Last Friday morning, I did my first VO2 max test. This is the maximum rate of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. Why does that matter, you ask? A high VO2 max means your heart and lungs are more efficient, linking directly to a lower risk of chronic disease like heart disease and diabetes. Now I have my score, and I can continue to work harder at improving it!

A successful hunting season for me.

I was able to chip up all the downed branch piles and fill up my wood pile. And I did it all without getting shot myself. (That is always a bonus. Ha!) Now it is time to see how much of that pile I can burn before I have to start over again in the spring.

SHINE!
The Wood Cutter

This week I traveled to Cleveland for a building products show. Since it was only 6-ish hours away I drove instead of flying. I tell people that it’s doesn’t make much sense to drive (not un-true) but this time I had an ulterior motive. Zingerman’s.

What a great day! I woke up at 5:30am and knew I would not go back to sleep. So, I put on my bike gear and headed out with my lights at full blast. I never saw the sun rise, but I did see the pre-sun rise and it was amazing. 72 miles, an excellent day, capped off with some cherry pie. This is my kind of birthday. Does not get much better than this.

Jeri and I are in Utah visiting Cole and Mallory. We rode 11 miles. I ate a hotdog, chips, and 2 cookies. Then we rode another 11 miles. I think that will end up being roughly a zero-calorie gain or loss for the whole ride. But it was cool to see new views and hang out with them!

Over the last 2-3 weeks, Jeri & I caught up on all the the past Mission Impossible movies. Tonight we just walked in on opening day to The Final Reckoning. Even though I am 58 years old, it feels a little like I am doing something bad—out at a movie on a school night!

Wow! What an afternoon. Finished the conference I was attending and knew I was close to Arlington National Cemetery. 400,000 graves, 20+ burials a day. Being expanded to add 50,000 more sites.

I then went to the Vietnam Women’s Memorial. 10,000 American women were there. 67 died. 8 service women. Almost completely ignored until about 20 years ago.

My dad has been a blueberry farmer for 40ish years. My brother has been a sheep rancher for 20ish years. One of my sons has grown cannabis for 10ish years. My wife has had a garden on and off for 8ish years. As for me, I have never grown anything someone could eat in my life. Until last week.

We found our first and only Starbucks of the trip. It just so happens that this Starbucks is very close to where the Mayflower left Southampton, England on August 14, 1620. We also found the Westgate fortifications built in 1338. With all that history, this is the picture we took!

As Lloyd Bridges says in the movie Airplane, “I picked a bad day to stop sniffing glue.” HA!

This might surprise you, but of the 25 different cakes available on this cruise, none were sugar free! Living it up now as May will be sugar free for me. Yikes!

We are in day 2 of our Atlantic crossing out of Bermuda. At 4:10pm today passed over the wreck of the Titanic. Wow!

Our ship slowed down and the horn blew every 5 minutes. It was almost as if everyone should be quiet and slow down for a moment to think about that ship and all those people who died and lived.

Jeri and I have left on a cruise across the Atlantic Ocean. This is the third time we have booked this trip. First time—foiled by COVID that March. Second time—foiled by cancer that January. So until the ship actually pulled out of the harbor, I’d been expecting something to block us. Not this time. We are gone!

Started vacation a touch early by cutting wood for an hour and a half today. For most people I assume this would be a chore, but for me it is relaxing and rewarding. It probably makes a difference that we don’t heat our house with wood!

What is that?! you’re probably thinking. Well, I’ll tell you. But first you must know that I come from a long line of creative dessert makers on my mom’s side. You can judge all you want, but don’t knock it ‘til you try it.

While I appreciate reading other people’s posts about all the sad (USAID), scary (DOGE), and stupid (straws) stuff the current administration is doing, I wonder what I can do? I came across this small act of resistance. It’s one small step, but it gets the ball rolling.

I am NOT taking any flak because I have not even been in the plane. This post should change that.

I find AP News at the top of the pyramid for most trusted. It does not matter if one is left/right, blue/red, democrat/republican. if you want “just the facts ma’am”, AP News is the place to be.

I noticed that over the last 3 days my hand writing was getting worse and worse. I realized yesterday that I had a small tremor. I knew right away what it was - pent up adrenaline.

At this stage of the game, there isn’t much you or I can do to impact the national election, but what we can do is prepare ourselves for what happens AFTER we get the results.

Jeri and I voted yesterday and there is nothing anyone can do to influence our votes any more. We don’t need any mailers, yard signs, email, texts, or commercials. What a cool way to get people to vote—get it done and all the adds would stop!