Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Sweaty, Sweaty Summer

If you know me at all, then you know I'm not a fan of summer. I don't hate it, because I recognize it's place in the grand scheme of things. Also, the more blistering a summer is, the more I appreciate winter which I love love love! Summer is even better when it gets so hot that the people who complain all winter long and embrace the summer heat start complaining about how hot it is.

I use this heat as a tool. The hotter it is, the more I sweat. The more I sweat, the more I feel like I'm getting a workout and the better I feel about myself. And I know I'll be rewarded with a high temperature of 50° eventually, if I can just continue breathing through the soupy mess of air I'm pushing through.

Today was a walking day. Part of the cross-training approach to keep me interested. It was also a way to shut up my foul mouthed legs who have been cussing me since yesterday's bike ride. This morning, when I walked out the front door with Sonny, I stepped back in time to the mid-1980's. Anyone who played football knows what I'm talking about. The dreaded two-a-day practices. One in the morning as the sun was rising, and one in the afternoon as the sun was setting. The time in-between was used to rest and nurse your wounds enough to get you through the next practice and push through the pain. The thick, soupy, hazy morning was waiting for me, just like the upper classman standing in the middle of the practice field who wanted to line up against me during practice because he wanted to "teach me a lesson" since he didn't like the fact I was in choir, band, drama and played sports...and performed well in all of them. Yeah, this morning was like that. But I knew what the morning was up to. I said, "I know who you are. I remember you. You wanna walk with me? Let's go, but get ready for a fight."

Sonny didn't notice the battle going on around him. There were too many things to sniff and investigate along the way. The morning didn't throw it's first punch until I reached the top of the hill, probably so everyone could see what it was up to. I didn't flinch. I kept moving, but I knocked it down and dragged it along with me. It was a struggle to make my way down the hill dragging its sorry butt, but I made it back home. I challenged the morning to a re-match and it said, "It's on!", so tomorrow it is. This could be a long summer full of violent mornings battling with the heat, but I'm gonna win. Place your bets!

Oh yeah...the most important part! So today reminded me of football practice two-a-days not just because of the heat, but because something happened to me that I haven't noticed since those hot mornings at Auschwitz (our name of endearment for the dry, dusty practice field that had no shade, spotty mirages of grass, and only a pipe with five holes drilled in it to provide water during the oh-so-brief water breaks). As I walked into the front door, it hit me. The unforgettable, sweaty, two-a-day odor was part of me once again. Seriously...same smell, same feeling, same everything. See? This whole "less of me" approach is working. I'm already feeling young again, or maybe I'm just smelling that way.

ZUNE MORNING MIX 062309

  • Footloose - Kenny Loggins
  • More About You - Eric Champion
  • Uncle Jack - Motley Crue
  • Hold It Now, Hit It - Beastie Boys
  • Mai Ai Hee - The O Zone
  • What Kind Of Joy - Steven Curtis Chapman
  • Table - DecembeRadio

Today's favorite is "More About You" by Eric Champion from the CD Vertical Reality. It just had a nice groove that kept me moving as Sonny climbed the hill with me in tow. Yeah, I said that right.


More About You - Eric Champion

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