Well...

How are things?

How was your holiday?

How's life?

Well, I'll tell you. Things are looking up and so am I. I find myself checking the weather more often than in past winters. Why? Well, It's not because of a season pass to the mountain or the fear of 2012 that has become a real thought in so many people's minds. I look up because the horizon is out there waiting to be reached. The beach is waiting. I will ride there. The back country is waiting. I will trek there. I also believe that my dream is there. I will catch up to it and look it in the eyes. I will not back down no matter how ugly it may seem up close and personal. I will embrace it and show it my true self. Brave as a child who knows no fear. A dog who has never ben kicked running up to a horse with only the question, "What kind of dog are you?" in his mind.

Ready to become a bit more adventurous again and redefining what I believe that word to mean to me. I have played around loosely with definitions and connotations. Speech as been a playground of whimsy and imagination. Not it will also be my office. My vocation. Thanks for reading these ramblings, if you do, and if you do not. Thanks anyway because, well, just thanks.

HFNY

Those of you who live in my world will understand the meaning of those four letters and those who don't, well, you will. We learn and forget so many things throughout the course of each day, week, month and decade. The consequences of these lapses, as my dad would say, are that we end up hearing the same lesson again in different forms over and over until the thickness of our head bones can be overcome. Today I was taught a very valuable lesson.

Nothing is an accident. Everything does indeed happen for a reason. People, as well as hurdles, are put in our path (some say way) to remind us of what we lack, overlook and sometimes just forget. Jolene is a cancer surviving, fibromyalgia diagnosed, 18 months sober, mother and second-class citizen. Meaning a tough lady who has learned a lot about life and still keeps her head up. Pleasant and engaging. Upbeat and earnest. She reminded me that some people are worth meeting and that there is much to do in this world. I'm glad to be able to do my part.Oh yeah and happy froggin' new year!