The Journal of Dr. Richard L. Sleight

MAY 2008 EDITION 

Weight change in May, 201 to 199    

Having been away, (and being a nurse) Laurie was perhaps the best one to judge the improvement in Mom since her last visit in November.  Laurie also helped many times at night so I could get a bit more sleep in the 1:00AM-5:00AM time slot.  Thank you Laurie.

After 15 Years We Have an Entry Floor
 
One day Nancy and I were going to TLC Automotive to get some work done on the van.  Next to their shop was Tile & Marble Quality  Service, Inc.  After years of indecision about entry flooring, we found a granite style we liked and an accenting dark style that at least Nancy liked.  We got an estimate and about $1700 later we got our entry floor installed.  They did a great job.

Nancy's Mother's Day present from me was a Ryobi power planer.  Laurie showed her how to use it and I was told it was the perfect tool to prepare the floor for the installers.  I love the result. I'm happy that I got the "cross" pattern I'd hoped for.  Other family members preferred other patterns. Annie's reaction upon her return from England was thoughtful rather than enthusiastic (see above).

Dad's Health in Question

Dad's eyesight continues to deteriorate.  He was diagnosed with both cataracts and macular degeneration. He will have cataract surgery in June.

His mobility is also a problem.  It has gotten to the point that he can not cross Fauntleroy Avenue quickly enough to go for walks in the park.

Although Randy lives at his house, Dad does not seem to eat enough.  This may also be related to his eyesight.  On a recent visit I learned (first by smell) that he had burned some food in the microwave oven. 

Jean asks, nearly daily, "And what do you hear from your father?"  I do not often have a ready answer. 

This morning (June 8th) I woke mom for breakfast and she asked where she was.  When she learned she was at our house, she thought that it was in West Seattle.  When asked to name her nine grandchildren, she could only name four without significant prompting.  In January she could name seven of nine.  But, still, she was sure she had nine.

Nate Sleight, State Medalist, 800m
 
Nathanael started May with a win in the 1600m (at the finish line over teammate Andrew Van Ness) at the MacGregor Twilight Special at West Seattle Stadium.  He took 2nd in the 800m as well as 2nd with his 4x400m relay team.

The rest of the month was the winnowing process as athletes from across the State competed for places at State.

First came the Emerald City League Championships.

The following week, Nathanael dropped the 1600m to concentrate on the 800m and 4x400m relay at the Tri-District Championships.  The top five individuals and relay teams would advance to State.

On May 15th in the prelims, Nate took 2nd with a 2:04:59 to advance to the finals on Saturday, May 17th.  His relay team took 4th with a 3:37.66 to also advance to the Tri-District Finals.

In the 800m finals Nathanael ran his lifetime best of 2:01:01 to capture 4th place and his second trip to State in Track.  The relay team, at a season best mark of 3:36.69, missed State with a 6th place finish.

The good news was that each member of Nathanael's 4x400m relay team also joined him by qualifying (as he had) in other events.  So on Memorial Day weekend, May 23-24, we were at the Mount Tahoma High School stadium for the WIAA 1A & 2A State Championships.

In his preliminary 800m race, Nathanael looked well positioned at the start of the second lap (top photo above).  Only the top three in each of the two eight-man heats would earn automatic berths in the finals.  The next fasted two from the two heats would join them.  The finish photo (just above) shows that he had to really kick it in to finish 4th.  He had run a 2:02:12. We knew that the other heat was the "smokin' fast" one.  Nate's time would have to be better than the 5th place finisher in heat 2.  We waited (and prayed) for the times of the second heat to come up on the scoreboard.  When the time of  the heat two 5th place finisher Cody Lambert of Onalaska came up at 2:02.29, we rejoiced that Nathanael had managed to eek out the last place in the finals (lane 1, my favorite) by 0.17 seconds.  Characteristically, after congratulating his opponents, Nate had returned to the team tents, not waiting to learn if he had made the finals!  I had the chance to share that news with him.  He took the news materoffactly.

The 800m finals on Saturday were very similar to the prelims.  Nate was in 5th place at the start of lap 2 (photo left) but had to kick hard to earn 6th place with a time of 2:02.43.  The photo below shows the finish, with all three runners on the left passing Nick Smith of Charles Wright (in lane 1) at the finish line.

Once again this year I was allowed on the track at State as a media representative for Northwest Runner Magazine.  

The team paid for our hotel room and also did not charge us the $150 athletic fee that Jeannie Beth owed.   Mark DeJonge, the BCS Athletic Director, and the coaches greatly appreciate my photographic work. 

In my June journal I'll report on the Track & Field banquet held June 5th.

STATE: Boys 800 Meter Run 1A

================================================================
    Meet: Record 1:53.64  2004  Brian Wall, Tacoma Baptist      
    Name                    Year School                 Prelims 
================================================================

Heat  1 Preliminaries

  1 Hale Shaw                 12 University Prep        2:01.37Q 
  2 Austin Stuchell           11 Lakeside (9 Mf)        2:01.53Q
  3 Jeffery Crabill           10 Charles Wright         2:01.73Q
  4 Nathanael Sleight         12 Bellevue Christian     2:02.12q
  5 Tyler Eccles                 Castle Rock            2:03.57  
  6 Evin LaPlatney            10 Ilwaco                 2:03.58  
  7 Asa Israel                11 Goldendale             2:04.13  
  8 Cody Long                 10 Highland               2:10.86 

   
Heat  2 Preliminaries

  1 Wes Erickson              12 University Prep        1:59.07Q
  2 Jasen Brown               12 Brewster               1:59.50Q
  3 Nick Smith                11 Charles Wright         1:59.65Q
  4 Reid Empey                10 Connell                2:00.39q
  5 Cody Lambert              12 Onalaska               2:02.29  
  6 Dylan Zickler             11 Newport                2:03.79  
  7 Andrew Olsen              10 Stevenson              2:04.37  
  8 Jade Patterson            11 Zillah                 2:05.54

Boys 800 Meter Run 1A Finals ================================================================      Name                    Year School                  Finals ================================================================   1 Jasen Brown               12 Brewster               1:54.56    2 Jeffery Crabill           10 Charles Wright         1:57.52    3 Wes Erickson              12 University Prep        1:57.76    4 Austin Stuchell           11 Lakeside (9 Mf)        2:02.29    5 Reid Empey                10 Connell                2:02.31    6 Nathanael Sleight         12 Bellevue Christian     2:02.43    7 Nick Smith                11 Charles Wright         2:02.51    8 Hale Shaw                 12 University Prep        2:06.12     Shelly Peterson, the mom of junior distance runner Molly Billingham from Bush, took this shot of me at Tri-Districts.  I started jogging again (June 8th) so perhaps by Cross Country season the gut will be far less.  Running is therapy.

One Last Race

At 4:00PM on May 17th, Will Moseley led his Seattle Academy soccer team against Connell and lost 5-1 in the State 1A quarterfinals.  He had given up a sure return trip to the State Track & Field Championships (where he had placed 1st in 2006 and 2nd in 2007 with a 1:57.26).  That same afternoon, three other Emerald City League seniors, Wes Erickson and Hale Shaw from University Prep and Nathanael Sleight from Bellevue Christian finished 2nd, 5th and 4th respectively in the 800m finals that earned all three a trip to State.  Will's decision to stay with his soccer team, allowed Hale to advance, (and relieved me greatly).  It was a classy decision by a class athlete.

This quartet of middle-distance stars from 1A Seattle-area schools had been competing against each other since Cross Country in 2004.  In their final high school race they ran as the "Emerald City League All Stars" in the 2008 Brooks Washington/Oregon Meet of Champions at King's High School on Saturday, May 31st.


                   Hale Shaw, U Prep             Wes Erickson, U Prep
                                Will Moseley, SAAS          Nathanael Sleight, BCS

They ran in the first event, the Distance Medley Relay.  Hale ran the first leg, a three-lap 1200m.  The team was up against 3A and 4A teams and were in last place at the first handoff.  Will ran the next leg, a 400m. Still in last place, he handed of to Nathanael.  Nate's 800m moved the team from 6th to 4th where Wes kept them in the final 1600m leg.  It was great watching these four competitors, who had become friends, race together. I especially got tears watching Will and Hale warm up together while Nate and Wes warmed up together.
                          _________________

This event was run by the Washington State Track & Field Coaches Association.  When I arrived, I had planned to just photograph the first two events.  Allison Hussey from BCS was also running.  But BCS Coach Larry Royce asked if I would stay and photograph the meet. My photos are here.  This was a paid gig.
 

• University Presbyterian Church celebrated their 100th anniversary this month.  We enjoyed the all-church picnic at Magnuson Park (Sand Point), even if it was a rainy gray day.  See the photo collage at the bottom of this page.
• Randy recorded the story of Dad's experiences in World War  II.
• Momma Squirrel here ate all of Jean's left over almonds but could not figure out how to open this walnut. I made the shot (taken through the kitchen window) into a 1280x1024 sized wallpaper image.
• On May 30th, Annie arrived home safely from British Isles Quarter.
• On Monday, May 19th I stepped down as advisor to AUSBE (The Associated Undergraduate Students of Business and Economics) which I had served for six years.  I gave the invocation at the undergraduate graduation banquet and introduced Professor Grant Learned as my successor.
• On Thursday I was introduced at the Beta Alpha Psi (Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems student society) annual banquet as a new honorary member.  I am also their chapter webmaster.
• I'm still not sure if this was a completely pro bono piece of work, but in May I created a flyer for an important medical conference put on by Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation Washington.  Susan claimed her brother-in-law could do a good job.  I couldn't make her out to be a liar.  Here is a .pdf version of the flyer. And what better models for the photo than Nancy, Jeannie Beth and Grandma Jean?!
• My nautical reading this month was Drumbeat (Book #2 in the Lord Ramage Novels) by Dudley Pope.  A great story line ending in the Battle of Cape St Vincent (14 February 1797).  But the writing is poor. Pope tells you everything he knows.  It break up the story to be told the background of each event, ship and public figure.