This summer has felt different for me. It’s my first summer as a retiree, and with the Missouri State Fair coming up this week, I won’t be there covering it every day like I did for more than 13 years.
It’s also the first summer I’ve spent many days wearing bicycle shorts and a T-shirt. Since I don’t have to dress for the office, I've found bicycle shorts very comfortable. I’m a very late bloomer and only discovered the comfort of T-shirts within the last three years.
So, when we travel, I now look for the perfect T-shirt — the right color, logo and fit. My all-time favorite is from Estes Park, Colorado. The shirt depicts two bears standing beside a vehicle parked near the woods with a stick family illustrated across the back window. One bear says to the other, “Look a Menu!” And of course, the license plate says, “Ilovebears.” The unsuspecting bear-loving family must be in the woods on a hike? Maybe? My second favorite comes from the French Quarter in New Orleans, with cool cartoon cats playing a clarinet, drums and piano. It says, "Let the good times roll.”
Not one to usually wear bicycle shorts and T-shirts, I’ve learned, “Hey, I can even wear this outfit to Walmart.” It’s comfortable and looks good with sandals or tennis shoes — see, I have bipedal options. What I have not done is wear fuzzy PJs to Walmart. I know, I know it’s a fad around here, but keep in mind I will not wear my Mickey Mouse pajama bottoms and rabbit house shoes to Walmart!
My hope is that my bicycle shorts and T-shirt will inspire me to be more athletic. So far, my summer outfit is working. When it’s not 110 degrees, I try to ride my bicycle for exercise; if it’s too hot or I'm too tired to ride, I walk on an indoor track. They’ve also helped me discover an exercise dance class at the Heckart Community Center on Monday and Friday nights.
Although I’m about as coordinated as a long-legged water bird on roller-skates, I try. While the women are kicking their right leg, I may be kicking my left, or dancing to the north while they are going south. I’ve found that due to an injury four years ago, I can’t do squats, my knees don’t bend that far. So, I half squat. And I can’t sit down on the floor without help getting up, so that's a no-no for me too. But what I’ve learned from the instructors is to do my best and keep moving, even if it’s in the wrong direction. Motion burns calories and builds muscles. Anyway, my muscles don’t give a flip about which direction I’m going.
To say the summer has been easy breezy is an understatement. It’s not been all fun trotting around in my summer attire. I’ve had to deal with some very serious issues this summer. I had to make some tough and painful decisions in the best interest of someone I care about. But knowing I can dress down and dance or ride my stress away does help. As August settles in, it looks like I see a light at the end of the tunnel, with the issues I’ve had to face. I hope so.
When cold weather gets here, I’ll have to begin wearing leggings instead of bicycle shorts, but I’ll probably have increased my T-shirt wardrobe by then since we’ll be heading to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, soon. I hope to find another bear T-shirt just as amusing as the one from Colorado.
So, goodbye summer, you’ve been a rollercoaster of emotions, but my bicycle shorts, T-shirts and exercise have kept me in tune with planet Earth, even if my dance moves are out of sync.
Faith Bemiss-McKinney is the former features editor at the Sedalia Democrat. She can be reached at faith_bemiss@yahoo.com.
