Day 14: Marshall Mesa

Had a nice hike today with my favorite hiking partner, Sophie.  Just realized it was our first hike since the "bear" incident.  It was great getting out with my dog and camera.  Trying out my new Lowepro Toploading pack.  Great way to lug around my camera instead of the standard strap that would dig into my neck.  For anyone who hikes a lot and wants a more comfortable way to carry your camera, check out Lowepro.

Day 13: "And then what?..."

Had a great day today in Breckenridge, honing my snow boarding skills (don't laugh).  In addition to an awesome day of snow boarding I had the unexpected good fortune to listen in on a conversation while riding the lift up to Peak 7.  A little boy, probably five or six, was grilling his dad on the geological makeup of this fine planet.   He asked his dad about the different layers, what's below the snow, dirt.  What's below dirt, rocks, all the way down to the center of the earth.  At this point the son reversed the direction and moved up from rocks, dirt, snow.  It went something like this....

"What's above the snow?"

     "Air"

"And then what?"

     "The sky"

"And then what?"

     "Clouds"

"And then what?"

     "Space"

"And then what?"

     "Planets"

"And then what?"

    "More space"

"And then what?"

     "I don't know"

"You don't know?"

     "No.  Neither do the scientists"

"The scientists don't know?"

     "Well, they're not sure."

"Is it God?"

     "Ummm, Maybe.  I don't know."

Nothing more powerful and inspirational than the imagination of a child.

Day 12: Time...



Nothing really profound to share today.  Time has just been tickin' by.  The pocket watch you see belonged to my grandfather, Justice "Pa" Randolph.  I love the simple elegance of these old timekeepers.  There's a lot to be said for the styles of days past.  I don't know if it's because I've been watching too much "Mad Men" lately, but I miss the days of pocket watches, three piece suits, hats and a good scotch at the office.  Ok, maybe some of those things I didn't quite experience but I sure wish I had. 

Day 11: It seemed like a good idea....



I wonder if anyone has done an experiment, to see if it's more likely to sustain greater injury from attempting to keep oneself from slipping on snow or to just give into gravity and see what breaks. We just got another nice snow fall and while I was out there (wearing crocs) I thought I'd try to clear some of the white stuff away before it accumulated too much. So much for bright ideas.

As one might guess a big heave of the shovel, while wearing crocs, is a recipe for disaster. As my feet gave way under me, I instinctively tried to regain my balance. I'm sure it had something to do with not wanting to get covered in snow. My attempts to keep myself upright could only be described as a dance move Elaine Benes would be proud of. "Seinfeld" fans will get the reference. The result was that I didn't completely face plant into the snow however my knuckles were saddled with the responsibility of keeping this old man from becoming a human lawn dart. For those of you that know me, expletives were a-plenty. Not from the pain but from the embarrassment. And keeping with family tradition, no chore can be accomplished without the requisite bleeding.

I’d like to say I learned a lesson here, such as, it’s ok to get covered in snow, you’ll eventually dry off. Or consider using actual shoes with treads when working on slippery surfaces. Folks, I’m here to tell you I’ll probably do this again, and STILL be surprised by the results.

Day 10: Hidden Treasures...



...or is it just junk?  I was digging through my closet (in my man cave) looking for something in particular but having no luck.  Instead I ran across one of my "John's stuff" boxes and found all this random stuff I've collected over the years.  I found things in this box that go all the way back to when I was 5 years old.  Guess you can call me a sentimental pack rat. 

Why haven't I gotten rid of all this?  Well, a lot of it has stories, history about where I came from, what things I did.  I know there's a lot of worthless junk in there and I should just toss it. But I guess the one thing that keeps me from dumping this stuff is that maybe there will be a grandchild or great grandchild that might find this interesting.  Maybe he or she would be interested in know they had a relative that went to High School in Germany.  That he was a discus thrower, an Army officer, a harmonica player, a triathlete, among other things. 

It's also very likely all this stuff about me will be of no consequence to anyone long after I'm gone.  Doesn't matter one way or the other.  I know that I relish all the tidbits of information I can find on my relatives.  Things that would give me some insight into their personality, their dreams and ambitions.  Knowing the paths they've taken in life helps me to understand how I came to be where I am now. 

So, not that I'm planning on kicking the bucket any time soon, I should consider doing my daughters a favor and unload a lot of this stuff.  I can just hear them when the day comes... "What the HELL was he holding onto this crap for?!"  Well, girls, you wanted an inheritance.  :-)

Day 9: Sunset...



I've lived in California and Hawaii and have seen my fair share of sunsets but there's a lot to be said for a Colorado sunset.  As always, I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to capture moments like this.  They say in Colorado, "if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes".  That's so true. One minute you can have swirling clouds dancing around the sun and sky and the next minute it's crystal clear with just an orange/yellow ball blazing into your eyes.  Gotta keep that camera locked and loaded, ready to go at a moments notice.

Day 8: Perseverance...

This whole issue with my laptop is coming to a head.  I've been at it for several days now and I'm at the point that I'm moving all essential data to a backup drive and will try to run a recovery utility to save this machine.  I'm refusing to run to Geek Squad to pay $200 just to have them look at it before they actually do anything to fix it.  I will get through this.  The problem will be resolved.  I'm not about to give up now.

It's my opinion that a lot of folks have trouble with perseverance, trouble seeing things through to the end.  I think the problem with persevering is that for many it includes the option for quitting.  Removing that option makes persevering much easier.  It's a method I learned in the Army, a place where one is afforded very few if any real choices.  When ordered to perform a task, the Army never gave me an "out".  The task, condition and standard were all well defined and quitting was NEVER a condition of accomplishment.  What a blessing that was!  I didn't have to expend ANY energy on mulling over whether or not I should quit when the task became difficult.  The Army took away that option.  At that point I could focus all my energies on getting the mission accomplished.  It's a habit I've continued to indulge long after I hung up the uniform.  Simply put, quitting is a distraction.

I'm sure you might be thinking this is a rather unhealthy way of doing things.  I'm not suggesting that we exercise this absolutism to everything we do in life.  We obviously shouldn't endure through poisonous situations like bad relationships or bad jobs, things that could be deemed physically or emotionally unhealthy for us.  But Perhaps the trouble some of us have is over committing, promising too much to ourselves and to others.  It's the primary reason I don't commit to much.  But what I do commit to, I do so unconditionally.

So let me leave you with one suggestion - commit to what is truly important to YOU and let go of everything else.  Hang on to what defines you and commit to it with total resolve.