Summer cicadas and CHO

Such a lovely day! Even before 7 this morning as I sat on my bike waiting to cross Ogden, I could feel the heat rising. The sun is well up into the sky at that hour and the day has that quintessential summertime feeling. Strains of Gerswhin serenade my nascent brain. As we rode in I took note of large graduation banners hanging from west side porches and fences, celebrating the high school grads in the neighborhood. The juxtaposition with the house that suffered the tragic fire a few weeks back, still boarded up with yellow police tape cordoning it off-- the irony. I am reminded of the many images shown on TV of some senseless tragic shooting, a outstanding (by all accounts) young person just entering their prime, gunned down, innocent bystanders of some gangster's gun play. They always show the graduation picture. It breaks my heart. A moment of quiet reflection as we zip on by.

finally we got to experience the cicadas. We believe they passed an ordinance banning cicadas in Oak Park, for there are but a few. Saturday we drove out to Elmhurst to visit our best friends Steve and Mary and experienced the little guys in all their glory. Ryder just couldn't have been more pleased. The sound is amazing. Rather pleasing. And the density of the discarded shells is quite something. Very cool biology in action. 17 years from now when the emerge again, Ryder will be 23 1/2 years old. Holy cats, what a thought. I will be 70. We will still be doing as we did yesterday. Running and biking together with our dog. Perhaps it will be only the occassional run when we manage to see each other-- only the future will tell. But one thing for sure, I will have out lived my father by then. I read the obits and note the birthdates of the deceased. There are relatively few who were born in 1915 or there abouts now. Amazing how many folks my age are checking out. Not me baby, not by a long shot.

Faced with parties and massive amounts of food, it is really a challenge to control my eating, and especially tough to not carbohydrate out. CHO is the main ingredient in all snack food, so those chips and dips, and fries, and fritters, all are fat and carbs. Last night we had our neighbors over so the kids could play in the hot tub and Greg brought some steaks, we had some chops, and some lovely trout. I do not eat beef and haven't seen a steak on my grill in 20 years, but with a little coaching, I grilled these giant fat NY Strips to their liking. The chops were easy, and the fish, I tried Mark's suggestion-- wrap the fish in foil and add butter and lemon. I used olive oil instead. It was delicious. The skin could have been crispier, but the flesh was succulent. The meat eaters all enjoyed the chops and steak and with the big salad it was a great feast. Oh, I forgot the 1/2 corn cob. Now if it weren't for the chips, left over from the Indian Guides Sox party, I would have been nearly virtuous. We observed that chip have some drug in them that makes you unable to not stop eating them once you start. None the less, I weighed in at 217.5 this morning. The 6 miles with Ryder, Steve and Mirabel yesterday must have helped. It is so hard to not eat carbs and I have a hard time allowing myself to eat fat. But the evidence supports this approach.