The Gear

 As I mentioned a few months ago (welcome to slow blogging, as if anyone reads this), I said I might be up for a bicycle ride.  Years ago, 2005 to be exact, gas prices in Topeka went on a sudden spike and I purchased a “commuter bike.” At the time I was a correctional counselor at a women’s prison. This prison was on the opposite side of town from me and the trailhead to the Shunganunga was near my house. All set, I rode off to work.

A few weeks later gas prices returned to normal.  A few months after that, I quit the job at the prison, which I truly hated.  A year after that, I deployed to Kosovo for a year.  The bike went into storage. For years.

Fast forward to May 2021.  The bicycle remained in storage all that time and most recently was under the deck and exposed to the elements the last two winters.  I’d thought of selling but never did.  Then one day I got out of the shower and took a good look at myself in the mirror. I did not care for what I saw.  A few days later and the bike went to the Santa Fe Trail Bicycle and Coffee Shop. 

Imagine my surprise when the staff told me I had a really good bike! They called it a Trek 7200 hybrid. It did need some TLC and I had a serious tune-up with many replacement parts.   Twenty-four gears, added some saddle bags, and really bright LED lights ( I mean like motorcycle bright). The shop did good work and bringing it back to life took only about $400. The next day I took it on a ten mile spin about town and followed this with several trips to work and back. Now it seems to ride like new. I did have to add a new seat as my butt was going numb.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve more or less given up on the idea of being a distance runner.  At some point there is just too much damage and too much time.  I’m blaming most of it on wearing body armor in my forties.  It is very unlikely that even with significant weight loss that my back will ever allow me to be a serious runner again. But we’ll see where the Trek will take me.

Rails to Trails--Windsor MKT and Rock Island Line

 A few days ago I stayed overnight in the small town of Windsor, Missouri. I was there for a funeral and it was just a bit too far to go to an evening visitation, drive home, and then back down for a funeral the next morning. 

 

Looking online for a place to stay, I came across Kim's Cabin's, LLC. Perfect. These little cabins are nicely furnished, sleep six, has pretty decent Wi-Fi, and come with a nice kitchenette. And even better--there is no television!!! A perfect stay for a quick overnight or someone wanting a bit of peace and quiet.

The cabins are located along the Katy Trail near the Rock Island Spur trailhead. The Katy and Rock Island are a part of the "rails to trails" movement, where unused rail corridors are dedicated for recreational purposes.  The Katy and Rock Island are open to hikers, runners, bicyclists, and equestrians year round. There are a number of readily available publications through an internet search, showing routes, points of interest, and services available in each town. 

The morning before the funeral I spent a short time walking about the trailhead on both the Rock Island and the Katy. 

This sign is located near where the cabins are next to the trail. 

The Katy Trail runs from Clinton, Missouri some 237 miles east to Maachens, Missouri.  In 2016, the Rock Island Spur was opened from Pleasant Hill to Windsor, Missouri.  It currently spans 47 miles.

Looking up at the Katy Trail where it crosses the Rock Island Spur.

Looking down from the Katy.

Services available in Windsor.

The state park rules.  Be courteous.  Respect private property. What a great idea!

The opening of the Rock Island Spur in 2016 was supposed to be only the first step in extending the trail further east.  The next several towns are to be Iona, Cole Camp, Stover, and Versailles. The economic impact to these small towns will be significant. The extension appears to be in the works, but a significant requirement for funding is needed before it can be initiated. See the status here: https://rockislandtrail.org/status/

Something about my overnight stay in Windsor seems to have awakened something dormant within me. Perhaps it is merely a sense of mortality from attending the funeral of a friend's parent. Years ago, I was once a runner.  Now the decades have passed and I have the abuse from deployments and a military career.  I am slowly facing the fact it is unlikely that my back will ever allow me to be the distance and trail runner that I once was. However, I may be up for a hike or possibly a bicycle ride.

Shrinking worlds

It's a hard thing to watch a parent in decline. 

Physical failing, cognitive decline, disturbed sleep patterns, forgetfulness, bad decisions.

Two years ago we took my mother in. She had been living on the family homestead, out from town in the Ozarks.  Several months prior the well pump gave out.  That was not so surprising, it had lasted forty years.  I went ahead and replaced it.  The first week of February, 2018, I was driving to a work site in Texas and thinking to myself the next thing to go would be the furnace.  The next day, my sister calls me. "Mom doesn't have any heat." One of my sisters went and got her. A couple weeks later we had the family intervention and she (and her Australian Shepherd) came to live with me and soon to be wife. 

Mom was pretty angry for a time, though this improved as we moved in more and more of her stuff. I managed to get her to the eye doctor as she couldn’t see to read or the television. Her glasses were trashed and she had severe cataracts. Naturally cataract surgery was refused. “I don’t want to go borrowing trouble.” Fortunately the eye doc told her she could no longer drive. It took a year to get her to agree to getting that fixed.

A number of years prior to coming to stay with us, she had briefly been taking medicines to slow the progression of arthritis. She was non-compliant with the medication and follow-up visits. At that time I am not certain whether stubbornness or forgetfulness was the primary factor in this. We suggested on several occasions, when she was in pain, that she could see a doctor much easier here than back home.

Typically she’d reply with some irritation

“I had a doctor tell me the best thing you can take is aspirin!”

“When was that Mom? 1960?”

“Well...yes!”

Reason is not always effective in dealing with a declining parent. We did get her to start taking some arthritis medication, but it took a middle of the night fall and ER trip for stitches to make it happen. The good thing about the fall, is that she did see a doctor. In the year’s time she stayed with us she’d gained 20 pounds. Apparently she’d been forgetting to eat.

After our father died fifteen years ago, Mom went back to work for a short time. Eventually she retired completely and spent time on the homestead. She was well known for taking the dogs for long country walks. Almost daily, as long as it was not raining or icing. Walking became somewhat incorporated into our days here, though somewhat limited as both I and my wife work. Fortunately my hours are rather flexible. Last March, with the spread of COVID-19, both our employers sent us home to work. This has been a very good thing for us. It has allowed the walks to continue more regularly. However, over the last year the distances involved have become increasingly short. Yesterday, we went from the trail head to the waterfalls and were going to walk back to the truck. Mom couldn’t make it back, with only a quarter mile left. The pain was just too much. I had to have her sit down and run for the truck, drive around and pick her up (we live in a small city near a military installation, it’s pretty safe). After a couple hours sitting at home, she appeared mostly recovered.

 The long walks appear to be a thing of the past for Mom. I know that will be a hard thing. As we age, our world shrinks. We simply do not stray far from home. Mom had stopped driving even as far as the nearest WalMart (like 20 minutes away) because it was "too far." It occurred to me that her world had just become that much smaller.