An Urban Boychick Takes on the Outdoors

As I pedaled my bikeshare bike across Roosevelt Bridge in the darkness, the thought occurred to me that it's 9:30 on a Friday night, it's pitch black, it's cold, I'm 57 years old and I really should be spending Friday night in my easy chair by the fire. Comfortably bundled up against the chill and staying warm by pedaling, I smiled broadly and thought to myself, "No, I think I'm living my life just about right." But I had to do some thinking to come to that conclusion. Have you ever gone back to someplace that used to be intimately familiar to you, like the neighborhood where you grew up or your college campus? Being there is instantly familiar to you and of course the scenery is part of your history, but at the same time you feel disconnected from it. Well, I've got to say that there are big parts of my life I've felt this way about since my surgery. Just the other day, on an unusual 65 degree February day, I bundled up in my dry suit and went k...