14-211

Yeah, the tortoise walked today, we'll get to that in a bit after we talk about Glen Worthington Beecher, my brother, who passed from this life this afternoon at age 59.  We don't know a lot about his passing yet, his body is on its way to Salt Lake now for an autopsy and then we'll know more.  We do know he was in pain the past week or so, and had difficulty breathing.  But he didn't choose to go to a doctor for it, that's partly why the autopsy.

Rather than dwell on what we don't know, Tortoise will focus on what we do.  Glen was a gifted artist, and got great joy from thousands of hours doing mostly portraits with pencil and paper as a young man.  My mother has one he did of President Kimball that has always really seemed to capture his spirit.  He had a special love of comic book and cartoon characters in general and Superman in particular, and could make short work of drawing an amazing likeness of any of them.

Pictured above at age 13 with me at our Aunt Karen and Uncle Bob's house in what was called Granger then and is part of West Valley City now, he already was well on his way with this talent.  (My thanks to Jodi Stevenson for keeping track of this picture and sharing it)
 He used it as a missionary tool when serving in Alaska in 1975-77 and then tried to make a career out of it when he studied at Ricks College in 1977-80.  They directed his skill towards movie and theater set design and he was starting to think of what school he could transfer to when he had his associate degree to continue on this path.

Then his world changed in a moment.  He was a passenger in the back seat of a car travelling back to Ricks after a Thanksgiving holiday that got in a wreck on black ice.  He didn't die then, or even have immediately noticeable injuries, but something happened in his back and then he started having blackouts and seizures without warning.  After two more wrecks when he had a blackout while driving, the second of which destroyed the car he was driving home from the lot after purchasing it brand new and very nearly killed him, he never tried driving again.  School was over, and he got more and more private in his life.  He found employment as an electronic assembly technician, where he worked for over 30 years almost to the day of his death, and if you wanted to see him, your best shot was to do it on his lunch break at work.

I will miss him.  I know my parents and siblings will too, each in their own way.  In my mind, I will see him as the sharp looking young man you see above, back drawing pictures in a place where there is no pain and no embarrassing blackouts.  I'm glad he's happy there.

--------------------------------------------------

I was with family in one way or another from the time I learned of this around 7 pm until a little after 2.  I got the trash out because it's that day of the week, and then headed out on my walk.  Perhaps you'll forgive me for stretching the boundaries of the day and beginning a walk at 26:30 on the extended military clock.  I walked because I'm committed to it, but also because that was my release from all of what I've just described.  The walk was 2.45 miles long with 70 feet climbed in 48:29 minutes.  Tortoise rating was 5.5 and Tortoise burned 385 calories.  He kept happy listening to the following soundtrack served up by Pandora (I think Glen is smiling and listening too):

Hey Jude (Beatles)
Day After Day (Badfinger)
Dream On (Aerosmith)
Windy (The Association)
Monday, Monday (The Mamas & The Papas)
Well Respected Man (The Kinks)
The 59th Street Bridge Song (Simon & Garfunkel)
Penny Lane (The Beatles)
What The World Needs Now (Jackie DeShannon)
Dream A Little Dream Of Me (The Mamas & The Papas)
I Only Want To Be With You (Dusty Springfield)
Your Song (Elton John)
Break On Through (Doors)
Paperback Writer (Beatles)
The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)
Stand By Me (John Lennon)
Where Did Our Love Go (Diana Ross)
Close To You (Carpenters)
You Don't Own Me (Dusty Springfield)
You're The One (Petula Clark)
Do You Love Me (Dave Clark Five)
Saturday In The Park (Chicago)
These Eyes (Guess Who)
Cherish (The Association)
Don't Stop Believin' (Journey)
You Didn't Have To Be So Nice (The Grass Roots)
Rocket Man (Elton John)  (Glen liked most of these, Rocket Man was one of his favorites)
Bus Stop (The Hollies)
I Want To Hold Your Hand (Beatles)
Get Together (The Youngbloods)
Tiny Dancer (Elton John)
All Summer Long (Kid Rock)
White Room (Cream)
Instant Karma (We All Shine On) (John Lennon)
Runaway (Gary Lewis & The Playboys)
Dust In The Wind (Kansas)
You Can't Hurry Love (The Supremes)
April Come She Will (Paul Simon)
Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)

I think I'll go sneak in a nap before the sun wakes up for another day ...

Cheerio!

2014 Stats:

602.08 miles walked, which is 60.15% of my 2014 goal.

189:42:56 hours walked, which is 60.61% of my 2014 goal

28,138 total feet climbed 

96,158 calories burned
57.83% of the year has passed
Weigh-in:  232.4, down 4.2 from my last weigh-in on July 17 and my second straight drop for a total of 5.7 since July 1. 

I've walked 51 consecutive non-Sundays since my last missed day on May 31, and overall have walked on 170 of the 181 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 93.92% consistency rating.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells me I am on track. I'm sure this is more numbers than you are interested in, all I can say is I'm really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because I don't do them every, every day.

The tortoise is smiling!