Endorphins

What a fabulous weekend! Not only did we get to Spring Forward, but the weather cooperated to allow for some wonderful workouts.

Some people may derive their greatest pleasure from disco dancing to BeeGees tunes, or from planting seeds to watch the sprouts shoosting up from the ground -- but for me, there's nothing quite like the satisfaction of collapsing in a heap at the end of a great weekend of exercise. And that's exactly what I did.

I rode my bike both Saturday and Sunday, and threw in some swimming and running as well. It's a little strange to be snowed on while on the steps at Red Rocks, and then be riding in shorts in the same location a few hours later. As usual, the companionship of inspirational friends made all of those activities challenging and fun at the same time.

But as you probably deduced from the photo above, I'm planning to start resting up for the State Championship swim meet in about a week. There are still a few more days to pound myself, but then I'm going to back off during the final 6 days before the swim competition. Since I'm starting the meet off by swimming both the 1000 and the 1650 Friday night, I'll still be pretty whupped going into the shorter events on Saturday and Sunday...but I'm hoping to not be completely spent. We'll see.

Anyway, let's talk about our little freedom puzzle. Everyone I heard from got it right -- the keyword that ties them all together is indeed "Borg".



The first fellow is Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor who put the faces on Mt. Rushmore. The first freedom connection is obvious; the fellows he carved into the mountain were all notorious for advancing the cause of liberty. But what you may not know is that Gutzon himself was also a walking example of the First Amendment in action. His father's religion allowed polygamy -- so little "Gutz" had multiple moms while he was growing up. How this influenced his lifelong desire to carve up rocks, I do not know. But I think it's safe to say that he cherished the things that America stands for.

The distinguished gentleman in the second frame is Victor Borge. He is most known for his humorous antics at the piano, but he was also an outspoken opponent of the Nazis (who were not particularly known for embracing freedom). He escaped to America as Hitler's troops were invading his native Denmark, and ended up being invited to the White House on multiple occasions. (He also made several appearances with the Muppets, who are well-known advocates of diversity themselves.)

The third guy is the infamous Locutus of Borg, who initially demanded the assimilation of humanity into the collective (which is pretty much the polar opposite of freedom)...but then after being deprogrammed by a coalition of human and android freedom fighters, resumed his identity as Jean Luc Picard, defender of the Prime Directive and staunch promoter of Truth, Justice, and the American Way. (Yes, the poor guy also had to overcome his Frenchness to be an effective leader, but that's a story for another time.)

And finally we have Bjorn Borg. His contribution to freedom was to promote the inalienable right to use two incompatible consonants to begin your name, whether it's pronouncable or not.

As always, thanks for playing. It's now time to get back into the workweek, but I'm already looking forward to another endorphin-filled weekend coming up. I hope you have the opportunity to do whatever it is that makes you feel good, too. Enjoy the process, my friends, and have a great day!