ribs

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I Just Finished Three Weeks Of Ribs

I thought it would take a week, but it’s taken three weeks for my ribs to feel better.

Usually when I get hurt, a week will do it and I’m back to normal – but not this time.

Three weeks ago I had a nasty fall off my bike and bruised some ribs (read here). I naturally thought I would be back on my bike in a week.

It’s taken a lot longer!

In that time I’ve slept mostly in another bed; in that time, I also had a short bout with a cold. But all the while I still managed to get a half hour of exercise in each day.

A couple of years ago we got a new mattress. Lily preferred an extra firm one, whereas I liked one that had some cushion to it. … It turns out that a firm bed isn’t so great when your ribs are sore.

I ended up spending a few nights on the couch because it was so much softer. Then I moved to our spare bedroom. That bed has a memory foam topper, which used to reside on our old mattress.

Wow, I’d forgotten how nice it was to sleep on that thing! Even with wrecked ribs, it was so nice to sink into it again.

… I think I stayed there an extra night before I moved back to our bed.

The cold I got was unappreciated, and it came courteous of Lily. She had picked up a cold about a week into my rib ordeal and hacked all the way home from our cottage – that’s five hours of recirculating germs flying around the car while I was trapped inside.

How could I not catch something?

But man, did I ever pay for it! With every cough I needed to hold onto my ribs for stability.

And sneezing – that was the worst. It felt like my heart was on fire, and the burning in my chest resonated for about ten seconds after each sneeze.

It was a good thing that cold was short-lived.

The only setback I had – other than sleeping in my own bed the first couple of nights – was one exercise session.

I found that riding my stationary bike didn’t really hurt my sore ribs. It’s mostly a leg workout and I could always bike hands-free when I felt some pain from stretching out to hold on to the handlebars.

It was the treadmill that was the killer. I got back on it way too soon. I started slowly and at first it wasn’t too bad. But by the end, I was holding my ribs because they felt like they were bouncing around inside me – not good.

… That’s all in the past now. It’s been three weeks to the day and I’m not only pain free walking on the treadmill (even jogging), but I just pulled off ten minutes on the rowing machine.

Today, I’m going back to the trails and hopefully I’ll stay on my bike this time.

Here’s the thing:  For many of us, staying consistent at something is not easy. There are all kinds of things that can disrupt even the best routine. When our routine of spending time with God is interrupted, we can get discouraged, frustrated to the point of giving up. Don’t give in to defeat; don’t dwell on the interruption, whatever the cause. Get back to your time with God; with Him you can pick up again like it was yesterday.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What unexpected thing has interrupted a routine you need to get back to? Leave your comments below.

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It Was The Worst Or The Best – You Be The Judge

I crashed my bike the other day and it was either the worst or the best crash of the year.

I usually have a number of crashes to pick from in determining my most spectacular crash. This one rated up there. The bike was alright, but my body suffered a little more than usual.

On the trail I was riding, there is a section that goes right through a corn field. It’s pretty cool riding along a 4-foot wide trail with walls of corn about 6 1/2 feet high on either side of you. Your elbows slap the sheaves of corn as you ride through this gauntlet.

On one bend in the trail, I took it a little fast and maybe a bit wide. I got too close to the stocks and, before I knew it, I spilled all over the place.

I hit my head on the ground; I think I bounced at least once. I had the wind knocked out of me, so I gasped to get my breath back.

And, oh ya, I was sore.

The thing is all I could think about was the guy gearing up to go biking when I had set out. I figured he would be coming along at any moment. I was hidden by the corn and a curve in the trail so I could see an even bigger crash looming.

The only thing I could think of to do was what you do when you get hit in hockey: get up fast and try to make it look like you’re not hurt.

I was aching and still a little dazed but I kind of flopped on my bike and started riding.

By the time I got out of the corn I didn’t think of checking to see if I was okay. My head cleared and the pain had subsided.

I just rode on.

As I continued on the trail, I kept thinking, “I’m going to be sore tomorrow.”

I was right about being sore, but wrong about the timing! I started feeling really sore on the drive back, and by the time I got home I was not moving very well.

The ground where I had fallen was like cement and, in talking to a guy who farms, I learned that the corn sucks everything out of the soil.

I’ve felt sidewalks that have more give to them than the spot where I fell!

I figured I had bruised some ribs, and though my wife and daughter think I might have cracked a few, I’m holding to my diagnosis.

I talked to a friend who said cracked ribs can take 6-8 weeks to heal … I definitely don’t have that kind of time to give to the healing process.

Here’s the thing: Depending on how you look at something difficult, it can either be the worst or the best. My fall may have been my worst crash this year, but certainly not my worst crash ever. I could also look at it as the best crash this year, the most spectacular because it was a big crash but I walked away from it. In your life, God can give you the right perspective to have when going through difficult or troubled times. Look to Him – what you’re going through could be the worst, or maybe it’s the best.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has God helped you see the positive in difficult times? Leave your comments below.

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The Real Winner At Ribfest

Last weekend my wife, Lily, and I went to the ribfest in town. Anything with ribs in the title grabs my attention, so we go every time the tour stops in Kingston.

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If you’ve never been to one, you’re probably not much of a meat lover.

The main show is the huge structures that advertise each of the different rib venders all in a row.

It’s a friendly competition of who has the best ribs. Each vender has a table full of trophies, and their signage tells the story of which cities think they’re the best.

The ribs are good, but it really comes down to the sauce. We tried ribs from two different booths:

“Crabby’s” and “Smokehouse” and the difference was their own special sauces they put on their ribs.

Each vender hopes you will try their ribs and give them the best rating. They are looking for another trophy and more advertising they can put on their massive signs.

We’ve been for the last three years – the first two years involved a significant amount of rain which kept the crowds down and the atmosphere something less than electric.

This year it was sunny, warm and the place was hopping. Crowds covered the open field; it was tough to get a seat at a table.

But I have to say that, though all the signs and attention were focussed on ribs, they should really call it the onionfest.

In fact, I bet that’s what the “Colossal Onion” mobile fryer owner calls the festival – secretly that is … at the end of the night, by the warm glow of his fryer, as he counts his money.

While all the attention is focussed on ribs, the guy who has the biggest profit margin is the onion truck owner.

Unlike the rib venders who just sold you a half rack of ribs for $13 and a full rack for $23, the onion guy sold a blooming onion, onion rings and spiral fries each for the cost of $10.

I think the ten bucks was mostly to make it easy for the gentleman who was taking the money. This way, if the bill was purple, he just kept it and if it was green, well, he had to give one of those purple bills back to the customer.

The thing was the line up at the Colossal Onion was longer than any of the rib vender lines. People just kept getting in line to eat something alongside their ribs.

So you paid thirteen dollars for a half rack of ribs, and ten dollars to get a deep fried onion. The way I figure it, meat these days is costing a little bit more than what farmers are charging for the onions growing in their fields.

That means the onion guy is rubbing his hands in money … cha-ching!

It was all good though; we had a great time, and we’ll be back next year for onionfest, I mean ribfest 2016.

Here’s the thing: Some parts of life shine brighter than other parts. We get drawn in to the parts of life that are attractive and attracting. But there are parts of life that are more valuable – more valuable in some cases than the parts that shine. Don’t get sucked into living for what shines bright. Seek out what is most valuable and be sure you spend your time there.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you consider most valuable in your life? Leave your comment below.