“How the hell could a person enjoy being awakened at 6:30 AM, by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?” – Charles Bukowski

“Maybe freedom really is nothing left to lose. You had it once in childhood, when it was okay to climb a tree, to paint a crazy picture and wipe out on your bike, to get hurt. The spirit of risk gradually takes its leave. It follows the wild cries of joy and pain down the wind, through the hedgerow, growing ever fainter. What was that sound? A dog barking far off? That was our life calling to us, the one that was vigorous and undefended and curious.”
― Peter Heller, Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet’s Tsangpo River

“None of your knowledge, your reading, your connections will be of any use here: two legs suffice, and big eyes to see with. Walk alone, across mountains or through forests. You are nobody to the hills or the thick boughs heavy with greenery. You are no longer a role, or a status, not even an individual, but a body, a body that feels sharp stones on the paths, the caress of long grass and the freshness of the wind. When you walk, the world has neither present nor future: nothing but the cycle of mornings and evenings. Always the same thing to do all day: walk. But the walker who marvels while walking (the blue of the rocks in a July evening light, the silvery green of olive leaves at noon, the violet morning hills) has no past, no plans, no experience. He has within him the eternal child. While walking I am but a simple gaze.”
― Frédéric Gros, A Philosophy of Walking

Well it has been another great two weeks and I really cannot complain too much at the moment. Life is pretty good. The weather here in Colorado on the Front Range has seen some good days of near perfect weather and others that are much wetter and closer to what I would consider the Pacific Northwest. Lol. Running has been coming along as expected and the ski season has been extend at several of the major resorts. I have not seen this in a long time. Pretty amazing. In hindsight, I would have taken advantage of this extended season but having a new puppy has required a lot more of a time commitment than I first realized. Oh well I know that it will be worth it in the long run. Marvin has been great “therapy” for Janet and I both.

My next race or run for me is the Leadville Trail Marathon on June 15th. But after seeing the amount of snow that fell this past week makes me wonder if they are going to have to reroute some of the course. A few years back I did the Half Marathon and found that there was a significant section of the course that had been dug out by volunteers so that we could still run the original route. I am guessing that this year has even more snow present. So it will be interesting to see what the route looks like come race time. It might make for some unique pictures.

I have started the process of getting the RV ready for summer. It is a class C Bigfoot Motor home. We have now owned it for about 13 years this coming June. So far I don’t have much to complain about with it. It is a 30 foot diesel. The Bigfoot Manufacturing Plant is still in business but they only make slide in truck campers and trailers now. They temporarily went out of business like a lot of the RV manufactures did a few years back. When they reorganized and started up business again the Motor Home line had been dropped. It is too bad in a lot of ways because the MHs they were turning out at the time were very well built for the price. You can find features on ours that still only come with much more expensive units. My only regret with mine is that it has no slides. And in hind sight it would have been really nice to have that extra space. Oh well you live and learn. My plan for this season is to use it more this summer for short trips that involve trail running. I let you know how that goes.

Now I would like to write a little something that will verge on the political. Lol. I do not call Trump the president. My favorite name for him is the “Grand Cheeto.” I feel that he was significantly helped to get elected by the Russians. This fact was verified by the Mueller investigation. Sure, some will probably ask how much did the fake Face Book posts really help or not? And some will believe that it did not make much difference. I am of the opinion that it helped significantly. The fake negative adds on Hilary and the fake positive ones for Trump. And to back my opinion up, all you have to do is look towards the world of advertising. Think about it. Why would big companies spend billions and billions for advertising their products if it did not work. There are some estimates that this is about 100 billion per year. Let me say that again. 100 billion in TV ads alone per year. That is an awful waste of money if it does not work. What the Russians did was advertise for Trump. And they were very successful at it. I have friends and family on FB that still quote fake ads from four years ago. If that is not a definition of temporary insanity, then I don’t know what is.

There is a quote by the author Neil Gaiman: “Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten.” The Russian election interference is a perfect example of this. I am guessing that years and years from now there will still be people in the world that believe and refer to the “fake ads” as if they were the gospel truth. Crazy but shows a deeper insight into our human nature and how it can easily be manipulated. This has been known by conmen since time immortal.

The other part of the Mueller investigation that I want to touch on briefly is what he said this past week. “If we had confidence the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.” That pretty much says it all. The “Grand Cheeto” is guilty. Period. Now the question becomes what law or laws did he break? I am wondering if this will ever come to light. Maybe. The interesting thing is how many in the Republican controlled Senate still support him. To me it begs the question are some of them guilty too? Or are they just willing to over look his “law breaking” behavior because he can give them something they want? I am guessing that they believe there is enough “checks and balances” in our system to stop someone like him from going to far?! I hope they are right….

I stopped getting worked up with all the “bat shit crazy” stuff being put out from him and his administration a while back. The trick is to see it for what it really is, a song and dance routine done for the masses. It encourages his supporters and riles up the left, but at the same time draws attention away from the important stuff. For me this has been the trick, to not get caught up in all the drama. It is an old ruse from the mythical play book called the “Conman’s Craft.”

Well that is going to be about it for me on this post. I hope the Mueller report causes you to pause and think, the Russian interference and that line by Mueller: “If we had confidence the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so.”

Whether you are Democrat, Republican or Independent, ask yourself, what are you willing to look the other way on when the next election comes around?!

Take care my friends, may your trails be they dirt or paved, be twisty and interesting!! Adios amigos!!