LONG BEACH

In the spirit of Homer Simpson, it has been my 'lifelong dream' for the past two years to walk to Long Beach from my Mom's house in Lynbrook where I grew up. My Mom still lives in the house that I grew up in and I got it into my head that it would be a interesting to walk to the beach sometime during a visit. During my last visit to Lynbrook, a family crisis interfered with my plans.  When my Mom shattered her ankle in three places during my last visit, my enthusiasm for taking such a walk and the opportunity to do so disappeared. Fast forward, fourteen months, and my Mom is back on her feet and while the ankle is not 100%, it still qualifies as a wonderful miracle that she can walk again, and while my Mom humorously says the ankle is not painful, but gives her discomfort. Me? I consider pain and discomfort to be synonyms - but I digress.

I woke up early on Wednesday morning in the same bed that I used to wake up in when I was going to high school nearly, but not quite 50 years ago.  I made myself two bowls of instant oatmeal and set out for my suburban hike. I bundled up quite well, and checked the temperature. The temperature when I set out was 20°F. I was able to easily convince myself that it was not so cold, because back at my home in Chicago at the very same moment, it was -1°F.

The trek to the beach, the the Atlantic Ocean was just 6.5 miles and it took just over an hour and a half. Had I just turned around and returned the way I came, I would have taken a 13 mile trek. I did not do that. I continued west along the boardwalk which was recently re-built after 'Super Storm Sandy' five years ago to the very end, and then I continued on the main road to the Atlantic Beach Bridge. I don't think that I crossed this bridge even a dozen times in my entire life growing up. In fact, I wasn't sure that I could cross it as a pedestrian until I googled it during my hike and confirmed that it did have a pedestrian sidewalk. Using my MapMyWalk App, I saw that the way back to Lynbrook was very uncomplicated. I made a right turn shortly after crossing this bridge and walked a few miles on Broadway right back to my neighborhood. I made a short detour to walk past the elementary school that I started attending as a kindergartner likely in 1962.

My hike was 17 miles. I came home, had some lunch with my Mom and then I had to go back outside to do my chores. My Mom had asked me to clear some leaves in her front yard and yesterday seemed like a good day to do that.

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Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Trader Joe's - Maple and Brown Instant Oatmeal	320	64	4	8	480	26
	320	64	4	8	480	26
L U N C H
Oven Broiled Chicken	200	0	13	20	146	0
	200	0	13	20	146	0
D I N N E R
Garden Salad	100	6	0	4	400	4
Chicken Parmesan and Spaghetti	600	99	21	79	858	0
French Baguette	300	60	2	10	740	2
Rataouille	200	44	3	8	216	44
	1,200	209	26	101	2,214	50
S N A C K S
Cookies, Brownie	300	47	12	4	231	27
	300	47	12	4	231	27
Totals	2,020	320	55	133	3,071	103
Your Daily Goal	4,560	570	152	229	2,300	171
Remaining	2,540	250	97	96	-771	68
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,630 extra calories from exercise today

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This was just the beginning of my hike, when I arrived at the boardwalk for my view of the Atlantic Ocean.

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I am facing east, but the camera is facing west while standing on the Atlantic Beach Bridge.

I am facing west, but the camera is facing east while standing on the Atlantic Beach Bridge.

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WHAT I HAVE IN COMMON WITH HOMER SIMPSON

Even casual fans of 'The Simpsons' know that family patriarch, Homer Simpson always tells his wife as various opportunities arise that one thing or another is his lifelong dream.

Invariably, his wife, Marge, advises him that each dream has usually been accomplished.

This information was duplicated from a site called: wikidumper.blogspot.com.

List of Homer Simpson's lifelong dreams:  The following is a list of lifelong dreams by Homer Simpson as reported in The Simpsons TV series. Homer is a man of many lifelong dreams which he frequently quotes during the series. Each dream is different from his previous dream, and his wife, Marge, points out every time he makes up a new one that his actual life long dream, which also varies from episode to episode, was already accomplished by him.
His lifelong dreams include (partial list):
- Managing a beautiful country-western singer ("Colonel Homer")
- Eating the world's biggest hoagie ("Colonel Homer")
- Living in the wilderness, while keeping a journal of his thoughts ("Marge Gets a Job")
- Becoming a monorail conductor ("Marge vs. the Monorail")
- Being allowed to do his job from home ("King-Size Homer")
- Being the next Thomas Edison ("The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace")
- Becoming a hippie ("D'oh-in in the Wind")
- Bowling a perfect game ("Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder")
- Seeing Stevie Nicks naked ("Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder") 

I also have a lifelong dream.  I have not accomplished it.  In fact, it has been completely elusive to me for just about my entire adult life.   Many, many years ago I learned that one could take a mule ride down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.  This sounded like great fun.  And as soon as I learned about it, I thought that I would like to do it.  

There is however, one 'minor' obstacle.  In order to qualify for a Grand Canyon mule ride to the bottom of the canyon, one must weigh less than 200 lbs (with their clothes on)

I aspire to do this one day.   It may be over the top to call this a lifelong dream - but it is true that I would like to do it.  If I am going to qualify for this, I know what I need to do.

If I am going to qualify for a Grand Canyon Mule ride - I will need to lose another 60  lbs.   I figure that  in order to weigh  less than 200 lbs with my clothes on... I might have to get down to the mid-190's.   Lifelong dreams are supposed to be grand, and what could be grander than a GRAND CANYON MULE RIDE? 

WEDNESDAY MENU
breakfast  two poached eggs, cup oatmeal w/prune, two strips turkey 'bacon'   355 calories
lunch         spinach salad, salmon sockeye burger, pumpkin soup                        240 calories
dinner       Polish Sausage, Spring Mix Salad, Mulligatawny Soup                      400 calories

total calories consumed     995 CALORIES

CALORIES BURNED
7AM     ELLIPTICAL MACHINE  32 MINUTES    480 CALORIES

NET CALORIES  515 CALORIES