Wedding Photo Extravaganza

I'm not the type who spent his life "dreaming of my wedding day." And it's a good thing; if I were, my dreams and expectations would have never lived up to the time we had on September 12, 2008. Ali and I planned and looked forward to our wedding for 8 months and 17 days since the day I asked her to marry me on the Nordic trails at the Morse Farm. And everything was perfect.

We had so much fun, that we'd do it over again in a second. But we hear that people don't really get as excited about the second wedding. So, instead, we'll just keep re-living the day through pictures. And here they are...

First, a huge thank you to our tree-climbing photographer Dave Vuono. Also thank you to Julie Aiken and Jan Leja who snapped hundreds of pictures too.

Viewing Directions:
Choose Photos to view. At Picasa screen, click "Slideshow." Then fasten your seatbelt... it's a wild ride!

Click here to view Jan Leja's wedding photos

Click here to view Julie Aiken's wedding photos

Click here to view Dave Vuono's wedding photos

Click here to view Julie Aiken's Nite-Before Party photos

Click here to view Julie Aiken's Day-After Party photos

Europa 2008

Alison and I were told that we were the first Americans in history to fly into Munich, Germany the week after the end of Oktoberfest. Well, here's a secret that I'll share if you promise not to tell anyone: there is no shortage of beer in Bavaria, even after the conclusion of the Fest.

Alison and I spent two weeks in Europe. Our mornings were lazy, but our days were full and varied -- we did lots of sight-seeing, ran the Munich Marathon, hiked all over the Alps, rock climbed in Bavaria and northern Italy, visited a pool/waterslide with Malen Pichler (age 9), and practiced our German with the locals. Regardless of the day's activity, however, every afternoon or early evening we always seemed to find ourselves at a table like the one pictured above sipping a wheat beer or white wine and just enjoying being in Europe. Then we would find dinner and a Gasthaus, Pension, or a friend's house to stay, and repeat the whole procedure the next morning.

The highlights for me were running personal bests in the marathon (we both ran 3 minutes faster than the personal bests we set in our last marathon), staying with old friends the Pichlers in Ruhpolding, Bavaria, playing hockey and visiting with the Odies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, driving our rental car (a Mercedes hatchback -- not unlike our Honda Fit) over the craziest mountain pass I've ever experienced (or imagined) in the Italian Dolomites, driving the same rental car down a street with a width of 1.8 meters in Arco, Italy... well, forget listing the highlights. The whole vacation was a highlight!

Now we're back in Vermont, the snow is starting to fall, and we are ready for our next vacation.

Europa '08 Photos: Click here!

A New Season

I'm back after a short hiatus, and I have to say to all those who said "where have you been? What have you been doing?":

None of your business! I've been busy, okay?

The fact is, everything has changed. These days, I'm a married man with responsibilities. Yeah, that's right. What exactly are these responsibilities? Um, well, I'm not exactly sure, but I have them now, so there!

In other news, the temperature dipped almost into the 20s last night, causing the season's first frost. We can officially say that summer is over and fall has begun. No more swimming in the river for Oscar and me, but we will be enjoying the changing of the leaves -- which, by the way, are the best in Vermont in at least three years. It has been a colorful fall.

In other signs that summer is over, I am back in the regular ice hockey rotation. Two highly competitive regular (for old, out-of-shape guys) skates, plus two others that I plan to pop in on every now and then. Hockey should keep my fitness level up through the winter -- plus the sport rules.

And, finally, Alison and I are testing out a new concept this week: a fall marathon. So far, it seems like it has been working; we never stopped running after Vermont City Marathon, so you would think we're in-shape and ready. Well, we are in-shape, and hopefully that translates into two awesome marathon results. We'll keep you posted.

That's the report this week from Aiken-land. Married life is good, and fall is here. Get ready for falling leaves and a long, dark (but fun) winter. Go old-guy hockey!

I DO!

photo by jan
Not much more to say on this topic... thanks to all who were there and to those who weren't. It was the best day of my life so far and the best week. So great to hang with friends from the past -- as well as so many new friends. Having both of our families there was fabulous...

... and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with Ali.

See you all next post!

Peaks and Valleys

Obviously, it was a roller coaster of a weekend.

Tom Brady, quarterback of the New England Patriots, took a hit below the knee on Sunday ending his season. Man, Tom's last two games have been a bummer. They do not, however, take anything away from his amazing accomplishments.

The team released the following statement regarding Brady:

"After extensive tests this morning, it was revealed that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's left knee, which was injured in the first quarter of yesterday's game, will require surgery. He will be placed on injured reserve and will miss the remainder of the 2008 season."

Best wishes for a speedy recovery Tom... we can't wait to see you back in action. As for the rest of the Patriots, I still predict a fourth Super Bowl title in nine years. If everyone does their job and buys into Belichick's philosophy, no one can beat them. I could play quarterback...

In other news, my life is complete. That's right, folks. At the wedding of Brad Sands, former tour manager of Phish, all four original members of the greatest band ever borrowed the instruments of the wedding band and performed three classic Phish songs. View part of "Julius" at the following link:

www.livemusicblog.com/news/08/09/07/phish-reunites-at-tour-managers-wedding.php

The band made no official announcement.

I agree that it's sort of weird to see Fishman wearing a suit and tie rather than his usual on-tour smocky-dress, but still, seeing the four of them together on-stage is a sight for sore eyes! I look forward to seeing the Phab Phour play again at a non-rainy-site-with-a-paved-parking-lot near me.

The Rose

Yesterday Alison and I, accompanied by Oscar, went climbing in Bolton Notch. We started on a sport route -- actually the site of our first date (which wasn't officially a "date"; rather, it was more of a "let's go climbing" get-together, but, of course it could be argued that it was a date since both of us later admitted to having some romantic interest... anyway, that is totally not the point of this blog entry!)

Anyway, we warmed up at the sport route, er, mentioned above, and then we continued along the base of the cliff. There were a couple of other climbing parties out there, and one of them was in the middle of climbing one of the routes we probably had our eye on. So we continued past and found ourselves looking up at a 100- plus foot high crack in the the rock known as The Rose.

An overhung 5.10 route, the rock is pretty much flat all around the crack, and you would have to lay back and cling to the crack for the entire 100 feet. I would have loved to have laid out my climbing rack and trad climbed it, but I'm not that confident yet, so we hiked around and set up a top-rope from the top. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, so we will have to settle for the accompanying image of this nice red flower.

Neither of us scaled The Rose yesterday. I guess we haven't been climbing as much as we would have liked this summer -- and we certainly (until lately) haven't been outside as much as we would have liked. The Rose is totally possible, but it is three times as tall as any route at the gym and its difficulty is sustained the entire way. And, it is difficult to make a project of it because everytime you fall, the route is so overhung that you find yourself hanging by the rope 15 feet away from the rock. Once you fall, you have to get lowered to the ground to start all over again.

But I have a new mission for Autumn 2008: climb The Rose. I'm looking forward to a nice Indian summer and a pleasant fall. And I plan to return the the Notch as often as it takes to climb that thing to the top.

Litter Bugs

I have a gripe. I run about two or three mornings per week on a beautiful Vermont dirt road. A stream runs along part of it, it passes through beautiful hayfields, and it has amazing views and vistas. But every morning, there is new garbage thrown alongside this dirt road. And of course my dog Oscar, who runs with me, gets into it (because that's what dogs do).

People! Throw your damn trash in a garbage can! I am sick of the litterbugs getting my dog in trouble with me. Seriously, why is it that every firepit at a beautiful overlook has broken glass around it, every beach is full of litter, and every dirt road is covered with old take-out food bags and pizza boxes? If you're too lazy to cook your own dinner, at least find a trash can at a gas station and toss your refuse there. Sheesh!

As long as I'm on a rant, one more thing. In my running experience, I have become aware that motorists fall into one of four groups -- in regard to pedestrians (ie runners, walkers, bikers, etc.) Group 1 doesn't even know we're out there. To this group, I guess keep doing what you're doing... I hope you don't hit me. Group 2 is pissed at us. "What the hell are you runners doing on my road?" is the attitude. Again, just please don't hit me. Group 3 is aware and members of this group give me a wide berth everytime. For this, I am appreciative, but you may want to also take note of oncoming traffic -- particularly traffic you can't see. I mean, it's nice that you're giving me lots of room, but just over the hill we're about to crest or around this blind turn, there may be a moving van coming at us at 60mph! The last thing I want is for you to have a head-on, flip over, and land on me. Group 4 gives me a wide berth on the open road, but slows down when they can't see what's ahead. Three cheers for Group 4.

Moral of the story: watch out for pedestrians and don't be a litter bug.