4th of July

After a restless sleep I woke at a little after 7. Very unusual for me! I went to bed at normal 10-ish but woke from a bad dream at 1:22a.m. I rolled over to find Terri not in bed and I could see that there were lights on by the dim shine under the bedroom door. First thought was, daughter and boyfriend broke up or something bad. Something bad was very right. The kids had all gone over to Conway and Sean was asked to help shoot the big fireworks and like any college kid, especially a guy, would have been more than excited to be that close to the big bangs! All went well until the very end. Chris, the main fuse lighter has something go terribly wrong. The explosion hit him in the eye and took out his eye and caused very serious damage. His lungs filled with blood and he couldn't breathe. They took him via EMT to UAMS where he is in critical condition. And what makes it even sadder is today was supposed to be his wedding day. Terri was sitting on the sofa reading and Emmy was at UAMS. There was really nothing I could do except return to bed. I woke again later feeling Terri finally getting in bed. I have no idea what time it was.

I watched a bit of the Tour this morning but didn't want to see the ending. I know it was 99 degrees and the heat was causing tires to explode. There were crashes and one of my favorites, Eric Dekker is out with a broken collarbone. This tour is more fun to watch than the past ones due to Lance being out. Yes, he was the best, but it got old from an entrainment perspective. I'm enjoying all the different sprints and winners. I hope it keeps changing to the end.

Terri and I took our bikes out and rode a little after dinner last night. It was great to be out riding with her. She could be a good rider if she did it very often. She kept her pace right around 12-14 mph which is not bad at all for being on a Trek comfort bike and not having rode but once this year. I sort of wondered if she got out there to get me out there and recover from my fall. She's sneaky like that sometimes. It was a fun ride! I saw a few buds while we were out. Three were from my own club so they knew I was recovering.

This morning I drove over to the river not wanting to ride from the house and over do it. Wimpy, I know. I had a nice ride. Saw Kyle coming the opposite direction then Paul Britt. I had seen Paul on Saturday afternoon at the Shell station up from the house and pulled in to say howdy to him and Jon Van Pay. So he knew I had gone down and turned around and chased me. I was curious to see if Ft Roots gate was closed and it wasn't. Paul caught up to me and was checking on me. Nice guy. We rode a moment then he turned to continue to ride home. He lives a few miles from us over by McCain Mall. I rode to Cook's, around the soccer fields and eyed a few great games going on. There are folks from all over the country here for the national youth soccer tourney. I rode around Burn's Park and by was it quite for a 4th of July. At the end of the ride I was feeling my old self.

The rest of the day was dull but that was my own fault. I turned into a couch tater and even took a nap which I never do and even pitched a fit as a child when I was told to nap. I hate napping. Terri told me everyone needs a day like this ever now and then. Ok, I've had mine for the year.

My club was all riding the Lollipop ride today and I longed to be out there with them but it wasn't meant to be today. It was sort of funny because at 8:30 I was telling myself, ok they should be to about Hwy 10. Later, I would think, ok they should be around the lake. I lived the ride even though I wasn't there. Is that what is meant when someone says, I'll be with you in spirit? If it does then I was certainly with my buds in spirit today.

Happy 4th of July!