Thursday, February 28, 2013

Alan Marlette's Funeral Saturday 2 March - UPDATED with info on Saturday's run

Charles Alan Marlette, 1946-2013
Very sad news:  Alan Marlette, a Great Falls hasher for the last five or six years, died on Saturday 23 February.  He was 66, with a son and daughter.  There will be visiting hours at the Adams-Green Funeral Home at 721 Elden Street in Herndon on Saturday 2 March 2013 from 4:00 until 5:00pm, followed by a service at 5:00pm.  He'll be buried at Quantico National Cemetery on Tuesday 5 March at 2:00pm.

The funeral home offers a website where people can leave messages for the family and post photos.  The website also has details on the services.

The GFH3 will meet in Reston at 3:00pm as scheduled, for a short memorial run/walk.  After the run, hashers will convene in a nearby restaurant (bring cash or credit cards).  Anyone wishing to attend Alan's funeral should be able to make it.  Mufti and BC3 and The Oral Advocate have offered to make their homes available for showers for those who live farther out and want to clean up before the service.  Other Restoners & Herndoners are encouraged to do the same.



Ida L. Frick, 1926-2013
You may also know that Bea Ross's mother, Ida Frick, died on her 87th birthday, 12 February 2013.  Her funeral will be on Wednesday 6 March at the Money & King Funeral Home at 171 West Maple Avenue in Vienna, at 3:00pm.  Following the service, Ida will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.  This link should get you, again, to the funeral home website.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

GFH3 Run #1,685; 23 Feb 2013

There really have been a lot of hashes in Herndon lately, including today, when Larry opened his doors to a drizzly day and a small group of the GFH3 elite, who moseyed in to drip all over his gorgeous Afghan rugs.  The weather and the 11am start kept the Bad Hashers at home.  One hopes that some of them made it over for a 3pm start, because the trail was thoughtfully planned and included scaling a wall via two ladders and some helpful assistants.  Although, I suppose, by 3pm the ladders and assistants would have been long gone, which might make that last short stretch a midge tricky.  I can't help but notice, though, that it was a lot drier and a lot warmer at 3:00 than it was at 11:00...

Larry and Mike set, with help from Rebecca and Zac, taking the runners through northwest Herndon and maybe a little bit into Loudon County.  They also provided a thoughtful map for the walkers, a not-lonely band of three, with two severe limps.  Then there were about ten runners, plus four hares, a cook, two on the DL, and one blogger-photographer who showed up late with professionally greased-up hair.  That makes 21, for those of you who do math for a living and don't care to have to add on your leisure time.

So:  those ladders.  There's a pleasant path that allows dog-walkers, baby-strollers, visiting neighbors and others to wander from Larry's neighborhood over to Mike's.  But someone didn't like it, and persuaded the Homeowner's Association to fence it off.  So Larry got his stepladder, and set it up on one side of the fence, and Mike got his extension ladder, and leaned it up on the other, and everything got very damp, and everyone went up one ladder and down the other -- except me; I went up and down both.  Mike and Zac stood by and steadied the ladders, which is not on par with the time Cockpit Ejeculator carried people across a stream, but is a thoughtful touch.

Crossing from west to east - not how they did it in the old days.
Marla made chili, both con carne and con verduras, plus brown and white rice and cornbread and all the appropriate toppings.  It was delicious.  Oral Advocate pointed out that the guacamole was not 100% genuine avocado, then claimed that the wise hasher (oxymoron?) hides the wax fruit when hosting, as hashers will eat anything.  The Mufti handed around a get-well-soon card for the Bionic Babe (Pink Parts chose a new name when she learned what "Pink Parts" can mean), then called the roll, noting that Gwen hit the double 2s (ooh) and I think it was Greg at the double 4s (ooooooh).  He allowed Mike to make up a number for his new official count ("Five," he said.  "Definitely more than two.")  I tried for 300, but Mufti just laughed.  Odd, since I was not joking.

Rebecca and Zac each got welcomed to the GFH3 -- 99 to the cup! -- although the claim was made that they both helped set a year ago and thus should be at two -- 98 to the cup!  Only one gorgeous rug got red-wine spattered, and one dog toy, and I believe all the African masks survived intact.  BC3 and the Mufti will hash hero it up next week, and INDY and I will host the following week, AT 11:00 AM.  That decided, INDY collected the Bionic Babe's card  and we set off to visit her.
The card clearly healed her right up -- soon that pillow under the afflicted limb will be gone.  But the duck stays.

She looks great, but is still hurting a lot.  There are photos of the hash available if you'd like to look.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

GFH3 Run #1,684; 16 Feb 2013

The Hash brief is not always memorably memorable, but this was a great one.  Not only were there a few handfuls of snowflakes, swirling pixie-dust-like through the fine, fresh air of Herndon; there was also hash heroine Blazing Straddle, announcing:

  • She and BC3 got lost while setting, so the run might be a bit longer than usual;
  • If you've been running for an hour or more, and you're really quite tired, and you come to an X, you may and should run right through it;
  • They found some shiggy, which is rare in these parts, so enjoy it; and
  • There have been a lot of hashes in Herndon lately, and rather than color today's flour or try to sweep away previous runs' flour, she figured the hashers were smart enough to tell new flour from old, and they should follow the new.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
A slow start as the runners contemplate what might distinguish new flour from old...

There were also special celebrity guest stars:  the Double-Breasted Booby and Rick flew in on the easterly migratory route for hatching season, and the Rick family is now celebrating its newest member, born on Valentine's Day.  Awwww.  Photos were available; the infant is adorable.

Anyway, away they went, the 25 or so runners, and 15 or thereabouts walkers followed them.  The walkers' trail headed for the goose zone (you know what I mean, right?), and what fun is that?  I believe they went into the woods instead, which allows a lovely ramble.  There were a lot of people jogging and strolling through Herndon -- a beautiful day to be outdoors and active.

The runners were out for well over an hour, conquered their shiggy (Spurt:  "It's not what the Hillbilly Hash would consider shiggy."  Anonymous respondent:  "Well, why don't you piss off to Front Royal, then?"), and separated into many small groups to make their ways to the On In by very various, mostly unmarked, routes.  At one point Rick was FRB; nice goin', Grandad!  Air Horn:  "Who set this death march?"

Why is this man smiling?

Blazing Straddle, Goes Down in Spokes and Paul had put together a generous buffet of pasta and red sauce, meaty or mushroomy, and salad, plus chips everywhere and cookies and beer and wine.  Blazing Straddle keeps a darned comfy house, pretty much perfect for hashing.  Our injured Mufti showed up late, with hash heroine BC3, but in time for grits and the roll call.  He pointed out that there are dates available for hosting in March, which is traditionally the most popular month of the year to host.  So sign up early!

Larry is signed up for next week, and IT'S AN 11:00 AM START TIME!!!  Don't forget:  EARLY START NEXT WEEK.  You wouldn't want to miss the kind of fun these photos show you can have hashing.

Monday, February 11, 2013

GFH3 Run #1,683; 9 Feb 2013

Only two of us made it to Albuquerque for the run on Saturday.  The rest of you missed a great day with a bit of snowstorm, a bit of sandstorm, ferocious wind, desert-like intra-day temperature swings and a decent view or two.  We enjoyed the local sparkler, Gruet, revivifying hot chocolate with chili peppers, and plenty of blue corn and red chili sauce.  Thanks to Lilith for hosting!

A brief break to let the sand settle deeper into our ears, our eyes, our mouths and noses and scalps and fingernails and boots and between our teeth before setting off into the wind tunnel again.

Several Rio Grande crossings made for some excitement.

Setting fire to the roof in hopes of dissipating the early-morning freeze.

INDY, not wearing a swimsuit, as he knew he was lying about high-altitude scuba.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

GFH3 Run #1,682; 2 Feb 2013

Again with the Great Falls! -- thanks to Hash Heroes Phoenix Rising and Chip Off the Old Dick.  We convened, as per, in the garage, which this week featured the innards of an entire race car, raised up on a sturdy table.  "Where does the food go?" I very reasonably asked PhR, and he pointed to some rickety card tables set up for the occasion.  A select group gathered slowly, perhaps reluctant to get going given around-freezing temps and rather cloudy skies.  They would, no doubt, have been more eager and appreciative of the weather had they all been woken at 1:00am, badgered from their warm beds by a de-ranged boyfriend, and shoved into a small Honda for a four-hour drive to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to stand around for two hours in a drunken, pot-smoking crowd in single-digit degrees Farenheit weather for the chance to listen, via an inadequate sound system, to a top-hatted someone on a distant stage say something about a woodchuck, and then drive four hours home again.  Love you, sweetie!  But I digress.

Big Wheel and Easy Strider dream of checkered-flag glory.

PhR helpfully explained a few techniques for discerning the differences between snow and flour as part of his hash brief.  Then the runners set out, at 3:15, into the landscaped woods path behind the house, while the walkers headed down the driveway to find their own bliss through the hilly local side streets.  I think there were about 12-15 runners, including sweeper COtOD, and about 8-10 walkers, including Gale and Melisande, who set their own out-and-back via the early part of the runners' trail.  I hopped into a truck with PhR, several bottles of water and a Gatorade, and a sack of pink flour to put the final flourishes on the trail markings.

PhR and COtOD benefit from a bridle path and a couple of helpful neighbors:  a yoga-teacher friend of Susan's who permitted use of her driveway, and the local who sold most of his land for development but retained several acres of perimeter for use by his ATVs and our hash group.  Gosh, do we love sensible and neighborly neighbors.

The pack kept itself together pretty well, with the help of a few strategically-placed backchecks, until near the end, when FRB and first-timer Al (and I, now descended from my truckly perch) got well and truly screwed up despite those 30 pounds of flour, and Easy Strider and Zipperhead caught up to us, and then The (not-very) Manic Mechanic came skipping down a hill, and then they all ran around in several directions whilst I continued my stroll until I encountered a backcheck five at the top of a hill.  After that, I don't know what the trail did as I rather 'zenned' myself to the On In very inefficiently, weeping silently.

T(n-v)MM missed a big pink 'X' (so did PhR and I, when we drove along to be sure it was still there -- caught it on the way back, though) and so ran up a small paved hill, then realized his error, leapt a fence, crossed a rough field, leapt another fence, and caught up with the FRBs within about half a mile, in time for a nice backcheck.

And what did I find back at the garage?  You know what - delicious, hot fried rice and sesame green beans and kung-pao-ish chicken and other yummy things.  Plus -- another half-dozen or so "hashers" who came for the social exercise and skipped all that pedestrian (ha ha) running and such, bringing the total group to about 30.  BC3 reported on an idyllic Caribbean vacation with books and warm ocean and not much else, as one needs nothing else.  A few of the kindlier folks speculated as to where Air Horn, Spurt and Chugger might be, they having gotten themselves well and truly separated from the group and even the sweeper.  They made it back in the middle of the roll call, to loud acclaim and threats of dire reprisals (i.e., no credit for the run) from the Mufti, sparkling with the vigor of a deservedly well-vacationed leader.  The Mufti requested a vote as to who would win the Super Bowl.  I just (typing this part Sunday evening) heard a commentator say that his heart was for the Ravens, but his head believed the 49ers would win, and the GF Hash counted eleven heads to nine hearts.  Those of you putting hands up for the 49ers will all go back to 99 runs the next time I get ahold of that official roll, and Oral Advocate can no doubt think up something worse.

And now it's Monday morning, and I have only this to say:  Neener, neener, neener, boo-boo!

Kiley snoozed amidst the chaos, Abby ate everything dropped on the ground, including a fortune-cookie wrapper (an alert Blazing Straddle actually prevented that last), two first-timers, Al and Judith, won their cheers, and Hasher Flasher celebrated her 300th by choosing (?!) 'Pink Parts' as her new name.  Still the First Lady having left by that time, Pink Parts had no one willing to explain the full implications of the phrase.  [UPDATE:  On learning what pink parts are in StFL's lexicon, PP changed her name to Bionic Babe.]  The party was only enhanced by PhR driving a couple of convertibles into the party space to get them out of the newly-falling snow.

Speaking of StFL, we were graced with the company of six of our 1,000-run runners, as the pictures prove.  Trivia question:  which 1,000-run hasher was missing?  Bonus points if you know which 30-plus-year hasher who hasn't hit 1,000 was missing.

INDY and I are vacationing next weekend.  Radar, if you take photos (or anyone else does), please e-mail them to me and I'll post them early next week.  Anyone who wants can e-mail me meeting commentary and I'll put that up here.  Enjoy the Valentine's Day hash, and do please wear red!