The Second Half

Back to life, back to reality...

After a 3-night hiatus in Tucson with family, I am back at work this week - yup, I'm working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It's not a big deal - Lyza is with her Mom for Christmas and now that we had a chance to catch up with family, working this week feels pretty normal.

Up at 4:45am this morning, drove to the base of the Snowbowl, and snowshoed up again. This time I took a longer route. 1.5 hour hike up, and 6 minutes to get down - I took my time since the hike hurt this morning. A couple of pitches were so steep, I was moving 3-6 inches at a time, and almost fell ass over tea kettle down the slope. It was a full moon, temps were warm in the teens, and the sun just hit the horizon as I turned my board downhill. My camera wouldn't even do it justice, so I'll bank the memory. I needed this bustout, after a few shitburgers the past couple of days.

1.) Of virtually no importance whatsoever, I believe I smashed my laptop screen by pushing the power seat button a little too much on the way home from Tucson. It's DONE - no screen left.
2.) Of huge importance, my Step-Mom is really hurting - she's resting comfortably on morphene - but she's struggling in her long fight with ovarian cancer.
3.) I can't even go into the 3rd one yet since I don't have all the details.

I had a great year in a lot of ways, but it just seems like things come crumbling down sometimes - all at once. Fortunately, I've learned a lot about resilience, persistence, and patience - ironically a lot of it from a 6 year old. F*ck - I'll need it to get through the next couple of months.

Hell - the Small Town Douche Bags are even falling down a bit. We may be down to 3 riders as one may have to bow out with a back injury. I guess in a sickly, suffering way I'm pretty psyched to bury myself into the ground Feb 15th in Tucson. I'd love to ride 100+ miles on that cactus filled dirt course - it would be great training for the real races that start in March.

I hope you have a warm, safe holiday season. Here's to a new slate for 2008. Personally, and politically (it's about time).