Accomplishments

So apparently this guy did a 36 mile hike yesterday.

I can only assume that when he finished his jaunt on the Rachel Carson Trail he looked something like this picture. I’m not entirely sure why he and Steevo decided to begin and end a hike in the cold dark of winter but it sounds impressive. It also sounds kind of crazy, but definitely impressive.

By contrast, I enjoyed a casual morning where I sat on my couch in front of a nice warm fire and drank coffee. I may not be as burly as Jerry but at least I didn’t have any barefoot stream portages in my day. I’d say we both accomplished something this weekend.

Friends

One of the benefits of having a ridiculously expensive phone that really acts like a computer is the ability to add various applications and other useful tools right at your fingertips. This includes things such as weather radars; weights and measures conversions; streaming music; and super useful time-wasting games. Recently, I began playing a word based game where you compete against one other person. This particular game recently gained some prominence when one Mr. Alec Baldwin was removed from an airplane when he refused to quit playing.

While I’m certainly not the smartest person in the land, I do like to think I have some degree of intelligence. What I’ve been finding though, is the people I’m playing against are infinitely smarter than I am as I’ve been getting housed in every single game. A typical game for me starts with a few big words that gain me a sizable amount of points and usually an early lead. Of course, as the game progresses, I end up running out of ideas and end up using words like “to” or “add” or some other minimal word that gains me very few points. At the same time, my opponent will end up playing some obscure or scientific word that I didn’t know existed. The end result of this exercise is a swift come-from-behind victory for my opponent and me with a slate full of vowels.

I figure I have a few options to correct this situation. First, I could read the dictionary to establish a greater vocabulary, but this might take a significant amount of time. Second, I could stop playing this game, but then I would need to find another activity to waste time. I think my best option however, is to find dumber friends.

Statements of the Day

Today was cold.

It barely got out of the 20’s.

Fortunately the sun was out so that helped.

I rode Scotia with Jeremy, the Nixtreeme, and Seb-dog.

My toes were cold until the end of the ride.

I cleared a big log; with an audience, and it felt amazing.

Winter without snow might not be that bad after all.

Tomorrow I get to sleep in…

Where Are You?

Finally, after a long hiatus, the ski season has officially opened here in the SC, kind of. We had a few days of cold that allowed the local ski hill to make enough snow to open with limited slopes. By limited slopes, I mean one, but it was still something.

This has been an uncharacteristically warm winter and this weekend was no exception. Ski hills everywhere have been taking a beating as Mother Nature has been stingy on providing piles of the white stuff. In fact, here in the SC we’ve seen a scant dusting at best. It’s been so bad, I’m starting to wonder how much of a ski season there will actually be. On the plus side, this warm weather has allowed me to stay on the bike much longer than I usually would but honestly it feels like winter has mostly passed us by.

Granted, there is still plenty of time for a significant amount of cold to settle in and we could still get crushed by a winter storm or two. Of course, if the warmth continues to hang around I won’t be too upset, but it would be nice to spend a little time on the slopes this year. After all, I did tune my board and I would hate for that fresh wax to go to waste.

Hang on Tight

If Saturday night marked an end then Sunday morning had to bring along a beginning. We’ve officially turned over a new calendar year and my 2012 has already been highly eventful. To close out 2011 and officially start two aught one two, I managed to drive 1,600 miles in three days, attend a funeral, and experience what it’s like to be in one of the shows about driving in a blizzard. You know the ones where a string of cars are driving real slow with their hazards on and some jag-off rips past them all going way too fast only to end up in a ditch? Yeah, that kind except in this case I was NOT the idiot driver but there were plenty of them in ditches. I’m not sure if this is a sign of things to come but if it is, 2012 is going to be one hell of a ride.

Happy New Year Everyone!