August for me is a month of reflection. It is the time when summer winds down; it sometimes feels sad and nostalgic to me because a lot of friends and family passed this month. The dog days of summer weather are usually hot and dry, and not always conducive to a lot of outdoor activities … but … reflect - and appreciate the harvest of the year. (~And I use “harvest” in a big umbrella way - best time for gardens and produce, the new fiscal year, the accomplishments of summer~)
I had a lot of time for reflection and the cleansing of the mind over the last couple of weeks on Ragbrai. I think a huge lesson for me to relearn and re-appreciate is that the human body is amazingly capable of a lot. A 38 year old guy riding with me said “how old are you?” I said “57” … He said “man, I hope I can ride like you do in 20 years”. This made my day and beyond. The preparation for the ISH team (finding great hosts and making lists and checking them twice; maybe 10 times) was solid with no hiccups. For me - I like flawless. I like when people do what they say they’ll do.
As we all get bigger and busier and life looks more chaotic and frenetic - a time for pause and appreciation is necessary. Breathing through stress and allowing for whatever (but being massively prepared at the same time) gives us the ability to be fluid and pivot and emerge with good memories and smile when the day is finally over.
Happy August everyone! In February, we will appreciate this weather.
