Lookin For the Silver Lining in Every Dark Cloud

A couple of short traveling stories.

During my first trip to Arizona in the 70's I decided to cross the Navajo reservation on my way to Window Rock. I was behind time as I drove across the reservation and decided to spend the night in a rest area along the road. As I was getting dinner ready, the tribal police pulled in with their four-wheeler to see if I was ok. They were probably just checking on me anyways, but, they told me it was because they wanted to make sure I wasn't broken down or anything since it was fairly far from civilization. We talked a little and they liked my van and said they'd stop by again on the return trip from their rounds. Sure enough, a few hours later they pulled back in and we sat around the fire for a while talking about my trip and they told me a lot about the Navajo people and gave me some great pointers for things to look for and see. Really nice people and I had an wonderful time.

A few years later, on another trip, I was stopping in Latimer County Oklahoma as a representative of our family. My grandfather did a little land speculation and when he died he still had a 20 acre site in OK. No one in the family knew anything about it and my grandmother never sold it. When she died my aunt and uncle wanted to know about it because an oil company wanted to buy it. So I stopped and checked it out. On the way out of the area, there was road construction and they routed us through an ungodly old back-country road. The van was in dire need of gas and there was nothing around. Suddenly I came across a little mom and pop store with two old crappy looking gas pumps). I pulled my hippie van in to the pump and waited with my long hair as a classic stereotype hick came out of the store towards the van. Half toothless, white t-shirt with cigarettes rolled up in the sleeve, flat top, and a couple of bad tatoos on some skinny arms. I'd seen Easy Rider. I knew I was in trouble.

Well, this guy came out, looked at the van and smiled. Asked if he could look inside and we had a great conversation for about a half-hour while he gassed up the truck and did all of the manual maintenance that gas stations generally stopped doing in the 60's. We had a good time, shook hands, and he wished me well as I left. I smacked myself for letting my fears and misconceptions run loose. Just another wonderful encounter with good people while traveling. I've had many and hope to have many more.

Catching Up

I am still working out. At the beginning of this year (2011) I started doing P90X. I now do two workouts a day and I have lost a NET 65 pounds since I started in January of 2010. I feel really good, at least physically, and am becoming much stronger. I really recommend P90X. Tony Horton has a good attitude about the program, is realistic in how people should approach it, and he's pretty funny to watch.

My daughter has just recently started P90X too and I hope she continues so that she can improve her health too. My son got me interested in this and he is continuing the program also.

My mother's Alzheimer's is getting much worse and she has had to move to a new rest home because the old one couldn't handle patients with her level of severity. The issue now is that her behavioral problems are increasing and she's becoming a problem child in the new facility. This is, of course, stressing out my sister and I and it's very sad to see our mother going downhill so fast, and so far. We'll have to see what happens.