Getting Better, Taking Care of Self, Enjoying Time with My Son & Nature. (And I Was a Bad Kitty) ..............6/8/12

          How was it for you, now that this work week has ended?

My back is recovering, thank God.  I have plenty to be thankful for, including your concern for my recent health challenge.
My Gratitudes for Today:
1.  The weather was fabulous.  I live in a place that has absolutely perfect weather. Recently it has been in the high seventies, with a cool breeze and NO humidity.
2.  My back is not hurting much, tomorrow will make it a week that I've had this problem. I'm grateful my health is being restored.
Taking Care of Myself In Small Ways
Providing Opportunities To Dream
3.  I reduced
clutter in my home and straightened my bedroom.
           I filed. I appreciate the greater clarity and ease I have when I work on clutter.  I sewed, mending things.  I value the relief I feel when I tend to little things. I nurture my inner adult when I
do.
          Taking time, tending to the small details of life is a gift.  It is.

          In these moments, I often daydream.  I enter reveries that don't happen when I'm in my cognitive state of mind.  My conscious self takes a break when I deal with the mundane.  It is a wonderful tonic for this innkeeper whose mind runs fast and furious, if I'm not careful.

          I need to vigilantly exercise healthy principles that allow me to recover from effects of living in Western Civilization. (It worships the mind and can easily ignore our primitive selves.  I don't like living only from the neck up.  I love allowing my "felt sense" to thrive.  It exists not to just protect me from harm.  My felt sense also allows me to luxuriate in the wonder that God, nature, family and friends offer.)
4. I met with people I mentor, yesterday evening and this afternoon.
     
          Last night, we shared dinner at an Alameda restaurant. Intimacy is such a gift, I tasted it as we spent time last night.  I delight in the community, communication and openness we had.  We discussed his needs and how he could strengthen himself characterologically.

         This afternoon, when with another person I mentor, my back pulsed in pain. It took all my concentration to be mentally present, but I was.  Integrity, and the problem that compliance can cause, was our subject.  (It usually prevents us from exercising discernment.)

         I like the caring nature of our relationship and the trust I share with these two men.
5. I'm grateful for you who drop by, read and leave your comments. I like the community, closeness, support we have, when you do that.
A Special Conversation With My Oldest Son
      Late last night, my oldest son and I talked. I always like the speed at which we communicate. The other day someone who has known us both for seventeen years told me that this son has the same intensity and presence that I have, whatever that means.

      He's graduating this month from a university.  He and I talked about what we will do to celebrate this achievement. I believe in traditions, especially family ones. I'm getting him is a heavy ring made of crushed California gold nuggets, being that he's a native son of this state, like me.  It's one way I'm recognizing this significant transition in his life.

      If this was five hundred years ago, I'd give him a sword as he's becoming a modern day knight, making his mark in the world. The ring will have to do, in addition to a banquet and some other things I have in mind.
6. I'm joyful having an honest, intimate, loving relationship with my son.
I Was A Bad Kitty
           My recent behavior will let you know how stubborn and thick-skulled I am:  I rode my bike yesterday for thirty-four miles  (that's 54.7 km.), bad back and all. The trip took two hours and forty-five minutes, averaging 12.74 mph for this trip. I rode slower because it was a longer distance than normal and my back wasn't at its best.

           Usually, I cycle for 16-18 miles when I take my bike for a one hour spin. I do a long ride once a week to develop my endurance, strength and slow-twitch muscles. I'll eventually get up to fifty miles (80.5 km.), and beyond, like 70.

           I've been meaning to go on a long ride since Saturday. I could not wait any longer.  The only thing that stopped me was that I was laid out on my back, in pain, since last weekend.

           Keep in mind I have a mountain bike. I wasn't as hunched over, hurting my back as much as I could have, with a standard road bike. (How's that for rationalizing?)

The red line, starting at the bottom right shows my return trip back. Click
on the picture for the complete map. The sidebar on the right is in the way. 

            I started in the middle of the island. It's marked with a blue line in the map above. I partially circumnavigated the island I live on, passing seven marinas.  I road along the shore of San Leandro Bay, then rode south in the Harbor Bay section of the non-island portion of this city, along the San Francisco Bay shoreline another ten miles.

            You can see this portion of my trip above, too. It's right beneath the island. I was thrilled. I love the fluidity of riding a bike. There isn't the jarring pounding upon my body, like running. And from time-to-time I can coast on my bike as I roll along the coast.

            Views of wetlands, marshes, the bay, estuaries, sailboats, and marine wildlife slowed my racing mind. I've been doing a lot of planning lately and needed the mental vacation as I listened to the wind roaring in my ears and took in the lapping sound of the water slapping the shore.

            I came across fishermen, geese, ducks, sandpipers, herons and pelicans. It was windy. At times seagulls appeared stalled in the air as they hovered in the forceful westerly wind.  I saw a couple walking hand in hand, along the shore. They were in their eighties. It's sweet seeing two people in love with each other, even after multiple decades being together.

            There were no phone calls, no radio, no iPod bombarding my ears, distracting me from the world around me, nor were there televisioned or man-made distractions assaulting me as I inhaled the nature's beauty while fluidly rolling along on my bicycle for hours.

            That night, for two hours, I laid flat on my back.  The hardwood floor in my living room providing comfort for the tightened muscles in back. The pain will only be temporary. The beautiful memories created by my ride lasts forever.
How About You? 
I find Friday and Saturdays great days to inventory the week.  
1. What was your low point for this week? Mine was the doggone back pain I have.
2. What was your high point?  Mine were two:
    a.   My conversation with my oldest son, and the long bike ride I had Thursday.