Started our first day of walking along Hadrian’s Wall, which that Roman emperor began in 122 AD to divide England from Scotland and all its barbarians. Did eight miles. Seventy-seven to go.

Today we saw lots of these:

Many of these:

It rained some but then the sun came out.

Talked to a couple from Colorado Springs. John and I (another John) are hiking eastbound. I met two westbound walkers who announced, “This is my final day.”

Speaking of final days, I learned about Edward I.

Edward, the Hammer of the Scots, came up here to fight Robert the Bruce in 1307 but died of dysentery instead. He lie in state in this church

before he was carried off to London for burial at Westminster.

One thing I did not see was Hadrian’s Wall. That’s because after the Romans left in 410 AD, the wall came down, stone by stone, to build churches, barns, houses, shops and anything else that the next thousands of generations wanted. Here are csome of the Roman stones that appear in St. Michael’s church, where Edward was on display.

On a site that has seen defensive structures for 2,000 years, you might think I would come up with something more learned than what the above photo shows. But this little corner in the dungeon at Carlisle Castle spoke my lingua.

When Jacobite soldiers, trying to restore the Stuarts as kings of England, were held here in 1745-6, the only water available to the 30 prisoners, standing room only, was water dripping down the stone walls. So they licked. And licked some more until the grooves you see were formed. Stephen, our very good tour guide, said the top one tastes like strawberry. I took his word for it.

The Romans built a turf and timber fort on this site in 72 AD, before Hadrian’s Wall was started in 122 AD (a date and who started it a matter of debate). A hill and three rivers surrounding it made it too hard for the Romans to pass up. Stephen said The Guardian newspaper recently named Carlisle Castle the ugliest in the United Kingdom. That’s OK with Stephen since this castle has withstood more sieges than any other in the realm. Ten times, which makes it much different than those “Disneyland castles” down south.

We finished off our visit to Carlisle with a walk-through of the cathedral there. Carlisle has been a center for Christianity since at least 650 AD, when, according to Bede*, St. Cuthbert** visited “an active Christian community” there. Then King Ecgfrith (get that one past self correct!) of Northumbria granted land to Cuthbert to keep the Christian influence going.

This may be the beginning of what a previous traveling companion called a VAC vacation as in Yet Another Cathedral. But this is a beautiful church and a good way to start this walking journey. I could have knelt down for a blessing but was afraid my knees would not let me get back up.

*theologian and historian who wrote “Ecclesiastical History of the English People”). He died in 735.

**regarded as the patron saint of Northumbria. He died in 687 AD.

Back in Ohio for my 60th high school class reunion. Sixty years later, I’m still learning about my class and drawing conclusions about what happened way back then. Our class had 67 members, but I found out Saturday night that only 66 showed up for graduation because the mumps were visiting the house of Judy. Twenty one class members showed up Saturday, 25 have died (including Judy), and where were the rest of them?

Another thing I learned at the reunion: The man who taught half days when we were in the sixth grade was a submariner during WWII. No wonder he blew up in anger when young boys, who knew nothing about an attractive symbol they had seen or what it represented, carved swastikas into the wooden desk tops.

Thinking back on his math classes, I now realize that he was teaching base two math to our sixth grade. This made no sense to us or our parents. The teacher tied it to nothing. No way would we ever use this math, using only ones and zeros, in our daily or future lives. No way it would ever help us get a job. Just numerals and how they worked: When this column is full, move to the next one, sort of like you do when you get to nine and double digits show up at 10.

If he had said, “This is what computers (definition, please) are based on, this is the coding that runs them, this is what Alan Turing used to help defeat the Nazis, we could have dropped out of college and invented Microsoft four years before Paul Allen and Bill Gates did.

Then we could have flown around in our private jets and picked up those people who missed the reunion.

My sister thinks I may have been named after an Ohio state park. I thought my name had more noble beginnings, but maybe not. My made-up understanding was that somewhere in the 1890s my grandfather was named in part after William Jennings Bryan, the Great Commoner, twice presidential candidate and Secretary of State. He started with Bryan as a middle name and now three more generations have included that in our names.

Then there is my sister’s theory. Our parents married in the spring of 1945 in Northern Ohio. World War II was still going on, and for wedding presents, people gave the honeymooning couple gas rationing cards. Off they went until the ration cards ran out — at John Bryan State Park.

I came along three years later. Did my parents say, “What a great name John Bryan is? Let’s name our son after that memorable park.”

We each have our theories. I’m sticking to mine on the orator who once gave the Cross of Gold speech, imploring the government to keep on the monetary silver standard rather than the more stringent gold standard. Wonder what he would have thought of crypto?

From the NEW York Times:

“President Trump called Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, in the hours after the United States men’s soccer team played Wednesday and asked him to review the suspension of the team’s top goal scorer in the World Cup, Folarin Balogun, after he was given a red card, according to four people familiar with the conversation.

“On Sunday, FIFA reversed the suspension, announcing that Mr. Balogun would be eligible to play Monday against Belgium.

“The reversal is highly unusual and is the first time since 1962 that FIFA has allowed a player to appear in a game when they would have been suspended after being sent off in the World Cup.”

Why would any team, except the United States, want to play inside this country now that FIFA is following the rules of the Orange Man instead of its own?

Games to be played in the United States should be moved to Canada and Mexico, where they can be played fairly without interference from someone off the field of play. The stadiums are there. The schedule can be rearranged. The outcomes will be honest, which is not a rarity in our country.

When the Seattle Seawolves travel to Utah this coming Saturday night, they will face a team they have never been more than four points away from – either up, or down. In the regular season, the Seawolves met the Warriors twice, for a loss and then a victory: 30-27 down, 28-24 up.

The first round of Major League Rugby playoffs for the Seawolves kicks off at 7 p.m. PDT Saturday. Last week’s 42-17 win over the Miami Sharks at Starfire put the Seattle team in the playoffs, ending the regular season one point ahead of San Diego in the standings: 49-48. Didn’t I say this would come down to the final week?

Given the tight games between Seattle and Utah, another close one can be expected. Here’s the way it happened in the regular season:

March 22, 2025, at Starfire:

“With 54 minutes gone in the game, Seattle was down 27-6. . . . Between the 59th minute of the game and the 63rd, Seattle scored two tries, by Captain Riekert Hattingh and the game’s-not-over-until Malacchii Esdale scores. Fouche added two conversions. Now 27-20, Seattle could tie with a converted try. Could until Hodgson showed that he can kick as well as run and dodge, hitting a penalty kick with eight minutes left in the game and Seattle down, 30-20.

“Two minutes later, the Seawolves were awarded a penalty try after an intentional knock-on by Spencer Jones prevented a Seattle overload from scoring.

“Six minutes left in the game, Utah down to 14 men because of the Jones’ yellow card, could the Seawolves score? No. Mishandling the ball prevented that. Sort of a return to that unfortunate first half, one the Seawolves don’t want to see again.”

May 12, 2025 at Utah:

“Despite tries by Malembe Mpofu (under the post for seven points), Lauina Futi and Toni Pulu plus two successful conversion kicks by Rodney Iona (in winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour), the Seawolves were down 21-24 going into the last two minutes of the game. Just before time expired, Rhyno Herbst picked up the ball from the back of a goal line ruck and dived over for a try, giving Seattle a 28-24 win, with another conversion by Iona.”

We’ll miss you, Rhyno, now on disciplinary suspension for a high tackle. His next game back? MLR championship. See you then, Rhyno.

Writing this on my cell phone so it will be error free (watch me, Steve), short and only slightly bitter that RFCLA didn’t lose Sunday. They had a four-try win over Miami Sharks, earning them 45 points in the standings and giving them third place in the Western Conference of Major League Rugby.
The Seawolves against Alatimu ended in a 14-9 Seattle win Friday night. The trylines were verboten to Houston, and they relied on Alatimu’s three penalty kicks. That name sounds familiar. I’d like to say more about the back line of Zeiss and Orr that ended in a try by Nick Boyer but my thumbs are tired. Also a great maul try by Mackail.
San Diego, the team time and I forgot, had no games this past week and now sit in fifth place, out of the playoffs.
For now. Two games left for LA (45 in standings), Seawolves (42) and SD (41).
Next round starts Friday and ends Sunday with Seawolves at New England. Send smoke signals — white for good news, black for bad — in the direction of Bowron Lakes, British Columbia, where I will be paddling.