Discovery Channel Catch-up for the last 18 months

I haven't posted for a LONG time for a LOT of different reasons and not sure that will really change but just to document a bullet list of the high and low points of my life for the last 18 months, here goes:

• December 2017 - March 2018: Had intense lower back pain to the point of being somewhat crippled. Previously had an X-ray in Houston in August 2016 which showed severe spinal stenosis - aka - arthritic deterioration of all the lumbar joints from L2 - S1 with the worst at the L4-L5 vertebrae.  Had an MRI in February 2018 and made a special trip to the same back specialist at the Fondren Orthopedic Group in Houston and he said I needed an L4-L5 fusion procedure. Came back to Santa Fe and had another back specialist look at the MRI and he said the same thing.  Oh and I also had a quarter sized Synovial Cyst at that same L4 - L5 site which was pushing on the nerve root and spinal cord causing the pain and paralysis.  After reviewing the specifications of an L4 - L5 fusion procedure with the recovery time in a back brace for 3 months, I decided NO FUCKING WAY - I'll do this shit myself - not the surgery but figure out how to fix it the Discovery way which of course means going backpacking.  So I spent the month of February trying out my old backpacking gear and then deciding to buy and use some new, modern semi-ultralight gear. On March 23, 2018, I had an ESI - Epidural Steroid Injection - basically a cortisone injection to the spine - by Dr Shelby Bennett at X-Ray Associates. 3 days later....
• March 26, 2018 - September 29, 2018: Did the Continental Divide Trail from the Mexican border at Crazy Cook, NM through New Mexico and through Colorado to Steamboat Springs, CO. Then skipped up to Montana and did the Montana / Canadian border south to Lincoln, MT. I did it about a 400 - 500 mile section at a time coming back to my home in Santa Fe NM to work for a few days and prep / dehydrate my own food - pork loin, sweet potato, other veggies, fuji apple, pineapple, etc. and pack the next section's food and supplies and shipping it to the post office or lodging where I would come off the trail every 100 miles or so.  156 days on the trail and 1900 miles later and my back was cured.  Hardest thing I've ever done physically, mentally and emotionally. Totally alone backpacking the most beautiful scenic trail in the US and arguably the World.  To date, the greatest Discovery adventure of all time.
• September 30, 2018 - March, 2019: Came back to the Real World and tried the Bumble dating thing which was an unmitigated disaster. Also found out I had no work from my former employer so went into what I call "Income Crisis" budget mode which basically means I cut my budget to the bare minimum. Lived cheaper than I ever have in my life. During this time, started doing a LOT of research, reading, YouTube video viewing on diet, nutrition, longevity, life extension, etc. and started a "modified" clean Keto eating plan which consisted of about 50% fat, 35% protein, 15% carbs based on calories. Also started intermittent fasting / time restricted eating which means I would only eat between 2 pm - 7 pm every day so would fast anywhere from 18 -  23 hours between meals. Terms / concepts / body mechanisms like Insulin Resistance, Autophagy, Ketosis, etc. became a daily routine of pursuing my lifetime passion of good food, intense exercise and improved health and well being based on the latest and greatest research studies and practical application by people like Dr Eric Berg, Dr. Rhonda Patrick, Siim Land, Thomas DeLauer, etc.  Dropped weight from 186 lbs to 175 lbs with a corresponding decrease in bodyfat level and increase in strength and fitness.
• April 2019 - date: The whole eating plan / nutrition / exercise cycle continued with my weight dropping to a Summer 2014 previous low of 165 with a minimum bodyfat level of 5%.  Best physical shape I've ever been in. Also the work / income drought ended.  As noted in the previous post, my Dad died on 5/3/19 and I was named as Executor and have been spending a lot of time dealing with that.  Based on research on injury rate vs low bodyfat level and partly just needing a break from the strict regimen I had been on for the last 6 months, I increased my calories from 2000 - 2500 per day to 2500 to 3000 per day and brought my weight up to 170 lbs which seems to be a good compromise between low body fat level, energy and strength and endurance.  Unlike every other summer since I've been in Santa Fe which has been compromised by trips back to Texas for surgeries, work and of course, 2018, when I was on the CDT, I decided to just relax and stay in Santa Fe this summer and enjoy the Plaza Bandstand and other live music / dancing venues. My personal life and personal views of Santa Fe haven't really changed. In fact, I am more isolated than ever. I sleep, cook, eat, work out, go out and dance by myself. I've tried to make connections in Santa Fe but it just hasn't worked which is fine.  I've pretty much decided I will live the rest of my life alone and I am good with that. I have created a pretty good, simple life and lifestyle for myself and really have nothing to complain about.

So - there you go - now you know what's been happening in the.....

Discovery Zone.

The Life and Times of William Byrd Miller aka Bill Miller

Let's see.... how do I introduce this post especially given that I haven't posted in a while - which is kind of a story in and of itself.

Let me keep this simple and straightforward.

My Dad - William Byrd Miller - aka Bill Miller - died May 3, 2019. He was 91 years old.

About a year and a half ago, he gave me a hand-written transcript of his life biography.

After reading it thoroughly several times, I set down with him with his life story and asked him many questions of clarification, detail and curiosity.

What resulted was the following record of my Dad's life which I read at his funeral service.

Frankly, it explains or at least gives some context, for why he was the way he was - and I mean the Good and the Bad and the Ugly.

I'm glad that he chose to share it with me and that I was able to share time with him about his life and that I can bring the final result of our sharing to you.

The Life and Times of William Byrd Miller

These are the notes that compose the life chronology and story of William Byrd Miller – Bill Miller – this is Bill’s autobiography.

This record is transcribed from a manuscript handwritten by Bill Miller and delivered to his son, William B. Miller Jr, on or about 12/15/17.

Parts of this record are from handwritten notes taken by William B Miller Jr. on the manuscript provided by Bill Miller.

Beginning of Autobiographical Manuscript Transposition:

My Father was Virgil Allen Miller who died at 39 years of age.

My Mother was Hattie Miller who died at 81.

I was the 7^th child and the 6^th and youngest boy.

I had 1 sister younger than myself, Virgie.

I was born into a family of 8 children in Newton County, Texas on the Old Wiley Newton Place. I was the son of a tenant farmer. I lived in an old farm house with a dog trot through the middle of it. All bedrooms were on the left side of the house. There was no bathroom and no plumbing but plenty of air holes providing natural air conditioning.

My family, as I remember was my mother, father, sister and 5 brothers.  We farmed and raised Cheshire hogs, milk cows, mules and horses. We had no machinery – everything was horse-driven. We had fruit trees and a garden with peas, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, corn and a few watermelons, mush melons and onions. We smoked our own meat and killed and ate wild game.

My father worked part-time for the lumber company driving a shay – a piston type locomotive that hauled logs on rail cars to the mills.

But to keep our family fed, my father made moon shine, that is, illegal whisky aka “White Lightning”. I was told his White Lightning was the Best in the County. The Sheriff even bought from him. The County Law didn’t bother him about this. They knew my dad was caring for his family. The County Law would warn him of an upcoming raid by the Revenuers – the Feds.

My father would move his still deeper into the woods and let them destroy his old one. He would bury the moonshine in quarts and gallons near the house and dig them up when they were to be sold.  This provided enough cash money to buy a new Model T and to take vacations as far away as San Antonio, Tx to the Zoo.

But this all came to an end with his drowning death in 1929 when I was only 2 years old. My brothers were 16, 14, 12, 8 and 6 and my sister was 10 years old.  My younger sister had not yet been born.  I only remember barrels of peas, plenty of milk, fruit and meats.

After my father’s death in 1929, the bottom fell out of Life for me and my family. Without revenue and management, we hit the bottom.  Everything was lost. I moved to Newton with my brother, Willie, who worked for pennies at the box factory. We built a shack in the woods from discards from the box factory. It had no floor and was one room with a kitchen, kerosene lamps and an outhouse. Starvation set in.

After 2 years of this, my mother and brother, Willie, working at the box factory, could not feed us. One brother, Reuben, went to live in town with the man at the service station. Another brother left with the skating rink that came through town and a 3^rd brother, Ernest, shined shoes. Another worked on cars and Clyde, along with old Nell, the one-eyed mule, worked clearing land for room and board + 50 cents a day. Both sisters stayed home with Mama and me.

I started to school at 6 in Newton. At the end of the school year, May 1933, Mama left me on a street corner by the Post Office. The Postman took me to my Aunt Maude and Uncle Polly. I stayed with them all summer. They brought me back to Newton at the last of August and my brother, Willie, took me home with him and I lived with Willie and a widow woman with a girl.

Then I moved to my other brother, Reuben’s house.  He took me to Mr. Mayer’s house on the creek that fall.

Mr. Mayer bought 40 acres on the Railroad tracks. He had started clearing land, using the trees to split for rail fences. I carried water from the spring to the house. The house was constructed of logs. There was a fireplace and a barn and a zig zag rail fence with interlocking ends around the property.

At 65 years old, Mr. Mayer man married an 18-year old girl named Bessie. He played fiddle and grew and harvested his own tobacco. He bought 300 chickens and I got one.  I came down with malaria and got a hernia at 7 years old from carrying 3-gallon water buckets from the Spring to the house. In addition, every day, I walked 2 miles to school.

One day, Mr. Mayer whipped me badly because I was late getting home from school because I stopped to watch a man breaking wild horses. I never went home again.

The next day I went home with Mrs. Lindsay, the school teacher and Lawyer’s wife. Mr. Lindsay, the lawyer, looked like Abe Lincoln – 6’6” with a small waist. It was a totally new environment. Mrs. Lindsay became the School Principal and Mr. Lindsay became a governor-appointed District Judge. Mr. Lindsay wrote a letter to the Miller family relatives in Luling asking permission to adopt me because he and his wife couldn’t have kids. I was guaranteed a full college education in the letter.

Instead of this dream life to be, I was taken away to Luling, Texas the next June by my Uncles David and Vincent Miller, sister Pearl and Grandma. Grandma Miller denied the lawyer’s request to adopt me because she didn’t want my name to be changed but she didn’t have room for me to live with her, so I went to live with my Uncle Ed and Aunt Jamie with their 3 children.

Things got better again and then bad because Uncle Ed lost his job. I went back to Grandma’s, but she couldn’t take care of me, so then I went to Jack Weeks in Pettis, Tx.  Then I went to Aunt Lee for a while in Freer, Tx at a Humble Oil Camp. At that point, I was in 4^th grade. Then I went back to Grandma’s.

Next, I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Wadsworth. He worked for Magnolia Oil. I stayed with them for a year and completed 5^th grade. They had 2 daughters but no son and wanted to adopt me also. They were great people, Assembly of God Christians. I joined the church and was baptized in the San Marcos River in Luling, Texas. The 2^nd adoption request was also refused.

Following the refusal of the 2^nd adoption request, I went back to Grandma’s. I was taken to Sister Pearl’s who was married to a man named Harold Ammons. Then, I was moved to brother Clyde’s. Then I moved to brother Willie’s house in Fannett, Tx.

At that point, I was 13 years old and graduated 7^th grade. I moved to Beaumont in 1940 and went to Amelia School for 8^th grade and lived with oldest brother, Clyde again. After that, I went to Catholic School with the neighbors.

My brothers, Reuben and Clyde moved to South Texas and I went to Fairfield, Illinois with my sister Pearl and her husband, Harold to help with Pearl’s babies – 6 months, 2 years and 3 years old. I stayed with them 2 years and completed 10^th and 11^th grade.

Then I moved back to Beaumont and lived with brother Willie to finish high school at Beaumont High at 17 years old. Following graduation, I went back to Illinois to live with sister Pearl and went to work in the oil field at 18. I stayed there for 2 years and was called to the service and failed the test because of a broken arm that was still in a sling from an oil field accident.  The war ended shortly after that.

I came back to Luling in 1947 and stayed about a year and a half. I worked in the oil patch at 21 years old and got oil poisoning which resulted in 125 boils and a carbuncle on my body.

I met a woman named Geraldine and rejoined the Assembly of God Church. I heard wedding bells, but it fell through. I left never to return. I wanted to go to college but could not pass the Army tests for the 2^nd time.

I went back to Beaumont and remained there. I did a variety of jobs including carpenter work, working on oil trucks, working at a service station and for the propane company as a service man in 1949.

I met my first wife, Viola, in 1951 and we were married within 2 weeks. I was 23 years old.

The first 5 years of marriage, we followed the Oil Rigs all over Texas. I had another accident on a Rig and quit the job and went to work for National Linen Service as a Route Salesman for 2 years. I quit that job and went to work for Lance Crackers for 18 months. I went back to National Linen Service and worked there until 1977 when I was 50 years old.

I then worked for Texas Commerce Bank until 1992 and retired.

I was divorced from Viola in 1994 and married to Mary that same year.

Mary died in 2008 and I married Diane in 2011.

As I mentioned earlier, my mother left me in 1933, but the family found her in 1964 along with my younger sister, Virgie.

I spent my retirement years continuing to work doing mowing and general maintenance work and doing the things I love most – gardening, hunting and fishing.

I worked hard and played hard everyday of my life and left a legacy of hard work and independence that is an example for my kids and the rest of the world of a life lived well.

I appreciate all of you being here to celebrate my Life and my Death.

My name is Bill Miller and this was my Life.