It's A Big Day

Today is a big day in the Valenta household.

Yesterday, Grandad saw his cardiologist here in Corpus Christi. They discussed the results of the nuclear stress test he had last month. I am so happy to report that the results were really good. They have taken him off of Coumadin (warfarin), the blood thinner he's been on since his initial heart surgery about five years ago. He is now off of all prescription drugs except for two that keep his blood pressure and heart rate under control. The really big news is that she released him to begin exercising for the first time in a long, long time. The last two or three times they send him to a medically supervised cardiac rehabilitation program. Each time they made him stop within minutes because of irregular heart beat. We started walking tonight. Last time we tried walking, he had to tell me to slow down. If you take our 16" height difference into account, it should be the other way around. Tonight, we walked for 25 minutes, which is not very long and not very far. But we did it ... and he kept up. That's a big deal!

The other thing that happened today is that I shipped my first order from my Etsy shop. My shop has been open about two weeks and I've been eagerly anticipating my first order. When I got home from work yesterday, there it was in my inbox ... my first order. I got so excited I called my kids to tell them and I confess, I did a little happy dance. Here's my first shipment ready to go in the box.

I made a quick trip to the post office this morning and it was on its way! So, I guess I'm actually in business. That's another big deal!

Because I Can!

Yesterday Grams walked across the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge. That's one more item checked off my unofficial bucket list. Once again, my daughter Katy and my son-in-law Travis joined me on my adventure. We were also joined by my neighbors and very good friends, Mary Lou, Brenda, Kandyce and Kelley along with about a dozen other people.

It was a group walk organized by Alan Albin who put together a Facebook group called "We Walked the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge and Survived." They gather once a month for a walk across the bridge and anyone is invited to join in the walk.

The walk is not for the squeamish. It's not far, 2.5 miles round trip, and the grade is not as steep as I thought it would be. The walk is on a single-file sidewalk that is separated from three lanes of traffic by a concrete barrier that's about 30 inches tall. Traffic speeds by at better than the posted speed of 55 miles per hour. You can feel the rush of wind when 18 wheelers flash past. And, many of the drivers who pass feel the need to honk their horns. I was startled when the first few honked, after that I just ignored it. On the outside, walkers are separated from a 138 feet drop into the ship channel by the bridge's railing, a pipe-like construction which looks like a large handrail and a few smaller pipes each set about 12 inches apart. The wind comes through the railings and when it hits the concrete wall a huge updraft is created. As you approach the top of the bridge, the wind picks up significantly.

If you know anything about Corpus Christi, you know that it's windy. When I looked it up I was surprised to learn that we are not among the top 10 windiest cities in the United States. Yesterday's sustained wind speed was 22 miles per hour, the highest gusts were recorded at 29 mph. To say it was windy is an understatement. Walking in that wind was quite a beating. I'm paying for it today with allergic reactions in my eyes.

The question that people keep asking is "Why did you want to walk across the bridge?" I'm sure every one of the 15 or so people who walked with us yesterday have their own reasons. For me there are several answers to that question. I've been fascinated (obsessed) with the Harbor Bridge since I was a kid and my parents would drive over the bridge and back just to see the view. The sight of the lights of the city spread before us was captivating. I've always thought it would be great to be able to stop and look around. There's not enough time to see everything when you speed by at 55+ miles an hour. As I made the walk yesterday I thought about my Dad and how much he loved that view.

Another reason is that Grandad and Grams have committed to getting out of the house and into our community. Since our kids left home we've become too reclusive. We don't get out and do the things we used to do. And even though Grandad couldn't join this walk, it was a chance to get out and experience something uniquely "Corpus Christian."

But the real reason I made the walk across the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge is because I can! I walked it to challenge myself to keep on living this new active life that is a gift. I walked it to make up for all the years I sat and watched other people do active things. Just like climbing Enchanted Rock was a milestone for me, walking the Harbor Bridge was a celebration of my new healthy life. So, yes, Grams walked the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge and survived. But Grams isn't just surviving, Grams is thriving!

What's next? I've already told my son that he has to join in the next adventure. We're on the lookout for othe next challenge. Watch this space for future developments.

So You Want To Be A Superstar

Grams has been working two or three days a week at our local middle school as a substitute teacher. I really enjoy spending time with the students who are 6th, 7th and 8th graders. (Okay, not so much enjoyment with the 6th graders; they should be caged!) The daily lesson plans keep them and me very busy and, as a sub, it's my job to keep them on task, but now and then there is a little time to just talk with them.

I love the opportunity to talk about what they like to do and their plans for the future. I've noticed that at this age the girls seem to have a much more realistic idea of what they may want to do in the future. (Although I actually had a girl tell me that she didn't need to learn science because she was going to marry a rich doctor. Grams responded that rich doctors marry smart girls.) The boys, almost to a person, want to be athletes. I have talked to a few who want to be engineers or doctors, but far and away the answers I get are NFL football player, NASCAR driver, NBA basketball player, professional skateboarder, etc. I always respond with what I hope is an encouraging word but I always follow up with advice that perhaps they should have a "plan b" in case that doesn't work out.

Grams would never want to dash anyone's dreams and I'm a big believer that, within reasonable limits, you can be anything you want to be if you are willing to put in the work. But that's the rub ... kid's don't get the "work" part. It's mystifying to me that in a society where kids idolize professional and Olympic athletes, they don't have a clue how hard those athletes work. This has been on my mind this week because Grandad and I have been spending our evenings watching the Olympic Games from Vancouver.

It's true that many of the top athletes lead a very glamorous lifestyle, but the amount of work they do to get there is amazing. Grams spent a little bit of time researching the diet and workout regimes of Olympic athletes. Here's what I've discovered. A typical workout day is something like this ... thirty minutes of stretching and conditioning ... three hours of running ... three hours of weight training or body weight training (like push ups and pull ups) ... stretching again and spending time in hot or cold tubs. Note that the typical Olympic athlete spends seven to eight hours a day just on workouts and conditioning. At this point they haven't even worked on their particular sport. All this time is just preparing their body for their sport. After this they spend an additional three to four hours on their specific event, whether it's gymnastics or snowboarding. Being an Olympic-caliber athlete is a full-time job. And, I think it's important to note that most of these athletes start training at a very young age. This truly is their life's work.

And, in addition to all that working out, their diets are not enviable. They eat high protein, low-carb diets to maintain extremely low body fat levels. A typical breakfast might be eight egg whites with vegetables, then a lunch of salad with chicken or tuna, an afternoon snack of fruit, then high-protein low-carb dinner. (Very similar to my post-weight-loss-surgery diet, except they eat a much higher volume of food.) You won't find them noshing on nachos, burgers, or Oreos on a regular basis.

Grams is definitely in favor of encouraging the younger generation to dream big. But let's also temper those dreams with a dose of reality. Teach our kids that they must prepare for the future they dream of and for their far more likely future as another kind of hard-working American.

I'm all in favor of encouraging our children to be Olympic athletes. Shoni Davis, Shaun White, Lindsey Vonn, Apolo Ohno have certainly achieved their goals and may be great role models as far as their sports achievement go. And I can't imagine anything better than walking into opening ceremonies as a member of Team USA. You can follow the Vancover Olympics at their official web site.

This Is Our Local Mountain

Last October, immediately after climbing Enchanted Rock, we were enjoying lunch and a beer at a beer garden in Fredericksburg, Texas. As we relaxed and recovered from the hike and climb, my daughter had the nerve to ask, "What we were going to do next?" Grams was incredulous. Couldn't we just bask in the glow of our recent accomplishment? "Boy" I thought to myself, "I just met a major goal, couldn't I just rest on my laurels?"

But once I recuperated I realized my daughter was right. Grams needed something new and challenging to work toward. Since then, we've been looking around for a new challenge. I think I've found it. We're going to walk across the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge. The bridge has fascinated me since we moved to Corpus Christi in 1964 and I've always wanted to stand at the top and look around.

The Harbor Bridge is the second tallest bridge in Texas, and has a span of 620 feet. It was was built between 1954 and 1959. The entire bridge is 5,818 feet long, rising to a road deck height of 138 feet above the Corpus Christi Ship Channel. That will make the round-trip walk a little more than 2 miles.

The bridge had only been open about 5 years when we moved here and it seemed gigantic to then 10-year-old me. My parents had six kids and not much money. Gasoline was cheap, so driving was something we could afford to do. This was one of our favorite drives. We would go across the bridge and causeway to Portland where we visited friends. Then, after dark, we would make the drive back across the bridge into Corpus Christi . The expanse of lights across the city was always beautiful and was especially enchanting for us "country folk" who had just moved to the big city.

The pedestrian walkway on the bridge is often closed for safety and security reasons. After all this bridge spans the entry to the 6th largest port in the United States. It is the gateway to a huge petrochemical industry and a strategic military port. It was closed to walkers for several years after September 11. The walkway is really designed for emergency use only and not really intended for recreational walking. But it provides spectacular views of the City of Corpus Christi, the Port of Corpus Christi and Corpus Christi Bay.

Thanks to Facebook, I found a group called "We Walked the Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge and Survived." The above photo of the walkway is from their New Year's Day walk. They have recently organized the "First Sunday Bridge Walk." They're going to walk across the Harbor Bridge the first Sunday of each month at 9 a.m. We're going to join the group for their walk on March 7. Once again, I'll be accompanied by my daughter, Katy and my son-in-law, Travis. I've also invited my son, Nick, and daughter-in-law, Marie, to join us.

To quote Anna Herring who walked the bridge on New Year's Day "This is our local mountain so I like to climb mountains wherever I find them."

Watch this space in March for photos from our walk. And, if you're interested, come walk with us.