Foust Law Office April 2019

Foust Law Office April 2019

APRIL 2019 THE

COMMUNITY CONSCIENCE

TEENS, EXERCISE, AND GOAL SETTING

Raising kids can be a challenging endeavor. When Heather and I married in 2013, she agreed to take on not only a husband but also two boys: Andrew, 12, and Chandler, 11. The boys are now 17 and 18 years old and face growing up in a world very different from the one Heather and I knew when we were teenagers. We are far from perfect parents, but we do our best. Our newsletter chronicles some of our successes and some of our less-than-stellar moments. We hope you can learn from some of our failures and find some entertainment in the moments we share.

WE ARE THE CULMINATION OF OUR HABITS

school (unaccompanied) builds self-esteem. This one life habit will have a positive impact on your child’s physical and mental health. Andrew and Chandler are fortunate enough to be at a stage in their lives where goal setting is just par for the course. Thanks to an excellent weight training program by Shawn Beckett, Andrew and Chandler have clear goals and a program that keeps them on track. This is something that is easy to take for granted, and I hope they continue these habits into adulthood. Heather and I hope to provide a good example, even if it means reassessing our own physical condition on occasion. Wanting to serve as a good role model and hoping to shed a few of these unwanted pounds, I have decided to take on another goal this year, the Missoula Half Marathon. If this newsletter does not make it to you in July, it may be because I am somewhere alongside the road in Missoula.

four marathons in four years. However, I have since fallen out of shape, and the exercise I have been getting lately has been limited to running up and down the court as a high school basketball official. What in the world has happened? I suspect what happened is the same thing that has happened to the 1 in 5 children in this country who are obese. I have fallen out of the habit of regularly exercising. I attribute this loss of habit to a lack of concrete goals. Without goals, we do not develop the habits necessary to stay fit and, instead, end up floating along aimlessly like a ship without a rudder. One thing that has changed since I was a kid is how few children walk to school now. According to Howstuffworks.com , in 1969, 48 percent of kids in the U.S. walked or biked to school. Around 88 percent of children living less than a mile from school either walked or biked. Today, only 13 percent of kids in the U.S. walk to school. In addition to the thousands of calories your kids will burn over the course of a year, Verywellfamily.com notes that walking to

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of children and adolescents affected by obesity in the U.S. has more than tripled since the 1970s. However, this alarming statistic should come as little surprise given our own difficulty with the battle of the bulge. I wish I could offer you some easy fix to weight loss or leading a healthy life style. However, I would be lying to you if I did, and writing this article has me questioning what kind of role model I want be for Andrew and Chandler. I appreciate the opportunity to let you reflect on my own less-than-stellar physical condition. As I am writing this article, I am 15 pounds heavier than I would like and 30 pounds heavier than the man who finished the Buenos Aires Marathon with a personal best time of 4 hours and 11 minutes on October 10, 2010. The only way I remember this date is that it was 10/10/10. I finished two more marathons after Buenos Aires, one in Sydney, Australia, and my last one in Malibu, California in 2012. From 2009–12, I finished

- Lucas Foust

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Dancing to Bring the Rain The History and Cultural Significance of Native American Rain Dances

While traditions and dances vary between Native American tribes, many of them feature rain dances. Because water is essential to life, and because many tribes lived in agrarian societies, these dances were important rituals, pleas for the survival of the tribe for another season. These dances have existed for hundreds of years, and many tribes still perform them today. Rain dances are notably common in the Southwestern U.S., where the dry climate means water is scarce and every bit of rainfall is essential for survival. Generally, rain dances are performed to ask the spirits or gods to send rain for the crops. Tribes such as the Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, and Mojave perform rain dances often. An old Cherokee legend says that the rain is filled with the spirits of past chiefs, and the rain is an indication of their battle with evil spirits beyond the natural world. One interesting fact about rain dances is that both men and women—not just men—participate in the ceremony. Dancers wear special regalia, sometimes including headdresses, masks, body paints, and jewelry. What is worn varies from tribe to tribe, but turquoise is very important in rain dances for many tribes and is often incorporated into the jewelry. The rain dance regalia is not worn at any other point or for any other purpose during the year, and participants dance in a zigzag pattern, unlike all other dances, which feature a circular motion.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the U.S. government was relocating Native Americans all over the country, they banned the practice of many ceremonial dances on reservations, sometimes including rain dances. However, rain dances continued undercover: Native Americans simply performed the ritual as a different, unbanned ceremony. The dances and the traditions continued, and today many tribes still perform rain dances, even if only in reverence for their heritage.

Running: A Love Story Use Cues to Create a Running Habit

social (linked to a particular group of people). So if you want to create a running habit, develop prompts that will cue you to engage in it. For example, you can use temporal cues to make a habit of running every day after work, or you can make it a necessary step in your routine: Wake up, brush teeth, coffee, run, shower. Documenting how you feel after a run will help your mind link the good feelings it gives you to the action, which will then cue the habit. Next time your drinking buddies suggest happy hour, suggest a run instead. Maybe they’ll even pick up the habit.

For seasoned runners, that sweet call of serotonin might be enough to lace up their sneakers week after week, but the rest of us might need a little more convincing. Research into the psychology of habit formation, which has allowed companies like Procter & Gamble tomake millions, has found that habits are often linked to a specific cue. Calling on the insight of psychologists, marketing campaigns have used this tactic to sell products like Febreze, and you can use some of the same techniques to adopt a running habit. Most cues fall into one of four categories: temporal (linked to a specific location or time of day), action-based (one of a series of actions), emotional (linked to a mood or emotion), or

Since the ‘70s, devotees have referred to the elusive rush of euphoria they feel during and right after a run as a “runner’s high.”Your friend who claims to “love” running despite how exhausted she looks at the finish line of her 10K might be experiencing the effects of this phenomenon. This post-workout boost has long been linked to a rush of endorphins entering the brain, but a recent study from researchers in Germany suggests that a more likely cause is an increased production of serotonin and other feel- good neurotransmitters. Because of these physiological effects, running may help to improve your body’s ability to stand up to stress while also making you feel good.

Go on now. Let running sweep you off your feet!

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Considering the stress of combat, it’s no wonder military dogs tend to be tough breeds known for their size and strength. German shepherds, boxers, and various bully breeds are well-acquainted with the battlefield. But in WorldWar II, the most famous military dog weighed only 4 pounds and stood a mere 7 inches tall. Smoky the Yorkshire Terrier wasn’t exactly what most people associated with Shakespeare’s “let slip the dogs of war,” but her small size is part of what made her such a hero. In 1944, after being discovered beside a foxhole in the jungles of New Guinea, Smoky met Corporal William A. Wynne, an American soldier from Cleveland, Ohio. The two quickly became inseparable, and she stayed by Wynne’s side the entire time he was stationed in the South Pacific. Smoky is credited with going on 12 combat missions, surviving 150 air raids, parachuting 30 feet, and earning eight battle stars. Smoky’s sensitive hearing allowed her to alert Wynne and other soldiers of incoming air raids. Smoky’s most famous act of heroism occurred when she went where no man could go at an air base at Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. The engineers needed help, so Wynne tied a strand of telephone wire to her collar and Smoky ran through a 70-foot-long pipe in a matter of minutes. Without Smoky, it would have taken three days to lay the wire. Her work kept over 250 ground crewmen and 40 fighter and reconnaissance planes out of danger from enemy bombings. Smoky the WorldWar II Canine Hero Yorkie Doodle Dandy

In addition to saving lives on the battlefield, Smoky is also considered to be the first recorded therapy dog. She learned a number of tricks to cheer up troops and would visit injured soldiers at the hospital in New Guinea. After WorldWar II, Smoky andWynne visited veteran hospitals across the United States. “Corporal” Smoky lived for another 10 years after the war before dying on Feb. 21, 1957, at approximately 14 years old. Wynne would go on to write a memoir about his time with Smoky titled “Yorkie Doodle Dandy.” Almost 50 years after her death, a life-sized bronze statue of Smoky was erected at her final resting place in Lakewood, Ohio. Her statue is dedicated to the bravery of all war dogs, and it is a reminder that heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

Take a Break!

OPENING DAY HAMBURGERS INGREDIENTS

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1 pound ground chuck, 80 percent lean 4 soft, white hamburger buns, split

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4 small leaves iceberg lettuce 4 1/4-inch thick yellow onion slices 1 teaspoon vegetable oil Salt and pepper, to taste Condiments of your choice

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4 1/4-inch thick tomato slices

12–16 pickle rounds

DIRECTIONS

1. Lightly grease a small

desired doneness, about 1 more minute per side for medium-rare, 2 more per side for medium-well.

nonstick skillet with oil. Heat over medium-high. 2. While heating, gently shape meat into four patties 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Be careful to handle the meat as little as possible to prevent tough burgers. Season liberally with salt and pepper. 3. Sear patties on each side, about 1 minute per side. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking until

4. Let meat rest for a minimum of 3 minutes. 5. To assemble, place patty on bottom bun and top with tomato, pickles, lettuce, and onion (in that order). Spread condiments on top half of bun and place on top of onion. Serve.

SOLUTION ON PAGE 4

Inspired by foodnetwork.com

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Foust Law Office

PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

www.lucasfoustlaw.com 406-587-3720 Fax: 406-879-4400

3390 South 30th Avenue Bozeman, MT 59718

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Kids and Exercise: The Unseen Benefits PAGE 1 The Importance of Rain to the Survival of Cultures PAGE2 Use Cues to Create a Running Habit PAGE 2 Never Judge a Dog by Her Size PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Opening Day Hamburgers PAGE 3

SOLUTION

3 Great Opening Days in Baseball PAGE 4

PEANUTS AND CRACKER JACKS The Best Opening Days in Baseball History

Baseball’s opening day has been an American holiday of sorts since the Cincinnati Red Stockings threw out the first major league pitch in 1869. To celebrate the start of the 150th season of professional baseball, here are three of the best opening days in baseball history.

A NEW BEGINNING

On April 15, 1947, an opening-day game changed the course of Major League Baseball. On this day, Jackie Robinson started for the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African-American player to start for a major league baseball team. Robinson’s historic showing was lackluster, going 0-for-3 at the plate and making a solid showing on the infield at first base, but his mere presence in a Dodgers uniform had already broken history. Despite his nationally-recognized skills — Robinson was named MVP of the MLB farm team league in 1946 — the backlash that followed his rise to the pros, both from fans and teammates, was palpable. Still, as well-known sportscaster Howard Cosell said, “Suddenly, it was a new beginning.”

for the 1927 Yankees, whose players would go on to make up baseball’s famous “Murderers’ Row.”With sluggers like Lou Gehrig, Earle Combs, Babe Ruth, Mark Koenig, Bob Meusel, and Tony Lazzeri, it’s no wonder this team went on to win its fifth championship that year.

THE HAMMER TIES BAMBINO

For decades, no one could match George Herman Ruth. The Great Bambino’s all-time home run record seemed like an impossible feat of strength — that is, until Henry “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron came along. On opening day, April 4, 1974, Aaron smashed his 714th homer, tying Babe Ruth for the most home runs ever hit and extending the Atlanta Braves’ shutout lead over the Cincinnati Reds. A few weeks later, Aaron surpassed Ruth’s record, prompting a standing ovation from the crowd.

LOU, COMBS, AND BABE — OH MY!

Considered one of the best teams in baseball history, the 1927 New York Yankees started their historic run and 25th season by dismantling the Philadelphia Athletics with a score of 8–3. The slugfest was true to form

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