Month: July 2019

Happy Wednesday.

So I folded a bunch of shirts.

Hope your day was as exciting as this.

Today Matt would be 50.

Tomorrow, Matt would have turned 50. I’ve been thinking about him today. We had a lot of good times. I remember early in the morning, the sound of “Tears For Fears” coming up out of the basement. And then there was the time that he tried to teach me to ride a motorcycle, which tipped over on me. Who could forget the three-wheeler that popped a wheelie and dumped everyone on the ground.

I had a lot of good times with Matt and undoubtedly would still be having them if he was still here with us. So today I put together some words to remind me of just a few of the memories. If you knew Matt, some of them will be familiar. If you didn’t know him, you might see the depth he brought to life. Regardless, I’m sure you have a similar list you could make for a loved one, whether still with you or passed on.

Miss you Matt!

Anyone who has spent much time on a bike has probably gotten the calf mark. Usually it is a greasy outline of the large chainring. I guess I spent a lot of time in the big gears today, because I got the outlines of the chain links.

Today was a pretty hard day of riding. It was the Cache Gran Fondo a 104 mile ride through Utah and Idaho. The weather was beautiful, it was overcast so it didn’t get too hot and the company was, as always, pretty awesome as well. The second half of the ride is where things got difficult. During the climb through the canyon we got a stiff headwind that became a stiff headwind descending a climbing descent. Yes, I mean that good parts of the descent weren’t just bombing downhill, they actually went back up. And the wind didn’t stop until the ride was over.

The wind was better than a 95 degree day, but it did make it a pretty tough 7 hours on the bike. I’m just fortunate I have such good people to ride with. To be honest, today’s ride makes me a little nervous about LOTOJA, which is about 2 months away. I guess I need to do a lot more riding between now and then.

Alas, my poor tree. It was looking like there would be a great crop of apricots this year, but then this happened. But no one was hurt and the tree didn’t fall on the house, so I have a lot to be thankful for, as sad as it was to see this. There is a silver lining to the cloud.

Seems like everything is wireless these days. I took this picture and considered a Pinocchio joke, then I thought a Fletch joke (because of the ball-bearings), but in the end I went with the ubiquity of wireless.

Today showed such promise. I was going to try to start the T-bird, but then a brake line ruptured and plans changed. It was a bit disappointing, but I did have fun taking this picture, so the day wasn’t a complete loss.

Today a flower or two for you.

Today is my friend Nate’s birthday. He would have been 43. I was wondering what I could do for a picture today, and then his wife showed up with this nice little plant and card. For his birthday she decided to do something nice for other people in remembrance of Nate. It seems fitting, Nate was always there for me. I count myself lucky to have friends like this.

Today is just a collection of dead things. I spent the morning chopping down weeds and the rest of the day with my allergies on high alert. When it came time for a picture, pollen was on my mind, and in my sinuses and I had these dead flowers just lying around and I decided to put them on a white background this time.

Today was a fantastic day. Got out on the bike with a group of some of the best people I know and we pedaled all around the valley. It is unfortunate that the thing that brought us all together is the insidious disease cancer, but I feel grateful for such a group of friends. I wish my brother was still around to ride with them. He would have liked them.

In another weeks time he would have turned 50. We always do a ride around his birthday. And some of those same friends that rode with me today support us and go for the ride. It wouldn’t be the same without them. They ride with the Huntsman Heroes, but in all honesty, these people are some of my real life heroes.