Where Did May Go?

Wow! May flew by. Things got a little busy around here. Way too many tornadoes for my liking. A couple of weekends ago I heard tornado sirens going off for 24 hours straight. I heard them all night in Little Rock and then all the next day in Memphis while helping my cousin move there from Kentucky.

2 weekends ago, I went to the Buffalo River. The Buffalo River is one of those places that is mandatory for any good Arkansan to experience in their lifetime. It seems like every summer there is always a good excuse to head up that way at least a couple of times. This time, it was with my Boy Scout Troop. We took the boys up to Buffalo Point, which is down river a few miles from Gilbert. We put in at I believe the Highway 14 bridge and floated down to Rush. The water was a little slow and shallow, but perfect for the new scouts to learn on. . . and perfect for me to test out my new kayak. I learned that I'm going to have to start doing some yoga or something because my legs were falling asleep the entire time.

As promised (to make up for driving so much lately), I did Mother Earth a favor last week and I plan on doing it more often. Last week was Bike to Work Week so I rode my bike part of the way in to work 3 days last week. I can't really ride the whole way as I live 40 miles away, but I was able to cut off 10 miles both ways by parking at the Big Dam Bridge. Now this took a lot of thought whether or not I was going to do this or not. It wasn't because I didn't want to inconvenience myself, it is because of the location of my work. My work happens to be located at the corner of Roosevelt and Asher in Little Rock. It's in part of town where your parents tell you not to even stop at stop lights, just keep rolling. I've been working there for 6 or 7 months now and I have found that it really isn't that bad. I mean, every month it seems somebody gets shot, but for the most part the people seem to be well... people. Really, the problem wasn't even that. I had already decided that it was worth risking life and limb to save the environment. It was my coworkers and superiors that had a problem with it. I had ridden in to work a couple weeks before and they strongly suggested that I never did it again. My boss was really uneasy about the thought of me riding in. Then, 2 days later, I had some bad chicken and called in sick kind of late one morning. Apparently, they had freaked out because they thought I was laying in the ditch somewhere. I didn't want them freaking out on me every time I showed up a little late (We are kind of on flex time. Most people show up at 8 and leave at 4:30, but it's no problem to come in at 9 or 10 even and just stay late). I didn't really want to have to put up with them being so worried, but after all this BP stuff, I decided that this was more important than anything I was dealing with so I did it. I don't know how bad this spill is going to end up. I don't know what impact it will have on the environment or the economy of the Gulf, but I do know that I, along with all of you, share the blood that will be payed for it. Every animal and plant killed. Every dollar in revenue and wages lost from the people that live in the Gulf, we are all held accountable for it all. Sure BP slipped up, but they are just reacting to the market, and the market can only be changed by one person, you. It all starts with yourself. That is why I knew that I had to get out there and bike no matter, and I plan to bike to work more and more days this summer, and I challenge you to do the same. Don't do it because you will be healthier and have more energy. Do it for our future.