Buddha quotes

     These quotes from the Buddha relate well to our health.

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”

“Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”

A coyote encounter

     Maybe it was because of the nature quote I posted earlier today (Karma), but we had a coyote encounter this morning.  My dog Charleigh and I were walking in the South Valley Park and saw a huge coyote sitting maybe 50 yards away, alternately growling and howling at us.  We stopped and watched for several minutes. It was such weird behavior for a coyote....usually they are shy creatures, drawing no attention to themselves.  I thought maybe this one was injured or had pups nearby.
     After a while, I tried to move on and Charleigh was having none of it.  I was having to drag her away as she kept trying to get at it.  Luckily, this caused me to turn and see that the coyote was running right at us.
     A woman nearby noticed the coyote charging and came towards us.  The coyote, seeing that there were now 2 people as well as the dog, had second thoughts, turned and moved in another direction.  A different hiker said he had heard that there was a big elder male coyote in the valley lately so always carries a pointed hiking pole for protection.
     Charleigh and I continued our walk with our female rescuer, who didn't want to be out there alone any more than I did.  That coyote stayed within 50 to 100 yards of us for the next hour until we left the valley!
     In retrospect, he must have been declaring that this was his territory to Charleigh, who decided to challenge him on it.  She is not a quiet, humble, mellow girl and will not take anything off of any animal. I am just fortunate that the woman nearby came to our rescue or I would very well have been in the middle of a dog-coyote fight.
     But this encounter did mean we met a new friend named Fran, so it is all good.  And maybe I'll start carrying a pointed hiking pole for protection.  Also, I learned that there is safely in numbers and that maybe a dog and her person aren't always a big enough number.
   

   

A re-post

I saw this quote again today so I had to re-post.  I love it.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets' towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you.

—E. Abbey

It is a good news, bad news kind of day

     Chipotle is no longer serving foods made with GMO ingredients.  I knew there was a reason why I love them.  They are my favorite restaurant.  This is the good news.
      It is so nice to have choices as to what foods to eat.  Hopefully manditory GMO labels will come soon.  Until then, I will continue to buy organic.  That is the best bet, anyway, to avoid all the added chemicals.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/business/chipotle-to-stop-serving-genetically-altered-food.html




         The earth is on the edge of a 6th great mass extinction.  Up to 50% of the species on earth could be gone by the end of this century and humans are the cause.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/earth-is-on-the-edge-of-a-sixth-extinction/ar-BBiKwqK

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” ― Anne Frank, diary of Anne Frank

     I mentioned all the rain we have been receiving and how my plans fell through yesterday.  One of the things I was hoping to have done was a fun run/walk put on by the elementary school located one block from my house to raise money for their PTA. I am a whiny wimp who won't run in rain and cold if I don't have to, though, so didn't go.
     I put the money I would have spent there, plus some more, to better use donating to help in Nepal after their horrible earthquake.  I wish I could be there to help in a hands-on way since there is such a need, but when you live in middle America sometimes the best you can do is send money to help with disaster relief.  I encourage you to do the same.

     

Rain, beautiful rain.

     It is rainy and chilly.  My carefully laid plans for the day were all for naught. It looks like a great day for a long hot bath, a good book, some music, and maybe some cooking. It could be worse.
     How about you?

A jar full of wishes

     There is a really nice older gentleman that I often see at the park where I walk my dog and also do a little running.  He is on disability and cannot walk well anymore, so he drives to the park and sits and listens to ballgames on the radio until his wife gets off of work.  He is a people watcher.  He carries a jar of pennies with him and throws a few out on the path as he loves to see kids pick them up.
     As it happens, I always pick up pennies.  I make a wish on these found pennies and keep them....a jar full of pennies someday will equal a jar full of wishes.  Of course, you can't spend the pennies or the wishes may not come true.
     He is a kind gentleman and we talk often. Next time I find a penny I think I will wish that his foot heals so he can hike a little again.

Believe

"Believe that you can run farther or faster. Believe that you're young enough, old enough, strong enough, and so on to accomplish everything you want to do. Don't let worn out beliefs stop you from moving beyond yourself."

John Bingham, writer & runner

“Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” ― Anonymous Greek Proverb

     What one thing are you doing today on this 45th Earth Day to make the planet a better place?  Go outside and soak up the sun and enjoy nature.
      "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."---John Muir


     What a gorgeous day to celebrate the earth.  The wild plum thickets are blooming and their fragrance is overpowering.  It always reminds me of when I was a kid walking to country school and the wild plums filling the roadsides were in bloom.  They aren't there any more, though.

     It seemed like the perfect day to share this video:

Fed Up

     I watched the 2014 documentary "Fed Up" this past weekend.  It was excellent.  It made me so sad and so angry at what we have allowed the food industry to do to our children and to us.  It renewed my belief that we need to boycott processed "food," sugar, and to cook real food from scratch.
     Watch the film.  Get angry. Act.

"It's time to keep enjoying the best day in running history." ---Amby Burfoot

    I am watching the 119th running of the Boston Marathon this Patriot's Day morning.  I was watching on-line two years ago, as well, when the bombs went off.  This race is such an amazing celebration of running.
     And the elite women are off!

     Do you know about father and son Dick and Rick Hoyt?  Rick has cerebral palsy.  His Dad, Dick, has pushed him in his wheelchair in over 1000 races including marathons and IronMans over the past 32 years.  At age 74, Dick retired this year and is the Grand Marshall of the Boston Marathon.  Rick, now 53, is still in the race with his wheel-chair being pushed by Bryan Lyons, continuing their tradition.

     And now the elite men are off.

*********************
      It was a great race with Americans, both men and women, leading for much of it.  Rotich of Kenya won for the women.  Desisa from Ethiopia won the men's race.  Desiree Linden and Shalane Flanagan, USA women, came in 4th and 9th.  Americans Dathan Ritzenhein and Meb Keflezighi came in 7th and 8th for the men.
     I learned that the elite men average 5' 6'' in height and weigh 117#.  The elite women weight less than 100#.  No wonder they are so fast.

Just an FYI

     Tomorrow, April 20, is the Boston Marathon.  You can watch it live at 9:30 AM Eastern time.

http://watchlive.baa.org/

Create ripples

“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

― Robert F. Kennedy


     I have always loved the Ripples quote by Robert Kennedy.  The following quote reminded me of it.

CREATING A RUNNING WAKE "When you go out running down the street, you create what I call a wake. The wake is like at the back of a boat when you are going through the water. The faster you go the bigger the wake. In that wake people are seeing you, hearing about you, getting this feeling from you, and they're saying, 'I should be doing that too. I should be out there running and racing. I should be taking care of my body.' The faster you go the more influence you have on other people. That's the beauty of running is that just by going out and doing it, you are changing the world. You are making other people so that they will have a wake. And that's what happened with the distance revolution. One becomes two, becomes four, becomes eight." Gerry Lindgren, Gerry Lindgren's Book on Running       The Bobby Kennedy quote reminded me of the following song (see YouTube video).  Today is rainy and good for reminiscing.  Ripples, currents, wakes, a rainy day.....I sense a theme here. And 1968 was a good year for music.

On a personal note

     Today I will share a blog that I found especially meaningful. I found it meaningful because some days it is just easiest to drift, and I need reasons to not do so.
     The blog, Widow Chick, is by Catherine Tidd. a Colorado writer, who authored the book, "Confessions of a Mediocre Widow."  This blog speaks for itself.

Widow Chick

Dear Brad,

It's the eve of your birthday and you know that I've always believed in wishes. But since you're not here to make them, I'm going to make these promises to you...and to me.

I promise to find something in every day. It could be funny or sad or meaningful or "Dodgeball" stupid. I will find it. And it will be something.

I promise to find the thing in me that made you fall in love with me. I think it was how much I loved life? I'm not sure because we didn't talk about it. But I guess the quest will be part of what makes me find me all over again.

I promise to find something that reminds me of you. I don't know if it will be every day, but when I see it I know it will be because you sent it my way. I will treasure it in a way that no one else will understand. I won't try to explain it.

I promise to be so proud of us.

I promise to find me without you. Because otherwise I would disappoint you.

Thoughts for the coming weekend.

❝ When you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You appreciate it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You’re too this, or I’m too this.’ That judging mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.❞

Ram Dass

                                     shared from Alice 105.9
     It is a thundersnow and boots full of slush wet-dog better stay indoors again kind of day. Many schools are closed, lots of accidents and road closures. 


“We're all just walking each other home.” 
― Ram Dass

Quote for the day

"I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be."---Joan Didion



     The snow is here as promised.  1-2 inches today, 3-5 tonight, 1-2 tomorrow.  I should have known it was bad luck to store away my winter hats, mittens, and yak-trax.  It is time to dig them back out to walk the dog, who will love this.

"You are the sky. Everything else...it's just weather." ---Pema Chodron

     I am back from a beautiful long weekend in Austin, TX.  I had a wonderful trip spending time with family and all of us getting to run the Statesman Cap 10K, which is a big family-oriented event with around 20,000 runners and walkers. Dean had always wanted to do this race, so we did it to honor him. I know he was there in spirit cheering us on. Sydney and Alex ran with their middle school group and did fantastically well!  I'm so proud of them.

     The weather in Austin seemed warm and humid to me,  Roses and other flowers were in full bloom everywhere. Now that I'm home with snow and cold in the forecast for the next 5 days, I already miss the Austin weather. Crab-apple trees are in bloom and smell delightful here which must have tempted the fickle finger of the weather gods' need to come along and freeeze them off.  It happens every year. The same with daffodils....here today, frozen tomorrow. That's Colorado.

     Maybe the cold is a good thing.  I've read in the news and on Facebook that rattlesnakes are out and about already.  I can do without them.

Profound.

Pssst...wanna know a secret?

I have questions I do not have answers to.

And so, I simply run.

Go get today. ~G

shared from:

G Force



PS I am heading to the airport for a first flight out.  It seemed like a good idea at the time I bought tickets.  Now when I see myself wandering around the airport parking lot in the dark at 4 AM waiting for a shuttle bus.....not so much.  Other people do it though, right?  Adventure is out there.

WooHoo!

     My taxes are done and ready to go into today's mail.  Phew!  I'm ahead of the game.

     Have a great day.

Great news.

I love to eat nuts and eat a lot of them for snacks. This is great news.

http://sportsgeezer.com/2015/nuts-may-be-the-ultimate-health-food/

Do what you love.

     Amazing!
http://running.competitor.com/2015/03/news/81-year-old-anne-garrett-sets-5k-record-2_125507



     Don't you just love this picture?

 shared from Route 66 Marathon

From one of my favorite books....

     I will have to re-read this book.  I haven't read it since last reading it aloud to my kids 30+ years ago.

shared from Hippie Peace Freaks

Easter Island?

                                                            Shared from Hippie Peace Freaks


Happy Easter weekend.

                                                          shared from  Hippie Peace Freaks

So that's what you call it?

     So this is what I have....a low-maintenance fashion sense.  I like it.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/johanna-mort/2015/03/19-things-only-women-with-a-low-maintenance-fashion-sense-understand/