Thursday, November 26, 2015
Thanksgiving 2015: Why I am thankful
I liked last year's Thanksgiving post so much I am doing a 2015 version. I am thankful because:
1. We remain free, and fighting. There are even a number of positive developments for those of us interested in liberty. At least three or four presidential candidates seem as though they would actually reverse the course of the ever-expanding federal monster for a change (Cruz, Paul, Fiorina, possibly Carson... maybe even Rubio or Trump, although I am extremely suspicious of them), and they are handily beating the political establishment favorites. Also, the Convention of States Movement is gathering steam. This strikes me as the most likely way we could actually get the federal government restricted to its proper, minimalist role. And if polls are to be believed, the American people seem, by and large, utterly opposed to the crap the Democrats are trying to force down our throats -- gun control, Obamacare, & "Syrian" refugees galore, to name a few.
2. I have Julie, Chaos, a large number of friends and students and colleagues for whom I'm thankful. Adam Smith argued that our greatest sources of pleasure are good relations with good people. I have these.
3. Life is fun. That's important. For some specifics, read on.
As usual, we began the day with a hard series of workouts. After my usual stretching warmup, I ran 2 miles at ultramarathon pace (slow) followed by 4 x 0.25 miles (400 m.) a good bit faster than my current 5K pace. That's a hard workout by itself. Julie and Chaos also ran, but only did the 2 miles.
Following this we went in and made dressing for the turkey. I always do this from scratch, following the method taught me by my mother. It's far better than anything from a box and a lot more fun. We then stuffed the turkey, popped it into the oven, and headed out for round two (after phone conversations with my good friends in D.C., Gene and Karin, with whom I've spent a number of happy Thanksgivings, both in the U.S. and Ukraine, and with Sterling B. in Texas -- Sterling spent a very memorable Thanksgiving with me and my entire family in Montana some years back).
Round two consisted of a complex of deadlifts, pushups, and box jumps, followed by kettlebell squats, pullups, and leg raises. I then topped this off with 100 sledge hammer blows (50 right handed and 50 left), a few kettlebell presses, and another dozen pullups. (Totals: 54 deadlifts of 135lb , 72 gap pushups, 81 box jumps, 50 squats with 1 pood kettlebell, 62 dead hang pullups, and 130 leg raises.) Julie did a different workout, emphasizing kettlebell swings with 1, 1.25, 1.5, and 2 pood bells, for about 200 swings and 3 tons of weight. By the time dinner was ready, we both were well into calorie deficit for the day. I am pretty sure I will be sore in numerous places tomorrow, but since I only ate once today, I won't be fatter!
