10 Reasons to Enjoy Bike Week

This is Biking Week from May 21 to the 28^th. There are at least ten reasons to dust off your bike and take it for a spin.

1. There’s nothing like fresh air blowing in your face and sunshine in your eyes to make you feel young and alive, as you pump away. Let’s hope your bike is oiled up and you’re wearing a helmet.

2. Biking for awhile will give your body a workout. Make sure you carry some bottled water, and refresh yourself along the way. Afterwards, you will be ready for a shower and your laptop, or a meal at an inn with your friends. The rushing blood in your head will make you a gifted writer or talker.

3. You can save on gas if you can bike to work or the nearby store. Biking communities enjoy better health and less traffic accidents.

4. Biking is healthy; it reduces obesity.

5. Biking is fun. It’s one thing to hop on a stationary bike and go nowhere, and it’s another to feel the wind in your hair and feel like a kid again.

6. Biking makes the roads safer because drivers have to slow down when they see bikers and be more careful. With slower cars, there is less chance of accidents.

7. Biking brings people back to nature to find trails and follow Rochester’s Erie Canal on bikes. There are wonderful trails in and around Rochester.

8. Biking is good for the economic community. It encourages trail building, parks, and inns. It increases tourism and possible job opportunities.

9. Biking spawns biking groups, which make us all healthier and more social. Nothing like sharing a mutual passion.

10. Biking is an equal opportunity activity for all age groups and genders, except toddlers—unless you want to attach a small cab for them to ride in.

I usually bike on Fridays with my bike group riding 18-24 miles in Monroe County, depending on the chosen trail. I love riding along the canal and on country roads. (The photo above was taken on Oak Island, North Carolina.)

A Letter to Keep and Share

The following came by way via the Internet, and it rings true to me; maybe, it will to you too. I do think it’s a  “Keeper.” Share this letter with those that you love and want to keep near. I don't know the author of the letter, but it's a gem.

Dear Keeper,

I grew up in the 50's with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.    
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat, and Mom in a house dress, broom in one hand and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress, things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it.. it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken.... And heal it when it's sick.  
  
This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents....... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special..... And so, we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn, if you wish, to send this to those people that are "keepers" in your life. Send it back to the person that sent it to you if they too are a keeper. Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.

Keep them close. 

Write What Inspires You

Donna McDine is leader in the field of children's books. Her blog is interesting, informative, and worth reading on a daily basis. She also has a wonderful newsletter that you can subscribe to called, "Write What Inspires You." And shouldn't all writers do that as often as they can? That is, shouldn't they write what they are passionate about? She inspires writers to write daily. Thank you Donna for your blog, book reviews, and newsletter.

The best place to find out more about Donna is to go right to her Web site...

http://donna-mcdine.blogspot.com/2010/05/poetry-and-song-night-joe-silly-sottile.html

Thank You For This Life!

"What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God."                                                              ~Eleanor Powell

Today my oldest grandson attended his Senior Ball. A little more than five years ago we didn't know if he was going to live or die. He was dying of a disease that destroyed his liver. Miracle of miracles, he was given a liver transplant and survived the operation, and got better and better, day by day. He spent a lot of time in the hospital before and after the transplant, but the operation was certainly worth it.

He was given the gift of life by a stranger. It was this last thing this stranger did on Earth. So, it was an amazing gift. After that, my wife and I signed up to be organ donors. It's a worthy cause. You should consider doing it if you are not already signed up as donor. Perhaps, you can help a young man or woman make it to their Senior Ball. What a blessing that would be!

My grandson has a wonderful, loving personality. I am sure he will make the Earth a better place as an adult. He is already doing that by working part-time in an animal hospital. He's giving back on a regular schedule. It might become his career.

He's using his gift of life, which he has been given twice, to give back to God's four-legged creatures. And I am very proud of him.

50 Reasons to Write Poetry

Did you ever feel your passion for poetry rise so high that you thought that you could write 10 reasons to be write poetry? I did. How about 20 reasons? I did. After 20 it gets a little more tricky. Maybe I could write 30. I did.

Our language is a melting pot with so many words--more than most languages. The French have a word for "house" but not for "home." Well, I am home with poetry; so, I challenged myself to create 50 Reasons to Write Poetry.

My writing friend, Debra Ross, liked it so much she posted it on her fabulous website Kids Out and About Rochester, http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/node/42962. She wanted to inspire more parents to encourage their kids to get involved in poetry.

Her site and newsletter are about what goes on weekly in Rochester that's fun and exciting for kids of all ages. It also tells about many free giveaways. You have to see it realize how helpful it is to parents.

I hope the list inspires you to write more poetry.