Archive for August, 2009
Walking to work
I am one of the few people in the world perhaps that lives close enough to work that I can walk or ride my bike to work. It seems most people live too many miles away to walk or ride and of course the United States really has not been constructed for anything but a car. I have students who will drive to the gym or even drive to class and this on a college campus that is tiny. And I am talking about varsity athletes who drive not some guy that is grossly overweight and is going to the gym hoping to lose some weight. People have become so lazy they will drive two blocks to mail a letter. I am getting off track here and need to get back to my route to work.
Today I chose to walk. My path takes me down a quiet rural road and across a seldom used baseball field and into the woods. I brought along a machete today to clear the path as the weeds and shrubs tend to grow very fast. I hacked a path into the woods and down to the stream. The water was cool and refreshing. The stream changes a great deal each time we have a big rain storm. The plants along the edges of the stream are beaten down and pushed downstream. Sometimes where I cross there are large trees and branches that have been washed down the stream. It is a raging river after a big storm.
After crossing the stream it is up the hill and out into the fields. Super wet this morning with lots of dew. A gust of wind was warm and it was easy to tell the day would be a hot one. This field had been planted with corn in the spring and by this time of year the corn is ten feet tall and thick. The path along the edge of the field was barely passable. I did not realize that the farmer would plant the corn so tightly up against the woods. I hiked through thick weeds, super tall grasses that went well over my head. I scared up a couple of deer and one hawk on my way to work.
By the time I got out away from the corn crop I was soaked from the waist down. Plus a few new scratches and cuts from the nasty weeds and grasses decorated my legs. But I did not have to deal with any traffic lights, no irate drivers, no massive trucks, and waiting in line to move another two feet. I never spent a cent for gasoline, I did not have to start my car, and the best part is I had some time outdoors in the fresh air. This is the way to get to work—a blue sky above me, the sun on my back, warm wet earth under my feet and the sounds of birds in the trees all around me. Sure it took me almost fifty minutes to get to work but I arrived refreshed and at peace.
So if you get the chance to walk to work, take it. Park the car in the garage, reduce your carbon footprint and leave some footprints in the dirt. I am looking forward to walking home at five.
Leave that iPod at home!
A great deal has changed over the past ten years. We have gone from huge, bulky walkmans strapped on our bodies as we exercise (bike or run or just walk) to little tiny music devices that tuck into a little pocket. We have gone from something very obvious to all those around us to something that is hardly seen. The headphones of the past look today like something from a 1950’s sci-fi film and they could not be overlooked. The headphones of today cannot be seen for the most part and that is causing all kinds of problems.
Imagine you are zipping along on your bike on a trail used by walkers, runners, joggers, dog walkers, and bike riders. It is a great day with a brisk tailwind pushing you down the trail at a very fast clip. Up ahead you see someone walking their dog or running in the same direction you are going. You are coming up on them quite fast and if you have a little dingy bell on your bike you ring a couple of times or if not shout out that you are on their left (or right if they wander all over the trail). As you get right up behind them you finally see the two little white wires sticking out of their ears and realize that they did not hear your little dingy bell or you yelling at them. You zip by and scare the living s**t out of them. You hear their screams of anger fade in the distance as you continue to zip down the trail. No need to try to apologize for scaring them as they could never hear you over their headphones and all the screaming they are doing.
So my question is this: If you are going out in a public place and isolate yourself from the world around you sonically and in this condition someone comes along and gives you an unintentional scare what is there to get mad about? It is your own fault that you can’t hear anything for three miles around you because you have chosen to listen to the latest pop tune with the volume set at 11+.
So take and leave the iPod at home or suck it up and get used to being scared out of your pretty little walking shorts a few times on your run. If you choose to leave the iPod at home you might even find that you like the sound of the wind, the birds, the traffic as it zips by and if you get out early enough on the trail you will just hear the sound of silence.
Hey, I’m on your LEFT!!!!!!
Do you wear deodorant when you exercise?
The technology of deodorant has greatly improved over the years to the point where we have limited body odor to certain activities. Cutting the lawn, exercising, building a house, working on your car, or washing windows might be activities where you work up a good stink. And rightly so.
I really wish what we have today for deodorant was possible when I was in ninth grade and in typing class (that gives you some clue as to how long ago I went to school). The kid near me had body odor that was so bad that tears came to your eyes when you were within five feet of him. This was a case where deodorant was totally needed. But I have run into other situations where deodorant is not needed. But something happened today that makes me think I missed a memo or something about deodorant.
Out on the bike trail today I passed a runner, actually nothing more than a jogger, and spent the next five minutes in his deodorant cloud. Sickly, thick, and strong almost to the point of gagging. This guy had so much of something on him that he had a twenty foot cloud around him. Now I thought the whole point of exercising is to get smelly, gross, smily, stinky and in every way repulsive to the point of needing a shower and after the shower some type of deodorant. But this guy had it completely the other way round. He put on the deodorant and then went exercising which got me to think about why you would do this? Do you now go out to exercise and try to smell nice at the same time? Have they come out with some kind of exercise sweet smelling stuff? This got me to think he was not out to exercise but to smell nice for the ladies. Well I have news for you guy, the ladies you pass on this trail are all over sixty, great that they are out for a run, a walk or ride but they are not impressed. And neither am I.
So go out without the deodorant, get smelly, stinky, wonderfully odorous and over all gross and then go home and wash it all off. Then you can get all sweet smelling, manly, or whatever you wish to be.
For me it is time for a shower. I really stink!
The noise pollution the wilderness must endure
Recently I had the chance to visit the wilderness in the Shenandoah National Park. I hiked a short distance off of Skyline Drive up to Old Stony Man overlook. For a time it was very quiet. Just the sound of the wind in the trees, the screech of a crow nearby, very distant engine noises coming up from the valley, and some bug noises all around. But this did not last. Bursting out of the trees on the trail came the family of noise makers supreme.
The first thing I heard was the dad telling everyone how lucky they all were that he had used his deodorant earlier in the day. If not said the dad they would have all dropped dead by now. Dad said all this while staring off into space with his back to his family. In fact he stayed in this position the entire time they were at the overlook.
Next I heard the youngest son telling everyone how he loves to take photos. In fact he said he was a camera hog. But said this young man he would not take a single photo for anyone but himself. A career in art is in his future it would seem.
The conversation between the mom and two daughters revolved around their ages. Mom tells one daughter that it sounds like she went straight from 15 to 17. Mom says she did this herself. Never heard the beginning of this conversation so I have no idea where this started or really how it ended. It was interrupted with a scream from mom of Where is Elena!!!! that could be heard for miles.
Elena answered and did so each time the mom screamed this out but I don’t think mom ever heard her and the dad heard nothing at all.
After they had looked at the beautiful view their minds quickly turned to other things. I think this took all of thirty seconds or so.
Dad said that he wanted to go to Wal-Mart (he actually was thinking about this while standing and looking out at nature’s best?). The mom wanted to go and eat (looked to me like she thought of this often). One daughter wanted to stay and get a tan. The other daughter told her sister to shut up - Oh shut up Carrie! And finally from the youngest daughter, Elena, I heard her scream out saying that she cannot be left alone near rocks and dad finally chimed in that she cannot be left near sharp objects as well.
All of this was shared with this bit of wilderness at a very high level, more than outdoor voices. More like voices meant to be heard across the valley and beyond. I could feel the trees, rocks, bugs, and shrubs cringing as they were assaulted with the noise this family broadcast.
And I swear I could hear the trees, rocks, shrubs, bugs and birds give a round of applause when this family finally turned and walked back down the trail to their car. I know that I did! Peace at last.
What is the point of a pool?
As I ride around this part of rural Illinois I find that swimming pools are quite popular with the above ground style the most popular. They come in all shapes and sizes with all types of decks built up around them. Some are quite elaborate with many levels and all kinds of chairs and odd attachments. Others are quite simple just a pool with a couple of plastic lawn chairs. But what I don’t see as I ride is anyone in the pools.
I ride by one pool in particular on a route that I have come to favor. I ride by on days when it is sweltering and the water in the pool is very inviting cool and shimmering in the sun and no one is in the pool. Ever! It does not even look as if anyone has been in it all summer long.
So what is the point of a pool? I thought the point of a pool was to cool off, cool down, look cool, swim, exercise, play, get some sun, have some fun, float around on the water, dunk your best friend, sit on the bottom of the pool, hold your breath for as long as you can, splash, dive, jump in, play with large floating objects, hunt for objects on the bottom of the pool, spit water from your mouth, splash those who are too timid to get in the water, and generally enjoy getting wet. But a new thought has just occurred to me.
I live in the country surrounded by farms. Most farms have large, very large lawns which require hours of mowing and maintenance. The farmer spends all week on his tractor and his entire weekend on his or her riding lawn mower cutting acres of lawn. What is the point of the lawn? Maybe the point is as simple as it is something to maintain. And maybe that is the point of a pool, it is something to maintain. You don’t use it you just maintain it. And with most things American the larger the better. More acres of grass must be better and the larger the pool of course it is better.
Well I have decided that for me that cannot be the reason to have a pool and I have a plan to help the pool owners around me. The next time I pass my favorite and extremely under used pool I plan to stop, take off my shoes and jump in. I plan to splash around, spit water from my mouth, play with any floating objects found in the pool, and cool off and look cool doing it. The owners of the pool will find me having a great time in their pool and they just might get the idea of how to use it. That is my plan to help them understand the point of a pool. I have no back up plan in case they do not see the wisdom of my actions.
I have no plan to help those unfortunate souls who have five acres of grass to cut each week. Let them figure it out for themselves.
I think it is time for another ride.
How litter saved the day - thanks Pepsi and White Castle
Summer in St. Louis means heat and humidity. Summer in St. Louis for me is time to ride my bicycle every day. And summer in St. Louis means sometimes I also get to do some unplanned walking.
Take today for instance. I headed out for a short ride down the Great River Road. Wind at my back as I headed down the river flying along at a good clip. I turned around at the eight mile mark and headed back home. Into the wind made the ride slower going up the river but it helped cool things off just a bit.
Four miles from home is when my adventure began. Flat tire. And a flat tire means I am walking. And since I wear clip on bike shoes it also means I have to walk home in my socks. When you drive a car you have no idea how rough the roads are, from a fast moving car it all looks smooth. HA! Walking on the road is like walking on 20-grit sandpaper. I knew from a similar walk the summer before that four miles of this would leave my feet a cut up mess. So I started looking for some help.
Help came in the form of litter. Around here people don’t litter little. They litter big. Big, huge soft drink cups, not piddly little 8 oz. sizes but the big ones. Lots and lots of ounces of sugary sweetness sucked down in the car and pitched out the window. I found a big Pepsi cup and folded it up and stuck it in my left sock. I found a huge White Castle cup and folded that one and stuck it in my right sock. The cups plus some other assorted bits of trash and litter formed a barrier between the bottom of my foot and the gritty road. Thank you for littering! Never thought I would ever say that.
The car of choice around where I live is the pickup truck. I thought that I would walk for part of the way home get a ride from someone who was driving a pickup. But on this day not one single pickup passed me. And not one single person stopped and asked if I needed a ride. Not one! So I walked all the way.
And on the way I thought about how I could solve this problem in the future. Lots of ideas came to mind. Should I:
A. Carry my cell phone with me on every ride
B. Carry a spare tube and pump
C. Carry a spare pair of shoes for walking or
D. Learn how to hitch a ride.
Well after much consideration I have decided on A. And on B. And on C. And on D.
With Plan A I can call (if there is any service and that is really a big IF around here) and if there is someone at home who can drive I can get a ride home. And this all depends on whether or not anyone at home will even answer the phone. And if Plan A does not work I go to Plan B.
With Plan B I simply fix the tire and ride home. And if I cannot change the tire I then move to Plan C. With Plan C I simply take off my bike shoes and change into my walking shoes and walk home. And if that does not work I will simply have to learn how to look pathetic enough for someone to give me a ride.
If A, B, C, and D all fail then I am no better than the litter on the side of the road. Just leave me there to rot in the weeds.
A big thanks to Pepsi, White Castle, all fast food restaurants who sell massive drinks in paper cups and all the great people in the area who like to litter. You saved my day.
Excuse me, time to go fix my bike for tomorrow’s adventure.
