Something Changed

Swift...on the ground...pain...what happened? We were just finishing a ride to Woofdruff's Store and taking the bike trail home. David says a dangling limb caught me, lifted me off the bike and slammed me to the pavement. Gary telling me not to move, David going to get Gretchen and Laurie. Am I OK? Conscious, no bones sticking through skin, some scrapes, chest hurts, can't breathe easily.

An hour later Gretchen and I are in the Emergengy Room, the rescue squad giving the report to the nurse. A CAT scan shows I have a partially collapsed lung and I'll need to be admitted to the hospital. As I write this 10 days later, I'm getting a bit better each day. I no longer have the stabbing pain when I breathe deeply, and my chest is feeling more normal. A few more weeks and I should be back to full strength. In hindsight, I was very lucky; no head injury, no broken bones or back injury...just lucky. However, I now know what the term "physical trauma" means. I have experienced it once and have no desire to do it again!

"Something changed inside me ....", the opening line from a Sara Groves song describes what I feel subconsciously.....deep inside. I no longer want to ride a bicycle. After 44 years of riding a bicycle as an adult, tens of thousands of miles, I'm done. One would think that would be a difficult decision to make; particularly since so much of my riding is with close friends; Gretchen, the TOF Brothers and the Double Nickles. But it wasn't a difficult decision. In fact it wasn't a conscious decision at all. "Something changed inside me", deep inside, I'm different.

TOF Brothers

Last ride was 38.7 miles which gives me a final tally of 1,148 miles this year.

Double Nickles

 

 

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Henry's Sixth Birthday

August 20th, the day before Henry's sixth birthday, and he has a half day at school so we are heading to Hillsborough. No matter the generation, kids grow up so fast!

Grandma reading Henry's birthday card.

Henry really liked the scooter we got him. It helps when mom tells you what he really wants! He is a coordinated little guy which was apparent during his first rides down the cul-de-sac.

It was a cul-de-sac birthday celebration with all of the neighborhood kids joining in the fun. Katie baked 40+ cupcakes!

Henry, Grandma and I really enjoyed celebrating your birthday with you. It was a fun time. And to think, you are six years old. Wow!

 

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Bad Adventure #3

Well, I was wrong. Bad adventures do not come in pairs, Gretchen and I had a third. Monday (7/28), we headed north to Union Springs on Cayuga Lake to pick up the boat for our scheduled Erie Canal trip. When we stepped into the cabin of the boat, there was an odd odor which we thought smelled like a petroleum distillate of some kind. After spending a half hour on the boat, we found the odor was stronger in the rear of the boat near the gas tank. It did not smell like fresh gas, rather it smelled like some gas had spilled and was not cleaned up. We knew we could not spend a week on the boat. Gretchen was getting a headache after only an hour in the cabin. I called the owner and told him we could not do the trip and asked for our money back. To his credit he agreed with no hassle. Did I mention the boat was billed to be " hotel clean" but had cat and human hair on the cushions, an empty water bottle and used tissues stuffed behind the TV, cobwebs in the corners, dead bugs on the curtains and the AC filter had not been cleaned in years. Oh, and there was a big hole where the refrigerator was supposed to be! Leaving the marina, we were frightfully disappointed because we really wanted to cruise on the canal, go through the locks and visit the small towns along the way.

The hour was late and we headed to Ithaca because we remembered the Moosewood Restaurant from our visit with Sue Dapcic four decades ago! Sampling the fare at the Moosewood on that trip prompted us to buy one of their cookbooks and incorporate vegetarian items into our weekly menus.

We called Sue to tell her we were remembering our visit with her as we waited for our meal. The restaurant is still packed, and the food excellent. The last minute deal we got at the Lakefront Inn was super, with its Tuscan style rooms and excellent breakfast! Bad Adventure #3 is beginning to fade.

View of Cayuga Lake from our room at the Lakefront Inn.

Home after another night in the Olmes B&B (Thanks Pris and Phil), Gretchen suggested we take our inflatible boat to the dealer in Annapolis for warranty repairs. It will be a good road trip for our 44th anniversary she said; yep, that is not a typo....it is 44 years! So Friday we headed to Annapolis, then to Baltimore for an Orioles game. Walking around the city brought back memories as we lived in Baltimore for over two years after we were married. What a wonderful job the city has done with the waterfront. None of it existed in the early '70s when we were residents. Great fun at the park...got to eat Boog Powell's barbecue, drink some Goose Island beer, and act like a die hard fan (even though we can't name a player or tell you what place the team is in)...plus the Orioles won!

On the way home we stopped and walked around historic Fredericksburg. What a neat downtown! We discovered the Saturday farmer's market and had an excellent lunch at Sammy T's. Great road trip, Gretchen...what shall we do next? Bad Adventure #3, just a glimmer in memory!

Looking forward to 45 my dear!

 

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