"...a series of rediculous attempts to be alive..."

It's interesting that I feel worse today, but today is the day I feel better. Um.... that sounded more real and less pseudo-profound in my head.

Backing up a little, I've caught a cold or flu. There is so much talk about H1N1 flu and how dangerous it is, especially to pregnant women, that I've been taking extra precautions to protect Tami from my germs. Actually, I've been a lot more careful not to get sick at work and bring it home for several months. Now that I am sick, I'm doing all I can under the circumstances to protect Tami and The Kid. From what I hear, pregnant women are very susceptible to colds and flus, regardless of weather it is H1N1 or not. So, I have to do all I can. I live on the couch now. That's the first big action. I've been living on the couch since I came home Wednesday feeling less than good. I haven't gone to work or ridden a motorcycle. What I have done is watch a lot of video over the internet. You see, in my effort to isolate my germs until they die, I live on the couch, avoid contact and close proximity with my wife (it is very difficult to go so long without a touch, kiss, or hug), avoid touching everything not on the couch, going into any other rooms, or sitting where Tami would sit. There is no TV in this room and the discomfort makes it difficult to read much, so I have discovered the wonders of internet video. Fascinating.

First, I found BBC America's Top Gear web site devoted to the popular show Top Gear that so many of my friends comment on. It's not part of my cable package so I had not seen it before Wednesday, but I found it on the internet. Awesome. It's a show where three guys in England are, for example, given 1,500 pounds to buy a Porsche and then they compete against each other on various tasks as their beat up old examples of cool cars fall apart. Quality entertainment. Who would have known one man on a couch could get through so many episodes so fast. Then, Don told me how I could mix it up a little with videos from Jay Leno's Garage. That's where Jay Leno shows off and talks about various vehicles that he has or gets his hands on. Some very cool stuff like a turbine powered car that he has had custom made and various exotic cars and motorcycles. Excellent. Still, a man's time on a couch stretches on so I remembered all this hubub about a website called Hulu.com. I didn't know what it was about exactly but I knew it was an online free video source. Fantastic. I may be locking myself out of the TV room, but I've got plenty of video to help me pass the time. A box of kleenex and one and a half rolls of TP to substitute as kleenex later, I've watched two documentaries and several episodes of current comedy sitcom. My favorite discovery is a line or two from a show called Community.

I should say that I avoid watching new shows on television. I don't like to get hooked on shows because I don't like to spend too much time thinking about watching or actually watching them when I'm feeling good. I went through a faze of watching Scrubs, South Park, Simpsons, and Family Guy. I've gotten over all of them except Family Guy which I will still watch when I'm in front of the TV. But there is only one show left that I actively look forward to and will be sure to see each week, The Office. I love it. And, I would like to keep it at just one show. But life on the couch makes one venture out a bit, and I tried the show Community. It has been pretty darn entertaining. The gem of the day? This great line when one friend is trying to cheer up and talk down another friend who basically feels old and like he may be wasting his life away.. and he is on some unknown drug at the community college dia de los muertos party:

"And more importantly, you're dressed like a gladiator in a desk fort that you built during a bad trip. If life is just a series of ridiculous attempts to be alive, you're a hero to everything that's ever lived."

I love it! What a novel idea to define life, against all good logic, as an attempt to be alive through a series of rediculous attempts at living. Cheesy, funny, and as horribly extra cheesy as it may seem, motivational. And that got me to another horrible cheesy line from the movie Shawshank Redemption (I love that movie), I think it went something like "Get busy living, or get busy dieing." And that's it.

I feel worse today. My headache is worse. My sore throat is worse. My cough is worse. But I have turned that point psycholigically where I don't feel like wasting away on the couch anymore. I may feel like crap and I may be forced to once again tell my wife that I love her from five feet away when she gets home from work. But I feel like moving. And that feels good.

My plan? Start with a shower, try for a walk outside. If this doesn't clear up by tomorrow, I'm shoving TP in each nostril and going for a ride.

"You'll become an expert on it," she said, referring to types of baby poop.

Only a few days left in October and it continues to be eventful. I changed my first diaper! Sure, it was on a plastic doll, but I did it.

My sister was born on the second day of my Sophomore year in high school. And, I did watch her for a couple of hours on a few occasions. Turns out, I happened to know most of the words to Walk on the Ocean by Toad the Wet Sprocket and my sister just happened to like the song well enough to fall asleep to it. So, two minutes after parents walked out the door each time, I would start singing. Then, set Katrina down gently and wait for parents to come back, check on my lovely sister, and change her diaper if needed. Brilliant, really. But, I had already told this story to my wife so, she was wise to me. Figured I better learn to change a diaper. And that's not all I learned at the new parent class held at Kaiser. Apparently, we will become experts on baby poop. There are a lot of rashes and skin stuff that may appear and is perfectly normal for a new born. There are times when a parent should be concerned such as with fever. I'm glad we went to the class as it put a lot into perspective; things I had never considered before. As Tami said, she knew we would wash the baby, but she had not thought about how or considered that we should start gently with the eyes and work our way down and that we should only sponge bathe him until the umbilical stump falls off. Practical things we had not considered. Then there is the video we watched about colic. Wow, if our kid gets colicky and I survive the experience, I may have become a buddha.

Tami and I are still going to Birthing from Within pregnancy classes at Harmony and I am still enjoy them very much. At our last class, an exercise we did caused Tami to say "and I realized the baby is just happy." Wow. I've been thinking about that concept a lot lately. This kid has all he needs right now. He has the comforting embrace of Tami surrounding him, the melodic rhythm of her heart beat, the warmth and nutrition he needs, all the time he wants to rest and grow and move around. He's got it all in his nourishing world. He wants for nothing yet. And in less than two months from now, he'll want to get out and then he's in for quite an adventure. He'll have a life time to explore this Universe and never run out of aspects to discover, understand, or admire. This makes me smile. The Kid just hanging out happy right now. The Kid that will come out some day to explore this side, the outside, of Tami's gigantic belly. How cool.

Speaking of Tami, she has cut off her hair and donated it to Wigs for Kids. This organization makes wigs for children with cancer. The wigs are specially made not to fall off and to look natural when kids swim, or play, or do gymnastics. Turns out they have to hand tie each and every hair individually to a cap that is custom molded to match each child's head to meet the criteria. Impressive. I do believe that when the time comes, I'll donate my hair as well. The donated hair has to be 10 inches long, so I have some time.

The number of motorcycles in the family of friends has increased. Sam and Pat were given a Harley Dyna and Yamaha Rode Star (respectively) for their birthday last week. This freed up Pat's Yamaha V-Star and Don bought that from him. A whole bunch of fun bikes. So, off for a Sunday ride with friends. There were eight of us on seven bikes. I had never ridden with so many people before, though I had ridden with all of these friends in the past. Pat, Sam, and Don were on their new bikes. Nathan and Laurie took the Goldwing. Matt took his Goldwing. Eric was on his VFR and I borrowed Sam's KLR for the ride. I love that bike. It was my second motorcycle. I became friends with Riza whom I bought it from and we rode to Mexico soon after, me on the KLR and he on his BMW GS. I eventually sold it to Don to be his second bike and then bought it back after a time (it would have been my 5th bike had I not already owned it before). Since then, I sold it to Sam as his first bike. I still have first buy back option on this lovely motorcycle. Needles to say, it was a good day. Riding a favorite bike, hanging with good friends, enjoying the beautiful hills and Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Jose.

And then a stop in downtown Campbell to relax and admire the machines.

The Kid's name- A little Closer

As Matt pointed out yesterday, our method of narrowing down the name list a little each day was basically a way for us to unintentionally sadden/anger every one who likes us in a slow and painful way as their suggested names fall off the list. So, we changed strategy and decided to narrow it down fast. Like ripping off a band-aid. There were a lot of good names. The difficulty lies in taking a bunch of good names and trying to figure out which name belongs to this particular child of ours. Not easy at all. Tami and I sat down today and worked on imagining our child with these names and did our best. We're all the way down to 20 names. We did modify a couple of the names slightly. Tami is, even as I type, talking to The Kid and calling him different names from the new list of 20. It's amusing. Thank you for so many great suggestions.

But before working on the name list, I fueled up on a spaghetti and meatball lunch (I should be able to eat spaghetti and meatballs every day this week- sweet!). Before that, I went on a great morning motorcycle ride with Sam, Nathan, and Pat up to Alice's Restaurant on Skyline. Cold foggy mornings in the coastal mountains make coffee taste better.

Alice's and the parking lot across the street are great places to ride to, eat, and look at bikes. It's a bit like a free motorcycle show every weekend. When I first bought my first bike (the 12 year anniversary is 6 months away), I rode to Alice's every Saturday, rain or shine. It was my way of learning to ride and my way of learning about bikes through asking questions from the experienced riders. I remember one day riding up on a Wednesday morning and seeing just three riders (most people would have been working) who were chatting and having a good time in the parking lot. I joined in and they were so fun. After a while I asked how the three of them managed to not have to be at work. They told me how they had gotten word the day before from a friend that they would be laid off at the Wednesday morning meeting. They worked together in San Francisco and occasionally rode together so they decided to ride to work and, after being laid off, go enjoy a ride. They certainly were enjoying themselves. You can meet a lot of good people with great outlooks on life up at Alice's.

Spaghetti Day

And Grandma said "Let there be spaghetti sauce" and there was, and Grandma knew that it was good. And Grandma said "It is not right for such delicious spaghetti sauce to be eaten alone, I shall make the greatest meatballs ever." And she did, and it was excellent. And grandma said, "I'll even add sausages and my magic cooking skills to this perfect sauce and these perfect meatballs and make it all so deliciously perfect that even my otherwise mostly vegetarian grandson will eat this every year for his birthday." And she did, and he does. Amen.

SOOOOOO GOOOOD! Again, the spaghetti and meatballs are everything I hoped for and worth every ounce of anticipation. Thank you Grandma. Delicious!


Friends and family that stopped by throughout the afternoon and evening to enjoy the deliciousness agree.

First Birthing Class

We went to our first birthing class tonight. We are taking the Birthing from Within classes- who knew there were multiple philosophies to choose from for birthing classes? Turns out there is a lot more than just breathing. Tonight was a getting to know each other night with a little introduction to what the birthing process is like. Our class takes place at a great location called Harmony in Campbell, California where they offer birthing classes, yoga classes, meet the Douala nights, and every type of support and relaxation a pregnant woman could want. Even prenatal massage. In other rooms we heard mothering classes and yoga classes going on. The place has a good vibe.

Imagine a meditation room with cushions and candles and flowy curtains and everyone sitting on the floor with bare feet. That's what our class looks like. And it's comfortable and interesting. There are three couples and our instructor who is engaging and smiles often. Also, she's good at telling stories and giving examples: "when your four year old looks soulfully into your eyes.... and asks for a snack.... while you're on the toilet...." There is also a guy in the class named Joy and he smiles and laughs so often it's a bit contagious. His wife does the same. A good and interesting group of people.

At home, The Kid's room is beginning to look like a nursery. The crib (thanks Laurie, mom and dad), night stand and dresser (thanks grandma), firefly (thanks Katrina), Hawaii painting (thanks Phyllis), lavender stuffed dog and pillow (thanks Mitra), Jerry Rice autographed football (thanks Matt), room decor (thanks Stephanie), and much more (thanks 'much more' people) are all in. We have plenty more to add from the other room but I'd say we've done well for the day. It is exciting to see our son's room coming together and imagining him in this space. I think he'll like it.

The Kid has a Name!

(The Kid has a name...
we just don't know it yet......)

Okay, the heading for this post is pretty miss leading. I know. Shameless ploy to get your attention. We have no idea what his name is. There are a lot of good names on the list to choose from (136 names) and we need to pick before The Kid learns English. Or Spanish, for that matter.

So, here is our plan to make this interesting. You may keep adding names until we choose The Name. In the mean time, we will begin forcing ourselves to narrow down the list every single day, beginning today, until The Name finds The Kid. Yes, every day, the list will narrow and you can open up the list to see the names we are still discussing. Tami and I are as excited as many of you to find out what his name is. We are looking for two names. Our current plan is to pick a first name, pick a middle name, his second middle name will be Tami's last name, and The Kid's last name will be my last name. So his name will be: Something Something C. S.

Thoughts Counting and Piling High

In the last couple of days, Tami has surprised me with an engraving in my wedding ring, flowers delivered to my work, and a home baked giant chocolate brownie with a candle in it. She is excellent; I'm enjoying all three.

An interesting thing about that candle. I take birthday wishes fairly seriously. In my mind, I word them like a lawyer's contract. I clarify and specify so that the powers that be in the universe, the cherubs of coincidence and fortune, will have no misunderstanding should my wish win the birthday lottery. This year, as soon as my contract was signed with an extinguished candle I realized that this was the first birthday candle wish I have ever used to benefit another.

Good luck son.

Also, a couple of days ago my friend Matt tells me he bought a new bike and I could take it for a few days. Suspecting nothing odd, I was pretty excited to take it out for a ride. This Honda RC51, a superb motorcycle, and I got along particularly well and we've had a lot of fun together (see pics from my last post). Little did I know that I was test riding my own birthday present. Yeah. Matt, Mitra, Nathan, and Laurie presented it to me today as my birthday gift. Wow........ Ssss-weet.

And when I got home with that big smile after riding the RC51, my smile got a little wider when I filled it with home made brownies. Good for breakfast AND for dinner! Yes, it was a very good day. Chocolaty & Motorcycly. Yummmm.

Chocolate, motorcycles, ocean, family, friends..... a grand October by any measure.

It’s The Holy Month of October

There are several calendars that I am aware of and that affect me. There is the annual calendar, the fiscal calendar, the academic calendar. And then there is My Calendar, the Randy Calendar. The calendar by which I count the days of my life, by which I consider the experience of my days, and by which I examine my... examined life. My Calendar, like the Aztec calendar, has several special days of festival, ceremony, and celebration before the New Year begins. My special days begin October first and my new year occurs several days later. Then, I just keep on going and keep celebrating my birthday for the whole of October. It ends with everyone wearing costumes and giving little gifts of sweats to strangers. It's a good time.

I began this year’s festivities, Day One, by wearing all of my favorite comfortable brown and orange clothing. It was a good day, I started early, and I felt great. October is also orange and brown and comfortable. Interesting.

Day Two was a very special day in the month. There are two days in the Randy Calendar on which I do not work. The second of these is on the first convenient good-riding-weather work-day after the cold part of winter. The first, is an early October day, on or about my actual birthday. This year, this special all day event fell on October 2nd. On this special day of reflection, I make my annual pilgrimage to Java Junction coffee shop in Santa Cruz, California. There, I read, reflect on my life, consider my past and future, write out my reflection, read the previous year’s reflection, then go down the street to commune with the ocean. It is a special day of reverence for the experience that I am. A day to take it all in and place this time in relation to all of the rest of time. It is a day that adds the base note and the solemnity to my own true new year that follows and to my whole celebration of my self. It adds flavor and gives me time to enjoy the flavor. I love this particular ceremony and it is one of my favorite days every year.


Very soon is another special celebration day that I look forward to for weeks in advance called Grandma’s Spaghetti Day. YUMMMM!!!! This year it falls on October 10th, and I can hardly wait for it. Really, I think about it every day for weeks leading up to it.

Today, Day Three, has been excellent too. It’s pretty easy to accomplish this with a motorcycle where I live. In just a fifty mile winding ride through the hills on the way to the Sea you can enjoy so many types of gorgeous. Here are a few examples.

Trees along Hwy 35

Bend in the road on Alpine Rd.

The marshes near Pescadero

The Pacific Ocean

Have I mentioned that I love October?

I am now so close to the 33rd New Year of Randy. These have been good years and I have been fortunate. I have lived a life I would want to live; a vacation in the Universe that I would want to take. I have been given opportunities, challenges, advantages, and disadvantages that have made for an excellent experience. I’ve been lucky in family and in friendships. I’ve met neat people, been to cool places, seen beautiful sights, touched interesting things, and taken in superb smells.

Here is to the year that is soon upon Me. May it be another Wonder-Full experience.

Baby Gift Registry

Many have asked us about gifts and we have finally created a Baby Gift Registry. The difficulty is that we really prefer used items as part of our general philosophy. And when items are new, we are looking for solid woods, non-toxic paints, organic cottons, non plastic, non chemical coated, non off-gassing items that are environmentally safe and sustainably made. It's not easy to find just one registry that will handle that, but we found one. Wishpot.com lets us link to the websites of other companies and also create items on the registry that are not on any web site. That's neat because then we can say we want a onesie and not have to pick a particular one, leaving it up to the giver to decide on a design for The Kid.

If you feel like buying The Kid a gift from the registry, you can click it to reserve the item so that The Kid does not get duplicates. Then, you can look around your local thrift store or buy the item from craigslist.com or any company you choose. Wishpot does not make you buy the item from the company listed in order to check the item off the list. Cool.

Click here for The Kid's gift registry.

Most importantly, there are very few things in life that are truly needed. We're hoping for love and affection to be given to The Kid above all else. Tami read somewhere recently that, while there are lots of neat things for babies, a baby only truly needs 1) arms to hold the baby, 2) boobs or bottles to feed the baby, and 3) a warm place to sleep. When it comes down to it, we've already got what The Kid needs to survive.

Painting and Races

They say you learn something every day. And that's why I like you. You're smart. Me? I don't know if I learn something that often, but I do pick things up here and there. For example, when painting the dresser that my grandma gave to The Kid, I learned not to try and correct apparent paint blemishes while the paint is still drying. Turns out, most of what looks bad on drying paint looks great once dry... except all those places one tries to fix. Those spots stand out. Lesson learned. That will come in handy when I paint the drawers.


But before the drawers get painted, some friends got together to hang out and watch the Isle of Mann motorcycle races on DVD today. A good time. There is a racer named Guy Martin (see his picture below) and if you ever have a chance to hear him talk, I highly recommend it.

As Don said, he talks like Brad Pitt's character in the movie Snatch. Guy was almost as entertaining as watching the motorcycles and they were extremely entertaining. A good time all around and I'm reminded that I have good friends. As a lucky bonus, several have motorcycles and they share which explains how I have ridden four bikes in three days while the only bike I own is with my Nina and Nino in Arizona.

Yesterday I rode by the reservoirs after work and I was so happy to get that smell of water, grass, and bay leaf. Today, Nathan and I rode up HWY 9 for some nice curves and more good smells including trees, bay leaf, and bar-b-q. Tomorrow? Who knows. But the roads in California are as beautiful as those on the Isle of Mann, so I can't go wrong.

Look, he's moving!

We are now past the point of just being able to feel the kid jiggle around in there. We can now SEE him jiggle around. Awwww, just like his daddy likes to dance. It's pretty cool. Not the dancing, well... that's cool, too. I mean specifically that THE KID IS MOVING... and WE CAN SEE HIM! Little pushes in every direction. Excellent.

One of those Days

You know those days when you wake up slowly, have time to stretch and just lay in bed for a bit? Then you walk outside to a world that smells good and you have plenty of time to enjoy a cup of coffee? And even your metephorical ducks out of the row don't really bother you, because you're okay with them being where they are right now? And work goes well and people are nice and you just happen to own matching brown and orange argyle socks and shoe strings and you decide "Well, if there was ever a day to wear argyle, this is it!" and you do, and life is good? Yeah, I had a very good Thursday.

What's in a name?

(photo taken at Evan & Sarah's wedding)


We've been talking about what the name of The Kid is going to be. We've done this on four occasions and you would think we would be getting pretty close, but we're not really. In fact, two of those four discussions were spent on what we are going to do about his last name. I assume the majority of parents don't need to spend much time on the last name, but we do and we're not done yet. What's in a name is not the same for everyone.

I'm just not attached to my names. Together, they are a convenient tool. If I needed to change mine, I don't believe I would require much time in adapting. Through my names I do not feel a connection to history, ancestors or identity, though I know that they have helped to shape me.

I think of all the males and females through time that added their genetics in the cosmic intermixing that led to this body I call me; my own private room in the Universe. And I think of this last name I cary that randomly traveled through this mass of genetic donors. It dose not seem so much me as it does an accident of who happened to have the Y chromosome when these men and women got together. Like a pebble bouncing down a cliff, side to side, my last name flowed through history and landed on me. It's not me. It's just mine. I am amazed at the connection to history, ancestors and the people of the world that I posses through the DNA of every one of my cells; and merely amused at the odd path my last name took to get here.

Tami sees this differently. In simplest form, she does sense a connection to history and family through her name and this connection is something that she feels is very valuable and worthy of preserving. Neither of us changed our last name after marriage, so what do we do about The Kid's last name?

Tami would like four names for The Kid. A first and two middle names, one being Tami's last, with mine as The Kid's last name. I would prefer he have fewer names and proposed it would be better if The Kid is to have either her last as the only middle name or her last name as his last, rather than have four names. Two names or even one would suffice. Four seems a little extravagant for a boy to whom I hope to teach the benefits of simplicity. Tami still wants the four names with mine at the end. It's an interesting discussion when two people, not exactly alike in thinking, try to negotiate with each other based on rationale that was, at least in my case, only recently negotiated internally between personal philosophy and accepted traditions.

I wonder how our choice of names will affect our son as he develops his personality? How much will the name contribute to his experience compared to the genetic code we are passing down to him, developed by a strange mix of chances and forces over the millennia? I wonder what The Kid will think of this whole discussion some day. I wonder what name he will be pronouncing when he considers it's connection to his own identity.

First Contact

What an exciting week in the world of our baby. On Tuesday, I felt The Kid move for the first time! Amazing. Exhilarating. It's not like I didn't already know The Kid was in there, I've seen the pictures. And Tami's been able to feel him move around for a couple of weeks. But just to feel him move through Tami's belly, with my own hand, was AWESOME! I am looking forward to when The Kid's movements are more pronounced and easily felt from my side of the womb. For now, I am as happy as can be that The Kid said hello to me. This first contact feels grand. I know so little about The Kid, that this little movement constitutes a large percentage of my assessment of who he is and what he's like. Silly, but my mental picture of the kid right now is the little push against my hand, a little dance he did for the ultrasound when Tami giggled, and the beat of his heart heard through an ultrasound.

I wonder what he'll be like when he gets out. I can hardly wait to meet him in the open air.

Four Years of Marriage

Usually Happily, and always interestingly, married for four years.

We celebrated our day by visiting the place we were married in Los Gatos. You can see that in the picture. Then we walked, we talked, we ate, and we enjoyed. It was a great day.

I have no idea what will come of our marriage but I have had such an interesting, intriguing, maturing, perplexing, thought provoking time of it so far.

Thanks Tami. The next time we celebrate our anniversary, there will be a baby to celebrate with us. Cool.

Mariachis at a Quinceanera

I went to a quinceanera for the first time. That is the traditional 15th birthday party of a Mexican girl where she is presented as a young woman instead of a young girl. This one was pretty impressive and resembled a wedding except that it centered on a single person. Ever see a movie musical where a bunch of kids all start dancing in sync and you think "that could never happen"? I don't think it could either. But I saw something at the quinceanera that looked close and that was fun. The birthday girl and her entourage of ten boys and girls performed a complete choreographed dance routine to modern dance music. Sweet. Then, they did it again with a salsa. Impressive, and oddly musical like.

One of my favorite parts of the event was listening to the eight piece mariachi group. There is something so cool about hearing the horns wail in person with that repetitive thrum of the strings. And, there is the voice conveying varying sentiments in a language I don't understand. I love it. My wife leaned over and assured me we would have mariachis for an anniversary some year. She remembers that I wanted mariachis at our wedding but it didn't work out and she knows how much I enjoy listening to them. Thanks love.

Thinking about mariachis and all things in Spanish at the quinceanera, I got to remembering that I didn't always like mariachi music. Some things change and they are obvious like grey hairs popping out where only dark brown ones use to be. Other things are more subtle like how I get excited to hear mariachis and I like listening to talk radio and I cry a lot more.

I remember thinking that talk radio was so boring. "It's a radio grandma, it's supposed to have music." Her counter was "What about those music videos, it's supposed to be a TV." Touche, grandma. Touche. Now, I listen to NPR talk radio half the time I am driving.

While I know I cried plenty as a child, I went through a long and comfortable dry spell. No longer, apparently. I cried like a baby at my wedding. And reading To Kill a Mockingbird this weekend, I must have wiped my eyes ten times or more. I left sunglasses on sitting in the shade so I could keep reading at the coffee shop. I hear older men can become sensitive and cry easily but I assumed that would not hit until my 70's or later. What do I know. I choose to blame it on my buddy Don. Once, he brought over some tear-jerker movie, don't even remember what it was, but neither of us jumped up to turn the lights on when it was over. The water works turn on fairly easily now.

So things change. Some obvious, some not so obvious. I'm okay with liking mariachis, talk radio, and even wiping my eyes more often. For now however, I'm going to keep plucking the grey hairs. I look forward to head full of grey, but I don't feel qualified just yet.

Peeing in Flip-Flops

Now that I know we are having a boy, I'm starting to think about boy-specific issues as a father-to-be. For example, I will have to teach the boy the art of peeing in a urinal while wearing flip-flops. I suppose most women readers will not know what I am talking about. I guess men that don't wear flip-flops won't either. When you wear shoes in front of a urinal, the only evidence of the fine urinal mist that splashing pee creates is the rust pattern on old metal dividers in public restrooms. But with flip-flops, you can feel it. I know- gross. Peeing on one's self isn't extremely bad, but splashing the residual pee of others is pretty undesirable. That's why, as a loving father, I'll have to know when the time is right to take my son aside and say "Son, aim for the inside edge of either side so it will swoosh around the back and make a whirlpool." That's important information and different from the technique when peeing at home. At home, it's always best to aim for the middle unless feeling particularly scientific and experimental. The bowl is deeper and so feet are safe from splashes and the center provides for the largest margin of error in case of distraction.

There are of course other issues to consider, some that are time sensitive. The most pressing issues I can think of are to circumcise or not and how to change a baby boy's diaper without getting peed on.

From the research I've done so far, it looks like circumcision is the wrong idea medically. It certainly does not sound appealing physically. I have to weigh this against the fact that we live in modern times in the U.S. and there is value in fitting in with one's time and place. Here and now, circumcision is the norm, but it sure seems like an odd thing to do to a person. Tami and I will definitely be talking through this before The Kid comes.

As for the diaper changing, I'm not certain there is a trick, but there must be. I've heard how boy babies can pee up on to the person changing the diaper. With so many thousands of years behind us, surely someone has figured out a fool proof trick to counter this phenomena.

Those are two issue for my wife and I to consider and discuss between now and December 17th-ish. Feel free to comment if you can think of others, have an opinion on the above, or know the trick to changing a baby boy's diaper.

The Kid is a....

BOY

Lying Around

It's odd being a useless member of a sleeping team. I use to be a helpful partner to my teammate with an arm here to rest a head, an arm there to warm, a leg over there to prop up a foot, a body as a barricade against my partner falling off of the last three inches of bed that I am left defending.

But all that has changed with pregnancy. My wife's body is morphing and along with that comes discomforts. Discomforts that are apparently reduced, according to what she heard and now practices, with the aid of approximately 100,000 pillows propping and shoring her up from every direction. Ever seen a large ship hoisted above water in dry dock? I'm afraid to get too close less I knock a critical support and send my wife and unborn child toppling down. I'm especially concerned now that I used a large ship to represent my pregnant wife in that analogy. I'm not sure our marriage would withstand both that analogy and a toppling.

Steering for safer ground.... One of the goals in raising our child environmentally responsible is to try and acquire most of the various kid stuff we will need as used items. To this end, a special thank you to Stephanie for the entire car load worth of kid stuff and maternity clothes (a less considerate, but more funny, husband would have said ship siding) she passed on to us while I was on the road. So much stuff; swings, changing pad, infant car seat/stroller, bath, decorations, play mat, bedding, and more. I didn't know what a boppy was before Stephanie gave us one but I am now very familiar as it has already been put to use in the dry dock. See picture above for one way to use a boppy. I don't know what else we will need but I can not imagine there is that much more. As much as possible we'll try and find those items used, organic, non-plastic, sustainable, and with minimal materials. Surely it will start to rush by closer to the day, for now there is plenty of time to find out what we will need and to acquire it all.

I told myself I would not buy The Kid anything until December but I did crack and bought The Kid an organic cotton A's baseball onesie. Tami tells me The Kid loves it. Some couples fight over what culture, discipline practices, or religion to raise a child with. Tami says we'll get through it all so long as I agree to let her raise The Kid an A's fan.

Name The Kid "Contest"

That's right, you can name our kid. Just click on the Name our Kid link on the left and you are on your way to winning. You can also see what names have already been submitted by clicking on the Suggested Names link.

The Grand Prize winner receives the knowledge that she/he named a human! How cool is that? Cooler than naming a stuffed animal, to be sure.

For now you can suggest names for a boy and/or a girl. We'll post with The Kid's gender as soon as we know, late in July.

Post as many names as you like, as often as you like.

Looking forward to reading your suggestions.

Happy to be Home

Day 26- Phoenix, AZ

My ego and my logical mind got into a bit of an argument today. Not a long fight, my logical mind won but then my ego locked itself up in it's room and started moping. When the ego came back out, we all made an agreement.

My recovery is not going as quickly as I had hoped and I was not able to leave this morning. In the afternoon my cousin Anthony went with me to get the bike and he followed me back to my Nina's. It was obvious to me that, while I was okay on that short ride, I am still a little too fatigued to ride home if I intend to be smart about this. Other than a headache, a desire to sleep a lot, and a little weakness, I am mostly recovered. My mind feels clear. But physically, I just don't feel as good as I should be.

So, the ego and the logic came to an agreement. My bike stays here with my Nino to guard it, the ride takes a break, and I fly home tomorrow. After several birthdays, a wedding, a fourth wedding anniversary, some recovery time, etc., I'll fly back out here to finish the ride. So Day 27 of the ride will take place in an unknown number of weeks.

The Atlantic Ocean will stay with the bike as I think that is really part of the ride and not just my movement. As for the adventure, that continues with me always. Even this experience enriches it.

Day 25- Phoenix, AZ

For those of you that may worry, let me start by saying that I am totally fine. I didn't feel well when I was riding this morning so I pulled over. I am fine. I was suffering from dehydration. So, I'm going to stay with Nina and Nino at least another day in Phoenix, even though I am fine now. Now that you know I am fine...

I got my first ride in an ambulance today. Wow, was I out of it. I pulled over feeling a little dizzy, a little faint, a little like I could throw up, a little shaky, it was a little harder to breath. I felt horrible. I was only about 30 miles from Nina's house. I went in to a Jack in the Box, asked for a cup of water and just sat there trying to calm myself. My heart rate was up and I was feeling a bit nervous and very weird. After a while and feeling no better I asked a guy sitting near by if there was a hospital close to us. Next thing I know this really nice guy is driving me to a health clinic a few miles away. They did nothing. Eventually they called 911. Then the firefighters and the ambulance crew showed up and started hooking things up to me and asking questions. I was really not feeling well. I got oxygen and a liter of fluid through an iv bag. About half way through the bag I lifted my head in the ambulance and started to slowly come back to normal. The hospital gave me water also and ran some tests as the iv bag finished. By the time I was released from the hospital I felt normal, but a little weak. That's the crazy story.

I'm staying here an extra day to rest and drink more fluids. The doctor said I was stocked up pretty well with the bag they gave me so dehydration should not be an issue now if I maintain my fluids. I'm drinking water and orange juice now and the juice is rejuvenating. My chest now looks like a three year old's sticker book. The medical staff put stickers all over me then hooked up monitors to the stickers. All is fine with me. They checked my blood pressure, blood sugar level, and heart, all okay. Just dehydrated.

I'm feeling pretty good now. It is amazing how quickly I went from normal to out of it because of dehydration. I thought I was drinking enough but I will certainly be paying better attention to my water intake from now on.

When I do leave, tomorrow or the next day, I'm going to leave very early to beat the heat and get in to a cooler climate before the sun starts to do much. In the mean time, I'm staying hydrated and resting. Feeling better and grateful to have such a good family looking after me. Missing Tami.

Day 24- Phoenix, AZ

Today I was reminded, yet again, of a great fortune; a person being loved for no other reason than being born.  We don't all get this from even one person, so it's pretty nice when you get this treatment from many people.

I spent the day at my Nina and Nino's house visiting with them and my cousins, eating delicious food, and feeling like I had won the family lottery.  All I did was be born to my mother and I can just walk into this house and family is happy to see me, I am offered every comfort I could want, and I feel that I am loved unconditionally.  If this were for sale, it would be worth every dollar at any price.

Day 23- Tempe, AZ

I've often thought that converting an old gas station into a coffee shop would be a cool idea. Then, the covered part where the pumps use to be would make a nice outdoor seating area. Well, someone else thought it was a good idea, too. I found this cool cafe while exploring Las Cruces, New Mexico this morning. They put lots of plants and a fountain to make the outdoor seating area nice and painted angelic cartoon coffee drinkers and winged coffee beans on the outdoor ceiling. The breakfast and service was good, too.

Then, when I stopped to get water and gas in Arizona, I decided to walk around the souvenir type shop that was close by. A very friendly woman, who I think owns the place, started asking me where I was going and where I came from on the bike. Turns out she is in to riding too and she convinced me to take a different rout; getting off the interstate and taking a two lane highway, the back way, to the Phoenix area. She said things like ...."and you get to go through a tunnel...." Did you catch that "get"? That's a person that can find pleasure easily in the world. So, she totally convinced me. Turns out it was a nice road with minimal traffic and great desert scenery. A really cool bonus, the road went through Superior, Arizona. That's where my grandma, and nina and tios and tias, were brought up. How cool is that coincidence? The road wound through the copper mine area and came down into a desert area with lots of saguaro cactus. And, I got to go through a tunnel. Neat.

The adventure also gave me a chance to use my brain a bit. The kick stand on the bike is kept safely up when riding by a spring attached to a bolt under the bike. At one point on the "Old West Highway" the bolt snapped and the spring released. I tried a few methods of rigging alternate mounts for the spring but none of them were satisfactory. I settled upon using zip ties and electric tape to rig two loops (one as a safety backup) to the outside of the kickstand where they would clear the exhaust. Then, I moved my bungee net and my drying clothes from my trunk to the passenger seat where I could use one of the bungee's hooks to hold up my kickstand, safely through the loops I made, when riding. That worked. Solving puzzles can be entertaining. Until I fix it properly, I do have to manually hook and unhook the kickstand with my hand. But that's cool. It's not Fonzie cool. But it's problem solving cool.

I was planning to get here, the Phoenix area, tomorrow. Since my Nina is not expecting me until tomorrow, I decided to visit some of my old places today. First stop was the Circle K I used to work at. That place has changed inside, but it was good to see it again. Next, I decided to go see a movie on Mill Ave in Tempe and get an iced Mocha at The Coffee Plantation on Mill. I have spent so many hours at that coffee shop, read so many pages, met so many interesting people, and had so many interesting conversations over the years. There is a guy named Josh that I run into often enough there, though I am only in town every couple of years. He is a fascinating and intelligent guy. So off I went.

Ever heard that "you can't go back"? Yeah. Well, I guess the positive version is that you can and should go back if you want to practice flexibility and resilience. You know, like water in the Tao. I sure got some practice today. Turns out I am one month and one week late for the closing day of The Coffee Plantation, after 20 years in business on Mill Ave. Even the movie theater next door was closed. I can hardly believe they closed that coffee shop.

I like to get excited about things because that makes life interesting. You could just go buy a bowl of tomato cheese soup. But if you found a really good bowl, you could go beyond "that was a good tomato cheese soup" and decide "That was the Best Tomato Cheese Soup Ever!" Then, getting that soup becomes a big exciting deal and life is better for it. You may even do several road trips over the years all the way to Eugene, Oregon just to get that soup. And life is better with the adventure. And if you are smart, you share the joy with people. Then, Dan, Kim, Rachael, Nathan, Don, Tami, and others can all say "That was some pretty darn good soup we went all the way to Eugene for." See what I mean? It's just better that way. And that soup really is that good.

The only difficulty with turning like into love, is some times you have to say goodbye. Goodbye Coffee Plantation. I enjoyed you tremendously.

Making the best of my imposed Taoist wetness, I flowed on down to the nearest working theater and proceeded to laugh without reserve at the movie Hangover. If you have any time, a spare 10 bucks, no problems with either male or female nudity, and a desire to get a bunch of good laughs in, go see it. Really, it was that funny.

Day 22- Las Cruces, NM

Clouds are awesome. They are the invisible ocean above, made visible. They are the mood ring of the sky. How dull the sky would be without ever having clouds.

Today held many examples of cloud shapes and colors. There was a huge storm way ahead of me that caused 54 mph wind gusts, lightning, and flash floods. I was never close to the extreme weather and only got a couple of sprinkles and a good cloud show. Towards the end of daylight there was yellow, gold, and pink; a sherbet sky, pushed up against a black and grey with white highlights. Then a purple grey screen like a thin curtain with gold behind it sat still, a last effort of the storm for me to ride through. When I rode through those sprinkles, there were layered clouds above with so many shades of color. And that smell. One of my favorite nature combinations is rain in the desert. Any time will do. Today I got the sunset flavor, delicious.

Today I also ate at a proper Texas road-side restaurant. The menu was equally divided between steak, Mexican, and breakfast served all day. My server was among my favorite archetypes. Her cigarettes mingled perfectly with the smell of coffee, her name for customers is honey, and her wrinkles look great on her. She asked if I had seen rain and wished me luck getting the rest of the day dry. I love riding in the rain, but I love it more when people appear to genuinely care about strangers. When I left, she asked if I had rain gear just in case and wished me well. She made the food taste better.

Here is a numerical coincidence. This is the 22nd day of the ride and I have entered the 22nd state on the ride. For the rest, I'll be going through states I have already ridden through as part of the ride. The states have been: California, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virgina, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and as a special bonus beyond the 22 states, the District of Columbia.

Day 21- Junction, TX

When I left New Orleans today I got a little lost working my way to the freeway entrance. I ended up in the surrounding area and towns. Wow. I'm glad I did as I got to see a bigger picture. Most of the tourist area has been repaired since the hurricane. In the surrounding area it is bad. I drove around for half an hour and saw instances where entire blocks had only one house occupied. There were so many houses and businesses boarded up. Most unoccupied homes still had spray paint near the front doors with codes on them that I could not decipher. These were done in a circle pattern with letters all around, presumably codes by and for the rescue crews. Some of the spray paint was not in code. "Gas Off" was a common note near doors. A sad one I saw in huge letters read "SPCA, DOG, DOA." How do you feel going home to that house, ready to clean up, painting over those words? Do you you feel a little good knowing the SPCA tried? There were other houses, SPCA written on them, with what I imagine were happier stories. The people I did see outside of the occupied homes looked normal chatting with each other, cars in good shape, homes painted. A great contrast to so much around them. A lot to consider. I missed all of that coming in on the freeway.

After I got on the freeway, I really settled in. Today I felt good riding and just kept going, I didn't want to stop. I went much farther than Houston which I had thought would be my stop for the night. Some days that's what it's about, riding and letting the mind wander. I crossed more than half of Texas today and I didn't once stop to get lost in a town, explore a site, visit an attraction or a museum. It's not Texas' fault, I was in a riding zone. Texas was a good friend. It gave me the road, space, and time to think without asking for anything in return. Thanks Texas. There were even fireworks at the end. I kept riding a while into the night. The smells change in the night, it's a good time to ride. With my thoughts I enjoyed the changes in vegetation over the miles, colors of the sky over the hours, and of the smells into the night. I felt very good and in my place riding today- exactly where I needed to be in the Universe.

I thought about family, Agusta, my life and death perspectives over time, being young and having crushes, being young still and loving a wife, The Kid, choosing life (this ride, looking down from Half Dome, appreciating, etc.), choosing oblivion (all those strategies I have used to numb my mind including sleep deprivation and over eating, besides the obvious like drinking), experiencing without objective versus working to achieve before a time limit, some interesting things people have said to me over the years, good lines from books, what my trip looks like from an airplane, Lucky Mud, how long it takes for the chemicals of an emotion to process through my blood, the qualities that are me and that I do not intend to change, qualities I appreciate in others but have no intention to take on, gratitude, and so many other thoughts. One thought led to another. My perspective would change on topics. My mind would come back to certain concepts. It was a long ride. The cool thing was the tone my thoughts took. The feeling was soothing, like rubbing my belly from within my mind. Eventually my mind went quiet. Then it went alert, and here I am. With a comfortably rubbed mental belly.

Day 20- New Orleans, LA

Since the last update, I have seen the night life of Bourbon Street. Lots of people, loud music, cops and alcohol. It wasn't out of control. In fact, I've been surprised how not crazy it has been around here considering people are just walking down the street drinking all of the time. It was very energetic, though.

I heard some very good music. I didn't like everything I heard but that is to be expected. And many places have DJs. But the live music was the most fun. Music lovers would have a good time here. For a wile I stood outside one packed jazz club, way too packed to go in to, and listened in happiness to the music coming out of the place. It was cool to watch the passersby start dancing or shimmying as they went by. There were other clubs with great live music, too. I had a good time.

Today, I'm pretty sure I walked about 1.3 million miles. Well, it was a lot of walking. New Orleans is a big place. The French Quarter, where I am staying, is a large enough area. But the city is way bigger than that. The day began with an egg Po Boy sandwich at a place that has been serving Po Boys since 1950. I didn't know they made egg Po Boys. Breakfast was followed by a walk into the business high rise area and a walk in an art museum. In the museum I got in trouble for taking a picture of a painting. So, that was fun. Then, the walk continued out to the Mississippi River where I got on the free ferry. Pedestrians are free, I think there is a charge for the cars. That's when I realized I had not stopped walking for three hours since breakfast and that if I sat just right I could keep my shirt from touching my back. But then the boat started moving and I love boats. So, I popped back up to the side of the boat to watch and enjoyed the ride. The ferry driver was very talented. I don't know if he can juggle or recite Shakespeare, but he handled a boat well. He was going fast coming in to the dock and when we were apparently way too close to the pier he did some magic where we swung around and ever so gently tapped the dock to be tied up to in perfect position. This was a big boat with cars on it. I was impressed. A little walk around and some french onion soup later, I was back on the ferry crossing to New Orleans. Then I kept walking. I guess I wanted to test my relationship with my feet. How did that test go? We're still not talking. There was a glimmer of hope when I stopped in front of a foot massage place in the shopping area. But when I decided against it I'm pretty sure I killed any chance of the three of us reconciling tonight.

Another walk through the French Quarter and a break at Cafe du Monde. That was good. There were two excellent musicians playing together on the street in front of the cafe. You can almost see them under the umbrellas in the picture. One girl played guitar and one girl played violin and they went together splendidly. A nice end to a long walk.

Day 19- New Orleans, LA

Until today I thought the North Carolina gas station that sold cowboy boots would be the winner for best accent experience of the trip. I'm so glad I stopped in Mobile, Alabama. Awesome accents! Close to 100% of the people in the restaurant had an accent, the highest percentage of any place I had been so far. But the accent of my server was hands down the best in the place. I lack the vocabulary to describe accents, I can't describe wine either but I know what I like. And my server, who looked normal, had what must be the accent and voice of an Alabama fairy of about 3 inches tall. Awesome. Seriously, if she was selling recordings of her reading books on tape I would have bought one. And then I got my 5 dollar food bill? What? For a full and delicious breakfast? I don't know how to tip on 5 dollars. For me, 5 dollars for food means I stopped by Del Taco for Tami and I wasn't hungry. At 5 dollars for a bill, even tipping 40% just feels cheap.

Continuing on highway 10, the bridge over the Pearl River just before I crossed the border into Louisiana from Alabama had a nice lift to it and I got to look around. Holly arbor-land batman, are these two states one giant forest?

What's that? How's the pavement? Glad you asked. I suspect the man or woman engineer responsible for leveling the surface of highway 10 a couple of miles before New Orleans enjoyed a strange fascination with trigonometry in school and had a positive love affair with the wave length of short wave radio. Driving the speed limit was downright entertaining. Like, laugh out loud entertaining. I wonder how many accidental pregnancies occur going down that road? The more I think about the road undulation frequency, I believe the frequency increases like a Geiger counter approaching Chernobyl as you get closer and finally enter down town New Orleans. It must be some clever way to let you know how close you are to town. To make a scale model of the town, cut up an old corduroy jacket or pants for the streets. Enough analogy? Okay- but you will laugh if you drive west on 10 into town starting from just after the very long bridge.

I'm staying here in the French Quarter for two days. There is just too much to see here. So far I have walked Bourbon Street, had Creole cooking for lunch, bought a mint julep from a place famous for it's hurricanes, bought a hurricane from a place I don't think is famous for anything, saw the church and square, walked into a bunch of tourist shops, and had coffee and beignets (a type of doughnut) at the famous Cafe du Monde. Looking down on the floor, tables, and chairs at Cafe du Monde one could assumed the old plaster from the ceiling is starting to fall. Looking up one would see that the ceiling is wood. Looking around one would see that the beignets are served with a cup of powder sugar on top. By the way, consider where you sit relative to the direction of the wind if you go, or wear white. I assumed I wouldn't find the coffee to be that impressive because it's been so talked up that my expectations would be too high. But, thankfully, it really was quite good and I will surely go again.

Now, time for dinner and a stroll to check out the night life.

Day 18- Pensacola, FL

Today I got lost twice... on purpose. Once was going by Tallahassee, FL. I said to myself, "Self" I said, let's get off here and just drive a lot 'cause it's hot and we can use a break from the freeway. And we did. We (am I royalty now?) drove around for a long time. Finally, I (humbling myself a bit) settled down and had a meal. Nice town. Later I did it again. Heading west the sun was in my eyes late in the afternoon. That combined with a little tiredness and I decided I better take a break. It didn't take too long before I decided this is as far as I go today. So, I tooled around Pensacola, FL a little longer. You can see a view from town in the picture. Hours(?) later I found a Motel 6 next to a Mexican restaurant with an outdoor patio and two for one Margarita Wednesdays. Hey, today is Wednesday. That would explain the Margarita in front of me. I don't drink Margaritas. But Nicole does and tomorrow is Nicole's birthday. Happy birthday Nicole, I'm celebrating your day early.

Something else cool today is that I saw an armadillo! Why did the armadillo cross the freeway? I don't know. But at least I didn't hit it. Neither did the big rig behind me so there's a chance the armadillo is now east of highway 75.

Ohhh, another Margarita.

Day 17- Gainesville, FL

The Valkyrie (the motorcycle) and I have been spending so much time together we are starting to become alike. I'm turning black and chrome and Val is thinking about writing a blog. Val told me she wants her blog's title and subtitle to be:

A life between two Asses -
His and the 'phalt

When "I said I don't get it" Val started laughing so hard I thought we would have to pull over for a bit.

Today was a good day of riding because I made a good decision. I almost took the freeway on a backtracking path to save time and miles. Glad I didn't. Instead I rode a highway through the Everglades and decided to enjoy the now rather than sacrifice the experience to the part of my brain that focuses on home as the goal. I took a nice two lane road with minimal vehicles and the sky was grey and the smells were good. I loved it. It was the kind of ride that makes me happy to ride and brings me back to motorcycles again and again. It was the kind of ride where I became part of the environment. At one point it started to rain and I was happy. Also, the rain helped me to finally stop sweating for a few minutes.

Along the way I stopped at the Everglades National Park. In one small spot I saw 4 species of fish, 2 large birds, and an alligator, just hanging out next to each other. It was like the postcard version of those unrealistic posters that show every creature of a habitat in one scene. Crazy. The fish were so plentiful it was like looking at a coy pond of a fancy hotel but this was nature. Very cool. And, I got to see an alligator in the wild. I was hoping that would work out. Eventually I had to leave on principal. See, I don't generally believe in free handouts. I made an exception at the park out of guilt. But after just giving away a gallon of my blood to any insect beggar that cared to land on me, I decided that was enough. These insects need to work for their food and not just mooch off the tourists. So back to the road I went.

Then I dried off. Then I started to sweat. Then I got rained on again. It was too hot to put on my rain gear and I figured out that the rain comes and goes fairly quickly so I just kept going. And then I got torrentialy poured down on. Soon I stopped counting how many times I had been rained on. I was soaked. At one point I made a fist to stretch my fingers and water gushed out of my black leather gloves. Maybe that has something to do with my black hands? Naw...

Among other things I saw miles of the Everglades, plenty of wildlife, those boats with a fan at the back and a flat bottom, lots and lots of swamp land, rain, and miles of quiet road before getting back on a freeway. A great day. About a hundred miles before the hotel, I was rained on for the last time today and I noticed that once again, the ground was higher than the water table.

Day 16- Miami, FL

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I was interested to see what the major differences would be between riding alone and riding with friends. I've done long rides both ways before but never one way so soon after the other. Well, one difference has presented itself immediately. I miss Nathan, not just as a good friend, but as a good laugh partner. Alone I have no laugh partner. A good laugh is best and easiest to achieve with a good spirited partner. On the scale of "things hard to accomplish alone" a good laugh places right between sex and tickling. It's not usually as satisfying alone but not impossible to accomplish either.

Subject change:

Have you ever seen a girl take off her bra without taking off her shirt. It's quite a sight. I don't know where they learn these tricks. Well, if you know what I am talking about, it's that little pull-twist-slide-pull out the other arm maneuver. I was wondering if I could do something similar in reverse with boxers. And I can. I'm sure I'm not the first to discover this, but for guys out there this could be useful. If you're wearing shorts you can slip your boxers on one leg, slide the rest through the crotch of your shorts, and if your boxers are stretchy and your legs flexible, you can pull and contort until your other leg is through it's proper place. Then, stand up, pull your boxers up through your shorts and voila! You can drop your wet shorts on a crowded beach with a family next to you and slip on your dry pants. And a bonus, you don't have to walk in the public bathroom/change-room with that questionable water content on the floor.

Do I just discover these things randomly? The credit of invention once again goes to necessity for today was a day of water and bridges; two things that make me happy.

My first stop today was Miami Beach where I got into the warm clear water and released the Pacific Ocean I have been carrying in my bike since day 1 of the ride from Santa Cruz, CA. Then, I filled the small mason jar with Atlantic Ocean that I now carry on its way to the west coast. I think it is so neat to do this water exchange. Some of the water molecules I am moving have been to both coasts several times over millions of years. And hear I come and just grab a bunch of the molecules and comparatively rush them over to a whole nother part of their cycle. Better, worse, or neutral, I was a force of nature in that act. That must be the appeal. Well, I act again with my precious select cargo that gets a rush west.

Then there is the bridge part of today's adventure. I love bridges- a lot. They are one of the coolest visuals we humans create. They dramatize the suspension of molecules above others, contrary to gravity. We are always suspended. No molecules actually touch; so your feet when standing are suspended above the ground, and that layer of ground is suspended above the molecules below it. There is a lot of space between the mass of the Universe. But we never get to see that space smaller than the wave length of visible light. A bridge brings this reality to light in a grand way compared to our usual visual experiences and raises us above so that we may see clear through the molecules that separate us from the molecules below.

It is the love of bridges that drew me to Key West, Florida and the fact that it is the southern most point of the U.S. land that made it even more desirable to include in this cross country ride. Today I was there. And..... I rode over a lot of bridges to get there. The picture shows me at the "Southern Most Point" of the U.S. After that I went and had a good time at the beach and discovered a trick with boxers...... well, we already covered that.

Eventually I did ride out of the Keys and am now in a diner in Miami, Florida. Tonight's fare? Veggie Burger Wrap and a Long Beach Tea.