Say What?

What a beautiful morning. I'm sitting on our deck and trying to convince myself that it's okay to take a day off from riding or being active in one way or another and to give my body a chance to recover from a very active previous week—that it's okay to be still and allow the world to go on without me. It's my nature to always be moving. Plus, I'm a little sore. I've only allowed myself one day off this month. Recovery days are more important than ever as I enter my mid-60s but it's something I'm still coming to terms with. A hummingbird buzzes past my head; the whir of its wings alerting me to its presence while a yellow and black butterfly flitters among the hanging flower baskets that surround me.  I've been enjoying my time spent riding lately as much as I have in several years. Last week's rides were a good mix of mountain biking, gravel, and road riding. Sometimes I marvel at the ability of something so simple as a bicycle to give me as muc...

For the past couple of weeks, I've been wanting to sit down and write out my thoughts about what's been happening here in the U.S. with respect to our Supreme Court and some recent rulings from the radical conservative wing of it but I'm at a loss as to where to begin. Words seem inadequate to me now but I feel the need to add something here for future reference, if only for myself.  Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion in our country has been overturned, leaving it to individual states to decide whether or not to allow for abortions. In a prior life, I would have been celebrating this decision but I'm no longer that person stuck in the binary thinking that allowed me to disregard so many factors that come into play when a woman or a child finds herself pregnant and doesn't want to be. A 10-year-old girl from Ohio was raped and is pregnant. Ohio law now prohibits her from getting an abortion. What's next? Will she be required to marry her rapist...

I sometimes wonder what my father would have made of our politics today. I'd always assumed he was a conservative but the only evidence I have of that was his subscription to the Wall Street Journal and his career in finance , neither of which is strong evidence. He seemed more of a cynic than anything about all things political. Perhaps he became disillusioned after Nixon resigned in disgrace. I have a lasting memory of him calling me out for having Nixon's memoirs in a collection of books I brought home with me after my enlistment in the navy: "Why do you have that?" he inquired of me. The last year of his life involved being tethered to his supplemental oxygen while resting in his easy chair, intently watching the O.J. Simpson trial for the murder of his ex-wife and her friend.  I'm quite sure he would never have joined Trump's cult of followers. He would have seen his lack of morals and lack of honesty for what they were: a con—the biggest con in our count...

It was 30 years ago today that I moved into our home. That's a long time and by far the longest I've lived in one place. I was 34 years old and full of ambition—ambition I was going to need. The summer of 1992 would be a very busy summer for me with numerous landscaping projects that I'd drawn up on graph paper and needed to bring to life. I had 10 dumptruck loads of topsoil brought in and spread throughout our lot because of the poor soil condition that existed. The only other labor I paid for was to have a guy trench two main lines for our lawn irrigation system and I hired a bobcat driver to punch 50 pre-marked holes in the ground where shrubs would go. I think that was the best $50 I've ever spent. And no, I can't imagine purchasing a new home today and having to do all of the work I had to do 30 years ago to get our home up to speed. My level of ambition isn't quite what it once was. Our home has been through a number of changes in the past 3 decades with...

This is my favorite time of year. I love the freshness of spring as perennials push up from hiding underground and trees begin to leaf out and come to life. Birds chatter like no other time of year as their songs break the morning quiet. I try as best I can to live in this moment and take it all in; savoring it. Tammy's favorite color is the green of budding trees. I look forward to hearing her comment at some point each spring about the beauty of the color.  Tammy and I spent a good part of last weekend shopping for flowers for our gardens and getting them in the ground. It's nice to have the work mostly done because it's a rather big job—my aching muscles and rough raw hands are reminders. We still have some flower pots to fill before we're done—preferably filled with something less tasty than begonias for the many deer that see them as a bowlful of greens to feast on.  Steve and I have been getting out golfing once each week now that the courses are all up and runni...

I can't recall a month of windier weather than what we've been experiencing in the Midwest. It got old a while ago and most of us are ready for some warmer, less rainy, and less windy days.  I had a longish gravel ride of 74 miles (119 km) planned for Saturday with hopes of getting out early ahead of the stronger winds that were forecast but I was grounded as I waited for some heavy downpours to pass. By the time the rains moved out, the winds had begun to ramp up. I did my best to keep my head down and work my way south into them but there were occasional gusts close to 40 mph (64 kph) that nearly blew me over more than once. I stopped several times to put a foot down and steady myself when they became too much. After 14 miles of white-knuckling my bars, I'd had enough and turned for home. That's what indoor trainers are for! We met Rachel and Drew at Drew's parent's home yesterday to strategize about the wedding celebration they have planned for September. The...

This week marked 40 years since I took a seat in the auditorium at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City, OK to begin my career as an air traffic controller with the Federal Aviation Administration. I had no way of knowing then as I sat there with several hundred others what a blessing that opportunity would be for me.  I loved the work  and can't imagine a more fulfilling career. It's sobering how quickly 40 years pass by. There's one remaining stained glass shop in the Twin Cities area after the recent closings of the two main shops that I frequented for my supplies: J Ring Studios and Glass Endeavors. When I first began working with the medium 30 years ago there were close to 15 glass shops in the area. This is not a good trend. The remaining shop, Down Home Stained Glass , is a very small studio with limited hours and limited supplies and not one that I generally use. The next best option is Sleepy Eye Stained Glass , a 3-hour roundtrip drive to ...