8.9.13

The Mountain Post has been quiet lately. I haven’t been here to enjoy that quiet at all though since I’ve been moving around with work so much. Such is the life of a nomad.

Things haven’t changed much for me; I’m still on the move. I almost can’t help but laugh when people that know me say, “Oh that’s great you got a job at a ski resort! You must be settling down and putting in some roots?” The words “settling” and “roots” generally cause me to vomit a little bit in my mouth actually. To me those are words that can lead many to the mundane. I’m all about family, roots, and being settled. I’m not however a fan of slowing down, which in most cases is what people are referring to — I don’t take breaks. And I don’t believe that settled and motion are mutually exclusive.

I’ll admit that there are rest days, but it is usually once I’ve run myself into a wall of disarray and weariness that can’t be overcome. It is in those moments I will surrender because I feel a sense of finality or completeness. The further I push, the more interested I am to push further.

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Last night my Grandmother passed away. She was one of the toughest and most honest women I’ve known. I will miss her greatly — it’s hard to lose people you love. I’ve spent some time sitting here, crying, reminiscing and thinking about mortality. The most important thing for me was to think about all of the great things my grandmother and I shared. The one thing that sticks out in my mind is something she always used to say to me, “Josh, you are such a character!” I always thought that was her way of saying, “you’re a little bit crazy, but I support your individuality.”

I always find it a little hard to digest these types of events — they seem surreal. I considered calling into work, but in the end I thought that it would do little good to sit and do nothing. A friend of mine, Chris Van Dine happened to be passing through town this morning and he wanted to get out and take some mountain bike laps. That seemed like a more appropriate option to get my mind off of things and go push myself a little bit.

Mountain biking has its hooks in me.

Chris is a professional rider and his talents on a bike are far beyond what I can do at this point. That actually makes it the perfect person to go with, because I learn so much. You can check some of his stuff out yourself – www.chrisvandine.com

The biking worked. I’m healing up and pushing forward.

Thanks for checking in.

—JM