Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Nice Porter

What a life he has. Draped in warm clothes and scarf. Able to sniff and take in the countryside while I, his porter carry food and water, stop so people can rub his belly and bring snacks that he can eat along the way. A Nice life.

On our way to Porter, OK.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Off the Grid

Today I am walking on SR51, it runs at an angle toward Fort Smith, not on the strict s-n-e-w grid of most of the roads I have walked since September. WhooHoo!
No interesting fun little tales this morning. Yesterday the first person I talked to was diabetic, through the day of the few I spoke to many were diabetic, the last I spoke to was also diabetic. From juvenile onset to stress, poor diet and complications from surgeries. All different, undeserving...
Today I'm walking the cold World.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Dreams, a Sardine Can, and Broken Arrow

Dreams make sense while I am in them but rarely float where reason reigns in the light of day. Peddling a box truck like a tricycle trying my best to catch up with the red delivery truck ahead of me didn't seem too hard. It was the guys on the bicycles with their pointy hats and skin tight clothes while crossing an arched bridge was what made it difficult. The men on the bikes wouldn't stop talking and were going so slow that I was bumping into them as I strained to keep enough momentum to keep the heavy box truck rolling up the upside of the bridge. As often happens because of all the falls, car accidents and years of destroying my spine as a carpenter I startled myself awake by hearing myself yell out in pain. I had been lying on my back, knees bent, feet flat and had been pedaling. The desire to catch up to the red truck was replaced with a hope I could turn on my side and straighten my legs without another anguished outburst. I'd bounced my lower back into knots, turning on my side helped very little. What was I thinking, I thought to myself, the red truck was too far ahead from the start. I drifted off again to dreamland only to finally wake up for good by attempting to get a cat out of the room I and Nice(the dog) were in by covering it with a towel and lifting it in both arms but not before it did it's business on the rug. What roused me from the dream was while I was lifting the cat I somehow got the tip of my finger in it's mouth. The cat didn't bite but the thought of it was enough to wake me up. The fingertip the cat had in it's mouth was the one I lost a few years ago, apparently I have all my digits while dreaming. Twice in one night was enough, I got my things together, twisted back and all. Before daylight I was walking.
When the wind is blowing I don't have the luxury of complaint about the aches and pains. I save it up for this blog... I kept a moderate pace, as long as I was walking,pushing, stopping for Nice(the dog) to inspect the cities fences and avoiding the puddles from yesterdays rain my mind kept away from the list of pains. Suddenly I was close to my destination for the day and I was honored to get a ride from a man I met days ago who happened to be in the Tulsa area. He had called earlier in the morning and caught up with me just a few steps from where I stopped for the afternoon. The thing about the ride was that the car was tiny and low to the ground which wasn't so bad until I got out and walked to the van. It was interesting though with Nice in the bucket seat with me while Grandma held back the two brendled pit bulls in the small back seat. As if I wasn't tensed up before I squeezed in. The man's timing was perfect though and the dogs didn't fight. I had enough time to apply some patches and paint to the World after we made our way back to Tulsa's neighbor city, Broken Arrow. I am working my way to Arkansas and the World must have it's attention or it will fall apart.
Sweet dreams Oklahoma!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

TPD

Black Friday I pushed east on Eleventh Street, also known as Oklahoma Route 66. The "breeze" was coming from the south and slightly from the east, sometimes gusting over thirty miles per hour making my progress a labor. Nice (the dog) had to sniff and mark all the power poles, building corners, fire hydrants, clumps of grass, mail boxes, fence post, and curbs. When we walked by the Tulsa University Stadium just before the game against Texas the fans were gracious and walked around us on the sidewalk as I pushed against the "breeze" and waited for Nice (the endless bladder) to mark bushes, concrete planters, and trees. The sharp angle of the sidewalk had my right leg straining. Switching to the opposite side of the road was out because of the wind so I plodded on until the roadside opened wide later in the day.
Everyday I meet diabetics and people who have family members with diabetes. On thanksgiving I met a double amputee riding on a motorized chair. He had lost one leg after being hit by a car while on a motorcycle and the other from an infection while still in the hospital. He had lost both parents to diabetes and his brother was nearly blind from the disease. Though he couldn't walk he agreed exercise helps to control it. I received an e-mail from a man I met a few days ago, he let me know he had sent a donation to the ADA after meeting us on the road. I can inspire a world of people to walk, only breakthroughs in medicine can help whole families prone to diabetes with cures. Give to the organization of your choice. I'll keep talking and walking...
A tulsa K-9 patrolman stopped to give Nice some treats and ask some questions the television news hadn't covered. I asked him where I may find a safe parking area. He pointed to the Police station just ahead and went forward to ask if it would be permissible. Thanks to the Captain in charge I have had a shower, am parked at the edge of the Tulsa Police Department where It has rained most of the night and all morning. The "breeze" is forecast to blow at thirty five while getting colder during the day. If the roads dry I will "blow up" the World that I deflated for the night of rain and turn South toward the city of Broken Arrow. If conditions remain ugly I hope I can rest here for another evening.
Happy holiday shopping!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Remembering Thanksgiving

Half of my lifetime ago I enjoyed my mothers holiday meal for the last time. Her cooking is, of coarse, the standard I have searched for since she passed. Occasionally I will find one item at a Thanksgiving feast that compares with the tastes of my memories. One year our local newspaper featured her holiday production which had to be prepared two weeks earlier so it could be used by the readers for their holiday spread. I gained weight that season. I know now it was those delicious cakes, pies, cookies, candies, meats, turkey with all the rest that contributed to her demise and my large appetite. Now a salad with my ancient mom would be preferable to my fading memory of her.
A few years ago I went for a walk on Thanksgiving day. I was gone so long I was late to the gathering at my in-laws. I had never felt so good as I did that Thanksgiving. I was not stuffed and miserable. That was my most enjoyable Thanksgiving.

Tulsa on Turkey Day

From Sand Springs into downtown Tulsa that looked like a ghost town on the holiday the people were very nice. I was asked into the FOP lodge for a meal. After I filled up with good food and Nice (the dog) had a plate of chicken they gave me a tub to take with me. I was not out of the parking lot of the FOP before someone stopped with a covered dish stacked two high so returned to the lodge to eat again. Luckily I was not too full but I certainly was when I left the second time. I was grateful to be able to walk the feast off by the end of the day. After I settled in at days end another kind family brought an evening plate. I will walk that one away on Black Friday. Happy Holidays!
Walking, does a body good.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

How to Change the World in three easy Steps.

Take someone's hand, take a walk, be invigorated.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Frosty and Foggy

The fog is thick this morning with a light frost. After having a coffee and sandwich in the "wisdom section" in Billy B's along 99 I am waiting for the fire department to arrive, the chief called them and told them to gear up so they could walk with us. It will be interesting to see how deep the loyalty runs to the Chief. I'm sure most of them have a day job. I'll be there!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Keep on walking anyway...

I was awake at three in the morning. When the pavement dried enough for me to roll the canvas World and keep it from getting heavier by picking up sand and water I was tired already. I wanted to sleep but I forced myself out on the road. Once I got going it wasn't so bad and the first car to stop by the side of the road made the effort worthwhile. The person driving was diabetic and had numbness in her thigh. After hearing a hopeful tale of one who helped her circulation by walking the driver was convinced. I felt good for pushing on this morning when I was realy wanting to make excuses and sleep. I walked anyway. Here behind Billy B's store close to 99 and 412 I can get that nap I wanted knowing I may have done some good today.
Walk!

Wet at Wally World

As I left Hominy I stopped and talked to the elementary school from across the road. The teachers had them line up along the fence. When I was finished the other half of the school came out and lined the fence. I tried to keep it short and simple, to the point. Walk with the ones you care for to prevent and control diabetes. I spent a lot of the day talking to people who stopped by the road headed to Cleveland. The nice folks who recommended this route to Tulsa didn't tell me of the narrow bridges over the Arkansas before Cleveland or the Cedar Creek crossing to finish the day at Walmart just as it began to rain. This morning I was informed the access roads on the highway I will be on soon will end and I will need to gt a ride over the expressway bridge back over the Arkansas river. That will take a couple days to get to the bridge but this morning I am waiting for some of the heavy rainwater to run off and soak in. I know I'll be muddy, the World will be wet all day an also weigh much more. I would like to sleep instead of walk today...

Monday, November 21, 2011

Flash Flood warning

One hundred percent chance of rain and storms tonight so I am heading for Cleveland. Cleveland Oklahoma. It's been cloudy since I left Wynona into Hominy. Thanks for the shower and the ride from the family of the first scout troop in the USA, troop 33, and the thanksgiving dinner from the church last night in Hominy. I better get going.
Get some exercise, take a friend!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Walk to Wynona

The wind finally died down enough for us to get to town just as the sun went down and we were given permission to stay by the post office in the church parking lot. I slept late as the wind out of Pawhuska gave me a challenge. I will walk to the next town today, wind willing.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

No Pansies Here

Pinned down by the wind here on my first day in Oklahoma I thought I should say that a breezy day reported by the local radio station. In Nebraska and kansas they'd designate this a Wind Advisory but not here, it's just breezy. Happy to be here nonetheless.
Today I'm the mule. Yippie ki yah!

Friday, November 18, 2011

Pawnee City to Pawhuska

Out side of Pawnee City the sun was setting, the road was narrow and where there were guardrails there was no room should I have been caught in the dark like a raccoon destined for slaughter. Sure I'd be able to time it right and make it through alive but when the sheriff stopped and asked if I was alright I hinted strongly that it was in her power to insist I take a ride into town on the back of a pickup truck. She called her deputy and as Barney Fife used to say they nipped it in the bud. They arranged for me to stay behind the fire station there in Mayberry, I mean Pawnee City and in the morning made sure I had my van at the Kansas state line so when we walked to the border I could have it there. It was down one of the last gravel U.S. Highway roads in Nebraska. It led to another gravel road on the edge of nowhere surrounded by stubblefields and distant farm houses. I have walked in Kansas before so my plan has always been to skip over it like a video game when you have completed a task you are able to leap to the next stage or chapter. It was so peaceful at the quiet crossroad I sat down in the Kansas grass and we ate. Nice (the dog) had his food I always carry and I had trail mix. I sat there for over an hour before I walked back across the road into Nebraska to pull the plug on the World, drive Kansas City and stay with some dear friends for a rest before bouncing into Oklahoma. It looked to me that a town named Elgin was as directly south as any from where I touched into Kansas so I went there. Elgin was miles along twisting gravel but to my delight Elgin has some history. At one time it was the biggest cattle town in the world according to the old hunter and his son who had there campers set up for deer season on the lots they had purchased, not leased,for less than a song on Elgin's main street. The town in it's hay-day had nine railspurs and eleven houses of ill-repute. A few of the original buildings are still standing, the broadway and side streets still paved with brick are all that is left of it's glory days. Under one hundred live there now and the hunters told me the reason they hunt from there is it as far from nowhere as you can get. It was the first area I have been where my phone had no signal, my phones GPS lost it's bearing. I followed the brick road out of Kansas to the edge of Oz, er Elgin down the swirling and winding roads to the Nearest town directly south where I would not be mistaken for a dear in the morning for the season opener. When I made my way to an area where I had coverage. I had the GPS lead me to the nearest Walmart but it Led me to Pawhuska which has no Walmart. It led me to an abandoned storefront on Pawhuska's Main Street. With the sun setting I made my way to the fire station and let them know what I was doing. And after cooking some chicken soup for the evening meal( I volunteered since they hadn't decided what to make) have the World inflated across from the Pawtuska Community Center in Oklahoma. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. Or Tulsa, here we come.
Walk to prevent and control Diabetes.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

you don't wanna' know

Husband and wife both diabetic.
Asked me to wait in the yard, he had something to do and would be back in a half an hour.
When he returned he gave me a bag with chunks of ham and a german chocolate roll, just a slice..
Nice got a frozen beef liver that he is now sleeping by two feet from his head. I believe he'll leave it lay when we walk away from this prairie field to continue from Tecumseh to Pawnee City.

Sitting on a log...

Far from my destination we stop. As Nice (the dog) curls in the rising sunlight, I atop a log in the ditch by the road. I know darkness will fall before I arrive this evening. Taking in some quiet time with the World chugging by.
Diabetes is a problem that my walking cannot cure. Many can take it upon themselves to keep it away, others must or suffer. It can come upon anyone for a myriad of reasons, stress, diet, inactivity. This log is relaxing, today's walk keeps me moving and I can't eat while my hands are full of dog and the world. I was just invited to stop up the road for a meal. What will it be I wonder for the guy walking for diabetes?

World Diabetes Awareness Day

Yep, it was today. This is Awareness Month also. I heard on he NPR that in the U.S. ten percent of the population will soon be diabetic. Sit back, relax, it's only ten percent.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Yesterday

Before I left Syracuse and walked the grass shoulders of US-50 to Cook Nebraska I sat in the dining section in the Nutcracker gas/food stop. There a local farmer asked me if I'd seen the guy rolling that big earth ball down the highway. After I told him it was me and my purpose of diabetes awareness and more to get everyone walking to control the disease better or to prevent it. This man then told me he was diabetic, was taking a pill for it and then he told me some think he is crazy when he tells them he can check his blood sugar in the morning and it will be high, "say 200", then he will walk the pasture outside his home, a half mile out and a half mile back, then check his blood sugar and it will be normal. He is not able to rid himself of the pills altogether but he agreed and reinforced what I am trying to get through to people, activity helps dramatically on a daily basis.
He was the first person I talked to yesterday and was diabetic. A man in control.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Tonight

We made it to the edge of town at Nutcracker's after dark. A nice man who I met late in the day got me back to Weeping Water to the van. I was stiff and my back was tight as a drum today but when you are running narrow bridges it doesn't matter how sore you are, you run! I'll see how I feel in the morning and make a plan for tomorrow.


A dog lovers note: if you live on a busy highway and have a dog, a fence or leash will keep it from getting killed!

Today

From the park where I spent the night in Weeping Water. I have walked south and am heading for Syracuse. At this point I am eleven miles out and the wind is against me, my back still aches. It will be dark by the time I get there.
Up against it, pushing on...

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Back 'n Home 'n Louisville

It took me most of the day to get to the river and over the bridge was Louisville. I'd spent moments of the day longingly contemplating home. It has been a season and more from the day I left Louisville. Being at home with myself has helped make each day rich, pleasant and fulfilling where ever that day would find me. Be it in a town of eleven or a city sprawling with hundreds of thousands. Days where I share the road with dozens all day or every minute didn't matter, I was at home. After traveling all day I couldn't muster up the energy to cross that river. Louisville would not be like the home I remembered. It would be like so many other places, a Main street with a museum, a Bank Building dominating the landscape, a store that recently caught fire possibly but it would be welcoming, interesting and rich with history and a pride in it by those who live there. The Louisville I know is seven hundred miles from the louisville on the far side of the river Platte, not the Ohio. I stayed the night at Heron Bay, a restaurant next to the river with a pretty view and sweet owners. I awoke in the morning, was putting clothes on Nice (the dog). As I was bending over I coughed and sent a pang of pain across my lower back. All day as I walked through louisville and beyond it tightened and hurt more an more. This morning I feel a little better and will travel very lite. No patch kit or heavy backpack. I have made my way to Manley and stayed at The Hideaway. If all goes well, and I feel manly I will walk the back roads to Weeping Water first. There I will see how the back feels and stay there or go on into Avoka. I need to begin late and let the sun dry the paint on the World, it got dark too soon, it is still damp and frosty this morning. Thanks to the people of Manley , Heron Bay, Louisville and The Hide Away for helping me feel at home. Again, it was good to be in Louisville even if it was not the home I know.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Not an exact science.

As I have said since the beginning of July I am walking to snowfall. I'll take a flurry or a storm. Meteorologists predicted one to three inches last night, they were a little off of their game and it just drizzled for a few minutes. It had rained all the previous nighrt so I had the World safe in the van in a large crumpled mass. They said it would clear out for the day and the snow would come after dark. I thought I was going home for a bit, I was off my game. I did play the tourist for a few hours and drive all around the Omaha area. I saw the river front, the mutual of omaha headquarters, a few original brick streets and the Omaha Rose theater before I drove back to the ADA office I had walked to the day before. This morning I looked out my window and was met with a white sight, the moon... I inflated the World, loaded my supplies, fed the dog, dressed the dog and have walked a few miles to US-50 and I-80 where I am waiting for the sun to rise a little more before running the overpass and continue south toward the Kansas border. When I arrive at the border I get a free pass through Kansas because I have walked there before. Clear skies predicted, they got that correct.
I'm glad it didn't snow. But I do miss some faces of home.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Omaha Rose...

How poetic that I should smell a rose, so sweet on this sunny late autumn morning along the grand interlink; the main 'drag of Omaha where express and highway funnel together. The vast concrete lanes and metal structured bridge ways twisting together like an octopus stretching as far as the eye can see blanketing the valley and hill beyond. Not since the Twin Cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis had I experienced the thrill of that no-man's land where it's legal to walk, though few do. Most have enough sense to drive over the interstate junction, I had no choice in order to get to the Omaha ADA office. Leaving the huge mall parking lot where I found myself the night before I meandered up the grass approach and across a bridge that led quickly to a four lane "Y". One led to the expressway and the other to the last quarter of a mile before Dodge street becomes restricted to pedestrian traffic. It's all about being very patient and crossing safely during a break in the flow of cars. I have all the time in the world. There a man and woman stopped and got out to talk. He was a big bear of a man, like what I imagine the ghost of Christmas present would look like , without a beard; "Come close and know me better man!.". His wife ,Mrs. Kringle disguised as an Omaha grandmother. They were joyful and happy to love on Nice(the dog) as I answered their questions. He was very jolly in his thanks for my walking, as he was diabetic himself. I told him of the woman who lost some weight, began a walking regimen after three days she lost the numbness in her feet , how happy she was that she had taken charge, reversed the trend downward by her own hard work. He got that look that a ghost of christmas would have experiencing a fresh new and juicy fruit. His wife jabbed at his belly from six feet away and gave him that look that said a thousand encouraging words. He felt the jab and heard her words. We all chuckled as he swallowed the tasty thought. But we were in the emergency lane of the major thoroughfare so naturally someone called the police. Later I heard the radio station that interviewed me days before who informed listeners of my purpose. Soon after the merry couple left, the Omaha officer came. We discussed the situation and after getting my information he helped with an escort to the safe frontage road. There I passed a line of rose bushes still in bloom. As I always do, I stopped to smell the roses...
Usually in large metropolis areas I spend the day walking without being stopped, in big cities I disappear in the busy hustle and bustle of city life. Not in Omaha. My time in Omaha was much like all the miles since I passed over the Missouri River from Yankton into Nebraska, welcoming and warm. Unlike many large cities, Omaha rose...

Sunday walk to Omaha

I spent the windy Saturday in Bennington. All the advice I received from the folks there had me walking East to the river then follow the river to and through downtown Omaha. None mentioned the wide four lane that cut off ten miles and allowed me to get into the city. They, I think, were trying to keep me from what they believed to be the bad side of Omaha. All the big cities I have passed through have far more sketchy areas than the outskirts of Omaha that I walked in yesterday. And if you think of the communities who suffer most from diabetes they don't live by the airport or along the river road. The most enthusiastic people to stop and talk to me were the same demographic that the old men in Bennington led me away from.
This Monday morning I will meander to the American Diabetes Association office.
Have a great day! Walk, be healthy.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Officer's Offer

I hadn't rolled more than an eighth of a mile from where I began when the county sheriff stopped. His offer was one I could not refuse, I could not walk on his highway in the high winds today. Then he asked me what I was doing and where I had come from. His attitude softened but his offer stood firm. So I walked back up the hill and asked permission of the Cubby's/Godfather's Pizza to park in back and spend the day. Now as the sun has set after a day where I applied a few patches and paint to the World, had a nap, listened to Prairie Home Companion on the radio I am sitting down to the Godfather's signature "Humble Pie". I thought it appropriate...Tomorrow is another day.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Puppy Love and the Chicken Man

Dogs are like elephants, they never forget. Nice (th dog) has a special place in his heart for a certain girl he met along the beach in Florida. She gave him a ride in her big white pickup while I followed in the van. Ever since that day he has been searching for his puppy love. Today was no different. A white farm truck slowed and pulled into the drive we had just passed. It was the same truck of his long lost love. Same year,same sound, and a blonde driver. He sat down and. Wouldn't move until the truck disappeared into the barn at the far side of the property.
We began the day in Arlington just before it was light. We ended the walk against the wind thirteen hours later, eighteen miles I think. Just as we rolled to the Cubby's at the edge of Bennington I was approached by a man who was a volunteer fireman/farmer/Dane rescuer, he was interested to know our story and as a first-responder said he was always going on calls for people in diabetic distress. He happened to be there with his big white truck to receive delivery of some chickens and after checking with his wife they moved the boxes of live birds to the front seat and gave us a ride to get the van back in Arlington. Nice (the dog) was most interested in the nervously clucking boxes for the entire ride much as he is when any cattle truck filled with livestock rolls by or happens to pull into a truck stop when we are close by. Unlike when we pass cattle in the field which he would like to get to, when they are packed into transport trailers he can smell the fear and his natural instincts kick in. Pigs are the worst, they are in his blood; with hogs he wants to work. We will see if his preoccupation with white pickup trucks changes from puppy love to...animal desire.
A fine ending to a perfect day. Keep walking!

Perfect...

This would be the perfect time for a nap with the sun shining, a cool breeze, tall grass to lay on after a good snack. But this will not be, I have nine or ten miles to go today. Maybe I'll hit a triple play. All I need is a newspaper reporter to stop. I've been caLled by a radio show and been interviewed by an Omaha TV news this morning. Even if that doesn't happen todayt will still be perfect. What could be better than a stroll with the dog down a country road?

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Another Arlington

A short walk East to Arlington from Fremont will be overshadowed by a long walk tomorrow. Cold in the morning and a warm day in the fifties should make for good walking. An early bedtime will help to get me going for the coming day.
See you on the road!

Knock the Dust

A day of rain was welcome to both the dog an me. There was snow in Omaha, not a flake here in Fremont's Wallyworld parking lot. I took the opportunity to leisurely go to the 'laundry then watch the rain for snow until being lulled by the drum of the rain and the rocking of the wind against the van with me bundled on fresh warm bedding. Personal phone calls later roused, uplifted and disturbed me, depending on which of the four calls I received. 'Nuff said. My walk from Hooper went well, the day was cloudless and the hard breeze allowed a good edge where I was the plowman leading the World down thr long white line with just enough turbulence to work my Thu, Nov 3, 2011 joits.............that date just appeared as I pecked "old"... Today is the beginning of the fifth month of my journey. The rain-day washed the grit of harvest from three states away from the van. Though I took two days for weather, one was wind and I was unused to the fierce winds of the North Dakota Plains, One was an needed blustering day where I could have walked but didn't for which I felt guilty because I could have walked. Yesterday the break for walking was guiltless... When I walked last year it was four months to the day from when I left my front porch, walked in or across ten states and Washington D.C.. On this walk I have walked more days, on this leg I have not kept account of the miles and don't care. The miles average ten per productive day. I said from the start I am walking from "Sheboygan until Snowfall". There is someone I need to meet yet... Because of the rain and possible snow I deflated the world and placed it in the van when it was still dry. With the Nebraska sky blue from horizon to horizon I will now revive the World, repair the damage of being manhandled as best I can and walk to the next town...
I believe that what I am doing does some good. Even if it just brinbgs a smile to your otherwise uninteresting day as you drive past and. Never tell anyone you know what you think you saw. In Fremont of all places...
Walk, knock the dust off.

midnight note:

Irritated I write... If you find me interesting don't wake me up in the middle of the night because you want to talk. In the dream I was just roused from I was about to take a warm bath. I know it was warm, I put my hand in it right before the phone call at midnight. If it's important, you are excused.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

As if it were the last...

Before the sun peeked over the valley floor I was packed and ready to walk to Fremont. With the enthusiasm of a school child after a summer away I ventured out of Hooper

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Uphill and against the wind.

Sometimes when dealing with family members who are stubborn it may feel that the way is steep and turbulent. As I was rolling against a stiff wind on an uphill incline heading to Hooper two men in a work truck stopped and after talking for a few minutes one told me of his father who ate poorly, continued to gain weight, lied to his family about staying active to control his diabetes. The young man was frustrated, said he and other family members talked to him constantly to encourage him to take it seriously to no avail. I said to him that sometimes a person can hear something a thousand different ways until one gets through, to keep trying.
I continued up the hill as the wind blew...