Zags played a big body hit game last night against Cincinnati and forced a come from behind overtime and won in OT. GU is for real w/ 10 freshmen w/ 1 starting. Watched @ Players again, getting to be friendly w/ a partner, a manager, and several servers. New place. Beer choices suck but that is Utah common.
Yesterday on my ride of the trails I found a tucked away spot behind 2 buildings blocking main road traffic and noise w/ wheels almost on the trail. 22 degrees @ get up.
Today plan was to road ride a bit further today trying to ride to Washington city, eat T-day dinner @ Players, and camp back @ JEM TH.
Wasn’t able to ride trails to Washington, ended up on streets. Washington has a trails system also, perhaps plans are to join the systems. Washington county also. My bike computer is also a heart rate monitor which I pay attention to when the sun doesn’t block out the readings. I noticed on the return route way high hr; I slowed and it dropped probably as fast as it rose. I reviewed the results downloaded into my laptop and saw pulse variations. My effort didn’t justify the highs. Suspect & hope that errant readings were caused by no sweat to keep the chest strap pickups picking up heart rate. Hope so. Mileage at erratic was 12 miles.
My mother was born in Washington Courthouse, Ohio, Dad’s foundry is in New Washington, Ohio, I lived in Washington state for 28 years. I am currently staying in Washington county, Utah. Feels like home.
Changed clothes and walked 2 blocks to Players. The partner & managers recognized me as did several servers. Thanksgiving dinner cooked from scratch and well done. I served myself a normal serving on a huge platter, I chose not to pig out. It was a buffet so I was protected for another round should my serving disappear. Several staff people visited w/ me and we engaged in conversation. One server, young & attractive, whom I met nights earlier and we could say hi to each other during later visits shared that she is marrying into money from her partners side. She had 4 previous engagements w/ men that she laughs at upon reflection. And my server is 38 has 5 kids and we were engaged in this lesbian subject conversation. I took a small second helping but I left a bit of food. Bad, my eyes were too big, I could have stuffed it in.
Nice day. Drove back to JEM th, temp 58, calm, bright sun. I sat in m y chair outside reading Wendell Berry. A review on the back cover says, “Berry is at his best when his characters’ competent, self-sufficient lives are thrust against the brutal forces of modernity.” The past what we remember and perhaps the choices we made to get here today. Great writing but I get the blues reading it. I measure myself against his characters and think of what i could have been but would I have realized it. The choice is gone. I tell people I would like to have been a fire lookout in my younger day. Age is no a disqualifier. I can still be a lookout. Do I really want to be one? How many Berry character books will I read?
Sitting outside @ TH a car pulls in w/ 4 young people, 3 guys & a girl w/ mtn bikes from Bozeman escaping the skiing snow for one last bike fling. A brief chat before they headed out on out & back JEM trail. Its around 4. Another rig w/ 2 guys pull up & take off one way shuttle. Shuttle guys who are older return first. Young people arrive. The woman, Annita pronounced in Dutch, is first. I mention Wendell Berry and she says she has read several of his. First person to share reading him. Guy offers me a beer, picked rainier. We stood around in the darkening skies chatting & drinking cold beer in getting colder night. Satisfying safety meeting. Pete spent summer near Twisp, WA and we rode some of the same rides this summer. Cool.
And i am here in the dark quiet again. Moon is just past half. Clear & chilly and calm.
Tomorrow I plan on cleaning up the Spot and replacing the bushings w/ the better ones from PUSH. But then i have been telling myself that for some time that i will do it.
Can you remember typing w/ a manual typewriter and using correction tape of whiteout to correct mistypes? All my college papers were done that way. If I were still doing it that way i would be high from the correction fluid. No, just cramped hands from peeling the tape off.
Learned tonight why the banjo was invented: Certain crop farmers hands would become so cramped and knarled from hand cultivating that they could not spread their hands to play the strings.