They plan to bring victory over mental illness. Since it is not seen as an unbeatable obstacle. So many disabled, like me, but wonderful people will not so much anymore have to metamorphically crawl — thus leaving that to the amateur athletes, as weekend warriors, much like marines in training — because of events like the following on Saturday morning to help highten awareness and styme stigma. So let the Riverfront Victory Games begin.
There are a series of obstacle courses, 2-by-2-or-is-it-4 person teams, going over and above, far up and down and around, and more such combos to raise Victory money for mental healths concerns, via the Riverfront Athletic Club — mental fitness too — on the mid-southern end of Second Street. (When I first heard of this event, I thought of such a downtown club in neighboring St. Paul, but I think I’ll take the Hudson version, seems a bit more inclusive rather than exclusive, at least as far as membership.)
The first wave, as its never too early to support such a cause, gets going at 7 a.m. This is a 13-plus event for the running and climbing, but family oriented and therefore staying PG-13. (Like my website, but push it once in a while when I report on new and brave trendy styles.)
Interestingly, as I was walking up the way after reviewing a promo flyer, I encountered a young woman who looked quite nervous, but was composed enough to see that I was a local, and confident enough to ask me for directions. Our version of an obstacle course was me taking a quick look at the street numbers on Second, often hard to see when raising your head upward in the midst of brick and windows, and saw the problem — the even numbers, rather then the odd, were located across the street. More obstacle course fodder, she was scrupulous enough to ensure we walked over to the nearest pedestrian crossing, and then back the other way in order to get to her therapy appointment. We saw almost as one the designated number that was being sought, and after asking a clerical worker inside the close-to-dozen varied business office building, made our way up a staircase to get her to an alt therapy venue for acute anxiety. Though stressed, my new friend did very well with the situation.
The studio looked a bit like a therapeutic spa and quite Posh too — that Spice would certainly vet it as what she really, really wants, as would any of her Girls, but Posh was always my fave — with all kinds of cool relaxation imagery, but we needed to venture to the back to verify that this indeed was the right place, among the many small rooms in the building. Someone could’ve been more concerned about the therapist, who looked a little edgy herself, and focusing mostly on her faulty printer, (out of Faulty Towers?)
One thing that’s not faulty, going back to the Saturday obstacle relay event, is its call via logo on its flyer, for going forth forever, big smiles and butterfly wing pairs. Hope I did just that, just by giving directions, and we all can follow suit, bringing whatever we can to the table, (and thus registering to compete, on the Riverfront Victory Games website.)
And therefore hey, sometimes the best therapists are the ones who could be treating themselves, using their personal experience. (Some AODA experts, as an example I’ve seen in the field, are recovering alcoholics.) Is it the cure or the disease?
The upshot: There’s always a need for people on all sides of the equation to become better educated on whence they treat. And for the best of us, it can be a trick. But you can never strive too much in being compassionate.
And of course, we now near the season of trick or treating, and the events already are being rolled out, with many more to come. If you’re in the first even hundred or two or three to come to such events with parent, you might get a free pumpkin and the decals to deck it out.
So also enter the, fittingly named, Scarecrow Express Pros, as the wearing of flannel to this end of St. Croix County locale, to appease the Oz Wizard, is encouraged and even recommended, as it becomes a part of the family focus at such an event in Glen Park. It runs Friday from 4-7 p.m.
Last, they just dropped the ball by half, and we’re not talking halftime as in football, but the quest to get first a pennant and then a World Series win. The Brewers dropped in but then out, quickly, losing two straight playoff games to end their season. They are certain to be called out on that. Reverse that, and the Twins won two in a row to take their opening series, already guaranteeing them their best postseason in years. This is important because at Ziggy’s Hudson they are in the midst of a fall classic offering for select beer taps at three bucks and stadium hot dogs — no word on special sauce — for just a couple bucks, for both Minnesconsin teams. Now only one left.