Danger - School Zone

When I started my premature retirement last April I set a goal to exercise every day. My exercise routine was to include walking at least 3.6 miles each day and doing at least 50 push-ups. FYI, 3.6 miles isn't a random number - it's twice around the perimeter of the Woodhaven section of Greatwood. Anyway, I was doing pretty well until the last month or so. First, we had the week at Camp Bandina, where I managed to walk three out of the five days, but no push-ups. From there we spent a week at my brother's Colorado house, where I managed to neither walk nor push-up for the entire time. When we returned to Sugar Land play practice and set building took over most of my time. NOTE: Isn't it amazing how easy it is to abandon an exercise program based on lame excuses? So, I've really only walked about five or six times in the last few weeks. This week I decided it was time to get back on track. However, I made a big mistake yesterday - I walked through an elementary school zone when school was letting out. No, I didn't put any of the kids in danger by walking faster than 20 mph, and no, I wasn't violating recently-enacted state law by talking on my cell phone as I walked through the zone. The danger wasn't to them, it was to me. Have you ever shared a sidewalk with hundreds of kids on bicycles, scooters, and skateboards, all of them going in the opposite direction as yourself? If you haven't, I suggest that you avoid this experience at all costs. Remember, this was an elementary school, meaning some of these kids had limited cycling experience, especially when riding under the weight of a backpack, lunch box, and band instument. In addition, more than a few of them were - and I'm not kidding - talking on their cell phones! As they approached me they generally executed one of three manuveurs - they rode off the sidewalk into the grass, they stayed on the sidewalk but swerved all over the place and I jumped into the grass, or they went straight down the middle of the sidewalk and I jumped into the grass. Notice that two-thirds of these situations involved me jumping into the grass. In the future I will be aware of the clock when I walk and never make this mistake again.


Last night was our first Joseph rehearsal using our newly contructed set. Before rehearsal we received an award from the American Lumber Association for single-handedly keeping the lumber industry in business during the recent economic downturn. To say that this set is over built is the understatement of the century. If a class five hurricane comes through Sugar Land and completely destroys the entire First Colony Church of Christ campus, this set will still be standing. The next time there's a tornado warning, I'm leaving my house and taking refuge under the southwest corner of this set. The Egyptians built the pyramids, the Chinese built the Great Wall, we built this.

That's about all for now. I think I'll go out early and walk - before the kids head for school!