I run habitually three or four times a week and only comment here if the run is exceptionable: that usually means of significantly more than usual length. But this morning the length was moderate.
When the water level is low as it is at the moment due to the drought, the lake shore here boasts a Very Muddy Place . As intimated elsewhere I like to mess in mud and when done I bathe and wash it all off again. I then ran partly along the shore, partly by road to the Place where I can swim, the location of which must remain strictly secret otherwise it wouldn't be. And then back home.
So what's the deal? What was exceptional was that, this morning, I was able to run at top speed virtually the whole course. How so? Perhaps because I took a dip early on: nothing like a dip to kick start the body. Perhaps because it had rained lightly during the night which makes hard surfaces softer to run barefoot on, and soft sand more compacted and thus easier to run on. Perhaps just because. But for whatever reason it was wonderful, so much so that I had to pinch myself to prove that I wasn't dreaming.
Or perhaps I was dreaming...
20180724
20180721
Blackcurrants
We ate it (well half of it) with custard and ice cream and it was out-of-this-world wonderful! The pastry was just right, the fruit was juicy, the sweetness was perfect. How is it possible that some people do not like blackcurrants (although some of these people like Ribena!).
20180714
And here's why
A couple of days ago I was in the garden. Two of our CrossFit-ers ran past me and just a minute or so later came back in the opposite direction. That was weird enough but then they repeated the sequence a number of times. Today another of our CrossFit-ers did the same thing. I was cleaning out drains at the time so working away outside the kitchen as he passed first in one direction, then back, then out again, must have been half a dozen times. Apparently this behaviour is governed by the CrossFit handbook in some way, with prescribed other activities between these very short runs. It is something they have to do. They talk about it when we gather for morning or afternoon drinks, discussing together what weights they lifted, how fast they ran, and so on. If one had more interest than one does, one might feel left out!
Then it dawned on me why I find all this so alien to my way of thinking. During the working day my work is understandably dictated by what my clients want. But I don't want someone dictating to me what I must do in my spare time. My morning runs are idyllic (once I drag myself out of bed) for the very reason that I am free of all (well, most) constraints. To have to religiously follow some fitness regime would be contrary to all I know as good.
Perhaps it is my age. The CrossFit-ers are all much younger than I am and maybe, when young, you don't mind being bossed around so much. After all, if you enlisted for the Army you'd expect to be bossed around.
Here's another thing - this fixation some folk have with football or other ball games - this link sees football as a religion, I suppose because of the irrationality of either adherents, and this makes a lot of sense. I cannot think of any other reason why an intelligent person should want to watch a number of men kicking a ball around.
Then it dawned on me why I find all this so alien to my way of thinking. During the working day my work is understandably dictated by what my clients want. But I don't want someone dictating to me what I must do in my spare time. My morning runs are idyllic (once I drag myself out of bed) for the very reason that I am free of all (well, most) constraints. To have to religiously follow some fitness regime would be contrary to all I know as good.
Perhaps it is my age. The CrossFit-ers are all much younger than I am and maybe, when young, you don't mind being bossed around so much. After all, if you enlisted for the Army you'd expect to be bossed around.
Here's another thing - this fixation some folk have with football or other ball games - this link sees football as a religion, I suppose because of the irrationality of either adherents, and this makes a lot of sense. I cannot think of any other reason why an intelligent person should want to watch a number of men kicking a ball around.
20180711
A tiny bit of hope
In a recent interview following the saving of the Wild Boar boys, Rear Adm Arpakorn Yuukongkaew team leader of the Thai Navy Seals stated: ...from the first day we saw them trapped we didn't think that we could do this. We had a little bit of hope that they might still be alive but we had to do it, we just had to move forward. There was only a tiny bit of hope, but that's all we had to work with. And in the end that tiny bit of hope became reality.
What an admission!
Such strong emotions have been stirred up in so many that have followed this story and it's not all done yet.
Another hero is Australian doctor Richard Harris whose rare combination of talents led him deep into the Tham Luang cave, abandoning his holiday in Thailand to volunteer to help. He stayed with the boys for three days and was one of the last rescuers out of the cave, barely making it out after the main pump that had been siphoning water out of the cave failed.
In 2010, 33 miners in Chile were rescued after being 69 days underground. One of them sent this message of hope to Thailand: I have no doubt that if the government of the country puts in everything and makes all possible efforts, this rescue will be successful. May God bless you, we are praying for each of you, for each of the families and for these children.
And concerning our own salvation we are told that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
I do not know how I might have fared in that cave for several weeks, or in that Chilean mine. I am not at all sure how I am faring with regard to that "strong consolation". It's easy after the event but during the waiting time while what seems a tiny bit of hope has not yet turned to reality - that's the test.
What an admission!
Such strong emotions have been stirred up in so many that have followed this story and it's not all done yet.
Another hero is Australian doctor Richard Harris whose rare combination of talents led him deep into the Tham Luang cave, abandoning his holiday in Thailand to volunteer to help. He stayed with the boys for three days and was one of the last rescuers out of the cave, barely making it out after the main pump that had been siphoning water out of the cave failed.
In 2010, 33 miners in Chile were rescued after being 69 days underground. One of them sent this message of hope to Thailand: I have no doubt that if the government of the country puts in everything and makes all possible efforts, this rescue will be successful. May God bless you, we are praying for each of you, for each of the families and for these children.
And concerning our own salvation we are told that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
I do not know how I might have fared in that cave for several weeks, or in that Chilean mine. I am not at all sure how I am faring with regard to that "strong consolation". It's easy after the event but during the waiting time while what seems a tiny bit of hope has not yet turned to reality - that's the test.
To play or not to play
Most of the men here have been or are glued to a computer screen watching England vs Croatia. I'm not sure which because I have been unable to tell, even by Googling, whether the game has actually ended or not. Because I do not speak the right language. What is a "break" anyway?
I sit at my computer here in stark contrast. OK, it's kind of good to be with other folk playing a game but, apart from that, the idea of knocking a ball around has no interest whatsoever for me, whether it is football, tennis or whatever.
I have childhood memories: the kid next door was my best friend for a while and we would play cops and robbers and such like - until he started taking an interest in football. Another childhood friend lived a few streets away: his parents had a TV (mine did not) and, when at his place, I hoped it would be on the cartoon channel. More often than not, however, his father would be watching match of the day, a deep disappointment!
Keeping fit, especially the CrossFit kind, is the rage here now-a-days. People will be seen churning away inside at the rowing machine or tread-mill when, outside, the sun is shining. I just cannot understand it - if you want to run why not do it in God's beautiful world? And it is beautiful here: we overlook a lake and mountains.
At this time of the year it is getting dark at 22:00 and gets light before 05:00, and yet People will stay up all hours and only drag themselves out of bed at the latest possible time in the morning. My body is through by 22:00 and the light wakes me in the morning - which seems natural enough to me, exception though I may be.
Thankfully people here have come to accept my strange ways...
I sit at my computer here in stark contrast. OK, it's kind of good to be with other folk playing a game but, apart from that, the idea of knocking a ball around has no interest whatsoever for me, whether it is football, tennis or whatever.
I have childhood memories: the kid next door was my best friend for a while and we would play cops and robbers and such like - until he started taking an interest in football. Another childhood friend lived a few streets away: his parents had a TV (mine did not) and, when at his place, I hoped it would be on the cartoon channel. More often than not, however, his father would be watching match of the day, a deep disappointment!
Keeping fit, especially the CrossFit kind, is the rage here now-a-days. People will be seen churning away inside at the rowing machine or tread-mill when, outside, the sun is shining. I just cannot understand it - if you want to run why not do it in God's beautiful world? And it is beautiful here: we overlook a lake and mountains.
At this time of the year it is getting dark at 22:00 and gets light before 05:00, and yet People will stay up all hours and only drag themselves out of bed at the latest possible time in the morning. My body is through by 22:00 and the light wakes me in the morning - which seems natural enough to me, exception though I may be.
Thankfully people here have come to accept my strange ways...
20180706
How much do you think you are worth, boy?
The world has been gripped by news of the Thai 12 boys and their coach trapped in a cave complex and I, too, have been following the story avidly. And now one of the divers has sacrificed his life in the effort to save them. I quote:
The search operation would go on, said Rear Adm Arpakorn. "I can guarantee that we will not panic, we will not stop our mission, we will not let the sacrifice of our friend go to waste," he said. About 1,000 people are involved in the rescue operation, including navy divers, military personnel and civilian volunteers.
And rightly so. And yet there are thousands of children dying unnecessarily elsewhere so why are these 12 boys so special? Because these boys (and their coach) are, without dispute, worth any price. That's not to say that others are not: how can I comment on those I do not know about?
The search operation would go on, said Rear Adm Arpakorn. "I can guarantee that we will not panic, we will not stop our mission, we will not let the sacrifice of our friend go to waste," he said. About 1,000 people are involved in the rescue operation, including navy divers, military personnel and civilian volunteers.
And rightly so. And yet there are thousands of children dying unnecessarily elsewhere so why are these 12 boys so special? Because these boys (and their coach) are, without dispute, worth any price. That's not to say that others are not: how can I comment on those I do not know about?
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