Chain Ring Cowboy

One thing I am sure of, I've had my fill of sweets and good food these past this holiday season. As I sit up here in the computer room, my brain is wondering what's in the kitchen for me to eat. Should it be something like ham and tamales, pumpkin pie, or imported exotic candies? One of the nice things about hosting a supper is that, you get to keep the left overs if there are any. The pumpkin pie Aunt Pat made is long gone, some cake left, a store bought pie waiting, and then there is all the "real food" to dig into. Life is good. For now I don't want to see or think about a scale. I will work on the weight issue later. What are new year resolutions for anyway. Steph made the beautiful Ginger Bread House in addition to the Cranberry Cake,(real yummy)and the muy sabroso Posole, which you can't see because we ate it all up. Perhaps the house will be next,but it is such a work of art. My Marcy stations herself at the foot of the tree to make sure that everyone g

Yesterday I had a great ride to work,then back to the apartment at lunch time. A quick change of clothes, try to make sure I didn't forget to put everything I think I needed for the stay in El Paso, and off I went back to work. With the Andrew's blessing I left early, went to the school and got an early send off from there too. So there I was off on the 600 mile trip to Far West Texas, home of homes, earlier than I had originally planned. Nowadays one can drive the interstate across Texas at 80 mph, 84 if you stretch it, but beyond that you will get pulled over. When darkness comes though, you have to slow it down to 65. I was pushing the envelope at 74 mph around 8:45 pm when the state trooper pulled me over. His radar and my speedometer are calibrated the same. I know this because he told me how fast I was going. I appreciate that he didn't lie and kick it up 1 mph or I would be holding an expensive citation. Instead I got a warning. The last 150 miles of the trip was eas

Just one more thing about the ring that was taken day before yesterday. I kept that ring put away and rarely looked at it. But last Thursday I took it out of the little felt covered box and rolled it around between my fore finger and thumb just checking it out. A thought occurred to me to have Marcy take it home with her so she could wear it if she wanted or keep it with all the rest of her jewelery. Then when she was here for the weekend the thought crossed my mind and thought about talking it over with her. But I didn't, just because other things were being talked about, it just left my mind. As I look back I can't help but to think that the universe was sending a gentle message. " Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything " It has always been easy to thank God for the g

The best news of all is that I rode a bicycle 10 miles to work today. Wow what a fabulous thing to be able to do. Able to do. I drove to the apartment at lunch yesterday to get the bike, and take it back to work. So that way I would get my 20 miles in, which I haven't done for quite some time now. I raised the garage door, drive in. After parking before walking into the apartment through the laundry room I squeezed the tires to see if they needed pumping up before I left for the office. All good. When I went in the apartment seemed cooler than it should be, a bit drafty actually. I noticed that I forgot to open the Venetian blinds to give the plants sunlight, so I walked over to give them at least an afternoon's worth of vitamin D. That's when I noticed broken glass all over the carpet, and the outside screen laying out in the lawn. I knew at that point I was the victim of a break-in. Sure enough the closet door was open with the light on. I never leave the closet open and

Fog and drizzle this morning is supposed to go away about midday, but I chose not to ride in the muck today because of Christmas lunch. And my sweetheart is coming to town this evening, so added preparation time for her arrival will be increased if I drive. Then I run across this video and think that a little fog and drizzle isn't much of a deterent after all. Do you remember the panniers I made out of kitty litter boxes a couple of years ago? I think there is a picture of them someplace back in the archives. I learned that the litter boxes had a short vibration life, that is, the plastic would become brittle and crack apart after a few miles of bouncing down the road. But below is a clip of some creative people trying to make good use of plastic shopping bags. Check it out.

I hope I remember how to ride when that day comes. If I do remember how to ride when that day comes, I bet it will be a lot of fun. I remember having to take breaks in the past, then having such a good feeling when I get back on the machine. In the last year every time I am in El Paso parts and can see Anderson Mountain to the east in the distance, it gives me a comfortable old feeling. I am not sure I know exactly what it's supposed to feel like when folks say "like going back home" but when I see that mountain and when I get back on the bike after a spell of not riding, that feeling comes to my mind. The weather is nice here in Austin today, cool but nice. The fact that I have a part time job after my regular job on Thursday is what prevents me from riding today. Tomorrow my Marcy is coming for the weekend and getting into the spirit of that precedes the Christmas spirit.

I'm shy one camera due to the fact that I left it in the back pack after last Sunday's flight back to Austin. I missed an opportunity yesterday to take a picture of a seasoned ole guy on his unique setup. His attire and general look made me think he was an antique professor, but I will never know. And even if I did have my camera and if it were working right, a picture would have told one story, but probably not THE story. Anyway, I've gotten to where I want to give you a picture or video clip to look at to go along with the words that land on the page. Riding seems so foriegn to me today. I haven't been on a bicycle on almost an entire week. A sad looking emoticon goes here. Marcy will be here this Friday and getting ready to visit children, grandchildren, and great grandchild makes happy. An happy looking emoticon goes here.

With dense fog in some areas and drizzling rain I figured this would be a good day to not ride. Then with traffic on the interstate at a near standstill I thought maybe I should have ridden after all, the arrival time would be about the same. Then with watching all the tricky moves motorists were making to get a couple of cars ahead in the line, I thought well, it's a good day to not get run over, so it was a good day not to ride. Then when I was talking to Marcy outside, our daily good morning chat, Jon P rides up on his single speed cool ride and parks his bike right where mine is supposed to be, I decided It would have been a good day to ride. So back and forth I go. Maybe I should drive to the apartment at lunch and ride back, that way I can get both driving time and riding time in.

This morning's weather is drizzly and foggy. It was hard for me to get out of bed this morning and I don't know why. I got plenty of sleep and there is plenty of time to ride to the apartment after work and get ready for the plane ride to El Paso. But when the lady on the radio came on telling the weather, I was a bit relieved that there was an excuse for me not to ride today. And I wonder what is up with that, because I really don't need and excuse......... or do I? Just another video clip. Here is a happy group, al related in one fashon or another

Definition: The leading edge is a line connecting the forward-most points of a wing's profile. In other words, it's the front edge of the wing. When an aircraft is moving forward, the leading edge is that part of the wing that first contacts the air. During a tailslide, from an aerodynamic point-of-view, the trailing edge becomes the leading edge and vice-versa. The term leading edge is mostly used in aerodynamic contexts, but I like to use it in cycling too. Like the nose, it's the forward-most point for the upper part of the body, the fingers for the mid section and toes-ies for the lower. When the temps are cooler, those edges can tell you about it. After my ride to work and when I sit down to the keyboard to type, it's fun to see how my fingers don't want to work so well. Then after a while they do. Like right now, I stop for just a second to feel my fingers. It's funny to me how one set of fingers, say those on my left hand, which are still cold, feel the o

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I know a guy who when his son was born he was the first one to hold him in his arms. And then when the son died some years later he held him in his arms again. The guy held his son many times in his arms and many guys do that. But not many take it from beginning to end. The flesh of the son was a part of the guy and the soul of the son was a part of the guy. A whale of a guy. When I think of the church with people in attendance but not so many that the echo effect is dampened, and I think of the guy's father rising and clapping with love, courage, and support, I get all busted up inside. A man's man.