March 15: The Back Back Nine

Some of my favorite places in the city are the ones that make me feel like I'm not in the city at all.

The Sedgley Woods Disc Golf Course, established in 1977, is the second oldest disc golf course in the Country. It resides in East Fairmount Park at 33rd and Oxford Streets.

Philadelphia's Fairmount Park is the largest city-owned park system in the world. It's not just one single park but 63 neighborhood parks comprising over 9,200 acres and over 10% of the land within the City and County of Philadelphia.

March 14: Geocaching

It was a pretty nice afternoon and I needed a picture so I logged on to get the coordinates for a cache that was placed at a local park. From the description it sounded like a fairly easy find. 

I walked down a paved path and my GPS pointed me in the direction of an old, hollowed tree. I glanced at an opening, contemplated sticking my hand in to reach for the cache and then thought better (mainly because my geocaching exploits have left me covered in ticks, with poison ivy on more than one occasion and some nice looking scars). Instead, I decided to peer into the hole I was about to place my hand in and I am thankful that I did because I saw a pair of eyes staring back at me. I took a few steps back, caught my breath and checked again, just to make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. Nope, that was definitely a pair of eyes staring back at me. I am not certain exactly what it was and I wasn't interested in finding out either, but my best guess is that it was a frog or a toad. I moved around to the other side of the tree and saw a large opening, which contained the cache, TNLNSL and was on my way!

Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook and "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value.

Currently over 823,000 geocaches are registered on various websites devoted to the pastime. Geocaches are currently placed in over 100 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica.

March 13: Washington Square and a Cookie

I used to have a friend who lived on the corner of 7th and Sansom Streets in Center City. We spent a lot of time in Washington Square Park. Some days when I would come to visit she would surprise me with a big cookie from the deli around the corner from her apartment.

As time went on our friendship grew stronger and we became close friends. Even after she moved to another part of the city I still visited the park (and got a cookie, of course) frequently because I associated it with good memories.

Over the past six months I have slowly been losing my best friend. I wish I knew the reason why, but have conceded to the fact that it will be another chapter in my life that remains unfinished.

I went to the park today. I sat. I people watched. I ate a cookie. I even felt a little sad.

March 12: Things Remembered

Keep in mind that there are three sides to every story.

March 11: If the Shoe Fits

Finding the perfect pair of running shoes is not an easy task. When I find a model that I like I usually purchase a few pairs because there is no telling if the next model year will be comparable. And, when the time comes to purchase new shoes I go through the same routine every time that I am even beginning to annoy myself. Here is how it goes: Purchase shoes in a size 8. Run a mile and think that maybe they are too big. Go to the store and try on the 7 1/2. Leave the store. Go back to the store and try the 7 1/2 again. Purchase the 7 1/2. Take them home. Run a mile in them and think that maybe they are too small. Return the 7 1/2 and begin running in the 8. You would think that by now I would have learned my lesson. Being an in between size is not particularly enjoyable.

March 10: Beer Happens

Sometimes the best happy hours are the unexpected ones that start at 3pm.

March 9: Coprophagia

About a month ago my dog, Riley, developed a new, special problem. She decided that she wanted to start eating poop during our afternoon outing to the soccer field. There are all types of animals (rabbit, geese, deer, foxes, etc.) in the area and it doesn't seem as though she discriminates. She'll pretty much eat any kind of poop, except her own.

I recently discussed this with my friend Ninja, who provided me with a link that offered more information about the subject. It was then I learned that Riley has both intraspecific (animal eating stool of another within its own species) and interspecific (animal eating stool of a different species) coprophagia.

I placed a call to the vet who informed me that many dogs exhibit this behavior and that the best way to prevent it would be to muzzle Riley when we go to the field.