Zen Moment

A good, overdue by a few days, workout at the gym this morning
After... on a overcast day I sat outside near the pool

Why this photo?
No particular reason other than I love it.

Weather was perfectly comfortable
Stevie Ray Vaughn playing the blues on Pandora
Ear pods cranked up to accommodate my pitiful ears

Fell into a Zen moment while there
Good for a guy who may have been born with rose colored glasses
Song after great song played

"Voodoo Child' by Hendrix
"Turn The Page" by Seeger
"We Will Rock You" by Queen
Its my "ZZ Top" channel
You get the idea

I watched a guy who had to be 90
Sit at pool's edge
Put on giant flippers, a snorkel
And paddle up and down the Olympic length

I thought, "How in the hell did I get here?"

In Ohio, at 15... bald tires in the rain
Rolled a pal's old car off the road into the ditch, thrown out
Barb wire scars from fence there still on my right arm

In Thailand, '69... drove a motorcyle
Pal Randall Craft hanging on the back for dear life
Right through the door less entrance of a Thai bar

Outside Denver...'68
A hard rain... guy in front started swerving all over the road
Hit the gas and slipped around him

In Idaho, '75... a flying  "W"*
Over the dirt bike handle bars
Landing on my back

In Idaho, '75... again
Squadron Commander... I was doing barracks shake down inspection at 5am
Airman opened door for me with shotgun in hand
First Sergeant stepped in between us and diffused it

In Sacramento, '92
"You have 85% blockage of the widowmaker"
(Left coronary artery)

That one made me a 4x CABG vet

In Sacramento again, '97
Another flying  "W"
Over the bicycle handle bars in Eppies Great Race (triathlon)

You get the idea... and there's more, a lot more but I won't tell

So here I am
Close, but no cigar.... butt
At least not yet

Maybe it is to one day see my grandkids
To be with Julieann
To watch my son and daughter discover the world

I don't know why I am still here but I deeply appreciate it
I give thanks to the Great Biker In the Sky

Now I know you all have your own stories like this
Its just my take and I get to write about it
Another thing I am grateful for.

Watch for the book, "Travel On"
Coming to you in 2013
Lord willing and the creek don't rise...

* A "flying W" is the picture a body sort of forms when doing a somersault over the handle bars of a bicycle or  motorcycle or something similar.  Picture the hands still on the grips with the feet up in the air directly overhead while tucked into a rolling position- at that moment there is a vague resemblance to a W.