Can we all keep this up?

For those of you that still check my blog (are there any of you left?) I know I have been absent for a long time. Fact is, I lost my motivation to write. I'm not sure yet if it's returning, but I'm hoping to spark the flames of inspiration somehow. I keep track of other blogs, and I've noticed other writers suffering the same malady. One popular blogger even posted recently that he was done. So I have to ask the blogging world, can we really commit to this?

For myself, I'm going to try. By the nature of blogging, one must view it as a personal journal, open to public viewing. Otherwise you're just talking to yourself.

My Dad used to tell a story of a visit by my German Aunt. When she saw what we were having for dinner, he heard her mutter "Aufgewärmt Überprüfung der Woche". Which, if Google Translate did this right, means "warmed over review of the week". Implying that my Mom was serving her leftovers, which I know she never would have done for a guest. But that was my aunt, we still tell funny "Anni stories". If Aunt Anni read today's post, I'm sure she'd mutter "Aufgewärmt Überprüfung des Monats". And so it is.

August was a busy month. A quick trip to North Carolina to help Ben and Emily move, which I don't have pictures of. And 6 days in Chicago and Wisconsin visiting Jared and Lisa.

From Chicago we took a side trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Lisa is a great trip planner and did all the work lining up the jaunt north to the land of Cheese and Lakes.

A boat trip around the Lake

One of the many "summer cottages" that lined the lake shore
The Wrigley Family owns about 5 miles of lake front.

Another summer home.
This owner decided to build a party boat house designed after an old steam ship.

Midwest sunsets are beautiful! Taken from Jared and Lisa's apartment.

Back in Chicago Lisa lined us up for a architecture boat tour up the Chicago River.
I should say down the river because the river flow was reversed in  1900.

Chicago skyline from the Hancock Building.
Playing around with B&W

Sunny and beautiful. A great time!

The end of an August vacation has always felt like the beginning of a new year for me. I guess it's still a hold over from my school years when everything started in September. I usually feel relaxed and refreshed and return to what I know as normal life. Then I tend to re-evaluate my priorities and try to re-organize my life.

I'm happy to report that the running is still going well. I'm up to 1.7 miles with no walking breaks. Probably not the progress that will prepare me for the Baltimore 5K in late October, but I feel good about it. I have to rest the knees for 2 days before I can run again, but hey, that's 56 years old. When I injured by knee 15 years ago, I thought I'd never run again. So actually I'm really pleased with my progress.

What would a "review" be without an update on Patton and Reilly?
The Bay is still a favorite destination.

Instead of throwing a stick, I am using the "Chuck-It"
I can heave a tennis ball a good 100 ft and Reilly swims out to retrieve it and begs for more.

Cliff City is one of the quiet "secret" destinations that we really appreciate living here.

Just as Patton appreciates a visit from Tyler and a chance to cuddle.

Modest Adventures almost sailed slowly into the setting sun.
But it's trying to return to blog another day.

More random discourse and 3½ weeks of running

Actually I consider this week 3½ of the Couch to 5K training. It's really more like week 5 or 6, I lost count. But I'm still running every 3 or 4 days and my knees are holding up well. I'm calling it week 3½ because I took the week 3 plan and accidentally expanded it. It turned out well so I intentionally did it again. At the risk of boring you: walk 5 min, run 90 sec, walk 90 sec, run 3 min, walk 3 min, rinse and repeat. Except the second hand on my watch is so small that I can't hold it still enough while running to see it. I ended up running 4 minutes instead of 3. Knees are ok, AND the good news is that I think I've finally reached a level of leg muscle fitness where my weakest link is now my breathing. So I can finally start getting the cardio/respiratory element in better shape.

I discovered a miracle recovery aid....came across it and tried it. Compression. It's the bomb. The idea is to put something tight on your legs post workout. It reduces swelling and forces the blood internally where it does more good healing muscles and providing recovery fluids to joints. Athletes have been using this for a while but it's now becoming more popular. If you're worried about looking silly, well, you will look silly. Wear some long pants over it.

Now on to random discourse:

The turkey population is booming on the eastern shore. I remember hunting wild turkeys in college in central PA. I spent hours and hours in the woods and never got a shot off. Although I did hear them and actually saw a few at a distance. I concluded that turkey hunting was the biggest waste of time and vowed not to spend another precious minute on the vain pursuit. Yesterday morning (wish I'd gotten a picture) I was driving down our lane heading to work and there were 3 adult turkeys and about a dozen chicks milling around the blacktop. They didn't want to move. It's strange irony that it's evolved into me honking the horn and yelling "get out of the way!".

Remember this from back in October?

It appears to be almost finished. At least the lawyers are using some of the money they make on class action lawsuits to keep the construction workers employed.

There is a debate under way in Congress about whether political contributors of very large sums of money should have their identity disclosed. Those against it argue that disclosure infinges on their right to free speach because identifying them can lead to outing and harrasment. Those for disclosure argue that the public wants to know what the motivation is behind large contributions. Will a special interest expect favors down the road? How do you come down on this issue?

I do know this:

This guy drives his truck around DC all the time. He is exercising his right to free speach.

Label him crazy, but in how many other countries would this be allowed?

It's time to move on and other rantings of a burned out home remodeler

I do enjoy a good remodeling project and the satisfaction of accomplishment. And a cool tool makes me smile. But do I really want my legacy to be: "He was always working on his house. It was swell"

This is the last bike ride I took. It's a good thing I have a blog or I might not even remember that I actually ride bikes. Well, tripping over them in the basement on a weekly basis does serve to jog the old gray matter. That's how occupied I've been with "The Mother of All Projects". I got some cool bike gear for Christmas. I used the winter bike pants once. Admittedly this hasn't been much of a winter here in Maryland. The bike pants provided an experience that was more like a cult sweat lodge cleansing than a fun winter ride. And I used the cool Nashbar bike tool set that Irma gave me to dismantle her Trek. I find that dismantling things is one of my skills. I even made my own headset bearing removal tool out of a piece galvanized conduit. I was so proud, it looked just like the $30 Park Tool. But walking by 2 buckets of bike components for the past 3 months has made me realize that it's time to get motivated about something other than home remodeling. And the wife wants her bike back.

I have a friend at work that wants me to run the Baltimore Running Festival 5K with him next fall. He referred me to a link on coolrunning.com. The Couch to 5K Running Plan promises to whip your lazy butt into 5K shape in just 9 weeks. Now I never was a "couch" type. My family knows I can't sit still for much more than an hour before I'm shaking out new trash bags. I even turned off the final episode of Lord of the Rings with 60 minutes left to watch. But I have been considering the idea of running. As much as I like biking, it will never be the cardio workout that running is. So only time will tell if the knees will hold up enough for this endeavor.

I tried a Clif Bar the other day. I have to say, if rock climbers like eating turds, that's one sport I will avoid.

Lastly, I'm in need of an adventure. Nothing like "Into the Wild" starve to death type adventure. I recently bought some gear and what good is gear if you don't use it. I'm thinking short bike touring/camping trip. Maybe in Pennsylvania. Maybe I'll bike through Amish country and help them bale hay or bake pies.

Any takers?