Back to Nature

No journal entries for five days doesn't mean nothing is happening. Life goes on. But I can't stop thinking about Uncle Wally. Friday I had a 2-hour run through the former railroad tunnels at Lake Mead and proceeded on to other trails around the lake. Like passing clouds, thoughts of Uncle Wally kept floating through my mind. Through this journal I've learned how many lives he touched. I had no idea.

But life goes on and I have to keep monitoring this diabetes. Since mid-November the numbers have been atrocious. This was really discouraging after such a good summer. But over the past week it looks like things have really turned around again. I feel I've finally got all the holiday goodies out of my system and the natural supplements I've been taking are starting to kick in. But I don't know if it's the bee pollen, billberry, cinnamon bark, coral calcium, flax oil or candida cleanse. But whatever it is, it's working. The irony is Friday I go in for my first acupuncture treatment. Maybe Chinese medicine will dissolve this blood sugar disorder completely.

Sunday was a perfect daily double with Sunrise Yoga with Cypresse and a brisk 4-mile run at Baskin Park.

Today's run was a real treat. I explored another new (to me) trail at Red Rock Canyon. Getting off the beaten trail, I came across this old bench with this view of Ice Box Canyon. It didn't look like the bench had been painted or sat in for 50 years. It was nestled halfway up a steep mountain. I sat their drinking in the beautiful view and thanked my lucky stars I'd lived to enjoy this moment. And that's all we have is the present moment.

"Laws change; people die; the land remains."

-- Abraham Lincoln  

Happy Trails Uncle Wally

Jogging for fitness as he'd done for almost all his life, Uncle Wally tragically departed this lifetime late Thursday afternoon. While his cheerful smile may have temporarily disappeared his spirit lives on in his wife, children, grandchildren, brothers, nieces and nephews and those he touched throughout his lifetime.

Dr. Wallace Ward, one of four closely knit brothers who grew up in Buffalo, N.Y., was a remarkable man. A former scientist for Dupont who helped create Teflon, a product used by NASA in space missions, Uncle Wally was also an expert poker player. This skill sometimes dismayed his parents. Legend has it when Wally was in college he didn't cash the checks his parents sent him and won a car in a poker game. Bolstered by a best-selling book on poker, Wally moved his family from Wilmington, Del., to Las Vegas in 1970. While his mother might not have approved of his career choice she was proud to point out that the hands on the jacket cover holding the winning cards belonged to her son.

Somewhat eccentric, what genius isn't? His brothers would affectionately say "Don't expect Wally to show up until you see the whites of his eyes."

He founded the International company Neo-Tech that made him a very wealthy man and spurred on the success of his kids Ruth, Wallace and Frank. He loved his kids so much he used the pen name Frank R. Wallace.

In recent years he was blessed with many grandchildren that he also loved very dearly. And just last October he celebrated 20 years of marriage to his lovely wife Rosa Maria. Wally loved Rosa Maria very much and adopted her son Tony as one of his own.

In recent years I was very lucky to join Uncle Wally and his wife Rosa Maria on some beautiful runs at Lake Mead, Red Rock Canyon and Sunset Park where I took this picture last summer. I say lucky because Wally was so dedicated to his work that he rarely took a break to smell the roses. He was a big fan of my adventure run photo journals which many of you have seen. He said he especially liked the captions. Just last week he emailed me that he wanted to go jogging on one of these picturesque trails but sadly that never came to pass.

We will all miss Uncle Wally, father, husband, grandfather, uncle, friend, scientist, businessman, jogger and in opposition to my culinary tastes Wally considered himself a meatetarian.

Happy Trails Uncle Wally, we'll see you somewhere down the line.

  

 

Another Perfect Day

Any day I can get a great run in, go to a demanding yoga class, have excellent blood sugar readings and not have to work is a great day in my journal. Today was one of those days. Since I've re committed to the essence of this journal --abstinence -- the blood sugar numbers have been great. It just lifts everything. I had a super 8-mile run along the Pittman Wash listening to songs made for running I personally selected on the Ipod Susan gave me for Christmas. It was a beautiful sunny day in the 60s with the wind at 2-3 mph.

 While running I had a few brain storms (or farts depending how they turn out). The first one was to pursue acupuncture to cure my diabetes as suggested by a friend of my yoga teacher Cypresse. I spoke with Dr. Kimberly Sperling briefly. She was in the middle of a treatment. But we will talk again tomorrow morning. My other idea was to help support Nina Radetich's charity that helps abused women. I thought a 5k run would raise some additional funds but when I presented the idea to Nina she said that the cocktail party and concert were already too much work. Later I thought if I could just have it so all Nina had to do was present trophies at the awards ceremony maybe she would go for it.

It was great seeing Cypresse tonight. I hadn't taken her class in almost 2 weeks and she was worried about me. But I told her I'd been fine and was perusing her acupuncture suggestion.

That would be enough for one day but I also finished Clive Cussler's Polar Shift, had a venti drip w/soy milk at Starbucks, a Mexi wrap at the Go Raw Cafe and some blueberry tea while writing this. Who can top that?

 

Here We Go Again

It always makes my day when I hear from one of my favorite news anchors and today Nina Radetich responded to one of my emails. She wrote:

Ham:

Glad you’re able to support Kendall’s race… it’ll mean a lot to him.  Feel free to beat me as much and as often as you’d like… I’m all about the experience.  That’s a victory for me.  The marathon was a great experience… I’m thinking the 5K won’t feel as good considering I haven’t run in ages!

Nina Radetich

 Nina's referring to the Feb. 4 Make a Wish 5k. This has been a pretty good week so far. I also heard from my other KVBC anchor/girlfriend Kerstin Lindquist. I hope the two don't compare emails from me. Kerstin wrote:

Hey Ham... (so funny, i was just writing you back when you emailed me....)

It is almost time for the 11 and I haven't collapsed yet.  I've probably had little too much Taurine (sugar free red bulls) but whatever works.  They even tried to get me to anchor tomorrow morning as well!!!  The crazy thing is I am almost insane enough that I would do it.  Oh yes, my skiing skills are extraordinary aren't they? :)  That is the first and last time you will ever see me skiing on the air, you can count on that. Go to bed, it is late, late late I cant believe people stay up this late?

I think I should go work for KVBC. I already know most of the anchors. And how's this for a coincidence? On Sunday night, the sports guy callsand asks what our Super Bowl line is and after I told him Steelers minus 4, I asked him to say hi to Kerstin, which he did and she said it was "sweet." It pays to be connected.

Well, I'm back on the abstinence kick again. I don't know for how long but it seems to work better overall with the running and blood sugar numbers so here we go again. Goodbye red wine. Hello Nina & Kerstin.

On the day you were born, you begin to die. Do not waste a single moment more.

DILGO KHYENTSE RINPOCHE

 

 

Mystery of the Nile

The weekend's highlights were 3 very good runs, the lowlights no yoga. But the best picture award went to Mystery of the Nile an Imax movie I saw at the Luxor Friday. It was an amazing movie about a group of scientists and other nerds who, for the first time ever by anyone, navigated the Nile River, the world's longest river, from it's source in the mountains near Ethiopia to where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. And on a 7-foot screen it's an amazing display. Beautiful, amazing scenery but watch out for vertigo as the flying film crew navigates the tight turns and waterfalls of the mighty river.

The best I could do in real life the last 3 days were three quality runs at various locations. Wednesday it was about 6 miles to, from and around Sunset Park. Thursday was a 12-mile exploration of the 30-mile Mountain's Edge Trail. I've been sampling this trail for a while but still have more than half of it to cover. And Friday was a great 5-mile run from Paseo Verde Park in the SE part of town. The weather was clear and crisp each day with a clear view of the sun-drenched mountains in the late afternoon.

Alas, I found no time for yoga the past few days and fear my yoga teachers will think I've passed on to the next lifetime. But I'm still here and now.

 

Good Blood

Finally, some good blood sugar numbers. For a while it seemed like the harder I tried the worse the numbers got. But what it finally took was the end of Holiday cookies, cake and candy and a few (well, more than a few) lapses from abstinence. But now I'm back on the right track I may not make it as long as the Corp of Discovery did without grog but I have abstained for extended periods in their honor. But I keep reading that a little red wine is good for you. I wouldn't eat meat if I was told it would dissolve my diabetes but if my doctor prescribes an occasional snort of red wine  I would have to obey.

That's a Lorenzi Park photo from October 2004, when Amy & her Mom visited Las Vegas. Amy's been busy lately planning our June 2006 trip to Alaska. In the past few days we've made reservations at a beautiful B&B near Denali National Park, and are about to reserve a white water rafting trip, a 6-8 hour narrated bus tour through the nations's largest national park with the promise of much wildlife and beautiful scenery and a glacier catamaran cruise with more breathtaking scenery and hopefully a few whales and other sea life.

The other reason for the Lorenzi Park photo today was I had a great run there Sunday after Cypresse's Sunrise Yoga class. Why wouldn't my BS numbers be good after 90 minutes of yoga, a 5-plus mile run and the anticipation of an Alaskan Adventure?

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey!"
--Barbara Hoffman

Variety

For the 2nd time this week I headed out to Sandstone Quarry at Red Rock Canyon. Sunday was for a yoga class but I didn't have time to do any running. So making up for lost time I explored 2 trails at Red Rock -- one new and one old. The new trail was Calico Tanks. It goes behind the Calico mountain range and is listed as a moderate hike. That's like calling Mt. McKinley a moderate mountain. Although the round trip was only 2.5 miles there was much scrambling involved and the trail with all its beautiful scenery, was not conducive to running. But it was still well worth it as the hike ended at a beautiful natural pond (or tank). That might have been a day's exercise for the average Joe, but not me. I was just getting started as I proceeded up another steep trail to Turtlehead Peak. I got as far as I good without bottled oxygen and climbing gear.

The toughest challenge of the day was the heavy traffic on the 1-hr drive home. I barely had time for a cup of Vanilla coffee with vanilla soy milk and cinnamon before I proceeded on to Cypresse's Thursday night yoga class. It was a small class with four female students and myself. You gotta take the good with the bad. Cypresse was glad to see me after a two week absence and helped me with proper alignment in the postures.

Today's other highlights were all the states I made contact with: Alaska (Barb), Florida (Amy), New York (Dad) and Utah (Melanie). Another great day to be alive.

 

Monday Morning

The weekend's big highlight was the yoga class at Red Rock. Certified & Registered Yoga Instructor Melanie Paulk-Abderrahman from Cedar City, Utah was our instructor. The class of a dozen or so yogis met at the fee station. We Proceeded On to Sandstone Quarry where Melanie led us on a short hike toward Turtlehead Peak. Three ladies recognized me. Linda, from the class I took there Dec. 3rd; Nancy, my former dietician on my health plan before she took another job and Melanie. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful class as we stretched, bent and became one with Red Rock Canyon.

 The secluded spot was very cold in the shade. Bare feet and hands were moments from frostbite when Melanie suggested we move into the sun. What a difference! It must have been 25 degrees warmer on the huge sunny rock. My only regret was that I didn't have time for a post-yoga run. I had to rush back to the real world for my earth job. One sad observation: Red Rock is getting so crowded that parking areas are overflowing. When the new Red Rock Casino opens things will get worse. One solution is to limit loop travel to authorized shuttle buses -- powered by propane...or better yet -- Sunshine!

Discovering Lake Las Vegas

We Proceeded On...to find where else the 30-mile Mountain Trail Loop around Lake Mead went and how much is completed. Just as Lewis & Clark found there was no direct inland water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, as of now there is no direct trail around Lake Mead. It breaks up in pieces. But still today I found some very scenic areas around a new development called Lake Las Vegas.

The project is still under construction but a Marriott and Hyatt Hotel are open and operating along with a golf course with as many water hazards as Pebble Beach. Where I picked up the trail the surface was asphalt. It quickly changed to dirt where construction crews have begun to change the desert into developments. But soon and unexpectedly I emerged at Lake Las Vegas. I'd never been there before and was surprised by how nice everything looked. Plenty of plants, flowers, waterfalls, ducks, cobblestone trails and of course a lake. I took a ton of photos on the 1hr & 45min run but seeing many just received professional marathon photos, I'll wait a few days before releasing the Lake Las Vegas package.

Sorry to say I missed Cypresse's yoga class tonight so I better try for Kim's Friday class with live music.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."
--George Bernard Shaw
 

Reflecting on Jan. 1, 1806

While I might have sipped a little champagne last night (perhaps more in celebration of a 101 blood sugar reading more than anything else) my hero Meriwether Lewis had no means for such a celebration in 1806. Here is the captain's journal entry 200 years ago today:

Captain Lewis:
January 1, 1806

Fort Clatsop

"This morning I was awakened at an early hour by the discharge of a volley of small arms, which was fired by our party in front of our quarters to usher in the New Year. This was the only mark of respect which we had it in our power to pay this celebrated day. Our repast of this day, though better than that of Christmas, consisted principally in the anticipation of the 1st day of January, 1807, when, in the bosom of our friends, we hope to participate in the mirth and hilarity of the day; and when, with the zest given by the recollection of the present, we shall completely, both mentally and corporally, enjoy the repast which the hand of civilization has prepared for us. At present we were content with eating our boiled elk and wappato, and solacing our thirst with our only beverage, pure water. Two of our hunters who set out this morning returned in the evening having killed two buck elk. They presented Captain Clark and myself each a marrowbone and tongue, on which we supped.

We were uneasy with respect to two of our men, Willard and Wiser, who were dispatched on the 28th ult. with the salt makers, and were directed to return immediately. Their not having returned induces us to believe it probable that they have missed their way."

---

No champagne! Their only beverage pure water. No party. Two missing expedition members. No wonder Lewis couldn't wait for 1807.