THE SCENE: Clear skies, temps in high 20’s.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
WARM-O-RAMA:
Run around the parking lot to get warm; 20 Side-Straddle Hops; 10 Burpees; 10 Cherry Pickers; 10 Rockettes; 7 Wide Arm Circles Forward and Backward
THA-THANG:
Mosey to start of the Dragon Tail. We will run up dragon tail stopping at every other light to do 10 of the following exercises (one exercise for each run up). After reaching the top, run on trail to road, back down to lower parking lot, and back to the start of the Dragon Tail to do the next exercise. Here are the exercises:
- Iron Mikes (both legs = 1)
- Big Boy Sit-ups
- Jump Squats
- Merkins
Mosey to stop sign that is on the northeastern corner of the admin bldg. We will be moving in a route with signs giving the directions for exercises along the way and where we go next. The signs will be numbered and by cones.
- Cone 1: Do 10 Burpees. Then bear crawl on sidewalk heading south to Cone 2.
- Cone 2: Do 15 Dive Bombers. Then lunge on sidewalk south to Cone 3.
- Cone 3: Do 10 Shoulder Taps (both shoulders = 1). Then run to Cone 4 at porch of Admin Bldg.
- Cone 4: Do 20 Calf Raises on stairs and 20 Hello Dollies (4 ct.) on porch. Then run south on trail and back north on trail to Cone 5.
- Cone 5: Run down steps to parking lot below Coliseum. Then run south up parking lot, around to southern end of Coliseum and north to Cone 6 which is by marble bench area of Coliseum.
- Cone 6: Do 20 Bench Dips. Then run to Cone 7.
- Cone 7: Do 40 Baby Crunches. Then run to Cone 8 which is on street near to the admin stop sign where we started.
- Cone 8: Do 20 Carolina Dry Docks.
- Rinse and Repeat.
As a group we will take a 30 second gander at Beautiful Eastern TN below us. Then we will mosey to parking lot with CMUs.
Each man grabs a CMU and teams up with a brother. We will do Doras. While one man runs to pavilion and does 10 Picnic Table Pull-ups, the other does the exercises with the CMU. Then partners switch. Each team will do the following exercises:
- 100 Overhead Presses
- 100 Curls
- 100 Rows
- 100 Squats
Put CMUs back and mosey to start of mini-cardiac. Bernie up mini-cardiac to park sign, then sprint the rest of the way to the AO.
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
28 men with one FNG: John Case. He is now named Lamont. He is the father of member Mickey.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
In my work as a therapist I heard a mighty fine Christmas story from one of my patients and decided to share it to you here in February. My patient lives in a mountainous area in Grainger County, Tennessee. Some of you may have heard of Grainger County tomatoes. Most are grown in the valley of the county but some areas of the county can be pretty rugged. Here’s a little demographic news for you in regards to Grainger County. It is 94% white, 3.3% Hispanic, and probably less than 1% Black. If you are a black man, you may not want to get stuck alone in Grainger County. The patient I am talking about is a middle-aged white woman and she would tell you that.
She also told me about an African-American truck driver who was driving on a winding highway through the area she lived in on Christmas Eve. As you may recall, Christmas Eve is the day we got that snow that gave us all a White Christmas. The highway the man was driving on was curvy and slick. Unfortunately, his 18 wheeler went off the side of the road and landed in a deep ditch. There was no way to get that truck out easily. It was going to take more than one large wrecker truck to get the truck out. It being Christmas, that would take well over 24 hours.
The truck had valuable cargo and the driver was required to stay with his truck until it could be towed. So this African-American truck driver was stuck on Christmas Eve miles from his home – in one of the most rugged areas of “redneck country”. In Grainger County, if you aren’t driving a pickup truck with a gun rack inside your back window, “you probably ain’t from around these parts.” The necessary clothing for a man is a pair of jeans with a can of snuff in your back pocket.
News can spread pretty fast in a rural county and the news of the sidelined truck came to my patient quickly. She was frankly worried about this African-American truckdriver stuck in her neck of the woods. She was concerned someone might try to start some trouble with him. She wanted to go out to his truck to check on him but was worried about doing so until her husband got home. He did later that day and they went out to the area where the truck was located.
What they found was a number of “neighbors” already congregated by the truck. They also found these same “redneck” neighbors had brought the African-American truckdriver some hot dinner, hot coffee, and baked goods to snack on through the evening. People from all over were coming to make the driver feel as comfortable as he could. They even brought blankets but he had those in his cabin which he was able to keep warm through keeping the engine on. They offered for him to come to their homes but he had to stay with his truck. By the next morning the driver had hot breakfast and gifts of goodies and Christmas cards. When the truck was finally pulled out of the ditch, the driver went home with more hot food and goodies that were brought to him at lunch and dinner time on Christmas Day.
My patient went to sleep on Christmas night feeling wonderful about the residents of Grainger County. Whatever their beliefs and prejudices’, they had made an African-American stranger feel blessed and welcome. It was a Christmas that I am sure he will never forget. And, my patient, who has had a difficult year, sang “Joy to the World” a little louder on Christmas day. The air smelled mighty fresh in Grainger County and the stars shone brighter for the rest of 2020.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for the disenfranchised; for caregivers who are taking care of others and that they would have patience in that difficult task; for Ribbed and his wife, Sarah, after the surgery to remove the tumor by her spine; for Abacus’ mother who will need surgery on her leg; for those in F3 who have lost loved ones this year.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Reward at Coffeeteria!