A Final Goodbye and an Aggressive Driver Encounter
How about those Cubs!? I'm not a baseball fan but I did manage to catch some of the play in the World Series. As my friend Steve says: "You get to watch the best of the best". I can't imagine more excitement in a baseball game than what game 7 offered. Fun stuff!
We're sitting on the edge of our seats here in the US (and likely in some other places as well) as we anxiously await tomorrow's voting results between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in addition to many other races. There's lots at stake for everyone and we've pretty much all settled into our camps to ride it out.
The hatred being directed toward Hillary Clinton is unlike anything I've ever witnessed and it's concerning to watch. A relentless and all-out orchestrated effort by republicans to destroy Clinton along with the most unpresidential and divisive candidate in Donald Trump is, in my opinion, to blame for the great divide we're experiencing where family members won't speak to one another and friends have put aside friendships in the wake of it all. Conservative media isn't helping. It's pitiful. We have to find a way to come together once this is over but I'm afraid it's going to take awhile.
We're hosting a small election night gathering at our home for Paula Overby who is running for the Congressional seat being vacated by John Kline who is retiring. She's up against some much better-funded opponents in Jason Lewis and Angie Craig but I believe her main goal was simply to add another voice to the process and I respect her for that, but I don't support her.
We've had the best autumn weather I can recall in years and I've been taking full advantage of it with lots of riding, golfing, and walking. Short pants and short-sleeved shirts are still the uniform of the day here in the Twin Cities, at least for me.
I was on a walk around Orchard Lake yesterday morning when I got a text from Keith telling me he was on his way back from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He made a trip up there the previous day to bury Mom and Tim's ashes in a plot next to our father. I received his text just as I was coming up to Claudia and Ron's former home on the lake. I paused to look at the retaining wall Tim had built for them years ago. It's one of the few tangible memories of Tim that remains for me. It was a sobering moment as I felt the pain of losing him all over again. I never imagined 6 short months ago that he would be gone from our lives now. Tim and I weren't close but I always held out hope that someday we would be.
Keith made some wooden boxes to hold their ashes and dug a few feet into the sandy soil to bury them.
I had an aggressive driver try and brush me back on Eagle Creek Ave just west of Texas Ave between Prior Lake and Lakeville this afternoon. It's a 4 lane stretch of road that has no shoulder for about a mile but I've never had an issue with anyone being unwilling to share the road there until today. I don't mind drivers getting a little close to me but this driver was nothing short of reckless. Fortunately, I noticed him coming up behind me in a small mirror I have on the inside of my glasses and I rode the white line as he got up alongside me and honked his horn. Had I not done that, there's a good chance his mirror would've hit me. I put a video together and contacted the Scott County Sheriff's office and gave them the link. We've exchanged a few emails and they'll be pursuing the matter. I'm not sure there's much they can do but I'll leave that up to them.
An aggressive driver encounter like that is actually very rare for me. Of the hundreds of thousands of motorists who pass me each year while I'm riding, it only ever comes down to just a few at the end of the year who got stupid and put my life in jeopardy to make their point. Also, I ride with a very bright LED tail light that can be seen from 3 miles away.
Here's some video from last Thursday morning's ride.
We're sitting on the edge of our seats here in the US (and likely in some other places as well) as we anxiously await tomorrow's voting results between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in addition to many other races. There's lots at stake for everyone and we've pretty much all settled into our camps to ride it out.
The hatred being directed toward Hillary Clinton is unlike anything I've ever witnessed and it's concerning to watch. A relentless and all-out orchestrated effort by republicans to destroy Clinton along with the most unpresidential and divisive candidate in Donald Trump is, in my opinion, to blame for the great divide we're experiencing where family members won't speak to one another and friends have put aside friendships in the wake of it all. Conservative media isn't helping. It's pitiful. We have to find a way to come together once this is over but I'm afraid it's going to take awhile.
We're hosting a small election night gathering at our home for Paula Overby who is running for the Congressional seat being vacated by John Kline who is retiring. She's up against some much better-funded opponents in Jason Lewis and Angie Craig but I believe her main goal was simply to add another voice to the process and I respect her for that, but I don't support her.
We've had the best autumn weather I can recall in years and I've been taking full advantage of it with lots of riding, golfing, and walking. Short pants and short-sleeved shirts are still the uniform of the day here in the Twin Cities, at least for me.
I was on a walk around Orchard Lake yesterday morning when I got a text from Keith telling me he was on his way back from Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He made a trip up there the previous day to bury Mom and Tim's ashes in a plot next to our father. I received his text just as I was coming up to Claudia and Ron's former home on the lake. I paused to look at the retaining wall Tim had built for them years ago. It's one of the few tangible memories of Tim that remains for me. It was a sobering moment as I felt the pain of losing him all over again. I never imagined 6 short months ago that he would be gone from our lives now. Tim and I weren't close but I always held out hope that someday we would be.
Keith made some wooden boxes to hold their ashes and dug a few feet into the sandy soil to bury them.
I had an aggressive driver try and brush me back on Eagle Creek Ave just west of Texas Ave between Prior Lake and Lakeville this afternoon. It's a 4 lane stretch of road that has no shoulder for about a mile but I've never had an issue with anyone being unwilling to share the road there until today. I don't mind drivers getting a little close to me but this driver was nothing short of reckless. Fortunately, I noticed him coming up behind me in a small mirror I have on the inside of my glasses and I rode the white line as he got up alongside me and honked his horn. Had I not done that, there's a good chance his mirror would've hit me. I put a video together and contacted the Scott County Sheriff's office and gave them the link. We've exchanged a few emails and they'll be pursuing the matter. I'm not sure there's much they can do but I'll leave that up to them.
An aggressive driver encounter like that is actually very rare for me. Of the hundreds of thousands of motorists who pass me each year while I'm riding, it only ever comes down to just a few at the end of the year who got stupid and put my life in jeopardy to make their point. Also, I ride with a very bright LED tail light that can be seen from 3 miles away.
Here's some video from last Thursday morning's ride.
Comments
The headstones were very nice. Especially the guitar on Tim's.
I think about him often and I guess I feel bad that he died alone. Nothing I can do about it but I wish he had been able to be with one of us when he passed.
People have said we all die alone but I think having someone with you that you know in the end is as good as it can be.
Mom had passed alone as well in a way. I hope her last memories were of Keith and Tracee with her as they spent a lot of time with her in the end.
But we all felt we did what we could do and I know she must have understood that.
Having been at Dad's graveside this summer swatting the gnats and trying to clean up the weeds I'm glad to see that it looks much better than when I was there.
I feel compelled to visit again. When I don't know.
Yes, the headstones look very nice. Keith and Tracee arranged to have them made when they were up there last summer.
It's been over 10 years -- since our reunion in 2006 that I've been there. I need to get back up there as well.