This will be the final e-mail from Florida – at least for this trip. I plan to leave tomorrow (Tuesday) after my delayed massage and go to Hudson to spend the night. I will probably have dinner with brother Bob and will leave early Wednesday morning for Michigan. I don’t have time to go into “why Wednesday?” but you know that I worry about spring breakers and weather systems.

I went to Hudson Saturday late to take a load of things from the condo here to the condo there for temporary storage.  I remembered most everything so, considering the recent fiascos, it went well. It was quite foggy Sunday morning when I ran. I had forgotten my contacts so I ran in my glasses. They fogged up immediately so I spent lots of time cleaning the fog off with my fingers. They were smeared but I could see well enough to not fall. I ran 86 minutes and 58 seconds (but who’s counting?) and felt great.

My heart rate monitor keeps acting up. I’ll be running along and it will show HR in the low 130s, then jump to 187 and start beeping at me. I’ll move the chest strap slightly upwards (less than and inch) and it will go back to the low 130s. I thought maybe I could tie strings to the strap and attach them to nipple clips to keep the strap in place. Could I borrow a pair from any one of you who use nipple clips (I know who you are)?

I planned to ride my Trek for the first time today (Monday) but decided to ride yesterday due to the weather change (today is cooler and very windy-sound familiar?). I felt great!!! I told Jean on the phone I would ride slow and not get in the aero bars but I lied. I didn’t ride very fast and kept it in the big ring in the front and 17 on the back the entire ride but got into the aero position after 2 miles. I went 20 miles (technically 20.98 but, again, who’s counting). There was a slight wind around 10 or 12 (into my face from the Southwest on the way down and into my face from the Northwest on the way back) so I kept the speed at 17 or 18 with a decent consistent cadence (cadence was my lost word from last Thursday).

It didn’t dawn on me until after the ride that it was the 7th of March, exactly 6 months since the dive to the asphalt. I’m happy because the doctors said that full recovery would take from 3 to 6 months so now I know I won’t forget names, miss words, or start telling a story, get lost, and forget what I was talking about. Hallelujah!!!

On the way back to Venice this morning I noticed a car ahead of me had something dangling from a spot where a trailer hitch would be. As I got closer I noticed it was two side-by-side silver balls with a flat tapered piece of metal holding them together as they swayed back and forth. It dawned on me that they probably represented testicles (no offense to anyone intended). As you know from my other e-mails my mind races when I see something like that but I just didn’t get it. I couldn’t figure out whether it meant it was a man’s car, a REAL man’s car, a woman who longed to be a man’s car or a married woman who found her husband cheating on her and had “fired a warning shot over the bow”.

When you see me you will notice I look a little scruffy. I was toying with the idea of letting my hair grow to Willy Nelson length but I finally realized that just isn’t me (sorry Larry). I went to a barber shop (Jean says I go to a hair stylist for a hair appointment but that, too, is just not me) and a girl cut my hair. I told her how I wanted it but she, apparently, cut it like she wanted it. The sideburns and back are a little long (no, Rocky and Robert, not a mullet) and she didn’t trim my eyebrows. I look a little like Andy Rooney so can’t wait to get to Hastings and have the style repaired and the bushy eyebrows weed-whacked.

I plan to go the YMCA soon and lift weights for the last time before I leave. I lifted on Saturday and noticed a curious thing. For those of you who don’t work out in a gym you won’t understand what I’m talking about but there was a guy at a seated calf-raise station. You pile the weights on, release the peg that holds the weights up, and do calf raises. Pretty simple.

Everyone has different ideas about how to lift weights. I’m in this slow phase with as much or more time on the negative portion of the lift as the positive. The guy sitting there was into speed and his reps were fast and rhythmic. The station had a squeak and all I could think of was someone giving the bedsprings a good workout. So I guess I’m ready to get home for my once every six months roll in the hay. Suit up, Jean; you’re going into the game!

Signing off for now,

Just Jack

P.S. They wanted to show the condo between 1:45 and 2:45 so I walked downtown and had a decaf coffee at a coffee and wine shop. The pollen counts are extremely high here and have been for about 5 weeks. My eyes itch like crazy and I sneeze a lot. I can’t wait to get back to Michigan so I can get the full experience of spring allergies there. I don’t want to miss out on anything in life.