To Everything There Is A Season

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Turn! Turn! Turn!--Lyrics adapted from the book of Ecclesiastes

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

I also think that for everything there is a reason. It's just that sometimes the reason can be so hard to discern, at least at the time ... I had a rough weekend, but I am slowly becoming me again. And that feels good.

A time to heal;

It's truly amazing what the human body is capable of. Miraculous, really. Look at this (sorry ... this pic is kinda dark) ...

I have an 8" vertical scar down the middle of my abdomen (it goes around my belly button) as the result of pancreas surgery a few years ago. Think about it ... they sliced me open, moved everything aside to get to my pancreas, cut about half of it off, and I didn't bleed to death. I healed. Yeah, I know they can cauterize just about everything, but the whole idea of it is still truly amazing. And I'm not diabetic, another miracle in my book. I am very thankful.

I'm going to be out of my usual running routine for a little while. I need to let everything quiesce and heal. Among the things needing to heal is a strained glute muscle and my toe ... (sorry if you are squeamish)

It didn't look nearly this bad yesterday. Yesterday it was pretty puffy but was filled with clear fluid and there was a hematoma at the bottom of about half the nail. I went into urgent care to have it drained. The guy took (most of !) the polish off, poked a hole in it and got a couple drops of fluid out is all. Well, it went from bad to worse and it's now all nasty colored and filled with bloody stuff, it's throbbing and huge, the hematoma has enlarged and I can even feel some swelling on the bottom of the toe when I walk. I called OMC early this morning and waited until 6 PM for a return call from podiatry as they said I needed to talk to a nurse--wouldn't give me an appt. No call ever came. I am very disappointed and of course ... in even more discomfort.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

I'm really enjoying my new bike. I love riding, being out in the open spaces where I am free to think (and no one is wondering what I am thinking), where I am free to sing (and no one can hear me), where I am free to cry (and no one can see me).

I waited until 6 PM today to go on my bike ride (waiting for the podiatry call that never came ... didn't want to depend on hearing/feeling my phone on the bike ... I really wanted to get this call). I headed SW as the wind was from the south. At the intersection of Salem Road/County 22 two inline skaters came up off the bike path and onto the road, heading west but on the shoulder of the other side of the road, where runners would run. I was riding with traffic. I could tell they were really moving. I turned onto Salem Road and decided to see how fast they were going. 19.6 mph. I didn't really loose them for good until I was going about 21. Really good skaters in my book. They were drafting off each other and had water bottles in their jerseys.

I like to try new things, go on "road trips" so I decided to head west on Olmsted County road 17 which is a road I'd never been on before. It's about a mile north of Rock Dell. After riding for a few miles, I came to a barn which looked nice in the waning daylight ...

Right near the barn was a church that intrigued me. So I rode the short distance down the gravel road to get a better look. It's the South Zumbro Lutheran Church (est. 1868).

It was obvious that a very extensive addition had been added to a country church. The original building is on the north, under the steeple.

Just to the north is the cemetery ... obviously with Scandinavian roots as the family names Aarsvold, Boyum, Kyllo, Berge ... appeared on several headstones.

I'm intrigued enough that I would like to go to a service out there.

A time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to be born, and a time to die;

I'm not sure which is applicable for the next part of my tale. On the corner opposite the barn was a farmhouse. A very large dog was running loose. I rode by and he (I'm assuming he!) ran for the bike barking madly. This was one large mean-looking dog and I was literally scared for my life. The only thing that I could think of was to outride his run. But I was at the bottom of a hill. The adrenaline surged and I rode up that hill at 21.6 mph and outrode the dog. But now I had another dilema ... I didn't want to ride past that dog again so an out-and-back course wasn't going to work for me. So I kept heading west until I got to the next paved road and headed north (on Dodge County 15) hoping to find another paved road going east, but couldn't think of where that might intersect any of the roads I'm familiar with. And I hadn't eaten dinner, had only a half a granola bar with me (not much of an appetite really ... I didn't eat my breakfast oatmeal yesterday until 6 PM) and don't have a smart phone. I knew that if nothing else, I'd eventually hit Highway 14. Well, that was the case. I hit Highway 14 and with daylight fading fast, I decided I'd better take that into Byron and head home on either County 3 or old Highway 14. I don't recommend riding on 14 -- the shoulder is in really poor condition and there's all kinds of junk on it ... car parts, weeds, rocks. I chose old 14 as my route home as that was shorter. It wasn't the 30'ish mile ride that I'd planned, but it was interesting nevertheless. My morning workout was lift and swim. I'll swim tomorrow morning and go for a long ride in the afternoon. 50+ miles would be great.

A time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;

Youth For Christ had their Colorado peach drop today and I picked up a lug for canning, eating and pie- and crisp-making purposes.

If they're as good as the Georgia peaches I picked up last time, they'll be delicious.

I also stopped at Great Harvest for a loaf of Honey Whole Wheat bread. They had a new one, Apple Scrapple, that they were "test riding" :-) for next month. I had a sample and it was delicious so I bought a loaf. And I got a free scone.

A time to keep silence ...

The evening has gotten away from me. It's 10:33. Good night.