Reading and Riding: I don’t have enough stress in my life

But, the latest book I’m reading while riding my exercise bike, may add a bit.

I’ll keep at it, all 308 pages of The Upside of Down (plus 100 pages of notes), pedaling hard, because I’m relatively patient and interested in its author’s scholarly attempt to compare our era to Roman times.


["Ready, set...": photo GAH]

Thomas Homer-Dixon writes:

“Of the five stresses [link to earlier post for context], energy stress plays a particularly central role. I discovered in investigating the story of ancient Rome that energy is society’s critical master resource: when it’s scarce and costly, everything we try to do, including growing our food, obtaining other resources like fresh water, transmitting and processing information, and defending ourselves, becomes harder.”

If you like being better informed by history, this may be the book for you.

[‘Read This,’ in right hand margin, provides a link to The Upside of Down and other books]

The author adds:

“Most of the five stresses spring from our troubled relationship with nature. Indeed, one of my most important points in this book is that we can’t ignore nature any longer, because it affects every aspect of our well-being and even determines our survival. Yet today, despite a growing intuitive awareness of this fact, most politicians, corporate leaders, social scientists, and commentators in Western societies give nature little attention. They push it to the sidelines of public discussion, focusing instead on the headline issues that regularly hijack social, economic and political debate.”

355 more pages of riding should help me deal with stresses.

Ready, set...

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Young at Heart: I’ve signed a 10-year hockey contract

Oh, I mean it all right.

Earlier this week I said I’d like to run another half- or full-marathon because I’m motivated to play hockey for at least 10 more years.

Two games per week keep me ticking, young at heart.

My motivation is influenced by a few kind words from another player too.

While our team changed into street clothes after a recent game, my defense partner said he was glad he plays with me and that I remind him of J.C. Tremblay. (J.C. is best remembered for his years with the Montreal Canadiens).


[J.C. Tremblay: photo link]

You could have heard a puck drop.

After all - I’m 5 ft. 6 in. tall, have never set foot in Montreal, am an old Leafs and Hawks fan, and am new to the defense dept., after 50 years of playing forward - poorly.

Here’s what I later learned about J.C.

“Tremblay was not a physical player, he never had more than 24 penalty minutes in a season, and he tended to shy away from body contact.” [link to Habs World]

That actually fits.

As well: “There wasn’t a better puck handler in the league than J.C. He was able to produce offense from the blue line, and was the leagues best playmaking defenseman. One of his signature plays was to rush up to the center red line and flip the puck in the air towards the goaltender.”

Hey, I’m no puck handler, but if I stay on defense, I don’t mind playing a wee, wee bit like Monsieur Tremblay.

I mean it.

***

Can we be young at 85 years of age?

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Reading and Riding: The Upside of Down is not a downer

I bought a book recently that should help me shed the tag Mr. Doom and Gloom and five pounds at the same time.

How can I go wrong reading The Upside of Down [Catastrophe, creativity, and the renewal of civilization] - a title that seems to suggest that every dark cloud has a silver lining, lemons produce lemonade, and Toronto Maple Leaf fans should be smiling as if they know something the rest of us don’t - while riding my exercise bike?


["Miles to go before I sleep": photo by mojo]

Having read the first chapter I realize the author is going to wade me through his view of ‘where we are now’ (under a dark cloud) before we reach ‘where we could be’ (the silver lining).

That’s OK by me.

I’ll patiently wade through information about five tectonic stresses (the author’s words) that “are accumulating deep underneath the surface of our societies” while reading and riding.

The stresses related to population, energy, the environment, climate and economy sound gloomy and doomy but then, I’m only beginning chapter two.

And have miles to go before I sleep.

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Dear Ann Landerz: Should I try this at home?

Dear Ann,

The other day my sister sent me photos of husbands and wives from around the world who appear to do things a whole lot different than my wife and me.


Several thoughts ran through my mind:

Some guys sure have it good

That woman sure looks strong

I’d like to buy beer on sale too

Maybe my wife would help me get it to the car

So, Ann, should I try this at home?

Signed: Willing to Try New Things, London

Dear Willing,

You could try. But I know your wife, so make sure your life insurance is up to date.

Love and best wishes,

Ann

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It Strikes Me Funny: Consumers are questioning the real value of things

In today’s column I mention positive changes that some stores are making to attract customers in the new age of austerity.

I’m trying to shake my new collar, i.e., Mr. Doom and Gloom.


["Window shopping - incognito": GAH]

And if stores continue to become less cluttered, lower the price of many products, offer fewer choices and adjust to consumers who are questioning the real value of things, I might even go shopping.

At least window shopping for starters.

(I could use a good window).

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Ollie and Me: The simple life seems the way to go

An injury I sustained in last Friday’s hockey game has slowed me down this week and I’m milking it, big time.

“Do you want the ice pak?” asks me wife regularly.

“That would be great, and while you’re up, could you put on fresh coffee?”

Yesterday she saw me organizing hockey gear for my next game, figured I must be feeling better and invited me to join her and Ollie at the Children’s Museum.

I'm glad she did. (Though I limped a bit, hoping to get one more pot of coffee out of her this week, at least).


While at the museum I noticed Ollie loves puzzles, dinosaurs, bugs on the wall, and anything hands-on, like fishing or digging in the sand. (And at home, my guitar).

During a quiet moment I paused to think...

He is my main link to future generations on this planet.


Without saying a word, he reminds me to live small, question the real value of things, and stick to a simple life.

I’ll step out of the way of slapshots next game. I’ll live longer.

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A second Boston Marathon?: Maybe not, but Gordie Orr has new motivation

In February, 2006, I stepped off a treadmill at the downtown YMCA after a demanding workout, showered, dressed, and before heading out the door to my bicycle, cancelled my 5-year old membership.

I was tired of being a long distance runner, and since I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do (qualify for, then run the Boston Marathon, 2005), the motivation to complete weekly hill workouts, speed drills and long runs had disappeared.


However, after 20 weeks of short distance running and riding a recumbent bike to get and stay in shape for hockey this year, an idea has formed inside my little round head.


I would like to run another half- or full-marathon at a very slow, deliberate pace.

I believe my shuffle is top rate. I have a positive attitude. I have friends who are still running each week. And most important, in my opinion, I have a wee bit of motivation.

Gordie Orr wants to play hockey for at least 10 more years. Among other things, time on the ice keeps me ticking. Definitely smiling.

***

What keeps you ticking? Smiling?

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Positive Signs: Shoppers aren’t buying disposable clothing

Recessions hurt and heal at the same time.

People have less money and consumption habits undergo positive change.


[Wanted: Smart shoppers]

In a previous post I mentioned changes in the clothing and grocery industry. For example, that people aren’t buying disposable clothing is a positive sign, in my opinion.

I mention my response to other changes in this Wednesday’s column [see It's Almost Wednesday, side margin] but didn’t have space to write about the Recession Collection.

Because Michael Ball, founder and creative director of Rock & Republic, believes the days of the $300 jeans are gone (Associated Press), he’s offering the Recession line ($128 to $132US) alongside his premium denim line, which retails for up to $280US.

Though you won’t catch me dead or alive in jeans that are worth more than a month’s supply of groceries, and $300 jeans may mean things are seriously out of whack in this world of ours (I’ll stick to used jeans for under $10 from Valu-Village), I at least appreciate Mr. Ball’s efforts “to keep the economy rolling and help shoppers open their pocketbooks.”

And jeans aren’t disposable, are they?

***

I don’t know... $300 jeans? The Recession Collection? Jobs are jobs?

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Positive Sign: Shoppers ask, “What is the real value of things?”

Not a minute too soon, shoppers are asking tough questions.

And why are people now questioning the real value of things?

Because money is tight.

And many must conserve cash.

In response to the question, stores are making drastic changes.

According to The Associated Press (NY), stores are becoming less cluttered, offering many products at lower prices (from groceries to brands of jeans shoppers could once only dream about), and offering fewer choices.

“Of course,” says writer Anne D’Innocenzio, “the downside is that consumers who want something out of the ordinary — an olive green prom dress, for example — may have to look harder.”

I can live with that. The upside might be valuable resources are conserved while Suzie the Prom Queen, and millions of other shoppers, tone down their shopping habits.


["Sit down. Take a load off.": photo link]

I like that some buyers for big chains are looking closely at their stock.

"They're not buying disposable clothing," said the owner of one clothing company.

And it's a positive sign that companies are forced into new territory and are “trying to understand the new mindset of shoppers... who are questioning the real value of things.”

The new age of austerity may have many positive outcomes.

No more Mr. Doom and Gloom for me, eh?

***

Other positive signs?

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New Age of Austerity: I have to. I want to. I will.

One of Wednesday's posts began with a stubborn-minded credo:

“I don’t have to. I don’t want to. I won’t.”

It came to mind on Monday while I stirred a large pot of oatmeal (and fixin’s).

So did thoughts of a person who saw things in a different light.

My mother, a parent of quiet grace to five children, had to do many things she probably didn’t love doing - but she did them anyway.

For example: She stirred pots of porridge (and large pots of soup) so many times to feed her brood that I can’t stand at the stove now without seeing her hand on a wooden spoon, like the one I use to stir my own porridge.


(She’s no apparition; our hands are similar, our index fingers turn inward).

Due to the influence of both parents I grew up to appreciate writing, drawing, painting, attempts at gardening, living with less, creating my own fun, being self-reliant (in a few enjoyable ways) and cutting an acre of grass with a heavy push mower.

Sorry, I lied. That last one is dead wrong. Push mowers were murder.

If our new age of austerity lasts for 10 - 20 years, I think people who say “I don’t have to. I don’t want to. I won’t” won’t last too long.

***

I hope you'll last a long time - while whistling a happy tune.

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Conclusion: Mt. Everest deaths provide life lessons

[Please read Part 4 for context]

Lives were lost in 1996 near Everest’s summit, for reasons not all found in Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air.

Two men, perhaps more, are dead because they would not turn around and try another day.

I feel that lesson should not be lost on us - even though most will never set foot near Mount Everest.

Our daily lives are affected by social, political, physical, religious, economic, environmental (and other) frameworks, and within each we at times drive or push too far beyond our limits.

As well, we ignore our conscience or other guides, fail to make a safe retreat when the possibility exists, miss the opportunity to replenish essential resources, and subsequently find ourselves without strength or much hope for survival.

A few sentences from A Short History of Progress by Ronald Wright lead me to believe we’ve pushed past our economic limits:

“During the twentieth century, the world’s population multiplied by four and the economy by more than forty. If civilization is to survive, it must live on the interest, not the capital, of nature (but) markers suggest that in 1999 we were at 125 per cent (of nature’s yearly output).”

An oft-used quote from Barry Commoner tells me we’ll suffer for pushing past the planet’s economic limits:


“Sooner or later, wittingly or unwittingly, we must pay for every intrusion on the natural environment.”

In the political sphere, limits must be set and firm policies put in place to ensure resources are used in a sustainable manner, for the benefit of all, and future generations.

On a personal note:

While training for and running 13 marathons, I often strayed beyond my physical limits or ran at someone else’s chosen pace, then barely survived several of the 26.2 mile events. I hit the wall too soon and became - on a few occasions - an ugly companion for running mates.


["Staying within my physical limits": BOSTON MARATHON, GAH]

Whether we address social relationships (marriages, friendships), economic, environmental policies, et al, we tend to push limits to the extreme and suffer the consequences.

By reading Into Thin Air, I was forced to think a bit more about where we are now, where we’re going, and how we’re getting there.

***

The book, and life itself, are gripping adventures, are they not?

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Mt. Everest disaster Part 4: Death near the Summit

[Please read Part 3 for context]

While reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer (a personal account of a disaster on Mt. Everest’s summit) I felt certain events revealed human beings and their systems fail - on mountaintops, high seas, farms, cities, Wall St. and Main St., Anytown - for some of the same reasons.

Near Everest’s summit, Rob Hall (an accomplished climbing guide), did not turn himself or a client around for safe retreat toward evening refuge as previously arranged.

Krakauer writes:

“In any case, Hall did not turn Hansen around at 2:00 P.M. - or, for that matter, at 4:00, when he met his client just below the top. Instead, according to Lopsang (Sherpa climber), Hall placed Hansen’s arm around his neck and assisted the weary client up the final forty feet to the summit.”

“They stayed only a minute or two, then turned to begin the long descent.”

Later events conspired to make their descent extremely difficult, then impossible.

Hansen was never heard from or seen again.


[Hansen’s grave: photo link]

A lone ice ax, found near the end of fixed ropes above a 7,000 foot sheer drop, bore testimony to his fate.

Hall was heard from later that day and into the night but never seen alive again [except possibly by Harold Harris, a young NZ climber and guide, who attempted to rescue Hall and Hansen - and paid the price with his own life].

Rob Hall’s frozen body, however, remained visible to future climbers for some time near the summit.

***

Personal and system failures can be tragic. What causes tragic failures?

Tomorrow, the conclusion

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I don’t have to. I don’t want to. I won’t.

I repeat:

“I don’t have to. I don’t want to. I won’t.”

I received the above message by email last year but can’t remember the context.

I’m sure, however, it was in response to one of the following three topics in a column or post:

Oatmeal - I make big batches of oatmeal in order to become a more self-reliant person. I might have said, ‘more of a True Canadian’. You know, with Maple syrup and all, eh?

Coffee - I don’t go through drive-thrus more than 5 times per year or use disposable cups. I mean, how hard is it to make coffee or carry a travel mug when leaving the house?


[Oatmeal - two weeks worth: photo GAH]

Plastic water bottles - I posted and wrote a couple of columns about the overuse of plastic bottled water and encouraged people to drink tap water or carry a thermos with their favourite beverage. It’s not impossible to carry enough low-sugar juice to get through a day at work. I mean, most people know how to squeeze oranges.

(That reminds me. I wrote about my juice squeezer. Got it from my mother, so it’s pretty old. But it works perfectly. It might have been a separate topic. That makes four topics).

Squeezer - I probably said, “Get a squeezer.”

Whatever the topic, the reader’s child-like rebuttal came to mind while stirring a big pot oatmeal (and fixin’s) Monday morning.

***

Hey, get a grip (on a squeezer, at any rate).

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Barack Obama: And now the real work begins

I don’t mind if he has one last dance with his wife before noon today and then kisses or hugs every last one of his supporters as they file out of the Most-Presidential Inaugural Bash (the most prestigious of all the balls, and there’s lots of them).

I don’t mind if he sleeps in ‘til three this afternoon and then wakes up a bit grumpy and says something a touch un-presidential like, “Ow. I shouldn’t have had those last two mohitos.”


["Peace, Mr. President": context for photo - Gord, 1969]

I don’t mind these extravagances because I know President Obama is aware of the huge task ahead - to plot a positive, deliberate, patient course forward for his country, my neighbour to the south.

Has G. W. swept and cleaned the last of his remains from the Oval Office? If not, be quick.

Today the real work begins.

***

I’m feeling better already, but I’m a patient man.

Are you?

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To my American neighbour: Peace, hope and progress

As a teenager, my opinion of the USA was shaped by three bullets and one stranger.

Scottie Bradford, my university roommate, born in the US and completing his education in Canada, helped shine a more positive light on his country.

While decorating the walls of the small room we shared he noticed a poster I’d drawn in high school and wanted to hang it over his desk.

It bore the profiles of three men I admired - John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy - and the dates of their assassinations, and it expressed some of the anger I felt toward a country that, in my opinion, glamorized guns.

In March, 1969, Scott and I hitch-hiked to New York City and were between rides outside of Albany, NY, when a passing car slowed nearby. The driver rolled down his window and shouted directly at me (likely because of my longish hair, beard and wire-rimmed glasses):

“F--- off you hippy f--got.”

Instinctively I flipped him a finger and said, “Up yours, war monger.”


[Hamilton, Bermuda: photo by Scott Bradford]

One week later, after flying from NYC to Bermuda, Scott took the above photo while I stood, in a much better mood, on the main street of its capital city.

I flashed my American friend the peace sign. (Look closely, under a microscope - it’s there).

Today it’s for all my American neighbours, including the guy who, like me, is 40 years older and, hopefully, a good deal wiser.

Peace.

***

There’s still a bit of the old hippy in me.

Today I found myself singing a few words from “Abraham, Martin and John,” a song by Marvin Gaye:

Has anyone here seen my old friend Abraham (... John, Martin, Bobby)?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
Oh, he freed a lot of people
but it seems the good die young.
I just looked around and he was gone.

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I Have A Dream: Yes, we can - on Jan. 20, 2009

When Martin Luther King Jr. shared his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech in Washington D.C. in 1963, I believe Barack Obama, though only two years old at the time, was included in his words.


[“I have a dream”: photo link]

“I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up... live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

["I have a dream": link to complete speech]

January 20, 2009 will be remembered for many important reasons.

One of the most important, in my opinion, follows:

It is a significant inaugural date (there are others) in that it reveals the content of a man’s character was judged, by the majority in the USA, through a lens that did not include a long held bias.


[Yes, we can enjoy hope and progress together: photo link]

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I Have A Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 80 last Thursday

Had Mr. King not been assassinated on Apr. 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn., he perhaps would have witnessed one of the most significant events in US history - the inauguration and future presidency of Barack Obama.

I believe, however, that five years earlier, when he lead the March on Washington, D.C., in August 1963, he was marching to to encourage the type of freedom and equality Mr. Obama grew up to experience and enjoy.


[March on Washington, 1963: photo link]

And when Mr. King presented his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech to civil rights activists in Washington on August 28, 1963, I believe his dreams included Barack Obama, and the hopes and sky-is-the-limit-possibilities that Obama’s inauguration and future presidency encompasses.


[“I have a dream”, 1963: photo link]

Dreams are for such things.

Dreams can become realities.

***

And we should all have them. Keep dreaming.

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Pessimism Rampant Part 2: Will Canada’s economy make a comeback? I think so

[Please read Part 1 for context]

“Keep it light with another flick about dogs or a lovable Mall Cop” [Front page, Saturday’s London Free Press]

I have a pretty good tolerance for reality so I skipped the flick and reread ‘Pessimism rampant’, an article from the Jan. 13 issue of the same local paper:

“Canada’s companies are bracing themselves for a very hard year of slower sales growth, shrinking employment and tight borrowing conditions that will further undermine the economy...”

“The mood among Canada’s business community (is) decidedly dark - the most pessimistic in more than a decade - in the face of the global financial crisis and economic slowdown.”

Though pessimism is rampant is some areas, I anticipate a small recovery, of sorts, after the next federal Conservative budget, thanks to a comprehensive stimulus package (including rebates on new cars, I hope).

Some might say, recovery?


[Change: Could be? Will be?: photo link]

Yes, because I include in my thinking the promise and hope associated with Barack Obama’s inauguration, and presidency, and the new-found optimism he brings to the USA.

A man can dream, can’t he?

***

And if our economy starts to make a comeback, in a smaller, more sustainable form, no more Mr. Doom and Gloomy Gus for me.

(Yeh, right!)

Is tomorrow’s inauguration on your mind? Will change occur here and elsewhere?

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Pessimism Rampant Part 1: I’ve been told to lighten up

Like I said in my profile, I’m affected by the books I read.

[Please visit Read This in right hand margin]

The Long Emergency (December’s selection) is not about a trip to the hospital in an ambulance that got stuck in traffic. Or lost on a detour. It is about how we are sleep walking into a future far different than the present. We do things backwards sometimes, like Benjamin Button.

Into Thin Air (one of January’s selections) is an account of a disastrous climbing season (1996) on Mt. Everest. Not all climbers made it safely to the summit or back to base camp. It reinforces my thinking: On mountains and in day to day life, critical mistakes can be made, and not everyone gets out alive.

Then there’s the daily paper.

‘Pessimism rampant’ was a Jan. 13 headline in The London Free Press, but before I could read it or dissect even one sentence for a post or column, a reader emailed the following in response to my Jan. 7 article:

“I hope you don't take this personally, as I hold teachers in high regard and always respected the teachers I've had. Over the past year or so I've noticed your column being a lot less about "It Strikes Me Funny" and more about "Mr. Doom And Gloom". Your articles aren't even remotely humorous anymore. Kelly O.”

I had to agree - almost. (“Not even remotely?”)

I emailed him my recent book list, as above. Hope he understands.

Now, back to 'Pessimism rampant.'

***

Very interesting. Why is it rampant? What can we do about it?

.

Mt. Everest disaster from 1996 still chilling Part 3

[Read Part 1 and Part 2 for context]

If you haven’t read Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, a personal account of a 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, you should. [Please visit Read This, right margin]

Because, if you were ever to climb a mountain, or apply its lessons to other areas of life, you would be the wiser for it.

I read it recently and learned a bit about why Rob Hall, a very responsible, skilled leader from New Zealand, made a tragic mistake on Everest’s summit.


Many of his colleagues have wondered: “Why didn’t he turn Hansen (a client) around much lower on the mountain, as soon as it became obvious that the American climber was running late?”

Here’s what Krakauer reveals:

Exactly one year earlier, Hall had turned Hansen around on the South Summit at 2:30 P.M., and to be denied so close to the top was a crushing disappointment to Hansen. He told me several times that he’d returned to Everest in 1996 largely as a result of hall’s advocacy - he said Rob had called him from New Zealand “a dozen times” urging him to give it another try - and this time Doug was absolutely determined to bag the top.”

“I want to get this thing done and out of my life,” he’d told me three days earlier at Camp Two. “I don’t want to have to come back here. I’m getting too old for this shit.”

It doesn’t seem far-fetched to speculate that because Hall had talked Hansen into coming back to Everest, it would have been especially hard for him to deny Hansen the summit a second time. pg. 293

Guy Cotter, a NZ guide, said this:

“It’s very difficult to turn someone around high on the mountain. If a client sees that the summit is close and they’re dead-set on getting there, they’re going to laugh in your face and keep going up.”

Peter Lev, veteran US guide, said this:

“We think that people pay us to make good decisions, but what people really pay for is to get to the top.”

***

Is death too high a price to pay to get to the top?

Part 4 and conclusion will soon follow

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