Woah, Sorry! a.k.a. She makes the sign of a teaspoon, he makes the sign of a wave.

Well, here's the deal. I was out a computer and I was wondering how I was going to "blog in the wild". (Rarely in the course of history has any man taken so much crap for any four words.) Anyway, I bought me a machine to type on and organize my photographs. Unfortunately, I'm having some format issues, so most of my photos are not yet back up. Don't worry. We always have my flickr account.

Another reason the week has been short on blogs was my lack of activity. When all you do is rock climb, that's really all there is to write about. I needed something different, something more. I found it tonight. I guess I re-found it tonight. In fact, I unearthed several things I love today.

1. Paul Simon - Graceland. If you don't own this album, go buy it. I did. I have several times, and it's worth it every time. A symbiosis of radical African Beats, Cajun funk, synthesized and natural tones, it warms the soul and soothes the savage beast. My parents bought this album when it came out . . . 1987? Let me check on that. Nope, 1986. Anyway, it was the same time that they bought the Taurus station wagon. "You can Call me Al" was obviously an instant hit, even when I was just 6 meager years old. "Under African Skies" touched me, but in a totally non-Michael Jackson sort of way. When my parents wouldn't play it in the car casette player, I'd put it in a little battery operated unit in the back. That tape got switched out every once in a while with Toto's Toto - IV.
That album (Graceland) was purchase at least a half dozen time over the next 20 years. The tape would get eaten, the CD would get scratched, the files would get corrupted, and I am yet to have a problem dropping another $10-16 to get a new one. I've been with out it's sweet melodies for about a year now, and today I couldn't stand it anymore. Poor as I am, I opted for the remastered version on iTunes. You should too. $9.99 well spent. "Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake"

2. Mt. Olympus and more specifically, hiking.
I've let myself go a little this year. Summers is going to smoke me all the way up the Grand Teton. There's no doubt about that. I'm weak. Tonight I was going to go for one of those "I've got to get into shape fast" jogs. Instead, I was drawn to the Mt. Olympus trail head and after chugging a cold 32 oz. of lemon lime Gatorade, I started up the trail. It was a mix between jogging and fast hiking and it felt good like a long lost friend. Why haven't I been hiking this summer? It was starting to rain, and I didn't get going until 8pm so I was only able to complete 2.00 sweaty miles measured to an accuracy of 18 feet (thanks Garmin) before turning back. It took almost 40 minutes to go up, and it took about 26 to come back down. That trail is easy enough, but it doesn't lack in elevation gain.

Here's the picture I took with my special google earth camera:

Go do the things you enjoy! Go do them today. Remember the things you love and don't let work, pride, money, or responsibility get in the way. I'll see you on the trail/rock, at the concert, in the park, or where ever this crazy life takes us.