Barrel Around the Moon

Red sky in morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailors delight.

A barrel around the moon brings storms the next noon.

My parents knew scores of these weather sayings.   I don't remember them until I see the physical sign then it all comes back.

I've always looked for the barrel around the moon.   I've seen the moon shining through light clouds.   I always thought that was the barrel and it may well be.   But in August of 2011 I saw a different phenomenon.   I saw a barrel around the moon that was a perfect circle covering a full third of the sky.

It froze me.   I looked at it as many different ways as I could.   It was huge perfect circle around a nearly full moon.    I have not seen it since.    Now I wonder what was meant by the ancients when they coined that weather phrase.

I look for it often.   I can't remember if it rained the next day.

The 60 K Walk

My plan seemed simple.   Walk 60 K on my 60th birthday.   On my special day I arose at 3:30 AM and at 4:00 started off on a the walk.   It was an out and back course.   I finished shortly after 5:00 PM.   That's the short version.

I planned for months.   Nearly everything I planned failed.   I had help along the way but it was My Oldest finding me on his bike that saved the day.

The Training:   I walked a lot but never more than 20 K in one day.   I walked parts of the course several times.   I didn't walk enough.

The Planning: A backpack of supplies...band aids, a couple of power bars, aspirin, a hanky. and a cell phone.   A GPS watch borrowed from My Oldest.   The battery on the watch died at the 6 hour mark.   Water bottles scattered throughout the course strategically hidden the night before.   I wore light colored clothing and a flashing red light.   You can't walk that far on a couple of power bars and some water.

The Events: Larry the Communicator found me at about 15K and gave me some extra power bars and encouragement.   Many folks were texting me along the way, especially Caring Kim and The Commissioner.    At the 30 K mark I was stopped by a Dallas County Deputy and told that citizens were complaining about a strange man walking along the highway.  At the 35 K mark I started not making sense.   I began passing up water stops.   I threw away the band aids to lighten my load.   At the 40 K mark my son rolled up on his bike and gave me sandwiches and juice.  He saved me.  I got my senses back.    At the 45 K mark my hands were too swollen to text in return.  At the 50 K mark a group of teachers brought me fruit and water...saved again.

The Celebration: When I finally finished I grilled a steak, had a bourbon on the rocks and smoked a cigar.

The lesson was simple...train more, plan smarter, and know the warning signs.

A footnote to this experience:   3 weeks later on a Sunday morning I went to school to get ready for the new year.   Unfortunately, I started the new year in the hospital.   I had a heart attack.

The Scent of February

It's February.    I know folks think of Valentines, hearts, candy and flowers.    Some folks think of snow with sledding, skiing, and building forts.   I'm sure others think of President's Day and all the sales and maybe even an ex-wife's birthday.

I think of all those things, too...well maybe not the ex-wife thing.   But as a country walker, late February always brings out the first skunks from hibernation.   The first scent around the outside of the house early in the morning.   The same curve on the lane each year where they are leaving their calling card.   And sadly the first road kill.

I have never hit a skunk.   I can't imagine what that must be like.    Just driving past a fresh kill leaves an odor in my car for days.   I'm sure a direct hit is an instant trade-in.

Anyway, strangely, this pungent odor for me is always welcomed because, more than the ground hog, it is the sign that Spring is near.   Punxsutawny Phil meet South Dallas Suzy.

Footnote:   There was no message intended by discussing skunks and ex-wives in the same blog.

Constellations

There are many pleasures found walking in the early morning.   One of the most enjoyable is the night sky.   I know very little about constellations, stars and planets.   It's on my bucket list to be able to take my grandchildren outside and act like a know-it-all pointing out stars, groups of stars and planets.

Even though I don't know many of the names, I know the characteristics.   I always see a certain group of stars in the south sky close to the horizon; another group higher on the horizon and they all move east and west.  I likewise notice other groups in the north when I turn around to walk home.   I can find Polaris.

I was told that the sheep herders in Greece stared at the sky and imagined they were seeing images important to them.     I'll tell my grand kids that Italians walking in Iowa named the heavens.   They won't know any better.   Grandpap is really smart.

One Huge Bathroom

I'm preparing my mind and my habits for the day when I will need to move into civilization.    I'm nearly ready, but I'm sure my new neighbors will not be as receptive.

I can give up most of the habits of a hermit, except toileting outdoors.   Some folks have the world in the palm of their hands; I see the world as a huge porcelain bowl.   This is never more true than on a morning walk.   Sometimes, without much warning, I must handle a deuce miles from home.   If things go well and I am prepared, I have tissues, a hanky or some gloves with me.  

Things don't always go well.   I have come home without socks and once without a t-shirt.

I like writing in the snow more now than I did when I was a kid even though the pen is not what it used to be.    It does serve as a health warning.   If the ink is a little too yellow, I know I'm dehydrated and I look for water.

I promised Caring Kim I'd be normal before I live in town.

A Nickel Here and a Nickel There

Iowa has a 5 cent deposit on cans and bottles.   It is designed to decrease litter.   To the end of decreasing litter it works but there are still plenty of people that would rather throw the nickel out the window.   Sometimes I get in mood and decide to pick up cans on my walks.

I'm not sure why I start or why I stop but I begin picking up cans.   I leave the bottles.   I tell myself that I will collect enough to buy a beverage at Wrigley Field.   Then suddenly I stop for no reason except I would hate my dogs to get away on account of 5 cents.

I've learned a little about Dallas County drinking habits...both alcoholic and non alcoholic.   I see more Bud cans then any other but I find a wide variety of beer cans.    When you find one Miller can you are likely to find 2 or 3 more very close.   More folks throw out Mt. Dew cans than most other soda's.  

Not sure how much money I have collected over the years but somewhere I have written it down.   I am sure that, whether or not I collect enough money, I buy a beverage or two at Wrigley Field.   Tri-Limb, Bullwinkle, Bean Counter and The Commissioner can attest to that.

Riverwalk Two

There are many riverwalks.   Even Des Moines has one, but it is basically a sidewalk by the river. I once walked along one in Florida.   Ft. Lauderdale I think but I'm not sure.   I would guess that few are as impressive as the walk along the river in San Antonio.

I heard once that this was the first in this country but I hear a lot of things that are wrong.    Whether it was the first or not I don't know but it must definitely be one of the most beautiful with the coolest design features.   Great bridges and many of them, a theater with the stage on one side of the river and the audience on the other, lots of access to street level, great landscaping with many waterfalls, and lots of access to hotels, restaurants and bars at river level.

I found a great Irish bar with a very entertaining piano player but the drinks were high in expensive and low in volume.   I found several great restaurants with reasonably priced food but not that delicious (see Riverwalk One).   But we all do those walks so we can people watch and that opportunity was prime. 

I enjoyed people watching but I can't remember many.   I do believe remember that buying a t-shirt with a slogan is like sending an email....there needs to be a mandatory delay before one pulls the trigger.

If Dogs Blogged

Clearly my dogs don't write.   They can barely think.   They are mostly motivated by conditioning, habits, food and a warm place to take a nap.   But if they could blog and they wrote in English, I think this is what they would say about their lives in rural Iowa.   If they wrote in Greek I would be unable to share this.

Patience: "I want more people to throw their fast food wrappers on the gravel.   This adds variety to my diet.   You just can't get those flavors in chunks of Iams.   I would like the front door to be left open more frequently so that I might explore the neighboring fields without being dragged by the neck   If at all possible my previous owner should leave his door open occasionally.   There are exciting things in that room on which to chew.   Oh, and one more thing; every once in a while, kennel that little spotted dog and let John and I walk on our own."

Violet: "Seriously, is that all the faster you can walk?   I have a preferred toileting spot and it takes forever to get there.   What is that lady doing while we are out here in the cold?   I'll bet she's hogging my pillow.   Why does the black dog get all the good toys?   I prefer first choice on toys.   If you let me loose, I'll catch that truck.   Is there any way you can provide a heated area for toileting?"

Walking Wild: "Give me two meals a day, amble snacks, all I can drink and a warm bed and let those dogs go to work."

Remember the Alamo (repeated)

I once walked down the San Antonio Riverwalk and then up to the Alamo.   The first day I walked around the outside perimeter of the mission and on the next day I did the inside tour.   I liked the outside much better. 

As I walked around the inside I realized there wasn't much saved in memory or relic from the original battle.   The fort is mostly rebuilt and the story is mostly legend or rebuilt from enemy notes.   Often when I walk through memorials, I sense the emotion of those memorialized.   I just didn't get that in the Alamo.

I did get that emotion as I walked around the outside perimeter.   I sensed the folks running to the inside of the mission for safety in numbers.   I sensed the folks who risked leaving the mission to find additional supplies to bring back to the Americans.   I wanted to know what was going on inside.

As a child, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and all their compadres were some of my favorite stories.   I once even had my hair cut in a "Davy Crockett"  (a raccoon tail in the back...remember I lived in the Appalachians).   I prefer those memories to the Alamo walk.

Riverwalk One

Sometimes I walk without my dogs.   This week it is in San Antonio.   I walked for exercise and to experience the culture.   I also walked to get places.   I spent my share of time walking to restaurants.   I'm not a restaurant critic but I do visit my share and I am a decent cook.   I will share what I have experienced in San Antonio.

Usually, before I visit anywhere, I get restaurant recommendations from The Commissioner.   He wines and dines clients on the company tab all over the states and outside the states and even in South Africa.   I forgot this time so I was on my own.

Prices:  Prices were all reasonable for every meal in every place.   Much lower than most of the cities I have recently visited.   In San Francisco, I believed the restaurant owners should be put on that island in the bay.

Service:   All the service was efficient and friendly.   Most of it was extremely slow.   I like to drink the wine and visit with Caring Kim so I rarely notice the speed of the service.   In San Antonio I noticed.

Food:   Most everything was prepared uniquely with a variety of ingredients not normally used together.    That was very exciting.   Every presentation was artistic and appetizing.   I truly enjoyed the way all food was organized on the plate.   Just about everything I ate was more bland than I expected and everything was over-cooked.   Ray Charles would not have enjoyed my meals.

I know that if you live in Iowa, you should not order beef in Texas but even the mussels were over cooked and bland.  You don't suppose Texas has free range mussels?  

The 400, Mark

It occurred to me during my morning walk that doing 400 of anything is an endurance test.   There is a club of a few people that have coached 400 basketball games.   The fraternity is much, much smaller when the admittance requirement is winning 400 basketball games.

My friend Bullwinkle is 400+ now.   He probably thinks back on scores of games that if "this" would have just happened he would have a whole lot more wins.    And if he is honest, he probably knows there are a few in the 400 that should have gone the other way.

I think the real endurance test is surviving the opinions of administrators, players, parents and fans for all these years.   Next to that magic trick, performing the 400 win feat is cake.

I didn't see number 400, but I was in the gym, helping coach another team, when he got number 1.   I'm pretty sure Earl, Betty and one of his sisters were there, also.   Maybe that is our own little endurance test.

Way to go Tibe...er...Bullwinkle.