Final Post of 2017

HOPE

 A link to start off with - while you read. Click here and then return to the main page to read - Every body hurts.

Couldn't sleep - again.  There's a lot on my mind, so I thought this would be a good time to clear things up.

This past weekend was a complete wrap-up for the past year - in  a sense.  Cancer has played a significant roll and it started early in the year.  Turns out, about the same time my wife's mother was taking her final breaths in this life, a family very close to us was hit with a diagnosis that would prove to be equally devastating.  Saturday morning, I sat with literally many hundred others, paying a final tribute to a little soul and her family - that brought an entire valley together to promote hope.  Hope that a precious five year old would have a fighting chance to beat a diagnosis that was terminal.  It wasn't to be.  As I sat there, trying not to tremble with the emotion that filled my body, her father spoke to the congregation and explained; "Nobody is strong enough to do this before it happens.  You become strong as you go along and learn to fight it."  From my wife's mother, to a friend, to finally this.................  I've been searching within.

Last year I decided well before the season, to ride for Huntsman again.  In fact, well before this whole series of events started I reluctantly decided to do so.  My heart wasn't really in it from the get go.  Around the first of July, I was "mailing it in", all the time thinking this was a mistake.  Rides were not easy and I wasn't sure I could do it.  At that point it was all about "having to keep a commitment".  As I rode, I started to write again.  It was kind a reminder of why I started to do this in the beginning.  Then.............that day in August.  I recently went back and read the post for August 17.  With a few months perspective, I began to see what things were really all about - kind of.  I knew what was coming and it almost became clear - in the peripheral anyway.

Sometimes we don't know the reason, but we've got to be prepared.  The purpose may not be there, nor the desire to fight, but we've got to be prepared to pick up and take action when it comes.  "It", being that thing that may seem too big to over come - so overwhelming that there may not be any hope.  That is where it takes a hero - to restore hope.  And from hope, a little faith will follow.

We do hard things because we can - because we choose to do them.  There are those of us who have no choice and cannot.  Your own strength is of no value if you choose not to defend those that cannot defend themselves.  It is the strength of the individual that must come first, before there can be the collective muster of all.  It is that amalgamation of individual strength that will make a difference.  Simply relying on others can't do it.  At some point, we all have to face hard things and do them - because............there is no choice for somebody else.

After this weekend, I have no doubt; the purpose (the Porpoise) will continue.  I have no idea what the future has in store, but I know I have about nine months to prepare for another LOTOJA - and during that time I intend to make a difference.  My effort alone can't do it and I will need all the support I can get.  That said, I need to give it my all before I expect anyone else of giving.

Suck it up!  It's time to prepare - prepare for a fight!  Follow the link below & "tune-in" around April.

Follow this link for "Hope"

"The Porpoise" 2017

Winding Down

Going Back.......................

So................The season is getting late.  Since the last post, I've done a ton of riding on the mountain bike.  A week in Park City at the end of October provided some new trails, with the kids.  Some adventure rides for sure.  The local trails have been getting muddier with every storm.  Snow comes and melts, but then somebody thinks its smart to take horses up the greasy trails - bad combination. 

The above picture is from a little ride I had Thanksgiving afternoon.  This around a lake where I spent considerable time - 40 years ago.  The single-track was pretty greasy, but like the idiot I am, I had to keep driving.  Needless to say, I found out I'm strong enough to bend a ring on my bike.  All the same, it was a really nice get-away.  The place sure has changed in just the past five years.  It's hard to imagine what it was like 40 years ago.

40 years ago; a theme that seemed to resonate from way back early last winter.  Man, 1977 seems like last week, but it was literally a lifetime ago.  The summer before I started 9th grade.  That fall I dis-located my little finger on my left hand one week into the football season.  I couldn't play until the City championship game.  I couldn't use that finger to play guitar for nearly 20 years.  I had a great year hunting and bagged my first Swan.  I taught myself to play the tuba (Eb- base) at the request of my band teacher.  I found my first true love - skiing.  My first exposure to truth - Led Zeppelin IV.  I could go on, but it doesn't matter anymore.  Still, '77 was a pivotal year for me and it all seemed to resonate this past season.  Funny, as much as I thought I had found, I was equally lost.

There is something fundamental about riding my bikes - any of them.  For that time, everything kind of disappears out of my mind.  Because I ride alone almost all the time, my mind can clear and just enjoy the moment.  It's hard to explain, but as much as it may hurt, it still takes me to a place away from my troubles.  Looking back 40 years ago, that was just it; those troubles seem so insignificant and far away.  Life was good, regardless of the challenges.  On my bike............I can be 14 years old again.  I just have to work harder in the off-season.

If '77 was a good year, '78 was a banner.  It's hard to believe that all happened so along ago - to me.

The last post for the season will go later this week.  Time fly's..................

Ride Hard!  In my life.........Enjoy this one