for the poor saps out there...

Part of my day today was spent at the outlet stores in Castle Rock, CO. A great place to get ones Christmas shopping done with some great sales in a pretty scenic location. First, we hit the Columbia outlet store. With Columbia really picking up the slack on their production of technical outdoor clothing over the past few years, this can be a great place to pick up a few needed pieces. We cruised through there for about 15 minutes - time well spent.

But then IT hit me...

I have a chronic, recurring case of Male Shopping Sickness. After about 20 minutes of shopping or 20 seconds at selected retailers (BBB, B&BW, GAP, OLD NAVY...) my head begins to feel heavy, legs weak, attention span = zero, giant yawns begin to overtake my face, and a quiet contempt begins to form for the wide spread commercialism that over takes our society.

I understand that people need to be clothed, and that one might as well enjoy putting together a unique, self-expressive outfit, but lets get serious people...is all of this really necessary? American Eagle has been trying to sell me the exact same blue and white, checkered button down shirt for over a decade!! The only thing that changes is now the shirt may be fetching them 200% profit, as opposed to the humble 175% earnings of the 1990's. Although that may be a bit of an inflated figure, such cheaply made clothing should not fetch such a price. It makes me want to open a mall kiosk down at Park Meadows where I sell sacks of dog crap for $50.00 because a pooch named "Hollister" put out a seasonal limited batch!

Maybe I am overreacting, but something inside of me does not sit right in the aforementioned situations. I realize, I too am part of the problem here, but long to be part of the solution.
Maybe next Christmas I'll buy everyone shares in a third world mirco-finance lending company, or send goats named Steve, Andrew, and Peter to families in Indonesia.

Sent from my iPhone ;)

a view from the right lane...

A few days ago I made a solo trip into the mountains to ski the first turns of the season. Allison was using our Outback to run around town during the day, but I was blessed enough to be able to borrow a friends car for the journey - hence this entry's title. This valiant little 91' Honda 4-banger gave its all for me that day. When the hills up, so did theRPMs , turning quickly to a slight "I think I can..." rhythm. Nonetheless, we made it through the tunnel, down the hill and to the parking lot of Copper Mountain. I apprehensively pulled on my boots and slung the planks over my shoulder in hopes that my first run on my newACL will be successful with no rips, tears, pangs, aches, breaks or falters. It was. The feeling of getting up on those edges and having a 3 minute, non-stop run was awesome.

The trip was a day off. I needed a day of rest and time to connect with God before taking 10 rowdy teens to a weekend conference. What I found in the mountains was a mixed bag. As I drove I tried to concentrate on thoughts of God creating and dwelling in my high altitude surroundings, but I was still quite distractable. I attempted praying aloud, then singing and then sitting in silence and reflecting on my blessings, not much came of it. I found myself to be relatively unemotional about about it all. I did though feel a deep peace and was able to sit back and fully enjoy the freedom of the mountains and the joy of racing down the hill withsome Caedmons on the iPod.

Later the next day I had a conversation with a friend during a break in aforementioned high energy youth conference. During this conversation we reflected on the emotional highs of our teenage years and how our encounters with God consistenly seemed life changing and always emotionally charged. In all reality, I realize that a small part of these emotional highs probably had something to do with raging armies of hormones, social and personal insecuritues and a touch personal pride. But, I also know that many of my experiences during that time were indeed life changing, extremely formative, and highly engaging. That time in life was tumultuous, but it was so real and beautiful. It is the sheer beauty of a young teen, eyes closed, hands raised, raptured in the song and the moment - what he is experiencing is something that I am afraid we nearly loose in some ways as we mature. That is sad. Don't get me wrong, life is still full of joy, passion, pain and spiritual experiences, but there is something that is not quite the same as the crazy teen years. I would never want to go back there, but I do feel that we have a bit to learn from the reckless abandonment of these beautiful young people.
- I do know that when I am up in the mountains skiing, I can find a bit of what was lost...

On Contentment...

"Yo Soy Contento" I remember uttering these words in Spanish class years ago. I knew what they meant, yet i never realized how hard they might be to live by. Living a lifestyle of contentment is much easier in theory than in practice.

Let's be serious...I want for nothing. I live in a great neighborhood, in a great city, have an amazing wife, plenty of food, a great job, good friends, solid car and even a few bucks for modest toys and weekend getaways. And yet, something always creeps in. It can be found in the craigslist browser saved on my desktop, on layaway at REI, in the new gadget that I am sure will help me work faster and more efficiently, it is in the back of my mind when I need to be focusing on what matters much more than fatter skis, faster handheld wireless, better gas mileage, higher waterproofing and less weight. There must be a way out of this cycle. How did Paul learn to be content with what he had? Is there some transcendent purpose that I am missing here?
Well, I wish to write more, but my SteepandCheap pop-up browser just alerted me to a new piece of absolutely necessary outdoor gear...

Beginnings-

Well, part of me feels like I am jumping on a band wagon with this whole "blog" thing, but I also really like the idea, even if no one ever reads my ramblings.

I have had a bunch of new beginnings in my life over the past few months, I hope to never update Facebook as much as I have lately! I am now married (to one hot lady:), have a dog, live in a well decorated house, exercise regularly, read more, hit the mountains once a week, and love living so close to paradise...the Rocky Mountains.

With all of this change, I take a good amount of moments to pause and reflect on the beauty or surrealness of any given situation. I am hoping to use this blog as a place to share those thoughts and process them myself.

Stay tuned for more and feel free to respond to anything on here.