Victoria's Island

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Thanksgiving is not a holiday I typically get excited about. Normally we're away at a cyclo-cross race or I'm in the midst of packing my bags to get on a plane - so the holiday gets overlooked. But this year we're home and are able to take in the long weekend and holiday action.

Earlier last week my colleague from India asked me about Thanksgiving. I couldn't really explain the holiday to her. I think I summed it up with: people get together and eat a lot. That's it. I might have mumbled something about Christopher Colombus and North America. 

Yes, I forgot and neglected the whole concept of being "thankful". Now I don't believe this is entirely my fault. I blame popular culture and the media. Most of the hoopla surrounding Thanksgiving is about the turkey, the pumpkin pie, and football. And if you were in the grocery store this weekend or even Wednesday or Thursday, you likely saw people with overfilled carts of copious amounts of food. So ya, food, seems to be the big deal about Thanksgiving.

But yesterday and today, I've started to feel a bit differently. Maybe it is because we didn't have a big Thanksgiving meal or do anything really special. We raced our bikes in Perth yesterday. Had a relaxing afternoon. Good night visiting Marc's parents, sister and brother-in-law and chilled out at home. Today has been equally good - some cooking, reading, running, cycling and generally just doing what we want to.

I didn't think much of this activit until I turned on CBC Radio this morning and listened to stories about people who go out of their way to help others, to make a difference in people's lives and to generally give of themselves. This is when the message of "thanks" sunk in.

I realized that even though I'm not doing what I "planned" and that life these days doesn't seem to be all that "fair" - I'm pretty darn lucky. No, I'm not going to Belgium this year - instead I'll be skiing and snowshoeing in the Gatineau Park. No, I'm not chasing UCI points racing all over Europe - instead I'm racing in the local Eastern Ontario Cyclo-Cross Series. No, I'm not as fit as I once was - instead I'm having fun commuting to work, running, and doing yoga without concern for training plans and wattage numbers. No, I can't eat whatever I want - instead I have to follow a restrictive diet - but at least I can eat and I'm no longer going to the bathroom 30 times a day.

Sometimes it takes a while for these messages to sink in... The trick now is in remembering them and not losing sight of this bounty.

Happenings

Honestly - not a lot of happenings to report. But for some reason, this space seems to get neglected far too often. I'm chalking it up to a few things - not a lot going on, spending my entire day writing leaves me a bit drained in the evening, and some days I kind of forget about this little space on the web. (I know these are not reasons - rather poor excuses.)

I could make some kind of pledge to write here more regularly but I don't want to commit to something that I don't know if I can uphold. (Yes, taking the easy route here.)

So enough blither-blather - what has been happening? Hmm, well I raced on the weekend. It was fun. I was slow and made many technical mistakes - but it was fun. So much fun that I'm going to do it again this weekend. I have a feeling that racing with zero fitness will really help me "enjoy" my racing season - I'm out there for pure joy and fun - no UCI points to chase, no World Cup points to think about, no qualification standards - simply riding my bike and having fun.

I bought some running shoes. After taking 10 days to recover from my first run - calf muscles were very unhappy - I managed to get out for a run again on Tuesday. I ran for a whopping 20 minutes - good news - no calf pain. So I'll go out again.

Still commuting to and from work. Love these early morning rides in particular - what a great way to start the day with the sunrise. And I most definitely appreciate the tailwind on the way home.

My dad came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago. This was great. We put him to work with a big job that we had neglected - the too-high loft bed is now  a fully functional regular bed. Don't worry we rewarded him with a good meal out, some delicious Chinese cream buns, a couple of Magnum bars and some tasty drinks from Starbucks (don't tell my mom!).

The countdown is on to the big New York City trip. I can't hardly wait. I've got so many bookmarks of places to visit, stores to check out, restaurants to visit - I dare say it will be an action-packed four days. 

Murphy is still fat and happy. Actually maybe even more so since we are giving him more wet cat food and the little girls on the street have taken a shine to him - he loves licking their little hands looking for cat treats.

Hmm, what else. Well, I'm just finishing reading a very challenging but worthwhile read... A while ago I listend to an interview on NPR with Terry Gross and Portia de Rossi - about de Rossi's book. I found the interview remarkable and put this book on my "to read" list. I'm glad I read the book. But it is a challenging read - de Rossi is so honest and really lets you get into her head. It is disturbing to realize that she was likely not alone with her "weight struggles" - it is horrible to think that she dropped to 82 pounds and no one apart form her immediate family started raising alarm bells. I shudder to think of the image problems that so many other models and actors are dealing with. This book is worth reading - if anything to give you pause about your own body and weight issues (yes, we all have them) - this book is a huge dose of perspective.

I'm not sure what I'll read next. Thinking of re-reading The Life of Pi in anticipation of the upcoming movie.

So, that is about it. Thanksgiving this weekend. Strange holiday really. My colleague from India (she moved here three months ago) asked me about Thanksgiving. More pointedly she asked "what do you do" - all I could really tell her is that people get together and eat mass amounts of food. She found this interesting and likely a bit strange - a holiday where we just sit down and eat lots of food? And why do we eat turkey - again I couldnt' explain this... 

However you spend the long weekend - I hope it is with family and friends. We'll be racing in Perth on Sunday and chilling out the rest of the time. (With a little garage organization thrown in for extra fun!)

Gobble gobble.