Weeping Wednesday

I went to Aunt Doris' funeral. After finding the funeral home, I went in and located the visiting parlor. When I entered, I saw my cousin Mary Ann, Doris' daughter, sitting on the couch. In a chair nearby was Silvia, my cousin Danny's wife. I spoke and made my way to the coffin. I hate that part and sometimes refuse it, looking at people I love in a coffin. But feeling ill at ease that's just what I did. 

Mary Ann didn't speak, didn't seem to recognize me. Then after I was at the coffin for a few seconds, she blurted out, "It's Zane."

Even in a bad picture of a picture and at her advanced
age, her beauty still shines through.

Like all funerals, the whole affair was sad, but it was nice to see my cousins some of whom I did not even know. I got to see my only surviving aunt, Mary Darby. That was nice. They needed another pallbearer and plugged me in. It was my honor. After the funeral we went back to what used to be CD's and Doris' place on the lake. Now Mary Ann lives there. It was nice to be back. I had not been there since my Wesley Biblical Seminary days and would not have been able to find my way. 

The lake looked good. I guessed a lap of swimming around it would equal 1.25 to 1.35 miles. I chatted a long time with Danny, ate some chicken, and left. It was 7:00 o'clock before I made it home. I changed clothes, went outside, and started lifting weights. Plate City Gym always looks good in the dark. Wednesday is shoulder day. I did lateral raises, cleans, and dead lifts.

The cleans are an exercise I keep forgetting about. I only recently realized that they work the exterior rotator cuff muscles, something I am constantly hitting with other moves. Not only that, but they work the rest of the shoulders, the biceps, the traps, and the top of the forearms. The top of the forearms are important because most of weightlifting and all of swimming hit the bottom muscles. Consequently, the forearms get out of balance and the top muscles start getting dominated but the lower ones. This used to cause severe pain in my hands when swimming long distances. After my first Chicot Challenge, I had knots in the tendons on the top of my forearms. I have learned the hard way about antagonistic muscles. The cleans hit two of them so I plan to make them a permanent part of my lifting from now on.

I am still being hyper safe on the dead lifts and only did

11 X 95
5 X 105
4 X 115
3 X 125

On the cleans, I did

20 X 45
15 X 50
12 X 55
8 X 60

I also shuffled 1.55 miles which is exactly one half of a 5K. Maybe I am really coming back now. I hope, wish, and pray that is the case. I miss running and enjoy the heck out of the tiny bit I am doing now. And I need it, bad. I need the overall cardio it gives me, and I need the fun I have doing it. 

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for good health. Thank you for putting Doris Hodge in my life. And thank you for my wife, the cats, the dogs, and Plate City Gym.