go west young man

And so it starts.  The long trek towards CO.  Of course it had to snow at the lake the night before i left.  No snow really until December.  And then it started.  The roads were snow packed.  And this song came on the radio as i pulled through Empire for the last time.

First stop was Chicago for a couple nights. And it snowed for the first time there too.  The snow is chasing us westward.  Tonite we're in Iowa City for a short stopover.  And on to Denver tomorrow.  Our season starts now.  Let the gnar fall...

30 for 30...

For a long time i was worries about turning the big 3-0.  Where did my 20s go?  It's been a fun 10 years... but i think that the next 10 will be even more fun.  Would i want to even be 20 again?  Not really... i'm over that.  It was fun.  It was crazy.  I'm ready for a little direction and stability.  Not saying my 30s won't be fun and crazy.  Just at a higher level of existence.  The adventures will get better.  The gnar will be taken to the gnarth power... gnar to the gnar. 

At dinner with my parents i was mistaken for someone in high school.  I'd say that's a pretty good start to being 30.  The baby face that plagued me in high school now is a good problem to have.  And as my uncle put it... any year you have a birthday is a good one.  And hope for another the next year.  And this coming from a guy in his late 60s going on his late 20s.  A kid at heart... and always has been.  An adult.  A goofball.  And totally awesome.  So now come my 30s... bring it!  GNAR!

Thanks to everyone that made the weekend amaizing! 

PS- rule 1: for every article of neon clothing you wear... subtract 1 year.  I think i'll be a teenager for quite some time...

oh the possibilities...

It's amazing the difference a day makes. A week. A month. The seasons change and so do we. Things that once seemed like dreams now become reality. Far off lands become a little closer. Reality starts to settle in.

Yesterday i left whiteout conditions and soon i'll be in almost summer-like weather. I probably didn't need to pack a sweater. I did pack boardshorts though... never leave home without 'em! So excited to see the wee ones, if only for a brief moment. They may enjoy the time we spend playing together, but they'll never realize what it really means to me. I wonder if my aunts and uncles felt this way. The reality is the girls won't remember a thing but perhaps the feeling. Memories of childhood can be fuzzy but the feelings associated are crystal clear. I plan on making theirs ahhhsome.

Oh the changes they've made in all our lives. Just when you think you know everything, a 2yo comes along and shows you purity. She already knows what gnar is. Unreal. I wonder what they'll teach me next...

let the fun begin...

Finally the time has come for a new beginning.  Gone are the days of yore.  Ahead are the days to explore.  The time has come to see what the world has to offer.  To see new places and experience new things.  You can't help but be giddy and apprehensive all at the same time.  It is the unknown.  But even then there is a sense of security in knowing that fate has your back.  Soon enough life will begin to fall into place...

t-minus 1 day...

This era is almost over.  Starting tomorrow i leave behind this chapter and start a new one.  Just the thought of that makes me so excited.  After years of trudging through the muck it is time to set myself free.  No more holding back.  No more pondering.  Now is the time to act and move forward.  I can't wait to start... the gnar lies ahead of me!

the snowman cometh...

The smell is in the air.  Ok, maybe not the air back here in michigan, ok, maybe a little here too.  While i can't see it, i can smell it.  The smell of snow.  The crisp air.  The hair in your nostrils freezing.  The senses come rushing back.  You think you smell it around every corner.  Wait, there it is.  You can hear the sound of snow crunching under your feet as you walk down a sidewalk in 50deg weather.  The chill of the wind has a warming effect on your heart.  For we long to be out in the cold bringing the heat.  While our bodies lie firmly in the city, our minds and hearts have already left for the mountains.  We long for that time, that date when they come back together again.  Gnar!

marginally thrilled...

I think there is something about the 80s that is absolutely ridiculous.  The neon.  The fashions.  The piano-key necktie.  The mullets.  I was born.  All ridiculous in their own ways.  And perhaps my perspective is that of a reactionary child glossing over the good memories of childhood but just thinking about the 80s makes me smile.  I love it.  Especially the ski fashions...

Love it, or hate it, the 80s were a reaction to the doldrums of the 70s.  We we're finally out of war.  It makes me wonder what reaction the US will have once these wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are finally over.  Will we rage again?  Will we get nutty?  Or will we just keep being ourselves?  Maybe this time we'll have the MP3 necktie.

You have to admit that the ski industry is in it's own little world when it comes to fashion.  It consists of a bunch of people with a singular focus: to make turns.  Whether that person be a ski bum making just enough money to support a lifestyle that allows constant trips up the chairlift or an investment banker getting away from his high stress job for a long weekend at his ski chalet, we all have this illness.  We're all stricken with the search for gnar.  The search for happiness.  Our fashions are a reaction to our state of mind.  In happier times we wear brighter colors.  When we're sad we wear darker colors.  I propose a new standard of living: be awesome instead.  When you're happy wear bright colors.  When you're sad, wear bright colors to make yourself smile and in turn be happy.  In the famous words of Barney Stinson, 'when i get sad, i stop being sad and be awesome instead.  True story.'