Body on a Bike Trail

     It started out as a typical Saturday morning, loading up the bike to meet my buddies on a nearby mountain bike trail.  Our bike club would meet once a week at one of the many trails in the area, this time we are headed for Lost Valley to ride a familiar trail (about 8 miles long).  We never knew how many riders would show since we all have families and family activities always took precedence. Some days there could be 12 or more riders other times only 2; everyone was welcome even those that weren't in the club.

     This morning there were just three of us, Bill, Pat and myself.  We have been on many rides over the past years and considered ourselves experienced riders.  By that I mean we could traverse most terrain successfully, repair tires chains and other minor damages on the trail and continue on our ride.  We were self-sufficient in that we could handle any difficulty that we encountered, including injuries.  When you ride off road as frequently as we do you see many interesting sights but every once in awhile you run into something that surprises you as happened on that Saturday morning ride.

     We rode in the morning because the weather was cooler but that was not the case on this July morning in Missouri.  It was hot and muggy even at 8 am.  Sweat poured down our face after the first mile, the perspiration made our bike jerseys cling to our chest.  There was no breeze just the hot air on our bodies as we pedaled fast down the trail.

     This was a quite morning with no other riders in sight, the early morning heat may be the reason the trail was empty.  The heat was unpleasant but we took a path that was unfamiliar and not well travelled.  We pushed through tall grass and once we got to a small clearing we found were covered with deer ticks.  We spent the next five minutes picking these little critters off before we continued on our ride.  We had ridden 4 miles but we were off the main trail so we had about 5 more miles to go to get back to the trailhead.

     We had been so busy with the deer ticks that we didn't notice the sleeping bag next to the oak tree.  As we got back on the bikes Bill yelled to us “Wait look over there.”  Pointing to the sleeping bag.  We walked over to see if there was someone there.  We poked the bag to see if there was a response when we heard a groan and a guy peeked out of the bag.  He looked dazed and confused but in all fairness we woke him abruptly.  We asked him what he was doing sleeping on the trail (not that it was our business), he responded that he was traveling across the country and just needed some rest.  Seemed odd but we wished him luck and hopped on our bikes.

      It wasn’t but 5 minutes later we were riding down the trail with Pat on the lead bike when he jumped a log and lying on the other side was a body.  We all came to an immediate stop.  It was a man on his back, the same guy we saw in the sleeping bag but he was dead.  “How could that be?”  We just talked to him minutes ago, this can’t be happening.  How did he die and how did he get way over here?  His shirt was torn and we saw a fresh scar starting below his shoulder that travelled down toward the upper part of his chest. There was no cell phone service so we decided to head back too the parking lot to call the police but as we rode down the trail we noticed a guy walking ahead of us with camping gear.  As we got closer to him we were shocked to discover that it was the same guy, the dead guy.

     Now we are getting freaked.  We asked him if he camped alone. “Yes” he said. “I’m headed back home to see my brother, he’s my twin.”  Holy crap was all I could think looking at Bill and Pat.  “When was the last time you talked with him?”  “Three days ago, why?”  “Is there any chance he would have come to see you?”  “No, he was in the hospital, recovering from heart surgery.”  We checked our cell phones and we now had service so we told him to call his brother.  He looked puzzled but called and found out sad news, his brother had passed away over night. We told him about the body we saw in the woods with the scar but it couldn’t be his twin, we must be mistaken about the resemblance to him.

     We stayed with the camper until we got to the parking lot then called the police to tell them about the body on the trail.  We waited to take the police to the spot where we found the body, but found nothing.  No sign of any body or evidence of a body being there.

     We left shaking our heads in wonder.  I said “I think I’ll skip next Saturday’s ride.” Pat and Bill agreed as we drove out of the parking lot.

My Fit Bit Diet

     I'm lucky I've never had to worry about weight when I was young, but as I got older my metabolism has slowed down and it's easier to put on a few pounds.  It makes sense for me to keep the extra weight off because it just adds stress to my joints but dieting is easier to say than it is to do.

     I received a Fit Bit for Father's Day, which is a watch, step counter, heart monitor, activity monitor and calorie counter.  You can also load an App on your smart phone a record your food throughout the day.  I could have logged my food in a note book but this App makes it much easier.

     Since I wanted to lose a few pounds I thought I'd give it a shot.  I recorded my goal weight and Fit Bit then told me how many calories I was allowed per day to meet that goal.  My goal was to lose 14 lbs. without starving myself.  I found that logging the food into the App was easy and it made me aware of what I was eating. I still ate cookies a snacks but I found that I ate less because I recorded them in the App so I didn't deprive myself of the fun food I just ate less of it.

     I have lost 5 lbs. by Thanksgiving which has taken a little less than 4 months, but for me it's not a race, it's about getting healthier without having cravings.  I exercise as I have always done but the Winter months are always the hardest because for me its more difficult in the cold weather so I exercise indoors which I don't enjoy as much.

     The app tracks your calorie intake versus your calorie output and tells you if you are on track to meet your goal.  It only cares about calories not where the calories come from so you could eat only bacon and the App wouldn't care as long as you met you calorie intake goal, although your cardiologist might not approve. Science and common sense tells you that even though two different foods have the same calories, your body reacts differently to an apple versus a donut, so taking that in to consideration, I decided against a bacon only menu.

     Some days I am over my goal but I don't stress about it because overall I seem to be doing well.  It's a slow process but if I can be down 10 lbs. by the Spring I will be pleased.  I will not beat myself up if I miss a daily goal because it's not about the daily goal it's more about the end goal.  This is what works for me, I wish you luck with your diet goals.

     I consider Thanksgiving Day as a non-diet day for me, I will however record my food just to be aware of my calorie intake but I won't let it run the holiday fun.  I will get back to the Fit Bit diet on Black Friday.

I hope everyone has a safe, fun and blessed Thanksgiving day enjoying your family and friends.

Lifestyles & Trends, Then & Now

     Lifestyles change without effort.  I remember as a young child (late 50's) that dining out was reserved for special occasions.  It was a treat that I looked forward to with great anticipation.  In current times dining out has changed dramatically even for me. Today, it seems dining out is a weekly routine, a reward of sorts for surviving a challenging week.  That's not a bad thing just a change to our lifestyle and expectations.  We have become a nation of foodies, we use food to celebrate our life, even when cooking at home.  It's been that way for a long time but it's no longer reserved for certain holidays.  I like this new trend because it allows people to be more social, which is needed because the digital age has taken some of that away.

     Coffee has always been a part of our culture.  My parents always had a pot of coffee brewing in the house.  It was never the fancy coffee they drink today, but simply strong black coffee occasionally with a little cream and sugar.  Cappuccino, mocha latte or caramel macchiato were not in the vocabulary that I knew but again I see this as a tasty improvement.  Back in the day, coffee was mainly drunk at home, work or when you were lucky enough to go out for special meal.  I don't ever remember coffee shops like Starbucks.  We had donut shops that served coffee but the attraction there were the donuts not the coffee.  I have coffee every morning at home but I rarely buy coffee from a coffee shop however that might be an age thing. When I do go to a coffee shop I will get a fancy cup of coffee, my favorite is caramel macchiato.  It's apparent that coffee shops do well since they seem to be in abundance, which I expect is mainly supported by the younger generation.

     St. Louis, Missouri has always been a beer town with Anheuser Busch being the beer of choice.  There were many brand choices but not flavor choices when I was younger.  I was never a big fan of beer, I'm more of a wine guy which at the time was odd since wine was not popular when I was younger.  I have now graduated from Annie Green Springs to a nice Cabernet but I also discovered that I like the crafts beers that are being produced today.  Today there are as many flavors of beer as there is coffee, in fact some contain coffee.  These craft beers cater to the younger people who are looking for a more distinct taste.  I like these new craft beers unlike some of my old buddies that only drink the amber beers of the past.

     When I was young drive-in movie theaters were popular but I haven't seen one in a long time.  There may be a few that still exist but you will have to look long and hard to find one.  Movies are still popular but not drive-in movie theaters.  As with anything one forgotten trend is replaced by a new one.  Recently, I have noticed luxury theaters opening around the area.  These theaters have lounge chairs with tables to set your wine, craft beer and appetizer on while you recline in luxury watching the high definition movie. The ticket prices are more expensive as you might expect but it sounds like fun, at least for some special movie.  There are risks I see however one of which is falling asleep and missing the movie as well as spilling your craft beer or Cabernet, which would be embarrassing. 

     The invention of telephone has changed our lives but smart phones have amped up the change to a new level.  We had phones in the 50's but they were not only landlines but also 40 call lines or party lines.  A 40 call line, for the younger folks not familiar with the term, is a telephone package that allows you to make 40 calls in a month, yes that's not a typo, 40 calls a month.  If you made over 40 phone calls you would be charged an extra fee.  A party line was not a phone you used to setup a party (that would have been pretty cool) but a phone line you shared with other households (strangers).  If you picked up the phone on a party line you might find someone already on the line and you had to wait to make your call or ask him or her politely to hang up which never worked. 

     There was a # symbol on the phone but it wasn’t called a hashtag and didn’t allow you to send a message to the land of twitter, actually I’m not sure what it was for.  I have a smart phone now which I find very useful and would never want to go back to the old landlines but sometimes I become too dependent on it and I’m 67 not 16. 

     I guess my point is lifestyles and trends change, which are neither good nor bad, just what happens.  I try to stay current with times but sometimes I miss the past.  I dine out, drink fancy coffee, craft beer and use a smart phone but I still like to watch old movies at home.  So, I'd like to think of myself as an old soul that is young at heart.

Is it true that "All Men (Mankind) are Created Equal"

     As a young child I was taught in school, "All men are created equal".  It was understood that the term men referred to people (men and women), which when I grew up in statements like this, the word men included women, but in hindsight it would have been more appropriate to say people.   

     That’s an interesting statement but is it really true?  It doesn’t take a genius to notice that people are treated differently.  The social status, economic status or simply the opportunities they have in life depending on the country they reside in. 

     Some may argue that this statement just applies to the moment we are born but when considering birth defects the term created equal doesn't seem to apply.  Even if all people started out equal there are dramatic changes from that point on.  Money and power change the way people treat others and for that reason even though we maybe created equal we are not treated equal.

     As I think more about it, we all have different looks, talents and abilities plus our own unique challenges so maybe we are all equal but in different ways.  People are athletic, creative, empathetic, patient, sensitive, articulate, humorous, etc.  All these abilities are equally important and valuable.  If we were all equal in every way wouldn’t that be a boring life, I believe our differences make us equal and special.

     So maybe a better way of saying it is “All People are Created Equal by Their Differences”.  Celebrate your uniqueness and you might be surprised by your success.  “Just Saying….”

A Night on the Katy Trail

     I live a mile from the Katy trail, a hiking and cycling trail that spans 240 miles across the state of Missouri. Many days of my life have been spent riding my bike along this trail enjoying the outdoors. In most cases my rides are soothing, almost Zen like, expelling the daily worries that clutter my mind.

     One day a few summers ago, my buddy John and I decided it would be fun to ride the whole trail, camping along the way. We imagined it to be a great experience with some mild adventure. Our ride started off in familiar territory but quickly reached a part of the trail that was new to us. The trail runs along the bottomland near the river for many miles so there are many interesting sites to see because of the floods much of the landscape looks desolate and eerie.

     We had planned to camp so as night approached we started looking for a good campsite, when we noticed this rundown abandoned house. The windows were broken out, the stairs gone and the entrance door was leaning on a pile of wood at the back of the house. This is when our adventurous side kicked in and we decided to investigate. We cautiously approached the house and peered in the window, looking at each other to see which one of us would take the first precarious step. With a little shove I climbed in first, then John, both shining our flashlights around before proceeding forward. We walked carefully always keeping in mind our exit strategy. The creaking floorboards and whistling wind made howling sounds that seemed to call our names in a haunting way, which made our hair stand on end but still we continued exploring. As we surveyed the first floor, our nervousness dissipated enough that we decided to camp in this abandoned house for the night.

     Once settled, I decided it was time to investigate the second floor with John following a few minutes later.  Our anxiety heightened as we searched upstairs due not only to the eerie feeling of the house but the dangerous rotten floorboards. We were again on high alert as this was new uncharted territory in this adventure, rummaging through some old furniture and cautiously opening boxes. We discovered nothing but our rattled nerves when we heard unexpected noises. There seemed to no significant discoveries upstairs that enticed us to stay so we went back to the main floor to get ready for bed. It was then I discovered the note lying on my backpack. It read "You have a nicely shaped head, what size hat do you wear?"  Again the hair on my neck stood up like porcupine quills and a chill ran down my spine.  I said to John "I got a note, someone must be watching us." I ask, "Did you get a note?" John said, " No, what does it say? But as soon as he finished his sentence an uncontrollable smile appeared on his face, which turned into chuckle then a full on belly laugh.  I've been duped, the butt of a practical joke, a very successful one at that. "John you jerk; when did you do this?" With a big grin John said "Before I went upstairs."

     The nervous tension was gone, our laughter had lightened the mood. We still heard the howling wind whispering our names but this no longer bothered us. There were other odd little noises that we heard throughout the night but neither of us attempted to investigate them. With our minds and bodies exhausted we fell in to a deep sleep.

     We woke early the next day, grabbed our packs and headed out to where we left our bikes.  We were prepared for a long day, but discovered each of us had been left a gift, lying on our bikes, a skull cap, along with a personal note addressed to us.

     My note read, "Jim, We hope your cap fits nicely" John's note read "John, Wish you could have stayed longer, Come back soon”. John turned at me with a accusing look in his eyes, I immediately said "I didn't do this". We quickly left the abandoned house without another word spoken wondering what just happened but also taking with us interesting memories and an unbelievable story. What was in store for us on our second night?