Wishing

"DADDY, I WISH TODAY WOULD NEVER END..."

It hasn't happened too many times - when one of my kids says something that makes me pause, gaze at them in awe and feel my eyes start to water. It's when you know that they have experienced something that will stay with them, has affeected them, has moved them... And consequently me. Pure joy...

It's like a couple years ago when we were driving through Virginia on the last leg of a 2500 mile road trip and Anna, the only kid still awake, out of the blue says "Daddy, are we in heaven yet?" and my first and only response was "No baby, but I'm about as close to heaven as I'll ever be ..."









The latest came Saturday from Emma, my 8 year old, on the last night of our week at Sandestin. It was about 9 o'clock, the sky was cloudless and the moon was nearly round. We were alternating between the hot tub and the pool in about 5 minute intervals. We had been talking about all of the fun things we had done last week...




Like spending countless hours net-fishing on the shore, catching tons of little minnows and walking starfish and tiny round jellyfish... Like riding our bikes all over Sandestin, through the tunnel and around the joggers (sometimes over the joggers, right Aidan?), learning little things like it's not always as easy as it looks to get back on the sidewalk after your wheels get in the grass...









Like walking on the pier and spying the raccoon, then feeding the fish and gazing at the yachts... Like Aidan falling asleep sitting upright at the table at Hammerheads during dinner... Like playing with our friends Mike and Reese and Hilary, and Reese being too scared to get in the trunk...









Like Emma winning the prize money for doing the most back flips (18) on the harnessed trampoline... Like Aidan jumping into the deep end then realizing that he couldn't touch, or swim, and me running from the far end of the pool to rescue him after he was under for what seemed like forever (although probably just 7 or 8 seconds...)...

Like the old truck parked for decoration by the ice cream shop that Aidan and Anna played in for hours on end... Like our favorite dockside table at our favorite pizza restaraunt, Robertos, and the giant fish the kid caught from right by our table while we were eating... Like chasing lizards, and frogs, and of course fish and crabs, and squirrels and ducks (at Beef O Bradys), and our pet-for-the-week Gary the snail...









Know what? I wish it would never end too...


Thanks for reading My Daily Spin...

Bump N Grind XIV

The day started with a wake=up at 0505. As soon as I looked at the clock I was excited to get up - none of that snooze button and roll over stuff. I hopped out of bed and started gathering my things for my first bike race, the 14th annual Bump and Grind.

I got the race site at Oak Mountain about 0630. After parking I registered, then got my gear ready. I rode about 20 minutes on the road for a warm-up, and then made my way back to the starting line to watch the Junior Olympic categoryies start. Just a few minutes later they called for my group!

I was a little nervous about the start. The marshall herded us all to the front, and there were 5 across in the narrow chute. For the final minute before the start all I could think about was all 5 of us trying to get clipped in and running into each other and falling down.

"GO!"

I paused about a half a second to let the guys around me get just a little ahead to avoid the envisioned fall. It worked great! I got clipped in and within a few hundred yards had zipped into second place. The first half mile or so was on pavement and the remainder was singletrack. I stuck about 20 feet behind the leader on the pavement, but once the singletrack started I lost sight of him pretty quick.

This 2 loop course gains most of its elevation on the first 1/3 of the loop, and I was huffing and puffing before I got to the downhill! The intensity was way high, and I was happy to be done with the climbing for awhile and head back down. Close to the end of the first loop I was passed for the only time on the course and dropped back to second.

This wasn't a technical mt bike course, thank goodness, and only had a couple log jumps a 2 sections of downhill rock steps. The rock steps would have intimidated me if I hadn't rode the course several times prior.

I held my own in 3rd for the 2nd lap, and finished in 3rd place. 2nd was about 45 secondes ahead of me and 1st about 3 minutes ahead. Ok, there were only 5 riders in my division and one DNF'ed, but it's still 3rd, right? Ha!

This race was a lot of fun, and I definitely would do it again. If I do it again, I need to actually ride my mt bike more than a couple times a month to be competitive. But ya know, I don't think I necessarily need to be competitive. As long as I'm having fun, right?

Thanks for joining me for My Daily Spin...