blogil: on number one, owls and the street

its so nice out and last week had a nice scavanger hunt and orienteering in the same event.

I started before everyone elsesince i couldnt stay long, which was better since i dont see other runners and it feels more like a solo effort.

I have been to North chagrin park many times but that day i got to see areas i never visited. i wore my ankle brace which was no longer swollen but still a bit tender but not being active for 2 weeks is two much is too much. I headed for the woods and made my way through the check points, the orienteering part was not hard. with many check points the thing it opitmal course to get as many as possible. this was part scavenger hunt and some of the tasks including finding things like nuts, feathers, acorns and specific flowers types which i was not familiar with. the acorn was easy, lots of them in the woods, the feather was too hard, didnt see one, the horse was taken from a trail for horses sign, lots of things to find and point to go and as i kept going i sped up and started to jog parts of the way. i actualy made over 75% of the check points and over half of the items to find. one point was on a view point over the steep ravine and the next point was on the other side forcing me to get on my but to get down the steep hill, i wouldnt risk my leg on that angle. there were many birds chirping but no feathers in sight to collect- some tasks required counting steps from both side of a bridge or taking a photo of a specific place which is unique and i liked it, but i liked the most that i could run. close to the end i was getting tired and then spotted something in the corner of my eye, looked up and saw a huge barn owl. perhaps it was a regular size barn owl, never seen one in nature before. i saw it from behind, took a photo, then slowly walked to the other side of the tree, i stared it it for a while, it stared at me, but i think it wanted a nap , i left it alone and it didnt fly away, i didnt have such encounter since the kuala in 2001.

since i started before everyone i finished before everyone (since it was a timed event) , so i dont know what my over all position was, i was told my score was enough to win the same event the year before so i feel good.

this week we had to do a presentation in my ethics class. worth 35% of the grade so i prepared alot with 3 other students. there are 2 presentations day and i wanted the 1st day since the 2nd (next week) is on my birthday, hint hint. but it was a raffle. the teacher gave us cards to chose and that led to the order of choosing from a 2nd pile , i was 4th in line, the other 3 picked the 2nd day (you didnt really pick , you just picked a note and that was your order) and i was lucky to pick the 1st on the 1st day. 1st is better since we get rid of it first, and we have to listen to the other groups since one random lecture will be on the test, so if you are first, you can relax and listen to the rest instead of bening nervous.

I went 1st in my group for a 4 minutes speech about demolishing homes. i hate presentations since i get so nervous before them. i had to pee out of nerves at 5:30, at 5:55 i wnt again and by presentation time at 6:15 i had to go again but couldnt, my legs were shaking, i though i would fall, but i reheresed alot and i did well. but the thing is that for the next presentation , in 2 weeks i will be again super nervous.

the weekend is here once more...

enjoy photos of our street in its most beautifull week of the year

You are invited to view gil.even's photo album: 2012-04-19 our house in the middle of our street