St. George

Perfect weather, fun bike trails, great company, and loads of lizards.

Graduation/Mother's Day

A great day - Dennen B.S., Josh B.S., Hilary M.S. and Mother's Day as well!

Railroad Track Riding

The latest word from the medical community is that I am going to shatter like a tea cup on concrete if I take a spill. Seems that with age comes "thinning bones." To rectify the situation one must:

• Sit in the sun to absorb vitamin D (not an option for a red-headed sun fearing "burner")
• Choke down calcium pills the size of unshelled peanuts (integrated throughout your day)
• Stop smoking (thank heaven I never started, I might be bitter to quit at this age)
• Throw in a little magnesium and silicon (beer is the food item with the most silicon - not an option in my professional setting)
• Lift weights (I'd rather build a rock fence than sit in a sweaty gym staring at a wall as I count reps)
• Spend time exercising on a vibration plate like the astronauts use (only if I get the trip to the moon along with the pain inflicted by this device)
• Eat enough vegetables to sprout long furry ears, a fuzzy tail, and the ability to scratch behind said ears with a hind foot (perhaps the prep time would fit between weight lifting, calcium/magnesium/silicon monitoring, and sun bathing)
• Choose ancestors that are NOT light-skinned fog dwellers (hmmm)
• Strive to be overweight by at least 40 pounds throughout your 30's and 40's (drat, more candy bars would have been nice)

I am a problem-solver by nature, so I plan to put on my swimming suit, sling on my backpack and head up the canyon where I will divert my regular smooth bike ride to a bone-jarring ride along the railroad tracks. Each day I will fill the backpack with river rocks, dine on crispy watercress and stinging nettle, and return via same railroad tracks to my yard where I will begin the construction of a six-foot rock wall from the collected river rocks. Slitting an aloe vera leaf will allow ample application of the soothing gel to my sunburn after which I can devour the outer leaf.

NYC

Lots to see and do. Loud and fast. Amazing appointments with Lostart.com, Anne Klein, Macy's, Color USA. Great shopping and travel. Expensive food. Awesome Broadway plays - Wicked and Jersey Boys. Home and listening to the silence of snowfall.

Bus Driver

Parked on the north end of Palisades Drive, an empty school bus idles as I enjoy my morning run. We always give the "Hello Familiar Stranger" wave to each other during winter months as he sits behind the wheel reading his book. He's always there as I make the return loop. A mini-thought has often crossed my brain wondering why his schedule requires this park, idle, and wait.

The spot he occupies has been vacant lately, but I didn't realize it until today, when he was there again. After the wave a new thought occurred, "Isn't this a waste of fuel?" In the blizzard snowfall of my return loop I realized the purpose of his idle and wait.

He's warming that ol' bus up for the knocked-kneed little junior high kids, too cool to wear shoes, jackets, and long pants in an April snow storm.

Tote Goat

This is the genuine version of what the kids in Orem rode around town for kicks - a tote goat. My family had two, with two kids squeezed on one with Dad and one kid squeezed on the other one with mom. We rode them as a family up the canyons and on picnics. Around town, we could ride them in orchards, around the yard, down the diagonal road (before completion) or through open fields. At my most recent trip to Costco (where I used to ride through dirt and trees), it shocked me how much things had changed. Not only is my home dempolshed and shopping in its place, I recognize nobody in Costco, this land feeling somewhat mine because of the miles and miles of tote goat trails that were forged right in this very spot. The same location years earlier I recognized everybody I passed tote goating along. Solo riding gave us kids a responsible, grown up feeling until we rode it up a wall or through a tree. These machines were heavy suckers to upright. Probably due to the fact that the dads that made them were machinists at Geneva Steel and knew the business of creating a sturdy ride. And no, we didn't wear helmets, take lessons, or wear seat belts or protective gear. It was just you and your goat against the dirt and rocks.

Gratitude #10

- Friends and Family -
The funny ones, the serious ones, the counseling ones, the laughing ones, the energetic ones, the spiritual ones, the mellow ones, the fiesty ones, the wise ones, the wise-cracking ones, the adventurous ones, the listening ones, the talking ones, the sincere ones, the intellectual ones, the athletic ones, the pondering ones, the advising ones, the hard-working ones, the wacky ones. If you are one of these ones, I'm grateful for you, each and every one!