Outlier

Many years ago, and I'm talking 1972, I was a kid just fresh to Rochelle, Illinois. Isuspect this sixth grader went to a Scholastic sale and bought a poster, which I hung with pride above my bed. Frederic Remington created "The Outlier", and I was at an age where exploration of geneology lead to pride. I was part Indian! As a statement to the world I tacked "The Outlier" on my wall, and visited his land daily.

Fatigue seems to be my buddy these past few days. Is there the possibility that my Crohn's diagnosis has created a psychosymatic depression, resulting in total body fatigue. Or, perhaps, the extra six doses of Asocal I ingest daily could be wearing my ass out. Whatever the cause, this feeling of external exhaustion is unacceptable. My goal over the next few days is to push hard and burn the exhaustion and fatigue out. I have no time for being tired.

Dam it, Damn it!

Enter A. W. Austin, a civil engineer associated with the Corp of Engineers. Dams were his pride and joy, and the man lived to develop waterways and flood communities all in the name of greater good and progress. Come Hell or eventual High Water, A. W. was determined to see his project through, even if it cost a moral issue or two. A. W. Austin would truck around in an early WWII Jeep Willies and shout here and there to this one and that. More often than not, you would hear the man shout into the night, after a snort of local charm, "Dam it, Damn it!"

On the Crohn's front - read up a bit more on my new found companion. I discovered the affliction has various manifestations and can impact lives in a multitude of ways. Protein, it seems, according to several blogs and informational pages, may help internal recovery. Who knows. What I do know is this, this community of afflicted seems to have a wicked sense of humor. Count me in!

I am ready to continue pushing my boundaries and explore who I really am by running, walking, biking, just getting out and letting cold air encounter my face. I am ready.

Counting Coup...

We played, round about the yard, and Max reminded me he is better at counting coup than I. As the sunset, a cacaphony of bird song created the canopy, and gave dimension to our time, nothing more than a few seconds of rememberence, a sunset.

One of my first characters for Let Go, the Raindance, was this chick named Rosali, Rosali Bachman to be exact. Now she was not a main character, nor was she repeating, but what she was was Goddamned annoying. She sat next to Johnathon and talked, and talked, and talked. Even when asked to shut up, she talked, and talked, and talked. Rosali was the type of person who sucked life out of a room, let alone a life. The chick was tough.

So, this afternoon I rode my bike over to Jennifer Smith's office. We are developing ways to increase active transportation in our community. Steven Hardy-Braz was my companion, and all felt well on the rodes. Our goal is to increase ridership and to be examples for the community as a whole. Oy!

Let Go, the Raindance

So, you may ask, what the Hell is Let Go, the Rain Dance? Some twenty five years ago, I sketched out a rambling novel based in the mountains of North Carolina. Through the years I've held conversations with my characters, changed the story, forgotten bits, and embellished others. My gang includes Leonard Hamlet, a World War I pilot with a penchant for settling scores his way. We have A. W. Austin, whose motto, "Dam it, damn it!" says it all. This Corp engineer thinks completely on a straight line, and never varies from black to white. Our narrator, Jonathan Woodhouse, was hitch hiking across the country, and somehow got caught up in an event that changed a lifestyle, village, and a people. Stay tuned. I'll be developing this cast of characters over the next few months, teasing out the plot, and having fun with the story.

Oh! Did I mention the Rain Dance is a canoe?

Along with this, I'll be filling in the gaps with my own story. In my fifty years, I've learned that whatever life sends us, it's not as bad as the other guy's. We all need to develop a positive outlook, examine our challenges, and meet them head on. Me? I'm newly diagnosed with Crohn's, and, as they say, is my story.