A Time to Ride Our Bikes

 

photo credit

While some of my readers are welcoming cheery yellow daffodils as they emerge from the vanishing winter scape, here in North Central Florida, it's the wild flowers that salute spring. Predominantly pink-to-purple, yellow, and white, the roadside phlox bloom from April through June and have seemed to be more abundant each year. 

I say "salute" because we've already had spring weather for several weeks along with some unwelcome summer temps and sticky humidity. 

unloading our bicycles

Since I come from the high altitude/low humidity of Colorado, even though I've been a Florida resident for nearly eight years, a lower dew point is my preference. (note: dew point is not the same as humidity, but they are closely related) 

However, I should add this note: "they" (whoever "they" are!) say women living in the South tend to look younger with more supple skin due to the humidity... 🤭 and my naturally straight hair does have more body with the additional moisture.  

entrance to the 49th Avenue trailhead

Hmm. I've digressed. Back to Spring. Before the barometric reports get scary with hot weather and hurricane forecasts, we are taking advantage of the more comfortable opportunities to ride our bikes beyond the confines of our gated retirement community. 

yours truly ready to ride

We have been riding some 5 miles or so inside our neighborhood for over three years now, which still does not cover it all. It's a nice route that takes us through at least seven of the 16(?) neighborhoods within our gate. Now that I'm past the hurdle of regaining my bike legs (it had been some 30+ years since I last peddled anything), and Gary's health is strong, we've been loading our bikes onto the car and trying out the trails featured in Florida biking books.

a water bottle is essential

Oh by the way, let me hasten to inform you that we are not of that set of bikers who tempt fate on the shoulder of two-lane roadways with the tight pants*, special cleated shoes, and little rear-view mirrors attached to their helmets like antennae, as well as bikers who have to lean far forward to reach their handlebars. No, that's not us.

illustration credit

Far from it. We are two seniors in the late-autumn of life who are, by God's grace, still able to balance our butts on a bike seat and move forward without falling. Both of our bicycles are "Townies," which embraces "flat foot technology."

close-up 

That means when stopped, we can stand straddling the bike with our feet flat on the ground. That's important to us as seniors with the thought we are less likely to fall when stopped at an intersection. 

storage in the garage can be an issue

*Uh, well, okay. Allow me to back up (carefully, of course) on something I said a couple of paragraphs ago. I DO wear the tight spandex pants, capris, and shorts. I wear them because they are very comfortable and the fabric does not slide up and down my legs as I peddle. (so let's just save the judgmental attitudes on that issue)

Also, and this is helpful info: if you can't find a comfortable bicycle seat (that can be a very important consideration when contemplating this sport), there are spandex pants with a surprisingly comfortable pad sewn into the hind-quarter part. I know because I have two pair of them (shorts and pants). Since purchasing them, I have moved onto a different bike with a much more comfortable seat, so I seldom wear them any more. But there is that option. 

And regarding my snarky description of mirrors ("little rear-view mirrors attached to their helmets like antennae"), I have two mirrors attached to my handlebars, and Gary has one on his bike. I like to tease him that he's always in my rear view mirror, which is where he prefers to be so he can keep an eye on me!

requirements (aka good ideas)

But to get to the actual bike trail, this one had helpful signs and we do our best to obey them. No, my helmet does not do my hair style any favors, but Gary has convinced me he is not bothered by that. He is very safety-conscious and is more concerned with protection.

Which leads me to making mention of the electric bikes that are soooo popular these days. They whiz past us all the time, even within our retirement neighborhood. Gary has said time and again, if these old people fall off one of those electric bikes at breakneck speed, well, it's just not going to be pretty.

Gary heads west

We travel at whatever speed our legs will move and that's good enough for us -- no battery required. The result is we use up a lot more calories this way and do a better job of getting our heart rate pumping. (enough said about that; I may have pedaled over some toes with that)

good info on the trail

These trails we've been riding are wonderful with wide asphalt, plant-life cleared away several feet away from the trail's edge, and even painted mile-markers. On this trail the information was posted every quarter of a mile. 

bear encounter

Yes, there is the possibility of meeting up with a bear. I confess that I have not given that a lot of thought but I can tell you my absolute first response would be prayer. (Even, "O God!" is a prayer. ) I do think a calm statement or two made to the bear would be a good idea, assuring the creature I mean no harm while backing away slowly, not showing my teeth or doing anything else that could be understood to be offensive on my part.

a highway at trail's end

The end of the trail intersected with a state road. We stopped there, sipped from our water bottles, found a way to meet nature's needs (no port-a-potty 😆), and had a pleasant conversation with another bicyclist. (Note to the wise, it's a good idea to tuck a tissue or two into the pockets...)

We pedaled back to the trailhead for a total trip of some 12 miles. That's long enough to ensure that I'll take a good nap after getting back home. 

With all that said, it was a good ride. We may go back another time to explore a second trail that stems in another direction from the parking lot. 

Other activities of note this past week include the most welcome news that 3 skin biopsies taken from me a couple of weeks ago (looking for melanoma), came back as benign. I will go back to the dermatologist in 6 months for a re-check, and that is fine with me. I am so thankful that test of my faith turned out well. (and yes, sun screen has become more prominent in my daily habits...)

Also, the ladies Bible study of which I am a member began a new book this past week:

purchase information

My headcount around the room came up with about 26 gals. The discussion was good and I am finding the book to be very insightful as I study its pages at home. 

In chapter 3 is a passage that may be the most often quoted from the entire book. It's the one that starts out, "There is a time for everything..." and goes on to state there's a time for birth and death, planting and harvesting, mourning and dancing, and so forth.

Since I am a person who is fascinated with words, I pondered another way to phrase "a time to be ..." or "a season for ..."  What I concluded is that there is an appropriate time for these things.

To me, that means we may be able do some things at any time we choose, but we need to keep in mind that there are appropriate and inappropriate times to do those things. Wisdom will teach us when things are proper, fitting -- appropriate.

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

With that said, I close. Until next time, grace and peace. Thanks for stopping by and for all comments both now and in the past. You all are such an encouragement to me.

more Florida wildflowers

Collating Recent Days

When I moved to Jacksonville, Florida from Colorado in 2017, our back yard had two Bottle Brush trees. They were kinda scraggly but the flowers fascinated me. Not knowing the name of the tree, I called it a 'bottle brush" because of the flowers.

It was when a landscaper came to give us an estimate for some yard improvements that I realized I had called it right -- it was, indeed, a Bottle Brush tree! 

I no longer live in Jacksonville, but I have seen many of these trees since leaving Colorado and they always delight me. There was a healthy one outside the kitchen window of my house from 2019-2022. While standing at the sink I could watch hummingbirds slurping up nectar from the bright red flowers!

Changing the subject and referring to my post title today, what does it mean to "collate recent days"? 🤨

Using a fancy word is just the writer in me wanting to show off with clever usage of words and phrases to avoid saying the same thing the same way all the time. 

My well-worn copy of Roget's College Thesaurus is essential as I compose these blog posts, helping me to expand my vocabulary and to make my writing more interesting as well as to better hold the attention of my readers. So, the title of this post is just another way of saying, "what went on with me this past week." 🥴

Since mention has been made of a thesaurus, I'll share the stack of books that have been holding my attention of late. Some I've read, some I'm in the process of reading, and some are waiting their turn. 

As I've said before, I'm not much of a 'beach read' kind of gal. If there are too many characters, I get lost in all of that. If the book has enough interest for me, I've been known to write out a list of the personalities, noting their significance in the story, to help me keep them straight. But sometimes that gets tiresome and then the book is put aside and forgotten.

I like the category of "self help" because I need all the help I can get!!! Put biographies in there, too, along with historical fiction, and then the book is more likely to get read and appreciated for the life lessons included therein.

If you are viewing my blog on a computer screen (as opposed to a mobile device) you can probably see just below my header that there is a section titled, "Book Reports." I haven't updated that in a few months, but if you click on those words, you'll see my impressions of books I've read.

My most recent completion was Holy Living in an Unholy World. (click on the title for purchase information) Not a very long book with 196 pages, Dr. Robert Jeffress has written to Christ-followers who are feeling disheartened with the increasing evil in today's world. He takes the reader through the New Testament book of Ephesians to remind us of the benefits we have as Christians and then to instruct how we are to face the problems confronting us. A couple of the chapter titles really describe the book well:

How to Dress for Spiritual Success

Order in the House

Preparing for War

One of his statements that grabbed and held my attention was this one in the chapter titled, "Soaring with Eagles When You're Surrounded by Turkeys" (not meaning any disrespect here; we all have at one time or another had to struggle with difficult people):

"God's will is to make us like Christ,

and that sometimes includes hard things."

This was a good book that both encouraged and instructed me with truth I need to mature in both life and faith.

Speaking of "hard things," this past week began with a list of issues needing resolution, matters that have been hanging over me for weeks. For the most part, they had to do with social media, apps, the failure of business mail to arrive in a timely manner, questioning how to rectify that, and dealing with people over the phone who do not share my birth language. 

To be fair, these people seem to definitely know what they are talking about but their ability to connect with my senior state of mind, as well as some hearing loss on my part, and with their difficult articulation of English -- well, many of you know what I mean. It is often this enigma that results in my procrastination to address the problems. 

One note I will add, however, is that for the irritation of being kept "on hold" on the phone for long periods of time, I have learned to grab those coloring books of mine so I can do something creative and calming during the wait. (see my last post about coloring books)

But with all of that said, virtually all of the difficulties were resolved and/or I finished this week with a much greater sense of assurance that all is working out as it should. Whew!

Moving on to less-irritating thoughts, at the top of that stack of books in the earlier snapshot is my Sudoku puzzle book. I bought this for myself while standing in a long line at Kohl's at Christmastime in 2023. Having never tried Sudoku before and knowing I should challenge myself more with brainy things (and the fact that the book cover said there is no math required), I bought it for myself. There are 216 puzzles in this particular book. I'm currently working on number 186. 

I generally finish one or two a week only working on them in short spurts of time before moving on to something else needing my attention. I Googled a question about how to do the puzzles. Short Youtube videos were the most helpful to me. It's fun.

Take note of the blue clip-on light in the above snapshot.

I found this nifty accessory at Barnes and Noble bookstore and I love it! It's an LED light with a flexible arm, bright, and re-chargeable. We tend to not turn on lights in our house until it's really dark, so I use this little light for my puzzle book and don't need to switch on the lamp beside my recliner. It works great! I think I spent something like $32 on it, which may sound spendy, but it's so convenient and well-made that the money is worth it. 

There is more I want to share before leaving the topic of books in my house. Gary is reading Henry Winkler's book, Being Henry. 

Although I've not read it yet, at the end of each afternoon session of reading and blogging here on the lanai, I ask Gary, "What's Henry doing now?" (what is going on in the chapter you're reading) and he talks about that. 

We have talked about a lot of the books we read. Like me, Gary leans into biographies and history. He especially appreciates the war stories that have taken place in our lifetime. In one of the trips to our public library, Gary came home with this:

Blaze of Light

It is the true story of Gary Beikirch, a Green Beret Medic and Medal of Honor Recipient from the Vietnam War. During that same time, my Gary was serving in the Air Force military police in both Japan and Thailand.

I was in junior high and high school while these men's lives were in daily danger. For the most part I was oblivious to what was happening on the other side of the world. Teen magazines, orthodontia, acne, teasing my hair, and discovering boys made up much of my world. 

The book validated much of what my husband had already heard, seen, or experienced; while my reading of its pages humbled me greatly. Even as an adult in my seventies,  I matured with the reading of every chapter.

After he got back to the States, this man struggled greatly with PTSD, lived alone in a cave while a student in a Bible college, and then entered Christian ministry with his wife. 

photo source

Closing out this blog post, which has had a lot more verbiage and fewer photos than my normal habit, Isaiah 43:1,2,3 comes to mind. 

Do not fear for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

In 'collating' (that word again! 😏) the events of this past week, I see that necessary things were accomplished and my ability to cope with problems has improved. It is also a good idea to submit to the lessons of humility.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Sunday Salon March 23, 2025

 Following a daybook style of writing this afternoon...

As I look out my window, the foot bridge, that I ordered and Gary assembled and painted, is waiting to be positioned in the back yard. The plan is it will be  put within view of where I am sitting now (i.e. where this snapshot was taken just minutes ago). Whereas we have bark mulch covering a good portion of the yard, we are waiting on a contractor to replace that with rock. The bridge will wait indoors until the rock is in place. 

This past week included cake and ice cream for my birthday, but not on the same day. As I tell anyone who apologizes for forgetting my birthday, I celebrate all month long, so having cake and ice cream on two different days does not bother me.

The "Orange Cream Iced Bar Cake" was a discounted perk from our grocery store, a benefit from being on their weekly BOGO email list. We invited a couple of next-door neighbors to enjoy it with us one afternoon. Then on another day we stopped for ice cream while out in the truck (we do that rather often, as you may have noticed ....😋)

Yesterday we drove south about an hour to visit a car show held on the east side of a large lake.

Gary (who is a car guy) and I have been together since 2022, so by now I've been to a lot of car shows. Often they are held in beautiful locations. Here in Florida's abundance of sunshine, shade for these shows always a plus.

The snapshot above is Gary beside a 1960 Chevy Impala. He has owned 28 cars since he gave up driving a farm tractor as a teen. He has a list of them which includes the following:

8 Fords

(including 2 Mustangs and 2 Thunderbirds)

12 Chevys

(including 2 Corvettes) 

2 Volkswagens

2 Buicks

5 Toyotas

1 Dodge

I am amazed how he can tell me the year of just about any older car he sees.

My long-time blog followers may remember this snapshot taken in early 2022 of the two of us with his 2002 Ford Thunderbird:

At the time he said he had to get the car to get the girl (me), although truth be told, he had ordered the car before our first date was planned.

Of course we found some T-birds at the car show. This red one from 1957 was especially nice.

One of our current vehicles required a revision due to a recall notice, so one day this past week the Ford dealer sent out their truck to our house to do the work. The dealer has done this for us several times since we bought the truck, which saves us having to drive some ten miles and sitting in the waiting room.

Today before church we rode our bicycles within our gated community, per our usual habit. The outdoor temperature was mid-forties, which is colder than we prefer, but the wind was calm and that's a big plus. Pedaling into a headwind translates to quite a workout. So we braved the cold with warm clothes and now this afternoon we are sitting on the lanai with the windows open!

Family highlights this past week included:

1) more positive updates regarding my premature great-nephew who continues to charm his nurses from his incubator

2) lunch with two young people who call me "Grammy"

3) a FaceTime visit with one of my children

4) a text conversation from Japan(!) with another of my kids 

5) conversing with a couple of my nieces

A pleasant pastime for me is to fill in designs with my colored pencils.

I find this to be very relaxing when I am tired of thinking. (Do any of you get tired of thinking? If so, maybe you can comment below on how you deal with that.)

I do, especially when I've got a conundrum for which a solution has not yet shown up. 

I am a strong believer in the counsel of the Apostle Paul who said in the New Testament book of Philippians, "Don't worry about anything, pray about everything and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will quiet your heart and mind in Christ Jesus." (That's my paraphrase of Philippians 4:6-7. You can look it up to see if I got it right.) 

In recent years these verses have meant more to me than ever before as I've faced things that were new and baffling to me.

After praying about a matter, I choose to trust the Lord will provide a solution and then choose to get busy with something to keep me from fretting. Oftentimes, coloring inside the lines does it for me.

Many times, the answer to our problems comes out of what we choose to do.

The next thing I plan to do today is to have Gary proofread this post (as I always ask him to do) and then give thought to what to have for supper. 

Thank you for stopping by, and for those who are able to leave comments, I thank you.

Until next time, grace and peace.

Birthday Week 2025

As always, I have lots of things to share, but first I must say THANK YOU to the many of you who wished me a Happy Birthday. The 3/4 of a Century Celebration was yesterday. 

Quoting from the handwritten note in the card from my BFF in Highlands Ranch, "... I cannot believe we are so old..." 🤭 

(a gift that disappeared quickly)

The birthday fanfare came not only with snail mail cards, and gifts but also via FaceBook, text messages, FaceTime, lunch followed by a field trip to a local history landmark, and another lunch beside a river that empties into the Gulf of Mexico (or is it the Gulf of America??). 

For that water-front lunch there was plenty of seafood on the menu, but I went with their version of a patty melt accompanied with coleslaw. Gary chose the turkey and bacon club sandwich with fries.

The weather was GORGEOUS although the wind became quite gusty. Sitting under a grass umbrella (aka a "palapa'), our table was secure. Those who were seated after us under the less secure canvas umbrellas had to move.

While waiting for our food, Gary stayed at our table while I did a little exploring with my camera. Crackers Bar and Grill is located just off of Hwy 19 in the town of Crystal River, which sits alongside the Crystal River (that empties into the Gulf).

Uhhh ..... Oh look! The waitress is bringing our food!

Forgive me; I often forget to take a snapshot of my food until after I've taken my first bite. 🙄 The patty melt was wonderful; the coleslaw was so-so (but I ate it all anyway). The lunch was filling enough so dessert was not ordered.

My birthday is shared with a number of family members on the very same day: one aunt, a male and a female by marriage, and a cousin I've not seen in over 50 years. My birthday month is shared with more family, including my sister's two Basset Hounds (whose made-for-dogs cupcakes look as good as that Fresh Pet dogfood advertised on TV!!).

Moving on to other news of this past week, we loaded our bicycles onto the trailer hitch of our car for another adventure, this time along the Withlacoochee State Trail (which is not the same as the ride we took in an earlier post).

A total of 47 miles, this trail is one of the longest paved bike trails in the state of Florida. While those younger and more hardy than us might accomplish this ride all in one day, that's not us. (We like to say the reason we got to this age is because we respect our limitations.)

Just like the last trail ride, this one is a wide asphalt path and well-maintained. It also has a lot of shade, which is surely a bonus if riding in the warmer months. On this particular day, we rode 7 miles out, turned around, pedaled through an extra little park area, and then the 7 miles back to the car, for a total of a little over 14 miles. 

We both carried our water bottles and at the end had PBJ sandwiches and chips at a picnic table.

And yes, true to what I said earlier, I usually take a bite (or several) of my food before taking a picture of it. By the way, don't judge me by my hairstyle -- bicycle helmets do nothing positive for the coiffure!

My readers may remember a couple of weeks ago I mentioned the premature birth of my nephew's third child, a sweet little boy. Born at 25 weeks, he's a little critter but oh-so-sweet and so perfectly formed.

We got to see him for the first time in person this past week because he was moved to a hospital for a special procedure. This hospital is much closer to us, so we asked if we could visit. You can see how small he is in the incubator. Those are his mother's arms extended out to touch him. He was born at 1 pound 14 ounces and is now about 3 pounds. (This is the only picture I will share due to privacy reasons.)

Several commented you would be praying for him, for which we are very grateful. So far, he's growing and gradually working through the necessary milestones, but as one of his doctors said, "There are 3 things he needs right now: breast milk, skin to skin [contact] and prayer."

On our drive back to our town after the hospital visit, we stopped at a quaint roadside ice cream shop. Gary had the Black Cherry and I got Banana Cream.

On another day it was discovered that our toaster just didn't know when to quit, so we tossed it into the trash and bought a new 4-slice model. Would you be surprised when I say we had toast for supper that night? 

On another day I tried out a wonderful recipe you may have seen in your email box if you connect at all with Taste of Home Magazine. 

1930s Bacon Roll-ups. The recipes says it makes 10 but I managed to make 16 and shared 4 of them with our next-door neighbors. They were a real hit. Here is the link to the recipe: 

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/bacon-roll-ups/?srsltid=AfmBOoo5-vKOsB_vb9tuEXPBPqjgfd_YWbUattlcgTSA3fS17H23Km8R#RecipeCard

Another foodie submission from this past week is the cherry pie I brought home from the grocery store. As I said on Facebook, while I'm not big on math (or arithmetic, as we called it during my school days), I am smart enough to observe Pi Day on March 14th, not to be confused with National Pie Day (observed on January 23rd). One does not have to be a math nerd to enjoy a baked pie on Pi Day.

Today is St. Patrick's Day, which I don't go out of my way to celebrate, choosing instead to continue the reflective thoughts that come with my birthday the day before. I have wondered what pithy observations I should share, based on the length of my life thus far. 

A thought that readily comes to mind is that we don't attain this age by being stupid (dull, half-baked, idiotic, etc.); however I have survived my share of ill-advised behavior, so I know that's not true. 

My blogger friend, Billie Jo (at Afternoon Coffee and Evening Tea) recently shared something her mother wrote that spoke to me on such a deep level that I'm pondering those thoughts every day. I won't quote her but here is my summary:

We all mess up. When the mistakes are realized, be honest enough with yourself to label them as learning experiences. The stain of the messes probably won't leave you but if you learn from them, don't be hard on  yourself. Thank God that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to forgive you and put it away in the past. Move forward in your life doing good.

I add this post script: while God forgives the truly repentant, many times people don't. After doing our best to remedy that, we have to just let it go; make the best of the life we have from here on out.

This is a somber way to conclude a birthday post, but it inspires me. If what I've said applies to you, I hope you are encouraged.

I sought the LORD,

and He answered me and

delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant,

and their faces shall never be ashamed.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!

Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:4-5, 8

Until next time, grace and peace.