Autumn Bliss and a Story of Budding Aviators

It's an absolutely gorgeous day out—perfect for golfing or riding—but I'm grounded from being out in the sun due to another Photodynamic therapy session yesterday. I need to remain out of the sun for two days after the procedure. I have one more of these sessions scheduled for another month from now. 

I'll be out and about tomorrow but the weather won't be quite as nice. For now, I have to be content to sit in the shade on our deck with thoughts of going on a long-ish walk when the sun gets a little lower—about the time I finish this blog update. 

With the cooler weather, my trishaw rides at Trinity Care in Farmington are coming to a close. I only had two riders last Monday. Temps above 50ºf (10ºc) without too much wind are very doable but anything cooler than that is a little too chilly for my riders. It's been such a rewarding volunteer opportunity for me, and the residents enjoy getting out in the sun and fresh air with the wind in their faces. I hope to give rides this coming Monday before ending them for the year and resuming them next spring.

I was contacted via Facebook Messenger earlier in the year inquiring if I would be interested in submitting a story for a book being assembled by Terry Ahlstrom, a resident of Richfield, MN, (a city we lived in for one year in 1965) for a collection of stories about growing up in Richfield that he was putting together. I had written a blog post about our time there and I believe a mutual friend forwarded it to Terry for consideration. I edited the original blog post for brevity and was happy to have him include it in his collection of stories. My book arrived yesterday. I'm looking forward to sitting down with it and reading the contributions of others, of which there are many. Terry did a super job with it!

My headaches are finished but even now that they're done, I'm always a little anxious about being too far away from the comfort of our home should I have another attack. The canary-in-a-coal-mine for me is alcohol as it's easily the biggest trigger I have for inducing a headache. It never fails (if I'm in a headache phase). I've not wanted to test it yet, though; maybe I will tonight. The reason I'm a little hesitant to say that they're completely done is because of the psilocybin used to stop them. Will it hold up long-term? I'm confident it will but I'm not 100% sure.

I rolled the dice on Tuesday and went out for a few hours on my gravel bike. It was a gorgeous day, much like today, and I took full advantage of it. But best of all, I had no headache after my ride was done. That's usually when they hit me. I've lost a little bit of form but not so much that I'll need to work so hard to get it back. That's what indoor training is for during the winter. 

My ride took me south beyond Lonsdale and back on a combination of gravel and asphalt roads. It felt nice to be riding again and lost in my thoughts. I stopped at the Trondhjem Norwegian Lutheran Church south of Lonsdale and took some photos. It's a historical site now, open to the public a few times each year for fundraising events. The cover photo of the video below is of the church off in the distance.

One of the things I regularly pray for is for God to reveal himself to me in whatever small way that may be—just something that causes me to pause and acknowledge his answer to my prayer. The woman who administered my Photo Dynamic therapy yesterday mentioned that she's from Lonsdale. I told her that I was just there a couple of days earlier on my ride and I mentioned the Trondhjem church. To my surprise, she told me that she is a member there (they have a newer church near the original church). What a fun coincidence and what were the odds of that happening?! Or was that God answering my simple prayer and revealing himself to me? I think I know.

The sun is low enough now so I think it's time to get my walking shoes on and head out.

That's all I've got.