On Acronyms and Coffee Shops

Firstly, on a serious note, a question.  A serious inquiry of which I have not yet had the proper venue to present. This seems as good a place as any. Horses; on calm, temperate days when the flies abound, horses sidle up, side-by-side, in reversed positions, using their tails to swat flies off the other. Alright cool. Smart. Smart animal. My question is, and truthfully the question spans far wider than the breadth of the equines habits, but, do horses react to, what I can't help but think frequent, the gastro-intestinal releases of another? Gas passing? This is something I have honestly been wondering - not trying to be nasty, lewd or shocking. My thought is that perhaps part of the fly-swatting, reverse position arrangement, there is a tacit agreement to control, that is, hold their gas, or politely excuse themselves to another area of the field to do so. From what I understand, horses have a very strong sense of smell and the raw odor of the outgas would trump any benefits received from the fly-swatting arrangement. This, like I said, raises a much larger question, do animals, maybe even just a few species of animals, have a tacit code of conduct in-so-far as it effects their daily living and "arrangements"? As I watch critters live and play together, I can't help but think 'yes'. How well animal etiquette has been studied, I don't know. But there must be instances where, not based on our human values or mores of chivalry or better, animals have developed arrangements to control some of the unpleasantries of life, namely, our digestive systems, in order to maximize utility. Mr. Ed has long past. Thus our chances of getting an articulate verbal answer to this question too, gone.

Well, I guess I didn't even touch on what I wanted to write about today, but that is okay. I hope I gave whoever reads this blog (is there anybody out there?) something to mull over for a couple of minutes. I know I have much to pontificate on this subject. Actually, I am done. Time to work. Peace.

Coffee is Coffee

Once, I wondered. Or once, I did wonder, how can such a simple beverage be so attractive, day after day after day. Coffee is always attractive to me. For others, many of my older friends (40-70) the same is true - and over the long-term. Which makes methink that there is something to this coffee addiction. It is not the caffeine. I may be young, but I am wise enough, and have recently become physically aware of the nuanced chemical changes always occurring in my body, to know that it is not the caffeine that makes us smile morning after morning as we awake to that steaming cup of joe. Doubtless, our attraction to coffee is similar to the lure of cigarettes or, I suppose, most anything addictive. Environmental circumstances. 

As it is with cigarettes, so it is with coffee; the chemical dependencies built on the these substances is only a piece of the addiction puzzle. Set and setting, that is, our environment, constitutes a majority of the pieces of that puzzle that brings us back to the pot (coffee pot) day after day. Some of those pieces:

1) A social string. A common enjoyment that connects us to others. Imagine if there were "sitting shops" where you literally just went and sat - no beverages, no food, just a blank table. Lame. Coffee bridges our social insecurities or reinforces our social strengths when sipped in company.

2) A healthy step from water. Though the jury remains hung, trial after trial, as coffee is put under the miscroscope, on the health ramifications of coffee drinking, the general verdict that slips out of the chambers is that coffee, in moderation (3-4 cups a day), is a component of a healthy lifestyle, providing valuable flavanols and stuff. In this way, coffee is a healthy step from water - and exponentially more interesting.

3) Variety. Mochas, lattes, specialty drinks (ah syrups), cappuccinos, standard joe, sweetened joe, creamed and sweetened joe, et al. Frickin a, the possibilities literally number in the 10,000s for coffee drinks. Though not created equal in healthfulness, tastiness is a wonderful theme. No day need to be the same while drinking coffee.

4) Pattern and routine. We, us humans, are creatures of habit and to have the above mentioned points on a regular basis brings us the comfort and consistency that keeps us hopeful day-to-day.

Anyways, coffee is coffee and it is incredible to me that such a basic drink can provide joy day after day after day after day... I am coming to the close of my 5th year of coffee drinking and my passion for the drink is only growing. Thanks be to the Lord for simple and wonderful joys.

On Humbling Experiences

"Be and not seem." R.W. Emerson

Doubtless, there have been times in all of our lives when we have discovered that something is not as it seemed - when 'seeming' replaces being. This has become my most recent definition of humbling experiences; when the reality of 'being', suddenly and without warning, supplants our 'seeming', our pretending (actions we thought were sincere, but knew no not the higher Truth, blinded by our own volition), and grounds us in what is, ridding us of what is not. Some mornings I wake up to a World that is not quite the World I remember the previous evening. Is it more real or less true? Only a baseline, objective measure can answer that question. For me, my wiring lends itself to clearer thought in the morning, and consequently I see the components of my life in a distinctly true light. Some mornings my mind is blown by the frivolity of thought the night before. It is humbling. Being humbled, lately, for me, has meant seeing more clearly and rejoicing in that seeing rather than sulking in the embarrassment that often occupies humbling experiences. Grow when the World is not what it seemed. Take pride in who you are under the true luminary. These are the thoughts that have been streaming lately. 

I am not running right now. I can't. Truth be told, I am having difficulty with my activities of daily living. I am weak. A humbling experience? Yes. Going from feeling strong as an ox, running 17 miles a day to struggling with stairs and rising from a seated position, is a blow, to be sure, but the experience is reminding me of what really matters - love, hope, faith in peaceful living with friends and family. Fortunately, I think that I am getting stronger, but each day my expectations of a quick recovery seem further from the truth and closer to a 'seeming', a feigning of existence, that I have so arrogantly flaunted. Deep breath. Time to be? Yes. Seeming, goodbye. Living? Yes. God bless.

Making it

I have to toot my own horn here. I am making it. I am proud to say that I have not run a step in nearly a week. I am regaining my self-control. I did not realize how beaten down my body was until I started resting. My body is recovering, slowly but surely. Without question, running, at all, right now, would do more harm than good. So walks it is. I love it. Wow. I love running. But I also love not running. I will be able to fully enjoy my love, once again, when my body is in 100% fighting shape. So, for now, I love not running. I am making it.

This is another nerdy running thing, but I played around with my monthly miles over the last 16 months and found a block that I hit just over 6000 miles in 365 consecutive days;

- 16.4 mile daily average
- 55.5 miles/highest day
- 3 miles/lowest day

Walking Tall

I think that is the title of a recent spoof on "Walk the Line", but it is of no matter. I haven't run a step since last Friday. It is on. I have finally locked into the non-running lifestyle that I have so desperately pined for the last 8 months. I have been putting in a lot of good walks and stationary bike riding to get my blood flowing and metabolism charged. Additionally, or as usual, as it were, I have maintained my daily core work out, with a few modifications; added to the usual ball crunch routine are planks and a few stretches. Too, I have been doing ball squats and lunges every other day to rebuild my legs.

My knees are slowly but surely recovering. My whole body is recovering. There was a time, towards the end of the 14 months of continuous running effort, when I could hardly (physically) get out of bed each morning. Now, I am getting up with considerably less effort. Stairs are becoming tolerable again. Anyways, the good news is things are healing and I am not planning to upset the balance of things for some time. In other words, I will not be running even a few weeks after the morning a wake up and everything feels 100%. Nothing but total recovery will do.

Good news, I am rediscovering the Good News. Thanks to a chat with Don last night at his place, my heart was, yet again, opened to the wonderful Truth of Jesus. The last several months have been tough and it is in those rough times that I have longed for so much more than my life alone could sate. Truthfully, I had become very selfish and worldly over the last several years. It has been a slow fade, so no serious attention at any point in time was paid to it, but as life has continually become more bleak - as this and that pursuit and reasonable expectation of lasting joy came and went without stay - I have been pushed to the edge of my human limits and capabilities. There is no more in me; I exhausted my physical energy through incessant running; my mental energy in college and more recently, my work; my social energy sometime long ago in a land quite far from here. Nothing I have done or can do has made my life any better or worthy. This has been the direction my spiritual self has been going. Fortunately, as Don came to remind me, there is nothing we can do or need to do to receive the wonderful, joyful life offered by Jesus. In our simple acknowledgement of His sacrifice for our lives and subsequent gift of the Holy Spirit we are free, absolutely free to become who we were meant to be; not by human measure or the measure created by ourselves which we fight, but by the measure of the dispensation of the love given to us from above. We are free. If Jesus loves us (yes, He is a living god) with eternal, bottomless love, how could we not then love ourselves and overflow with love for others? This is what I have learned the hard - but necessary - way.

A Death Cab song

Recently, this Death Cab for Cutie song has been at the top of my playlists. It has always been one of my favorite Death Cab tunes, but lately, for whatever reason, it has surged to the top of all of my playlists...and for good reason. The piano accompaniment is lyrical and poetic - a repetitive, simple tune; the words, or poem (my personal classification), is tantalizing, provocative and well, a melancholic set of poignant lyrics. Check out the song on the web, or enjoy the lyrics below.

"What Sarah Said"

And it came to me then that every plan is a tiny prayer to father time
As I stared at my shoes in the ICU that reeked of piss and 409
And I rationed my breaths as I said to myself that I'd already taken too much today
As each descending peak on the LCD took you a little farther away from me
Away from me

Amongst the vending machines and year-old magazines in a place where we only say goodbye
It stung like a violent wind that our memories depend on a faulty camera in our minds
But I knew that you were a truth I would rather lose than to have never lain beside at all
And I looked around at all the eyes on the ground as the TV entertained itself

'Cause there's no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news
And then the nurse comes round and everyone will lift their heads
But I'm thinking of what Sarah said that "Love is watching someone die"

So who's going to watch you die?..

Thoughts While Drinking Coffee

- What is the purpose of a remote start on a new model moped? I walked pasted a 'ped' for sale this morning, with a sign attached to it, advertising that the moped came complete with a remote starter.

- I am happy to announce that Stevia is slowly but surely making its way into the mainstream, diet, beverage market. Both Vitamin Water and Sobe have diet flavored waters, sweetened by Stevia. I have had both, not bad. Doubtless, the taste of Stevia is distinct - hyper-sweet -, but the drinks are pretty well sweetened. It won't be long before we see Cokes and Pepsis Stevia products.

- It is raining in Great Falls, currently. Perfect timing, what with all of the yard work folks were able to complete yesterday. Unfortunate for those having grad parties today. But it isn't too bad of a rain. Light enough.

That is it for me. Have a happy Sunday.