Starting around 1887, foot races started with a “mark” or a line drawn to indicate the starting point of a race. Before that the lineage of “mark” meant a target or marked point, the same root behind “marksman” and “to make one’s mark.” Before starting blocks existed, race officials would scratch or paint an actual line into the dirt or track at the starting point. Runners had to position their feet exactly on or behind that line before the race began… hence “on your marks.” This is the same etymological family as the phrase “starting from scratch,” which comes from the identical practice, but in the 1700s sporting events started from a “scratch” rather than a “mark” and that referred to a starting line literally scratched into the ground. Later on, the phrase was generalizing to mean “starting point with no advantage given”, which is what we think of today as “starting from scratch”. The full sequence (“on your marks, get set, go”) mirrors the actual physical sequence of a race start. You get to your assigned line (mark), settle into the crouched/ready position (set), then launch (go)… usually cued historically by a starting pistol. The phrase fossilized into idiom use well beyond racing (e.g., “on your mark” as a general “get ready” command) once it became a familiar cultural reference from track and field.
My daughter Carolyn has been a runner since her college days. She is cursed with her father’s physical build and does not enjoy the petiteness that some young women have, so she countered that by running for exercise and weight management. That running habit morphed into marathon running at some point about fifteen years ago and she hasn’t stopped yet through bearing two sweet daughters and taking up residence in the Columbia Waterfront area of Brooklyn fourteen years ago. She hasn’t stopped yet run in ten NYC marathons and after another five (they keep moving that goalpost), she gets a lifetime qualification so that she doesn’t have to either raise money for charity or compete in enough NY Roadrunner events throughout the year (she regularly runs half-marathons) to get her NYC marathon bib each year. It’s squeak pain-in-the-ass getting out to Staten Island every year for the start of the race and I’m sure there are moments when she wonders why she keeps doing it, but running marathons is who she is now and I think its great that she embraces it as she does.
Carolyn and her posse (husband John and daughters Charlotte and Evelyn) arrive here today and stay for the entire month of July. This will be the fourth year of these summertime programs and Kim and I find it to be the highlight of our year. If there is a silver lining to my loss of my Ithaca home during my kerfuffle with the University a few years ago, it is that this hilltop has become Carolyn & Co.‘s summer home. I have always felt that expanded experiences is the way to go, but I understand that other people prefer the familiar and Carolyn is certainly more into clinging to the familiar than reaching for the new experiences. The good news for us at this point is that now that we have transitioned their summer schedule from Ithaca to our hilltop, this is the familiar and she and her family seem to really love it here in July.
I spent the day tidying up the garden while Kim was busy cooking and baking and tidying up the guest suites and making little arrival packages for all. For my part, I bought each of the four (it’s usually all a big shrug to John, but I include him anyway) a little baby succulent as my “Welcome back to the Hilltop” gift. I tracked the flight as it departed on time and watched as it gained more than 30 minutes against its scheduled arrival time, which was in the evening. Knowing that meal service on economy flights is a thing of a bygone era, I figured the crew would be hungry on landing. Carolyn and I agreed that the best and easiest solution was to stop at McDonald’s for something to eat on the ride north from the airport. I haven’t been to McDonald’s for a year, But I have to fear of the Golden Arches…my resolve is rock solid. Over the past 15 years I’ve gotten pretty good at estimating San Diego Airport pick-up arrangements. I arrived and went right to the cell phone lot and then thought to text Carolyn as their flight was somewhere over Tecate on final approach. I asked her for their McD’s order and she was able to send me that. There was a McDonald’s in Point Loma 7 minutes away so I went through the drive-through. Two Happy Meals, a Big Mac meal and a few extra fries and sodas….and $50 (times have changed) later and I was back at the airport picking up the granddaughters and, after only one loop, Carolyn and John with the bags.
The plan was to spend the next day acclimating and letting everyone rest up and settle in before we start the whirlwind month that we have planned. John spends most of the working days of the month out on the deck with three laptops, doing exactly what he does at home, except with a view of the Pacific. That leaves Kim, the girls and me to orchestrate a month of activities with hardly a moment’s rest…on your marks, get set, go!