Day Trip!

I recently took a day trip up to Duluth with great fellowship and have a few visuals.

We parked at the Rose Garden near Leif Erickson Park in Duluth and started our walk in the Rose Garden.  Some folks appreciated roses more than others

Along the walk on this wet, overcast and cool day, you could see our ultimate destination come closer and closer:  Canal Park.  Can you see the Lift Bridge?

On this day, Duluth was having a Tall Ships Festival for the first time since 2010.  On the walk, I saw some ships out to sea (oh, I mean lake).

Some footage of a smaller ship.  Amateur video for sure.

On the way back, we drop by the site of the 1920 Duluth lynchings.  Here's the story:

On the evening of June 15, 1920, three black men, wrongly accused of raping a white woman, were abducted from the Duluth, MN, City Jail. A mob numbering between five and ten thousand people savagely beat and tortured these three young men, then hanged them from a lamppost in the middle of Duluth's downtown.

This is not a picture from yesterday, but a picture of a memorial next to the site.

I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  All I know was when I got home I was tired, must be getting old.

Calvin Coolidge Quote of the Week

This week's quote President Coolidge addresses the idea that politicians need to be loquacious to be an effective politician.  A reporter asked President Coolidge at a September 16, 1924 press conference about his taciturn disposition.  President Coolidge's response speaks for itself:

"I don't recall any candidate for President that ever injured himself very much by not talking."

Folks don't call him "Silent Cal" for no reason.

Straitgate Olympics!

Each summer Straitgate Church holds it's annual athletic extravaganza, the Straitgate Olympics.  Kids from the bus routes compete to win ribbons and medals in events such as the long jump, obstacle course, frisbee toss, etc.  I was charged to work the sound system and help out with the long dash (a medal event, for good reason).  I guess I should stop writing and post some visuals.

My view as a Long Dash as Mr. Stover gives instructions

Here they come!!

Frisbee Toss!

Tossing the Frisbee to a specific spot is harder than looks, folks!

Ball Toss!!

Hop by hop footage!!  (Don't mind the color commentary at the end)

The SG Olympics was great competition and fellowship.  A must attend!

How can I emphasize that?  Hmm...

Calvin Coolidge Quote of the Week

While a day late, but with President Coolidge wisdom is never short.  This week's quote comes from a message he gave as Governor of Massachusetts on June 6, 1919.  Governor Coolidge had just vetoed a bill that would raise legislators pay 50 percent.

"No person was ever honored for what he received; honor has been received for what he gave."

Thinking about many in society today, including public servants, how many of them would be better off heeding the wisdom for this statement?

Calvin Coolidge Quote of the Week

This week's quote is from a newspaper column Coolidge penned on January 17, 1930 regarding the concept of thrift.  He defines it differently than what many would think of it today.

"Thrift does not mean parsimony.  It is not to be in any way identified with the miser. The thrifty person is one who does the best that is possible to provide for suitable discharge of the future duties of life.  In its essence it is self-control.  Contentment and economic freedom are its fruits."

When one thinks about how the concept of thrift is seen today, both in society and in management of public policy, how often is it 1) seen in a positive light and 2) actually pursued?

Some Healthful Takes

As you may know, the past two years have seen a great transformation in my health.  From that checkup about a year and a half ago where the doctor told me to improve my health to now is quite the change.  For review, here was me before the intervention:

Someone say, double chin?

So I changed quite a bit from that time.  Largely thanks to Medifast, I've lost about 45 pounds since that picture.  Here's the result a year later:

A bit of an improvement, I would say.

I have been able to keep that weight off for over a year now.  I feel great, my biometric figures really improved (cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.) and I feel high energy much of the time.  At last assessment I was measured at about 15% body fat, a vast improvement of the over 32% body fat when I started on Medifast. 

Over the past year, I seen many of my habits change.  Here are three in particular that have helped me maintain where I'm at.

-  I gave up soda.  Soda has excess sugar, preservatives and sodium that retains excess water and causes organs such as the liver and kidneys that causes weight gain and diabetes.  I thought that I would have a hard time resisting soda but I don't really miss it at all, which is surprising because I use to drink two cans a day or that or some other sugary beverage such as Hawaiian Punch.  Now I can't stand Hawaiian Punch and I drink soda very sparingly. 

- I drink lots of water.  I mean A LOT of water.  At work I usually drink 64 oz through two fill ups of my large Nalgene bottle.  At home I have water, sometimes with a Medifast lemonade additive that I really like.  So I probably get about 70 or so ounces of water a day.  Drinking water regularly maintains body fluid levels (60% of the body is water), which energizes muscles because cells that don't maintain fluid levels shrivel and causes muscles to fatigue.  Plus, drinking enough water optimizes kidney function, which you can guess why that is the case.

- I have notably increased my intake of fruit. In the morning as I drive to work I'll eat a banana.  During the work day I'll eat another banana and snack on an orange.  In the evening I'll have Greek yogurt with fruit.  Although now I have figured out that I can even increase my fruit intake more through smoothies, which excites me.  The opportunity to combine fruit with protein additives such as protein powder and Greek yogurt feels like an efficient method to further increase my fruit and protein intake.  That is a good thing.

So there are some reflections on my changing health habits, along with exercise, that I have been doing over the past year.  Hopefully I can keep it up through the help of the Almighty.   That would be a good thing.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Today is President Calvin Coolidge's birthday.  On July 4, 1872, Coolidge was born.  So instead of sharing a quote from President Coolidge I'll share a short story.

After President Coolidge announced he would not seek a second full term, his wife and him some years later went to lunch with famous theatrical figure Otis Skinner and his wife. Mrs. Skinner said to him: "I wish it were you that we were able to vote for in November! It would be the end of this terrible Depression." Coolidge said " Yeah, but it would be the beginning of mine!"

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Summer in the Parks! (plus a new poll)

Every summer at church folks journey together into city parks on the various bus routes in the city (the church runs a busing ministry where kids are picked up at home and driven to church) in an event called "Summer in the Parks."  It's a fun event and allows us to present the Gospel to kids in multiple parts of the inner city.  This past week we went out to Cleveland Park in NE Minneapolis.   The presentation was put on by Mr. Wagner and was quite good, with usage of 'fingersticks' to boot!

Mr. Wagner  applying the fingersticks that symbolize attachment to sin

Good crowd watches attentively 

We're waiting, Mr. Wagner :). 

Once finished applying the fingersticks, Mr. Wagner eloquently described how our bonds to the fingersticks, which are hard to detach from with our own strength, are analogous to our bonds to sin. Only through the help of the Almighty are able to break our bonds to sin.

After that demonstration, lots of folks wanted fingersticks.

But that wasn't the only entertainment/instruction for the evening.  Kids  were invited to a freeze pop eating contest.  I was asked to demonstrate to the kids.  Although I freeze pops are not part of my everyday diet, I agreed to do so.  However, the only thing that resulted from the demonstration was a blue tongue and a cold mouth. Oh well, it is what it is.

However, it didn't stop the kids from participating.  They did much better than I.

There were leftovers.  No I already had my fill.

We gave out candy and lemonade afterwards and met a few new kids.  It was great!

By the way, I'm thinking of changing my persona through posting this picture as my profile pic.  

What do you think?  Please vote!