Epidemic in Applecross?

If 50% of the children in my school had been off ill at the same time there would probably be cries of epidemic or similar; however, if you take the Applecross factor into account there is little cause for alarm. Yes, half the school were off ill yesterday and probably will be today too (if my daughter's condition is anything to go by) and yes it is because they all have the same bug, virus, cold, flu, infection; call it what you will. The fact remains though that only five children are currently unable to make it to school and that comprises half the school.

I guess a bug doesn't have to be that strong to get round 5 children of Primary School age, especially when they are all in one classroom together. What if the class were bigger or there were even more than one class? Perhaps the situation would be different...maybe, it wouldn't though. Hmmm...what if the school role was 360 and on one day 180 children were ill with the same disease at the same time? A newsworthy event methinks.

WARNING:  INCOMING RANT

On a completely different matter...why doesn't blogger support smileys? I like smileys and so do the children. It may seem purile to some that we amy want to liberally sprinkle our posts with little faces and the such like, but we like them and I guess that's what counts at the end of the day. We're not in this world to live up to other's expectations and they're not in the world to liove up to ours - Bruce Lee. But I do like a smiley or three or four, especially the ones that roll around and blink, etc, etc. :-P :-P :-P :-P

Illness Strikes

It seems that we are getting all our illnesses in one go. Zoë has just recovered from a temperature of 40c and now Sarah is suffering with something similar. I'm just waiting for mine and Andrew's turn. Hopefully, it's a long, long way away. Still, we're about to go out for a ride on our bikes whilst the weather is in decent shape. We'll take a camera and upload an image or two if we get any decent shots.

A quick word from Zoë:

Hi evryone [image]http://emoticons4u.com/happy/010.gif[/image]  its true I am going out on my bike I shall go now bye [image]http://emoticons4u.com/happy/1002.gif[/image] .

'til later [image]http://emoticons4u.com/happy/042.gif[/image]

Smooth-ly does it

This morning we decided to go trail-running. We used a well-known track close to our house which winds it's way through wood and by river for a little over a mile. Sarah and Zoe managed one lap whilst Andrew and I did two. After returning to the house and showers Zoe made smoothies for each of us using her christmas present, a battery operated blender/mixer.
After a couple of mornings running in Edinburgh recently I can truly say how much I appreciate the freedom of a place where you do not have to run on roads. The ability to run for 40 minutes at lunchtime and spend none of that time mindlessly pounding along tarmac is very enjoyable. The other day I ran across a slippery, sloping field and noticed out of the corner of my eye a large 'lump on a fence post, several seconds later I was staring into the eye of the 'lump' (a buzzard) from about fifteen feet away. The bird barely flinched as I ran past!
Of course, the Merrel Trail Glove shoes I received at christmas have been the key to this new-found enthusiasm for trail-running in Applecross. I'm sure there are many more trails/routes to be discovered out there. These shoes have been a revelation; they are a part of the 'barefoot' running shoe style that seems to be gaining great popularity recently. No clumpy heel, no cushioning, wide toe box, little instep to talk of these shoes definitlry encourage one to run on the front part of the foot arch. This style of running has led to far less pain and agony than I felt running on roads using pronation control/cushioned shoes. Allowing my feet to work naturally has had one significant benefit - I no longer feel pain during or after a run. Fun, freedom and enjoyment are back on the menu, hooray :-)