First bike ride of 2011

I decided to go on my first bike ride of 2011 since the snow has all melted in town for the time being. This was a job for the old Schwinn Traveler with its chrome fenders and big tires. And this was what it looked like as I rode in the bike lane.

I've been wanting ride my bike since the snow melted in town and it was very nice. I rode past the golf course and ended up at a park across from a school. I sat on a park bench and watched the kids play while I listened to the radio in my ear buds. Some of the kids were playing football and some were playing soccer.. Various groups around the field all running in different directions. Their motions as they ran reminded me of birds flying around somewhat at random but following a lead. A bell must of rang and they all started to run away, to line up in the distance and go back to class.

Then I realized that I'm the old dude in this picture with an old bike sitting alone on a park bench watching the children play. Hmm.. I thought.. I guess that's not so bad.. Now if I just didn't have to go back to work..

Live to ski

Here's a picture of me on the lift last week. It was clear out and the snow was pretty much frozen solid. It doesn't look like it under the chairlift but the snow really was rock hard. I like it like that. You can really go fast on a week day with race skis. I live for days like that as there's nothing else quite like it. Fast cars don't do it, fast motorcycles come close, but there's nothing like a pair of race skis on a sunny day like that. It's raining outside right now. I suspect it will freeze the mountains again. That's good. Some people like powder, but I like the snow firm. I like the speed and you're less likely to get hurt on firm snow.

There's something about coming up out of the valley fog as you drive up and into the sunshine that does your soul some good. This is a picture of the road up to the resort as I came out of the fog and into the sunshine. I was talking to a guy on the chairlift about this the the other day. The gloom in the valley is totally broken when you rise up and out of the fog and into the light of day. It's really an amazing transformation and it's one of the reasons I love to ski and why I feel so sorry for those who don't who live in ski country. They hate winter as they are always stuck down there in the valley fog half of the time. I know so many people like that and it's really sad..

I guess the sticker in the window of this truck says it best.. Live to ski.. I want one of those!

I'm back

I'm back,.. I couldn't log in for a while. I don't know what it is with me.. First I lost my cell phone. Then I lost my battery charger to my camera.. And then I couldn't log in to blogger...

I can't think of anything else to say about this so I'll post a wierd dream I had.

Weird dream

Ok, so I had a weird dream..

I dreamed that I went to my ex-girlfriend's place to stop in and see how she was doing. She hates me (for no reason) BTW, so when I got there she was less than pleased to see me. She was like,. What are you doing here?.. she said with a less than happy look on her face. Oh I just stopped in to see how you are doing. I said.

I looked around her small apartment. She had a dresser crammed full of shoes. Next to the dresser was an old green sofa, and in the corner of the sofa was a small yellow lizard that looked just like the Geico gecko except it was yellow and it had red shorts on, and a white T-shirt. It was standing there on its hind legs just like the Geico lizard.

What's this? I asked her. Oh that's my baby, she said. Really? I didn't know you were pregnant.. When did you have this? I asked as she went into the bathroom. Last Wednesday, she responded. His name's Sammy, would you mind watching him while I change. And then she shut the door.

I'm thinking,. my ex-girlf (who hates me for no reason) had a yellow lizard for a baby last Wednesday and put red shorts on him and named him Sammy?... No wonder we didn't get along..

Well there I was with Sammy, so I reached down and grabbed him around the waist with his arms arms sticking out above my fist. He just looked at me with that lizard smile. He was kind of slimy, so I put him back down on the sofa.

Then he jumped off of the sofa, ran across the room and went down the heat vent! Oh crap! I thought. She's going to kill me! I'll have to find him before she comes back. So I got my flashlight and was looking down the heat vent. Finally I saw him but it wasn't good. There were some birds down there eating him and all that was left were the red shorts and some leg bones sticking out.

That's how my dream ended.

A warmer time

As the winter weather outside chills us to the bone and dampens our spirits, I think back to a warmer time, and recent trip to Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia. We'll return soon.

It seems to be a place where nothing changes... except the people who go swiming. It's exactly like it was when I was young, and I think I'm getting better at understanding the how the lockers work, and which doors to go in and out of. I'm getting better at reading the signs too, some of which are in French and some are those international picture signs. There's one sign in there that says you can't wear boots. (it had a picture of a boot with a line going through it..)

Man tracks

What kind of beast made those tracks?!... I wondered as I looked at the line of tracks in my yard. Every morning there are different sets of tracks crossing my yard. Cat, dog, rabbit, bird,.. Oh,. wait a minute,. I made that one. I'd gone out to the car the other night and didn't bother to put my shoes on.

I'd blame the tracks on my ex-neighbor woman who I named Sasquatch Woman but she moved out long ago. I named her that because one night I came home in my car and caught her in the headlights and she looked just like a female bigfoot, her arms dragging with her ape like stride as she crossed the road. Only her cigarette betrayed her as a human, but I can understand why people think they've seen bigfoot.

Continental Divide Canada

I brought in the new year in Canada this year and I had a really nice time. It was beautiful today on my return. Here's a picture I took on the continental divide near Banff. I kept trying to get a decent picture of the ubiquitous Candadian flag, and finally got this one one. I'm guessing the other flags are BC on the left and Alberta on the right. Jules,.. you're going to have to help me out on this.

Here's a picture in Koontenay National Park of some of the forest fire burned trees. It will enlarge if you click on it. I wish I'd had more time to just take pictures as it was really beautiful up there today.