RADP XX (a longtime usenet group get together ... rec.arts.disney.parks) weekend. On a Sunday evening - December 6, 2015 to be precise. Fellow RADPer Jenny Drake and I were at Disney's Hollywood Studios watching the Osborne Lights for the last time when she mentioned that she would walk a 5K with me if I could train and accomplish it. Of course, my mind came up with all sorts of excuses that night - and for months to come. Plantar Fasciitis in my feet (true), asthma and reduced lung capacity (true), a heart issue (true, but not a problem issue), diabetes (true) all were among my excuses. Not that I didn't want to do it ... I definitely did. But 9 years previously my daughter and I decided we would try a 5K. I started conditioning and tried to do too much too soon and got discouraged and gave up. I still had that experience in my head.

Jump ahead until October, 2016 and I find myself back in Florida and maybe I was bored or something, and I decided to see what I could do. I knew one thing ... I was way out of shape! I couldn't walk very far without needing to rest - nor could I walk in a speed that could only be described as S-L-O-W! Yes, I had been known to walk a lot in WDW, but there had been many many rest stops, and way too often over the past number of years I was in an ECV! I went out walking at a comfortable pace over the next few days and found that each day it got easier and soon I had actually walked a full half mile from my house - which meant I had to walk the same distance back ... a full mile!! Could I really do this? Had the seed that Jenny planted actually taken root?

Before long I was walking 2 miles a day! Still way to slow to attempt a 5K ... but now I thought that by November, 2017 - the Wine and Dine race weekend at WDW - it might be possible! Then one day it happened ... I saw an article that talked about the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend at WDW in April. Well, that was more than 6 months away and would give me an incentive to get serious. In a moment in which I lost all my senses and self-control ... I registered for the 5K on April 21, 2017! I was now committed - or perhaps I should have been!

I continued along the path - with encouragement and advice from Jenny and other runners I know - through being back in NY and then a return to Florida just before RADP XXI. I was staying at the Yacht Club, so who needed transportation to and from EPCOT or Disney's Hollywood Studios? I walked! Who was I becoming????

Things improved and the distance came within my abilities, but I still needed to up my pace which was pathetically slow for something like this. But - as February was close to an end, I noticed a steady improvement. 

Then it happened!!! Things started to fall apart. A resistant and sometimes severe pain in my hip lead me into physical therapy during which I found out that my pelvis was out of alignment. Some exercises, some stretching and some massage corrected that and I now knew what to do to prevent it from happening again - or what to do if it did. I thought I was out of the woods. Nope! Remember the plantar fasciitis I spoke of earlier? One evening before I got into bed, I started to feel a familiar sensation and I was not happy. The next morning, my worst fears were confirmed! The pain was so bad that the thought of going from my bed to the bathroom which is only about 3 or 4 steps away was so bad that I waited until hydraulic pressure gave me no option. It was a full blown case of PF as bad as I had ever had it. The last time it was this bad it took 6 months until I was able to walk without severe pain. Not conducive to what I had to do at all! I had a physical therapy session planned for 2 days hence, and found a local podiatrist and was able to make an appointment directly after that session. (I have a wonderful long time podiatrist who treats this for me ... IN NEW YORK!!) Sparing you all the details, I had to shut down any training I was doing for (as it turned out) almost a full month!!

When I was finally able to get back onto the pavement, there was just a bit more than 2 weeks left until the day of the actual 5K. The first two days back running/walking were just a disaster ... much of the work I had done was negated. (Happily, only a small portion of the nearly 40 pounds I had lost since October had reappeared, and they came back off quickly enough.) I knew I had to push, but could I push enough to pull it off to my satisfaction? Then, by the fourth day back, I started to notice speed increases coming day by day. In a few days I was doing the 3.1 miles each day at speeds faster than the previous day. (Just so you don't get the impression that I was going fast, I wasn't! I still had a long way to go to be at the goal I had set for myself. I never actually got there.

But in the last 2 days of conditioning before I left for WDW, I did reach a point where I knew I could finish the 5K and hopefully not be the last one across the finish line.

On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 - I checked in to All Star Sports. Wanna talk about nerves?

(to be continued)

A visit to Peaceful Pastures

I recently had the pleasure of visiting Peaceful Pastures in Hickman (Smith County), Tennessee. Owned and operated by Darrin and Jenny Drake, Peaceful Pastures raises all natural, pastured, grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and turkey. As a resident of the Tampa Bay area in Florida, I am lucky that a number of times a year, Peaceful Pastures makes a delivery trip through select locations in Georgia and Florida, and I have the opportunity to have my freezer stocked with some of the best meat I have ever tasted.

As a photographer, I have been struck with the beauty of the farm in the photos that I have seen over the years. Last week I had a chance to visit the farm with my ever-present camera. As the day that Jenny (a friend whom I have known for a while) and I scheduled approached, the weather forecast looked like it might not be cooperating at all. Severe thunderstorms were predicted, which could seriously impact my ability to get around and see the farm. 

However, when the morning came, and I left my hotel, not only was it not raining, but there was sun to be seen. The storms were still in the forecast, but I was beginning to have some hope. As I drove west towards the farm, I was able to see a beautiful sunrise in my rear view mirror. How long this would last, I didn’t know. 

What I did know however, was that once I left the interstate highway and started traveling along local roads, I realized that I could very easily spend a whole day photographing the scenery along the road itself. Between the natural beauty of the area and the local scenery, it is a photographer’s dream. As I drove over the dam and continued to the farm, I did get my camera out, but not wanting to waste the nice weather and not knowing when the rain might actually come, I continued to my destination, taking only a shot or two along the way.

My car’s navigation system, which had been acting a bit flakey since the night before, did not fail me this morning, and soon I came upon a signpost with a Peaceful Pastures sign - letting me know I had reached the turn which would lead me to Darrin and Jenny’s house - which also serves as the office and focal point for the farm. As I come on to the farm, I am greeted by the sight of sheep grazing on a hill, and two guard dogs come down to the road to see who is stopping and taking pictures. 

I continue along the road until I get to the house. As I get out of my car, I hear Jenny call my name.

Jenny is accompanied - as she often is - by a trio of dogs, including Wendy, who often even travels with her on the road. We enter the house and Darrin greets me before Jenny and I quickly head out to see the farm while it is still a bit sunny and not raining.

First we are off to get some feed to bring to the sheep that I passed on the hill on my way in. Not only are we accompanied by the dogs (who would not allow themselves to be left behind), but by Wilma and Goslin (geese). It seems that Goslin and Wendy have become buddies recently. Naturally the geese want a bit to eat as well, and Jenny sees that they are taken care of before we head out to the sheep.

Jenny is hoping that when she arrives with a bucket, that the sheep will come on down the hill and gather around her. We are joined by Lucy, Luke and Ren, the guard dogs, as we get to the hill where the sheep and lambs are at the moment. As we approach the sheep, they do start coming over to get a share of what’s in the bucket. Soon we are surrounded and what was a filled bucket on the way goes back empty. It was fun to watch - and to see the young lambs among the flock.

Jenny continues giving me the tour of the farm as we pass behind the area currently occupied by her herd of eleven horses - some of whom I was already a bit familiar with parts of their history and was even able to recognize a few. I know the special relationship that Jenny has with her horses. We will be returning to them shortly. I stop for some photos (and to surreptitiously catch my breath from the uphill walk) and then we continue on. 

We head through an old barn on the way now to visit with the pigs. Baby pigs have been arriving, and since at Peaceful Pastures, the animals live in a totally natural way, the mothers and their newborn babies are there in the pasture as nature intended. They don’t seem to mind us being there, and baby pigs make such cute photo subjects. As with the sheep, the pigs are out and about, as animals should be - as opposed to being housed in a confined space.

In fact, the only animals that have been somewhat confined are the chickens - and this is more for their protection than anything else. There are predatory critters out and about here and the chickens’ confinement has been a rather recent occurrence. Jenny mentioned that as much as she hates the necessity, there is no choice at this time.

Continuing along, we encounter cows … or is it the cows who encounter the humans? As with the sheep, the cows are in a pasture where they have plenty of room, and groups and individuals can be seen in all areas - some close and some off on the hill. There used to be an ad slogan for a condensed milk product that claimed it came from contented cows. I think these would have qualified. However, it seems as if we are the objects of interest for the cows near us … I think they wanted to know if we brought them anything. While here I got to meet MaryBelle - a rescue cow for lack of a better term. A senior cow among the herd, who is a permanent part of the farm family. 

By this point it was clear that although these animals are being raised for meat, they are all more than just numbers to Jenny, Darrin and the rest of the farm employees. At the top of the homepage of the Peaceful Pastures website you will see the words, “All Natural, Humanely Raised Meats”. While they are on the farm, they are truly cared for (and about) and given the opportunity to live their lives in a very natural manner. A number of times I have heard Jenny and the others talk about individual animals and their personalities and behaviors. Not what one might expect on the average farm commercially raising animals for meat. And in the end - having tasted the meat that comes from Peaceful Pastures at home - the results are definitely a top quality product. 

Next up on the agenda is moving horses to another location. This is also my chance to meet Jenny’s horses up close and personal, something she knows I had been waiting for. At first they didn’t show any inclination to follow the plan, but after leading Tess in the proper direction, the others eventually took the hint and followed her lead. And for the record … the two donkeys came along as well.

Amazingly, despite initial reports of all day storms, the morning weather has cooperated and we return to the house (mostly) dry. Lunch time is fast approaching and the farm staff will want lunch soon, so Jenny goes into full on meal preparation mode. Now this was no surprise to me how well she can cook, but knowing it and seeing it happen are two different things. I’ve always considered myself a pretty good cook, but I am certainly not in the same league. Needless to say, when those of us who were around sat down at the table - nobody got up hungry!!

After lunch Jenny was going to take me to the Ice House but she received word that one of the ewes had been attacked - predator unknown at that point - so she left me in the capable hands of Miss Tina … administrative assistant extraordinaire! She is involved in just about every aspect of the farm, and at the moment was preparing/packaging Country Girl soap. In addition to everything else she does, Jenny makes homemade soap. While the two of us talked a bit, Jenny took care of the animal, making sure she was okay and safe for the time being. Once again it was obvious the love for animals that everyone on the farm shares. (This is not a surprise as I have seen Jenny get upset and reprimand a group of children for chasing a mother duck with her ducklings, yet turn the situation around and talk to the children about ducks and ducklings. I was able to see the look of wonder on the children’s faces as they listened and asked questions.)

The day wore down with another move for the horses, and a relocation for MaryBelle before everyone had a chance to relax. Way too soon it was time to say good-bye (at least for now) and start my trip home. 

So what did I take away from this visit? I saw the absolute beauty of the land upon which the farm sits. Although I saw but a small portion in winter - it was easy to see how one can come to love this small corner of the world. I cannot wait to visit the farm again when there can be green grass and blue skies added to the undeniable beauty that is this piece of land all year round. 

And while it came as no surprise to me, it was obvious how much everyone on the farm cares for the animals while they are here. Of course, there are the animals themselves … being able to be out on pastures enjoying the openness and natural food sources. 

Yes, I have long known about Peaceful Pastures and how it operates, but seeing it in person brings it all into focus. Thank you Darrin and Jenny Drake for being my hosts for the day.

Jenny with Chewbacca

For more information about Peaceful Pastures ... click here

The End of a Circus

After 146 years, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows is ending its run. Ironically, on a day I was in Ellenton, Florida, home of Feld Entertainment, Kenneth Feld announced that the circus his family had bought from the Ringling family in 1967 would be closing in just 4 months, ending its 146 year run.

Founded by the seven Ringling Brothers in 1884, they slowly grew by acquiring other small circuses until they were second only to the Barnum & Bailey circus here in America. (The Barnum & Bailey circus was formed when P.T. Barnum's circus combined with the Cooper and Bailey circus in 1881.)  In 1907 the Ringling Brothers bought the Barnum & Bailey circus and operated them as separate circuses until 1919 when they combined both shows to form the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows.

My love of circus began in the mid-1950's at the old Madison Square Garden (on 8th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in NYC). The circus was still owned by the Ringling family at the time and was produced by John Ringling North ... a nephew of the original seven brothers - his mother was their sister. In those days before the circus show itself, you could go down into the basement and see the menagerie ... the animals that would be used in the show ... and the sideshow! Once you got past the distinctive smell of the animals, you could see the giant (and buy huge rings that he wore which could fit around your wrist), the midgets, the magician, the sword swallower, the bearded lady and all of the others. (When the Feld family bought the circus, the sideshow was eliminated.)

Next it was up into the arena for the show itself. For me, two necessary items were always a circus light (they were small "pez dispenser" type lights on a vinyl lanyard which you would swing during blackouts between acts) and cotton candy ... the only time during the year that I would be able to have it.

Every aspect of the circus fascinated me. I have to admit though, the sound of the cannon shooting someone across the arena - which was how the show always ended back then - caused me to cower a bit.

Nothing beats the sound of circus music followed by the strong voice of the Ringmaster (in reality, he is the MC ... the ringmaster technically is a person who stands by the ring itself during animal acts, though the MC seems to have been given that designation over the years by popular usage), in his sequined jacket announcing, "Ladies and gentlemen! Children of all ages! Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth!"

Back then it was a 3 ring circus and you would see three similar acts all going on at the same time. The best was always in the center ring though. And then there were the animals! Elephants, horses, camels, and of course, the big cats! In the end, it was the elimination of the elephants - for humanitarian reasons - that was the piece that finally put the circus into a position that made it impossible to continue, but they were magnificent to watch!

For me, the circus was always a highlight of the spring, when it rolled into Madison Square Garden around Passover/Easter week. While school was out for the week, we got to see the circus.

My love of circus continued into my adult years - as well as my annual visits. I also became fascinated in the history and art of the American circus. And, oh ... how I would have loved to be a circus clown ... or a circus band member - but being a violist that was not really an option.

When my kids were born, naturally we started taking them to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus at Madison Square Garden, now at its current location.

My daughter meets 2ba after her first visit to the
Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus

There were other circuses of course, and when we could we would go see them as well - tented or in an arena - it didn't matter. My kids developed a love of circus as well. It was always fun no matter the size of the circus we were seeing. (Of course there was the time I didn't tell them that a small circus had opened very close to our house, and while we were waiting until it was time to go see it, they watched Killer Klowns from Outer Space on TV ... )

Eventually my children had children of their own, and they too were introduced to the circus by way of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show.

The twins visit with circus performers on the floor of the arena and are about to head up to their seats

Then it happened. On January 14, 2017 it was announced that due to declining attendance the Ringling Brother's and Barnum & Bailey Circus would end its 146 year run. (It was ironic that I was in Ellenton, Florida on the day the announcement was made there.)

Just a few days earlier, my daughter and I had been discussing bringing my one and a half year old granddaughter to see the circus which was about to come to Tampa. I bought the tickets within hours of the announcement, and was able to get amazing seats ... first row ... right in front of the single ring that this show had been using for the past few years (as opposed to three rings).

Unfortunately, Amalie Arena would not let me take my DSLR camera into the building (as I had for every circus show I had been to for decades) so I was only able to use the camera in my phone to capture my granddaughter's first Ringling circus, and my last.

Circus lights have changed quite a bit since I was a kid

For the first time in their history there is a female Ringmaster

As close as you can get to the action without being in the circus

The elephants have been retired but the big cats are helping to bring it all to an end

And so, at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island in NY on May 21, 2017, the Ringmaster will say for the last time, "May all your days be circus days!" and the lights will go down on 146 years of circus history and we will lose an important piece of Americana. I for one hope a last minute savior will show up to save the show, but that is highly unlikely as it had been losing money for years. TV, movies, streaming entertainment all make the circus irrelevant to today's generation. A show that was well over 3 hours when I was a child is now just 2 hours long. Long circus acts are just too long for today's fast moving world.




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A message from Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, the producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^®

After much evaluation and deliberation, my family and I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^® will hold its final performances in May of this year. Ringling Bros. ticket sales have been declining, but following the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop. This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company.

Nearly 50 years ago, my father founded our company with the acquisition of Ringling Bros. The circus and its people have continually been a source of inspiration and joy to my family and me, which is why this was such a tough business decision to make. The decision was even more difficult because of the amazing fans that have become part of our extended circus family over the years, and we are extremely grateful to the millions of families who have made Ringling Bros. part of their lives for generations. We know Ringling Bros. isn’t only our family business, but also your family tradition.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^® Presents Circus XTREME will conclude its tour at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., on May 7, 2017, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey^® Presents Out Of This World will conclude its tour at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21, 2017. We hope you will come to celebrate this American icon for one last time before our tours conclude.

Our company provides quality, live family entertainment, and we invite you to bring your family to one of our other events, including Marvel Universe LIVE!, Monster Jam, Monster Energy Supercross, AMSOIL Arenacross, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!, as well as future productions.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has served as inspiration for all of the live entertainment produced at Feld Entertainment. We learned from the circus, and applied those learnings to our other productions. Without Ringling Bros., we wouldn’t have the vibrant live entertainment company that we have today. Ringling Bros. will always be part of Feld Entertainment, and its spirit will live on in every production and project we do.