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today is the day of the dead - a “holiday” that i think is so super cool and utterly missing from the dominant culture dialog here in the US. as someone who has lost all 3 parents (remind me to explain that one sometime), the image of my mom wearing a 49ers t-shirt and cooking lasagna or my dad playing acoustic guitar and singing “the day the music died” or jim wearing khakis and a blue and gold striped rugby shirt (go bears!) and feasting with other friends and family makes me smile!
today let’s remember those we have lost and missed – but really picture them in their next “life” – however you define that – LIVING and ENJOYING!!!
update: my rowing club has a great day of the dead/american gothic graphic for the HOTL race every year – but i can’t seem to download the image alone! 
finally – some pictures of our dalmation costumes! Thanks glenn and ian!
to see a great slideshow of the event, click here
wellllll…. today was the long anticipated Head of the Lafayette race put on by my rowing club, HRRC. i suspected the worse when, this morning at 6am, the early morning news was already declaring a small craft advisory…
actually, the weather was beautiful first thing this morning – although the wind was whipping already! the boathouse are was tricked out – very nice with the headstones for decorations! – lots of groups there, especially local high schools and colleges. i was to row on 2 crews and, since this is a halloween costume regatta, we had 2 sets of costumes. for the womens masters 4 – we were recruits: the US Maureen Corp (maureen is our coach – and quite the drill sergeant!! 
), and – my personal disney influenced favorite! – “crew-ella” DeVil and (7 of) the 101 dalmations!
fortunately, we got out in the womens 4 – and our costumes were cool! conditions basically sucked – cool, windy very choppy, whitecaps. in fact, before the race even started, it was shorten end to a 3K from the original 5K distance.
the 8, sadly, never even got out. we were going to row hot seating from a previous HRRC crew that went out and we would’ve been the last crew in. of course, as races go, things usually do stack up and move along a bit later and longer than originally scheduled, and, had it been a nice, warm, calm day probably the judges wouldn’t have minded waiting for us to get back out and run the course…. but it wasn’t to be.
so, on the plus side – the womens 4 won! somehow, due to a penalty, we came in just 2 seconds i think 
quicker that the other 4 – also from our club. though happy with a victory, would prefer to have a smokin’ time and just beat people flat out! all i know is if felt like we were moving like snails through mol assess – it 
felt ugly.
also a huge bummer was the utter dismissal by the costume judge of our crewella/dalmations costumes as having been “scooped” because a high school team did dalmations as well. hmmmph! i worked on those things for 2 weeks, they were costumes we could fully row in, we had tails AND ears And cute little collars! i didn’t even see their cruella but margie had it down!
in the end, i feel bummed. i feel let down from the day starting out sunny and full of promise and ending up gloomy, grey and depressing. i’m glad we got out, we are going to race against times next week and see what we can do.
it was the last race of the season. its too dark to row after work now. i just wish the weather had been a little easer. sigh.
ps – MY dalmation outfit has a hidden mickey!
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