PTSD

Bike riding has not always been kind to me.  In fact, nearly every broken bone I have had is because of the bike.  My first memory of riding a a bike is when I broke my leg at the age of 5.  I am sure I had been riding for quite sometime before that (see me learning to ride above) but this memory wipes them all out.  It was a dreary day (it must have been!).  I was at my friend Jill's house, and she had a gravel driveway on a hill.  These were the days when you back pedaled to put the breaks on.  Unfortunately, I had the bright idea to put my leg down to stop myself.  And, there you go, a spiral fracture of my right tibia.  Of course it was at the beginning of the summer, so I had to spend the entire summer in a cast and on crutches.  Swimming meant floating on a tube with a garbage bag over my leg.  What a bummer!

Then there was my encounter with Meredith Hoyt and a man hole cover, which left me with a broken rib and her with a broken tailbone.  This added to my not so memorable trip of climbing hills in France.  Oh well.

And then the "best" break of all, my collarbone, at crit practice, in August last year, followed by surgery, followed by a year to forget.

Which has given me PTSD (i.e. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  So today, riding in Hulda Crooks with Matt, I did the toddler thing and pouted (or rather flatly refused) when confronted with a steep downhill gravel trail.  The adrenaline starts, then the nerves, then the loss of balance and all confidence.  I will surely die (or break a leg, or a collarbone) if I ride it.  Right?  FLASHBACKS to 5 years old!  But, yet, I have decided to take the plunge (no pun intended) and get a mountain bike.  In exchange, Matt has agreed to be my nurse when I break the next bone.

The weather was great today, though.  And the view was awesome, although I didn't see much of it because I was concentrating so much on the trail...

So this is what it's come to

I'm 33 and Friday nights consist of a trip to the gym (including the WALK to the gym) and then a movie and dinner at home.  I have even picked up the new hobby of sewing.  Granted my hobbies are usually quite short lived.  But still, sewing?  Way too domestic for me.  I am currently working on some curtains for my garage.  Practice curtains is what I call them.  Not too shabby for a first time.  (Minus the ugly clothes I managed to make in 8th grade when I took sewing lessons; the clothes included a flowered shirt and purple sweat pants -- Mom, what were you trying to do to me?).  But I'll comfort myself with the fact that I won't be sewing for long -- short lived, remember?  The stint in 8th grade didn't take off and this one most likely won't either.  I did invest in a sewing machine though, just in case.  I can always fix things.  I am NOT domestic.  Really.

The Bread Tradition

I'm the child who has decided to carry on the Fynewever bread tradition.  My Grandma Fynewever taught my dad, and my dad taught me.  Hopefully by the time I'm 60, I'll have perfected the art like my dad has.  Now, this is isn't to say that my siblings might take up the task someday, but, as of yet, I'm the only one.  And no, a bread machine doesn't count.  I always was a Daddy's girl...

Growing up, as far as I knew, there wasn't such a thing as store-bought bread (or store-bought cookies, or anything else store-bought for that matter).  I must say that I'm a little stuck up when it comes to bread.  But then again, I also have to admit that I buy bread at the store now too -- I have to keep my carb habit in good supply but I don't have enough time to make enough bread to keep up with that.

So here is one of my projects in process...

I love my Kitchen Aid!

Almost there!

The finished product.  And not too bad.  Thanks Dad!

Update on Fred

Fred was in the same place this morning that I left him last night.  I was worried that he might fry in the sun on the front steps because he appeared to have no intent of moving.  So first I moved him to a shaded tree: lots of ants for food; surely, he would come alive with that!  (And yes, he was breathing.)  One hour later, he was still there.  And now the branch was in the sun.  Fred didn't want to leave me!  So I moved him to the back patio, in the shade.  This evening when I returned, Fred was gone.  Where are you, Fred?

My New Friend

I found a new friend today.  At first he was scared of me, then he wouldn't leave.  He took a nap on my hand for an hour, then stuck around for a couple more hours inside.  I finally had to coax him back outside to nature.  A half hour later, he was still on the front steps.  I miss him now that he is gone.  I call him Fred.  Maybe I'll see him around sometime.

It's getting me all fired up!

Some of you may remember these photos I posted of one of my first mountain bike rides a month or so ago.  (This still happens to be one of my only mountain bike rides yet, but no matter.)  Crafton Hills during the summer is dry, dry, dry, but still maintains a type of desert beauty that one can enjoy (at least early in the morning before the oven heats up).  There's a beautiful view of the mountains and hills 360 degrees around -- you just have to overlook Yucaipa to keep up the scenic view.  The bushes are dry but with splashes of red, green, white and yellow.  And for me, the wide trail with it's sweeping turns and gentle hills, makes for a fear-free ride.

Well, last night this was my view of Crafton from afar. 

As I got closer, I started to see the ashes fall around me and worry about my health when I started coughing, so I headed the other direction.  Supposedly, lightening, volcanic eruptions, falling rocks, and spontaneous combustion are the main causes of wildfires.  Not so here in Southern California.  Arson, cigarettes, campfires and in essence, careless and/or destructive people.  What is up with our society today?  Since when did this kind of thing become fashionable?   What are we teaching our kids that they grow up to think that this is a form of fun?  What happended to responsibility and consequences?  Lets wake up and cherish the beauty of the world and the people around us, and teach those who follow us that same stewardship.

Crafton today, from a distance, still smoldering, 80% contained.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.

Autumnal Equinox

Apparently, today is deemed the first day of Fall. I've been ruminating on this concept all day, wondering WHO? decided this? The weather seems to be telling us otherwise...

This made me want to be difficult and buck the system. Who is to tell me that I have to head into fall? Come on now, if you're going to tell me it's fall, give me fall weather: cool temperatures, green hills, a little rain.  Is that too much to ask?  But no. So, I made ice tea in my SUMMER container, and I decided to attract some hummingbirds by making them some pretty red food. So there! This is adverse as I can get at bucking the fall system. ;-)

But my inquisitive mind made me look into this a little further and educate myself. Lucky for all of you,  I have decided to educate you too. So, FYI: the September or Autumnal Equinox occurs when the sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward in the northern hemisphere. "The location on the earth where the sun is directly overhead at solar noon is known as the subsolar point. The subsolar point occurs on the equator during the September equinox and March equinox.  At that time, the earth’s axis of rotation is perpendicular to the line connecting the centers of the earth and the sun."  (http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html)  Wow!  Confused yet?  There's more.  The September equinox occurs this year at exactly 21:19 Coordinated Universal Time (also known as UTC -- Why isn't it CUT?  Beats me!).  For those of us out West, the Pacific standard time zone is UTC-8.  The Eastern standard time zone is UTC-5.  And for those of you in the middle, I'll let you figure it out.  The UTC apparently has something to do with Greenwich and solar time and Leap seconds, but this is where you start to lose interest and my brain has started to hurt, so that's as educated as I'm going to get on the September Equinox.  And if you want to know more, I'll let you look it up!

Regardless, enjoy the coming fall weather and fall colors whereever you might be!  I know I will, when it finally decides to come...