GFH3 Run #1,741; 1 March 2014

For her first hash last fall, Paula hosted from a new location for the GFH3, and for her second hash today, she did the same.  See, she moved between hashes, and is now in a luxurious garden-view apartment in west Arlington, where the hills are plentiful and there’s enough parkland to offer up some shiggy, if you know where to look.  And Paula, Mitch and I’m Not Dead Yet knew where to look, so there were rich rewards for the 37 or 38 hashers who decided that the relative warmth offset the overcast skies and met up for a run today.

Hash brief, with background weirdos.

Runners got a five-mile true trail, and walkers got a three-mile – if they chose to accept it, which a few didn’t.  (Three miles is just a skosh farther than some of this crew like to walk.)  Valiant demonstrated the wisdom of a 31-plus year hasher and ran the walkers’ trail.  Judging by the condition of those who ran the runners’ trail, those few miles (Mini Schlonga got about seven on his GPS, but he ran the entire back-check 13) packed a wallop.  Everything undulates in that part of town, so calves and quads and gluts and lungs all get that little extra exercise boost, and by the time they’d jumped off the dam and crossed the stream and gotten all lost and confused around the BC-13, so lost and confused, in fact, that Phoenix Rising wound up running the trail forward, the runners were feeling the workout.  So when they reached a back-check five that sent them up a steep-ish staircase, the cheery smiles were starting to droop a bit – except Easy Strider’s.  He was thrilled to be back on trail regardless of back-checks.  Consensus, though, was that it was a good thing the trail took them more or less straight back to the house from there.

And the good things continued:  the house was full of wonderful smells.  In case you missed it, Paula’s roots are Portuguese, and a business trip to southeastern Massachusetts earlier in the week allowed her to stock up on bacalhau and fava beans.  Many hours in the kitchen (Mitch helped with the cod balls) allowed her to serve up a feast of pasteis, garbanzos with salt cod, stewed beans, and chorizo, with flan and arroz doce (rice pudding) for those who ate up all their beans.  No complaints about the beer, but the wines were truly special today, including a fantastic Portuguese Dao.  Seriously, this is way too good for the hash, but oh how grateful we are.

It's a hash, not a rugby scrum - except when the food comes out.

Mufti shouted the roll one more time before taking off to Hawai’i to rest his throat for a couple of weeks.  Loose Caboose got her birthday serenade.  Mitch hit double 4s; Bionic Babe was triple 3s, someone else was double 7s, and there were some suspect 644s or something, but Our Fearless Leader was almost hyperventilating with the excitement of it all before he finally got around to welcoming four newcomers.  Yay for Beth and Dennis and everyone else.  Double yay if we see you next week.  Sandra came back for #2, and Rick hit 99 with Lori just behind him at 98.  Mini Schlonga is close to 200.  The Executive Committee has some serious thinking to do.

If you like, you can include this story from Rick in that thinking:  “A number of us near the front of the
pack encountered a gentleman walking his dog.  I recognized him as a former Army officer with whom I had served during my career, so I stopped to say hello and briefly explained what this crazy bunch of people were doing as we ran through the woods yelling ‘On-On!’  He was clearly amused, so I invited him to join us.  He pointed towards his small dog and replied ruefully, ‘I can't do that today, but maybe another time.’

“So Great Falls Hashers should not be surprised if one day soon we are joined by General (Retired) Dennis Reimer, Chief of Staff, United States Army, 1995-1999.  As our nation's top Army officer during the conflict in Bosnia and Kosovo, he would certainly have some stories to share with us all.”

I vote Rick contact the general to invite him specifically to the next hash.  And the next one.

Lots of photos despite the poor light conditions; just click here.

GFH3 Run #1,740; 22 February 2014

Sure, you’ve had better trails, but have you had much better weather than over-60 and sunshine in February?  And how about the view from Flowerkraut’s back deck, with the rolling pasture sloping to the creek into which no one fell, as Paddle My Candee Ass and Air Horn’s minor slips just don’t count as falls?  All this, and 31 of your favorite hashers with which to share it – what a hobby, or club, or whatever this thing is.

Quotes of the hash were part of the brief:  (imagine a Sri Lankan accent) “I love to set false trails!” and (switch to Long Island/Northern California accent) “I think I’m making these false trails a little too long.”  Thanks to Rick and Mini Schlonga for a looong day of flinging flour about the woods, following directions from someone who’s not entirely certain what she’s doing (that’s me!), and somehow getting roped into raking.  And thanks to the dyads or nymphs or whoever was in charge of soothing the stream from Friday’s raging, turbulent mud-fest to today’s entirely manageable water crossing.

It was not actually warm enough to require a snow-bath.
M.S. is notoriously eccentric.

The runners had a four-mile true trail for turkeys (much less for turkeys who chose to pay attention to the chitchat instead of the trail; they know who they are), with an extra 1.5 miles in a sort of curlicue-loop for eagles.  The nine eagles had a great time jogging across brambly, wooded mud more or less parallel to Club View Drive, because that’s way more fun than pavement, and doubling back on themselves via a lovely hill and so forth.  The hares suffered considerable confusion trying to find the kindly neighbor who’d volunteered an edge of his lawn for the last stretch of the trail, and so the hounds suffered a few minutes' confusion awaiting the setting of trail along Beach Mill.  Whoops.  So sorry.  But you cannot set marks along Beach Mill before the hash, given how many people drive that route on their way to the meet.  Anyway, Valiant figured out everything without so much as a gram of flour.

Lovin' the Eagle Loop

Walkers went in different directions; one group on the lane out to Walker, where two separate motorists presented them with middle fingers for – what, exactly?  Having the gall to walk along the street?  The other group braved the creek and strolled beside the Potomac, which was looking robust and nation-building with all the recent melt adding muscle to its current.  Everyone was back to the On In by about 4:30, where they found a pinto-hominy pie and a seafood perloo, plus Black Box and Yuengling and Easy Strider’s chiminea, which he lugged all the way from P. Springs along with a cord or so of chiminea-sized log-lets.  And there were cookies.  There are always cookies.

Mufti did his roll call, and we welcomed Other Sandra, from Mozambique, to her first hash with us.  Yay and 99 etc.  Lezley hit double-sixes, oooh, and Rick is just three runs from a name.  Two people forgot to pay, and one person has size five-and-a-half feet and forgot running shoes for them.  See if you can tell whom from the photos, which include a few Mini Schlonga took whilst setting.  Thanks for that, MS!

GFH3 Run #1,703; 19 June 2013

One week ago, when no one was signed up to host, who launched themselves bravely forth?  Bite Me and Blow in the Hole.  Today, when no one was signed up to host, from whom did the heroics arise?  The Veggie Wedgie (what a dumb name) and... Blow in the Hole.  How I love that woman.  She is the sole reason you got any false trails today.

thank you thank you thank you

So, with eight hours to prepare to host a hash, one first checks with the boss that sneaking out early will be okay, then lays out a trail, mentally, then hits the supermarket to see what might be cheap, easy, fast and not too redundant, then checks one's mental trail on pedi-maps, then whistles in astonishment and knocks about two miles off of the planned course.  You're welcome.  Understand that of course checking the weather report comes way before anything else, and if we hadn't gotten the clear skies, low humidity and perfect temps as forecast, I'd be in a trauma ward right now.

Anyway, about 25 people made it to McLean, and the 15 or thereabouts runners got maybe five-and-a-half miles of mixed woods and pavement, with a couple stream crossings and some really mean backchecks that were not my idea no matter what BitH says.  The walkers got a lovely trail with turkey and eagle choices, which they proved once again incapable of finding.  I am going to keep sending them out on that trail until they get it right.  The shortcutters got just what they deserve:  a long wait for supper.

Such lovely people are worth some heroics.  The guy on the right, however...

Supper was fish filet sandwiches, courtesy of Mrs. Paul, with a super salad that Irene brought just 'cause she's nice.  Good thing, too, as the late finishers had plenty to eat during the long wait for the second batch of fish.  The Dos Equis got a surprising number of thumbs-ups, and the Black Box wine is always appreciated, especially by the host (easy, cheap and you know how quickly the hashers get that box open).

Mufti was there, and once he had Mango under control he hollered his roll call, noting Queen Cobra at 221 (don't say, "ooh."  Do not say, "ooooh," yet.).  He also offered a couple of belated tributes from the Anniversary Hash, including thanks to Phoenix Rising for his super clean-up after the event, and an award to Irene for best first-hosting effort of the program year, for her colorful sandwich array and high-end fruit and cookies in Paeonian Springs in March.  Much applause for them, and also much cheering for the hash heroines, who basked in the hip-hips.  (Would have been better off in a hip bath, frankly, but one takes what one can get.)  CREDIT to Rick and Double Breasted Booby for taking a west coast walk on Memorial Day, and thinking of GFH3.  Really?  Credit?  DBB gave the Mufti a big smooch, and people began to understand what's really going on here.

Lots of dogs:  Mango, Peanut, Espion, Zoe, Cammy and Kindje, all delightfully behaved.  Jojo made a brief appearance, as she knows how much that means to Airhorne, Ole Fud and Suck Squeeze Bang.  Phoenix Rising and Flowerkraut pitched in on cleanup with determination and good cheer, which made the whole thing go much faster.  Thank you to Duck Sucker, Queen Cobra and Brent for bringing furniture for the outdoor party, to Brent and BitH for picture-taking, to everyone who came, and forever and ever to BitH for helping to set!

Here's what it looked like.