Hi all,

Happy Thanksgiving. My thoughts today for some unknown reason are not of our late afternoon feast where we disembody a turkey so we can add girth to our bodies, but rather when will my endorphins kick in and will I know it when they really do?

On my iPhone there is an App that is called Map My Hike. I thought I would never end up inhabiting some of the same space that our present day Millennials do, but believe me I haven’t gone so far as to wear one of those giant watches that will tell you all you might want to know about how well the old body is functioning. At my age I will cast my lot with the old motto “ignorance is bliss.”

My iPhone startles me into the here-and-now, with the order Begin Workout. I’ve got our 6 cow dogs all exited to get going but I wonder if they are a little perplexed as to when I traded my horse Fuzz for hiking poles? I’ve decided to leave my coat at home so I won’t have any extra weight to carry. And also it could give me reason to “weanie out” and cut my hike short if I might possibly feel the slightest bit of discomfort.

I have to remind myself that there are two parts to today’s hike. One is to keep mind and body from wearing a hole in my favorite recliner chair and the other is keep up the search for those elusive endorphins. Sally, that’s the name I have given to the iPhone lady that startles me every time I pass a mile post. Well, I have just been startled by Sally telling me I have put 1 mile behind me. And what a mile it was, the wind was blowing enough to let the sissy side of me say “wish I had my coat” and just maybe this is reason enough to give up my search for those elusive endorphins and settle for my recliner.

Not on your life you “wimp!” I’ll be off this windy ridge in a few more minutes and our Pine Canyon Lake will come into view. It’s where I can sit a spell and count the ducks that use the lake as a resting place before they journey farther on to the South. Here I am waiting for my endorphins to kick in when the real joy is in marveling at Mother Nature’s handy work. I wonder about all these ducks that have just flown from Canada and Alaska to our lake. Do you suppose they found their endorphins?

I’m just about home now and Sally rings her bell and announces that I have just passed mile post 3 and my recliner is waiting in the living room. I not sure if a peaceful easy feeling and a comfortable smile on my face spells endorphin but it’s close. I hear the dinner bell ringing at our daughter’s house; it’s time to take in more calories than I used to fuel my hike.

It’s now Friday morning and my waistline has put on an inch or two. My phone rings and son John is on the other end. “What’s up John? Barbara and I and two of your granddaughters, Kathryn and Kayla, are going hiking want to go?” “Where are you going to hike?” John says. “On a part of the ranch you can only get too by walking?” That intrigued me as I’m sure that I’ve ridden a horseback over every other acre on the V6.

My, my , my, the views are absolutely spectacular as are my companions. Who could ask for more? The hike according to Sally was 3 miles again. The value to my joyful place is immeasurable. Getting my 2nd wind sure feels good (endorphins), but plays second fiddle to a very satisfying Thanksgiving day and a radiant Friday.

See Ya,

Jack