Window Washing with Kelly Clarkson; A Solo Ride; Special Olympics; Deadlines; Photo Quiz

You would think that by age 66, I would have sense enough to be able to avoid manual labor that could easily be farmed out to someone less decrepit than myself. Alas, that isn’t the case. My Lovely Bride asked if I could take on the task of getting the grime off the patio sliding doors. Normally, this would be a 10 minute job, and I could get back to my favorite pastime, watching reruns of Roller Derby. Instead, after transforming the sliding doors to a condition closer to totally transparent than our current Commander-in-Chief has been able to achieve in our federal government in spite of his campaign rhetoric six years ago (that’s not a rant, it’s simply a comment), I decided to continue on and wash the remaining 243 exterior windows in our humble abode. (Okay, that number may be slightly exaggerated…).

The task was made significantly more pleasurable by having Kelly Clarkson serenading me for hour upon hour. In fact, the job seemed to expand in scope as she kept singing; but I was surprised to look up once and see My Lovely Bride laughing at me… she was trying to record my singing along with KC… fortunately, the recorder could not pick up my unusual frequencies. Danke Gott! In any case, it made the time go by quite pleasantly. (Ladies, when you need your hubbie to get moving on a job, having a 32 year old blonde helping him is sure to ease his pain… just don’t let him suggest taking his new assistant on a snowmobiling weekend in Minnesota. With the weather they’ve been having, the pair might be snowbound in the woods until May. “But Dear, it wasn’t my fault… it was due to climate change!”)

While Suzanne was returning from her very successful SOAR Workshop at the Edgar Cayce Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) in Virginia Beach on Sunday, I rigged the bike rack and went mountain biking on the trails of the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. Supported by volunteers from the Ocala Mountain Biking Association (OMBA), these trails provide a world-class mountain biking venue for riders of every skill level.

 

The trails mostly run through pine and hardwood forest, but this photo was taken in an area that had been mined for phosphates in the early 1900s. (Suzanne, this is a selfie; Kelly wasn’t riding with me!) I only had one misadventure, when I took one climb a bit too slowly, fell, and managed to scrape my knee and shin on some roots that shouldn’t have been put there. (Scraped knees and elbows are sort of a badge of honor to young mountain bikers… I think I’d prefer to skip that award next time.)

Everyone is familiar with the Olympics. I had the privilege of helping out at the Special Olympics in Ocala this past week. There were about 10 of us adult and 30 or 40 high school volunteers helping about 150 middle school Special Olympians participate and compete in a variety of track and field events. I was the tape measure guy for shot put, standing long jump and running long jump. Seeing those young people smiling and laughing and having a wonderful day at the track despite their disabilities gave me an incredible lift.

Anyone who has known or lived with an author knows something of the perils and pain of “deadlines”. In the past, My Lovely Bride has completed her book projects on her own schedule, without a deadline, but her latest book is due to a national publisher later this month, and she is driven to have it completed earlier rather than later. We can go for an hour or two without talking when she is focused, and then she will ask me to read her latest chapter and we will discuss it. She also takes a break for meals, readings, PT and sleep.

I can also tell when she needs to get out into the fresh air… like on Tuesday, when our Honda CR-V needed a transmission oil change. It would be at the shop, located 30 minutes away, for several hours. So I asked for a lift, and Suzanne happily mutated into Corvette Chick for an hour or so that morning, and again in the afternoon. It’s amazing what 5,000 RPMs, a rumbling exhaust, top down (as opposed to top-less) and wind in your hair can do to recalibrate your mind…

It’s time for another Photo Quiz. The responder with the most accurate description of the object in the photo at left wins (Maestro, drum roll, please) lunch for two with Your Faithful Correspondent and His Lovely Bride. Answers will be accepted up until noon on Saturday, and may be addressed to ftgiesemann@aol.com. Good luck!