Thursday, March 21, 2024

The Awareness Of Carbon Footprint

Somehow forgotten, the concept of lessening my carbon footprint and the behavior adjustments that went with that concept. I have since veered radically off track. I gave up red meat in 1970. I gave up automobile ownership in 1973. These were my large moves toward being kinder to my neighbors and the planet. Twelve years later I returned to automotive addiction when I took on a used car and a used truck. I used them sparingly, we commuted to work and school by bicycle and cross country skis. Somewhere along the way we returned to eating turkey and chicken, but never the red meat. I don't think I ever abstained from dairy however, I knew I was lactose intolerant very early in the game. Cheese and yogurt agree with me and by consuming more than my fair share of these two foods I am encouraging large clouds of bovine methane. The new century witnessed us partaking in next level environmental degradation...jetting across the Atlantic. We were also deep into the internal combustion behaviors...occasional commutes by foot and by bicycle help allay feelings of guilt that might haunt us from the last century...but now, we find it so satifying to gather the camping gear and for remote warmer locations via motorcar, escaping uncomfortable temperatures. It's not like you get credits for previous conscientious behaviors...the warming earth is still in trouble and our neighbors are struggling and dying from the impacts, 'we the privileged' foist upon them.

Thursday, March 14, 2024

One Less Worry

As I walk out the door this morning my biggest worry is....Space Junk. It comes back to earth at speeds ten times faster than a bullet. My sister assures me that it mostly burns up on reentry and if a large piece did not burn up and happened to hit me, I would never be inconvenienced with injury anyhow, i would expire suddenly so, why worry? Actually what I am celebrating by expressing that my biggest worry upon starting my day with Space Junk, as my top worry, has resulted from the fact that my sweetest of sweethearts was found to be permanently cancer free and will no longer need her morning chemotherapy pill. CANCER... The enemy of us all has been dealt a lethal blow by careful and conscientious attention to strategies, including surgeries and follow-up treatments...and we have won the battle to keep breathing, laughing, playing hard outside, loving and imbibing in this experience we call LIFE. It was four years ago that a genetic glitch (egfr) was found to have embedded a carcinogenic tumor into the lung of my favorite human on the planet. We have worked hard to follow all the instructions and submitted to all procedures necessary to rid ourselves of this monster. Worrying less is a good thing and I'm thinking if my biggest worry is that the sun may not rise the next day or that I'll be incinerated by space junk then I'm in a pretty good place.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

The Number One Thing I Can Do To Save Planet Earth.

I have been looking for the best way to save the big blue ball we call Earth...well, for six decades anyhow. I don't seem to be able to convince others that this is the single 'most important' issue that humanity faces. I haven't really motivated a single person to change any of their behaviors while they live out their appointed session on this planet. My opinion and counsel about Earth rescue does not register with a single soul within shouting distance of me. I am not an "influencer". Doesn't matter how I vote or what I promote. The world continues to roll down this slippery slope toward catastrophic fever and eventual unlivability. So, what am I left with? What can be my greatest contribution to solving this Earths dilemma? Where can I make a difference that will pull humanity and it's ultimate Mother out of this daily tailspin? When I walk down the path from my house (which I built with my own two hands and a couple of good friends) two hundred feet to my garage, which harbours my two gas-powered motor vehicles. I check the temperature and road conditions, deciding to not fire-up either of these dragons, making the all important decision to pedal my acoustic/non-electric bicycle to work...it's all I've got. Seriously, it's the only important decision that I have to make which possibly leads to the world evolving into a more livable environment and to bring down Earth's fever.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Liquid Gold....Welcome to March!

Sierra /Cascade lakes and springs are getting a serious infusion of nourishment here on Leap-Day 2024. Snow, rain and wind are replenishing the hills with a healthy dose of hope. Determined to be true to my late life maxim...Play more/ Work less. My thirty years of orchestrating a successful bicycle store has evolved into a satisfying hobby, featuring less work hours and more joy. My offspring, whose life is full of work and play, is tying the knot with his adventure buddy this summer and both have encouraged us to head for the hills in mid-June and play with them in fields of Utah wildflowers. I am predicting matrimonial bliss and a fully satisfying partnership for Colby and Emily. Attitude is nearly everything in the recipe for living a great life and these two have an abundance of excellent attitude. 'Attitude at Altitude' is a good description of the life they are living. Mountain biking, backcountry skiing and immersing in wild rivers has produced some of the glue that is holding these two together. They are both genuinely caring and sincere humans whom we are exceedingly proud of. It'll be exciting and satisfying to watch their unfolding story for the rest our our lives. We couldn't ask for anything better.

Friday, January 12, 2024

You've Got to Show Up

If you don't show, you'll never know what could've been. This is my rationale for maintaining a "work week"...only three days in a row this time of year, but it's something. Yes, for twenty-nine years I've opened my bicycle store all Winter inspite of the fact that Winter months have never been profitable. I always thought that consistancy and reliability were worth a lot...right up there with honesty and integrity. I suppose this is why we survived as a bicycle shop for nearly thirty years. I am not sure what it all means...it has given me a "sense of purpose" and has kept me from getting into other types of trouble. I see that it won't be a business that I'll be passing on to my offspring. He has carved a much better niche for himself in the working world...a very independant soul with his own misssion in life. So, I have this property that I must sell. I had hopes of a continuation of my mission (to promote and encourage self-propulsion on two wheels) however, selling real estate tied to a mission is not as easy as I thought. "If someone wants to buy your property and turn it into a beauty salon you've got to accept that." That's where we're at here in the middle of January at 4,600ft. Snow on the ground, temperatures in the teens each morning and no one needing an innertube, or a helmet, or a new bicycle. Yes, it will get better in March and we'll barely be able to keep up with their needs in May. I guess I just needed a mid- Winter pep-talk.

Thursday, January 4, 2024

Far-Infrared Sauna To The Rescue

I post my appreciation for the TheraSauna, that we purchased over fifteen years ago, quite often. It helps me launch into the day with warm bones and a toasty spine throughout these winter days that we signed-up for when we moved to Chester, Ca. some 38 years ago. I've been toasted and enriched by having numerous naked conversations with various friends and relatives over these last dozen+ years that I'm sure would have never happened had we not installed the three person corner cabinet hot box. Ten years before we installed the TheraSauna we purchased a Snorkel wood-fired hot tub. It was also a place to heat-up and consult with friends and family but it wasn't the same. Sitting there in a stocking cap and knowing that you'd soon be launching onto an icy deck was not condusive to revealing discussions about how we might improve our attitudes and inner-personal relationships. In the far-infrared sauna however, watching each other evacuate toxins from every pore is definitely more therapeutic and personal than bathing in a tub of hot water together. Trust is a huge part of the experience. The subjects discussed are many and deeply detailed while sharing a thirty minute sweat-session in the TheraSauna. We get out and take a shower... sending all of the poisons down the drain. No need to go through any further therapy, at least for that day. The daily sauna can also offer quiet time, even when shared. I often hear my body sweat, breaths are deeper and slower and the main pump sends blood down to usually cool toes.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Bicycle Trips and Skinny Dips

I am simultaneously reading Ernest Hemingway's Garden of Eden (published in 1986) and Around The World On A Bicycle by Thomas Stevens (published in 1889). A total of thirteen hundred pages about a handful of my favorite subjects. The glorious challenges of being a self-propelled adventurer, writer, lover and the irresistable total immersions in lakes, streams, rivers and oceans that happen along the way. These are the activities that constitute 'The Good Life". I should add eating and drinking, sex and breathing here. What more is there? Both of these stories are able to pull me right into the locales. I can easily relate to hanging out in the south of France (Hemingway) and riding bicycles around the world. We love riding and camping in France and have invested several months in doing so. Twenty years ago we completed an around the world bicycle adventure with our twelve year old boy. Due to his and my combined navagational skills, we were able to complete the journey in six months. I've been skinny-dipping since I was born and find it a great way to stay clean and add a little danger to my days. Keeping the riding shorts dry is an added benefit of the clothesfree swim. Making the time to reflect and get it all down on paper is what I hope to accomplish here in my later years.