Fall Ruck in August

Fall Ruck in August

QIC: Burlap

Date: 16 Aug 2020

PAX: Hoptoberfest, D-Day, Bulldog, Chomper (WB?), Pony Express, B.A.M., FNG Swisher Sweet, FNG In School Suspension (ISS), Burlap (WD & QIC)

Nine pax gathered at Diggs-Latham Elementary on the last day of ‘summer’ for most local grade school students.  The weather cooperated with overcast skies, only 64 degrees at launch, no rain, but plenty of humidity.

NMM

• The multi-turn route went north by Christ Moravian and Piedmont International.  Its proximity to his home and work brought Chomper out who met us about 100 yards from the start.  It passed by or near the homes of Chisel and Fokker, and then turned south down Poplar and downhill to the Duke power station near Broad St.  Up the hill in the UNCSA neighborhood and back in Washington Park, an historic neighborhood of the Dash founded in 1892, per a plaque.  We wound around the hills and down into the park itself, crossing the creek and back to the start.
• We were joined by only one canine creature, Roxie, who brought her Hooman, BAM.
• Some difficulty in pronouncing street names such as “Doune” and “Haled”.
• We traversed a small section of Rawson Street that was so narrow and shaded that I thought it might be a driveway.  As we emerged at the corner of Rawson and Banner, we were stimulated with two senses:  smell and sound.  Someone on the right was smoking food, and we made a mental note to return in several hours.  Then on the left, we heard a women playing guitar on her front porch.  Surprisingly, she did not seem alarmed by the ragged band of old men.
• Washington Park has a WIDE variety of home styles, ages, lot sizes, and home conditions.  It also has at least one rooster roaming Park Blvd.
• When we hiked by the softball fields at the park, a couple of pax (Hop and BAM) were able to recall hitting softballs over the fences that stand 300 feet from the plate.  Alas, YHC was not and could only recount making the last out in a close game.
• Hoptoberfest remembers F3 guys forming a team and not winning any games.  He believes that he may be the only Pax on that team that still regularly attends F3 workouts.
• Swisher Sweet’s naming went pretty well, with a focus on his livelihood and hobby surrounding cigars.  We started with Humidor, for which he voiced approval.  When we threw out JR’s or Swisher Sweet, the FNG reacted with derision at the latter name.  Of course, that is the one we chose.
• We had more difficulty with ISS.  He went to seminary with BAM and though not currently in full-time ministry (though kind of, cause he’s a high school teacher), we thought about the F3 WS convention of naming those with seminary degrees three names that can be initialized – think ManInBlack, Hand of God, Bible Answer Man.  We got back to the teaching job and settled on In School Suspension which abbreviates providentially to ISS.
• Welcome to both former FNGs.
• YHC took us out with thanksgiving, prayers for school returns, and pleas for strength to be kind and to love one another.

Very nice start to the week.

Peace,

Burlap