Hello, again, Hello

No time right this moment for a deeply thought-out post, but I wanted to get a few words on here and not just photos all the time. I won't kid you. Ever since 2013 when Kathy got her BC diagnosis right around Valentine's Day, February has always been a bit of a trigger for me and the fact that it's dreary mid-winter doesn't really help much. Not a major stress, exactly, but something lurking in the back of my mind throughout the shortest month. Kind of a downer, I know- but also the truth. Another worry that's not a full-on panic, certainly, but in my mind: global warming.

More specifically, the immediate weather changes we see year-over-year. In 2015, we got the winter of all winters. It seemingly snowed every day. We had to rake our roofs for fear they'd cave in. Last weekend, it was approx. -25F on Saturday, then nearly 50F on Sunday. That's just not normal. And not to go too negative on you- because I've heard I have a tendency for that-but when I look around at the litter not only on the sides of the road, but even out in the forests on the trails I ride, I don't see a lot of hope that we're soon going to turn things around in any meaningful way. On the other hand, one could question whether a little bit of litter has any environmental effects next to industrial pollution. But hey- people are driving Teslas- lots of them. Who ever thought they'd see an electric car become a status symbol? Personally, however, that shifting weather has been pretty good for me. Warm dry days (or even cooler but dry days) are perfect for continuing to ride. Not only does that keep up my physical fitness- and burn calories-but more important to me, it preserves my mental health. For whatever reasons I could get into through navel gazing and such, the woods relaxes me. It makes me more pleasant to those around me. It's my therapy in a very real way. If you read the article I wrote for Dirt Rag before it closed its doors, you have heard of Forest Bathing (Shinrin Roku) and know about the very scientific and real research that's been done into WHY time in the woods has that effect.

I've been hitting the peloton at work on the bad days, and though it's not exactly ideal, it is pedaling and it sits in front of a wall of windows, so it does have a natural element. Certainly beats lieing in my bed playing Angry Birds (that's for AFTER the ride!) So that's a bit of an update. You can find my email address on the home page of this blog. Shoot me an email if you have any questions- or leave a comment. Peace out.