GFH3 Run #1,787; 27 December 2014

Rumor has it... there were about 35 people at Nipples and Greg's place in spite of the early start and missing website.  The course was short at about 4¼ true trail for Eagles and 3½ for Turkeys.  Nipples scouted and set, and her trail included some nice woods, several main roads, some shiggy and a history lesson for the Eagles, who cut through the Dranesville Tavern.  Everyone made it in safely with no evidence of falls, mudslides etc.  There were four dogs – Cam, Abby, Kiley and Olaf.  The weather was beautiful, sunny and almost 60 degrees, and everyone was out on the deck with the fire pit lit.  There were breakfast foods including cheese eggs, ham biscuits, sausage balls, fruit salad, and a nice crumb cake (courtesy of Beef Strokemoff).  The Oral Advocate did well as Mufti Pro Tem and we had one 99 to the cup, Tim.

And Packing Pink Heat got renamed Mimosa Mary on the occasion of her 400th run.

Anyone who has photos is welcome to send them.  These are from the archives:

GFH3 Run #1,785; 13 December 2014

First and foremost, congratulations to Blows and Goes for emerging hearty and well from his recent, unexpected surgery.  We look forward to his return to GFH3.

No, seriously.  Can't wait to have him back.

We do not look forward to the Mufti and BC3's departure at the end of the month, especially after they treated us to a another great hash today.  The Oral Advocate and Phoenix Rising chipped in to set trail, and it was an excellent one, plus the weather in Reston was decent for the time of year -- which means chilly and cloudy enough to make southern California look that much better, but not cold enough to require a third layer.

Actually, there may be a few triple layers in there.

So 31 of us gathered for a mutual-admiration moment masquerading as a brief, and 16 runners headed uphill, while 10 walkers sauntered lake-wards, with multitudinous dogs in tow.  The runners broke up into three chunks of turkeys, two of eagles, and one serious shortcutter.  Almost everyone got the nice bit of shiggy that brought them back to culs de sac of Center Harbor for a zig-zag On In to THE EGGS!

Turkeys on trail

BC3 had cooked up a marvelous brunch of eggs, croissants (still warm, even for the final two finishers!) and sausage.  Plus mimosas and fruit and panettone for afters, and altogether everything delicious, restorative and festive.  Gosh, it was a great meal.  Mark your calendars:  she's back in late March or early April.

Mufti roll-called, Rough Cut made 899 ("I've got to think up a new name.") and Rick made number one.  Bubbles got 'forgotten' until the Mufti started to make a fuss.  Chip Off the Old Dick bravely stepped forward, but clever Mufti saw through the ruse.  He was gracious enough to present me with CIA lotion and body mist (no, seriously -- Central Intelligence Agency skin care products) and a hand-carved nest of Christmas trees, in celebration of my retirement from the role of Assistant Associate Mufti.  Or something.  Let the record reflect that I got an entire sentence out for my speech ("I'm not even going to try to say anything.") before the hash realized what I was up to.  Ha ha!  Going out in glory!

GFH3:  "99 to the cup!"  Rick:  "I have no idea what that means."

I took a few pictures, and Queen Cobra got hold of the camera and took a boatload.  Enjoy.

GFH3 Run #1,731; 28 December 2013

On 7 May 2008, I hosted the hash from my little house in McLean for the first time (first time at the house, you understand; not first time hosting).  It was about a week after I'd moved in to the house, and there was some confusion about finding a corkscrew.  Otherwise, all was well -- as I recall, I even had the necessary baking utensils to offer oatmeal cookies hot from the oven.  Today I hosted the hash from the little McLean house for the last time, again with decorative cardboard boxes strewn about the place.  Oh, woe and sadness, though you wouldn't think so from the weather.  Given a desire to empty a few cupboards and the late-December date, I'd planned a hot chocolate stop, which proved entirely unnecessary under sunny skies and temps in the 50s.  Gracious, it was lovely, and almost everyone at the On In stayed On Outside.  Bonus points.

So many bonuses in today's hash!

A few other bonuses:  Robin came back to the hash, albeit just because she knew I needed help with egg-scrambling.  Blazing Straddle showed up with a cane and walked over a mile despite her recent knee surgery.  Packing Pink Heat showed up with one foot in a post-surgery boot.  I set both eagle and turkey trails; the turkeys had seven water crossings, not including the five with bridges of some sort; the eagles had nine, plus three bridges.  (There were a few dampened tootsies, according to report, but no drownings.)  Jeffy Lube, the eagliest eagle, ran just over eight miles.  The hot chocolate stop included rum and amaretto and cookies.  Paddle My Candee Ass had a birthday, and Big Balls on Deck provided a cake liberally bedewed with amaretto (there it is again) and bedecked with cream.  ("This is disgusting!" exclaimed one hasher, gobbling it down.  "It's all hooch and butterfat!")  BC3 thought Rough Cut looked like crap, and he never looks bad after a run.  Jeffy Lube declared the trail, "perfect" -- but he's got issues.  Someone else said the eggs were perfect; thanks again and again, Robin!  And then...

birthday crown?

Hang on. First, the trails:  all the walkers decided on the two-mile, sidewalk, out-and-back that includes the garden tour at St. Dunstan's.  Most of the runners chose the roughly four-mile turkey trail.  Under threat of burnt offerings, several decided to eagle, which gave them a bit less than six (of true trail, anyway).  Then, the food:  brunch = bagels, salmon, scrambled eggs and mimosas, although enough people drank beer that there was only one left.  Warm cookies; birthday cake.  Mufti on roll; Lori hit 88, the double eights, ooooh.

And then... about 15 minutes after the last hashers departed, the doorbell rang.  Double Breasted Booby and Rick were on the stoop!  They had raced down from Long Island hoping for a few minutes of hash time, but got hard ciders and a short visit with just me instead.  Zipperhead phoned while they were there and said he'd just realized the hash was at 11:00, not 3:00, and had turned around and gone back home.  So silly.

I don't usually get many photos when I host, but the ones I did get are right here.

No, you do not get credit for the run.