Why Are Bicycle Riders So Unfriendly?

Hard-core bicycle riders are easy to spot, once you know what to look for. The skin-tight clothing reveals that they look to be so thin as to seem not much wider than the bicycle they are pedaling. Their clothing is covered with the names of bicycles costing several thousand dollars. You usually see them hunched over their handlebars, staring at the road ahead as they keep a steady rhythm of pedaling.
What I've learned about these folks is that they are typically unfriendly and standoffish towards other bike riders. Motorcycle riders usually wave at each other when they pass. There's a certain camaraderie shared when you encounter another person willing to take the risks of riding a motorcycle in traffic. Not so with the hard-core bicyclist. I always wave as I pass. If they even deign to look my way, the most I get is perhaps a finger raised. But even that much is unusual. Last week I waved at a pair of fellow travelers as they rode by in the opposite direction. They merely stared at me as they passed. I had to laugh at the encounter because they reminded me of a couple of lemurs.
I don't know why bicyclists are so unfriendly. I still hold out hope. I'll continue to wave when I pass them by.

Turttle and Leg Cramps

Lack of clear weather has kept me off my bike this winter. Last winter I only had a couple of weeks I couldn't ride. This winter has given lots of cold, rain and ice. And it's hung around like a homeless stray cat.
I'm trying to get prepared for the BAK in June. This weekend provided me enough time and warm weather to ride 2 days in a row. Saturday I rode 30 miles and did fine. Today, Sunday, I felt a bit sore but I headed out anyway. Today was warmer than yesterday, a great day for a ride. The wind was against me, but I didn't mind. It's good for conditioning. I was encouraged to find a sure sign of spring on the trail just below Shawnee Mission Lake: a large Snapping Turtle. I opted not to put any part of my body near it for perspective in the picture. It's shell was about 12" in diameter.
I was only a few miles from home when I got a severe cramp in the front of my left thigh. I stopped my bike to stretch it out and the back of my thigh cramped as well. I couldn't bend my leg so I just stood beside the road and hoped the pain would ease soon. I decided this was the time to call for help, so I asked Brenda to come and get me. I've never in my life had a cramp so severe.
I'll give my legs a day or so to recover and get back to building my endurance again. BAK is only a little more than a month away.

Home Show

Late nights.
Choose a color.
No, we're not going to do that one.
What do you mean you're not going to make a sample? We've never done this before.
No time for a sample. It won't dry in time.
Some fights.
I don't think I've got enough plaster to cover this much space.
Fans blowing.
Got to get the next layer on.
Brenda's stressing because it doesn't look "good".
Can't help it now, we're out of time.
We were supposed to be there an hour ago.
It will have to do.
Pack it into the trailer and haul it to the show.
Maybe it's time to redesign the booth. This is too much work.
Find our space. Unload. Carpet is too long. What's going on?! Our space is only 18 feet. Our walls are 19' 6" and made of wood. They won't shrink. Talk to the head honcho. Problem solved.
Set it up. Where are the bolts? The colors look different here. Where's the extension cord? Do the lights work? This piece needs a layer of wax, it looks pale. Brenda still doesn't like it. Doesn't look good enough. Well, it's the best we could do. Next year we'll do it better. Start earlier. Do something to "wow" them.


This is our typical pre-home show week. And the list above was edited to fit better on your screen. There are endless details, and we are always scrambling to get things dry in time to take to the show.
The piece Brenda thought was not good enough is the star of the show. (This is not the first time this has happened.) Several people gave us positive feedback. One lady said our walls were far superior to the other 2 faux finish displays. Today the traffic was steady but not overwhelming. After seeing and hearing how people respond when they see our booth we abandoned our thoughts of re-designing it. Every year it's a lot of work, but we'll be back, I'm sure.

Squirrel Contest

He started talking to me as soon as he stepped in the bathroom door. I was surprised because men usually don't talk to each other in public restrooms. (I think there is a fear of appearing too "friendly" while taking care of nature's call.) This man didn't appear to care. "How's it going?", he asked. "Great weather we had today." It was the typical conversation starters, but it seemed a bit odd because we were in the men's room. He then asked me if I'd heard of the squirrel shooting contest. This conversation had jumped from merely "odd" to outright strange. I quickly reminded myself that Tonganoxie, KS has a different mindset than the metro area. Still . . . a squirrel shooting contest?
My chatty companion explained that he owns a local gun shop and that he'd sold two .22 rifles to people participating in the squirrel shooting contest sponsored by Cabela's. Whoever brings in the most squirrels (by weight) wins the contest. He didn't say what prize these marksmen won. As he breezed out the door he talked of how he'd given up shooting the squirrels raiding his bird feeder and had merely installed PVC over the support post. He was gone as quickly as he came, leaving me to contemplate that this was the strangest men's room conversation I've ever had.

Getting Plastered

Brenda & I are at the Italian School of Plaster in Dallas, Texas. We're learning the art of plastering using products that have a 2000 history. The Romans used lime plasters in their buildings. The lime in the plaster calcifies and returns to stone, giving a long-lasting finish. Builders in Venice used polished plasters to imitate the look of marble. Their buildings on stilts wouldn't support the weight of real marble.
People in America today think "Venetian Plaster" is any plaster with a texture. Most of them are surprised when we show them a smooth-as-glass, polished plaster and explain the true nature of Venetian Plaster. We have worked with the traditional lime plasters in the past, but our training came from Americans and was sketchy at best. Doyle Self, our instructor, was trained in some of the same schools we were. When he took on the Safra plaster line he went to Italy and learned from artisans with a centuries-long history of plaster application. He had to unlearn his American training.
Brenda & I are working to unlearn some of our habits as well. We've created 32 sample boards using 20 different products. It's the end of the week and Brenda's brain is at the verge of information overload. We've got a home show in 2 weeks and need to put some of these new finishes on display. We tried to think what products to buy, but at the end of the day yesterday we couldn't think very straight. We've got to put an order together today. Looks like we're going to have a working breakfast.

Losers and Sinners

Have you heard Christians say, "I'm just a sinner saved by Grace."? This statement sounds spiritual and filled with humility. But how does this one sound? "I'm just a loser."
Brenda & I recently had a long discussion with Rob & Elan about the power the subconscious to form our identity. The subconscious controls more than 80% of our thoughts and actions. In a fight, the conscious mind will lose out to the subconscious every time. What I've learned is that my subconscious shapes much of what I believe about my identity.
God has straightened out my beliefs about my identity in Him. I used to buy into the whole "I'm a sinner" rubbish until He showed me the scriptures describing just who I am since I've been reborn. "I'm no longer a slave to sin because my old self was crucified with Christ so that my body of sin might be done away with" (Rom. 6). My identity in Him is as saint, a saint that sometimes sins. When I sin it doesn't make me a "sinner". And if I walk around with the mistaken attitude that "I'm just a sinner saved by grace", that belief makes it more likely that I will fall into sin because my subconscious believes that is my nature.
I recently discovered in my subconscious a belief that I can't be a winner. I've justified it to myself by saying that I'm just not competitive. I enjoy the process more than the outcome. This belief was harmless enough when I played ping-pong with Don Brent and every game was a deuce I ended up losing. I was good enough to stay close, but not to win. But I'm finding this loser mentality creeping into other areas of my life, and it isn't just innocuous any more.
I'm working to convince my subconscious that I'm a winner who sometimes loses. If I lose it's not because it's my nature. The good thing I've discovered is that my subconscious is pretty gullible. This truth is a mixed blessing. It can be convinced of almost anything and doesn't know if something may be impossible. On the other hand, once it believes something is impossible it has the power to make it so.
I believe that this process I'm going through is what the Bible means when it says to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" and that our goal is "the salvation of our souls". What the world calls the "subconscious" is a part of what the Bible refers to as our soul. What I'm learning is that the work the Holy Spirit does in us is to get the life that is the Spirit of Christ worked into our soul (subconscious) so that we become like Christ. That is my identity. That is my destiny.

Colorado New Year

The last day of 2007 was my first time of ever snowshoeing. We visited Rob & Elan in Colorado and had planned to go skiing on December 31, but I-70 was closed because of wind blowing the snow into white-out conditions. Rob found a pair of snowshoes for me and we headed out in the bitter cold to hike up a mountain trail. We were somewhat protected from the gale-force winds, but the gusts still made the snow like hundreds of needles on exposed skin. We climbed about 1000 feet and almost made the summit, but time required us to turn back.

The following day Rob & I went skiing at Loveland. I hadn't been on skis since 2 years prior. It took me a bit to get my ski-legs. Rob gave me some pointers and I was moving with confidence by the end of the day. I only fell over a few times just as I came to a stop.

We also got to spend Sunday with Rob & Elan checking out the housing market in Evergreen. We stepped inside one house and were transported back to the late 60's. Every room brought new surprises in retro decor: pink toilet and tile, pull-down light fixtures, felt-patterned wallpaper. The architect who drew the plans was a rectanglophobe, that is he had an aversion to anything resembling a rectangle. Rooms were diamond shaped and trapezoids, but none were rectangular. Brenda dubbed it the "psycho house". We agreed the only hope for this house was to bulldoze it and start over. It was beyond rehab.