The State of Affairs, Running, & Gardening

I am going to start with some updates on gardening. The first picture is of four white radishes that I grew in a large pot. These four ended up doing well, tasted good, and ended up in a salad. I think the white radishes are a little bit less spicy/strong than red ones.

The middle picture is not really anything to see, but I planted two rows of garlic yesterday. I planted at least 10 cloves, but I think it will probably was 11 or 12. Now, I will just let them be, well I might add more broken down leaves to the top of them for winter, but won't need to do anything again till next summer. The last picture is some of the garlic that was harvested two summers ago.

Now that I got you here, right in the middle of this post, I am going to talk about "The State of Things." From this Tuesday, November 5 or Election Day, is only 3 weeks away! Mail-in voting and early voting has already started and I am going to try to participate in early voting, so I do not have to deal with the madness on actual Election Day. I want to say that I can't believe that this is still a close election, but at the same time, I can because of different people that I come into regular contact with in my everyday life.

First, I want to acknowledge that I have heard and can understand some peoples' feelings that this country is going in the wrong direction and that we are already in a black hole because of issues such as immigration, abortion, gender and sexual orientation issues, and our education system because they feel like it goes against their faith and personal beliefs. However, unforunately there are a lot of lies that are stoking fears and anger and not love and empathy, which is what we need. I am not saying that it doesn't go both ways because on both sides we have fear and anger, but it is disheartening to see how much more this seems to be on one side and the rise of nationalism under the guise of religion.

I would challenge the people that are supporting Donald Trump, his MAGA movement, and claiming to be Christian on how these two things directly contradict each other. Donald Trump is calling for mass deportation of illegal immigrants, like up to 3% of the US population, calling them enemies and animals and are turning or have already turned the US into a third-world country. He has repeatedly stated that he will arrest and prosecute his enemies. He has told Christians that they will never have to vote again if he is elected. He has told women that he will be their protector. All of these things are the talk of dictators and if we are to take him seriously, which I believe we should, then it is a slippery slope. It won't stop with illegal immigrants but to anyone foreign born and not white, his so-called enemies will lead to anyone who disagrees or raises disent, and the list goes on. Trump seems to be a man full of hatred and those around him seem equally full of hatred and if he becomes president, cannot wait to get to work on these radical hateful agendas. They have stoked many people to believing that they are poor and even marginalized in society because of foreigners taking over the country, and the "elites" in politics, universities, the media are lying to them about basically everything, so they all need to go.

But in stark contrast, The Bible and Jesus specifically calls for taking care of the foreigners and least among you, loving your enemies and not living under the motto of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," being generous to the poor, widows, and foreigners; working to see the kingdom of God come through love and not judging others.

I am not hitting on all of the issues here because I know that there are some that should be able to be debated and discussed in a civil way, but I don't think we can right now until we can stop or combat this rhetoric coming from the Trump and MAGA crowd.

With that being said, I would love to see America get back to where we can trust each other on basic levels. Like when did it become a thing that I have to be fearful of possibly being shot at or the police coming if I for a minute pull into someone's driveway to turn around? When did it become not polite or strange to ask your neighbor for some sugar or an egg if you suddenly find that you don't have one for the recipe you are making? Why did it become a thing now that we have to text people first before ringing the doorbell when we get to their house even when they are expecting us?

I am trying to foster generosity and trust in small ways in my life. I have gotten into making jams, apple sauce, and canning. I have gotten into the habit of trying to share these things with others and not that I am looking for anything in return. However, I have found that other people do want to return the favor in some small way, which is appreciated but never expected. I know that capitalism is the name of the game in this country, but I like the idea of like if I give you some blueberry jam, you might give me some nuts in return. I know this type of system cannot and will not work for everything, but it goes back to this simple idea of trusting each other and doing things that seeks the other person's best intersts without trying to exploit or use them in someway. In addition, it creates a community and this is something we all need and can help us see the world from a different perspective and dare I say give us a bit more of God's perspective.

So, please vote on or before Tuesday November 5th!

Finally, running and marathon training. This last Monday I ran 20 miles, as you can see in the first picture, the longest run I am going to do before the marathon in about four weeks. I thought I did pretty good. I ran like my fastest or second fastest half-marathon time and then slowed down, but had to slow way down. The last two or three miles felt really slow even though it wasn't so slow. However, when I do the marathon, my plan is to stay with the pacer person for my goal time of 3 hours and 20 minutes and just do that the entire time.

I am not sure why I decided to do a 20-mile run on Monday and then do a 5K on Friday evening, but I did. My goal was under 21 mintues, which my Garmin said that I did, but oh well, it was close. It ended up being a 6:45-6:50 pace, but I started off way too fast. The first mile was like 6:05 and I was in second place, but quickly dropped back. The second and third miles were both around 7:05. I could have had a better time if I did't start off as fast, but oh well. I ended up winning my age division because the overall male runner was 40 and he was almost three fulll minutes faster, haha!

I feel like I am in excellent shape right now and think I have a chance of getting my goal marathon time. I just have to continue to take care of myself, train smart as I start to taper, not get any injuries, or get sick. I can do it!