03/19/2021 - Dark Tower - Remembering a Redhawk
AO: Dark Tower
When: 03/19/2021
PAX:
Number of Pax: 27
Pax Names: Aflac, Augustus Gloop, Baby Hands, Backdraft, Bjorn, Blues Clues, Bongo, Corningstone, Crabgrass, Dingo, Jackie Chiles, Leuben, Lewinsky, Longshanks, Mayhem, Onions, Powderpuff, Radio Flyer, Serena, Shandy, Skilling, Sparky, Sun Devil, Wide Right, Woody,
DR Names: Baywatch (not DR but no on the Pax sheet?)
Number of FNGS: 0
FNG Names:
QIC: Smokey
Introduction
While it’s always a Great day to be to be a Redhawk, some days are tougher than others. Leuben, Shandy, Woody, Serena, and I invited PAX to join us for a Redhawk reunion to remember a classmate and teammate who we lost this week. We will remember the boy we knew and remember his service to our country.
Coupons- needed. Vests- optional. MASH options available. Laughs down memory lane- mandatory.
YHC pulled into the DT parking lot at 0503 to a planted flag and group of at least 10 starting the mumblechatter early. Low to mid 30’s at game time.
Warm-O-Rama
Circled up in the lot for the principals, then went on a slowzy through the lot, warming up on the move. Arm circles, lunges with a rotation, Serena Skips, and lateral lunges.
Grabbed the coupons and headed to the base of The Tower.
The Thang
The Thang: Circle up. I’ll call out an exercise and the number of reps you complete OYO. The first person to finish calls DONE. Once the 1st person is done, all PAX stop that exercise and take a mosey around the Cafe (maybe a 300 yard loop). Before everyone leaves on their mosey, I’ll call out a different movement to perform across most of the field (100 yards or so).
MASH: Do what you can as you can, and modify as needed.
Threw on a late 90’s early 2000’s music playlist and got to The Work:
- Thrusters- 86 reps (Bear Crawl through field)
- Merkins- 101 reps (crab walk)
- Squats- 101 reps (Chimp walk)
- Bent Rows- 86 reps (Duck walk)
- Curls- 101 reps (Army crawl)
- Dips- 101 reps
- Flutter kicks- 86 reps (each leg 1/2)
- Crunches- 101 reps. Sun Devil called Time and the PAX rejoiced.
Circle of Trust
Prayers lifted up for cancer related issues in the Smalls, Bjorn, and Longshanks families.
COT: Last Saturday a friend from high school sent me a news article about someone Leuben, Shandy, Woody, and Serena went to school with, Chris Lee. Woody and I were in school with Chris from Kindergarten through senior year. Woody swam on swim team in the neighborhood with him. Serena played junior high basketball with him. Leuben, Shandy, Woody, and I played football with him in high school. He was number 86.
After going to college for a bit, he joined the Army’s 101st Airborne division and served in Iraq.
The article was about a 38 year old who, at 4am, went outside with a high powered rifle and started shooting at anything that moved. He went inside his house and had barricaded himself inside for 10 hours before a police robot found him dead.
None of the 5 of us were very close to Chris, we were teammates and classmates more than friends. Woody and I disagree on the time of it, but either Senior year in high school or after he got out of the Army, Chris saw Woody and I in the gym and apologized for how he’d always acted when we were growing up. That was at least 15 years ago and the last any of us can remember talking to him.
I’m choosing to remember Chris by that conversation rather than the last actions of his life.
A couple things hit me when I read about Chris. As a parent, I can’t imagine getting that call from the police. Having them tell you what your son did. My heart goes out to them and the entire family. The other was for our veterans. We’ve been at war for almost 20 years as a country. We send young men to war and I hope we’re doing everything as a nation to protect them, both physically AND mentally.
We don’t know what’s going on in anyone else’s life. What they’ve been through or what they are going through. I’m thankful for the laughs Woody, Serena, and I shared as we reminisced about “back in the day” It’s too late now for anyone to reach out to Chris, but it’s not too late for us to reach out to the people in our lives who we just don’t connect with enough. Hear them. And maybe be a light for them.
We ended in a prayer of thanksgiving for all God has given us and prayed for the Lee, Smalls, Longshanks, and Bjorn families as well as all of those that went unsaid.
Naked Man Moleskin
Woody followed the North Star and journeyed from lands afar for the reunion
86 Thrusters was a kick in the pants way to start things off.
After the first Bear Crawl experiment, PAX let me know that everyone should be allowed to get up from the movement and start jogging once the first PAX reached “the line.” It was a solid audible and Bongo and Lewinsky bailed the PAX out several times
Backdraft finished curls before anyone else was within 30 reps. Dude is a beast.
Bjorn’s “aww common” to the Army crawl call was the only fun part of that 100 yard adventure
Serena’s smooth stride had him finishing the mosey first almost every time. Must be all the Serena Skips he does?
The PAX were VERY happy with Shandy for asking about flutter kicks, allowing each leg to be 1/2 instead of 1
Found out Corningstone is a fellow Redhawk and Sun Devil played youth football with Chris.
Great weather and a great group of PAX. Thank you all!
-Smokey