Kindness

Life can be tough and is often broken.

Kindness is welcomed in all parts of life... especially in health and fitness, where by far the most important component is mental. A stress filled life is not a healthy life and kindness is the best there is against stress. There are some stresses in life that are unavoidable... usually people. But this can be mitigated... usually by other people's kindness plus some steadfast thinking (like a resolution to outlast the stressor). That kind word, received or given, makes a huge difference in tolerating stress, sleeping better and being healthier. It's an attitude: Do it with kindness... it's not what you do but how you do it. I thank all those who have been kind to me... maybe somebody in yoga who said a word here and there... and hope I return kindness back.

- © 2013 by Willy

Control

I know how to control a machine, but how do we control ourselves? How do we bridle back our actions and emotions? Throttle down? Control our anger? Invoke self-discipline? Govern ourselves properly? Stay on the straight and narrow? Meditate and pray? Diet and exercise? Not cross the line? Not ask for a phone number?

Good questions, but ones with no apparent answer... if we read the paper or examine ourselves for flaws and urges.

A lot has been said lately on this subject with the recent demise of Cosmo’s publisher, and comparisons to Playboy. Both of these magazines are the antithesis of self-control, with their prime axioms being seduction philosophy and lack of inhibition. Sex sells, but it also brought plenty of drama and misery in this battle of the sexes, and produced plenty of casualties.

I still get temptation... like yesterday... but put me down for diet and exercise and hold the drama.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, amen.

- © 2012 by Willy

She Came To Hell 'Cause Of The Shade

My daughter Jennifer was waiting for me at the main street roundabout Hells Kitchen Pizza, at a shaded sidewalk table with two slices of Veggie Pizza. It was hotter than hell everywhere else.

We had just finished a few miles on the trail up Pikes Peak. From parking, six miles and 1,900 climb-feet in three hours, starting at 6,400 ft altitude.

The Pikes Peak Barr Trail trailhead is in west Manitou Springs main street (parked here), out Ruxton Avenue off the roundabout, then past the Cog Railroad Depot and right on Hydro Street. There are two trails: Barr and The Incline (on Ruxton). The first part of the trail is a walk in the park... worn and well-marked, packed dirt, rocks and gravel, all switchbacks, and tons of people... not a wilderness experience. Most people climb up The Incline and run down Barr.

Prior to that, we hiked to Dominguez Canyon mine... and saw nobody past the first mile or so. We picked it for its low elevation, having to abort our first choice due to a forest fire. This hike was 14 miles, 2,000 climb-feet in 8 hours (in two days).

In the middle was a dayhike up Freemont Peak to gawk at the Royal Gorge but avoid the tourists. On-trail, we only met a nice local couple... with Freemont County Search and Rescue... who came from San Diego 12 years earlier. This peak was populated with three antenna sites, of dozens of varieties and frequencies. This short but pretty dayhike was 2.2 miles, 600 climb-feet in an hour and a half, and was a great view.


This year's early father-daughter bonding hike was part hike, part road trip and all fun. Jennifer is doing very well ("a stellar pregnancy", she says), starting her 6th month. She is handling her dissertation and other stresses well. She's a tough cookie and I am proud of her.

The plan was to stay below 10,000 ft elevation. The hikes were similar to my current but low-altitude training hikes. Every year it's different, and I look forward to the next.


- © 2012 by Willy

Christmas With The Fam

I have spent a few great days with family for Christmas.

It was fewer family and fewer days than last year (which was a hoot and a half), but delightful and certainly worth the trip.

OK, here we go: Why? Because some of us are getting old, and some of us are sick; because good family is a gift to be appreciated and treasured; because we enjoy and love each other; because we wanted to check on each other and ourselves; because we ARE touchstones to each other; because of the hugs and kisses; because of the stories and conversation; and because, just like last year, we laughed so much that we cried tears and our abs hurt.

My 92-year-old aunt declared she's made a pact with God... that unless she's going up, she's just not going. We wondered if it was really God she was making that pact with. Then my brother cousin-in-law tells her that she would indeed be able to do that cruise she's always wanted if she went in a shoebox.

My nephew second cousin, back home after a breakup, was discussing a girl wearing a bathing suit with its neckline down to her bellybutton. I asked him if they use double-sided tape for that. He was incredulous, and said who cares how they do it... except maybe for an engineer.

I noticed my sister cousin gave everybody flannel pajamas... because South Florida had a few freezing nights recently. So, why also give everyone wallets and purses? (I wanted to know who had won the lottery!)

And some of us just acted a little goofy.

Oh, and the food was great, the weather beautiful, and bicycling terrific... as always. Thank you, guys. I will be heading home the slow way, missing everyone but remembering fondly.


- © 2011 by Willy

Sing Song

"Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go..."

I've been hearing that refrain all day, perhaps due to my noticing of tomorrow's play of the 1956 Elvis movie on the tube. I whistled it continuously during my long Thanksgiving day before-dinner hike today.

When I was a kid... before Elvis... my mother sang a fairly similar lullaby. I felt very cuddled in hearing it. In turn, I hummed this Elvis tune to my kids to relax them at bedtime. Not only that, but I still self-medicate to this ditty. Lullabies are meant to function just so, and work amazingly well.

I'm in the midst of some turmoil: A nutty young punk threatened to beat me up and has evoked memories of early school bullies. I've been sleeping with a shotgun, and Elvis calms me down.

Or perhaps I was hearing God's lullaby.

Prayers can be the darnest things... whistling a lullaby!

More conventional: "For exercise to calm the body and prayer to calm the mind, I am truly thankful, amen."

It's best to accept the situation, prepare for a possible eventuality, and go through channels... calmly.


- non-Elvis text © 2011 by Willy

Cabin Fever in Two Days

OK, I KNOW now that I'll never retire. I've been snowed in just two days and already have cabin fever.

My neighbor Joanne says it's that us guys are just not used to being home. She might have something there.

Businesses are closed but my next-door neighbor Randy tried to drive out and got stuck in the snow instead and my across-the-street neighbor Larry has cleared the snow off his driveway. There's about a foot of snow in places, which means our vehicles would just push snow forward like a plow.

The snow won't go anywhere until it warms up on Friday, which means that I'm going to have to do a foot patrol recon tomorrow, or I'll go nuts!

GO nuts?


- © 2011 by Willy

Logic Over Emotion

My daughter is terrific with people and usually emotional; I'm very good at machines and usually hardhearted; thus we sometimes consult with each other on problemsolving. Some times the solution is a warm hug, and sometimes it's detachment.

A cousin had knee surgery and drives a stickshift, and my daughter is helpful and drives an automatic. She posed the possible solution of swapping cars.

I answered that (1) the cousin had loaned her car to the daughter before, so there was a precedent, (2) there will be a cost for adding each other to their insurances as compared to the cousin getting a rental car, but (3) if the cousin's surgery was her right knee, then neither of the above matters and cousin should just chill out for another month because insurance will be invalid and the risk of crash is significant.

The daughter liked this logic, and I was glad to have contributed.

Sometimes logic works better than emotion. Some times.

- text © 2010 by Willy

P.S., but it's always function over form.