Category Archives: Exercise

Air Quality, Art, Book Review, Colorado, Covid 19, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Pandemics, Science, Space

MUSINGS FOR MARCH 2023

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“I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. And I am horribly limited.” Sylvia Plath

James Webb Space Telescope image of IC 5332

This is an image created from the  NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. It is of a spiral galaxy know as IC 5332 and it is about 30 million light years away in the constellation Sculptor. The detail is obtained by Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). It is a both a camera and a spectrograph on the telescope that sees light in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Being able to “see” in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum with JWST allows astronomers to see the gaseous bone like structures of IC5332. This galaxy has been imaged before by Hubble, but the new images from JWST contain so many new details that they look almost completely different. See the image below from Hubble. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://esawebb.org/images/potm2209a/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IC_5332

Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST and PHANGS-HST Teams

Hubble Image of IC 5332

“We are all alone, born alone, die alone, and—in spite of True Romance magazines—we shall all someday look back on our lives and see that, in spite of our company, we were alone the whole way. I do not say lonely—at least, not all the time—but essentially, and finally, alone. This is what makes your self-respect so important, and I don’t see how you can respect yourself if you must look in the hearts and minds of others for your happiness.” Hunter S. Thompson

This is an image of the star known as Wolf-Rayet 124. The Wolf-Rayet stars are a heterogeneous set of stars with interesting spectra. They have broad emission lines of ionized helium and highly ionized nitrogen or carbon. The surface temperature with WR stars are very hot, in the range of 20,000K to 210,000K. These stars are named for the astronomers Charles Wolf and Georges Rayet. They discovered three of these stars in the constellation Cygnus, in 1867 at the Paris Observatory. This image was created using two instruments on the JWST, the MIRI and the Near-infrared Camera or (NIRCam). The white colored star shapes are diffraction spikes from the NIRCam. They are caused by the physical structure of the telescope itself. If you would like to learn more please see these links: https://esawebb.org/images/weic2307a/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf%E2%80%93Rayet_star

Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team

“Finally, from what we now know about the cosmos, to think that all this was created for just one species among the tens of millions of species who live on one planet circling one of a couple of hundred billion stars that are located in one galaxy among hundreds of billions of galaxies, all of which are in one universe among perhaps an infinite number of universes all nestled within a grand cosmic multiverse, is provincially insular and anthropocentrically blinkered. Which is more likely? That the universe was designed just for us, or that we SEE the universe as having been designed just for us?” Michael Shermer

James Webb image of M74

Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, J. Lee and the PHANGS-JWST Team.  Acknowledgement: J. Schmidt

This is an image of the “Phantom Galaxy” or M74. It was created by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. It is about 32 million light years from earth in the constellation Pisces. The camera used on Webb was the MIRI (Mid-InfraRed Instrument). It has also been observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. See the image below. M74 is a large spiral galaxy with well defined spiral arms. Due to it large size and it’s face-on orientation to earth it is a popular object for advanced amateur and professional astronomers to study. The name “phantom” comes from its faint surface brightness and can be difficult to spot in the night sky – hence the nickname phantom. This galaxy has been studied extensively due to the areas of bright star formation.

To learn more please see these links: https://esawebb.org/images/potm2208a/ and https://esahubble.org/images/potw2235a/ and Messier 74 – Wikipedia

Hubble Image of M74

Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. Chandar

“New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.” Kurt Vonnegut

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!!

If you are reading this then you have continued to survive Covid 19 so far and so have I!! Yea again for both of us!!

As I started to write this blog post, the number of deaths and reported Covid cases has continued a slow decline. And that my friends is a very good thing. Of course there is one caveat to this trend. There is not a lot of “official reporting” here in the United States or in the rest of the world on Covid cases. So you have too look at the numbers with a healthy grain of salt so to speak. As the New York Times recently published:

“After more than three years of daily reporting of coronavirus data in the United States, the NYT is ending its Covid data gathering operation. This change was spurred by the declining availability of virus data from state and local health officials.”

Even the John Hopkins site has shut down for now. I usually post numbers in this section but not this time because I can’t get a good estimate of what is going on in the United States or the rest of the world for the most part. At the time of publishing this blog, there was a new variant taking hold in India, XBB.1.16. Unfortunately, at this time, there is not much more information to pass along.

Pretty interesting and not too surprising when you think about it. Giving accurate figures on the Corona virus, while not always good for the economy, it does help people to make informed decisions when it comes to their health and welfare. Remember, not everyone has your best interest in mind when “money” or “economics” comes into play.

If you are interested in more information from the remaining reliable sources please check out these links. I have included the CDC waste water reporting section. It gives the best estimate if Covid is increasing in your area: https://www.youtube.com/c/OsterholmUpdateCOVID19 and https://www.youtube.com/c/VincentRacaniello and https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/wastewater-surveillance/index.html

March was another good month for getting outdoors. The wind and weather patterns still held as in the previous month which made for great air quality. The temperatures were about average for this time of year and for the first part of the month there was not much snow or moisture. But by the end of the month, and two storms later, we were closer to the monthly average.

There is some concern among the weather people that we should prepare for a hotter summer again, as the La Nina pattern seems to be shifting over to an El Nino. The last two summers were some of the hottest on record and they occurred during a strong La Nina pattern. And this is a little troubling as La Nina weather tends to be much colder compared to the El Nino pattern. This could mean much hotter temperatures than what we saw in the last two years. And it might be a little bit wetter. This sounds good, but think of it this way with climate change: “Heat produces moisture, moisture produces storms, and heat and moisture combine to produce even more severe storms.”

So buckle up butter cup, we might be in for a wild ride this summer.

This picture was taken on March 9th, 2023 at about 6pm in the afternoon. Here Marvin and I are on the banks of the Poudre River just off the bike path. The sun was just starting to set and was creating some interesting colors.
This picture was taken March 11th, 2023 at about 2pm in the afternoon. My wife Janet was able to get out with us several times for walks in the month of March. Spring was definitely in the air on this day, even though it was still a week off from the first official day of spring.
This picture was taken on March 13th, 2023 at about 6:45pm in the afternoon. Due to the time change, sunsets were happening a little later in the evening but there were some spectacular ones. This was looking West across our neighborhood lake.
This picture was taken on March 16th, 2023 at about 6pm in the afternoon. With the warm up in temperatures for the month of March and the continued healing of my “year long now” running injury; I was finally able to get some running time in on the foothill trails behind Fort Collins. This area is an open space behind Fort Collins called Pineridge. Here I am looking North at one of the dams that holds back water in Horsetooth reservoir.
This picture was taken on March 18th, 2023 at about 7pm in the evening. Another beautiful sunset of colors that only lasted about 2 to 3 minutes. I always find it amazing that just being in the right place, at the right time, can make such dramatic effects with color. These clouds had been sitting in the exact same spot for about 30 minutes and were a washed out gray color due to the lighting, but just as the sun dropped…. boom.
This picture was taken on March 23rd, 2023 at about 4pm in the afternoon. A sure sign of Spring is the increased number of the great blue herons. By the end of March, I saw these birds every day I was out waking or running. I always thought they only ate fish and other water invertebrates like crayfish. But I saw one snatch a mouse of some kind from the streambank and fly off. I guess they are opportunist. Lol.
This picture was taken on March 24th, 2023 at about 5pm in the afternoon. I was running with Marvin in another open space behind Fort Collins called Maxwell. There are quit a few deer that live in the open space areas behind FC.
This picture was taken March 27th, 2023 at about 7pm in the evening. A fast moving storm had come through early in the morning and dumped about 10 inches of snow. The forecasted high, just three days from this picture, is supposed to be 62 degrees! Lol. That is spring time in Colorado.

It was another great month for reading and I would like to share a few book recommendations.

The first book I would like to review and recommend is called “Hacking the Code of Life: How Gene Editing Will Rewrite Our Futures” by Nessa Carey.  I first heard about Nessa Carey while watching a YouTube video from the Royal Institution.  She was giving a lecture on Epigenetics.  The 40 minute video is from 2015 but is still relevant today.  If you interested check out this link: https://youtu.be/9DAcJSAM_BA

So after seeing her lecture, I thought she might have a book out there and sure enough she has several.  The field of genetics has changed in recent years with the advent of CRISPR and the amount of information that is now known about genetics and virology, so I got her most recent book, which is this one.  It was published in 2019 and is a great review of where we are at with genetics. 

I found her writing style much like her lecture on epigenetics.  Concise, understandable and to the point.  And in the process of explaining the science, she covers some of the moral, ethical and societal issues to give the reader a much boarder understanding of how genetic engineering will and has affected their lives.  This is a great book for those without a science or medical background.  

I listened to the book as an audiobook but it would work in any format.  You can probably find it at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:   https://a.co/d/f1WQFNJ  

The next book I would like to review and recommend is called “The Last Days of the Dinosaurs” by Riley Black.  First let me start off saying that Riley is a talented science writer that has been featured in publications like WIRED, National Geographic and Scientific American, etc.…   And besides this book, she has several more to her name.  If you’re interested she has a web site that will give you much more information on what she does and who she is: http://rileyblack.net/

I first heard about her when I was looking for the book by Steve Brusatte called the “The Rise and Reign of Mammals.”  This is another great book that picks up where Riley’s ends. 

I had been taught that the end of the dinosaurs was due to an asteroid strike in the present day area known as the Yucatan but I had no idea what this really meant.   I mean you kind of get a picture in your mind about what a 7 mile wide asteroid could do in damage. But it is hard to think of it abstractly.  If you saw the Netflix movie “Don’t Look Up,” then you might begin to understand what I mean.  Unfortunately in the movie, you never get to see what exactly happens after the strike, play by play. 

I wanted to know, what were the environmental conditions that occurred across the world that led to a massive die off of more than half of every know creature on the earth at the time.  And this is where the book shines in my opinion.  Each chapter is about a different time frame after the impact and what you would expect to see and experience as an animal living at that time.  And as a way to make it more personnel, Riley further enhances the chapters by creating short stories around the animals that experienced the event.  This makes for a great read.  It takes what could be a “little dull scientifically” for the non-scientist and humanizes it a bit.

I listened to this book as an audio book but it would work well in any format.  You can probably find the book at your local book store or at Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link: https://a.co/d/dF67RO9

The next book I would like to review and highly recommend is the book called “The Climate Book” by Greta Thunberg.  If you ever needed a book to show you where we are in the cycle of human caused climate change, this is the book.  And the reason why, it’s not just Greta that is sounding the alarm.  While she has written parts of the book, it is really the collection of essays from other individuals that make all the difference.  Prior to this book, I had read several other ones on climate change from different authors, and what I usually got was a singular perspective from said author.  This in and of itself is not a bad thing and is what you would expect.   In her book, she has taken the idea of “don’t believe me,” well here are a hundred other individuals from almost every walk of scientific and cultural life saying the same thing.  Climate change is real and if we keep putting it off, meaning a total decarbonizing of our global economy, the worse it is going to be.

Be warned, this book is not about hope.  Greta and the other 100 contributors give you the science, the facts and it is not pretty or hopeful where we are right now.  It is not about electric cars, or that “always in the future” promise of fusion power.  It is about how, we need to totally revamp our way of life, especially in the modern industrialized world, if we want to solve this crisis before it kills us all.  This is a call to action, to do what you can on an individual basis.  This book will change you, if you let it.  Ok, ok enough of the soap box. 

I got the book as an audio book but it might work better in traditional format.  This would make it a lot easier to refer back to certain chapters.  You should be able to find this book at your local book store or on Amazon.  Here is the Amazon link:  https://a.co/d/hYtfMVa           

The last book I would like to review and give a very high recommendation to is called “The Deluge” by Stephen Markley.  This is a fictional story starting in 2013 and ending in 2040 and it is in simplest terms, a terrifying example of where the world is heading by the mid-2030s.   

When you tell people about “climate change” how do you give them a visceral, tangible feeling of what it really means to have 2 degrees Celsius of warming?  Think about it a moment? Hard to do.  Hard to make it real for them.  Well, this is what Mr. Markley so expertly has done in his novel.  And it is terrifying. 

The book starts off introducing the cast of characters.  Giving them each a seemingly unrelated story arch but eventually intertwining them into the main story plot.  There is a lot of character development and this might turn a few readers off.  For me it was a way of making them more real and relatable.  And in the end, making the book so much more freighting, because it could easily be our future. 

This is a big book and it will take some time to get through it, but oh so worth it.  If you really want to give yourself a scare, read “The Climate Book” by Greta Thunberg at the same time.  If not for the different story styles and how information is presented, you might lose track of which book is which. Even though it is a fictional novel, Stephen like Greta is giving us a wakeup call.      

I got the book as an audio book (40+ hours) but it would work in any format.  You can find this book at your local bookstore or on Amazon:   https://a.co/d/hqlCY59   

No new “sellable” art work again for this month but I have been working on what I call “sketchbook” practice pieces. Some are abstract and some are more specific. I have still been working on a few rooster faces, but I have also done a few other subjects – all just for fun and practice. The drawings are done by free hand pencil sketching first and then pen and ink are added last. These were all done in the month of March.

I had fun doing them and I hope you enjoyed seeing them. Hopefully I will have a new piece or two by the the end of April and ready for sale.

More on my art work can be found at my Etsy site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/strugglingprotoplasm/edit?ref=seller-platform-mcnav

In support of Prochoice and Separation of Church and State, I will donate 10% of any sales to Planned Parenthood or the Freedom From Religion Foundation, but only if you wish me too. If not, I will be more than happy to keep money! Lol

Well I have come to the end of another blog post. Yea! And I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

So take care my friends and if you have not gotten vaccinated or boosted, even if you have had Covid, then get it done. It would be a damn shame if you were to die or suffer significant disability with this virus when vaccines are readily available in this country. So until next time Adios!!

“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” Carl Sagan

“Questions you cannot answer are usually far better for you than answers you cannot question.” Yuval Noah Harari

“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous…, leading to the most amazing views.” Edward Abbey

Colorado, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Gun Control

MUSINGS FOR WEDNESDAY 21st, AUGUST 2019

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“Our love affair with guns has nothing to do with tyranny, or militias, or self-preservation. Just ask any NRA member the following: If Jesus Christ himself were to come down off the cross and grant you one wish, would you opt for a world without guns — or the one we live in now? If every gun owner truly feared for their life and liberty, the answer would be obvious. But it’s not about life and liberty. It’s all about the sheer hard-on of owning a gun.”
Quentin R. Bufogle

“If you’re one of those delusional 2nd Amendment types who believes you and your trailer park ‘militia’ might need to take on the Army, the Navy, the 101st Airborne and SEAL Team 6; not only should you be denied the right to bear arms — but the right to your belt & shoelaces as well … ’cause you’re stark, ravin’ batshit!!!”
Quentin R. Bufogle

There’s no such thing as a good gun. There’s no such thing as a bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guys. Charlton Heston

This is an old YouTube video about stronger gun laws but it is still one of the best ones out there. I am a strong believer in the second amendment. But I don’t think the “Founding Fathers” could envision the modern day assault rifle!!

This picture was taken Tuesday 6th, August 2019. It is looking West on the Poudre River at about 7:30 pm. The orange color in the lower part of the sky is due to Forest Fires out West. Which in and of itself is not good but does make for some spectacular sunsets. This 5 mile round trip walk/run has become a special treat for Marvin. He seems to love this section of the river! Lol

Well for me it has been a good couple of weeks since the last post. I have been doing some work on the house, finishing up the deck, painting the exterior, doing the framing of a back patio to add a little square footage, working on a water feature, or at least thinking about it, etc…. For a few months each summer besides tending to the front yard garden and other landscaping, I do house renovation projects. Last years major project was to redo the deck over the garage. This turned into quite the task, as I eventually installed a roof over the deck. Which required a lot of effort on my part to plan, design and complete. This year I have some major projects planned for the house but less involvement on my part, if possible. Lol. Our house is always in a stage of renovation or light construction. I know that this would probably drive some people crazy but for me it is just another form of art. And something, if done right can tie Art and Life together. Take framing as an example. It sounds pretty straight forward on the surface, but I see it as a functional form of sculpture. You are building the bare bones frame work for the house. The feel of the hammer, the drill, and the saw can be likened to the feel of a chisel on stone . And when you are finished, unlike a beautiful piece of art that is there to look at and ponder its significance, the house can be lived in as if it was living sculpture.

Little Marvin at 8 weeks or two months!! This picture was taken April 11th, 2019.

Marvin has been good. Training is going well. I had forgotten how much work it takes to train a puppy from scratch. Lots and lots of patience and repetition. We finished puppy class and now we are in basic obedience. Working on sit, down, come, stay/wait, heel, etc… All the usual dog commands. Plus we have continued with the socialization. Going to Old Town, hitting the dog park at least once a week, car rides, all kinds of things that you and I take for granted but are new and potentially scary for the dog. He goes for about an hour walk everyday with the opportunity to get in the water. And I have to say that is improving quite a bit. As a puppy he would not even get his toes wet, but now routinely gets in up to his chest. Lol. Still no swimming yet. He has gotten bigger. And we have the tendency to think of him as a adult dog but really he is quite the puppy still at just 6 to 7 months.

Marvin at 6 months and just shy of 75 lbs!! Hard to think of him as still a puppy. This picture was taken July 31st, 2019.

With the time required for the work on the house and the time required for the care and training of Marvin, I have not been able to do a lot of long distance running. I should have seen this coming with the time commitments but I didn’t or maybe I just ignored it. So with that said I am not sure if I will get in any Ultra distances this summer. But to some degree I am OK with that. I have started to ride my bike more at night, it is cooler and that is when I have the time. Lol. I do a lot of walking and some running with Marvin. He is now up to about 5 miles at a time. I do not want to take him too far too fast for fear of causing joint damage.

This picture was taken late Wednesday night, 8/7/19. It is looking South West from the Spring Creek trail in Fort Collins. It was a beautiful evening for a bike ride. We are lucky here in Fort Collins to have the bike trail system. I can ride a long distance if I want to with minimal exposure to automobile traffic. Even with the lessened exposure, I do ride with what I would call significant lighting by Night Rider. It was an expensive lighting system, but after using their products for a few years now, I am glad that I spent the money. You can check them out here: https://www.niterider.com/

Well another two mass shooting at the first of this months. I find it hard to put it into words. Just awful. I cannot imagine what it must feel like to be a family member of one of the victims. From the above quotes by Quentin R. Bufogle and Charlton Heston. You probably figured I would talk a little about this. Let me say up front that I am a supporter of the second amendment and our right to bear arms. But what I am not a supporter of is the insane right for Joe Blow citizen to own Assault Style weapons. As the YouTube video so aptly shows, I do not think that our founding fathers had any idea that weapons would advance to the point where they are today. How could they? There have been technological advances that even the smartest minds at that time would not have been able to fathom yet alone conceptualize what it would make possible. This is the same for all generations. A single discovery, new tool, etc…. leads to all kinds of possibilities that we would not even have the ability to imagine until said invention occurred. So with that, when they put down the second amendment the weapon of choice was a musket and/or musket like pistol. No comparison to modern day weapons. The designers of the Constitution would not have conceptualized the modern-day AR-15.

In my opinion these types of “Mass destruction” weapons should not be in the hands of private citizens. I know that some of you may disagree and if you do. I have one question. Where do you draw the line? A flame thrower, a bazooka, an atomic bomb of some kind? We can all suffer from what is known as “Temporary Insanity.” A job loss, a relationship break up, a death of a loved one, organic brain disease, etc…. The list could go on and on and on. It is not a matter of if, but when will it occur. And if you have access to something like an AR-15, well history speaks for itself now, doesn’t it.

We are all subject to the stresses of life. What you or I think is a significant event is not the same as what someone else thinks. A good reason why the public should not have access to these type of weapons.

The other issues with the gun control and I can see it coming down the line, is an increase in mass public surveillance. Which in and of itself I find ironic when you talk to some of the hard core gun rights advocates. Especially when they are worried about a “Tyrannical Government” controlling their lives and why they need an assault rifle. I hate to tell them but to some degree it is already here. If the defunct company Cambridge Analytica in conjunction with Facebook can come up with 5000 data points on each American Voter to target specific ads for controlling an election, how tough would it be to create a data set that would spot would be shooters before they act? Or control them so that they never act?! Weird! Like something out of the movie with Tom Cruise – Minority Report. What was yesterday’s Science Fiction is today’s re-imagined reality.

A good movie to watch. They use special humans called Pre-Cogs to tell the future so to speak. But in our world – you may just need data points and a good “smart” analytics program…..

Bottom line you will get to keep your assault rifle but you will be giving away more of your privacy. And increasing the ability for powerful governmental and corporate entities to control more of your life. I guess this is already to some degree more of a reality than I care to admit. But I see it increasing and the powers that be using the resistance to “common sense gun control” as a fulcrum to deepen the current level of surveillance and manipulation. I don’t find this necessarily a problem except for “who” controls the technology? That could make all the difference. Some in the gun rights group would say that is the reason we need Assault Rifles in the first place but I beg to differ. In the past, control of large populations was done through brute force and terror. Today it is different. Increasingly your mind and thoughts can be subtly shifted without firing a shot or throwing a spear. So the very thing the gun rights people think might keep them safe ( their assault rifle) is the very thing that will be used against them….

This picture was taken Friday 16th, August 2019. Marvin looking North West across one of the many quarry ponds in Fort Collins. It was a beautiful evening walk/run. Sometimes I just have to remind myself it is the simple pleasures that make a difference.

Well enough of that depressing line of thought. I guess it is inevitable as technology advances. Hopefully in the future there will be laws on the books that will prevent this kind of misuse of power. Can you say 1984 and George Orwell? Scary!!

Lots and lots of things to write about. Just not enough time. Lol. Take care my friends and I hope to see you out there!! Adios amigos!!

Colorado, Exercise, Exercise, Fort Collins, Sociology, Trail Running

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 27TH, JANUARY 2019

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“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you  should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” – Seth Godin

This picture was taken Thursday, January 17th. Not a lot of snow this year. This is a great trail run / road called Tower Road in Horsetooth Mountain Park. If you start at the bottom it gains about 1700 feet in just over three miles. So it is a good cardiovascular workout.

Life is good and I really cannot complain too much at the moment. Damn I turned 57 this January and I have to ask myself where did the time go?? I mean were did it go?? LOL! It seems just like yesterday when I was turning 25 and moving to Colorado.

This picture was taken Friday, January 18th, it is in an area called Prospect Ponds. They are old gravel quarry sites. After the quarry is closed, the states requires you to only fill in part of the open pit mine, but the rest can be filled with water to create wildlife habitat. There are a lot of these types of ponds in the open spaces around Fort Collins. The Poudre River and the bike trail is just on the other side of the picture. The photograph was taken looking west.  

I ended up here in – a – round about way. Even before I got out of High School I was pushed and I mean that quite literally, pushed into applying and going to nursing school. At the time I really had no idea what I wanted to do. But my dear mother, felt that the best way to get me out of the house (this is what I have come to believe) was not to give me an option to procrastinate. Oh no – no lollygagging for you young man. Get your nose to the grindstone. And I have to give her a little leeway on this because High School academically was a complete waste of time for me. And I am not sure if that was the High School at the time or just where I was socially and emotionally. When I got to college, I took to it like a fish takes to water. And I did extremely well in College and Nursing School. But of course when you are pushed into something, I have found you come to tolerate it, but you don’t really find a passion for it. And that was my case from day one. As soon as I finished nursing school, I started working on a 2nd degree in Wildlife Biology. Which led me to thinking about a masters in Forestry. Which eventually led me to Fort Collins and Colorado State University.

This picture was taken Saturday, January 19th, this is a shot of the Poudre river looking South East. During spring run off the river would be full from bank to bank and flowing fast. This might look like a lot of water but in reality, at this time of year, the river is barely flowing.

Funny thing, once I got to Colorado and really had access to the outdoors and open spaces around Fort Collins. School did not have quite the same importance as it did before. Plus it did not help that the wife wanted kids and anytime you add that time commitment in, well school really does drop to the back burner. The nursing job paid the bills and it allowed me to have what is called perpetual “Peter Pan Syndrome.” I highly recommend it. I think that J.M. Barrie might have been on to something.

This picture was taken Sunday, January 20th. A very beautiful, but cool, afternoon in Fort Collins. This pond I believe was an old irrigation pond, but is now part of Pine Ridge open space. The small lake or pond is know as Dixon Reservoir. Horsetooth Lake sits on the other side of the ridge on the right.

Now, 31 years later and still living in Colorado and Fort Collins. I find that I enjoy the outdoors even more. I still work at the day job to pay the bills but only about 2 days per week or less. The rest of the work week, I am writing, drawing, painting, occasional sculpture, reading, exercising, and doing a little meditation. And Life is pretty good. But if I had to do it all over again with what I know now? I would change one thing. I would have practiced becoming a writer from day one. The only job that all you need is a word processor and an internet connection. How cool is that. Oh well, I get to write now and I try to practice each and everyday to get better.

This picture was taken on Friday, January 25th. In this photograph I am looking east, the lake is Horsetooth Reservoir, and you can just make out the North end of Fort Collins. Here I am trail running at Horsetooth Mountain Park.

One thing I have learned over the years but did not realize it until much more recently is the quote by Seth Godin. And I will repeat it here: “Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.” And that is so true. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing mistaken with traveling to see new places, people and things. Exploration of our wonderful world is a fantastic thing to do. But heading towards the “beach” or the “bar,” each year or weekend so that you can “escape” from work and your usual life….. Never seemed quite right to me in hindsight. Always thought I was a little weird when friends told me about their beach or bar adventures of drinking and partying, it never seemed appealing. About a year ago, I came across Seth’s quote and it just clicked. It was a true A’Ha moment. Sometimes it is hard to put into words what you are feeling or thinking, but then someone comes along and does it for you. And it just clicks into place.

This picture was also taken Friday, January 25th, and what a difference a week can make. The first picture in the blog post was in the same area and no snow. A week later the road was snow packed all the way to the top. It got me to thinking that if we got a really good snow in Fort Collins this road would be a great skimo work out. You could skin all the way to the top and the road is wide enough to ski it all the way back down. That would be pretty cool.

Well I think this is going to be about it for me. I hope you have had a great January. I know that I did, even turning 57. My wife tells me to just be happy with making it that far! LOL!

Maybe I will see you out there on the trails or the ski slope. Take care my friends. Adios!!

Art, Colorado, Exercise, Meditations, Psychology, Run Rabbit Run

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 23RD, SEPTEMBER 2018

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Plunge Your Whole Life into What You Are Doing

“Just as when you sit in meditation you just sit, when you sleep, be aware of the totality of your whole being going to sleep.  When walking, you just walk.  When you eat, you are right there just eating.  Plunge your whole life into what you are doing at that very moment and live that way.  So, we train ourselves to engage our whole being in what we are doing.  Whether sitting or eating, you are not engaged in discursive, wandering, or deluded thoughts.  All of you…environment, body, and mind…is right there.  Whatever you do, whatever the task at hand, your whole life is there at that moment.

Some people may interpret plunging your whole being into the practice or into the task at hand as a very tense approach.  This is incorrect.  By putting your whole being into what you are doing, you are also being relieved from doing anything else at that moment.  Therefore, when you are doing that one thing, that is all you have to care about, and you can do it in a very relaxed manner and attitude.  In this light, you will better understand the meaning of engaging your whole being in the present task.  This is a relaxed and reposed attitude to practice.”

Excerpted from: “The Method of No-Method:  The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination, by Chan Master Sheng Yen

 

Happy Autumnal Equinox!!  First day of fall?!  Wow where did the time go??  Well….. it has been a good week.  Still recovering from the attempt at the 100 miles with the Run Rabbit Run.  It has been nice to just do some easy bicycling each day this past week.  The temps are getting cooler in the mornings and you can tell that fall is in the air.  Even with the unseasonably hot weather.  The air conditioner is not running constantly, trees on the front range are starting to change leaf color, etc.…  I am wondering what this winter will bring?  Will it be non-existent so to speak with less snow and more rain?  Or will it be like the winters of the past?  I guess only time will tell.

Looking West towards the Foothills – Spring Creek Trail.

Prairie Dog (Colorado State Rodent) on Spring Creek Trail.

The bike riding in the afternoons has been fantastic.  I am very fortunate to live in a city that continues to expand its trail system.  If you really wanted to help your citizens with health care, then get them outside and walking, running, biking, skating, etc.…  Whatever it might be.  The trick is that you need easy and I mean easy access.  We are all creatures of habit and we need that easy access to help with the “willpower requirement” of just getting out.  We could prevent a lot of our health care cost just with preventive strategies like exercise.  It is an old idea but still just as valid since time immortal.

I have been working on another “anatomical heart” picture.  They do take time.  I figure in this one I already have about 5 to 6 hours of drawing in place.  And I am only about a 4th of the way done.  This is a smaller one at 7 inches by 10 inches.  I will show more of it as the weeks go by.  I usually get an hour or two drawing each day.  This will be the fourth one I have done of the hearts.

I love the above quote from the book “The Method of No-Method: The Chan Practice of Silent Illumination.”  Some days I am much better with this practice than others.  Modern media and advertising does not help.  Always wanting you to want more.  Distracting you from what you are doing.  I have found that doing meditation each day helps with this.  Focusing me on what I am doing so that I can just be in the moment.  Not letting my mind pull me in a thousand different ways.  Just taking a deep breath and bringing myself back into the moment.

Monkey Mind – all the things I have to do – over and over and over and – I need this, I need that, I cannot live without this, etc.…

Realizing that it is OK, the “monkey mind” is going to wander… The trick is to realize that you will have to pull it back into alignment… a lot.  Over and over until it become second nature.  If you are like me, our minds really have the tendency to wonder and this is without the help of modern media.  I wonder what it would have been like to live 150 years ago?  Before radio, before TV, before cell phones, before the internet.  Would it be a good idea to once a year go on a “modern media hiatus”, even if it was only for a week.  I think that it would be even hard to do for a day?  Or you could spend a significant sum on a Zen retreat where all form of electronic communication is forbidden?  I have not tried either yet but maybe that is the next step?  Well just some thoughts running around in my “Monkey Brain.”

The reposed and relaxed goal to shoot for.  If Home can do it so can you!!  Lol

Well on the above note, I am thinking that will be all for me this week.  Hope to see you out there on the trails!!  Adios amigos!!

 

 

 

Exercise

Wednesday 11th, February 2015

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“WE CAN BECOME GREATER THAN WHAT WE EVER

EXPECTED OF OURSELVES WHEN WE OVER COME

THOSE FAILURES BOTH HANDED TO US AND THOSE

FAILURES ACCOMPLISHED BY OUR OWN HAND”

By Steve Timko

After running an Ultramarathon back in 2013 – the Run Rabbit Run at Steamboat Springs, I realized that I needed some time off from serious running during the months of December, January and February. But I did not want to lose all of my hard earned aerobic capacity. XC skiing seemed to be the ticket. A winter cross training sport that would rest the knees and improve upper body strength. I find that Nordic skiing is a good diversion from doing Ultra Marathons in the warmer months. It can inspire the soul as well as improve your aerobic capacity.

This year I am training for the 42nd annual American Birkebeiner. I heard about this XC ski marathon years ago but never had the time to train for it until now. I did attempt it last year on skate skies but only finished about half of the distance of 51k or about 15 miles. This year I am going to use classical technique which I am much more familiar with and so far I feel pretty confident that I can do the whole distance.

It is an amazing XC ski marathon that draws about 10,000 skiers from across the country and around the world. The distances are 51k for skaters and 55k for classic skiers. The route is a one way distance between Cable Wisconsin to Hayward Wisconsin. A huge celebration of everything Nordic! Checkout the web site for more information: http://www.birkie.com

Most of my training this year has taken place at the Eldora Nordic Center. With a touch of new snow each week to freshen up the trails followed by mild days, XC skiing has been good the last couple of weeks. ENC is a great cross country area about 21 miles west of Boulder. I feel that it is one of the more challenging XC areas in Colorado which makes it a great training ground for the Birkie. It also has a nice downhill area nestled right next to it if you want to partake in a little Alpine Skiing.

Ultramarathon season is coming up for me and it will soon be time to put in more running miles. The first Ultramarathon scheduled this year for me is the Quad Rock on May 9th 2015. This is the fourth running of the QR. Last year I did the 25 miler and this year I plan to do the 50. I feel that it is a challenging run because of the elevation gain – 5,500 for the 25 miler and 11,000 for the 50 miler. It all takes place behind Fort Collins in Lory and Horsetooth Mountain Park. A great early season run that gives fantastic views of the Front Range to the East and the Rocky Mountains to the West. The race/run is hosted by the “Gnar Runners” out of Fort Collins. They did an excellent job at hosting the QR last year. To learn more check out their web site: http://www.gnarrunners.com

Well that is all for this post – see you next week!!