Beautiful pictures, Bill. Thanks.
bwray said:
Thanks guys. At 61 I don't know how many years I have left of this kind of activity. Probably more if I can just lose some weight and take some of the strain off my knees...
If you're overweight, that's a really good idea. Not only for your health, but because you find yourself pleasurably floating up the hills without the extra flab. Last time I was into the doc a few months ago I surprised myself at 210 when I stepped onto the scales. 176 this morning. There's a neat little web page that outlines what I've found to be a very workable approach to weight loss at
http://nosdiet.com/ . I don't worry about refined sugar, since I cut that out of my diet many years ago. My downfalls are wine and corn chips. I'll get down to a good weight, stay there enjoying it for a few months, and then add a bit of wine back into my diet. After a short time, wine, that foul deceiver, will lead me back to my arch-nemesis, tortilla chips. It's usually a downhill slide from there. The No S diet I recommended is really just a mnemonic, that helps me to keep with an eating plan with much shorter weekly cycles, and periodic nacho binges. I've been having good success with it.
bwray said:
Right now I'm looking for another dog to join me as a hiking companion. I miss my APBT that I posted about in the pet thread.
Billy the dog has been my longtime hiking and morning running companion.
Here's an old picture of him on a hike with me and my son a few years ago.
Billy is showing his age, as is the nature of things for all of us mortal creatures. A few years ago he ruptured his left cruciate ligament. I took him in for reconstructive surgery but it didn't work, and he never regained any substantial use of that leg. He would just hop along on three legs on our morning runs, and our hikes.
Then a couple months ago Red Flower and I were out on a hike with Billy, and he ruptured his right cruciate ligament. I think there was more stress on it since he was just using 3 legs. Billy ran ahead, I heard a little yelp, and when I caught up with him he couldn't use either of his hindquarters. We were off-trail, in an inaccessible area. First I made a stretcher for us to carry him out. I used a Sebenza to take down a couple of saplings near the river. A khukuri would have made the job much easier, but I didn't have one with me. Then I threaded the poles through the body and armholes of my leather vest to make an elegant stretcher. Unfortunately, then I discovered that dogs don't like to be carried on stretchers. I had to pick him up and carry him in my arms most of the way out. It was interesting carrying him over a big fallen log spanning the river, with about a 20' drop to the rocks and river below. I got a good workout that day. When we got on the flats he could walk very slowly and carefully, using both his injured hind legs.
When we got home I found that he could not go up or down the short stairs leaving our house. I had to carry him out, and I was the only family member who could do that. I thought I was going to have to have him put down. However, we gave him a little time to see if he would heal up a bit. His recently injured leg has become better, and he can now walk on it more stably. I think this is due to the formation of scar tissue around the joint formerly supported by the ligament. He still mostly carries the leg where we had the surgical intervention. Nature apparently did a much beter job in the right leg than the vet did in the left. He can now very slowly get up and down the steps leading outside, and on the flats is doing pretty well. He cries and barks in the morning when I go out alone for my run though. He wants to go with me, but I'm concerned about him losing his remaining mobility if he pushes his joints too hard on a run or a hike on uneven terrain.
He also knows when I'll go hiking. He knows my boots, my staff, my hat. When he sees those things he get's excited, and then dissapointed when he is left behind. Now his adventuring is limited to short walks around the neighborhood. He still guards the house well for Red Flower and myself though.
Billy is also on a diet. He has been since his first joint injury. Keeping him lean minimises the stresses on his joints. He's a lean, mean, doggie kissing machine!
