The journey continues...

 I had promised to give an update once I was firmly ensconced in Cardiac Rehab which had been delayed for a couple of months when they shut down for COVID. Well, I've been going for about a month and a half so thought I'd share what it's like. The schedule is three times a week which for me means Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and each session is two hours long. On Monday's there's an hour-long educational lecture on healthy lifestyle choices, on Wednesday there's a cooking class on preparing healthy meals, and on Friday there's an informational video on everything from stress management to how to properly exercise. After the first hour we head over to the gym where we're hooked up to monitors and then we warm up for five minutes and then do 15 minutes of exercise within our target heart rate ranges. Then after the fifteen minutes is up we switch to another piece of equipment for another 15 minutes. Then there is stretching, cool down, and then we're done for the day. There are always exercise physiologists and RN's watching over us and due to COVID restrictions there's only 6 to 8 of us in each class. They also monitor blood pressure before, during, and after exercise. As each week goes by you do find yourself able to tackle substantially harder workouts. On days I don't go to Rehab I'm out on my bike for one to two hours or taking a long walk. 

This last weekend I was up in Leadville and rode for the first time since April at high altitude (Leadville brags about being the two mile high city). We did the Mineral Belt Trail which can be as easy or as hard as you want to make it. I took it fairly easy and used as n excuse the making of the video below. Still, it felt really good to be back riding the "Belt". If you have never done the Mineral Belt Trail its really a special treat as it winds through the Leadville Mining district with lots of signage along the route sharing the history and fun facts of what you are seeing. As much as I appreciate Cardiac Rehab, I'll take riding the Colorado High Country any day! Plus it was a nice break from the heat down in Denver, with temps in the 70's when we were riding and hardly a cloud in the blue Colorado sky. Enjoy the video as you come along for the ride!

Anniversaries and Passings

Its been a while since my last post and that's o.k. I didn't want to add to the cacophony of COVID-related hyperbole or the national debate on racism that I fear will still be with us long after the pandemic is relegated to its place as a historical footnote.

This blog will celebrate happier themes that still deal with life and death which, apart from taxes, seem to be the universal constants. Last night my wife and I took a jaunt up to Genesee Mountain Park to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I have now been married for 10,950 days or 262,800 hours but who's counting. That's 30 years folks, and best of all, all of them to the same lady who caught my eye and my heart so long ago. So long ago yet it seems just the blink of an eye. Like any couple we've had our ups and downs, our highs and lows, good times and bad times, for better and for worse, richer and poorer, in sickness and in health but I'd do it all over again. Don't ask me for any tips or secrets to making it this long when so many relationships fall apart along the highway of time. I have a dear friend, Cecelia, who is known to share words of wisdom and she often says the key to marital bliss is "Happy Wife, Happy Life." I can't argue with that but from the male perspective I'd perhaps amend it to "Happy Spouse, Happy House" since it takes two to tango. All I really know is that after 30 years I'm still very much in love with the same person with whom I've shared all the travails and blessings of a life spent together.  

On a another note our family marked the passing of one of our own a week or so ago when my wife lost her father and my mother-in-law lost her husband of 55 years. Yes, that's a sad thing but he lived a life long and blessed and the night before he left us he was surrounded by his family, daughter and son, wife, and the apples of his eye, his four grandkids. I had almost preceded him back in April so while heartbroken at his leaving us I count myself fortunate to have been able to spend time with him I otherwise would not have had. 

Back in April I had promised myself to try to live each day to it's fullest. I knew full well when I made that pledge it would be difficult to achieve that goal and so it has proven to be. But perhaps it's in the effort that the dream is realized. Maybe simply trying does count a little bit after all. I don't know. Still, it's all I can do. One of the folks I still admire to this day from my work life (and there are not that many still standing upon their lofty pedestals) used to say that showing up was half the battle. Simple words, but for me, I fully intend to continue showing up for as long as I can. And to my Sophie who apparently destined to be my partner in this journey called life, you've got a date for 30 years from now, same place, same time.