Archive for June 2015
Sky Show
Cyndie and Delilah were down in the paddock with the horses last night and the sun was getting close to our horizon. I finished what I was doing and headed out to find them. It didn’t surprise me to find the sky taking on a strange hue, because the night before, our sunset was quite a sight through the plume of smoke passing over us from Canadian forest fires. I figured it was happening again.
Then I saw a streak of lightning in the distance. There was a bit of a straight-line rain”bow” appearing on the far side of some rain clouds stretched to the ground by the precipitation in the distance. We stood among the horses and watched nature’s grandeur for a good half-hour.
I did my best to capture a panoramic view with my phone. In truth, you really had to be there to experience how impressive it was, but this will give you a rough idea. Imagine the rest if you can.
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Ivy Update
I am happy to report that the organic weed killer I have discovered works very efficiently at choking the poison ivy growing on our property. I tested it in a location where there weren’t very many other plants growing, which made it easier to target just the ivy leaves with the spray.
I am using Avenger Weed Killer which is approved for use in organic gardening. It is easy to spot leaves of plants that I missed with that first application, as well as some partial damage where only drops made contact.
The active ingredient is a citrus oil, which provides the added benefit of actually having a pleasant smell. I get a little aroma therapy while also experiencing an almost uncomfortable amount of pleasure over taking the lives of all these plants.
Some suppressed evil alter-ego in me comes out and I become the villainous deliverer of death.
“Die, DIE, you poisonous scum!”
For some reason, holding the bottle of weed killer seems to make it easier for me to spot those dastardly poison ivy leaves. For so long I was in the dark about which “leaves of three” was the culprit, but after finally making an initial positive identification, it’s getting easier. Then, once I start spraying, those leaves seem to be everywhere!
Yesterday, I used up what remained of our sample gallon, which I had purchased to test its effectiveness. As I sprayed, my eyes kept finding more and more of those poisonous leaves. I have now ordered a gallon of the concentrate and plan to purchase a backpack sprayer, because there remains a lot more ground to cover.
Even if I can’t totally eliminate the poison ivy from our land, it is comforting to know we have the ability to stop it from running rampant. I’ll focus on high-traffic areas and anywhere it has gotten thick like it was in this spot next to one of our open trails. The white outlines on the leaves are the weed killer, shortly after I had sprayed.
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Preparations Underway
It’s that time again. In 4 days I depart for a week of bicycling and tent camping. Preparations are underway to get my bike ready, my butt ready, and my gear pulled out of storage.
I haven’t been out on the bicycle much at all this year, but I have snuck in a couple of rides covering a reasonable number of miles, enabling me to feel at least minimally prepared for what’s ahead. On Saturday I ventured out alone to explore some of the country roads around our place, and managed to be out riding for twice as long as I had intended. I figured that to be a good sign. One, that I was even able to do it (although I was thoroughly spent by the time I reached home again), and two, that I was feeling up to riding for that long.
I tried to follow that up yesterday with another workout in the saddle, but very quickly my legs let me know they hadn’t had enough time to recover from the day before. Seems I picked a tricky time to ask my body to readjust to getting less sugar, since I also need to prepare to do a week of long distance cycling. My energy stores are a bit confused.
It is a good thing I cut my ride short, because we had family stop by to celebrate Cyndie’s birthday which was during the week last week. I thought they were just making a brief appearance while on their way home from the lake, but it turned out they hadn’t been at the lake and ventured our way just for a little party. What fun!
Cyndie served up some treats and pulled out the lawn games for the niece and nephews. They gave her a fabulous collection of mini figurines and decor that are now wonderfully arranged down by the labyrinth garden. We had a beautiful afternoon of outdoor activities, although keeping to mostly high ground.
Overnight Saturday, we received another inch and a half of rain in a spectacularly dramatic flashing thunderstorm. Our low spots are now all standing water after a pattern of repeated soakings last week. The horses —well, mostly the two geldings— rolled in the fresh mud in attempt to keep the biting flies at bay.
Despite how annoyed they were with the flies, all four horses seemed particularly well-behaved during the period our visitors were mingling with them at the barn.
Delilah was delighted to have so many people to interact with and throw things for her to chase. She completely dropped any hint of heeding our commands and made herself at home in the landscape pond whenever she got hot and tired. It looked like she was thinking about taking up tree climbing at one point, when something particularly interesting got her attention up in a pine tree that was much taller than with which she should have been bothered.
I know this week will be gone in a blink and my hours for packing will expire, but I’ve done this bike trip enough times that I’m hoping it will all fall into place in the nick of time.
I usually does.
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For Pharoah
Honoring the accomplishment of a fabulous athlete, American Pharoah, who yesterday broke a drought of 37 years since the last Triple Crown winner. The horse with the short tail (bitten off by a stable mate!) and the long stride, he appears to float over the track as he runs. Hat tip also to jockey, Victor Espinoza, and trainer, Bob Baffert.
Seth Wenig/Associated Press
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Sugar Withdrawal
Despite how I felt yesterday morning, when my body seemed to be reacting as if I were withdrawing from an addiction or something, today I feel somewhat renewed. I’m doing really well.
In a classic sense of relativity, breaking a sugar addiction is both really hard and rather simple. It comes down to how you choose to frame it. Seriously, yesterday I had a spell where I felt like things were out of control and my legs were ridiculously weak as I trudged up to the house from turning compost, because I was exhausted and felt like I should get some water. I have a history of tremors, but what I next experienced was more like the shakes of withdrawal.
It startled me. I had decided not to try a cold turkey detox from sugar. I simply reduced my intake to something closer to the recommended daily amount. I am primarily reducing portion sizes to serving suggestions, which is a dramatic way to discover how much excess I have been consuming on a regular basis.
My body’s reaction was as if I was completely withholding the key to its survival. I have noticed a couple of periods of ravenous cravings. They don’t come to me as a need for something sweet. It is trickier than that. I simply get a compelling urge to eat something. It’s as if my body knows that it doesn’t need to force me to eat candy or other treats to get sugar, which I would recognize right away as not the healthiest choice. Maybe I would just grab a convenient (processed) granola bar or make a couple slices of toast.
Results: Sugar!
My body would get what it was after. It is a complicated relationship between my brain and the cells of my body. Logically, I understand that I shouldn’t consume too much sugar, but physiologically, the brain responds to the ever-increasing input and becomes programmed in the insidious relationship with the cells to keep up the supply and demand.
So, what? Now I have to outsmart my own brain? It doesn’t seem right. Who is in charge here, anyway?
I guess that I (unwittingly) taught myself how to be addicted, so now I have to teach the brain and cells how to get back to where we once belonged. You know the tune.
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Crescendo
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that part where there is a key change
…yeah
and everything kicks into a higher gear
that’s what we’re after here
cheerful, don’t you know?
a dream that might become reality
and the chorus begins to climb
ringing harmony and rhyme
we take flight
and reach out for a golden ring
as we sail breezily by
feeling laughter
that lifts like wings
when nothing matters
but the glint within the eyes
and the singing
that’s the thing
it’s all clear voices
resonating in the sky
our souls slowly entangle
a delicate swirling dance
that desperately feels like nothing
if not some kind of romance
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My Addiction
Hello, my name is John, and I’m an addict. Studies with laboratory rats have found that the substance of my addiction happens to be more rewarding and attractive than addictive drugs like cocaine.
I am addicted to sugar. I have known this for a long time, but only now have I come to understand to what degree, and how futile my previous attempts to self-regulate have been. I have my children to thank for recommending I watch the movie, “Fed Up,” which has informed me more clearly and concisely than other sources that have come my way up to this point.
For the past 6 years or so, I have been receiving news from two different doctors who have performed my annual physical examinations that my blood tests show me as being ‘pre-diabetic.’ I wasn’t completely surprised, because I knew I had a sweet tooth. I try to eat a generally healthy diet, and I usually get plenty of exercise, so I figured it wouldn’t take much to produce better results the next year by eating less sweet treats.
I love ice cream so much that I figured that was something I should be careful to control. I can often times avoid candy, though I do have trouble with occasional binges. When I give in to the urge, I usually give way in and go for broke. Other times, I just subtly slip myself one or two treats, one, two, or ten times a day, so I don’t notice how many I have truly consumed.
I never really counted calories, let alone paid attention to the actual number of grams of sugar I was ingesting. The annually increasing paunch that is expanding my middle, seen clearly in this shot Cyndie captured of me with the Morales boys in Guatemala a couple of months ago, was easily dismissed as a function of my age and lackadaisical attitude about what I was eating.
I now understand that I have been consuming a dramatic amount of (hidden) sugar every day in foods beyond simply just the desserts to which I have succumbed. The food industry has taken every advantage to push their products on the under-informed world by making processed foods sweeter and thus irresistible to the inevitable cravings for more which result.
The sugar industry is in business to make money, not to keep us healthy, and the public policy of my government is supporting the obesity epidemic in this country with subsidies. On average, I bet I have been eating between 3 and 4 times the recommended healthy amount of sugar daily, and I have been doing so despite the fact that I don’t drink soda pop (one of the most evil of sources for sugar calories) or put ketchup on my food.
One of the worst things I do is exceed serving sizes as indicated on food labels. My vice after ice cream is cold cereal and milk. It is no surprise that there is a lot of sugar added to processed cereals. Whatever the label shows, I usually consume twice that or more, because I rarely stop at one bowl.
Our nutrition facts food labels indicate how much sugar there is inside, but the food industry has successfully steered the government away from forcing the added reference of what percentage of the recommended daily allowance would be. It’s there for fat, carbohydrates, sodium… but not sugar.
If I should be limiting myself to less than 25 grams/day, I can easily exceed that at breakfast alone, with multiple bowls of cereal, orange juice, and toast. I usually have two slices. Ever look at how much sugar there is in bread? Double that, because a serving size for the nutrition label is commonly 1 slice.
The movie, “Fed Up“, has given me new incentive to address my addiction to sugar. I don’t know how anyone in America who isn’t thinking about this issue can possibly avoid exceeding the healthy amount of sugar per day, given how much processed and packaged food has become a part of our eating habits.
I urge you to see this movie, with hope that it will help spread the word about how pervasive sugar has become in processed foods and the consequences of not paying attention to it.
Here is the trailer to hopefully inspire you to seek it out:
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Animal Antics
I’ve been working a few days a week again at the old day-job, at a time when there is much that needs attention at home. The grass seems to double in height every 2 or 3 days in some places. I swear I could mow somewhere every single day and never run out of things to cut.
I finished clearing the lines of electric fence yesterday, but it took jumping into grubby clothes the instant I got home and leaving Delilah in her kennel a little longer than I like. I worked until I used up the gas in the tank and then headed up to rescue the dog and we went to the barn to feed the horses.
Normally, we pick up their feed pans as soon as they finish, but I just left them and walked Delilah out into the pasture. After unclipping her leash to let her explore freely, I stepped out of a gate and restarted the brush cutter. My progress was slowed a bit by trying to frequently locate Delilah and assure myself she was behaving well.
I was trying to accomplish two things simultaneously, having her get some time running freely to burn off her energy, while also working to finish the trimming. She did a great job of entertaining herself. I noticed that she had made her way back into the paddock area, where the horses were calmly idling.
Delilah grabbed one of her favorite horse toys, an inflated heavy rubber ball with a big handle, and began running around shaking it like she does when I am there attempting to pull it away. The next time I glanced up, I couldn’t immediately spot her. Just as I began to fear she may have crawled under a fence and run off, I realized she was close to one of the horses. From my distance, I couldn’t tell which of the chestnuts it was, but probably either Hunter or Cayenne.
I kept my eyes on them, with Delilah mostly obscured by the wood rails of the fence, concerned that either of them might act out unfavorably. Suddenly Delilah was trotting away, shaking the ball. It looked to me like she was trying to get the horse to play with her in the way that I do. It was pretty cute, but the horse chose not to engage.
As the sun slid behind some low hanging clouds and evening settled in, I successfully finished trimming the last of the electric fence. During one of the several refueling stops that were needed, I had run Delilah up to the house and put out dinner for her and Pequenita. I was able to finish with Delilah in the house, which sped things back up a bit.
As I was dragging myself back to the shop with my arms aching under the load of the trimmer and gas tank, I spotted Dezirea oddly walking through a small batch of young trees near the far fence line. My first thought was to question the strange route, but instantly I got the impression she was using them to scratch her itches.
Then a branch cracked and Cayenne leaped into a panic gallop to get away. Our horses really seem to startle over the sound of a stick breaking. Her reaction spooked Dezirea, who then bolted out from the trees. That got Legacy’s attention, and he galloped after them.
Just as quickly, they all stopped, satisfied they had successfully averted a potential predator, and went back to grazing. I felt like I had pulled a double shift, but having the animals as entertainment while I worked went a long way toward offsetting my day’s-worth of fatigue.
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Risky Behavior
I engaged in some risky behavior yesterday, and it was thoroughly pleasing. Regardless the likelihood of exposing myself to the dreaded oil of the poison ivy plant, I did some heavy trimming with our Stihl brush cutter. There is something incredibly satisfying about accomplishing the clean and trimmed look that this tool enables. All those edges that I can’t reach when mowing with our lawn tractor are so quickly dispatched.
Ian will know just what I’m talking about. It was when Cyndie and I were visiting him in Portugal that I discovered what can be accomplished with a brush cutter. There is immediate visual reward for the work and it creates a wonderfully clean landscape.
I needed to get after several areas, but I was primarily needing to clear our fence lines. When things grow tall enough to make contact with our electric fence, they start to put a load on it and that brings the voltage down. I didn’t have enough time to finish the whole chore, but at least I took care of the most visible portions first, so our place looks freshly maintained.
Still plenty left to do
Looks great when it’s done!
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There were only a few times when I thought I spotted what could possibly have been poison ivy, but I was shredding away and chose not to stop and try to confirm. Forging ahead, I just made a point to be very careful about what I touched while I worked. When I stopped and came in for lunch, I brushed off as best possible with my gloves, and then washed my arms and hands thoroughly with cold water.
I’ll know in a day or two if I was exposed.
After lunch, at the high point of sunshine for the day, I got up close and personal with one of our very visible known patches of poison ivy, and sprayed it with a new organic weed killer that I had ordered online. Just like the description I received from someone who recommended this brand, the leaves began to wilt within hours. So far, it appears to be working dramatically well.
I felt a bit embarrassed over how much pleasure I was getting out of seeing that the weed killer was working so well and the plants were suffering, but the risk of being embarrassed is something I am more than willing to accept.
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Hello June
What took you so long to get here, June? We’ve been waiting for you to arrive. Of course, the clematis vine climbing our trellis didn’t wait for you at all. The flowers on it seem more than happy with their situation (despite the recent threats of overnight frost that keep happening), and began blossoming some time ago.
June is a big birthday month around our house, and it is also when I gather with somewhere around 120 like-minded bicyclists for a week of riding and tent camping. Oh, and eating. We do a lot of eating.
I was able to get out on Saturday for a warmup bike ride of 43-miles with Julie and Anand, both of whom I will see again in 12 days when our week of riding begins. Other than one annoying click from somewhere in the drive train of my bike that appeared during the second half of our excursion, my bicycle seems ready for the journey.
My body, on the other hand, is a little more of a question. I’m hoping that just getting that one preliminary day of significant mileage will help me to feel somewhat prepared for the adventure ahead. It’s certainly better than nothing.
The only thing left to do is prepare my appetite for the trip. Do you think I need to do any work on that? No, that won’t be necessary. How early can you start the carbo-loading routine before a big event?
Come on, June, bring it on! Despite my surprise that you arrive today, I’m ready to dive in to whatever it is that you have in store.
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Relative Something 