Dream Job

Backpacker Magazine is looking for a new reader test panel.  Enjoy the video and wish me luck.

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Thawing out

   

The Osprey is not to be reckoned with.  It has been known to pick up unsuspecting would be hikers, carry them for miles, and drop them, flailing feet and all to a not so soft landing, sometimes (most the time) very far from home. 

The weather is clearing.  Snow has turned to water, making mud, and creating ideal break-in-new pack conditions.  Lame that I've packed up all my gear for a short hike right by my house?  Maybe, but the Osprey is convincing and persistent.  It will not be fooled by balled up sweatshirts, and or aerobic weights.  It must sense the gear inside is real.  Plus I've been dying to look at my old camping stuff for months now.  Nichole watched me, silent and somewhat grim I thought.  So what if I walk through the neighborhood to the trail? She was disappointed that I declined the mask she offered me that would protect us from possible neighborhood shame.  Maybe, but a guy with a full loaded pack is suspicious enough.  Add a mask to that scenerio and the SWAT team would probably tackle me ten steps out the door (possibly damaging gear/pack).  She watched me go, contemplating this, and sending up a silent prayer that neighbors would be sleeping in.  After a three mile stroll, with no injuries, and the overwhelming feeling of joy that follows from doing something you love, I stumbled in door and contemplated the amazing joy that Spring brings. 

Living in the Past

Mrs. Haslam was my English teacher senior year of High School. She was funny and cool. As an assignment, she had us write a book of "poems", which I found this weekend. Partly due to her greatness as a teacher I was inspired to pursue English as a college major. Thanks Mrs. Haslam!

SCHOOL

SCHOOL

Learning , boring

Writing, notetaking, reading

Books teachers, girls, beaches

Running jumping, yelling

Laughing, tanning

SUMMER

LOVE

Love looks like two old couples holding hands

Love smells like pefume and cologne in the master bedroom.

Love feels like you can conquer the world.

Love tastes like an Alpine White.

Love Sounds like a freight train.

Love is as sweet as you choose to make it.

Music

Music is the hand that reaches

Under your

Skin and gets

Inside your soul

Constantly

Varieties of Crazy

The Crazy of brutally stabbing your wife because of your overcooked dinner.

The Crazy of looking through the cross hairs of a sniper rifle and pulling the trigger.

The Crazy of being fired from a job you've had for 50 years.

The Crazy of catching your neighbor in bed with your wife.

The Crazy of loving someone you know will never love you.

The Crazy you feel trapped under tons of debris waiting for rescue teams to find you.

I AM

The Great Salt Lake, nice to look at but salty beneath the surface.

A volcano, lible to erupt at any moment.

Square, easy to understand.

Cactus, pricks people when they get too close.

Apple, crisp on some days and mushy on others.

Panther, stalks his prey in the night.

Bee, stings when angered.

Oak, constantly strong and reliable.

84' GMC Jimmy, never breaks down.

Snickers, many layers and most of them good.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch, rarely get soggy.