Icy paths

 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ My car doesn't drive well on ice. And I'm not the best driver on the icy slick roads of Missouri, where salt trucks go unseen. So as I slid 25 feet down Broadway, I slowly crashed into a parked car. The driver had run out of gas. Bad luck. He didn't even flinch. He said he knew it was a matter of time. Nothing $1,500 can't fix. No more ice, please.

Chicken Soup to rid a cold

 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Mission: find a way to make RoseaLee and Baleigh feel better after coming down with a cold, possible flu-like.
Solution: chicken noodle soup.
After spending an hour on the Internet figuring out what's in this classic dish, I called my Aunt Ev to dig out grandma's recipe. Aunt Ev always made the best soup. So I bought a whole chicken, a new pot, vegetables and noodles. It came out perfect! I ate it for three days after. And it made RoseaLee and Baleigh feel a bit better. Victory!

Running from shadows

 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ When will winter end? I need answers. Or at least something to take my mind off the idea that snow and ice are still around. So I went underground this weekend to look for clues. There, in the industrialized caverns of Kansas City, I found 3,250 runners in T-shirts and shorts in mid-summer form. This was the Groundhog 10K with proceeds going to a children's learning center. Although I had planned to race the more popular 5K, I slept in a bit and made it in time for the 10K. This race I ran into Jimmy, Aileen, Laura, Ashley and a host of other Kansas City running friends. After following Aileen in the first mile to a 5:56, I decided to back off a little before running even splits the last four miles. In the first race of the year, I finished 96th of the 787 runners. My time was 43:44, a little above 7 minute pace. I had to be pleased with the time this early in the year. When I emerged from the caves to a 50-degree day, I saw my shadow. What does this mean? When will Kansas City's winter end?