Mesquite Hugger: November 2018

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Giving Tuesday 2018 - Mesquite Hugger Faves

I started this post a week ago and planned all kinds of great stuff, but here it is Giving Tuesday, and I'm just putting it out there:

Local

In honor of Patience, Permaguard, Fred, Bitsy, Sasha, Nick, and (of course) Condo, please consider a donation to A Place for Us Greyhounds - local greyhound adoption group.

A Place for Us Greyhounds

My favorite thing to come out of the Florida Mid-Term elections was that people of Florida overwhelmingly voted to end greyhound racing in that state. As the tracks shut down, there will be a large number of hounds up for adoption. They are amazing creatures, and each one I've known has stolen my heart. If you have any inclination to get a pet/new family member, please consider one of these loving and quirky beasts.

Open Door Lubbock (Formerly The Carpenter's Church)

If you're local and you have a heart for helping the homeless rise out of homelessness, this group is accomplishing amazing things here in Lubbock.

Photos from the recent South Plains Wildlife Rehab Center Open House

My favorite place in Lubbock is the SPWRC. When they have an open house, I absolutely geek out and can't wait to see what they're up to and who they are rehabbing back to a life in the wild. This place rocks!

Sondra's Song - Lubbock

At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old dude, one place our society really sucks is in preparing young people to face the reality of being adults. And that problem is multiplied a hundredfold for kids who've grown up in the foster system. Sondra's Song is dedicated to helping foster kids as they "age out" get thrust out into the world.

Not-So-Local

World Bicycle Relief

If you're like me and believe that a bicycle can be a powerful tool for change, then check WBR out. The difference they are able to make with something so simple is astounding.

Other faves:

Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club, 350.org, the National Bike League, People for Bikes, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Please find someone in the world who is working to make the world a better place, and support them!

Sunday, November 25, 2018

Not quite Black (Dog) Friday this year...

...but still a great day!

Our Black Friday tradition the last few years has been to take the dogs to Caprock Canyons State Park for a hike. This year, though, we didn't have a whole day free, and my wife had to work in the morning. So I went for plan B - a morning mountain bike ride at Mae Simmons.

The parking lot was empty. My kind of Black Friday!

The prairie dogs were out in force - my kind of Black Friday crowds!

They had a lot to say about the guy on the bike.

Keep looking where you're going - not where you are.

Yep, the old commuter bike's not scared to go offroad.

As a bike dork who spends most of his bike time on the street, it's been a lot of fun to ride something challenging. It's nice to push my limits - in coordination, strength, and fear. I was able to ride all of the downhill stuff well enough. I walked the bike up about half of the uphill stuff. As much as I love the electric bike on the street, I'm happy not to have an electric mountain bike. The hill climbing gives me something to work for.

The morning's ride - a little under 4 miles

Picked up a big thorn - but the air stayed in!

The moral of this story, you don't have to go far to have an outdoor adventure, to avoid the Black Friday shoppers, and to burn off some of those potatoes and pumpkin pie!

May you get outside and enjoy the world while not breaking the bank account.