The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Ironman 70.3 Ecuador was actually my second race of 2021, but I didn't write about Challenge Cancun 70.3 in May because of what happened this spring. Although the race in Cancun went surprisingly well, my life was in such a dark place, I worried that the doom would spill into my writing so I just avoided it altogether.

I imagine I'm not the only one who left 2020 thinking wearily, "Well, it can't get much worse, can it?"

But of course, yes, it always can.

2020 was supposed to be my final year racing as a pro, and given that it was my Grand Finale, I had planned to hit four international races, maybe five if things went well. It had been eight years since I had traveled out of the country and I was getting the itch to explore the world while I still had the chance to leverage my pro status to cover some of the cost of travel.

To say that I was disappointed to see 2020 cancelled would be a massive understatement, but I do love being at home, so during the long months of lockdown, I became a homebody extraordinaire, fixing up our modest living space, painting the exterior of the property (which took me 3 months to complete!) and developing a new obsession with gardening.



In April of 2021, I was ecstatic to schedule my Covid vaccination and to begin making plans to race Cancun 70.3. It felt like life was finally coming back!

. . . and then our house flooded.


Posted by Kimberly 07/22/2021

Chiang Mai:
Chiang Mai was fun. We stayed for four days. It is much better than Bangkok.

Pai:
We travelled to Pai on the recommendation of fellow travellers, hearing only good things from people who we had reason to trust. We were not disappointed. Pai is a small town nestled in the northern hills of Thailand, very close to the borders of Burma and Laos.

The hills around Pai

Posted by nik 10/31/2008, revised 11/05/2008

I played some beach volleyball tonight! It felt so good, it's been so long! It's a city league that plays Friday evenings - 30 minute games, and unfortunately not actually on the beach, but some nice lit sand courts in town. We're Division 2 (of 3) so that puts us in a nice level of people playing for fun, and with enough skill for it to actually be fun.

First I played doubles with my friend Hugo, and it was absolutely treacherous as I worked out the kinks and cobwebs. My first serve was an embarassingly feeble flop-ball that didn't even make it to the net. My hands were cement blocks when I tried to set the ball. My "spikes" were the most un-spikey things you've ever seen. My dives were fruitless, resulting only in a nice full sugar-coating of sand and occasionally a nod from by-standers for my enthusiasm and determination. Passing and digging... actually still in pretty good shape. I was rather pleased to show that there was some evidence of volleyball in days past. But needless to say, we lost that game pretty spectacularly.

Posted by Whitney 03/14/2008