Sailing Last Mango

Before I left work I used to ride my bicycle back and forth to work. I enjoyed the quiet time before and after work as well as the exerciseI received. Bike riding is one of the things I missed most when boating, sure we had the small folding bikes but it’s not the same. Since coming back to Illinois we purchased Salsa Fargo’s from North Central Cycles in Dekalb. Karen and I have really been putting on the miles since, about 500 so far. Typically we will put on about 20 miles a day, again it’s nice to get away from the house for a bit and the weather has been beautiful for riding.  Last week Karen said she wanted to ride up to Monroe, Wisconsin from Freeport, Illinois. We’d be riding the Jane Adams bicycle trail which is fairly new coming out of Freeport. We selected Wednesday the 12th and again the weather was perfect. She had alternate reasons for wanting to ride up to Monroe other than exercise, she was out of Boxer Apple Ale by Minhas Brewery. She really likes he...

Strange times for John & Karen Tykol lately. I can tell you that I’m getting to be far to knowledgeable in geriatric medicine. Since dad’s surgery he’s had a variety of medical issues, none of them having anything to do with the hip. The hip replacement went great but there is several issues that arose from the surgery.  Currently the worst issue is the loss of vision, I think dad has come to accept that his vision will be poor for the rest of his life. Dad of course doesn't like it but he needs to start learning how to live with it. Easier said than done but if he and mom want to live independently he needs to learn how to work around this issue. Keep your fingers crossed. Since the hip surgery dad’s heart rate has been racing, I mean a resting heart rate of 110 to 130, that’s fast for any heart let alone an 83 year old heart. The doctors response to this is to put him on meds to slow the rate, great idea except it doesn't appear the doctor wants to look for the ...

This week was a little boring, but Karen and I tried to make the best of it. Mom is doing the same and Dad’s doing better with his hip stuff, eyesight really hasn’t changed and the endocrinologist hasn’t called back. Unfortunately I’m not surprised. Since Karen and I have been out here we’ve wanted to go and do things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do. This past weekend we went to the Carroll County Fair, Karen has never been to a fair and I thought it was about time she attended one. The fair was a good time and quite interesting. We got to see what a county fair is like in the country. Plenty of cows, pigs and horses. Chickens we not allowed due to the current bird flu issues in the area. We spent a good amount of time watching the equestrian events (from the stands) since Karen is terribly afraid of horses. I enjoyed watching the horses and Karen enjoyed the fancy country type clothes the riders wore. I have to admit that some of the riders looked as though they came straight out ...