Renny Blune Seen at Webster Jazz Fest

A Renny "Blune" was reported to have been seen at the Old Webster 2006 Jazz Fest by a rival newspaper. See picture and story in the Webster Kirkwood Times.

More CC Results

M, running in two more cross country races recorded times of 18:34 (Fox Invitational) and 18:54 (Ladue Invitational). He ran for junior varsity as the number one runner, and placed 16th overall in the Ladue Invitational, a huge race over a winding slightly hilly course. Webster Groves finished in fourth place out of about 12 teams. M has been hampered recently by a sore Achilles tendon, but still managed to receive a medal in his last two races.

Fenton Found!!

After a 4 day absence, Fenton has reappeared as mysteriously as he disappeared. Anxiety about his absence had been high, as a deceased malodorous possum had been recently found in the backyard. He is healthy and enjoyed being spoiled by his owners with canned cat food. However, as soon as he had finished the cat food, he was quite anxious to get on with his life in the great outdoors, grifting for food at other people's house.

Marcel runs PR of 18:32

M, running varsity this week, blazed to a new personal record of 18:32, scoring a medal for placing 40th overall and third best on his team. N was able to see the finish, but W was unable to reach the meet in time after driving for 50 minutes in terrible traffic.

Flash! - Fenton Reported Missing

The extremely cool cat Fenton has disappeared, not having been seen for 72 hours. Posters have been posted in the neighborhood. Fenton is the all time favorite cat of W, despite the fact that Fenton gave him a black eye.

Marcel Places First in Webster Invitational

M raced to a new personal best of 18:59 while winning first place in the Junior Varsity division of the Webster Invitational (15 high schools). Starting in the middle of the pack, M moved to the front by the first mile and never trailed thereafter. M managed to shake his nearest pursuer and finished with a comfortable lead of perhaps 75-100 feet. M commented that he was glad that he fell the previous week, since it gave him a chance to run in JV and actually have a chance to win a race. Webster Groves won first place team honors in the JV division, as several other Webster runners placed in the top 10.

Billy Diagnosed With Cancer

Ultrasound scanning revealed that Billy the cat has large growths both on her liver and pancreas. The prognosis for this is not good, but she at least still has an appetite and does not appear to be in pain yet.

Marcel Survives Cross Country Fall

Marcel was well on his way to a new PR time in the first cross country of the season when a single misstep shattered his dreams, turning his ankle and collapsing to the ground. With the help of a fellow runner, he was able to collect himself together and finish the race, albeit walking, resulting in a time of approximately 21:26. He had some soreness in his knee and ankle, but it seems to have healed, and he is looking forward to his next race. The accident may have been at least partially caused by old shoes, and he has since gone to the "Running Store" and obtained new shoes along with spikes to provide that extra little edge.

Major Growth Discovered on Billy

Billy, the 17 year old cat with at least 9 lives, was diagnosed with a major growth on her spleen early last week. It is uncertain what the prognosis is, but N is planning to get an ultrasound to see if the growth is contained.

Marcel Removes Rug

In a major remodeling effort, M has removed the rug from his room. He has not decided what to do with the now bare wood floor that is covered with paint stains and scratches, but a refinishing effort is possible.

Marcel and Renny make news

Marcel and W Emerge Unscathed from 64 Mile Trek

M and W enjoyed a twelve day backpacking trip exploring the Valle Vidal wilderness in New Mexico as part of a 12 man Philmont Scout ranch crew. Philmont, sort of a "Scouting Disneyland", features backpacking programs coupled with other outdoor activities. Participants backpack to various camps, where staffed activities(mountain biking, chicken chasing, for example) can be enjoyed.
Part of the experience included doing a three hour conservation project involving carrying lots of large rocks and placing them in a gully to prevent erosion. The picture shows the crew shortly after completion of this Sisyphean task.

Since it was the monsoon season, practically every afternoon featured a thunderstorm. However, for the most part, the group found good shelter for every storm, and only really got soaked thoroughly once or twice. The crew learned to secure their rain fly carefully after the first time it blew over and soaked everybody's packs. Thanks to extremely thorough "bear bag" procedures, which included putting batteries and other "smellables" up on ropes, no bears were ever sighted, though fresh tracks were found on one on the hikes.
The crew also encountered a fresh mountain lion kill with fresh mountain lion tracks, but never saw the elusive creature. There was much evidence of mountain lion activity, as the crew found several complete deer skeletons. Scavengers seem to like all parts of a deer except for the hooves and forelimbs.

The hiking was not particularly strenuous, as some members of the crew were less physically capable than others, thus the only item W did not use in his backpack was the knee brace. Backpacking was aided by the easy availability of food and water. The group never carried more than two days worth of food. Water was normally available at "staff camps", and only had to be purified at a few sites. The only snafu occured when the group was shorted some food rations and didn't realize it until they ran out of food the next day. However, this worked out to the group's advantage as the next staff camp gave them some spaghetti to cook, allowing them to avoid a 4 mile round-trip hike to the nearest food station.


Occasionally the group had to get their food closer to the source.


M caught a chicken, while W produced some milk for his coffee.

Green Rock Trail proves challenging

W and M continued training for the big Philmont expedition today, logging 10 miles with full backpacks on the Green Rock Trail, a fairly hilly trail that fortunately was shady. M discovered that his feet had grown again, and his almost brand new boots may have to be replaced, unless W can wear them. W walked for the first time with a knee brace, as he experimented to see if it might reduce the likelihood of knee pain on downhill grades. Knee pain was reduced, but still significant.

Eagle Project - end of day 2

M completes Eagle Project

Eagle Project - end of day 1

After over a year of planning, Marcel completed his Eagle project over the course of a weekend. He supervised the building of two benches that were installed at Hixson Middle School by their Outdoor Learning Center. He was assisted by Jim Bulejski, Renny, and Matt Francis on the first day. On the second day, Doug Weidman, Wes Bussler, and Patrick Barbercheck, helped him dig post holes and pour concrete, along with invaluable advice and coaching from Linda Neumann and her husband.

Backpack Trip - Garden of the Gods

M and W partook in a recent 15 mile backpacking adventure in Southern Illinois with two other scouts and another adult. The first day was blessed with excellent weather, making it possible to hike without dying of heat exhaustion, and merely soaking one's clothes in perspiration. Told that they could "camp anywhere" along the River to River trail, the group quickly discovered that practically the entire route was blanketed with poison ivy. Horses seemed to enjoy the route, and much of it was extremely muddy, leaving the hikers the choice between tromping through the mud or carefully navigating poison ivy. The group walked to "High Knob" for lunch, a 900 foot elevation hill from which a nice panorama could be observed. From there, the group began searching for a campsite, with the plan being to be near the almost-famous "Garden of the Gods", not to be confused with the Colorado location of the same name. A serendipitous detour took the group to Buzzards Point, which had some large rocks and caves, but the group was still not far enough along to camp, so they proceeded onward.



With poison ivy omnipresent, the group navigated a hill and came to the Little Eagle Creek, where they encountered a couple on horseback. They were advised of a possible camping spot that was "only a 1/4 mile". Slogging on and struggling up a particularly tough hill, the group did eventually find the campsite, but by this time, they were very low on water. W and Doug Weidman then took all the water containers and went in search of water. They quickly reached a road and flagged down a car that took pity on them and gave them a 1 gallon water container. Another mile of walking and a water source was found and all the containers became quite heavy with water, Doug and W struggling to carry it all back to camp.

The next day brought an early morning thunderstorm, which the group hiked out in. Marcel discovered that he stayed drier by not wearing a poncho, since if you wore a poncho, you became completely soaked in sweat. Everybody made fun of W's garbage bag that he put over his backpack. The garbage bag was effective, though unwieldy. M and Wes Bussler ran with their backpacks in order to enhance their supreme conditioning, as the adults brought up the rear. W defeated the attempts of two ticks to suck his blood, but was foiled by a third that somehow got through his defenses.

Blumes Add Rare Siamese Bunnies

W finally broke down and allowed that maybe one bunny would be ok. Thus, in an attempt to push the limits, a rare two headed Siamese bunny was procured. Fortunately, the separation surgery went extremely well, and the Blumes now have two bunnies .One bunny is named Albert, the other is still anonyrabbit

Redbud Tree Narrowly Misses House

While W was talking on the phone to Grandma Harriet, W heard something that sounded like a closet rumbling. N was reading an e-mail in the back room and thought at first that a gutter had fallen off the house (it had been raining most of the day). As N peered out the window, she gradually realized that the redbud tree in the backyard had fallen down, narrowly missing the room that she was in. N began to laugh as she noted that the tree had fallen down perfectly. It had not destroyed her freshly planted tomato plants, nor had it torn a hole in the house. It had not even crushed the fence. The 30 foot section of the tree had in fact missed the house by mere inches. The tree appeared to have rotted or been eaten a bit by termites. There was still some tree remaining, but it will have to be cut down.

Renny, Marcel Win 5K

When WNMR participated recently in the Delta Gamma Run for Sight, it was to be a dominant day for the Blume's. Marcel and Renny finished 1-2 in their age group (boys 0-19 years of age), netting impressive medallions. W, though slower, ran the fastest he had run since turning 40. The hot weather made N exclaim that she hated running, but she still ran the entire race.

Name	Overall place	Time	Pace
MARCEL	18	20:35	6:38/Mile
RENNY	32	21:45	7:01/Mile
WALTER	78	25:33	8:15/Mile
NICHOLE	83	30:29	9:50/Mile

Complete race results are available at fleetfeet

Blume Boys Brave Record Cold

Incredibly, M and R weathered an overnight campout in unheated Adirondack style shelters last night. It was definitely a record breaking survival event for them, as the weather report shows. Temperatures locally at the campsite were even colder than the official weather, with the mercury reading 5 degrees.
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Marcel cooked chocolate chip pancakes in the 5 degree morning chill, while R bravely prepared frozen eggs and bacon together with his aptly named "Fridge Patrol" compatriots.