Worst Way to Make Bacon

In an odd similarity to the method Mrs O'Leary's cow used burned down much of Chicago, A Jacksonville man's pig burned down part of his house.

Mmmmmm, that bacon sure smells fresh!

Jacksonville had a tough freeze on Thursday, much like a lot of the Northeast. I know I went to sleep with 2 blankets and a heater that was burning up the room so much that you could have cooked bacon on my arm. A thoughtful Jacksonville man was looking out for the well being of his pig. He parked that pig out on the back porch with a space heater to keep it nice and toasty. Unfortunately, the pig kicked over the space heater and burned down the back half of his house. While all the family survived unscathed, the pig didn't make it. I remember learning on the farm once that pigs are smart enough to never run into the same part of the electric fence twice. I guess he could not resist the warmth of that fire while the freeze was going on around him. Fare thee well, Jacksonville Pig.

Too Hot to Handle

Yesterday was the 30th Chicago marathon. As a former cross country runner for all my middle and high school days years back, I have always been tempted to attempt running it, and every time it comes time for trying to register for New York, something stops me. Even after I learned in a health class that the human body isn't built to run more than approximately 20 miles. That little voice still said, "You go run that marathon and torture yourself!" One of my friends ran it a couple years ago, and that was another waste of inspiration. However, periodically, fate intervenes and reminds me that I've made the right choice.

Mother Nature Strikes at Long Distance Runners

In what's really a terrible story, the heat was so bad that they had to stop the Chicago marathon after 3.5 hours. One man even died from it. If there's one thing I could imagine that's worse than running 26.2 miles, it's running 26.2 miles in lots of heat. I don't even like walking to the corner store in crazy heat, let alone partaking in strenuous physical activity. I remember recently in Boston, they wouldn't cancel the marathon, despite excessively dangerous muddy conditions. They even told runners to bring an extra pair of shoes or clothes. I know that I've always felt that distance running is much easier when you have a pair of shoes and change of clothes dangling around your neck, just in case. You know what would have also been smart? Canceling the event. Kudos to Chicago for cutting off the crazy.