Ghost Train RadioThat Halloween of Nights
I missed my flight
I was given a second chance
A Faustian Bargain
One I just couldn't pass
I took that path
That had a glimmer of light
I was scared
In that Halloween of Nights
I walked amongst
The quick and the dead
I was the quick
They were the dead
Its as if they sung
A hymn just for me
"Carry on my wayward son,
Time is nigh for thee"
That day of the dead
Turned the corner for me
I heard their song
From six feet deep
Don't look back
No time to waste
Do what's right
Do it in haste
I was supposed to get on a plane bound for Honolulu for a company off site. Covid hadn’t really completely gone, but SFO was a total mess. The gates were crammed and people were missing flights. United and other airlines were totally overwhelmed like I have never seen before. I think it was the pent up demand as people assumed we were in post Covid days.
I was 30 pounds heavier than I am today. I missed my flight because I was so overweight that I couldn’t run fast enough when they changed boarding gates in a completely different section of the terminal. My right leg was in terrible pain. I was sweating profusely. I had never felt so pathetic in my life.
I usually love Halloween but last year it seemed like hell.
I got home and for some reason decided to take my camera and go to Martinez – to an old pioneer cemetery. It was closed, but an old Italian Catholic Cemetery across the road and up an unbelievably steep hill was open.
I walked every inch of it and had great fun taking pictures. It was a foggy day and dark for mid to late October. But it was a miracle too.
That was when I decided I would lose the weight. I also was able to book having my right knee replaced. They had been so over booked that I had problems scheduling it, but was persistent and got the call late November or early December. I had my right knee replaced January 10th of this year. I had my left knee replaced last May 10th.
Since then I have lost 30 pounds and have 10 to go to get to what I consider my first seriously major goal. I will no doubt keep going as I just upped my exercise level now that my right knee is strong enough. I lost a lot of weight even after surgery when I couldn’t exercise much. But I pushed myself much harder than after the first knee replacement, when I babied myself
It was a true Martinez Miracle – maybe Halloween is now even more dear to me. I am sure the dead were telling me to Seize The Day!
Ghost Train Radio 