Tiny Ripples on the Pond of Life

A line in my song “Prodigal Child” goes:

“I used to lie in the long grass and watch the clouds go by, as a child my world was happy, only people made me cry.”

Sadly, today it is still people who make me cry. I will go so far as to say there is not a single thing wrong with this world today if it were not for people.... Or to be more precise, people misbehaving.

Hardly a week goes by that there is not some mass shooting or act of terrorism somewhere. I can handle the occasional natural disaster, but I can’t understand why people can’t behave properly and not kill other people. It makes me sad… It makes me cry.

It seems to me the biggest drive in life is to affect the lives of others. We can do this in a positive way, or we can do it in a negative way. Unfortunately, many people do not figure this out.

Young people especially. Bullying, vandalism, destroying things, which if taken to extremes includes killing people. All effect the lives of others in a negative way. Events sometimes so horrendous they affect a whole nation, and even the World beyond.

If any good is to come from these insane acts, it can only be that we need to realize and teach our children that this urge to affect the lives of others is natural.

It takes almost no thinking or effort to do this in a negative way, when with a small conscious effort, it can be quite easy to do so in a positive way.

Who knows what affect a simple smile, a kind word or action can have on the rest of the world?

For every action there is a reaction. Actions both good and bad have a ripple effect, cause a chain reaction so to speak.

Like a ripple, the affect has most of its power felt by those close to its source, further out the ripple has less affect. 

However, ripples can start small, cause others to join in, and they can gain energy and travel far.  A harsh word or unkind act can ruin someone’s day and may push someone who is unstable enough over the edge that they might just kill someone.

Giving the finger to a fellow traveler on the highway may cause that person to drive angrily and aggressively, resulting a crash that kills someone. On the other hand, a small ripple started by a simple smile, if joined by enough other small ripples can form a large wave that travels far, and affects a lot of people.

Today I will try not to let the rudeness and negative acts of others affect me. If it stops with me, at least I am not passing it on where it might gain momentum. I will try to start my own tiny ripples, with positive thoughts and actions. Who knows, it may just gather momentum, travel round the world and come right back to me.

     To Share click "Share Article" below 

Mediocrity

I sometimes feel our society is drowning in an ocean of mediocrity. Crappy TV, crappy music on the radio, and crappy movies shown at my local theater. Not to mention junk food being fed to us.

The sad thing is there is good music and good movies being made but you won’t hear it on your radio or see it at the theater. Why? Because music you have to really listen to fully appreciate, or movies that make you think, do not appeal to the masses.

Just as junk food gives a body instant gratification, so too does junk TV, music and movies. And crappy TV and other entertainment is destroying people’s minds, just as surely as junk food destroys bodies.

The sugar or salt on junk food only gives a person fleeting pleasure while they are actually eating it. The moment they stop eating they are craving more.

So too with entertainment, people are constantly listening to music through ear buds because they are not actually listening, it is just background noise.

It is not difficult to eat healthy, it is not even expensive, however, it does require a conscious effort to research, choose and prepare the right food. It is not difficult to find decent entertainment either, it just takes a conscious effort to seek it out.

Some people might even find benefit if they removed the ear buds while running or riding their bikes and simply listen to the sounds of nature, or even just enjoy the silence. Plus, they would have increased awareness of their surroundings, thus increasing their safety. 

About six years ago I dropped cable TV. I got tired of paying a premium for 150 channels and finding nothing worth watching. All I have now is an Internet connection, and my TVs connect through Wifi.

I switched to Hulu and Netflix, together with Amazon Prime that comes with my annual subscription. Between the three I can pick and choose what shows I want to watch. More important I can watch them when I want to, I am not tied to the TV channel’s schedule.

I also subscribe to NBC Sports Gold / Cycling, which means I can watch all the Spring Classic Bike Races, and the Grand Tours in my big screen TV.

It is one of the best things I ever did, it is costing me a fraction of what I previously paid for cable. And I have found there are some great movies being made that never make it to the movie theatre.

I never have a TV on unless I am actually watching it. Only occasionally will I play background music, and never when I’m driving, I find it distracting. If I am not consciously listening, I prefer silence.

I find by constantly listening to, or watching something but not paying attention to it, desensitizes the mind. We develop a habit of "Not Listening," and we never fully appreciate what we see or hear.

Like all mediocre art and entertainment, it appears good at first glance. But look deeper and there is no substance. It is important to me what I feed my body and my mind.

     To Share click "Share Article" below 

My other craft

Most popular art forms have a craft side to them. It was pointed out to me by a teacher, the craft is about learning the basic structure, the way something is designed and assembled. A house for example could be built in any shape, but if one is to build houses that people want to buy, they should stick with vertical walls and a pointed roof.

Bicycle frame building is another obvious craft. One first studies and learns the craft of framebuilding, then after a period of practicing this craft, experience makes this person an accomplished framebuilder.

Learning a craft is not essential, one can figure things out on their own, and may even come up with something unique and different in the process. On the other hand, by not practicing an established craft, one will make a lot of mistakes that could have been avoided and form bad habits that will follow a person for years.

Songwriting is a craft that one can learn. Again, a person could make any sound and call it music, but if one wants to write songs or music that people will listen to, it is best to learn the craft of songwriting. Popular songs are structured in a certain way, that is the craft that can be learned. After that, success depends on talent, and a lot of work.

In my teen years and early twenties, I had two passions, cycling and music. Cycling was always my first choice and most of my time and energy was focused that way, however I did sing in bands and write song lyrics, but I never learned to play an instrument.

My interest in cycling eventually lead to my becoming a framebuilder, but over the years I continued to write songs and even had melodies in my head. It was in 1988 at the age of 52, I decided if I was to take songwriting seriously, I should learn to play an instrument. I bought my first guitar and took lessons that year.

As I learned a few basic chords, these song melodies I carried in my head suddenly came to life, and I was writing songs. I started to get encouragement from other songwriters and musicians. I realized I had not failed at songwriting because I had no talent, but that I had never seriously applied myself before.

When I left the bike business completely in 1993, I took a job to pay the bills, and put all my creative energies into songwriting. I took lessons and learned the craft, I drove up to Los Angeles to hang out with other songwriters, and played in coffee houses, and other music venues.

Songwriting has brought me great satisfaction and has brought me in contact with many wonderful and talented people. Just this year two professional musicians have recorded two of my songs.

These are not big-name artists, but both are talented songwriters in their own right, and for them to spend their own money producing and recording my songs, it is validation for me as a songwriter.

Tony Denikos from the Baltimore, Maryland region, has not only recorded a novelty song I wrote, called “Little Chrome Fish,” he has made a video to promote the CD called “Gravity Wins.” See below.

Earlier this year Carroll Brown a professional artist from South Carolina, who travels all over the South Eastern States, recorded my song, “Traveling Light” that I wrote in 1993. See below.

     To Share click "Share Article" below 

Giving Thanks

If you will indulge me during this Thanksgiving Season. I would like to share my thoughts about giving thanks and why I think it is a good idea to simply say thank you for the good things that happen in life.

Does one have to have someone or something to say thank you to, another person or a Deity? You can, although not necessarily. By saying “Thank you” one is simply acknowledging that good things do happen. Because, no matter how bad a person’s life might be, there are a few good moments, and by saying thank you, one is recognizing those moments.

Let’s say a person has a totally shitty day, where just one thing after another went wrong. The highlight of his whole day was when someone smiled and gave him a kind word. By giving thanks for that moment, he not only recognizes something positive, he relives that moment. That can only be a good thing.

Giving thanks is a bit like forgiving someone, one does it for oneself more than for the person one is forgiving. For example, my father and I had a terrible relationship. He beat me physically and not necessarily because I had done something wrong, but in order to vent his own frustrations.

I tried to forgive him while he was alive, but he would not agree he did anything wrong. He said he had done it for my own good and used the fact that I had turned out okay as proof he was right. I had to wait until after he died to forgive him. This I did for my own sake, because clinging to the resentment only continues the punishment, over and over again.

One man offers up a thank you prayer to his God, another simply says thank you to himself or to no one in particular. Are the two not doing the same thing, for what is a prayer but a positive thought, and a positive thought is but an unspoken prayer?

If life is good, say thank you. Even if a person is suffering physically or from depression, they can always find something good that happened sometime, and say thank you. If you utter but one prayer this Thanksgiving or indeed any day. And whether that prayer be spoken or unspoken, let it be Thank you.

     To Share click "Share Article" below 

Reflecting on the life and death of Raymond Poulidor

This past week brought the news that former French professional cyclist Raymond Poulidor had died. I had written about Poulidor’s life and his many achievements back in 2007, so to simply re-post the article at this time would be to repeat the many tributes already posted in the days immediately following his passing.

Instead I thought I would like to write about some of my own feelings after hearing the news. Raymond Poulidor was born in April 1936, I was born in February 1936, we were almost the same age. I have followed Poulidor’s career since the early years in the 1960s.

I think back to my childhood during WWII and wonder what it was like for Poulidor in German occupied France. So much harder and a lot more dangerous. I think about my teenage years in the 1950s when I first got into cycling and started racing. At that time, Raymond Poulidor would have been doing the same.

His passing brought up thoughts of my own mortality. Something I came to terms with many years ago, but I could not help but wonder, why his life ends at this moment, while mine continues? One of the reasons why Poulidor was such a loved personality was because he made himself available to his many fans.

After he rode his last Tour de France he attended the event every year, driving the entire route, meeting fans and signing autographs. In more recent years he became an official ambassador for the Tour. His presence will be missed in future events, that is for sure. I read where he attended this year’s TDF even though he knew his health was failing.

One of my boyhood heroes was Ferdi Kubler, a Swiss cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1950. He died just three years ago in 2016, at the age of 97. For many years he was the oldest living TDF winner. I wrote to the Tour organizers on several occasions asking if Kubler could be honored at one of the events. Maybe when a stage went into Switzerland.

Ferdi Kubler right age 35, left age 95,

I never got a response or saw Ferdi Kubler appear at the race. Maybe he was invited but declined, possibly the stress of attending would have been too much for someone so elderly? Kubler was a life-long fitness fanatic and looked good up until the end. I wonder if living the quiet life out of the spotlight also contributed to his longevity? His death did not attract near the attention Poulidor’s passing did.

As one becomes older life becomes a balancing act. One must have a purpose in life, or life will end. Poulidor had a great purpose, the mutual love of his fans. However, did the stress of that need to attend the TDF at all cost, prove to be too much?

Fitness and health have to be the priority, everything else depends on it. As one gets older you must know your limitations, I exercise but never to extremes, and never to exhaustion. I get plenty of rest. One must also prioritize who and what are the most important, my wife, and my daughters come first, everyone and everything else must follow.

I will miss Raymond Poulidor, as will his fans everywhere, those who knew him personally will miss him more. His immediate family, his daughter, his wife, will miss him most of all, and for a lot longer.

     To Share click "Share Article" below