Biking in the cold Spring rain

Eric, Francisco and Doug on the trike

Almost home

cold rainy day along the bay

It was cold and raining but we have waited out the weather one weekend after another. We will wait no more.
Allen and Karen joined us a bit late, that was O.K. we had a great breakfast and wonderful conversation when they arrived.
Doug has a few good bikes, today he came with the trike- boy can that thing go. Laurna, my daughter is married to Doug, she usually joins us but not on rainy days.
The fishing derby started this weekend, the bay looked cold  but there were a large number of dedicated fishermen already lining the shores by dawn.
The peninsula and escarpment offer so many wonderful out door fun locations.
The bay is great for fishing, swimming, boating, and wind surfing.
The Niagara escarpment runs along the edge of Owen Sound and on up the peninsula. If you like to hike, walk bike or camp you will find Owen Sound and the Bruce peninsula a wonderful place to live or visit.

Biking the Georgian Bay

"At middle age the soul should be opening up like a rose,
not closing up like a cabbage." - Anonymous













My friends said, when you turned FIFTY  you will notice many changes, the list they gave me was not encouraging or inspiring:
Weight gain, thinning greying hair, decreased sexual function, memory loss, joint pain, lethargic,
incontinence, and the dreaded wrinkles.
Granted I have experienced much of these to some degree.
The changes they forgot to mention were: A loss of the fear of dying, I have come to accept and look forward to my final address on one of those golden streets.

In place of fear I have gained an insatiable hunger for adventure. Richer more meaningful friendships. The abandon of the fear to be open and honest with my opinions. Increased patience for small children, mixed with the delight at the sound of a baby's laughter.
A greater appreciation for others has allowed me to look and listen more closely, God and creation are now luminous.

A good change in diet brought on by an appreciation for fresh grown foods- many I now have time to produce by my own hand.

The flowers I was too busy to notice with the business of youth now bloom more brightly.

The wind blowing through my hair as I bike along the bay feels fresher.

Sharing a good book while I sip coffee in the company of some one I love gives me more peace than I could have imagined when I was young.

Those days were branded weariness from a hurried days work ending with only the energy to flick the TV on and mindless sink into a hypnotic state of slumber before rushing into the next hectic day.

My friend Ginger a notable glass artist, celebrated the start of her fith inning by signing up for the challenge to swim the bay in the annual Eddie Sargent memorial across the bay swim in
67degree water.





Eric Thiessen suits up with Ginger Smith For the Eddt Seargant Annual Swim Across The Bay at Owen Sound, August 2009



The interview with Ginger was featured in the Owen Sound Sun Times on Aug. 10 2009.
Good for you Ginger!



Let me know how you are celebrating the latter innings of your life?
Linda Thiessen

Fear, A fence or freeway to Courage

I watched two younger graceful women take the knotted nylon rope that hung carelessly from the large tree bent over the crystal clear lake. The men eager to coach as each woman took a deep breath and gracefully swung into the air then let go slicing the water as gracefully as they had sailed through the air.


The knot in my throat as big as the knots in the old frayed rope, my turn, it doesn’t look safe what if it breaks I questioned in a panic? Nonsense replied my husband, all of us had our swing and it’s held strong. Sensing my fear he coached me, hold on to the top knot tightly, back up as far as you can from the edge to get a good run at it. Remember -let go after you pass the sharp rocks that line the shore- aim at the hole just beyond the edge of that shallow shelf.

What shallow shelf? Peering down I realized the water looked no deeper than two feet deep until sloping into blackness fifteen feet from the cliff edge.

My heart pounding and my hands sweaty I backed up, thoughts of Joni Eareckson Tada flashed across my mind.

How do I narrow all life events down to one that’s above the others in the emotional change it made to my life?

Leaving home at sixteen, choosing my own journey and faith, falling in love, getting married, having children, going to college after raising children. A mission trip into the jungle of Dominica were formed amid great emotion yet none of these challenged me in the way swinging off that rope into the icy waters of Lake Kagawong did in 2005.

It was early one July morning, my husband/best friend was up at dawn and came to report his morning events which included meeting friends, started a cycling club, and organizing a schedule to explore the back roads and trails of the island. I was invited to come along but first I had to pass the initiation test.- go to the cliff prove my courage and good spirit of adventure by taking the rope then swing off and dropping into the lake.

A group of gang members gathered on the cliff, two other female recruits among them. This was not the kind of experience I relished. I am a grounded person; I don’t participate in dares or take actions that might threaten my life having an audience increased the tension Terrified I volunteered to go last…

 I could hear the gang cheering me on, you can do it, don’t be afraid, go for it they shouted-the sweat of my palms lubricated the rope, as I thrust my weight over the ledge my body slid over one knot after another. Drop now, quick let go I heard the group shout, so I did! 





Granny Swinger

Enclosed in icy water sinking deep into the black hole, relief washed over me, I did it and am alive! Kicking my feet I bobbed to the surface to congratulations and cheers- Something changed in me. As I nursed my rope burned hands I was aware of a sense of fearlessness.

Now I am up early, eager to face whatever challenge set before me with adrenalin not fear, yes rope jumping became one of my favorite things to do. My husband comments on the courageous woman I have become.

Since then we have recruited several others, now I am one of the cheerleaders offering gloves to every new comer while recounting how this simple act of courage changed me forever.

Linda Thiessen

Day one of my " Granny Fit " Challenge

Obituaries, what will they say about us when we are gone?

Obituaries

Once I was over fifty I noticed I thought more about my life and health.  As I got closer to sixty, I began to think about sickness and death and what I was leaving behind for the generations to come.

After attending six funerals in the last two months, paying close attention to the obituaries made me wonder what my family and friends would say about me.  How would I sum up the deceased life in a few paragraphs?  How would someone sum up my life?

Many of us have multiple personalities, what I mean by that is if our spouse gave an obituary it would differ from what our children, friends or co-workers might say about us. 

What would we say if we were to write our own obituary?

Have I made any great achievements:  Overcome any note worthy trials; survived a natural disaster; made the headlines; Supported world causes; contributed large sums of money to a charity; become famous through sports, media or entertainment; or done something to save or preserve the planet?

All of these things gain us good report with those who watch our life.  When it is over who really judges, whose obituary of our life accomplishments matters?

Jesus Christ, who some claim to be a historical figure, a prophet, or a Saviour gave his own obituary in saying these last words of himself shortly before death.  “I brought you (God) glory on earth by doing everything you (God)” told me to do. (The Bible, John chapter 17 verse 4)

Can we say of our self, I have done all the creator of the universe asked me to do?  Or can we say I have done everything I knew was right to do?

As I look back over my life the course I took lead me down a few rabbit trails, making decisions based on the information I had at the time didn’t always give the best solutions to the challenges,  but I am here today and with the time I have left I want to make life count.

The same historic figure, Prophet, Priest, King, modeled for us what he calls a life worth living- one that when judged brings great reward to us personally eternally and to those impacted by us.

In The Bible, a best seller for more years than I know, we find a scene where an obituary is given for groups of people it goes like this...”

Matthew 25:31-36 (New International Version, ©2010)

    ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

  

If I could do more of these kindnesses that matter to God and man with my remaining days and with faith and salvation given to me by a loving God and saviour who said in that same Bible

John 3:16 (New International Version, ©2010)

 ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Then I too will be able to say at the end of my life, I have done all you sent me to do God.  What better obituary could any one ask for?

http://www.youtube.com/user/lindatson