Mileage Update

I don't usually have a theme for the week, but I certainly did this week ~ "Riding with Caution." Here's why:

Sunday morning I headed out for a ride before church. (This is why I don't sleep though Sunday school ~ I am totally awake after running or riding on Sunday morning. Try it sometime!) I headed up Las Llajas. After about a quarter of a mile I started smelling smoke. The further I rode, the stronger the smoke became. Then I saw smoke. No flames, just smoke, high up in the air. I made it about 2 miles up the trail and decided it would be a good idea to turn around. I did not want to be part of the headline "Brush Fires Traps Local Mountain Biker in Canyon." I said to myself, "Live to ride another day." I learned after church that there was a brush fire that burned about 30 acres, but it was about a mile to the west of Las Llajas. A little too close for my comfort, but I would have been fine.

I ran on Monday morning, then took Tuesday as a rest day. I got up to ride on Wednesday morning. When I came to the trail head, I saw this:


The sign says:

WARNING!

There have been recent bear
sightings in Las Llajas Canyon.

Please be observant and use
caution while hiking the trail.

WARNING!

WHAT?!?! I've lived in this town for more than 20 years. I've seen squirrels, racoons, skunks, rabbits, coyotes, deer, and bobcats. But a BEAR?? Are you kidding me??

I started up the trail for about a mile and realized I was the only one there. That's usually a good thing, but I decided that Wednesday was not going to be the day that they wrote, "Local Mountain Biker Attacked by Bear." (Yes, I have a very active imagination!) So again, I said to myself, "Live to ride another day."

I haven't seen any headlines about a bear in Simi Valley. And believe me, I have checked! Les and I rode together on Thursday and were fine. Most bears are nocturnal, although they can be spotted in the early morning or evening. There is a creek that runs near the trail and plenty of vegetation, so a bear would find this to be ideal. One website states: "Bears are shy animals and will usually run from humans." I hope that's correct! My only concern at this point would be if it is a mother with cubs. I don't want to come between them. I've decided to ride a little later in the morning for now ~ give the bear time to go to bed and other runners or cyclists to be the first on the trail!

It's always an adventure!

Totals for Week ending July 30:
Running: 15.54
Cycling: 36.84
Total: 52.38

Year-to-Date:
Running: 746.21
Cycling: 753.83
Total: 1500.04

What did you do to get your heart rate up this week?

Wake Up Singing!

I received the following quote from Runner's World yesterday:

There's nothing quite like the feeling you get from knowing you're in good physical condition. I wake up alert and singing in the morning, ready to go.
~Stan Gerstein, runner

I love it! I do wake up alert most mornings raring to go for a run or bike ride. But no matter what your physical condition, you can still wake up with a song. Give this one a try:

He Keeps Me Singing

1) There’s within my heart a melody,
JESUS whispers sweet and low;
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still,
In all of life’s ebb and flow.

Chorus
JESUS, JESUS, JESUS,
Sweetest name I know;
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.

2) All my life was wrecked by sin and strife,
Discord filled my heart with pain;
JESUS swept across the broken stings,
Stirred the slumbering cords again.

3) Feasting on the riches of His grace,
Resting ´neath His sheltering wing;
Always looking on His smiling face,
That is why I shout and sing.

4) Though sometimes He leads through waters deep,
Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep,
See His footprints all the way.

5) Soon He’s coming back to welcome me,
Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown,
I shall reign with Him on high.

~ Words & Music: Lu­ther B. Bridg­ers.

And just in case you think you have nothing to sing about ~ Bridgers wrote this song in 1910 after a tragic fire killed his wife and three sons. Jesus is still the sweetest name I know!

I Love Old Photos

Dad sent me some old family photos this week. Some I had never seen before. Some are of people I never even met, but they're still family and part of my history. These are all on the Fultz/Gannaway side and I think they are so cool.

Here are many of Dad's aunts and uncles:

Grandpa's sister Dorothy and her husband, Joe:


Grandpa's brother Chet and his wife, Toni:

Grandma's family - one cousin - Buddy, her father - George, plus all five of her siblings. We're not sure who the two children belong to.



Grandma's sister, Opal who married Grandpa's brother, Kenneth:



Grandma's brother, Euel, who was in Germany during WWII.

Another of Grandma's brothers, Lewis, who was in the Philippines during WWII:


Dad and his two sisters. I'm pretty sure that's a chicken in my aunt Suzie's arms:

Grandma Ruby:



Grandpa Edgar Fultz. He is the only grandfather I knew. How I loved visiting their home in Woodlake! Riding on the back of Grandpa's motorcycle, catching lizards and tadpoles, and running wild in their orchards!

Great Grandma, Frances Elizabeth Fultz. Great Grandpa Fultz died at only 46 years of age and we don't have any pictures of him.





Great Grandma, Sarah Katherine Gannaway:


And my favorite of Grandma Ruby:

Do You Remember?

Do you remember when there were numerous department stores in town? In Fresno we had Gottschalks, Weinstock's, JC Penney, and Sears. Eventually Macy's came along. Other parts of California had May Company, Bullock's, J.W. Robinson, Dillard's and The Broadway.


Our mall now has two department stores ~ Macy's and Macy's. At one end of the mall is Macy's Women's store and at the other end is Macy's Men's and Home store. That seems to be the case in many of the malls in our area. With an occasional Nordstrom thrown in for those with a little more cash to burn than I.


Do you also remember when those department stores had departments? You know, you were looking for a dress for a special occasion, so you went to Gottschalks and walked directly to the Dress department where awaited you racks of dresses. Same thing if you wanted a suit or a skirt or a blouse. That's why they were called department stores.


Now, trying to find a dress (or other particular item) in a department store is a lost cause. The departments in department stores are no longer by department, they are by designer. (I guess Donna Karan doesn't want Liz Claiborne's stuff touching hers.) So you spend a bunch of time wandering from one department to the other, hoping to find a dress tucked away here or there. I usually find one, but then I realized I'm standing in the Woman's part of the Jones New York department and the sizes aren't gonna work for me!


The only purpose of this post is to ask ~ do you remember? And do you like stores better now or how they use to be?

Out and About in Santa Barbara

Last Thursday I rode the Amtrak to Santa Barbara to spend some time with Les while he was up there working. I got to town about 4:00, so while I waited for him to get off work I found a nice bench to sit on and read for a while. This cute scene was right next to me.


After dinner, we headed to Spoon Gelato. It was wonderful! The real deal here. I had pomegranate blueberry and chocolate. I had never tasted chocolate gelato before ~ can you believe it? It was very good and the two flavors tasted nothing alike!


Friday afternoon I wandered into Nine West. 60% off sale. I picked up a pair of black pumps (mine are in a deplorable state) ~ size 5?? Really??? I sent Les an email that said, "Uh oh. Size 5. 60% off..." And attached this picture


He replied "Uh oh indeed." The shoes fit and came home with me!

After putting my shoes in the trunk of our car, I decided I better do something free for a while! I visited the Historic Santa Barbara County Courthouse. The Spanish-Moorish style building was completed in 1929, after the 1925 earthquake ruined much of the city.


On the second floor is the Mural Room. The murals in the room depict scenes from California's history from the native Indians to the construction of the Mission.




At one time it was used as the meeting room for the County Board of Supervisors...


The stair wells are really cool...



The stairs are only open to the second floor. To go to the 5th floor I had to get on the elevator. I joined about 8 others and made my way up. When we stepped off there were about 25 people waiting to go back down! The views were amazing...



This is Les' office ~ Berkeley Aviation. I sent him an email that said, "I see you."


I then sent this picture, with the message, "Do you see me?"


The view from outside, ground level:


I don't know why, but I thought this little marker was funny.... dedicated to the white women!


We had Aldo's Italian food for dinner. Chicken Parmesan for Les, Ravioli Rosa for me. Cannoli for dessert! I loved the paintings on the walls. My favorite ~ gondolas in Venice.


Just another beautiful day in the Mediterranean of the West!

Mileage Update

I saw 14 yard sales in one neighborhood while I was running this morning! Is today National Yard Sale Day and nobody told me about it?? It was crazy. Yard sale shoppers are serious about this stuff. Cars were everywhere. My normally peaceful Saturday morning run was completely disrupted. I am not a yard saler, so my opinion is... one man's trash is still trash!

I thought "I should have ridden the trail instead." Then I came upon the trail head and there were a dozen cars parked there! Traffic jam on Las Llayas, too. Everyone is out today. It's a great morning for it - high 50s and slightly overcast.

Totals for Week ending July 23:
Running: 16.80
Cycling: 34.34
Total: 51.14

Year-to-Date:
Running: 730.67
Cycling: 716.99
Total: 1447.66

Are you staying inside because of the heat wherever you are?? Try an early morning walk, you might be surprised at what you see.

Keeping Score

On the way home from Bible study last night Les and I were talking about heart rates. My heart rate hit 174 beats per minute Tuesday morning as we were climbing the upper portions of Las Llayas. Some people believe that we are only given a certain number of heart beats per lifetime, so exercising and getting your heart rate up would actually shorten your lifetime.


I don't know if we only have so many heart beats or not. One site claims we get about 3 billion beats in a lifetime. By upping the heart rate during exercise, we actually lower our resting heart rate, causing a longer life. I do know that if I sit on the couch, eating bon bons all day, my heart rate will surely be lower ~ but my poor heart will be in trouble! I'm not going to spend my days worrying if I've used up all my heartbeats. God knows the number of days He has allotted to me, and I'll trust Him to keep my heart pumping.


I was thinking about all this today as I was riding again. We humans have a tendency to want to keep track of everything. I've heard of people who don't think you should pray for little things. "God's too busy for that stuff." As if God has a spreadsheet for each of us - "Oops, looks like I've already answered three prayers this month, can't do anymore for them until August." God hears and answers every prayer ~ we may not get the answer we want, but He answers.


In Matthew chapter 18, we see the Apostle Peter was concerned about keeping score. " Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." Again, mankind wants to keep score, while God says just keep forgiving.

No relationship is healthy when score keeping is involved. "You got to this so I get do to that..." "I did this for you, so..." Give love, without restraint, and love will come back to you, without restraint.


Truth Tabernacle Christian School dedicated their 1995 yearbook to Rod after he passed away. Part of that dedication says this: "It's not the years in the life that count, but the life in the years. Rod was full of zeal for life and in the course of his life he gave us laughter, faith, and encouragement."


I've decided I'm not counting my heartbeats, but I'm making my heartbeats count!

Peonies and Buttercups

I have been meaning to introduce you all to a new blogger and now I really have a reason. Suzanne Andrews has a delightful blog called Peonies and Buttercups - Faith, family and southern domesticity....


Suzanne and Les have known each other since they were teenagers, so it was wonderful to see her enter the blog world. She has some great recipes, tips to moms, pictures, memories, even a recipe for Sweet Tea!

Last week she had a giveaway. The winner was announced today and it is ME!!! I can't believe it! And I can't wait to sample her strawberry jam - these pictures are of Suzanne's jam, taken directly from her blog.


I guess I should have introduce y'all a little sooner, shouldn't I??

Sometimes You've Got to Sweat the Small Stuff

Last week when Les and I were riding our bikes together I had major problems with my chain. It kept slipping off the chainring, even when I wasn't shifting. It got to the point that I would pedal about five strokes and it would pop off again. Very frustrating.


Thursday night Les took my chainring apart. He thought it just needed to be cleaned. When he got to my smallest chainring (there are three) he discovered that two of the teeth were bent. These two little bent teeth, on my smallest chainring, caused my chain to stretch. Over the course of almost 1300 miles, the chain had stretched the point that it would not stay on the chainring anymore.


Myka is all put back together now. She has a new chainring and new chain. For over a year I've ridden that bike and struggled with shifting problems. I thought it was ME! But all along it's been those two little bent teeth...


James, the apostle, half brother to Jesus, had a little bit to say about small stuff:

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.

How many people have had their confidence slowly eroded because of little snide remarks? Oh but it's a just a small thing. Just a little joke. Is it really? There is always a shred of truth in someone's joke. Some people who use their razor sharp tongue to slash are also quick to apologize. But once the words are out, the chain is stretched a little more.


Galatians 5:15 says, "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another." Some other translations say: "But if you criticize and attack each other, be careful that you don’t destroy each other." "If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other." "If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."

Sounds like we need to sweat the small stuff after all.