Cookin’ in June 2025

Weather

We’ve been dealing with heat waves and violent thunderstorms. One of the latter dropped a tree that partly fell into my yard. I worked on cleaning it up and hacking back invasive vines for an hour and was soaked in sweat by the end. I did another assault on run-away vegetation a week later and looked like I had jumped in a pool. I have a method that keeps me from doing too much; I own three 30-gallon garbage cans. Once they are filled with clippings and other debris, I stop. One more round of yard work to go and I can find another way to trash my aging bones.

Bicycling

I had three unstated goals this month. One was to reach 5,000 miles for the year. I ended the month at 5,211 miles. Yay me. I wanted to hit some thousand-mile milestones on my bikes. I hit 33,000 miles on the Tank, my Surly CrossCheck, on June 5. Five days later I hit 52,000 miles on Big Nellie, my Tour Easy recumbent. On June 25, I hit 80,000 miles on The Mule, my Specialized Sequoia touring bike. My last goal was to hit 1,000 miles for the month. This may seem like a lot but I’ve done it every year since I retired in 2017. This year I fell short by hitting only 50 miles. I guess it helps to be on a tour.

I spent the last week of the month on my recumbent to get my “bent” legs back. Recumbents stress different parts of your body so they do take some getting used to after riding conventional bikes for over a month. Once I get dialed in, and have no other problems, I’ll test ride some tadpole (two wheels in front) trikes.

Reading

1776 by David McCullough. The story of the rag tag US Continental Army’s fight against a massive British force augmented by Hessian mercenaries. British General Howe had the US forces in his hip pocket at New York but let them escape. The ultimate outcome, American independence, according to McCullough, “seemed little short of a miracle.” My last McCullough book. Not a bad one in the lot.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. The plot focuses on the coming of age of two girls in a working class neighborhood in 1950s Naples. Both are intellectually gifted. Their relationship evolves as they grow into their middle-teen years. Their lives become intertwined with their family and neighbors. Basically, it’s a soap opera. It sold extremely well and was praised by critics. I suppose if I had read it in one sitting I’d have liked it much more but, in the end, it wasn’t for me.

Watching

Good Night and Good Luck – CNN broadcast a live performance of this Broadway play about Edward R. Murrow’s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy. It is based on the film of the same name In the film Murrow was played by David Strathairn, one of my favorite actors. Strathairn is now 76 years old so he’s aged out of the part which is taken by writer/producer George Clooney. (Clooney played Fred Friendly, Murrow’s boss, in the movie.) It was very well done. The sound, staging, and acting were all first rate. It shares one rather depressing thing with the Beatles’s Get Back. Like George Harrison in that film, Murrow is constantly smoking. Murrow died in his 50s from lung cancer. (The cloud of cigarette smoke from virtually every cast member is constant.) Harrison died from throat cancer that spread to his brain. The whole time I was watching I wanted to reach into the television and slap the cigarettes out of their mouths.

Mat Ryder Unplugged – Mat’s editing pal Ross made a 3-hour video from the massive content documenting his ride across America. This one has no commentary or music, just ambient sounds. Watching this I am a bit amazed that I rode across the continent at the ripe young age of 62. Mat also produced three new, shorter videos. One was about overhauling his bike. Another about his plans to ride mostly off-road from Land’s End to John O’Groats, the length of Great Britain. The third was about how he and Ross did a day tour riding the perimeter of the Isle of Wight.

Washington Nationals – The Nats went into a tailspin transforming from a promising team to one of the worst teams in the National League. They have a legitimate, emerging superstar in James Wood, and a couple of good starting pitchers who I pray won’t have arm problems. Where have you gone, Tony Two-Bags?

Trikes – I’ve watched countless videos on the various aspects of trikes, So many decisions: folding or not, will a rear rack impede the fold. drum or disc brakes, direct or indirect steering, three small wheels or two small ones up front and a big one in back. How would I carry stuff? Where does the water go? How will I transport it? Is the seat adjustable? Should I get one with an electric assist? It’ll probably come down to which one I like to ride the most.

Medical Merri-Go-Round

I noticed an odd looking spot near my left elbow last week. I am paranoid about getting skin cancer from my thousands of hours outdoors so I went to a dermatologist for a skin screening. It was a nothing burger. I’m of Irish and English ancestry so I burn easily. Nobody (that I know of) in my family has had skin cancer. Weird.

I continue to deal with pain in my right arm that resulted from my topple over crash on the Streetmachine that I test rode last month. Somedays I feel only mild discomfort. Other days my arm is screaming at me. I thought about going for physical therapy or I could just save myself the hassle, frustration, and expense and let time do its thing.