The Adventures of Fric and Frac: Adventure 320: Catalina State Park/Post B

To living right

Cool and cloudy today, but the mercury rose to a little over sixty. Undeterred, (In fact, encouraged) we got on the bike for 70 minutes and a total of fifteen miles. This is not bad, since the last time Judy straddled a machine was last August. We plan is to start slow, stay consistent, and work on our stamina. Our over all strategy is to ride every other day (Walk/hike on the alternate days). If we stick to that schedule, we'll ride 45 days and amass nearly 1000 miles. This morning we met a gentleman (84) who commented on our Commotion. He said he had one of the originals and put 56,000 miles on it. Looking at him, I hope to see my own future. His eyes were bright, his wit sharp, and his outlook sunny. He said to Judy, "It's supposed to rain through the weekend, but get better next week." She replied, "It doesn't matter, we have rain gear." He looked at me and said, "I like this stoker's attitude!" Tucson has an extensive maze of bike paths and bike routes. We rode on a bike path which will be 133 miles long when completed. We're able to access the trail right from the park. Our only concern is other bikers, of which there were many today. The path is smooth, clean, and free from cracks. Our plan is to go a little further each day we ride. This particular path would take us right into down town Tucson if we chose to follow it that far. We also found the first (If not already the best) breakfast taco joints. Judy, wiley cager that she is, managed to skunk me despite the fact that hot salsa was dripping from her grinning chin. In the afternoon, we joined about three hundred senior citizens at the five dollar movies. We saw Hidden Figures, an especially inspirational and well done picture. I left floating on the accomplishments of three exceptional African American women. I dare say our space program wouldn't have succeeded without them. On another note, our friend Ross Coble posted a prediction that in ten years, you won't be able to find anyone who will admit voting for Trump. My own prediction (One of many) is that we'll be up to our bottoms in hungry alligators come summer. The swamp itself will be as murky as ever, and the suppression of those who believe other than the current leader will be systematically discarded as un-American losers who just need to get over it. But enough of cheery outlooks. Keep dreaming. I especially liked a line from the movie made by the character of Dorothy Vaughn, who had just been thrown out of a public library for daring to enter the "white" section. As she rode home in the back of the bus with her sons, she said, "Freedom and equality are two different things, but if you do right, you'll be right." She then pulled out a book she snuck out of the library on the computer language FORTRAN, which she taught herself and her team. She later became the first black woman supervisor of NASA's IBM data center. her sons said, "momma, did you steal that book?" She replied, "Son, I"m a taxpayer. You can't take what you've already paid for." Somewhere after in the movie, Mary Jackson, played by Janelle Monae, was complaining about how unfair things were. Dorothy Vaughn (played by Octavia Spencer) berated her saying, "Quit complaining. Protest, walkout, quit or stand up, but stop complaining." She took the advice and became the first black person to attend a segregated school in Virginia, earning her degree in Engineering. I think this idea inspires me the most. If you don't like how things are, work to change them. I believe in that. So, keep doing right, quit complaining, and work for betterment. It's up to each of us to understand that life is good, especially today.