Monday, April 22nd, 2069 – Musician M Ryan Taylor passed away last Thursday after a hiking incident. Taylor and his wife of 68 years were celebrating his 97th birthday with a day hike to Sunset Peak above the Brighton Lakes. Taylor slipped and fell on the descent and passed away shortly thereafter. He is survived by his wife, Dixie, three children, 12 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
In his early life, Taylor was involved with many arts projects, including being a co-founder for the Salty Cricket Composers Collective in Salt Lake City, founding the Utah Midwinter Song Festival, performing in and producing local opera and art song concerts, participating in musical theatre productions, conducting choirs, and composing art song, choral works, opera, chamber opera, and other works. However, his career didn’t really get a jump start until after the summer of 2010 when Taylor took a hiatus from arts work to focus on his long-term health with an extended hiking tour of northern Utah.
Taylor wrote about his experiences and change of attitude toward health in Classical Singer magazine, adopting the philosophy that health was not something that was “achieved” but that was lived on a day-to-day basis. He vowed to “stop looking for an easy solution” and made biking and hiking a long-term love affair, starting with a “travel by bike” singing tour in 2011, where Taylor sang original works at universities and residences, biking to each destination between performances.
It was at this time that Taylor laid the groundwork for Micropolis.us, a national singer-composer collective devoted to the creation and performance of “micro operas,” or operas that are easily self-produced by singers in traditional and non-traditional performance environments. This created a centralized resource for emerging singers and composers to hone their skills, gain performance experience, and grow the audience for traditional opera as well. Taylor also . . . .
I’ll keep the rest of my fantasies about the future to myself for now. The point is, I’m dreaming and seriously thinking about things that a year ago I would have thought hopelessly challenging. Foremost among these is the idea that I might actually make it to my 97th birthday and not die of a massive coronary heart attack at something like 52. After all, I’ve lost another 13 lbs. this month, weighing in this morning at 347. That totals 77 lbs. lost so far. Though I’ve got a long way to go still, I think there’s reason now for fostering some new dreams.
I’ve remained consistent with the biking, though it has moved indoors due to the weather. To make this time pass more quickly (it is kind of boring on an indoor bike) and be more productive, I’ve turned my cup holder into a laptop stand. This way I can do research or write during my bike time.
My cross-training with Pilates has been more sporadic, but I’m going to make a concentrated effort to get it in three times a week in the coming month, as I have noticed an increase in both flexibility and core strength from what I have done so far.
My relationship with food is going well. I was able to avoid a major Thanksgiving setback by limiting myself to one plate of dinner items and a sampling of pies. I have twice indulged in a pastry at Gourmandise, a wonderful artisan bakery in Salt Lake City, before my last two concert engagements—yet, as long as I’m back to eating simple, whole foods the next day, there doesn’t seem to be much of a lasting effect. In this cold weather, I’ve switched from salad to soup as my lunch of choice and still rely on nuts, fruits, and vegetables as basic staples. I continue to track my food and exercise at www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/mryantaylor (a free tool).
Baking has been a love of mine since childhood, which may account for a small part of my former problems. It’s not something I really want to give up in the long run, so I’ve been occasionally stepping into the kitchen as an experimental baker. I’ve discovered that nut and seed flours make a very reasonable and nutritious alternative to wheat flour in recipes, and dates (which are loaded with nutrients) work wonderfully as a sweetener. With those revelations and my handy food processor, I’ve managed to craft successful (as in delicious) versions of fudge brownies (which my wife repeatedly requests), spice cake, and pumpkin pie bars. Each of these I feel comfortable with as part of my regular meals, as they are made from whole foods and are nutritionally sound.
Enjoy and dream big.
