The Beauty of Not Having a Schedule.....

Tom got up early Saturday to go for a 5 mile run with some friends and then after we did some things around the apartment we decided to go out running errands.  Had some shopping to do so started at the Montgomery Curb Market where we get great produce and some yummy baked goodies!  

I don't know what the food handling restrictions are here but there are always bottled and homemade goods for sale!

We were trying to think of all the places we haven't seen yet since we're two weeks away from our departure date but we've pretty much hit most of the hot spots.  However, as we headed over to a store we wanted to check out, we saw this church I wanted to take a closer look at.

It started out as a slave church and has a fascinating history.  It was bombed in 1957, then in 1961 the Freedom Riders, church members were held captive inside for 15 hours by an angry mob.

Click here for more info.

Across the street from the church there was the Old Oakwood Cemetery so we took a walk over there.  It was worn and old but that only added to it's charm.  Lots of civil war history here and since Tom and I spent the last week watching the Hatfields & McCoys series on the History Channel, it held even more interest.

 After we had looked around for some time I stopped and spoke with caretaker to ask about some of the graves.  Some had big numbers in front of the them so I figured they were people of importance.  He emailed me an entire brochure of the history of some the people who were buried there.  Many were founders of Montgomery, politicians, the son of President John Tyler, governors, and prominent business people.  There seemed in fact, a competition for the biggest and most impressive headstones.

These were some other interesting ones from the brochure:           General John Scott

Born January 6, 1773 Died November 26, 1839His granddaughter, Emily Semple, wrote in her memoirs in 1892that when Scott died, a messenger was sent to have a coffin made by John Dickinson, the undertaker in Montgomery, he was told that it was ready. The General had called on Dickinson a few weeks before, had his measures taken and ordered his own coffin to be made. The exact location of his grave is not known however he died on his plantation at Pintlala Creek in Lowndes County and was buried here at his monument. This memorial faces north, while all the surrounding gravestones face east.   

James Chastaine

The burglar, interred in an unmarked grave that is located near the southwest corner of Scott's Section 6. He was reputed to be a suave young man of good family from Eufaula, Alabama, who was a fashionable dresser always wearing white gloves, and was all excellent dancer. He was invited to most of the balls and parties in Montgomery. Following a rash of burglaries, he was suspected of burglarizing the houses at which he had recently attended social functions. Conjecture was that he was addicted to morphine and it was discovered that he was living in a rundown hotel on North Court Street. The traditional story holds that Adolphus Sanford Gerald, who had become suspicious of Chastaine and had been following him, surprised him in the act of burglary, and when Chastaine attempted his escape shot him to death. The story is handed down that the mayor made Gerald Chief of Police shortly after this event, an office he held for27 years. Gerald is also buried in Oakwood.

 John Schockler
Located near the center of Scott's Section 1. He was drowned in the Alabama River. The stone is formed in the shaped of waves, and bears a stern warning to the reader:

" Stop as you pass by my grave here. I, John Schockler, was born in New Orleans the 22nd of Nov. 1811, was brought up by good friends, not taking their advice, was drowned in this city in the Alabama River the 27th of May, 1855. Now I warn all young and old to beware of the dangers of this river, and now I am fixed in this watery grave. I have got but two friends to mourn. "

I thought this looked like a giant game of Chess!

 James Hale

Buried June 17, 1888 at age 59

He was a slave of the family of Dr. Williams O. Baldwin. After emancipation, he became a contractor and was reputed the wealthiest black inMontgomery in the 1880's. He built Hale's infirmary in the memory of his two children who died as young adults. His daughter married Dr. Cornelius Dorsett, who came here in 1883 as Montgomery's first black physician. He is buried in Square 7, Scott's Free Burial Ground.

 Confederate Veterans of the Civil War

They are in great numbers, and even a few Union Veterans are buried throughout the private plots of old Oakwood. These soldiers had family or friends with plots in which to bury them. There is however a special Confederate Section where 724 Confederate Veterans were buried side by side beneath marble headstones in rows set askew of the steep hillside. As the years passed, many of the simple inscriptions became almost indistinguishable, and these weathered stones were replaced in 1980 by uniform marble crosses, at the expense of the Federal Government. Although some have names on the headstones, they were all buried by number, since so many of them died anonymous deaths. A number of Confederate soldiers died at the Remount Station, near the present Harrison Road, and were later re-interred in this section of Oakwood.

There were many of these.

 Some of the most interesting markers were for just regular people.  This one with the lamb and child was especially touching.  Then we started reading the stone that was attached and it had the mother and children all passing within a couple of years of each other.  When I looked at the brochure it said:
Mary Hill and her Lambs 1856

Scarlet fever epidemic ravaged the household of Luther Hill. Mary and their seven children died and are buried in this plot.

She was looking down over the child.....

Here Mary Sleeps.  Her Children Too.
And Must I Say To Them Adieu.
No No Dear Saviour They Are Thine
Oh Let Them Be Forever Mine.

 I found the history so interesting.  I almost wish all cemeteries posted this kind of information right on the graves.  I could wander them for hours!



Saturday night was spent back at the Montgomery Biscuits ballpark as it was:

 Complete with jet fly-overs, the playing of each of the services theme songs, an officer singing God Bless America before the 7th inning, a giant flag attached to the Maxwell Fire Truck, hot dogs & funnel cakes and seeing lots of our new friends we've met while here.

 We didn't realize there were going to be fireworks so we took off to walk to our car as soon as the game ended.  Suddenly the explosions started and turned out we were parked right next to the field where they were shooting them off.  We had our very own, up close and personal display!

Working Out

This morning, Tom and I attended our last hot yoga class.  I don't have any photos because it seems inappropriate to photograph people at 6 AM when they are drenched with sweat.  My book group friend, Erin told me about this class which has been offered once free weekly to military spouses via an organization Healthy Body Healthy Life founded by Jannell who is also here working on her Masters.   It's a non-profit that offers classes, and info regarding fitness, nutrition and wellness.  Great recipes on their website as well!  Anyway, I had been several times and knew Tom would love it to help with his flexibility so he started going as well.  The studio is heated to 95-100 degrees so the warmth helps your flexibility and you're sweating out toxins like there's no tomorrow.  You don't even consider participating without a water bottle and towel nearby. Seriously we leave sopping wet after an hour class.  

Another friend, Sarah from ACSC does a runner's yoga class which is free on base a couple of times of week and then Erin has been leading a practice at her home once a week for a few of us.  They are all different but I have always loved yoga and have been grateful for the opportunity to have access to these wonderful practices.

I'm not sure what motivated me to commit to the once a month 5K because I am NOT a runner.  I have never enjoyed it and never got that runner's "high" you are promised.  Tom has, on the other hand been a runner and before we left HAFB had been involved with a personal training program with his unit that had really gotten him into great shape.  So I guess jumping on board the 5K band wagon was a way we could do something together, would be a good stress release for Tom and besides, I didn't have anything else going on here that would compete for my time.  As I've said, I've still yet to run an entire race without having to walk at some point and would still love to break the 30 minute mark.  But I've finished every race I've done and had my best time this past weekend.  I plan to keep this up.  

I also had my free personal trainer on base for a while but there were cutbacks and apparently the contractor handling that program was one of them.  I showed up one day for a session and he was gone!  He did reiterate the need for strength training for women "my age" so I've made it a point to keep doing that.

If anyone had ever told me I would do a Boot Camp I would have laughed in their face.  Tom started doing this back in the Fall but had to stop when he had his eye surgery and then he started training for the Triathlon so he had a different training schedule.  He had suggested I do it as well, but made a point of telling me it was very difficult.  That was enough to make me not want to do it!

Then I met some of the people from the class at the 5K's we were doing and Karen (who is the non-tiny girl in this pix) convinced me that if she could do it, I could do it.  Hence, since April I've been going across the street from 5-6 AM three days a week.  And it has KICKED MY BUTT!     Chris Day is our trainer and is a great motivator!  He's always encouraging without letting you slack off.

The workout goes something like this:  We start inside with 30 minutes of warm up by running in place, weights,  push ups, planks, lunges, squats....that kind of stuff.

Then we go outside where we do bear crawls (on all fours) or run up this hill....

Once we're at the top we do push-ups or dips along the curb of the road before more running.......

We may run laps around the adjoining buildings, or sometimes we run to the Megaplex Theatre and run up and down their stairs, or maybe the big field between two restaurants where we do MORE running exercises, but often we run to Lowe's parking lot where we do sprints, push ups, bunny hops and plenty of other annoying things.

Then we run back to Fitness South where we begin our "stations".  In groups of 3-4 we move from station to station.  The time at each is based on how long it takes the "tire-pulling" group to get through their station.  When I first started, I couldn't do the tire pull on my own.  We have to pull it the length of the parking lot and that sucker is heavy!  Finally by the end of April I was able to do it without any assistance!

The others who are doing their stations along the wall become your cheering section!

We carry sandbags, jump rope, dead lift weights, do crunches, hold a plank while someone else jumps over us, run obstacle courses.....

.......take these giant tires and flip them down the parking lot....or there was the one time he had each team CARRY ONE to Lowe's parking lot!!!
Finally we go back inside to do a 5 minute stretch and cool down and yes, after all that, I'm always thrilled that I actually got up to do it.  I love that by 6 AM my workout is off my checklist.  I definitely feel stronger, and even though it's still hard......it's a GOOD hard and well worth the effort.  Everyone struggles but you're only competing with yourself and trying to get better and stronger.  Tom started back up this week (it even kicks HIS butt) and we'll keep going until we leave Alabama which looks like the middle of June.

Yes, this big ol' truck tire!