brief revery - no photo

It's been an interesting week, full of ups and downs, opportunities to engage my better and "worser" self, to enjoy both Spring and Winter (in that order), and perhaps today more Spring. I left my photo stick at work, and I'm on Walker's computer, so there is no photo today.

I discovered that my camera does not like being cold and demonstrates this by refusing to download pictures. I had to take it out of my car, which is where I like to put it. Now it goes back and I have a lot of shots I have been thinking about taking all Winter. I can feel my thickened blood stirring. I can hear my expanding gut remind me that I vowed never to get to 260 pounds again and urging me to get moving. It's time to pump up the bicycle tires on the mountain bike and see how things work. The road bike has low handle bars and would require me to look up from a very low position. I suspect that this posture is no longer possible. From now on, it's straight handlebars for me! The larger impediment at this point is sloth, and I'm very pleased at this. There could certainly have been more serious impediments than my old familiar one. I'd also like to try and run again, but I think this process will be gradual -- a little walking, a little running, more walking -- because lifting and jarring my spine are still touchy activities. People are now espousing the benefits of running barefoot because people naturally avoid hard heel strikes and use their feet better when they run this way. Except for all the rocks and glass on the road around here, that might be a pretty good idea. I understand that there are shoes being made that imitate the benefits of not wearing shoes. Sounds pretty paradoxical to me. A person could really riff on this concept. Not this morning, though.

My soon had a big party last night at our house and Robyn and I played dead upstairs. It was an enthusiastic event with a lot of singing together and by the sounds of thumping, much romping with the dog. Tye's arthritic foot is acting up this morning and he's limping pitifully. We old dogs need to learn restraint. Good luck with that. This was a "clean" party - no drugs or alcohol - and I am left wondering how loud they'd have been if they'd had beer! I had clean parties at Walker's age, too. My behavior didn't nose-dive, really, until college. It was a fine nose diver and I (mostly) don't regret it. I'm not predicting Walker will meet a similar fate. He seems to have a mind of his own.

As to my better and worser selves, they continue to be in protracted talks. On a good day my better self speaks and my worser self merely mutters. Today looks like it may be one of those days.