You know you are looking forward to heading home when, three days before the end of your two-week business trip, you’re already laying out your clothes for the flight.
Decrepitude on the March
You know you are getting old when that thin, foil-wrapped packet that you diligently keep in your pocket or purse is a packet of Ibuprofen.
Caught in the wild for the first time this morning: a Los Angeles Fire Department Advanced Provider Response Unit. Yes, it looks like a regular RA (rescue ambulance,) but there is more here than meets the eye.
- A weekday outside
- Beautiful weather
- A great view
- A golf cart to tool around the hillside course
- Fellowship
- Food and drink
All without having to spend the day whacking a small white spheroid with a bent stick, only to have to chase it around for 10 kilometers.
You know you are a railfan when..
Not only does this show up in your mailbox, you also read it AND find it engrossing.
Ho ho ho.
Happy 20 Tevet. May the season bring you happiness, health, and peace.
Voyeurism
Is it perverted to take vicarious pleasure in watching other people indulge when you yourself do not?
On the Trail Again
It’s fire season, so I am avoiding all back-country camping for a few months. That said, we have Scouts and Scouters who need to break in backpack gear and get used to our packs.
So we took some of our Scouts out on a shakedown hike to Sycamore Falls in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It was warm, a couple of our number did not bring enough water, and it was more strenuous wearing masks, but it was a lot of fun and a real confidence-builder for a Troop that has made car camping a habit over the last few years.
I can’t wait to head into the back country in a few months…
Sports for Me
While spectator sports will not consume much of my post-career life (PCL), in-person attendance once or so a year at the following will pepper into my plans. At any time you may see a post from the bleachers of the following:
- Los Angeles Dodgers. Why? I have, for whatever reason, been a Dodgers fan since before I could walk. They had only been in LA a half-dozen seasons when I was born, so in a way we grew up together – or, at least, became Angelenos and Californians together. Give me a choice of any sporting event in the world, and I would choose a normal weeknight Dodger game over any other.
- Arsenal F.C. Why? The LA Dodgers of English football. They’re either winning big or breaking hearts, and they are in their history and in their game an embodiment of all that is good about both sport and soccer.
- UC Davis Aggies. Why? I transferred to UC Davis from UC San Diego for my Junior year, and I have a deep and abiding affection for the University Farm. Mostly a Division II team, it feels more like rooting for your team at a midwestern liberal arts college than a major research university, and that completes the picture of Davis. Go Aggies!
- UCLA Basketball. Why? My dad was a Bruin. My son is a Bruin and a basketball nut. I grew up watching John Wooden coach the Bruins from Lew Alcindor to Coach’s retirement. Ergo sum: there will be UCLA hoops.
- Minor League Baseball. Why? I love baseball, but I do feel like something like something essential is missing when the game becomes about egos, contracts, and very big business. Minor League Baseball is filled with players who are in it for hope, for a dream, and for the love of the game, and the difference shows in the style of play. What is more, MiLB ballparks have become comfortable, smaller-sized versions of their Big Show counterparts, and tickets are cheap. Minor Leagues are the soul of baseball.
I also have two or three sports-related bucket list items I will be sharing soon, and there might be an essay coming.
You know you have eaten the right foods when you wake up Monday morning at 5am after 6 hours of sleep, push through an hour of work, make coffee for the spouse, plan the day, and knock out a 20-set weight training session without feeling too winded.
Note to self: Sunday is sushi day from now on.
A Bucket and a Pen 