I Think I'm OK

This morning I didn't want to get out of bed, but I had had 9 hours of sleep by 6AM, so I figured might as well get up. And I had plenty of time to get in a swim before work, so off I went.

The swim went well--I swam the entire 3,000 yards bilaterally, and it felt fine. I am even not feeling like I'm missing any oxygen, although I'm sure I slow myself down to handle the less frequent breaths.

When I got home, I did not feel shelled. I felt like I'd be good to go for today's run, and I pretty much was, but my stomach did not feel right while I was running. It might have been the Coke I drank right before, but usually that doesn't bother me. Maybe I ate my fruit snack too close to the run, and it included some figs, so that may have been the problem. Stomach feels just fine now.

Good thing I have a massage scheduled for tonight because I can tell my legs are getting beat up. And I want to have a good ride tomorrow.

I had a tree service come out today to tell me how much it will cost to have a tree removed and some other pruning. About $1200. Merry Christmas to me! None of the 3 neighbors that adjoin to my property ever have taken care of their trees. The tree that's coming down technically isn't mine, but it is dying and I want it out before a giant piece of it breaks off and hits my power line. Trees are expensive--cheap to plant, but it takes time to rake the leaves, and then we have to pay to have the leaves removed, and then there's pruning. I love the trees on my property--I appreciate the shelter that the 3 Colorado blue spruce provide to birds year round, I enjoy the shade from my neighbor's ugly maple that overhangs my bedroom, and I appreciate the environmental good provided by the trees.

Now about the food I eat--I read a disturbing article in Rolling Stone magazine about Smithfield Corporation--you know, the folks who make the famous Smithfield hams. I have never been a big fan of pork, but now I think I need to swear off it 100%. The amount of excrement produced by hogs and other waste, including carcasses of pigs who die from the rampant diseases promoted by close "living" quarters plus all the antibiotics they are injected with in an effort to keep them healthy, and then all the lagoons, literally pig shit lakes, that leach into ground water and pollute. Now I know some of the same problems exist with beef and poultry, but from what I've read, pork has them beat hands down. I am 100% off mass-produced pork until further notice (I have no issue with the Parma ham/Italian prosciutto that I occasionally buy, as it's not produced en masse).

I'd also like to eliminate beef and poultry from my diet, too, due to the way they are mass produced, but I just like beef, chicken and turkey so much. However, I am now considering making an effort to purchase organic/non-mass-produced varieties.

Then there's fish--I like sardines, tuna, salmon, just about any fish/shellfish. I guess it's time for me to begin investigating where and how things are caught. I know there are issues with some catches where they literally throw away a lot of the catch needlessly, but those fish are hurt and usually die from the trauma. What an incredible waste. I already don't eat swordfish unless I'm at the source in Hawaii, since most stuff you will get here on the mainland has been caught by long line, and swordfish are meant to be mainly a sport fish. So if I ever go out sport fishing for them, I will appreciate the fish and set it free.

I know we live in an imperfect world, but as an individual, we get to vote every single day with our $$. If we buy it, it will continue to be produced. I do prepare most of my dinner meals from whole, unprocessed foods (with the exception of the meats as explained above), and I can do a better job of eliminating even more processed foods from my diet in an effort to be a better steward of this planet. I'm not yet prepared to become vegetarian, but I can see it in my future at some point. For now I will just try and eat as close to the whole food as possible, and begin understanding where that food is coming from.

I'm not a germ freak, in fact, I will eat fruit without washing it most of the time, and I understand that there are pesticides sprayed on the fruit and vegetables and grain crops that I partake in. I should probably go organic there, too. It's not because of what's on or in the stuff that I eat, it's the methods used to grow the stuff that pollutes.

My current car isn't a gas guzzler, but my next car will be as fuel efficient as I can get. I feel good, though, that I work at home and do not use my car as much as most people. I remember as a child when we'd have a snow storm and school would be cancelled, it was so much fun to play in the snow and try to walk somewhere in it or just stay inside and do inside activities. Last Friday when it snowed here and school was cancelled, I saw few kids playing it. No doubt they were asking their parents to drive them somewhere to "do" something. That's just wrong! I'm glad I like to read so much. It's one of my favorite winter pasttimes.