On the mend, gardening, taxes

Oh my goodness! The weather has taken a turn and a cool breeze swept through the blue room for the entire afternoon yesterday. How totally refreshing! The yard and garden work, cutting, trimming, edging, weeding, watering, fertilizing and a touch of harvesting, all completed in in full sunshine and low 80's temperatures were almost as enjoyable as a day at the beach. I worked when I felt like it, sat when I felt like it, took a break when I felt like it and watched or listened to the fantastic, world class, Detroit Tiger baseball game, lasting 4 hours and filled to overflowing with competitive drama only found in baseball. We won!

That's how my day of complete rest went. I am pleased to report my legs are showing signs of life once again. I wobble just a little bit less this morning. If this healing continues I will be back in the saddle again soon, riding my bicycle into the wilds of mid to upper Michigan seeking adventure. By the looks of it, although any kind of weather around here is a treat temperatures are moderating a bit and riding may become less of a sweaty event. I do look forward to that. I'm running out of t-shirts to soak it up.

The harvest continues in the garden and the job of preserving it for a later time becomes another matter. Canning, freezing and in some cases dehydrating take some education on my part. There are now a grouping of jars on the shelves filled with a cacophony of mixed vegetables I never knew could be mixed. The test jar sits on the cupboard awaiting the obligatory 3 weeks for curing and then the taste test. Thankfully, I've never experienced a bad batch of preserved food from the garden. I'm still looking up the recipe for Ketchup because the tomatoes will be maturing any day now and they are definitely bountiful.

That's my chatter for the day. I just came from a short meeting of friends. They had some breakfast and took shots at solving the worlds problems as usual. One guy said that in the early days of our country, only those people that paid taxes could vote on taxation legislation, not those people that only took money from taxes. I'm not sure but I think he inferred that even legislators couldn't vote for more taxes because that's where they received their incomes, unless they had another job where they paid taxes. Interesting. I'd not heard that before. I think I'll look it up. I wonder when it changed?

A real eye opener and food

I was determined to work off the discomfort of last week's little escapade of showing off to a couple young guys. I figured that riding around 10 miles a day or so would eventually release the cramps and muscle aches. "Work it off!" Is what I heard in my head. Watching professional sports figures do that is implanted in my Psyche. Every time an athlete gets smacked or develops a cramp or s into a pole, they go to the sideline for a few minutes, walk around grunting and flexing and snorting and then come back for the next play. If they can do it, I can do it. So, I worked at the shop during the day, worked in the garden in the evening and rode my bicycle in between. You know what? By Thursday about noon I could barely stand up. I am not a professional athlete I guess. Back to the drawing board and a new plan was formulated: Until further notice and the pain and cramping subside I am hereby on Light duty and only a mile or two occasionally on the stationary bike just to stay loose. No ride from Manistee to parts North this weekend. No practice run on Kent Trails or any other trail for that matter. Just some time in the garden to assure a proper and prolific Tomato and cucumber harvest for canning. I'm going to attempt to make catsup this year, I heard it could be done. And I enjoy bread and butter sandwich pickles far beyond normal. I could put them on anything and there is only one small pint left from last year. Wait, wait, I was talking about riding a bike wasn't I? Yeah, I guess so but suddenly the thought of fresh eggs fried in butter, bacon, fried potatoes, toast and a glass of tomato juice crossed my mind for some odd reason. I am in a weakened state and cannot resist. I'm gone, I'm outa here, the butter is already melting. I'm continuing my recuperation with proper nutrition. Later..............

Old people and bicycling

Well, another leg of my bicycle trip along Lake Michigan and another lesson learned. A couple weeks ago I pushed myself a little too hard and had a little trouble with my legs for a few days. I swore I would never push myself that hard again. That oath lasted almost a week. Last Saturday, just as my legs showed signs of becoming useful once again for walking halfway normal I set off on another stage heading North from Pentwater towards Ludington and maybe, if I felt OK a little beyond. Everything went well, the weather was perfect, the wind was almost non-existent and I felt pretty good. All was good with the world and my camera was at the ready to record all the beautiful sights on my leisurely ride. Then it happened! I had ridden, perhaps a half mile when off from a side rode came two, young, svelt, slim, sun baked bike riding guys also enjoying the day. As they road alongside a few words of pleasantry were exchanged and they said they were headed up to Manistee to meet some (hopefully bikini clad) girls for a swim. I mentioned my hope of reaching Ludington and they sort of chucked together. " It's nice to see an older guy trying to ride and stay in reasonable shape" one of them said. "Except for your age we'd invite you to tag along" the other said with a smile on his face. "Oh, oh!" I thought. "They'd touched a cord regarding my male pride." I could feel the, "I'll show them" internal, competitive, stupid, get in trouble thing that rears it's ugly head at times like this. "I'll try to keep up for a little while just the same" I said. Dumb, dumb, dumb! In surveying the situation I had observed that they were both riding fat, knobby tired mountain, all terrain, single speed bikes. I, riding my skinny wheel, feather light touring bike just might be able to stay with them for a short distance which would feed my ego at least for the moment. They took the lead and off we went at a faster pace than I had originally intended and also leaving no time for the leisurely picture taking but I was committed and enjoyed the astonished look on their faces as I remained behind them feeling very much like the sneaky guy waiting his chance to pass in a NASCAR race. Up and down those pesky hills, rounding curves, retracing our paths as we mistakenly went down dead end streets. Past cottages and small stores and knick knack shops with narry a passing look. The chit chat was kept to a minimum due to the intensity of the ride. I believe they were bound and determined to see me drop back from "elderly" exhaustion. I didn't! On we went, not even stopping for most cross road stop signs and before I knew it we had passed through Ludington and headed toward Manistee and their feminine beach playmates. My physical ability seemed OK so I just kept going. Finally we ground up the hill going into Manistee from the South and turned onto Main street headed to the beach. I had called ahead and my support ride was waiting, surprised just West of downtown in a Motel parking lot. The young guys congratulated me on my ability to stay with them and off they went to the next part of their day with the ladies. I rode my bike in circles until they were out of sight and stopped my bike next to a post to hold onto. My legs were down there somewhere but I had absolutely no feeling in them. I had to watch where I stepped so I wouldn't fall down. It was arduous and, frankly painful to extract myself from that bike, place it in the back of the truck and finally sit down. It took quite some time to regain my composure and walk in a reasonably straight line. A small snack, another short rest and it was back to good old Wyoming for a long nap. Here it is three full days later and I continue to wobble like a drunken derelict. Did I learn my lesson yet? Yeah, I did. At least until the next young guy challenges me again. I'm riding about 10 miles a day right now to keep the cramps away but I think maybe this will take a while to get over. Dumb, dumb, dumb! I sure showed them though didn't I? Now I have to at least drive through there just to take a few pictures.

Olympics and Gardening, what you say?

My philosophical take on Olympics.
Anyone that planted a garden this spring here in Michigan has had some sort of surprise. The early warm spell followed by freezing temperatures and then the hot dry weather of summer has caused all sorts of challenges. When to water, how much to water, where are the pollinating bees? No matter what I do how come the beans don't grow? Why are those cute little rabbits and ground hogs performing their own harvest of my veggies? I can only attempt to imagine how these conditions affect those farmers who depend on crops for a living. A friend who raises "grass fed" cattle to augment his income is bringing them to slaughter several months and a few hundred pounds early because without rain there is no grass to feed them. A loss of thousands of dollars. Multiply that into unimaginable costs for a full time rancher or farmer. Billions of dollars across the country. They'll make it through somehow, they've done it before, they are stubborn, hard working and resilient. It won't be easy but they will. And that is my point.

During this time of Olympic competition I am constantly reminded lately of what it takes to overcome and conquer the opposition. Olympians usually require training throughout their lives, constantly moving toward the next goal to gain the strength to persevere and win against the odds. (wasn't there a movie about that a while ago?) It is never more evident than at the world games just starting. Going full circle here: it is the constant battle of unexpected challenges that tests our mettle and brings us to succeed in our every day lives. If our lives run smoothly, as nice as that may sound, we learn nothing really. We watch the Olympics and cheer, yet we are surrounded by people who every day overcome obstacles just to get through the day. Strong people, brave people, determined, unselfish people of character who strive to make this a better world. Sometimes we forget them because they don't wear bikini's and play beach volleyball or grease up for swimming or jump higher than anyone else. We meet them every day, they are all around us.

I enjoy the Olympics. They remind me of the struggles we all face. When it comes to winning or losing, that's the way life is. Score: beans-0  zucchini-a gazillion

Pentwater

Riding up the hill into Pentwater I was greeted by a neat little sign that read: "Welcome to Pentwater." Swell, I thought. This is going to be a real treat riding through yet another quaint little lake shore burg. The streets were lined with nicely manicured lawns with beautifully appointed homes painted in bright, happy colors nested in the middle of them. I was impressed! Rising to the top of the hill I saw on my left a magnificent church, pure white, tall steeple, wide, double door, welcoming entrance atop a dozen steps or so. Must have been a couple generations old but beautifully maintained and with hundreds of stories to tell I am sure. St. Vincents was the name and I snapped several pictures. Then proceeded down the hill. The side of the rode became lined with vehicle towing boats awaiting their turn at the launch site. The view opened up and I was amazed to see so many of those boats already in the water and to my eye leaving very little, if any room for even one more. That was only the beginning. Turning right onto the main downtown street was another enlightening experience, now I didn't think that "quaint" quite properly described this teaming little metropolis of tourist attractions. Store after store lined the street on both sides, car were moving at a snails pace in bumper to bumper fashion, no doubt looking for the next parking space so they too could visit one of those stores and bring home some priceless artifact of memorabilia. People happily scampering across the road back and forth so as not to miss a single retail establishment. I have to admit the excitement was catching and fun although I myself did not enter a shop. Just all this smiling faces and cheerful voices after a long solitary ride seemed a nice contrast. Making my way between the traffic and then going West to the state park and beach I saw car after car lining the street with people lifting the trunks to fetch their chairs for the long walk to the shore. The beach itself was packed to overflowing with those same happy, sun loving folks out for a days enjoyment and perhaps just a touch of a tan. No room for me to stop to relax really so I returned to main street and headed North out of town. It was rather a shock as to how fast the people disappeared behind the very first turn and the vision I had of a quaint little town unfolded before my eyes right down to another park at the Northern border with a sign welcoming everyone to Pentwater. Nothing saying good bye though. I guess they don't want you to leave. Another two miles of smooth riding and I met up with my ride home at the entrance to US 31. Can't wait for the next time, it's been great riding weather lately too......................Joe

Mile after mile rolled under my tires. I felt at times that I was on some sort of physical endurance test. The hills undulated relentlessly along this shoreline roadway. Wooded areas followed by sandy, grass covered meadows and then a creek would flow under the road with cattails and water lilies growing everywhere in the small ponds. Moving, even slowly limited my view of animal life but I almost nailed a groundhog I think with my front tire. Maybe it was a beaver but I didn't get a look at any flat tail. (It wasn't a platypus though, that's for sure. I didn't get that far off course.) A small unnamed town of closely nestled cottages sent me through it's streets twisting and turning to avoid huge trees, rocks and deep gorges with the buildings set amongst them as if pieces of an intricate puzzle. When it comes to the lake shore people can certainly become ingenious and tolerant just to be close to that jewel of nature. Picturesque doesn't even come close to this little town. But, I never saw a name. I plan on looking it up one of these days when I reminisce. Onward once again and the undulating hills returned along with more intense curves but the road itself was very smooth with only the occasional pothole. The fruitless orchards I passed between were a sad legacy of this unpredictable unusually hot spring, cold snap, and then the hot and dry summer. Not what we usually see: Branches bent with the sweet abundance of this area and the stands on the roadside touting boxes overflowing with dark mouth watering cherries. Nope, not this year. Somehow we'll make it. We always have. A long steady dropping turn to the left and I came across the bridge into Pentwater. Two guys leaning over the railing, cheering loudly and hauling in a huge fish from the channel. Might have been a cat, might have been any of a dozen other species. Huge will do in this case. Civilization came at me with the speed of light. More Later..........Joe

My life of late can be described in one word: "Suddenly." Any minute can bring an unexpected change. Sometimes disappointment, other times, such as this Sunday morning, excitement and happiness. Responsibilities and priorities appeared to eliminate any hope to further my goal of riding my bicycle around Lake Michigan for this particular weekend. I'd have to stick close to home and limit my riding to short runs around the neighborhood. Saturday was spent on errands and chores at home and work. Things that needed to be done but not necessarily then. Mixed with a quick 2 or 3 mile ride here or there just to keep up the spirit of adventure. Sunday dawned with me puttering in the yard in an attempt to keep the lawn from turning that sickly yellow of dormancy we see everywhere in the drought like conditions so far this summer. I find it cooling and relaxing to accomplish my work in the dark and early morning of the day. On Sundays it is an excellent time for prayer also. Then it was the shower and dressing for church. I had no idea what would come after that. I have learned not to plan. My choices of options are limited right now. After church I spoke at length with an acquaintance about a new car purchase and what services we offered at my shop. Then home to the news that the planets had aligned and I better suit up to travel on that bike ride. I was surprised and elated as well as stunned but not so much as to slow me down from being ready to go and out the door within 10 minutes at the most. Off we rode to Mears where I had stopped last week, Jumped on the bike, retraced a few miles almost to Silver Lake and turned North heading toward Pentwater if I could make it that far. My legs hadn't quite recuperated from the previous week's ride. The rode was hilly and a curve was always within sight. Narrow as it was there were plenty of other daring souls riding bicycles along the route as well. This time I made sure the camera worked and I took a few pictures. It didn't slow me down too much and the scenery is so spectacular I felt I needed some sort of visual memory of it or else I may forget that something so beautiful really exists so close to home.

Those responsibilities are fast approaching so I will leave some other talk about this til next time.........Joe