Not That Much Playtime Left

This realization occurred while watching the solar eclipse (only partial in Northern California). Everyone in North America seemed to be focused on this event. No arguments, no conspiracy theories about it being the Real Thing...the Sun tucked behind the Moon and we were in awe...the networks were all focuused on this indisputable event. As the curtain closed and then, thankfully reopened, people began planning for the next eclipse...August, 22, 2044...best seen in the Northern Tier states. Hey, we have to call our son and arrange a rendezvous. His birthday is August 22...How about Montana? Possibly Chester, Montana. And then, it hit me....twenty years from now I'll be 94 years old! Will I still be able to drive to Chester, Montana? I'm getting older. We need to rendezvous more often. We need to pack in dozens of adventures and do it soon. We pedaled our fully loaded bicycles through Chester, Montana in 1978... the halfway point between Anacortes, Washington and Kalamazoo, Michigan. The people of Chester were incredibly gracious. They gave us the key to the fire dept. showers and the mayor (so he said) bought the groceries that we gathered on the grocery store counter before settling down next to our tent in the city park. "We'll make sure the Friday night teenagers don't bother you when you decide where you want to pitch your tent."

Honesty, Is That So Hard?

I learned all that I need to know in Kindergarten...it's the title of a book I read decades ago. It seemed incredibly simplistic but, I dove into it anyhow. Sharing, being honest and playing by the rules, being kind to one another and cleaning up after yourself...(we call this 'cover your trail'). Robert Fulghum wrote down these simple precepts in the early eighties. These are the first words out of your teacher's mouth when you begin your journey through the education process. If you have been paying attention during these last forty years you'll agree, all is lost. Politicians, lawyers and business executives have led the way down into this behavioral pergatory. We have become a delusional collection of selfish adults. America leads the way here, as I see it...advanced degradation of societal norms. I wish it were a different story...that we took to heart what our kindergarten teacher first laid down as 'rules to live by'. Of course parents were responsible for the first lessons in honesty and caring. I am not really sure where we went wrong. When I was developing in those early years, Presidents Truman and Eisenhauer were universally trusted and looked up to by everyone I knew. I didn't know that many people outside my immediate family but, I'd never heard of disingenuous, deceptive strategies for 'getting ahead'. I was quite naive, as you can see, but I think our entire civilization has gone over the edge. Public name-calling and flat-out lying is everywhere, on every channel of communication...the Internet is the ultimate 'deal with the devil'. I don't think there's any possibilty of climbing out of this hole. All we are left with is being able to trust a few close friends and maintenence of our own personal integrity.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.