Getting in the Miles: Obsessing about Routine

 

The Final Push Before the Big Race

Fall is almost here in Oklahoma. I don’t mean the actual calendar date, although that too, the weather is what I’m most interested in. Last Saturday was a wonderfully cool morning. My group ran 14 miles through the city. I felt great. Strong legs come from attacking hills at every chance. I run a lot of hills, both outdoors and on the treadmill.

 My marathon is at the end of October which gives me roughly 6 weeks to prepare. I decided to do the Justice Run again in Fort Worth. It’s a simple jog through a well-lit city park. We follow the pedestrian trail along the river. For marathoners it’s down and back, down and back. I hope to shave 15 minutes off my time. I wrote about my experience last year. Dehydration got the best of me. I ended the night at the hospital with an IV in my arm replacing lost fluids. My mom and brother waited for me at the hospital as we tried in vain to catch an Uber ride.

The nurse on duty informed us that Uber had trouble picking up the exact outpatient address. Others had tried to hail a ride from the same spot and had to walk a few blocks until the GPS could give an accurate location. Since it was very late, he asked one of the security people at the desk to take us over to that magical place where the GPS actually worked. We caught our Uber from there. To say we were all exhausted is an understatement. This year the race is in the morning. Most races are early and that’s when I train, so I was pumped about that. I never know if I’m ready. I guess that’s the conflict runners go though. You think about the days you missed when you should’ve run. Either you were sick or tired. Often, it’s because you’ve planned too many other activities to put in the work.

This will be my 3^rd marathon.

Naturally I want to improve my time, but I also want to figure out how to run the race. Those aren’t necessarily the same thing. There is a rhythm to the race. Your body responds differently at mile 2 than it does at mile 22. Understanding how to save energy for a final push is critical to finishing strong. Everyone is exhausted at the end. But losing time because of a slow pace is frustrating. I want to learn how to conserve energy until the end. Not so I can sprint to the finish, but so that I don’t collapse when the clock stops. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have experience with running marathons. There doesn’t seem to be any magic formula for eating, drinking and preparation. I don’t eat before I run, others do. I like to eat Gu gels during the race and avoid solid food. Others don’t like gels and only eat solid food.

All of this can change based on how I’m feeling on a particular day. I was having an allergic reaction to something last Saturday so I downed a cup of Dayquil. I didn’t want a runny nose halfway through my run. I also ate a half of a banana to settle the harsh syrup sloshing around in my stomach. Normally I wouldn’t eat anything, but I had to something about my allergies. I never noticed a thing once I started running. My legs felt great and I finished the distance easily. But can I draw any conclusions about eating before I run? Was the weather a bigger factor in my performance or the food I ate before I left? Could it be that I was just properly hydrated from the night before?

I’m probably thinking too much about it. I don’t want to change up any routine that might be working either. It’s easy to obsess over the inputs, much tougher to hit your running goals when your life gets busy. If there is anything the experts agree on it’s this, get in the miles. Do the work. It’s less important how you feel while doing it. Running schedules exist for a reason and although it’s tough to make every day, you should get as close as you can. I’ve never compared notes with the other runners to see if they’re getting their miles in. But each person runs their own race anyway. Mine is just around the corner now that Fall is here.

I Peter 2: Understanding Liberty and Vice

 

I Peter 2: Liberty Not Vice

Peter’s letter to the early believers reminds them of their new identity and calls them to live peacefully with their respective rulers. But where are the exceptions to the rule?

“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.” (13 and 14)

There isn’t a lot of wiggle room for rebellion against crooked rulers here. But examples abound where rebellion was warranted. Think about Daniel. The King’s satraps passed an ordinance to entrap him (Daniel 6). If he prayed to God, Daniel would violate the law (or ordinance) against worshipping another god but Darius, the ruler.

How to be Disagreeable

 Jesus also told the disciples to eat the heads of grain when they were traveling through the countryside (Mathew 12). This was unlawful to do on the Sabbath. Yet, he permitted it. 

A lot of what Peter is concerned with is rooted in appearances. The Christian church was a new movement that the Romans would have loved to shut down for rebellion. Peter warns these Jewish believers to “abstain from fleshly lusts” so your enemies won’t find fault. It’s like when your dad tells you not to tarnish the family name. “Don’t’ make me look bad by fighting with your classmates and disrespecting the teacher. People will connect your actions with me, so behave!”

 We read “fleshly lusts” as sexually driven, but Peter could also be talking about anger, bitterness and resentment. Every natural instinct might be demanding you rebel. 

How to Maintain a Movement

 Some might be tempted to throw rocks at officials as they ride by on their horses. Peter might be saying, the minute your fleshly lusts take over and you start fighting against the government, our movement is done. Not only will the Romans come for us, but the citizens won’t support any rebellious religion. Instead of converts we’ll have enemies. So yes, submit because that’s what Christ did. We know the early church multiplied. Despite all the hardships it grew exponentially. They emphasized living like Jesus and carried it out through the beatings. Citizens of every town noticed and converted to Christianity.

In addition, the second part of the ‘submission to government’ starts with a warning against draping yourself in liberty. “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of men—as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.” (15-16) There is an old SNL sketch where Will Ferrell wears an American flag speedo and a half t shirt. The office where he works relaxed the dress code to allow for patriotic clothing. He hilariously uses patriot day to bring attention to himself. It’s not exactly vice, but he is clearly taking advantage of a policy that wasn’t designed for that purpose. Ferrell takes the liberty of the day to get laughs, and mock the purpose of why it was created.  

How to Understand Liberty

The Liberty Peter refers to is the freedom found in serving Christ. Specifically, by not being bound to traditions of old. He reminds them at various points of their new nature as that “incorruptible” seed which “abides forever”. Throughout the New Testament, from Paul to Mathew, there is a theme of newness in Christ. Because of the work of the early church, the disciples write to remind their burgeoning churches of their new identity. This isn’t just a last ditch attempt to get them back on track. It’s a practical reminder of the change that’s taken place in their hearts.

Parents who’ve had to discipline a child for an infraction know this principle. I got in trouble for hosting a party when my mom left town for a weekend. She was disappointed because it wasn’t something I’d normally do. I received a heavy dose of “This isn’t like you” and a long-term grounding for that. But she couldn’t have used that scold on me if I was known to throw parties for my friends at every opportunity.

The reprimand brought me back to the higher standard which I’d forgotten. It’s like saying, “Remember the change that took place in you and do the right thing next time.”

How to Seek Peace

On the second half of the verse, Peter warns about “foolish men”. What’s that about? Who really cares what they think about Christian behavior? I think it means that foolish men look only to ordinances to be there guide when deciding infractions against you. In other words, they’re foolish (or simple) because they don’t have the same relationship with the risen Savior. They don’t understand the things of God because they interpret life through strictly carnal means. If you want to turn simple men against followers the Jesus, just act contrary to whatever restriction exists in society. If there are laws against eating meat or drinking wine, make sure to flaunt them at every opportunity. Foolish men look for a reason to smother this new lifestyle before it gets any air. Be careful.

So where are the exceptions? How might Peter interpret the modern world and would his advice be different?

How to Understand Responsibility

 It’s important to remember that Peter was writing to an occupied people. Their situation was not quite like ours. Jews governed themselves to an extent, but the Romans governed the territory. These were subjects to a government they didn’t vote for. His letter is for us as much as it was for them. But the situation reads different in a few ways. We have churches in America on every street. For now at least they are free to say what they want, despite increasing pressure to avoid certain topics. Christians understand liberty in Christ as axiomatic. We aren’t as bound by tradition. Our collective understanding of grace is much richer than what the early church knew.

A good short hand for knowing when to rebel is asking what’s at stake? The scripture supports this. Daniel was a government official and he broke an obviously unjust law. So did his three companions (Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego) when faced with bowing to the god/king Nebuchadnezzar. When law, ordinance, rule, pronouncement or decree drive a wedge between God and His people, disobedience is necessary.

Conclusion

We should promote good governance and leadership on this earth. Proverbs 29:2 says “When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” We have the authority to expand righteousness in the civil realm. Beyond that, we must place a higher value on citizenship of God’s kingdom, than citizenship of our country. Also, lead with prayer and seek peace in the midst of chaos.

  

 

 

Hungary and America: A Fractured Relationship

 

Tucker's Interview with Viktor Orban: A Refreshing Take on How To Be a Sovereign Nation

I just watched the interview that Tucker did with Viktor Orban of Hungary. Hungary is not a country I know that much about. The first time I heard about President Orban was from vicious Economist articles painting him as a tyrant. Why? He regulated his border from being overrun by Muslims from Syria. They give every country with a sensible immigration policy the Stalin treatment. They've done it to Poland as well.

Tucker Carlson had been in Budapest to give a speech condemning the US ambassador’s remarks on Hungary’s supposed anti-gay laws. In trying to protect children from seeing smut in stores they’ve outlawed certain books; in Ambassador Pressman’s view this is unacceptable. Probably because he’s openly gay himself and more an ambassador for the homosexual community than for the U.S. Even if he was slightly more than an empty suit, you don’t rip the internal politics of the country you’re assigned to. There used to be a certain diplomatic respect with our representatives.

Wouldn’t he be more effective in Uganda or Zimbabwe? How about Saudi Arabia? I hear homosexuals have it slightly tougher there.

Global Ideologies

I had a few takeaways from Tucker’s interview. The most obvious being this, the world has changed so much in the last 20 years. Probably just my understanding of it has changed, that’s more accurate. I’m not a fan of going to another country to air grievances the way Tucker has but we’re in a different era. Obama did this during his first term. Some called it an apology tour. His presence sent a signal (supposedly) that the US had taken advantage of other countries and he would set it right. Most of this related to the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. It looked shameless to me. But what I didn’t realize was how connected international Leftism was and is. We live in an era of global interconnectedness. It’s not just economics but, ideology as well.

It's not a positive development. Alliances are great but spending money to influence the local politics of another country is ugly. But it’s the realm we fight in and there is no sense pretending it doesn’t exist. The rich world is governed by elites who want to keep their populations subservient. If they don’t see borders as an impediment to their ideas why should we? An educated and wealthy middle class is a threat to their power. It’s true in America and it’s true in Europe. It’s why we see such pressure to adopt silly emissions standards for the climate and unite behind countless treaties. 

We all chase our tails trying to keep up with the changing environment, losing a little freedom each time. Then the standards change and it’s on to something else that wasn’t a problem before, light bulbs or gas stoves. They’re just keeping us occupied and angry with our fellow citizens.

West Vs East

You have to admire leaders that do for their citizens and tell the rest to go away. It’s why Orban is persona non-grata among the Western leaders. He doesn’t want to lose the cultural significance of being Hungarian, nor do his people want to have Sharia law competing with its own native (and Christian) interpretations of legality. Nor do they want the same sexual confusion our children experience here. Sovereign territory must be respected. Just look at France and Germany, overrun with Muslim immigrants. Did the citizens of Germany get to vote? No. The EU decides a thing and everyone just lives with the consequences. The United States has no border in the south anymore either. Patrols pick up everyone from countries all over the world. In this way the elites can dilute the uniqueness of American culture.

I liked President Orban’s take on why the West is in such a mess. The liberal world is selfish. We look first to our personal advancement at the expense of the nation. In Hungary and much of the East, it’s a country first mentality. This also explains the mindset of people in Russia and certainly Vladimir Putin. In a saner world this would be a losing argument. I can’t imagine making this making sense even 10 years ago in America.

Our individualism was supposed to be the envy of the world. Was that ever true, or did we just push too far? Did we become greedy in our pursuits and ignore the real dangers of wealth? We’ve cast off restraint both spiritually and financially. We’ve lost control through the ballot box. Orban was telling Tucker that we don’t understand Russia because we assume Russians act like we do. They don’t. None of this is to give Putin a break or adopt their understanding of the world. But there are setbacks to investing too heavily in liberalism of the West.

Conclusion

Russia’s primary objective is to keep the country together. It’s a massive country too. Yes, he’s a dictator with tentacles in every part of the country. But somehow I’m not in the mood to talk about American greatness for a while. We pushed Ukraine into this war after opening weapons biolabs and conducting research within their borders. We fomented a color revolution and tossed out the Kremlin stooge, in 2014, so we could put in our own stooge. If that’s the way of international politics so be it, but when our media criticizes Putin for his reckless behavior it rings hollow. Hungary’s president didn’t say this but I think he meant it. He’s no friend of Russia either. It’s dangerous to be on the outs with the American State Department. He admitted this.

His solution is to bring Trump back. It’s probably the best part of the interview when he says that. That’s a major middle finger to the Biden White House. It’s also a sign of how broken the relationship is between Budapest and Washington.

Living in the One Party State

 

To Save the Country, Break the Economy

Trump’s mugshot from the Georgia legal circus made the rounds today on every social platform. It’s likely the most famous mugshot ever. MAGA country is going to make it fun. I’ve already seen a handful of funny takes. The meme champions are up their noses in ideas now. I imagine the Left is also celebrating. It’s the best they can do for a president that they just can’t get to without busting up the whole place. For bitter, basement dwelling progressives Trump is the spider they can’t kill. He runs under the stove after they grab the broom, he goes into a crack in the wall when they try to smash him with their sandals.

Failing to get him creates a reckless combination of busted floors and broken cabinets as they try in vain to kill him.

The deep state is actually tearing up the country to make an example of him. But it’s exposing our government for the soviet style security state it is. Complete with goon squads that arrest pro-lifers and other undesirables on the right, they don’t hide their contempt. The difference is, we still pretend it’s politics as usual. The Republicans had a debate the other night for the primaries which are still 8 months away. I didn’t watch it. I’ve soured on debates. Not because I think the candidates are bad, but I’m not watching anything that’s so irrelevant to my daily life. I heard a couple of coworkers discussing the debates at work, who they like and why. It’s like they didn’t see an election stolen just a few years ago. We’re already on the next one, examining issues like crime and the border as if it makes a difference.

Presidents don’t run the country. That much is clear now. Trump showed this and he’s been paying a heavy price ever since. Biden is as sharp as a beach ball and getting further from reality every day. There is an entrenched group of people who make the decisions. The elected guys go around and sign bills and give speeches, but their real value is in setting the agenda for the country. Democrats control narratives, Republicans promise not to be racists. Democrats use government offices to impose their will. Republicans pay high priced defenders to stay out of jail. Democrats play football, Republicans play footsie.

There isn’t really an opposition party. How can there be if the all the power exists at the federal level. If you’re an AG in red state that tries to jail a Democrat official as a tit for tat because of Trump, you’ll be locked up too. State officials have no real power when the Department of Justice can quash anything they don’t like. Merrick Garland even came after parents who criticized the school boards over useless mask mandates.  

I’m a Trump guy for sure, but no one on the Right has explained to me how he gets elected this time. The same crooked people and processes are in place in all the same places. From Georgia’s inner city ballot counting machine to Wisconsin’s bloated voter rolls. Arizona made sure all the MAGA types lost and Pennsylvania boarded up their vote counting areas vote creating areas. We’ve made mailing in ballots a normal part of voting. That’s an obvious recipe for fraud. If you can’t count the votes on the same day, someone is cheating. And yes, I’m remembering the Florida recount incident from 2000 as well.

Ballot harvesting is a disgrace and should be illegal. That’s when you send mules around to “collect” votes and drop them off. Some sites describe ballot harvesting as a process that’s been abused in the past. Umm…yeah you think? Abuse is kind of the point, just like with mail in ballots.

It’s tough to pick an issue that’s more critical to the country than its voting infrastructure. I don’t just mean the machines but the whole apparatus. Voting need not be this complex. When something is this complex, look for fraud. It was one of the mantras of my favorite writer P.J. O’Rourke. He was talking about the subprime mortgage fiasco from 2008. I think it applies here too.  

The best ideas on how to dismantle this behemoth of corruption won’t come from the Republican debate stage. There are some capable leaders up there, it’s not about them. None of them can do what’s necessary to bring the country back. It only happens when you bankrupt the country. You can only do it by draining the swamp, in a matter of speaking. Unfortunately, that looks like bank failures, runaway inflation or depression where the dollar collapses. Power drains when money drains. I’m not eager to lose my savings or start working 3 jobs just to keep the lights on. But it might be the only way to save the county.

Can America gain its former glory as the place to park money, to send your kids to school and worship freely? There has to be a rebuilding phase that’s painful or we won’t remember what got us here. There was no real collapse after 2008 because the government backstopped everything. With another big crisis they won’t be able to. But don’t worry, we’ll have Trump in jail for sure next time.

 

Situational Stress and Decision Making

 

Panic Creates Poor Decisions When Stress Takes Over

What’s your situational stress tree look like? Are there particular events or people that cause that panic in you? It might be troubleshooting wonky software while people wait, or trying to unclog a backed up drain while the water rises. Making decisions in desperate, time sensitive events is a learned skill.

Situation

My gas grill caught on fire while cooking dinner earlier. I just bought a new propane tank and hooked up the hose. I turned on the lever and clicked the ignite button. The rack heated up quickly and I tossed the burgers and pork chops on. After 10 minutes I opened the lid to check on them. Dripping grease from the hamburger was creating a real flame up. I slid the patties back just off the flame. On the second try, I noticed the fire seemed even more out of control. That’s when I tried to turn the regulator nob down and noticed it wasn’t connected to the lever. The heat from the fire had melted the nob down.

As I glanced down at the tank and noticed the fire climbing up the hose. I ran quickly into the yard and unscrewed the garden hose from the sprinkler. I just happened to be watering the grass then as well. I sprayed the fire with water hoping to put it out. But the grill hose was being fed a stream of gas from the tank. The water did nothing. I was reluctant to shut off the valve and risk get burned from the fire escaping through a hole in the hose. I managed to grab the nob and turn it. Nothing happened. At this point I started praying. I kept at it with the water and eventually the fire died down enough, where I could disconnect the hose from the propane tank.

 I don’t think I took a breath until the flames were completely gone. What a mess.

Reflection

My meal was mostly done by that point. I left the burgers and pork chops sitting on the grill with the lid closed for 5 more minutes. I was more concerned with the pork chops than the burgers. They were pushed all the way back to the lower heat so I knew they needed more time. After the fiasco I reconnected the garden hose to the sprinkler and watched it traverse slowly over the lawn. I should have been pissed about the loss of a grill but all I could think about was how grateful I was that the conflagration didn’t spread. My brother gave me the grill after he moved. My dad gave it to him a few years ago. It’s hardly a new piece of equipment, it’s seen work if you know what I mean. Besides I didn’t pay for it.

The best course of action would’ve been to disconnect the tank from the hose instead of turning the nob off. When it’s disconnected the gas stops flowing. But I didn’t think of it at the time. When panic sets in you rarely do the correct thing. I didn’t want to get my hands anywhere near the fire. Water puts out fire. In my quick thinking brain I grabbed the garden hose and sprayed, forgetting about the gas feeding it. There was a better way to fix it, but my mind was racing. Panic creates a scrambled picture of what to do. It’s fear, overwhelming our mind right when we really need to think clearly. Most people can think of some situation in life where panic lead to an unmitigated disaster.

Recognition

From escalating road rage incidents to grill fires that catch you off guard. On more than one occasion I let stress cloud my mind, in little league. As a pitcher, I remember loading the bases after a few balls and a string of smart hitters. The next kid hit a bomb, and so did the next. Every pitcher knows that feeling of humiliation when a guy goes deep on your slow moving change up. Panic ensured that I wouldn’t be able to get anyone out on that particular inning. The stress created doubt. Doubt led to poor, quick decisions made in anger.

I’ve always had a lot of respect for anyone who could deal with situational stress without falling apart. High performing athletes have this. I used to think it was innate, the same way others become an emotional wreck with the slightest bit of stress. Some of it probably is innate, but learning how to overcome in a tense situation is a skill too. Like most situations in life, the more experience you have with stress the easier it gets. The stakes might increase with the responsibility, but if you learn how to handle it, you’ll always win.

I’m the type who cares too much about what others think. It plays into my decision making tree in some way. Like, if I make this quick decision and it’s the wrong thing, I’ll look stupid. I hate to look stupid. Everyone hates to look stupid but, some dwell on the criticism more than others. I’m afraid I do. When situational stress hits my mind spins through a quick series of decisions without landing on one. That way I haven’t committed to any of them. If you’ve ever seen that giant vertical wheel the contestants spin on the price is right, it’s a bit like that. Except instead of the wheel, eventually, finding a price, mine just keeps going.

Conclusion

In recent years I’ve tried to improve this panic decision making. Prayer is the first thing for me. Actually, being hyper aware is the first part. But when I consciously slow down my response, and ignore reactions from others I can right the ship, er put out the fire. We all react to different stressors in different ways, but if you work on your responses you won’t be a slave to them.

Inflation Woes

 

Short Term Pain For Long Term Thinkers

How often do you find yourself saying, 

“Ughh, these prices. I’ll need a raise at some point, show me the bargains"?

At Walmart the other day, yes I shop there you snobs, I grabbed the small cart for a midweek shopping run. The midweek buy is just for essentials, mostly Sudafed and whiskey. I haven’t had to take the calculator with me in a long time and that’s just fine. It’s a good practice when you’re trying to be frugal and get the most for your buck. I thought my Aldi days ended after college, yes I shopped there you snobs. 

At a certain point I became a little more finicky about my groceries and swore off that discount juggernaut. I might be taking a closer look at it again if prices keep going up like they are.

I get used to buying, roughly, the same items and spending the same amount without even trying. There are some days when I need the extras, laundry soap and paper towels, that add a higher percentage to the bill. Mostly I’ve got my grocery bill locked in. The problem is inflation. We all know instinctively what it is and what it feels like. It’s a tax you weren’t counting on, or a pay cut right off the top of your salary. You might not think about it until you’re in line at Walmart and your cashier announces the total. Your first reaction might be “How many pizza rolls did I get anyway?” Or “I thought I left the institutional size bacon pack in the freezer”.

Inflation is the surprise you didn’t see coming. Maybe you should have, but it’s hidden. Prices rise when the money supply increases. In our recent history the most common way of creating inflation is through bond buying. The Fed purchases bonds from large banks and the cash it uses to buy the bonds goes into the economy via the banks. The purpose is to get the banks to use that cash to issue loans to other businesses. When companies get loans they go out and build, buy and hire. The extra cash in the market is supposed to get the economy going.

They can also purchase toxic loans, that's what happened in 2008. The Fed set up a fund and capped it at $700 billion, to be used to purchase troubled assets. Those crappy packaged loans that caused all the trouble to begin with.

But that’s in the textbooks already. It’s Wikipedia stuff about TARP (troubled asset relief program) and website summaries about how bond buying works. In truth it’s never that clean, especially when politics are involved. No president wants to have a stock market crash on their watch. Bankers don’t want lines and panics outside their offices. Investors, from the big funds to the small financial planners are loathe to lose value. Business owners of all sizes can’t afford to shut down operations for even a few days. Money goes out to lenders, and it comes in from customers all day. When capital stops flowing it’s a loss for everyone.

JFK famously said that a rising tide lifts all boats. That’s certainly true for a time. But the tide eventually goes out.

We’re in low tide economic season right now. The inflation is the result of overspending by the federal government. As long as business is good, the increasing tax receipts takes care of the debt. But without accountability there is no brake on spending. Most of our budgets are on autopilot anyway. Don’t fall for those debt limit charades Congress pulls every year. It’s theater. There isn’t a real debt limit anyway. As long as everyone gets paid (in a manner of speaking) majorities aren’t likely to actually vote down a budget. Keeping the debt limit in place sends a signal to the rubes (yes, me too) that they’re still negotiating responsibly. You know, cause two Trillion dollars of spending is reigning it in.

We might be in for another housing type crisis like the one in 2008. I say “housing-type” because of the fraud inherent in the packaged loans. They were valued high but worth nothing. Where are the overpriced bargains? What out there is priced like a high rise condo in South Beach, but is actually a condemned apartment building in Baltimore? Economic downturns are for people on the sidelines looking for good deals. It’s when the savers finally get their shot at some value buys. Collapsing prices, and yes recessions, are good for scrappers that stay out of debt. No one wants a 1920s era depression that wipes out the economy for a decade, but an honest recession exposes the underlying weakness. That’s how it’s supposed to work.

The government will never allow the biggest banks to fail. They’re tied in with the Fed like bells on a string. It’s not a market economy in the truest sense anymore. With no risk there is no reward. Lenders can take huge ‘risks’ because failure isn’t really failure when the government backstops your efforts. This only changes if the whole system collapses. That’s some serious Mad Max type carnage that no one wants. Or maybe I’m wrong. There may be a way to save this thing without the cage fights and desert gangs. It will probably take going back to Aldi for a bit. We’ll all have to learn how to save again. We’ll have to break out the calculators and argue with the cashier over a $1.50 coupon on Honey Bunches of Oats. But I can’t imagine the US economy becomes a place for everyone again without some short term pain.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moods and Sunshine: Summer and Winter

 

A Superficial Happiness: Whether Moods?

The sun is finally out. Today started a little drizzly. It stopped almost as quick as it started and the clouds made it feel muggy. I went for a short walk this morning like I always do on Sunday. The air was thick with moisture but the sun never came up and burned up the excess standing water. The more I live in Oklahoma the more I like the summer heat. The hot weeks in summer aren’t pleasant, but I prefer the heat to the early onset winter. Of course I’m not a roofer and I don’t landscape, I’m sympathetic to those who can’t wait for cooler days. But for me, lightweight clothing and flip flops are critical to my inner happiness. Is that superficial?

Light Not Heat

 I just finished grilling some burgers and brats for the week. The older I get, the more I grill for the week instead of just the current meal. Of course it means I’ll be eating burgers till probably Saturday however. The air was still gloomy and moist, the grill heat and the humidity made for an uncomfortable wait. Now that I’m seated and writing the sun makes an appearance. I always feel mentally sound when the sun is out. I don’t think I could live in a part of the world where the sky was overcast on a regular basis. I took a vacation to Ireland with my brother and his roommate a few years ago.

We spent a week traveling through the countryside and staying in cities. It’s a lush, beautiful country with a chilly temperature (even in August) that brings rain and clouds frequently. As lovely as it is, I’m a summer guy. I wouldn’t want to live there. I genuinely enjoy the heat and the sunshine. As I’ve told many people though, summer is about sunshine more than heat. The darkness is depressing. It’s August now and the morning sun is already coming up later and later. I’m more aware of it because I jog in my neighborhood twice per week. Of course I can run in the dark, but I rather like to see the sun come up over the horizon. There is a perfect spot near the fairgrounds where I can see it peak slightly above the eastern tree line. If I time it just right, I’ll catch the first rays.  

Sunny Side

When did this fascination with the sun begin? I can’t place it exactly but it can’t be that unusual either. I don’t even like days in the summer when it’s overcast and threatening rain. If it must rain then do it after midnight, and if the thunderclaps wake me there’ll be hell to pay. Sorry for being so finicky but it’s how I’m wired. Most personality traits can be traced back to childhood, I assume spending time outdoors late into the evening has something to do with it. Summers meant chasing lightning bugs in July, watching fireworks after a full day of swimming at the lake. My brother and our cousin used to ride our bikes between our houses before we had jobs. We all went through a rollerblade phase too. My affinity for sunny days might relate to that break in the middle of year when school is far from the imagination.

 It makes sense for most people to associate warm weather with sun and cold weather with gloomy skies. After all warm weather means summer and cold means winter. Maybe it’s just too much for some people to break that recognizable pattern in their minds.

Weather and Moods

After some quick google searching about the phenomena of mood shifts due to weather, I don’t believe I get depressed to any large degree. But the difference in my attitude from summer to winter is noticeable. But it’s more about the lack of sunlight then the temperature. I don’t sleep late or mope around the house unable to do regular chores, it’s more of a longing for warmth and light. It just feels worse on those long weeks of clouds and gloom. 

Maybe my future is in Phoenix or Winslow or Las Vegas. All of the sunniest cities in the US are in the Southeast. Most of the cloudiest ones are in the Northwest, Anchorage, Seattle and Tacoma. There are quite a few in the Ohio River Valley region too, Pittsburg and Cleveland. Buffalo gets a dishonorable mention for the Northeast region. The rest of the country falls in the middle. Oklahoma probably gets more sun than clouds but the article didn’t say. 

Conclusion

Is all this weather and sunshine business a real issue? Are moods really affected that much by the weather? Some research suggests it’s not. But those studies are based on genuine, clinical depression and not the kind of low level sadness I’m referring to. I’m not someone who’s outdoors all that much, but even sitting here typing on my computer is more enjoyable on a sunny day. If that’s superficial then so be it.

Thankfully the sun is up now…and I’m happy again.