Yesterday was (for those of you not in the US) our annual food-family-Americana feast. For me, Thanksgiving is the best holiday: it’s all about those we love, the bounty of the table and being together, about being an American, and it isn’t grossly commercialized like Christmas and like Halloween has become.  Our small band gathered again this year, and it was wonderful–though we all did seem subdued.  Paul had the Redskins playing arch-rivals the Dallas Cowboys (U.S. Football) on the TV, and our team–the Washington, DC, Redskins of course–was doing so well I had to snag Potomac, our troll wearing a Redskins jersey, to join us on the table.  They won 38-31.  Hail to the Redskins, hail victory!  (That’s part of their fight song FYI.)

My Peeps, the best peeps on the planet!

And I even managed, FINALLY, to sneak in some time for art.  I’m taking a Watercolor Lettering class with Val Webb online; we’ve only had one class/lesson so far, and I learned something not two minutes into the first video!   I clearly have a lot to learn, but I’m learning and really enjoying it.  I wasn’t going to take her next class about herbs and watercolor, but think I will just have to sign up….great stuff.  So  this is my first watercolored word:

From Val Webb’s first lesson, block letters, painting in the negative space.

I’ll be back with all the blogposts about Houston soon–I’ve resized the photos, just need to write and insert photos.  Since I got back, I’ve  ad Joshua’s birthday, then massive garden clean-up for the winter to do before I can sit down with the laptop, plus need to do all the Christmas shopping before my next foot surgery on December 7.  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanks-Giving day, no matter where in the world you are.  It is good to remember, be grateful, and say so–to yourself, to the others who make your life better (including the doggie down the street who wags his tail, the bird that sings, the kind lady in the checkout aisle at the grocery, all of them).

Talk to you soon with lots of pictures from Quilt Festival!

My favorite picture of the day…the boys warm up for the Class B (Maine) Eastern Regional Cross Country Championship… notice the muddy handprint? This was BEFORE the race…. competitors were, by the end, covered head to toe in mud!

Or make that RACE!  Today was an incredibly sodden day for the Maine High School Eastern Regional Cross Country Championships, held at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, Maine.  It might just as well have been called Mudfest 2012!  When driving home from dropping Eli off at the bus this morning, it was raining so hard that even though I had my wiper on “whip”, I could barely see.  The road surface was not visible…the rain was coming down so hard it was bouncing up and the top of the road was a gray haze.  That meant MUD!  But the kids were AMAZING!  The Girls Team WON Class B Eastern Regionals and for the first time in memory the Boys Team qualified for States!  The top 8 of 15 teams get in, and the boys placed 6th!  Awesome job!

After the meet, a VERY happy Camden Hills Regional High School (Maine) Cross Country team!

From the boys team, Junior Ben Trapani put in an amazing run coming in second in Class B!  Eli Smith and best friend since first grade Ben Winchenbach both turned in amazing times–if the boys team had not qualified as a team, they each would have qualified for States by placing in the top 30:  Eli was 19th and Ben 26th!!!! As FRESHMEN?!!!!!!   The rest of the boys also exceeded their previous bests for a combined performance that earned the entire team a trip to the State Championships for the first time in memory…. at least 7 or more years since a Camden Boys team has qualified.  WELL DONE, gentlemen!

The Girls Team has been a local powerhouse for quite some time, and thrillingly, they won with Brittany Bowman coming in third in the Class B girls, and with three of the girls in the top ten, six in the top thirty.  That’s why they won!

Looking across the field to the starting line for the boys’ race

And they’re off…. Ben Trapani is just to the left of Eli (who has a red arrow pointing at him…yes, Mama is proud!)

A little blurry photo, but that is Eli running in the red, about halfway through the race at 20th! We knew he needed to make 30th or better if the team didn’t make the cut–which it hadn’t in years! Paul and I were dumbfounded that he was so far up in the pack! THEN, Ben W. comes along seven runners later!!!! He could make it too!

Eli is nothing if not determined. Here you see the boys coming down the hill into the straightaway into the chute (and BIG HUGE puddles)…Maybe 200 yards to go?

Then Eli gets this look of determination on his face and you know you are about to witness his “final kick”…. here the legs and arms start churning, puddle or no! Notice how he has closed the gap from the previous photo.

And into overdrive…this is what makes Eli a winner! Not just physical ability, but mental fitness and determination and drive! (Yeah… I’m totally, deliriously biased!) We did not know it at the time, but just before the last uphill, he twisted an ankle a little bit and fell behind the kid to his left in this photo.  Without the slip, he might even have overtaken the boy in dark blue.  As it was, he finished 19th!  as a FRESHMAN!

After the race…can you say MUDDY? This is before Eli went for his chest-slide. The mud was so slick in places you could have put a sled on it and gone downhill!

L to R: Forest P., Ben W., Ben T. and Eli…well done!

And now, the GIRLS are off! I didn’t get many photos of the girls…somehow I wasn’t “on” with the camera today and many of my photos were blurry.

In the stands…notice the change in color in Eli’s shirt? This one is AFTER sliding on his chest in the mud!

The Girls Class B Eastern Regional Champions! WOOT!!!! Well done to one and all!

And lest you think I forgot about quilting, nope. Wondering: would this photo of the mud turn into a good Thermofax screen?

And last and best, teenagers being teenagers!

Having fun at the end of the day…great job to everyone!

And I am happy to report, as soon as Eli got home he went out to the hose, in the rain, to hose down his running spikes, then came in and peeled off all the grimy muddy muck into the washing machine and himself into the shower.  What a wonderful day!   And yes, I am REALLY GLAD I wore my Bogs boots…rubber up past the ankles!

We got home two days ago from a lovely trip to Florida.  While away I was able to post a few pics to Facebook, but I’ll make up for that here soon!  Just wanted to check in and let you know I’ve got lots coming–I just need to nail my seat to the chair and process photos and blog about it!  One of the nicest things about coming home is seeing the Camden Hills — once you spot them, you know you’re almost there!   Florida was hot and humid, and we were looking forward to a respite here in Maine.  The temps have been about 20 degrees cooler (in the 70s not 90+) but it has been mighty humid–the weather should change (PHEW) tomorrow!

This was my first flight coming in at dusk, with the lights of the coast visible. The town you see in the mid-ground is Rockland, a dozen miles or so south of our home. The Camden Hills are in the distance, and Camden town itself if off to the right of the photo. BEAUTIFUL!

One of the reasons I love flying in is seeing the familiar places from a bird’s-eye perspective.  And flying in at sunset gives you great pics of the sky…..

And as always, there is quilting inspiration.  As I was lolling in bed this morning, I was thinking about a quilt I want to make–something Quilt Modern-ish:  equilateral triangles in blues and aquas and spring greens, and how I would quilt it (bed size this one will be!).  I want the quilting to be easy and approachable (thinking ahead to a book on quilting design) for the beginner or the advanced-but-busy quilter, and was thinking about the patterns of the currents on the surface of the ocean:

Looking southwest over the peninsulas of mid-coast Maine as we approached Owl’s Head / Rockland airport at sunset.

Now I need to go get some exercise, run some errands, then get home before the next downpour adds to the already 100-percent humidity outside!

Eli met his biggest challenge in the Busline League Track and Field Championships...see below for all the glorious details!

Preface:  I should follow my husband’s example on FaceBook and start with with a “Parental Pride Alert”!  We now have a three-sport champion at home!

Back in September, about halfway through the Cross-Country running season, Eli had just won another meet.  From the back seat of the car on the way home, he said something to this effect:

“You know, I think I want to go out of 8th grade with a bang!

• Be on  the equivalent of honor roll [note from mom:  they changed the grading system and eliminated honor roll…do NOT get me started!]
• Win the Cross-Country championship
• Repeat as Eastern Regional Champion in wrestling and
• Win States in Wrestling [the Pine Tree League covers about 70 percent of the state, minus only the big class A schools down near Portland, Maine]
• and win one individual blue ribbon in Track and Field.”

With his first event today at the Track and Field Championships for our portion of the Maine Coast, Eli achieved his goal, and then some!  He began the day at the Shotput:

Eli ready to heave the 8-lb shotput 34' 6" feet; despite a couple of good kids from Belfast, he won!

Next up:  Triple Jump!  For several years, we lived near the Vitagliano’s; Eli would play with Chris and admire Matt’s athletic abilities.  When the family moved down to Virginia, the boys kept in touch by Facebook.  Eli copied Matt and set up a throwing zone in our yard, weighing rocks that were from 10-12 pounds to practice!  Matt told Eli that he had looked up Olympic athletes on the internet to study their form, and Eli promptly did the same, to the benefit of his field events.

Even though a lady almost walked in front of me, blocking my shot, I managed to get this great shot of Eli airborne! Makes my ankles and knees hurt just to think about the landing!

Eli landed a personal best of 32′ 7″ and WON!  Second first place ribbon!

Skipping the running for just a moment to complete the field events, Eli came in third in the discus (his last event…he was tired by then and the overcast skies had cleared and the heat soared to near 80):

Throwing the discus for 3rd

and in the Turbo Javelin (a new event last year, the middle school boys use a plastic javelin that has blades on the back like an arrow) got a second place, logging a personal best in competition and breaking his own record at school to hit 133 feet (about 50 feet more than most of the other kids! to qualify for the middle school championship competition you had to throw over 6o feet!).

But saving the best and sweetest for last:  the 1600 metre race, about a mile.  When Eli began track three years ago, then 8th-grader Ben Trapani would lead in so many races, by such a long distance, that he seemed unbeatable.  He held the school record in several events, including the 1600 metre with a time of 5 minutes 19 seconds.  Eli wanted to beat that record and trained hard, going to the high school on Sundays where Coach Morse would run optional extra practices and time intervals so the kids could learn to “feel” if they were running a lap at 1 minute 21 seconds, 1 minute 26, 1 minute 15 and so on….. how they can do that I have NO idea!  Right off the opening shot, a kid from Medomak took the lead:

A large pack for the 1600 metre race. The boy on the left (Med. for Medomak) with red arrow (not the boys in yellow in the foreground) is the one who took and held the lead for 3 1/2 laps. Eli is the arrow on the right.

I took photos of the clock, and Eli’s first lap was EXACTLY what he wanted:  1 minute 20 seconds.  If he could maintain that through 3 laps, he would increase at the start of the fourth, then “book it” for the last half-lap.  By halfway through the third lap, Coach Morse hollered at him to close the gap of over 100 feet (maybe 50 yards?) sooner.

Rounding the end of the track for the last half lap, you could watch Eli kick it into gear–he and the Medomak boy were wwwwwwaaaaaayyyyyy ahead of everyone else.  Eli mustered heart and guts and closed in, to the screams of many of his teammates, and with maybe 15 metres to go pulled even and then passed him!   The photo at the top shows how close the two were.

Eli WON with a time of 5 minutes 16.16 seconds, beating Ben T’s school record by 3 full seconds!!!!!!!  And the boy in 2nd (previously undefeated this season) finished also in 5 min. 16 seconds, but still second.  Both boys were gracious after the race, and Eli correctly noted it was good to be pushed.  Without the Medomak kid, Eli would have won, but he might not have had the push he needed to beat Ben’s record.  After the race, many parents came up to us and said that was “THE” race and finish of the meet! Well done to all!

After the meet, we waited for team results.

The kids gather to hear team results

The girls’ team has incredible depth, and had a commanding lead in team standings.  Both boys and girls teams are, by the way, made up of kids from Camden-Rockport plus the H-A-L (Hope, Appleton and Lincolnville) schools, as those are too small to have their own teams.  The girls won, again, with an undefeated season:

The Girls team wins!

The boys race to the finish was tight–we weren’t sure up until they announced the second place team who would win…literally every single kid who placed 6th or higher contributed an essential point or several to THE WIN…yes, another undefeated season!

The boys collect their plaque for the school

Oprah Winfrey is quoted as saying “Surround yourself with people who will lift you higher.”

At first I thought how this applies to how Coach Morse has helped Eli, but then I realized it really applies to ALL the team:  To Coach Jim Morse, Coach Dee Kopesky, and ALL the kids are ALL lifting each other higher.  Mr. Morse (the School’s awesome 6th grade Social Studies teacher, and who seems to me a bit like a pied piper–Jim, we’re so glad for all you’ve given to Eli and that we had one more season with you) recruited a huge team…nearly 90 kids!  What is more amazing, I think we had something like 60 (?) kids qualify for the championships (meet certain times or distances/heights for the various events)–not sure how many, but it was a HUGE squad!  The training and dedication of both coaches and kids together lifted them all higher.  WELL DONE, everyone!  And Eli…. we are so proud of you!  Even more than your sports ability, we admire your brains, determination, dedication, and good sportsmanship.  WOW!

Here’s to a three-sport honor-roll champion–you deserve a rest!  Want waffles for breakfast whenever you wake up tomorrow?

End of the Championship Match....ELI WINS!

AND you better believe I am shouting as loud as I can!   We are so immensely proud of Eli…. there was a lot of pressure on him to do well this season (mostly from himself but so many others believed he could be a champ, too), and he was strong physically, mentally, and emotionally!  Eli won the Pine Tree Wrestling League State Championships, 138-lb. weight class today with an undefeated season! Eli is the first kid since 2003 (when Eli was in kindergarten) to win a State title from the Camden-Rockport Middle School (Oliver Bradeen in 2003 was the last–he went on to be a three-time runner up to State Champion in high school, too).

Here is a YouTube video of Eli’s Championship match.  Camden-Rockport coaches Paul and True are just to the right of the screen, the Bath team coaches are just to the left of the screen.  Eli is in red, the Bath boy is Justin Johnson, in blue.  (If you want to see it full screen click in the lower right of the embedded video to enlarge; press Escape to return to exit full screen mode).  FYI…at about 5 minutes in, you’ll see a break in the action.  The Bath kid tried a move, but Eli held him tight; when the Bath boy went down, he got squeezed and it hurt, so they took a medical time out.  Fortunately, he was OK.  Then after they resume wrestling you’ll hear me say “come on that was 7 seconds”–the scoring table forgot to re-start the clock!  The refs realized they had been wrestling enough time, so moved the clock forward to 2 seconds left, the match re-started, then  Eli  got the win officially, score 9-1, which is considered a “Major Decision” (i.e. by a big margin).

With forfeits and exhibition matches (4 of those, two with 145-lb kids, two with 131), Eli finishes his season at 34-0!  WOW!   I am totally impressed, and especially at the comments of the other adults.  After his first match, the REFEREE complimented him on his takedown.  During the course of the day and after Eli won, other coaches congratulated Paul (dad and Asst. Coach) and True (coach) on how good a wrestler he is, and how nice a kid he is, too!   Can you tell I am absolutely popping with pride?

This may be my favorite photo I've ever taken of Eli wrestling...it really captures the speed of the action, the strength and determination of the athletes!

MAJOR THANKS to Paul for the incredible amount of time he has given to CRMS over the past seven seasons, first with Joshua and now with Eli, and the time and devotion to honing Eli’s physical abilities and mental outlook, to True Bragg (coach) for what he has given not just to Eli but to the team over the years he  has been coach, and to Eli’s practice partners and the other coaches from the area who have helped Eli.   We are so blessed to live in a wrestling hotbed that, more than anything, is a welcoming (to us folks from away!), warm, caring community that takes care of and celebrates its own.

Here are some photos of the championship match:

The opening whistle sounds!

Eli dominated the match from start to finish, with one brief (scary for mom except it was over so fast) blip in the third period

As Eli said -- it's hard to do anything is someone grabs your ankle, hence using the move!

Look at the stretch on both boys! They need strength, flexibility, speed, mental agility, mental toughness...

End of the Championship Match....ELI WINS!--it's worth repeating again here GRIN!

Two happy and now-relaxed coaches!

Photo is a tad blurry, but I like it anyway...Eli (L), Paul (back), True (R)

Eli adds another bracket sheet to his room... Bath kid is next, and 3rd place with white ribbon. Congrats to all!

Paul looks at Eli's first place medal--the middle spins around

I cajoled the kids who went into a photo when we stopped at McD's on the way home. Far left is Elvis B. who also made it into the States, Coach True, teammate E., Eli, Paul behind Teammate H., and jovial chatterbox teammate T.

Thanks to the teammates who were able to attend today.  We’ll see everyone we hope at the end-of-season potluck on Wednesday at the school.   WOOOHOOOOOHOOOOOO!

CONGRATULATIONS ELI!