Running, flying, and Molly Dog

Here's a story James wrote correlating running and flying. He just ran the Chicago Marathon and finished with just over half of the other original registrants that made it to the finish line. He tells a great story about running a Marathon while mentally reminiscing about flying gliders with his dad. Through out the journey he draws many parallels between feet and flight, pain and altitude gain, and hitting the wall and recovering from a stall. Check it out Here.

On the topic of stories, running and flying, here's a picture of Molly Dog taking flight. It's not photoshopped at all other than slight levels and saturation adjustments. The shutter speed was slightly too long for the flash, 1/60 at F5.6, but I needed that to catch the sunset.





Her first jump was when she was about 10 months old, we were on a road trip through Northern Idaho and Montana. I decided it was time for her to learn to jump off a dock. After some scouting I found a good one on the crystal clear, frigid waters of Lake Coeur D' Alene. If there is water, Molly has to be in it and being with me in the water is even better. Teaching by example, I ran out the end of the dock and jumped in. My body locked up in shock from the cold, a feeling I sadistically enjoy. It's like the ultimate refreshment. Molly followed me to the edge, but was too scared to jump. She barked, cried, and whimpered, but wouldn't jump. I swam closer to the dock and started calling her name excitedly. She was a ball of rising energy that kept building with each call (think puppy on Red Bull), but she couldn't get past the fear. She would run full speed and chicken out at the last minute, skidding clumsily to a stop at the dock's edge. Finally, she was overcome by an explosion of puppy super power and did it! It wasn't a half ass lob either, it was a 150% effort. She was like a dog missile launching into the air! She soared over me in slow motion, tail spinning like a helicopter and disappeared into an eruption of white spray. My vision was blurred by the splash in my eyes, but when I shook the water out I couldn't see here anywhere. Then, when she finally popped up I thought she might never do it again because it was so violent and she was under water for a while. She did do it again and still does at every opportunity. It's the only way she can beat Nana's powerful swimming to the stick.





In Boulder all the docks have rails (stupid safety), but Molly isn't phased. She just squeezes under them. Although, she can't get good height or the distance, she makes it work even in the dark.