Small Things Can Make Better Things Happen! - April 12, 2021
Every Sunday I write our kids a note “just to keep in touch” – which really means “Don’t forget about me!” I tell them a few interesting things that happened in the past week – which aren’t very interesting to them. But, whatever. And I tell them about a few things I am looking forward to this week. One of today’s included “Maybe getting a Sunshine story written. But if nothing silly happens, there is not story to write…”
Hmm, Jan. What’s that saying? “Small things can make better things happen!”? OK…
Yesterday, Laur and I did our inaugural bike ride for the year 2021. We rode – via the Welland Canal – to Port Colborne and back. That may not sound like much, but it’s an 84 km round trip with one mean escarpment to ride up (and brake down.) And neither of us wants to be the one that can’t ride up it on our old Raleigh Portages. Yes, we still have those crazy old heavy war horses.
It kicked our behinds! I got to thinking – what was different about the ride this year? There was the usual thing – first ride of the season. Always a bit of a challenge. Especially this year. I’m a tad out of shape without mountain climbing and swimming. (Though, being a “touch” heavier, I should be able to really tromp down on those pedals.)
But the big thing was NO FLATS and NO WIPEOUTS! (Fingers crossed; wood knocked on.) Every location where I have got a flat tire in the past – and their name is legion – Laur would slow down to point it out. As much to catch his breath as to remember. And BOTH of us walked a particular corner where Laur did a terrific “a*s-over-tea-kettle” fall a few years ago. No broken bones. No bruises. So unlike my chance meeting with the pavement in Spring of 2019.
The other thing was the hordes of people on the trail (likely due to Covid), and specifically two guys who buzzed by us at least four times. They were wearing the latest spinning outfits and carrying all the elite accessories. I might have said “All hat and no cattle” – an AZ phrase – but these guys were doing a really good clip. We might not have been so aware of their continuing presence but one of them was blaring the harshest spin music I have ever heard. It truly felt like being a character in an off-beat comedy.
*****
This will likely be our longest ride this year – though we’ll repeat it a few times. Especially if the Smokin Buddha opens up and we can get a really good curry there. The problem with doing longer rides like “Pedalling the Peninsula” – a mere 141 km in one day – is that anything else feels like “I’m phoning it in.” Yes, my legs are moving, but I’m not reaching that point – similar to childbirth – where I don’t think I’m going to make it. (Laur doesn’t feel this way.)
My collarbone starts to scream at about the 100 km mark, and my arthritic wrists complain from the get-go. Laur says his “sit upon it” starts to hurt after 50 km. And by 80 km his “trapezius muscles” start to seize up. (I should never have taken him to a chiropractor. Having “trapezius muscles seize up” sounds so much more athletic than saying, “My shoulders hurt.”)
Perhaps, I should instead compare Saturday’s bike ride with my first Welland canal bike ride ever – some six years ago. We biked from our small apartment on Linwell, to the lighthouse in Port Weller, and then down the Welland Canal to Thorold and back again. Wow! 34km! I felt like Lance Armstrong!
We stopped at a tavern in Thorold for a cold drink and some quesadillas. We sat outside and were the only ones there. The place had seen better days. Still, so nice to rest and have a chat. OK, I wanted to chat and have Laur listen. I was going through a time of feeling bereft of my life in Sudbury. Our rambling big old house with a gigantic backyard, a myriad of companion animals, my friends, having Northern bush a block away, a lake across the street, being known by someone other than my landlady, and so on. I referred to my new life in St. Catharines as “At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances” – named from the book by Alexander McCall Smith, author of the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
Just as our food arrived, two very loud lads showed up for a few drafts, and the server turned the music on good and loud. GAH!
I didn’t want to complain to the waitress or cause the lads to feel I didn’t want to be near them. Both of which were true – kind of hard to express “ennui” when the folks beside you are cracking jokes and the speaker is blaring classic rock.
And then the lads – being very friendly – started yacking to us. I was ready to scream. I whispered to Laur that I wanted to change locations. I explained to the lads we were moving to the back where the music was a little quieter…
And one of the lads said, “Great idea! We’ll join you!” And they picked a table even closer to us AND started eyeing our quesadillas. What could I do? I offered them a piece. They were on it like bees to honey. And the eyeing continued. I gave up. It’s not like we didn’t have food at home.
And then the whole experience just got really neat. They had great stories about Thorold and lots of local information to share. And I returned “home” in better humour. Not great, but better.
*****
Today’s quote from The Good News Network is from John Wooden – a man famous for his UCLA basketball coaching. He suffered the ups and downs, failures and triumphs that come with this career in particular and with family life in general, but he persevered. Positively.
He said, “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”
And my St. Catharines life has become very dear to me.
(OK, hint to the universe. I still want a backyard. This small thing could make better things happen. 😊)
Hmm, Jan. What’s that saying? “Small things can make better things happen!”? OK…
Yesterday, Laur and I did our inaugural bike ride for the year 2021. We rode – via the Welland Canal – to Port Colborne and back. That may not sound like much, but it’s an 84 km round trip with one mean escarpment to ride up (and brake down.) And neither of us wants to be the one that can’t ride up it on our old Raleigh Portages. Yes, we still have those crazy old heavy war horses.
It kicked our behinds! I got to thinking – what was different about the ride this year? There was the usual thing – first ride of the season. Always a bit of a challenge. Especially this year. I’m a tad out of shape without mountain climbing and swimming. (Though, being a “touch” heavier, I should be able to really tromp down on those pedals.)
But the big thing was NO FLATS and NO WIPEOUTS! (Fingers crossed; wood knocked on.) Every location where I have got a flat tire in the past – and their name is legion – Laur would slow down to point it out. As much to catch his breath as to remember. And BOTH of us walked a particular corner where Laur did a terrific “a*s-over-tea-kettle” fall a few years ago. No broken bones. No bruises. So unlike my chance meeting with the pavement in Spring of 2019.
The other thing was the hordes of people on the trail (likely due to Covid), and specifically two guys who buzzed by us at least four times. They were wearing the latest spinning outfits and carrying all the elite accessories. I might have said “All hat and no cattle” – an AZ phrase – but these guys were doing a really good clip. We might not have been so aware of their continuing presence but one of them was blaring the harshest spin music I have ever heard. It truly felt like being a character in an off-beat comedy.
*****
This will likely be our longest ride this year – though we’ll repeat it a few times. Especially if the Smokin Buddha opens up and we can get a really good curry there. The problem with doing longer rides like “Pedalling the Peninsula” – a mere 141 km in one day – is that anything else feels like “I’m phoning it in.” Yes, my legs are moving, but I’m not reaching that point – similar to childbirth – where I don’t think I’m going to make it. (Laur doesn’t feel this way.)
My collarbone starts to scream at about the 100 km mark, and my arthritic wrists complain from the get-go. Laur says his “sit upon it” starts to hurt after 50 km. And by 80 km his “trapezius muscles” start to seize up. (I should never have taken him to a chiropractor. Having “trapezius muscles seize up” sounds so much more athletic than saying, “My shoulders hurt.”)
Perhaps, I should instead compare Saturday’s bike ride with my first Welland canal bike ride ever – some six years ago. We biked from our small apartment on Linwell, to the lighthouse in Port Weller, and then down the Welland Canal to Thorold and back again. Wow! 34km! I felt like Lance Armstrong!
We stopped at a tavern in Thorold for a cold drink and some quesadillas. We sat outside and were the only ones there. The place had seen better days. Still, so nice to rest and have a chat. OK, I wanted to chat and have Laur listen. I was going through a time of feeling bereft of my life in Sudbury. Our rambling big old house with a gigantic backyard, a myriad of companion animals, my friends, having Northern bush a block away, a lake across the street, being known by someone other than my landlady, and so on. I referred to my new life in St. Catharines as “At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances” – named from the book by Alexander McCall Smith, author of the The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.
Just as our food arrived, two very loud lads showed up for a few drafts, and the server turned the music on good and loud. GAH!
I didn’t want to complain to the waitress or cause the lads to feel I didn’t want to be near them. Both of which were true – kind of hard to express “ennui” when the folks beside you are cracking jokes and the speaker is blaring classic rock.
And then the lads – being very friendly – started yacking to us. I was ready to scream. I whispered to Laur that I wanted to change locations. I explained to the lads we were moving to the back where the music was a little quieter…
And one of the lads said, “Great idea! We’ll join you!” And they picked a table even closer to us AND started eyeing our quesadillas. What could I do? I offered them a piece. They were on it like bees to honey. And the eyeing continued. I gave up. It’s not like we didn’t have food at home.
And then the whole experience just got really neat. They had great stories about Thorold and lots of local information to share. And I returned “home” in better humour. Not great, but better.
*****
Today’s quote from The Good News Network is from John Wooden – a man famous for his UCLA basketball coaching. He suffered the ups and downs, failures and triumphs that come with this career in particular and with family life in general, but he persevered. Positively.
He said, “Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.”
And my St. Catharines life has become very dear to me.
(OK, hint to the universe. I still want a backyard. This small thing could make better things happen. 😊)