Perfect Storm

Hey people. Over the weekend I was remembering more funny stuff from our trip to hell and back. Like when Dan insisted on eating the canadian bacon from my Egg McMuffin-- you know-- for the orphans in Haiti, and how he kept saying, "That's what I do" enigmatically.

There was also a moment where I said or did something, (neither of us can remember what), and his response was, "I think I have enough thrills in my life thanks." This baited me into imitating Jack Nicholson on and off for at least half a day, yelling, "YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE THRILLS" into his face whenever the mood struck me.

I know. Poor Dan. I can sometimes get him to play with me-- like this day we went sliding together, but it is super hard for me to find people who like doing all the dumb stuff I like to do.

Sat I had a really fun day. There are times when I get this tight feeling in my chest and it feels like I really need to vent off some steam or I'm going to SPLODE. Lately I've been feeling like that a lot.

I began the day going for a 10k ski with Trusty Pam and Dan in the snowy woods. It was really pretty, and fun. Pam and I have been skiing our butts off this winter. The snow's been awesome. Now the hills that used to scare us are kind of boring though. We still like it, but now it's like we can never go fast enough. We even resorted to climbing through the barrier of a hill that was closed for being "too screamin' fast", and even it was barely fun enough.

After our ski I went over to the trail and started plotting a new course through the woods for myself. Now that I know my leg isn't re-breaking over and over I'm going to start running again. I'd like to go over there whenever, regardless of the weather, and not worry if I'm messing up the bike trail. So I tromped though knee-deep snow for over an hour checking out a route.

After that, some people showed up to work on the trail, mostly shoveling snow, and I helped with that the rest of the day. There was also some really fun goofing around that I can't go into detail about, (because the friggin' man may try to keep us down) but let's just say when I got home I was practically leaping around the house like a Labrador Retriever because I was so hyper from all the wee-age.

You'd think that would "cure" me for a few days right? No-- it just makes me want that feeling back again as soon as possible like those rats who keep pushing the little treat button until they SPLODE.

In summer, when I found mountain biking, it was kind of like getting a permanent cure for a while. Dan has been a little weirded-out by my sudden, intense interest in this and we've had a few talks about it. One night I was trying to explain it again, or I guess just trying to make sure he wasn't getting annoyed by me, or my thrill-seeky ways weren't coming between us or whatever, and I said, "You see how this is like the perfect storm for me right?"

He did some little affectionate thing to show me it was okay and said, "Yeah. I get it."

It (riding) has the perfect combo of ingredients for me-- It's really difficult. --I can throw myself at it as hard as I want and still not succeed enough at it that it's ever gets boring. But it's a learned skill-- so I can have just enough improvement to keep motivating me to try. It's got an element of danger that's very narcotic and distracting. (--This is something I've (sometimes unwittingly) chased, or tried to smother, my whole life.) There is an optional social aspect to it that has no pressure, isn't intrusive, and chock full-o-nutballs (my favorite kind of people), and the whole works goes down in the middle of the woods. It's kind of "out there". Perfect.

The only problem is I'm not very good at it (yet) and have had to try to otherwise occupy myself during the winter. Sat was awesome because it was like uncapping the hydrant. Now it's Mon and I have a bunch of work to do, but it seriously feels like some monster is trying to pry open my ribcage.

I think I'm going to have to go over to the trail at lunch and go for a little run, and bring my saucer sled to whiz down a hill or two.

Do any of you guys relate to this at all? Sometimes I feel like such an alien.

UPDATE:
Pam skipped out early today and we went sliding down a bunch of big hills at the trail, so this rat has satisfactorily pushed her button for one day anyhow. Much better. Ahh. Now, back to welding. :)