Why ?

Most who know me know that physical activity isn't exactly my idea of "fun". So what am I doing thinking that I can hike the canyon in the middle of summer.... surely I must be crazy.. maybe I am.

The idea of wanting to do something about cancer has been an itch since 1999 when Judy's dad C.L. Gilbert succumbed to Leukemia.

Last spring one of our friends - Joyce Piatt trained to hike the canyon and in the process raised money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society who fund research into all kinds of Blood Cancers. I was inspired.

I felt that this fund-raising would be a meaningful contribution to the world-wide efforts against cancer.

Monday, April 16, 2007

The world is flat ...

Amicalola Falls State Park

... or so it seemed this past Saturday as we hiked in the Amicalola Falls State Park towards the Len Foote Hike Inn. There were enoughs ups and downs but after some of the recent gradients we hiked up, this one seemed flat. We met at the upper parking lot on top of the falls and were supposed to do a 6 hour loop with a stop at the Len Foote Hike Inn. Thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon and so the hike was cut short to 4 hours. We hiked 5 miles from the parking lot to the Len Foote hike Inn with no stops. The one way trip was supposed to take 3 hours on average, but we made it in only 2 hours. Everyone was in super shape. I was at the head of the pack and stopped very briefly to snap a few pictures of the Dwarf Violet Iris - Iris verna and before I knew it, I was trailing the pack. The Irises were everywhere, so were Violets and various Yellow-violets.

We spent about a half-hour at the Inn and headed back at the same pace. We reached the parking lot and this time, I had to taste Dean's fine home-made brew even though I was driving. I assure you it was only a taste.

The thunderstorms never came. At least not until I got home. On the way back, we decided to stop at The Crowe's Nest restaurant in Jasper, GA. Apparently this place has great burgers and is some sort of a landmark. But, they were closed. It was Saturday afternoon so I don't know what that was about. We ended up at the "Savor" bar. A little family-owned restaurant serving Peruvian and American cuisine. the food was pretty good.... but the service was not rushed.

Next weekend, we are traveling to SouthBend, IN. and I will be missing the hike at The Benton McKay State Park.

More pictures of the Irises are here.

Fund Raising Update:
The end is in sight. We had set an Intermediate goal of reaching 75% - $3,375 by April 15th. As of April 16th, we have raised $3,835.00

We need to raise $665.00 to complete this fund-raiser. Thank You all for your support.

Website Update:
A few days back, I was looking at the analytics to see what kind of traffic I was getting on the website. As expected, most of the visitors were from The USA. I also had a substantial percentage from India. I was however surprised to see visitors from the following places.

Elwood & Sydney - Australia.
Beijing, Nanjing, Hsinchuang & Shandong - China.
Christchurch - New Zealand.
Partizánske - Slovakia.
Culleredo - Spain.
Ekefall & Karlstad - Sweden.
Rome - Italy.

Well, so far, all the donations have come from the USA and India. I definitely would not mind receiving a few Yuans and Euros :-)
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Raffle

Every donor was entered into a raffle with one entry for every $10 donated. There are five prizes that can be one. Each donor can win no more than one prize. The first winner gets to choose any one of the five prizes, The second winner gets to choose any one of the remaining four and so on and so forth.

1. Flora

24" x 24" poster. all photographs by Albert Thomas. See larger image.
2. Sun and Water

24" x 24" poster. all photographs by Albert Thomas. See larger image.

3. Super Bowl I - XXX

A football lovers dream. Collectors set of DVDs of all the Superbowls from I to XXX by NFL films.

4. TaylorMade Golf Balls

A dozen TaylorMade Distance Plus golf balls. According to TaylorMade, these balls are "built to maximize distance and improve scoring for the committed player".

5. Maxfli Golf Balls

A dozen Maxfli Noodle Golf Balls.

... and the winners are

  1. Bill McGregor - Roswell, GA.
  2. Joyce Piatt - Mableton, GA.
  3. Frank Jakse - St. Louis, MO.
  4. Senthil Mukunthan - Indianapolis, IN.
  5. Push Venkat - Chicago, IL.

Options to spend money and feel good about it..

Help bridge the chasm by purchasing one or more of the following unique services. Some of these have a material cost component. This will not count as a tax-deductible contribution. Please send me an email if you would like to commission one of the following. Thank You.
1. Scan and Create Web Album from photos – 75 Photos.

Got a lot of pictures from your pre-digital days? I will scan those and create a slideshow CD. If needed, I can also upload them online and create a web album for you. I can scan up to 75 pictures. If you have more ( I hope you do), please see the next item.

Sponsorship Amount: $75 (entire amount is tax-deductible) Material Cost: $0

2. Scan and Create Web Album from photos – 150 Photos.

Got a lot of pictures from your pre-digital days? I will scan those and create a slideshow CD. If needed, I can also upload them online and create a web album for you. I can scan up to 150 pictures.

Sponsorship Amount: $100 (entire amount is tax-deductible) Material Cost: $0

3. Your own Photo Poster.

How about a photo mosaic of your favorite pictures and/or your favorite people. This will make a great gift for all those times when you have no clue what to buy (Hint: Mother’s Day is 5/13/07 and Father’s Day is 6/17/07).

  • Make poster from Digital images or Prints (up to 30 prints).
  • Poster Size - 24” x 24”.
  • Poster shown here is a sample. Click here for larger samples - Flora : Sun and Water.

Sponsorship Amount: $100 Material Cost: $30 (24” x 24” poster)

4. Painted Wall Mural.

Planning a birthday party? How about a set for the party? The mural will be painted on poster paper and affixed to the wall using push pins so you can remove after the event. No need to repaint.

  • Poster Size – 10’ x 8’.
  • The pictures shown here are from Ashley’s 6th Birthday. Click here to see larger photos of the mural - Photo1 : Photo 2.
  • My painting skills are pretty rudimentary (to say the least) and so we have to stick to cartoons. For your sake, please don’t ask me to paint someone you know
Sponsorship Amount: $200 (entire amount is tax-deductible) Material Cost: $0 ( I already bought way too much paper and paint)

5. Mondrian Coffee Table.

So what does a $500 coffee table look like? Like the dining table pictured here. This is a one of a kind, contemporary coffee table that is also a piece of art. The coffee table is hand-crafted and consists of a Piet Mondrian reproduction using acrylic on canvas, framed by wood with a metallic finish. I don’t have a picture of the coffee table itself, because it hasn’t been made yet. Click here for a larger photo of the dining table. Coffee table will be 48” x 36”.

Sponsorship Amount: $500 Material Cost: $100

6. Warhol at the Georgia Aquarium – Poster.

Warhol never visited the Georgia Aquarium. What if he had? What if he had seen the anemones at the Cold Water Quest? The poster was created using a photo I took of the anemones recently.

Sponsorship Amount: $100 Material Cost: $30 (24” x 24” poster)