Weekly Bread #272
Got in 3 hikes this week for 15 miles. 2 had some elevation, 813 and 925, so I guess I can say I am back to being a hiking maniac. Busy week though, planning the ordination and installation of our minister. My spouse is chairing the committee so she of course reels me in to help at times. I am also doing the charge to the minister which is a real honor. More about that later most likely, but for now I am just getting ready for a long and exciting day at church!
L’Chaim!
My average weight this week was down 1.2 pounds for a total loss of 136.7
Weekly Bread #271
It has been a good week. I did 3 hikes for a total of a little more than 16 miles and spent a day caring for my 2 month old grand-daughter. (We are trying to keep her sweet face off of the wider web, but trust me, she is gorgeous and smart and strong – especially for such a tiny human being.) I understand the word “doting” much better now. Also “besotted”.
Taking care of an infant is different of course than going on a difficult hike, but both can be a lot of work. Both are well worth the effort though in order to be a witness to the miracle of life. There truly is much to be thankful for in this sometimes difficult world. A baby’s needs are so simple. Feed me, change me, hold me, play with me, and then let me sleep when I get tired. Aren’t those things we all need? Change doesn’t have to mean just a clean diaper. Instead, maybe something new, maybe even transformation. Miracles abound.
L’Chaim!
My average weight this week was up 1.2 pounds for a total loss of 135.5
Weekly Bread #266
Easter is coming. I am ready for the resurrection! Still sick, going on 3 weeks now, better in many ways but not yet healed. Stuffy head remains although the sore throat has departed. Mainly just tired. Reminded me of this old poem of mine. Maybe I will take a nap. Somewhere warm and dark and wait to be reborn. Spring really is coming and I want to hike among the wildflowers that are beginning to bloom.
Easter Poem
What an effort it must have been
To climb down from that cross
So many centuries ago
They thought you were dead forever
It certainly looked like that
You’d prayed your last prayer
Healed your last leper
Driven out your last demon.
They even buried you.
It must have felt so good
To lay your head down
The funeral cloths were soft.
The darkness was comforting
So weary you were
Tired, hurt, bleeding.
You’d seen so much
Suffered so much
Done so much
What harm could it do
To give into rest
For a few days
It must have been hard
To hear the weeping
Of those who had loved you
Of those who had betrayed you
The stone was heavy
But you had to push it aside
Rolling away defeat
Banishing hopelessness
Overcoming fear.
What an effort it must have taken
To come back not knowing
What people would think
How they would respond
Would they think the miracle
Was only about you?
Thank you for letting us know
That we each have the chance
The opportunity, the responsibility
To be reborn
Resurrected.
Again and again.
Like the earth
Each spring
Each morning
Forever and ever
Amen.
L’Chaim!
My average weight this week was up 2.6 pounds for a total loss of 134.
Weekly Bread #257
Not much time today to post, so mostly just my stats this week. At least I am managing not to skip posting completely yet again like I did around Christmas. Christmas only comes once a year. Although there are different dates for it, depending on both calendars and traditions. Enough! No point and no time to keep blathering on.
L’Chaim!
My average weight this week was up .3 pounds for a total loss of 138.3.
Weekly Bread #256
Things look different in the rain. Mist softens the surroundings, creating something like an Impressionist style painting. It is one of the pleasures of hiking in the rain. Who am I kidding? I don’t like hiking in the rain. It is cold, damp, I sweat in my airless rain jacket, slip in the mud, and my glasses get fogged up when they are covered in rain and it is hard to see anything, even the trail. It is better than when it is too hot, however. Everything is relative I suppose. We do the best we can and even try to appreciate what we can. I do like the misty images, but I’d rather look at them from inside someplace warm and dry. Then again, the mistiness may be partly due to the cataracts my eyes are developing.
Some of life is just realizing that things really could be worse. This is true even when things are pretty bad and are much more disheartening than a soggy muddy hike. It is easy to turn around on a hiking trail if it starts to rain. It is not so easy to walk away from other things. Muddy boots can be cleaned. Clothes and gear can be washed or even replaced. Sometimes, just sometimes, there are small blessings beneath the surface, even when it is raining, or maybe even when it is snowing.
L’Chaim!
My average weight this week was down .5 pounds for a total loss of 138.6.
Weekly Bread #255
It is human to mark dates, to reflect backward even though life keeps moving. We celebrated our 49th anniversary this week. It was also the 10th anniversary of our wedding ceremony, which was roughly 6 months after our (finally) legal marriage. In any case, it was something to celebrate. I have been lucky in love. Which doesn’t mean I have been unlucky at cards. Funny how those sayings develop. I am a half way decent card player – and a card game was where I first met the love of my life, so that was clearly “lucky at cards.”
Feeling lucky is more of an attitude that anything. It is the opposite of feeling entitled, or that hard work, or virtue somehow ensures that things will turn out well. Trying hard, and doing things as best you can – being cautious at times or courageous in others, all that certainly can affect outcomes, but so much of it is also luck, or maybe serendipity, or maybe grace.
Theodicy is how various religions answer the question of “Why do bad things happen to good people” and the almost reverse, “Why do evil people get away with it.” I never believed in the “God works in mysterious ways.” or that “God is testing us.” Nope, my theory/belief is that actions (and attitudes) have consequences, but relatively random forces outside of our immediate control also determine what happens. The Butterfly Effect is also interesting to me. Theology for me isn’t written in stone (or in the pages of a book) but in the patterns of our lives and in the vast complexity of the universe. It evolves with time and experience.
So back to “grace.” Call it what you will, but my wife has been a blessing in my life. That truth runs through my heart and soul. Even though we bicker fairly routinely (partly for entertainment at times) and have been known to have some more serious arguments (complete with shouting and tears), there is no one else I would rather spend the rest of my days with. May those days be long. Here’s to the next year – which will be #50 – and to the next however long our luck continues to hold us together.
L’Chaim!
My average weight this week was down 2.4 pounds for a total loss of 138.1.
Weekly Bread #253-4
I missed posting last week. My excuse? Christmas, and the my wife’s birthday the day before. Everyone needs a holiday sometime and we shouldn’t need excuses in order to take them.
It has rained most of the last few weeks, a good thing for California, but not so good for hiking. We got a few miles in on the few dry days, but mostly I rode to nowhere on my stationary bike. Riding to nowhere is actually very relaxing and low stress. I read novels while I ride, so maybe I really am going somewhere.
Just a few more celebrations to go in the next week. New Year’s will be relatively low key as usual, but our 49th anniversary is about a week later. I enjoy all the celebrations and also tend to believe/hope things will somehow “settle down” after they are over. Things will be less hectic and rushed, Peace on Earth and all is calm and bright, etc. Life isn’t really ever like that though, even if we all agree that it is “A Wonderful Life.” Our minister recently did a terrific sermon on that movie.
Church takes me places too. It can be hectic and messy at times because – you know – humans. But it also stretches my heartstrings and fans the flames of the fire that sometimes only smolders in my soul.
L’Chaim!
My average weight this week was up 2.9 pounds for a total loss of 135.7. I was also up 1.1 pounds the week before. Do I need to make excuses for that too? Nah. It is pretty obvious. Happy holidays.
Weekly Bread #252
I got my new hiking hat and gloves, and they are great. Too bad you can’t order new body parts on the internet. I mean, I have one relatively new knee, but getting it was a lot harder. Modern medicine is not a simple or painless process.
I have been feeling old this week. I had to go into the DMV to renew my driver’s license. If you are over 70, you can’t do it online. The written test wasn’t bad. I missed a couple of questions, but passed easily. One mistake was on the percentage of alcohol in your blood that qualifies as impaired driving. Why I need to know that exact number to drive safely, I haven’t a clue. The other was on whatever you call the steering method when you aren’t keeping your hands fairly steady at 9 and 3. See, I at least I know they don’t recommend 10 and 2 anymore. Airbags could break your wrists if you drive the old way.
The bad part that day was that I almost failed the vision test. I only passed because the clerk had me look into a box after I couldn’t read the chart on the wall. The chart was just a blur when looking at it w/my right eye covered. Too much glare on my cataracts with the florescent lighting. I think. Eye surgery is in my future, but my optometrist says “not just yet.” Sigh.
Getting old isn’t fun, but MUCH better than the alternative.
Holiday parties have started. Fun, but they are not so good for maintaining my weight. I will try to remain at least semi-sensible, but I do expect to creep up some during the next month. The days are colder and the nights are longer so a hot rum in the evening is very tempting. I am old, but thankfully not quite dead yet.
L’Chaim!
Average weight this week was up 1.3 pounds for a total loss of 139.7
Weekly Bread #251
My hiking gloves wore out too, but new ones are on the way. There are days I’d like to order a new body on line and have it come in the mail, with frequent email and text messages to alert me to its progress. I do have a (relatively) new knee, so maybe someday we can replace all our aging physical parts as easily as we order gloves from REI these days.
I’d also like an external drive for my memories. I don’t remember as much as I’d like to, and it takes longer to pull a memory (especially a name) from my brain. And then there are memories I would prefer to store remotely, in a virtual storage unit or a basement where those times of grief, trauma, and despair could reside. I’d could visit them when I wanted to, but they wouldn’t be able to intrude uninvited at sometimes awkward times.
Some people say that history is not linear, but circular, that it spirals around moments that are connected across time and space. Similar, but not the same, the tide rolls in and out, but the cliffs eventually crumble over time. Maybe life is more of an ocean than a river. The dikes we build to hold it back will ultimately fail and the sea will rush in once more.
OK that metaphor is beginning to get away from me so I’ll let it go.
On the mundane note of my weight journey, however, I seem to have recovered from the Thanksgiving holiday and its leftovers and am back to my pre-holiday place on the scale. No worries as there is another holiday coming soon plus a couple of family birthdays, anniversaries, and events. We will keep circling back.
L’Chaim!
Average weight this week was down 1.9 pounds for a total loss of 141
Weekly Bread #250
The classic Thanksgiving turkey pic was taken again this year. It was a somewhat smaller turkey than last year, but I am a little bigger now even though I am wearing the same shirt pants and slippers. Only one oven mitt though.
In the older picture, both the turkey and I were both significantly larger. We needed a bigger platter and I needed much larger clothes. It is easier cooking a smaller turkey. It is easier being a smaller size. Being older is not quite as much fun. I might have trouble holding up a 20 pound turkey these days. If I cook a huge one again, we will have to take the photo while is is resting on the counter.
I have much to be thankful for. And I know that the leftovers can have a larger impact on one’s life than one would think. That is true for trauma even more than it is for gravy and stuffing.
May all experience less trauma and horror in both the days and the nights of their lives. It is a hope, a prayer, even if it isn’t an expectation.
L’Chaim!
Average weight this week was up 1.7 pounds for a total loss of 140.4
Sermons, Poetry, and Other Musings 
Comments(reviewed to avoid spam)